Church

A Case for Institutional Church

/ Dennis Griffith / 3 Comments

No doubt an “Organic” church is much more appealing than an Institution.  Yet even Brian McLaren, in his book Church on the Other Side, recognizes that any church that includes more than a handful of people needs some level of organization, and the larger a church gets the more organization it requires.  While the notion of a purely “Organic” church seems nice, it is hardly realistic.  Those clamoring to remove all remnants of the church as an “institution” are not only kidding themselves, they do not seem to me to be thinking Biblically.

Jared Wilson, a missional practitioner and pastor, offers 10 Reasons for the Institutional Church:

  1. The New Testament presumes church governance
  2. The New Testament commands church discipline
  3. The New Testament designates insiders and outsiders in relation to the church
  4. The image of “the body” presumes unified order
  5. The New Testament churches had recognizable structures. The apostles sent their letters to somebody
  6. “Spirit-filled community or institutional organization” is a false dichotomy that presumes the Spirit is powerless against institution
  7. Logically speaking, there is no such thing as “no institution” except chaos or anarchy. Every community made up of people is institutional to some degree
  8. That institution is not eternal is not grounds for jettisoning it. Marriage isn’t eternal either.
  9. The subjection of kings and nations presumes institutional subjection to Christ and therefore that God works in, with, and through institutions.
  10. No one in 2,000 years has successfully cultivated an enduring institution-less expression of the local church

No Need to Reinvent the Church

/ Dennis Griffith / 2 Comments

Let me just say it straight, up front: I see no need to reinvent the church. What I do see is the need for God’s People to act more faithfully as Christ’s Church.

I like what Kevin DeYoung has to say in the Introduction to his book, The Good News We Almost Forgot:

No doubt the church in the West has many new things to learn. But for the most part, everything we need to learn is what we’ve already forgotten. The chief theological task now facing the Western church is not to reinvent or to be relevant but to remember. We must remember the old, old, story. We must remember the faith once delivered to the saints. We must remember the truths that spark reformation, revival, and regeneration.

So, again, despite the assertions of the Emergents and Seekers and cutting-edge tweekers, I see no need to reinvent the church. God is still at work, just as he has been at work through the ages.

We would, however, be wise to remember what the Reformers of the 16th Century pointed out:

The Church is constantly in need of reforming itself to become more conformed to Scripture.

To do this we  need to be aware of:

  • What God says in Scripture His Church is to be
  • What God has done through history to build His Church

But while I do not believe we need to reinvent the church, I do believe we must always contextualize the ministry of our congregations to be relevant to the cultures where we live; and to be relevant to any cultures in which we may minister.

Consider what missiologist Lesslie Newbigin observed:

If the gospel is to be understood… if it is to be received as something which communicates the Truth about the real human situation, if it is as we say “to make sense”, it has to be communicated in the language of those to whom it is addressed and it has to be clothed in symbols which are meaningful to them.  Those to whom it is addressed must be able to say: “Yes, I see.”

The desire for Relevance does not necessarily change or minimize the Truths of our Faith.  Instead it is an attempt to express and communicate the historic Biblical Truths in ways that are meaningful and applicable to contemporary and changing contexts.

In other words, we want to embrace and embody the historic Christian faith in ways that are relevant to the culture(s) in which we live & minister.

Just as a missionary going to a foreign country would be expected to adopt the language, dress, and appropriate customs & mannerisms of that culture, so we ought to be sensitive to our culture (and various sub-cultures). We use our freedom in Christ to adjust & adopt appropriate forms that will enable us to speak clearly to the people of the glory of Christ, and of the eternal truth of the gospel.

But while we must be contextual, we must be contextual without negating or neglecting  the foundations laid by our forefathers in the Faith.

This is what the LORD says: “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But you said, ‘We will not walk in it.’   – Jeremiah 6.16

Do not move an ancient boundary stone set up by your forefathers.   – Proverbs 22.28

Here are some practical principles:

  • I affirm God has worked through His church throughout history, and that the church is God’s primary mission agency.  Much wisdom has been gained through the ages, and we are wise to learn from those who have come before us.
  • Therefore we must be committed to doing ministry & theology, with intentional continuity with the Historic Christian Faith, under the authority of God’s Word.
  • At the same time, we must seek to be sensitive to our culture and contextualize our ministry accordingly. We must also be careful not to fall into the traps of syncretism or cultural accommodation, or any other practice that compromises the gospel of Jesus Christ.
  • Relevance also means that we should be sensitive to specific (sometimes unique) issues facing our contemporary culture(s), and the context in which we live and serve, and to speak prophetically to those issues in accordance with faithful Biblical theology.

In short, we are informed by the past, and we should be connected to our heritage, but we must be a living community of learners, willing to adapt and change in order to be both more faithful to Christ and more effective for the sake of His Kingdom.

And rather than reinventing, and becoming like the Emergents, we can adopt convergence.  Convergence means that we take the best practices and resources of the past and integrate them with contemporary expressions in the context of our community.

This is, in large part, what it means to be Missional. And being missional does not require reinventing, just a little recovering and a little sensitivity and a lot of application.

Ways We Can Pray for Christ’s Church

/ Dennis Griffith / 1 Comment

J.E. Eubanks, Jr writes:

“One of Jesus’ most frequent teachings was His desire for the unity of His followers. In fact, Jesus and the apostles make it clear that the primary way that the world will know the truth of the gospel of Christ is through our unity and love for one another. We should therefore make praying for the union of the church a priority and one of our most frequent petitions.” 

Jesus did. ( John 17:22–23)

This is the theme of the second in a three part series by Eubanks, in ByFaith magazine. And it is a theme that resonates with me. I have often wished (and prayed) that our church would develop a  more conscientious effort to pray for the health of the church, and not just focus primarily on the health of the individual members and a few peripheral friends.

In this article Eubanks both encourages and cautions his readers about praying for Christ’s Church:

  • Unity

“When we pray for unification, we must first look in the mirror and ask, “What must I pray for regarding my own failure to strive for unity with my brothers and sisters in Christ? How have I made it difficult for others to be united with me? How ought my union with Christ change my attitude, actions and heart toward others?”

  • Oneness

“As we pray for the church to grow in oneness, we should consider our tendency to prioritize minor issues and our failure to allow major agreements to be places where we find singularity. We should pray that our hearts—and the hearts of believers everywhere—would be broken about our discord, that Christ would give us a capacity for love that would overcome minor distinctions and disagreements, and that He would reveal opportunities for unification and give us the necessary humility and bravery to pursue them.”

  • Solidarity

“We must pray for the solidarity of our leaders because they will lead us into either greater harmony or dissonance. Pray that they too would overcome pettiness and seek to be bound together more fully rather than highlight their distinctions. Pray that even their disagreements would be handled with love and humility and that unity might be preserved. Pray that Christ will use them as ambassadors throughout the worldwide church to cultivate togetherness as His return approaches.”

I appreciate Eubanks’ thoughts. I also suspect that incorporating these things in our local congregations would strengthen us immensely.

To read the entire article click: Ways We Can Pray for Christ’s Church

To read Part 1 in this series click: Partnering Thru Prayer

Partnering Thru Prayer

/ Dennis Griffith / 1 Comment

“We must pray.”

This is the opening phrase of a worthwile post: Ways We Can Pray for Christ’s Church by J.E. Eubanks Jr.  The post is first in a series that appears in ByFaith magazine.

The opening paragraph reads:

We must pray.  Whether it be in public and in concert with other believers, or privately and even silently, we pray. Even when we lack the words, our hearts and minds offer wordless utterances before the Lord.

Eubanks goes on:

And we must pray for the church. As no Christian has his or her true identity apart from God (which is why we unite ourselves to Him in prayer), so no believer has his or her true identity as a Christian apart from His Body. Therefore, we both unite ourselves to one another, and to our Savior, in praying for Christ’s church.

But how do we pray for Christ’s Church? 

Beyond a few “Bless our [Insert Name of Particular Ministry Here]”, people seem to get bogged down when praying for the Church.

Eubanks offers a few helpful suggestions:

1. How to Pray for God’s Glory

2. How to Pray for the Church using four metaphors used in Scripture:

  • God’s Body
  • God’s Family
  • God’s Army
  • Jesus’ Bride

To read the entire article click: Pray for Christ’s Church

The Calling of the Church

/ Dennis Griffith / 1 Comment

The calling of the church in every culture is to be mission. That is, the work of the church is not to be an agent or servant of the culture. The churches’ business is not to maintain freedom or to promote wealth or to help a political party or to serve as the moral guide to culture. The church’s mission is to be the presence of the kingdom…  The church’s mission is to show the world what it looks like when a community of people live under the reign of God.

– Robert Webber, The Younger Evangelicals

Are We One?

/ Dennis Griffith / 2 Comments

 

The church I pastor, Walnut Hill Church, has a problem. While not uncomon, it is an unusual problem in a day when 85% of all American Churches are stagnant or in serious decline.  But it is not a problem I expect will generate a lot of sympathy from the pastors or members of most other churches.

We have a space problem.  Our sanctuary is too small to comfortably or reasonably seat all of our members – much less our guests.  Missiologist Peter Wagner calls this problem “Sociological Strangulation“. 

The solution? We’ll look at a number of options. But the seasoned leaders I’ve spoken with keep reaffirming what I have already suspected for some time: In the absence of the funds to build a new building, we need to add a second service. 

While that sounds simple enough, for some reason that idea unnerves people.  It also seems to evoke a recurring question: Will we have two different styles – one contemporary service and one traditional service? 

For those who think two styles is the unquestionably preferable way to go, I suggest taking some time to hear from someone who has thought through  and worked through this issue, and has come to the conclusion that two styles is not the preferable, nor even the healthiest, approach. 

Earlier this week, in a post on The Gospel Coalition blog, Tullian Tchividjian, pastor of the Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church, expresses his reasons for sythesizing the services of that high profile congregtion.

To read what Tullian has to say, click: We Are One.

I appreciate Tullian’s thoughts.  While they may go against the grain of some Church Growth practitionaers and principles, Tullian’s chief concern is that the church be what it is supposed to be – to be what God wants it to be.  And that is my chief concern, too.

10 Dumbest Things Christians Do

/ Dennis Griffith / 2 Comments

There is a book out there with the title: The 10 Dumbest Things Christians Do. I feel compelled to pick up a book with a title like that. I want to see how many of these 10 dumb things I am guilty of doing.

I don’t know if the list the author, Mark Atteberry, compiled is right or not.  Are these the DUMBEST things Christians do? Some of us do so many dumb things, it is tough to tell which are the dumbest.  But I must concur. He is right. These are some stupid things many Evangelical Christians do:

  1. Slinging Mud on the Bride of Christ
  2. Winning People to Church Rather Than to Jesus
  3. Living Below the Level of Our Beliefs
  4. Speaking Above the Level of Our Knowledge
  5. Hopping From Church to Church
  6. Fighting Among Oursleves
  7. Missing Golden Opportunities
  8. Settling for Mediocrity
  9. Allowing Wolves to Live Among the Sheep
  10. Accepting the Unacceptable

Practical Difference Makers

/ Dennis Griffith / 3 Comments

One of the vows folks are required to affirm if they are to become a member of our church – or a member of any church in the PCA, for that matter – is:

Do you promise to support the Church in its worship and work to the best of you ability?

This seems simple enough. I don’t recall anyone ever hesitating on that one.  In fact I don’t recall anyone even asking a question for clarification. But, how does one actually DO that? How does one support the worship and the work of the church?

In the closing message of NEXT 2010, Kevin DeYoung offered a list of suggestions for the conference participants to become “difference makers” in their local church:

• Find a good local church.
• Get involved.
• Become a member.
• Stay there as long as you can.
• Put away thoughts of a revolution for a while.
• Join the plodding visionaries.
• Go to church this Sunday and worship in Spirit and truth.
• Be patient with your leaders.
• Rejoice when the gospel is faithfully proclaimed.
• Bear with those who hurt you.
• Give people the benefit of the doubt.
• Say “hi” to the teenager that no one notices.
• Welcome the old ladies with the blue hair and the young men with tattoos.
• Volunteer for the nursery.
• Attend the congregational meeting.
• Bring your fried chicken to the potluck like everybody else.
• Invite a friend.
• Take a new couple out for coffee.
• Give to the Christmas offering.
• Sing like you mean it.
• Be thankful someone vacuumed the carpet for you.
• Enjoy the Sundays that “click.”
• Pray extra hard on the Sundays that don’t.
• And in all of this, do not despise the days and weeks and years of small things (Zechariah 4:8–10).

Seems so simple, doesn’t it?  But I can tell you if even a handful of people adopted these things in a local congregation the difference would be noticeable.  As a pastor, I would be thrilled.

Community is Identity

/ Dennis Griffith / 1 Comment

From Tim Chester:

The church is not a building you enter. Nor is it a meeting your attend. It is not what you do on a Sunday. To be a Christian is to be part of God’s people and to express that in your life through belonging to a local Christian community.

Our Belonging

We belong to one another (Romans 12:5). If a car belongs to me then I am responsible for it and I decide how it should be used. If a person belongs to me them I am responsible for them and I am involved in their decisions.

Our Home

Peter says Christians are ‘foreigners’ = ‘without home’ in the world (1 Peter 2:11). But we are being built into an alternative ‘home’ (1 Peter 2:5).

Our Family

Families eat together, play together, cry together, laugh together, raise child together provide for one another. Families argue and fight, but they do not stop being families and they don’t join other families because they have different tastes in music or reading. With family you can take off your shoes and put your feet on the sofa. They provide identity and a place of belonging.

Family is one of the most common New Testament images for the church. So try re-reading the paragraph above, substituting the word ‘church’ for ‘family’…

Our Community

The New Testament word for community is used to describe sharing lives (1 Thessalonians 2:8), sharing property (Acts 4:32), sharing in the gospel (Philippians 1:5; Philemon 6) and sharing in Christ’s suffering and glory (2 Corinthians 1:6-7; 1 Peter 4:13). Helping poor Christians is an act of ‘community’ (Romans 15:26; 2 Corinthians 9:13). Christians are people who share their lives with one another.

Our Joy

How would you answer this question: ‘For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ when he comes?’ Paul says to the church in Thessalonica, ‘Is it not you?’ (1 Thessalonians 2:19)

Implication: ‘We’ not ‘I’

We need to say not ‘I am planning to …’ or ‘this is my ministry’, but ‘we are planning to …’ and ‘this is our ministry’. We need to say not ‘you need to … or ‘the church doesn’t meet my needs’, but ‘we need to …’ and ‘why don’t we do this’.

To Speak or Not to Speak

/ Dennis Griffith / 1 Comment

I am torn.

According to a recent article by the Florida Baptist Witness, a group of concerned citizens are recruiting pastors to challenge a 55 year old law that prohibits non-profit organizations, including churches, from endorsing specific political candidates.  Practically speaking this law empowers the IRS to censor the content that is offered from church pulpits. 

On the one hand, I am sympathetic to this cause because I do not believe that anyone should censor legitimate speach.  In a free society political speach should not be censored. Further, while not being an alarmist, I am concerned that allowing the government this authority to regulate what is proclaimed from a church pulpit may one day broaden and include other issues that are moral-theological in nature but that have political implications – or that have simply become politicized.  The IRS is an agency with all authority and functions with a “guilty until proven innocent” M.O.  Having them as regulators is a dangerous proposition.

On the other hand, the pulpit is a place that should be unconditionally reserved for the proclamation of the Gospel.  PERIOD! While I do not like my civil rights infringed, I have no right, under God’s direction, to use the pulpit for anything other than declaring, teaching, and applying God’s Word.  Political speach becomes an easy – and often seductive – substitute for the real responsibility that ministers of the Gospel are charged to do.  Loosening the present law will not change my conviction, nor my practice, whatsoever.  But if the present law will keep some of my clergical colleagues focused on our collective purpose, well, that seems to be a good thing.

For those interested in this discussion, you might want to check out: Speak Up Movement

Unchurched Next Door

/ Dennis Griffith / 1 Comment

According to Thom Rainer, your unchurched neighbors are not all alike. At least that is what the research from Rainer Group indicates.

In his book, The Unchurched Next Door, Rainer puts the unchurched in our lives into five distinct categories:

U1 – Highly receptive to the Gospel. In fact this group includes some who may well be Christians who, for one reason or another, are not presently part of any expression of the Visible Body of Christ. These folks are the very essence of the word Seekers.

U2 – Receptive to the Gospel and to the Church. They may even see the church as a value, and admit that they “ought to go to church”.  However, they probably have not been to church,  nor taken any initiative in finding a church, and finding a church is not on thier immediate agenda whatsoever.

U3 – Neutral about church and spiritual things. They show neither signs of interest nor opposition. They may be open to some conversations about spiritual things but they do not feel their lives are lacking without Jesus being in their lives or their lack of involvement in the life of a local church.

U4 – Resistant to the Gospel, but show no antagonistic attitudes about those who profess faith and/or who go to church.

U5 – Highly antagonistic about church and the Gospel.

At first thought one might assume this is a matter of common sense, if not common knowledge. What difference does it make to consider these categories?

Those were some of my initial musings.

But then I began to think about how I, and how others I know, relate to unchurched friends and neighbors. Am I conscious of where they are on their spiritual pilgrimmage, of do I functionally lump them all into the category of “THEM” as opposed to “US”? Do I wish they would come to church, or do I understand where they are coming from? Am I willing to converse with them at their interest level, or do I use a half-hearted one-size-fits-all approach when spiritual matters come up? Like most Christians I know, I have often been guilty of the all the wrong things.

While being careful not to judge people, I have found that applying Rainers insights has made interacting and relating with unchurched neighbors and friends has become more enjoyable. Probably for them too. I listen more attentively to what they are saying. I converse more freely. I say fewer dumb things that lead to alienation. In short, I think Rainers categories are not only on-target but practically helpful.

Interestingly, The Rainer Group study has shown that 75-80% of our unchurched neighbors and friends would be open to an invitation to go to church if invited by a Christian friend.  This does not mean that all of them would be equally excited about the invitation. And this does not mean that if you ask four people to come to church this week that you will see three of them there on Sunday.  It means that if genuinely and sensitvely invited most would at some time or another be willing to go with you to your church.

So now here is the probing question for you & me: When was the last time you invited an un-churched person to church?

We in the churches are agonizing over ways to reach the un-churched, yet research indicates a simple invitation may be the most “cutting edge” approach we can employ.

The Baker’s Dirty Dozen Stagnant Church Types

/ Dennis Griffith / Leave a comment

 

At a time when potential epidemics may be on the horizon the wise person is on the lookout for the signs of disease. The hope is that early detection will enable more effective and less severe treatment.

Such a time surrounds the American church. It is widely reported that 85% of all churches are in a state of stagnation, if not serious decline. 

Jeff Gauss, of Rurality Bytes, summarizes the Baker’s-Dirty-Dozen stagnant church types.  At least one of these 13 types, taken from Ed Stetzer’s Comeback Churches, probably characterizes almost any struggling & stagnant church:

  1. Institutionalized Church – More committed to the forms and programs of ministry than to the work of God; activity has choked out productivity and “good enough” has become the enemy of great.
  2. Voluntary Association Church – This church models itself after democratic government rather than New Testament principles. It is a church for the people, rather than for God. “Whenever one group seeks to make a positive change in the church in one direction, the opposing factions begin to whine, complain, and gossip… This type of church will not change until they change their value system.”
  3. “Us Four and No More” Church – This church doesn’t want to get any larger for fear that it will lose its family feel.
  4. “We Can’t Compete” Church – This church has simply given up, deciding that it can’t compete with other churches so they’re not even going to try.
  5. “Decently and in Order” Church – High regard for process, but lack passion. “They run everything by the book; unfortunately, it’s not the Bible.” All matters great and small must meet the approval of various committees.
  6. “Square Peg in a Round Hole” Church – People are enlisted for service, not based on passion and gifts, but because of need. The mindset is “We’ve got to fill this position. Whose turn is it?”
  7. “Time-Warp” Church – This church has managed to preserve the positions, practices, and appearances of days long gone. They expect others to accept and adapt to what they’ve grown comfortable doing over the years, and give no thought to change. “If it’s good enough for me, it should be good enough for them,” is the prevailing attitude.
  8. “My Way or the Highway” Church – This is usually a vocal minority who, no matter the issue, won’t be satisfied unless it’s done their way.
  9. “Chaplaincy” Church – The church views its pastor as a hired hand and expects him to meet all of their needs. They want a chaplain, not a leader.
  10. “Play-it-Safe” Church – Has little faith that God will provide. Instead of enabling ministry and evangelism, it hinders them by safeguarding what it has. “As much money as possible is placed in a certificate of deposit” for safekeeping.
  11. Unintentional Church – Good intentions, but little action. Rarely follow through on what they hope to do.
  12. “Tidy” Church – Members take pride in the church building and make sure that everything is well-kept and meticulously organized. New growth – especially children – is seen as a threat because they are messy. 
  13. The “Company” Church – The church is more focused on the denomination than the community. They fill up the calendar with denominations meetings and things at the expense of ministering to their community. 

I suspect traces of most of these traits can be seen in almost any church, ailing or healthy.  But a good prelimnay self diagnosis may hold the ecclesiastical undertaker at bay.

Characteristics of a Missional Church

/ Dennis Griffith / Leave a comment

As our church begins to explore what it means to be a missional church, it might be helpful to hear the insights of one of the most effective practitioners and proponents of the missional approach to ministry.  In the above video Tim Keller, of Redeemer Church in Manhattan, explains some of the key characteristics of a missional church.

Some might ask: What’s the difference between a Missional Church and an Evangelistic Church? Is this just a new label? 

The answer to the latter question is “No. It’s not just a label.”  It is a different way of thinking about the church. Rooted in the understanding that God is himself on mission (missio dei) a missional church seeks to become engaged in God’s mission in the very place(s) God has sovereignly placed the church and the church members. 

Reggie McNeal, in his book, The Present Future, provides some insights about the differences between a Missional Church and an Evangelistic Church that will help answer the former question. McNeal says a missional church stresses:  

> community transformation over growing the church

> turning members into missionaries over turning members into ministers

> recovering Christian mission over doing church better

Core Values of Walnut Hill Church

/ Dennis Griffith / Leave a comment

Walnut Hill Logo

I recently finished a series unveiling the Core Values of Walnut Hill Presbyterian Church.   The Elders of our church worked on these for several months, as we tried to discern the characteristics that define and drive our church.

Leadership expert Aubrey Malphurs calls Core Values “the qualities that make up and establish an organizations character, and that character determines how the organization conducts its ministry or business…” 

In short you might say that the Core Values reflect the DNA of a church or organization.  While other things my change, such as worship style, ministries, etc, the Core Values should remain pretty much intact.  In the fae of a changing surrounding culture, or the addition of new members, the Core Values themselves do not change. Only the ways that the values are expressed should change.

So what are those Core Values that make Walnut Hill unique?

God’s Global Glory 

Authentic Spirituality

Gospel Transformation

Kingdom Advancement

Relational Vitality

Contagious Joy

Maundy Thursday Matters

/ Dennis Griffith / Leave a comment

help-me

Today is Maundy Thursday.  It is a special day on the Christian calendar. But many Christians don’t know what maundy means. I imagine for some this day could easily fall just after Manic Monday, Ruby Tuesday… You get the idea. So if the term Maundy Thursday sounds foreign to you, relax, you are far from alone. 

The term Maundy is generally held to be derived through Middle English and old French, mande’; which comes from the Latin mandatum, meaning mandate or command.  This is the first word of the Latin phrase:

“Mandatum novum do vobis ut diligatis invicem sicut dilexi vos.”

Or more familiar:

“A new command I give to you: Love one another.  As I have loved you so you must love one another.” (John 13.34)

This is a special day in the life of Christ’s People. It is a day when we remember that Jesus has commissioned us, not only to believe the Gospel of his life which was to be – and has been – given for the redemption of all who believe, but to live out the Gospel in relation to one another.  We are to love one another in the same tangible way, and to the same extent, as Jesus has loved us. 

This is what Jesus commanded of his believers only hours before he willingly gave his life for ours. (John 15.12-14)