Abandoning or Transforming Culture: Do we have a choice? Notes from Jerram Barrs

7 days ago Jerram Barrs came to speak here at the Grove. I sat down and enjoyed a lovely conversation with him over lunch. I greatly appreciated the time he took to answer every question deliberately. He spoke on three occasions; I made it to two of them. The most invigorating lecture/talk however was entitled Abandoning or Transforming Culture: Do we have a choice?

After outlining the various ideas of Christ and Culture, he laid down an argument for culture transformation. Three Principles and three "how to" guidelines for each.

1.) Affirmation - activities of culture is to respond to the Creation Mandate (reaffirmed in the Noahic Covenant) and the fact that mankind is made in the image of God (Psalm 8)

• Appreciation - delight what is good in culture (Philippians 4:8). John Calvin, "It is not blasphmey of the Holy Spirit that Pagans speak good and give good gifts."
• Incarnation - incarnate the gospel in every culture, adopt whatever you can from, and of, every culture. This is to live as fully human as you can. Love the culture and love the people of that culture.
• Bridges into Culture [Common Grace] - recognize all kinds of truth, justice, and beauty to communicate the gospel of Christ.

2.) Sober Realism of Reality

• Nonidentification - there is no such things as a Christian culture. What grows from transformed hearts are the firstfruits of what is yet to come.
• Christian Identity - in relationship to Christ and place in the kingdom of God
• called to humility and to challenge the culture we live in and within ourselves - transformation occurs by bringing Scripture to bear on reality and life. To do this read scripture and whenever you find a passage you do not like or want to reinterpret, you are dealing with sin, or you have given in too much to the culture you live in

3.) Solemn Warning - culture expresses the religious elements of the human heart. In the words of TS Eliot, "Culture is the incarnation of her religion."

• count the cost - there are things that are off limits
• cultural embodiment - encourage new believers to put on and live in the cutlure
• the transformation of Culture - salt and light in every aspect you can and your work

---- [Robbie's thoughts] ----

A lot of what Barrs said would throw Christendom in an uproar. Which is sad. How can I incarnate the Gospel? By admiring the creation around me to start. Look and enjoy the arts, music and movies. Incorporate the creativity of the community in which I live into my life. (I am drawing the line at The Scream.) Hang outs such as coffee houses, java cafes, internet cafes, some small restaurants, and many others are excellent examples to start. At the Crazy Mocha this summer the art on display was by those who lived in the community. Why can't the church do that? Why can't I do that?

Is it right to plant a church in an area where there are other healthy, reformed churches? I was asked this question earlier today, when a friend approached me, asking for my counsel and thoughts on the matter. I want to throw my thoughts out there and ask for criticism.

Assuming that the church planted was presbyterian in nature and the others in the area were as well, of differing denominations, I would have no problem with that. For the following reasons: It is proven that the best way to reach the lost is by planting churches, they are the most active in evangelism and building community. No church is perfect, the idea that one church got it right is wrong and sinful. People have different needs, and can every church reach and minister to every situation. No, of course not. We must remember, that while we are little popes with prideful hearts that want everything to be our way, Christ is King and pastors are only his stewards of flocks. Some flocks are in the same area, some are not. Elders must remember that other churches in the area have the same king, and not compete for turf.

In the end. If the goal is to "win souls" I vote yes. If the focus is to intrude on another persons ministry just because they have one. Thats wrong and sinful.

Why should there be a separation of church and state?

If there is confusion between the two spheres, the first being the church, the second being the state, then there will be confusion about the role of the church in the world. Our sinful hearts want to distort the church's mission in this world. God actively calls the church to save sinners and showing the world Christ Jesus in deed and word. However, the state is not defined in the enormous detail or length like the church is. God gives liberty for men to organize themselves in democracies, monarchies or confederations, just not theocracies. To think that the church's mission is to govern the land, is to think that it is our duty to spread the ideals of our country to the rest of the world. Sound familiar?

[thoughts provoked from The Godless Constitution: A Moral Defense of the Secular State]

Frame on the Importance of Doctrine

We cannot brush doctrine aside as a mere impediment to unity, as many users of that slogan (Doctrine divides, Experience unites) would like to do. A doctrinally indifferent church is a church that does not care about the gospel message for the gospel is precisely a doctrine, a teaching, a narrative of what God has done for our salvation. Certainly any church worthy of the name must be doctrinally united, in the sense of being fully committed to one message, the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is doctrine that unites us in our love for Christ and it is our foolish trust in our own experience that leads us to compromise that message. Doctrine unites, experience divides! (pg. 84)

Frame on the difference of church and denominations

The difference between the church and the denominations is indicated by this fact: that the birth of a denomination is always attended by sin, but the birth of the church was attended by rejoicing among the angels of heaven. (Evangelical Reunion, pg. 38)

Frame on Unity

Frame comments on Christ's high priestly prayer, "that they may be one, as Christ and the Father are one."

Some exegetes understand Christ here to be referring to spiritual unity rather than organizational unity. Certainly organizational matters are not the emphasis of this prayer. The emphasis is on the vital union of the believers with Christ in the Spirit. However, that union is not wholly invisible; it is visible in the conduct of Christians in their relationships to one another as well as to God himself. Therefore the spiritual and the organizational cannot in fact be sharply separated. Our lack of organizational unity is caused by, and in turn causes, the lack of fellowship, harmony, and cooperation that are certainly aspects of, or manifestations of, spiritual unity. (Evangelical Reunion, pg. 28-29)

A World Christian

To be a world Christian, then, it is important to grow in your grasp of Scripture and in your exposure to other cultures, so that you do not tie your cultural preferences to the gospel and invest the former with the authority of the latter. This is not to say that all cultural elements are morally neutral. Far from it. Every culture has good and bad elements in it. Wicked people can manipulate the appeal to culture to persecute Christians. Yet in every culture it is important for the evangelist, church planter, and witnessing Christian to flex as far as possible, so that the gospel will not be made to appear unnecessarily alien at the merely cultural level. But it is also important to recognize evil elements in culture when they appear and to understand how biblical norms assess them. There will be times when it is necessary to confront culture. After all, simply to appeal to current cultural norms, all the while demanding more flexibility from the Christian, is simply a way of saying that the gospel does not have the right to stand in judgment over culture - and that will not do

Insight into the message of the cross cannot be gained apart from the work of the Spirit.

In that sense, the sense that one can summarize Christian beliefs, they 'understood' the message of the cross. But what does anyone truly understand the message of the cross, apart from brokenness, contrition, repentance, and faith? To repeat, rather mechanically, the nature of the transaction that Christians think took place at Golgotha is one think; to look at God and his holiness, and people and their sin, from the perspective of the cross, is life-changing.

Do not think that you can adopt the philosophies and values of the world as if such choices do not have a profoundly detrimental impact on the church. Do not think you can get away with it. Do not kid yourself that you are with it, an avant-garde Christian, when in fact you are leaving the gospel behind and doing damage to God's church.

Finals are over! Now onto Christmas vacation which means I get to catch up on reading. But a little tidbit from DA Carson's The Cross and Christian Ministry: Leadership Lessons from 1 Corinthians.

A cross centered ministry is characterized by the Spirit's power and is vindicated in transformed lives.

I've watched Anthony Bradley since I heard his talk from the Reform and Resurge Conference (Driscoll). Since then Anthony has continued to impress me. He writes, rather frequently, at the World Emagazine. His latest contribution covers the Omaha shooting, noting that Murray was raised in an evangelical church and homeschooled.

He writes:

What, if anything, is happening in evangelical sub-culture that seems to be producing a generation of angry, vengeful young men (and angry middle-aged blogging men)? As the story of Murray’s life unfolds, I’m sure we will learn more about whether or not his perceptions were actually true. For now, it seems that evangelicals may need to start paying more attention to what’s happening to young men. Over the years I’ve seen this more and more in youth and college culture: In order to be loved by the masses one needs to look like an Abercrombie and Fitch model, be extremely outgoing, and publicly sinless. There are even some ministries and churches over the years that targeted “popular” kids in high schools and colleges to draw others. Many young people perceive this to be the case in the church and harbor anger.

May we build the church that Christ calls us to build, may we preach the message that He calls us to preach, understanding our woeful inadequacy in doing so.

Stats on the state of the church in America and Poverty in the global economy

Church Planting. (see here)
1.) 195,000,000 unchurched people in American today. Making it one of the top four unchurched nations in the world.
2.) No county in America has a greater church population than it did 10 years ago
3.) combined communicant membership declined 10%
4.) each year up to 4,000 churches close their doors, with 1500 being planted
5.) of 350,000 churches, 4 out of 5 are plateaued or declining
6.) one denomination found that 80% of her membership came from these churches
7.) the single most effective evangelistic method is planting new churches

World Poverty
1.) 1.5 billion people live on less than a $1 a day
2.) same don't have access to clean water
3.) 6 million children die due to malnutrition before their 5th birthday
4.) 8 million people go to bed hungry everyday, 3 million are children
5.) only 10% of this number hunger due due to famines
6.) food production has decreased due to soil quality

Is gathering together for the gospel a bad thing?

DG Hart, over on De Regno Chrsti, wrote that Tim Keller has left the PCA. (who did no such thing.) Hart writes:

How else should we interpret his involvement in the Gospel Coalition. Co-founded by such evangelical heavyweights as D. A. Carson and John Piper, GC is a fellowship of churches that have come together for the purpose of “renewing our faith in the gospel of Christ and to reforming our ministry practices to conform fully to the Scriptures.” GC plans to execute its promotion of the gospel through the ordained means of word and sacrament. “We intend to [serve the church] through the ordinary means of his grace: prayer, the ministry of the Word, baptism and the Lord’s supper, and the fellowship of the saints.”

The Gospel Coalition and Together for the Gospel are a very good things and blessings. Both proclaim the majestic sovereign God that we have and the precious gospel of grace, all the while recognizing that some who come together are baptists and others are paedo's. But that does not get in the way of celebrating the catholicity of the church. These organizations are a symbol of a movement to gather together for the sake of the gospel (not as structured as Acts 29, which has a PCA congregation in it). This goes against the grain of our natures, which is to go as reclusive and isolated as possible, lacking fellowship, community and accountability. This movement is to be encouraged and prayed for... that it would be a conduit for an evangelical and reformed reunion that we might be one, "as we are one." And the Gospel Coalition encourages that.

PS. You can read the article here
PSS. Keller was not the only PCA minister to participate - Phil Ryken, Ray Ortlund, Bryan Chapell, Harry Reeder, Scotty Smith, and several others went to participate. [All seen here]

Robertson endorses Rudy, "America's Mayor"

Robertson is seriously off his rocker... He is right on the first need in a president: The defense of the American people against Terrorists and other foreign enemies. But the second need is not to reduce the deficit, it is abortion. And when we have leading evangelicals saying otherwise, it is no wonder that this country takes no ear to Christians regarding abortion.

Which he is wishy washy on to say the least.

Why I am not a (Capital C) Catholic

I am a catholic because the church is universal. The Reformed Protestants are not the only believers professing Christ, which is the only basis for salvation. I am not a Catholic for the Vatican teaches salvation by works. Luther, Calvin, and the myriad of reformers correctly saw the need for gospel revival and reformation within Rome. Christ did not preach that he came to give grace infused with the keys of the kingdom (which Rome teaches are given to the church), nor is salvation given through the sacraments. Christ builds the church, not us. The bride grows in grace by Christ’s grace alone.

M. Horton offers advice to those who would consider leaving the protestant realm (traditionally evangelical) to Rome (traditionally not evangelical)

Here’s how I would counsel such a person: Start with the gospel. The gospel creates and sustains the church, not the other way around. If the Evangelicalism familiar to you has been a constant stream of imperatives—moral exhortation, whether in rigid and legalistic or warm and friendly versions—the antidote is not to follow different rules for attaining justification, but a constant, life-long, unremitting immersion in the good news that Jesus Christ’s obedient life, death, and resurrection are sufficient even to save miserable Christians.

That is what the Reformation was all about, and it is why we need another one, even in Protestantism as much as in any other tradition. If our salvation depends on anything done by us or even within us by the Spirit, then our situation is hopeless.

[Between Two Worlds]

Unity vs. Uniformity, and the Question of a Rich Heritage

Many weeks ago I stumbled upon an article arguing that the rp church is losing her identity as she becomes more and more diverse. The author's basic premise preaches that because new people are coming into the fold, she is losing her heritage. Because former baptists realize the truth of psalmody, they come to our churches and bring with them their unique perspectives that they gained while at 'First Baptist.'

I beg your patience as I comment. O the beauty of this! (unique people bringing their unique perspective to a unique congregation) The author, Bill Chellis clearly argues that unity and uniformity are not the same. But he longs for uniformity. He says that, one could travel to such and such an rp church and find a very different environment than one wishes to find. We do not know what to expect. We are losing our rp culture. I must say, thank goodness.

Churches are to reflect the culture of the city they are in, if not the city then the little bureau or township in rural Kansas. Pittsburgh is immensely different than Grove City, or Seattle for that matter. Unless one has a missional focus and approach for a certain city, there will be minimal impact.

Chellis argues that one loses their heritage once you renig on your ancestor's practices and dogma. I say this, and only this. I am a child of God and I have a great family. Yes, Samuel Rutherford and Richard Cameron were and are my brothers, but so was Polycarp and Jerome, Paul and Calvin, Luther and Brother Andrew, Zwingli and Spurgeon... need the list go on? But is the qualification for familial ties doctrinal belief?

The Bible says and offers a "no" shouted through a megaphone.

That the world may know

Francis Schaeffer is one of the most solid writers I have ever read. While his pieces are pithy and quick, they hammer home and convict the soul. This past Sabbath I spent the time reading The Mark of the Christian. The entire book is a sermon on John 13:33-35 and John 17:21. Christ answering the question what is the greatest commandment, takes a turn and replies, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

Schaeffer comments:

The Church is to be a loving church to a dying culture. How then, is the dying culture to consider us? In the midst of the world, in the midst of a dying culture, Jesus is giving a right to the culture. Upon his authority he gives the world the right to judge whether you and I are born again Christians on the basis of this observable love toward all Christians.

Later there is a final apologetic on Christ's high priestly prayer, "that they may be one, just as you, father are in me and I in you, that they may also be in us, so that the world may believe that you sent me."

he notes:

Now comes the sobering part. Jesus goes on in this 21st verse to say something that always causes me to cringe. If as Christians we do not cringe, it seems to me we are not very sensitive or very honest, because Jesus here gives us the final apologetic. What is the final apologetic? "That all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me." This is the final apologetic.

In John 13 the point was that, if an individual Christian does not show love toward other true Christians, the world has a right to judge that he is not a Christian. Here Jesus is stating something else which is much more cutting, much more profound: We cannot expect the world to believe that the Father sent the Son, that Jesus' claims are true, and that Christianity is true, unless the world sees some reality of the oneness of true Christians.

Schaeffer on Community and Hospitality

I must confess that it is a great irritant to my person when the church does not fulfill her mission, her calling. We, as the bride of Christ are called to be the salt in the world, the city on a hill, the light amongst darkness. But there aren't many denominations merely proclaim a Jesus that mimics culture, not transformation or counter-cultural. It is a sad fact that many reformed congregations do not apply irresistible grace to our everyday living, we are not hospitable or transforming culture.

One of my favorite writers (who i need to read a lot more) Francis Schaeffer deals rather harshly with this, and offers excellent counsel to me as I deal with this.

Don't start with a big program. Don't suddenly think you can add to your church budget and begin. Start personally and start in your home. I dare you. I dare you in the name of Jesus Christ. Do what I am going to suggest. Begin by opening your home for community…

How many times in the past year have you risked having a drunk vomit on your carpeted floor? How in the world, then, can you talk about compassion and about community - about the church's job in the inner city?

L'Abri is costly. If you think what God has done here is easy, you don't understand. It's a costly business to have a sense of community. L'Abri cannot be explained merely by the clear doctrine that is preached; it cannot be explained by the fact that God has here been giving intellectual answers to intellectual questions. I think those two things are important, but L'Abri cannot be explained if you remove the third. And that is there has been some community here. And it has been costly.

In about the first three years of L'Abri all our wedding presents were wiped out. Our sheets were torn. Holes were burned in our rugs. Indeed once a whole curtain almost burned up from somebody smoking in our living room. Blacks came to our table. Orientals came to our table. Everybody came to our table. It couldn't happen any other way. Drugs came to our place. People vomited in our rooms, in the rooms of Chalet Les Melezes which was our home, and now in the rest of the chalets of L'Abri.

How many times has this happened to you? You see, you don't need a big program. You don't have to convince your session or board. All you have to do is open your home and begin. And there is no place in God's world where there are no people who will come and share a home as long as it is a real home." [quote from here]

All you have to do is open your home and begin. Schaeffer takes Christ's counsel of our plank before other's speck literally here. We need to focus on ourselves, not others.

marks of an unhealthy church?

6 Marks of an unhealthy church (play on 9 marks)

1) Little or no adult baptisms. That tells you A LOT about who the church is NOT engaging. (Acts 18:10) Fellas, did you know that there are actually Christians who don't think it is odd that their church hardly ever has adult baptisms. Some don't even bat at an eye at that. Shouldn't that be kind'a embarrassing? The most I've ever personally been involved with, as a church employee, was when I worked at Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philly). It was an amazing number.

(2) It's mono-ethnic( except for rural churches). If the church is in or near a major city and the church represents a segregated mono-culture (by race and/or class) in leadership and membership you are right to think that is kind'a odd. It's 2007 not 1907. And, sadly, church leaders and members avoid living in the epicenter of major cities. (Rev. 5:8-14; Eph. 4)

(3) The church has no social witness. Members and regular attenders are not personally involved in local, state, or national social issues (wherever the curse is found) at any level. It's not a regular part of their family life. (James 1:27)

(4) Infrequent practice of the sacraments.

(5) Non-Christians are not involved in the life of the church, the personal lives of church goers, or attending worship (Lev. 19:33-34).

(6) The preaching, teaching, programs, aesthetics, music, etc. primarily appeal to 40-something women and their children. The men may be physically present but are bored and/or dead.

[Anthony Bradley]

Christian Self Help pt. 2

An addendum to my last post.

I was thinking of the very exclusive nature of self help these days. You read a book to fix your marriage, deal with grief, figure out your troubled teenager, etc. And voila, apply it on your own time, pace, whatever you are comfortable with. This is trouble and forgets the importance of relationships. Our non Christian friends realize this when they go to Dr. Phil or Oprah - they seek someone else's counsel and assistance. I would be lost without my parents, sisters or girlfriend when it comes to my life. I would be a lot more selfish and arrogant than not when I have loved ones telling me in love of my sin. As 'iron sharpens iron, friends sharpen friends.' This is the role of the church - to love each other and assist in helping our growth as little Christs. We are in need of change (we are sinners) and the chief way God brings about change is through believers preaching His word.

its really a beautiful portrait.

When I consider the NT passages pertaining to church leaders, two offices emerge, the elders and deacons.  It is clear that there are other words for elders (bishop, overseer), which give a certain vision of that position.  On the other hand the deaconate is only described as the deacons.  

Overseers must be men.  Scripture is clear that women are not to have authority over men in church matters and affairs.  There are many people who want to challenge this notion today by calling it archaic and old fashioned, but they would rather hold to the worldly ideal of progression instead of honoring God's word by obeying it.  The Bible takes a mallet and slams the feminist portrait of their eldership.  It is that clear.  Men are to be the leaders in the home and in the church, as they lead their spouses and families to Christ they are to be like Christ to the Church.  

Men are to be the overseers of the church, utilizing their gifts to advance the kingdom of God.  Leading their people to be more like Christ, curing their souls with the tonic of the gospel.  Preaching Christ and Him crucified at everyone, anywhere and everywhere they go.  That is their primary role.  It is the mission of the church to go into all nations making disciples of Jesus Christ.   The fact is that the elders must lead, not in a trustee sense of the word figuring budget needs and what not.  Instead, whether it is in prayer meeting, preaching, evangelism, Gospel Classes or Sunday School, small groups, etc, they must make Christ the focus of the church.