OH LORD, AS WE HUDDLE HERE
HELP US ALL TO SEE IT CLEAR
PLAYING RIGHT PLAYING FAIR
IS WHAT WE ASK EVERYWHERE
AS WE GO FORTH TO PLAY THIS GAME
SPORTS AND LIFE ITS ALL THE SAME
WE HOPE TO WIN LIKE ALL THE REST
BUT HELP US LORD TO DO OUR BEST
AMEN
- Larry
On Sunday we talked about the challenge of our goodness. One of the key ideas that Jesus addresses in his conversation with the rich young ruler is our casual usage of the term ‘goodness’. Especially when we are healthy, employed and relatively wealthy, it is easy to imagine ourselves ‘pretty good’.
The danger of our casual imagination is that we start to bring God’s goodness down to our level, and expect God to treat us as relative equals. We don’t see how far we fall short of God’s holiness and so our entire approach to God becomes, to say the least, inappropriate.
We need to become attentive to our self-righteousness, because it always rises up and is deadly damaging to our spiritual growth. Especially for those of us who seem ‘ok’ on the surface (what an illusion!) we need to notice when we are patting ourselves on the back.
I had a personal experience of this just before I delivered the sermon. I was walking down to the Walgreens to get grape juice for communion (yes, our grape juice comes from communion. Our wine comes from Safeway and our bread comes from Mariposa bakery.)
I was walking into Walgreens and held the door for an older woman who was moving rather slowly. And the simple act of holding this door, filled me with a sense of ‘being good’. I patted myself on the back. I basked in the warm glow of doing good. Part of that is the simple pleasure of acting on behalf of others – but it went deeper than that.
At the same time – at the same time, I saw from the corner of my eye a man that knew. We have had several conversations over the last few years, all of which involved him asking for money for his family. I had helped him in the past and knew that his story would be the same. We had shared a significant amount of time together and I would have considered us friendly. However, this day I didn’t have time for his issues. He hadn’t seen me, so I steadily ignored him until he had walked by. I was barely conscious of this, let alone allowed the implications of my hardheartedness to sink in.
Now, which one did Jesus specifically command… hold open the doors for old ladies? Or do not ignore your neighbor in need? Somehow I feel like the parable of the good Samaritan was more about the latter…
It wasn’t until I was walking home that I realized just what had happened. I am so practiced at observing good in myself and so poor at allowing my sin to truly confront me. Just wanted to share that with you, so that you guys can know that I am just as much a rich young ruler as anyone. - Josh
This coming Sunday, Larry is preaching on Mark 10:35-45 – the passage about who is great, and who is to lead. The American church is obsessed with leadership. The charismatic pastor is featured on the website, the powerful preacher draws a crowd when he (usually a he) preaches, the charismatic worship leader, the authoritative bishop is celebrated on the billboard.
In the American church, Leadership has taken on the image of a dynamic, up front personality who waves a vision in front of the people.
This is simply cultural assimilation. The church is obsessed with leadership because our culture is (or was) obsessed with leadership. This obsession with leadership has created two equal and opposite reactions in the church;
1. People who pursue leadership in the church as a position of power and influence.
2. People who are uncomfortable with the idea of leadership and either resent it or defer to it, grateful that it is not up to them.
Churches are filled with people who have abdicated their roles and leaders who are taking up too many roles. The structure of the church is more like the structure of an Empire, with a single dominant leader and many passive supporters. We have a crisis of leadership – some monopolizing it, others abandoning it.
What Does the Bible Say About Leadership?
(Not as much as some church management books would have you believe!)
1. Jesus is Lord
In this regard, the issue is simple. Jesus Christ is Lord of the church and Lord of the world. This is not an issue under debate. All leadership within the church is to submit to the gracious and firm call of Christ. If Christ commands it, no matter how inadequate we feel we must obey. If Christ commands it, no matter how clever or competent we think we are, we are only soldiers under orders.
2. Solo Leaders are Not the Ideal
The Bible is not obsessed with leadership, because the Bible is not impressed with people. The Bible highlights human incompetence, inadequacy and weakness. The great fathers of the faith are almost comical in their obvious faults. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are more notable for their weaknesses and their life stories are more marked by the grace of God than their ability to lead morally or otherwise.
Kingship, the Biblical model of leadership, is always treated with ambivalence. A good king is a good thing. But a good king is never fully good. That’s why the king is always put into a contentious relationship with a prophet. But even the prophets themselves are shown to be fearful and anxious, and sometimes make mistakes. The hero of the Bible stories is always God, not human actors.
King David, the paradigmatic king, has highs and definite lows. And more to the point whenever he begins to see himself as the ‘savior’ or true leader of his people God is quick to put him in his place (2 Sam 7, 12, 24). He needs his prophet, Nathan, to pull him back from his worst excesses.
But such is our obsession with leadership that modern Christian authors look for it when it doesn’t exist. We paint Peter as a great leader – when the gospel writers go out of their way to show him as a deeply fearful, brash and misguided man. Paul is constantly defending himself from the charges that he is not charismatic enough to be a true apostle.
Who is the leader of the New Testament church? Paul is the most prolific writer and church planter, but his authority is often questioned and is required to defend his legitimacy at every stage. Moreover, he is too busy planting new churches to remain in a position of authority. Peter is the erstwhile ‘founder’ but he is challenged by Paul, and finds himself on a steep learning curve. James is labeled one of the leaders of the church in Jerusalem, but only one of. Even in the relative hierarchy laid out in the book of Titus, a plurality of elders is expected (Titus 1:5). Any command to submit to leadership in the church is plural (Hebrews 13:17). The New Testament is a conversation between leaders – sometimes a difficult conversation – rather than a top down set of orders.
This is not to say that there is no need for good organizational leadership, good administration and competence. But these things play less of a role in the movements of God than we might like. The three best human models of leadership in Scripture; Joseph, Nehemiah and Daniel, are so defined by their oppression, difficult circumstances, and the leaders over them, that we are hardly tempted to model our own lives on theirs!
3. We Are Responsible
If leadership is not something that we should be obsessed about, this does not absolve us of responsibility. Grace means that God does choose, anoint, appoint and charge people to lead his church – sinful and broken though we are. Abraham, David, Jacob, Peter and Paul were all chosen, not because of their competence but in spite of their incompetence. Leadership in the Bible is essentially charismatic – it is a gift from God. The church is led by people gifted by God, through the gracious call of God. As Paul says, God loves to use what is weak in the world to shame the strong. (1 Cor 1:26-30).
The point here is that, despite our inadequacy, God uses us to carry out the work of the gospel. A preacher must preach with all his or her might, but God does the work. People will not hear the gospel unless they are told by someone, but it is God who calls. People will only know the love of God when they see it in us, but it is God’s love, not ours which will save them. We acknowledge God as Lord, but take the responsibility that he gives us.
3. Authority in the Household (Smaller Settings)
Interestingly, the most direct discussion of leadership occurs in the household commands of Ephesians and Colossians. Leadership should exist in the home. We need the authority of father and mother, and the father should take responsibility as head of household. The household in Scripture is not simply the nuclear family, but a small household of extended family and various servants. In these settings, there is clear discussion about authority and leadership. 2 points can be made here about smaller leadership environments.
1. In these smaller settings, the goal is not permanent leadership structures, but places of developing and flourishing so that everyone can become leaders in other smaller settings. A governor of a state does not lead people to become governors themselves. But a mother and a father do raise children to become mothers and fathers themselves someday.
2. In these smaller settings the pattern of leadership is personal, and by example. It is not primarily organizational but organic. Leadership is most effective and resistant to corruption in smaller settings.
So, the biblical model is a diversity of gifts and a diversity of roles usually operating in a relatively small environment. The church is built around a group of people, each inadequate in themselves, but together, a united body working together to lead and grow God’s people. Sole leadership is not the biblical ideal. However, leaders are called to guide the people in community, and give shape to the church. In most cases, that leadership takes place in smaller contexts.
The One Church with Many Leaders
We need to resist the world’s dependence on solo leaders who lead from strength alone. Only then we will we discover the true power of the church in Christ. The great vision of God is a body fully dependent on Him, fully united in love. In this way the church is both weak and strong. It is weak because it is filled with weak people. All of who depend on God and on each other. But it is strong because people are faithfully and humbly taking responsibility. Or, as Jesus says in our passage this Sunday, “…whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all.”
- Josh
What are 20:21 Group?
20:21 Groups are the practice of discipling and discipleship within OCC. It is where everyone who so desires can get into a small, intimate circle of friends and do the gracious work of helping each other to know ourselves and the gospel more fully. The principles of 20:21 Group are 1. that we are called to make disciples, and Christ will build his church and 2. By the power of the Holy Spirit, each one of us is equipped to disciple others. In other words, discipleship is not the purview of the professionals.
Why 20:21?
The name of the groups comes from John 20:21 – “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” Just as we receive Christ’s word and power, we are called to turn and give that to others. Matthew 10:8 says much the same thing about the Holy Spirit – ‘Freely you have received. Freely give.’
20:21 groups are small enough so that no matter how young or inexperienced we are in the word of God, we can begin this process of both giving and receiving. It is a process of breathing in the oxygen of God’s life giving spirit and breathing it out onto others that is the dynamic of a growing Christian community.
20:21 Group meet once a week or every two weeks, for an unbounded period of time. 20:21 Group should primarily be spiritual friendships not a program you commit to. If worship is where we ‘share a moment’ and neighborhood groups are where we ‘share a mission’ then 20:21 Group are where we truly share our lives. Our vision is that OCC be filled with people who graciously and powerfully disciple others.
How do 20:21 Group Form?
As organically as possible. Often 20:21 Groups can arise out of a Neighborhood Group, but they can be called together by anyone who desires to grow in Christ. If you would like to join a 20:21 Group, and don’t know where to start, reach out and connect with Josh.
Sometimes a leader will call people together, but it is not necessary for a leader to start a group. Within a 20:21 Group, a leader will probably emerge, but each person in the group has permission to speak to the other.
A suggestion is to connect with someone you already have an existing relationship with, and then seek together to invite someone to join you. Coinciding schedules is probably the most important determinant for whether a group will be sustainable or not.
The best 20:21 Groups are three people – with three people we can allow different perspectives to speak into our lives. More than three it makes it more difficult to schedule and you probably won’t get enough time to share. If you invite a new person into the group, that’s great – but it probably means that the group should either split to two new groups of two, and seek a new person to join, or one person can spin off to start a new group.
What Happens in 20:21 Group?
Friendship, real conversation, prayer for each other and others, and Scripture exposure. It is not a Bible study, but a way to proclaim the gospel to one another for the purpose of change.
Friendship: Get to know one another. Know each other’s families and backgrounds. Take some time to hear each other’s stories. It is appropriate to spend the first 3 weeks allowing each person to share their story.
Real Conversation: Shoot the breeze, but make sure to go deep. Don’t allow the time to get away from you. The time doesn’t have to be over coffee or food, but make sure you sit down and talk directly to each other.
Prayer: Pray for each other, and for other people.
Scripture Exposure: Open the word and read a passage each week. We are learning more and more how to support you in this aspect of the group. We want to provide you with notes and training on the road.
Once again, a hard word from Jesus this last week in the gospel of Mark. In regards to divorce, Jesus takes a more rigorous stand than even the strictest teachers of his day. It seems that Jesus refuses to abandon the dream of God; that in spite of human brokenness and evil, the renewal of all things is still possible. Some of us evade or diminish this vision by ignoring the perfect law of God and saying it doesn't apply. Some of us evade or diminish this vision by 'gaming' the perfect law, and trying to tweak it to fit our own inadequacy. (This is what the Pharisees seem to do regularly in the gospels.)
But, and here is the important point, Jesus never diminishes the implicit hope in God's word. He wants us to stand in the beautiful and blinding light of the law of God. It might kill us (morally speaking) but it is the only light in which we can begin to understand God's grace.
If we don't hold God's law as high as Jesus does, Jesus' saving death is made irrelevant. Anything that 'gets us out of it' - that diminishes and weakens the clear vision of God presented in the law undermines our need for God's grace.
In the issue of divorce, Jesus holds that marriage is representative of God's vision of human flourishing and impossible to undo. When we attempt to find a way to make divorce 'okay' we are preferring our patchwork redemption over God's perfect promise of redemption.
We should simply admit that we are unable and trust that God is able. Here is where the humble, confident Christian is born.
What an incredibly difficult word - but it offers hope instead of false promises. I am very curious to hear if any of you had a take on how Larry and I tackled this passage.
Some other resources:
A very helpful book on this issue is called 'Divorce and Remarriage in the Bible'. It addresses a number of the practical, pastoral issues not covered in the sermon on Sunday. The author also has a website that addresses further issues.
Andy Stanley also has a helpful sermon on this issue. You can find it here.
