Darryn's Blog

What it means to be a Christ-Follower

Majorities of young people in America describe modern-day Christianity as judgmental, hypocritical and anti-gay. What's more, many Christians don't even want to call themselves "Christian" because of the baggage that accompanies the label. The findings were based on surveys of a sample of 867 young people between the ages of 16-29 by the Barna Research Group.  One in four non-Christians said that modern-day Christianity was no longer like Jesus.

Dr. Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church and author of The Purpose Driven Life recently said, "For some time now, the hands and feet of the body of Christ have been amputated, and we've been pretty much reduced to a big mouth."

Something is really, really wrong with popular American Christianity.

Read through this riveting lesson Jesus taught, then I invite you to listen to what I think is at the heart of being a Christ-follower.

John 8:1-11 (NLT)
1 Jesus returned to the Mount of Olives, 2 but early the next morning he was back again at the Temple. A crowd soon gathered, and he sat down and taught them.

3 As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd.

4 “Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?”

6 They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger.

7 They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” 8 Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust.

9 When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman.

10 Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?”

11“No, Lord,” she said.   And Jesus said, “Neither do I.  Go and sin no more.”

The Incredible Privilege

For all of you who sacrificially love, serve, give, pray, share, volunteer ... it wasn't just your idea. God chose you for this special priviege of making a difference. What a privilege to be chosen to be his hands. I love this verse that centers me back on course:

Ephes. 3:8 (NLT) 
 Just think! Though I did nothing to deserve it, and though I am the least deserving Christian there is, I was chosen for this special joy of telling [those far from God] about the endless treasures available to them in Christ.

It is joy to be on the journey together!

What it Means to be Christian

Bill Hull, author of Choose The Life offers a compelling argument for what it means to be Christian:

An interesting discussion that won’t take place here is why the word Christian won in general usage over Disciple. Christian used three times in the New Testament has been preferred over Disciple, used 269 times. Christian seems to be a word that has lost its meaning more so than those who think Disciple is passé. It seems that outside the Church Christians are thought of as intolerant, even hateful, they are critics and judges. It is a title that has disappeared into the fog of Western culture to define religious origin. Inside the Church, Christian has become a word that describes agreement with a set of religious ideas; it does not require action or movement. Some evangelical leaders don’t like Disciple because it sounds too demanding, too tired and out of reach for the seekers. This is not a call for the elimination of the word Christian; it is a call to recapture the richness of the word Disciple and how a change in language can be a change in mind set and then behavior.

Disciple is a robust word; it calls upon a person to give an answer to God, to do something, to follow and in doing so create an opportunity for transformation. Answering the call to discipleship means positioning oneself for spiritual formation. It requires intentionality, self-denial, and commitment to follow Jesus wherever He leads.

As Bonhoeffer aptly stated, “Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ.” This really comes down to how members of the Church view themselves. Are we primarily members of an organization by belief or doctrine alone, or is the expectation that we are obedient followers of Jesus ready for a life of spiritual sacrifice?

This redefinition requires a change in the way we see ourselves. 

American Christianity

A few months ago I was part of a discussion with a group of pastors about Christianity in America and how far it has drifted from what the scripture teaches. Our cultural version of Christianity is marked by:

Consumerism
Patriotism
Institutionalism
Individualism (me, my stuff, mine ... even my ministry).

This is what is being exported here and around the world. Just watch a half hour of Christian television.

By contrast scripture teaches a church is
A body
A bride
A family ... All highly connect living organisms

THE problem: What happens when people have no reference point for the metaphors? Does anybody know what a healthy body, a healthy marriage, a healthy family looks like?

“Churched and unchurched people alike look at church today and they’re sure that’s not what Jesus had in mind” --Erwin McManus

What is the Gospel

Dallas Willard has given probably the most simple definition of the the Gospel I know:

"Two words, Trust Jesus. Trust him for everything, not just what happens when I die. "

The very first "apprentices" of Jesus were invited to be with him. They watched and listened to what he did and said. Then he would say, "Now, you do it."

I'd Ignore That Sermon Too!

It doesn't matter how great your sermon is.

As long as the what you have to say is perceived by culture as judgmental, unhelpful and irrelevant, people will ignore you.

Seth Godin points us to a story in the Washington Post. (World-class violinist plays for hours in a subway station, almost no one stops to listen.)

He writes, "The experiment just proved what we already know about context, permission and worldview. If your worldview is that music in the subway isn't worth your time, you're not going to notice when the music is better than usual (or when a famous violinist is playing). It doesn't match the story you tell yourself, so you ignore it. Without permission to get through to you, the marketer/violinist is invisible."

I meet people all the time who believe in God. They pray often. They want to develop their spirituality. But they quit going to church somewhere along the way because of a bad experience. Not because of theological reason, because of a relationship reason.

They would say, "I don’t have a problem with God. I just don’t like church people. There were some church people once who treated me like …" You fill in the blank.

My theory is this: I think most people  would love to have a real relationship with God. I just think the church hasn’t helped very much!

Lot of guys who do what I do feel like their primary responsibility is to educate people on what’s in the Bible. Their idea of spiritual development is all about learning a lot, memorizing information, and knowing how to work your way through scripture. They’re very good at pointing out wrong, majoring on minors, and keeping preoccupied with the church calendar.

The result is that it’s easy to get the idea that a good Christian is someone who knows a lot, but not necessarily loves a lot.  Somewhere along the way, we just decided to be smart and knowledgeable and dogmatic. Somewhere along the way we decided that we were “right”, which means everybody else was “wrong” and we needed to treat wrong people, um, “wrongly!”  Our history as Christians is full of it, and it’s grieving!

The number one enemies of Jesus were biblically the smartest guys around. Jesus was constantly saying to them, "You’re not paying attention to what you’ve memorized and what you teach everybody else."

And unfortunately, all over this country, (maybe you’re one of them) people have missed God because of the people who were supposedly representing Jesus.

Maybe Seth doesn’t know he’s a preacher, but he has the right message: "I don't think the answer is to yell louder. Instead, I think we have an opportunity to create beauty and genius and insight and offer it in ways that train people to maybe, just maybe, loosen up those worldviews and begin the trust."

If you've had that bad experience, Jesus would say to you, "I was misrepresented to you, because the one thing that will mark a person who is truly a follower of mine is not what they know, and not what they say, and not their church membership, or even a practice in their private lives, … its how well they love other people!"

I know. It sounds simplistic, but if you simply love people well through genuine acceptance, practical help, and personal sacrifice, you earn the right to be heard. Kindness unlocks the door of the heart.You will pleasantly surprise people, which is the first step of building trust ... "I wasn’t expecting that!"  That's when the life-changing message get's through.

When people of Indianapolis encounter the people of Heartland Church, I long for them to say: "If this is what God is like, then I want to know Him." Suddenly, what previously was irrelevant becomes a place where you’d have to bar the doors to keep people from coming.

Day 5: Let it go already

I hate it when the "Christian" channel is doing their spring telethon.  It's like watching something you don't want to see, but it's so shocking you can't turn it off. Loree is always on me to turn it off ... for some reason I just sit there and shout at the screen. "No way you just said that!" No way you just twisted that verse of the Bible completely out of context. No way you're just so weird. Do you have to do your hair like that?" No wonder I cring sometimes when people ask, "So, what do you do for a living?"  Yes, I'll admit I've lied on more than one occasion. Sheesh.

Then I come again to a familiar passage in our journey through Philippians. I've been reading the Message paraphrase to get a fresh perspective.

Philip. 1:15-18 (Msg) 
    It's true that some here preach Christ because ... they think they'll step right into the spotlight. But the others do it with the best heart in the world. One group is motivated by pure love, ... wanting to help. The others ... are merely greedy, hoping to get something out of it for themselves. Their motives are bad. ... So how am I to respond? I've decided that I really don't care about their motives, whether mixed, bad, or indifferent. Every time one of them opens his mouth, Christ is proclaimed, so I just cheer them on!

He's right. That helps. God is the only one who can transform a heart. And he uses broken, fallible, sinful people like me to get the word out.

A few weeks back this lady comes up and says, "Oh thank you for saying ________ ... it's like you were talking to me. I'm going to get back on my walk with God again."  Now I'm saying to myself, "I never said that. Where did she get that from? Tuning in XM or something?"

That has happened to me almost every week. I guess God is talking to people, they hear what he wants them to hear and filters out the rest.

So keep on preaching Christ, Christian network. Way to go! (I'll try and relax.)

Great Friday

We call it "Good Friday."

About 800 years before Jesus appeared on the scene, the prophet Isaiah wrote these words:

Isaiah 53:3-12 (NLT) 

He was despised and rejected—a man of sorrows, acquainted with bitterest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way when he went by. He was despised, and we did not care. Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God for his own sins! But he was wounded and crushed for our sins. He was beaten that we might have peace. He was whipped, and we were healed! All of us have strayed away like sheep. We have left God's paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the guilt and sins of us all. He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth. From prison and trial they led him away to his death. But who among the people realized that he was dying for their sins—that he was suffering their punishment? He had done no wrong, and he never deceived anyone. But he was buried like a criminal; he was put in a rich man's grave. But it was the Lord's good plan to crush him and fill him with grief.”

As you read you can’t help but wonder at those last words, "the Lord’s good plan?” Good? How could anything about that plan be good? Keep reading the passage …

Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have a multitude of children, many heirs. He will enjoy a long life, and the Lord's plan will prosper in his hands. When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied. And because of what he has experienced, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear all their sins. I will give him the honors of one who is mighty and great, because he exposed himself to death. He was counted among those who were sinners. He bore the sins of many and interceded for sinners.

"Sinners?" That’s me. That’s you. But the word doesn't sit too well with most folks. "I’m not perfect, but 'sinner' is taking it too far. I'm a pretty good person. Lighten up."

For most people growing up, a sin was on a list of bad things not to do. There were categories. Some were worse than others. Some were off the charts bad, a mortal sin. Some you could get forgiveness for if you did some penance. Other sins weren’t so bad, you could offset by doing good deeds.

Somewhere in the Bible it says, the heart is desperately wicked, no one can know it, not even ourselves. That's why we can be pretty deluded about it. If we say we never sin, we’re only fooling ourselves, refusing to deal with reality. Long before I ever "did" a sin, the sin was in my heart.

Isaiah’s words are prophetically true today. All of us have gone astray and everybody’s doing their own thing.  The message of our culture is do what you feel is right. We want to call the shots. "It's my life and I'll do what I want. Don’t tell me what to do."

Sounds fairly confident. Yet it's amazing how most people are afraid of God. If you're standing around talking with a bunch of friends and you bring up God, all of a sudden they freeze up. They get nervous. Why? It's because somehow intuitively they know that the relationship between them and God is broken. They may not understand it but they feel it. 

Ever felt a wall between you and another person? There was this impenetrable barrier. But it came down in an instant when the other person said, "I am so sorry. I was wrong. Will you please forgive me." And in that humble moment, the wall just dissolved.

Hear the cry of Jesus from the cross, "Father, forgive them. They don’t know what they are doing."

Forgiveness flows from the cross of Jesus. It is so complete that it tore down the wall (imagine a 12-inch thick oriental rug) in the temple that separated the holy of holies and the rest of the world was ripped in half, torn in two, top to the bottom. God invites sinful, unholy people to come to him just as they are.

Psalm 86:6 says, "God is good, ready to forgive."

The goodness of God is found in his forgiveness. He doesn't need to forgive me. I don't deserve it. He could be judgmental. But in his goodness, he gave it to me. This is the really good news.

God's love for you and me was prophesied before we were even born. God was at work pursuing a relationship with us. And though we have gone astray, God laid our punishment on His Son.

"God demonstrates His amazing love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

I think it should be called "Great Friday!"