It was a non-descript white envelope from someone I’d never heard of. June was going through the mail and offered to toss it, but I remembered it did have first-class postage on it. I opened it expecting yet another offer to help me with my mortgage (I don’t even have one!) or something like that. Turned out it was a settlement from a class-action suit. I’ve gotten those before, too, usually in the amount of $10.00 or so.

Not this one: it was a check for more than $1400.00!

I expect the low-key approach results in a lot of these being thrown away. That’s why the check expires in 6 months.

I wonder how many opportunities we miss when the “packaging” isn’t what we expected?

The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (John 1.43 – 46, ESV, emphasis mine)

For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, “He has a demon.” The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, “Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!” (Luke 7.33, 34, ESV)

The Pharisees answered them, “Have you also been deceived? Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him? But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.” Nicodemus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them, “Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?” They replied, “Are you from Galilee too? Search and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.” (John 7.47 – 52, ESV)

I recently wrote two blogs on the importance of works: one from James 2 – What we do matters! and a follow-up: Obedience in the Flesh, in which I observed that some folks seemingly try to get out actually doing anything because it might be perceived as “works righteousness” or “obedience in the flesh.”

I was talking with a pastor friend the other day, and he had a wonderful response to one of his members who was worried about “works righteousness.” Aaron said:

It’s not works righteousness; it’s righteousness at work!

The scriptures are clear. Here’s Ezekiel talking about the new covenant that quite clearly includes Spirit-empowered obedience:

And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. (Ezekiel 11.19, 20, ESV, emphasis mine)

It’s that time of year when the sports media are hyping the upcoming College Football Playoff: Who’s In?

I just read a sermon by Tim Keller: The Sin Against the Holy Spirit that speaks to this important issue – not with respect to football, but the Kingdom of God.

It’s a very powerful sermon, and I encourage you to read it in its entirety. (If you have trouble with the above link, try this one.) Without getting into all the details, I want to highlight that Dr. Keller observes that Jesus warned religious leaders about blaspheming the Holy Spirit. In general, Jesus reaches out to both religious leaders and “sinners:” Nicodemus (John 3) versus the woman at the well (John 4). All the good people around, and Jesus talks with Zacchaeus (Luke 19). The Luke 15 parables, directed at the religious leaders who didn’t appreciate Jesus spending time with “sinners” on which I wrote a series of five blogs.

Dr. Keller observes:

Jesus Christ calls them both in. In every case, the faster one, or sometimes the only one, to respond, is the irreligious person. – Tim Keller

We don’t understand salvation by grace. Navigator author Jerry Bridges often wrote: “Preach the gospel to yourself every day.” This is what is actually wrong in our churches that the Atlantic article is pointing out. 

In addition to there not being enough disciple-making and teaching in churches— enough to counteract all the teaching people are getting through tv, talk radio, and podcasts—many of us in churches believe we’re better than other people. If poor people only worked as hard as I do, they wouldn’t be poor, etc. It’s always “us/them” “inside/outside.” Keller reminds us:

Jesus Christ came and redefined the kingdom of God. What was that redefinition? First of all, he himself came in weakness and in love and in service, which was not at all what they were expecting. Second, he said the real problem is not Rome, the problem is the sin and evil in all of your hearts, the “good” people and the bad. And finally, he said, therefore, it’s not the good people who are in and the bad people who are out; it’s the humble people who are in and the proud people who are out. – Tim Keller, emphasis mine

He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 18.9 – 14, ESV)

I don’t often try to take pictures of the night sky – I just don’t have the equipment for it. But a few days ago, we were eating dinner, and the view out our window was a conjunction of Mars, Venus and the new moon. It was breathtaking, and as they sunk lower on the horizon, the moon started to glow orange. I couldn’t resist trying:

³  When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers— the moon and the stars you set in place—
⁴  what are people that you should think about them, mere mortals that you should care for them? (Psalm 8.3, 4, NLT)

The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. (Psalm 19.1, NLT)

Some of you long-time Ewellogy readers may remember the story of my friend in Haiti Dr. Lucner Pierre. The blog “Let’s See What God Will Do,” published almost exactly two years ago tells the exciting story of Lucner leading a number of Christians into a voodoo village stronghold. It’s worth the read.

Lucner has just written a personal note, and I pass on his message without alteration:

Things are highly difficult in Haiti right now. We have a gas shortage that causes almost everything to be dysfunctional (bank, hospital, radio/tv station/market/schools etc) in the country. Price of everything including food turns to be high. Gangs takes control and causes an unprecedented insecurity in the country. The 17 kidnapped missionaries are still the hands of the gangs. We don’t know what to do in the country right now. This is the worse time we have seen since the embargo around 1991. Please, keep us in your prayer list, and ask other Christian brothers and sisters to pray for us as well. – Dr. Lucner Pierre, pastor in Haiti

Please pray with me for Haiti…

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. (1 Timothy 2.1, 2, ESV)

But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. (Jeremiah 29.7, ESV)

It’s important to remember that God values warriors. Consider:

• God is referred to in scripture as a warrior: But the LORD is with me like a mighty warrior… (Jeremiah 20.11, NIV)
• One of the last pictures we have of Jesus is as a warrior.

Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. (Revelation 19.11 – 14, ESV)

• Many of God’s key men were warriors:
  • Abraham led his men on an armed mission to rescue Lot. (Genesis 14.11 – 16)
  • Joshua was a general who led a series of campaigns to capture the promised land.
  • Gideon (and most of the judges) led the Israelites to conquer their oppressors.
  • David, of course, was a warrior demonstrated first in his defeat of Goliath. (1 Samuel 17.31 – 49)
  • A significant chunk of scripture is devoted to Davd’s mighty men. (1 Chronicles 11:10 – 12:22)
  • The first recorded Gentile convert was Cornelius, a Roman centurion. (Acts 10)

I’ve been challenged in adult Sunday School classes about being “too military.” But I don’t write this stuff…I just report it! If God didn’t value warriors both for what they do and for the fact that warriors remind us of spiritual warfare, God wouldn’t have devoted so much space to honoring warriors. Here are some snippets of 1 Chronicles 11:

• He wielded his spear against 300 whom he killed at one time.
• He took his stand in the midst of the plot and defended it and killed the Philistines. And the Lord saved them by a great victory.
• He wielded his spear against 300 men and killed them.
• He struck down two heroes of Moab. He also went down and struck down a lion in a pit on a day when snow had fallen. And he struck down an Egyptian, a man of great stature, five cubits tall. The Egyptian had in his hand a spear like a weaver’s beam, but Benaiah went down to him with a staff and snatched the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with his own spear.

Those were some tough men!

This is a day to honor all the men and women who have served and are serving in our armed forces. God bless them.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. (Ephesians 6.10 – 13, ESV)

Do you want some good news from the Atlantic article? Here’s my take: suppose someone is on the outside, an unbeliever, a subscriber to The Atlantic, and they’re reading this article which confirms everything they ever thought about Christianity…BUT, who wrote the article? And who is quoted in the article? Christians! 

Some people and churches may be getting it wrong, but there are some among us who know what the true standard is and advocate for it. There were a lot of issues in the churches in Revelation chapters 2 and 3. Of the seven, only one had no problems. But Jesus, through the apostle John, called them out. 

The problem is not with Christianity. The problem is with how it’s practiced. 

What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar, as it is written, “That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you are judged.” (Romans 3.3, 4, ESV)

And, as always, no points just for talking. Peter Wehner, the author of the Atlantic article, the people he quoted, me for quoting them, and all those churches, for that matter: we all have to put it into practice. 

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. (James 1.22, ESV)

I’ve been sharing a few thoughts from a provocative article that appeared in Atlantic Magazine: The Evangelical Church is Breaking Apart. The first two blogs talked about the intolerance of some people in many churches toward any message of social justice, despite that the Bible has a huge emphasis on it.

Today, I’ll look at what the article gives as the root of the problem, and it will be no surprise that I latched on to this part of it.

“What we’re seeing is massive discipleship failure caused by massive catechesis failure,” James Ernest, the vice president and editor in chief at Eerdmans, a publisher of religious books, told me. Ernest was one of several figures I spoke with who pointed to catechism, the process of instructing and informing people through teaching, as the source of the problem. “The evangelical Church in the U.S. over the last five decades has failed to form its adherents into disciples. So there is a great hollowness.”

This is a classic case of building the church (read, buildings, bodies, bucks) without building the people. This despite the fact that, as my Navigator friend Ron Bennett writes:

Jesus said, “You make disciples (Matthew 28.19). I’ll build the church (Matthew 16.18).” We have it exactly backward. – Ron Bennett in The Intentional Disciplemaking Church

The Atlantic article goes on to point out:

“Culture catechizes,” Alan Jacobs, a distinguished professor of humanities in the honors program at Baylor University, told me. Culture teaches us what matters and what views we should take about what matters. Our current political culture, Jacobs argued, has multiple technologies and platforms for catechizing—television, radio, Facebook, Twitter, and podcasts among them. People who want to be connected to their political tribe—the people they think are like them, the people they think are on their side—subject themselves to its catechesis all day long, every single day, hour after hour after hour.

On the flip side, many churches aren’t interested in catechesis at all. They focus instead on entertainment, because entertainment is what keeps people in their seats and coins in the offering plate. But as Jacobs points out, even those pastors who really are committed to catechesis get to spend, on average, less than an hour a week teaching their people. Sermons are short. Only some churchgoers attend adult-education classes, and even fewer attend Bible study and small groups. Cable news, however, is always on. “So if people are getting one kind of catechesis for half an hour per week,” Jacobs asked, “and another for dozens of hours per week, which one do you think will win out?”

I agree wholeheartedly with these observations. Moreover, it’s not just “teaching” that people need, it’s training. Theology, yes, but also skills: how to spend time with God, how and why to memorize scripture, how to share one’s faith in the world we live in today. Churchgoers are often told either implicitly or explicitly: just give us an hour on Sunday morning, and experience life change! It doesn’t happen like that. Not in the Christian life, not in any other endeavor. My kids will tell you that I told them more than once, “Real skill takes real time.” I played a round of golf the other day with a friend who used to be an excellent golfer. But right now, “used to be” is the appropriate term. He said, “I’ve got to play more than nine holes a month if I expect to get my game back.”

Dr. Jacobs, quoted above, went on to say:

That’s not a problem limited to the faithful on one side of the aisle. “This is true of both the Christian left and the Christian right,” Jacobs said. “People come to believe what they are most thoroughly and intensively catechized to believe, and that catechesis comes not from the churches but from the media they consume, or rather the media that consume them. The churches have barely better than a snowball’s chance in hell of shaping most people’s lives.”

And the media not only teaches content but also behavior, looping us back into the problems we discussed the past couple of days. For example,

The root of the discord lies in the fact that many Christians have embraced the worst aspects of our culture and our politics. When the Christian faith is politicized, churches become repositories not of grace but of grievances, places where tribal identities are reinforced, where fears are nurtured, and where aggression and nastiness are sacralized. – Peter Wehner, emphasis mine

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ. (Ephesians 4.11, 12, ESV)

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. (2 Timothy 4.1 – 4, ESV)

Yesterday I began to discuss the message of The Evangelical Church Is Breaking Apart by Peter Wehner, published by Atlantic Magazine. Yesterday, we looked at what was happening at McLean Bible Church in the Washington, D.C. area.

The article goes on to say that what’s happening at McLean Bible Church is happening all over:

“Nearly everyone tells me there is at the very least a small group in nearly every evangelical church complaining and agitating against teaching or policies that aren’t sufficiently conservative or anti-woke,” a pastor and prominent figure within the evangelical world told me. (Like others with whom I spoke about this topic, he requested anonymity in order to speak candidly.) “It’s everywhere.”…The aggressive, disruptive, and unforgiving mindset that characterizes so much of our politics has found a home in many American churches. – Peter Wehner

Then Peter makes this astute observation:

The root of the discord lies in the fact that many Christians have embraced the worst aspects of our culture and our politics. When the Christian faith is politicized, churches become repositories not of grace but of grievances, places where tribal identities are reinforced, where fears are nurtured, and where aggression and nastiness are sacralized. – Peter Wehner, emphasis mine

You don’t need a seminary degree to know that such behaviors are not Christ-like, that believers ought to be able to associate with people with whom they disagree on certain issues. Jesus’ original twelve were very diverse, including Matthew, a former tax collector, and Simon the Zealot who would have been violently opposed to tax collectors. The Chosen, Season 2, Episode 3, captures an imaginary argument among the disciples, mainly provoked by Simon Peter who also wasn’t thrilled to be in the company of a former tax collector.

I would have said in Wehner’s paragraph above that “one root of the discord…” There is another root, which the article itself discusses, and about which I’ll say more tomorrow. Stay tuned.

So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. (Philippians 2.1 – 4, ESV)

Welcome with open arms fellow believers who don’t see things the way you do. And don’t jump all over them every time they do or say something you don’t agree with—even when it seems that they are strong on opinions but weak in the faith department. Remember, they have their own history to deal with. Treat them gently. (Romans 14.1, MSG)

Atlantic Magazine has just published a very thought-provoking article that articulates some of the themes of this blog. I’m going to take a few days to look at some of the highlights of The Evangelical Church Is Breaking Apart by Peter Wehner. It’s long, and I encourage you to read the article in its entirety – each link in this paragraph goes there: one on Atlantic Magazine’s site and the other a copy on my site.

Why does the author – an Evangelical Christian himself – say the church is breaking apart? Because people’s politics is trumping (no pun intended!) their Christianity. The article leads with controversy over David Platt’s leadership at McLean Bible Church in Virginia:

Platt, who is theologically conservative, had been accused…by a small but zealous group within his church of “wokeness” and being “left of center,” of pushing a “social justice” agenda and promoting critical race theory, and of attempting to “purge conservative members.”

I like David Platt, who has made an honest attempt to make church something more, in his words, than “a performance at a place with programs run by professionals.” He has also, apparently, attempted to make the members aware of God’s concern for the poor. For example, Isaiah quotes God as saying:

Is such the fast that I choose, a day for a person to humble himself? Is it to bow down his head like a reed, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the LORD? “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? (Isaiah 58.5 – 7, ESV)

David Platt wrote (long before he became pastor at McLean Bible Church):

Every Sunday we gather in a multimillion-dollar building with millions of dollars in vehicles parked outside. We leave worship to spend thousands of dollars on lunch before returning to hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of homes. We live in luxury. Meanwhile the poor man is outside our gate. And he is hungry. In the time we gather for worship on a Sunday morning almost a thousand children elsewhere die because they have no food. If it were our kids starving, they would all be gone by the time we said our closing prayer. We certainly wouldn’t ignore our kids while we sang songs and entertained ourselves, but we are content with ignoring other parents’ kids. Many of them are our spiritual brothers and sisters in developing nations. They are suffering from malnutrition, deformed bodies and brains, and preventable diseases. At most, we are throwing our scraps to them while we indulge in our pleasures here.”
― David Platt, Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream

But to preach too much of this at his church is to get himself accused of being “left of center” and “pushing a left-wing agenda.” And being perceived “left of center” is a bad thing…why? Because it violates some people’s conviction that “real Christians are right-wing.” I’ve written about this issue before and explained that no party has ALL the elements of early Christianity.

David Platt’s church’s story is just the beginning of the article. Stay tuned.

If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. (James 2.15 – 17, ESV)

But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. (1 John 3.17, 18, ESV)