Paper about Faith Journey

I got this paper on an email from Cliff Nellis. He is the student discussing his faith. You can find him on facebook. I love it when someone digs in to their faith and makes some sense out of things. Sorry I had to print the whole thing here, it is on his facebook page, but I couldn't get a link to it worked out. I hope you take the time to read it all. Italics are mine for emphasis.
God be with you on the Journey!
Kevin

Hey everyone, been doing a lot of reflecting on the last five years of seminary school and ministry experience as I get ready to head out from Trinity, and I wanted to share some of my reflections with you in a note I wrote. Hope you enjoy and I hope you are well…

Going Out with the Greatest First
The endeavor to wrap up five years of seminary school and ministry experience in one final "Philosophy of Ministry" paper is daunting, but I didn't write the syllabus for the M.Div. Capstone class at Trinity, I'm only following it. I would have thought I would have been more excited for this opportunity to wrap up my education and experience in a neatly tailored philosophy of ministry, but in the last two years especially, I've had so many humbling experiences that now more than ever I feel most unqualified to write a "Philosophy of Ministry" paper. As many of you know, I have had several stretching experiences in the last two years that has challenged not what I believe, but how I believe God calls the church to live out what we believe.

When I first became a Christian, I had an intensely vertical view of faith. I was alone on a bicycle trip with my Bible praying, meditating on Scripture, and journaling. My experience of faith and practice was mostly confined to my personal relationship with God and nobody else. After my bicycle trip, I returned to life in community and got plugged into a church, but I still kept this intensely vertical view of faith. I was concerned only about other people's thoughts about God. I believed this was loving my neighbor as myself because, I would say, what people needed more than anything else is to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

I call this season of my life the "salvific Gospel only" season, which is painting it better than it actually was. My role as a Christian, as I saw it, was primarily to bring Jesus to others so that they might be saved. Because of this, I viewed Matthew 28:16-20 to be the foundation of all ministry. We are to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything Jesus commanded. Evangelism, baptism, and teaching.

I put this in a mission statement I called the "3E Vision." This was the vision..."By the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit, we will: (1) Encourage non-believers to accept Christ as their Lord and Savior (John 1:12-13); (2) Equip new believers with God’s Word (2 Tim. 3:16), and (3) Empower mature believers to take on Christ’s ministry and succeed (1 Cor. 12:12-31, 2 Tim. 2:1-2).

Quite unintentionally and unbeknownst to me, the end result of practicing Christian faith in this way for me was most often overly ambitious judgmental rigid pharisaical Christianity that lacked genuine love and compassion for my neighbor. The goal was numbers. Serving the community amounted almost exclusively to proclaiming and preaching the content and truth of the faith to a non-believing world. Acts of service were primarily evangelistic without compassion and love.

Since I was only concerned with my neighbor's salvation, my inquiry into their life focused almost exclusively on their views of God. I'm not proud to admit this, but at the time, I judged other Christians who concerned themselves with the person and loving their neighbor as people who sold out to the "social gospel," and cared more about temporal matters than things eternal. Looking back, I think of how the Pharisees stood face-to-face with the Gospel perfectly incarnated before them in Jesus Christ as He cared for the sick, suffering, oppressed, and needy, and the only thing the Pharisees could do was quiz Jesus about His doctrine to see if He said the "right" or "wrong" answers.

This is lesson #1 for me -- Pharisaical faith vs. Connecting faith -- My doctrine-oriented faith led me down a path toward judgmental, hypocritical, rigid Pharisaical practice. I didn't care for people or respect them in any meaningful way. I wanted to correct their thinking about God and themselves. I didn't care to connect with them where they were by entering into a loving and supportive relationship with them as we discussed all matters of their life, including God, truth, and faith. Correction preceded connection. I have learned that practicing Christian faith in this way is no longer Christian faith.

Lesson #2 for me -- Agenda-based faith vs. Love-based faith -- By intensely focusing on making disciples, my faith also became agenda-driven and not people-driven. My goal was to build the church by converting and discipling people. When people fell away or didn't receive Jesus, it frustrated me. Evangelism and discipleship are noble Biblical commands, but in practice, I was forceful, controlling, and lacking in love, care, and compassion. My agenda to convert and disciple was more important than the people themselves. I have learned that practicing Christian faith in this way is no longer Christian faith either.

Lesson #3 for me -- Head-based faith vs. Heart-based faith -- Over-emphasis on any practice in the church is not healthy. My over-emphasis on bible knowledge and orthodoxy unquestionably led me down a Pharisaical path that had little understanding or value of orthopraxy (right practice). Knowledge became more important than the incarnation of that knowledge. A heart-based faith still communicates truth, but in ways that are respectful of the person and for their well-being. Heart-based faith communicates truth to others because falsehood and lies hurt people and mislead them into painful sins that only bring them and others death.

Lesson #4 for me -- Judgmental Disdain vs. Compassionate Care -- I am ashamed to admit this as well, but the truth is that my faith tended to be judgmental disdain for sinners and people in need as opposed to compassionate care for sinners and people in need. Judgmental disdain for sinners is hypocrisy because we are all sinners. As for people in need, I would be more likely to tell a hungry homeless person to repent and get a job than I would be to give them food, shelter, and listen to their story. That is frightening given the fact that Jesus teaches us that on our judgment day He will separate the true followers from the goats based on how we treated the least of these (Mtw. 25:31-46).

Lesson #5 for me -- Whole Faith Practice vs. Partial Faith Practice -- Because the practice of my faith was focused so heavily on making disciples, acts of compassion, justice, and mercy seemed secondary or unnecessary, rather than equal, compatible, and necessary acts of loving obedience to Jesus' commands. My over-emphasis on one command took precedence over other equally important and compatible commands.

Thankfully, two experiences in particular helped change the trajectory of my faith practice. One experience was a men's weekend I'll soon have attended three times that got me sharing the hurts and pains of my past with Christian men willing to show me compassion, and through their compassion came healing for those wounds.

The second experience was spending time with the people of Lawndale Community Church, Christian Community Development Association, and Tha House Covenant church. Spending time with people who were more laid back, accepting, wholistic in their practice of faith, and relationally-oriented than me exposed the sinful ways I naturally practiced my faith.

Unfortunately, because I had grown accustomed to the way I practiced my faith, I was not sure what a compassionate, caring, and loving faith looked like. Sadly, in many respects, this kind of faith did not even feel like faith anymore. It felt unproductive and like compromise. Where were the results and productivity? Where is the widespread revival? Listening to people's pains and struggles do not get them saved. Relationships take time and are messy. So where am I today? I'm not throwing the baby out with the bath water. I still believe in evangelism, baptism, and teaching. I still believe sin is rampant and Jesus is the only one who saves. But with respect to my views regarding the main mission of the church, I've made a subtle shift and change in my priorities.

I'm not sure how I missed this the first time around. Jews have prayed this prayer 2-3 times every day for the past 5,000 years (Deut. 6:1-9), Jesus said it is the Greatest Commandment of all (Mark 12:28-31), Paul said the entire law is summed up in it (Gal. 5:14; Rom. 13:8-10), and James called it the royal law (James 2:8). It is the proper response to the Gospel, and at least from where I am standing today, I believe it is the highest aim and purpose of the church: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these." (Matthew 22:37-39; Mark 12:29-31; Luke 10:27).

By placing the Greatest Commandment before all other commandments, I see the world through a relational lens that understands that sin is something that hurts or breaks our relationship with God and our neighbor, and defiles our self in the process. I properly understand repentance to be apologizing to God for my sin and to the person I sinned against, making restitution when appropriate and possible, and restoring love for God and for my neighbor as myself.

By placing the Greatest Commandment before all other commandments, I hope that I will never lose sight of what is most important in any given situation. When I need to take time to listen to someone's pain, I will listen with compassion. When I can share the Good News of Jesus with them, I will share the hope we have in Christ. When I need to stand up for justice in the face of evil, I will have courage to do right. When I need to build someone up with the wisdom and promises contained in God's Word, I will do so in love. When I see someone caught in sin, I will restore them gently. When I see someone struggling, I will walk alongside them in love and support. When I need to meet the needs of someone who is hungry, naked, sick, imprisoned, or thirsty, I will do so joyfully. When I see someone in bondage, I will pray the Lord will set them free. In all things, Jesus said that those who love Him will obey His commands.

It seems, therefore, that all ministry should flow from a genuine love for God, while always remembering that only when I love my neighbor as myself can I rightly claim love for God (Luke 10:25-37, 1 John 4:20). By placing the Greatest Commandment over all other commandments, I line myself with what Jesus said to be the most important command of all, and recognize that the totality of all of Jesus’ commands and Biblical living flow from this central devotion.

So as my time at Trinity draws near to its end, it looks like I'm going out with the Greatest first. If you've come this far with me, thanks for taking the time to read this. I welcome both favorable and unfavorable responses.

What about Divorce for a Christian? Part 2

Taken at face value, we see that Jesus is allowing for divorce under the condition of “marital unfaithfulness” in both Matthew 5:32 and 19:9. In both passages Deuteronomy 24:1 is quoted as part of the discussion about divorce. This passage from Deuteronomy was debated among a couple of the Rabbinic schools of Jesus’ time. One side (Shammai) said that “because he finds something indecent about her” meant adultery. The other school (Hillel) said that same phrase meant that a man could divorce his wife for anything, even burning breakfast. Meaning anything that was displeasing to the man about the woman could be grounds for divorce. This was the debate that the Pharisees in Matthew 19 were trying to get Jesus to enter. But, Jesus in his normal manner talks above the debate. He lays down the law that divorce is not something to be taken lightly. His stance in Matthew puts the issue back on the husband and protects the wife. In the midst of a very patriarchal society, Jesus is standing up for the women, the wives. They cannot be thrown out for just any reason, it had better be a very good one.
So, what is marital unfaithfulness? It is a Greek term, porneia. We can easily see the kinship to the word pornography. What did it mean for Jesus to use this term? Jesus means more than just sexual unfaithfulness as an acceptable reason for divorce. The proper term for just sexual unfaithfulness is used later in each passage – adultery or moykah in the Greek. Porneia is linked to prostitution and is also used figuratively when someone is committing idolatry (Revelation 14:8; 17:2,4; 18:3; 19:2). In the whole book of Hosea the people of Israel are playing the “harlot” or prostitute because of their idolatry. This can especially be seen in Hosea 2. This idolatry is a sin because it is breaking the covenant relationship between God and His people. In Jeremiah 3, this idea of idolatry and breaking of the covenant is linked to divorce. Therefore, marital unfaithfulness is breaking of the marriage covenant in any manner. It is anything that breaks the “oneness” that Jesus quotes in Matthew 19:5-6 from Genesis 2:24.
What kind of real life things break the marriage covenant? This can be a vast number of things. Adultery is only one thing that can break the marriage covenant. Many times the things that are breaking down the oneness in a marriage do involve idolatry. I am sure you can imagine many instances when a spouse “worships” things other than God. This can be idolatry of self, an object (especially a possession), a hobby or someone outside the marriage, but maybe not even in a fully sexual manner. Idolatry of self can lead to many types of abuse of a spouse, especially emotional abuse. You do not have to remain married to someone that abuses you emotionally, physically or mentally, just because they haven’t sexually cheated on you. They are breaking the marriage covenant by abusing you. God doesn’t want you to put you or your children in abusive situations just to keep a marriage that is being broken by the abuse. Abusive spouses tear apart families and create abusers or enablers in their children. I guarantee you that is not God’s plan for the family or marriage. Even hobbies and friendships can be so involved as to break the oneness of a marriage.
Just because the covenant is broken, it doesn’t mean that you have to get a divorce, it just means it is possible. Many marriages have been healed from the most terrible circumstances through prayer and counseling. Sometimes if that doesn’t seem to be working or cannot get started, a time of planned separation can help bring focus to the problems that are breaking down the marriage covenant. The most important thing to understand is that you are not alone in this situation. God is with you, loving you and not judging you. You also have Christian friends, family and ministers that you can lean on. If you have further questions you can contact me.
God be with you on the Journey!
Kevin

What about Divorce for a Christian? Part 1

What the scriptures begin to say:
This is not an easy topic to cover. Even when Jesus was asked about divorce there had to be a bit of clarification that he had to do. It is clear that divorce just because my spouse doesn’t make breakfast right or some other self-serving reason is not a good thing. But, it is also clear to me that there are many more reasons to allow divorce than just sexual adultery.
Divorce is discussed in six places in the New Testament. Matthew 1:19 discusses the possibility of Joseph divorcing Mary because she had become pregnant in their betrothal. In Matthew 5:31-32, we have a short, clear statement in the Sermon on the Mount about divorce. Matthew 19:1-9 and Mark 10:14-18 seem to be accounts of a similar time when the Pharisees were trying to test Jesus by challenging him on the issue of divorce. Luke 16:18 just seems to be a self contained statement on divorce that doesn’t really fit the context of the scripture around it. First Corinthians 7:10-16 gives an account from Paul on divorce, especially concerning divorce between a Christian spouse and a non-believing spouse.
The Old Testament is not real cohesive on its discussion of divorce. In Malachi 2:16 we are told, “God hates divorce.” But in Ezra 10, the people seem to be honoring God by divorcing their wives that are not Jewish. There are a number of discussions about how a divorced woman should act and how the rest of the people should act toward the divorced woman. In many ways, she would be treated as a widow, thereby recognizing divorce as probable. There are some key statements in Jeremiah 3 where it begins with statements concerning a man divorcing his wife and then talks about the people of Israel and Judah acting like “whores” because they broke the covenant of relationship with God.
The problem with the Old Testament discussion is that it is based in a patriarchal society and only allows the man to divorce the woman. It seems that Jesus’ statements and the New Testament as a whole counteract these patriarchal understandings of life in general and divorce. “there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28)

Mission Trips as a Waste of Time

I guess I am just up for blogging tonight. I wanted to share an article with you. It is from the website of The Center for Student Missions (CSM) http://www.csm.org/articlewhymost.php The article is titled, "Why Most Mission Trips Are A: Waste of Time"
The things this article addresses need to really be considered before you go on a "mission" trip. There are a number of pitfalls with how we tend to do things for these trips and it makes a person wonder if they are worth all of the money and effort that we put into them.
God be with you on the Journey!
Kevin

Big Change Coming

Well, for those few that haven't heard, things are changing. On June 14, 2009, Centerville Baptist Church in Chesapeake, Virginia extended a call for me to become their pastor. I accepted that call. My last Sunday at Hamilton will be July 12. We are then going to a family reunion over the weekend of July 19 and the movers are coming July 21. This is all exciting and scary! Please pray for us.
Our parents are having a "Going away" party on Saturday, July 11, at our home in Hamilton. Everyone is invited. Games start at 5:00 PM (Cherokee marbles, basketball, washers, etc.), we will eat at about 6:30 PM and entertainment starts at about 7:30 PM. Come ready to write or tell us some of your memories with us. RSVP to my email.
You can check out Centerville at http://www.centervillebaptistchurch.org .
We are sad to leave so many folks that have touched our lives during our ministry in Hamilton. It is the only place my girls know as home. As one lady said today, "They will always be Hamiltonians!" There will always be part of us here.
We are also sad to leave our families. It has been a real blessing to live just about 45 miles from each set of our parents. Our children have been blessed to be so close to their grandparents. This change will be very hard.
We know that God would not be leading in this call if He did not have something awesome in store for this family and for Centerville and for Hamilton and for our families. It is going to be a great adventure finding out!
God be with you on the Journey!
Kevin

Clenching fist and open hand

Clenching fist and open hand
A song by Brian McLaren

Sometimes we wonder whether God really does exist,
And if God’s way is of the open hand or clenching fist.
And while some preachers argue over doctrines and demands,
Their followers are making clenching fists of open hands.
Open up your hands.
So is religion killing us? Is it tearing us apart?
Does it open space to reconcile, or shrink the heart?
Two paths lie before us. One constricts and one expands.
One is the way of clenching fists; the other, open hands.
Stretch your open hands.
What we hold in mind and heart flows down through the wrist
And is expressed in open hand or in clenching fist
And so we build on solid rock, or else unstable sand;
And so we live by clenching fist or by the open hand.
Reach out open hands.
If we fight and fear and hate, our conflicts will persist
Until we trust the open hand more than the clenching fist
In church and mosque and synagogue, how many understand
The living God is the loving God of the open hand?
Join your open hands.
There were hands that blessed the children, touched and healed and fed
Hands that poured a cup of wine, hands that broke the bread
Hands that remained open even when the hammer fell
Hands that hold us and that open through our hands as well.
Raise your open hands.

Thinking about Worship

Have you heard The Revelation Song? Here is a link to Kari Jobe leading worship with Gateway Worship: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bL0nDrEYDnk

We play this song often on our home computer. It helps me really worship with my whole being. Check it out!

God be with you on your journey,
Kevin

Relationships With Each Other

This is a big issue in Christian life! You can look at it from many angles. The problem with Christians relating to one another is that at the core we are all sinners. That means we will all let one another down and even hurt one another. In response to this, many “church folks” think that the way to relate and have unity is to just grin and bear it. In an effort to try to keep the peace, many people will not deal with the issues that hurt or anger them. Then, after a while, they will stop coming or blow up. I have heard many people say that church people get in the way of their relationship with God. I can understand that statement because people you are trying to love and live a deeper life with always have the opportunity to hurt you more than anyone else in the world.

So, what are we to do? How are we to live life together? For deeper reading on the subject, I would recommend Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s book, Life Together. Past that, I would suggest that we learn to love our Christian friends in a way that the source of our love is not us, but God. If we are only drawing on our own resources to love one another, we are not different than people outside of the church. We are merely barterers exchanging the love we receive for the love we give. If we really believe that we belong to, love and serve Yahweh, the God of the universe, the one that sent His Son, Jesus, to show us His love and character, and to die on the cross for our sins – then we must begin to live with our Christian brothers and sisters in a manner that reflects the love of this awesome God!

In his book, Uprising, (chapters 6-8) Erwin McManus says that broken people are like black holes. They will never be filled up, no matter how much love is shown to them. But, people that learn to live with God as the never ending source of love, can keep on loving, even when that love is not being returned, because God is making them whole, not other people. He goes on to define wholeness as giving more than you take emotionally. If you are a giver, you are more likely to experience wholeness. If you are a taker, you are more likely to experience brokenness.

There is much to say about this topic. I hope you will help me by adding to some of these thoughts or disagreeing with them. I would love to hear from you.

I hope you are experiencing Godly wholeness today!

God be with you on your journey!
Kevin