Relevance Revealed -- Ecumenical, Eccentric or Eclectic?

Friends,

I put these thoughts together over the past few months...yet, I thought it was a timely time to post them since this is a subject that has come up a couple of times recently in discussion. I have been amazed at the similarity of thought that I have encountered in many conversations with church leaders recently -- shepherds, deacons, preachers and others who have come to the realization that "something has to give in the brotherhood"...and particularly in relationship to the question of relevance. There are churches all across the state, the country and the world that are struggling with the question of relevance. In relationship to relevance, some churches choose to go a different course than "the norm" altogether. Many times, young families either seek to change or leave their current situation or leave the fellowship of the churches of Christ altogether because they recognize that the churches where they worship are no longer relevant to them or to the community around them. Many of these Christians begin anew with new method principles, traditions that are more in line with their spiritual and cultural needs. The danger for a lot of these fellowships is ecumenism. They are willing accept any doctrine (without discernment) as long as it is not narrow-minded (which is their one caveat). This is admirable in some respects…as a fresh start and approach minus the negative aspects of the previous situation can be a good thing. However, some become arrogant (purposeful) or ignorant (unwitting) in their presumption that they can change doctrine and still be acceptable in God's sight. These people go too far, "throwing the baby out with the bath water" (so to speak), doctrinally (and even spiritually) in seeking to be relevant, all while engaging in their new methodological practices. These groups may be relevant culturally, but not so Biblically. They often sacrifice doctrine for superficial growth. The "I'm okay, you're okay" approach to theology just doesn't work the same as it does with psychology ;-). There must be a respectable balance Biblically and methodologically in order to be relevant in the eyes of the Lord. Too many of these types of churches are theologically shallow, tickling itching ears (milk, but no meat) in order to grow quickly and gain status. Yet, so many of them are a house of cards... and when the trials come and there is no genuine Biblical foundation, they fall apart. We see an example of this with the religion of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 3. He called for his followers to worship according to his secular, state religion that had many followers, but was not God-fearing or genuinely spiritual. Ultimately, it collapsed, as have so many other ambitious religions throughout history. The Athenians (Acts 17:21) were admonished for a mindset whereby they seemed to accept many things without discernment. The church at Laodicea (Revelation 3:14-22) had become enamored with their wealth and culture at the expense of spirituality and we know the outcome of the message...rejected by the Lord.
Another group is the eccentric...those who have no tolerance for any change whatsoever, but who insist that they themselves and others hold strictly to their particular set of beliefs. For the eccentric, the church should be precisely the way that it has been for 30, 50 or 100 years. Unity respects the mindset that we can be (perhaps even vastly) different in our thoughts, opinions, and practices, while remaining Biblically true and still be in fellowship with each other. Eccentrics believe that everyone must virtually think alike, practice alike, be alike -- not only doctrinally, but methodologically, as well. This may be uniformity, but it is not unity. This mode of operation is far more fear than it is faith in its inability to delineate between doctrine and methodology. It has been well-stated in other places, that there is no room for any type of philosophy or thinking that could be just as Biblical -- if not more so -- but does not fit the status quo or "party line." These churches are also guilty of tickling itching ears, but with the working principle being..."your message had better be in agreement with what I already believe (traditionally, doctrinally)." These groups generally fracture until only those who can truly tolerate one another and are willing to be in agreement with the unique uniformity mantras of that particular congregation remain. Concerning resistance to change in every respect, the irony is that change does happen in these places, as change "changes" them anyway...and so it has been proven over and over, usually to the point of obscurity, or death. Of the two perspectives related to relevance, this latter perspective has been by far the most prevalent in our particular fellowship...as well as in other denominational groups. The Judaizers (culturally Jewish Christians) who were continually troubling Paul (as did the Jewish leaders with Jesus) fully believed that they were right and holy. Yet, their arrogance in relationship to their "theology," and resulting blindness to the Lord's will and leading, was their undoing. As Paul continually affirms his apostleship in 2 Corinthians, he also indicates that those who opposed his teaching and authority would have the same reward as the unrepentant Pharisees. The church in Ephesus (Revelation 2:1-7) had a strong Christian name and reputation at one time, but they, like Laodicea, were severely lacking...having forgotten their First Love.
The final perspective is related to groups that are eclectic. These people are able to be discerning in and of themselves so as to be able to challenge long-standing traditions and other church "cultural phenomena" so as to see whether their methodologies are helping or hindering their ability to be relevant for Christ to the communities in which they reside. They are able to do this in a way that does not sacrifice genuine Biblical authority, although they are often accused in such matters by "eccentrics." The "ecumenics" think that nothing (or that perhaps, everything) is sacred and everything can be challenged, Biblically, whereas the "eccentrics" believe that any methodological change is always going to lead down a "slippery slope" to changing doctrine. The eclectic is able to discern the difference and the balance in relationship to those things that are matters of doctrine, matters of opinion and matters of method. The eclectics are those who are able to be the most relevant to the community because they are the most balanced and are able to make the necessary methodological changes in order to be relevant without making the expensive and tragic mistake of sacrificing doctrine. The "eclectics" are like those in the fellowship of Christians at Philadelphia (Revelation 3:7ff) who apparently were able to discern and understand the times and the culture that surrounded them. They were able to be persevering, holding to the Word without sacrificing the Spirit, open to the Lord's leading so that He could use them in mighty ways to spread His message and bring people to Christ. Eclectics understand and choose the best right doctrines and methods, being open-minded, typically, and open to the leading of the Lord in ways that may be out of their "comfort zones," but are willing to do so because it is the right spiritual thing to do. This requires a lot of faith and courage, but as these people come to understand, these virtues are their own reward. Eclectics do not see "fellow followers" who are different from them as the enemy...neither do they have to be in "full" fellowship with them. But, in the spirit of Christ they are able to positively encourage those who are like them and those who are different from them spiritually and doctrinally to try to get to the same place -- the heavenly home. (See Mark 9:38-40). Food for thought.

Don

Close Encounters

Friends,

If you have an imagination :-), you can see two dots up at the top of the above picture taken a few years ago. This is the last time that the planets Venus and Jupiter appeared close together in the night sky. If you get out your binoculars or small telescope, you will be able to see this same celestial event again the first of February, only a whole lot bigger than the above pic. Having the two brightest planets in the sky plus the four largest of Jupiter's moons all in your field of vision is a nice sight. So, give it a look in a week or so and enjoy!

Don

Memory King

Friends,

Okay...the brief I read in the regional paper today falls under the category of -- amazing. As the story goes, Jaime Serrano of Colombia recited from memory random sections of pi for hours. He stood in front of a screen at a university in Madrid and recited sections to 150,000 decimal places! What??? How on earth...and I thought the spelling bee kids were amazing. I would want him on my team if involved in a game of concentration. Just chalk this up to one of those cool happenings that garners mass attention (like the falling cow from Manson, WA :-). Have a great day.

Don

Sports Desert

Friends,

This two week period in January is what I call "the sports desert" (for me :-0). (Yes, this is all a gripe :-). There is no NFL (except the SB media blitz), no NCAA football, no MLB, no NASCAR, thankfully there is some golf and tennis (although it is a little hard to get too excited about either of these on a regular basis). No, I am not a huge basketball fan. As stated before, I will follow the Sonics -- wherever they end up. I do not care much for NCAA basketball except at tournament time. So, we wait.....until February and then things get exciting again. Bring on the Super Bowl and the Daytona 500, and then all becomes well with the sports universe, once again. Also, in case you had not noticed, by declaring my favorites (of recent posts), I have been giving the "kiss of death" to some of my teams -- the Cowboys, the Packers (both done in by the Giants)...and even the WSU men's basketball team lost to UCLA the day I wished them well. Unfortunately, this has not been a good trend. I anticipate that things will turn around at some point, but before they do, I would like to say -- go Giants. ha ha. Take care and God bless,

Don

Frozen Tundra

Friends,

As one of my favorite ESPN fellows, Chris Berman, likes to say..."they are playing on the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field." In the case of this weekend's NFC Championship Game -- really! The high for Green Bay is supposed to be 4 or 5 degrees, with wind chills to well below zero. The last time our family was dealing with these kinds of temperatures, we were living up in Dryden in the pear orchard and we had over a week of single digit and below zero temperatures. Fun stuff! I couldn't keep a car battery alive and the diesel fuel in the tractor plow was so gelled that there was no way to get it started. Thankfully, there was no snow. So, if anyone wonders why we moved to Texas, in part, it is because of temperatures and experiences like these mentioned. I don't do single digit temperatures anymore (unless it is by some total fluke of TX nature or visiting WA for the winter holidays), and I am happy to say so. :-) So, for the folks on the tundra, I hope you like frozen cheese...and go Packers.

Don

When We "All" Get To Heaven

Friends,

This past Sunday, if you were keen of eye, when the song "When We All Get To Heaven" flashed by (which I had to cut out because I was out of time and did not want to prolong an already "wonderfully expanded" song service), the title in the lower left hand corner -- not placed by me -- said "When Most of Us (Christian folk) Get To Heaven." Now, while credit must be given to the clever individual who produced this, it must also be noted that this is probably a more theologically accurate description of humanity (and even those claiming to be Christian) in relationship to the song than the original. Universalists believe that "all believers" -- or practically everyone -- will get to heaven. Jesus indicated in "the Sermon on the Mount," "the story of the sheep and the goats" and in "the parable of the sower" that universalism, or, "all who believe" will make it to heaven...is not accurate. Those who are planted in the good soil, the sheep and those who enter through the narrow gate will make it. Those not in the good soil, the goats, and those who try to enter through the broad way...will not. This is not easy to accept, but the Lord will ultimately separate those who claim to be Christian and are so in name only from those whose lives are dedicated to Him as Lord, Ruler, Master. While watching Rick Atchley's video concerning heaven last evening, he pointed out that one of the giant killers for some "believers" is pride. Everyone believes that they are going to go to heaven -- many good people -- but most of these folks are not committed to Christ. Even amongst the most hateful, evil people in the world, somehow, they believe that their final resting place is going to be with God or Jesus (or both) in heaven. Pride! We have to ring out the truth concerning our Lord and Savior and quench the self-deception (lovingly, of course) -- we cannot accept the false gospel of universalism...as tempting as it may be to want to believe it or accept it. We can only know Jesus and discern His will for lives (and for humanity in general) through humility. If we claim Christ and yet are "universally" living for self, it simply will not work. While no one is perfect, Jesus expects for us to be submissive to His will and the will of His Father first and foremost in our lives -- He has to be Lord. When we seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, then heaven will be ours.

Don

UFO

Friends,

Disclaimer -- contrary to popular belief (which I have heard from a number of people now), I am NOT responsible for the UFO over Stephenville...even if I did start working there for CTCC the same day that this object showed up in the skies. I am publishing the accusatory information from two loved ones concerning this matter just so that you can also see and understand that all of this simply is not true --

#1. Imagine my surprise when the lead story on Studio B with Sheppard Smith dealt with the sighting of an unidentified flying object over Stephenville, Texas. Knowing that you were in town today I surmised that what they saw was in reality a ray of God's sunshine reflecting off the sparsely covered head of a newcomer to the community. The report went on to say that military jets were seen chasing the UFO. Of course, both Dyess and Sheppard Air Force Bases denied having any planes in the area. Why in the world would the USAF confirm that they were scrambled because some bald preacher was too proud to wear a hat?

#2. So, how fast were you driving through Stephenville over the weekend? Nice to know you'll be working in Looney-Land. Beam me up Scotty!

Okay...now it's my turn. Now, while I am not saying that I completely dismiss the notion of the existence of UFOs, there is always an explanation...and it is not related to my head or my car
;-). (Although, a friend of mine used to say that the shekinah, or the glory of God, has been seen residing on the pate of bald men in our day and time). The Air Force has said that they have had nothing going on in the area -- right! This was obviously some ill-advised flyby by some "rookie" pilot in a new-fangled stealth bomber that is capable of hovering --or -- it is the chariot of the Lord as described in the book of Ezekiel. Either way, it would be very cool (especially the latter!). So, whatever you believe...(and much of the country seems to believe) this all started in some guy's field in Dublin -- not Stephenville. (Just to clarify) Take care.

Don

Not So Cool

Friends,

This was a was a bad weekend for our favorite football teams. Unfortunately, both the Cowboys and Seahawks were retired until Spring ball. Now this is a good thing for people from NY and Wisconsin, but if your heart and life is WA and TX...it becomes, go Mariners and Rangers(?). Actually, we will still root for the Patriots as they are Kim's team. Have a great day.

Don

For Those in the Chill

Friends,

A shout out to some of our WA friends. It has been in the 50's with spikes to the 70s some days ;-). The WSU Cougars men's basketball team is having a superb season. They are undefeated, ranked #4 in the nation and 14-0 at this point, having beaten USC last night. They have a tough upcoming task against UCLA. I hope they keep making Mike proud. Also, for any of you bowlers out there -- and you know who you are (Kal :-)...just keep practicing, because I will be back for a rematch sometime. So, be ready! Thanks to Toby and Curt for helping with our house...Lord willing it will all be fulfilled soon. We miss you all and hope to be back for a visit before too long. Take care and God bless,

Don

The Distraction of Contempt

Friends,

Keeping ourselves pure is a worthy and daily pursuit. We need to be submitting to the Lord continually in order to be gaining spiritually and not losing the battle of the mind. The temptation to spite and be vengeful is great from time to time. This passage by Oswald Chambers from My Utmost for His Highest is a helpful reminder about leaving things with the Lord.

Don

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What we must be aware of is not damage to our belief in God but damage to our Christian disposition or state of mind. "Take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously" (Malachi 2:16). Our state of mind is powerful in its effects. It can be the enemy that penetrates right into our soul and distracts our mind from God. There are certain attitudes that we should never dare to indulge. If we do, we will find that they have distracted us from faith in God. Until we get back into a quiet mood before Him, our faith is of no value, and our confidence in the flesh and in human ingenuity is what rules our lives.
Beware of "the cares of this world…" (Mark 4:19). They are the very things that produce the wrong attitudes in our soul. It is incredible what enormous power there is in simple things to distract our attention away from God. Refuse to be swamped by "the cares of this world."
Another thing that distracts us is our passion for vindication. St. Augustine prayed, "O Lord, deliver me from this lust of always vindicating myself." Such a need for constant vindication destroys our soul’s faith in God. Don’t say, "I must explain myself," or "I must get people to understand." Our Lord never explained anything – He left the misunderstandings or misconceptions of others to correct themselves.
When we discern that other people are not growing spiritually and allow that discernment to turn to criticism, we block our fellowship with God. God never gives us discernment so that we may criticize, but that we may intercede.

Oswald Chambers

BCS

Friends,

College football's Bowl Championship Series has about wrapped up its annual offerings. The BCS Championship is set for Monday evening pairing one-loss Ohio State against two-loss LSU. Most of the BCS games have been drubbings with USC clobbering Illinois in the Rose Bowl, Georgia spanking Hawai'i in the Sugar Bowl and West Virginia trouncing Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl. Yet, last night underdog, and one-loss, Kansas defeated a solid Virginia Tech team in a close game. Some observations -- if I were commissioner (aka ruler :-) of the BCS, I would not have disrespected Kansas so much and would have had a one loss Kansas playing one loss Ohio State in the National Championship. But, few outside of the state of Kansas wanted to see them play in the Championship...but they did earn their way this year, even if they were not in their conference championship (overrated). Hindsight is always 20-20...not many expected Kansas to beat Virginia Tech (except for me and few other goof balls ;-). Also, a matchup pairing USC and Georgia at some point would have been a great game for the Rose Bowl, perhaps. The Pac 10 still likes to pair up the traditional #1 in their conference against #1 in the Big 10. But, Ohio State played the spoiler by ascending to the National Championship game, so Big 10 #2, Illinois, played in the Rose Bowl, and they were a dog. Missouri should have been in the BCS mix somewhere. If the BCS is going to get some good pairings besides the National Championship, the Bowls are going to have to loosen up their affiliations so that a USC--Georgia match-up could be possible. The Championship should be interesting, but I hope that one day that there will be a playoff, 1 through 8 where its 1 vs. 8, 2 vs. 7 and so one. You could even have a +1 game after the first round of pairings where you have the two best teams (if this could be determined) coming out of the playoff to play for a Championship. It's a nice dream anyway.

Don

P.S. On a football related note -- go Seahawks!

Flying Blind

Friends,

As we were traveling to East Texas the other day, we encoutered something unusual. Just before arriving in McGregor, I saw a truck ahead of us going the other way. He had a large cargo, although I could not tell what it was. As he drew closer, I could see that it was a tall deer blind. All of the sudden as he was about to pass us, it lifted up out of the back of his truck and crashed to the road just ahead of us on the other side of the highway. Since he was going 60+, it tumbled and was destroyed. I sure as day do not know what he was thinking by not securing it and I was thanking the Lord that it stayed in his lane and that no one was following him -- it would have been a bad scene. Nevertheless, whenever I think of an airplane flying only by radar, I will have a new thought in mind in relationship to flying blind. ha ha.

Don