Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, "Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don't wash their hands before they eat!" Jesus replied, "And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? For God said, 'Honor your father and mother' and 'Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.' But you say that if a man says to his father or mother, 'Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is a gift devoted to God,' he is not to 'honor his father' with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: “'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.'" (Matthew 15:1-9 NIV).
Tradition can be a very good thing. In fact, it often provides a sense of foundation in many families and individuals. We have several family traditions that have been very important through the years. One of them is our annual gathering for Christmas. Because of the geographic differences we now experience, it has proven best to gather at David and Becca’s home for the fellowship and exchanging of gifts. It is always a great time! It provides a foundation for the family. There are other traditions in our family that are equally important and beneficial.
I also have some personal traditions that have been good for me. One of those is the wearing of my wedding and college rings. You will rarely see me without them. I know that the wearing of the rings do not make me more of a husband or an Aggie, but they provide a foundation for who I desire to be.
There are others, but the real point of today’s Morning Devotional is found in our reading. Jesus indicates the danger of holding to some traditions. These are those practices that keep us from truly doing the will of God. The Pharisees and teachers of the law condemned the disciples because they didn’t ceremonially cleanse themselves before they ate their meal. Jesus answered them with a question concerning their own practices. You see, they had conveniently chosen some of the laws to strictly observe while ignoring or twisting others to their benefit. Thus Jesus says the nullify the word of God.
I find we often do the same thing in our relationships with others, both in the church and outside the church. We have chosen some “pet” sins to magnify while letting others go unmentioned. You can fill in the blanks of which those are in your church! My point is not to condemn, but to lift the importance of practicing grace among one another. Every sin hurts us, but our focus should not be on condemnation, shame, or guilt. Our focus ought to be on forgiveness, grace, and freedom. Don’t merely honor God with your lips. Honor Him with your heart!
Showing posts with label church growth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label church growth. Show all posts
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
"People or Programs?"
Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today." So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. (Luke 19:1-6 NIV).
I never want to write anything that might be offensive to anyone, however, yesterday’s devotional Adapt to Change must have touched the nerve of at least one reader as they wrote and wanted to know where I found any example of Jesus “changing” the way things were done in His earthly ministry? Well, I can think of many, but our reading today is one of those examples. And, while I only received one negative response to the thought, I wondered if it might not do us all a little good to look a little closer at the need to refocus our priority on people rather than program.
I once asked a group of pastors, in their opinion, what was the number one weakness in today's church? One of the quick witted and humorous pastors said, "Apathy, but who cares?" We all got a good chuckle from that, but I went a little further with them since I was leading a session in strategies for church growth. I said, “The real issue deals with the root of that apathy.” In many instances we have become program centered rather than people centered. In our relationship to God we need to be Christ-centered. In our doctrinal teaching and manner of living we need to be Scripture centered, but when ministering to people we need to be people-centered, whether it's from the pulpit or in our one-on-one relationships to others.
The majority of religious leaders in Jesus' day were doctrine centered. That is, they loved their doctrinal teachings more than they loved people. In fact, they used their teachings to control and condemn people. Some religious leaders still do this today. Other leaders love their programs and use people to support and work their programs. Not good. Instead of loving people and using programs, they love programs and use people. In ministry Jesus was never program-centered, but rather, was always people centered. That is, he started with people's needs and applied his message and what he did to meet those needs.
To Zacchaeus, the hated tax collector, the little fellow who climbed a tree to get a good look at Jesus when he came to town. Jesus, sensing his need for acceptance, didn't preach at him or quote Bible verses to him. He simply said, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today." Upon entering his home, Zacchaeus began confessing his sins. Amazing. When Jesus met his presenting need for acceptance which was a social and emotional need, Zacchaeus then became aware of his deeper spiritual need. To the blind man, and other needy people, Jesus' basic question was, "What do you want me to do for you?"
If our churches and you and I are to be as Christ to others, whether we are leaders, teachers, or lay persons, we, too, need to be aware of people's presenting needs and seek, in Christ's name, to minister to those needs. There’s really little point in preaching the gospel to homeless, hungry people without trying to first feed them and find them shelter. Furthermore, there's little point of telling hurting, lonely, disappointed people, that God loves them if we do little or nothing to help meet their present need. True, there is a need to tell the gospel, but before we tell it, we need to live it and demonstrate it in what we do much more than in what we say. When we change from being people centered to becoming program centered, we begin to lose our effectiveness and begin to die.
I never want to write anything that might be offensive to anyone, however, yesterday’s devotional Adapt to Change must have touched the nerve of at least one reader as they wrote and wanted to know where I found any example of Jesus “changing” the way things were done in His earthly ministry? Well, I can think of many, but our reading today is one of those examples. And, while I only received one negative response to the thought, I wondered if it might not do us all a little good to look a little closer at the need to refocus our priority on people rather than program.
I once asked a group of pastors, in their opinion, what was the number one weakness in today's church? One of the quick witted and humorous pastors said, "Apathy, but who cares?" We all got a good chuckle from that, but I went a little further with them since I was leading a session in strategies for church growth. I said, “The real issue deals with the root of that apathy.” In many instances we have become program centered rather than people centered. In our relationship to God we need to be Christ-centered. In our doctrinal teaching and manner of living we need to be Scripture centered, but when ministering to people we need to be people-centered, whether it's from the pulpit or in our one-on-one relationships to others.
The majority of religious leaders in Jesus' day were doctrine centered. That is, they loved their doctrinal teachings more than they loved people. In fact, they used their teachings to control and condemn people. Some religious leaders still do this today. Other leaders love their programs and use people to support and work their programs. Not good. Instead of loving people and using programs, they love programs and use people. In ministry Jesus was never program-centered, but rather, was always people centered. That is, he started with people's needs and applied his message and what he did to meet those needs.
To Zacchaeus, the hated tax collector, the little fellow who climbed a tree to get a good look at Jesus when he came to town. Jesus, sensing his need for acceptance, didn't preach at him or quote Bible verses to him. He simply said, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today." Upon entering his home, Zacchaeus began confessing his sins. Amazing. When Jesus met his presenting need for acceptance which was a social and emotional need, Zacchaeus then became aware of his deeper spiritual need. To the blind man, and other needy people, Jesus' basic question was, "What do you want me to do for you?"
If our churches and you and I are to be as Christ to others, whether we are leaders, teachers, or lay persons, we, too, need to be aware of people's presenting needs and seek, in Christ's name, to minister to those needs. There’s really little point in preaching the gospel to homeless, hungry people without trying to first feed them and find them shelter. Furthermore, there's little point of telling hurting, lonely, disappointed people, that God loves them if we do little or nothing to help meet their present need. True, there is a need to tell the gospel, but before we tell it, we need to live it and demonstrate it in what we do much more than in what we say. When we change from being people centered to becoming program centered, we begin to lose our effectiveness and begin to die.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
"Adapt to Change"
Heads up! The days are coming when I'll set up a new plan for dealing with Israel and Judah. I'll throw out the old plan I set up with their ancestors when I led them by the hand out of Egypt. They didn't keep their part of the bargain, so I looked away and let it go. This new plan I'm making with Israel isn't going to be written on paper, isn't going to be chiseled in stone; this time I'm writing out the plan in them, carving it on the lining of their hearts. I'll be their God, they'll be my people. They won't go to school to learn about me, or buy a book called God in Five Easy Lessons. They'll all get to know me firsthand, the little and the big, the small and the great. They'll get to know me by being kindly forgiven, with the slate of their sins forever wiped clean. By coming up with a new plan, a new covenant between God and his people, God put the old plan on the shelf. And there it stays, gathering dust. (Hebrews 8:6-13 The Message).
Today’s reading is from a version that I rarely use, though I do read sometimes for a different perspective. It speaks of the “new” plan of God to deal with the people of Israel. I think it has a very important truth for us as well. Somehow we get accustomed to doing things the same way in church and feel that anything different from that must not be good. It is difficult to adapt to change, especially in the church. However, even God understands the importance of change. Sometimes it means that the old plan simply is not best for that moment. At other times it means that the old plan just needs to “shelved” in favor of a better one.
Church music can be that way. Don’t get me wrong, just because it’s new does not make it better. I love the old hymns. They have a wonderful way of communicating theology in a way that choruses often don’t. But, I don’t want to chase that rabbit today. What I am addressing is the need to change when change is necessary. There are so many churches that fail to grow beyond the 300 barrier in membership simply because the structure they are using prevents their growth. The last verse of our reading in the Phillips paraphrase says: "When a thing grows weak and out of date, it is obviously soon going to disappear. That's true of churches, too. If a church cannot change, it will eventually die."
Certainly that’s a paraphrase, but it conveys the central truth well in reflecting Israel’s practices. They refused to let go of their beliefs about what the Messiah should do and be that they failed to recognize Him when He walked the earth! This same principle applies to many areas of life. No, we don't want to make changes where change is not to our advantage, but there are times when we do need to make changes. When it comes to communicating the gospel, while the message itself never changes, our way and means of communicating it have to change in order to communicate effectively to the particular group we are addressing. One size doesn't fit all! Whether it is in our professional or personal life, let's be open to and willing to change where change is both essential and necessary. We can adapt in the wisdom of the Holy Spirit!
Today’s reading is from a version that I rarely use, though I do read sometimes for a different perspective. It speaks of the “new” plan of God to deal with the people of Israel. I think it has a very important truth for us as well. Somehow we get accustomed to doing things the same way in church and feel that anything different from that must not be good. It is difficult to adapt to change, especially in the church. However, even God understands the importance of change. Sometimes it means that the old plan simply is not best for that moment. At other times it means that the old plan just needs to “shelved” in favor of a better one.
Church music can be that way. Don’t get me wrong, just because it’s new does not make it better. I love the old hymns. They have a wonderful way of communicating theology in a way that choruses often don’t. But, I don’t want to chase that rabbit today. What I am addressing is the need to change when change is necessary. There are so many churches that fail to grow beyond the 300 barrier in membership simply because the structure they are using prevents their growth. The last verse of our reading in the Phillips paraphrase says: "When a thing grows weak and out of date, it is obviously soon going to disappear. That's true of churches, too. If a church cannot change, it will eventually die."
Certainly that’s a paraphrase, but it conveys the central truth well in reflecting Israel’s practices. They refused to let go of their beliefs about what the Messiah should do and be that they failed to recognize Him when He walked the earth! This same principle applies to many areas of life. No, we don't want to make changes where change is not to our advantage, but there are times when we do need to make changes. When it comes to communicating the gospel, while the message itself never changes, our way and means of communicating it have to change in order to communicate effectively to the particular group we are addressing. One size doesn't fit all! Whether it is in our professional or personal life, let's be open to and willing to change where change is both essential and necessary. We can adapt in the wisdom of the Holy Spirit!
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