Driscoll's Tribal Christianity

Tim Challies' review of Mark Driscoll's new book, A Call to Resurgence, is up on his website. As usual, Challies gives a great synopsis of the book and provides a fair critique. It can be found here. {And after writing this post, just saw this review by Andrew Wilson, which provides a perspective from a different angle.}

I'll admit it. I'm not objective when it comes to Driscoll. A lot of my friends really like him (and I hope we're still friends after you read my comments!). For a long time, I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt. Though I wasn't an ardent defender, I believed that he was at least misunderstood.

I don't feel that way anymore. In my opinion, he lacks many of the character attributes I believe are essential for effective pastoral ministry. Controversy doesn't just follow him... he stokes it like you would a strange fire. Pastoral ministry isn't just about saying the right things, it's about saying the right things in the right way.

I look forward to the day when testosterone-fueled, hyper-aggressive leadership styles wane in influence in Christ's church. So, at this point, my knee jerk reaction to Mark Driscoll is to be critical.

But I have to admit this: he says some good things sometimes in terms of the content of his messages. For example, I haven't read A Call to Resurgence but Challies gives the following synopsis of a chapter that deals with "tribalism" within Christianity:

With a nod to Seth Godin, he [Driscoll] shows how tribalism is now more prominent than denominationalism and describes some of the common tribal commitments within Christianity. He highlights four questions and shows how Christian tribes may be distinguished by their answers to these questions. 

• Are you Reformed or Arminian?
• Are you complementarian or egalitarian?
• Are you continuationist or cessationist?
• Are you missional or fundamental? 

He then builds profiles based on the possible answers. So, if you are Reformed, complementarian, cessationist and fundamentalist, “you probably like Together for the Gospel, the Gospel Coalition, Nine Marks, R.C. Sproul, reading books by dead guys, expository preachers who wear suits and have bad bands at their services, and wish this book had more footnotes and fewer jokes.” Driscoll himself is a tribal chief within the Reformed, complementarian, continuationist and missional tribe. “You probably have an occasional bad attitude, tattoo, impressive theological library and liquor cabinet, ESV Study Bible, entire collection of the latest indie rock, flannel shorts, and boots for no reason as you do zero logging.”

Assuming Challies is capturing Driscoll's content accurately, there is much to think about here.

First, is Driscoll accurately capturing the major "tribes" within Christianity? My sense is that he is to a large degree.

Second, are these false dilemmas? Must we choose an either/or in each category? I'm not sure of the way he defines the difference between, for example, missional and fundamental, but are they (a) my only two options and (b) so binary that I can only choose one?

Third, as we become infatuated with certain leaders and fads within Christendom, do we find ourselves forced to affirm certain things out of fear we won't fit it? Does our drive to conform to a certain tribe trump our desire to earnestly study God's Word and conform to it?

Fourth, does the mega-church, multi-campus model of ministry fuel the tribes-mentality within Christendom? I sense a certain irony to the chapter as Challies describes it and I wonder how Driscoll handles that irony. He hasn't just passively been forced into the tribe of which he is chief. He actively celebrates that tribe and mocks those who are not part of his tribe (though, to be fair, he often mocks himself as well).

Ultimately, I think there is a lot to be said for what Driscoll warns of here, but I wonder if he's the best messenger to deliver the message.

The Challenges of Missions

Having returned from the Solomon Islands, I witnessed several challenges that missionaries face.  Most of these challenges are common to all missionaries, but some of them are related especially to what I recently encountered.  I share these with you so that you might be better equipped to pray for the advance of the Gospel around the world and so that you would be fully informed about the unique challenges that missionaries face.

Challenge #1 Missionaries have lots of bosses

Missionaries are unique in that they have lots of people to whom they are accountable.  When those people are unclear or especially if they contradict one another in priorities, the missionary is justifiably nonplussed.  Here are some of the “bosses” of missionaries:

--Sending churches.  Often there can be more than one.  What happens if sending churches differ in priority from one another?  What happens if a sending church experiences decline or decides to reallocate resources away from the missionary?

--Supporting individuals.  There can be hundreds of supporting individuals on a missionary’s mailing list.  All of them are interested in the missionary, but some of them feel like they can be the missionary’s boss.  This goes particularly to lifestyle choices.  I knew of one missionary who was given a Cadillac to use for furlough, but they could not use it because supporting individuals felt that it was “extravagant” for a missionary to have a luxury automobile.  The problem is that all of us make choices in our lives with the resources granted to us.  What might be “extravagant” to one person could be a relaxing hobby for another person.

--Missions agency.  The agency that the missionary serves with has priorities which often can interfere with where the missionary actually wants to serve.  I knew of a camp in South America that no one in the agency wanted to direct because it was so dangerous to travel to the camp.  However, the camp was an effective ministry.  The solution was to give the job to the newest missionary on the field, and whenever a new missionary arrived, the job was shifted to the newest missionary.

--Field Directors.  Most mission groups have a field director.   The missionary is often evaluated and given assignments by this field director.  Most agencies also have a field committee which exists as a balance of power on the field director.  The missionary is accountable to some extent to all such on field authorities.

How would you feel having so many bosses?  As you pray for your missionaries, pray that they might be able to sort out this sometimes confusing array with wisdom and discernment.

Challenge #2  Getting Along with Fellow Missions Team Members

This might well be the greatest challenge facing most missionaries.  There is an expectation that missionaries will all get along and serve the Lord with gladness and grace.  However, everyone takes their sinful nature to the mission field.  This means that along with all the other challenges that missionaries face, they have to face conflict with fellow missionaries.  This can be extremely disillusioning because it can be so unexpected.  We can expect the poisonous snakes, the hot or cold weather, but to be expected to work with weird, unpredictable, and sinful missionary colleagues??  Think about it—do you get along perfectly well with everyone in your church?  Are there some people that you try to avoid working with?  Or perhaps there are just some people that you really, really like working with, while others are simply “okay” to work with? On the mission field, you are not given that luxury.  You are called to live out the beauty of the church even amidst challenging conflicts.  There is no easy way to plan avoiding a colleague.

Challenge #3  Marriage and Family

Life in another culture is stressful.  For many,  just the task of getting meals prepared, clothes and dishes washed, rooms cleaned, vehicles maintained, and shopping done can take more time than is available in a day.  It is easy for missionaries to feel guilty that they are not “doing enough” to justify their presence on the field when just living takes so much time.

This has a way of spilling over into marriages.  Frustrations which cannot be expressed to others are all too frequently deflected onto spouses.  This leaves marriages in great need of refueling.  Further, since there are often isolated settings for mission work, there is no place to get away to be playful as a couple.  There is often such a small margin of financial resources, even if there was a possibility to get away, there would be no money for it.  This was why this past year, our missions team gave money to each EWO missionary couple for a getaway.

The raising and particularly the education of missionary children have particular challenges.  These challenges change as the children grow.  Third culture kids (as MK’s are known) have unique blessings and peculiar challenges.  They are part of both the culture of parental origin and the culture where they serve, BUT they are also NOT a part of either culture.  They can easily feel like they never fit, no matter where they are.  Launching MK’s into adulthood feels like a huge burden to most missionaries.

Challenge #4 Cultural Literacy

It goes without saying that language acquisition is the beginning of developing cultural literacy.  However, the missionary has a greater task than just becoming fluent in a language.  She/he needs to understand the culture to which she/he is sent.  This can be a lifelong task, as some cultural intricacies are known only after spending a lifetime in the culture.  Sometimes, it can feel like years are being wasted.  Other times, a false sense of understanding and even of ministry effectiveness comes, only to be revealed later as a huge cultural misunderstanding.  What can be thought of as a cultural value might only be the unique behavior of one individual.  Further, there is the challenge of what to do when one has a hard time getting along with an indigenous believer, especially if that person is a spiritual leader.

Challenge #5  Unique Hardships

In the Solomon Islands, almost all of the missionaries have had to deal with parasites, malaria, illnesses, infections, etc.  In some mission fields, it is the harshness of the cold, while in others, it is the suffocating heat.  Sometimes it is political strife; other places, it is demonic opposition.  Some places are so wet, that everything is moldy; other places are so dry, that one’s cheeks  are constantly chafed and windburned.  The challenges of dangerous animals, destroying insects, earthquakes, mudslides, floods, droughts, it goes on and on!  In the midst of all this, the missionary has limited resources, often only what could be carried to the mission station.  Clothes are worn until they literally fade away;  computers are both a blessing and a curse.  The sense of isolation, even in the era of Skype, can be daunting.

Challenge #6 Inefficiency

We Americans love efficiency and productivity.  If we something that is efficient, effective, and productive, we will love and support that endeavor.  If we something that is inefficient, ineffective, and unproductive, we call into question the person’s capabilities and even character.  Don’t believe for a second that your missionaries do not recognize this.  That is why they feel compelled to tell you the rosier side of their story.  They do not lie, but I think that many missionaries feel scared to tell the whole truth, for fear that the lack of “efficiency” will make supporters go away.

Understand this—the call to make disciples of the nations is necessarily an inefficient endeavor.  That does not mean that missionaries are permitted to be lazy, but the very nature of opposition arrayed against the missionary is so daunting that it cannot be that we can measure it solely in terms of productivity and efficiency.  I have observed that we often lead with “efficiency” questions when we question our missionaries.  This leads them to have to justify their existence, which leads us to be satisfied (or not) with their answer.  I think that leads to phony conversations.

What to Make of All This?

With all of these challenges, why would anyone want to be a missionary?  Why indeed would one subject himself to these burdensome and painful challenges.

Well, if hell is not real and if heaven is not real, then it would be foolish to do this.  If the resurrection of Jesus Christ did not happen, then it would be foolish to do this.  If Jesus did not command us to take the Gospel of Christ to the nations, then it would be foolish to do this.

But hell is real, and many people will go there.  (Matthew 7:13--Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.)

Heaven is real, and a few will go there.  (Matthew 7:14--For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.)

The resurrection of Jesus did happen. (1 Corinthinans 15:17-20--And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.)

The Great Commission is Jesus’ command to His church. (Matthew 28:18-20--And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”)

So, we go; we send; we pray; we give.  We GLADLY accept these challenges and bear any burden to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth.  Someday, Revelation 7:9-10 will happen, “After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, ¹⁰ and crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’”

And the missionaries that I witnessed in the Solomon Islands last month will rejoice, for it will not be in English that that cry will be uttered, but in every language under heaven, including the 70+ languages of the Solomon Islands.  And it will be worth it all, every bit of it!

Crazy Busy

Five or six years ago, I emailed Kevin DeYoung to see if he would be willing to speak at our conference the following October, which was then about 18 months away. I had just read Why We're Not Emergent, and though the book was doing well, Kevin hadn't really hit the conference circuit yet.

Kevin responded personally and was enthusiastic about the idea. He seemed surprised that we were planning things that far in advance. He encouraged me to contact him again when we had more details.

About six months later, I contacted him again. Unfortunately, during these six months the demands on his schedule had greatly increased. This time, I did not get a personal response. I got a response from his secretary, who informed me that his schedule would not allow him to participate.

I've often kicked myself for not staying on top of the email communication with Kevin. But I understood and assumed that he was probably way busier than he would like to be.

My suspicions about Kevin's ministry being quite busy seem to be true. He's just published an excellent book entitled Crazy Busy. I highly recommend it to those who are struggling with the demands of a hectic life (i.e., everyone). His advice is sound, biblical, and cuts to the root issues in the hearts of those who struggle with being "too busy."

There are lots great insights in the book, but let me just give one sample from a chapter entitled, "A Cruel Kindergarchy." In the chapter, DeYoung suggests that one reason we're too busy is because of our child-centered lifestyles. We're "freaking out" about our kids, assuming that if we don't create an idyllic environment for them, they'll flounder in life.

After discussing some data illustrating how our parenting doesn't always affect our children in the way we think it will, DeYoung concludes:

How we parent matters less than we think when it comes to the sort of person our kids will become in twenty years but it still matters a great deal in determining what our kids' present experience will be and how they will remember their childhood twenty years from now. We may not be able to shape our child's future identity as much as we'd like, but we can profoundly shape their experience of childhood in the present. 

That's why one of the best things we can do for our kids is to find a way to stop being so frantic and frazzled. 

There's lots of good stuff in here. Pride, misplaced priorities, the lure of modern technology, and the refusal to rest are all topics that are covered well by DeYoung as he considers how "crazy busy" we are.

Oh, and I almost forgot the best part: the book is really short. I read it during my daughter's gymnastic's class while occasionally answering email while my wife was taking our boys to a parade and our other daughter to her cross country meet.

Baptismal Service on October 6

I'm looking forward to our baptismal service on October 6! If you'd like to participate, please contact the church at 309-508-1755 or info@bethanycommunitychurch.org.

Many believers rightly understand that baptism doesn't "save" you. Baptism doesn't bring about the restoration of your relationship with God. What many believers fail to understand is that baptism is still extremely important and intricately connected to our salvation experience. Baptism proclaims the story of my salvation.

If you haven't been baptized and are wondering about the significance of baptism, let me encourage you to check out this message from John Piper on the meaning and importance of baptism.


T

The transcript of the message can be found here: http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/sermons/what-is-baptism-and-how-important-is-it

Looking Back at Luke

Some of you may have seen these two wordlets already, but I wanted to put them side-by-side in one place. I know wordlets have been around for awhile but I had never done one until last week. I feel kinda like a person saying, "Hey, everyone! Look at this cool thing called 'email'!"

The first image is a graphic representation of the words that occurred most frequently in my sermon manuscripts.

LUKE SERMONS:

And here is a wordlet with a graphic representation of the words that occur most frequently in the text of Luke.

GOSPEL OF LUKE TEXT:

I don't have any profound observations to offer. There were a few quick brief thoughts I had:

First, some of the differences between the two wordlets are the function of one being a sermon and the other being a narrative text. I'm not going to use the word "saying" a lot in the sermon, whereas Luke will use the term frequently.

Second, the similarities on the big issues are encouraging. Jesus, God, Lord, kingdom dominate both wordlets.

Third, it seems the mid-sized words are most important in the sermon wordlet in understanding the themes of the sermon. The kingdom, love, sin, repentance are dominant themes in Luke and the wordlet shows that.

Finally, I was encouraged by some of the words that weren't in the sermon wordlet. Illustrations are helpful and I try to use them in sermons. But the main things my sermon manuscripts are focused on is the text. I think there's a good balance.

Looking forward to Sunday and our new series: The Promise of the Gospel!

Ask for the Ancient Paths by Pastor Ritch

Many of our high school graduates have begun classes at a college or trade school or begun their journey directly into the marketplace.  What an exciting time of life!  I recently wrote a letter to these high school graduates that I share with you now in hopes that you may pass it on to a young adult for their encouragement.  Please pray diligently for the young men and women that God has included in your life.  The battle against the devil, the world and the flesh is strong.  Thank God that He is stronger yet! 

Dear Graduate,

Congratulations on your graduation from high school!  I rejoice with you in your past accomplishments and pray for your future.  I pray for God to be very real and very wonderful to you.  It is through knowing Him that we find sense in the disorder of this world, joy in the brokenness, and direction in the chaos.

You have some great decisions ahead of you as you seek to carve out a life.  You will have more freedom than you have ever had and more opportunity for doing both good and evil.  May God give you wisdom to know which path leads to life and grace to choose to walk on that path.  Some of you are about to begin college life, while others have already entered the marketplace.  I am praying for you as you seek to advance God’s reputation in a world that does not know how great He is.

One verse that I hope encourages you in the years ahead is from the prophet Jeremiah:  Thus says the LORD:  “Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.” (Jeremiah 6:16)

This world is full of paths and you will have to choose from the myriad of options in front of you.  Many of those paths will look lush, fun and pleasing.  God’s counsel is to ask for the “ancient paths.”  This counsel contradicts with your nature.  Your fleshly nature will be drawn to the paths that are new, exciting, pleasant or attractive in appearance.  The key element of a path is not its surface, its landscape or its views, but the key element of a path is where it leads you.  God reminds us of four key truths in this passage from Jeremiah. 

1.  God calls you to ask for the ancient paths.  You will not find the ancient paths unless you ask for them and seek after them.  The world around you hides them from your sight.  Only those who seek God’s paths will find them.  Only those who ask for God’s ways will be given such wisdom.  So begin each day asking for the ancient paths.  God will direct you!  Know that God’s map to these ancient paths is His Word and God’s guide is the Holy Spirit.  God reveals in His Word that the path is really a Person:  God’s own Son.  He will be found by those who seek after Him.  So as you ask for the ancient paths, search the Scriptures and depend upon God’s Spirit to give you light and look for Jesus.

2.  God describes the ancient path.  God describes the ancient paths as “where the good way is.”  Jesus will never lead you into harmful ends.  The devil knows that, but he is crafty.  He does not want you to desire the ancient paths and so he does two things.  First, he masks the goodness of the ancient paths so as to make them despised and rejected.  He will tempt you to question whether God’s paths really do lead to life.  Second, he decorates the new paths so as to make them loved and embraced.  He will tempt you to think that other paths are wonderful and wise.  Please remember how God describes the ancient paths!  Those who say the ancient paths are not good profess to be wiser than God.

3.  God commands you to walk on the ancient path.  Of course, it is not enough to know about the ancient paths or even to agree with them.  Paths only lead to life if we walk in them.  Obedience to God is key to everything.  God does not call you to walk alone.  He is with you.  He has also given you His church so that you walk with others on this path.  I urge you to commit your lives to a local church and walk on God’s ancient paths with others of faith.  You will need the body of Christ to obey God’s command to faithfully walk on the ancient paths.  

4.  God promises that you will find rest on the ancient path.  There is no rest like soul rest.  A rest that quiets your heart when life gets hard.  And life will be hard.  You will endure trials and difficulties of all kinds.  God only knows the difficulties that await you.  This truth need not bring worry or anxiety.  God promises rest for our souls as we walk the ancient paths.  What a sweet gift soul rest is!  This gift is yours as you walk the ancient paths!  Listen to Jesus’ promise in Matthew 11:28-29:  Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Remember God loves you.  Please send me your prayer requests as you have needs.  My email is ritch@bethanycentral.org.  I want to pray for you.  My heart is always open to you to talk or pray together.

Much love in Christ,

Pastor Ritch

Why I Love Crying Babies in a Worship Service

About once a week someone comes up to apologize for something that happened during the worship service.

“Sorry my cell phone went off.” (I once had to apologize to myself for this.)

“Sorry about my eyelids being kinda heavy.” (Apology not accepted.)

“Sorry I kept glaring at you and shaking my head and pointing to my watch.” (I forgive you, irate nursery worker.)

By far the most frequent apology I get is, “Sorry about my baby crying during the worship service. I was so embarrassed.”

Let me offer two words of encouragement for you disrupters of the service in general. First, I probably didn’t notice whatever it is for which you are apologizing. I'm pretty busy up there. Second, if I did notice, I almost definitely didn’t know it was you.

Let me also say this as a word of encouragement for the parents of young ones in our congregation: I'm grateful for crying babies! We are so glad you are here!

When I hear the sounds of babies in the worship service, I thank God that He has blessed our church with so many little ones. The sounds of young voices expressing their displeasure, while certainly occasionally distracting, encourage our church by revealing that there is life in this place.

Imagine what a church with no children would sound like. Imagine the still silence of a lifeless church. 

I’m not advocating that you pinch your children to help them announce their presence. And I definitely think it is wise for parents to remove screaming children from the worship service until they calm down (the children, that is). I also think it is often helpful for parents to use our nursery ministry for children when it is convenient for their family.

What I’m trying to communicate to our church and to you who are parents is simply to rejoice that God has given our church life! The corporate worship service is not some well-choreographed musical number. It’s a time when we as a family get together to worship and talk about God. We rejoice in the presence of our youngest members!