Doing Church Differently

February 21, 2012 Leave a Comment

Elbert Hubbard was a prominent American writer, publisher, and philosopher before his untimely death aboard the Lusitania, the ship that was torpedoed by a German submarine off the coast of Ireland in 1915. Hubbard was known as a man of profound quotes. One of those, in particular, strikes a chord with me. He called tradition, “a clock that tells us what time it was.”

As we study the gospels we find that Jesus was frequently in conflict with the man-made traditions of the Jewish religious elite. In particular, many incidents involved Him purposely breaking the time-honored, but erroneous, rules that had been established for keeping the Sabbath day as a day of rest (Matthew 12:1-13; Luke 13:10-17; Luke 14:1-6; John 5:1-16). Of course, Christ’s actions weren’t surprising. In the Old Testament Hebrew, the Sabbath commandment consists of thirty-nine words. In accordance with those thirty-nine words, the Jewish rabbis devised their own list of thirty-nine ways in which a person could break the commandment. Then they took each of those thirty-nine ways and broke it down into thirty-nine divisions. This gave them a grand total of 1,521 ways by which one could break the Sabbath. Getting a tack in your sandal was considered carrying a burden on the Sabbath. Killing a flea was considered hunting on the Sabbath. Even eating an egg that was laid on Saturday was considered a violation because the hen had worked on the Sabbath. It’s no wonder that Jesus railed against such traditions.

While I certainly wouldn’t say that the traditions of the American way of “doing church” are as bad as those the Jews used to keep their Sabbath day, they sometimes seem about as entrenched. Try changing something in the typical local church and see what you get! What’s surprising is that so many of our traditions have little or no scriptural basis. Consider that for the first 300 years or so churches were simple “house-churches” (Romans 16:3-5; 1 Corinthians 16:19; Colossians 4:15; Philemon v.1-2; James 2:1-3; Acts 2:1-2; 2 John v.10). That means no: committees, deacon boards, business meetings, Sunday schools, Bible schools, Bible conferences, church budgets, choirs, Christmas plays, Easter dramas, Fall Festival parties, missions boards, youth missions trips, senior-citizen outings, or Christian schools. The congregations didn’t have pew-filled sanctuaries, baptisteries, education buildings, fellowship halls, gymnasiums, or life-activity centers either.

So how did they “do church”? Well, there were multiple house-churches in a city. When a congregation grew too big for the confines of a home, that was seen as an opportunity to begin a new offshoot house-church. All of the house-churches of a given city made up the one “church” of that city. There were pastors, men who were more typically called “elders,” “overseers,” or “bishops” (Acts 14:23; 20:17; 1 Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:5; James 5:14; Philippians 1:1; Ephesians 4:11). There were deacons, men who performed necessary menial acts of service in the congregations (Acts 6:1-7; 1 Timothy 3:8-13). The congregations met each Sunday to commemorate the fact that Christ arose on a Sunday (Acts 20:7-8; 1 Corinthians 16:2; Revelation 1:10). Since many of the early Christians were slaves, and since the Roman empire did not consider Sunday to be a special day during this time (this was before Constantine’s reign), it is likely that services were typically held on Sunday night.

And what did those services look like? They were free-flowing services where each Christian was encouraged to contribute to the service by somehow using or exhibiting his spiritual gift (Romans 12:3-8; 1 Corinthians 12:1-31; 14:26; Ephesians 4:7-11). However, everything was to be done in an orderly manner (1 Corinthians 14:40). There was praying (James 5:13) and singing (Ephesians 5:18-19; Colossians 3:16; James 5:13; 1 Corinthians 14:15). Since the headings of many of the Psalms tell us those Psalms were written to be played on specific instruments, perhaps instruments were sometimes used in the services. Obviously, though, there wasn’t a piano or a pipe organ sitting in the corner somewhere.

There were no pulpits, but there was certainly teaching and what we now call “preaching” (1 Timothy 1:3; 4:6,13,16; 5:17; 2 Timothy 4:1-5; Titus 1:9; 2:1). It seems that the Lord’s Supper was observed each service. This was called “the breaking of bread” (Acts 2:42-47). In the earliest days, a “love feast” (a meal designed to help the poorer Christians) was served in conjuncture with the Lord’s Supper (Jude v. 12). Real wine was used during the Lord’s Supper and the love feast (1 Corinthians 11:21). The house-churches were expected to practice church-discipline as well (1 Corinthians 5:1-13). Perhaps they did this by using the guideline laid out by Jesus (Matthew 18:15-17).

As for the money, the Old Testament law’s elaborate system of tithing (Leviticus 27:30-34; Deuteronomy 12:5-7,17-19; 14:22-29; Numbers 18:21-32; Malachi 3:8-12) was not taught. Why would it be? You couldn’t bring a tenth of your harvests and livestock to a house, and there was no longer a need to support the Levitical priests who ministered at the temple. So, what many now call “grace giving” replaced the commands concerning tithing. Under “grace giving,” cheerful and generous giving was expected as each Christian gave in accordance with his prosperity (2 Corinthians 9:6-15; 1 Timothy 6:17-19). And how did the congregations disperse the offerings? The money went to aid the needy (Acts 20:35; Ephesians 4:28; James 1:27), help fellow Christians who were struggling (Acts 11:29; 1 Corinthians 16:1-2; 2 Corinthians 9:1-15; Galatians 6:10; Hebrews 6:10), support the apostles in their missionary work (Philippians 4:10-20; 1 Corinthians 9:1-14; 2 Corinthians 11:5-9), and meet the basic needs of the pastors (Galatians 6:6,10; 1 Corinthians 9:7,11; 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13).

And make no mistake, each and every Christian was to be actively involved in hands-on service to Christ out in the real world. The role of the “preachers” was to equip all Christians with the doctrine and knowledge to be able to carry out the work of ministry (Ephesians 4:11-12). The pastors did have authority to lead the congregations (Acts 20:28; 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13; 1 Timothy 3:5; Hebrews 13:7,17,24), but the leadership was to be the kind of servant-leadership that Jesus exemplified (1 Peter 5:1-4). The ultimate authority in all the churches rested with the apostles (1 Corinthians 5:1-3). They were the ones who ordained the pastors (Acts 14:23).

But why am I telling you all this? Well, I assure you that I’m not trying to take us all back to those early days of the church. Even if we wanted to go back to such a seemingly ideal time, we couldn’t because we no longer have genuine apostles the likes of Peter and Paul. I’m also not saying that there is anything patently wrong with: church buildings, committees, Sunday Schools, Bible Schools, missions boards, youth missions trips, senior-citizen outings, Christian schools, etc. I mean, the fact that you are reading this on a very modern tool called the internet isn’t lost on me!

No, my purpose in this post is to help promote a little more tolerance among us Christians when a church comes along and says, “We’re going to try something different.” Since what we consider to be the “traditional” way of “doing church” is as different from the churches of the New Testament as apples are from oranges, who are we to say, “Oh, that’s wrong; they can’t do that!” C’mon, we’re so off the New Testament blueprint now that Peter and Paul would hardly recognize us. So surely we can use a lot less of the attitude, “Our way is the only way.”

Actually, the more I study the church, the more I realize that it is a living, breathing thing, and as such is constantly growing and evolving. The Lord doesn’t want congregations who are trapped back in the year 100, 1600, 1900, or even 2000. He wants us out there on the cutting edge of society, relating to people where they are, and keeping up with the times. Think about it, isn’t that exactly how Jesus ministered to the people of His day? So even though there is certainly a basic, Bible-based template for what constitutes a local church and how that church should function and be led, there is a lot of God-allowed (even God-ordained) play in the particulars of how a given church goes about its mission. And just because a congregation operates differently from your preferences, don’t automatically assume that it is in the wrong.

Filed under Attitude, balance, Change, church, Church Discipline, giving, God's Work, Ministry, Money, Music, prayer, preaching, Service, spiritual gifts, stewardship, Sunday School, Teaching, Worship Tagged with , , , , , ,

Why Do the Wicked Prosper?

January 26, 2012 2 Comments

Why do the wicked prosper? It’s a question that goes back at least as far as the time of Job, a man who seems to have lived during the patriarchal age of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In Job 9:24, Job says, “The earth is given into the hand of the wicked…” He follows that up in Job 12:6 by saying, “The tents of robbers prosper, and those who provoke God are secure…”

Asaph, who was a prominent singer and musician in the Israelite worship of King David’s time, also struggled with the question. In Psalm 73:3, he says, “For I was envious of the boastful, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.” Later on, in verse 12, he says, “Behold, these are the ungodly, who are always at ease; they increase in riches.”

I’m sure that an entire book, or even a whole set of them, could be written in answer to the question, “Why do the wicked prosper?” So I won’t attempt to list every last reason in a simple blog post. Instead, I just want to offer one reason, and that one reason is this: Much of the prosperity of the wicked can be attributed to Satan, not God.

Now please don’t get all technical on me here. Yes, I know that Satan can’t do anything that God doesn’t allow. But, with that understood, I want to take you back to the story of Satan tempting Jesus in the wilderness. You can find it in Matthew 4:1-11, Mark 1:12-13, and Luke 4:1-13. Do you recall what Satan’s third and final temptation was? Matthew 4:8-9 describes it this way:

Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”

You see, right there it is, proof positive that Satan has plenty of “stuff” to give those who do his work. By the way, if you doubt that he holds that much stroke in this world you should also read John 14:30, 2 Corinthians 4:3-4, and Ephesians 2:1-2. Those passages teach that Satan is nothing less than the ruler of this world, and as such he has an abundant supply of money, power, possessions, and fame to dispense to suit his purposes.

So the next time you see someone who is obviously wicked and yet just as obviously prosperous, take a moment to consider that the person’s prosperity most likely comes from the hand of the devil. I’ve often used the line, “God won’t bless a mess.” But the fact is that Satan will and many times does.

Filed under Money, Prosperity, Satan, Temptation, The Devil Tagged with , , , ,

My Post-Holiday Funk

January 12, 2012 3 Comments

Financially speaking, this month of January tends to be a more trying month for Tonya and myself than other months. You don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to deduce the reason: Christmas hangover. It’s not that we go wild with Christmas shopping and cross the line into sin with it. It’s just that spending any amount of any month’s “extra” income on presents affects the next month’s checkbook. That’s simple math.

A preacher reminded a financially strapped church-member that 1st Thessalonians 5:18 says: “in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” The church-member said, “I don’t see what I have to be thankful for, preacher. I’m buried in debt. I can’t pay my bills. I can’t make my payments, and on top of it all I just lost my job.” The preacher thought for a moment and answered, “Well, be thankful that you aren’t one of your creditors!”

No, it’s not that bad with my family’s finances, but it’s not helping matters that I’m also suffering from some kind of post-holiday, winter malaise. For whatever reason, I’ve been having trouble getting energized this new year. During the holidays, with Tonya and the boys home from school, we all got off schedule by sitting up later and sleeping in later. When school started back up, they got back on track, but I’m still having trouble breaking out of that pattern. I’ve got to fix that. Also, I had been doing an excellent job of getting in thirty minutes of daily exercise leading up to Christmas. But I’m now on my third week or so of taking a break from that. I’ve got to fix that too and get back on that exercise machine.

I was listening to the radio a few days ago and actually heard a disc-jockey address what I’ve been experiencing. He said the post-holiday letdown is very normal and that it is brought on by eating too much, not getting enough exercise, and sleeping too much. I thought, “Wow, he must be following me around with a camcorder!” At least I was encouraged that my problem is fairly typical.

Oh, and another thing that isn’t helping my mood or energy level these days is the weather we’ve been getting here in the mountains of western North Carolina. Like a lot of other folks across the country, we’re mired in one of those winters that doesn’t know it’s a winter. Since the beginning of December we’ve had unseasonably warm weather and a lot of rain. Such weather just kind of wears on you when you’ve grown up in these mountains and are used to subfreezing temperatures and snow. As I recall, we’ve only had two snowfalls so far this winter. One was a barely measurable trace that got the grass white for a little while, and the other was a couple of inches that didn’t exactly get everyone buzzing either. The forecast does call for the possibility on an inch or so tonight, but, again, that’s not enough to really get our juices flowing around here.

Anyway, I just thought that I’d share some of this info with you guys, my readers, today. Maybe someone else out there is experiencing some of the same post-holiday funk that I’m experiencing. If you are, I invite you to join me in slipping back into gear and getting back up to speed. 2012 is a big new adventure that is just lying there waiting for us. If you believe certain doomsday interpretations of the ancient Mayan calendar, it’s even our last year. (I don’t believe those interpretations, by the way.) What I do believe, though, is that God wants to do great things in us, for us, and through us this year. So let’s stop sulking around, overeating, oversleeping, and worrying about our finances and start living with the faith, energy, zest, zeal, and confident expectation with which He would have us. And, yes, I’m preaching to myself on that.

Filed under Attitude, Christmas, dieting, Gluttony, Money, New Year, Personal, Thankfulness, weather Tagged with , , , , , , , ,

Looking For Something?

February 28, 2011 Leave a Comment

Late one night drunken Sam was down on all fours under a streetlight. He was groping around on the ground, obviously looking for something. A friend drove up and said, “Sam, what are you doing over there?” With slurred speech, Sam answered, “I lost my wallet.” So the friend got out of the car, walked over, got down on his knees, and started helping Sam look. Finally, after a few minutes of unsuccessful searching, the friend said, “Are you sure you lost the wallet here?” Sam replied, “No, I dropped it a half a block over there.” “Then why are we looking for it here?”, asked the friend. The answer came back, “Because there’s no streetlight over there.”

Laugh all you want, but Sam’s “searching” makes about as much sense as searching for sexual satisfaction at a pornographic web site, searching for happiness in a drug needle, searching for fulfillment in a financial report, or searching for joy in a bottle of liquor. And yet plenty of people go on these types of searches every day. Yes, such things might seem to offer some “light,” but I promise you that no one will ever truly find what they’re looking for under such light.

So what about you? What are you searching for these days? And just exactly where are you searching for it? You know, if you aren’t finding what you’re looking for, you need to start looking in a spot that makes more sense. Even if that spot is darker right now and makes for harder searching, that’s where you’ll find your “keys.”

Filed under Backsliding, Change, Choices, Desires, Husbands, Marriage, Money, needs, Personal Holiness, Prosperity, Sin, Temptation Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , ,

Righteousness & You

February 11, 2010 Leave a Comment

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.” Matthew 5:6

I’ve been a pastor a long time, long enough to have learned some things about professing Christians. One of those things is: not many of them hunger and thirst after righteousness. When you do come across such a person, you are actually taken aback by how much he or she stands out from the crowd. Your reaction is, “Wow, now that’s the way this Christianity thing is supposed to work. That’s the kind of person it’s set up to produce.”  

I take no pleasure in reporting that a high percentage of professing Christians are only interested in living righteously enough to keep God from getting too ticked off at them. The time they spend in prayer is minimal. Their Bible study is barely a blip on the radar. They attend church only if all the planets align and nothing else comes up. They give sparingly and many times even begrudge that (2 Corinthians 9:6-7). They’ve never witnessed to anyone in their lives.

Even those who do better in some of these areas typically fall short when it comes to actually repenting of sins and making needed changes in their lives. I’ve known professing Christians who were at church every time the doors were open, but they were petty, bitter people who refused to forgive any perceived slight. I’ve known others who made prayer a vital part of their lives but didn’t mind engaging in pre-marital sex or “shacking up.” Others would give generously to the church but spend even more on alcohol or drugs. To all of these people, the idea of hungering and thirsting after righteousness was foreign. They had just enough religion to keep them at peace with themselves and certainly didn’t have a burning desire for anything more than that.

Imagine a man who hasn’t eaten for two days. He gets the opportunity to sit down at a buffet filled with delicious food. The way that man’s eyes dance over that food is the way the Christian’s eyes should dance over righteousness. The way he craves that food is the way the Christian should crave righteousness.

Imagine a woman who has been stranded in the desert for hours. When she is rescued, a rescue worker hands her a bottle of water. At that moment, there is nothing on earth she wants more. That’s how the Christian should thirst after righteousness.

Christian, when you are obsessively hungering and thirsting after righteousness, when righteousness is what you are chasing in life, you won’t have to be goaded into coming to church. You won’t have to be begged to pray. Your pastor won’t have to chide you into Bible study. It won’t take a ten-sermon series on stewardship to get you to give generously. You won’t have to be coerced into telling others about Jesus and inviting them to church. All of that will come as naturally to you as breathing. It will flow effortlessly out of your hungering and thirsting for righteousness. 1 John 2:29 describes this as “practicing” righteousness: “If you know that He (God) is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him” (1 John 5:1; John 3:1-8). 

And, furthermore, Jesus promises that your pursuit of righteousness will not be in vain. He says you shall be filled. I see a two-fold meaning in this promise. First, it only makes the sense that the more you devote your life to righteousness, the more righteousness will be exhibited in your life. Second, as for your eternal standing with God, the moment you realize that your life is stained by unrighteousness and you place your belief (faith) in Jesus as Savior, God actually imparts to you His spotless righteousness (Romans 1:16-17; 3:21-26; Philippians 3:7-9). That is an even more important filling.

So, Christian, how hungry are you? How thirsty? Are you burdened enough about righteousness to do some repenting? Will you commit to moving up to a higher level of practicing righteousness in your daily life? When you get hungry and thirsty enough to actually make some changes in how you conduct yourself, you’ll find Jesus standing ready to help you. He’ll be right there with the never-ending buffet and bottomless well. You will be filled, no doubt about that. But never forget that no one can be filled who is already full enough to suit them.

Filed under Belief, Bible Study, Change, Choices, Church attendance, Discipleship, Doing Good, Evangelism, faith, giving, Holiness, Money, obedience, Personal Holiness, Righteousness, salvation, stewardship, The Sermon On The Mount, Witnessing

Blessedness

January 4, 2010 Leave a Comment

Psalm 1:1-3 says:

“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in it season, whose leaf also shall not wither. And whatever he does shall prosper.”

I’d like to point out that the proper pronunciation of the first word of this passage is “bless-ed,” not “blessed.” The Bible uses one Hebrew word to refer to “bless-ed” and another to refer to “blessed.” The Hebrew word for “blessed” is barak. It is used in passages such as Genesis 1:28, which says of Adam and Eve, “And God blessed them.”

But the Hebrew word that is used here in Psalm 1:1 is esher. This word carries with it various shades of meaning. It can mean happy, fortunate, enviable, or prosperous.

Actually, esher is plural. That’s why it’s been suggested that it could accurately be translated as “blessednesses.” You see, this is not just one blessing that is being described. This is talking about abiding in a continual state of experiencing blessing after blessing after blessing. There is a multiplicity of blessings that rest upon the bless-ed person. I’d rather be “bless-ed” than just “blessed.”

Now, this passage gives us three main thoughts about the blessed. Let’s walk through these together. There is some awesome spiritual stuff here.

First, in verse 1 we are given a clear word about the blessed person in relation to separation. Blessed people are marked by things they do not do. You see, the book of Psalms opens by dispelling the notion that the sinful life is the good life.

Three negatives are mentioned. Negative #1 is: Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly. Who do you look to for advice? Is that person a godly person? Is that person living under the lordship of Jesus Christ? Is that person highly knowledgeable of what the Bible teaches? Is that person wise in applying the Bible to everyday life? Is that person really in tune with the Lord?

Negative #2 is: Blessed is the man who does not stand in the path of sinners. There is a path of sin in which the ungodly stand. The fact that they stand in this path shows that their sinfulness isn’t just a one-time slip up. These people are engaged in a daily, continual lifestyle of sin. They aren’t trying to get off the path of sinners. To the contrary, they continually stand in it.

Negative #3 is: Blessed is the man who does not sit in the seat of the scornful. The Hebrew word that is translated as “scornful” is luwts. It can also be translated as “mockers” or “scoffers.” These scorners are people who have contempt for God, His ways, and His standards. The verse talks about the seat of the scornful because these people are settled and fixed in their disgust towards God.

The passage’s second main thought concerns the blessed person in relation to scripture. Verse 2 says of the blessed man: “But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.” The phrase “the law of the Lord” refers to the law that God gave the Israelites through Moses. That law was written down. We might say it was the “Bible” by which the Israelites lived. These words actually apply to us all the more then because we have so much more of the holy scriptures than the Israelites did. If you would be blessed, love the scriptures and learn the scriptures.

And then the text’s third main thought deals with the blessed person in relation to success. Verse 3 says: “He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season; whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.”

The blessed person is compared to a beautiful, bountiful tree. This tree is not withering away from a lack of water because it is planted by rivers of water. That ensures that it will continuingly thrive. Not surprisingly, this tree is not barren. It brings forth its fruit in season just when it should. Its leaf does not wither away either. The tree is strong and healthy. All of this is a beautiful description of the blessed person.

Then the description gets even better. The end of the verse says that whatever the blessed person does shall prosper. Of course, some people run off way too far with this idea. The “health and wealth” preachers that dominate religious television use verses like this to promote a wrong doctrine that can be summed up as “name it and claim it.” Just take your wish list to God, have the necessary amount of faith, and God will give you all the things that are on your wish list. But the truth is, God’s idea of prospering isn’t so simplistic.

I can best explain “whatever he does shall prosper” by pointing us to Joseph. Did you know that even when Joseph was wrongly sold into slavery God called him a prosperous man and caused whatever he did to prosper? Genesis 39:2-3 says:

“The Lord was with Joseph, and he was a successful man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. And his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made all he did to prosper in his hand. So Joseph found favor in his sight, and served him. Then he made him overseer of his house, and all that he had he put under his authority.”

The Hebrew word that is used there to describe the prosperity that God gave to Joseph is the exact same Hebrew word that is used in verse 3 of our text. So, when you understand what God did for Joseph, even as Joseph was a servant in the house of Potiphar, you will understand the kind of prosperity that God bestows upon the blessed person.

When Joseph was a servant in Potiphar’s house, did he have a lot of money in his bank account? Absolutely not! Did he have a wife and children? No. Was he a man of prestige and standing in the community? No way. Nevertheless, God described him as a prosperous man.

Ultimately, Joseph did become rich beyond his wildest dreams as God made him the second most powerful man in all of Egypt, second only to Pharaoh himself. Also, God gave him a wife and two fine sons. But the fact is that Joseph was blessed and prosperous even before the power, wealth, and beautiful family. So it is with any person who truly lives out the requirements of Psalm 1:1-3.

Filed under Bible Study, Character, Discipleship, Doing Good, Holiness, Money, obedience, Personal Holiness, Prosperity, Reward, Scripture, separation, The Bible Tagged with , , , , , , , , ,

Oral Roberts & “Seed Faith” Giving

December 18, 2009 Leave a Comment

Oral Roberts died this past Tuesday. The famous faith-healer and evangelist was 91. He died in Newport Beach, California from complications of pneumonia. He had been hospitalized after a recent fall.

As we look back over the totality of Roberts’ life, it isn’t hard to spot both good and bad. On the good side of the ledger, he preached Jesus, reminded people of what the Bible teaches about Christ’s miracle working power, and played a major role in bringing the church into the age of television.

On the bad side, he gave many prophecies that turned out to be false, claimed to have performed literal resurrections and other miraculous healings, founded a religious empire that has frequently been associated with accusations of financial malfeasance, and was the originator of the “seed faith” philosophy of giving. It is that “seed faith” philosophy that I want to focus upon in this post.    

The basic idea with “seed faith” giving goes like this:

1. The Christian generously gives his money to support a ministry (for example, the Oral Roberts ministry).

2. The Christian has faith that God will return to him a greater harvest than the original amount.

3. God rewards the faith and sends the greater harvest. (This greater harvest can come by way of job promotion, sudden windfall, etc.)

4. With the increased wealth, the Christian can begin the process all over again by giving an even larger amount to the ministry.

5. With more “seed” with which to work, God can reward the Christian with a harvest that is even bigger than the first one. 

6. Out of that greater harvest, the Christian can send yet another increased amount of money to the ministry and, subsequently, see an even bigger harvest.

7. From there it’s etc., etc., etc. as the cumalitive process keeps rolling along and the Christian, as well as the ministry, keeps geting wealthier and wealthier.

Oral Roberts claimed that Jesus Himself revealed the “seed faith” principle to him. Among other things, Roberts said that Jesus told him how to rightly interpret Acts 20:35, the verse that quotes Jesus as saying, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” According to Roberts, Jesus said those words don’t properly convey what He meant. Jesus supposedly said, “I meant it is more PRODUCTIVE to give than to receive.”

Roberts taught “seed faith” giving for many decades. He wrote over 130 books, most of which were variations on this foundational teaching. When he resigned as the head of Oral Roberts University (a university that has turned out “seed faith” preachers for over 40 years), his son Richard took over the reins.

Several years ago, I read Ashes To Gold, a book that was written by Patti Roberts, Richard’s former wife. In that book, Patti looks back on her days as Oral’s daughter-in-law. She talks about how guilty she felt about the excessive wealth the Roberts family enjoyed, and she seriously questions the “seed-faith” idea of giving. She says the “seed faith” teaching:

“bothered me a great deal because I saw that, when taken to extremes, it reduced God to a sugar daddy. If you wanted His blessings and His love, you paid Him off. Over and over again we heard Oral say, ‘Give out of your need.’ I began to question the motivation that kind of giving implied. Were we giving to God out of our love and gratitude to Him or were we bartering with Him?”

In the book, Patti Roberts also points out that the teaching of “seed faith” was given on every Roberts’ television broadcast, whereas the Gospel itself was rarely given. Here’s a typical quote from Richard Roberts:

“Sow a seed (to the Roberts ministry) on your MasterCard, your Visa or your American Express, and then when you do, expect God to open the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing.”

Please understand, though, that Oral Roberts and his ministry were merely the fountainhead of “seed faith” preaching. Over the years, the water quickly flowed out to wherever Pentecostal and Charismatic churches and ministries were found. Paul and Jan Crouch’s TBN broadcasting empire has sent the Roberts’ doctrine around the world, and thousands of “prosperity preachers” now preach “seed faith” giving every bit as fervently as Oral Roberts ever did.

But, of course, the central question in all this is: Is the “seed faith” philosophy Biblical? In one corner, we’ve heard from Oral Roberts. In another corner, we’ve heard from his former daughter-in-law, Patti. But what does God say? Well, His ruling is that the “seed faith” way of giving, a way that should lead to great wealth, is a lie. Let me prove that to you.

First, I’ll describe the earthly life of Jesus. Luke 9:57-58 says:

“Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, ‘Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.’”

These verses certainly don’t describe an earthly life of wealth, do they? Jesus didn’t own a house. He didn’t have a lot of money. He didn’t live lavishly.

As you read the gospels, you will see that He ate with anyone who would invite Him to eat, spent many a night outside, and probably had just one set of clothes. He rode into Jerusalem on a borrowed donkey. He and His disciples observed the Lord’s Supper in a borrowed room. After His death, His body was laid in a borrowed tomb.

As a matter of fact, rather than promoting the importance of worldly wealth, Jesus warned of the dangers of it. He said, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal” (Matthew 6:19-20). He said, “Assuredly, I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. And again I say to you it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God” (Matthew 19:23-24).

These quotes certainly don’t sound like the words of one who was preaching earthly prosperity as a byproduct of salvation, do they? The fact is, you won’t find a verse where Jesus says, “Follow me, and I’ll put money in your pockets.” You won’t find a verse where He says, “Believe in me as Savior, and your financial woes will be over.”

Instead, what you will find is Christ’s constant downplaying of money. In His story of the beggar Lazarus and the rich man, it is the rich man whose soul ends up in Hell (Luke 16:19-31). In His story of the rich man who planned to tear down his overflowing barns and build bigger barns, God comes to that rich man and says, “You fool, this night your soul will be required of you: then whose shall these things be?” (Luke 12:13-21). 

This was the earthly life of Christ, and it certainly doesn’t line up with the idea that God wants to make every Christian rich. If anything, Jesus taught that the love of money is one of the primary hindrances to people being all that God wants them to be.

Second, I’ll describe the lives of the apostles. In 1 Corinthians 4:9-13, we find some verses in which Paul vividly describes the life of an apostle. He writes:

“For I think that God has displayed us, the apostles, last, as men condemned to death; for we have been made a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are distinguished, but we are dishonored! To the present hour we both hunger and thirst, and we are poorly clothed, and beaten, and homeless. And we labor, working with our own hands. Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure; being defamed, we entreat. We have been made as the filth of the world, the offscouring of all things until now.”

Tell me, does this description sound like the apostles lived lives of wealth, ease, and luxury? Of course, it doesn’t! Well, was that because they just didn’t understand about “seed faith” giving? No, it was because it is not God’s will for all Christians to be monetarily rich.

Third, I’ll describe the lives of the Smyrna Christians. In Revelation 2:8-9, the risen, glorified Jesus gives a message for the apostle John to relay to the Christians who were living in Smyrna. That message was: 

“And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write, These things says the First and the Last, who was dead, and came to life: ‘I know your works, tribulation, and poverty (but you are rich); and I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.’”

Notice that Jesus said to those Christians, “I know your poverty, but, actually, you are rich.” The interpretation isn’t difficult. Those Christians were poor in an earthly sense but rich in an eternal sense through the treasures laid up for them in heaven.

Jesus didn’t say to those people, “If you will give in faith, you will get that gift back with an increase.” He didn’t even say to them, “I know your poverty, and I’m going to do something about it.” What He said was, “I know your poverty, but don’t forget that you are actually rich.” For many Christians today, this same “Smyrna truth” applies: poor on earth but rich in heaven.

Fourth, I’ll describe the life of Timothy. In 1 Timothy 6: 3-10, Paul has some very telling things to say about money and worldly riches. He writes:

“If anyone teaches otherwise and does not consent to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which accords with godliness, he is proud, knowing nothing, but is obsessed with disputes and arguments over words, from which come envy, strife, reviling, evil suspicions, useless wrangling of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. From such withdraw yourself. Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”

Whatever else we might bring out of these verses, let’s at least get it settled that Paul did not say, “Timothy, God wants you to be rich in the wealth of the world. Why aren’t you?” What he said was, “Timothy, work on being content with having food and clothing.”

On the subject of “prosperity preachers,” let me say that I especially like the way the New Living Translation describes those false teachers to whom Paul was referring. In verse 5, it reads:

“These people always cause trouble. Their minds are corrupt, and they don’t tell the truth. To them religion is just a way to get rich.”

Now, as I begin to close, I’d like to point out that the Bible gives us many examples of believers who were rich by the standards of the world. Abraham was rich. Joseph was rich. Job was rich. Solomon was rich. Joseph of Arimathea was rich. So, I’m not saying that it isn’t God’s will for any Christian to be monetarily rich. What I’m saying is that no Christian has a right to expect or demand worldly wealth from God. Such wealth isn’t a matter of the Christian getting under the teaching of the right preacher, and it certainly isn’t a matter of lining up with the ”seed faith” plan of giving.

When it comes to attaining worldly wealth, the Bible talks about things like: hard work, saving, giving a right portion back to God, paying your bills, giving to the poor, and avoiding sin. There’s even a bit here and there about wise investing. These things are the building blocks to getting rich in this world. It’s not about sending $100 to the Oral Roberts ministry.

Think about it, Roberts’ philosophy didn’t even work for him. In 1989, his City of Faith Medical Center was forced to close due to a lack of funds. The Center, which cost $250 million to build, reportedly drained the Roberts organization of $30 to $40 million per year. This was the cause of Oral’s now infamous 1989 fundraising drive in which he announced to a television audience that God would “call him home” if the sum of $8 million wasn’t raised by March. Even though $9.1 million was raised, the City of Faith still closed not long afterwards.        

Later on, in 2007, Richard was forced to resign as president of Oral Roberts University amid allegations of financial indiscretions. The scandal reportedly left the school with more than $50 million of debt. In light of such financial shortcomings, one is left to presume that either the Roberts family didn’t practice what they preached in regards to “seed faith” giving or the whole philosophy simply doesn’t work. As for me, my money is on both.

Filed under Bible Study, Business, contentment, giving, Money, Reward, Seed Faith Giving, Sowing and Reaping, stewardship Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , ,

Lessons Learned From The Tiger Woods Story

December 9, 2009 2 Comments

Things are getting kind of bizarre in the story of Tiger Woods, the world’s top-ranked golfer. News broke early Tuesday that an ambulance had been dispatched to his Florida mansion sometime around 2:30 a.m. in response to a 911 call. The ambulance picked up Barbro Holmberg, Woods’ mother-in-law. She was rushed to a local hospital and listed as an “advanced life support” patient. Such a listing simply means that paramedics went beyond basic CPR methods in helping her. She was admitted for “stomach pain,” evidently responded well to treatment, and was released Tuesday afternoon to return to Woods’ home. 

This was just the latest chapter in a sad series of events that have played out over the past couple of weeks. The timeline runs like this:

-At 2:25 a.m. of November 27th, Woods crashes his vehicle into a fire hydrant and his neighbor’s tree. He is taken to a local hospital and treated for minor facial lacerations. He is quickly released and returns home. (Woods refuses to talk to Florida State Troopers for the next three days, and is finally cited for careless driving and fined $164.) 

-Shortly after the accident, the tabloids and internet become abuzz with rumors of Woods’ marital infidelity. (As of now, it’s impossible to sort out fact from lies, but the current number of alleged mistresses stands anywhere from seven to ten.) 

-On November 29th, Woods releases a statement on his website in which he says the accident was his fault and asks for privacy while his family works through a difficult time.

-On November 30th, it is announced that Woods will not be participating in his next scheduled golf tournament. The given reason for his withdrawal is injuries from the accident.

-On December 2nd, Woods releases a new statement in which he says, “I have let my family down and I regret those transgressions with all of my heart.”

-A few days later, several media outlets begin reporting that Woods’ wife, Elin Nordegren, has moved out of the house. (I haven’t heard whether or not she took the couple’s two-year old daughter and infant son with her.) 

-Then comes Tuesday’s story about the mother-in-law being rushed to the hospital in the middle of the night.

As for Woods, he still hasn’t been seen publicly since his accident. Whatever the exact details of everything are, it now seems fairly obvious that it’s a sad situation. The entire family needs our prayers. I have been praying for them, and I hope you will as well.

With that said, I’d like to offer some Biblical lessons here. I don’t do this to kick Tiger Woods while he is down. As I said, I’m praying sincere prayers for him and his family. I offer these merely as a way to view the story through the lens of God’s written word.

Lesson #1: A son needs his daddy. Tiger’s father, Earl, died on May 3rd, 2006. He was a military man who stood for honesty, integrity, and responsibility. Up until his death, he was the driving influence in Tiger’s life. He was the one who molded young Tiger into a golf prodigy. Later on he wrote two books about his no-nonsense parenting style. Tiger has often mentioned how much he misses his dad. In 1st Thessalonians 2:11, the Bible teaches that a father should exhort, comfort, and charge his children. Proverbs 1:8 speaks of a father instructing his son. Would Tiger be in the mess he’s in now if his dad was still alive? No one can say for sure, but many would answer, “No.”

Lesson #2: Every husband must work at remaining sexually satisfied with his wife. Affairs typically occur when husbands aren’t sexually satisfied with their wives alone. The lust for more sex or “different” sex is a powerful, primal thing. That’s why Proverbs 5:18-19 warns: “Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice with the wife of your youth. As a loving deer and a graceful doe, let her breasts satisfy you at all times; and always be enraptured with her love.”

Lesson #3: The sin of adultery is a fire that burns the one who commits it. Proverbs 6:27-28 says: “Can a man take fire to his bosom and his clothes not be burned? Can one walk on hot coals and his feet not be seared?” 1st Corinthians 6:18 says: “Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.”

Lesson #4: No matter how much success, fame, and wealth a man has, his world can still come tumbling down if he doesn’t practice self-control. Proverbs 25:28 says: “Whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down, without walls.” A city without walls is wide open to be attacked and destroyed. So is a life lived without self-control.

Lesson #5: If you want to fall, be full of pride. Tiger Woods is well known for being supremely confident in his abilities, even to the point of being egotistical. Proverbs 16:18 says: “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” Surely one of Woods’ motivations for committing adultery was that his ego told him he could get away with it.

Lesson #6: All the self-will one can muster will eventually lose out to the power of the flesh (that inborn sinful nature of individuals). Woods’ strong will on the golf course is a major part of what makes him so good. But no man is so strong-willed that he can keep his inner nature of sin at bay for long. In Romans 7:18-19, the apostle Paul writes: “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.”

Lesson #7: Your sins WILL eventually be discovered. Numbers 32:23 says: “…be sure your sin will find you out.” Isaiah 29:15 says: “Woe to those who seek deep to hide their counsel far from the Lord, and their works are in the dark. They say, ‘Who sees us?” and ’Who knows us?’”    

Lesson #8: Wealth doesn’t equate to contentment. Even though Woods has earned multiplied millions through his golfing and endorsements, there was obviously still something that prevented him from being content with his family life. 1st Timothy 6:6-8 says: “Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content.”

Lesson #9: When you raise a child to worship the idol of sports, you shouldn’t be surprised when that child grows up to be lacking in morality and character. As I mentioned earlier, Earl Woods was an uncommonly influential father. No one can deny that he raised a champion golfer. But all those championships came at a high price. As far back as Tiger can remember, Earl led him to obsess over the sport of golf and devote himself fanactically to mastering it. Earl never taught Tiger how to keep golf in proper perspective and allow his spiritual side to develop. That inevitably caused some chinks in Tiger’s character and morality. In Matthew 16:26, Jesus asks the profound question, “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”  

Lesson #10: Buddhism simply cannot offer the help people need. By Woods’ own admission, he is something of a nominal Buddhist through his mother, who is from Thailand. He especially values the Buddhist practice of meditation. In a March, 2008 interview with Reuters, Woods said of Buddhism, “In the Buddhist religion, you have to work for it yourself internally in order to achieve anything in life…and in Buddhism to set up the next life. But in Buddhism it’s all about what you do and internal work.” Sadly, this religion and philosophy fly right in the face of Christ’s words from John 14:6: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” They also go against Ephesians 2:8-9: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God., not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

So, let me close by saying that Tiger Woods is just like anybody else on planet Earth in that he needs to place his faith (belief) in Jesus as his personal Savior. That will bring him forgiveness of sin (Colossians 1:14), spiritual life (John 5:40), salvation (Acts 16:30-31), and the empowerment to resist temptation and sin (Philippians 4:13). Certainly Tiger’s life has taken a tragic turn for the worse, but if that turn leads him to the open arms of Jesus, the best will be yet to come for him. That’s my prayer, for not only Tiger but his entire family.

Filed under adultery, Adversity, Belief, Character, Choices, contentment, Desires, faith, Fatherhood, Forgiveness, Husbands, Marriage, Money, Parenting, Priorities, Seeking Forgiveness, Sex, Sin, Sports, Temptation Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

To Doorbust Or Not To Doorbust?

November 29, 2009 Leave a Comment

Well, this past Friday I got closer than I’ve ever gotten to doing some “door busting” on Black Friday. Wal-Mart was advertising a sweet laptop at an unheard of price. I had plans to hit in there about 3:30 or 4:00 in the morning and take my place in line. I dreaded it, but since I’d never actually had one of those ”door busting” experiences, and since I really wanted that laptop, I thought, “This is the year.”

The store was open on Thanksgiving day, and so Tonya and I made a trial run over there that afternoon. Fortunately for us, the lady who was going to be selling those laptops the next morning was also working that afternoon and took the time to answer some questions for me. The question-and-answer session went something like this:    

“What time do I need to be here to get one of those laptops?”  “By 1:30 or 2:00 a.m.”

“Really? That early?”  “Yes, definitely. I wouldn’t advise coming any later.”

“How many of those laptops do you have?”  “I’m sorry, I can’t tell you that. I know, but I can’t tell you.”

“If I do get here at 2:00 a.m., what will I need to do?”  “Go back to the appropriate part of the store and get in line.”

“What then?”  “I will start handing out tickets. Then, when the sale actually begins at 5:00 a.m., I’ll go right down the line and give the person with the ticket a chance to buy a laptop. I’ll go right down the line until all the laptops have been sold.”

“So, if I get in line at 2:00 a.m. and get my ticket, can I spend the next three hours walking around the store?”  “No, the best I can do is give you a five-minute bathroom pass.”

“In other words, I’m going to have to stand in line for a full three hours just to get a chance at buying one of those laptops?”  “Yes, that’s right.” 

It was somewhere along about then that my “door busting” turned into bronco busting and I was thrown off the horse. NOTHING that woman said sounded good to me. She finished me off when I asked her how much the computer usually cost. She quoted something along the lines of $389. I say “something along the lines” because she was talking pretty fast at that point. The truth is, I could be wrong about the price she quoted. That’s the figure my brain heard, though. And since the sale price was $299, I did some quick math and came to the conclusion that all that just wasn’t worth it to save $90. 

Now, I’ll grant you that three hours in line for $90 breaks down to $30 per hour. That’s good money. But it wasn’t enough to get me to bow down before that altar of American consumerism. So, I slept in Friday morning and enjoyed it. I did get out along about 10:30 a.m. with Tonya, the boys, and my mom. We hit the mall and had a good experience checking a few items off our “to buy” list. We didn’t get any 75% off deals, though.

I came away from my whole Black Friday experience with the following observations:

#1. Since that sales lady at Wal-Mart was so adament that I should be there no later than 2:00 a.m., I figure that meant they only had about ten of those laptops to sell.

#2. I’ve got enough willpower and sheer stubbornness to have gotten in line at 1:00 a.m., stood there all night, and staked my claim to one of those laptops, but I couldn’t do it and keep my self respect. That would have been me letting Wal-Mart play me, and I just couldn’t give them that satisfaction.

#3. If I was someone else, or if the situation had been something else, maybe God would have given me a peace about doing what was necessary to get that computer. As things were, though, the only peace I found was in forgetting the whole deal and sleeping in late.   

You know something? Even when I’m half in the mood to play this world’s silly little games, it’s just not something that I can do with ease or pleasure. God has had me too long for that. But I’m glad I’m that way because, after all, 1 John 2:15-17 is still in the Bible: 

“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life – is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.”

Filed under Business, Choices, contentment, God's Will, Money, Personal, Priorities, stewardship, Temptation Tagged with , , , , , ,

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