Author: Lisa Spencer

Religion is not Rules: The Unhelpfullness of Religion vs. Relationship

Lisa Spencer3 Comments

rules-listFor some odd reason, I find a propensity for Christians to create false dichotomies. We love to say if something is one thing or one way, it can’t be another. This is especially true with the religion vs. relationship dichotomy. Statements like “Christianity is not a religion. It is a relationship” or “Christianity is about relationship over religion” run rampant.

I think it is fallacious to say Christianity is not a religion. A while back, I wrote this piece one Parchment and Pen making that case by looking at the definition of religion. Here’s an excerpt.

There is a body of belief that is specifically meant to promote the attitude we have towards it.  It is the revelation of God that ascribed to scripture, i.e. the bible that not only explains who the Christian belief is based on, but also the expectations towards those who claim to hold to the belief.  In this way, I think its safe to say that the bible institutionalizes the system of attitudes towards our belief system, both individually and corporately.  Moreover, this belief has been preserved and passed down for 2,000 years so that history has also presented an institutionalization of sorts…

The overarching theme of the definition of religion is that it is a system of belief that promotes worship of deity on which the system hinges.  If that is not Christianity, I don’t know what is.   We worship God for who he is and what he as done.  The bible is replete with direct and indirect proclamations of the sovereignty, majesty, righteousness, love and mercy of God and his actions towards man that ought to affect faith and worship with ardor and passion…

And I think the reason we have such a hard time with Christianity as a religion is the connotation of it being man’s attempt to get to God based on a set of rules. But reducing religion to a set of rules really undermines what it is as a belief system. I think a broader way to frame it is in the context of expectation. We would be remiss to read Scripture and not see expectation. Continue reading →

Preaching vs Pastoring: Asking Some Honest Questions

Lisa Spencer15 Comments

I came across this older blog post by Trevin Wax, Dear Pastor, Please Exegete Your Church.  In it he discusses the importance for pastors to evaluate what is going on in the lives congregants.

Sermon preparation does not end with good exegesis of the Bible; it always includes good exegesis of the local congregation. The preacher who can parse Greek verbs must also be able to discern the imperatives and indicatives his own people are living by.

Great preachers not only know how to preach a particular text; they know how to preach a particular text to a particular people.

And that brings us to the practical side of sermon preparation. In order to faithfully exegete our church, we must know our people. The church is not a preaching station where individual Christians show up once a week to hear great oratory. The church is a community of believers who live together under the lordship of Christ. The preacher’s role in this community is to know the Scriptures and his people well enough to discern (through the power of the Holy Spirit) how best to exhort them faithfully and biblically.

If our enthusiasm for ”good preaching” keeps us constantly isolated from our congregation in sermon preparation, we might be shortchanging God’s people. If we are to preach effectively, we must spend time with our people, understanding how best to use the Word to train them, rebuke them, correct them, and comfort them.

Biblical exegesis and church exegesis go hand in hand.

Whenever we study the text, the faces of our people who need a word from God should be leaping from the pages.

Yesterday, during a conversation with one of my classmates who is a pastor, we talked about what it meant to pastor. We talked about how pastoring is messy work because it involves being involved in the lives of people. Public speaking is not pastoring.

The church is not a preaching station where individual Christians show up once a week to hear great oratory. The church is a community of believers who live together under the lordship of Christ. – Trevin Wax

megachurch_2

So it naturally leads me to ask a logical question that I’ve mulled over in my mind for some time regarding very large churches. How can the ‘pastor’ who stands in front of thousands of people but not involved in any of their lives be called a pastor?  Maybe that’s a bit too simplistic considering there is biblical evidence for appointment of others (elders/deacons). I also don’t want to caste dispersions on good preaching. Just because it’s large, doesn’t mean the preaching is bad or dishonest to Scripture (though we can cite hands down the ones who are). But in our culture of mega-churches and celebrity pastors, I think it is important to make a distinction since we tend to call preachers who orate in front of others ‘pastors’.

There’s also the illegitimate use of bishops that run rampant too. Thabiti Anyabwile addresses that here.

Would love to hear your thoughts.

Prayerlessness: Another Option

Lisa Spencer3 Comments

Tim Challies posted some good thoughts on prayer recently in Prayerlessness is Selfishness after reading H.B Charles, Jr. book.  I haven’t read the book, but I am a firm believer in prayer and believe that signals dependence on God. Well, of course this is what Challies is driving at – that when we don’t pray, we are not depending on God and with that comes the statement ‘I can do this myself’

“The things you pray about are the things you trust God to handle. The things you neglect to pray about are the things you trust you can handle on your own.” – H.B. Charles, Jr.

And I’ve heard this many times before. It’s not that I disagree with the statement, for I certainly do think that can be a signal of self-reliance. But, I think there is another option that typically gets overlooked, that I fear far too many Christians experience: Discouragement.

It is one thing to not bring things to God in prayer with an underlying assumption that we can handle it ourselves. It is something entirely different to bring Him everything in prayer in faith believing that He will take care of it, completely dependent on Him, only to be met with…Silence. And by silence, I mean inactivity. Nothing.

Now, I do believe that God uses times of silence to test our hearts, purge out sin and build our faith in Christ and be found in Him. We should not expect that He will immediately act upon our requests or otherwise be some genie in a bottle that grants our every wish. There is a reason for dry times and seemingly lack of movement on God’s part. To be sure, it is very well a process of divine discipline (cf. Hebrews 12) Continue reading →

What is a Cessationist?…or Why I think We Need Another Term

Lisa Spencer10 Comments

When you think of the word ‘cessationist’ what comes to mind? Typically, I’ve seen these characterizations;

  • Opposite of a continuationism
  • One who no longer agrees the gifts of the Spirit are in operation
  • No miracles
  • Prophets and apostles no longer exist
  • Not all gifts are in operation; some have ceased
  • God no longer speaks beyond scripture

person holding bibleIt’s a mixed bag that unfortunately brings some baggage in discussions involving continuationism vs. cessationism OR discussions regarding if God still speaks today. Given the above descriptions, what is that exactly? It’s a problem because when you say the word it means different things to different people. Even under the rubric of continuation of all gifts, some cessationists avow this happens but not in the manner.

Wayne Grudem is amongst the continuationists but one who adheres to the sufficiency of scripture as God’s word. In his Systematic Theology he says this about prophecy; Continue reading →

Shaming to the Glory of God

Lisa Spencer7 Comments

A few years ago, I wrote this piece here on Parchment and Pen about how we use condemning statements under the rubric of Christian affection.

I was listening to a Christian broadcast the other morning on the way into school and the topic of the sermon was Christians and alcohol.  The preacher took a rather hard stand against alcohol and insisted that the Bible expressly forbids the use of alcohol.  While I don’t agree with him, I was intent be gracious to his points as to why.  That was until he made the statement at the end of his broadcast that he did not want to condemn any Christian who drinks alcohol BUT (yes you knew there was a but coming, right?) you Christian, should really ask yourself does your use of alcohol really glorify God.  If you love God and offer yourself to Him….skreeeeech! My first thought was ‘how is that not condemning’?  That person who may have a glass of wine or beer on occasion, and has a conviction regarding this liberty, has now had their Christian devotion challenged.

wagging_finger_cartoonI find this all too common – shaming to the glory of God. Well, of course it’s not to God’s glory. In fact, I’d take a gander and say it is to our own to show we have the upper moral ground. Shaming happens when you highlight deficiencies and then show the other person how they are not measuring up. It happens on issues of Christian liberty and demonstrating the superiority of doctrinal positions, as I highlighted in the article. Shamed based preaching usually involves some condemning statements to motivate people into doing something because the preacher feels they aren’t doing enough.

Most Christians don’t [insert statement about how people aren’t measuring up]

Then follow it up

If you really loved the Lord, you would….

Is that love? Dr. Anthony Bradley said it well.

Love does not shame people into compliance or service. Love does not pull out the measuring stick then smack them over the head with it. Love let’s people know that they can’t measure up and points to the One who has. Love encourages that we rest in the completed sacrifice of Christ. Love encourages not condemns.

Let us consider how we may spur one another on to love and good deeds (Hebrews 10:24)

Oh and the good deed? That would be loving neighbor, not productions to satisfy our sense of what we feel somebody ought to be doing for God.