Category Archives: Church Life

Church Life should be governed by God’s design and purposes for the Body of Christ with Jesus as its Head and us as members united though diverse.

Devotion to God’s Word Makes Sense If . . .

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Devotion to God's Word

In a previous post we looked at three requirements to be devoted to the Truth of God’s Word which included . . .
— a proper view of the authority of God’s Word
— a proper view of the commission to teach God’s Word
— a proper view of human tendencies to become distracted

In this post, we will consider what should be the greatest motivation for devotion to God’s Word — a proper view of the God of the Bible.

Being Devoted to the Word Makes Sense If We View God for Who He Is

A God who is perceived as all-knowing, all-powerful, and always faithful is Someone whose words should hold weight in our hearts and minds.  Why would we not want to tenaciously cling to what this kind of God says?  Devotion to God’s Word makes sense with this kind of Author.

Remove the “all” and “always” and you have an anemic God.  Why would we devote ourselves to learning and following the words of that kind of God?  It just wouldn’t make sense if we didn’t know for sure what is true and what isn’t and whether or not He could or would follow through on what He said.

  1. Is the God of Scripture all-knowing?

A God who is not omniscient could make mistakes in the content of His Word.  Only a God who knows the beginning from the end could put together a consistently accurate and cohesive book written over the course of time through the instrument of multiple human authors (Heb. 1:1).

  1. Is the God of Scripture all-powerful?

A God who is not omnipotent could fail to back up all that is written in the Word.  Only a God who can do all things is capable of fulfilling the “desire and achieve the purpose” for which it was given (Isa. 55:11).

  1. Is the God of Scripture always faithful?

A God who is not always faithful might not keep His Word because He could change His mind or have a bad day.  Only a God who is always faithful can be considered trustworthy (Ps. 111:7-8; Heb. 10:23).

How we view the God of Scripture has to make a difference in our level of devotion to His Word.  The greater we perceive Him to be, the more likely we will be to adhere to His Word.

Likewise, how we present this God to others will help motivate them to believe and act on His Word.  The more we present to them a God who is big enough, great enough, powerful enough, and wise enough to have the final word, the more likely they will be to make His Word the final authority in their lives.

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What Happened to Devotion to the Word?

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The early church devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, actively living it out in genuine worship, prayer, fellowship, and benevolence toward others.  The result?  — They saw growth.

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, . . . And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.  (Acts 2:42-47)

Devotion to God's Word
We have God’s Word, which contains the Apostles’ teaching. Does the church today maintain such devotion to Truth? Or, have we replaced it with pragmatism, determined by our experiences, and based on our feelings?

Devotion to truth becomes more difficult when seen as relative for it constantly changes. Remaining steadfast in Truth, despite what is happening in society around us, isn’t always easy but it is essential to living out God’s purpose for the church and our individual lives.

What is required for such devotion to the Word?

  • We need to view the Word as our primary source of truth and equipping (2 Tim. 3:16-17). We can learn from a variety of sources but when devoted to the teaching of God’s Word, we filter everything through Scripture.  God’s Word becomes our grid.
  • We need to take seriously Jesus’ Great Commission that not only says to go and make disciples but also to teach “everything” He commanded (Matt. 28:19-20).  Being relevant in today’s world does not mean abandoning Truth.
  • We need to do our best to deal with hindrances to a wholehearted devotion to it, in our own lives and in the lives of those to whom we minister (2 Cor. 10:5).

For Bible teachers, it might mean doing our best to minimize distractions to the teaching of God’s Word.

For church leadership, it might mean working through programming and scheduling issues to maximize the time we can devote to God’s Word.

In discipleship relationships, it might mean helping people learn to process life through God’s Word and not according to feelings or circumstances.

In counseling or mentoring situations, it might mean helping people deal with fears and anxieties that could supplant time and attention that should go to sitting at Jesus’ feet, listening to His Word.

What will it take for you to maintain devotion to God’s Word in your sphere of ministry?

For More About God’s Word & Help Studying It:  Bible Study Resources Page

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Why Don’t We Get That It’s About the Heart?

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Above all else, guard your heart,
for it is the wellspring of life.  (Prov. 4:23)

What's in People's Heart

We might say it’s about the heart but our practices so often emphasize behavior modification or external conformity.

In teaching we see it in applications that only focus on behavior, through the use of a reward system, in using discipline as more of punishment or crowd control than helping students become who God intends them to be, etc.

If counseling we see it through encouraging all the right steps a person should take rather than examining attitudes and motivations, in failure to incorporate prayer into the session, etc.

In leading we see it through integrity breaks wherein we let the end justify the means, when we expect people to adapt to change without preparing them for it, etc.

When discipling we see it through focusing on what Christians are supposed to do (i.e., Christian disciplines) more than godly character, in accountability that fails to discuss what’s going on inside, etc.

What’s inside eventually comes out so why not deal more with the heart?

For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.  (Matt. 12:34)

For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.  (Matt. 15:19)

The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.  (Lk. 6:45)

Here are some possible reasons we don’t make it more about the heart:

Character (inner being) is difficult to gauge.  Appearance is much easier to use as a standard.

— Yet, “The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”  (1 Sam. 16:7)  “As water reflects a face, so a man’s heart reflects the man.”  (Prov. 27:19)

Motivations are difficult to decipher.  Actions are much easier to define.

— Yet, “All a man’s ways seem right to him, but the LORD weighs the heart.”  (Prov. 21:2)
“He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts.” (1 Cor. 4:5)

Results are difficult to measure when heart transformation is the goal.  Behavior is much easier to quantify.

— Yet, “Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.  These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.” (Deut. 6:5-6)  “For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.”  (Rom. 10:10)  “If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened” (Ps. 66:18)

Making it more about the heart:

1)  Prayer similar to Psalm 139:23-24 needs to be a regular part of our time with the Lord privately and corporately. — “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.  See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

2)  Begin this emphasis when people are children.  When the Christian life is all about external conformity through the years, it is hard for people to all of the sudden switch to a focus on the heart.  — Worksheet for Children’s Teachers:  Heart Transformation or Behavior Modification?

3)  Teach, counsel, lead, and serve like you really believe it is about the heart.  Examine your practices to determine the underlying message people are receiving.  Remember that your words alone are only a part of the communication process.  Are you modeling an approach to life in Christ that acknowledges the importance of the heart?

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Churches, We Don’t Need to Compete with the World!

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Sure, as a church you might not be able to keep up with the latest and greatest high tech equipment.  You might not have the time or personnel to develop major productions.  You might not be able to afford presentation projectors for each classroom.  Your pastoral staff might not be qualified as executives of Fortune 500 companies.  Don’t panic.  We don’t need to compete with the world! 

Don’t get me wrong, we should strive for excellence in ministry because we want to give of our best to the Lord and we want to do what we can to reach people.  In God’s economy both the process and end result matter.  Yet, our motivation for providing quality ministry should not be in order to compete with the world.  We don’t need to compete with the world!

Why Competing with the World Isn’t Necessary in the Church

In case the point of this post hasn’t sunk in, let me repeat it.  We don’t need to compete with the world!  Why? — Because we have Jesus!

… in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.  (Col. 1:14-18) 

All of Scripture points us to Jesus.  He is all-sufficient.  He is enough.  He is the answer.  We don’t have to compete with the world!

I came across this video that should help drive home the reality that what we have to offer people is far more than they can get anywhere else.  It will be worth four minutes of your time — even if you’ve seen it before.  (If the video doesn’t open in your browser, you can watch it on GodTube.)

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The Church as a Community

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The Church is a Community
Community:
a group of people connected by something in common

What the Bible Teaches About the Church as a Community

The cause for community:

The culture for community:

  • A Body that values one another, understanding of how we need each other (1 Cor. 12:15-24)
  • A Body that relates to one another with a deep caring, concern resulting in connectedness rather than letting differences divide (1 Cor. 12:25-26)

The criteria for community:

  • Unity of heart based on who we are in Christ, not other criteria  (Eph. 4:1-6)
  • Seeking after the common good, not looking out for our own interests  (Phil. 2:1-4)

The challenge for community:

  • To not allow the ways of the world to creep into our churches (comparing, competing, entitlement) but to constantly submit to the transforming work of God by presenting ourselves to Him …. “as living sacrifices” denotes an ongoing work  (Rom. 12:1-2)
  • To not become satisfied with status quo but to realize we are constantly in process … always seeking God’s help to love more and more (Eph. 4:3; Phil. 1:9; Heb. 10:24-25)
  • To not relegate this responsibility to ministry leaders … everyone must work at guarding, maintaining, and propelling community (Eph. 4:13-16)
 For example:
Teachers either block or promote community in their classes by the way they structure the teaching-learning process.
As individual members of the Body, we must bring ourselves into accountability not only to leadership but to one another.
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How Inclusive Are We?

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Inclusive Church - Join Us

We like to think of our churches as inclusive, warm, loving, friendly places to be but not everyone feels that way.  Not everyone feels like they belong in some churches.

Do we really accept and include people who are different from us as we would anyone else?

If a person who is single is in a group of married people, will they feel included?

If a person with a disability or special need of some sort is in a class, will they feel included?

If a person who is homeless walks into your worship service, will they feel included?

If a person with a different skin color or race visits, will they feel included?

It’s fairly easy to be warm, friendly, and accepting of those who are like us, but what about those who aren’t of the same race, marital, physical, mental, or economic status as us?

An Inclusive Church Follows Jesus’ Instruction

In Matthew 5:47 Jesus said, “And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?”  In the broad sense, we could say that brothers could be people united by some kind of common bond … those who are the “same” as us.  In the very next verse, Jesus goes on to say “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”  Just prior to this, in verse 45, Jesus defined the perfect ways of the Father.

… that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

He was talking about extending grace to those with moral differences. If we can’t extend ourselves to people with marital, physical, mental, economic, or racial differences, how will we be that way with “sinners”?  Yet, if we are to emulate the Father, we must be gracious to ALL people.

Struggle to accept and include others in your circle?

Matthew 5:48 tells us how.  We are to be perfect as the Father is perfect.  The word “perfect” does not mean sinless, although our Father in heaven is indeed sinless.  The original Greek word signifies something that is complete or mature, of full age. So, basically Jesus is saying, “Grow up!”  The more we live in the fullness of who HE is, the more we will love people no matter how different they are from us.  Sure, there might be some awkwardness at first because you don’t understand where they are coming from, but as you fulfill Jesus’ greatest commandments to love Him and to love people, you will extend yourself anyway.  You might not always say or do the right things, but at least you will try rather than ignore them.  You will take time to get to know and understand them.  You will truly WANT TO BE inclusive.

If you struggle extending yourself to any of the people listed above, scroll back up and click on the links for resources that could help you better understand these differences.  It’s a starting point.

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