If you’ve seen the State Farm Insurance commercial, you’ll probably recognize that I’m leveraging their little jingle about a topic I’ve been reflecting on over a conversation I had recently with a lady at my church. She heads an outreach ministry that we do with a local elementary school. Basically, she coordinates donations and other needs that teachers and/or students have. The thrust of the ministry is to be a good neighbor.
At our monthly fellowship meal, she showed me a card that the church received from a 3rd grade class at the school. It was your typical grade school homemade card with cute little pictures and kids signatures. But one thing stood out about this card that she wanted to highlight: the drawing of the church had a smile on the door. That is how these kids saw the church.
It strikes me that this is how people should see the church. Now that doesn’t mean that we get sloppy or neglectful of the message that we proclaim. It doesn’t mean going soft on the gospel. But, that this group of people who seem to hold to a different life paradigm than society are actually loving people.
Now, for those who don’t know, I go a Reformed (PCA) church. It is one of those churches that at one time I would have labeled as cold and stodgy and irrelevant (glad for the correction now!). The theology is conservative, the Word is clearly preached and the gospel is always proclaimed. It could never be confused with liberalism.
Why do I make that qualification? When it comes to the relationship of the church to the world, there is a tension between what has been labeled as word ministry vs. deed ministry. And I think that is an unhelpful dichotomy. Of course the push back is reaction against liberal churches who have exchanged the good news of Jesus Christ with deeds. Continue reading
In the same vein, identifying the mission of the church can breed some opposition against activity that is considered contrary to what the church should be doing. I’m going to suggest that the best way to rob the Church of her mission is to isolate activities and make that about mission. In other words, when we focus on a single aspect of mission we lose focus of the bigger picture that actually includes a conglomeration of activities.
Do prophets exist today? That has been the subject of much dispute and one that this post is not necessarily seeking to address though I know I’ll tip my hand regarding my own position. Nonetheless, I’m not writing to defend one position or the other. Nor am I seeking to define prophecy. So what am I addressing?
We’ve all heard this phrase applied to people who have experienced the rough stuff of life – broken or unhealthy relationships, addictions, abuse or devastating losses. We say they are damaged goods. I can’t count how many times I’ve heard this expressions used even of Christians, who have taken some blows from life that have impacted them in various ways. In fact, I confess to feeling that way myself at times.
While I have categorized my position on gender roles as complementarian, I have wrestled with some ways in which it has been defined. One of my primary issues involves the distinctive roles between men and women, that I consider to be exaggerated or forced. Not only does this create more restrictions than I think is warranted in Scripture, but promotes some less than healthy attitudes. We can’t just look at 1 Timothy 2 and call it a day, especially considering that Paul was addressing a specific context. That has to be measured against the breadth of scripture. So while there is warrant for male headship in the church (which I translate as governing leadership) and home, beyond that I don’t see such as sharp distinction that traditional complementarianism has painted.
TheoThoughts 