Tag Archives: Body of Christ

A Decapitated Church is a Lifeless Corpse (Part Two)

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Photo of Christ in Hagia Sofia.

Photo of Christ in Hagia Sofia. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Mick Turner

(continued from Part One)

I spent my early years living on my grandparent’s farm in rural North Alabama. I have vivid memories of how good my grandmother’s Southern fried chicken was. I always looked forward to that particular treat being on the menu, often on Sunday after church. I also have memories of either my father or one of my uncles going out into the barnyard and selecting the hen that would be the guest of honor. After seizing the doomed bird, the head would be quickly twisted off, yet that wasn’t quite the end. The chicken, minus the head, would sometimes flap around the barnyard furiously for several minutes before keeling over. As a young boy, I found this fascinating. In some ways, the chicken seemed alive, but dead at the same time.

This chicken story is somewhat analogous to the situation we find in today’s church. Many churches are for all practical purposes, dead. Others appear to have signs of life, but are at the same time dead as well. In the fifteenth chapter of John Jesus tells us that he is the vine and we are the branches. If we stay connected to the vine, we have life. But if we become disconnected we lose the source of life and we wither on the vine. It is the same for churches. Without a vital connection to the vine, churches wither and die.

Tyler Edwards has written an excellent book that deals with this very subject and I strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in breathing life back into the Body of Christ. Entitled, Zombie Church, the book contains detailed descriptions of what a dying church looks like as well as measures that might be taken to bringing a congregation back from the edge of the grave. Describing these Zombie Churches, Edwards states:

The church is supposed to offer the source of eternal life. Some do exactly that. Sadly, others do not. Even in places where the lawn is mowed, the music plays, and meetings are scheduled, life can be absent. Just because things are moving does not mean there is true life. Some churches have hollow motions. Healing is not administered, joy is not experienced, minds are not edified, and people are not changed. One of the best tests to see if a church is truly alive is to ask the question, if the church closed its doors would anyone outside of it even notice.

In the above description, one can see that a church can give the appearance of life when, in fact, it is like the headless chicken flopping around in my grandmother’s barnyard. It is, indeed, a sad but true commentary on the state of many churches today.

Returning to the theme of re-introducing Jesus to the church, by now it should be apparent why this is central to the task of church renewal. I don’t particularly like that term “church renewal,” primarily because I don’t think it accurately describes the depth of what the Body of Christ is in need of. I would prefer to say that what is called for is a “New Reformation,” or to put in other words, “Church Rebirth.”

A cadre of Christian scholars and writers are asserting that we are in the midst of a new Reformation and, along with the apparent decline in membership, attendance, and other negative trends, there is also reason to be positive. Much of the reading I have done over the past few years indicates that the old and worn out wineskins have to be jettisoned before the new, relevant forms of the church can be birthed. Diana Butler Bass, in her recent book Christianity After Religion, describes several authors take on this exciting but challenging age and gives her view on what it all means:

Phyllis Tickle, former religion editor of Publishers Weekly, asserts that the church is undergoing historic transformation, the sort of change that happens only once every five hundred years or so. The esteemed Harvey Cox, recently retired from Harvard Divinity School, claims that Christianity is currently making a break from the “Age of Belief,” a fifteen-hundred-year period of Western Christian dominance. Others, perhaps more modestly, say only that Christianity is moving out of a three-hundred-year cycle that began in the Enlightenment. Whatever the exact chronological schema, the message is mostly the same: We live in a time of momentous historical change that is both exhilarating and frightening. Christianity itself is becoming something different than what it was.

The exact forms and shapes the faith will morph into as the next decade unfolds is difficult to predict, except to say that it will most likely be far different than what it was in the century just past. It is beyond the scope of this essay to delve into the various projections that are being put forth regarding the future of the Body of Christ. One thing is certain, however. It is critical that the new forms remain solidly connected to Christ, the source of life and light. Along with that, the rebirth of the church will depend on how well it reintroduces Jesus Christ to both its members and those beyond.

Returning to the words of Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola, let us revisit the importance of giving seekers the information needed to adequately respond to the central question of the day: Who do you say that I am?

There is much more in Christ than we have ever imagined. And there is infinitely more to Him that we have yet to know or touch. We can never exhaust Him. Christ is so large that no search party in the universe can explore an iota of His infinite depths. What is more, He will never grow old or stale. Jesus Christ is the only thing in God’s universe that doesn’t wear thin.

For reasons too numerous to enumerate, the church has drifted far from its central task of introducing people to this magnificent, awe-inspiring being we know as Jesus Christ. His true identity and character contain riches beyond description, yet so few of us know him for who and what he truly is. It is only through reconnecting with Christ and reintroducing him to the world that the church can hope to regain the glory, luster, and cultural impact it once knew. Yet before the church can take Christ to the world, it must educate its own ranks in regards to Christ’s true nature and glory. This is where authentic healing can begin and be carried forward. Sweet and Viola continue:

But mark this down: When the people of God get a sighting of their incomparable Lord – and when the world encounters His unfathomable love, irresistible beauty, and overwhelming glory – every idol will be forced to the ground. The clouds of dust will part from our eyes, and Jesus Christ will displace everything. But first, the church and the world must see Christ……….Therein lies the task of every disciple – to proclaim this amazing Christ to both lost and found………..The world awaits those who can present such a rich gospel that it leaves people spellbound, filled with awe, and desperate to know their inimitable Lord.

Church Rebirth begins with giving current members as well as newcomers a clear, in depth picture of just who and what they are dealing with when they encounter Jesus Christ. I am convinced that once a person deeply understands what a truly remarkable being Christ was and is, this knowledge will give rise to an experience of awe, reverence, and gratitude. And from this experience flows a genuine motivation to answer the Master’s call by making an all-out commitment to grow in Christ-character and service to others.

The challenges facing today’s church are numerous and daunting. Yet we must remember that change is often far more positive than it is negative and, at the same time, breathes new life into “zombie churches.” It is through embracing positive change rather than resisting it that church rebirth can come and I am convinced that in the long run, what emerges will become even greater than what has been.

It all begins with meeting Jesus again for the first time.

© L.D. Turner 2012/All Rights Reserved

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A Decapitated Church is a Lifeless Corpse (Part One)

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Christ icon in Taizé

Christ icon in Taizé (Photo credit: lgambett)

Mick Turner

It has become almost cliché these days to say that the church in America is dying. Whether one arrives at this conclusion through general observation or through the analysis of vital statistics, the result is the same. The Body of Christ in America is withering on the vine. Church leaders and those who make their living by studying the church cite a wide range of reasons for this demise. Likewise, solutions offered to stem the tide of this downward spiral vary widely in terms of both rationale and methodology.

One thing these experts can agree on, however, is this: change is happening and it is happening at a rapid pace.

It is far beyond the scope of this essay to delve into the intricacies of these issues. Instead, I want to focus on one specific theme that I believe accounts in part for the church’s current decline and, if properly corrected, can also be instrumental in forging a new, more vital Body of Christ as the future unfolds. Interestingly, a number of writers from differing theological orientations have also flagged this problem as a contributing factor to the current set of issues bewildering the church. Among these writers are Philip Yancey, Marcus Borg, N.T. Wright, Brian McLaren, Harvey Cox, Phyllis Tickle, and Mark Driscoll, just to name a few.

I also want to mention the recent work of Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola as I believe their writing especially identifies the theme I want to discuss in this essay, namely: the church has lost contact with the very source of its life, its purpose, and its calling.

This vital, life giving source is Jesus Christ.

Near the beginning of their excellent book Jesus Manifesto, Sweet and Viola get down to business in describing what they see as the fundamental cause of the church’s present dilemma:

……….we feel a massive disconnect in the church today, and we believe that the major disease of today’s church is JDD: Jesus Deficit Disorder. The person of Jesus has become increasingly politically incorrect and is being replaced by the language of “justice,” “morality,” values,” and “leadership principles.” The world likes Jesus: they just don’t like the church. But increasingly, the church likes the church, yet it doesn’t like Jesus………..Can our problems really be caused by something so basic and simple as losing sight of Christ? We believe the answer is a resounding Yes. Answers other than Christ to the problems of the church today mean that we are more into solvents than solutions. For that reason, this global, Google world needs a meta-narrative more than ever, and the Jesus Story is the interpreting system of all other systems. In this hour, the testimony that we feel God has called us to bear revolves around the primacy of the Lord Jesus Christ. Specifically, we need to decide how we are going to answer one question.

I firmly believe that it is the church’s seeming inability to consistently answer this one question in a way that is simple, pragmatic, and above all, accurate, that lies at the root of many of its current problems. What is this central question raised by Sweet and Viola? It is precisely the one Christ asked his followers a little over 2,000 years ago:

“Who do you say that I am?” (Matthew 16:15)

According to sacred scripture, Peter, led by the Holy Spirit, got the answer right. The church, however, has turned this simple question into a conundrum of colossal proportions. It took the early church at least four centuries to arrive at a fragile consensus. Over time, that consensus eroded into a quagmire of conflicting, confusing answers that could fill entire libraries and, in the process, created much rancor and discord instead of the unity and cooperation called for by Jesus and later, Paul.

Sweet and Viola paint such a dynamic, comprehensive, and inspirational portrait of the nature and being of Christ. Speaking of Paul’s reasons for writing to the Colossians about these themes, the authors state:

The Christ that the Colossians knew was simply too small. That was why they became susceptible to chasing after other things – including religious ones – in the first place.

Sound familiar?

You bet it does! If ever something hit the nail right on the head in terms of my lack of consistent faithfulness, this sums things up pretty well. By not comprehending the truly  awesome and magnificent stature of the pre-existent Christ, I chased after all sorts of lesser entities and stumbled down more than a few dark alleys. Believe me when I say that Alice pales in comparison to me when it comes to jumping down rabbit holes in hot pursuit of magical characters with funny hats and big watches. Sweet and Viola continue:

Paul’s goal was to strip away every distraction that was being held before their eyes and have them with nothing but Christ. He dared to displace all rules, regulations, laws, and everything else that religion offers, with a person – the Lord Jesus Himself. As far as Paul was concerned, God hadn’t sent a Ruler of rules, a Regulator of regulations, a Pontiff of pontifications, or a Principal of the principles. He had sent the very embodiment of divine fullness. So, he reasoned, if the Colossians could just get a glimpse of the glories of Christ, He would be enough. The Spirit would electrify their hearts and restore them to a living relationship with the head of the body. So Paul threw down his trump card – The Lord Jesus Christ. He presented a panoramic vision of Jesus that exhausts the minds of mortal men.

 In other venues, I have written that I believe one of the most critical tasks facing the contemporary church is reintroducing people to Jesus Christ. With the steady exodus from the organized Christian denominations over the past forty or so years, we now have a situation where at least one generation, and maybe two, have been raised in a culture that is, for the most part, non-Christian. In large measure, many of these folks have either an incomplete or utterly confused image of Jesus.

Before the church can even begin to tackle this crucial goal, however, it must accomplish one critical preliminary task. The church has to reintroduce Jesus to itself. The sad truth is the church is every bit as confused about Jesus’ nature and being as those outside the institution. The silver lining in this tragic situation is as follows: once the church really gets a clear, biblical picture of just what manner of being this Jesus Christ truly is, it will set off a spiritual conflagration that will make previous revivals look like brush fires.

Sweet and Viola state that in the first chapter of Colossians Paul was in “full flight.” The Apostle told his readers that if they truly laid hold of Christ’s real identity they would be able to muster a walk of faith worthy of the Master.

In describing the stature of Christ Paul pulls out all the stops:

Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see – such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him.

He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together. Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So he is first in everything. For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross. (Colossians 1:15-20 NLT)

After the foregoing section, which is found in a chapter fittingly entitled “A Bottle in the Ocean,” the authors present an incredible description of who Christ was and is. I find this passage so complete and inspirational I am going to share it at length. Describing Jesus Christ, the authors state:

Set your eyes beyond the stratosphere and see a Christ who confounds the mind. This Christ is – present tense – the visible image of the invisible God. Jesus Christ displays God’s image visible in the invisible realm, where He is seated in heavenly places at the Father’s right hand. To look upon the carpenter of Nazareth is to discover God in totality. To know the Nazarene is to know the Almighty, the one true Creator – He who was, is, and is to come.

But that’s not all.

This Christ is the firstborn of the entire cosmos, the first person to appear in creation, and He is preeminent in all of it. All things visible and invisible were created by Him, through Him, to Him, and for Him. He is the Originator as well as the Goal – the Creator as well as the Consummator.

But that’s not all.

This Christ existed before time as the eternal Son. He is above time and outside of time. He is the beginning. In fact, He was before the beginning. He lives in a realm where there are no ticking watches and clocks. Space and time are his servants. He is unfettered by them.

This Christ is not only before all things, but the entire universe is held together in Him. He is the cohesive force, the glue and gravitational pull that holds all created elements together. He is creation’s great adhesive, the hinge upon which the whole cosmos turns. Remove Christ, and the entire universe disintegrates. It comes apart at the seams. Remove Him, and creations wheels come off.

But there’s still more.

This Christ is the very meaning of creation. Eliminate Him, and the universe has no purpose. Remove Him, and every living thing loses its meaning.

But more than all this, the One who created the universe watched it fall. He saw the cosmic revolt in heaven and the wreckage on earth. Under the caring eye of the Father, the Lord looked upon His own creation as it morphed into an enemy – His own enemy. And then he did the unthinkable. He penetrated a fallen world.

This Christ pierced the veil of space-time. He became incarnate and took on human flesh. As such, He was touched with the same temptations, the same infirmities, and the same weaknesses as all mortals, only He never yielded. Christ entered into His own creation to reconcile it back to Himself and to His Father. The Creator became the creature to make peace with an alienated creation.

Sweet and Viola go on to describe the gospel message of the atonement, the resurrection, and how Christ was the firstborn of many brothers and sisters. It is a remarkable passage in a remarkable book. My point in mentioning it here is that it illustrates the vital need the church has in this challenging age. Put simply: the true and real Christ, stripped of the myriad accretions with which he has been covered over the centuries; the true and real Christ, revealed in all his magnificence, splendor, and glory – must be reintroduced to the church.

Ironically enough, for many sincere believers this may well be the first time they actually meet the real Christ.

You see my friends, for far too long now the church has been cut off from its source. In a real sense, the Body of Christ has been decapitated. If Christ is the head, it stands to reason that the church cannot survive long without being attached to the Master. Unfortunately, for quite a long time now the church, with some exceptions, has gradually been drifting farther and farther away from that which gives it meaning, direction, and most of all, life.

To be continued…..

(c) L.D. Turner 2012/ All Rights Reserved

In Defense of Brian McLaren

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Brian McLaren (foreground) and Tony Jones, Yal...

Brian McLaren (foreground) and Tony Jones, Yale Theological Conversation, Yale Divinity School, February 2006; Photograph: Virgil Vaduva (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Mick Turner

Brian McLaren takes a substantial amount of vitriolic criticism from the Fundamentalist and Evangelical camps of Christianity. Calling him everything from an outright heretic to an ambassador of Old Scratch himself, McLaren is high up on the Public Enemy List of those in the church that are blinded by tradition, antiquated doctrine, and yes, even personal ignorance.

It is easy to see how McLaren winds up in the crosshairs of these folks so often. In his writings, workshops, speeches, and interviews he consistently calls for the need to develop new, more relevant wineskins in which to present the Christian faith and in so doing, often steps on sensitive theological and doctrinal toes in the process. The response from the more conservative faction of Christianity has been less than loving and more akin to slanderous attacks on the man, his thought, and his ministry.

I find this a tragic turn of events, because the church is sorely in need of prophetic voices like that of Brian McLaren. As the Body of Christ continues to hemorrhage members in staggering numbers and comes under an increasingly negative view from the very people it needs to reach, it is plainly evident that something new and vital is needed to stop the bleeding. And that is exactly what McLaren describes in his numerous books and articles.

Squarely facing the weaknesses in the modern church, McLaren is not timid about calling into question areas where the church has gone off the rails. For example, the American church has slowly but consistently imbibed our cultural ethics of rugged individualism, hard work, competition, and social stratification. Over time, this marriage of church and “Americanism” has given birth to an institution that is far more concerned with supporting the social status quo than serving Christ. Other writers have pointed this out, most notably David Platt, but McLaren seems to draw more fire from the Evangelical zealots. This is unfortunate because by confronting the realities of the situation as it now stands, he is issuing a clarion call for the Body of Christ to get back on track and put serving Christ back at the forefront of its endeavors. In assessing the current identity crisis in the church, McLaren cogently asserts:

……….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 forego being a force of liberation and transformation and instead become a source of domestication, resignation, pacification, and distraction.

This is not to say that the church in its present form does not perform much-needed service. There are numerous examples of congregations legitimately standing in as the arms, hands, feet, and heart of Christ in areas of desperate need. Yet many times these very acts, though serving a useful purpose, are often inconsistent and done from improper motivations rather than a genuine, heartfelt response to Christ.

Ideally, the church should serve as an institution of both service and education. It should educate the members in the real reason that we are called to selfless, sacrificial service in the first place. In addition, the church should be making its congregants acutely aware of the areas of dysfunction in our culture and how the message of Jesus and his kingdom apply to those dysfunctional areas. McLaren continues:

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 according to its self-destructive script.

Perhaps nowhere is this process of cultural imbibing and downward spiral more evident than in the unholy alliance forged by Evangelical and Fundamentalist segments of the faith with the Republican Party. This unfortunate, illegitimate marriage took place in the run up to the 1980 election and has deepened and expanded over the past three-plus decades. As a result, study after study indicate that people are staying away from the church in massive numbers, stating that if one has to be a Republican to be a Christian, then, no thanks. For their part, the Christians seem alright with this state of affairs, evidently either oblivious to or in total disagreement with Jesus’ prime directive of “go and make disciples.” What is even more ironic about this is the fact that the typical Republican platform, at least in national politics, is antithetical to the teachings of Christ. How this phenomenon grew and continues is mind boggling.

The fact is, the church needs to distance itself from either political party. The pulpit is not a place for politics and it is imperative that the church as a whole understands this. The reality of the matter is this and I am not too timid to say it: By joining at the hip with the Republican Party, the Evangelical wing of the church has done more damage to the Body of Christ than any event in modern history. I can relate story after story after story of people who have told me they steer clear of the church because of its perceived alliance with right wing politics. Friends, this is not what Christ envisioned for his bride.

I know this may enrage some of my readers but we have to get honest with ourselves about this issue. As long as the Religious Right, and those that support them, have such great influence in the Christian church, the exodus from the church will continue unabated. Further, with dwindling numbers and an increasingly negative image in the public consciousness, the influence of the church on contemporary culture will be further eroded. I find it highly ironic that the very push to impact society through political action and partisan politics has fostered the opposite result. The sooner leaders of this wing of the church wrap their heads around these undeniable realties, the sooner healing can begin.

One thing we cannot opt for is more of the same.

I would encourage those of you who sincerely have great affection for the church and those with a vision of what a great resource the Body of Christ can be in addressing the problems of today’s world to read some of Brian McLaren’s books. I don’t agree with everything McLaren says and I doubt you will, either. Yet I do recognize a prophetic voice when I hear it (or read it). I do agree with much of McLaren’s thinking and further, I appreciate the fact that he acknowledges that he doesn’t have all the answers, yet feels hopeful that answers can be found through creative dialogue and mutual respect.

I would specifically recommend three of his books, perhaps read in this order: The Secret Message of Jesus; Everything Must Change; A New Kind of Christianity. Prepare to have your thinking challenged, especially if you are of a classical Evangelical or Fundamentalist frame of mind. Still, I implore those of you in this category not to avoid McLaren just because you might disagree with some of his ideas. The fact is, we need to have our thinking challenged on a regular basis. It is only through challenge to our status quo that we can grow and this principle is especially true when it comes to our spiritual development.

All of us, no matter what theological framework we are aligned with, need to explore thinkers from other schools of thought. It is only by engaging in this sort of eclectic study can we fully grasp the wonderful range of responses to God’s incredible act of grace through Jesus Christ. If you could see my bookshelf, you would know that in this case I practice what I preach. I have read a wide range of authors, from Chuck Colson to Marcus Borg and just about anything in between. And I have benefited from all of them in one way or another.

I am certain you will as well.

© L.D. Turner 2012/ All Rights Reserved

On Comfort Zones and Thinking Out of the Box (Part Three)

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Mary Writing the Magnificat

Mary Writing the Magnificat (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Mick Turner

On several occasions I have received either comments or emails from readers of this site, stating in one way or another that they cannot “figure me out.” Most of these readers are cordial and genuine in writing to me, but for some reason or another, I don’t seem to fit well into whatever box they might be trying to squeeze my thought into. My advice to these friends is this: “Better get a shoe horn.”

The fact is, I guess, I am just a bit of a theological maverick. I have found over the years that labels are, at least for the most part, meaningless. Some folks consider themselves to be conservative believers, while others take pride in being called liberal. Others are fundamentalists and yet others are emergent. I suspect that some of my readers’ confusion stems from the fact that I have beliefs that bridge these many Christian camps and, as I said, I can’t be pigeon holed. And guess what? I think that’s a positive thing.

Let me explain.

Emerson once said that “a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.” One of the things I think he meant by this statement was that, if you allow an external source to define your beliefs, you are often forced compromise the integrity of your mind in order to remain consistent with whatever the school of thought you might be identified with. For example, if you consider yourself to be a fundamentalist you readily understand that fundamentalists believe in the Virgin Birth. As a self-identified fundamentalist, you realize that you, too, should believe in the Virgin Birth. This state of affairs is no real problem unless you find that you don’t really believe in the Virgin Birth. Now you have a dilemma on you hands. The way many folks solve this conundrum is to either say that they do, in fact, believe in the Virgin Birth when they really don’t or they convince themselves they believe in it, even if they don’t. The result is the person in question has compromised the integrity of his or her mind. In order to be consistent with a pre-defined worldview, the person claims to or pretends to believe in something he or she does not believe in.

The other end of the theological perspective has equal problems. Let’s say you are a very liberal Christian. You have read Spong, Borg, Crossan, Tillich, and all the right authors. Of course, liberals don’t believe in the deity of Jesus, at least most of them don’t. But what happens if you discover that you do believe in the deity of Jesus. Well, now you have the same problem as the fundamentalist discussed in the previous paragraph. In order to be consistent with what a liberal is supposed to believe, you compromise and even convince yourself that Jesus was just another “great moral teacher” and your problem is solved. Unfortunately, now you have a bigger problem. Your integrity is gone.

I can speak of these issues with a certain amount of certainty and at least a modicum of clarity because I have, as they say, been there – done that. By the grace of God, there came a time when I got fed up with having others determine the content of my worldview and went on a quest to figure out just what it was that I really did believe. I won’t bore you with the details of my search except to say that as things progressed, I felt more at ease because I understood what I actually thought was true, rather than trying to force myself into a pair of theological shoes that were designed for someone else.

Before traveling any farther down this road, let me say a few words on why I believe the development of a biblical worldview is essential. Further, once we have formulated such a worldview, it is even more effective to apply it to our daily living. A biblical worldview is vital for the effective Christian life. As believers, our worldview is to serve the foundational purpose of providing a matrix through which we can filter our life experiences and, perhaps even more important, provide a framework for our decision making. Just from these few facts it is obvious that a biblical worldview is to be much more than a pile of theological clutter that we stuff into the corner of the mind and forget about. On the contrary, a biblical worldview gives meaning and purpose to the events of our lives.

I have come to look at the simplest yet most complete definition of a worldview as follows: A biblical worldview is one in which we think like Jesus. Having a biblical worldview, in a sense, makes life easier and harder at the same time. Easier because we have sound scriptural guidelines that help us make everyday decisions; harder in that we often resist putting what we know to be correct into action. Further, I firmly believe that in order to implement a biblical worldview we have to not only think like Jesus, but act like Jesus as well. In order to do this, we have to engage in the types of practices that he engaged in. Namely, we have to make a consecrated effort to practice spiritual disciplines, especially prayer, on a regular basis. If Jesus needed to do this, we certainly do. George Barna describes his decision to discern and formulate his worldview:

 

For years I was scared off by the term “biblical worldview.” It had connotations of breadth and depth that were overwhelming. But the more I realized that my own Christian life was a haphazard series of disjointed choices only marginally and inconsistently influenced by my faith, the more determined I became to get serious about worldview development.

I concur with what Barna is saying here. In my own case, I came to realize that my daily thoughts, actions, and decisions were only marginally influenced by my faith. I also sensed that this is true for the vast majority of professing Christians and this may be one of the main reasons the modern church is so weak in the demonstration of its faith. Ultimately, this lack of worldview development and a concurrent walk of faith that is consistent with that worldview take us into the realm of personal integrity and evangelism. If we do not walk in a manner consistent with our faith, then we are not being true to who we really are. We lack personal integrity. Second, when others see us walking in ways contrary to what we profess to believe, it gives Christianity a bad name. It is even easier for non-Christians to use the time worn excuse of “not wanting to associate with hypocrites.”

Most non-Christian expect a lot more from us than God does. It is quite easy for those outside the faith to point to our failures, our scandals, and our myriad shortcomings. What many of these folks fail to understand is that Christians are still all too human.

As stated at the beginning of this essay, many readers find themselves asking, “Where is this guy coming from?” “Is he a liberal or is he a conservative?” The fact is, I am neither and both. I am just who I am and, like Popeye, that’s who I am.

I would also say that it is important to know that I full well understand that I am really quite limited in the scope of my knowledge. William Barclay, the great biblical scholar, once said he had, at best, a “second-rate mind.” I have read extensively in Barclay’s works and can say without reservation that if his mind is second-rate, then mine is surely way on down the scale in double-digits. I have come to understand that I can, in fact, be wrong. That is one reason why I don’t involve myself in theological arguments or nitpick over the finer points of doctrine. What do I know? Further, for me to strongly insist that someone else has a view that is erroneous smells of arrogance when you get right down to it.

Some Christians feel they have been called to be “Watchmen on the Walls,” beating the bushes in search of heretics and other misfits and nomads within the Body of Christ. Perhaps this is, indeed, a genuine calling and, if it is, I pray they live according to that lofty purpose. I am not one of them, however. I don’t think I have ever labeled anyone a heretic and doubt that I ever will. Why not, you ask? The fact is, when you get down to the honest truth of the matter, I don’t have enough knowledge to make that judgment. I am not giving you a false humility here. I am speaking from my heart. I, like many others, see through a glass darkly and have far too many doctrinal logs in my eye to start picking at the theological specks in someone else’s.

One other thing needs to be mentioned as well. Doctrinal and religious debates, as I mentioned in another article posted a few months back, tend to get a bit testy. Rarely have I seen one of these discussions go on for long before folks start launching verbal grenades that have little to do with the point they were originally trying to make.

I avoid these discussions and debates like poison ivy for the following reasons. First, as already mentioned, my knowledge is too small for me to be the final arbiter of any doctrinal dispute. Secondly, these kinds of conflicts promote discord rather than unity, and it is unity we are called to, not discord. Finally, I stay away from doctrinal fights because these sorts of disputes often put people in the position of having a choice to be “right” or to be “kind.” I’ll opt for kindness every time.

The fact is I have a potential placed in me by God Himself and it is God’s desire that I find my mission and get moving. You, too, have a mission – a divinely ordained purpose and it is God’s great wish that you take up the challenge of finding that purpose, manifesting your potential and talents, and achieving your dreams. Let’s listen now as popular pastor Joel Osteen, in his fine book Become a Better You, speaks about the importance God places on your dreams:

Scripture teaches that we have a valuable treasure on the inside. You have a gift. You have something to offer that nobody else has. You didn’t just show up on planet earth by accident. You were handpicked by Almighty God. He saw you before you were formed in your mother’s womb and placed you here for a reason. You have an assignment. There’s something that God wants you to accomplish. Somebody needs your touch. Somebody needs what you have.

 It is a cardinal truth of the spiritual life, my friend. Somewhere right this minute someone you don’t yet know needs you. Someone needs exactly what you are equipped to offer. Just as God has organized all of creation with a finely-tuned balance that is so incredible that it is beyond comprehension, He has also organized the great dance of spiritual life in such a way that we each have a part that only we can contribute. If we don’t realize our potential and live out our deepest dreams, we rob the world of something of immense value. We rob the world of the optimal version of who we are and when we do that, everyone loses and the Holy Spirit is grieved.

Be careful that you don’t take your talent to your grave. Leave your legacy, your gift here so that others can prosper from the simple fact that you lived and cared enough to live rightly.

© L.D. Turner 2008/2012/All Rights Reserved

Reflections on Christian Exclusivity

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English: Jesus Christ baroque sculpture in Holy Spirit church, Vilnius (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Mick Turner

One of the most consistent criticisms of the church these days relates to its perceived exclusivity in general and its intolerance of other religions in particular. Many people hold the opinion, rightfully so, that Christians believe that they have a monopoly of spiritual truth and that Jesus is the only way to salvation, however one might define that nebulous term. This tendency toward exclusivity, born in centuries past, is especially distasteful to many given our current context of instant global communication. Whereas in centuries past, global religions had little or no awareness of each other and individuals had little choice in terms of their religious affiliation, that is no longer the case as the Internet and global travel allows for exposure to all manner of religious belief and practice. Modern America, for all practical purposes, has become a spiritual smorgasbord.

Most Christians take this position of “Jesus is the only way” based on his words, recorded in John 14: 6:

I am the way, the truth, and the light; no one comes to the Father except through me.

Personally, I find it fascinating how differing factions within the Christian tradition deal with this passage. Fundamentalists, most Evangelicals, as well as the majority of Pentecostals and Charismatics take a very literal view of this passage. Their take on it is, “Jesus said he was the only way and the Bible is the inerrant Word of God. If it’s in the Bible that Jesus said it, then that’s the way it is. He is the only way.” Further, in keeping with the “belief paradigm” of Christianity that has so infiltrated and weakened the Protestant arm of the church, this passage means belief in Jesus is the only way.

On the other end of the theological spectrum, the Liberal arm of the church has developed creative ways of approaching this statement, some of them quite reasonable and others a bit of a mental stretch. On the whole, I suspect that the majority of liberal Christians wish that Jesus had never said this, thus making their apologetics a much simpler affair. In fact, some scholars do come out directly and deny that he ever said such a thing. I know one of my professors in graduate school was of this ilk.

Marcus Borg, a member of the controversial “Jesus Seminar,” makes the point that Jesus was not talking about belief in himself as the only means of salvation but instead, was saying that emulating his path of dying and rising was what Christ was getting at. Borg goes on to illustrate clearly how such an interpretation fits in with the overall context of Jesus’ message of Christian character formation. For those desiring to explore Borg’s teaching on this theme in more depth, I highly recommend his book, The Heart of Christianity.

As is often the case, my take on this issue falls outside the parameters of either the conservative or the liberal interpretations of Jesus’ claim that no one comes to the Father except through him. I guess this is one of the chief reasons why I am often considered a maverick and a misfit. To apply an overused analogy, when dealing with conservatives I am like a round peg in a world of square holes. Conversely, when dealing with the liberal wing of the Body of Christ, I am like a square peg in a field of round holes. I tend to fit nowhere unless you use a hammer and chisel.

Before describing my take on Christian exclusivity let me make a few qualifying statements. First, my views on this issue have evolved over the years and I don’t rule out the possibility that this process could continue. I have found it to be highly unwise to make statements about spiritual issues and set them in stone, as if they are eternal truths. I prefer to maintain an open mind, even if it results in my views sometimes seeming inconsistent and changeable. Besides, a man with a mind much sounder than mind, Ralph Waldo Emerson once opined:

A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.

A second qualifying caveat has to do with a fact that should be obvious to even the most intellectually challenged reader, although the sputtering, spewing and harrumphing that goes on when folks encounter something they don’t agree with would testify otherwise. The principle I am referring to is simply this: when it comes to deeper spiritual issues of an intangible nature, we cannot know anything with great certainty.

Paul hit the nail squarely on the head when he opined that at best, we see through a glass darkly. It doesn’t matter how intelligent we are (or perhaps think we are), how deeply we delve into the arcane mysteries of biblical scholarship, or how clearly we think we may have heard God’s voice, the fact is: even our most dearly held beliefs and opinions are just that, beliefs and opinions. They are the product of human reasoning and as such, have the potential for error.

Now right about here I know many of my fundamentalist readers (both of them) are thinking that I am an idiot at best or even worse, perhaps the brother of Beelzebub himself. “What about holy Scripture?” they shout. If it is in Scripture (they always use a capital “S”, which is putting the Book on the same level with the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit) then we can know with certainty that it’s true.

I beg to differ.

I suppose one can logically say such a thing if one holds to the doctrine that the Bible is of divine origin and is inerrant. Let me say clearly here that I do not agree with that position, and further, I believe that holding such an opinion discourages free thinking, stifles creativity, and leads to all manner of erroneous assumptions about Christian spirituality.

If any of the aforementioned conservatives/fundamentalists are still reading, I figure they are now assured that I am of the Beelzebub clan.

With those caveats out of the way, let me get on with my take on the issue of Christian exclusivity. Do I believe that Christ is the only way? My answer is unequivocal:

That depends…..

To be continued……

© L.D. Turner 2012/All Rights Reserved

Christian Service in an Age of Change

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Mick Turner

When I take time to sit back and reflect on the times in which we live, I am often filled with awe and wonder. Although the church in Europe is gasping its last trembling breaths and our church here in America shows all the signs of following suit, the Christian faith is exploding in other parts of the world. In Africa the Body of Christ is growing at an unprecedented pace and in Asia the same thing is happening. Living and serving in China for five years, I was able to witness firsthand the phenomenal gains the faith was making despite over fifty years of Communist oppression.

Everywhere the faith is exploding we see an accompanying display of Holy Spirit fireworks – especially in Asia and Africa. Signs and wonders, much like those witnessed in the early church, are commonplace. People are being healed, demons are being sent back to their dark abodes, and countless lives, once seemingly destined for society’s slagheap, are being restored and renewed. Everywhere one looks one sees God doing a vital and mighty new work.

As the current century unfolds, I think it will become readily apparent that the West in general and America in particular will no longer be the “leader” when it comes to global Christianity. In fact, we can already see this shift taking place as numerous denominations struggle to give equal weight to the rising voice of its new global membership. Here on the home front, we are undergoing our own shake up as long-accepted, traditional forms of the faith are rapidly dying out. The problem is, new forms, although many are taking shape, have yet to find any widespread cohesion, and, as a result, many Christians find themselves in a sort of “spiritual limbo.”

In many ways I think we can liken our current situation to that of the original disciples as they found themselves in the Upper Room after Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection. As they awaited further instruction I am sure they reflected on and discussed many of the things the Master had told them over the preceding three years. Jesus had told them to expect the birth of new wineskins as the old forms could not possibly begin to hold this new wine that he was bringing. As his Ascension drew near, he commissioned them to go and make new disciples in all the earth and breathed into them the Holy Spirit.

After the coming of the Spirit in power at Pentecost, the apostles went forth to launch this new faith. Still uncertain and unaware of what the form and structure of the fledgling church would take, the early church leaders employed a proactive strategy. Rather than sitting back and waiting to see how things would unfold, they went forth into the streets and preached the gospel to anyone who would listen. In addition, they healed the sick, fed the poor, and did all manner of service work, all in the name of the Master they loved and served.

Our calling in the 21st Century is no different. Just like the early church, we find ourselves living in an age of rapid change and cultural transition. And as our old church structures continue to crumble, we have yet to give birth to any solid, faith-sustaining alternative. This, too, is much like the situation the early followers of the Master faced.

I think we can profit greatly by looking to those first Christians as a prototype for how we should move forward in this time of transition. Although the early church structure was still very fluid and most likely varied from place to place, the first Christians understood and applied two fundamental principles. They understood that they were primarily called to two foundational activities: disciple-making and service to others.

Twenty-first century Christians would do well to emulate them.

© L.D. Turner 2012/All Rights Reserved

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The Advent of Advent

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As we begin the season of Advent, let us pause and give thanks for the reason for the season: The birth of light in darkness. It is my earnest prayer that the Light of Christ may be born in the manger of each and every heart as the Creator bathes the earth with new and vital energies. Today may we be aware of the prophecy of Isaiah:

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of great darkness — on them, light has shined. (Isaiah 9:2 NRSV)

I am also aware that in many cases these days, the “land of great darkness” has been the Body of Christ itself. May we who dare to take up the mantle of “Christian” become  aware of what a truly magnificent being Jesus Christ was and is and further, may we become deeply aware of the blessed Light that shines on us and especially, shines within us. May our lives be that of living epistles, giving honor and glory to that Light.

Have a great Advent.

Mick

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The Dwindling Church: Can We Stop the Bleeding?

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Mick Turner

For decades now, sociological research has indicated that organized Christianity in America is on the wane. Except in the non-urbanized areas of the Bible Belt, all of the old Mainline denominations like Methodists, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Disciples of Christ, Episcopalians and the United Church of Christ have undergone a mass exodus resulting in empty sanctuaries and boarded up doors and windows. Now, just a few months back, the Southern Baptist Convention, long the stalwart bastion of conservative Evangelicalism, has admitted to decreased membership and a dramatic drop in baptisms.

The reasons for this decline are myriad and analysis of these etiological factors is certainly beyond the scope of this short paper. Suffice to say that the Christian faith, as it is practiced in the West, has largely gone off the tracks. Granted, independent, non-denominational churches have grown in terms of membership rolls, as have some of the non-affiliated Charismatic groups. For the most part, however, it is more than fair to assert that like some punch-drunk pugilist, organized Christianity in America is on the ropes.

Many pastors and church leaders were aware of these disheartening trends but there were at least an equal number who were in blatant denial. Convinced that the dwindling numbers were a temporary anomaly on the radar screen, these leaders put the blinders on as their congregations slipped away quietly. Beginning as a trickle but escalating into a torrent. Once forced into action, many churches tried this and tried that, but nothing seemed to stem the great exodus. Further, church leaders soon discovered that many once-solid Christians could not be lured back into the sanctuaries by any means. Rubel Shelly, in his fascinating book entitled, I Knew Jesus Before He Was a Christian and I liked Him Better Then, describes these discouraged former church-goers and offers a simple, sane method for getting them back in the pews:

Too many people have already settled the issue of church. They’re done with it. Over it. Out of there. And they aren’t interested in re-thinking , re-entering, or even re-inventing it. But you just might get their attention with this radical, engaging, challenging, life-transforming healing , rescuing person name Jesus of Nazareth. In fact, I think it is the only hope we have for communicating with a postmodern world. The best argument is not a syllogism or well-written book but a living demonstration of the kindness and acceptance, grace made incarnate, or love emptying itself for the sake of others.

Shelly is absolutely correct when he emphasizes incarnate grace and self-emptying love as providing a foundation for renewal of the Body of Christ. My take on the issue is similar: until the church returns to its kingdom calling, which is simply to continue Christ’s work of giving flesh to grace, restoring justice and fairness to the poor and marginalized, and spreading the Good News to all who would hear it, there is little hope for restoration and renewal.

I think the following passage by author and teacher Brian McLaren sums up well the current situation, its causes, and the future possibility of something positive being birthed out of it all. McLaren gives a cogent and moving testimony regarding the dwindling numbers in our once great churches and also makes the highly accurate observation that religion has indeed become a major obstacle to people truly finding Jesus:

…….the Christian religion continues to sing and preach and teach about Jesus, but in too many places (not all!) it has largely forgotten, misunderstood, or become distracted from Jesus’ secret message. When we drifted from understanding and living out his essential secret message of the kingdom, we became like flavorless salt or a blown-out lightbulb – so boring that people just walked away.  We may have talked about going to heaven after we die, but not about God’s will being done on earth before we die. We may have pressured people to be moral and good or correct and orthodox to avoid hell after death, but we didn’t inspire them with the possibility of becoming beautiful and fruitful to heal the earth in this life. We may have instructed them about how to be a good Baptist, Presbyterian, Catholic, or Methodist on Sunday, but we didn’t train, challenge, and inspire them to live out the kingdom of God in their jobs, neighborhoods, families, schools, and societies between Sundays.

No friends, we didn’t train, inspire, and equip the members of the Body of Christ to do Christ’s work here on earth. Instead, we gradually erected a religious edifice that replaced a vital, relational spirituality and to put it bluntly, turned a silk purse into a sow’s ear. What’s worse, once we had the pig’s ear we did all that we could to maintain it and in the end, transformed a dynamic spiritual path into a static status quo. McLaren continues:

We may have tried to make people “nice” – quiet citizens of their earthly kingdoms and energetic consumers of their earthly economies – but we didn’t fire them up and inspire them to invest and sacrifice their time, intelligence, money, and energy in the revolutionary cause of the kingdom of God. No, too often, Karl Marx was right: we used religion as a drug so we could tolerate the abysmal conditions of a world that was not the kingdom of God. Religion became our tranquilizer so we wouldn’t be so upset about injustice. Our religiosity thus aided and abetted people in power who wanted nothing more than to conserve and preserve the unjust status quo that was so profitable and comfortable for them.

What would happen…………it we again tasted the good news of Jesus – not as a tranquilizer but as vibrant, potent new wine that filled us with joy and hope that a better world is possible? What if, intoxicated by this new wine, we threw off our inhibitions and actually begin acting as if the hidden but real kingdom of God was at hand?

What if, indeed! Friends, I am convinced that a fresh wind is blowing and that wind is from God. For those unafraid to step out of their comfort zone, shed outworn, unproductive religious baggage, and raise their sails to catch this vital and vivifying divine wind, the future is a vibrant vista of unlimited possibility. God is moving and the Spirit is calling – calling out a cadre of consecrated, committed renegades and revolutionaries who are neither timid nor tired, but instead, are bold and on fire with a passion to know Jesus at a level far deeper than the current norm. Christ is beckoning to those willing to challenge the status quo, even if it means irritating those reluctant to jettison sacred cows that have too long created barriers to truly knowing the Master. He is, indeed, issuing his call to those with a desire to take up the kingdom agenda and work diligently to bring its sacred principles into concrete manifestation in a world that sorely needs healing.

Christ is calling – calling out those with spiritual insight into the reality that all things are interconnected and that what impacts a single person ends up impacting us all. Yes my friend, Christ is calling forth those equipped with this understanding and from that wisdom, those possessing hearts overflowing with divine compassion.

 © L.D. Turner 2011/All Rights Reserved

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Remedies for What Ails the Church: Christ’s Proactive Love (Part Three)

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Mick Turner

(continued from Part Two)

I find it fascinating that the churches that seem to be most negligent in educating congregants in the realities of what it means to be “in Christ” are those at opposite ends of the theological spectrum. Our liberal churches often ignore the phrase altogether or describe it as a quasi-mystical state resulting from long-term arduous spiritual training. It is described more often as a state of consciousness rather than a gift of grace through the Holy Spirit’s empowerment. At the other end of the stick, many of our fundamentalist brothers and sisters are so absolutely obsessed with sin and the “blood of the Lamb” that they never get beyond the theme of atonement and justification. Themes like empowerment and sanctification rarely cross their lips.

Once we come to an understanding of who and what we are “in Christ,” we need to have a thorough education in God’s great mission of restoration, renewal, and the primacy of the Kingdom agenda. We need to know what God is up to and discover how we fit into that agenda both as a church and as individuals. This entails education regarding the kingdom, God’s “Great Story” of restoration, and our equipping in terms of spiritual gifts. Understanding the “kingdom” purpose is especially important as this was the central focus of Christ’s teaching.

Underlying all of our efforts as the Body of Christ is the notion of working along with God to establish the “Kingdom.” I can’t stress this notion of Kingdom enough and, if you take a close look at the gospels, neither could Christ. His first public statement was “Repent for the Kingdomof Heavenis at hand.” After beginning this way, Christ repeatedly stressed that his mission was to inaugurate the Kingdom. As ongoing agents of incarnation, it is now our mission to pick up where Christ left off. This is the foundational mission of the church. Even the great commission is aimed at this and this only: Bringing God’s Kingdom to Earth.

The coming of the Kingdom is really the heart of the gospel. The forgiveness of sins and the work on the cross, although of central significance, is not the heart of the gospel. It is not that which brings life to the body. No, it is the coming of the Kingdom that constitutes the life of the gospel. Unfortunately, the church, especially since the reformation in general and Calvinist theology in particular, has primarily defined the gospel in terms of the remission of sins by the work of Christ. Again, I am not downplaying the importance of this. All I am saying is that it is not the core of the gospel. Jesus repeatedly stressed the coming of the Kingdom.  The remission of sins is part of this, but it is far from the whole enchilada.

Dr. Myles Munroe, author of several books dealing with God’s kingdom, echoes the centrality of the kingdom agenda for today’s Church:

“How important to the Body of Christ is the message of the Kingdom of God? Frankly, we have nothing else to teach. The message of the Kingdom is good news, and the Church exists to proclaim it. If we are doing our job, everything we are about will be Kingdom focused: every sermon we preach, every Bible study we teach, every ministry we perform, every activity we accomplish, and every worship service we celebrate…The Kingdom of God must be our highest priority; Jesus gave us no other commission.”

As individual members of the Body of Christ, it is our duty to share the kingdom message at every opportunity. In doing so, however, we must take care to present Jesus’ kingdom manifesto is ways that are relative to today’s world. Howard Snyder also points out the contrast between kingdom people and non-kingdom people. His words paint a clear portrait of why the church must educate its members in depth regarding Jesus’ concept of “Kingdom”:

The church gets in trouble whenever it thinks it is in the church business rather than the kingdom business. In the church business, people are concerned with church activities, religious behavior and spiritual things. In the Kingdom business, people are concerned with Kingdom activities, all human behavior and everything God has made, visible and invisible. Kingdom people see human affairs as saturated with spiritual meaning and Kingdom significance. Kingdom people seek first the Kingdom of God and its justice; church people often put church work above the concerns of justice, mercy and truth. Church people think about how to get people into the church; kingdom people think about how to get the church into the world. Church people worry that the world might change the church; Kingdom people work to see the church change the world…If the church has one great need, it is this: to be set free for the Kingdom of God, to be liberated from itself as it has become in order to be itself as God intends. The church must be freed to participate fully in the economy of God.

 I find the Church’s lack of focus on establishing the kingdom even more remarkable when considering other popular pulpit themes. A few years back I was conducting research on the growth of several denominations in the county where I live. This research necessitated my visiting eight different congregations over an extended period of time and provided an opportunity to hear firsthand the kind of topics preachers from a variety of denominations were expounding upon. Frankly, I was amazed. I heard at least four sermons on prosperity, four more on the reality of sin, three on the importance of speaking in tongues, two on how speaking in tongues was the work of Satan, at least two sermons detailing the importance of voting Republican in the upcoming 2008 election, and one meandering, 40-minute bombast without a discernable core.

In short, the church is supposed to be in the business of turning out “kingdom people” rather than church people. So, along with the other themes discussed in this article, I feel it is imperative that the church also include as a part of its educational agenda information on just what the kingdom is all about.

I should say at this point that I rocked along as a Christian for many years before, by the grace of God and the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, I began to at last encounter Christ in a more profound way. In spite of my personal beliefs and biases, misinformation gleaned from myriad sources, including the church, and perhaps most subtle of all, my own intellectual arrogance and theological snobbery, a sliver of divine light managed to break through. Augmented by much prayer and meditation, this thin beam of illumination expanded into an unexpected eruption of insight and wonder. It was as if some sort of spiritual dawn had exploded across the horizon and standing at the center of this sublime awakening was Jesus Christ – Jesus as I had never seen him before; Jesus as I had never understood him before; Jesus, as he had never impacted me before.

My reaction to this encounter was one of reverence, awe, and wonder. I think the phrase coined by Hebrew writer and scholar Abraham Heschel sums up my feelings quite accurately. When the dust settled and I began to embody the new revelation of who and what Christ was and is, I was literally overwhelmed with a sense of radical amazement.

This sense of wonder, awe, and amazement created in me a desire to obey Christ in things both great and small. I was (and I remain) far from perfect in terms of my obedience, but with divine assistance each day I get a little bit better it seems. More significantly, this revelation of Christ’s nature, his accomplishments, and his ongoing mission created in me a desire to create and maintain a level of excellence in my life that greatly exceeded the  level at which I had been operating. Cutting straight to the chase, my personal mission statement became:

To become the optimal version of myself for the glory of God and the benefit of others.

The way I saw it, and still see it, is anything less than my best shortchanges Christ. I am not talking about perfection, nor am I employing any sort of legalistic program of puritanical holiness. Those flavors of teaching prove time and time again to create more problems than they solve. What I am driving at here is the importance and the necessity of making a consecrated commitment to excellence.

I am convinced that the vast majority of us are living far beneath the level we are capable of, whether in terms of our personal relationships, our professions, our level of knowledge and wisdom, and our moral values. All I am saying here is that in light of the great gift Christ has given us, we can and should do better than half-measures.

Christ gave us his best and our response should be nothing less than our best.

Think about it.

© L.D. Turner 2011/All Rights Reserved

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Wise Words for Today

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We are created for community, fashioned for fellowship, and formed for family, and none of us can fulfill God’s purposes by ourselves…..For Paul, being a “member” of the church meant being a vital organ of a living body, an indispensable, interconnected part of the Body of Christ. We need to recover and practice the biblical meaning of membership. The church is a body, not a building, an organism, not an organization……If an organ is somehow severed from its body, it will shrivel and die. It cannot exist on its own, and neither can you. Disconnected and cut off from the lifeblood of a local body, your spiritual life will wither and eventually cease to exist.

Rick Warren

(The Purpose Driven Life)

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