The Glory of the Cross - Whose Glory?

“For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
- The Epistle to the Romans 5:6-8 (ESV)

Ever notice humanity’s penchant to make everything about us? You don’t have to look far to see our culture’s narcissistic bent; TV celebrities reminding our children through Saturday morning PSA’s how great they are, advertising which traffics in the currency of the almighty consumer, even the church is not immune from the unhealthy love of self.

For some Christians, the Cross has become a symbol of the lovability of humanity. "Oh how wonderful we must be because Jesus died for us!” Just look through some of bestselling Christian books, music and television programming and often you’ll hear how great we are because of the Cross.

That's missing it to say the least! The only greatness displayed in the Cross doesn’t revolve around us but God. The Cross isn’t a declaration of how wonderfully loveable humanity is but how wonderfully gracious and glorious God is. Romans 5:6-8 clearly says that it is God’s love which is displayed in the Cross not our worthiness to receive his love. As a matter of fact the text says that the contrast between the love God displays and the lack of loveliness in humanity is exactly why the Cross is a testimony to God’s grace and glory. Thus the Cross tells us not how good we are but how great God is in that he extends his love to those who have only merited wrath.

Frankly, he is good to us in spite of us! Now whose glory is displayed in the Cross?

So be alert the next time you hear a sermon, read a book or listen to a song that essentially makes the Cross a mirror reflecting our greatness. Trust that there is only one glory reflected at Calvary and it is not ours.

Fear and Loathing in Church Leadership

I must begin by saying I'm not against learning from the world of business and secular leadership as it intersects church. I've read more than my share of books from that sphere with all their buzzwords, catchphrases and sayings. I found many, if not most of them, very helpful for insights about leading.

It's just that lately I've found myself being more protective of letting the church devolve into an spiritually impotent, crowd-chasing, goods and services supplying organization which takes unhealthy pride in its well-oiled systems, clean org chart and articulate vision statement. Now let me be clear. I don't believe my church is like that...at all! It's just that when I swim in the waters of marketing strategies, brand development and all the bells and whistles associated with that arena for a long period of time there's a part of me which says, "This is all for naught if it threatens the main thing from remaining the main thing!" What is the main thing? The Gospel, of course.

The Gospel is the only reason I do what I do. It's the lifeblood of the church and sometimes, frankly, after a spending a lot of time examining business models, discussing the value of "values" and wondering if our goals are big, hairy or audacious enough, I reach my fill. I want to push back from the table and say, "If I hear one more discussion on our 'brand functional impact' I'm going to scream because the Gospel cannot get lost in the morass of systems and schemes! It can't be trivialized or trite! It can't be managed or massaged! It's not always 'positive' and 'happy' because it beckons men to take up their cross and die. It's not the fix-it-all answer to everything because somehow sin still exists on this planet. It doesn't make us better 'Rich Young Rulers", it makes us slaves!"

Then I realize I've overreacted, made some straw men and was getting excited at the prospect of burning them up. But there's still a little voice inside telling me that my little internal emotional blow up was a good sign because when I take for granted that my church keeps the Gospel central to what we do and say (especially as leaders) that may very well be the day my church has become the very thing I loathe.

Blessings and Bad Churches

“Grace to you and peace from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
- The Epistle of First Corinthians 1:3 (ESV)

At first glance this seems like a simple greeting from Paul to one of his many churches he ministered to. But when you consider what type of church he was dealing with his words of blessing are quite striking. Corinth, simply put, was a very, very messed up church. This congregation with its lascivious behavior would’ve been the talk of the denomination, probably had a few write-ups in the national Christian magazines and definitely been the topic of discussion for the local radio talk shows. For example, members at Corinth Community Church were getting sloshed (that’s the Greek term) at the Lord’s Supper. Now that’s some type of worship service, eh? Not only does that tell us they weren't Baptists, it also tells us they had some pretty deep issues going on.

And yet when Paul gets word about the train wreck that was Corinth (a church that he planted by the way), the first thing he gives to them is a blessing. A blessing? How about a butt-kicking or something along the lines of “You better get outta there because I just asked God to ‘Sodom & Gomorrah’ you screw-ups!” Okay, okay…I’d be a bad apostle but c'mon, these guys are totally blowing it!

But Paul’s words help me see the truth that no matter how messed up the church is it’s still the church. It’s still the primary way Jesus has chosen to work in the world, and our hearts should be for its success…even if we’ve been disappointed or even burned by it!

This little verse of blessing instructs me on how I handle messed up churches? I should pray God would bless them! And that blessing could be God removing bad leaders, it could be him closing the doors of a church that’s forsaken the Gospel, but it also might be reviving them for the mission of Jesus in the world, of them repenting and realigning for the Kingdom. Unfortunately, I’m too trigger-happy in writing them off when I should be humbled by the fact that if it weren’t for God’s grace my church might be a Corinthian congregation as well.

So next time, instead of pointing a finger or two, I should work on folding them and whisper a blessing that God would bring his grace to them.