Daniel N. Lee

As churches across the country and around the world wrestle with the question of opening up their in-person worship gatherings, I think we all need to take some time and ask ourselves three questions.

1. What are some things that we need to leave in the past?
2. What are some things from the past that are worth bringing into the future?
3. What are some new things we need to focus on or implement?

There is value in remembering and honoring the past. There is a legacy of faithful men and women on whose shoulders we are now standing. We each can look back and think – if it weren’t for this person / these people, then I wouldn’t be where I am today in my journey of faith. Last time we looked at beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors that we need to leave behind in the past. Today I want to think for a bit about what from the past is worth bringing into the future.

TL;DR – 1) family, 2) serious Bible study, 3) confession/forgiveness, and 4) big-T Tradition

WHEN YOU’RE HERE, YOU’RE FAMILY
Olive Garden had such a good slogan. I really hope that we can carry this into the future of our churches. Jesus redefined family when he said, “Whoever does the will of my Father is my brother and sister and mother.” People have been in varying degrees of isolation and separation for a long time. I think people are going to be starved, not just for human contact and socializing, but for belonging and love. When someone is a part of our church, they are family. Period. Families are there for each other through thick and thin. We laugh together and cry together. For too many people, church is something they do once a week. But church is a family we belong to, no matter what.

BE LIKE THE BEREANS
I’ll be completely honest with you. I’m disheartened at the decrease in biblical literacy over the last few decades. It’s not just in society as a whole, but specifically in the church. Committed church members can’t list the 10 Commandments, the books of the Bible, the apostles. They don’t bother memorizing Scripture. They have to reference their table of contents when turning to any given book in the Bible. This may seen trivial, but there is a reason we have the Scriptures – “so that the man of God may be complete, not lacking anything.” They are there to help us “correct, instruct, and train in righteousness.” We are told that “[God’s] divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness.” I don’t think we need to deify or idolize Scripture, but neither do we need to shrug it off as unimportant. We need to follow the example of the Bereans in Acts 17 who “searched the Scriptures daily” to see if what Paul told them was true. We should be doing the same to see if what our preachers and teachers are telling us what is true – or our TV talking heads and politicians and Facebook “friends” for that matter.

WARTS AND ALL
We need to wrestle seriously with the mistakes of the past. We need to own them and make restitution for them. The church has not always been blameless. Every local church has a checkered past, and the church universal has committed atrocities under the banner of Christ. I think we should know our history, warts and all. The world is looking for people to be genuine. They are looking for authentic disciples. They aren’t going to listen to anybody who pretends to be holier and more righteous than others. But if we confess our sins and truly face down the muddied past (crusades, support of slavery, pro-segregation, oppression of women, etc.), then we can move into the future to really reach the world with the love of God. Paul did this all the time. He recounted his conversion story to whomever needed to hear it. He would own his sin and his past mistakes, holding himself up not necessarily as one to follow (although he did that once or twice in his letters – but even then it was “follow me as I follow Christ”), but as an example of how great the grace of God was to sinners – even sinners like him. We are not perfect, but we are forgiven. As as we own our own failures and accept the forgiveness of God through Christ, we can then offer that same hope and grace to the world around us.

TRADITION!
Ok, hear me out. I think there is a difference between big-T Tradition and little-t traditions. I’m good with Tradition in that it gives us roots, keeps us grounded, and reminds us that we are a part of something bigger and older than ourselves. That Tradition of the church is to be honored and celebrated. So much in our lives right now is temporary, single use, throw away – even relationships. People are less committed to family or jobs or colleges or civic clubs than they were a few generations ago. And while little-t traditions (“this is the way we’ve always done it because reasons”) can be a big turn off for many younger people, I think that big-T Tradition can be a major draw. We don’t have to pretend like we’re reinventing the wheel here. Just because our own local church may be autonomous doesn’t mean we should be disconnected from the larger Christian Tradition that spans two millennia and encircles the globe.
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So what do you think? What are some things from the past that are worth bringing into the future of the church? What is good and worth holding on to? Let me know in the comments and feel free to share this with others.

Previous Posts in this Series:
ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO RESTORE THE CHURCH TO ITS FACTORY DEFAULT SETTINGS?
FIVE THINGS OUR CHURCHES NEED TO LEAVE BEHIND

As I begin this post, I want to make one thing clear. Our churches are not re-opening. I’ve been guilty of using that phrase, too, but I don’t think we should talk like that anymore. It belies a sense of location-based organization, like a business or school or restaurant. But as the classic AVB song reminds us, U Can’t Go 2 Church – ’cause the church is you. I pray that our churches haven’t closed. We’ve just been scattered for a bit.

So when we come back together as a body for that all-so-important one to one and a half hour worship gathering on Sunday mornings, what is that going to look like? It’s going to be different for sure in the immediate future, what with social distancing, sanitation guidelines, etc. But I’m not talking about that. When the dust settles and the real threat is over, what will it look like?

I think there are things that we need to bring with us into the future. I think there are some new things that we need to implement or improve. And I also think there are some things that need to be left behind – which is the topic of today’s post.

Here are five things I think need to stay in the past.

1) “We’ve never done it that way before.”
This phrase can kill a church faster than just about anything. We get comfortable with the way things are. It’s like the opening line of the Full House theme song: “Whatever happened to predictability?” Well, guess what? Things are anything but predictable right now. Yes, we need some form of consistency. But the “habit” is “meeting together” (Hebrews 10:25). There doesn’t have to be a set form or order to our worship. God doesn’t want two songs, a prayer, a song, communion, song, scripture, sermon, song, prayer. God wants your heart that continually seeks after him. The attitude that resists change might very well be fighting against the work of the Holy Spirit among God’s people.

2) Replace the mirrors with windows.
I’m getting tired of the inward-focus of many churches and church goers. We care about attendance numbers and contribution. We care about paying utilities and mortgages. But how many of us are intentional about getting out and serving our community? We show up to worship just to look in the mirror at ourselves when we should be looking out the windows to the world in need. Let’s be more outwardly focused as we come back together. If nothing else, this pandemic has exposed some serious needs in our world that are not being filled by the government or the free market. Church, it’s our time to shine and to show that we exist for those outside our walls.

3) My personal micro kingdom
I’m a minister in a Church of Christ. There are maybe half a dozen or more other Churches of Christ in my county. Do you know how many of them work together with us on anything? Zero. I’ve been here for five and a half years. Only one other Church of Christ minister has had any contact with me. And yes, part of that is on me for not reaching out to them either. I need to get better about that! But we get so caught up in building our own little micro kingdoms and are unwilling to partner with fellow Christians in serving our communities. God’s kingdom should not be divided. We are all one church. Let’s start acting like it.

4) Strong opinions about “disputable matters”
I don’t think it’s wrong to have convictions. However, some of us have a stronger opinion about politics than we do about serving the poor. Some of us have stronger opinions about gender roles than we do about spreading the gospel to every nation. Some of us will find any and every reason to leave a church family because of something that really doesn’t matter in the long run. Love covers a multitude of sins. Do you want to be “right” or do you want to restore the relationship? Which is more important to Jesus? Maybe it’s time we started holding our opinions more loosely for the sake of preserving the body of Christ.

5) Us vs. Them, Martyrdom Complex, and Culture Wars
This is specifically for Christians in the US that I know and have seen on social media. We are not being persecuted because of a Starbucks Cup. We are not being persecuted because of stay-at-home orders. We are not being persecuted. Period. The main stream media is not your enemy. Hollywood is not your enemy. We have one enemy. By engaging in this endless “culture war” and crying “martyr” every time a show mocks our faith or a law is passed we don’t agree with, we are taking up our swords to defend the name of Jesus just like Peter tried. But Jesus healed his enemies, too. Jesus prayed for their forgiveness as he was nailed to the cross. He warned us that the world was going to hate us because they wouldn’t understand us. But he also told us that they would know we are his disciples by our LOVE, not by our bumper stickers, our virtue signaling, or our Christian subculture.
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So what do you think? What would you add to the list of things that need to stay in the past as we come back together? Did any of these hit close to home? Let me know in the comments, and feel free to share this article with others.

Have you ever read the Bible straight through? Congratulations! I hear your room in heaven will have a little more square footage.

For some people, that is your thing. I’m happy for you! I really am.

Full disclosure, I’ve read through the entire Bible once. And yes, I still consider myself a Christian. You see, I think there is a problem for modern readers. The Bible isn’t laid out or organized in a way that makes sense to us. I understand that the Hebrew Bible is actually arranged differently from the Christian “Old Testament.” It’s still not in chronological order or anything.

I’m not writing today about the Hebrew Scriptures, though. I want to focus on the New Testament canon. Sometimes it can be difficult to even read through the Gospels, much less the sustained sequence of Paul’s letters. Each Gospel was written for a different purpose, occasion, and audience. Each of the four was written by a different author with a slightly different agenda and worldview.

Does that make them contradictory and thus null and void as a document on which to base our faith? Um, no. Quite the opposite. It shows that these stories were important enough to be written down and distributed by real people to real people in real places facing real challenges.

Based on this, I think it would be interesting to take a context- and purpose-oriented approach to reading and studying the books of the New Testament. I propose the following order so we can see the story of the Gospel and its impact across first century Rome unfold and evolve as a movement. This would not necessarily be the same as a chronological reading, but more categorical.

Let’s just get on to the list and you’ll probably see what I mean.

PART 1
Writings for a Jewish Audience

The Gospel according to Matthew
James
Jude
Hebrews

PART 2
Peter and the early spread of the church

The Gospel According to Mark
Acts chapters 1-12
1 Thessalonians
2 Thessalonians
Galatians
1 Peter
2 Peter

PART 3
Paul, the nations, and the development of the church

The Gospel According to Luke
Acts chapters 13-28
1 Corinthians
Philippians
Philemon
2 Corinthians
Romans
Ephesians
Colossians
1 Timothy
Titus
2 Timothy

PART 4
John and the victory of God’s love

The Gospel according to John
1 John
2 John
3 John
Revelation

I’m certain I’m not the first one to organize the New Testament books this way, but let me explain a little.

So beginning with Matthew, it is obvious that the Christian movement started out among the Jews. Matthew emphasizes the Jewishness of Jesus more than the other gospel accounts. Jesus is a traveling Rabbi who is also the new Moses, the new Elisha, and the son of David. I follow up Matthew with James, which is written to Jewish Christians scattered throughout the Empire and reads very much like the Sermon on the Mount/Jewish Wisdom Literature. Then comes Jude, a short enigmatic letter filled with Jewish insider language and references. James and Jude are also the brothers of Jesus who would become pillars in the Jewish church around Jerusalem and Antioch. This section ends with Hebrews (author unknown), which is a transcript of an early sermon to predominately Jewish Christ-followers.

Part two focuses in on Peter, Jesus’ closest friend and de facto leader of the apostles. The gospel according to Mark, according to early church tradition, is really a collection of Peter’s stories. John Mark is the scribe for Peter’s memoirs. Keeping the focus on Peter, we move on to the book of Acts, specifically the first 12 chapters in which Peter is the main player. We are also introduced to Paul as he begins his missionary journeys, but those will feature more prominently in part three. Part 2 continues with the earliest of Paul’s letters to the churches in Thessalonica and Galatia (where Paul and Peter got into a pretty public argument). We wrap up with the two letters attributed to Peter which were relatively late.

Part three features Paul and his work among the gentiles. We go back and start with the gospel according to Luke, who emphasizes Jesus’ ministry among the foreigners and the outcasts of society. Then we pick up the last two-thirds of Acts which recounts Paul’s missionary journeys in detail. Then we move on to a somewhat chronological reading of Paul’s other letters to the churches and ministers. Here we get to see Paul’s passion come through, his theology evolve, and the church develop.

Finally, part four highlights the writings of John. (I’m not going to argue here whether these were all written by the same John. In my opinion, they are all similar enough to be grouped together regardless.) John was the latest New Testament writer, composing his gospel and letters as late as the early 90s. John’s gospel is quite different from the other three to say the least. 1 John is a natural overflow of John’s gospel. Second and Third John contain little nuggets of wisdom and insight for church leaders. And then there’s Revelation, which is a fitting ending to the Christian Scriptures, revealing where this is all heading and reassuring us that no matter what – God wins.
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If you find this reading and study order helpful or interesting, feel free to share it with others. I truly believe the words of the writer of Hebrews: “The Word of God is living and active…” This may be one way for it to come alive for me and for you.

Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?”
For it is not wise to ask such questions.
Ecclesiastes 7:10

But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3:13-14

As churches across the nation prepare to open back up (or have already opened as is the case for some), one thing I think church leaders need to be intentional about is leading the church into the future. There are going to be far too many members who just want to “get back to normal,” as if “normal” was a good state to be in. We can’t go back, and we must not foster an unhealthy nostalgia for the past. Not everything was bad, but I’m sure it was far from perfect.

There is no going back. There is only the present and the future. So the questions I’m wrestling with, (and am inviting you to tag-team with me) are:

1. What are some things that need to stay in the past?
2. What are some good things from the past that need to be brought into the future?
3. What are some NEW things our churches should embrace moving forward?

Maybe it’s because I’m a dreaded Millennial who is out to kill everything from napkins to fabric softener to Applebee’s, but I’ve never been a fan of “the good old days” talk. It’s all well and good to remember the past fondly, but we must not get stuck there. As it says in Ecclesiastes, it’s unwise to sugar coat the past and think it was so much better than the present. It seems like too many Christians serve the God who was, not the God who is and who is to come. We must celebrate what God has done for us in the past, yes. But we also must learn from our past failures. We should recognize that God is moving and working in the present, and he is surely there in the future.

As A.W. Tozer once wrote, “God is always contemporary.” And as Jesus said, “God is not the God of the dead but of the living.” In God’s reality, past, present, and future are all under his control and jurisdiction.

The church has a beautiful and broken past. But the cool thing is we get to be a part of God’s future.

This is the perfect time to ask ourselves: what practices, ministries, and traditions are worth leaving in the past? Every ministry has a shelf-life. Every church practice has evolved over time. Is there something that needs to be revised? Edited? Updated? Do we need to hit the factory reset button on some practices? Do we need to move some programs to the recycle bin?

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.
(Hebrews 12:1-2)

Reentry: How Pain, Roots, and Rhythm Guide Us from Darkness to Light by Josh  Ross
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

When I started reading REENTRY, I was preparing for a Wednesday night youth group class series about mental health issues. I wanted to be hope-filled in my approach to teaching these students about the different disorders, symptoms, treatments, etc. Little did I know just how relevant this book would be for the year 2020.

Though it was published in 2017 and prominently features a trip to Barrow, Alaska, that Josh made in 2014, the lessons he learned and shared are more timely now. Everyone is in the same situation. We are currently in the midst of a global pandemic with now clear end in sight. But we know we will get through this. The question is, what do we do once we’re on the other side of this thing?

Josh learned that for the citizens of Barrow, the months of darkness are not the hardest part of the year. The greater challenge is when the sun comes back over the horizon, the light returns, but nothing changes. It’s still as cold and bleak as ever.

For people recovering from addiction or mental illness, for those coming off a spiritual high, for those who have just gone through the valley of the shadow of death, reentry can be more challenging than we realize. Josh learned from the people of Barrow the importance of roots and rhythm.

We need to be firmly established and rooted. For God’s people, those roots should be in the love of God in Christ, the Word of God, and the community of believers. This gives us the firm foundation on which to stand as we get our bearings upon reentry. But we also need rhythm in our lives. Josh points to the rhythm of Jesus’ ministry: solitude, community, ministry, repeat. Most of us have been stuck in the solitude section for months now. We are ready to be back in community. But we also need to use our time of solitude with God and encouragement from the community to propel us into action for God’s kingdom.

This book really has me thinking about what the church is going to look like in the coming months as we reenter society. As our states reopen and people venture out into the world again, what role is the church going to play? What things are worth leaving behind and what is worth bringing with us into the future? How can we help our church members develop the roots and rhythm they need in their own lives?

This is an excellent, relatable, timely book that would be well worth it for anyone involved in church leadership and ministry.

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