Brerah

Missional vs. my heart

It happened again today. It happens many times after I listen to or read something from Tim Keller. He gets me really excited about the kingdom of God, and its advance. And then usually sometime not too long afterward, I get depressed when I look at my life and see what role I play/or am not playing in that advance. I understand that I am somewhat in a transition time before starting seminary, but I was reminded of something today that I have been reminded of many times: I don't want to be a pastor/RUF minister/church planter that is chiefly concerned with getting theological concepts across and having a bunch of people (including myself and my family) who could care less about what is happening around us.

Keller talks about the combatant to this by using the word missional. Missional means that everything your church does is to advance the kingdom. The Lord is about the kingdom's advance, and so should pastors be, and so should the sheep be. To talk about the word "evangelistic" usually implies some kind of program or to talk about the "missions" board of your church is to talk about something that isn't the normal work of the church. Missional means that kingdom advancing here and abroad is what your church does, or at least we do everything in our power to help make this so. This may mean that if you live in a hip hop neighborhood, then the praise music at your church is hip hop, and the pastor dress accordingly. If you live in uptown NYC and your congregation is 20 something business people, then you may have more orchestric music and wear a robe to preach in.

Why does this pull at my heart? What is it in me that says, No, you have to wear a robe everywhere you are. It's the most holy thing. Certainly, scripture doesn't speak to the necessity of wearing a robe, although you could argue that the priests in the days of old wore them. But does that make it mandated or right? What if they wore them b/c that was custom of the day?

My friend Matt was telling me about something Dr. Richard Pratt said in a class this summer, and it is like that thought that is sticking to a piece of gum in my mind. He was calling the class to repentance over their desire to be in ministry as a profession, and to go take a church, or do RUF, or whatever, because its easy and relatively predictable and safe. This is challenging to me because I look at the scriptures and they don't talk about the gospel being safe. Good yes, safe no. (cue, Chronicles of Narnia). Jesus isn't meant to be made a profession of ease and comfort. If I believe that there are kingdoms fighting in this world for our allegiance, I have also to believe that reaching as many people in the most effective way with the gospel has to be my goal. And if you are interested in this kingdom spreading, shouldn't it be yours?

Thoughts?

posted by corbs @ 9:36 PM 2 Comments

Sunday School

I am teaching sunday school at our church, Covenant Presbyterian Church here in Nashville this fall for the senior high youth group. I am teaching through the 10 commandments, and ran across a few, what I deem to be, blog-worthy quotes that I shall post dealing with the 2nd commandment:

“Every one of us is, even from his mother's womb, a master craftsman of idols” -Calvin

“Man's mind is like a store of idolatry and superstition; so much so that if a man believes his own mind it is certain that he will forsake God and forge some idol in his own brain” -Calvin

“We are driven to idolatry by sin and pride which both result from forgetting who our God really is. This means that whenever we think we need to disobey one of these commands we have come to disbelieve that God knows what He is doing, and we have made an idol out of Him – we have come to see Him as less than “all-knowing” or less than “all-good” or less than “all-powerful.” -Kevin Twit (i think)

“If idolatry comes from exchanging the truth for a lie, then healing comes from reversing this. We have to learn how to do gospel-arguing with ourselves, and ask… Heart, why do you think this is going to really satisfy? It has no power to save and it will never forgive you when you let it down.” -Keller(at least most of it)

Now, my challenge is to put together a Sunday school lesson where I don't just quote other people the whole time. Kind of tough when you other people have said it so well already...

posted by corbs @ 10:58 PM 4 Comments

Really, really bad calls

I live in Nashville. The OU game wasn't on regular cable TV, so I had to go to a sports bar to watch the game Saturday. I felt great about the game until there was about 3 minutes left. Then came the worst replay calls in the history of football and OU lost. I haven't been that mad in a while. I think one of the guys who was there probably ended up breaking a chair or something. I just left and cussed to myself after doing so out loud. And then I repented, because I probably love OU football too much.

posted by corbs @ 9:55 PM 4 Comments