May I be worthy of respect, not double-tongued, not addicted to wine, not fond of dishonest gain, but holding the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. (1 Timothy 3:8–9)

Boa, K. (1997). Handbook to prayer : Praying scripture back to God. Atlanta: Trinity House.

May God grant me, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in my inner being, so that Christ may dwell in my heart through faith. And may I, being rooted and grounded in love, be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and height and depth of the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge, that I may be filled to all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:16–19)

Boa, K. (1997). Handbook to prayer : Praying scripture back to God. Atlanta: Trinity House.

Wikipedia defines agnosticism as “the view that the truth value of certain claims—especially claims about the existence or non-existence of any deity, but also other religious and metaphysical claims—is unknown or unknowable.”  This definition can lead to an interesting set of responses.  If issues of God and faith are deemed “unknown,” perhaps there is room left for one to seek, to ask questions, and to ponder the existence of God.  If they decide it is “unknowable,” then matters of faith and God are simply irrelevant on any practical level.

You may take this statement with a grain of salt seeing that I’m a pastor, but I think finding out truth on the existence of God is a monumental life-quest.  In fact, now that I can firmly say that I have encountered God, it is THE QUESTION.  This is why, while I whole-heartily disagree with atheism, I appreciate that one has taken the time and effort to draw some type of conclusion about God -and hopefully any good atheist will continue that questioning as much as I would expect any person of faith to.

Most agnostics, I believe, do not treat the truth about God as any priority to be sought after.  So while it is possible that one can call themselves an agnostic and still question the existence of God, I simply do not see it very often.  And while I would certainly welcome any and all people into our worship service on Sunday nights, these are not necessarily the one’s we’ve identified in our pursuit for “agnostics.”  What we are referring to is something that we have called “practical agnosticism.”  There are droves of people who say that they believe in God or even call themselves a Christian, but simply do not allow that identification to affect their lives in any meaningful way.  So on a practical level, it is as if the issues of faith and God are irrelevant to their lives.

You see, Christianity has always been more than checking the “yes” box to the question of whether God exists or not.  It’s also more than a social identifier.  ”Faith” and “faithfulness” are one in the same in the Greek New Testament.  Faith is faith-in-action; and it simply cannot be dismissed from everyday life.  Rather, faith is something to be experienced in a tangible way.  People don’t want to just hear that God exists from a preacher, they want to experience that existence.  Unfortunately, church’s all too often do not become the avenue to experience that reality.  A poll taken from young adults who have now left the church says that “God seems missing from my experience of church.”  Wow.

Now I believe that God is always chasing after every individual with God’s love.  So whether someone is an agnostic by choice or simply by practice, I hope that our efforts can help reveal the reality of God’s existence through our faith that is experienced in life.

So here’s my question.  In that type of scenario would you rather vote for YOUR candidate or attempt to block the candidate you don’t like by voting for a person that has a better chance?

People everywhere have certain expectations and levels of need when it comes to connection with others.  And while “community” is a central part of a church experience, expectations on what that sense of community looks like is just as diverse as it is in other areas of life.  Recently, the idea of community has taken more of a prominent role in American Christianity.  The “mega-church” experience has often left people feeling disconnected, falling through the cracks in the midst of program-based ministry and stadium worship events.  ”Emergent” ministries and many house church movements have often served as an alternative, where community is the primary expression of faith.

Since different people are looking for different levels of Christian community, how can the church provide community for everyone?  To me, the only solution is to foster a certain culture that is healthy and practical.  Here’s what that “culture of community” looks like.

1. In John 13:34-35, Jesus says, “love one another.”  At some level, people of a church need to go out of their own way to care for others.  We live in a hyper-individualistic society that is becoming increasingly disconnected.  The church has a unique opportunity to provide a connectedness that the often cannot be experienced in the world.  However this type of community is participatory.  It cannot be experienced in a healthy way with a “what have you done for me lately” attitude.
2. Care and community is not the sole job of the pastor.  I’m very resistant to the institutional mindset that a professional clergy person is paid to visit.  The church ought to care for one another.  In high school a friend from church got into a motorcycle accident.  Nearly 20 or so people from the church went to the hospital and prayed together in the waiting room.  That is Christian community.
3. Christian community is different than simply spending time together.  I’m all about fellowship times and pot-lucks (I think it’s a requirement of Methodism).  But Christian community is much more than “hanging out.”  There is a bond that comes when Christians gather to worship, pray, study, and work for justice and mercy outside the walls of the church.

As I look at my list, it’s pretty apparent that to me community is something that is given rather than taken.  In the book The New Creation: John Wesley’s Theology Today, Theodore Runyon lays out what community looked like to John Wesley, the founder of Methodism.

“The praise and prayer which our lips express are called forth by the grace which our hearts receive.  And the same love that flows to us from the Savior of all, flows through us to all of God’s children, especially those in need and distress.  Because what is received from God is loving concern, it cannot be retained by the recipient but must be shared.  This is the very nature of divine love.  Thus the church is the living organism of piety and good works, never the one without the other, and both in faithful service of God and of humanity” (pp. 106-07).

While we’re all looking for fulfillment in church, a consumer-based approach is never healthy.  As one pastor put it to me once, if church were a grocery store, the goal is to move shoppers behind the counter to work at the register.  Consumers become contributors.

And the cool thing is that in the process of giving, worshiping, loving, and serving, the church experiences community.  I experienced this countless times on the mission field in Haiti.  One time, a small group of people had come to our mission to work for a week.  While leading devotions on the third night, a powerful confession came out.  ”I never realized until now how racist I am,” said the tall man.  What followed was a moment of prayer, confession, and forgiveness.  Community happened –not from demand or expectation, but as the fruit of people looking to give, serve, and grow.

Revelation was probably written under the reign of Emperor Domitian, who although not incredibly warmed to the Christians was certainly a breath of fresh air from his predecessor Nero.  Nero infamously hired thugs to set fire to the city of Rome, and falsely blamed and persecuted the Christians.  All of this was to boost his popularity ratings.  And while Nero was now dead, there was talk around the countryside that maybe he wasn’t dead.  Kind of like Elvis or Michael Jackson are not really dead.  So fear of Nero, or his ghost, was very much a reality.

But the fear of persecution isn’t the only topic of discussion in the book of Revelation.  In the first 3 chapters we find the book written in letter-form…messages to seven churches on the issues they face.  Among those issues are an attraction to riches.  To the church in Leodicia, for example, the author John says:

Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire, that you may become rich, and white garments, that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes, that you may see.

There are also some in Sardis, claims the author, who have not even “soiled their garments” (3.4).  The criticism targets many who have appeared to be enjoying the economic benefits of the Roman empire while distancing themselves with the needs and plight of the poor…as well as the world view of those less fortunate.

John claims that Pergamum is the place where “Satan’s throne is.”  And that the Christians living there “hold to the teaching of Balaam” (v.14).  While it’s difficult to know exactly who is the personification of “Balaam,” what seems to be clear is that John is exhorting the church to not blend themselves in with the kingdom that rules the land in which they live, but rather to live a life that is counter-cultural…and if the circumstances call for it, counter-national.  They are called to be citizen’s of another kingdom, the Kingdom of God.

This is not a message of anarchy.  Rather, it’s a message of allegiance.  Now hear me on this…it is entirely possible to be a good American and live a faithful Christian life.  That’s the beauty of this country.  However, I constantly fear that religious faith and national allegiance are too closely tied together.  I fear that belief in God automatically includes some sort of blind permission that whatever our country does is great because somehow God has blessed us more than others.  And more devastating, our national allegiance sometimes takes precedent over the convictions of our faith, eliminating the prophetic nature and power that the message of Jesus Christ has on a people.  The “good” America has done with the world is heralded, while the evil we have done to preserve power is justified as “necessary” or “better than the alternative.”

I go into all this to say that our allegiance that our faith demands is one that celebrates good and criticizes evil, no matter who the creator is.  This is the message of Revelation.  One day, God will look at the mess of this world and finally say, “enough.”  On that day I’m sure it is our faith…not our nationality…that will glimmer.

Special thanks to John Byron, whose notes I used in writing this.  You can read his blog at http://thebiblicalworld.blogspot.com/ .

New Year’s resolutions are often scoffed at as well.  The running joke is that as often as one makes a promise to themselves, those promises are broken.  The diet is stopped.  The habit continues.  Mediocrity rules.  It’s “business as usual.”

So are these resolutions pointless?

Well I have found that it’s never pointless to hope for the better.  Sure, we’ll mess up.  But the only sure-fire plan to keep making the same errors is to not care or not push ourselves to correct our weaknesses.  Why not make goals?  Why not hope for the better?  How is the future ever not bright?

Here are my resolutions for 2012:

1.  Make fasting a part of my rhythm of life.

2.  Get to about 200 lbs. by eating right and exercising.

3.  Grow as a father.

4.  Read more, watch less TV.

5.  Take more frequent hikes and backpacking trips.

6.  Lead a mission team to Haiti.

7.  Become more organized and administrative, become a better leader.

8.  Block time for prayer, vision, and creativity.

9.  Blog/write more

10. Decrease debt significantly.