What are K2 and Bath Salts?

                When we talk about synthetic cannabis, many times the terms K2 or K4 are used. These terms are actually just two brand names of products containing synthetic cannabis. Mad Hatter, Bayou Blaster Redoux, Demon Free Ritual Potpourri and Darkness are just a few more of the brand names. These brands, and the hundreds like them, usually contain some sort of plant material that resembles potpourri. This plant material is sprayed with chemicals that mimic the action of Tetrahydrocannibinol (THC), the active ingredient in Marijuana. There are dozens of different chemicals that are used, and each one is touted as having different effects.

                The bath salts that are being abused, are not the bath salts you buy at Wal-Mart. In fact, they aren’t bath salts at all. The name is a misnomer meant to get around FDA regulations. Sometimes they are sold as jewelry cleaner or even glass cleaner. Some of the bath salt brands are Pump-it powder, White Rush and Ivory Wave. As with synthetic cannabis, there are dozens of different drugs that fall under the banner of “Bath Salts”.

Where did they come from?

                In many cases, these substances were discovered during legitimate pharmaceutical research. The research on these substances is readily available in most university libraries. Manufacturers have been known to obtain this research and use it to make the desired chemicals.

How are they legal?

                A lot of these substances are sold over the counter. This creates a false belief in many users that they are safe. The reality is that these drugs are extremely dangerous. I’ve already touched on the fact that bath salts are sold under the false pretense that they are meant to be put in bath water, and not consumed. Synthetic cannabis packaging usually claims that it is being sold as incense or potpourri. Packaging for both types of products usually includes a warning that it is not meant for human consumption.

Are any of them illegal?

Many of the chemicals being used in these products are now being controlled. The issue is that as some substances are controlled others are being made to take their place. Regardless of their legal status, all of these substances are dangerous.

Where do people get them?

                These products are sold in any number of unscrupulous businesses. This includes, but is not limited to, gas stations, video stores, head shops and gift shops.

How are they ingested?

                Methods of ingestion include smoking, injection and swallowing.

What are the effects?

                Some of the reported effects are extreme paranoia, increased strength, psychotic behavior, hallucinations, and extreme energy resulting in prolonged periods without sleep. In some cases, users have become violent leading to suicide and/or homicide.

Are they addictive?

                Addiction is possible, but with all drugs even a one-time ingestion can be detrimental.

Who is taking them?

                The individuals that are taking these substances are not limited to hard-core drug users. In some cases these substances are their first foray into drugs. There is a misconception among many that because they are sold over the counter they are safe. This is not true.

                If you suspect that any member of your congregation is taking one of these products, be very careful in how you approach them. The increased paranoia has been known to lead to violent outbursts. The best plan is to pray for the individual and then contact the authorities so that they can get them some help. If any member of your congregation brings one of these products to you, don’t hang on to it. Call the authorities immediately

                Most of this article is from information that I have received as part of the law enforcement community. I have only been deemed an expert in the analysis of controlled substances, and do not claim to be an expert on the physiological effects of these substances.

1 Corinthians 10:31 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.

            In the top desk drawer of my office I have six baseball cards. There’s a 1959 Sandy Koufax, a 1953Al Kaline, a 1964 Pete Rose, a 1966 Jim Palmer, a 1965 Steve Carlton and a 1968 Johnny Bench rookie card. During the early 90’s baseball cards were highly valued, but today, not so much. The paper is the same, the ink is the same and the player’s stats haven’t changed, so what happened? Something is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it and right now people don’t find much value in baseball cards.

            On its face, 1 Corinthians 10:31 seems like an easy scripture to follow. We kind of read it like, as long as you say ‘God is great, God is good’, every time we sit down at the table, then we’re OK. But once you get past the surface, truly following the command of this verse is anything but easy.

            If we are to do everything to the glory of God, then it should be important to know what that word glory actually means. The word glory comes from a Greek word that means to evoke good opinion, or to determine value through your personal decisions. In other words, every time you make a choice you are bringing glory to something and withholding it from something else. In the soda aisle, at the grocery store, if you choose Coke then you are bringing glory to it, and, conversely, denying glory from Pepsi. We give glory to something by finding value in it, and choosing it.

            Let’s jump over to Matthew chapter 6. In verse 24 Jesus begins a lesson on trust. He says, “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon”. He follows this verse up by talking about how the God provides for all of the other organisms of this world, and how humanity struggles to trust in God for these same type of provisions.

Jesus very plainly lays out the fact that there we only have two choices when it comes to who our master is going to be. He tells us that we can either choose God or we can choose mammon. Mammon is usually defined as money, but the original word comes from a Semitic phrase that means “a treasure a person trusts in”. In essence Jesus is telling us that we are going to choose to follow that which we trust, and our level of trust will be determined by how much value we ascribe to it.

Putting these thoughts together we see very clearly two fundamental elements of human nature:

1. we will choose what we trust

2. Well will trust what we value.

 If given the choice between a rickety old elevator bearing a sign that reads “Caution: use at your own risk”,  that appears as though it may plummet to the sub-basement at any second or a set of shiny bright new stairs, even the most out-of-shape of us will seriously consider taking the stairs, because we value our lives.

Our actions have a way of revealing our true character. You may profess faith and trust in Jesus, but if you’re not choosing His way then you are actually saying that you find no value in following after him, and that you don’t really trust him. I’ve heard it said before that the essence of sin comes down to trust. Do you trust God enough to meet your needs, or do feel that you have to go outside his provision and take care of yourself.

This question of trust isn’t a new one. In fact, it was played out in the Garden of Eden. Satan tempted Eve by giving her a choice between finding value in his lies or by trusting the word of God. This temptation is interesting and it gets most of the press, but what’s really worthy of our attention isn’t the temptation of Eve, but the temptation of Adam.

Have you noticed how quickly Adam accepts the forbidden fruit? In Genesis 3, Satan works hard, over several verses, trying to convince Eve to take a bite, but as soon as she does, she turns to her husband and he eats seemingly without hesitation. I don’t believe that his decision was that simple. I think that in that moment, even if it was just a split second, there was an intense debate within Adam’s heart concerning trust and value. He knew that eating the fruit was forbidden, and that the consequence for eating it was death. So standing there looking at his wife holding that partially eaten piece of fruit, Adam was keenly aware that he was looking at a dead woman. His decision at that point was whether he was going to find more value in God’s commands or in his wife’s companionship.

We have the benefit of hindsight to see that Adam made the wrong choice, but in that moment all Adam could think about was the loneliness. Adam had spent untold amounts of time alone. God noticed and finally created a help meet for him, but we have no way of knowing just how long Adam spent without any human contact. So to us this scene may have an easy conclusion, but for Adam the thought of losing the wife that he had waited so long for was unbearable. His decision was between holiness and loneliness or sin and relationship. At that point, Adam decided that he couldn’t chance losing Eve, so he chose to join her in death over trusting that God could provide new companionship for him.

Many of us find ourselves in a similar position. We want to follow Jesus, but fear keeps us from trusting him. We forget the words of Isaiah 55:9 and place more value in our plan than we do in God’s. This leads us to nothing more than self-medicating wounds that God wants to heal completely. It could be someone that keeps feeding an old grudge, because they’re afraid giving it up would mean losing out on a perceived sense of justice. It could be a man that strays outside the bonds of marriage, because his pride tricks him into feeling that the spouse God gave him isn’t enough to meet his needs. It could be a woman that lets her insecurities drive her to spend untold amounts of money to make herself feel beautiful, because she doesn’t trust God’s love to establish her sense of self-worth. It could even be a young adult that, instead of waiting on God, marries the first person that shows them interest, because they are afraid of being alone. No matter the circumstances, God has the answer if we are willing to trust and follow Him.

Just like in the Garden of Eden, the idea that we can truly find satisfaction outside of God is false. Adam and Eve realized this too late, and it drove them to hide from God. 1 John 2:17 speaks to this farce when it says, “And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever”. We can place value in the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, but in the end it’s just an illusion; it will pass away. However, those that their hope in Jesus, and do His will, are going to live forever.

By choosing to follow Jesus we give him glory, which in turn builds his value in our eyes, which builds up our trust in him. The more you choose him, the more you trust him. The righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith! A life of faith begins with one decision to trust in the Lord, and to lean not to your own understanding. My hope for you, and for me, is that we make the decision to trust in God and to do all things to his glory. Even if you don’t always understand his ways, may you find value in them anyway.

And if anyone wants to by some baseball cards, just let me know.

***I am currently writing some curriculum for Hyphen small groups. This is my first attempt at such a format, so I wanted to share the first lesson and get some feedback. If you read this and would like to share your thoughts, please email me at avejoepastor@gmail.com. If you like this lesson, and would be interested in purchasing the series, it should be available in time for our national Hyphen tour. Thanks.***

UNMASKING MOSES – LESSON 1

MISTAKEN IDENTITY

Exodus 2:1 And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi. 2 And the woman conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months. 3 And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river’s brink. 4 And his sister stood afar off, to wit what would be done to him. 5 And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river; and her maidens walked along by the river’s side; and when she saw the ark among the flags, she sent her maid to fetch it. 6 And when she had opened it, she saw the child: and, behold, the babe wept. And she had compassion on him, and said, this is one of the Hebrews’ children.

15 Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to slay Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and dwelt in the land of Midian: and he sat down by a well. 16 Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters: and they came and drew water, and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock. 17 And the shepherds came and drove them away: but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock. 18 And when they came to Reuel their father, he said, how is it that ye are come so soon to day? 19 And they said, An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds, and also drew water enough for us, and watered the flock. (KJV)

Additional scripture references:

·         Romans 12:2

·         2 Corinthians 6:17

·         James 1:27

·         1 John 2:15-17

Big Ideas:

·         Culture is the behaviors and characteristics that define a group.

·         As Christians we are supposed to live our lives according to the bible, but we are still subject to the influences of the world.

And knowing is half the battle

The University of Minnesota’s Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition defines culture as, “the shared patterns of behaviors and interactions, cognitive constructs, and affective understanding that are learned through a process of socialization. These shared patterns identify the members of a culture group, while also distinguishing those of another group”¹

A more general definition of culture is:  the behaviors and characteristics shared within a group. These behaviors and characteristics are what a culture considers to be normal. Everything from language to fashion is defined by these standards.

1.  What fashion trend are you most ashamed to admit that participated in?

2.  What do you see as some accepted cultural norms in America?

Will the real Moses please stand up?

            Several millennia ago, a young man sat at a well. He was running for his life, but on that day he took the time to help a septet of shepherdesses water their flocks. When the girls arrived home, they told their father that an Egyptian had helped them. Here’s the problem; he wasn’t an Egyptian. He was a Hebrew and his name was Moses.

3.  What are some characteristics that may have caused Reuel’s daughters to believe that Moses was an Egyptian?

4.  Moses’ good deed was credited to an Egyptian. Do you feel that good works should only be done if they reflect our identity as Christians, or do you feel that good works are to be done even if Christ doesn’t directly receive the credit?

Suit up

Obviously Moses felt an allegiance to the Hebrew people; otherwise he wouldn’t have been in the predicament in which he found himself. God orchestrated the situation so that Moses’ own mother was his nursemaid, so it would be safe to assume he had been taught about Jehovah and the story of His people.

He may have been Hebrew at heart, but the rest of him lived in an Egyptian world. He attended Egyptian schools, went to Egyptian dinners and sat in the court of Pharaoh. Eventually, the influence of Egypt took its toll. In short, the culture he lived in influenced him to the point that his true identity was camouflaged.

5.  What do you see as Christian cultural norms?

6.  A 2009 study, by the Barna Group, found that “less than one-half of one percent of adults in the Mosaic generation – i.e., those aged 18 to 23 – have a biblical worldview”². What might be some reasons for this finding?

7.  What connections could be made between Moses’ situation, and James 1:27? How could these same connections be applied today?

I’m lovin’ it

Moses’ dilemma is one that we share. As Christians we are commanded to be separate from the world (2 Corinthians 6:17), but we still have to live in it. Because of this, we are daily subjected to cultural influences that are contrary to our Christian identity. Even though we may have the desire and the knowledge to stay unspotted from the world, if left unchecked, a love for the things of the world will eventually overshadow our Christian character.

8.  How would you explain to a non-Christian what it means to be in the world, but not of the world?

9.  What are some areas in which Christian young adults might struggle to be separate from the world?

10.              How could we use John 15:19 to understand the link between our love for the world and our need for acceptance?

***NOTE: I am not a Greek scholar nor a cat person. However neither one of these things stopped me from writing this essay. Enjoy.***

Last week I spent some time meditating on 2 Corinthians 10:3-5. This passage of scripture is familiar to a lot of Christians, especially to Pentecostals. Verse 4 is one of those good old fashioned, foam at the mouth, whip everyone into a frenzy, screaming verses. Using ye olde KJV it readeth like this:

3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: 4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) 5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

Looking at the context of this passage we see that Paul is expressing to the Corinthians that he is aware of certain criticisms that people are making concerning the carnality of his leadership. His reply to them is that he is not operating from a carnal standpoint, and that he has the right and ability to use spiritual weapons to combat such mindsets in the church.

As I studied this passage, and dug deeper into its meaning, I quickly realized that we often take these scriptures way out of context. I can feel your deep sense of awe, at the depth of the revelation, of my thought, that we preachers might take a scripture out of context in order to make a point at the pulpit. Setting sarcasm aside for a second, this does happen and the sad part is that when we turn the Bible into a collection of sound bites, we miss out on the power of true life change.

For example, we often use 2 Corinthians 10:4 to encourage people to rush out into the world, and tear down Satan’s kingdom. However, more times than not, people leave the church itching for a Holy fight, only to discover they don’t really know what to do next. So they do nothing, and the next week the pastor has to hype them up all over again. It really is a vicious cycle.

By now you might be asking what my great revelation has to do with anything. So, without further ado, I will drop the knowledge bomb. Here it goes – Paul was talking to the church. BOOM! Did you feel it?

Paul was addressing the use of spiritual weapons to tear down carnal mindsets in the church. This passage of scripture isn’t about waging holy war on the devil as much as it is about fighting the war between our ears. The devil is only as strong as we let him be, and for many our own thoughts do his work for him.

Paul was addressing the entire Corinthian church, but we can make his words personal and focus them on our own minds. All of us are fighting a battle of the mind. If we can assemble a collection of believers that are individually winning their specific wars, then we will have a church that is winning victories in the world.

PULLING

Let’s start with verse 4. Paul says that through the Spirit, we can “pull down strongholds”. In the Greek this phrase is rendered “kathairesin ochyromaton”. Catchy, huh? It literally translates to this, “Destroying false arguments in which a person seeks a safe place to escape reality”. In a culture that encourages us each to create our own reality this verse takes on a new sense of importance. We are told that what is good for me is good for me, and what is good for you is good for you, but Paul is letting us know that we have to utterly demolish this sense of individual reality. Take that Postmodernism!

As humans we can rationalize almost anything. One minute we can tear down someone that was caught in the act of adultery, but then we can turn around in the next minute and justify our own sin. If we are going to live a life in victory, we have to see things as they really are. Our reality must be changed to that of God’s kingdom. Having eyes we must see and ears we must hear.

When we are filled with God’s spirit, it gives us the ability to step out of the carnal world and in to the spiritual realm. We leave behind our old reality and step into a new reality of God’s kingdom. We were all born into a sinful reality, and every day we must war against falling back into it. To quote the great philosopher Morpheus, “Like everyone else you were born into bondage; into a prison that you cannot taste or see or touch, a prison for your mind”.

CASTING

Verse 5 continues this theme. It says that next we are to cast down imaginations. This isn’t condemning using your imagination. As annoying as he may be, Elmo is not the antichrist. The word imagination is better expressed as argument. In the Greek it looks like this, casting = kathairountes and imaginations = logismous. A paraphrased version of these two terms might read like this “I choose to destroy for myself, the way I see the world”.

The verb casting is similar to the word used for pulling in verse 4; however in this use it becomes personal. I cast down. I forcibly remove. I destroy. It is declaring that you choose to make the mission your own. Paul used this to show that he was personally involved in what was happening in Corinth, but I think that today we can use his word choice to see that this fight is our own. We can control what’s in our own heads.

Logismous refers to arguments or imaginations at a base level. It can be thought of in terms of assigning weight to particular factors that we use to form our personal opinions. For example, a man with a family will, hopefully, give this part of life weight when making decisions, whereas a single guy wouldn’t. It speaks to how personal opinions are formed.

We are responsible for dismantling for ourselves, the value system of our carnality. Jesus presented this concept in Matthew 6:33, when he said “Seek ye first the kingdom of God”. We are to assign weight to the things of God, and let the rest fade away. This is why Jesus could say that it is easier for a camel to fit through the eye of needle, than for a rich man to enter into heaven. We must daily fight against our love for the things of this world. Your quest for being cool can’t trump your desire to please God.

This is another daily battle; the battle to make what’s important to God, important to us. Jesus tells us in Matthew 25, that the difference between the goats and the sheep will be that the sheep saw the world in the way that Jesus saw the world. It’s kind of a big deal to do this.

LOWER

Verse 5 continues by talking about high things that exalt themselves against the knowledge of God. This phrase takes a little different tack on the battle of the mind. High things can also be translated as bulwarks or obstacles. High things that exalt themselves could be expressed as “obstacles that I lift up”. In other words, this part of the verse is urging us to completely destroy any obstacles that I might raise up to keep me from the knowledge of God.

When this verse speaks of knowledge, it refers to a type of knowledge that is only obtained through first-hand experience. In other words, “I know it because I’ve done it”. This type of knowledge is powerful, because it is indisputable. Especially in today’s culture, the personal experience is held as sacred.

However, we can erect barriers that insulate us from having these personal experiences. Or even worse, we can raise up barriers that let us have a shallow level of experience, but they don’t let God get to the core of us. It is a scary thing feel that we are Godly, but in reality to be far from it. No man ever encountered God and stayed the same. If we are to be like God, then we must remove every mental barrier that would prevent us from encountering Him.

What can separate us from the love of God? We can. We can put up walls that God refuses to walk through. We can fit together bricks of bitterness, doubt, anger, hurt and fear until they are so tight even God’s light can’t penetrate the cracks. We must fight daily to demolish the bulwarks that would keep us from touching God.

CAPTIVATE

Verse 5 also tells us that we can take captive our thoughts to the obedience of Christ. I hear people say things like, “The heart wants what the heart wants” and “I can’t control how I feel about that”. These phrases are dumb. You can control your thoughts; you just have to decide what is more important to you, pleasing God or pleasing your flesh. That is not to say that this is easy, and that mistakes won’t be made, but if you keep trying to catch your thoughts eventually you will bring them under submission to Jesus. They are slippery little suckers though.

When Paul chose the phrase “Bringing into captivity”, He is again using a phrase that is personal. It is “I take captive my thoughts”. We are responsible for what we think. Contrary to what some saints, and some pastors, might think, the man of God cannot control your thoughts. Preachers preach and people choose to act on this or not.

Our thoughts are not just the little flashes of insight that streak across our mind’s eye. Paul uses a word that refers to all of who we are internally. It concerns our heart, mind and soul. Jesus said in Matthew 22:37 “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind”. We are to take captive our feelings and our thoughts, and submit them in obedience to the Jesus. It is stupid for us to think that we can compartmentalize ourselves so that there is a portion of us that loves God, but then another that loves the world, and this is ok.

This is part of the verse tells us that we are to take all that we are and submit it to obedience to Jesus. Just when you thought I’d stopped talking about Greek words, I bust out one more. Obedience comes from the word hypakoen. It means submission to what is heard. We are to do what Jesus tells us to do. So putting it all together it might sound something like this, “I detain my thoughts, in order to obey the words of Jesus”.

GET TO THE POINT

Throughout these two verses we see that Paul is speaking to the Corinthians, and to us, about the difference of living a carnal life and a life that is spent in worship to God. Worship is admitting that God’s way is better than ours, and then submitting ourselves to life that life. Worship is life! The decision to live a life of worship is a direct result of the battle between your ears.

This way of life demands all of us. It is a complete surrendering of the self to Jesus. The daily fight is to make us zero and God everything. Jesus would say it like this, “Not my will Lord, but your will be done”. John the Baptist would put it a little different, but with the same gist, when he said, “He must increase, but I must decrease”.

We must use weapons such as prayer, fasting, studying, worship, praise, meditation, service, silence, journaling and evangelism to tear down the strongholds in our minds. With these weapons, through God, we can:

Destroy our false realities, and accept God’s reality

Dismantle our carnal value system, and see the world as God see’s it

Demolish the barriers to experiencing God, and encounter Him in our lives

Detain everything inside of us, and submit it to the word of God

I had a random thought on the way to work this morning. In preparation for some Hyphen stuff that I’m doing, I’ve been revisiting some resources about the cultural gap in churches. With this information in the back of my mind, I set out on my commute. Somewhere about the halfway mark, Exodus 1:8 popped into my head. Ok, so I had to look up the chapter and verse but the guts of the verse were in my head. Anyway, this verse says, “Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph”.

We live in a culture that is antagonistic to the concept of church. There is an atmosphere of  shifting moralities, heightened self-centeredness and demanded tolerance. These qualities, plus others, have seemed to have set the church and culture at odds with each other.

Many elders look back to a time of perceived mutuality between church and culture. They may long for Mayberry, but the truth is the church and the world have always been the opposite of each other. One is spiritual, the other is carnal; one is holy the other is sinful and one is eternal while the other is temporary. As Paul said to the Corinthians, “What fellowship does light have with darkness”?

Though we are meant to be separate, God uses cooperation, as well as opposition,  with the governments of this world in order to further His kingdom. When Joseph was sold into slavery, it was God’s plan to bring him and his family to Egypt to ensure their survival. The government of Egypt, was used as a tool by God.

However, this symbiotic relationship only lasted so long. Eventually there arose a king that didn’t know Joseph. In other words, the secular world didn’t understand the value of God’s people living in their midst. That sounds a lot like where we are today. We may not have the physical oppression that existed in Egypt, but we see that the church is clearly the antithesis of modern society.

The temptation is to sequester ourselves in a bubble of self-pity and outrage, but before we give into this let’s take advantage of the experience that the bible affords us. The Israelites were mistreated; they were disrespected by the foreign government that controlled them but it was precisely in this moment that God choose to lead them to the promised land.

We do live in a world that is evil, but is in the darkness that light becomes the most important. It is times of cooperation with the world that God uses them as a tool to protect his people, so it only stands to reason that it is the times of the greatest opposition that God believes His people are at their strongest.

I expect great things from the young adults and teenagers in the body of Christ. Why? Because this world has forgotten Joseph.

I wanted to give the resources that I used for my last blog post. If nothing else, it gives me a chance to practice listing references in APA style. They are as follows:

Bender, T. (1982). Community and social change in America. Baltimore, MD: John Hopkins University Press.

Putnam, R.D. (2001). Bowling alone: The collapse and revival of American community. New York, NY: Touchstone Books by Simon & Schuster.

Tonnies, F. (1998). Community and Society: Gemeinschaft and gesellschaft. Piscatawny, NJ: Transaction Publishers.

The Barna Group (2009). Barna survey examines changes in worldview among Christians over the past 13 years. Retrieved from http://www.barna.org/transformation-articles/252-barna-survey-examines-changes-in-worldview-among-christians-over-the-past-13-years.

Ward, G. (2003). Teach yourself postmodernism. London, England: Hodder&Stoughton Educational Division.

*part 4 of 4

Behaviors such as: church attendance, tithing, obedience to authority and sacrifice are not only vital, they are biblical. Yet as we see this generation take its place as church leaders, these are the things that are being laid by the wayside. Pastors are fighting to engage a group that claims to love Jesus, but have disengaged from the church. In addition to this, in 2009 the Barna group found that less than one half of a percent of Americans, ages 18-23, say the agree with all of the following statements: 1.) Absolute moral truth exists.; 2.) The Bible is totally accurate in all the principles it teaches.; 3.) Satan is a real being or force, and not just a symbol.; 4.) A person cannot earn their way into heaven by trying to do good or doing good works.; 5.) Jesus Christ lived a sinless life on earth. ; 6.) God is the all-knowing, all-powerful creator of the world who still rules the universe today. These are the tenets upon which Christianity is built. A biblical worldview cannot be labeled as “religion” and rejected. Being a Christian means having a relationship with Jesus, but Jesus also said “man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4). We need the word to survive!

So my advice is this; instead of trying to make the church in our image let’s make it in the mold that the bible sets for us. In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul lays out the best analogy for the church – the body.

1 Corinthians 12:12 For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. 13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. 14 For in fact the body is not one member but many. 15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? 18 But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. 19 And if they were all one member, where would the body be? 20 But now indeed there are many members, yet one body. 21 And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. 23 And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor; and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty, 24 but our presentable parts have no need. But God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it, 25 that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. 26 And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. 27 Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.

We are to all work together for the glory of God, but if we are outside the boundaries of the body then we can’t function. We need to be part of the church, to function as part of the body of Christ. In Ephesians 5:23, Paul makes the statement that Christ is the head of the church. If we are going to succeed as a “the church”, we have to work as a community, under the authority of leaders with all of us under the authority of Jesus.

*part 3 of 4

     At its heart, the church is first and foremost a community. If we look at the end of Acts 2, we see that the early church lived a communal lifestyle. They ate together, prayed together, worshiped together and they supported each other financially. During this time God worked great miracles among them, and they church grew, but it doesn’t take long for this rapid growth to create problems. In Acts 6:1, the bible tells us that as the church rapidly grew, a conflict arose over the fact that that the Greek believers felt that the Hebrew believers were neglecting the Greek widows when it came to the daily distribution of food. In response to this, the 12 disciples called a meeting, and elected seven men who would be tasked with running the food disbursement program. At this point, it becomes necessary to start introducing some structure into the church, so that the community can continue to thrive. This is one of the earliest examples we have of church government starting to solidify.

                In Acts 15, we see the societal aspect of the church in full effect. Paul is dealing with Hebrew converts that have shown up in Antioch. Verse 1 says “Some men from Judea arrived and began to teach the believers: “Unless you are circumcised as required by the Law of Moses, you cannot be saved.”

                This caused a great stir in the church at Antioch, and Paul and Barnabas were sent to Jerusalem to discuss it with a leadership council that was made up of apostles and elders. This council considered the issue and made a proclamation detailing the governance of existing and future Christian churches. Here is a council of men, trying to be attuned to the Spirit of God as much as possible, making rules that are designed to make the church better. If it wasn’t for the leadership of this council, there would have been a great risk that Christianity would’ve fragmented to the point where it would have become unstable. In this case, elements of society were mixed with love, humility, wisdom and the Holy Spirit to make the church better.

                As this generation shapes the church to reflect their culture, it is important to note that not all societal aspects are bad. It is vital that they remember that the resentment that they feel toward religion is in many ways a reaction to the negative characteristics of a previous generation, but not everything the previous generation did was bad. They are a generation that sacrificed and put others first. They are a generation that demanded faithfulness, and respect for the work of the Lord. The reaction that the current generation has needs to incorporate the positive aspects of the past and merge them with the positive aspects of the present. There has to be a balance between society and community.

                In the video, the young man makes the statement that he still loves the church. I find this very reassuring, but what does it really mean? It seems to indicate that in the minds of many, there is a clear distinction between the church and religion. If religion is defined as society having too much value in our churches, then the challenge that this generation faces is to bring these two parts of the church back in to balance. We cannot be so focused on stripping away the veneer of the past that we damage the substance underneath. This is the danger of shaping the church in our own image; we tend to go too far with it. If we’re not careful we can get to the point that instead of fixing the wrongs of the past, we simply replace them with the wrongs of the present.

*This is part 2 of 4

                Everyone, at some level, functions as a member of both communities and societies. You go to school (society), but you have your group of friends (community). You work a job (society), so that you can feed your family (community). It doesn’t matter if you grew up in the great depression or if you are now growing up in the great recession, you belong to both types. However, even though members of all generations have belonged to each association, the values that they have placed on these two associations have changed dramatically over the years.

                The generation of the 50’s and 60’s, the so-called greatest generation, had a cultural philosophy that was dominated by modernism. Modernism believed in the improvement of the world, through science, industry and the betterment of the self. In other words, it was you moral duty to be the best person you could be. During this time civic participation blossomed. People wanted to build a better world, so they got involved in politics and social institutions. Modernists placed a high value on society. Even though they still enjoyed a sense of community, modernists were society builders.

                Taking a look at today’s world we see that a cultural transformation has taken place. Now postmodernism rules the day. In postmodernism, individualism thrives. Life isn’t so much about making the world a better place as it is about pursuing the things that make you happy. It’s about deconstructing and examining societal norms. In postmodernism we are encouraged to accept people no matter who or what they are. Under these conditions, if society was a stock it would be at an all-time low. Community is the word of the day. In fact, the concept of community has been exaggerated to the point that it now breaks traditional definitions. For example, Facebook is now considered a community, even though it breaks the mold of traditional definitions. (This might be a subject of another blog-post)

                Because each generation sees the world differently, they place different values on the importance of society. This creates a problem when this comes to the church, because the church functions as both a community and a society. It takes elements of both associations to make it work, but these elements must be kept in balance and be motivated in love and humility. I believe that a lot of the resentment that is associated with “religion” comes from too high of a value being placed on the societal aspects of the church.

                In a cultural philosophy that enjoys society building, man-made rules are par for the course. In this atmosphere leaders can demand obedience to certain behaviors that are not spiritual significant, but instead are culturally important. For example, dressing up for church is something that this generation doesn’t really understand. To many older pastors that has caused much frustration, but the truth is there is no biblical command to wear a tie to church. Another major source of conflict is the that the church is perceived as caring more about building its own kingdom, than it is reaching out to the homeless and hungry. This perception may not always be accurate in every church, but in the not so distant past, there was a push to run our churches more like a business. In this climate, pastors became CEOs and the goal was to build the biggest church and the most dynamic ministries possible. During this time, the church tended to be more focused on internal things and less on external things, like feeding the hungry.

This is a lengthy essay that I’ve been working on, so I’m going to post it one page at a time. I’d like to point out that I am in no way a sociologist, and if any real sociologists read this, please have mercy on me. Thank you.

                There has been a video making its rounds on Facebook for the past couple of weeks. It’s about having a relationship and not religion. I’ve noticed many different reactions to this video, some have been positive and some have been negative. My reaction to this thought is mixed. There are some great statements, and some good things that would serve everyone well to pay attention to, but I have some concerns about this type of sentiment.

                First off, what’s happening here is not a new phenomenon. At the heart of this video isn’t just a new way of seeing Jesus or Christianity, it’s about a generation redefining cultural intuitions in their own image. As successive generations come of age, they see the world differently than the previous generations. This shift in world view is typically a reaction to the world view of the previous generation. What is happening in the church right now is that we are seeing the post-modern generation attempting to remake the church culturally in a way that makes sense to them, and while this may sound scary, it is something that has been going on since the beginning of Christianity. Parts of this transition are natural and necessary, but they must be handled with care. Generational rebranding of cultural institutions is about a clash in cultural philosophies, and it has happened already happened in many different arenas in our society.

                To understand what’s happening we have to take a look at how humans associate.  Most sociologists agree that the two main forms of human association are society and community. Society is mechanical and artificial in nature. You belong to a society because of some other indirect benefit. A great example is working in a factory. A factory worker doesn’t show up to work because they really like their co-workers, they show up because they get a paycheck. They may like their co-workers, but in most cases they wouldn’t show up to work for free just because they like the person standing next to them on the assembly line. Now let’s say that this same factory worker makes friends with some of their coworkers, and before you know it a group of co-workers start hanging out together on the weekends. They get to know each other and develop bonds that are based in mutual sentiment. Now these coworkers are part of a community.

                Another great example of being part of a society is being an American citizen. As an American you vote, pay taxes, fly flags and blow stuff up on the fourth of July, but you’re not going to help some stranger on the street move his stuff into his new apartment just because you both live in the same country. To belong to a society, there are things that you do, just because it makes the society stronger and in the long run it indirectly benefits everyone else. Exercising your right to vote makes you a better citizen.

                Communities on the other hand, are like families. Imagine a small village where everyone does their part to help out, because they know and care about their neighbors. In a community there is a direct benefit to being part of this association. You’re happy when someone in the community is happy. You get sad when something bad happens to someone in your community. You may belong to several different communities, but the effect is always the same. Whether you call them friend, family or loved ones, your relationship with them is its own reward.