Off the Agenda

Church Membership? Yes

tavery@christianitytoday.com (Thabiti Anyabwile) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 08:05:55 PDT

Editor's Note: As we assembled our latest resource, Membership in the Congregation, we knew that formal church membership is an ongoing debate. We decided, then, to bring that debate to Off the Agenda. Below is one pastor's take on the issue. If you're interested in writing a response to Thabiti, please email us at BCL@ChristianityToday.com.

There's a new debate among today's Christians. Does the New Testament require, suggest, even hint at local church membership? Are Christians required to belong to a local church, or is it an option? And what does such belonging entail?

The New Testament knows nothing of a creature reborn through faith in Christ, baptized in identification with Christ, communing with Christ at His table, and not a member of a visible, local, identifiable congregation of other born-again baptized believers.

By "membership" I mean the way in which the individual is known to be intentionally committed to every other member of the congregation, and the congregation known to be committed to the individual. On nearly every page of the New Testament, local church membership is assumed.

For example, no one disputes that each Christian is a "member of the body of Christ." We all belong to the spiritual body of our Lord, united to Him inseparably as Head to torso. In that sense, "member" is a peculiarly Christian idea (Rom. 12:3–8; 1 Cor. 12; Eph. 4:11–16)—not an idea lifted from Rotary, golf, or ski clubs. But the Bible shows that this spiritual union gets worked out in local church membership with other flesh-and-blood believers.

Drive-through Church

tavery@christianitytoday.com (Tim Avery) — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 09:26:30 PDT

It's Friday. How about a parody video? The target—consumeristic attitudes toward church—is an easy one. Yet it's also an easy trap to fall into.

I'll admit to sometimes being like the character in the video whose excitement for church is influenced by who is preaching. Now if my excitement was fueled by a desire to be changed by God's Word, and I thought a certain person had a gift for opening the Word to me more clearly, then great! But it's often just a desire to hear a great speaker speak—a temptation that Paul saw in the Corinthians, leading him to avoid "clever speech" in his preaching (1 Cor. 1:17).

What's an easy trap for you? And thinking as a leader, how do you guard your church from acting like a fast food restaurant?

(Side note: I love to see people debate the divinity of Christ in the comments section of a YouTube video. Always great dialogue there!)

Youth Workers, You Too Can Understand Teen Culture

tavery@christianitytoday.com (Tim Avery) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 12:37:32 PDT

One ongoing challenge for youth workers is bridging the gap between their world and the world of the teenagers they serve. I was pointed to a useful resource for addressing this problem as I was working on our newest training tool, an orientation guide for youth pastors. I interviewed James Grout, a youth pastor with a lot of great insights, and he told me about The Center for Parent/Youth Understanding.

The organization was started by author Walt Mueller, and its website includes regular updates on teen culture trends, written for the benefit of parents, teachers, and youth workers. Grout calls it "an essential tool for youth pastors."

So youth workers, tell us, how do you try to keep up with what's being thrown at your teens (besides stalking them on Facebook)? Is there someone else out there doing what Mueller is doing?

Explainer: Religion

tavery@christianitytoday.com (Drew Dyck) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:05:55 PDT

You've heard it a thousand times. Heck, you've probably even preached or taught it: "True Christian faith is a relationship, not a religion." Religion is shown to be stifling, soul-crushing, and destructive.

I used to nod piously at such sentiments, but lately I've begun to wonder whether or not the "R" word really deserves such disdain. Let's take a closer look at this embattled term.

Merriam-Webster offers a succinct definition: "The service and worship of God or the supernatural."

Dictionary.com is more expansive: "A set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, esp. when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs."

Book Corner: A Better Way to be Left Behind

tavery@christianitytoday.com (Brandon O'Brien) — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 10:59:01 PDT

I grew up in a large church (where my mom was on staff), and my closest friends in high school attended another large church nearby. I have a megachurch pastor in the family. I have seen behind the curtain.

Then during college, I served on staff at two small, rural churches. Today my wife is on staff at our mid-size suburban church. I have to say that, at the end of the day, I really prefer these smaller churches.

Ruth Tucker also prefers smaller churches. Her book Left Behind in a Megachurch World is billed in the subtitle—"How God works through ordinary churches"—as a tribute to the small church, which she calls the "left behind" church. Really the book accomplishes two things. First, it systematically deconstructs the theology, ethos, and appeal of the megachurch movement. Second, it demonstrates through Tucker's reflections on her own experience, theological insights, and spotlights on successful small ministries that "smaller churches bear the greatest mantle for Christlikeness" (from the back cover copy).

BlogSpotting: Time Management for Leaders

tavery@christianitytoday.com (Tim Avery) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 12:55:14 PDT

One of my colleagues recently pointed me to the blog of Barry Werner, whose background includes serving as director of operations for World Wide Pictures at the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. In his entries, Werner has been walking through the Old Testament and considering how different leadership principles are represented in the passages he reads.

One of his recent posts—which he relates to Numbers 33—addresses the issue of self-discipline. He's primarily talking about time management, and I found this line to be the most helpful:

The essence of self-discipline is to do the important thing rather than the urgent thing.

Armed Vigilantes and Church Security

tavery@christianitytoday.com — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 16:23:24 PDT

The reality of church shootings has led some congregations to use armed vigilantes—those with nothing more than a concealed-weapons permit—as security. In the video above, Richard Hammar, editor for ChurchLawToday.com and author of more than 100 books on church legal and tax issues, talks about the dangers of this practice and one viable alternative.

What security measures do you think are, or aren't, appropriate to use?

The Churchgoing Atheist

tavery@christianitytoday.com (Tim Avery) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 09:30:49 PDT

Why come to church if you don't believe in God? Robert Jensen is a self-described "Christian atheist" who just published a memoir, All My Bones Shake, about his experiences at church.

Jensen drew attention a few years ago when he wrote this article about his decision—perplexing, for Christian and secular folks alike—to become a member of a local Presbyterian church. The University of Texas professor said he "didn't convert in a theological sense but joined a moral and political community."

We could talk about how ridiculous it is for any congregation to affirm someone with Jensen's atheistic convictions as a fellow believer, but I'd be preaching to the choir here. (Speaking of which, Jensen was apparently even invited to preach one Sunday.) Instead, let's look at the most interesting line from Jensen's 2006 piece:

In a depoliticized society such as the United States -- where ordinary people in everyday spaces do not routinely talk about politics and underlying values -- churches are one of the few places where such engagement is possible.

Book Corner: Chasing the Blue Parakeet

tavery@christianitytoday.com (Brandon O'Brien) — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 10:47:03 PDT

For Scot McKnight, the title creature in his recent book The Blue Parakeet represents biblical passages (and personal experiences) that make us think all over again about how we are reading the Bible. For example, evangelicals tend to be fairly lax about resting on the Sabbath (whether we observe the right day is another question). Yet in the Decalogue God says, "Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy." Our task as Bible readers is to decide whether this is a valid command for today or a context-specific regulation that we can more or less ignore. How you answer that question says a lot about your understanding of biblical interpretation.

McKnight hopes his book will help us recognize that all of us pick and choose which of the Bible's commands apply to us and which ones do not. It's not a how-to manual for exegesis. But it offers insights into three foundational principles of biblical interpretation.

In the first section, McKnight identifies five approaches or shortcuts that cause Christians to misread the Bible. (You can read about those here.) McKnight's solution is reading the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, as a single story. Each of the 66 books in the middle serves as a wiki-story—an individual, unique retelling of this main story. This is a key principle for McKnight, because it helps us understand why some commands apply for all time and others don't (this becomes clearer in the example below).

3 Questions for Ben Lowe

tavery@christianitytoday.com (Rachel Willoughby) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 10:04:25 PDT

Ben Lowe is the author of Green Revolution: Coming Together to Care for Creation (IVP 2009) and a co-coordinator for Renewal, a grassroots network committed to equipping students in the compassionate stewardship of all of God's creation. Off the Agenda's Rachel Willoughby spoke with Ben about his work with the creation care movement and ways that churches can be involved. For more creation care ideas, check out this week's new resource, Growing a Green Church.

What advice do you have for pastors who want to lead their congregations to take better care of the earth?

I would say, "Be encouraged." I just came back from Flourish, a first-of-its-kind conference for church leaders on creation care. It was an inspiring and challenging few days. The pastors who attended are really trying to make a difference, but they're all at different stages of the journey with their churches. So, if you're trying to lead a congregation to care for the environment, you should know that there are others out there trying, too. You're not alone.

But more practically, I would recommend two things from my unique perspective as a young person. The first is preaching. I'm a missionary kid. I grew up as a Christian in a conservative family, but it wasn't until my freshman year of college that I first heard a sermon on why we should care for creation. Pastors can take a huge first step by studying what the Bible has to say about creation care and presenting it to their congregations, similar to what Tri Robinson did at his church, Vineyard Boise in Idaho.

BlogSpotting: For Worship Leaders, Finding the Right Key

tavery@christianitytoday.com (Tim Avery) — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 13:22:58 PDT

Worship leaders, have you ever realized in the middle of a song that you were taking an invisible set of pliers to your congregation's vocal cords? Well, I've been meaning to link to this post by writer/worship leader Bob Kauflin, which has some very practical suggestions for finding singing-friendly keys for your worship set.

Here are a couple of excerpts:

Slower songs with a narrow range (less than an octave) can work fine in lower keys because they don't require as much energy. So "Here I am to Worship" (range of a 5th) could be done in C, D, or E. On the other hand, uptempo songs naturally require more energy and people can often belt out the higher notes without a problem.

…

The widest range a song will go is usually an octave and a fifth, the same range as The Star Spangled Banner. In those cases, I opt for a range of G to D or A to E. Shout to the Lord is an octave and a fourth, so A is a good key, although it can also be done in Bb.

Pastor Tells Seekers How to Pick a Church

tavery@christianitytoday.com (Tim Avery) — Fri, 29 May 2009 10:29:03 PDT

In my Google News feed this morning, an article from an Illinois paper caught my eye: "How to choose a church -- Four suggestions for seekers." The piece is written by an outreach pastor and is apparently part of a recurring "Clergy Views" series.

Here are the pastor's criteria—in condensed form—for a church worth plugging into:

Integrity. "I would stay away from any church whose members claim to be perfect, just as I would stay away from a church where people's lives are not regularly being changed by the power of Jesus Christ."

Doctrine. "What they believe will determine what kind of church they are."

Friendliness. "If in a couple weeks, no one has made any effort to become your friend, move on."

The right fit. "Churches are like blue jeans. Some fit some kinds of people, others don't. You have to find the kind that fits you."

What Do Young Adults Think of Church?

tavery@christianitytoday.com (Tim Avery) — Wed, 27 May 2009 11:03:50 PDT

Our new resource this week is Outreach to Young Adults. In light of that topic, I went and found the above video, which was produced by the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada.

This 15-minute piece features a wide sample of interviews with young adults who either have had trouble connecting with the churches they've gone to or understand the obstacles faced by their peers. Midway through, they show a list of the top nine things their interviewees were looking for in churches:

Safe community

Authenticity

Mentorship

Passionate leaders

Interactive environment

Involvement

Relevant engagement

Intellectual challenge

Technology and Internet presence

Book Corner: Planting for the Future

tavery@christianitytoday.com (Brandon O'Brien) — Fri, 22 May 2009 07:01:25 PDT

I tend not to pay much attention to sensationalistic titles. The last thing we need, I figure, is another alarmist manifesto on how bad the world is becoming. And that's what I thought David Olson's The American Church in Crisis was before I took a closer look. Boy, was I mistaken.

Through fairly extensive research, Olson charts the life cycle of churches. He identifies common denominators between growing churches as well as similarities among dying churches. He explores when in its lifetime a church is the most evangelistic, when it becomes the most introspective, and when it begins to decline.

Olson also takes time to address changing sociological trends in American culture that present challenges for the church, including the shifts from Christian to post-Christian society and from modern to postmodern worldviews, and changing ethnic demographics.

Catalyst + Leadership = New Digital Magazine

tavery@christianitytoday.com (Tim Avery) — Wed, 20 May 2009 13:41:45 PDT

Our friends over at Leadership have teamed up with the folks behind the Catalyst conferences to start a new digital magazine for ministry leaders, Catalyst Leadership. The debut 31-page issue includes articles from respected voices like Francis Chan, Andy Crouch, and Andy Stanley.

Browsing through it myself, I was impressed by the slick interface. Of course, in spite of the great paper-rustling effect, it's not exactly like holding a copy of Leadership journal in your hands. But it can also do things a paper magazine can't—my favorite feature, for instance, is the video embedding. Watch an excerpt from a Francis Chan sermon and then, on the same page, read some questions for reflection. There's a lot of great, free content here, and the whole thing just looks really nice. Check it out here.