Category: Church

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Church

Unchangeable People. Is There Any Hope?

People are unchangeable.
People just can’t change.
Have you ever felt that way? Have you ever said it? Something along the lines of: “Don’t even try. He’ll never change.”

This is one statement that the leadership at our church knows not to say around me. It’s a statement that gets me riled up pretty quickly. My statement to the person who says it is usually along the lines of:

“The reason I know your statement is not true is that God changed me and God changed you, and everyone knows how rotten we both were. So if God could change you and me, then He can change anyone!”

an alarm clock with the words "time for change" to symbolize the idea of something being unchangeable
Centuries ago, Moses told God, “The people, among whom I am, are 600,000 on foot; yet You have said, ‘I will give them meat, so that they may eat for a whole month.’ Should flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, to be sufficient for them? Or should all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to be sufficient for them?”

When this immense group of people asked for meat to eat, God said he would supply it to them for a whole month until they all were sick of meat. Moses told God it was an impossible task. And God said to Moses: “Is the Lord’s power limited?”

I figure that God has has a better understanding of the situation than Moses. And the Bible indicates He did. “Now there went forth a wind from the LORD and it brought quail from the sea, and let them fall beside the camp.” The people then gathered enough quail to fill up ten 50-gallon tubs per person.

Back to today:
I hear people implying that, “Our nation cannot change for the better.”
I hear people indicating that, “Our community cannot change for the better.”
And I hear people state, “That person cannot change for the better.”

All of these are false. God says that people, communities, and nations can change. If we say that they can’t, then we are saying to God that He isn’t big enough. Something Moses learned was not true.

My God is big enough to change the people I know. My God is big enough to change my community, my state, and our nation. I know this is true, because He was big enough to change me and He was big enough to change so many of the people in my church.

If we will act on God’s word with faith – living out what He has called us to do – then He can dramatically change us, our church, and our community. None of these are unchangeable. So is there a responsibility of a church family to attempt to make a change in the community in which they worship?
What is the role of your church to make a change in your community?
What could individual church members do to begin making some of these changes?
     Develop a friendship with a person different from me?
     Engage with the local school?
     Participate in Mentoring / Big Brother programs?
     Pray with people different from me?
     This is just a short list to begin with. What else?

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Church

Family: The Gospel Unites Us in a Way Nothing Else Can

photo of the inside of a sanctuary where a church family meets each week
A Church? Nope. An Empty Sanctuary. The Church Meets Here Each Week.

In his book Love in Hard Places, D. A. Carson discusses the fact that church is a family:

The church itself is not made up of natural “friends.” …What binds us together is not common education, common race, common income levels, common politics, common nationality, common accents, common jobs, or anything of the sort. Christians come together…because they have been saved by Jesus Christ and owe him a common allegiance. In the light of this common allegiance, in light of the fact that they have all been loved by Jesus himself, they commit themselves to doing what he says….

In this light, they are a band of natural enemies who love one another for Jesus’ sake.

Do you view your church as family?
Are you bound together in love by Jesus Christ with those you worship with each week?
Are you not that committed to your church because you don’t view them as family?

We gain so much by being part of a church family.
Make sure you have one.
And make sure to love the people in it!

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Categories
Church

Too Many Denominations

There just seems to be too many different Christian denominations. All these different expressions of one belief in Jesus Christ – Protestant or Catholic; Evangelical or Orthodox; Baptist or Methodist; Snake Handling or Non-Snake Handling!

Why do we need so many? Why can’t we all just get along? Can’t we agree to disagree on these minor matters that divide us and find a sense of unity?

Sometimes I hear questions or statements along these lines. I have even heard people imply that so many different denominations with different expressions of belief have confused them about who God really is. Why hasn’t God unified His church? Maybe you have wondered something like this before too. There was time I struggled with the idea. But the truth is that denominations celebrate our inner unity while allowing distinctive outward expressions of our faith.

Bruce Shelley does an excellent job of explaining how “denominationalism” actually promotes unity, not division:

“The word denomination…was an inclusive term. It implied that the Christian group called or ‘denominated’ by a particular name was but one member of a larger group —the church— to which all denominations belong.
The denominational theory of the church, then, insists that the true church cannot be identified with any single [church] structure. No denomination claims to represent the Whole church of Christ. Each simply constitutes a different form —in worship and organization— of the larger life of the church.

The denominational theory of the church [has] several fundamental truths:
First, considering man’s inability to always see the truth clearly, differences of opinion about the outward form of the church are inevitable.

Second, even though these differences do not involve fundamentals of the faith, they are not matters of indifference. Every Christian is obligated to practice what he believes the Bible teaches.

Third, since, no church has a final and full grasp of divine truth, the true Church of Christ can never be fully represented by any single ecclesiastical structure.

Finally, the mere fact of separation does not of itself constitute schism. It is possible to be divided at many points and still be united in Christ.

Thus, the denominational theory of the church looked for Christian unity in some inward religious experience and allowed diversity in the outward expressions of that personal faith. …In the end, then, the denominational form of the church has marked the recent centuries of Christian history, not because it is ideal, but because it is better than any alternative the years have offered.”

Thank you Dr. Shelley for helping me to better understand denominations as a way for us to celebrate the diversity that God has created within us. Having different denominations allows us to provide different expressions that meet the diverse needs of diverse people! Let’s celebrate the fact that God has created us to enjoy different things and that we can all agree to the fundamentals of loving Christ and His Word even if we have slightly different ways of church governance, methods, and outward practices.

What additional thoughts would you share on the issue of denominations?