Mar 19 2013

Nuggets of Fudge – Reflections on Temptation (3)


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What was so enticing about the temptation that led to the “original” sin? Surely there is nothing that attractive about apples, or pomegranates, or whatever the center tree in Eden bore. Delectable taste does not compel such high-risk behavior. Nor does food–however beautifully presented. Nor does the prospect of nutritional benefits whether in mind or body. No, the key to this compulsion, the trigger to this temptation, is found in the name of the tree itself: it is the tree of “knowledge” of “good and evil.” “Knowledge” here is Hebrew idiom and refers to knowing based on personal experience. In the longer phrase here, it is experience in making independent moral decisions, which is the Hebrew usage of the expression “good and evil.”

Adam and Eve are not self-existing. They are created beings, wholly dependent on God for existence and for everything else that is good. Because he made them, God knows what is good and what is not. The only open question is whether the dirt-critters will take God’s word on that subject (and by doing so, accept his role as Creator), and accept their own reality as totally dependent creatures. Will they let God be God or will they insist on deciding for themselves what is”good”? We know how that went. And, whatever can be said about the effect of Adam’s sin on us, we all went right in step behind them at that crossroad when our own turn came.

Satan started with a simple question: “Did God say . . .?” Then came the serpentine spin: “God is actually jealous of his position,” the devil explained, “and he is threatened by your likeness to him. If you eat the fruit, you will become all-knowing and will not need him to tell you what is right and wrong.” Eve bought the tale, Adam knew better but went along, and the rest is history. The last verse of chapter 2 says that the man and woman were naked but unashamed. “Naked” is literally “slick.” The first verse of chapter 3 says the serpent was more subtle than any other beast. “Subtle” is also literally “slick.” Three slick characters. Too slick for their own good, as it turns out.

In Romans 16:17-20, Paul urges believers to avoid the same error made by Adam and Eve. Paul’s language is packed with figures from the Garden of Eden. Beware evil teachers, he says, who serve their own “appetites.” By “smooth talk and flattery” they “deceive” the minds of naive people. Your past “obedience” is well-known and a cause for joy. Continue to be content with “wisdom” about what is good. Remain “innocent” about what is evil. Soon the God of peace will “crush Satan under your feet.”

By Edward Fudge, visit his website for many, many written resources.

 

 

Mar 11 2013

Why are churches of Christ in decline?


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First, let me be quick to say that churches of Christ are not the only brand
that is in steady decline. The largest evangelical denomination, Southern Baptists, are too in decline with a several year drop in baptisms year after year. However, there is little comfort in the fact we are not alone. I doubt that a person just diagnosed with cancer is comforted when he finds that several others have it too.

In the past several months there have been dozens of blogs and other articles addressing the decline of evangelical church membership and several have been particularly focused on churches of Christ. So I’ll add one more voice to the chorus of voices concerning the downward spiral of our churches and the people who attend them.

The volume of blog posts, magazine articles, books and lectures that suggest reasons and solutions is huge. Should our churches be more user-friendly? Is allowing parishioners to “dress down” on Sunday morning one of the pieces of the puzzle. Maybe a better, more attractive website will help. Will a praise team, or even a band position us to better appeal to young people? Is our lack of community service the missing link? If we begin in earnest to “serve” our community, will that attract more members? And of course, a slick Power Point presentation must accompany every Sunday sermon. Everyone knows that! Maybe we should find what unchurched people find appealing and provide that. After all isn’t our mission to address their needs?

In the last few weeks I have surveyed hundreds of church websites to try to get a feel for what Sunday sermons are focused on. And, just last night I scanned perhaps two hundred sermon topics listed in various church “Gospel Meeting” announcements and past meetings. And guess what I learned? Of all the “Gospel Meeting” lesson topics, of scores and scores, I found 4 or 5 that might have been focused on the good news about Jesus and what he accomplished for sinners. Oh, there were good things to be sure. Most were lessons on marriage, rearing children, the importance of the Bible, the church, and much about ethics and morality. Unity, elders, Restoration history, and others also got a lot of coverage.

Sunday sermons covered most of those same topics but primarily focused on personal disciplines like prayer, Bible study, loving others, community service, giving, and many other noble and worthwhile subjects.

We have a gospel deficit

I was both shocked and saddened when a few weeks ago I asked this question in a thread of comments on the popular One in Jesus blog, “What is the gospel?” Some of the answers were “The life and teachings of Jesus”, “The New Testament”, and at least one that in essence said, “If you are baptized and live good enough you will be accepted by God”.

There is only one reason why long time members of churches of Christ don’t know what the “gospel” is, they have not been taught it. A cursory mention of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, or getting agreement that Jesus was the son of God cannot be passed off as gospel teaching. In my view a person who almost never preaches the gospel should not allow people to call him a “gospel” preacher.

Much of our history has been trying to get denominational people to accept our view of baptism and they way we do church on Sunday morning. A long time coc missionary once told me that our historic mission had been “correctional” rather than redemptive. I later learned that he did not coin that statement but nonetheless it was very true. What people everywhere need is not to be reformed but reborn.

Theistic moralism is not good news.

Many of us have the flawed idea that if we can get people to attend church regularly and improve their morals they and others will be helped. Maybe so, but they might still perish having never known Jesus. Yet, most of our teaching is don’t do these things but do these things. Pray more, study your Bible more, give more, love your wife more, spend quality time with your children, teach your children to love God and to be obedient, do acts of kindness, etc., etc. All of these are good but not best. A dead man does not need a better suit of clothes, or a better hair do, he needs life and there is only one place to get it.

You don’t sell Jesus like a vacuum cleaner

I have had many sales jobs and was not very good at most of them. The ones where I did best were the ones with the best training. I once sold Bibles door to door in the hills and hollers of rural Western North Carolina. When I knocked on a door I knew exactly what to say and when to say it. After my 3 or 4 minute presentation the person bought my Bible or likely felt guilty for not loving God and his Word. It was a slick presentation that highlighted the features of the Bible and then put a guilt trip on the person as motivation to buy. I don’t feel very good about that chapter of my young life but I did it.

A few years ago a church in a distant city (without being invited by anyone) decided that they would conduct a door knocking campaign in a small town to help the new coc there grow. In discussions with the leader of that group I learned quickly that the goal was to establish a church of Christ in the community. They did knock on doors and after a few days baptized I think 16 people. They were elated! Of those 16 people who were baptized I think perhaps about three of them ever attended a church service and even those didn’t stick around long. They were no more saved than a goose.

I was once asked to speak to a young man who wanted to be baptized. I asked him “Why do you want to be baptized?”. He replied “I want a better life”. I explained to him that baptism would not give him that result. I carefully told him the good news about Jesus, why Jesus died for him and that He alone was the answer to his two greatest problems, sin and death. He was uninterested and did not want to be baptized after all. Another time I spoke with a young couple who wanted to be baptized. When I asked them why they gave puzzling and rambling answers. I told them the good news the best I knew how and they seemed unaffected but still wanted to be baptized. Against my better judgement I baptized them and soon they were fighting like to angry cats, sleeping around, doing drugs and in general acting like sinners do.

We can’t beat the biblical model

Read Acts chapter 2 and following. Peter and the others were not preaching the church of Christ, or moral improvement, or water baptism, they were preaching the good news about what Jesus by his living, dying, and resurrection had accomplished for sinners. After Peter’s great gospel message the hearers cried out with convicted hearts “What must we do?” Do we do that? We should. We should preach Christ, explaining how he paid for our sins by offering himself as a sacrifice and absorbing God’s wrath against sin. We must not only preach the facts of the gospel of Christ but what those facts mean! In my view we should teach people the gospel and then shut up. If God grips their hearts and opens the eyes of their understanding they too will ask “What must we do?”. Then is the time to tell them about baptism and the disciplines of following Jesus. I’m not saying we should never mention baptism to a lost person but it should not be presented as the Savior instead of Jesus.

Why are some churches growing?

There are a variety of reasons why some congregations are increasing in numbers. Churches in large metro areas like Dallas or Charlotte of some other large population center will have many families because they are simply there. Let me ask another way. Why are there scores of transformed lives in some churches? Why are addicts and convicts and unfaithful husbands and all sorts of former sinners now happily following Jesus and telling others about what He has done in their lives? I promise you it is not because the music is better, or guests are greeted with coffee and doughnuts and …..you get the picture don’t you?

Churches that never get far from the gospel are very likely to grow.

Our purpose should be to preach and teach Christ, to make him known far and wide. Our ministry to our members should be to help one another to know him more, to love him more deeply, and to delight in Him as our only hope of a future. Our music should be gospel saturated, Christ centered. The cross of Christ should get far more press than the church of Christ. Men and women are not reconciled to God by what they do but by the blood of Jesus alone. Our members should know these things and know them well.

Paul said of the gospel that it is the “power” of God. The telling of what Jesus has done for sinners is it’s self the dynamite of God to blast into the most rebellious hearts. And he said the gospel of Jesus is of “first importance”. That means that every other thing in church life, no matter how good is is not as important and as necessary as the gospel. We must keep the most important thing the most important thing!

I suggest you preachers do a series on Jesus! Teach the gospel for several months, every Sunday. Better presentations, better programs, better books, and better looks are no substitute for the story of Jesus loving sinners so that he died for them. The gospel is just as important for our sanctification as for our initial salvation and it is because of the gospel that we will one grand day know glorification. Don’t neglect the good news about Jesus!

Churches that do not keep the gospel of Jesus first should not expect to be a church that grows.

Royce Ogle
Monroe, LA

 

 

Mar 6 2013

Thinking out loud about prayer


 

 

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The dustiest place in the home of most Christians is the prayer closet. It’s that special place of solitude where you can get away from the phone, computer, TV, and other distractions to talk to God. I’ll be first to raise my hand and say that my prayer life is wanting. What about you?

Of all the benefits the Lord gives to those who trust him is the invitation and encouragement to pray. So why don’t we do it more? I think it’s symptomatic of our lack of inherent good and shows our failure to trust God as we should.

So far as I know, prayer (asking God) is the primary way we creatures are to get what we need from the Creator. There are some very big promises given to those who pray! The best one is that God will answer! I have often said “Only those who pray get their prayers answered”, and it’s very true. If you develop the habit of going to God to ask for what you need, and even want, you are very likely to see results. Of course we don’t always get what we request in prayer for a variety of reasons, the most common is that we ask for the wrong things for the wrong motives. And, one thing is certain, if you don’t ask you will not receive an answer.

I believe that regular answers to specific prayers should be the usual experience of Christians, and not unusual. I am keenly aware of my spiritual limitations and the distance between where I am as a follower of Jesus and where I ought to be. I am far from being the best example. But you know what? God often answers my humble prayers. I could write a book about the many, many specific answers to specific prayers in my long life. I also had the privilege to observe my mother’s prayer life over many, many years. Her prayers were child like in that they were simply a child asking her father for what she needed.

My father died in the late spring of 2003. After dad’s death my blind mother lived alone for several years. Her remarkable prayer life seemed to become even more remarkable after dad was gone. When mamma needed a gallon of milk on a snowy night it never occurred to her that she should call a neighbor or one of her nephews or nieces,  not mamma, she simply said to God “Lord, I need a gallon of milk for the morning”. Perhaps 10 minutes later there was a knock on the back door. When mamma opened the door a neighbor (at about 10:00 p.m. in a snow storm) said to her, “I’m going to the store and thought I’d see if you needed a gallon of milk or anything”. Coincidence? No, there were far too many such answers to her prayers. It always seemed to me that the only reason she shared so many of those stories was that it was her opportunity to brag on her God!

The failure to pray is a first indication of a lack of faith. When you read the Bible it defies logic that a child of God would need something and not ask God for it. By the way, if you study the prayers of the Bible and all of the teaching about prayer in the Bible you will find that prayer is simply asking. If there is no asking there is no prayer. Many books and seminars, and even sermon series on prayer, often are not much more that a bunch of reasons why you should not expect clear answer to your prayers. Meditation on God and his word are good but not prayer. Thanksgiving often goes along with prayer but is not itself prayer. Confessing of sins is good and we ought to do it but it isn’t prayer.

Will you pray? As my friend  Dr. Keith Roberts titled his book, “God Waits for you to Pray“, and He does. There are many disciplines associated with Christian growth and moving toward maturity in Christ but in my opinion, most of them are futile exercises if you are not regularly praying.

Here are some suggestions.

  • God’s isn’t impressed with King James English. Just use your normal manner of speaking and vocabulary and simply ask God for what you need and want.
  • Regular and focused prayer will resolve many other issues such as personal sin, broken relationships, and allowing Jesus to be solely Lord of your life.
  • Pray the moment you think of something you should bring before God. Often when someone approaches me about praying for something I’ll do it right on the spot. I’ll either silently pray or more likely say, “Let’s do that now so I wont forget” and I’ll begin to pray.
  • There is nothing that expresses your utter dependence on God as well as praying.
  • God has everything you need, he loves you, so ask!
  • I admit, I don’t do this but keeping a prayer journal could be very helpful. Logging prayers and then seeing how God has answered is a faith building exercise.
  • Glorify God when he grants your request! Tell someone about his faithfulness!
  • Don’t pray to be heard by others. Be very careful, especially in public prayers, to be brief, to be specific and only pray to God. He doesn’t need to be taught a Bible lesson or preached to. He just needs to hear you ask for what you need.

Prayerfully,

Royce

Mar 4 2013

Nuggets of Fudge – Reflections on Temptation (2)


Why is sin appealing to us humans? As with many topics, the beginning place for an answer is found in the ancient stories preserved in Genesis chapters 1-3. The potentiality for temptation and for sin is inherent in the twin poles of our created nature. On the one hand, we are creatures, made of dirt. On the other hand, we bear the image of God. Try holding those two thoughts in your mind at one time.

God forms the first human from physical elements of the earth, in-breathes this creature with living breath, and calls it “adam”–Hebrew for “dust-person” (2:7). “Adam” is used later as a proper name for the first male human. But before it is a proper noun, it is a common noun for “them”–male and female alike, both of whom bear the image of God (1:27). What is God’s image in humans? Genesis is not specific, but it seems to include such traits as imagination, creativity, a sense of right and wrong, and various aspects of self-awareness.In another story, God takes a bone from the male human creature’s side and forms a female human creature.

Whatever heights dust-men may scale in this world, they cannot escape their origin. Made of earth, they finally return to earth again. Yet however tightly dust-man is bound to the earth, both she and he bear the image of God. Do we see the tension these two realities create? Do we feel the inherent struggle between our limitations and our glory? There is no doubt that we experience this struggle, but do we recognize it? Alone among created beings, we are made in the image of our Creator–surely holding promise (we think) of reaching a maturity that no longer requires God. Would God make us to imagine such a thing if it were not possible? It is a teasing question, but there is little humor in it.

We cannot even talk about our likeness to the Creator without acknowledging that we are creatures. And created beings did not exist until they were created. Every moment of our existence is the Creator’s gift. We can accept our creaturehood and embrace the glory of God’s image, or we can desire to be more than we are, more than we can be. But this requires declaring independence from God himself, an act that leads to our own destruction. Yet this is precisely what the human creatures do, as we see in the next gracEmail on this topic.

Words of truth and wisdom from my friend and fellow on the journey, Edward Fudge.