I've Been Thinking About This…

My pastor has started to read through the Gospel of Mark for the rest of the month – you can follow him here: Saving Pastor Ryan. So a few of our small group members are joining him – thought I would too, even though I’m a few days behind here. As others join the blogfest, I’ll post their links.

Of all the things I think of when I read chapter 1 of Mark’s Gospel, I think that the idea of timing hits me most solidly.

First the promise of 2,000 years has suddenly come to pass, and who was ready for it? As a nation it had looked forward to this time since its infancy in Goshen, Egypt – as the patriarchs did before that – but it has been so long that expectancy had become the habit and realization just couldn’t take hold.

Then comes John the Baptist to ‘Prepare the way of the Lord’ – but very few are awake to hear his song in the Jordan Valley. He must have had some impact though: God never sends someone to do pointless things.

But most of all, he is there for the Christ – to make sure that the prophecies are completed:

• Mark 1:4 “John appeared…” (to fulfill Malachi 3:1 and Isaiah 40:3-4)
• Mark 1:9 “In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee” (a prophecy referenced in Matt 2:23 that seems to refer back to something Isaiah references in Isaiah 11:1)
• Mark 1:15 “and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’

Secondly I’m struck by the immediacy of response throughout the chapter. Look at all these verses:

For all that few are awake to respond to the Christ, He Himself is in the center of a whirlpool of activity. Every few minutes some new event seems to be triggered; there is a sense of intense and irresistible urgency; once the Christ has appeared, there is no stopping the forward momentum.

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I’ve been thinking about churches recently – reading a lot about church leadership, following some of the great leaders’ blogs and twitters, thinking about how churches start and about how they come to an end. I suppose there are some that shut down by being called to do so, just as they started up. But I can’t think of any offhand, and most die a long, painful, lingering death.

There are so many reasons for a church’s death – occasionally, people in a rural setting simply aren’t there anymore when the whole town shuts down; in an urban setting, sometimes the neighborhood becomes commercial or industrial and houses are pulled down and replaced with a mall or a factory. But mostly, I suspect, the church simply fails to listen, obey and fulfill its mission – to go into the world and make disciples. When it doesn’t do that, it lets Christ down; He pulls the plug.

A couple of days ago, I was thinking about the parable of the talents ¹. We always think of it being applied to individuals, but I started wondering if it could be applied to a church. Do churches fit into this pattern? I think so.

Here’s the précis: Some fit the 1-talent mold: they’re holding a great gift, but they’re clueless about what to do with it. They don’t want to risk losing what they have, so they bury the chance for success. Some fit the 2-talent mold: they take the risk and they find expansion happens, even though their situation isn’t ideal – they used what they were given to great effect. Then there are some that are 5-talent churches: they’re in an ideal position – they have the geography and the population, the leadership is just right and they act on it. They experience tremendous growth – in evangelism, in discipleship, in missions, in spiritual vitality.

Let me flesh that out after the Scripture:

There are churches that have been ‘doing church’ for so long it has become a habit, rather than a mission. New people aren’t searched for, or even delighted in when they arrive – they’re tolerated, and that only if they stay inside the boundaries that the church currently maintains. But the most terrifying thing of all is change. For these institutions, any change at all is anathema – someone in the congregation will object: “It’s not the way we do things here!” – so if change is suggested by anyone foolish enough to risk it, the suggestion is quickly squashed. Things that annoy people may cause them to leave, and 1-talent churches are too small and frail to be able to afford someone leaving. However, people must leave in the end, and as the oldest of the congregation are carried out, the congregation dwindles slowly into dust…and their talent is taken from them – they buried it, quite literally, in their coffins.

Then there are the 2-talent churches that really ‘get’ their mission, but may be positioned away from the big population centers and so don’t get the huge numbers of people that the mega-churches do. But they get to work anyway, and they apply creativity to their situation where they are; they embrace change as not just inevitable but also useful. They listen to the Word and the Spirit; they do some things with future growth in mind; they steal ideas and look at how ‘big’ churches model innovation – and they connect to the culture around themselves and in so doing reach others…and their 2 talents become 4.

Finally there are the 5-talent churches. Mega-churches have gotten a bad rap these days, but I have to wonder how much of this is fueled by jealousy or belief that it happened by some sleight-of-hand. Ministry shouldn’t be a competition; it should be a partnership. This is a race we’re all in, not as competitors but as a relay team. God forbid we should decide that other churches are ‘the enemy’ – hasn’t Satan won then? Isn’t that exactly what he wants? Get us to fighting against each other and we won’t have time to bring people to Christ.

The 5-talent church has the highest strengths, but also the greatest responsibilities. So many of these churches are in high-population areas, and for them, the following holds true:

• Big business thrives in the big cities; big business seeks out and draws in high-performers and makes them live in proximity.
• High performers (Christian or not) want to excel – at maximizing income, fame, influence or anything else they see as their target. So they move to the cities.
• Some high-performers are great leaders; all great leaders are high-performers. The city holds many great leaders.
• Some great leaders are Christians, go to church, and become involved in their church’s missions.
• A church, like every other endeavor, grows fastest under great leadership.
• A church can only grow when it reaches out.
• Churches can grow fastest and largest where there is the highest population to reach out to – in the cities.
• Cities hold the densest population of broken people – some on the streets, some going there, some lost in other ways.
• Christ seeks to heal, to comfort, to meet needs and to draw others to Himself.
• Christ uses the church to do this.
• The Spirit will guide the obedient church into developing ministries to fulfill Christ’s desire.
• Big lostness requires a big response, which in turn requires big resources. The Spirit (an infinite resource Himself!) can marshal those resources through organizations willing to obey sacrificially.

Christ has always put a premium on healing the lost and broken – unfortunately His church has often felt they were a nuisance. 2-talent churches – and 5-talent churches even more – must and do put themselves in the role of the Samaritan rather than the priest or the Levite².

The only real difference in our parable between the servant who got 2 talents and the one that was given 5 talents is that their master favored the latter – presumably because he recognized higher potential – there was something greater that the 5-talent servant was capable of. The only difference between a 2-talent church and a 5-talent church is that the 5-talent church has similarly been granted access to greater resources – planted in a city, perhaps, rather than a rural area. There is no difference in the effort each put in – both doubled the original talents entrusted to them.

And the reward for each was identical. The master said, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.”

We may not be called to be a 5-talent church – but that better not stop us from being a 2-talent church. When the Master in question is God, entering into His joy is beyond understanding!

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In the early 1970s Debby Kerner wrote a song “Behold, I Stand at the Door and Knock” based on this verse in Revelations:

I thought of that song a few days ago as I was reading through Revelation, and the thing that struck me was that this verse is part of the message to the church of Laodicea. Alone of all the churches, there is no commendation for Laodicea – only condemnation. And that condemnation is brief – when there’s nothing good to say, the bad needs no qualification.

But then … comes this marvelous verse, and it is to the un-commended Laodiceans that the verse is addressed. Following blanket dismissal comes this chance of redemption – even now there is still time to change, time to listen, time to open the door, time to conquer.

(As an aside: I bought the record (Come Walk With Me – it’s available at Amazon.com and looks to be a collector’s item at this point) in the mid-1970s – it’s copyrighted 1972, but I know that song was on the first record produced by Maranatha in 1971 (some interesting notes on the discography here for all those of you who were into the ‘Jesus Scene’ in the 1970s!) )

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There are two interesting verses in Luke that seem to be in complete contradiction to each other. One is:

This is Jesus speaking. He’s just cast out a demon and some of the bystanders had accused Him of having this power from the prince of demons; other wanted Him to do signs (as if casting out demons wasn’t enough!). He responds by speaking of Satan as a strong man, but of Himself as the stronger, who takes from Satan all his armor and spoil (v. 21-22). Then comes verse 23, “Whoever is not with me is against me”. Two chapters earlier the context, interestingly enough, is also the casting out of demons – the disciples saw someone else doing the exorcism, someone they didn’t recognize – and they tried to stop him. Jesus’ response is listed in verse 50:

In both verses, Jesus identifies a three-state environment – (1) the ‘withs’, (2) the ‘againsts’, and (3) the unknowns. And it seems as if in chapter 11 He says the unknowns are to be thought of as in the ‘against’ group, while in chapter 9 He says the unknown are among the ‘withs’. It seems contradictory, but here’s the key: who is it that these people are ‘with’ or ‘against’? In chapter 11 Luke is talking about Jesus on a war footing. The Son of God has no problem determining what side the unknown person is on – He knows exactly what is in each heart – their allegiance is only unknown to us. Chapter 9 speaks of the disciples in a ministry setting. They cannot be so insightful, so as a result they are to be more liberal in their estimation. If they see others appearing to do God’s work, and there is no basis for believing these others to be against God, they should let them get on with it.

These thoughts resurfaced recently when a friend showed me a site that seemed to illustrate perfectly this issue of chapter 9. It was a purportedly Christian site raging against the work others are doing in the name of Christ. It saddened me to see so much effort wasted by Christians in hating other Christians – effort that could be wonderfully effective if it were only rechanneled constructively. It connects so well to chapter 11, too – it gave me a real sense that Satan was the strong man guarding his house.

More thoughts to come…

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Another metaphor from Sunday School days. Bear in mind that metaphors are far from perfect – this one certainly is – but sometimes it’s good to change an environment in order to reveal new perspectives on the subject you’re thinking about.

The local Cineplex was bought recently, and has received a great many upgrades. The unbelievably wealthy new owners, Father and Son, Inc., want to make it a heavenly experience to go to, but it’s not set up in quite the usual way – there are some strange changes that take some getting used to. They’ve spared no expense, though, and they have a reputation for miraculous quality. It’s not just a movie – it’s an experience.

After a while, opening day rolls around. A number of folks decide to go see a movie there.

As people get out of their cars, a man is standing there. He has a fistful of tickets, and is offering them to people as they near the front door. He asks what movie they’re going to see: “Ah yes, that’s a good one. Have a free ticket….”

• One of the moviegoers, Alfie, says, “I pay my own way – no one can say they’ve helped me out.”
To which the man replies, “You can’t pay to get in – we’re not interested in your money and there’s no way you can ever pay enough for what we give you. The movies are all free – but you have to get your ticket from me. It’s me or no one.”
• Another person, Bertha says, “I don’t know whether this is legit or not. I’ll just go inside and ask. If it’s for real, I’ll come back out and take one.”
To which the man replies, “Once you go inside you can’t come back out to get one of these. It’s now or never.”
• Charlie says to his buddy, “I’ll bet there’s another door you can get in.”
To which the man responds, “Nope. No other doors, just this one. And no other tickets – just the ones I’m giving out for free. It’s here or nowhere.”
• Danny says to his buddy, “This is too weird. Movies aren’t supposed to work this way. Let’s go to another movie house where they do things the way we’re used to.”
To which the man replies, “Well, my father and I own the Cineplex, and this is how it works. You don’t have to be here – but I wish you would stay. And I’ll guarantee it will be better than anything you’ll experience at another cinema.”
• Later on, Ethel says much the same as Danny, and gets the same reply.
Her family owns another local cinema and she drives off, furious, to speak with her father.
• Fanny asks, “What’s the catch? There’s always a catch – no free lunch – you only get what you pay for.”
To which the man replies, “No catch. Just take the free ticket – then the house is open to you.”
• Gus simply says, “Great! Thanks!” and takes the ticket.
To which the man replies with a wide smile, “Welcome home! Got a feeling you and I are going to be good friends.”

Turns out it’s a lifetime pass. He walks into the theatre and into the most incredible place he’s ever been.

Alfie: Believes in working his way into heaven.
Bertha: Wants proof of heaven before she commits.
Charlie: Believes there are other ways into heaven besides Jesus.
Danny: Doesn’t like the way Christianity works – prefers the way of the world.
Ethel: Actively acting against Christ because of vested/rival interest – in Jesus’ day these were the Pharisees.
Fannie: The cynic, doesn’t trust that there are no strings attached to the free gift.
Gus: Gus Gets the Godly Gift of Grace.

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Mike Kendall’s blog entry today reminded me of a thought I had years ago which I’ll drop off here:

Temptation can only occur when there is opportunity to fall, an exploitable weakness of spirit, and desire to commit. Opportunity, exploitable weakness and desire. Satan isn’t going to waste his time in convincing you to do things you know are impossible, or in fighting areas of strength; nor will he attack you in areas that you don’t care about. If it doesn’t excite you to gamble, you won’t feel the urge to do so. But if you have a hard time resisting shopping, that will be a temptation even when you have no money to spend – think ‘credit card debt’.

That being the case – and it’s a pretty obvious case, I think you’ll agree – the question that has to come up is, “How was Jesus tempted?” Perfect God and perfect man, He could have no wrong desires, so how could He ever know what mankind goes through in temptation?

The answer comes when we look at Matt 4:1-11 or Luke 4:1-13, which begin: “Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” There are two things we should note in that little phrase:

• It was the choice of the Holy Spirit to lead Jesus into the wilderness. We think that God’s desire is to protect us against all problems. Wrong.  In fact, He desires to expose us to those very problems. It is only through effort and strain that we develop strength and power. He wants the best for His kingdom.
• It was the choice of the Holy Spirit that Jesus endured temptation. We think that temptation is something bad, an indication of spiritual weakness. Wrong.  In fact, temptation is an essential component to our spiritual growth. Temptation isn’t an indication of weakness – rather, the duration of temptation is an indication of strength. (Be careful with that statement. I don’t mean that a really long time of temptation means that you’re really strong. There are ways we can deliberately extend our own temptation – become our own tempter – as we play with thoughts that we ought to have turned our back on.)

The temptation of Christ didn’t happen when he was at a “spiritual high”. Step one was to go to the wilderness. Step two was to fast for nearly six weeks. And at a time when He was physically weaker than He had ever been – desperately hungry – along comes Satan.

Look at the temptations Luke lists (Matthew flips the last two):

1. Turn the stones to bread.
2. Worship me and you can have the whole world to worship you.
3. Throw yourself down to prove to the world that the angels will catch you.

Would any of these tempt you seriously? Can you turn stones to bread? Is it possible that the whole world could worship you? If you jump off a building will you be caught before you hit the ground? None of these challenges are possible (for you), so you’ve never been tempted along those lines. Again, temptation can only occur when there is opportunity to fall, an exploitable weakness of spirit, and desire to commit. But for Jesus these challenges were all possibilities: (1) He turned water into wine – He could have turned the stones into bread. (2) His mission was to “draw all men unto me.” (John 12:32) That mission would be successful if Satan didn’t try to stop it at every turn both during Jesus’ lifetime and ever since. And Jesus wouldn’t have to die on the cross to accomplish that mission. (3) Of all the people in the world, He knew with complete certainty what His mission from God was. And since the mission was not yet complete, He knew He wouldn’t die until “It is finished” (John 19:30). So if He jumped off, the angels would have to save Him (is the apparent logic) – and the world would see the miracle.

For Jesus as God, these were all possibilities and all (or at least we can see that the first two) were desires. That was the function of the wilderness temptation – to tempt in ways specific to His Godly nature. He was tempted at other times in ways peculiar to His humanity – in the garden, for instance: ‘Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” ’ (Matt 26:39 NIV)

So take heart! Even God Incarnate was tempted in ways that were specific to Him. But He stayed the course because He was stronger than the temptation. We can be too, when we draw on His strength (1 Cor 10:13)

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