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Face it! We are living in a Walmartized culture. And why not! Walmart provides a useful service, they offer their customers any product they could possibly want at rock-bottom prices. All of this is well and good in its proper place but what happens when Walmartized desires slip into other areas of life, like – say – the church? What happens when churches begin marketing themselves as little more than sanctified superstores offering a plethora of religious products and novelties to church-hunters who have become little more than religious consumers? When these things happen it is clearly time for those looking for a church to roll back their expectations. We need to remind ourselves that the church and Walmart are two distinct institutions just as consumerism and discipleship are two different outlooks.
In such a confusedly consumeristic culture what should a person be looking for in a church?As a pastor I want to suggest that when looking for a church one must resist the temptation to ask “does this church have what I want” and one must instead ask, ‘what makes a church a church in the first place?’ Another way to ask this question is to say, ‘what are the true marks of a true church?’ The Reformed tradition of Christianity (of which I am part) encourages people to look for a church by raising this very question and likewise, the Reformed tradition provides a few helpful answers. According to the Westminster Confession of Faith (one of the historic Reformed statements of Biblical Christianity) true churches can be distinguished as those where: “the doctrine of the gospel is taught and embraced, ordinances administered, and public worship performed (with) purity.” In other words the three features that we in the Reformed tradition invite church-hunters to look for are: 1. Does this church teach and embrace the gospel? 2. Does this church faithfully administer the means of grace? 3. Is there purity in this church’s public worship. Let’s consider each of these in turn: 1. Does this church teach and embrace the gospel? When visiting a church your first question should be what does this church believe and why do they believe it. Attending a single service should be enough to give you some answer to this question. However, if you cannot get an answer to this question or if you can only get vague or clichéd answers chances are the church might not place a great emphasis on the gospel. This is a very tragic but very common situation in many churches. There is nothing more important than understanding a church’s stance on the gospel. By “gospel” I mean “the good news of Biblical Christianity” and/or the entire body of Christian truth from Genesis to Revelation sometimes referred to as “Redemptive History.” Knowing a church’s stance on this should determine whether it is the church for you. From a biblical standpoint all true churches of Jesus Christ should clearly and frequently articulate a few key concepts that are central to the gospel. Here are some example: · That there is only one gospel (Galatians 1:8&9) – and therefore one true Savior and one true religion (i.e. the Christian faith) · That the central figure of the gospel is God’s Son, the second person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ (Colossians 1:18-22) · That the work of Christ can be summarized thus, “God made him who knew no sin to become sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in him.” (2 Cor. 5:21). · That all believers are saved by God-given grace through the God-given gift of faith. (Ephesians 2:8&9) · That all people are sinners and can only be justified (made right with God) on the basis of Christ’s righteousness. Regardless of the programs it might offer, the attractiveness of it’s facilities, the personality of its pastor, or the appeal of its worship music, if you visit a church and go away unclear as to its position on the gospel you should almost likely steer clear of it. 2. Does this church faithfully administer the means of grace? When choosing a new church you should remember that God works through means. God has provided us with certain tools through which He promises to build His church, develop His people, and call sinners to salvation. We call these God-given tools “the ordinances of the Church” or “the means of grace” and the ministry of a true church will always have these means at its core. According to Acts 2:32-38, three of the means of grace that God has given for the maintenance and growth of His church are: · Preaching · Sacraments (Baptism & The Lord’s Supper) · Prayer Let’s take a moment to summarize each. First, when visiting a new church listen carefully to the preacher and ask yourself; why does this man talk like this? What is he really saying? Please avoid the error of Walmartization at this point by asking yourself questions like; do I think this man a good public speaker, does this man move me emotionally, is this man “relevant” to me and my felt needs – ultimately these questions are of much less significance than the question of what is he actually saying. The Bible teaches that preaching should be rooted in scripture itself. The man in the pulpit is not doing his job unless he is letting the text talk. If he is being faithful to the text of God’s word his sermon will reflect upon who God is and what God has done to graciously save sinners through the work of His Son. Preaching that fails to do this is not really preaching at all. Second, as you look for a new church ask yourself what role do the sacraments have in its worship. Scripture teaches that the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper are to occupy an important and regular part of the church’s life as a covenant community. The sacraments are God-given signs and seals of the covenant God has made with His people and they are intended to remind us of the promises of God, and of our communion with him and with one another. These are solemn, sacred, serious, and blessed ordinances that God has given to no other people on the face of the earth save His church. Realizing this, a faithful church will seek to administer the sacraments faithfully and regularly and will avoid the all too common error of down-playing the sacraments or dismissing them as mere religious traditions. Thirdly you must determine is this church a praying church – prayer being another means of grace. The Bible shows us that prayer is one of the ways in which God humbles us and conforms our will to His will. The public prayers of God’s people lead by the pastor are a wonderful way for the whole church to express its dependence upon God and to acknowledge its trust in Him alone. In addition to this the Bible commands that God’s people pray and it gives fairly specific guidelines for how prayer should be used corporately. A faithful church, therefore, must be a prayerful church. 3. Is there purity in this church’s public worship? Finally, when looking for a new church carefully inspect its worship. Perhaps no area of assessment is more fraught with the danger of a superstore mentality than this! Todays consumeristic culture has conditioned many church-hunters to deem a church’s worship as worthy only if it produces in its worshipers a glandular reaction of some kind – but this is clearly wrong. We must resist the urge to assess a church’s worship based upon personal desires, subjective impressions, emotional responses, cultural preferences or musical genres. The purity of a church’s worship is not to be measured by any of these things. It is only to be measured by Scripture. It is the Bible alone that tells us what is more or less pure concerning worship and therefore, what is more or less pleasing to God as we worship Him. It is also very important to remember that worship is ultimately about the One being worshiped and not so much about the one’s doing the worshiping. In other words, worship is not a chance for us to receive what we demand as consumers but to give God what He deserves as redeemer. It is not about us, it is about Him. It is not to be constructed and conducted around the dictates of our preferences but around the direction and purity of His Word. CONCLUSION Well, there you have it. Here are the marks of a true church. Here are the things to look for when choosing a church. Ask yourself is this a place where: 1. The gospel is taught and embraced 2. The means of grace are faithfully administered 3. There is purity in the public worship of God If so, regardless of your personal preferences I urge you to stop your church-hunt and settle down in this faithful community of God’s people. If this sounds overly simplistic, it is truly not meant to. No doubt, choosing a church in a Walmart culture is and will remain a challenging, sensitive, and deeply personal issue for you but if you make your decision in an informed way, taking into account the things written above, and looking to the Lord for guidance you will make the right decision as opposed to becoming yet another consumer looking for yet another sanctified superstore.
Answering The "Why-Question" of Bible Reading
To go back to our opening sentences, it might be because no one has ever helped you understand the “whys” of Bible reading in the first place. Perhaps a good place to begin answering the “whys” of Bible reading is to answer the larger, underlying question – namely, Why do we have the Bible at all? Simply put, the Bible is a gift from our great Triune God. It has been written and preserved for us so that we might come to know and love Christ. In its pages our heavenly Father condescends to communicate with us thereby demonstrating His generosity and love. Having been inspired by the Holy Spirit, the Bible offers life, joy, and fullness to our Christian experience. In all of these things the Bible makes the true God known to us – the God in whom our salvation rests. Therefore, the Bible exists so that we might come to know God and by knowing Him, love and trust Him more and more. This clears things up, right? What?!?!? There are still some of you who don't read the Bible? Let me guess the top three reasons why you don't and offer you a few loving pastoral responses. Reason #1: You don't feel like you have enough time to read the Bible.  Frankly, I hesitate to call Reason #1 a reason because it’s just not reasonable. Recent scientific studies prove conclusively that every person on planet earth experiences the following in relation to time: A) 60 seconds in every minute B) 60 minutes in every hour C) 24 hours in every day D) 365 days in every year E) 10 years in every decade My point is that in every moment that passes, one human being has had the exact same amount of time as any other human being. There are not the “busy people” who are only allotted 45 seconds per minute, and the regular people who have the standard 60 second allotment. We are all 60 second per minute people. The guy who reads the Bible through 12 times per year (yes, I really know of someone like that) and the person who gets burned out after only 12 chapters all experience the future at the exact same pace.  Celebrity Icon, Photographed In The Act Of Stopping For Hammer-Time Of course, what we really mean when we say that we don’t have enough time is that we have filled our allotted moments so full that "unimportant" things get squeezed out – and the Bible easily becomes one of these unimportant things. Nevertheless, the fact remains that each day we make time for those things we believe we need and we know we want. To put it another way, how we use time reveals what we truly value. As an example, consider the values of M.C. Hammer. How did he make use of his time? By publicly advocating that all of life should stop for something called "Hammer Time." Reason #2: You were under the impression that Bible reading was about you.  Not The Bible If you’ve set out to read the Bible with your eyes on yourself, you’ve probably concluded that the Bible isn’t “working” for you. With the best of intentions you picked up your Bible looking for practical lessons about life but instead you learned how to build a tabernacle (Exodus 26ff). Or, let's say, you were hoping to discover the secret of who to marry or whether to move to Hawaii, but instead you read something tremendously unhelpful about “noxious pottage” (II Kings 4:38-44). In a word you discovered that the Bible is hardly a “how-to” manual for practical living. Even in the New Testament, which you’ve been told is easier to understand, vast swaths of material can be read without even a single instruction on what you should do with your life. Hmmm.... What a disappointment! In these circumstances you have been left to conclude (though you wouldn't dare say it aloud for fear someone might think that you're unspiritual) that the Bible is more or less a mystery and that the only portions of it that are really helpful are those handful of passages that offer you: A) Nuggets of wisdom for daily living. B) Stories to allegorize and/or moralize without having to think very hard. C) Proverbs reminiscent of something you once read in a "Chicken Soup For the Soul" book. This approach can become very, very frustrating - and rightly so! You must resist the temptation of approaching the Bible as a moral how-to guide. To begin with begin with, this approach misses the whole point of the Bible, but more importantly you must see that approaching the Bible in this way indicates a very uncomfortable truth about yourself. The fact is, sin has turned you into an egomaniac.... Yes! It's true for you and it's true for me too. As a matter of fact we have become so self-centered that we can even open the pages of God's Word thinking that it is a book primarily about (....get ready for this one....) us. But the Bible isn’t primarily about us. The Bible is a book about God. It is about His redemptive activity and His desire to rescue the ruined race of Adam through the person and work of the Lord, Jesus Christ. In other words, the Bible ultimately exists to show us the glory and beauty of Jesus. Reading the Bible with our eyes on Him allows us to move our gaze from ourselves to our Savior. We must read the Bible and allow Christ to conquer our hearts day-in, and day-out and only then can we stop obsessing over ourselves and start obsessing over Him. Reason #3: You were trying to read the Bible as a favor to God.  Man Responds Unfavorably To A Christian Co-Worker's Narcissistic & Self-Congradulatory Remarks About Daily Bible Reading Let’s say that starting on January 1, 2015 you set out to read the bible through in a year. The year is barely 3 months old and you’ve already missed at least 3 weeks worth. How do you feel? If you’re like me you feel a kind of nagging guilt. Somewhere inside of you a voice is saying, “If you really cared about God then you would be reading the Bible more faithfully.” Eventually you succumb to the nagging guilt, reasoning with yourself, “Oh yes! If only I had stayed the course how much more satisfied I would feel about my spiritual vitality. If I had only persevered through that vast section of Leviticus that goes on and on about rashes, and hairs and priests, I would now be resting comfortably in my maturity as a Christian!" Ah… but you see, you’ve given yourself away! You’ve admitted that you believe you’re doing God a favor by reading His word. Yes! And the crushing guilt you feel when you miss your Bible reading is your heart telling you that God is frowning on you. On the other hand the satisfaction and contentment you feel after completing your day’s reading (assuming you occasionally do) is your heart telling you that God is just tickled pink with your deep spirituality. You are so convinced of this that you go off to work or school with the kind of smug confidence that encourages you to insert things into conversations like: “While I was thumbing through Song of Solomon early this morning I had this profound thought….” What is the solution to this approach? Just this – you must more fully recognize that God is not living in your favor. If you are a Christian, you are living in His. We call this favor, "grace" and we must intentionally live in the knowledge of it. You must remind yourself that as a Christian you are eternally loved and accepted NOT because of the disciplines of your daily devotional life BUT because of Jesus. Christ alone is the reason that sinful people can approach God at all… this is not only the very heart the Christian faith but also the reality which should permeate every aspect of the individual Christian life – including the way he/she approaches their Bible-reading. As Christians we must virulently resist the Devil when he tempts us to think that God’s love for His people is either diminished or increased due to the regularity with which they read their Bibles. This is Satan's subtle way of cheapening what God has given His people in Christ. While it is true that we ought not neglect regular, daily Bible reading, we must keep in mind that neglecting our Bibles is not a matter of inviting God’s wrath as much as it is failing to take advantage of one of His greatest blessings. The Bible is, after all, not a project that we must complete before death. It is a gift to delight in while we live. ConclusionIf you've made it this far you either have a lot of extra time on your hands or you are looking for encouragement to read the Bible more faithfully. Whichever of these reasons is true for you let's conclude where we began. Let’s go back to the very beginning.
Here’s what you know: You need to read your Bible regularly. Here’s what you now know: Why. Please prayerfully assess these things with glad hearts and an renewed enthusiasm to read His Word and thereby see more of Him. Oh... and by the way, if you want to start reading the Bible through here's a helpful plan. New Episode: |
Thursday 9PM | Show Description Even as Christians in the Middle-East are being beheaded for their faith in Christ, certain evangelical celebrity pastors blithely spit out their motivational-bumpersticker theology. They smile big smiles and tell their largely middle-class American audiences that Christianity is primarily about "the power of positive thinking," or about mere morality and the ability to have "your best life now"... But is this right? And what about those Christians who are being mercilessly persecuted? Why aren't they having their best life now? Join our hosts on Reformation Roundtable as they explore this important topic. |
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What is meant by “Christian Apologetics?”
Dr. John Lennox, Christian Apologist apologetics |əˌpäləˈjetiks|
pl.noun [ treated as sing. or pl. ]
reasoned arguments or writings in justification
of something, typically a theory or religious doctrine.
pl.noun [ treated as sing. or pl. ]
reasoned arguments or writings in justification
of something, typically a theory or religious doctrine.
A Disgruntled Chocula While engaged in a discussion with a Christian friend of mine I made the following statement: “What we Christians really need to be better at is our apologetics.” Upon hearing this, my friend recoiled and made a face reminiscent of a disgruntled Count Chocula before emphatically responding, “I totally disagree! We spend too much time apologizing as it is. We simply must be more confident in our witness.”
| Clearly a communication breakdown had occurred… and not the sort of Communication Breakdown (pictured right) that one desires to revisit again and again. Nay! This was a simple breakdown of verbiage. When my friend heard the word “apologetics” he had thought I was suggesting that Christians should go around apologizing to everyone for the claims of Chrsitianity – but nothing could have been further from the truth! |  The only desirable example of "Communication Breakdown." |
So… What is meant by “apologetics” anyway?
Well, in terms of our Christian beliefs, apologetics are simply a reasoned, biblical defense of the truths we profess. The actual word "apologetic" comes from an ancient Greek word meaning “suitable for defense” as commanded in biblical passages like - say - 1 Peter 3:15:
"...in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,"
1 Peter 3:15 (ESV)
1 Peter 3:15 (ESV)
One of the great Christian Apologists of our day is a man named John Lennox. Read anything he's written, listen to any lecture he's given and you'll be better for it! To learn more about Dr. Lennox and to witness a great example of Christian Apologetics in action why not watch the video below? It is a lecture given by Lennox at the "Faith Has Its Reasons Conference" at Ridley Melbourne College in 2014. Enjoy!
Henry David Thoreau A Thoreauly Disappointing Philosopher Someone once gave me a little plaque with the words:
“Go confidentially in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.”
– Henry David Thoreau
(see picture right)
After thanking the person for their thoughtfulness, and after promising to “make sure and hang it up somewhere,” (per their request) I immediately drove a nail in the darkest recess of my closet and hung the thing up behind those pleated houndstooth trousers of mine that seemed like a good idea at the time but which I have never been brave enough to wear in public. (see pants pictured below)
The reason for hiding the picture out of view behind the hideous puffy fronted slacks was because Thoreau’s quote made me physically ill. To my mind Thoreau’s philosophy was/is little more than a 19th century version of our modern day hollow Hollywood “just look for the hero within” nonsense that mankind has had an ongoing infatuation with since Genesis 3. Nevertheless, the quote does implicitly raise some interesting questions.... Such as:
What are my dreams?
What is the life I've imagined?
Is my dream to live the best life I've imagined, as Joel O'Steen - er, I mean - Thoreau has encouraged me to? And if so, how does this square with the words of Jesus who said:
“...what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?" - Jesus Christ (Mark 8:36)
“Go confidentially in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.”
– Henry David Thoreau
(see picture right)
After thanking the person for their thoughtfulness, and after promising to “make sure and hang it up somewhere,” (per their request) I immediately drove a nail in the darkest recess of my closet and hung the thing up behind those pleated houndstooth trousers of mine that seemed like a good idea at the time but which I have never been brave enough to wear in public. (see pants pictured below)
The reason for hiding the picture out of view behind the hideous puffy fronted slacks was because Thoreau’s quote made me physically ill. To my mind Thoreau’s philosophy was/is little more than a 19th century version of our modern day hollow Hollywood “just look for the hero within” nonsense that mankind has had an ongoing infatuation with since Genesis 3. Nevertheless, the quote does implicitly raise some interesting questions.... Such as:
What are my dreams?
What is the life I've imagined?
Is my dream to live the best life I've imagined, as Joel O'Steen - er, I mean - Thoreau has encouraged me to? And if so, how does this square with the words of Jesus who said:
“...what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?" - Jesus Christ (Mark 8:36)
Pants that seemed like a good idea at time of purchase. Hmmmmmm….
Not to put too fine a point on it but there doesn’t seem to be much room for going “confidentially in the direction of my dreams” in the Lord’s statement above.
Indeed, one application of the words of Jesus is this: Don’t waste your life searching for "the life you've imagined." Here's another application: "Don't waste your life on your dreams... on the "American Dream"... or on any other dream.
In Ephesians 1:3-14 the Apostle Paul writes of something far better than our dreams. He speaks of God’s redemptive plan for His people in Christ. Paul speaks of this plan as being - if you like - God's dream. A dream to orchestrate His own grand cosmic drama through which He would graciously bring people into right relationship with Himself for His own glory. It is a vast unfolding story of God's love for His people and in it men and women find something far greater than they could have ever dreamed of...
Why not read Ephesians 1:3-14 and allow your dreams to be brought into line with God’s.
Not to put too fine a point on it but there doesn’t seem to be much room for going “confidentially in the direction of my dreams” in the Lord’s statement above.
Indeed, one application of the words of Jesus is this: Don’t waste your life searching for "the life you've imagined." Here's another application: "Don't waste your life on your dreams... on the "American Dream"... or on any other dream.
In Ephesians 1:3-14 the Apostle Paul writes of something far better than our dreams. He speaks of God’s redemptive plan for His people in Christ. Paul speaks of this plan as being - if you like - God's dream. A dream to orchestrate His own grand cosmic drama through which He would graciously bring people into right relationship with Himself for His own glory. It is a vast unfolding story of God's love for His people and in it men and women find something far greater than they could have ever dreamed of...
Why not read Ephesians 1:3-14 and allow your dreams to be brought into line with God’s.
Rev. R Crabtree
"...a son, a husband, a father of 6, a friend, a Presbyterian
(not the liberal kind), an eccentric, and a minister of the gospel... I am also the Pastor of All Souls Church and a Professor of Religious Studies at OCBC."
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