I understand the cries for creativity. I really do. Being a Christian does not mean you’re boring. It does not preclude you from having an interesting, fulfilling life. In fact, I believe it actually propels you toward that kind of life (read the last part of Hebrews 11 if you want an idea of how EPIC a Jesus-centered life can be). I do believe that it is time to begin to reflect the creativity of our Creator. He made us in His image and that image wants to build, invent, innovate, and conquer.

In the Old Testament, God entrusted the building of His tabernacle to Bezalel whom He had specifically gifted to craft and create beautiful works of gold, silver, bronze, wood, and tapestry. In the New Testament, Paul was an innovator of cross-cultural missions. He used all the tools at his disposal to find commonalty with those he was trying to win to Jesus (1 Corinthians 9:19-27). These men were creatives. Now, let’s look at the conservatives.

Score: Creatives: 2 — Conservatives: 0

Conservatives. In my mind, this is a misnomer. I don’t like the word or how it is commonly communicated. For most, we consider a person “conservative” if they have a longer list of rules and “liberal” if they have a shorter (or non-existent) list. Here, I will use the term to denote someone who is Word-centered. Throughout the giving of the law, God emphasized again and again an important concept to Moses: “do not turn aside from any of the words that I command you today, to the right hand or to the left”.

I understand that the “left-liberal/right-conservative” idea is relatively new. Don’t read that far into it. But I do believe that God was saying it is possible to fall off of His path by going either way. He puts it more bluntly in Deuteronomy 4, where God says, “You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you.” In other words, it is impossible to actually do God’s will if you leave part of it out or mix your own in with it. Paul said basically the same thing when he advised the Corinthians to not go beyond what is written (1 Corinthians 4:6). So, I use the word “conservative” to mean those who are passionate about the biblical text and proper hermeneutics.

Score: Creatives: 2 — Conservatives: 2

There has been some concern expressed over the prominence that has been given recently to creativity. The concern is over boundaries. Where do we draw the line? What is to keep the creatives from going off the deep end and writing their own theology? My answer to that: The Word.

While creatives are putting together countdown videos and theme-services, conservatives are putting together curriculum. Creatives study chord charts, flash animation, and graphic design while conservatives study theology, soteriology, and a bunch of other -ologies. Creatives are largely concerned with the presentation itself, and conservatives are concerned with what is being presented.

You may think this an oversimplification. It is. It would be impossible to achieve anything other than an oversimplification because we’re talking about people, and people have a unique ability to be undefinable. But let’s use this broad brush and see what develops.

We looked at Bezalel, Moses, and Paul earlier. Now I’d like to revisit them.

Bezalel, according to Exodus 35, was skilled by God to do all kinds of creative things. He was a master builder who could hear a concept described, envision it, and create it from the raw materials. He had been gifted by God for the task, and denying him the opportunity to create would have been disobedience to God Himself! Point: creatives.

When we look at the narrative, however, we do not see Bezalel acting on a whim. His creativity was being channeled toward a specific goal: the construction of God’s tabernacle. Creativity was not given carte blanche. Instead, it was infused with divine vision and wisdom. It was formed and informed by a revelation from God through the Man of God (Moses). Everything needed to be done according to the Word … according to the pattern (Exodus 25:8-9). Point: conservatives.

Paul is an uniquely interesting character, in that he fulfilled both roles. He spoke often about getting rid of ancient traditions now that they no longer served their purpose: creative. But he didn’t just throw the old away. He explained, through the Scripture, how those old traditions and regulations had been fulfilled in Christ: conservative. He vowed to be all things to all men so that he might save some: creative. But he tempered that with an admission that he could only go as far as would be allowed by his absolute allegiance and submission to Jesus Christ: conservative.

So where am I in all this? In the middle.

We need strong, smart, courageous men who will stand and declare the whole council of God without fear or favor. We need those who will apply the time and effort necessary to properly discern what the Bible is saying. We need teachers who will lay out a clear, understandable, defensible theology. But that’s not all.

We need creatives to give all that a face. We need creatives who will listen to the teachers, not reject them. We need people who can catch a vision and run with it, presenting it in ever-changing formats and forms.

Accountants don’t run a PR campaign. And PR guys don’t keep the ledgers. But neither can operate efficiently and effectively without the other. We need the creatives AND the conservatives to maximize the impact of the church in today’s world. If we can all realize we’re on the same team, there’s no telling what we can do.

Final score: Creatives: 5 — Conservatives: 5 …

Church: 10

Matthew 10:34 (NKJV)

I think this could be one of the most under-appreciated verses in the whole Bible. It runs counter to most modern interpretations of Jesus’ teachings and, to some, it is downright offensive. Why wouldn’t Jesus come to send peace? Didn’t He preach love and compassion? Didn’t He preach forgiveness? Yes. But those things have nothing to do with peace.

Peace is generally understood to be an absence of conflict or friendly relations between people or countries. So why didn’t Jesus come to bring us freedom from conflict? Isn’t His ministry one of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18)? Again, yes. But again, those things have nothing to do with peace.

Jesus did not come to homogenize humanity. Where did that teaching even come from? I don’t see it anywhere in the Gospels … it seems to be some sort of Utopian insertion. Throughout His ministry, Jesus spoke in very exclusive terms. He said that He is “the way, the truth, and the life”. There is no other way. And then, as if to add insult to injury, He says that NO man can come to the Father but by Him (John 14:6)!

What’s with all the exclusive talk? Simply put, truth is exclusive. Truth is “that which correlates to what is”. Confused? If we are both looking at a table and I call it a duck, I’m wrong. Simple as that. A table is not a duck. So when you’re dealing with ideas that are either true or false (called propositions for my fellow nerds), it is inevitable that one person will be correct while another will be incorrect. It’s not a popular idea today.

What is popular is the idea that correlation to reality (read: truth) doesn’t matter. As long as we can all agree to disagree, we’re fine. But if we’re Christians, don’t we have an obligation to follow what Jesus taught? If we profess to be Christians and ignore what Christ has to say, we’re just patronizing Him.

Jesus is the light of the world (John 9:5). He knew what He was doing when He made the statement in Matthew 10. He was coming to draw boundaries. To separate. To divide. He was doing away with the time of ignorance, and calling men to repentance (Acts 17:30).

Before the light came into the world, we were all in darkness. Everything looks the same in the dark. But now that the light has come, we are responsible for following the truth and turning from the lie. Of course, we should always strive to disagree without being disagreeable (an area in which I too often fail), but that doesn’t mean we should stop disagreeing.

Jim Sleeva has one of the most unique ministries of anyone I’ve ever met. When I was in the youth group, he worked with, counseled, and mentored a group dubbed the “unlikelies” – people in the youth group who were more interested in hiding in the back and not getting engaged in the services or with God. Sleeva still works with the Unlikelies – those who don’t strike you as the “church type” or someone who would be particularly interested in a Bible Study or going to Sunday School. When I asked him what the method to his madness was, he told me that he wanted to work with people who were different than he is.

Since the interview, I’ve thought time and again about this. In the book unChristian by Dave Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons (http://www.unchristian.com/), the authors talk about how cultured Christianity is. Specifically, we have become so wrapped up in “church” life that we have nearly no contact with anyone outside of the ivory tower of institutionalized Christianity. Any attempt at outreach is about integrating the unChurched into our safe, sterile church environment. We invite them to a men’s outing, or a barbeque, or a game night. We don’t build relationships with people outside of church if they aren’t willing to come through the church to become our friends.

This is backwards. And this is my challenge for the week. Take time to meet someone, anyone, outside of your normal comfort zone. Someone “unlikely” for you. And don’t get to know them so you can simply invite them to church and fill some guilt-quota of outreach. But genuinely meet someone, talk to them, get to know them, and begin to pray for them and their life. As this happens, please comment and tell us about your experience, so we can all be encouraged. We at AuthenticFaith will do so, as well.

1. Stay In the Bible
2. Doctrine Does Matter
3. Focus on Jesus
4. Preach The Gospel

Written by: D.C. Lake.

ineedarevival.blogspot.com

www.lucianupc.com

It’s something I hear all the time from non-Christians, whether at school, at work, and even at church. I have a friend who is exploring her own spirituality because she’s tired of the hypocrisy in the church. Everywhere I go, I hear about the problems of hypocrisy and Christianity.

We Christians have an image problem. A necessary part of our message is that people who aren’t Christians are flawed, and need someone to make them better. In a culture of permissiveness and open-acceptance, an “all-or-nothing,” “us-and-them” approach to evangelism doesn’t resonate with a new generation. According to data from the Barna group, 85% of young people aged 16-29 outside of the Christian faith hold that Christians are hypocrites. The problem, to quote dc Talk, is “Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, and walk out the door and deny Him with their lifestyle. It’s what an unbelieving world finds unbelievable.”

The problem isn’t whether or not Christians are hypocrites. The problem is all about perception. Are there some? Of course. But not all Christians are hypocrites. Nevertheless, we’re all stained by the flaws of a few. So how can we resolve this?

Repent.

That’s the first step towards God, right? Admitting who you are, recognizing who God is, and expressing a desire and intent to turn from our sinful past and attempt to, with the help of the Holy Spirit, walk uprightly and according to the Word and will of God?

I can tell you what repentance isn’t. Repentance isn’t a grocery list of wrongdoings to God, a word of contrition, a plea for absolution, and then the freedom to go and sin all the more. No! It’s about relationship, and getting what’s hindering the relationship out of the way.

Our relationship with God and our relationships with people shouldn’t be different. Offering a simple, “I’m sorry” when we’ve hurt or offended someone is insufficient and, often, offensive. Repentance doesn’t stop with God-time; we have repent with people. And that includes transparency of our own sins and struggles, as well as demonstrable and visible effort to correct it. What a difference it would make in Christianity’s image if Christians would humbly repent!

This week, my challenge to you and to myself is to truly repent – to clear the record between you and God, and to fix some relationships between you and people you may owe an apology. If you feel bold enough, post the results here in the comments section – let us know how it worked.

NOTE: For those that haven’t read it, unChristian by Dave Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons (Baker Books, ISBN 9780801013003) is an amazing book. It is the results of surveys done by the Barna Group, a Christian research and survey organization, of a new generation of young people in America. I highly recommend it.

Of course, faith is hugely important to the believer’s life. To run through some more common scriptures, “Without faith it is impossible to please God” and “The just will live by faith” (Hebrews 11:6 and Habakuk 2:4, respectively). We’re saved by faith (Acts 16:31, Ephesians 2:8, 1 Peter 1:9), we’re kept by faith (1 Peter 1:5), and, according to Hebrews 11, great acts by great men are only done through faith (vv. 4, 5, 7, 8, etc.).

We talk a lot about faith as Christians – we talk about having faith, though sometimes not enough, and we talk about growing in our faith. But one thing that we don’t talk about, and I mean really talk about, is what faith is.

Faith isn’t something we talk about; faith is something we do. The balance between Paul’s faith and James’ works is in understanding that faith is a verb. True faith is always accompanied by demonstration. Faith proclaimed, but not practiced, is no faith at all.

Oftentimes, people will point to Ephesians 2 – For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, {it is} the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (vv. 8-9, NASB) And they’re right. We’re not saved because we earned it, or as a result of our works, but the next verse is often overlooked – “For we are His (God’s) workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works.” We’re saved by Jesus and what He did, but we’re saved unto good works. Without the demonstration of faith, there’s no real evidence that conversion has occurred.

So this blog, in part, is to help you to learn to demonstrate your faith – to truly live your faith. Each week, each of the participants will be offering you different ways to demonstrate the faith inside of you, so that you can help make a difference in the world around you. These aren’t gimmicks, but ways that we, as Christians, can demonstrate the ways that Christ has changed us, to the glory of God.

There is something special about this story.

Peter and John are on their way to pray. It’s a pretty ordinary day, they’re just going to the temple at the “ninth hour” (about 3 p.m.) for afternoon prayer with everyone else. I’m sure there were thousands of people pressing in, trying to get the best seat or be the first to claim their favorite corner where they could cry out to God.

Every day, there would be a lame man sitting at the door. His friends would bring him. Maybe they would drop him off and go on in to pray. I don’t know. But this HAD to be a prime location for “asking alms” (read: begging). These were the religious people! They were bound by their own image to help this poor man out … who wants to look like a jerk right before you walk into the temple? That’s kind of how I feel in the grocery line when the cashier asks me, in front of the 8 other customers, if I’d like to donate $14 to fight colon cancer. Point being, he has found a GOOD SPOT … and he comes back EVERY DAY.

Now, the people are filing by, marveling at the most beautiful gate of the temple. It is said to have been made of bronze, but so artfully crafted that it was more beautiful and costly than the other gates which were covered in silver and set in gold. They’re looking at this beautiful gate, and they’re accosted by a wretched man. His legs are twisted, his body atrophied by his lack of movement, and his dirty palm is outstretched, asking for just a little help. If a diamond looks brighter against a black background, does an ugly man look uglier against a beautiful background?

Everyone sees this man … everyone recognizes his predicament. So they throw money. They probably think, “He’s poor!” or, “He’s hungry!” and they give a coin to ease their conscience. That’s all he ever expected. Just a little bit of help.

Then come Peter and John. The two apostles, fresh from an incredible move of God where 3,000 people were saved, are on their way to pray when they encounter this man. He asks them, as he had everyone else, for a little bit of help. That’s all he wanted. But Peter didn’t just help.

Against the natural inclination to behold the beautiful and ignore the profane, Peter “fixed his eyes on him.” He would not look at the gate, as long as there was a broken man out front. He would not pass by a broken man on his way to get a blessing. He also did not address the man’s financial poverty.

While the crowds were staring at the gate and giving a pittance, Peter was staring at the man and giving Jesus. He was not interested in helping, he was interested in healing.

How often do we throw money, platitudes, or charisma at the SYMPTOM of a problem, never dealing with the real disease that tries to destroy the people who come to our churches? How often do we throw them a bone without throwing them a lifeline? The church has GOT to become a place where we do more than help. If it is not a place where people can be healed, we’ve failed. God is not offering band-aids. He is offering restoration.

When Peter decided to look past the symptom and deal with the real problem, what were the results? I’m sure you’ve dealt with panhandlers in the streets of your city. Whenever you give them a couple dollars, they make a big show of thanking you … you look like a stellar human being. In the story, you never read of Peter getting any credit. The only thing you see is a man, who had been lame, walking, leaping, and praising God. I wonder how many of us are really willing to get out of the way, stop worrying about being seen, and let God do what only God can do.

Moral of the story:

I hear a lot today about helping the poor. That’s all well and good. I am 100% in favor of compassion. We must, however, be willing and able to offer more than just help. Jesus came to reveal God, and I don’t remember ever reading about Him offering anyone His spare change. This is the God who does more than help … this is the God who heals.

We cannot get so caught up in our beautiful traditions and rituals that we neglect the poor, that much is true. But we must also avoid the temptation to deal with the immediately visible symptoms rather than the real problems. People are not poor simply because they lack money. People are poor because they are broken. Let’s never forget that. We serve a God who heals the broken. And that’s worth more than all the money in the world.

It is our desire to get back to this early Christianity. We believe that by bringing authentic faith into our everyday lives, the world can change. This means living in a way that promotes reconciliation between God and humanity and justice for all people everywhere. It would be impossible to achieve such a change through legislation, so we turn to the one who can transform the human heart: Jesus Christ. Rooted in prayer and expressed in action, we invite anyone and everyone on the path of Authentic Faith to Organic Christianity.