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It is amazing to me how much of Christianity's identity has been skewed from its spiritual agenda and been focused on a lesser political or social agenda. I read a great article in Newsweek regarding the decline of Christianity in America (www.newsweek.com/id/192583 ). No matter how you slice it up, this is a regrettable situation we find ourselves in as evangelicals. Nonetheless, every Christian should be quick to listen to much of the article's points regarding Christianity's place with in our American culture. While not agreeing with every point mentioned in the article, I do believe their is much insight for evangelicals today as we continue to fight the good fight!

With the political shift that has taken place in the past six months, you would think that election was the cause of the decline is Christianity in America. Might I suggest another more logical reason. Jesus always had a suspicion of the governing authority. They had the ability to corrupt even the most naive of associates, but in the past thirty years, evangelicals have put almost their entire stock into the political system that now seems to have chewed us up and spit us out. What a surprise! Maybe one party, (not to name one) used us in some way to aid their political aspirations? Sure, there have been some strides in our "Christian" interests in Washington, but largely our "agenda" has been left untouched. Does this mean that Christians individuals should not participate and vote their values? By no means, that is beauty of our political machine, but beware when we associate divine authority with one political party or another! Power has the uncanny ability to corrupt!

But there is a larger problem I want to put my finger on. It has to do with our goals. Certainly, we want to see our culture maintain moral stability, but is the political system the way to do it? Which came first, the chicken or the egg? In other words, maybe we have gotten it backwards. Legislating morality for a society does not have a lasting effect, evidenced in the rescinding of the Stem Cell research ban. Maybe the church needs a new cause...or maybe reclaim a very old cause. Biblically, mankind is on a path to complete corruption. Though this corruption is presently realized in each individual heart, it is further realized in time through the cultural values as it is lived out in individuals. In other words, changing peoples morality is a band aid. It is a quick fix, rather a temporary fix. The church is charged with displaying the glory and majesty of God and bringing people back into their original creative focus. Only reckoning people to Jesus Christ who will change their hearts will in turn change a people's behavior. Even then it takes time. The problem in our country is not a behavoral problem, it is a heart problem and it is as old as the world.

The church needs a new cause...A Gospel cause. We need to raise up parishioners who will be missionaries for the this great cause. As we change the heart of people with the Gospel, we will change the behavior of the people thus change the values of the people. So why are we putting so much stock into politics? Maybe the politcal shift will allow (or free up) Christians to be the church rather than just "do" church. Who needs it anyway, we have a better plan. Read your Bible!

I have had the privilege to minister to some families who are going to through some trials. As I result, I want to give a shout out to my peeps Kenny and Debbie. As I was reflecting on the past week, some questions came to mind. When bad things happen, is it a sign that God has left the building? In other words, does God release us to the spiritual forces of this world to have their way with us? I think it depends on what you know about God and his unchanging character.

First, those whom God has set his saving gaze upon are His no matter what happens in our lives. Even when we stray from time to time, we rest in the fact that God sustains those whom He loves. This does not mean that we can "get saved" and live like hell the rest of our life. That is just foolish theology and it lacks biblical warrant. Paul dealt with this in Romans when he asks "shall we go on sinning so that grace may abound? By no means!" If we are truly His, that is, if we have truly tasted of the sweetness that is in Jesus Christ and now see Him for all his supreme worth, then He will lead us and steer us back onto His ultimate plan for our lives and we will see the fruit that accompanies righteousness. On the other hand, if salvation is just a "free ticket" to heaven and a "get out of jail free" card from hell, then we have grossly missed the point of salvation which is "WORSHIP!"

But does that answer our original question? No. At times, genuine believers stray but we are assured the presence of God is sustained by His disciplining of us. If we see no mark of God's discipline in our lives (which all red blooded believers should), then it is likely that God is not working at all. Take the "Christian" or "church" that teeders along from year to year and never sees any problems or challenges but rather just exists. Is the lack of trials an indication that God is blessing those people? By no means, it may prove to be just the opposite. Maybe God has left them to their own vices!

Yes, God sometimes chastises those whom He loves so as to show us HIS true plan, not what we planned for our life! So when the unexpected comes and God still accepts the challenge to deal with His hardheaded people, oh what blessings there are to come! This does not mean that every time something bad happens, we should see it as God's hand coming down on us. In fact, in the story of Job, we see just the opposite. What I find interesting is what the "friends" of Job perspective was during his trials? In their cock-sure "humility" they thought "surely Job had some sin in his life that is causing such calamity!" God blows this perspective out of water. In the New Testament, Jesus and His disciples came across a blind man from birth. Was it his sin or his parents sin that caused this blindness. Neither! God just wants to demonstrate His glorious power for all to see with wonder how he makes some people worshipers! Jesus promises us that those who are His WILL experience trials. Paul understood this reality all to well. Maybe we in the western church are getting soft? Just a thought.

Grace and Peace!

Over the past several Sundays, we have been taking our church through a series emphasizing our core values as a church. Particularly, the past three Sundays have been dedicated to cultivating a missional mindset. No matter what you think about this term, whether it is over used or sounds too "trendy", the word has deep biblical roots. The pattern of Scripture for personal evangelistic witness was that of going to where the people are and connecting to their mindset with the hopes of bringing them to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. This means that "evangelism" is just living the Gospel and sharing the truth of it transformational power through our lives and witness. Particularly, this past Sunday I shared the necessity of living among the people and doing life with them before we make them our "conversion project." There is nothing that gets me more convicted than some misguided efforts or programs to bring people to the Gospel. Let me try to explain.

There are several ways Christians have been taught to "evangelize" their friends, neighbors and family. One way is the "cold call." This type of effort is based purely on the masses. One may walk up and down a street and engage people with the Gospel. A church may have a neighborhood outreach and knock on doors to share the Gospel. Let me make sure I am clear about this, there is nothing inheritly wrong with this model. I have participated in it myself. The challenge I see is that the personality of the emerging genertion that stands before us. Over the past two generations (the generation X, millenials and who knows what names are coming next), there has been a trend of a large scale abandonment of the church and its message. As a student pastor, I recognize that a large part of this exodus is due to a lack of a cohesive parental discipleship model that should be fostered in churches. I am convinced that this is the big culprit in the exodus. The challenge is "what do we do now?" We have generation of jaded 20-35 year olds who have left the church because they saw a lack of consistency between what they heard in church and what they saw in real life whether at home or otherwise. This generation will largely reject such methods like the "cold call" because it lacks a sense of care and authenticity. They see it as a manipulation ploy to fill the church pews (or chairs is you are more progressive).

Another way is the "invite them to church" method. I am all for people inviting others to church. I am a pastor and love to see new faces on Sunday mornings, but what I love more is the story that are told by our members as they faithfully loved their friends and neighbors as they built collateral with them to bring them to church. The challenge with this method is that we assume people have a positive view of the church. We assume that "getting them to church" will fix them. We assume that if we can get hooked and cleaned, they will be ok. What we have just done is treated them like a freshly caught trout! Even in the Bible Belt where I serve, the culture is changing. The transiant nature of our culture brings new faces with new cultures to Nashville all the time. Many of those cultures have a reserved view (at best) towards institutionalism, particularly the church. But there is another problem with this method. Bringing people to church is not really evangelism. Some how the idea has been spread that "if I can just get them there, everything will be alright." The pastors will pick up the ball and "get em saved." That is sad in my mind. People get invited all the time to churches only to be dropped by the person(s) who invited them shortly after that.

I believe with all my heart a truly worshipful service can be one of the most missional environments we can involve people in, but that is secondary to the real purpose of corporate worship which is to adore Christ! The body of Christ adores Christ meaning that the worship service on Sunday is more about the believer than the unbeliever. The response time is also more about the believer than the unbeliever. Walking an isle and praying a prayer is not what salvation is all about. Salvation is about saving the "whole" man. Yes, people must make the initial decision, that is the just the tip of iceberg. That decision does not, and maybe should not, happen in an emotional environment like a worship service. [NO HE DIDN'T JUST GO THERE!] I can't tell you how many people have told me that they made an emotional decision not a "head and heart" transaction! If we recieve a new convert during a worship service, that is fantastic, but I try not to present them until he/she has had some time to internalize their decision. [head and heart transaction]

Living as a missionary and committing to love our friends and neighbors is not pretty. It is often messy. It often puts us in uncomfortable positions where unbelievers can see our scratches and scars. It takes time! Some may say that we risk them dying and going to hell with your methodology. I say that risk is there either way because if all we do is call for people to "make a decision" with out letting them see it in our lives first, they may make a pseudo-decision which could be more detrimental in the long run! My God is in control of every footstep that I make. It is not our jobs to "get em saved" or "get em down isle", it merely to be a glorious reflection of the glory of God for the purposes of the Gospel! If I am willing to love at all costs and sacrifice with out seeking personal gain, my God will anoint my steps!

To God be all the glory!

As most of you know, one of my hot button issues for the church is the mysteriously missing reality of "doing life together." Let me define what I mean by this phrase. When a church does life together we mean that a church is a group of people who gather for the purpose of being God's people. We are broken and flawed individuals looking for meaning and purpose and live life with people who are just like us...broken. We are all marred by the sin and none of us are excluded. All of us are capable of the most grievous sins but none of us are beyond the reach of God to restore us. This is the first ingredient in the mixing pot of a church...Forgiveness.



Unfortunately, there is some misunderstanding when it comes to forgiveness and its place in a biblical body of believers. Let me try to explain. Forgiveness exists because sin does! When sin is present in the life of an individual and in turn is present in a church, it muddies the waters of biblical community, particular when that sin has hurt the members of that fellowship. Does this mean that a hurting groups of believers can not forgive a person their sin? Absolutely not. I was reminded this past week that Jesus told Peter that you must have an attitude of forgiveness (remember the 70x7 story). Here is the question for us to answer. When is it appropriate for that person to regain a "good fellowship" standing with that body of believers. The answer is when that person is able to recognize the extent of their sin and take complete responsibility for it. When a person is "disfellowshiped" for their actions they are the responsible party in rebuilding the relationship with trust and integrity. They must be willing to submit to the wishes of that fellowship until such time as healing has occurred.



The church or fellowship has the responsibility to continue the process of restoration and seek that for the individual in question. They must admonish him/her to flee the temptation of applying the "woe is me" mentality. I wonder if you know what I am getting at here? Satan will creep in the hearts of the already wounded and finish his destructive work by allowing that person to feel that they are getting kicked when they are down. This will deflect the responsiblity of their sin in another direction and pushing that person to think self centeredly about their situation. Only truth and transparency can heal a person or persons after the onslaught of sin!



When a church can sift the dangerous waters of pain and suffering together and protect the unity and integrity of its fellowship, that is when the church is ready to do God's work!



For His glory!

With the recent challenges that have been thrust upon Providence Baptist Fellowship in recent weeks, I have found myself busier than usual and unable to put the time into maintaining this blog as I would like. I wish I could go back and relate to you the joy that I have experienced in being one of the shepherds at PBF and the incredible encouragement and support I have been given during this period. I also wish I could recount all the various truths that I have learned during this time as well. If you will allow some foolishness on my part, I would like to make an attempt at such.



Lesson 1: Indispensability of Truth

It is no small truth to say that if "TRUTH" had not be steering the ship at PBF, then we would folding like a paper airplane on a trash compactor. (I told you it would be foolish) I say all this to say that Truth always exposes error and light always dispels the darkness. I am thankful for God's Revelation in His Word which has been guiding our congregation over the past several months let alone the past 3 weeks. Some in our world today like to act is if "Reason" is the highest of aspirations for humanity. What a wasteful and absolutely ridiculous use of intellect. The existence of knowledge presupposes a source for such knowledge. Unyoked from its divine source, knowledge is futile and dangerous. I am thankful for a church that loves Truth.



Lesson 2: Indispensability of Truth Seeking

When a church chooses to call it quits in revelatory discovery, it calls it quits in world engagement. Sadly, this is story of many churches in our day (even in my own denomination). The people of God are called to ever seek deeper and more insightful connections with the Almighty. I quiver when one comes to me and says, "I know what I believe and I have believed it for 30 years." I am sure you have heard this refrain as well. It is right to be confident in what you believe. I am surely not calling us to be insecure in our faith. What I am calling for is a humility in a search through the whole counsel of God. That is, the 66 books of the Bible are the providential givings of God to His people so as to continually grow in their understanding of the Almighty.



Lesson 3: Indispensability of Christian Community.

The most meaningful part of my Christmas vacation was the time spent with my brother's small group at our home in Virginia on Christmas eve. My brother has been given the task of caring for a group through his church in Lynchburg, VA. Some of his "flock" could not travel home for the holidays so he invited them to have a meal and fellowship with our family on Christmas eve. I saw a picture that night of what the church should look like. I am experiencing that kind of community with various members of my own church but long to see it become an ever present reality through out the entire body of Providence Baptist Fellowship. Much of Christian fellowship in our day revolves around fried chicken and church programs. There is scarce amounts of Biblical hospitality present in the church today. What streams of evangelism would be opened if we opened all of lives, scars and all, to the lives of those with whom we worship and those whom we wish would worship with us!



These are just some food for thought! Selah!

It has been a difficult week for my beloved church. We had to see a dear friend in ministry resign because of moral failure. It has saddened us greatly. For those who don't know our history at Providence, we are a new church that started after a painful seperation from a mother church which for all intensive purposes would not be led. Some now are asking the question "WHY?" Why did this happen? Did we listen to God's voice? Should be have left? Is God in this? There is anger and there is sadness, but I believe we must look for joy in the sorrow!

These questions are not easily answered, but I will try to bring some hope in light of this great tragedy. First, the Bible is clear that all men are hopelessly corrupted by sin. Save the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit, man is capable of the grossest embodiment of sin. This should not lead us to think that a saved mean or woman is not capable of sin. That would be foolish. It simply means that men are capable of "Hitler" sized sin. This should bring us great pause and instill in us a deep sense of humility.

Second, we should not measure the corpus of a man's life through the siv of his sin. Again, that would be foolish. We are all found in rebellion at times and should remember that all sin is measured equal in the eyes of God. So to say that all the work of any man or woman is wrong because they are found in sin is unbiblical and arrogant. God is grieved, but never taken off guard.

Third, we should not question the outcome of a man's leadership because of his failure. God is capable and will use the failures of man to unfold his perfect plan. How could Jesus have chosen Judas and not known he would betray Him. Was God mocked or surprised? Surely not! No, God was working sovereignly the entire time and He will continue to do so in our time. To deny this is to believe that God is not intimately and sovereignly involved in the lives of men!

I don't know about you, but I am ever more amazed by the mysterious strong hand of my God each and every day.

To God be the glory!

With the onslaught of demanding seminary work, my time has been limited in posting, but I ran across this article from our friends over at 9 Marks and got a hearty chuckle out of it...enjoy!

By Mike McKinley
Show me a grown man with a goatee and I’ll show you a major league baseball player. Show me a grown man with a goatee wearing sandals and I’ll show you a youth pastor.
When I was a kid, I remember that the youth pastor at our church was totally different than any other pastor I’d ever seen. He quoted rock bands and wore blue jeans to church. He was cool in a way that the other adults in my life were not. I was proud to invite my friends to church and see their negative stereotypes of Christians get blown up. The youth group thrived and "unchurched" kids were reached. The one thing that distinguished our group from others was that our pastor was cool.
As the youth pastors and youth of the 1990s become the head pastors and congregants of the 2000s, it seems like the phenomenon has only grown. It is now an unexamined assumption in many quarters: the best way to reach people is to be like them. In order to reach our culture, we must embody what the culture defines as acceptable and valuable. We must be as "cool" as we can possibly be while still retaining the gospel. That way, people will see us and not be turned off by us. Maybe they’ll even want to be us.
This shows up in both the private lives of pastors (you missional guys, I’m talking about you and your emo eyeglasses) and in the church’s corporate worship, where we seek to remove everything that might seem foreign to the unchurched visitor.
In some ways, I think being connected to the culture around us is helpful. But there are ways in which a commitment to being cool can ultimately conflict with the call of a pastor. As the resident cool guy on the 9Marks docket (which is roughly like being the ladies’ man at a Star Trek convention—damning with faint praise), here are a few thoughts:
1. Being connected to the culture is a double-edged sword.
In a sense, we all carry a set of unique interests, talents, characteristics, and strengths around with us. These can both serve the proclamation of the gospel and hinder it. So, for example, yesterday the copier repairman stopped by the church which I serve. He is a young guy who is into cage-fighting. We built a connection over that fact (one of the guys in our church also does MMA—mixed martial arts), and he was pleasantly surprised to find that a pastor could be heavily tattooed.* I shared Christ with him, and he asked for a Bible. Score one for enculturation.
But there are other ways that my appearance might be a hindrance to the gospel. I have been sharing Christ with a strict Muslim man that I see in the sauna at the gym once or twice a week. We have built a friendship and talked about spiritual matters quite often. I have little doubt that the fact that I have a large weasel tattooed on my bicep does not make him more attracted to the faith. Score one for not having tattoos. This is why I wear sleeves on Sunday mornings. In one situation my ink serves me well; in another it can make things more difficult.
2. We must always be on guard against pride.
How much of a pastor’s desire to be perceived as cool or connected to the culture is motivated by vanity or pride? Knowing the depth of our depravity and self-deception and pride, we must examine ourselves. Am I motivated to dress a certain way or listen to certain music for good reasons? Or does part of me at least want to avoid being the butt of Ned Flanders jokes? We must beware that our quest for cool doesn’t feed the vanity and pride which we need to be choking to death every day.
In fact, I fear (and here I am speaking from what I see in my own heart) that oftentimes we are at least partially motivated to reach people by pride. How much of our desire to be cool is a desire to reach people, not only for the gospel, but also for our own glory? Here’s a diagnostic question for everyone who is a pastor: if the Lord called you to shepherd sixty uncool saints until they were safely home, with no spectacular revival or ministry explosion, would you consider that beneath you? Would it seem unworthy of your gifts and a waste of your life? If so, you are being motivated by pride.
3. Much pastoral ministry is profoundly uncool.
Don’t sign up to be a pastor if you want to sound reasonable to most people or if you want to affect a cool detachment from people and ideas. The preaching of the cross is foolishness and a stumbling block to your average art community hipster. We must love the Savior more than we love the respect of others.
Also, the ironic detachment that cool requires finds little place in the work of a pastor. At times, you must be embarrassingly earnest and enthusiastic. You must love difficult and extremely mockable people with a real and true love that never seeks a laugh at their expense. You need to cry with people when they suffer unspeakable tragedy. Much of being a pastor is profoundly uncool.
4. We must never despise our brothers and sisters.
There is a real danger in becoming so puffed-up over our freedom in Christ to wear black t-shirts that we begin to look down on the Ned Flanders-style Christians who love the Lord and have served him faithfully for years. In fact, it may be that the Lord is more pleased with their humble walk (though not as sophisticated) than he is with yours. The fact is, love for other Christians is a hallmark of a true believer (1 John 2:10). Even more it must be the mark of a pastor. We have more in common with a believer in Myanmar and a believer in Duluth (even if they don’t know a pilsner from a stout or Operation Ivy from Crimpshine) than we do with the people we’re trying to reach for Christ.
The fact is, we can’t choose who will be in our flock, nor should we try. Should churches go after the "manly man" with gimmicks and mocking disdain for the average wussy church going guy? If I read Ephesians properly, the church should consist of all kinds of people: cool and square, macho and sensitive, punk rock and emo. Frankly, in my experience a sensitive guy who is not trying to be cool is about ten times more likely to fit the biblical profile of a man, even if he doesn’t ride a Harley and watch contact sports on television. Pastor your people, thank God for the diversity in the body, and love people who aren’t like you.
5. With a few exceptions, Christians who try to be cool are terrible at it.
When I was in middle school, a well meaning youth worker attempted to perform what came to be known infamously in Radnor Junior High School lore as "the Jesus rap." These were the earlier days of hip-hop, and the genre was still trying to find its sound. Well, this youth worker, a slightly pudgy white guy of about 28 years, put the effort back ten years in five excruciating minutes. I later came to find that this well-meaning man hadn’t written this material himself (thank heavens!) but that it was later recorded as part of a song called "Addicted to Love" by a man named Carman.
The point is this: not many Christians can pull it off. A few can, but you probably can’t. Seriously, ask your wife. She’ll tell you the truth. Don’t try to be something that you’re not for the sake of impressing unbelievers. It’s bad theology and it will fool no one. It’s this kind of thinking that has gotten us Christian rock music. Please, stop it. No, really. Now. I insist.
6. Being like the culture can make it hard to see the gospel.
The more we understand the world (and its definition of what is compelling and cool), the less attractive we should find it. In fact, in a society that is increasingly morally and spiritually bankrupt, it may be our incongruity with the culture that serves to highlight the gospel. David Wells says this much better than I could in his book God in the Wasteland:
By this late date, evangelicals should be hungering for a genuine revival of the church, aching to see it once again become a place of seriousness where a vivid otherworldliness is cultivated because the world is understood in deeper and truer ways, where worship is stripped of everything extraneous, where God's Word is heard afresh, where the desolate and broken can find sanctuary [emphasis mine].
Let’s pray that our churches recover that quality of vivid otherworldliness, even if it is not cool.
The conclusion of the matter is this: be who God made you to be. If you lean hipster, run with it. Be a hipster to the glory of God. If you lean in another direction, that’s great too. But Christ must be central to all who will pursue the calling of a pastor. That means putting to death our pride and scorn for others who are not like us. That means evangelizing across the boundaries of taste and preference. In the long run, it might even mean that we’re not cool.


Michael McKinley is the pastor of Guilford Baptist Church in Sterling, Virginia, and the 9Marks lead writer on church membership.
* If a member of my church is reading this and just got a shock, sorry about that. But take comfort, the fact that I have tattoos is nowhere near the worst thing about me!