One Church

In this day of churches competing for membership, and churches trying to find the best way to reach those who don’t regularly attend church, debates often rise among clergy as to what the most effective outreach method is.  When such debates arise, an outsider would be hard pressed to realize that Bible Believing Churches worship the same God, made known through Jesus Christ who brought salvation to all who believe, and the Holy Spirit who convicts us to come to faith and remain faithful.  It seems our differences overpower our unity.

It is also said that 11 AM on Sunday morning is the most segregated hour of the week.  Racial groups are separated during the worship of the God of all of us who created all of us in the Image of God.  At one point in our American History this was due to overt racism where the blacks were not welcome to worship with whites.  Obviously, this was unbiblical, unethical, and sinful.  In modern day, because of this initial segregation, various races have developed different worship traditions.  While it would be wrong to say that racism does not exist, we have come a long way.  We still have a long way to go.  But when it comes to worshiping the same God, we stand unified more often than we are divided though our traditions of worship remain different. Add to that mix the various other traditions that have come to the United states over the years including the Latino population, and other populations including (but not limited to) Korean Christians, African Christians, Eastern Orthodox Christians, Roman Catholics and so on.  Each group worships the same God but does so in their own unique way.

Tonight, June 30, 2013, something special happened in a small town in North Carolina.  Liberty, NC is a very small town. But a miracle happened here. The Spirit of God descended upon the churches of Liberty and led us to realize that though we worship in different buildings, we serve the same God.  Though we worship in different traditions, our goals are the same. Though we are of different races and ages, God has called all of us to a deeper relationship and to serve God with our lives.

Tonight, June 30, 2013, the various churches of Liberty gathered at the Church of God of Prophecy to worship in music together and celebrate our unity in an event called “One Church Singing” sponsored by the Liberty Association of Churches.  For about 2 hours, there were no traditions. There were no races. There was just one church and Jesus, our Savior!

As a parent, I was humbled as my 6-year-old son played “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee” on his violin to praise God to open the service. As a pastor, I don’t get to use my prior training as a musician very often, but my wife (a musician as well) and I played some songs.  We then sat back and sang along as other churches shared music praising God.  The music was joyful, the music praised God, but the miracle was that everyone in that room (I would estimate there were at least 100 people if not more), realized we were ONE Church worshipping ONE God!

As a group, we laughed, we clapped, we sang, we shed some tears, but most importantly, we worshipped.  Those things that divide us – denominations, race, gender, age – became unimportant.  We were truly One Church!

As the music continued, my daughter who just turned four was caught up in the joy and danced.  Maybe now she doesn’t realize what caused her to dance, but I’m convinced the Holy Spirit had a hand in her dancing! Yes, she is an active child, and she does at times dance to music, but this was unlike anything I’ve seen before.  The Holy Spirit was at work!

My prayer for any town or city is that all churches realize that we are all ONE church! We worship differently, but we serve the same God. Tonight, Liberty realized that, and I pray this is just the beginning of our growth into God’s plan.

The pastors and people in the pews may change, but God will always remain the same!

Sick and Tired of Politics as Usual: Use the Politics of Jesus

Maybe this is just a personal rant, but I hope not.  I hope it speaks to the hearts and minds of all who read this.  But more than that, I hope it calls you to action!  I hope it prompts you to DO something, SAY something, WRITE something – FORCE yourself to be recognized!

I don’t think I’m alone when I say that I’m sick of the way America’s politics are handled.  Gone are the days of cooperation, compromise, and civility.  Now all we are left with is blame, finger pointing, and mudslinging.  And let’s not kid ourselves – This is not just in Government Politics, but it’s in the Politics of our Churches, Denominations, Families, Circle of Friends, and even social media (like FaceBook, Twitter, etc.).

Let’s define Politics.  For the purposes of this essay, Politics is the way that people deal with one another in order to make decisions.  Mostly I’m going to focus on high-level politics (Government, Denominational, World), but the same could be said about our own dealings with our smaller circles of friends, co-workers, and families.

I’m tired of opening the newspaper, going online, watching TV, and even trying to relax by surfing FaceBook because of Politics.  I concede that wherever 2 or more people are gathered, there must be politics – it’s the way we relate to each other.  It’s how we make decisions.  Maybe I should say I’m tired of the STATE of Politics, not Politics in general.

Politics right now are filled with hate, mistrust, division, anger, misinformation, exaggeration…need I go on???  Instead of saying, “Here’s why my idea is good,” all we hear is “This is why that person is an awful, lying, cheating, immoral, SOB.”

When I vote, I want to know why I should vote for Person X…not why I shouldn’t vote for Person Y.  I’m tired of voting for the “least worst” candidate.  I want to vote for the best candidate.  I’m tired of settling for the “least worst” solution.  I want to have a hand in the best solution.

Let me stop and remind you, this is not just about National and State politics.  My own Denomination seemed to forget who is really our leader.  We just had our General Conference of the worldwide Methodist Church, and to put it mildly, it was not pretty.  We forgot that God’s plan is what we should be following…not our own.  We forgot God’s call to make disciples, and instead the delegates argued about who can and cannot be a disciple.  Last time I checked, that’s not a human decision.  Last time I checked, God gets to do the judging, not us.  Of course there is “right” and there is “wrong.”  We need to uphold “right” and shun “wrong,” but unfortunately, we pick one issue and let it dominate.  We can’t even agree that we disagree.  We can’t even admit that we need God’s help and leading. 

I dread Election Years.  We need to elect, I get that!  But can anyone tell me why every 4 years certain issues come up, and then they are forgotten for the next 3 ½ years?  They didn’t magically disappear.  Are we so stupid that we don’t see that politicians raise certain issues to divide the average citizens?  Are we so stupid that we let them divide us?

Name the issue:  Health Care, Homosexuality, Abortion, Taxes (need I go on?).  Why are these issues only important in years divisible by 4?  I’ll answer that…Because they divide us!  Because they put Americans into 2 camps.  These are all important issues.  They need to be discussed and legislated (or discussed and not legislated).  But they do not need to divide us.

Do we have to be a “Fear Based” Nation??? Do we have to make decisions based off of fear of what might happen?  Or can we make decisions based on hope?

I realize all Americans are not Christians.  But, for those of us who are, can we not follow the Politics of Jesus?  (I’m NOT necessarily speaking about the book of the same name by John Howard Yoder – though it does apply here).  Can we elect our leaders based on hope for the future instead of fear of what the other candidate may do?  And if our candidate loses, can we still live in the hope that God gives us? 

I’m not sure where Christians thought we are supposed to have it “easy.”  I’m not sure where Christians get the idea that life is a Utopia.  The Perfect World only comes when Christ redeems the world.  Till then, we need to live in hope for that day, not live in fear of what may happen. The world will only reflect the Peaceable Kingdom when it is redeemed.  Until that day, we need to continue to live in hope.  How will we know that day of redemption?  Isaiah 11 tells us: ⁶The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. ⁷The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. ⁸The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den. ⁹They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. (NRSV)

As People of God, we should be leading the discussions and debates…not falling for the tactics of hate and division.  We can disagree – Creation is diverse – We SHOULD disagree.  But from that disagreement, we should lead by example the gift of compromise and consensus.  We don’t need to compromise on things that are utterly important – It’s never right to commit arson.  We don’t need to compromise on that.  But on other issues, we can and should compromise. 

Not one of us has full knowledge of God’s Will.  But all of us have SOME knowledge of God’s Will.  When we can’t agree, we should acknowledge it and wait until God reveals more.  We must not get stuck in the trap of “this is how we’ve always done it.”  Sure, things worked like that in the past…but this isn’t the past.  This is NOW.  Some things stay the same, but most change. 

To close, I’ll give you an example:  In the Jewish Bible, the final book is Chronicles (they combine 1 and 2 Chronicles into 1 Book).  It closes like this:  'Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth hath the LORD, the God of heaven, given me; and He hath charged me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whosoever there is among you of all His people--the LORD his God be with him--let him go up.' (JPS 1917 Translation). 

“Let him go up.”  Where is “up?” In this decree of Persian Emperor Cyrus, he is referring to the Temple.  To the Jews of that day, the Temple was God’s home on earth.  I don’t think it’s an accident that the Jewish Bible closes with this verse.  God IS with us – we are to go up.  We are to continually seek God’s will.  It’s not a one-time deal.  We are to continually “go up” to meet God and serve God.  Only when we Christians agree on that can Politics be The Politics of Jesus.

Don’t fall into the trap of “Ugly Politics.”  Use “The Politics of Jesus.”