Everything Must Change

This is poignant excerpt from a book, "Everything Must Change" by Brian D. Mclaren.

In a modest church in a township near Capetown, South Africa, twenty-some local Pentecostal, charismatic, and Baptist pastors were seated in a circle. Two guests of paler hue were present as well: my local host, Johannes, and me. We had paper plates on our laps and coffee cups on the floor beside each chair. The group had gathered at my request, as part of my search for answers to the two shaping questions that give rise to this book.

Question #1: What are the biggest problems in the world?
Question #2: What does Jesus have to say about these global problems?

We were discussing ministry in the postcolonial, post-apartheid world.

One fellow, a handsome dark-skinned man in his early thirties (I'd guess), had been strangely silent so far in our conversation. He made eye contact with me, and as he did, I noticed how his brow was furrowed and his jaw tense. Was he afraid of something, perhaps angry?

Do you want to say something? I asked him.

"Yes, I have something to I... need to say," he began. He moved forward to the edge of his chair, elbows resting on his knees. Slowly, his hands stretched open, and they remained extended this like this until he was well into his impromptu speech. "Brothers, I am not a pastor. I am a healthcare worker. I do HIV/AIDS work in Khayelitsha." At this everyone nodded. Known as an informal settlement to some, a squatter area to others, Khayelitsha is the third-largest township in South Africa. Its shacks made of scavenged building supplies stretch along the nearby airport road as far as the eye can see, providing substandard shelter for immigrants from villages across the eastern half of the country. Around half a million black and colored people had landed there seeking a better life after the fall of apartheid, but now they suffered from the predictable problems associated with migration, poverty, and unemployment: substance abuse, domestic violence, and HIV infection. Many of these pastors were working in Khayelitsha, setting up tents to conduct services there Sunday by Sunday.

The young man continued, "You pastors are..." He hesitated as he raised one outstretched hand toward heaven. "You are causing such destruction in Khayelitsha. It reaches to the skies. I know you mean well, but you don't realize that you cause devastation in the lives of the people among whom I work."

Eyes widened, pastors shifted in their seats, and the young man continued, "You come to Khayelitsha every Sunday and set up your tents, which is good, but I have listened to your preaching, and you are preoccupied with three things, three things only. First, you constantly talk about healing. You tell people they can be healed of HIV, and some of them believe you, so they stop taking their medication. When they stop, they develop new resistant strains of the disease that don't respond as well to the medications, and they spread these tougher infections to other people, leaving them much sicker than they were before. Then you've always telling the people they need to be born again, but after they're born again on Sunday, they're still unemployed on Monday. They may be born again, but what good is that if their problems are the same as before? You know as well as I do that if they're unemployed, they're going to be caught in the poverty web of substance abuse, crime and gangs, domestic violence, and HIV. What good is that? All this born-again talk is nothing but nonsense."

At this, I could see some of the pastors bristling. I wondered if a shouting match would erupt, but the healthcare worker leaned a little farther forward, and the pastors constrained themselves a little longer.

"Then what do you do? After telling these desperately poor people to get born again and healed, then you tell them to tithe. You tell them to "sow financial seed" into your ministries and they will receive a hundredfold return. You could be helping so much. You could motivate people to learn employable skills, you could teach them and help them in so many ways, but it's always the same thing: healing, getting born again, and tithing.

"Even the religious organizations that try to help people with HIV - most of them get US aid money, which only allows them to talk about abstinence and fidelity. They can't even mention condoms, and as a result, a lot of people die. And most of you--you won't talk about abstinence and fidelity, because the subject of sex is taboo among us. And so more people die.

"You know your problem? You Pentecostals and evangelicals specialized. You specialized in healing, in getting people born again, in creating financially successful churches--but you need to go beyond that. It's time to get a better message--something bigger than just those things. If you stop there, all your preaching is nonsense."

Nonsense was the verbal grenade, lobbed a second time now, unleashing the pastors' vigorous response. For the next twenty or thirty minutes, one pastor after another replied with impassioned speeches, testimonies, sermonettes. Some were fatherly; some were brotherly; some were stern; some were gentle. But each defended the fact that being born again and getting healed were biblical, which means they weren't nonsense. We never got to the subject of tithing.

The young man listened. As the older pastors spoke, he respectfully gave them his full attention and didn't defend himself when they used words like "heresy" and "false doctrine" to discredit his words. When there was a lull in the conversation, he responded in a quiet but firm tone: "Brothers, I am not your enemy. I am your friend. I believe in Jesus. I am born again myself. I even speak in tongues, so I'm Pentecostal like most of you. I'm sorry I offended you by the word nonsense. But if you would simply teach them some practical things that relate to their daily lives, that could make such a big difference."

(The meeting ended and the healthworker continued on with a private conversation with Brian.)

"The opportunity that's being missed, the incredible cost as they keep up the routines of their various forms of the Christian religion, that's what makes me so passionate. That's what makes me speak out, even though they try to make me look ridiculous by quoting the Bible to me about being born again, as if that negates all the the truth I told them. I love God. I love Jesus. That's why I'm in Khayelitsha trying to help and serve. But I can't stomach what goes on there in the name of God. I see what's going on--all the shouting and singing and raising money--and I know: this is not what Jesus intended. By talking only about individuals being born again, they keep Khayelitsha and our whole nation from being born again in a fuller sense of the term."

At that moment, I realized this man saw clearly what I had begun to see: that religion, even the religion we are committed to and in which we have found God and purpose and meaning and truth, can become captive to a colossal distortion. It can become a benign and passive chaplaincy to a failing and dysfunctional culture, the religious public relations department for an inadequate and destructive ideology. It can forgo being a force of liberation and transformation and instead become a source of domestication, resignation, pacification, and distraction.

A right understanding of God and faith can train people to hold their heads high, to doubt the lies of a dysfunctional society and to work for its transformation. But a misguided understanding can be an opiate that keeps their heads down in submission or desperation so they continue to serve the societal system that is destroying them, believing its lies, performing to its self-destructive script.

The Scandal of Tithing

Many churches preach a message of tithing. The spin is that when one practices this they will in turn receive financial blessings as well. It’s an interesting self-serving proposition seeing that the one preaching this message is dependent on the tithe to get his salary.

The goal is to always grow a bigger church because it’s obvious that the bigger the church, the bigger the salary. They say that growth is about more people having received the gospel but when it’s linked to the size of a pay cheque, personal motivation is a realistic consideration.

I have never heard of a pastor of a small church of less than 100 making $100,000 or more. The biggest pastor’s salary that I have heard of was by a well loved pastor in Toronto making $450,000 per year.

The key New Testament verse that is supposedly the pattern for the weakly tithe is 1Cor 16:2 (NIV) On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made.

But here’s the COMPLETE SCANDAL misrepresenting this verse. You only have to back up one verse for the “true” context on this passage on giving. 1Cor 16:1 (NIV) Now about the collection for God's people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do.

This offering was to be sent to Jerusalem to help the saints who were in physical need because of persecution.

This was not an offering to be used for brick and mortar and for the spiritually strong “pastors” to make a decent living.

It was not an offering based on a tithe where the person making $200,000 a year would give $20,000 and have to suffer through on the remainder.

It would have taken weeks, if not months to deliver this gift to the saints in Jerusalem. And yet we are living in a day when Africa currently has 13 million orphans, 43 million by 2010; 7000 people dying every day; As this breath-halting reality of HIV/AIDS stuns and burns across southern Africa, the rest of the world waits, paralysed and overwhelmed by the magnitude of such pain.

Generally the North American church, including myself, has been apathetic to the cries from both here at home and overseas, that have been ringing throughout our lifetime.

I believe we have cursed ourselves into believing we are doing something noble when our tithe goes to our beautiful buildings and paying our pastors to make us feel good about doing so.

The priority in our churches regarding giving is in this order:
1. brick and mortar
2. pastors
3. programs
4. missionaries
5. the scraps (usually there isn’t much left over) for the poor, the widow and the orphans.
(When it is done, it's usually for bragging rights to show we really are making a difference.)

James 1:27 (NIV) Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

I’ve heard many pastors say that if all (currently it’s about 17%) of God’s people would tithe we would then be able to really help.

That simply isn’t the track record.
Bigger offerings = bigger buildings + bigger salaries.

Every week people gather to raise their hands in praise to God and then joyfully tithe to their buildings and pastors.

Every week, in other parts of the world, people despondently wait with no jobs, no food and no hope.

Let’s finish this thought with a song that I’m sure some orphans are singing in Africa.

Count Your Blessings

Verse 1
When upon life's billows You are tempest tossed,
When you are discouraged Thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings Name them one by one,
And it will surprise you What the Lord hath done.

Chorus:
Count your blessings Name them one by one.
Count your blessings See what God hath done.
Count your blessings Name them one by one.
Count your many blessings See what God hath done.

Verse 2
Are you ever burdened With a load of care,
Does the cross seem heavy You are called to bear.
Count your many blessings Every doubt will fly,
And you will be singing As the days go by.

Verse 3
When you look at others With their lands and gold,
Think that Christ has promised You His wealth untold.
Count your many blessings Money cannot buy,
Your reward in heaven Nor your home on high.

Verse 4
So amid the conflict Whether great or small,
Do not be discouraged God is over all.
Count your many blessings Angels will attend,
Help and comfort give you To your journey's end.

Why Sunday?

What do I need to worship You Lord? Do I need some religious icon set in stained glass to carry my spirit up out of this earth's vain pull? Do I need music to lift my soul to another plane? Do I need to have someone tell me how I should think about You, and what I should say to You? Do I need someone else's words to communicate with You? Do I need someone else's song?

Do I need to be religious to worship You, or can we just walk along and talk like You did with Your disciples? Do I need the proper prayer order — you know, thanksgiving first, then confession, then protection, then petition, then praise — or will "Help!" suffice? Can You fill in all the rest? Aren't You here, anyway? Right here? I have the feeling I have Your attention all the time; the bigger question, I suppose, is do You have mine? I have to honestly say You do not.

Not always, and certainly not enough. Forgive me Lord for forgetting — for missing You breathing down my neck. I worry so much about things that You already know about. You know how this is going to turn out, anyway. If I could just trust You….

Hear me today, O Lord. Accept my worship today even though it's just an ordinary day. Teach me something today that will change me tomorrow. May I bring You pleasure as much by walking through my day today as I would singing in church, or reading my Bible or praying in a fellowship group.

I'm not a religious person, O God, and if You want the truth, I don't want to be. I just want to know You and know You are with me. I know You are, in my head, just help me to see You with my heart today. All day. Any day.

Author

John Fischer

The Lord's Supper

This is a comment from a post that I called L'chaim -- to Life! I thought it was worth bringing to the forefront. Welcome Robin.

Hi David, You might be right in that Paul had a deeper message in "wait for one another". That would be in keeping with the spirit of what he said.

I think the real issue is what was happening with this fellowship meal.

In the first century, the Lord's Supper was a full meal.

In his book "Paul's Idea Of Community", Robert Banks points out that "The most visible and profound way in which the community gives physical expression to it's fellowship is the common meal."

The NT word for "supper" literally means a dinner, a meal. or a banquet. And the Greek word for "table" indicates a table in which a full, square meal is spread.

To continue with Robert Banks, "The word 'deipnon' (1 Cor 11:20), meaning 'dinner,' tells us that it was not a token meal (as it has become since) or part of a meal (as it is sometimes envisaged), but an entire ordinary meal. This meal is vital, for as the members of the community eat and drink together their unity comes to visible expression. The meal is therefore a truly social event...the meal that they shared together reminded the members of their relationship with Christ and one another and deepened those relationships in the same way that participation in an ordinary meal cements and symbolizes the bond between a family or group"

G.H Lang argues along the same lines in his book "The Churches Of God"

"This was known as the 'Agape' or feast of love, and though it had led to abuses at Corinth the apostle does not repudiate the practice, but regulates it's observance...It is healthful that this picture rises before the mind. An ordinary house the place; a customary meal the occasion; the Supper quietly and easily conjoined therewith. No ecclesiastical building, no priest or functionary, no altar or sacrifice, no vestments or ornaments, as lights, incense, crucifixes. no formality. The supper observed in simplicity; the home dignified thereby, the ordinary meal sanctified and solemnized"

In "The Untold Story Of The New Testament Church", Frank Viola sheds some light on the why of Paul's writing in this regard, the abuses that were taking place at the time.

"The slaves work late and cannot make the church meetings on time. The well-to-do are not waiting for them, but are eating the Lord's Supper ahead of their poor brethren. Still worse, the well-to-do are treating the Lord's Supper as if it were a private dinner party. They are gorging themselves on the food and getting drunk on the wine"

As well, the cultural customs of the day were penetrating the practices of the fellowship.

"Corinth was a Roman colony so Roman customs were observed. The common banquet etiquette of the first century was to separate those who ate by social class. The wealthy merchants were fed with one kind of food in the dining room....the left overs and less superior foods were given to the poor and slaves in the courtyard."

When we read Paul's letter in correct historical context, I think it's pretty obvious that he was speaking against and correcting the abuses that were taking place. When the self-indulgent higher class did not "wait for one another" in spirit and in practice, many of the poorer brethren suffered the natural consequences of this abuse. They quite literally were "weak and sick and dying"

"The Lord's supper is not a morbid reminder of Christ's sufferings. Nor is it an occasion where we mourn over our sins. No! The Supper is a cheerful reminder of who Jesus Christ is. The Lord's Supper, therefore, is a celebration. It is a happy conversational meal. It is a banquet of joy marked by sharing and thanksgiving." (Frank Viola, "Rethinking the Wineskin".)

Trying Harder? Quantum Leap? Your Choice!

This is an excerpt from a little book that explores thinking in quantum leaps. It’s by Price Pritchett and is called You². This is a book about stepping away from the familiar and looking at what is already there from a different perspective.

I’m sitting in a quiet room at the Millcroft Inn, a peaceful little place hidden back among the pine trees about an hour out of Toronto. It’s just past noon, late July, and I’m listening to the desperate sounds of a life-or-death struggle going on a few feet away.

There’s a small fly burning out the last of its short life’s energies in a futile attempt to fly through the glass of the windowpane. The whining wings tell the poignant story of the fly’s strategy—try harder.

But it’s not working.

The frenzied effort offers no hope for survival. Ironically, the struggle is part of the trap. It is impossible for the fly to try hard enough to succeed at breaking through the glass. Nevertheless, this little insect has staked its life on reaching its goal through raw effort and determination.

This fly is doomed. It will die there on the windowsill.

Across the room, ten steps away, the door is open. Ten seconds of flying time and this small creature could reach the outside world it seeks. With only a fraction of the effort now being wasted, it could be free of this self-imposed trap. The breakthrough possibility is there. It would be so easy.

Why doesn’t the fly try another approach, something dramatically different? How did it get so locked in on the idea that this particular route and determined effort, offer the most promise for success? What logic is there in continuing, until death, to seek a breakthrough with “more of the same”?

No doubt this approach makes sense to the fly. Regrettably, it’s an idea that will kill.“

Trying “harder” isn’t necessarily the solution to achieving more. It may not offer any real promise for getting what you want out of life. Sometimes, in fact, it’s a big part of the problem.

If you stake your hopes for a breakthrough on trying harder than ever, you may kill your chances for success.

Price Pritchett

Here's an example of daring to turn away from the window.

Give $99 worth (120 kid's meals) of high quality meal replacement to orphans every month through a simple business plan.

Find 3 others to do the same and yours is free.

Have them repeat what you did with them 1 + 3 + 9 = 13 x 120 = 1,560 meals

That's not a bad beginning.

How much work did the first person do? He/she found three people interested in helping orphans and were willing to do find 3 others as well.

Have this 3x3 model of multiplication repeat 10 times.
3 to the power of 10 = 59,050 people x 120 meals = 7,086,000 meals per month.

Multiplied millions of orphans around the world can benefit from this simple plan.

What will it take to make this a reality?

Make a quantum leap in your thinking.
Instead of flying through the open door by yourself,
Take the time to help three others make a quantum leap as well.


www.davidgrant.bodybyvi.com