A Woman of Substance

Lisa Spencer5 Comments

I came across the name Henrietta Mears (1890-1963) several years ago when thumbing through her book What the Bible is All About as I waited for a prescription to be filled. Since that time, I have been fascinated by her. She was a Christian educator and influenced the likes of Bill Bright and Billy Graham. She was definitely complementarian, but smashed the idea that women were only suited for roles of support to their husbands and children. Never married, she dedicated herself to the task of teaching the word of God, holistically, purely and simply and the development of quality resources to accomplish the task, including teacher training and development.  Talbot School of Theology did a nice write up on her. I encourage you to read the whole thing, including the quotes at the bottom. But here’s an excerpt that I think really sums it up.

Henrietta Mears as an influential woman in ministry was something of an anomaly-a woman far ahead of her time. When one searches for contemporary examples of conservative Christians who have changed the way people view women in Christian service, she leaps to the forefront. The scope of her ministry and the variety of leadership positions she assumed was remarkable, given the fact that vocational ministry opportunities for women were fairly limited during her lifetime. It might be fair to say that she has broken ground and raised the consciousness of those of both genders concerning options open to women within and outside the church. Continue reading →

More on Relevance…I’m Not the Only One, Who Thinks So

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Jill PaquetteOne of my favorite CDs is a self-titled work from a little known Canadian artist named Jill Paquette. The song that I’ve like the most is titled Not the Only One. Musically it’s good in an organic kind of way. But more than that the heart behind the lyrics. She’s saying something that’s hard and disruptive and knows she’s not alone. Check it out.

I have those things that make me restless: tensions from observations, feelings that something of substance has gotten lost in mass popularity, misplaced focus that detracts from the real stuff of life, Jesus, the gospel church and genuine fellowship. When it gets under my skin and I just gotta say it. Sometimes I put myself out there and am relieved when others chime in and I learn that I’m not the only one who thinks so.

Following my post last week on cultural relevance, I’ve encountered some really cool posts that seemed to have come out of the woodwork basically echoing the same thing.

Out of the ones that have emerged, I really appreciated The Beauty of Being Irrelevant. The author points out that the most relevant thing we can do is be ourselves and bring the counter-cultural truths of the gospel to light. It’s ok to be different, it really is.

Why Relevancy is Completely Irrelevant succinctly brings this central truth home, “If the church would just give people what they need, then we would be eternally relevant.”

Top 10 Reasons Our Kids Leave the Church cites relevance as a reason. Trying to be hip and cool to relate.  But it has by and large failed.

But here’s what else I think that all these articles highlight and don’t think I’m the only one. People ache for hope. They encounter struggles, dilemmas and temptations. They want answers, real answers with substance. They may initially be attracted to the coolness of relevancy but when it doesn’t address what they need, they lose interest. To counter that with more relevance will ultimately fail. And that’s where the contemporary church has erred because it’s not what we need.

We need Jesus and his body and a place to grow and rest. We need the fuel of God’s word. We need that explained with clarity, not gimmicks or cute stories.  Give people the gospel and genuine discipleship and let the Lord do his work.  The ones who have not trusted in Christ will trust in him because that’s who we’ve presented and the Father woos them. The ones who have already trust will learn to trust in him more. And people are not stupid. They’ll ultimately pick up the disingenuousness  of contrived methods to attract them. And they will weary of superficiality.

I can only hope that we step back and start assessing how much faith we’re putting into shiny buildings, slick methods and marketing techniques. And maybe stop it and start trusting in the power of the Holy Spirit to do his job as we just stick to basics and give people what they really need.

And I’m not the only one, who thinks so.

Watering Down the Water Hole May Leave Us Dry

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Well, in keeping with my ecclesiology kick of late, I’d thought I’d expand on a couple of articles related to the nature and purpose of the local assembly. In my latest post at Parchment and Pen, I questioned the need for cultural relevance to pull off what we do on Sundays. While I am not opposed to cultural relevance per se, I contend that our corporate worship gatherings should be faithful to its task, which I think Ephesians 4:11-16 is a foundational passage combined with the instruction in pastoral epistles.

The imagery I get from what our gathering should be is a watering hole. While the informal definition has been used to describe a bar where people gather for the purpose of imbibing, the technical definition is this – “A small natural depression in which water collects, especially a pool where animals come to drink.” I think that is one cool imagery! As believers, we are hungry, thirsty, wavering sheep. Our corporate gatherings should refresh and feed us. They should not wear us out, wrack us with guilt or leave us feeling insufficient in our own efforts. That is why the gospel must be the foundation for everything that is done on Sunday mornings, not just the tagline at the end of “you-need-to-do-better” sermon.

Now throughout the history of the Christian church since the days of the apostles, there has been some significant splintering in terms of church structures, including the liturgy and governance of the church. Oh and the btw, every church has liturgy. The question is what does it look like and more importantly, is it faithful to it’s purpose commanded in scripture.  Continue reading →

Wishing, Waiting and a White Winter Coat

Lisa Spencer2 Comments

lady in white winter coatSome of my most fond memories growing up were the summer and winter vacations I spent in Chicago with my grandparents. I was born there but my parents moved to Southern California when I was little. My parents divorced when I was 6 and then  after my mom died when I was 9, the Chicago treks turned into twice a year – most of the summer and a week during Christmas break.

My grandmother would take me on many shopping trips downtown, with the late summer trips geared for the purpose of buying school clothes. But one trip stood out above the rest. This one particular summer, just before my junior year, during a school clothes purchase trip, I saw this beautiful white winter coat. It was unlike anything I had ever seen: pulled white wool with these classy puffed out sleeves and very fashion forward for the early 1980s. I was not particularly a fashionista at the time, but I knew I would look good in that coat. And it was thin enough to be useful in California.

Well, my grandmother being the pragmatic person she was presented me with a choice. I could get the coat but that would significantly cut into my school clothes purchases. She was right and her wisdom won out. As much as I loved the coat and wanted it, I had to be practical and get what I needed. After all, I didn’t really need the coat but man I sure did want it. It was a desire.

When I went back for the winter break the day after Christmans, of course one of the first things I did was to open my birthday and Christmas gifts. As I opened one rather large box, my eyes began to light up. Could it be? Yes! My grandmother had brought the coat that I wanted so much. I was giddy because a desire had been fulfilled. But more than just getting a coat, what I really loved about the gift was that my grandmother responded to something she knew would make my heart glad. Continue reading →

The Local Church: Embassy vs Service Provider

Lisa Spencer1 Comment

church steepleA couple of weeks ago in a class I’m taking at church, we talked about what the church is vs what it is not. I found the contrast of embassy vs service provider quite compelling. I think it fits with what I wrote here about the difference in defining the church by what it is vs what it does. So indulge me a bit as I reflect and expound on this contrast

When I think about how an embassy operates it makes sense to define the local church this way. An embassy is an outpost representing a particular country’s authority, citizenship and interests in a foreign context. If we define the local church as the tangible representation of God’s covenant people submitted to Christ’s authority gathered to grow up in him and demonstrating him to the world, it fits. So when we come together, it’s coming under the rubric of citizenship of a foreign land “our citizenship is in heaven” (Phil 3:20). And Christians are ambassadors of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20). The local church is a slice of that country in another place.

Also, an embassy provides shelter for its citizens when troubles arise in that foreign context. While this is a need, it is more than just finding relief but in recognition of that embassy’s ability to represent the needs of its citizens based on whatever law governs that land. Christ’s church is governed by him, the constitution is the gospel and the laws are Scripture. Representatives (church leaders) must ensure that the embassy is a faithful outpost to that country’s constitution and the protection it affords to it’s citizens. Continue reading →