It was a rare occasion to not have this passage quoted when I was in a prayer meeting.
"Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."
Matthew 18:19-20
A different passage is quoted almost as much to prove the need for regular church attendance.
“Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
Hebrews 10:25
When a Christian asks me, “where do you go to church?” and I answer I’m at church right now, they look at me with a puzzled expression on their face. Why is that?
Somehow the definition of church has been morphed into meaning the place where I go on Sundays to hear a sermon with many others.
Whereas, according to Matthew 18:19-20 anytime I am with another Christian, Jesus will be in our midst. And according to Hebrews 10:24,25 the purpose of gathering together is
“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.” Hebrews 10:24
Jesus never commanded us to go to church on Sunday to hear a sermon. He does desire for us to get together with as little as one other person to see Him in our midst. The purpose of these gatherings is to simply love one another and to spur each other on to good deeds.
The only legitimate number that the New Testament reveals as an official gathering is two or three. Would we limit it to these numbers? Of course not. But we must guard against the lie that bigger is better. What can be better than Jesus in our midst?
When should we want this to happen? As often as possible.
Do we need multi-million dollar facilities to experience these vital gatherings? Of course not. Even though some leaders think that that they, their building and their large gatherings are essential. Some even give the impression that God thinks their building is of utmost importance. How else would one raise funds with religiously minded folks?
Doesn't it ever seem odd to you that God delights in diverting funds from starving children around the world so that we can build our edifices and make a name for ourselves?
Don’t be deceived by large numbers bringing more glory to God and definitely don’t be deceived by a leader that wants to call you together in his own name or in the name of his church. That may be important for their own ego but it is too small an understanding of the church that Jesus is building. It is also demeaning to the value of every member of the body of Christ when we exalt a few above the many.
Let us remind each other that there is only one church and Jesus said He would build it. His church is way bigger than anything we or any leader can personally envision.
Our only desire should be to experience Jesus in our midst. How many people does it take? Where two or three are gathered…
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Hierarchy and the Trinity
I’ve been intrigued of late with some of the controversy surrounding the book, The Shack. With over 4 million copies in print in just over a year it’s safe to say that this book is not ordinary. One of the arguments that has been used to prove how heretical the book is, is that it doesn’t portray the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in a way that shows a hierarchical form of ruling. The pastors who are condemning the book on these grounds believe in their role as defenders of the faith and rulers of their flock. In a benevolent kind of way of course.
What’s interesting is what Jesus thought about hierarchical leadership. He gave a clear teaching on what he wanted His church to be ordered upon.
"Jesus called them together and said, "You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." Mark 10:41-44
It’s strange that He would speak this way when according to those attacking the Shack, the trinity is the clearest examples of hierarchy.
The basis seems to be the idea of the language that the Bible has given us to describe God, especially the terminology, Father and Son.
For some, the Father rules over the Son. But here’s the challenge with this picture. Even though the relationship is defined as Father/Son it doesn’t mean quite the same as our idea of a father being first and the son second.
In terms of understanding the eternal God, there was never a time that there was Father without the Son and there was no Son without the Father. They are both God and have need of nothing or anyone to teach them.
Even in our natural thinking the idea of father and son as a hierarchy doesn’t really hold true. My dad is now 80 years old. Our relationship is not defined by who is in charge. Nor is my relationship with my sons defined by who has ultimate say or power over the other. We are equals. Sometimes, I’d like my sons or my father to do something. If they choose to it’s because of our relationship. If they choose not to, our relationship is not diminished because of that refusal. The same holds true when something is asked of me.
One of the great tragedies that we see in organized religion is the use of those in leadership roles thinking they have power over their flock. The very thing Jesus said for us to never do. In fact He said just the opposite.
Using the trinity as an excuse to show the need for hierarchy is a major cause of much of the dysfunction that is seen within the body of Christ.
No doubt exploring our understanding of God and the trinity is a big subject, filled with wonder and mystery. The one thing I’m pretty sure of though is this, God is not in any way, shape or form wanting to Lord it over us, nor does this idea of Lording over or even a hierarchy exist within the relationship of the trinity.
The Father’s passion is to please His Son. Jesus’ passion is to please His Father. Their passion is to serve us. And that's an incredible idea to consider.
What’s interesting is what Jesus thought about hierarchical leadership. He gave a clear teaching on what he wanted His church to be ordered upon.
"Jesus called them together and said, "You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." Mark 10:41-44
It’s strange that He would speak this way when according to those attacking the Shack, the trinity is the clearest examples of hierarchy.
The basis seems to be the idea of the language that the Bible has given us to describe God, especially the terminology, Father and Son.
For some, the Father rules over the Son. But here’s the challenge with this picture. Even though the relationship is defined as Father/Son it doesn’t mean quite the same as our idea of a father being first and the son second.
In terms of understanding the eternal God, there was never a time that there was Father without the Son and there was no Son without the Father. They are both God and have need of nothing or anyone to teach them.
Even in our natural thinking the idea of father and son as a hierarchy doesn’t really hold true. My dad is now 80 years old. Our relationship is not defined by who is in charge. Nor is my relationship with my sons defined by who has ultimate say or power over the other. We are equals. Sometimes, I’d like my sons or my father to do something. If they choose to it’s because of our relationship. If they choose not to, our relationship is not diminished because of that refusal. The same holds true when something is asked of me.
One of the great tragedies that we see in organized religion is the use of those in leadership roles thinking they have power over their flock. The very thing Jesus said for us to never do. In fact He said just the opposite.
Using the trinity as an excuse to show the need for hierarchy is a major cause of much of the dysfunction that is seen within the body of Christ.
No doubt exploring our understanding of God and the trinity is a big subject, filled with wonder and mystery. The one thing I’m pretty sure of though is this, God is not in any way, shape or form wanting to Lord it over us, nor does this idea of Lording over or even a hierarchy exist within the relationship of the trinity.
The Father’s passion is to please His Son. Jesus’ passion is to please His Father. Their passion is to serve us. And that's an incredible idea to consider.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Tithing Paradox
Teaching tithing is a tricky game to play. First, you must understand all of the tithes of the Old Testament (total = 23.3%). Secondly, all tithing was to be done through food. Changing this to money equivalents misses the principle of "the scriptures must mean what they always meant." You end up teaching a rule that even you have altered. When you change something that directly benefits yourself, you do put your integrity on the line. I know you can blame God and say it's His rule but don't forget that you have had a part in reformulating what God has said.
But the greatest challenge you have with teaching tithing is that it begs this question. What do you think of the people that don't tithe? In Malachi 3, God called them robbers. Approximately 83% of people in churches that teach tithing, don't tithe. Therefore, you end up pastoring a group of people that are mostly thieves.
The paradox is that non-tithers are happy having you think of them as thieves.
But the greatest challenge you have with teaching tithing is that it begs this question. What do you think of the people that don't tithe? In Malachi 3, God called them robbers. Approximately 83% of people in churches that teach tithing, don't tithe. Therefore, you end up pastoring a group of people that are mostly thieves.
The paradox is that non-tithers are happy having you think of them as thieves.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Cultlike Practices
I was often accused of having joined a cult when I asked Jesus to be my Lord and Saviour. I laughed at the idea since I knew what the Bible said about salvation. Rom. 10:9,10. Upon reflection, I now think my experience of salvation was and is very real but with some very cult like practices mixed in.
Isolationism
Some of these practices were lifestyle issues like not playing cards, not dancing, not drinking and not working on Sundays. Other groups have other lists to be adhered to. These issues tended towards isolating one from others outside of the group.
I didn’t start out going to Sunday School, a morning service and an evening service, Wednesday night Bible study, men's fellowship? (another bible study with just men), plus a score of volunteer positions and evenings out. It was a process of aligning myself with these practices in order to show that I belonged. Spending a minimum of 12 hours a week at church was normal, lots of weeks were 20+.
These rules were not written down but to advance (grow) in maturity or leadership they were required. Faithfulness meant living within the boundaries of the group’s standards. We did not find these things a hardship but rather a joy to practice. We wanted to belong and this was proof that we did.
Conformity to the group was all that mattered. Not having a beer was more important than building friendships outside of the group. Our glorious message to our unsaved friends was accept Jesus and cut out the evil beer drinking.
Elitism
My group has the best interpretation of the Bible. Wow, I was one smug dude over this one. The idea that “we don’t know what we don’t know”, never occurred to us. If I didn’t have the answer our pastor surely did.
PRIDE trapped us into a rigid belief system that could not be challenged. Everyone was told to “grow” but that simply meant accepting the group’s values (almost always the unwritten ones), one point at a time. Groups tend to have a paralyzing effect on new ideas. Amazingly, even groups with completely opposing ideas manage to use the Bible to justify them.
If I saw something in the Bible that the leader didn’t believe, obviously it was an error on my part. The idea of the Holy Spirit leading us into all truth was constantly emphasized, but in reality simply meant following the leader as he was “led” by the Spirit.
There is an unstated but real belief that when we finally get to heaven the way our group functioned will be the blueprint for everyone else. And we’ll be able to say, “See, I told you so.”
Leadership
Aligning oneself with the leader is of utmost importance. Don’t expect to advance or belong if you don’t. His interpretation is final: including how one interprets the Bible or how one interprets a prophetic word. Failure to do so will result in not being trusted and set aside. The secret of disagreeing and being able to belong at the same time is to keep your mouth zipped tight.
The leader has significant influence since their voice is the one that everyone hears religiously. The amount of time and money devoted to a leader’s speaking unquestionably gives them a significant amount of power. Not surprisingly, these monologues are not meant to support an open learning model but in reality manage to isolate everyone to only hearing a very one sided view.
Some leaders are very gracious in their style of leadership while others are very autocratic, the point is that it is their vision that is to be followed. Gather a few people in your church to look after an orphanage without the leader giving his ok and test this out. The smooth leaders will include this type of plan into the overall vision of the church and will even give it their blessing so that they can be seen to be leading this worthy cause. Other leaders will be jealous that people are spending money on something they didn’t start and may be seen to compete with what they are doing.
Money
The lion’s share of all giving should be done within the group. It doesn’t matter if the group teaches tithing or free will giving. The way God chooses to bless the world through our finances is through giving to the group. Ironically, 80-99% of offerings are spent on the group and not the world. The amount of money spent on buildings and leaders (in the name of evangelism, of course) is astounding.
Relationships
Friendships only exist within the confines of agreement within the group. If you leave the group expect to be shunned: either overtly or quietly. From the more gracious groups there will be a genuine feeling of sadness that you left and that you didn’t get how important they really are. I’ve been fascinated by how fragile friendships (if that's what they ever were) are compared to the idea of solidarity within the group’s thinking.
The Church as the Body of Christ
This is often talked about but is rarely embraced. A group’s identity is far more important. The single greatest unifying factor (Jesus is a distant second) practiced by all groups is that one should belong to a group. What is shocking about this is that the New Testament never mentions the name of a single church but only identifies Christians by the city which they live in. Try telling some Christians you're simply part of the church of (name your city) and watch the weird look that comes on their faces.
Maturity
Growing as a Christian should be a lifelong adventure. No group can ever say they have all that Christ has for an individual. Sadly, because of a group's need for identity, thus the cultlike practices that strengthen that idea, tend to snuff out an individual's development and growth in Christ. Not many groups have ever celebrated an individual's growing beyond the group's limitations. To do so, would reveal the tenuous house of cards that any group's identity has been built on.
Can you grow beyond your group's limits? Of course you can. Just don't tell anybody.
Isolationism
Some of these practices were lifestyle issues like not playing cards, not dancing, not drinking and not working on Sundays. Other groups have other lists to be adhered to. These issues tended towards isolating one from others outside of the group.
I didn’t start out going to Sunday School, a morning service and an evening service, Wednesday night Bible study, men's fellowship? (another bible study with just men), plus a score of volunteer positions and evenings out. It was a process of aligning myself with these practices in order to show that I belonged. Spending a minimum of 12 hours a week at church was normal, lots of weeks were 20+.
These rules were not written down but to advance (grow) in maturity or leadership they were required. Faithfulness meant living within the boundaries of the group’s standards. We did not find these things a hardship but rather a joy to practice. We wanted to belong and this was proof that we did.
Conformity to the group was all that mattered. Not having a beer was more important than building friendships outside of the group. Our glorious message to our unsaved friends was accept Jesus and cut out the evil beer drinking.
Elitism
My group has the best interpretation of the Bible. Wow, I was one smug dude over this one. The idea that “we don’t know what we don’t know”, never occurred to us. If I didn’t have the answer our pastor surely did.
PRIDE trapped us into a rigid belief system that could not be challenged. Everyone was told to “grow” but that simply meant accepting the group’s values (almost always the unwritten ones), one point at a time. Groups tend to have a paralyzing effect on new ideas. Amazingly, even groups with completely opposing ideas manage to use the Bible to justify them.
If I saw something in the Bible that the leader didn’t believe, obviously it was an error on my part. The idea of the Holy Spirit leading us into all truth was constantly emphasized, but in reality simply meant following the leader as he was “led” by the Spirit.
There is an unstated but real belief that when we finally get to heaven the way our group functioned will be the blueprint for everyone else. And we’ll be able to say, “See, I told you so.”
Leadership
Aligning oneself with the leader is of utmost importance. Don’t expect to advance or belong if you don’t. His interpretation is final: including how one interprets the Bible or how one interprets a prophetic word. Failure to do so will result in not being trusted and set aside. The secret of disagreeing and being able to belong at the same time is to keep your mouth zipped tight.
The leader has significant influence since their voice is the one that everyone hears religiously. The amount of time and money devoted to a leader’s speaking unquestionably gives them a significant amount of power. Not surprisingly, these monologues are not meant to support an open learning model but in reality manage to isolate everyone to only hearing a very one sided view.
Some leaders are very gracious in their style of leadership while others are very autocratic, the point is that it is their vision that is to be followed. Gather a few people in your church to look after an orphanage without the leader giving his ok and test this out. The smooth leaders will include this type of plan into the overall vision of the church and will even give it their blessing so that they can be seen to be leading this worthy cause. Other leaders will be jealous that people are spending money on something they didn’t start and may be seen to compete with what they are doing.
Money
The lion’s share of all giving should be done within the group. It doesn’t matter if the group teaches tithing or free will giving. The way God chooses to bless the world through our finances is through giving to the group. Ironically, 80-99% of offerings are spent on the group and not the world. The amount of money spent on buildings and leaders (in the name of evangelism, of course) is astounding.
Relationships
Friendships only exist within the confines of agreement within the group. If you leave the group expect to be shunned: either overtly or quietly. From the more gracious groups there will be a genuine feeling of sadness that you left and that you didn’t get how important they really are. I’ve been fascinated by how fragile friendships (if that's what they ever were) are compared to the idea of solidarity within the group’s thinking.
The Church as the Body of Christ
This is often talked about but is rarely embraced. A group’s identity is far more important. The single greatest unifying factor (Jesus is a distant second) practiced by all groups is that one should belong to a group. What is shocking about this is that the New Testament never mentions the name of a single church but only identifies Christians by the city which they live in. Try telling some Christians you're simply part of the church of (name your city) and watch the weird look that comes on their faces.
Maturity
Growing as a Christian should be a lifelong adventure. No group can ever say they have all that Christ has for an individual. Sadly, because of a group's need for identity, thus the cultlike practices that strengthen that idea, tend to snuff out an individual's development and growth in Christ. Not many groups have ever celebrated an individual's growing beyond the group's limitations. To do so, would reveal the tenuous house of cards that any group's identity has been built on.
Can you grow beyond your group's limits? Of course you can. Just don't tell anybody.
Monday, November 24, 2008
The High Cost of Low Prices
These are some points I had after listening to a lecture entitled, Youth and Globalization by Dr. Anton L. Allahar, Distinguished Professor of Sociology, at the University of Western Ontario.
He gave an example from his native country of West Indies to show how corporations manipulate people for their own gain.
The West Indies had a fully functioning dairy industry that supplied milk to the population for 18 cents a liter. It also bolstered the economy with decent jobs for many of the people.
The U.S. dairy industry had a surplus of milk and decided to “bless” these people with cheaper powdered milk that cost about 11 cents per liter. The people were so thankful for this improvement in their cost of living. That is everyone, except those whose livelihoods depended on the local dairy industry. Farmers went bankrupt and labourers were unemployed.
Once the local dairy infrastructure was completely destroyed something surprising happened to the cost of powdered milk. It nearly doubled in price to 21 cents a liter.
Due to the higher rate of unemployment, factories that supplied retailers like Walmart could come in and offer the people less pay than they had been making on the dairy farms. A simple way to Roll back the prices.
He also talked about factories that make Nike shoes where the workers that make the shoes can’t even afford the laces for the shoes.
The worst story was what Dr. Allahar called the long shift in Indonesia. It’s 36 hours long with a break at the 16 hour mark. The workers, usually women, have plastic bags under there work table to go potty in. They make less than $5 for this entire shift.
Each one of us has likely bought something made by these workers.
We are thrilled to shop at Walmart because they have RRRRolled back the prices. We should be outraged by Walmart’s Rollback campaign but our ignorance manages to pacify us with cheaper soothers.
He gave an example from his native country of West Indies to show how corporations manipulate people for their own gain.
The West Indies had a fully functioning dairy industry that supplied milk to the population for 18 cents a liter. It also bolstered the economy with decent jobs for many of the people.
The U.S. dairy industry had a surplus of milk and decided to “bless” these people with cheaper powdered milk that cost about 11 cents per liter. The people were so thankful for this improvement in their cost of living. That is everyone, except those whose livelihoods depended on the local dairy industry. Farmers went bankrupt and labourers were unemployed.
Once the local dairy infrastructure was completely destroyed something surprising happened to the cost of powdered milk. It nearly doubled in price to 21 cents a liter.
Due to the higher rate of unemployment, factories that supplied retailers like Walmart could come in and offer the people less pay than they had been making on the dairy farms. A simple way to Roll back the prices.
He also talked about factories that make Nike shoes where the workers that make the shoes can’t even afford the laces for the shoes.
The worst story was what Dr. Allahar called the long shift in Indonesia. It’s 36 hours long with a break at the 16 hour mark. The workers, usually women, have plastic bags under there work table to go potty in. They make less than $5 for this entire shift.
Each one of us has likely bought something made by these workers.
We are thrilled to shop at Walmart because they have RRRRolled back the prices. We should be outraged by Walmart’s Rollback campaign but our ignorance manages to pacify us with cheaper soothers.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Sunday, November 16, 2008
What Education Didn't Teach Us -- Trusting Others
Our educational system has taught us to rely on ourselves and our own work ethic. 12 – 20 years of constantly being told to study harder and not depend on others is a significant chunk of time to hear a very one sided message.
When were we ever taught that trusting others was a means to success? Of course we’ve all had experiences in group work that tried to teach us that value. Most came away from those experiences with a negative view of co-operation.
In a book titled, “Rich Dad, Poor Dad”, Robert Kiyosaki explores this idea and looks at it through a very simple grid.
Our educational system, almost exclusively, taught us to study hard to fit into the Employed quadrant. Even a graduate with an MBA making $200,000 a year is on the employed side. The Self-employed quadrant can include a mechanic who owns his own garage to a doctor who owns his own practice.
It was a rare course in high school that taught us anything from the right side and that would only have been offered as an elective. Who learned about the advantage of tax write offs in high school?
Most people live on the left side and some have become successful. The financial mantra on this side has generally been security. The overwhelming fixation in these two grids is that it all depends on you: your work ethic and your abilities. That's great till you or a family member gets sick or your employer closes down.
Due to the heavy emphasis on personal abilities in these quadrants, the idea of trusting others for financial gain has been all but lost. Not only has it been lost but some extreme views would even suggest that it is morally corrupt to benefit from another person’s work. Thus some have concluded, that all business owners are corrupt users of others.
There is a significant emotional investment that has gone into people living on the left side. Ignorance tends to fear what it does not understand. Therefore, even looking over at the right quadrants is a fearful experience for many.
I’ve been working at developing a business in Network Marketing. I have been surprised by the number of people who have failed in this type of business. It seems they were not able to transfer a very simple idea of trusting others in order to succeed.
Why is that? They were trained to live on the emotional side of the left quadrants. They don’t really believe that one can succeed by simply transferring a simple plan to a few others who in turn will transfer that idea to a few others.
The Network Business model is unique in that it allows people from the left quadrants to easily move into their own business. The weakness in the Network model is that most people have been trained away from thinking in terms of being successful through others.
Even business owners have a difficult time understanding networking. There means of making money was to get people trained in the left quadrants to work for a paycheque. They never wanted to develop people to be successful like themselves.
The CEO of my company, Wayne Badavinus, has a very successful history in working in the business world. He says this, “Even though I was very successful in taking companies from $200 million dollars per year to $1.2 billion per year over a 5 year time span, I never made one person in those companies rich. However, I did do a good job of making somebody on Wall Street richer.”
Wayne was very proud of his ability to transfer his ideas throughout his companies, so much so that the janitor in his company understood his purpose in cleaning a washroom had a significant impact on customer service. But the janitor in Wayne’s company could never become a successful business owner with full financial freedom. Wayne is a quick learner and has discovered a new passion to see others succeed beyond their wildest imagination.
In a day when people are realizing that job security is a thing of the past, education is no guarantee of a better job and investments can be lost overnight, I’m excited about being in a business that can help others get past inadequate teaching about financial success and allowing them the independence of owning a successful business.
The challenge is getting people free to trust a few others for their personal success. That seems like a worthwhile investment of my time.
When were we ever taught that trusting others was a means to success? Of course we’ve all had experiences in group work that tried to teach us that value. Most came away from those experiences with a negative view of co-operation.
In a book titled, “Rich Dad, Poor Dad”, Robert Kiyosaki explores this idea and looks at it through a very simple grid.
Employed _________________Business
Self-Employed ________________Investments
Self-Employed ________________Investments
Our educational system, almost exclusively, taught us to study hard to fit into the Employed quadrant. Even a graduate with an MBA making $200,000 a year is on the employed side. The Self-employed quadrant can include a mechanic who owns his own garage to a doctor who owns his own practice.
It was a rare course in high school that taught us anything from the right side and that would only have been offered as an elective. Who learned about the advantage of tax write offs in high school?
Most people live on the left side and some have become successful. The financial mantra on this side has generally been security. The overwhelming fixation in these two grids is that it all depends on you: your work ethic and your abilities. That's great till you or a family member gets sick or your employer closes down.
Due to the heavy emphasis on personal abilities in these quadrants, the idea of trusting others for financial gain has been all but lost. Not only has it been lost but some extreme views would even suggest that it is morally corrupt to benefit from another person’s work. Thus some have concluded, that all business owners are corrupt users of others.
There is a significant emotional investment that has gone into people living on the left side. Ignorance tends to fear what it does not understand. Therefore, even looking over at the right quadrants is a fearful experience for many.
I’ve been working at developing a business in Network Marketing. I have been surprised by the number of people who have failed in this type of business. It seems they were not able to transfer a very simple idea of trusting others in order to succeed.
Why is that? They were trained to live on the emotional side of the left quadrants. They don’t really believe that one can succeed by simply transferring a simple plan to a few others who in turn will transfer that idea to a few others.
The Network Business model is unique in that it allows people from the left quadrants to easily move into their own business. The weakness in the Network model is that most people have been trained away from thinking in terms of being successful through others.
Even business owners have a difficult time understanding networking. There means of making money was to get people trained in the left quadrants to work for a paycheque. They never wanted to develop people to be successful like themselves.
The CEO of my company, Wayne Badavinus, has a very successful history in working in the business world. He says this, “Even though I was very successful in taking companies from $200 million dollars per year to $1.2 billion per year over a 5 year time span, I never made one person in those companies rich. However, I did do a good job of making somebody on Wall Street richer.”
Wayne was very proud of his ability to transfer his ideas throughout his companies, so much so that the janitor in his company understood his purpose in cleaning a washroom had a significant impact on customer service. But the janitor in Wayne’s company could never become a successful business owner with full financial freedom. Wayne is a quick learner and has discovered a new passion to see others succeed beyond their wildest imagination.
In a day when people are realizing that job security is a thing of the past, education is no guarantee of a better job and investments can be lost overnight, I’m excited about being in a business that can help others get past inadequate teaching about financial success and allowing them the independence of owning a successful business.
The challenge is getting people free to trust a few others for their personal success. That seems like a worthwhile investment of my time.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Choice Equals Faith
I was recently asked to expand on the idea of faith as it pertains to the life of a Christian.
I take a fairly straightforward approach to faith. The simplest example I have used is turning on a light. The act of flicking the switch is a demonstration of faith. That may not sound like some deeply mysterious, mystical experience. Some would even say it is not faith because I knew for sure that it would work. But that is my point. That is a demonstration of true faith. When Jesus healed someone or when He multiplied the loaves and fishes he knew that these things would happen with an even greater certainty (faith) than turning on a light. (The light bulb could have been burned out.)
What led up to this assurance of faith? This confidence that exemplified everything that He did. It was His choice to always abide in His father’s heart and will. His acts of faith were never greater than His moment by moment living His life. There was no less faith in operation when He simply sat with his friends enjoying their company. He didn’t need to perform to show his faith. He didn’t need a miracle to know who He was. He did what He did each day as a complete abandonment of himself to His father.
His first 30 years of life were simply lived out like any other Jewish man. He worked, had friends and took care of His family. He obeyed all of the law since the laws were simple choices or acts of faith. For these things His father was well pleased with Him.
The simplicity of knowing our heavenly Father’s will: love mercy, act justly and walk humbly is available as a choice to everyone of us. Sadly, many people rebel at these choices and become angry or distant from God. They see others not making these choices and somehow think that they can use those examples to opt out of the Father’s will. They don’t really make choices but simply react with fight or flight mechanisms. Living by faith is not something they consider as they are simply swept along by peer pressure or personal reactions to outside forces.
Relationships are not valued but are simply something to be used for their own personal agendas. This happens with Christians and non Christians alike. They might demand others to do the things they do, violating the very concept of choice. Faith is minimized and conformity or anarchy are what typifies their life.
None of us are immune from fight or flight reactions to circumstances. These reactions simply have nothing to do with faith.
Faith isn’t perfection and can make mistakes. We may not always get it right but that is also the point. Choosing to walk in humility (a cornerstone of faith) allows us to admit the mistakes and make better choices. Choosing mercy and justice allow us to interact with others without living under the tyranny of merely reacting.
Will this living by faith look the same for everyone? Of course not. Embracing the differences of how people live a life of faith is what should truly unite us.
Living by faith is simply making real choices about why we do what we do.
I take a fairly straightforward approach to faith. The simplest example I have used is turning on a light. The act of flicking the switch is a demonstration of faith. That may not sound like some deeply mysterious, mystical experience. Some would even say it is not faith because I knew for sure that it would work. But that is my point. That is a demonstration of true faith. When Jesus healed someone or when He multiplied the loaves and fishes he knew that these things would happen with an even greater certainty (faith) than turning on a light. (The light bulb could have been burned out.)
What led up to this assurance of faith? This confidence that exemplified everything that He did. It was His choice to always abide in His father’s heart and will. His acts of faith were never greater than His moment by moment living His life. There was no less faith in operation when He simply sat with his friends enjoying their company. He didn’t need to perform to show his faith. He didn’t need a miracle to know who He was. He did what He did each day as a complete abandonment of himself to His father.
His first 30 years of life were simply lived out like any other Jewish man. He worked, had friends and took care of His family. He obeyed all of the law since the laws were simple choices or acts of faith. For these things His father was well pleased with Him.
The simplicity of knowing our heavenly Father’s will: love mercy, act justly and walk humbly is available as a choice to everyone of us. Sadly, many people rebel at these choices and become angry or distant from God. They see others not making these choices and somehow think that they can use those examples to opt out of the Father’s will. They don’t really make choices but simply react with fight or flight mechanisms. Living by faith is not something they consider as they are simply swept along by peer pressure or personal reactions to outside forces.
Relationships are not valued but are simply something to be used for their own personal agendas. This happens with Christians and non Christians alike. They might demand others to do the things they do, violating the very concept of choice. Faith is minimized and conformity or anarchy are what typifies their life.
None of us are immune from fight or flight reactions to circumstances. These reactions simply have nothing to do with faith.
Faith isn’t perfection and can make mistakes. We may not always get it right but that is also the point. Choosing to walk in humility (a cornerstone of faith) allows us to admit the mistakes and make better choices. Choosing mercy and justice allow us to interact with others without living under the tyranny of merely reacting.
Will this living by faith look the same for everyone? Of course not. Embracing the differences of how people live a life of faith is what should truly unite us.
Living by faith is simply making real choices about why we do what we do.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Who is ROBBING God?
I was talking with a friend the other day and had commented that I no longer saw tithing as a requirement for Christians. Whereas, caring for the poor should still be a very high priority. My friend was quick to respond with a story that gave an example of how distorted tithe teaching has become.
An immigrant to Canada was living on a very meager monthly stipend. $300 was the number quoted. She went to a church looking for help and was told that if she tithed the Lord would provide for her. If not, she was robbing God and that is why she was in such financial difficulties.
The thinking from this group of deceived Christians was that there is no such thing as a poor person who could use some help. I guess they felt that tithing is meant to look after a pastor and a church building. The fact that she was a poor immigrant did not soften their hearts or open their wallets.
The most quoted passage they use to prove this is in Malachi 3,
8 "Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me.
"But you ask, 'How do we rob you?'
"In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me. 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.
Strange that God felt He was being robbed when the tithe was not used the way He designed it. We just have to back up to verse 5 to see His intent for justice concerning care for others.
"So I will come near to you for judgment. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive aliens of justice, but do not fear me," says the LORD Almighty.
Malachi 3:5
This verse is rarely quoted by tithe teachers. And yet it explicitly states that the way to rob God was to not give it or not use it for the care of the poor.
In other words most churches that teach tithing are really ROBBING God because they don’t use the tithe to care for the poor.
Preachers are notorious for spiritualizing this and other passages to make the storehouse the local church and the food they give to people, a sermon. It certainly makes them a salary and clears their conscience regarding the real needs of others. Meanwhile, the local poor are told to care for these strong pastors while orphans around the world are malnourished and some even die.
These days, the lion’s share of tithes and offerings (some don’t believe in tithes) goes to supporting the strong and tearing down old buildings and building bigger, fancier ones. Always, at the expense of caring for those in need.
The Parable of the Rich Fool
Luke 12: 13-21
A modern day paraphrase.
13Someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me."
14Jesus replied, "Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?" 15Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; My Church does not consist of the size of its buildings or the popularity of a local pastor."
16And he told them this parable: "The preaching of a certain pastor produced a great number of followers. 17He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place for my people to listen to me.'
18"Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will have my people listen to my great oratory and interpreting skills. 19And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of people to serve your vision. Take life easy; enjoy the praises of men.”
20"But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'
21"This is how it will be with anyone who thinks many followers is the way of the cross but is not rich toward God by giving to the poor."
How does Jesus define righteousness?
"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.
An immigrant to Canada was living on a very meager monthly stipend. $300 was the number quoted. She went to a church looking for help and was told that if she tithed the Lord would provide for her. If not, she was robbing God and that is why she was in such financial difficulties.
The thinking from this group of deceived Christians was that there is no such thing as a poor person who could use some help. I guess they felt that tithing is meant to look after a pastor and a church building. The fact that she was a poor immigrant did not soften their hearts or open their wallets.
The most quoted passage they use to prove this is in Malachi 3,
8 "Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me.
"But you ask, 'How do we rob you?'
"In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me. 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.
Strange that God felt He was being robbed when the tithe was not used the way He designed it. We just have to back up to verse 5 to see His intent for justice concerning care for others.
"So I will come near to you for judgment. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive aliens of justice, but do not fear me," says the LORD Almighty.
Malachi 3:5
This verse is rarely quoted by tithe teachers. And yet it explicitly states that the way to rob God was to not give it or not use it for the care of the poor.
In other words most churches that teach tithing are really ROBBING God because they don’t use the tithe to care for the poor.
Preachers are notorious for spiritualizing this and other passages to make the storehouse the local church and the food they give to people, a sermon. It certainly makes them a salary and clears their conscience regarding the real needs of others. Meanwhile, the local poor are told to care for these strong pastors while orphans around the world are malnourished and some even die.
These days, the lion’s share of tithes and offerings (some don’t believe in tithes) goes to supporting the strong and tearing down old buildings and building bigger, fancier ones. Always, at the expense of caring for those in need.
The Parable of the Rich Fool
Luke 12: 13-21
A modern day paraphrase.
13Someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me."
14Jesus replied, "Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?" 15Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; My Church does not consist of the size of its buildings or the popularity of a local pastor."
16And he told them this parable: "The preaching of a certain pastor produced a great number of followers. 17He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place for my people to listen to me.'
18"Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will have my people listen to my great oratory and interpreting skills. 19And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of people to serve your vision. Take life easy; enjoy the praises of men.”
20"But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'
21"This is how it will be with anyone who thinks many followers is the way of the cross but is not rich toward God by giving to the poor."
How does Jesus define righteousness?
"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.
For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat,
I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink,
I was a stranger and you invited me in,
36I needed clothes and you clothed me,
I was sick and you looked after me,
I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink,
I was a stranger and you invited me in,
36I needed clothes and you clothed me,
I was sick and you looked after me,
I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
Matthew 25:34-40
Friday, October 24, 2008
Reaching out to the Poor
This is a great article about some people who are making a difference.
Love like Jesus
by John Fischer
I opened a newsletter this morning from my good friend Robbie Goldman who heads up Dry Bones, a ministry to homeless teenagers in downtown Denver, and found a sobering conclusion to our discussions this week about Christians leading with the hellfire and brimstone message. The lead story is all about Robbie and his staff's shock and awe over the behavior of Christian protesters at the Democratic National Convention in Denver earlier this summer where signs like "Ask me why YOU deserve HELL," and "WARNING: Baby Killing Women, Party Animals, Rebellious Women, So Called Christians, Liberals, Jesus Mockers, Porno Freaks, Muslims, Drunks, Homosexuals, Sex Addicts, Mormons… GOD WILL JUDGE YOU!" greeted them along with insults hurled from the holders of those signs, as in "Can you even read?" and "What planet are you from?"
"We watched the spectacle with a growing sense of despair and sadness," Robbie wrote. "I was sick to my stomach. The scene was one of the single most heartbreaking experiences of my life."
Examples like this may be extreme cases of misrepresenting Christ, but harboring even the slightest attitude of judgment or hatred is only a matter of being a few degrees away from this. It's headed in the same direction. To the degree that we let any of these feelings take hold, we might as well be a sign-holding screamer of insulting epithets.
"I walked away with my co-workers; some of us were crying. Others like me simply walked in silent shock. Above all the emotions – sadness, anger, shame – I felt something else that had a stronger pull. I was motivated and rejuvenated. More than ever I was convinced of my job, and your job, to love. We must re-define Christianity to a watching world.
"What if we became a group of people known for the way we love homosexuals? What if we became a group of people known for coming alongside those struggling with addictions? What if we became a group of people known for the way we embrace people of other religions and backgrounds? What if we became a group of people known for the way we love women who have had, or are thinking about having abortions? What if instead of calling these women murderers, we told them how much they and their children are worth? What if we decided right now, today, to adopt would-be-aborted babies? We tell young women not to have abortions, but are we willing to give them another option?"
Robbie concluded with, "I am convinced that when we love like Jesus, we are slowly but surely helping to prepare someone's heart for God to do His work. Love well, brothers and sisters. Re-define Christ for the people in your life with love and see what happens."
And I can't help but think that whoever carried that sign about the Baby Killers and Porno Freaks is in for a big surprise when he is eventually welcomed into heaven by all the people his sign condemned. There will be tears.
[For more on this subject, see: "The Separation of Church and Hate: Finding the Way to Real Cultural Change" and more of my related articles for Breakpoint.org at http://www.breakpoint.org/listings.aspid=159&display=Display+by+Author&authorId=1436]
[For more on Dry Bones, see www.drybonesdenver.org]
Love like Jesus
by John Fischer
I opened a newsletter this morning from my good friend Robbie Goldman who heads up Dry Bones, a ministry to homeless teenagers in downtown Denver, and found a sobering conclusion to our discussions this week about Christians leading with the hellfire and brimstone message. The lead story is all about Robbie and his staff's shock and awe over the behavior of Christian protesters at the Democratic National Convention in Denver earlier this summer where signs like "Ask me why YOU deserve HELL," and "WARNING: Baby Killing Women, Party Animals, Rebellious Women, So Called Christians, Liberals, Jesus Mockers, Porno Freaks, Muslims, Drunks, Homosexuals, Sex Addicts, Mormons… GOD WILL JUDGE YOU!" greeted them along with insults hurled from the holders of those signs, as in "Can you even read?" and "What planet are you from?"
"We watched the spectacle with a growing sense of despair and sadness," Robbie wrote. "I was sick to my stomach. The scene was one of the single most heartbreaking experiences of my life."
Examples like this may be extreme cases of misrepresenting Christ, but harboring even the slightest attitude of judgment or hatred is only a matter of being a few degrees away from this. It's headed in the same direction. To the degree that we let any of these feelings take hold, we might as well be a sign-holding screamer of insulting epithets.
"I walked away with my co-workers; some of us were crying. Others like me simply walked in silent shock. Above all the emotions – sadness, anger, shame – I felt something else that had a stronger pull. I was motivated and rejuvenated. More than ever I was convinced of my job, and your job, to love. We must re-define Christianity to a watching world.
"What if we became a group of people known for the way we love homosexuals? What if we became a group of people known for coming alongside those struggling with addictions? What if we became a group of people known for the way we embrace people of other religions and backgrounds? What if we became a group of people known for the way we love women who have had, or are thinking about having abortions? What if instead of calling these women murderers, we told them how much they and their children are worth? What if we decided right now, today, to adopt would-be-aborted babies? We tell young women not to have abortions, but are we willing to give them another option?"
Robbie concluded with, "I am convinced that when we love like Jesus, we are slowly but surely helping to prepare someone's heart for God to do His work. Love well, brothers and sisters. Re-define Christ for the people in your life with love and see what happens."
And I can't help but think that whoever carried that sign about the Baby Killers and Porno Freaks is in for a big surprise when he is eventually welcomed into heaven by all the people his sign condemned. There will be tears.
[For more on this subject, see: "The Separation of Church and Hate: Finding the Way to Real Cultural Change" and more of my related articles for Breakpoint.org at http://www.breakpoint.org/listings.aspid=159&display=Display+by+Author&authorId=1436]
[For more on Dry Bones, see www.drybonesdenver.org]
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Caste System Meets MLM
If ever there was a fatalistic system in the world it is the caste system found in India.
The castes are divided up into 5 groups.
1. Brahmans: the priests and teachers
2. Kshatriyas: the rulers and soldiers
3. Vaisyas: merchants and traders
4. Sudras: laborers
5. Outcasts- the Dalits or untouchables. These are considered too impure or polluted to rank as worthy humans or even have a caste.
These castes are sharply defined and the social stigma of mixing the various castes is considered taboo.
Religions will clash with each other but have little chance of effecting each other on mass. Christians may even bring the gospel to individuals within the various castes but they have little impact on overthrowing this very fatalistic worldview on the whole.
But here’s where a MLM business model has the potential of truly upsetting the apple cart. A traditional single owner or even corporate model would not be able to do this. Hiring would be based on caste and in fact would simply serve to strengthen the caste system.
However a Network Marketing model, with a truly great product, would be able to have tremendous impact within the economic and rank system of any society.
On paper an MLM looks somewhat like a pyramid but the reality is there are no lines of hierarchy but rather simply lines of time, essentially, who got there first. Some people don’t even like that idea but it’s no different than talking about an older brother or sister. Each one has the opportunity to succeed and even go way beyond those who are ahead of them.
A simple example of this would be my enrolling Jim who has six children. As Jim builds his business he supports me. I support Jim by enrolling other people after Jim. One of those people is an 80 year old widow. After her, Jim might enroll another one of his children, in this case, a son who is 12 years old. I continue to support all of them by enrolling even more people after the 12 year old son.
Jim supports me, the widow supports Jim, the 12 year old supports the widow and so on. There is no hierarchy but rather the look and feel of a team. Each person supports someone else and is being supported by others.
Now let’s put this economic system into a culture based on the caste system.
An outcast signs up first with a Brahman signing up later. A Vaisya gets into the mix and after them comes a Kshatriya. Perhaps another outcast signs up and then a Sudra. Each one supports the other and is dependent on the others for their success. Because everyone is making money, the strict, distinct walls begin to slowly crumble. Higher castes and lower castes alike are rooting for each other to succeed. The barriers, prejudices and fatalistic thinking are shattered through a cooperative plan of doing business in way that has everyone succeeding.
Can an unorthodox business model change the world? Remember the story of a smart businessman who could understand dreams by the name of Joseph.
When young Joseph had his first dream and it caused him to be sold into slavery in Egypt, no one would have predicted that that beginning would literally be Israel’s salvation. Even when he was able to accurately interpret the dream of 7 years of plenty and 7 years of famine, without a sound business plan, the correct interpretation would not have saved anyone.
Joseph was able to tax 20% of the grain during the years of plenty and then sold it during the years of famine. If he hadn’t sold it, the people would have eaten all of the food before the 7 years of famine had been completed. I’m sure there were a few people who didn’t like the 20% tax and probably labeled him as greedy. They definitely didn’t like having to purchase the grain later on with the greedy label now firmly attached and documented. Nevertheless, God was able to give a divine revelation to a skilled businessman to save His people at that time. The barriers of bitterness, shame and unforgiveness were broken with the aid of a successful business plan.
These days, I know of no other business model that would allow average, non business type people to prosper through their own business with virtually little or no investment and no educational costs to overcome. When it’s done well there is always a spirit of cooperation and WIN/WIN.
Of course, there are lots of stories of poor implementation of this type of business model. Just as there are many stories of bad doctors, substandard teachers and evil corporations who only serve profits or themselves. That doesn’t make any of the above models bad, but are simply examples of poor implementation or greedy individuals. How many students have shelled out $100,000 - $200,000 and have not ended up with jobs in their area of expertise? Would we denounce the entire educational system for this failure?
What if Joseph had only taxed the people 5%? That would have been an example of poor implementation when the grain ran out at year 3 of the famine.
It seems that in these days of economic uncertainty and incredible global needs that a simple business model that allows average people to succeed by helping others, might very well be a mechanism that God would use to bring about equality on a global basis.
The castes are divided up into 5 groups.
1. Brahmans: the priests and teachers
2. Kshatriyas: the rulers and soldiers
3. Vaisyas: merchants and traders
4. Sudras: laborers
5. Outcasts- the Dalits or untouchables. These are considered too impure or polluted to rank as worthy humans or even have a caste.
These castes are sharply defined and the social stigma of mixing the various castes is considered taboo.
Religions will clash with each other but have little chance of effecting each other on mass. Christians may even bring the gospel to individuals within the various castes but they have little impact on overthrowing this very fatalistic worldview on the whole.
But here’s where a MLM business model has the potential of truly upsetting the apple cart. A traditional single owner or even corporate model would not be able to do this. Hiring would be based on caste and in fact would simply serve to strengthen the caste system.
However a Network Marketing model, with a truly great product, would be able to have tremendous impact within the economic and rank system of any society.
On paper an MLM looks somewhat like a pyramid but the reality is there are no lines of hierarchy but rather simply lines of time, essentially, who got there first. Some people don’t even like that idea but it’s no different than talking about an older brother or sister. Each one has the opportunity to succeed and even go way beyond those who are ahead of them.
A simple example of this would be my enrolling Jim who has six children. As Jim builds his business he supports me. I support Jim by enrolling other people after Jim. One of those people is an 80 year old widow. After her, Jim might enroll another one of his children, in this case, a son who is 12 years old. I continue to support all of them by enrolling even more people after the 12 year old son.
Jim supports me, the widow supports Jim, the 12 year old supports the widow and so on. There is no hierarchy but rather the look and feel of a team. Each person supports someone else and is being supported by others.
Now let’s put this economic system into a culture based on the caste system.
An outcast signs up first with a Brahman signing up later. A Vaisya gets into the mix and after them comes a Kshatriya. Perhaps another outcast signs up and then a Sudra. Each one supports the other and is dependent on the others for their success. Because everyone is making money, the strict, distinct walls begin to slowly crumble. Higher castes and lower castes alike are rooting for each other to succeed. The barriers, prejudices and fatalistic thinking are shattered through a cooperative plan of doing business in way that has everyone succeeding.
Can an unorthodox business model change the world? Remember the story of a smart businessman who could understand dreams by the name of Joseph.
When young Joseph had his first dream and it caused him to be sold into slavery in Egypt, no one would have predicted that that beginning would literally be Israel’s salvation. Even when he was able to accurately interpret the dream of 7 years of plenty and 7 years of famine, without a sound business plan, the correct interpretation would not have saved anyone.
Joseph was able to tax 20% of the grain during the years of plenty and then sold it during the years of famine. If he hadn’t sold it, the people would have eaten all of the food before the 7 years of famine had been completed. I’m sure there were a few people who didn’t like the 20% tax and probably labeled him as greedy. They definitely didn’t like having to purchase the grain later on with the greedy label now firmly attached and documented. Nevertheless, God was able to give a divine revelation to a skilled businessman to save His people at that time. The barriers of bitterness, shame and unforgiveness were broken with the aid of a successful business plan.
These days, I know of no other business model that would allow average, non business type people to prosper through their own business with virtually little or no investment and no educational costs to overcome. When it’s done well there is always a spirit of cooperation and WIN/WIN.
Of course, there are lots of stories of poor implementation of this type of business model. Just as there are many stories of bad doctors, substandard teachers and evil corporations who only serve profits or themselves. That doesn’t make any of the above models bad, but are simply examples of poor implementation or greedy individuals. How many students have shelled out $100,000 - $200,000 and have not ended up with jobs in their area of expertise? Would we denounce the entire educational system for this failure?
What if Joseph had only taxed the people 5%? That would have been an example of poor implementation when the grain ran out at year 3 of the famine.
It seems that in these days of economic uncertainty and incredible global needs that a simple business model that allows average people to succeed by helping others, might very well be a mechanism that God would use to bring about equality on a global basis.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Me Church
If this is bad, why do most large churches create a consumer mentality? Are people not capable of visiting each other, raising their own children and helping their neighbors without paying somebody to do these things for them? Why do people need to be reminded each week that these things are important?
These videos seem to lay all the blame on the consumer (parishioner). What about the pastors that catered to their selfish desires and demand an hour each week from people who are more than capable of thinking for themselves. Oops, sorry I forgot, they would need their pastor's permission to do such a heretical thing.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Faith is Not Getting Others to Pay for Your Vision
I have often heard these words, "I'm living by faith", from people who have quit jobs and are living by faith. That's the code words for being bankrolled by others. (Been there, done that. Oops, I digress.) There is an insidious implication being made that those who have jobs don’t live by faith. They just pay for the ones who are spiritual enough to "live by faith".
It rather irks me when people talk about a faith life that is more mystical, magical, manipulative or subjective rather than being based on a growing understanding of God and His ways and backed up by the Bible.
“Faith comes from hearing and hearing from the word of God.”
My favorite faith story comes from an encounter that Jesus had with a Roman centurion.
The Faith of the Centurion
When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. "Lord," he said, "my servant lies at home paralyzed and in terrible suffering."
Jesus said to him, "I will go and heal him."
The centurion replied, "Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and that one, 'Come,' and he comes. I say to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it."
When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him, "I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go! It will be done just as you believed it would." And his servant was healed at that very hour.
Matthew 8:5-13
There was nothing mystical or “wishing it were so”, in the centurion’s discussion with Jesus. He did not try to manipulate Jesus but simply stated why he knew Jesus could heal his servant from his understanding of authority. For a Roman soldier to fail to do what he was commanded would have meant a severe flogging or death. No wonder the centurion knew the job would get done.
But here’s the kicker. Jesus related the centurion’s "natural" understanding of authority with a greater faith than He had found in all of Israel.
In the same line of "naturalistic" thinking, using a good business plan or good work ethic is not contrary to faith but in fact is a true demonstration of faith.
Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.
1 Thess. 4:11-12
So let’s cut out the absurd idea that great faith means one will exhibit great skill in getting others to finance their vision.
Many leaders talk about faith in this manner but that's not how Jesus taught or lived. He didn't get his disciples to bankroll the feeding of the 5,000, He demonstrated what He saw from His Father.
I think this century has seen more than enough Christian begging and manipulations in the guise of faith.
Nevertheless, men will continue to build buildings and "ministries in THEIR name" as a testimony to THEIR faith in God. Incredibly, many of God's people would have it no other way.
Why then, does the New Testament not bear witness to these modern measurements of faith?
As for me, the only building I'm interested in is the one built with living stones. ...you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
1 Peter 2:5
Why does this matter?
If God's people channeled just 20% of their giving away from brick and mortar and pastor's salaries to true caring for others not a single child in the entire world would go to bed hungry tonight.
Some might even consider that a true demonstration of faith.
It rather irks me when people talk about a faith life that is more mystical, magical, manipulative or subjective rather than being based on a growing understanding of God and His ways and backed up by the Bible.
“Faith comes from hearing and hearing from the word of God.”
My favorite faith story comes from an encounter that Jesus had with a Roman centurion.
The Faith of the Centurion
When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. "Lord," he said, "my servant lies at home paralyzed and in terrible suffering."
Jesus said to him, "I will go and heal him."
The centurion replied, "Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and that one, 'Come,' and he comes. I say to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it."
When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him, "I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go! It will be done just as you believed it would." And his servant was healed at that very hour.
Matthew 8:5-13
There was nothing mystical or “wishing it were so”, in the centurion’s discussion with Jesus. He did not try to manipulate Jesus but simply stated why he knew Jesus could heal his servant from his understanding of authority. For a Roman soldier to fail to do what he was commanded would have meant a severe flogging or death. No wonder the centurion knew the job would get done.
But here’s the kicker. Jesus related the centurion’s "natural" understanding of authority with a greater faith than He had found in all of Israel.
In the same line of "naturalistic" thinking, using a good business plan or good work ethic is not contrary to faith but in fact is a true demonstration of faith.
Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.
1 Thess. 4:11-12
So let’s cut out the absurd idea that great faith means one will exhibit great skill in getting others to finance their vision.
Many leaders talk about faith in this manner but that's not how Jesus taught or lived. He didn't get his disciples to bankroll the feeding of the 5,000, He demonstrated what He saw from His Father.
I think this century has seen more than enough Christian begging and manipulations in the guise of faith.
Nevertheless, men will continue to build buildings and "ministries in THEIR name" as a testimony to THEIR faith in God. Incredibly, many of God's people would have it no other way.
Why then, does the New Testament not bear witness to these modern measurements of faith?
As for me, the only building I'm interested in is the one built with living stones. ...you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
1 Peter 2:5
Why does this matter?
If God's people channeled just 20% of their giving away from brick and mortar and pastor's salaries to true caring for others not a single child in the entire world would go to bed hungry tonight.
Some might even consider that a true demonstration of faith.
The Poor Never Tithed
Give one example of a poor person in the Bible who tithed.
Who benefited from the tithe?
The widow, the orphan, the alien and the Levites. (The Levites are included in this list because they were not allowed to own land or have a business.)
When you have finished setting aside a tenth of all your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe, you shall give it to the Levite, the alien, the fatherless and the widow, so that they may eat in your towns and be satisfied.
Deuteronomy 26:12
This is the tithe that Malachi 3 is talking about.
Have we taught this to people?
Who benefited from the tithe?
The widow, the orphan, the alien and the Levites. (The Levites are included in this list because they were not allowed to own land or have a business.)
When you have finished setting aside a tenth of all your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe, you shall give it to the Levite, the alien, the fatherless and the widow, so that they may eat in your towns and be satisfied.
Deuteronomy 26:12
This is the tithe that Malachi 3 is talking about.
Have we taught this to people?
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Lying
If you really, really believe a lie to be true, does that mean that it’s not a lie?
When you discover that you have been teaching a lie (that you sincerely thought was true) for many years, should you tell those you taught that you taught them a lie?
When you discover that you have been teaching a lie (that you sincerely thought was true) for many years, should you tell those you taught that you taught them a lie?
Monday, September 29, 2008
$100 Could Conquer Poverty in 14 Days
Just because everyone used to think that the earth was flat doesn’t mean that it was true.
How would you have convinced them otherwise?
You would have to go on a long walk with them.
Modern day flat world thinking.
Is it possible to wipe out hunger in our world in 14 days?
Yes, if 4 people convinced 4 people each to give $100 and they in turn convinced 4 people each the following day and so on. If this happened 14 days in a row, how much money would be raised to combat poverty?
4
16
64
256
1,024
4,096
16,384
65,536
262144
1,048,576
4,194,304
16,777,216
67,108,864
268,435,456
With just the population of North America over $33 billion would have been raised.
Will this happen? Not as long as we continue to believe the lie that the need is too big or that $100 is too small.
Maybe it's because people think $100 is too much to give away.
On average, Christians give about $100 a month to church salaries and buildings.
Jesus said, "Suffer the little children to come unto him."
Modern day application for North American Christians, "Let the little children suffer as we listen to sermons and sing praises to Jesus."
How would you have convinced them otherwise?
You would have to go on a long walk with them.
Modern day flat world thinking.
Is it possible to wipe out hunger in our world in 14 days?
Yes, if 4 people convinced 4 people each to give $100 and they in turn convinced 4 people each the following day and so on. If this happened 14 days in a row, how much money would be raised to combat poverty?
4
16
64
256
1,024
4,096
16,384
65,536
262144
1,048,576
4,194,304
16,777,216
67,108,864
268,435,456
With just the population of North America over $33 billion would have been raised.
Will this happen? Not as long as we continue to believe the lie that the need is too big or that $100 is too small.
Maybe it's because people think $100 is too much to give away.
On average, Christians give about $100 a month to church salaries and buildings.
Jesus said, "Suffer the little children to come unto him."
Modern day application for North American Christians, "Let the little children suffer as we listen to sermons and sing praises to Jesus."
Friday, September 26, 2008
Malachi 3: Tithing for the Poor?
On many church offering envelopes you will see this verse, Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that here may be food in My house, test Me now in this, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open for you the windows of heaven, and pour out for you a blessing until there is no more need. Malachi 3:10
To be fair, most pastors never intended to abuse this passage, they are just doing what they have been taught. Sadly, I was one of the them.
Here is an excerpt, from “The Children are Free”, by Roger Sapp.
The Second Tithe is for the Poor
The second biblical tithe was in support of the poor, the widow, the orphan and the foreigner and the Levite again. It was collected every three years. This amounted to two years out of seven years because one year out of seven the land was commanded to be at rest and unproductive. This food tithe was stored locally to support those in need. The LAW says:
At the end of every third year you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in that year, and shall deposit it in your town. And the Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance among you, and the alien, the orphan and the widow who are in your town, shall come and eat and be satisfied, in order that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.
Deuteronomy 14:28-29 and see Deut. 16:22
This second food tithe was stored locally and those who were in need could partake of it. The poor did not tithe at all. They had no harvest to tithe from. They could obtain help from the local storehouse or they could glean the corners of the fields of others. Needy widows, orphans, foreigners and needy Levites could partake of this local storehouse of food. Since there was an ongoing failure to pay the first food tithe, the Levites were often in need.
Those that teach tithing fail to notice that the poor did not pay a food tithe. Tithing money today is incredibly hard on the poor and easy on the rich. If a person, who needs every cent of their income to pay for food and shelter, is obligated to pay ten-percent of their income to the church, it becomes an incredible burden. However, if a person is rich and is only living on a small fraction of their income, then paying a tithe of their income is no burden at all. Teaching the poor to tithe their income places upon them a heavy burden that Christ never intended them to carry.
The church seems to ignore the second food tithe for the poor in its teaching of tithing money. In fact, many leaders confuse this tithe with the first tithe in support of the Levites. The poor tithe is mentioned in Malachi, Chapter 3. This is a very popular text used in the church to teach the tithing of money. This passage is often wrongly taught as pertaining to the Levites and Priests and spiritualized to apply to the ministry of the church. The food tithe for the Levites was brought to Jerusalem and paid during the festivals. It was not stored locally in the storehouse. This tithe in Malachi 3 was the poor tithe and was brought to the storehouse in their localities. Malachi also says that this is a food tithe of produce rather than money.
Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that here may be food in My house, test Me now in this, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open for you the windows of heaven, and pour out for you a blessing until there is no more need.
Malachi 3:10
The church has often sincerely but ignorantly misused this passage by spiritualizing it. The storehouse in the passage by interpretation becomes the local church rather than the literal Jewish town’s storehouse for the poor. The literal food in the passage by interpretation becomes money. The blessing by interpretation becomes more money rather than God opening the windows of heaven and pouring out rain that produces more food.
Beyond this, the money collected by misusing this passage is not generally used to support the poor either. It is used to support the ministry of the church. This is a general spiritualization of this passage that improperly takes the passage out of its context and reapplies it to Christians without biblical license. This spiritualized teaching makes believers feel that they are under some sort of New Testament law of giving with a curse attached. This is poor teaching at best. This teaching puts forgiven believers back under the Law of Moses and its curse.
Here is the spiritualized version of these verses taught by some in the church:
Bring (as an act of worship) the full amount of your tithe (ten percent of your ongoing income) in the storehouse (the local church), that there may be food (spiritual food) in My house (the local church), and prove Me now (presently) by it, (put me to the test, give Me an opportunity to prove Myself) and you will see that I will open the windows of heaven to you—and pour out on you so much (financial, material) blessing that you will not have room enough to contain it. Then I will rebuke (protect your income from) the devourer (the devil) for you – I will stop the thief (the devil) from destroying the fruit (money, material goods) of your labors.
Spiritualized version of Malachi 3:10-11
Last Thoughts From Me
How did we ever get to the place that 90-100% of all giving at a local church goes to brick and mortar, salaries (mostly domestic and a bit for missionaries) and programs?
Why have we so neglected the poor in the process without any pang of guilt?
Ask your pastor.
Now that this deception has been exposed will he and you continue to serve the lie or listen to a prophet like Ezekiel?
The word of the LORD came to me: "Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who only take care of themselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock.
Ezekiel 34: 1-3
Wow, a prophet not out for profit.
To be fair, most pastors never intended to abuse this passage, they are just doing what they have been taught. Sadly, I was one of the them.
Here is an excerpt, from “The Children are Free”, by Roger Sapp.
The Second Tithe is for the Poor
The second biblical tithe was in support of the poor, the widow, the orphan and the foreigner and the Levite again. It was collected every three years. This amounted to two years out of seven years because one year out of seven the land was commanded to be at rest and unproductive. This food tithe was stored locally to support those in need. The LAW says:
At the end of every third year you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in that year, and shall deposit it in your town. And the Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance among you, and the alien, the orphan and the widow who are in your town, shall come and eat and be satisfied, in order that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.
Deuteronomy 14:28-29 and see Deut. 16:22
This second food tithe was stored locally and those who were in need could partake of it. The poor did not tithe at all. They had no harvest to tithe from. They could obtain help from the local storehouse or they could glean the corners of the fields of others. Needy widows, orphans, foreigners and needy Levites could partake of this local storehouse of food. Since there was an ongoing failure to pay the first food tithe, the Levites were often in need.
Those that teach tithing fail to notice that the poor did not pay a food tithe. Tithing money today is incredibly hard on the poor and easy on the rich. If a person, who needs every cent of their income to pay for food and shelter, is obligated to pay ten-percent of their income to the church, it becomes an incredible burden. However, if a person is rich and is only living on a small fraction of their income, then paying a tithe of their income is no burden at all. Teaching the poor to tithe their income places upon them a heavy burden that Christ never intended them to carry.
The church seems to ignore the second food tithe for the poor in its teaching of tithing money. In fact, many leaders confuse this tithe with the first tithe in support of the Levites. The poor tithe is mentioned in Malachi, Chapter 3. This is a very popular text used in the church to teach the tithing of money. This passage is often wrongly taught as pertaining to the Levites and Priests and spiritualized to apply to the ministry of the church. The food tithe for the Levites was brought to Jerusalem and paid during the festivals. It was not stored locally in the storehouse. This tithe in Malachi 3 was the poor tithe and was brought to the storehouse in their localities. Malachi also says that this is a food tithe of produce rather than money.
Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that here may be food in My house, test Me now in this, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open for you the windows of heaven, and pour out for you a blessing until there is no more need.
Malachi 3:10
The church has often sincerely but ignorantly misused this passage by spiritualizing it. The storehouse in the passage by interpretation becomes the local church rather than the literal Jewish town’s storehouse for the poor. The literal food in the passage by interpretation becomes money. The blessing by interpretation becomes more money rather than God opening the windows of heaven and pouring out rain that produces more food.
Beyond this, the money collected by misusing this passage is not generally used to support the poor either. It is used to support the ministry of the church. This is a general spiritualization of this passage that improperly takes the passage out of its context and reapplies it to Christians without biblical license. This spiritualized teaching makes believers feel that they are under some sort of New Testament law of giving with a curse attached. This is poor teaching at best. This teaching puts forgiven believers back under the Law of Moses and its curse.
Here is the spiritualized version of these verses taught by some in the church:
Bring (as an act of worship) the full amount of your tithe (ten percent of your ongoing income) in the storehouse (the local church), that there may be food (spiritual food) in My house (the local church), and prove Me now (presently) by it, (put me to the test, give Me an opportunity to prove Myself) and you will see that I will open the windows of heaven to you—and pour out on you so much (financial, material) blessing that you will not have room enough to contain it. Then I will rebuke (protect your income from) the devourer (the devil) for you – I will stop the thief (the devil) from destroying the fruit (money, material goods) of your labors.
Spiritualized version of Malachi 3:10-11
Last Thoughts From Me
How did we ever get to the place that 90-100% of all giving at a local church goes to brick and mortar, salaries (mostly domestic and a bit for missionaries) and programs?
Why have we so neglected the poor in the process without any pang of guilt?
Ask your pastor.
Now that this deception has been exposed will he and you continue to serve the lie or listen to a prophet like Ezekiel?
The word of the LORD came to me: "Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who only take care of themselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock.
Ezekiel 34: 1-3
Wow, a prophet not out for profit.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Is Christ Divided?
This is an edited repost of a blog I wrote a year ago. The inspiration came from someone asking me once again, "What church are you going to?" When I said, "How do I go to what we are?", there was a judgemental silence indicating his disfavor. Incredibly if I had said, "Oh, I go to the church of gobbledy gook over on Main Street", he would have said, "That's wonderful, isn't Jesus good all the time."
When I look over the vastness of the body of Christ within the world, my heart weeps over systems that demand adherents to hold onto a broken shard, thinking it is THEE church. Billions of dollars have been spent to build pedestals where these fragments can be codified and idolized. I understand that this is the normal way of doing business and I have repented for being part of this mass distortion. (Apologies of course to the ones who really are perfect.)
A friend that passed away last spring really set me on a journey to look beyond what the godless emperor Constantine established as the norm for church practices for the last 1700 years. (Constantine established the first church buildings which necessitated a paid clergy to support them.) My friend asked me two simple questions:
Most churches have never asked these questions. However they have asked, where and when should we build a building and what should we name ourselves? Unfathomable amounts of time, energy and resources have gone into these questions which were never asked nor answered by any New Testament writer.
When I look over the vastness of the body of Christ within the world, my heart weeps over systems that demand adherents to hold onto a broken shard, thinking it is THEE church. Billions of dollars have been spent to build pedestals where these fragments can be codified and idolized. I understand that this is the normal way of doing business and I have repented for being part of this mass distortion. (Apologies of course to the ones who really are perfect.)
A friend that passed away last spring really set me on a journey to look beyond what the godless emperor Constantine established as the norm for church practices for the last 1700 years. (Constantine established the first church buildings which necessitated a paid clergy to support them.) My friend asked me two simple questions:
Why do we need a name?
Why do we need a building?
Why do we need a building?
Most churches have never asked these questions. However they have asked, where and when should we build a building and what should we name ourselves? Unfathomable amounts of time, energy and resources have gone into these questions which were never asked nor answered by any New Testament writer.
When I thought about it I realized that the New Testament only refers to Christians by geography and attaching themselves to a particular name was unheard of. (Not quite true. Paul scolded the church in Corinth for aligning themselves with personalities.) Therefore, what is considered normal and necessary today can only be considered extra-biblical at best and scripturally unnecessary.
My friend's two questions are actually rooted in scripture and carry with them the inference that they are signs of rebellion and lack trust towards God. These questions began early on with the building of the tower of Babel (they feared being scattered), to the Jewish people's demand for a king (clearly not God's will), to Paul saying,
"What I mean is this:
One of you says, "I follow Paul";
another, "I follow Apollos";
another, "I follow Cephas";
still another, "I follow Christ."
Is Christ divided?
Was Paul crucified for you?
Were you baptized into the name of Paul?"
One of you says, "I follow Paul";
another, "I follow Apollos";
another, "I follow Cephas";
still another, "I follow Christ."
Is Christ divided?
Was Paul crucified for you?
Were you baptized into the name of Paul?"
1Cor 1:12,13 (NIV)
It's incredible that men have managed to preach these very words of Paul to the same people for extended periods of time, (in some cases 30+ years), without ever considering that their longevity makes them guilty of the very thing Paul warned everyone about. People's fear of being scattered hasn't lessened since the tower of Babel.
I teach English as a Second Language. What kind of a teacher would I be if my students kept failing but I was clever enough to keep them happy in my beginners class for 30 years?
The longest Paul stayed in any one place was 3 years in the city of Ephesus. He seemed to think he could get the job done in 3 years or less. Or maybe he didn't have as much to give as modern day pastors do.
It's incredible that men have managed to preach these very words of Paul to the same people for extended periods of time, (in some cases 30+ years), without ever considering that their longevity makes them guilty of the very thing Paul warned everyone about. People's fear of being scattered hasn't lessened since the tower of Babel.
I teach English as a Second Language. What kind of a teacher would I be if my students kept failing but I was clever enough to keep them happy in my beginners class for 30 years?
The longest Paul stayed in any one place was 3 years in the city of Ephesus. He seemed to think he could get the job done in 3 years or less. Or maybe he didn't have as much to give as modern day pastors do.
One of the greatest indictments against Christianity has been the sectarian and elitist separation that is the most easily recognized attribute for those who seriously look at the whole of Christianity. It seems that every local church creates its own subculture to define itself. For the seeker or new Christian the message is clearly that they should learn to conform to one of the models that is presented. At one group, subjective prophetic language must be accepted in order to fill fully accepted. At another group one must fully reject that approach in order to belong. Another group demands the acceptance and submission to hierarchal leadership. The list of 30,000+ denominations would be too burdensome to go on with.
Pastors and people give the impression that one must belong to one of these diverse groups, never realizing that they are forcing people to make choices that are sometimes polar opposites. Naturally, the group you choose will tell you that you have made the correct choice.
Thankfully a new Christian is mature enough to fully understand the limits of any one group and is able to make the correct choice of such diverse thought processes.
Why are we so smugly content that Christ has been divided up this way? (Some aren't. Their thinking is, "If only everyone else would realize that we are right, what a great witness that would be to the world.")
I know some pastors who are working very hard to bring unity within diverse church settings. I think they are unaware that it's their very own religious formula that is a contributor to the disunity. Why don't Christians realize that they are Christ's and Christ's alone?
Each system demands that the leadership protect it and cause people to conform to its image. The words, in Jesus name are used as a by line in every church group, making it appear that Jesus is quite schizophrenic. Within any particular group what they consider normal and vital is really just some guy’s interpretation that he has managed to enforce or convince a group to adhere to. This enforcement is said to be for the protection of the people but it is really for the protection of the system.
I used to work in a church that had a policy manual as thick as a Bible. It could be conveniently ignored or rigidly enforced in order to support whatever mood we leaders were in that day. Sometimes we mock the Pharisees of Jesus' day for their rigid enforcement of their policy manual, the Talmud. Are we any different?
When people begin to explore outside of their group’s boundaries (speaking in tongues, remarriage, women in leadership, prophetic leadings, raising of hands, styles of worship, doctrine, tithing, cultural dress, missions, care for the poor…) the only thing they can do with integrity is leave quietly. Way to often, friendships cannot survive even a quiet leaving. The travesty is that when Paul asks the question, “Is Christ divided?”, the answer is a resounding YES.
The best of those in leadership end up subjugating themselves to the system to which they are a part of and sometimes have created. I’m not saying this support is done grudgingly; in fact it is often done with naïve, idealistic passion. Nevertheless, their mission, backed by significant resources, is to support their flawed system. Eventually and inevitably idolatry is the result because no system is the whole of Christ. I don’t know any leader that thinks that what he is doing is a form of idolatry and yet if they look at other systems they can see the idols (hindrances and limits), quite easily.
With the free flow of information that we now have access to, these systems can be easily observed, but not so easily dismantled. Religion is incredibly resilient against real change. The common theme through these systems is for the seeker or new believer to change to be like them. For the religious elite of Jesus' day, the cross was the only answer for someone who did not conform.
Many leaders still tend to think in terms of how to build a better mouse trap (there is no end to conferences and books about closing the backdoor) in order to gather people around themselves. (They would say it's not about them, it's about Jesus. Let's give Jesus a clap offering. Ugh!) But the shackles are beginning to loosen. Thankfully, keeping people ignorant and isolated is no longer an easy weapon to wield.
Pastors can still build their fortresses but some people are realizing that their might be more to Christ beyond the walls and the moat. It is no longer necessary or beneficial to build beautiful sanctuaries for one man to stand on his pedestal dispensing his particular brand of Christianity to the adoring throng. The greatest lie is the one that never admits but seductively implies, "We have searched and uncovered the vastness of Christ and have everything you need." Even so, human nature being what it is will allow this to continue. “Give us a king”, is still a common cry.
When I was doing my toolmaker apprenticeship I wondered why the term journeyman was used to refer to the skilled trades. In an earlier time when a man finished his apprenticeship he was immediately fired from the company. He had to journey to find another job within his field in order to gain more experience. The point being that no singular place could ever give someone the full expression and experience that the specific trade demanded. The only way to do this in church systems is to break, vilify, cast out, leave quietly or dethrone in order for people to mature into the full expression of the body of Christ.
The one who leaves is seen as either rebellious, backslidden or deceived and the group condescendingly mouths the words, we'll pray for you. That's not really true: usually in an ironic twist, no one even notices when someone leaves. If you show up a year later they will tell you much they have missed you. How arrogant that people can talk of an infinite God that can be so easily packaged within the limits of a finite group?
The great commission is a command to GO, not stay and smugly or passively conform.
Leaders don’t tend to lead for a time and then get out of the way. But the model is there in scripture for those who care to look. The gilded cage of a paycheck makes it difficult for pastors to actually apply this principle.
John the Baptist said,
"He must increase, but I [must] decrease. John 3:30 (NKJV)
Jesus said,
"But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away." John 16:7a (NIV)
Jesus did not say He would build a system and call it church. He did say, He (not a pastor) would build His church. Peter defines what Jesus meant by this, (notice we are the many stones but there is only one house)
1Pet 2:4 (NIV) As you come to him, the living Stone--rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him-- 5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
What am I trying to say? Pause for a while to learn from others but don’t become rooted in the limits of finite people. It really is OK to be a journeyman, learning from various and diverse members of the body of Christ, about the one pearl of great price. Jesus did promise a comforter (not a group) that will guide you into all truth.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
The Problem with Money: Fear, Greed, Passiveness
“The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. That’s the way it’s always been.”
Sadly, many Christians think this is true.
For many, talking about money is in bad taste. If you talk about it you must be greedy.
Discipling young Christians in how God sees money is unheard of except of course to teach them to pay their teacher.
Consequently many people (including Christians) are trapped in a never-ending cycle of fear and greed when it comes to money. Others have taken the “supposedly” high road and say they are indifferent to it. That's just another form of fearfulness that you will see in a moment from Jesus' teaching.
The true purpose of money is to surprise our neighbors and help the poor. (That's called ministry.)
Getting our hearts in line with kingdom thinking is not some passive, wish it were so, pseudo-Christian way of thinking. In fact, passiveness has no value in advancing the kingdom of God.
“From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.” Matthew 11:12
Jesus talked a lot about money. Perhaps more than any other single subject. Here is one example of some of the astonishing things He had to say about money. The topic is investments for kingdom purposes.
This is an excerpt from “Radical Trust in God for Finances”, by Roger Sapp. This portion is about the Parable of the Ten Minas. Luke 19:11-27
"The Nobleman’s Judgment of the Third Slave
There are interesting elements in the reaction of the nobleman to this particular slave. The nobleman says to the third slave,
“He said to him, “By your own words I will judge you, you worthless slave. Did you know that I am an exacting man, taking up what I did not lay down, and reaping what I did not sow? Then why did you not put the money in the bank, and having come, I would have collected it with interest?”
Luke 19:22-23
The slave got just what he was expecting. He expected a harsh reaction and received one. He was judged by his own words. The third slave was rebuked for not even entrusting the banker with the money so that he could have drawn interest. This is an extremely interesting comment by Christ in this parable. Christ sees drawing interest on money as kind of a minimum thing that someone that is fearful should do. It is not really what he expects for His faithful and believing servants. He expects them to invest and do business with what he gives and come back with a multiplication of the principle not just interest. This also speaks to initiative. Financial passivity will not produce what Christ wishes. It is a reflection of fearfulness not faith. Christ expects us to actively invest and have a multiplication of the resources that He gives us.
Christ, through the words of the nobleman, describes the third slave as worthless in this verse. This is the Greek word poneros. It is often translated wicked. Why was the man wicked? He had a wrong view of the nobleman that made him fearful and produced disobedience to his commands and that made him unproductive. Many people today have a wrong view of God that makes them fearful and disobedient. They do not come to Christ as Savior because they do not see God properly. They are full of accusations against God and think of Him being harsh. They also unfortunately may be judged by their own words and attitudes toward God rather than experiencing the mercy and grace of God in Jesus Christ."
A Final Thought by Me
Have you ever been surprised by someone's financial generosity towards you? I'm not talking about picking up the cheque at a restaurant. If that happens and you don't reciprocate you're just a lazy ingrate. I'm talking about extravagant giving like a car, a house, paying off school loans, a future... Not many have and that is why most Christians do not walk in Jesus' teachings about money. It is hard to do what no one has done for you.
You can wait for someone to get this truth and pass it on to you. Or you can believe Jesus and be like the slave that took 1 mina and multiplied it tenfold. In doing this multiplication, he wasn't hoarding his nickels but extravagantly helping others as well. Is this possible? Jesus thought it was the first step in living a faith filled life.
And Jesus said,
"I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. "Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?" Luke 16:9-11
When you get doing this you'll find it to be extremely fun and frustrating. People will think you're nuts. Even the ones you try to help will resist and question your motives. Go with what Jesus thinks, the crowd will always get it wrong.
Sadly, many Christians think this is true.
For many, talking about money is in bad taste. If you talk about it you must be greedy.
Discipling young Christians in how God sees money is unheard of except of course to teach them to pay their teacher.
Consequently many people (including Christians) are trapped in a never-ending cycle of fear and greed when it comes to money. Others have taken the “supposedly” high road and say they are indifferent to it. That's just another form of fearfulness that you will see in a moment from Jesus' teaching.
The true purpose of money is to surprise our neighbors and help the poor. (That's called ministry.)
Getting our hearts in line with kingdom thinking is not some passive, wish it were so, pseudo-Christian way of thinking. In fact, passiveness has no value in advancing the kingdom of God.
“From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.” Matthew 11:12
Jesus talked a lot about money. Perhaps more than any other single subject. Here is one example of some of the astonishing things He had to say about money. The topic is investments for kingdom purposes.
This is an excerpt from “Radical Trust in God for Finances”, by Roger Sapp. This portion is about the Parable of the Ten Minas. Luke 19:11-27
"The Nobleman’s Judgment of the Third Slave
There are interesting elements in the reaction of the nobleman to this particular slave. The nobleman says to the third slave,
“He said to him, “By your own words I will judge you, you worthless slave. Did you know that I am an exacting man, taking up what I did not lay down, and reaping what I did not sow? Then why did you not put the money in the bank, and having come, I would have collected it with interest?”
Luke 19:22-23
The slave got just what he was expecting. He expected a harsh reaction and received one. He was judged by his own words. The third slave was rebuked for not even entrusting the banker with the money so that he could have drawn interest. This is an extremely interesting comment by Christ in this parable. Christ sees drawing interest on money as kind of a minimum thing that someone that is fearful should do. It is not really what he expects for His faithful and believing servants. He expects them to invest and do business with what he gives and come back with a multiplication of the principle not just interest. This also speaks to initiative. Financial passivity will not produce what Christ wishes. It is a reflection of fearfulness not faith. Christ expects us to actively invest and have a multiplication of the resources that He gives us.
Christ, through the words of the nobleman, describes the third slave as worthless in this verse. This is the Greek word poneros. It is often translated wicked. Why was the man wicked? He had a wrong view of the nobleman that made him fearful and produced disobedience to his commands and that made him unproductive. Many people today have a wrong view of God that makes them fearful and disobedient. They do not come to Christ as Savior because they do not see God properly. They are full of accusations against God and think of Him being harsh. They also unfortunately may be judged by their own words and attitudes toward God rather than experiencing the mercy and grace of God in Jesus Christ."
A Final Thought by Me
Have you ever been surprised by someone's financial generosity towards you? I'm not talking about picking up the cheque at a restaurant. If that happens and you don't reciprocate you're just a lazy ingrate. I'm talking about extravagant giving like a car, a house, paying off school loans, a future... Not many have and that is why most Christians do not walk in Jesus' teachings about money. It is hard to do what no one has done for you.
You can wait for someone to get this truth and pass it on to you. Or you can believe Jesus and be like the slave that took 1 mina and multiplied it tenfold. In doing this multiplication, he wasn't hoarding his nickels but extravagantly helping others as well. Is this possible? Jesus thought it was the first step in living a faith filled life.
And Jesus said,
"I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. "Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?" Luke 16:9-11
When you get doing this you'll find it to be extremely fun and frustrating. People will think you're nuts. Even the ones you try to help will resist and question your motives. Go with what Jesus thinks, the crowd will always get it wrong.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
The Trap of Knowledge
One of the great quests in life is seeking after truth and then applying it. The danger is assuming that knowledge equals truth and wisdom.
Being satisfied with knowledge can condemn us to eating yesterday’s left overs. I have experienced this more times than I can count.
My pride would trap me into thinking I had fully learned something and therefore did not continue to seek greater understanding on the subject.
Not only did it trap me into not seeking a deeper understanding, when someone else spoke from a different perspective, I couldn’t hear what they had to say. I hate to think about the number of opportunities I have missed to grow and develop due to pride trapping me in yesterday.
This was so true for me during the many years that I practiced and taught tithing. I could do this faithfully and assume somehow that the poor were being cared for. My thinking was, “If they practiced tithing faithfully they wouldn’t be poor.” YUCK
There is a real danger of pride when you have taught something passionately and sincerely for any length of time. Can we admit to being wrong? What will others think of this about face? Will I allow others who have taught me to change their mind as well?
No doubt we need to listen to the prophet Micah,
Being satisfied with knowledge can condemn us to eating yesterday’s left overs. I have experienced this more times than I can count.
My pride would trap me into thinking I had fully learned something and therefore did not continue to seek greater understanding on the subject.
Not only did it trap me into not seeking a deeper understanding, when someone else spoke from a different perspective, I couldn’t hear what they had to say. I hate to think about the number of opportunities I have missed to grow and develop due to pride trapping me in yesterday.
This was so true for me during the many years that I practiced and taught tithing. I could do this faithfully and assume somehow that the poor were being cared for. My thinking was, “If they practiced tithing faithfully they wouldn’t be poor.” YUCK
There is a real danger of pride when you have taught something passionately and sincerely for any length of time. Can we admit to being wrong? What will others think of this about face? Will I allow others who have taught me to change their mind as well?
No doubt we need to listen to the prophet Micah,
He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.
Micah 6:8
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Who is Dresden James?
I love these quotes. But who is Dresden James?
"A truth’s initial commotion is directly proportional to how deeply the lie was believed. It wasn’t the world being round that agitated people, but that the world wasn’t flat. When a well-packaged web of lies has been sold gradually to the masses over generations, the truth will seem utterly preposterous and its speaker a raving lunatic."
"The ideal tyranny is that which is ignorantly self-administered by its victims. The most perfect slaves are, therefore, those which blissfully and unawaredly enslave themselves."
Dresden James
"A truth’s initial commotion is directly proportional to how deeply the lie was believed. It wasn’t the world being round that agitated people, but that the world wasn’t flat. When a well-packaged web of lies has been sold gradually to the masses over generations, the truth will seem utterly preposterous and its speaker a raving lunatic."
"The ideal tyranny is that which is ignorantly self-administered by its victims. The most perfect slaves are, therefore, those which blissfully and unawaredly enslave themselves."
Dresden James
The Word of God
Which is more valuable: the written word of God or the spoken word of God?
Obviously, the spoken word of God, in the form of Sunday sermons, is more valuable.
You simply have to follow the money and the time.
Christians spend billions of dollars every year to hear the Word.
A Bible is often a one time expenditure.
Many spend more time listening to sermons than reading the Bible for themselves.
Some try to read the Bible through in a year, but most never make it.
It takes about 10 minutes a day to do this. About an hour per week. Whereas, going to church can take 2-3 hours, including prep and travel time.
I guess Jesus was such a poor communicator that the words He spoke can only be understood through an interpreter.
Is it really so difficult to read the Bible for yourself and apply it to your life?
Obviously, the spoken word of God, in the form of Sunday sermons, is more valuable.
You simply have to follow the money and the time.
Christians spend billions of dollars every year to hear the Word.
A Bible is often a one time expenditure.
Many spend more time listening to sermons than reading the Bible for themselves.
Some try to read the Bible through in a year, but most never make it.
It takes about 10 minutes a day to do this. About an hour per week. Whereas, going to church can take 2-3 hours, including prep and travel time.
I guess Jesus was such a poor communicator that the words He spoke can only be understood through an interpreter.
Is it really so difficult to read the Bible for yourself and apply it to your life?
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Lessons from the Life of Joseph
Joseph, the son of Jacob, is often spoken of as a shining example of one who stood up to adversity, grew in wisdom, did not become bitter and saved a nation by doing what was right.
He knew how to use his natural gifts and with a small revelation from God, was able to administrate a true deliverance for an entire nation. This was a testimony, not just of Joseph but of God himself.
Interestingly Joseph used a very sound business plan which not only saved countless lives but ensured Egypt’s prominence and wealth for centuries to come.
Not bad considering:
his brothers wanted to kill him but sold him into slavery instead,
when he had shown his value as a great administrator he was falsely accused of rape and thrown into prison,
when he correctly interpreted dreams with God’s help, he was still left in prison,
when he saw his brothers who had so cruelly treated him, he had nothing but love, mercy and compassion for them.
Lots of people want a word from the Lord without any hassles.
Where did Joseph get his tenacious spirit and unswerving faith in God? The only words he had from God would have been stories told and dreams that he received.
There was no Bible to study or groups to belong to.
Why do we think the answer to the riddles of life are found in a Bible study or a sermon? How can we admire Joseph and not get the fact that he lived an incredible life of integrity, compassion and wisdom without those structures that we deem so vital?
The Bible doesn’t necessarily teach truth as much as it reveals truth for us to apply.
Joseph is one of the greatest testimonies of a man who chose to be faithful to God and use his natural talents to bring God glory.
All that without ever going to church. Hmmmm.
He knew how to use his natural gifts and with a small revelation from God, was able to administrate a true deliverance for an entire nation. This was a testimony, not just of Joseph but of God himself.
Interestingly Joseph used a very sound business plan which not only saved countless lives but ensured Egypt’s prominence and wealth for centuries to come.
Not bad considering:
his brothers wanted to kill him but sold him into slavery instead,
when he had shown his value as a great administrator he was falsely accused of rape and thrown into prison,
when he correctly interpreted dreams with God’s help, he was still left in prison,
when he saw his brothers who had so cruelly treated him, he had nothing but love, mercy and compassion for them.
Lots of people want a word from the Lord without any hassles.
Where did Joseph get his tenacious spirit and unswerving faith in God? The only words he had from God would have been stories told and dreams that he received.
There was no Bible to study or groups to belong to.
Why do we think the answer to the riddles of life are found in a Bible study or a sermon? How can we admire Joseph and not get the fact that he lived an incredible life of integrity, compassion and wisdom without those structures that we deem so vital?
The Bible doesn’t necessarily teach truth as much as it reveals truth for us to apply.
Joseph is one of the greatest testimonies of a man who chose to be faithful to God and use his natural talents to bring God glory.
All that without ever going to church. Hmmmm.
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Primitive Simplicity
How would you feel if you got a letter from a dear friend that you knew you would never see again? You can feel their joy and see the twinkle in their eyes, just as if they were sitting right there in your living room.
When you realize that this letter was written not just to you but to a number of your friends, wouldn’t you want to invite them over to hear your friend’s passion and wisdom?
Would you take that letter and tell everyone that gathers with you, that you will now read just part of the letter and then interpret it for everyone present? How would the group react to such a course of action? I'm sure they would have quickly laughed at the sudden swelling of your head.
When Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus, there would not have been an appointed interpreter; everyone had an equal share in hearing and responding to what he said. No one would have had the idea that they were reading a holy book. Nevertheless, they would have greatly valued the fact that their friend had taken the time to write to them.
Since the letter wasn’t written to any one person, no one was in charge, and yet everyone would have felt free to add his or her own unique perspective about what had been shared. They would have thought it preposterous to chop it up into chapters and verses. It would have been read as letters are intended to be, all at one time. The thought would not have occurred to them to have a Bible study.
The focus of the gathering would not have been the letter itself, but each other and their ever deepening love for Jesus.
There would have been no recriminations like: did you read the Word today? And yet, many would likely memorize the letter in the same way that a distant soldier might rehearse over and over a letter from his true love.
They might not even know that there were other letters, written to other people. No one would have thought to make a comparative study to show how the word LOGOS was used by different writers of the day.
The letter would not have been the sustaining centre of why they enjoyed being together. They had already learned how to love one another without it.
An expression used for this time period of Christianity is called the primitive church. Oh, how I long for the simplicity of that time.
When you realize that this letter was written not just to you but to a number of your friends, wouldn’t you want to invite them over to hear your friend’s passion and wisdom?
Would you take that letter and tell everyone that gathers with you, that you will now read just part of the letter and then interpret it for everyone present? How would the group react to such a course of action? I'm sure they would have quickly laughed at the sudden swelling of your head.
When Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus, there would not have been an appointed interpreter; everyone had an equal share in hearing and responding to what he said. No one would have had the idea that they were reading a holy book. Nevertheless, they would have greatly valued the fact that their friend had taken the time to write to them.
Since the letter wasn’t written to any one person, no one was in charge, and yet everyone would have felt free to add his or her own unique perspective about what had been shared. They would have thought it preposterous to chop it up into chapters and verses. It would have been read as letters are intended to be, all at one time. The thought would not have occurred to them to have a Bible study.
The focus of the gathering would not have been the letter itself, but each other and their ever deepening love for Jesus.
There would have been no recriminations like: did you read the Word today? And yet, many would likely memorize the letter in the same way that a distant soldier might rehearse over and over a letter from his true love.
They might not even know that there were other letters, written to other people. No one would have thought to make a comparative study to show how the word LOGOS was used by different writers of the day.
The letter would not have been the sustaining centre of why they enjoyed being together. They had already learned how to love one another without it.
An expression used for this time period of Christianity is called the primitive church. Oh, how I long for the simplicity of that time.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Why do taxpayers fund churches?
It is a common practice for churches that are registered charities to give tax receipts to those who give to them.
What does this look like in a typical church of 100 people? They will often have a building and pay a minister to look after the affairs of the church and preside over some form of religious service. They may provide care for the poor but not necessarily.
Much of what happens at the church is for the primary benefit of those who are members. The members are essentially giving to themselves. This is not so much charitable giving as it is paying for services rendered.
These members will get a tax receipt, which can save them as much as 43% of what they gave to the church.
If the church’s budget was $100,000, it is possible that taxpayers would pay $43,000 towards that budget through the benefits that members received as tax deductions.
There is nothing wrong with people forming groups and paying someone to look after the group.
I simply don’t know why taxpayers should pay for this.
What does this look like in a typical church of 100 people? They will often have a building and pay a minister to look after the affairs of the church and preside over some form of religious service. They may provide care for the poor but not necessarily.
Much of what happens at the church is for the primary benefit of those who are members. The members are essentially giving to themselves. This is not so much charitable giving as it is paying for services rendered.
These members will get a tax receipt, which can save them as much as 43% of what they gave to the church.
If the church’s budget was $100,000, it is possible that taxpayers would pay $43,000 towards that budget through the benefits that members received as tax deductions.
There is nothing wrong with people forming groups and paying someone to look after the group.
I simply don’t know why taxpayers should pay for this.
Monday, September 1, 2008
The Tyranny of Evangelism
Sounds like a strange title when one considers how precious sharing our faith in Jesus Christ should be.
So let’s crunch some numbers to see how the church has historically done evangelistically. Alan Hirsch, “The Forgotten Ways”, says that at the end of the 1st century there were about 25,000 Christians in the world. By the end of the 3rd century there were about 20 million. These numbers literally turned the world upside down and made the Roman government of the day shake in their togas.
At around 40 A.D. there were at least 5,000 Christians in Jerusalem. So let’s see if each one, won two, how many times would this need to be repeated to get to 25,000.
40 A.D. 5,000
70 A.D. 10,000
100 A.D. 20,000
20,000 new converts + half of the 10,000 from 70 A.D. = 25,000
Every 30 years the church doubled. Meaning each person would have to win 2 people to the Lord every 30 years.
Let’s keep going for another 2 centuries. The rate of growth actually increased during this period of time.
122 A.D. 50,000
144 A.D. 100,000
166 A.D. 200,000
188 A.D. 400,000
210 A.D. 800,000
232 A,D. 1,600,000
254 A.D. 3,200,000
276 A.D. 6,400,000
298 A.D. 12,800,000
The church was now doubling, approximately every 22 years. Keep in mind they were doing this without any buildings and few, if any, paid clergy. In other words, the basic core identifiers of the Christian church today, which some would say are necessary for growth and discipleship, did not develop until after 325 A.D., under the reign of Constantine.
The world population is estimated to be between 200-300 million during that time. It's growth was relatively modest until 1600 A.D., when it reached 580 million.
If the growth of Christianity had remained consistent beyond 325 A.D., the entire population of the world would have been Christian within less than 100 years.
The genius of Constantine to curtail the impact of Christianity on his empire was to legalize it, pen it up in buildings, and create a paid clergy. Paid clergy ensured that men would fight for power, position and wealth. It was around 380 A.D. that the church began to persecute itself.
So how have we been doing this past century?
I’m using David Barrett numbers from Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary.
560 million confessing Christians in 1900. Today there are 2.2 billion.
If the church had doubled every 30 years, the whole world would now be Christian. Doubling simply means one person, reaching two people, within 30 years.
1900 A.D. 560,000,000
1930 A.D. 1,120,000,000
1960 A.D. 2,240,000,000
1990 A.D. 4,480,000,000
What does this mean?
Billions and billions have been spent. Lots of guilt has been heaped on people and yet… the dynamic growth of the early church is missing. The rate of 1 person reaching 2 people has slowed down to every 50 years.
Some would say, "See, that's why we need professionals to get the job done." The average Christian doesn't care enough about others to even win one person to Christ, never mind the astronomical number of 2.
But here's another way to understand these numbers. The vast majority of Christians have never been released in such a way that they will reach even one person for Christ.
The early church grew at a much faster rate without the aid of mass communication techniques, professionals and beautiful buildings.
Billions of dollars have been spent and any dissenting voice to the cost is smothered up because we need to reach the lost. At last count, it cost $330,000 to reach one person for Christ. (see the David Barrett numbers as noted earlier)
It would seem that the idea of every Christian being equipped to be able to reach and disciple two others for Christ in their lifetime, has been abandoned in favor of modern day evangelistic preaching.
Since the early church only grew at the rate of doubling every 22 years, why are Christians often hammered at or made to feel guilty from pulpits about the need to "reach the lost."
The truth may be more surprising about how we are to live our lives. Instead of focusing on evangelism, maybe we should make it much simpler.
Stop holing up in divisive groups giving lip service to the need to reach our world.
(The catch phrase for let's build something big to bring glory to ourselves.)
Take the money we spend on pastors and buildings and share generously with our neighbors and the poor.
Stop terrorizing Christians with the need to "reach the lost" today. Performance and/or guilt, (mechanisms of control) is the only outcome when weekly or monthly evangelism is emphasized. Speed and numbers is only important to the person trying to make a name for themselves or to justify a pay cheque. Sadly, this technique seems to work for a short period of time. But when the personality driving this technique leaves, people are left with lots of guilt and little love for each other.
Let's not forget that Jesus didn't do much till he was thirty.
The performance preaching that tries to "guilt"everyone into evangelizing would have labeled Jesus as a slug because he was not using his giftings to their maximum.
Stop trying to evangelize people into a particular sect of Christianity. That smacks of cult like practices.
Maybe, we could even help the poor without the heavy administrative price tags that are generally associated with this kind of care. 95% for administration is not unusual for organized groups.
Who knows: we might even surprise our neighbors with Christ's love that is in our hearts.
NB
Many people have outright rejected organized church and in so doing, have mistakenly associated Jesus with some of its shenanigans. The message of Jesus was love him and love others. His message was never join some organized, religious group. Sadly many people who are "doing evangelism" don't realize this and continue to alienate people from Jesus by trying to get them into their fold.
So let’s crunch some numbers to see how the church has historically done evangelistically. Alan Hirsch, “The Forgotten Ways”, says that at the end of the 1st century there were about 25,000 Christians in the world. By the end of the 3rd century there were about 20 million. These numbers literally turned the world upside down and made the Roman government of the day shake in their togas.
At around 40 A.D. there were at least 5,000 Christians in Jerusalem. So let’s see if each one, won two, how many times would this need to be repeated to get to 25,000.
40 A.D. 5,000
70 A.D. 10,000
100 A.D. 20,000
20,000 new converts + half of the 10,000 from 70 A.D. = 25,000
Every 30 years the church doubled. Meaning each person would have to win 2 people to the Lord every 30 years.
Let’s keep going for another 2 centuries. The rate of growth actually increased during this period of time.
122 A.D. 50,000
144 A.D. 100,000
166 A.D. 200,000
188 A.D. 400,000
210 A.D. 800,000
232 A,D. 1,600,000
254 A.D. 3,200,000
276 A.D. 6,400,000
298 A.D. 12,800,000
The church was now doubling, approximately every 22 years. Keep in mind they were doing this without any buildings and few, if any, paid clergy. In other words, the basic core identifiers of the Christian church today, which some would say are necessary for growth and discipleship, did not develop until after 325 A.D., under the reign of Constantine.
The world population is estimated to be between 200-300 million during that time. It's growth was relatively modest until 1600 A.D., when it reached 580 million.
If the growth of Christianity had remained consistent beyond 325 A.D., the entire population of the world would have been Christian within less than 100 years.
The genius of Constantine to curtail the impact of Christianity on his empire was to legalize it, pen it up in buildings, and create a paid clergy. Paid clergy ensured that men would fight for power, position and wealth. It was around 380 A.D. that the church began to persecute itself.
So how have we been doing this past century?
I’m using David Barrett numbers from Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary.
560 million confessing Christians in 1900. Today there are 2.2 billion.
If the church had doubled every 30 years, the whole world would now be Christian. Doubling simply means one person, reaching two people, within 30 years.
1900 A.D. 560,000,000
1930 A.D. 1,120,000,000
1960 A.D. 2,240,000,000
1990 A.D. 4,480,000,000
What does this mean?
Billions and billions have been spent. Lots of guilt has been heaped on people and yet… the dynamic growth of the early church is missing. The rate of 1 person reaching 2 people has slowed down to every 50 years.
Some would say, "See, that's why we need professionals to get the job done." The average Christian doesn't care enough about others to even win one person to Christ, never mind the astronomical number of 2.
But here's another way to understand these numbers. The vast majority of Christians have never been released in such a way that they will reach even one person for Christ.
The early church grew at a much faster rate without the aid of mass communication techniques, professionals and beautiful buildings.
Billions of dollars have been spent and any dissenting voice to the cost is smothered up because we need to reach the lost. At last count, it cost $330,000 to reach one person for Christ. (see the David Barrett numbers as noted earlier)
It would seem that the idea of every Christian being equipped to be able to reach and disciple two others for Christ in their lifetime, has been abandoned in favor of modern day evangelistic preaching.
Since the early church only grew at the rate of doubling every 22 years, why are Christians often hammered at or made to feel guilty from pulpits about the need to "reach the lost."
The truth may be more surprising about how we are to live our lives. Instead of focusing on evangelism, maybe we should make it much simpler.
Stop holing up in divisive groups giving lip service to the need to reach our world.
(The catch phrase for let's build something big to bring glory to ourselves.)
Take the money we spend on pastors and buildings and share generously with our neighbors and the poor.
Stop terrorizing Christians with the need to "reach the lost" today. Performance and/or guilt, (mechanisms of control) is the only outcome when weekly or monthly evangelism is emphasized. Speed and numbers is only important to the person trying to make a name for themselves or to justify a pay cheque. Sadly, this technique seems to work for a short period of time. But when the personality driving this technique leaves, people are left with lots of guilt and little love for each other.
Let's not forget that Jesus didn't do much till he was thirty.
The performance preaching that tries to "guilt"everyone into evangelizing would have labeled Jesus as a slug because he was not using his giftings to their maximum.
Stop trying to evangelize people into a particular sect of Christianity. That smacks of cult like practices.
Maybe, we could even help the poor without the heavy administrative price tags that are generally associated with this kind of care. 95% for administration is not unusual for organized groups.
Who knows: we might even surprise our neighbors with Christ's love that is in our hearts.
NB
Many people have outright rejected organized church and in so doing, have mistakenly associated Jesus with some of its shenanigans. The message of Jesus was love him and love others. His message was never join some organized, religious group. Sadly many people who are "doing evangelism" don't realize this and continue to alienate people from Jesus by trying to get them into their fold.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Reap What You Sow
This blog is about making money. If you find that offensive don't read it.
Interestingly enough Jesus endorsed the idea that we are to make money. In Matthew 25 he was pleased with the guy who went from 5 talents to 10. This would have been a very rich dude in the time of Jesus. Jesus literally attributed this making of more money as one aspect of proving oneself to be faithful.
It also should be a building block of discipling others. If people are going to do what is in their heart to do, wouldn't it be nice if they had their own resources to do it?
Perhaps people have seen too many preachers taking up too many offerings for themselves and their agendas and think this is how "sowing and reaping" works in the kingdom of God. HINT: It's NOT.
A better approach would be offering to help someone else increase their finances. I want to focus on one aspect of kingdom life that Jesus wants his people to be free in and teach how we can help others to have that same freedom.
REAP WHAT YOU SOW
This is an old phrase that is jam packed full of truth. However, some people misunderstand this principle, thinking that sowing and reaping are equal. But as any good farmer will tell you, the reaping part should be at least 30 times what you sow. Jesus said it this way almost 2,000 years ago:
"Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. He who has ears, let him hear."
The disciples came to him and asked, "Why do you speak to the people in parables?"
He replied, "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. This is why I speak to them in parables:
"Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: 'You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. Matthew 8:8-14
Reaping more than you sow is the only reason a farmer is willing to get up at dawn to work the land. If he thought for one second that the seed he planted in the ground would only return one more seed he would have gone fishing instead. Furthermore, there would be no life on earth if reaping wasn’t greater than sowing.
Imagine starting out as a single celled egg that couldn’t be seen without the aid of a microscope, beginning to multiply through the simple process of doubling. A human being is estimated to have over 100 trillion (100,000,000,000,000) cells.
Can this principle be applied at a fundamental level of the way we earn money to support our families and be salt and light to our world?
Please allow me to introduce you to the world of network marketing. The bedrock principle behind network marketing is the kingdom principle of reaping more than you sow and can be simply understood through the power of doubling.
Let me illustrate how doubling works.
The key is for people to understand that all they need to do to become successful is to get 2 people to invest $100 a month into healthy products. As this is repeated and they get 2 people who get 2 people who get 2 people…, the potential reaping is astronomical.
REMEMBER: It’s not about personally recruiting tons of people. It’s about understanding doubling.
L0 1 +
L1 2 + +
L2 4 ++++
L3 8 ++++++++
L4 16 ++++++++++++++++
L5 32 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
L6 64 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Total people = 127
The first person only enrolled two people and yet they are able to reap the benefits of over 120 people. At an average return of about 5% per person, that’s over $1,000 month from an investment of just $100 per month.
To be fair though, there is an even more powerful and yet simple way of maximizing our efforts. Let’s modify the principle of doubling ever so slightly and include just one more person each. This is the power of tripling.
L0 1
L1 3
L2 9
L3 27
L4 81
L5 243
L6 729
In the same number of steps you would have gone from 100 people, to over an astounding 1,000 people.
Potential monthly income is over $5,000 per month.
As my father always said, “That’s better than a kick in the pants with a frozen boot.”
How many people did you personally get to understand and apply this life changing principle?
Is there something that can kill this principle? Yes. It’s called “do nothing”.
Nothing sowed = nothing reaped.
Are you one of those people who are willing to tap into the unlimited potential of reaping more than you sow?
Doubling or tripling: it’s up to you.
Let me help you unleash the power of reaping more than you sow. In the process you will also learn how simple discipleship really is.
Looking forward to your success.
Interestingly enough Jesus endorsed the idea that we are to make money. In Matthew 25 he was pleased with the guy who went from 5 talents to 10. This would have been a very rich dude in the time of Jesus. Jesus literally attributed this making of more money as one aspect of proving oneself to be faithful.
It also should be a building block of discipling others. If people are going to do what is in their heart to do, wouldn't it be nice if they had their own resources to do it?
Perhaps people have seen too many preachers taking up too many offerings for themselves and their agendas and think this is how "sowing and reaping" works in the kingdom of God. HINT: It's NOT.
A better approach would be offering to help someone else increase their finances. I want to focus on one aspect of kingdom life that Jesus wants his people to be free in and teach how we can help others to have that same freedom.
REAP WHAT YOU SOW
This is an old phrase that is jam packed full of truth. However, some people misunderstand this principle, thinking that sowing and reaping are equal. But as any good farmer will tell you, the reaping part should be at least 30 times what you sow. Jesus said it this way almost 2,000 years ago:
"Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. He who has ears, let him hear."
The disciples came to him and asked, "Why do you speak to the people in parables?"
He replied, "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. This is why I speak to them in parables:
"Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: 'You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. Matthew 8:8-14
Reaping more than you sow is the only reason a farmer is willing to get up at dawn to work the land. If he thought for one second that the seed he planted in the ground would only return one more seed he would have gone fishing instead. Furthermore, there would be no life on earth if reaping wasn’t greater than sowing.
Imagine starting out as a single celled egg that couldn’t be seen without the aid of a microscope, beginning to multiply through the simple process of doubling. A human being is estimated to have over 100 trillion (100,000,000,000,000) cells.
Can this principle be applied at a fundamental level of the way we earn money to support our families and be salt and light to our world?
YES!!!
Please allow me to introduce you to the world of network marketing. The bedrock principle behind network marketing is the kingdom principle of reaping more than you sow and can be simply understood through the power of doubling.
Let me illustrate how doubling works.
The key is for people to understand that all they need to do to become successful is to get 2 people to invest $100 a month into healthy products. As this is repeated and they get 2 people who get 2 people who get 2 people…, the potential reaping is astronomical.
REMEMBER: It’s not about personally recruiting tons of people. It’s about understanding doubling.
L0 1 +
L1 2 + +
L2 4 ++++
L3 8 ++++++++
L4 16 ++++++++++++++++
L5 32 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
L6 64 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Total people = 127
The first person only enrolled two people and yet they are able to reap the benefits of over 120 people. At an average return of about 5% per person, that’s over $1,000 month from an investment of just $100 per month.
To be fair though, there is an even more powerful and yet simple way of maximizing our efforts. Let’s modify the principle of doubling ever so slightly and include just one more person each. This is the power of tripling.
L0 1
L1 3
L2 9
L3 27
L4 81
L5 243
L6 729
In the same number of steps you would have gone from 100 people, to over an astounding 1,000 people.
Potential monthly income is over $5,000 per month.
As my father always said, “That’s better than a kick in the pants with a frozen boot.”
How many people did you personally get to understand and apply this life changing principle?
3
Is there something that can kill this principle? Yes. It’s called “do nothing”.
Nothing sowed = nothing reaped.
Are you one of those people who are willing to tap into the unlimited potential of reaping more than you sow?
Doubling or tripling: it’s up to you.
Let me help you unleash the power of reaping more than you sow. In the process you will also learn how simple discipleship really is.
Looking forward to your success.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Magic
Therrie and I went to a magic show the other night in Niagara Falls. We were with her sister and brother-in-law and we had a great time. We had no illusions about what to expect at the show. We expected to be entertained by being tricked into seeing something that wasn’t true.
I even had the dubious pleasure of being picked out from the audience to help with one of the feats of magic. The trick that was being performed had Greg Frewin (the magician) taking a live duck and having it magically re-appear into a bucket that I was holding. The crowd was awestruck, when sure enough, upon taking the bucket back from me, he opened the lid to find the duck that had disappeared from the stage. Since I had been guarding the bucket there was no possible way for some slight of hand to take place.
Of course, I knew all along how the trick was being done. The entire time that I had been holding the bucket, I could feel a ‘look a like’ duck squirming inside.
We paid $90 bucks each to have front and centre seats, knowing that we would be deceived during the entire performance. We tried our best to figure out the tricks but for the most part we could only applaud to how well we had been deceived. I was especially happy because at least I knew how the duck trick was done.
Lots of money went into the magician’s theatre. The seating was laid out to ensure that the audience’s attention was on the star. It was much nicer than church because we could get drinks during the show and there was even an intermission so we could have a potty break without interrupting anyone.
I didn’t expect to go back week after week to see the same kinds of tricks, so $90 for the night didn’t seem like a bad deal to me. For most of my Christian experience I had been paying $100-150 per week for a performance that hardly ever changed, at a theater that I was misled into calling, “church”.
I simply hadn’t taken Jesus’s words seriously enough.
Matthew 24: 4-5 Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. 5For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ,[a]' and will deceive many.
The trick that was played on me was that just because someone claims they are proclaiming Christ they could very well be deceiving many. I was so duped by the magic that for a time, I had even become one of the magicians for awhile.
What value did Jesus put on a building?
Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. 2"Do you see all these things?" he asked. "I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down." Matthew 24:1-2 (NIV)
What did Paul teach new converts about buildings?
Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? 1 Corinthians 3:16
What did Peter teach about buildings?
As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him—you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 2:4,5
What was Barnabas and Paul’s reaction to the crowd after the healing of a crippled man?
14But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting: 15"Men, why are you doing this? We too are only men, human like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them. 16In the past, he let all nations go their own way. 17Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy." 18Even with these words, they had difficulty keeping the crowd from sacrificing to them. Acts 14: 14-18
Today, it seems that men/women who are used by God, put no effort into getting people to NOT put their trust in them. And Christians are more like the people of Lystra wanting to sacrifice to holy men who perform signs and wonders. (It didn’t take them long to be persuaded by a different religious mindset to stone Paul and leave him for dead.)
What is the difference between the magic show that I went to and the weakly ritual of going to church?
1. I knew I was going to be deceived at the magic show.
2. I only paid for the performance 1 time.
3. The magician never expected me to follow him week after week.
Why do Christians feel the need to erect a special building and follow a special man?
MAGIC.
I even had the dubious pleasure of being picked out from the audience to help with one of the feats of magic. The trick that was being performed had Greg Frewin (the magician) taking a live duck and having it magically re-appear into a bucket that I was holding. The crowd was awestruck, when sure enough, upon taking the bucket back from me, he opened the lid to find the duck that had disappeared from the stage. Since I had been guarding the bucket there was no possible way for some slight of hand to take place.
Of course, I knew all along how the trick was being done. The entire time that I had been holding the bucket, I could feel a ‘look a like’ duck squirming inside.
We paid $90 bucks each to have front and centre seats, knowing that we would be deceived during the entire performance. We tried our best to figure out the tricks but for the most part we could only applaud to how well we had been deceived. I was especially happy because at least I knew how the duck trick was done.
Lots of money went into the magician’s theatre. The seating was laid out to ensure that the audience’s attention was on the star. It was much nicer than church because we could get drinks during the show and there was even an intermission so we could have a potty break without interrupting anyone.
I didn’t expect to go back week after week to see the same kinds of tricks, so $90 for the night didn’t seem like a bad deal to me. For most of my Christian experience I had been paying $100-150 per week for a performance that hardly ever changed, at a theater that I was misled into calling, “church”.
I simply hadn’t taken Jesus’s words seriously enough.
Matthew 24: 4-5 Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. 5For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ,[a]' and will deceive many.
The trick that was played on me was that just because someone claims they are proclaiming Christ they could very well be deceiving many. I was so duped by the magic that for a time, I had even become one of the magicians for awhile.
What value did Jesus put on a building?
Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. 2"Do you see all these things?" he asked. "I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down." Matthew 24:1-2 (NIV)
What did Paul teach new converts about buildings?
Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? 1 Corinthians 3:16
What did Peter teach about buildings?
As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him—you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 2:4,5
What was Barnabas and Paul’s reaction to the crowd after the healing of a crippled man?
14But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting: 15"Men, why are you doing this? We too are only men, human like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them. 16In the past, he let all nations go their own way. 17Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy." 18Even with these words, they had difficulty keeping the crowd from sacrificing to them. Acts 14: 14-18
Today, it seems that men/women who are used by God, put no effort into getting people to NOT put their trust in them. And Christians are more like the people of Lystra wanting to sacrifice to holy men who perform signs and wonders. (It didn’t take them long to be persuaded by a different religious mindset to stone Paul and leave him for dead.)
What is the difference between the magic show that I went to and the weakly ritual of going to church?
1. I knew I was going to be deceived at the magic show.
2. I only paid for the performance 1 time.
3. The magician never expected me to follow him week after week.
Why do Christians feel the need to erect a special building and follow a special man?
MAGIC.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
