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Quiet but Equal? Our Sunday Roundtable- Session 2, Week 4

How is it that two very different things can be said to be equal? We understand that a dollar bill is equal in value to four quarters, that water in frozen crystals is equal to water in liquid droplets, and that an F-sharp is the same note whether played on stringed instrument or a woodwind. While almost no two things are exactly the same in substance, there are many things that are perfectly equal in essence. Value, therefore, shouldn’t be ascribed by comparison to another thing but in accord to its essence. Diversity doesn’t necessitate hierarchy.
Man and woman are two very different creations and yet the Apostle Paul asserts in the New Testament that they are one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28). The Bible affirms the equality of all human beings regardless of gender, race, nationality, or socio-economic status. The Bible also affirms the diversity present in God’s creation. God Himself is one in essence and yet there are profound differences in the roles of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Men and women are equal in essence and yet their roles too are very different.

For the last fifty years or so, the question of what role, if any, women should have in the leadership ministry of the church has been a source of a lot of discussion and division. Most recently, John MacArthur (a prominent evangelical pastor in California) re-fired the debate when he admonished Beth Moore and other women preachers to give up their ministries and “go home”. A video of MacArthur’s comments went viral on the internet and created brush fires on social media and in the blogosphere. That being the case, I thought it would be a good time for us to talk about this issue and see if we can’t benefit some from the exercise. I’m not confident that we’ll be able to resolve something that has kept Christians of good conscience apart for decades now, but I’m confident we can learn from the Bible and one another. As a basis for our discussion, I’ve chosen a thoughtful and scholarly piece by Robert Hart. While it may be in the deep end of the pool and you won’t be able to keep your head above water without doing some swimming, you can always just hang on to the side! Give it a shot and then come prepared to share in the conversation Sunday morning at 8:30, upstairs in the Family Life Center. Coffee and a home-baked treat will greet you at the door! Hope to see you there!

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Attitude Before Altitude- Our Sunday Roundtable- Session 2, Week 3

Air-traffic controllers are sometimes forced to ground a plane. Sometimes there’s a problem with the
tower, sometimes it’s the plane’s systems that are malfunctioning, and sometimes the skies are just not safe. Something sure to keep a plane at the gate is the forecast of weather perfect for icing. Should a plane attempt to take off and ascend through twenty thousand feet of freezing rain, enough ice could form on the wings and on the air-intake system, causing the engines to stall and the craft to roll or pitch uncontrollably, leading to a fiery crash.

Churches long to see lift in their life and ministry. Bodies of believers don’t want to waste away at the gate or taxi anxiously year after year after year. We want to be moving in an upward trajectory and travel to our destination, fulfilling our commission. But sometimes it seems as though air-traffic control has grounded our jet and delayed our flight. Something’s wrong and we’re left to wait on the Lord for a resolution to the problem. Because as much as we dislike having to wait; it would be far worse to lose everything in a crash.

A worldly perspective and a culture rooted in wrong thinking can be very much like freezing rain falling on a church’s life and efforts. Should the church attempt to take off in any direction in these conditions, the prospects for a successful flight are quite dim. Until the “weather” changes, everything’s grounded. One of the prevailing problems for the church in the West is its perception of itself. When a Western Evangelical Christian thinks of church, what is it that he conceives in his heart? What image comes to mind? Is the church a place or is it a people? Is the church a construction or a living thing? Is the church a meeting or a way of life? These and other questions like them are key in the work of assessing whether or not any church is ready for takeoff or doomed to twiddle its thumbs. The growth of the house church movement here in the United States and around the world has been the catalyst for some important conversation and introspection by those of us in the traditional church. One of those spurring the church on in this consideration is Wolfgang Simson. Some time ago, he published fifteen theses on the subject and I’d love to consider his thoughts together with you. Please take a moment to read these very provocative and stimulating ideas and come ready to share what you think. We’ll have a pot of coffee on and some baked goods set out to greet you at the door. Join us this Sunday at 8:30am, upstairs in the Family Life Center – God bless your reading!

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Is Godliness a Warm Gun? Our Sunday Roundtable- Session 2, Week 2

Overcorrecting makes for a lot of car wrecks. The right-side tires get off in the gravel, you feel the car
tugging into the ditch, and in a moment of panic you jerk the wheel and roll the car. Our
absentmindedness often has us panicking over dangers in many areas of our lives. We lose our focus
and drift outside the lines that God has painted for us. In our zeal to get back on track, we often lose
our way altogether.
For some time now, the Church has lost its muscle tone in its defense of the weak, in its pursuit of
justice, and in its willingness to stand up against violence and cruelty. The perception of the Church has
become that of a wimpy, emasculated, lips-zipped consoler. Now that’s not the biblical Jesus and that’s
not the Christians who are His namesake.
There’s a growing movement among church leaders in the West that is intent on showing that God’s
people are not pushovers. Christians, especially believing men, are finding their voice again and
stiffening against a lot of the rot and erosion all around. This is a good thing. But, in this revival of
muscle, there is the dangerous possibility of an overcorrection. In an attempt to show that we’re not
the lightweights that popular culture portrays us to be, are we jerking the wheel? One hot button issue
that seems to be a flashpoint in all of this is the matter of guns and self-defense. Would Jesus
encourage Billy Joe to take his guns to town or would he encourage him to listen to his mom and ride
without? Jon Piper has written a thought-provoking article on this very topic and, while none of us will
agree with it entirely, I think it forms a good basis for a much-needed conversation. So; God, guns, the
gospel, and our 2nd Amendment rights and responsibilities. We probably won’t need any coffee or baked
goods to fuel the conversation but it can’t hurt. I hope you’ll consider joining us Sunday morning,
September 15th at 8:30am in room 208 in the Family Life Center as we eat, fellowship, and work on this
together. See you then and there!

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Is Our Helping Hurting? Our Sunday Roundtable- Session 2, Week 1

The picture Christ paints of the blind led by the blind, tumbling headlong into the ditch, is a particularly
pitiful one. Blind people have a great and undeniable need and the ones who are best positioned to
help them navigate through the asphalt jungle are those who can see. In the parable, the well-
intentioned blind man who attempts to take others in hand and lead them onward is ultimately held
responsible for the tragedy that comes. Unless we be given sight, we must never endeavor to lead
anyone who remains in darkness.

“Blind Leading the Blind” © Lee Mclaughlin

Every time and place has its poor and needy. The United States, rich and prosperous as it is, is still home
to many homeless and, sadly, the disabilities of many cancel out many of America’s opportunities.
There are a great many of our neighbors who need a hand. In the years since FDR’s New Deal and
Johnson’s Great Society, our country has worked hard to meet every material need present in every
community. After billions and billions of dollars of appropriations, the establishment of whole
government departments, and the institutionalization of benefits; the ranks of the needy around us
have only grown. In The Tragedy of American Compassion, journalist Marvin Olasky first began to
question whether the abdication of social services to the State by the Church was a good development.
His writing in the early 90’s has given rise to a movement to restore the soul to our nation’s charitable
efforts and to give charge of the blind back to those who can see. Unable to assign the entire book for
our roundtable discussion, I’ve chosen instead to include a thoughtful review of the book written by
Daniel Bazikian. Please take a moment to read through it and come prepared to share your thoughts
with the rest of us. We’ll be gathering in room 208 on Sunday morning, September 8th at 8:30. Hot
coffee and fresh baked goodies will caffeinate and sweeten the discussion!
-Pastor Tate

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Tuning In

A simple sensory experience can instantly transport a person to another time and place. Every time I catch a whiff of cigar smoke, I’m back in the center-field bleachers of Memorial Stadium in Baltimore; a little kid with his dad. If I hear just a few notes of “Interstate Love Song” by Stone Temple Pilots, I’m riding shotgun with my college roommate as we bomb around Toccoa, Georgia doing our Meals on Wheels student ministry in his girlfriend’s Buick LeSabre. With every Tic Tac I taste, I’m sitting in a pew next to my Grandma staring out the tall windows of the Congregational Church in Benson, Vermont wondering what other treats might be hiding in that purse of hers. Our minds have an immense database of experiences. But searching that database for a particular memory, image, or bit of information can be very difficult and frustrating at times. We search and ponder; jogging our memories and all we often get are a few foggy reminiscences and some blurry pictures. But then, all of a sudden, we smell woodsmoke from a chimney or hear gravel under a car tire or hear an eagle scream and the memories that come flooding in are all crystal clear and in high definition. 

I think of this phenomenon when it comes to understanding God and the realities of our life beyond nature. There’s so much about our existence that we want to grasp and understand. But try as we might to get a handle on it, all we get is a hint or a faint ringing of a bell. But this is what I love about Scripture! God has given to us, in His holy Word, pages and pages of laws and letters; histories, songs, poems, and prophecies that all serve as those sights, sounds, smells, and tastes that evoke for us realities that we wouldn’t be able to access otherwise. God is plugging heavenly truth and insight into the mainframe of our hearts and minds. 

I love how Moses put it to his people in his final address to them as their leader: “For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.” Instead of living in frustration and consternation over all you cannot make sense of, simply pick up the Bible today and read a little. See if what you read doesn’t transport you to the heights of heaven, to the depths of the earth, into the inner recesses of your being, and to the very throne room of your Father.

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