Stop Going to Church

No, really. Try not going to church for a month. Stop program involvement, stop weekly committee meetings, whatever it is that promotes busyness at church, try not doing it and see where God leads you. We often stress the importance of our spiritual leaders needing a sabbatical yet we ourselves have a difficult time stepping back and looking at why we do what we do for the church. It's easy to look at outsiders who are trying to fill a void in their life with alcohol, sex, career or money. But it's much more difficult to look at the church and see people doing the same thing all in the name of a good cause. Maybe even, all in the name of Jesus. The Bible says that Jesus would be a stumbling block for some to experience the kingdom of God. But for others, the stumbling block is the church. The modern church has become a place where a person can invest in their entire life and still never really know God...Church becomes a hobby.
Here's a simple test to take. Ask yourself these questions. Have I been transformed? Not, do I know more about the Bible then I did a year ago. Not, am I living a more moral life than I was a year ago. Do you know Jesus better? Do you live a life led by the spirit and not by selfish impulses? Do you go to church week after week, involved in every activity possible, and see no change in your life? I'm not saying to forsake the assembly. I'm simply asking if the church is accomplishing it's purpose in your life-to facilitate spiritual growth. If not, stop going. Stop pretending. Seek God...not the church.

Baptism or Belief?

The community church says that baptism is a public showing of one's belief in Christ. The Churches of Christ say that baptism is the way by which one is saved. The community church makes a fairly big deal about believing in Christ, and makes baptism out to be a fun event that has sign ups (this is obviously a generalization). The Churches of Christ build baptism up to be the end all, and don't talk much about the belief aspect of salvation. What I would like to argue is that "belief" in and of itself, is just as important and necessary as the act of baptism.
When the scriptures are examined, "belief" is accompanied by baptism with few exceptions. In fact, one could argue that Jesus dealt more with belief than he did baptism. The roman centurion wanting Jesus to heal his daughter-Jesus says this, "Go! It will be done just as you believed it would." The leper, the woman who touched Jesus garment, the men who lowered their friend through the roof to be healed-there are many accounts where people "believed" and were healed! Also, be mindful of the fact that in the first century it was blasphemous to "believe" in a king other than Caesar. That to "believe" in Christ was to risk one's life. To proclaim a personal belief, to change lifestyles to mesh with a certain belief system, to evangelize friends, was to say the Roman government was wrong. Baptism or belief? Both are indispensable equals in talking about salvation.

Addicted to a Rule Book, or Abuser of Grace?

My pride often gets in the way of my own ability to read the scriptures as they are intended-as a change agent for my heart.  So often I read the bible to find some fact there I didn't know or just to appease my conscience.  Here are two major problems with the way many have viewed scripture (including myself).  

First, is the idea that the bible is only a story.  This idea rings true with the younger generation.  It's a compilation of good people, stories, good morals, and a good man.  None of this really means anything however, since we are saved by grace, and seeing how it is only as story, one can live however they please.  Further, we can love Jesus without really adhering to the style of life he calls us to or belonging to a church.  

Conversely, the second, stems from viewing the scriptures themselves as being the thing that saves us.  This view includes all the stories, but puts much more emphasis on the what the words say and how exactly they say it. Further, if we adhere to each one of the laws in the bible properly, we are saved through moral living.

Neither one of these views are correct on their own.  It is only when we view the bible as a story of God's redemptive love (one that knows what's best for us) for his people, both of these views begin to align themselves.  The abusers of God's grace begin to see he has standards, and those addicted to the law begin to see his grace.  When these views align themselves, the word of God truly sets us free.  Free from judgement of others, free from slavery to sin, and free to experience the teachable grace of God.  

7 Things the Church of Christ Needs to Talk More About

1. The Holy Spirit (being more open to its leadership/understanding its functions)
2. Suffering (how to suffer righteously and the proper mindset)
3. Pacifism (examining what Jesus said about war and violence)
4. Apologetics (why we believe what we believe)
5. Nationalism (we are citizens of a kingdom before a nation)
6. Homosexuality (how to deal with/respond to it)
7. Religiousness/Religiosity as an Idol (making church involvement a replacement for spiritual growth)

10 Idols the Church of Christ Needs to Denounce

1. Moral living as holiness
2. Form of our faith is more important than what our faith stands for
3. Attendance to service times held up as a spiritual living standard (as in, only the truly spiritually mature attend every service).
4. Holding up the Bible as a lawbook instead of a story book
5. Physical age equals spiritual maturity
6. Church is the endpoint not Jesus
7. Sunday morning service is somehow different and more important than other meeting times
8. When we say "the church" It doesn't only mean the church of Christ
9. The elitist idea that we are the only ones completely right (as in, some other churches have some parts right but not all)
10. Our church buildings are our property and are some sacred place

Has the Church of Christ Doctrine Become an Idol?

Have we made or been guilty of making right doctrine our idol? Not only right doctrine, but the bible itself?  Has the bible itself, become a law book weighing us down, instead of Good news and a story of redemption? One might not blatantly say that right doctrine is more important that Jesus Christ dying for our sins, but many act as if this holds true.  If we find our identity in the fact that church of christ doctrine is most right, we have made it our idol.  Imagine your faith as a brick wall (Thanks to Rob Bell for the illustration).  Each part of what you believe is a brick.  What if, one of those bricks were taken out?  What if one of those bricks were proved to be untrue?  Your entire wall would crumble.  Instead, our faith should look much more like a trampoline; stretching, bending, changing, expanding, and contracting.  When we make our denominational beliefs ultimate, they become an idol just as disgusting as if it were a physical god that we bow down to.  The only thing that should be ultimate in our lives, and the only thing we should find our identity in, is the fact that Jesus Christ died and saved us, so that we wouldn't have to try and save ourselves (Because God knew we couldn't.  He tried that with Israel and it didn't work).  So the next time you feel a judgmental spirit creeping up inside of you towards another denomination or set of beliefs, ask yourself, "Has being right become my idol?". 

Point Man Leadership: A Shift Towards Trust

Point man leadership will hardly survive in the current paradigm of the church of Christ. With such a high rate of turnover among ministers, congregations being used to the elders controlling everything, and point man leadership being a really big shift in how the current church of Christ operates , it would be a difficult sell to any established church. That being said, it would have to be implemented in a younger church both in physical age of the members and years of establishment. Or, it could be implemented in a "Breakout Church" (as described in Tom Rainer's book, Breakout Churches).

One reason I think appointment leadership would work, is that it puts much of the decision making capability into the hands of the most informed people. Instead of the elders having to spend so much of their excess time, many who have jobs, dealing with issues the staff talks about every day, why not let the staff make the decision? Think about it this way. The church staff is paid to think about logistics issues for 40 hours a week. What happens when the elders must make a logistics decision, is the staff must correctly communicate the pros and cons of said decision to the elders so that they can make the decision. Conversely, point man leadership would require that the elders have complete trust and faith in the preacher they hired to make the right decision. Sure this may seem like a lot of power given to one man, but when there are proper accountability systems in place, this shouldn't be a problem.

Think about all the examples of point man leadership in the Bible. Abraham, Moses, David, Paul... Just to name a few of the big ones. Sure they screwed up, sure they had their fair share of selfish decisions, but God always redeemed them for his purposes. Instead of being "better safe than sorry", let's take some risks and see where God leads the church.