Do You LOVE Your Church?

May 25, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

Okay, pastors, here are some tough questions:

  • Do you love your congregation?
  • Do you think they’re some of the greatest people on earth?
  • If you didn’t pastor your church, would you attend your church?
  • Do you enjoy recreating with your church family?

This is an important principle: You cannot treat someone differently than you think about them.

Listen to what Paul said about the church in Rome —

I myself am convinced, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, complete in knowledge and competent to instruct one another. (Romans 15:14)

Do you hear what high regard Paul had for them? He told them that they were good people, growing in their relationship with Christ, and were competent to be teachers themselves!

Not only did Paul write this to them, but he bragged about them to others too —

Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I am full of joy over you. (Romans 16:19)

Pastor, Jesus called us to feed and care for His sheep. We can do this so much more effectively if we think so highly of those precious people.

I pray that you can answer a resounding, whole-hearted “YES!” to those four opening questions. I think that’s what Jesus would want.

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What Is “Success” For A Church?

May 11, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

“How’s it going,” a fellow pastor asked me. “How’s your church doing?”

If you’re a pastor, you probably get asked this often. How do you answer this question? Do you tell them what your attendance was on Sunday morning? Or about the newest program you’ve started?

When you look in the mirror and ask yourself, “How’s it going,” is your answer related to nickels and noses (offerings and attendance)? Is it how many people complimented your last sermon?

Listen to these sobering words —

Worldliness is not the trap that most endangers us as Christian workers; nor is it sin. The trap we fall into is extravagantly desiring spiritual success; that is, success measured by, and patterned after, the form set by this religious age in which we now live. 

…We have a commercialized view— we count how many souls have been saved and sanctified, we thank God, and then we think everything is all right. (Oswald Chambers)

We need to be very careful about how we define “success” in a church setting. Let’s use Jesus as our example:

  • How big was His congregation? Twelve men. One betrayed Him, and the others denied Him. Even after being raised from the dead (!) there were only 120 people in the upper room.
  • How much money did His church have? Not even enough to buy a grave site for the Messiah.
  • What did people think of His sermons? Some of His sermons made people so mad they wanted to stone Him. And after one sermon the Bible says: From this time many of His disciples turned back and no longer followed Him (John 6:66).

Maybe “success” in the church is:

  • People being reconciled to God. Remembering that “our work is not to save souls, but to disciple them” (Chambers).
  • Seeing disengaged people becoming actively involved in engaging others with the Gospel.
  • “Never seek[ing] after anything other than the approval of God” (Chambers).
  • To say with Jesus, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18,19).

These are just some of my thoughts. Now it’s your turn. I’d love to read your comments: What else should be on this list? How would you define “success” in the church?

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Co-Workers

May 4, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

Obvious statement #1: Church ministry is not lone ranger work.

I needed to state that not only as a reminder to myself, but to my other pastor friends too. It seems like we can often lose sight of this fact. We can become so focused on the next sermon … the next appointment … the next Board meeting … the next outreach … that we are actually worshiping the ministry instead of worshiping God through our ministry.

Oswald Chambers gave this warning:

Beware of any work for God that causes or allows you to avoid concentrating on Him. A great number of Christian workers worship their work. The only concern of Christian workers should be their concentration on God. …A worker who lacks this serious controlling emphasis of concentration on God is apt to become overly burdened by his work. …Consequently, he becomes burned out and defeated. There is no freedom and no delight in life at all. His nerves, mind, and heart are so overwhelmed that God’s blessing cannot rest on him.

When we are more focused on the work than on God, we can easily begin to feel over-worked and under-appreciated. And this usually leads to us either bearing down to work harder or to simply throwing in the towel.

There is a healthy alternative: link arms with The Co-Worker —

Walk with me and work with Me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with Me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly. (Matthew 11:29, The Message)

Link with The Co-Worker, and then you will do ministry out of the overflow of your personal worship. Remember, you are a co-worker, not a solo-worker.

Obvious statement #2: Church ministry is not just for the pastor.

Church member, you too are a co-worker with Christ. And with your pastor.

The Apostle Paul reminded the church at Corinth that “we are God’s fellow workers” (1 Corinthians 3:19). In other words, we’re all in this together. You need your pastor, and your pastor needs you.

Allow me to paraphrase a quote from President Dwight Eisenhower:

Never let yourself be persuaded that one [pastor] is necessary to the salvation of America. When [the Church] consists of one leader and [a bunch of] followers, it will no longer be [the Church].

The Church is a beautiful thing! It functions best when:

  • Pastor and church member are both linked with Christ
  • The pastor is not a lone ranger
  • The church members are not spectators

Ready? Go BE the Church of Jesus Christ!

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Church-In-A-Box

April 18, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

Did you ever play with a Jack-in-a-box? You turned the crank, listened to the song, and waited for the funny-looking Jack to pop out of the box. Then you stuffed Jack back in the box and did it again, and again, and again.

It was predictable. It happened like clockwork. After awhile, though, the predictability became boring, and the Jack-in-a-box ended up collecting dust on the shelf.

Sometimes I’m concerned that our churches are becoming like a church-in-a-box. Like the predictable Jack-in-a-box, we turn the crank of showing up on Sunday, going through the same routine, waiting for God to show up, and then stuffing it all back into the box, only to repeat it all again the next Sunday, and the next Sunday, and the next Sunday.

It’s predictable. It happens like clockwork. After awhile, though, the predictability can become boring, and our church-in-a-box ends up collecting dust on the shelf.

Here’s what I’m pondering:

  • Why do we meet on Sunday mornings?

There are as many mentions in the Bible about Christians meeting on other days, as there are mentions about the first day of the week.

  • Why do we get so hung up on the “order of service”?

None of the New Testament writers taught about that. Yet if you want to anger some folks, just change up the Sunday routine.

  • Why do we dress a certain way to go to church?

Jesus had only one set of clothes, which means He wore the same thing to the synagogue as He wore the rest of the week. Yet we expect people to “dress up” for church.

  • Why do we call what happens on Sunday “worship,” and what happens the rest of the week “work”?

Shouldn’t everything we do bring glory to God? Shouldn’t all of our lives be worship?

  • Why do we complain about a church service not “moving us,” when we don’t feel the Holy Spirit moving the other six days of the week?

I’m not trying to pick a fight. Really.

I’m just wondering if perhaps we’ve gotten used to church-in-a-box. And if we have, perhaps we’ve also put God in a box too. Maybe we’ve become so accustomed to showing up on Sunday, dressing a certain way, following a certain routine, singing a certain song, and then expecting God to pop out and thrill us. And then we put it all away until the next Sunday.

Wouldn’t God be more glorified if we didn’t put Him in a box? If we worshiped Him every day, not just Sunday? If we felt His Spirit animating us in everything we do, not just in the churchy things we do? If He popped up all throughout the week, in all sorts of places (like work, school, the grocery store, home)?

What do you think? Have we put church (and God) in a box? If so, how should we change?

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Boring Christianity?

February 15, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

I read a lot of reports, books, and surveys that talk about the number of unchurched people in America. Sadly, my experience is that most of these are actually dechurched people. In other words, they are folks who were involved in a church at one point in their lives, but then felt like church wasn’t doing it for them any longer.

I’m not sure that I have the answer that will cure this. Actually I’ve got a lot more questions:

  • Are pastors helping people grow in their faith?
  • Are churches engaging their community in ways that make people want to be involved?
  • Are Christians tackling the pressing needs in their society?
  • Do people in local communities even think of asking the church to help with issues in their hometown?

I think the answer might be “No” to all of these questions.

“I suspect that most Christians today are fairly satisfied with the state of their faith. They have a ‘good enough’ experience of Jesus and they’re not really thirsting for much more. But the job of pastors is to help people realize that splashing around in the mud puddle of faith is nothing compared with sailing on the ocean of God’s grace and power (as C.S. Lewis says). We must whet the appetites of our people for a greater experience of the Lord’s reviving power. When we do, they will begin to seek it more fervently.” —T.M. Moore

“We’ve given people just enough of Jesus to be bored, but not enough to be transformed.” —David Kinnaman

“The outer courts are filled with distraction. It’s hard to hear. The holy place is still. And when you get into the inner courts, all the other voices vying for our attention are silenced. I’m afraid that most of us live most of our lives in the outer courts. We’re too Christian to enjoy sin, but we’re too sinful to enjoy Christ. It’s time to press in. It’s time to press on.” —Mark Batterson

If we are truly living as disciples of Jesus Christ, Christianity should be the most exciting, rewarding, and fulfilling way to live! That’s how I want it to be for me and for my church! What about you?

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A Spiritual Reflex

February 6, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

I love Martin Luther’s quote —

“I first lay down these two propositions concerning spiritual liberty and servitude. A Christian man is the most free lord of all, and subject to none; a Christian man is the most dutiful servant of all, and subject to everyone.”

Yesterday we had our annual business meeting — although it was really our annual celebration. The one thing that stood out to me about 2011 is how much serving Calvary Assembly of God did in Cedar Springs. We are servants to everyone!

We picked up trash, put on carnivals, cleaned the Cedar Creek, helped our neighbors, worked with other community organizations, and presented a living nativity. We answered the call to serve whenever and however it came to us. We served individuals, our city governments, our ministerial association, and other churches and non-profit organizations.

Doctors routinely check our patellar reflex, where they tap our leg just below the knee cap and watch the involuntarily response of our leg. This reflex helps maintain posture and balance, allowing us to keep our balance with little effort or conscious thought.

I want my and Calvary Assembly of God’s spiritual patellar reflex in 2012 to be servanthood. When anyone asks for help, our involuntary response should be service. This is the best way to keep our posture and balance as servants of Jesus Christ and servants of our Cedar Springs neighbors.

This is why so many people around here say, “I ♥ My Church!” Come join us in serving in 2012.

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Copartnership

January 20, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

Do you want your church services to be more engaging?

Do you want your pastor to preach more effectively?

Do you want to come away from church more energized?

If so, you need to enter into a partnership. E.M. Bounds, in his fascinating book The Weapon of Prayer, wrote this —

“Prayerlessness, therefore, as it concerns the preacher is a very serious matter. If it exists in the preacher himself, then he ties his own hands and makes the Word as preached by him ineffective and void. If prayerless people be found in the pew, then it hurts the preacher, robs him of an invaluable help, and interferes seriously with the success of his work. How great the need of a praying church to help in the preaching of the Word of the Lord! Both pew and pulpit are jointly concerned in this preaching business. It is a copartnership.”

If you want more engagement, effectiveness, and energy at your church, partner with your pastor in prayer.

If you don’t have a church home, I hope you can partner with me this Sunday at Calvary Assembly of God as I continue a series called The Danger Of Prayerlessness.

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Men, Not Boys

December 6, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

This is an in-your-face, no-punches-pulled, right-on-target message. Watch it, think about it, and share your thoughts in the comment below…

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Was Your Church Successful?

October 24, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

These thoughts are especially for my fellow pastors (although I think they pertain to anyone who attended a church this weekend).

So… how successful was your church gathering this weekend?

Was it successful because lots of people were there? Or because the pastor preached a good sermon? Or maybe the offering was better than usual? Or because you could feel something special as the worship team sang and played their instruments?

How about these measures —

“The great business of the church is not our number by addition, but by grace, by growing up in Christ.” (John Owen)

“The perfect church service would be one we were almost unaware of. Our attention would have been on God.” (C.S. Lewis )

“Revival is the church getting back to ‘normal.’” (A.W. Tozer)

If you’ve got other ideas about what defines church “success,” please share them in the comments.

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In Visible Fellowship (book review)

October 20, 2011 — Craig T. Owens

This is the second book that Jon Walker has written as a modern-day commentary of a classic Dietrich Bonhoeffer work. This time around Jon takes a look at Bonhoeffer’s Life Together in his book called In Visible Fellowship. (Jon’s first book is Costly Grace, looking at Bonhoeffer’s The Cost Of Discipleship. You can read my review of that book by clicking here.)

In visible fellowship is a phrase that Dietrich Bonhoeffer used to describe the importance of how Christians interact with each other. To Bonhoeffer, it wasn’t so much how Christians behaved in church on Sundays, but how they interacted with each other the other six days of the week. He wanted those outside of the Christian community to see something so attractive and appealing about the way the Christian community operated “in visible fellowship” with each other.

In Visible Fellowship is an excellent companion piece to Life Together. Whereas Costly Grace could almost stand on its own, In Visible Fellowship is probably best read in conjunction with Life Together. In other words, I would highly recommend that both be read at the same time.

Since Jon notes, “There is no such thing as independent study in the curriculum of Christ,” I would further recommend that In Visible Fellowship and Life Together be read with other Christians. A small group could read Life Together, and then use In Visible Fellowship as their study guide as they gather together. Toward this end, each chapter has some excellent questions that should really stimulate lively conversations.

I’m a huge fan of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and Jon Walker has done an excellent job in bringing some thought-provoking contemporary views to these classic works. I recommend In Visible Fellowship (especially when read with Life Together).

I am an ACU Press book reviewer.

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