Church Issues

5 Issues the church is too concerned about CULTURE VULTURE: The Environment. Sure we should be smart and not drop litter, we should do what we can to reduce our individual waste... but this is one of the latest examples of the church jumping on a cultural bandwagon rather than seeking to make a difference in peoples lives. Plus, if more people did their research, they might discover that there's not much we can do about global warming, it may even be part of God's design for the planet. Have you noticed how nature is always moving and shifting through various seasons? It's is only human beings who want to stay in place, prevent change and establish foundations. Not that, that is bad, but we should realise nature does not ask our permission before it changes. BIBLE BASHING: Gay Rights. Of course, as a Christian if I was to have sex with man, I would be committing a sin. However this would also be the case if I had sex with a prostitute. And being a married Christian, if I was to have sex with another woman other than my wife, I would also be committing a sin. Why does the church focus on one sexual sin when protesting moral decline? How many Christians are divorced and remarried? Aah but there's extenuating circumstances... violent spouses etc... we should be sensitive and understanding. Then likewise, we should be sensitive and understanding to homosexuals. It should also be noted that where God is concerned, it is only the church that should be subject to this kind of moral law. But the predominant question is this: Why shouldn't homosexuals be free from prejudice? BIBLE BASHING: Abortion. Another morally unacceptable choice, but again what right do we as Christians have to impose our view on the world. Why simply tell someone something is wrong without explaining why, and offering a better way? Explaining the importance of the sanctity of life to someone who doesn't even believe in accountability to God is going to be futile unless you find humanistic arguments to back-up your case. CULTURE VULTURE: Mass Marketing and Media. It tends to be mostly in charismatic circles but the church seems to be lately obsessed with multimedia and releasing the next worship CD. Worship CD's are cool, they give you something to sing along to in the car if you feel like it. Multimedia is a useful tool, but it should not form the whole basis of your evangelistic strategy! I know a friend who had decided to host a fun, musical and entertaining evening as part of an outreach to the local community. He was considering what would be a good venue that would most likely attract the crowds. I suggested a local popular pub or hall. He eventually went with the church building. Why? Because the equipment was better. But how many unchurched people are going to feel like spending their Saturday night in a church? Sure the building is modern and warm but they don't know that. Most peoples idea of a church is bingo-night with the over 70s not Saturday night live with Jools Holland. Also, why can't an outreach involve alcohol? Most people can be trusted to behave themselves and pubs are already adept at handling the odd drunk. CULTURE VULTURE: Customer Service. As evidenced by the growing mega-churches in not only the US, but Australia. It's not just about worship anymore, it's about entertainment value. Of course there's nothing wrong with offering a tea and coffee time after the service. Offering services to the local community such as a mums & tots, counseling or coffee shop is brilliant. Equally churches that hire and provide buses to the community for poorer people who do not have cars to bring them to church on Sunday is a great. When the bus idea devolves into a golf-cart for people walking from the car park on a Sunday morning (as I have witnessed in one church), it goes from being a service to the community to a service to middle class church goers. A sort of 'customer service' rather than meeting a need. Is there such a thing as going too far? Customer service coupled with mass marketing above are both products of consumerism and western business models (which are more concerned with turnover than lives), which I have touched on before. 5 issues the church should be concerned about INJUSTICE: Predatory and Exploitative Systems. There seems to be an unwritten law in the western hemisphere of the church that anyone who runs a company or business is successful and THEREFORE God has blessed that person and THEREFORE that person is a righteous person who is beyond sin and wrongdoing. Which is why anyone who dares to challenge companies or authorities for moral and legal reasons is treated with contempt. How much more would the church be respected in the world if it used its influence to challenge systems that are anti-human. People do not exist for the law, the law exists for people. INJUSTICE: Anti-immigration. Christians have an implicit moral duty to stand up for the immigrant, legal or illegal. In Britain today immigrants are blamed for much of the problems in society and vilified by the media. In respect to immigration, Christians should not feel obliged to comply with the law if it means immigrants being treated unfairly. CULTURE SHIFT: Technology and Publicity. How will the multi-million dollar Christian music industry fare against the culture shift to in P2P and Creative Commons? Will they be taking legal action against their neighbour, or is it time for a rethink on those 'rights'? Same goes for videos, books and Christian retail. Isn't it time the church went back to basics when spreading the word? Do we really need Celebrians? INEQUALITY: Institutionalised Greed. Many Christians make the mistake of associating capitalism with Christianity. Where that idea came from it's hard to tell, since the gospel has its roots in sharing (P2P anyone?). Capitalism makes individuals rich, but has many ill side-effects for the majority: Accommodation seekers, blue-collar workers and small businesses, for example. Prof. Prabhu Guptara has published a couple of thoughtful articles on the subject of sustainability and institutionalised greed which are worth a read if you have the time. INJUSTICE: Ubuntu. There is much injustice in the world today due to corrupt governments. Governments that desire authoritarian control over their people. As Christians we should pray for our leaders, but we should also hold them to account and make a stand against any policy that seeks to register human beings and make it illegal to exist without being registered. 5 innovative thing that the church should try Open Source and Creative Commons - Actually try sharing the gospel instead of marketing it. Stop spending money on expensive media projects and make a difference to ordinary people. Look for a need that is not being met in the community, rather than jumping on the latest trends. Protest against corporate irresponsibility and greed, rather than Jerry Springer: The Opera Open up a high street shop and simply offer free help... anything, anyone. Technorati Tags: injustice, culture, inequality, bible bashing, church issues, environment, gay rights, abortion, church marketing, mega church, consumerism, predatory systems, morals, immigration, God, Jesus, Christian celebrities, p2p, creative commons, copyright, institutionalised greed, government, church, Christianity, ubuntu DISCUSS THIS POST

Banana Nightmare

Why as Christians (and I'm looking at you, youth leaders in particular) do we constantly feel the need to follow the latest cultural trends. Why is it every time a successful brand develops in the world, we can't resist going ahead and make our own Christianised brand version of it? A "Christian" version which more often than not is an appalling insult to the intelligence of people outside the church. Do we really expect our children to be real leaders and have an impact on the world by protecting them from groups and ideas that are not intrinsically Christian? Why can't the church be the alternative to the culture that people are looking for. Why can't the church stand for enduring principles rather than short-term cultural appeal? Don't we stand to win more people working within existing cultural and social frameworks, rather than creating our own ill-conceived ones? What is the purpose of Godtube for example? Sure there may be some great exegesis and apologetics out there- but doesn't that actually prove the point that Christians should be shooting it on Youtube? Doesn't it actually force you, as a Christian, to come up with something powerful, meaningful and coherent to say- rather than having a safe 'playground' to expose your crackpot theology without criticism? From Godtube: The Atheist I can't be the only one who had wrong images in my head when he was using that banana, and how would he explain a pinapple? But if Godtube is a dumb idea, Conservapedia is even dumberer. Set up, I kid you not, with Wikipedia's MediaWiki engine, because "...that the article on the Renaissance does not give any credit to Christianity, that many Wikipedia articles use non-American spellings even though most users are American, that the article on American activities in the Philippines has a distinctly anti-American bias, and that attempts to include pro-Christian or pro-American views are removed very quickly... Wikipedia is six times more liberal than the American public." (Wikipedia) So here is a random sample article from Conservapedia on Indie Rock: "Rock music made by independant bands. or people not involved with the record industry. Usually with a liberal bias." Conservapedia Entry: Indy Rock (sic) Just for comparrison, here is Wikipedia's entry on Indie Rock: "Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that primarily exists in the independent underground music scene. The term is sometimes used interchangeably with underground music as a whole, though more specifically implicates that the music meets the criterion of being rock, as opposed to indie pop or other possible match-ups. These criteria vary from an emphasis on rock instrumentation (electric guitars, bass guitar, live drums, and vocals) to more abstract (and debatable) rockist constructions of authenticity. It is however not uncommon to see a variety of instruments that are rarely used in other rock genres, such as the violin. "Indie rock" is shorthand for "independent rock", for many of its artists are unsigned or signed to independent record labels, rather than major record labels. It is not strictly a genre of music (although the term is often used to reference the sound of specific bands and the bands they have influenced), but is often used as an umbrella term covering a wide range of artists and styles, connected by some degree of allegiance to the values of underground culture, and (usually) describable as rock music. Genres or subgenres often associated with indie rock include lo-fi, post-rock, sadcore, C86, and math rock, to list but a few; other related (and sometimes overlapping) categories include shoegazing and indie pop. Indie rock artists place a premium on maintaining complete control of their music and careers, releasing albums on independent record labels (sometimes their own) and relying on touring, word-of-mouth, and airplay on independent or college radio stations for promotion. Some end up moving to major labels, often on favorable terms won by their prior independent success." Wikipedia Entry: Indie Rock Feeling that liberal bias yet? I have one request for the people behind GodTube, Conservapedia and other proponents of 'christian' subcultures. Please, please stop. Now.

Name Dropping

"Prime Minister John Howard recently recognised the Church’s achievements by opening its new childcare facilities, financed with the help of a U.C.I.S loan." - UCIS Flyer "MANY Australians will question the priority of churches which have posted signs saying "Jesus loves Osama", Prime Minister John Howard says." - Herald Sun "I just sat there the whole night with my mouth hanging open. To even have the prime minister John Howard want to go to Edge Church just because he wanted to visit - thats huge!" - AnnaTsang "PRIME Minister John Howard attended an intimate fundraising lunch with a violent Brisbane pornographer, who was facing charges of torture and grievous bodily harm at the time, in the lead-up to the 2004 federal election." - News.com.au In October 19, the Assemblies of God NOW magazine headlined its lead story ‘Deputy P.M. puts Jesus first’. Assistant editor and writer for the magazine, Paul Gallagher, had obtained an exclusive interview with John Anderson on a subject that went deeper than his public office – his personal faith in God... ...Prime Minister John Howard officially launched the book in August 2006, declaring to a room full of politicians and media, “I am delighted this book has been written.” - AOG Now Magazine "Mr Howard said al-Qaeda should be "praying as many times as possible" for an Obama victory in the 2008 elections." - BBC News "The Prime Minister of Australia, the Hon. John Howard, officially opened the new 3,500 seat Hillsong Church Convention Centre in Sydney’s north-west on Saturday, 19 October 2002." - AOG Now Magazine "Back then, of course, he talked a lot about Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction; that does not make compelling reading today. Worse, back then Howard said not a word about what would happen after Saddam was gone. Back then he was saying Australian troops would be home in a few months." - The Age My dear friends, don't let public opinion influence how you live out our glorious, Christ-originated faith. If a man enters your church wearing an expensive suit, and a street person wearing rags comes in right after him, and you say to the man in the suit, "Sit here, sir; this is the best seat in the house!" and either ignore the street person or say, "Better sit here in the back row," haven't you segregated God's children and proved that you are judges who can't be trusted? - James, The Message Bible

Successful Christian Leadership

Why is it that church leaderships, particularly megachurches, act so secretly? PastorJoeRuth links to a news article in the SharperIron blog: "In the past few months, two Colorado Springs churches — New Life Church and Grace Episcopal — have struggled to balance transparency and privacy while navigating high-profile crises. Their integrity is at stake, with congregants sitting in judgment." - Colorado Springs Gazette The main article discusses finances, but below it references the outing of Ted Haggard, former pastor of New Life Church: "Congregants don’t know where Haggard went for his counseling or other details of Haggard’s restoration process. They don’t know details of his “sexual immorality.” They are given periodic updates on the search for a new senior pastor, but they’re not privy to meetings of the pastoral-selection committee." British readers may not be familiar with Ted Haggard or the scandal that occurred in November. I was in America at the time when the news broke so it is quite vivid in my memory. On 1st November 2006 a former male prostitute publicly alleged that Haggard had been a frequent client of his over the previous 3 years and had engaged in sex and drug-taking with him. What interests me is Haggards first response when he was tracked down by new reporters. He flatly denied the allegations and denied ever knowing the male prostitute. It was a day or later that he resigned from his position and went into marriage counseling (still later that the rest of the church leadership came forward to disclose that he had admitted to 'some' of the claims). My point is this: There has to be something wrong when a Christian cannot be the first person to get down on their knees and admit a sin when it is made public. And this was not just a Christian, but a self-proclaimed leader who is supposed to be teaching us how to be humble, how to admit your sin and seek forgiveness. Now, you can accuse me of judging and you can accuse me of a holier-than-thou attitude, you'd be wrong on both counts. I personally know a Pastor who came clean straight away when confronted about his adultery, and there is no greater example than in the bible of how a 'man after God's own heart' responds: Then Nathan said to David, "You are the man! This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave your master's house to you, and your master's wives into your arms. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. Why did you despise the word of the LORD by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.' "This is what the LORD says: 'Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity upon you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight. You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.' " Then David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the LORD." - 2 Sam 12:7-13 NIV I can't think of any reason that a Christian would not repent when confronted like this with sin, when it is on display for all to see. It would be foolish, worse, it would be a slight to the Holy Spirit within. Yet no matter how many mega/pioneer/great lifey type churches we visit or attend, we continue to see this same brand of touchy-feely protectionism and almost Mafia like qualities with a twist of Stepford housewives. Why for example, when a church is being sued, keep the details from the congregation (who tithe and are supposedly part of the 'family'). Are the congregation too stupid to trust? Why try to cover up sins of a Pastor, or keep the 'restoration process' secretive. Surely part of the 'restoration' is to the church family? You may argue that these are people who are entitled to their private lives. May I suggest that it is the desire to keep a private life that causes these sins to be covered up in the first place. May I also suggest that someone attaining to be a pastor, especially of a mega/pioneer church, city on a hill, example to non-Christians, that a private life is the last thing you should seek let alone earn. When Jesus got the news, he slipped away by boat to an out-of-the-way place by himself. But unsuccessfully—someone saw him and the word got around. Soon a lot of people from the nearby villages walked around the lake to where he was. When he saw them coming, he was overcome with pity and healed their sick." - Matt 14:13-14 The Message Someone who wants leadership, but wants to maintain a private life or low profile, should not consider becoming a Christian pastor or minister. It is my opinion that they should instead try becoming a CEO, entertainer or politician. But this is the crux of the matter. In many large, modern, charismatic churches there is no distinction between the pastoral role and the role of a CEO. Many Christian leaders now lecture empower business people and hold leadership conferences. In turn, the church borrows business practices, methods and ... *shudder* ... buzzwords. I noticed just the other day on a piece of church literature that they hold cell groups for youth, adults and ... business people! Why are cell groups needed for business people? Are they some other species apart from us. Do adults beget children, business people beget business people? Oh it's all about strategy and wealth creation blah, blah, blahdy-blah. Let me tell you who you're strategy is- it's the church- and by that I mean the people! Not some flip chart. Half of these people have not even heard of Herzberg, Maslow or Mintzberg yet they still go on to claim some sort of positional authority without question. What happens when the lines between the impersonal business world and the church become blurred. Privacy and privilege become the stakes. Pastors begin to act like CEO's, and risk becoming corrupt politicians. Don't admit there are problems until there is substantial evidence... in fact don't admit problems. Keep information about the churches progress low key or secret, as if to stay ahead of some sort of imaginary competition. Maximise profits (for the Kingdom), focus on PR, Celebrians (Christian celebrities), and releasing worship albums. Repeat the mantra, "Isn't life great?" It wasn't a male prostitute, the devil, or lust that got to Haggard, it was power. Haggard was seduced by power and status, which is why he had not already repented in 3 years. It is why he struggled with the truth even in front of the National media. In the end Jesus' words ring true: "If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?" - Matthew 16:25-26 NLT UPDATE: 11/03/07 Relevant Magazine features an article by Aaron Van Voorhis on The Commercial Church, worth a read. Ironic Referral: Church Marketing Sucks