The 'Post-Church Age' And Other Fairy Tales...

I sometimes hear, in the various mission meetings I attend, that we are now living in a “Post-Church Age.” This phrase has always bothered me a bit not so much for the somewhat weak logic for arriving at such a conclusion which I don’t think can be supported by the most basic examination of church history but rather what invariably follows; a call to change the methods the church catholic has traditionally used to proclaim the Good News, reach the lost, and perform acts of mercy that should naturally flow from a saving faith in Jesus.

I’ve detailed on more than one occasion instances of folks coming into my own congregation in the name of evangelism and making their case that if we just added a seeker friendly worship where secular music is played so as not to frighten away the unchurched. I’ve reported on a Southeastern district presentation that suggested that we give away jars of cookies or jelly in order to get folks to consider giving us a shot as their new church. Nearly all this goofy methodology is put forward because we are told that the ways of preaching , teaching, and reaching the lost no longer work the way it used to because we are in a different time: a “Post-Church Age.”

That’s rubbish plain and simple, more especially for persons who call themselves confessional Lutherans.

Last month I was more than pleased to see that my pastor wrote his newsletter article on the problems of a so called “Post-Church Age” in a manner that is clearer and more succinct than I could ever hope to pen. Enjoy!


The 'Post-Church Age' and Other Fairy Tales...

The stories that we tell can tell a lot about us. The stories you tell your kids about when you were a kid say a lot about you today. The stories you tell about your day go a long way to making or breaking the day of those you tell your stories to. The stories that we tell about ourselves as a church tell a lot about what sort of a church we are...

Lately there's been a story going around among some of the higher-ups in our church. The story is called "the Post-Church or Post-Christian Age," a scary sort of story that goes some- thing like this: "For centuries and centuries we lived in a Western Culture that embraced Christendom. The Church was popular and well liked by the vast majority of the culture. Even those who didn't go to church a lot generally had a positive view of Christianity. The Church had a fairly easy time attracting people to become members. Today it's all changed! Our culture is becoming increasingly secular or atheist or Islamist or hostile to Christianity. So our churches face a bleak future of declining numbers of members, declining resources, and less respect from the world at large. We need to do something! (But we're not exactly sure what...)”

Maybe you've heard this story, or bits and pieces of it. It's usually the preamble to a pan- icky appeal that we must change our worship, our theology, our outreach, or the sky will fall!

I think the story is nonsense. It's certainly not the story Scripture tells of Christ and His Church and the world around us. It isn't the story the church fathers told. Most of all, it isn't even factually accurate. Harry Stout, religious history Professor at Yale University used to ask his classes which they would guess was the most religious generation in America? First guess was usually Revolutionary War. Wrong! Civil War? More than the founding fathers' generation, but far from the prize. The right answer? Our generation (circa 1985) was the most religious in American history! While the number of people who say they are Christian has dipped slightly in the first decade of the 21st century, it's still above all others except the 1980’s-90’s.

In the 4th century AD, Constantine made Christianity legal, and lots of people flocked to Christian churches. But oddly enough, Augustine didn't think the number of Christians had really changed at all from the previous century. That the culture thought the church more fashionable didn't make for more Christians, as far as he could see. Popularity did bring a sharp increase in the heresies fathers like Augustine had to battle-- Pelagians and Arians and Donatists and all kinds of bad apples--who tended for most of that era to be the majority of Christendom!

Luther read in St. Paul (Romans 9-11) that the number of the elect is a constant. It was determined by God before time began, unveiled by Christ on the cross, and isn't affected at all by anything we do or don't do. Our good efforts can't increase the number of people in heaven by even one. Our failures and faux pas cannot reduce the number by a single soul. In Elijah's day there were (according to God's reckoning) only 7,000 in all Israel (population at least a million and probably closer to two or three million) who hadn't bent the knee to Baal. Nothing in Scrip- ture suggests that percentage changes much from age to age.

So the world has mostly always hated the Gospel of the Crucified One. It's always been an acquired taste of the (s)elect few. When people fawn over us, we don't get puffed up. When they scorn us, we don't fret. This age is no more post, pro, or pomo Christian than any other. the faithful still stand where we've always stood--on Christ and His promises alone. The world's hatred or love cannot make or break us, but our fear of what people think of us should certainly embarrass us! The only thing that matters is what Christ Jesus thinks of us--and He reveals that in His pure Gospel and Sacraments on which we stand unafraid, a beacon in a dark world- -the light of which will always draw exactly the right crowd, with no crowding, no worrying, and no fear, only faith in the One who has everything, absolutely everything, in His nail pierced hands...

A Great Article On The Perils of “Wannabe Cool” Christianity

Brett McCracken writing in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal warns of the perils of “wannabe cool” Christianity. He reports that as many as 70% of Protestants between the ages of 18-22 are “pouring out of their churches, never to return” because of trends that have Americanized Christianity’s congregations scrambling to stay ahead of the relevance curve and sustain the cool, hip, and relevant image that place gimmick above Gospel. He writes:

Statistics like these have created something of a mania in recent years, as baby-boomer evangelical leaders frantically assess what they have done wrong (why didn't megachurches work to attract youth in the long term?) and scramble to figure out a plan to keep young members engaged in the life of the church.

Increasingly, the "plan" has taken the form of a total image overhaul, where efforts are made to rebrand Christianity as hip, countercultural, relevant. As a result, in the early 2000s, we got something called "the emerging church"—a sort of postmodern stab at an evangelical reform movement. Perhaps because it was too "let's rethink everything" radical, it fizzled quickly. But the impulse behind it—to rehabilitate Christianity's image and make it "cool"—remains.

Mr. McCracken goes on to list several of the techniques that pop evangelicalism seems to use in attempt to be cool such as using Stephen Colbert or Lady Gaga references in sermons, screening R rated movies (this is especially prevalent during the summer months! And with the lack of quality movies coming out of Hollywood, or Vancouver for that matter, some congregations even have resorted to sermon series on movies that are up to five and six years old… which could be relevant I guess if you just woke up from a coma!), holding worship services at hip nightclubs, or having worship experiences at an iCampus where the participation is of a virtual nature.

Mr. McCracken also hits the emergent church’s postmodern, lets “rebrand” the church as an attempt to remake Christianity cool pretty hard and states the emergent movement has fizzled out. McCracken’s notes that the emergent movement’s ideas and impulses to “rehabilitate” Christianity are still alive and well even if the movement has fizzled out. I would argue with Mr. McCracken that the emergent church has fizzled out and say that it’s leaders, McLaren, Sweet, Bell, Pagitt Jones, Kimball (who the LCMS has invited to teach church workers who focus on youth ministry) and others are actually bigger than ever. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that the same practices (think Roman Catholic monastic practices from before the Protestant Reformation and desert father mysticism) encouraged and promoted by so many the emergent leaders are now being taught in evangelical and Anglican churches as well Lutheran churches in the LCMS! Just because the movement’s leaders keep moving the target doesn’t mean the movement’s dead or has fizzled out.

Mr. McCracken also points out that the most popular “and arguably the most unseemly” method of trying to stay “wannabe cool” is to just try to be as shocking as possible, with the most popular tactic being a focus on sex. Mr. McCracken is not exaggerating or using hyperbole to make his point! There is not a week that goes by where there isn’t a sermon series on sex supplanting the preaching of repentance and the forgiveness of sins. Don’t believe me or Mr. McCracken? Well then, just Google the words sex and sermon series and watch how many hits pop up! If you are so inclined to indulge in an adult beverage, you might just want to pour yourself a stiff one… you’ll see what I mean, trust me.

Mr. McCracken supports his argument by quoting author David Wells from his book “The Courage To Be Protestant”:

"The born-again, marketing church has calculated that unless it makes deep, serious cultural adaptations, it will go out of business, especially with the younger generations. What it has not considered carefully enough is that it may well be putting itself out of business with God.

"And the further irony, is that the younger generations who are less impressed by whiz-bang technology, who often see through what is slick and glitzy, and who have been on the receiving end of enough marketing to nauseate them, are as likely to walk away from these oh-so-relevant churches as to walk into them."

Mr. McCracken concludes his article:

If the evangelical Christian leadership thinks that "cool Christianity" is a sustainable path forward, they are severely mistaken. As a twentysomething, I can say with confidence that when it comes to church, we don't want cool as much as we want real.

If we are interested in Christianity in any sort of serious way, it is not because it's easy or trendy or popular. It's because Jesus himself is appealing, and what he says rings true. It's because the world we inhabit is utterly phony, ephemeral, narcissistic, image-obsessed and sex-drenched—and we want an alternative. It's not because we want more of the same.

So does Brett McCracken’s article word of warning of those of us who call ourselves confessing Lutherans? Oh heck yeah! As long as we keep looking to consultants and marketing gurus who tell us play secular music in our worship service so as to not scare away the unchurched seeker, put up billboards claiming to be from Satan that state he hates our goofy church, or fall victim to the “we need to talk about sex because nobody in the church ever talks about sex” bug that plague so many seeker sensitive churches in Americanized Christianity, then if we have any sense at all about us we had better hear Brett McCracken’s warning loud and clear.

Permeable

Permeable
Pronunciation: \ˈpər-mē-ə-bəl\
Function: adjective
Date: 15th century
:Capable of being permeated or passed through

Do We Really Need To Change Maps?

The Lutheran Witness article that was referenced in the last post started out this way:

Imagine trying to drive in Chicago with a street map of San Francisco. You probably can’t. While both cities are edged by water and have lots of tall buildings, they are nothing alike. Though they share names for several streets, trying to drive in the one with the map of the other would prove frustrating. No matter how hard you tried, you simply wouldn’t get anywhere. Confused and exasperated, you’d finally conclude: It’s time to change maps!

As God’s missionary people, we also need to change maps in order to navigate in this present day. Changes in our society and culture, especially regarding the Church, have come fast and furiously. It’s as if we went to bed one night only to wake up the next morning in a vastly different world. Once vibrant and growing churches question whether they will remain open for another year. Many pastors and people feel guilty for not reaching their communities with the Gospel, while well-intentioned mission sermons often leave them discouraged, even defensive. And in their defensiveness, they begin to reason that faithfulness has only to do with preserving the true faith, whether or not that faith is proclaimed to the nations.

Do we really need to change maps to reach the unchurched? Is there any command in the Scriptures to change maps to reach people with the Gospel? I searched on my computer (I use Libronix when I don’t have my TLSB in front of me) and took a look over at Biblegateway.com and I can’t find any reference, in either the Old or New Testement, where we are told to change maps to reach out to the culture.

I find it somewhat amusing that the author has set himself up something of a false dichotomy that asks us to drive in San Francisco with a map of Chicago and in Chicago with a map of San Francisco. What if there is a third option and it involves getting the map for Chicago if you’re in Chicago and picking up a map for San Francisco when in San Francisco.

As a church we know where the heck we are and we have clear maps handed down in Scripture to follow. We have a map laid down in the book of Acts of how Christ’s church was grown from the start. In Acts we have testimonies of eyewitnesses and of people who participated in delivering the Gospel to the whole world. Are we so arrogant that we think we know how to preach and teach better than the apostles that our Lord called? Do we think that the Church’s counter cultural nature is any different now? I don’t think so.

In the Pauline epistles we are given a map for not only what should be taught and proclaimed but how and in what context the faithful should be instructed. Instead of telling his readers to switch maps, Saint Paul explains exactly what we should be bringing to the a corrupt and sinful culture in the 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 :

Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures

Did St. Paul tell the church in Corinth that they need new maps or rather did he remind them of the Gospel that he already preached? Isn’t Saint Paul faithfully carrying out Christ’s command to make diciples by baptizing them and “teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you.”? Our Lord does not say to the disiples that they need to go out, get new maps, become permeable to speak with the culture, and don’t get hung up on preserving the true faith by faithfulness.

The the marketing gurus we seem to want to listen to, (and we pay dearly for their advice) tell us that we need to transform our congregations if we are to reach anyone with the Gospel. We are told to play secular songs instead of sacred hymns. We are accused of only wanting a “maintenance ministry” if we think church is the place for the sheep who need to hear both Law and Gospel and refuse to turn Sunday morning into something that looks like a rotory club meeting. We are told that is better to save souls than be Lutheran. We are told preserving the true faith by faithfulness to our confession of faith is passé, uninspiring and only to be left to the theological dodos of the reformation identified as the “museum keepers.” Such thinking has turned evangelism into an idol.

These slick Madison Avenue marketing gurus and the author of the Lutheran Witness article suggest that we just need new ideas for reaching the unchurched. In other words both say that we need new maps. As Scripture does not call or suggest that we become permeable or more like the culture in order to make disciples of all nations; the new map that these folks offer only leads us away from the Gospel and towards abyss of uncatechized non-belief.

Do we really want to try to navigate the church’s missionfield with a map of the culture? How would such a contrivance benefit the church if this is not what we are called to do? It won’t, plain and simple.

No, I’ll trust the map that we have been given and leave the map that wishes to look like the culture it chases on the spinner rack of heterodoxy.

Lunch Delayed

A programming note; my lunch with the Mormons had to be delayed because my workload this week was busier than it had been in months. I promise I’ll let ya’ll know how it goes when I am able to reschedule our meeting.

When I called the local missionary center to let them know that I was going to be out of town the day of scheduled meeting I was told that it is two elders that were to meet with me. Elders? I was under the assumption that they would be sending me younger, less theologically trained missionaries.

Usually the missionaries that knock on my door on Saturday mornings have a ton of scripture verses memorized but have no real working knowledge of their doctrinal systems. How I carry on a conversation with folks depends of their understanding of their own theological system whether it’s my Baptist neighbor or a scientologist looking for Zenu’s mothership.

I’m gonna have to do a bit of research and figure out what exactly the LDS folks mean when they say someone is an elder. With there being a local LDS temple in my area it is entirely within the realm of possibility that that I’ll get to chat with the guys who have temple privileges. If that is the case, our conversation will be a very different one than I had originally envisioned.

What Would You Discuss Over Lunch With The Mormons?

A few weeks ago I ordered the free Finding Happiness dvd produced by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I did so because I had seen the commercial for the dvd advertised on an insane number of websites that I visit during the week. I had seen the trailer pop up on every kind of website ranging from comic book news, pop culture and even to some technology sites I frequently visit. The advertising campaign is clearly a broad one and they are really getting big bang for their bucks.

I’d had seen the trailer before last week and even heard a snippit or two on Chris Rosebrough’s program Fighting for the Faith. Seeing the video being advertised over such a broad range of websites definitely piqued my curiosity and I went ahead and ordered it through the online form. That was two weeks ago.

About a week after I placed my order I got a call from two missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, or Mormons, asking me if they could drop off my copy of Finding Happiness. Then they asked, like all good missionaries do, “can we talk with you about Jesus?”

Here’s a question for readers of POTF; if you were having lunch with two youthful Mormon missionaries, what would you ask them? How would you handle talking to two kids whose mission it is to deliver a message and record the response? What would you do?

Evangelism As An Idol

I had a “conversation” recently with someone who believes that our beloved synod’s favorite evangelism program, eh, movement; Ablaze! is the best thing since sliced bread. I, as is no big secret ‘round here, completely disagree.

I put conversations in quotes above because there is rarely anything remotely resembling a conversation when debating Ablaze! from either a Scriptural or a confessional standpoint with those whose views differ from mine . I’m always up for a good debate and really do enjoy a dialogue with people that disagree with me. That being said, I just can’t accept a synod website, when that website conflicts with Scripture or takes Scripture completely out of context, as a legitimate debating point. Madison Avenue marketing campaigns will always be trumped by Scripture. If even that simple point can not be agreed upon, let’s just be honest and just call it a day because the discussion is going to go nowhere pleasant for either of us.

What I’ve seen by the precious few who will debate a slack jawed yokel like myself (and for reasons I can’t explain, there really too few who are debate anything at all concerning true evangelism) is almost a willingness to make an evangelism program the equivalent of a golden calf that is to bowed down to. Allow me to elaborate;

The Ablaze! program did not hide Easter eggs for the kids in the neighborhood.

The Ablaze! program did not invite people to your Easter breakfast.

The Ablaze! program did not shake your visitors hands in your church lobby.

The Ablaze! program did not work in the local food pantry.

The Ablaze! program did not talk to people at the bus stop or in the airport about Jesus.

The Ablaze! program did not, I repeat, did not bring anyone to faith.

I see very little difference between ascribing the receiving of faith by the Holy Spirit to a program developed by consultants and the bowing down to a golden calf by the people of Israel when Moses was still on Sinai in Exodus 32. Likewise, it is an error of similar magnitude to dance around that same golden calf to the drum beat of our own good works. Extol Ablaze! all you like but the focus is almost never on the faith in Christ which is the only thing that makes a good work good.

To take credit for your own works as being good or attributing the bringing of those who would hear their Shepherds voice to faith is nothing more than the fashioning of an idol from the gold colored metal of an evangelism program.

The old confessors understood this when they defended the historic catholic faith against the papacy and the Roman system of works righteousness that had developed through the middle ages before the Emperor Charles V at Augsburg when they confessed in AC V how faith is received and how and where we find Jesus;

That we may obtain this faith, the Ministry of Teaching the Gospel and administering the Sacraments was instituted. For through the Word and Sacraments, as through instruments, the Holy Ghost is given, who works faith; where and when it pleases God, in them that hear the Gospel, to wit, that God, not for our own merits, but for Christ's sake, justifies those who believe that they are received into grace for Christ's sake.

They condemn the Anabaptists and others who think that the Holy Ghost comes to men without the external Word, through their own preparations and works.

Golden calves take many forms but the one thing that every idol has in common is taking credit from the work of our Lord and making it our own. When Ablaze! is always running (the subject of) the verbs, no matter how well intentioned it may be, our beloved synod’s shiny evangelism program is nothing more than an idol to be condemned.

Ablaze!’s Counting Evolution

The Ablaze! website counting criteria evolution:

Baptisms do not count as baptism is only an outward sign

became

We are not counting baptisms or conversions. We are counting the number of Gospel seeds planted.

and ended up

We are counting sharing the Gospel with individuals--seeds planted in faith…

Well, I guess there has been some progress…

I would love to know when the second standard of what was to be counted on the Ablaze! website was changed to the third.

Personally, I see these changes as progress. Who knows, maybe the Ablaze! program or movement might resemble something vaguely Lutheran by, oh let’s say 2017ish if these changes continue!

Like, wouldn’t that be cool…

Does Ablaze! Count Baptisms Now?

From last week’s inbox comes this School Ministry E-Bulletin story under the heading “Ablaze Moments in Lutheran Schools”…

ABLAZE Moments

In the past 15 years, Our Redeemer Lutheran School in Fords, NJ, with an average enrollment of 100 students in Grades PK-8, has baptized 16 students. On May 10, #17 will be baptized, and #18 will become a child of God on June 14. God is so good!!!!

The fact that 18 children have been heirs of heaven in the waters of Holy Baptism is a blessing indeed as the sacrament “works forgiveness of sins, delivers from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this, as the words and promises of God declare”.

But… I have to ask the question; is Ablaze! now counting baptisms? The reason the question is important is that for the longest time the Ablaze! website explained the methodology of the program this way:

"We are not counting baptisms or conversions. We are counting the number of Gospel seeds planted."

That same page that the LCMS set up to explain Ablaze! methods: "Are we really counting? If so, what exactly are we counting?" now states:

We are counting sharing the Gospel with individuals--seeds planted in faith…

See the difference? The statement that we do not count baptisms is no longer there! So, are we counting baptisms or not? If we are now counting baptisms, when did we start?

Don’t get me wrong, counting the sacrament of Baptism is a very good thing! One of my biggest problems with the whole Ablaze! fad is the lack of focus on and never pointing to the Means of Grace; the Word preached purely and the Sacraments rightly administered. The Means of Grace should be the only things we look to for visible signs of the Church on this side of eternity. To look elsewhere for signs of a visible church or pretending that we can see what lies in the human heart is the same vain and futile effort and thinking that sent many a Pharisee skipping their merry way down the road to perdition.

I hope that we are indeed counting baptisms now. I would also hope like heck that we hired the right consultant this time to tell us that Scripture and our Confessions have been pointing us to the Means of Grace as something to be counted for quite a bit longer than the Madison Avenue marketing gurus have been saying that the Means of Grace are only an impediment to growing Christ’s church.

Ablaze! Counter Hits 10 Million (Or If You Live By The Numbers…)

From the inbox; last Thursday the Reporter, the official newspaper of the LCMS, sent out emails and reported on its website:

Ablaze! faith-sharing counter exceeds 10 million

By Paula Schlueter Ross

The Web-based "counter" that tracks the number of times LCMS Lutherans have shared their faith with others as part of the Ablaze! movement hit 10,006,997, as of April 29. That figure includes some 310,000 additions from the Synod's Southeastern District, which has been recording Gospel-sharing events for three years and last month added them to the Ablaze! Web site.

Sally Hiller, who has been overseeing the districtwide Ablaze! emphasis, says "people are becoming more comfortable in seeing and seizing the opportunities to share their faith" and now the initiative is "beginning to gain momentum" in the district.

"I rejoice and give thanks to God because each day I am humbled to read of the faith-sharing experiences of people throughout the district," Hiller said.

She recalled one person who told her, "Oh, I probably speak to someone about Jesus 25 to 30 times a day. How do you not?"

Still, the district is not easing up on its Ablaze! emphasis. At its May 1-3 convention in Norfolk, Va., delegates unanimously adopted a resolution to make faith-sharing a districtwide priority for the next triennium. The Southeastern District wants to have reached 750,000 people with the Gospel by its next convention in 2012 -- that's 30 percent of its goal to reach 2.5 million by 2017.

With a little more than eight years left until Ablaze! culminates on Oct. 31, 2017, the movement is one-tenth of the way toward its goal of reaching 100 million people worldwide with the Gospel.

It would be truly delightful if those who lived by the numbers would hold themselves accountable by the very numbers and statistics that they demand of us. Allow me to make my case…

In 2003 the President of the LCMS Gerald Kieschnick was giving speeches as all presidents do at district conventions. In each of those speeches the President Kieschnick stated:

From 1971 to 2001, our Synod’s baptized membership has decreased from 2.89 million people to 2.54 million and confirmed membership has decreased from 2.01 million to 1.92 million.

Sadly, by 2009, the membership of the LCMS has dropped further to 2.4 million baptized members. I looked for how many of those 2.4 million members were actually catechized and confirmed but couldn’t find the current numbers.

How can this be? I thought the Ablaze! movement was being hailed as a success? If we have ten million “critical events” then why has the headcount dropped half a million people since Ablaze! was implemented? Does losing at least five hundred thousand people sound like the non-program is working to you?

So, let’s not try to all be negative Nancys and such and try to put a positive spin on the situation. Maybe those that we are counting as being reached with chance to respond (this is the definition of a “critical event”) are going to other protestant denominations. With the recent Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life polling it has been learned that denominational loyalty can no longer be counted on. Maybe those we are counting are actually in other denominations based on our evangelism.

The problem with thinking that we, out of the goodness of our hearts, are just helping out every other denomination but our own is that the number of Americans who call themselves Christian, as a percentage, hasn’t changed in years and in fact there are very real signs of a decline in actual numbers. If we look at Americanized Christianity and can’t see even a small increase with ten million “critical events”, shouldn’t someone ask what the heck are these people doing with all these chances for to respond? Are they going anywhere at all? They certainly don’t seem to be going to church that’s for sure.

And continuing to put the best spin on the situation, I’m also going to make the assumption that they ain’t going to visit the Mormons. The Mormon numbers are increasing somewhat but I seriously doubt that the average unchurched seeker is interested in looking for Jesus on Kobol.

So again; where are these ten million “critical events” folks? Who knows and that’s my point. The Ablaze! movement never had as its goal pointing to the one thing that Scripture and our Confessions say can be counted; the Means of Grace, that is to say the Word preached purely and the Sacraments properly administered. Since we don’t point to the Means of Grace can we really expect a “return” on our evangelism investment?

It’s more than a little frustrating to read how a high cost evangelism movement is praised with no measurable movement concerning results within our beloved LCMS (or anywhere else for that matter). It would be nice if those who lived by numbers and spreadsheets would call a thing what it is and admit that the numbers and spreadsheets being hailed as a success only tell a portion of a sad story.

If you live by the numbers, shouldn’t you be held accountable to them as well?

A Tangible And Significant Faith… Or Something Else?

How do we receive faith and how is that faith sustained? An easy question to answer ain’t it? Before you answer that let me tell ya why I’m asking in the first place.

Yesterday in my inbox I received two emails that heralded a new “program” available from CPH; the publishing house of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. The email starts off:

January 22, 2009 .................... LCMSNews -- No. 8

Journey program involves senses in Passion account

How much more would the events of the week leading up to Christ's death and resurrection mean to you if you could actually taste the vinegar Christ was given on the cross or hear the crack of the whip that scourged his back?

That is the premise of a new product from Concordia Publishing House (CPH) titled Journey to the Cross, a sensory-based program that presents the biblical account of Passion Week and Easter morning through experience-focused activities appropriate for ages 3 to adult.

Kelly Bailey McCray, creator of the Journey to the Cross program and director of Christian education at Trinity Lutheran Church, Bend, Ore., originally developed the program in 2003 for a special Maundy Thursday worship event for the church's grade school.

Participants in the program begin at a Customs Station, where they receive a passport to record what they see and hear. They then walk in small groups through 13 stations and experience the Bible accounts of Holy Week at each stop.

"People remember more of what they experience than what they hear, so Journey to the Cross was made to use the senses as much as possible," McCray said. "As participants walk from site to site, they meet individuals dressed as Bible characters who tell the stories of Jesus' death and resurrection as if they had been witnesses. Every stop also has an activity that involves the senses. For example, they smell perfume, taste Passover foods, wash their hands, and pet a donkey. And the participants collect stickers in their passports at every stop, so they have a tangible record of their Journey experience."

While the program was designed for children in the school, McCray found that the parents who acted as chaperones simply walking the children between stations "came away with a renewed appreciation for all that Christ had done for them." About 275 people took part in the first journey.

The email goes on to state that it was developed in a Lutheran congregation and those who participated in Journey to the Cross share that it is one of the most meaningful Easter experiences they've ever had. The email concluded:

"And it doesn't need to be done at your church," she (McCray) added. "The whole event could be done in a public setting such as a park or parking lot or empty warehouse. The key to using the Journey as outreach is to publicize it well in your community and have a plan for connecting with visitors after the event."

McCray feels the best part of Journey to the Cross "is the chance for the events of Holy Week to come alive and not just be words in a story. Children and adults alike think they know the whole story because they hear it every spring. But when you actively participate in something that is similar to what Jesus experienced, by tasting vinegar or hearing a whip crack, then the events of Easter become more significant and less likely to be taken for granted."

So, I’ll ask you again, how do we receive faith and how is that faith sustained? It’s an important question that needs to be answered and properly understood before we move forward in any discussion concerning the email.

The old Lutheran confessors at Augsburg, defending the one catholic Christian faith against the papists way back in 1530, knew that it was the ministry that was instituted for saving faith when they proclaimed in AC article V;

So that we may obtain this faith, the ministry of teaching the Gospel and administering the Sacraments was instituted. 2 Through the Word and Sacraments, as through instruments, the Holy Spirit is given [John 20:22]. He works faith, when and where it pleases God [John 3:8], in those who hear the good news that God justifies those who believe that they are received into grace for Christ’s sake. 3 This happens not through our own merits, but for Christ’s sake.

4 Our churches condemn the Anabaptists and others who think that through their own preparations and works the Holy Spirit comes to them without the external Word.

I know what some are already thinking, “See Frank, the Lord can work when and where He pleases so He can work faith in a parking lot petting zoo just like in a church!” I do not dispute that the Lord of heaven and earth can work faith in a parking lot but the fifth article of our confession ends with a condemnatory statement that bookends what we believe and confess with what we reject because of what Scripture speaks against.

What needs to be looked at closely is the condemnatory clause that rejects the Anabaptist’s wrong teaching that we experience the Holy Spirit; as the editors of Concordia write in the introduction to AC V; "through their own reflections, by enjoying nature, or by ecstatic religious experiences." The editors continue; "The comforting truth is that the Holy Spirit works through objective, external, sure, and certain means of grace, through which we receive justification by grace alone, through faith alone, on account of Christ alone"

At the time of the reformation (and still today) those who believed that faith was something to be obtained through fasting, contemplation, music, and rituals were called Schwärmerei, enthusiasts who were condemned in SD II 4, 80:

4 Both the ancient and modern enthusiasts have taught that God converts people and leads them to the saving knowledge of Christ through His Spirit, without any created means and instrument; in other words, without the outward preaching and hearing of God’s Word.

80 On the other hand, the enthusiasts should be rebuked with great seriousness and zeal. They should not be tolerated in any way in God’s Church. They imagine that God, without any means, without the hearing of the divine Word, and without the use of the holy Sacraments, draws people to Himself, enlightens, justifies, and saves them.

Do you see where this going?

This whole means of grace thingy become crucial for the proper understanding of what might be wrong with a program that sets itself up to create an experiential event. If we are believe the apostle Paul when he writes to the church in Rome; “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” then the Journey to the Cross should raise all sorts of red flags! By starting with the premise that “People remember more of what they experience than what they hear” the creator and promoters of the program are proceeding from a false dichotomy that pits what we experience against what we hear when it comes to the God’s Word. In taking this approach, objective faith becomes subjective based on feelings during small group meditative stations.

Now, truth be told I have no problems with an experiential event per se but only in so far as it is a means that our Lord has promised when it comes to churchly things. I would even argue that we do have real and tangible, that is to say real and physical, things that our Lord has given to sustain our faith. In the Lord’s Supper we taste our Lord’s body and blood hidden under the elements of bread and wine. In Baptism we see a child’s old self (or adult for that matter) drowned and then see a new Christian raised up. We hear our Lord’s Word in the reading of the lessons, epistles, and Gospel as well as in the words of the pastor who has been called to proclaim God’s Holy Word. Our Lord does indeed use real and tangible things to give and sustain our faith. Do we really need a program that shifts our focus away from promised means and instead has us (and our children for that matter) looking inward for the meaning of Easter?

What our Lord does not promise in Scripture is to come to us through the smelling of a container of perfume or the tasting of glass of vinegar. Jesus does not promise to be with us until the end of the age through the means of a petting zoo or hand washing demonstrations. Can anyone cite a single verse of Scripture that states if we meditate on the cracking of a whip our faith will be built up or sustained?

What is missing from many a church these days is proper preaching that points to the Means of Grace. With so many churches doing everything that they can to become seeker sensitive they frequently miss the mark and forget to preach the we DO deserve to experience everything that Jesus experienced through proper preaching of God’s Law. This is happening not only in the nondenominational mega-church down the street but all too often in our own beloved synod.

If we are smart we are thankful that we don’t get to experience anything the Jesus had to endure in our place. We should be thankful that we don’t have a God who deals with us as we deserve. We should be thankful that it isn’t us who have the flesh ripped off our backs. We should be thankful that it isn’t us that are stripped naked and having nails pounded into our hands and feet for somebody else’s continually committed sins. We should be thankful that it isn’t us gasping for breath on the account of others transgressions. We should be thankful that it isn’t us experiencing any of the things that Jesus had to endure because of our miserable and sinful nature.

I would suggest that instead of this theological navel gazing, those who wish to meditate and brood over things incomprehensible, get their hands out of the kiddies’ touch tank and find a church that can stay away from subjective experiential emotionalism as a means.

And in the for what it’s worth department, don’t think for a moment that I haven’t caught that this “program” has the theological fingerprints of the emergent church leaders like Brian McLaren, Rob Bell, Doug Pagitt, and Dan Kimbell all over it. Our beloved synod has for a while now has been looking to emergent leaders as a way to reach out to the unchurched and still be hip and relevant and cool with youth and people who don’t like church to begin with though these very methods. I would also argue here that these methods are monastic in nature and are the very same techniques that drove Dr. Luther to the point of despair. Do we really want to lead people down that dark road? I would hope not but…

The Best Idea To End Ablaze! Ever ( And With Honor!)

Scott Diekmann over at one of my favorite blogs; Stand Firm, has one of the best ideas to end the Ablaze! prog…eh, movement with honor so that we may put this divisive era of evangelism to an end.

I’m not going to give away his solution which means you’ll have to and read his great post.

I’ll give away this much however, in the past year it’s been determined that counting critical events can be done by determining the ratings of a TV show produced by synod entities and counting the number of viewers that may have watched the show.

What is a “critical event” and how can that be counted you ask? Well, according to the Ablaze! website’s definition a critical event is defined as;

When one person gives a clear presentation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to another person, so that there is an opportunity for that person to respond, this activity “counts” toward the 100 million goal.

Now the question becomes; how can we count a response to a TV show if we are not there to hear a response? It doesn’t matter. As the Ablaze! movement moves forward it evolves and now we count what we count. We need to work with what we have which segues back into my original point; read Scott’s post “Ablaze Numbers With Honor”.

Ablaze! Ambassador Quote Of The Day

Today’s Ablaze! ambassador quote of the day comes from Dr. Richard Bimler, past president of Wheat Ridge Ministries and a member of the Ablaze! Ambassadors Planning Team:

"A few weeks ago, I was at one of my Starbucks 'offices' (I call it St. Arbucks)," he related via e-mail. "As I ordered my usual 'tall of the day,' a man saw the Ablaze! shirt I was wearing and also noticed my 'AH-HA' button. He simply asked, 'Why are you so excited so early in the morning?'

"I quickly explained that Ablaze! is a movement that enables people to share their faith in the Lord and that my 'AH-HA' button was one of the ways I share my faith through Lutheran Life Communities as the AH-HA person -- the Ambassador of Health, Hope and Aging!"

I just wish somebody would enable me to share my faith. Why can't I go to a cool new mission field like St. Arbucks? Is that even possible to do this without an initiative, program, or movement?

Reaching The NASCAR Unchurched

click on picture to enlarge

In what shall remain for the most part a private email, "J" took me to task for my last post in which I was a wee bit critical of the C3 megachurch’s attempt at a reaching the lost by bringing in a replica of Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s racecar to get ‘em in the door. That’s fine, I can take the criticism.

Again, my problem with using gimmicks or props to promote any message, whether it be sacred or secular, is that said gimmick or prop frequently overshadows the message. The linked news story is proof of that in spades. At no time is Jesus the focus of the church’s message if the story is accurate. In fact, Jesus isn’t mentioned, not even by the staff of C3!

On the other hand, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is mentioned six times.

So, I ask, what is the focus of C3 last Sunday? If a person has to go out of his or her way to find Jesus being proclaimed how is that helping the unchurched NASCAR fan? It ain’t. NASCAR may be entertaining if that’s your sport of choice, but NASCAR offers no salvation from sin, death, and the devil. Jesus on the other hand does offer eternal life for all who would by God given faith believe.

But, just to prove that I’m not heartless, well, maybe I am little, I do have an idea for reaching the unchurched racing fans all: the LCMS Studebaker. As we who belong to LCMS congregations are painfully aware, the LCMS is usually a little behind the times. Our normal modus operandi is to follow techniques and trends that are at least 30 to 40 years behind the times, so why should our racing outreach programs be any different? Why not repurpose the LCMS Studebaker and dedicate it for mission outreach?

So everyone needs to email and call their ecclesiastical superiors, district and synodical representatives today and tell them to pull the LCMS Studebaker out of mothballs and meet people where they are at; the racetrack. Megachurches like C3 are already getting them in the doors by this technique and there is no reason at all that we can’t out-megachurch the megachurches. We need to demand that the LCMS Studebaker get an oil change and be put back on the roads immediately. There is no reason at all that this tremendous mission outreach tool go the way of the LCMS balloon of the 1980’s. No reason at all.

Skipping Jesus To See Jr.’s Car

In a market driven society gimmicks rule. During holiday weekends the promise of free pillows and free delivery are used to close the deal when 12 month same as cash financing just ain’t enough to get you to make that once a decade mattress purchase. Most people realize at some level that the price of the pillows and the delivery are already built into the cost of said mattress. Sadly though some folks don't understand Marketing 101 and if not, P.T. Barnum had a charming little saying that applies.

Churches are certainly not immune to using gimmicks. My own beloved synod seems to chase one fad after another to reach the “unchurched.” The LCMS has spent millions of dollars to have marketing consultants tell pastors how to make their church appealing enough for those who say they don’t even like church to begin with. Breaking down denominational walls based on real theological differences to become relevant and seeker sensitive is the order of the day as we try to grow God’s kingdom apart from the purely preached Word and administered sacraments.

Sadly it seems we are content to follow the herd of Americanized Christianity. But every now and then the herd follows us and does it better.

Not too long ago the Southeastern district highlighted St. John's in Farmville VA in a newsletter. The congregation received a firetruck and repurposed it to be a witness tool in the community. They dedicated it for mission on Sunday, June 29 in a show of support for the LCMS’s Ablaze! evangelism program. Said Pastor Joel Giese:

"The idea is simple. People, children especially, like fire trucks. They will come to see the truck and we have the opportunity to speak about Jesus. As the vehicle moves to and from events, it acts like a rolling billboard. I believe it will spark interest. The best part is that it is easy and fun, who knew that easy and fun could be used to describe Evangelism!"

Yep, I think it’s in the 29th chapter of Matthew where Jesus tells the disciples to use whatever gimmick they can to reach the lost.

I’m gonna guess that the megachurch C3 caught wind of this and was determined not to be outdone by a bunch a staunchy Lutherans. So what technique did they come up with to get folks in the door? A replica of Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s racecar.

From the News and Observer;

But the prime attraction was Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s revered race car, an 800-horsepower NASCAR speedster sponsored by the National Guard. Some skipped their regular service just to glimpse Dale Junior's racing machine.

"Dale Junior represents a lot of blue-collar hard-working people, and that's the majority that comes to church," said Keith Boykin, a plumber from Clayton. "He represents pretty much what's good about America. He comes from solid country roots."

And this tidbit;

But the prime attraction was Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s revered race car, an 800-horsepower NASCAR speedster sponsored by the National Guard. Some skipped their regular service just to glimpse Dale Junior's racing machine.

"Dale Junior represents a lot of blue-collar hard-working people, and that's the majority that comes to church," said Keith Boykin, a plumber from Clayton. "He represents pretty much what's good about America. He comes from solid country roots."

When I go to church I like my prime attraction to be, oh I don’t know, Jesus. And just in case anyone thinks I just being hyper critical, here’s another quote from the story in the News and Observer:

The minister's stage appearance was preceded by a 10-member rock group. He punctuated his sermon with frequent jokes and informal expressions: "cool," "hang out" and "awesome!"

As Fry paced the stage and sermonized, he occasionally sipped from a can of Amp energy drink, raising the can in a salute to the audience. His image and movements were shown on four big screens.

His sermon was dedicated to the theme of courage, and it was enlivened with NASCAR references instantly recognizable here.

"You might be a NASCAR fan if you say, 'But officer, I wasn't tailgating -- I was drafting,' " Fry quipped from the stage.

When churches have to resort to gimmicks whether it be a fire truck or racecar to get people in the door; what really is the message? When the message of salvation from sin, death and the devil can’t stand on its own and needs the help of a replica of a race car or a slick Madison Avenue style brochure; what does that say about your view of the message? When you skip your regular church service that should focus on Christ and His gifts to see a replica of a car, what does that say about you?

Send Emails After The Rapture!

The new YouveBeenLeftBehind.com website offers Christians a new evangelism tool that they can use after the rapture has occurred.

For forty bucks a year, your unchurched loved ones can have a second chance to make their decision for Jesus by reading an evangelgram from the other side of eternity.

The site promoting the service says:

"You've Been Left Behind gives you one last opportunity to reach your lost family and friends For Christ. Imagine being in the presence of the Lord and hearing all of heaven rejoice over the salvation of your loved ones. It is our prayer that this site makes it happen."

Final e-mails from vanished subscribers will be triggered when three of the site's five Christian staffers fail to log in for six days in a row.

And why would anyone do this you ask? The website explains:

We all have family and friends who have failed to receive the Good News of the Gospel.The unsaved will be 'left behind' on earth to go through the "tribulation period" after the "Rapture"…. Each fulfilled prophecy will cause your letter and plea to be remembered and a decision to be made.

"WHY" is one last chance to bring them to Christ and snatch them from the flames!

I couldn’t make this stuff up if I tried, I couldn't! I can’t help but wonder when our beloved synod will offer the same service. Oh wait, I forgot, we don't want to snatch the unchurched from the flames but rather we want them to be Ablaze!.

What Do You Think About...

Ok, I’ll be honest here and admit that I did not expect so many people to actually want the sweatshirt that I was giving away. Sure there was the “oh cool, something free!” factor. I expected that.

But what I didn’t expect was that a goodly number of people, after the contest was over, who would ask me if they could still get a shirt.

Last month, Herr Benjamin Ulledalen, on my Wittenberg Trail page after realizing who I was asked the following question; "You should set up some sort of "Volunteer Ablaze!(tm) Fire Department." . I replied back “A "Volunteer Ablaze!(tm) Fire Department"? I'll work on that as soon as I'm done dealing with my current situation. Great suggestion, although, all you folks are doing is encouraging me...”.

Do see where this is going?

The short answer is yes, I can get more shirts made. I designed the logo and with the help of a coworker, we were able to get it down on paper in a way that I was able to take it to an embroider, get it scanned, digitized into a code that could be read by embroidery machines, and put onto shirts. The logo is mine to do with whatever I choose.

I would be more than happy to order up more shirts. But what I would love to try is something like what Dan over at Necessary Roughness and I tried, a series of cross posting but this time on the subject of evangelism.

The whole reason I started this blog was to poke fun at synodical goofiness, but obviously, I’m having fun writing about everything from how we educate (or don’t in some cases) youth to good hymnody that confesses our faith in Christ. With district officials publicly saying that there are serious theological problems with the Ablaze! program, I’ve sort of adjusted the focus here to things that interest me outside of Madison avenue style marketing campaigns, programs or movements. But that doesn’t mean evangelism isn’t important and that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t enjoy a little help.

So what do you think? How about setting up a few volunteer Ablaze!(tm) fire departments complete the official POTF (in)activewear?

And both the missus and I think it would be a hoot to see pictures of POTF (in)activewear being worn in front of, let’s say, district and synodical offices. Yep, that would a real hoot….

Again, what do guys think?

Update:

March 2008 Evangelgram

From my Inbox this morning...


LCMS WORLD MISSION
The Global Gospel Outreach of
The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod
____________________________________________

The Evangelgram

This is a monthly publication of LCMS World Mission. It contains useful information, resources, and news regarding outreach efforts in congregations throughout Synod.
____________________________________________

The March 2008 edition of The Evangelgram is now online.Click here to download the current issue
____________________________________________

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Take Comfort in the Good News (Just don't keep it to yourself!)

Yep, that's right kids, make sure you don't keep it to yourselves. Maybe we could someday broadcast that same Good News on a radio station, someday... See Pastor Esget's suggesstion for a way to reach those who would listen here.

A Great Follow Up Post Over At Thinking Out Loud

Pastor Stuckwisch over at Thinking Out Loud has a great follow up post to his "Soul Winning" Worship? post where he proposes that Perhaps We Should Survey the Top 5 Percent of Soul Bearing Marriages. Go there and ponder for yourself if you and yours are fit to be counted in the top 5 percent.

The Evangelistic Triad Question…

More than one person has asked me “what in the world is an evangelistic triad?” The truth of the matter is that I simply don’t know. When I posted the Revitalization Metrics post, this was the first I’d herd of it as well.

I’ve tried everything I can to do some research on whatever this “evangelistic triad” is but I cant seem to find any information, well, anywhere. But I could find nothing at all on whatever program this is.

The only thing that did pop up over and over was references to what is call the convergence movement. But even then, evangelistic triads are not mentioned.

So my question is this; has anyone heard of evangelistic triads? Surely one of you priestly caste types must have some idea what this is.

So leave a comment or drop me a line. I’m even more curious than ever as this term made into a letter to pastors from our beloved synod’s president seemingly without anyone that I’ve talked to ever hearing it before. I’ve got the feeling that I probably don’t want to know, but then again…who knows? I mean, after all, what's more fun than playing with that cute little kitten in the back yard, even if it is rabid.