Music: John Mark Macmillan- "Death In His Grave"

If you're one of my students, this song is nothing new to you. Since I was practicing playing it tonight (yeah, I'm picking up the guitar again after about a year of not playing), I thought I would share it with those who haven't heard it...I love hymns and this is a modern-day hymn of sorts. Jesus has defeated death and this song is a celebration of that struggle and victory. Hope you enjoy it!

Now We See in Part...

Recently, I heard something so simple that it shouldn't have been profound...but I've had a hard time shaking it the last couple of days so maybe it's more profound than it seems at first glance.  Basically, it was said that our attempts to explain God (think of the water-ice-gas comparisons) consistently fall flat because "God isn't like anything else."  Well, that makes sense, doesn't it?  I'm not sure why something that simple has never occurred to me, but boy have I tried to explain God to people over the years. 


As I think about this truth, I am drawn to Paul's words to the Corinthians.  He writes, "Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known." (I Corinthians 13:12) In all my best efforts to understand God (much less explain him)---all the books I read, the conversations I have, the conferences I attend, the church I align myself with---I will never see any more than in part while I am flesh and bone.  I can't even begin to comprehend the heights and depths of who God is.  He isn't like anything else I have experienced, am experiencing, or will experience.  My humanity can't offer me anything that is even comparable to who God is and what He offers me now and eternally.  In fact, Paul says that what I think I see now is just a poor reflection...my vision of who God is now is poor, despite my good intentions.  One day, we will see Him face to face and experience the surpassing greatness of his love, a love that knows no boundaries.  I know that love in part now; one day I will be completely overwhelmed by the fullness of that love.   And just think, God knows me fully now!  There is nothing about me that God doesn't know.  He knows my every thought, my deepest secrets, my most difficult struggles, my most embarrassing sins, and the depravity of my heart.  Yet, God's love is bigger than my falleness.  He knows me completely and loves me completely, one of the all time great miracles.

So, as I think about how little I really know about God---how little we all know---it sure does slap my critical heart in the face.  Who am I to think I have things figured out when God has made it very clear that I am only seeing the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Him?  I'm seeing in part.  Yes, I see some and He continues to reveal more to me as I look to Him.  But I'll never know it all, and neither will any of you.  And that's okay.  But let's allow the truth of Paul's words to gently remind us to approach the Church humbly and with loving kindness as we work together to piece together the biblical vision of God's kingdom on earth.

Do You Live in a Christian Ghetto?

For some of you students who are reading this, ghetto may not mean what you think it means.  Well, it might mean "gangsta" or "hood" in your venacular, but I'm using it a little bit differently.  A ghetto is a place where a particular group (sometimes stereotypical) lives, and it's usually not a very desirable place to reside.  Most of us are familiar with the socioeconomic sense of the word or perhaps the historical sense of the word (i.e. Jews being herded into ghettos during 1930's and 1940's)...but, in recent times, the term "Christian ghetto" has surfaced as a hot topic of conversation amongst progressive evangelicals.  So, what exactly is meant by "Christian ghetto?"  Well, the idea is that many evangelicals have retreated into holy huddles in which every area of their life is saturated with Christian "stuff"---everything from people to programs to concerts to t-shirts.  We go to church on Sundays.  We belong to a life group.  Christian conferences are hot social events.  Our kids go to every youth group outing or camp we can possibly get them into, and if we can afford it they're in Christian schools.  If we can afford the time, they may even be home schooled.  We love to go to Christian rock concerts ("If you love Secular Rock Band X, you'll love the Christian Alternative Rock Band X!") Why read a great "secular" novel if there is a new Francis Chan book to read?  (Mind you, I really enjoy Francis Chan's books and highly recommend you read them...just read some other stuff, too.)  Consider your life---who do you spend the majority of your social time with?  What events or groups do you participate in?  What music and movies entertain you?  If all of your answers include "Christian," "church," or "Bible" as an adjective, you probably are living in a Christian ghetto.

You are probably wondering, "What's so wrong with any of these things?  Shouldn't we want everything we're involved with to be Christian?"  In and of themselves, none of these things are bad and most are actually really good things.  But, when we get sucked into a Christian bubble in every area of our lives then we are missing the mark.  Jesus spent the majority of his time with his inner circle of believers, and you should do the same.  However, he also encountered his culture without insisting on a spiritual adjective being attached to everything.  He touches a leper, dines with a tax collector, hangs out with a prostitute, and isn't shy about pushing back against a religious establishment that was on the wide path.  I'm not sure the residents of the Christian ghetto would have let Jesus move into town.  If Jesus were living in our culture today, I honestly don't think he'd be at many Christian events.  You would find Jesus in the dark corners of the world searching for the sick and broken...after all, they are the ones who need a doctor, right?  He understood a very basic, logical concept that most of us choose to ignore most of the time---if you want to reach the lost, you have to spend time among the lost.  You have to be in this world and not of it.  So, we are left with a choice...we can remain immersed in our Christian ghettos and we can be very ineffective in reaching the world and making disciples.  Or, we can move out of town and bring light into darkness.  Just so I am clear, you need to stay in Christian community to do this.  You will fail miserably without the encouragement, teaching, admonition, and love of brothers and sisters in Christ.  You just have to be intentional about moving into community with those outside of the faith so that Jesus can reach them through you.

What would Jesus do?  He wouldn't live in the ghetto.

Did he really mean that?

Today I spoke in chapel at VCA about Matthew 25...the famous "least of these" passage where we are reminded of our responsibility to take care of those in need.  And that passage stops there.  No, it doesn't.  Jesus actually says in that passage that the people who didn't take care of others are going to be separated into sheep and goats---sheep inherit eternal glory and goats are cast away.  Reading that passage gives me one of those "did he really mean that?" moments.  Am I really headed for trouble if I have faith but don't take care of "the least of these?"  Undoubtedly, this is a confusing passage when we consider our standard definition of salvation---faith and trust in the life, death and resurrection of Christ for the forgiveness of sin.  I'm not questioning eternal security (or even entering into that murky debate), but Christ inextricably links our salvation to what we do.  If we have experienced saving faith in Christ, our actions will show it.  If our actions don't show our faith, we might need to do a little soul-searching about our walk with God.  So, yes, Jesus really did say that if we make a lifestyle choice to not take care of the poor and needy then we will face the ultimate consequences...I am not willing to write off his words as figurative or as a message for another culture or generation.  He meant it and I have to take it seriously.


What passages seem too hard, too challenging, or too demanding to really be what God intended?  Those are the passages you should wrestle with the most...God can stretch you in those moments and shake up your life.  In a good way.  I mean it.

Movie: Rich Mullins- A Ragamuffin's Legacy

Can't wait to see this movie when it releases...Rich Mullins was a great man.  Enjoy.

The Miracle of Transformation

"One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon. Now a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!” So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them. Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God...Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people! If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame and are being asked how he was healed, then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. Jesus is

“‘the stone you builders rejected,
which has become the cornerstone.’

Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”

When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say." (Excerpts from Acts 3 and 4)

Ever ask yourself, "Why don't we still see the miracles of the Bible?"  I know I have (although, the global explosion of Christianity has seen the miraculous in places with undeveloped theology and a hunger for God...maybe something we should take note of).  As I have been reading this passage over the last few days, however, I realize that two miracles took place.  Obviously, the healing of the lame man's feet and ankles was physically miraculous.  A man who hadn't walked for his entire life was jumping and dancing!  Unbelievable!  Yet, the second miracle may have been greater than the first.  This man, who I would imagine would have been a pitiful site, begged at the Temple in a heap as a way of life.  People likely pitied him or were disgusted by him.  This same man, was now completely transformed in personality, spirit, and attitude.  Imagine the most sour, down-on-their-luck, depressed person you know and then imagine them running through your neighborhood with joy, praising God for new life.  I would consider that pretty miraculous too, wouldn't you?

Notice that after Peter's sermon, the Sanhedrin aren't concerned with his message or his theology.  Anyone could argue with words or a belief system, and the courts surely did throughout the Gospels and the New Testament.  What they couldn't argue with is that a man's life had been completely transformed physically and spiritually.  He stood before them changed and they couldn't write that off.  Maybe, then, we should be less concerned with our theology and more concerned with being agents of change in the world.  Theology is definitely important, and I don't mean to downplay it, but if you know Christ you know enough to be a catalyst for change in the life of a hurting person.  Stop over-thinking and over-talking and just start doing.  The Holy Spirit can handle our clumsy words and our inability to articulate an article of faith.

"It's Kind of Cute..."

I've now read the same passage from surgeon Richard Selzner's Mortal Lessons (mind you, not in the original book) twice in the last month...it's a wonderful story.  When you look at people, who do you see?  Do you see the beauty of Christ in them?  This story illustrates the true love of Christ that sees through socio-economics, appearances, and any other barrier we impose when it comes to others.

"I stand by the bed where a young woman lies, her face postoperative, her mouth twisted in palsy, clownish.  A tiny twig of the facial nerve, the one to the muscles of her mouth, has been severed.  She will be thus from now on.  The surgeon had followed with religious fervor the curse of her flesh; I promise you that.  Nevertheless, to remove the tumor from her cheek, I had cut the little nerve.
Her young husband is in the room.  He stands on the opposite side of her bed, and together they seem to dwell in the evening lamplight, isolated from me, private.  Who are they, I ask myself, he and this wry-mouth I have made, who gaze at each other so generously, greedily?  The young woman speaks.  'Will my mouth always be like this?' she asks.  'Yes,' I say, 'it will.  It is because the nerve was cut.'     She nods and is silent.  But the young man smiles.  'I like it,' he says. 'It's kind of cute.'  All at once, I know who he is.  I understand, and I lower my gaze.  One is not bold in an encounter with a god.  Unmindful, he bends to kiss her crooked mouth, and I so close I can see how he twists his own lips to accommodate to hers, to show her that their kiss still works."

Lord Jesus, forgive me for looking only at the outward appearance and not the heart.  Help me to see you in others and to love with the compassionate, unconditional love that can only come from You.

Music: Pedro the Lion- Secret of the Easy Yoke

If you are reading this, I'd be willing to wager that you've felt just like PTL front-man David Bazan felt when he wrote this song.  Wondering "Where has God gone?" is a common feeling for us all at some point or another...most of us just aren't brave enough to say it.

Peace, be still.  

A Hypothetical

Suppose Jesus walked into a church board meeting this morning and was given $1,000,000 with which to do whatever he thought best.  What do you think he would do with it?  Does his decision look like what your decision would be?  Does it look like the decision your church would make?

Music: Ascend the Hill- Rock of Ages

Lectio Divina

Yesterday, my class and I discussed studying the Bible for all its worth.  We all agreed that too often our study of the Bible is cursory, routine, and mundane.  It's so easy to get into scheduled habits when it comes to the Scripture.  Over the years, I have read a whole lot of Scripture.  Many times, though, it's felt like it has gone in one ear and out the other.  I've read for completion or for an academic understanding, often missing out on the richness and personal application that the Living Book offers me.  Lectio divina (sacred reading), an ancient approach to the Scriptures, offers a method of experiencing the Bible that helps us go beyond surface readings and connect with the One.

Initiated sometime in the 4th Century, possibly by Pope Gregory I and Saint Benedict, lectio divina is a spiritually holistic approach to spending time in God's Word.  Going beyond simply reading and thinking, lectio divina is a prayerful communion with the Holy Spirit.  The early Benedictine monks put great emphasis on lectio divina, aligning it with their duties of prayer and service.  While this sacred ritual has roots in the Cathloic tradition, the steps involved in the process are appropriate for Christians of all doctrinal flavors.

First, choose a small passage of Scripture to explore (lectio).  The Scripture can range from one verse to a significantly longer passage.  Ultimately the length does not matter as the pursuit of lectio divina is for God to illuminate phrases and concepts in the passage that resonate with the your spirit.  (Just to be clear, this is not a post-modern, emergent approach to interpreting Scripture.  Orthodox interpretation is still foundational.  It is simply a focus on what stands out in a verse in that reading.)  Slowly read the Scripture out loud, letting each word resound in your ears.  The words should not just be heard, but felt.  Read and re-read the passage, reciting phrases multiple times if something particular stands out.  What is the Holy Spirit specifically saying to me today?

Second, begin to meditate over the phrase or idea that the Holy Spirit has highlighted (meditatio).  (Note that Christian meditation is far different than Eastern meditation.  Eastern meditation puts focus on emptying your mind, while Christian meditation is a process of allowing God to fill your mind with truth.)  Ponder the meaning of the words, and allow them to mingle with your thoughts, fears, experiences, etc.  How do all of these things become more deeply informed by what the Lord has brought to mind?  

Third, talk to the Lord about what you are thinking, feeling, and experiencing through this particular passage (oratio).  Our Lord desires intimacy with us and wants us to pour out our thoughts and emotions to Him.  (We can't lose sight of this miraculous truth---the Creator of all things actually cares about US...incomprehensible!)  Pray the Scriptures you are reading back to God, claiming His promises, thanking Him for His love, asking Him to explain any confusion you might be experiencing.

Fourth, be still and silent and rest in God's presence (meditatio).  This step is probably the most difficult for us as we live in a society that devalues rest and puts a premium on efficiency.  Remind yourself that prayer is a conversation and we must allow God to speak back to us.  This is certainly opposed to the typical prayer monologue that most of us have every day.  Let the "still small voice of God" speak to you and rest in Him.

Lectio divina is not mystical or more spiritual than other ways of studying the Bible.  It does, however, force us to slow down.  We need that.  The rest of life is fast enough, let's let our time with God be sacred moments that we refuse to rush.  We should savor our study time, not just look to complete it.


God, time belongs to You...let us approach life, and our sacred study, with that truth in mind.

Community Need

(Re-post from the Blackbird Network)

There is a young handicapped man whose mother (primary care giver) died before Christmas. Due to lack of finances, her body is still at the morgue. This man's case worker contacted us to see if we (the Church) could help in providing burial for this woman and help this young man have closure.

Contact me through Facebook if you can help out and I will pass it on

Music: Ascend the Hill- Take the World, But Give Me Jesus

Beautiful take on an old one

Jesus as the Definition of "Christian"

"We are told to obey Jesus, but the standard of conduct and the leading characteristics of a faithful Christian life curiously avoid Jesus.  It's almost as if there is an unspoken agreement that it's unfair to bring Jesus in as the definition and measurement of following Jesus."- Michael Spencer


Quick---what are the first characteristics that come to mind when you hear the term "good Christian"?  If I clear my mind of my recent reading (Shane Claiborne, et al) and focus on the last 29 years of thinking, this is what comes to mind: reads the Bible on a regular basis, goes to Church every week, loves his/her family, tithes consistently, and generally is just a happy-go-lucky kind of person.  I bet this is pretty similar to the standard definition of a "good Christian" that most people hold.  Yet, if we dare to actually allow Jesus to define "Christian," it really starts to shake up those pre-conceived ideas that we just assume are true.


"Reads the Bible on a regular basis"- Jesus was a master of the Scriptures.  We can make that assumption simply from knowing that he was a rabbi and that the process of rabbinical training involved in-depth memorization of Old Testament texts.  The honored title of "raboni" did not come without sacrifice.  Jesus knew the Word.  We see him skillfully weave together texts and interpret them in such an authoritative way that even the most prominent teachers and scribes were astounded.  If Jesus is to define what a Christian is, we simply cannot settle for a bit of reading before bed so we can cross it off our master plan.  Scripture must envelope our lives and be the central starting point for everything we do and say.


"Goes to church every week"- Jesus completely redefined the religious establishment and initiated the Church as his followers bound together as one body.  When we actually begin to define church as Jesus defined Church, it kind of makes "goes to church every week" seem kind of silly, doesn't it?  Don't get me wrong; Jesus (as well as the rest of the New Testament writers) clearly outline the need for believers to be surrounded by a Godly community.  Jesus attended synagogue and spent time with believers, illustrating the need for both times of corporate worship (church service) and for fellowship with other believers (the Church).  The Church meets every day, unlike the church.


"Loves his/her family"- I don't doubt for a second that Jesus loved his family, just as he loved all people.  But in one of those horribly difficult statements of Christ, he tells his audience, "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple."  Wow, that's a little harsh, Jesus.  However, we cannot conveniently dismiss the fact that Christ spoke these words.  It's my understanding (as misguided as it may be), that Christ was simply stating that no person could come before him in the heart of a true disciple.  His command was not to hate family, but to love him so much that our affection for anyone else looks closer to hate than love.  So, yes, a "good Christian" loves his family...but the person striving to be like Christ loves Jesus far more than any other person, leaving "loves his/her family" as a less-than-adequate descriptor of a Christian.


"Tithes regularly"- Jesus clearly commands Christians to tithe.  But he also tells us in a whole bunch of other places to sell all we have, give to the poor, take care of the weak, rescue the sick, and several other things that take us way out of our comfort zone.  God wants your tithe, but he wants you to have a giving heart infinitely more.  Jesus is constantly among undesirable people, including some who he adopted into his inner circle.  He feeds the hungry, heals the sick, touches the leper, befriends the prostitute, and simply loves the unlovable.  What type of giving did Jesus do?  It sure did go beyond 10%, didn't it?


As we read the Gospels, we must cling to the authentic Jesus.  His path is narrow and is not for the weak-minded or the uncommitted.  He told us life as a true disciple would be hard, but he also said that it would bring about an inheritance of peace and joy that we cannot contain.  His burden is light to those who are willing to take on his yoke.


Help us Lord Jesus to define ourselves by You alone.

Mud Pies in a Slum

“We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”- C.S. Lewis


Lord, help me not to be satisfied with anything less than You.

Music: The Welcome Wagon- "He Never Said a Mumblin' Word"

The Welcome Wagon is a married couple, the Reverend Thomas Vito Aiuto and his wife Monique, who execute a genre of gospel music that is refreshingly plain. Their hymns are modest and melodic; they take on a vast history of sacred song traditions, delivered with the simple desire to know their Maker more intimately.

Book Review: Hipster Christianity by Brett McCracken

"What happens when church and cool collide?  What happens to the church when our concern with appearances equals or outweighs our concern for sound doctrine or faithful practice?"  Fellow Wheaton alum Brett McCracken addresses these questions in Hipster Christianity, an entertaining, thoughtful read that addresses the growing sentiment among Christians that the church must keep up with culture.

What is cool?  This is the starting point for McCracken---examining the essence of cool.  He defines cool as "an attractive attribute that embodies the existential strains to be independent, enviable, one-of-a-kind, and trailblazing."  In other words, something must have sense of independence and uniqueness to fit the hip bill.  "Hipsters," he says, are "fashionable, young independent contrarians."  Once something, be it a fashion, music, etc. is commandeered by corporate America or the public at large, it loses the qualities that make it cool.  The transient nature of cool presents a problem for hipsters, of course.  In order to remain cool and "relevant," a hipster constantly has to scramble to stay two steps ahead with the trends they choose.

Hipsters---recognizable by their dress and musical tastes (described at length by McCracken) as much as their contrarian attitudes---have become a more recognizable piece of the Christian puzzle in recent years.  Their growing influence in the church coincides with both the rise of emergent theology and the rise of hipsterdom in general, marked by the release of Relevant in 2003 (an edgy Christian magazine that caters to hipsters).  While McCracken does an admirable job describing the history of the movement, his more important argument is that the evangelical church has mirrored the hipster desire to mingle cool with Christianity.  This should come as no revelation to any of us evangelicals who have had our eyes and ears open over the last decade.  Undoubtedly, the church has latched on to the notion that we must "meet people where they're at" and be as "relevant" as possible in order to attract people to our "product."  (Jesus is not a commodity to be packaged, and even if he were, would we really need to dress him up to somehow improve on what he already is?)

McCracken cites several problems with the Church's desire to make itself relevant---individualism (promoting a "meet the customer's needs" mentality), alienation (cool is lonely as you're only relevant as long as you stay hip), competition (the mad scramble to be on the cutting edge and to stay in front of the church growth race),  pride and vanity (the ego that develops as our churches "thrive"), a focus on the now (cool is all about being trendy NOW, whereas Christianity should be about the transcendent and eternal), rebellion (by definition, cool is contrarian and we drag that cancer into the Church when we insist on being cool), and the reduction of our identities to the visual (how good our worship team sounds, how neat our lights are, how inviting our foyer is, how cool our pastor dresses, etc).  Ironically, the Church already IS relevant at its core, and it has been for two thousand years.  By bowing down to the trendsetters and what we think our culture wants from Christianity, we have made ourselves just like the rest of the world in form and over time that actually erodes our relevance...we have chosen transience over transcendence.  Christianity remains relevant when we hold fast to truth of Scripture and set ourselves apart in our liturgy, our worship, our service, and our fellowship.  It's relevant because those were God's chosen modes or reaching the world and they haven't changed just because the culture has.  Maybe we shouldn't be so quick to abandon the rich history of the Church in favor of the latest fad in church culture, fads that are sure to be here today and gone tomorrow.

So, Christianity, McCracken argues, can be transiently relevant or transcendently relevant.  One fades, and the other lasts forever.   I highly recommend reading this book as he explores these issues in much more depth than I can communicate in this forum.  This topic of mingling hip and faith is crucial for all of us planted in the Church to think on deeply as we look to impact our culture in ways that honor our Lord.

Roots

(My wife and I, along with many of our friends, have been in conversation in recent months about what the Church should look like [as opposed to the church].  This blog is my way of trying to flesh out those thoughts and maybe get some conversation going that leads to action.  Some posts will be theological or philosophical in nature, some will be personal, and some will be reviews of books or music that can help us as we journey towards re-discovering the authentic Church).

Six years and $30,000 later, I still sometimes ask myself---why did I ever decide to pursue a master's degree in Church history?!?  Talk about your impractical degrees.  Not "pragmatic" enough for pastoral ministry, not "secular" enough for teaching in a public school, and not "advanced" enough for instructing in higher education.  Sure, those two letters---MA---look nice on a resume, but resumes don't pay the bills.  Yet, God has still always had an answer for meeting my needs and jobs have surfaced in some remarkable, eerie ways.  I've come to accept that education does not always need to match vocation and vice versa.  However, the question of "Why did I do that?" has still bugged me from time to time (especially at the end of each month when we pay on our outrageous student loan debt...but that's a topic for another post).  This last year or so, through the circumstances life has thrown my direction, I've started to get a handle on the "why" and maybe even on the "what" of those questions.

After five years teaching in Tennessee, I uprooted my life and moved back to the Region (Northwest Indiana for those of you not from "the Region").  I grew up here, so I didn't have to put down new roots; I just needed to re-root myself in familiar soil.  Easier said than done.  I started asking myself, "What was really important to me here?  What priorities define life here these days?" As I was looking to rediscover my roots in the Region, I started thinking about some of those same questions as they pertained to the Church.  "What's the Church all about?  What should it's priorities be?  What qualities should define the Church?" Over a couple of months, I visited a lot of churches and got the impression that most of them were badly missing the mark of what was intended initially by God.   For years, I have felt twinges of guilt as I fancied myself as a bit of a church critic.  However, it doesn't take a cynic to recognize emptiness or that something is a mere shadow of reality.  Then it dawned on me.  I didn't have a moment of great inspiration and there were no flashes of light, but it finally occurred to me that maybe that Church history degree could be valuable after all---if I know anything, I know the roots of the Church.  Rather than hoping the Church would change as I sat back at a safe distance, maybe it was time to be a voice for change.  Further, maybe I could start to BE the Church without waiting to catch the wave of the next big movement.  So started my search for the authentic Church, and it started with Acts.

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.  Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles.  All the believers were together and had everything in common.  They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.  Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. (Acts 2:42-46)

The early Church of Acts 2 was known for their devotion---a word that is foreign to a flighty culture of consumers who have forfeited commitment for utility.  Devotion is a noun that can never be separated from the adjectives that define it---zealous, earnest, amorous.  How many people or causes can carry the tag of devotion in the 21st century?  In a society that rises and falls on trends, the fine art of devotion is not only no longer cultivated, it isn't appreciated either.  Certainly, there are examples among us of wonderful relationships that are marked by devotion, although these become increasingly rare in a day and age in which divorce is more common than marriage.  Devotion to a cause, much less the study of Scripture, seems to be nearly obsolete.  Unfortunately, apathy has become a trademark of our culture.  The early Church was devoted to the teachings of the apostles, instruction that is conveniently located in the last 27 books of our Bible.  They were zealous to be taught, enamored with the very words of God.  I'm not talking about commitment---regimented time spent in the Bible, reading plans, devotional books, etc.  Commitment is wonderful, but it is not devotion.  Devotion to the Bible means we ache for it.  We can't get enough of it.  We truly adore the Bible when we are devoted to it.  I know I need to get on board here.  I have spent countless hours poring over books at Barnes and Noble or at half.com, hoping to find the perfect book that will rock my perspective when, ironically, I own a book that has been pretty good at doing that for a couple thousand years.  If we want a truly authentic Church that has legitimate relevance, we can't stand idly by while the Body becomes increasingly biblically illiterate.  We can no longer settle for seeker sensitive messages that unpack only God's grace and love and leave his judgement, wrath, and discipline in the shadows.  Devotion to the apostle's teachings means all of it---just ask your wife if she wants you to be partly devoted to her.  The Church (not the church), is made up of individuals (not buildings and programs), and this is an individual problem (not an institutional problem).

There is more to that passage in Acts and I plan to write on those soon...however, this concept of a Church who is passionately devoted to the Scripture is a starting point for developing the authentic community that I know we all are desperate for.  May we rediscover true passion for God's Word.