Tag: Community

The Church – A Community of Faith

by Mike Avery, posted in All Articles, Christian Living, Church, Ministry, Music, Theology

– Winter 2011

The Church – A Community of Faith

America is blessed with a lot of churches.  Some sit astride prominent street corners proudly displaying their architectural glory while others are tucked away indiscreetly between a used shoe store and a day old bakery in a weary strip mall on the tired side of town.  Some have one word names like “Grace.”  Others have names so long that you can’t say the full name without stopping to breathe. Most have the stereotypical church look, while others resemble something between a cinema and a warehouse.  It is not, however, the architect they display, the appellation they wear, or the affiliations they boast that makes them a church.

The New Testament doesn’t provide a simple concise definition of the Church other than what is found in the meaning of the Greek word for Church (ekklesia) which is “the called out ones.”   What it does provide is long narratives portraying the Church in action, colorful word pictures of what the church is like, specific duties that the Church should fulfill, doctrinal standards that the Church should teach and prophetic insights of how the Church can stray from the path and lose its way.

History has taught us that the Church needs periods of reformation and times of revival to keep it doctrinally sound, morally pure and faithful to its calling. At other times, the Church needs change that is less radical and might be described as a course correction.  These internal corrections need to be made because the Church has a hard time keeping its balance.    Certain imbalances can be attributed to the peculiarities of leadership.  Others are derived from simply over-emphasizing one truth to the neglect of other balancing truths. The worse imbalances, however, grow out of the fertile soil of fear. When the church and its leaders do what they do or fail to do what they should do out of fear, the church will inevitably suffer from some imbalance.

The Call to the Conservative Holiness Movement, by its very nature, is a challenge to the CHM to address particular areas of weakness or failure. The call is not designed to enumerate all the good things that could be said about the CHM.  Article III of the call speaks to the CHM’s community of faith and addresses some of the imbalances in the way the CHM views its own community of faith and the community of faith at large.  I think it is important to note that even though these imbalances are real and need addressed, the average conservative holiness church is a wonderful place to worship.  In my opinion, they still offer one of the best environments available to raise a family; hear the Word of God fearlessly proclaimed; feel conviction for sin while at the same time find the power of grace; hear fervent praying; sense the moving of God’s Spirit; worship with people who are serious about everyday holiness; and find an environment that truly helps one to keep his feet on the narrow path that leads to life eternal!

Nevertheless, the CHM does have a significant imbalance in the way it views its own differing communities of faith as well as how it views the larger community of faith.  The Movement at large and the various denominations within suffer from a culture of suspicion toward those who do not share their particularities.  They also suffer from a certain insularity that robs them of the insight, wisdom and balance that could be derived from the larger Christian community.  This condition varies in degree from denomination to denomination and from church to church, but it is present and needs to be honestly confronted and openly addressed.

A Culture of Suspicion

The CHM highly values the Biblical call to separation from the world.  As appropriate and good as this may be, inherent in any serious commitment to “Biblical separation” is the temptation to be suspicious of others who may have a lesser degree or even a greater degree of separation that we do.  Just as the call to holy living can veer off the path into perfectionism, the call to separation from the world can veer off the path into isolationism – an isolation that breeds a carnal suspicion of anyone and everyone that doesn’t see it like I do or share my particular version of how the faithful ought to manifest their faith. This has been a perennial bane for the CHM.   Rev. Tom Reed says this kind of suspicion has caused us to “play God – determining who is or is not a Christian based on the way we see things.”  Clearly if this suspicion is left unchecked, it will lead to a spirit of judging and condemnation of the larger community of faith as well as to divisions within our own CHM family.  Even now many groups within the CHM will not use a speaker from another group within the CHM because of suspicion and fear. Conservative leaders could use their influence and voice to help remedy this disease with a cure that doesn’t require anyone to compromise their corporate values or personal convictions.  It only requires a renewed understanding and commitment to the teachings of I Cor. 8-10 and Rom. 14.  Add to that a fresh supply of the “love of God poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit” and we can be well on our way to removing the ethos of suspicion and division among us.

A Detachment from the Larger Christian Community

In I Cor. 12 Paul reminds us that the Church is a body made up of many different members; each contributing something that the other members cannot give.  This has an application to both the local body and to the larger body of Christ.  It seems to me that God has given the various traditions of the Christian Church particular insights into truth and practice that He has not given in the same degree to all.  He must expect us to learn from one another.  I have learned much about prayer by reading from both Catholic and Evangelical writers.  I have   been immeasurably enriched by the writings and teachings of evangelicals like C. S. Lewis, Dallas Willard, Richard Foster, Ravi Zacharias and Chuck Colson.  The expository preaching and teaching of men like John MacArthur, David Jeremiah and Howard Hendricks have added great value to the life of the whole Church and challenged others to take the Scriptures more seriously.  The work of William Booth, Mother Teresa and Erlo Stegen have challenged me to the core of my spiritual being to be mindful of the downtrodden and disenfranchised among us.  Where would America’s families be today without the ministry of James Dobson?  Personally, no one has challenged me more in the area of spiritual intimacy and holiness than Dennis Kinlaw and John Oswalt.

It must be noted that not a single name mentioned above identifies with the CHM.  Yet each one of them has spoken powerfully into my life and the lives of many conservative holiness people.  In preparation for writing this article I spoke with the Rev. Tom Reed, who is an elder statesman within the CHM.  He shared with me a list of men outside our tradition who have been used of God to advance his own spiritual life.  He mentioned: H.A. Ironsides (a former pastor of Moody church), A.W. Tozer (he visited his church often on Sunday evenings), Paul Rees, Vance Havner, S. M. Lockridge and Howard Hendricks.  He added this insightful comment, “these were not holiness men but they were holy men and I refuse to write them off just because they see some things differently than me”.

The CHM has tended to isolate themselves from these “outside” voices.  They fear that they might be a corruptive or a persuasive influence, or even worse, that if we allow anyone to minister to us that does not fully share all our values we have somehow compromised and demeaned those values.  Some of this kind of thinking grows out of simple fear.  In other cases I think it is because we have failed to distinguish between a Romans 14 category issue (opinions, preferences, interpretations, etc…) and a Galatians 1 category issue (false doctrine or heresy) and have treated all outside voices as if they were in the Galatians 1 category.  Mature leaders should be more discerning than this. I know many laymen who already exercise this kind of discernment by means of radio, books, CD’s and DVD’s that they buy and listen to.

Let me clear, I am not advocating an open door policy on “outside voices”.  I am certainly not encouraging local churches to open up their pulpits to men and women from other traditions.  What I am suggesting is that in our large conventions, conferences and forums we need to occasionally hear what our brothers and sisters outside the CHM have to say to us. God is working powerfully in His world through many of these choice servants. There are many outside our little circle who are far outstripping us in their passion for the lost, their zeal for the disenfranchised, their insight into scripture and their love for holiness. To hear what they are doing, to be challenged by their successes and to learn from their insight will not and does not diminish my love for my Zion nor make me want to jettison my spiritual tradition and values!  It simply makes me a better servant of the Lord!

We Have Something to Offer the Church

The sword of isolation cuts two ways.  We are cut off from what the larger Christian community can give us and the larger Christian community is cut off from what we can bring to it. The CHM is the beneficiary of hundreds of years of rich holiness heritage.  We have grown up embracing and experiencing truths that some in the body of Christ will never know or experience. We have some preachers who are as capable and anointed as any out there anywhere.  Our emphasis on personal transformation, purity of heart, perfect love, real character development, growth in grace and freedom from the power of sin are emphasis that are needed by the larger body of Christ!  Surely what God has freely bestowed on us we ought to freely share with others!

My plea is not for some silly, stupid ecumenicalism!  It is a simple plea for us to both reap and share the bounty of spiritual riches that are ours in Christ and found within the various members of His Body – including our own.  The late H. E. Schmul, one of the greatest conservative holiness statesmen I ever knew, use to lead us in singing, “I don’t care what church you belong to, Just as long as for Calvary you stand.  Just as long as your heart beats with my heart, You’re my brother, so give me your hand”.  Somebody strike the tune and let’s sing it again!

Spiritual Roots

by Mike Avery, posted in All Articles, Christian Living, Church, Ministry, Theology

– December 2011

Spiritual Roots

No one possesses a faith that is self-made.  Each of us are indebted to the whole body of Christ for our understanding of scripture and our view of Christian living.  We have all benefited immensely from great spiritual truths that have been developed over the centuries, shaped by revival, purified by reformation and tested by experience.  We stand on the shoulders of men and movements who have forged for us what we now know as our spiritual heritage.   To unwittingly sever ourselves from these spiritual roots is tragic.  To knowingly do so may well be treacherous. Yet many Christians sell their spiritual birthright as thoughtlessly as they sell their unwanted household junk.

What these yard sale saints can’t see is not hidden to historical scholars. They tell us that movements, religious or otherwise, can only maintain vitality and significance as long as they retain a clear understanding of their historical identity. A religious movement’s identity is determined by their dogma, doctrine, traditions, ideals, values, and culture – all of which have been developed over the centuries.  These are the things that tell us who we are and answer the question of why we exist.  Without them, no movement can affirm a clear mission or cast a uniting vision.

The Call to the Conservative Holiness Movement issued in the October Revivalist pleads for a commitment to historic roots and continuity in Article II. This involves both a renewed commitment to classical Christianity and a renewed understanding of our spiritual heritage as passed down to us through the Methodist Holiness Tradition.   This call is not rooted in a sentimental hankering for the past.  Nor is it some nostalgic desire to re-create methods and means that have long since served their usefulness –that’s what museums do!  It is, however, recognition that we lose something vitally important for our future when we become disconnected from our past.

This appeal to the CHM is particularly urgent for two reasons.  First, the CHM is going through a time of transition. Second, the CHM is too often afflicted with a form of historical amnesia – we have long term memory loss.  Our memory only reaches back about 60 years to the days when we separated from our mother churches.  What happened then is clearly a vital part of our heritage but it is far from all of it.  Nor can that separation point be the sole place from which we draw our identity.  If it is, then we lose the wealth of hundreds of years of rich holiness history.  We also lose important “family traits” and “traditions” that may serve us well in our contemporary struggles. The CHM faces questions today and will certainly face more in the tomorrows that will not be adequately answered without drawing on the wisdom and life experiences of our fore-fathers.  We need our heritage – all of it!

As the CHM seeks to develop a fuller understanding of its historical identity, it is helpful to examine the family tree. We are Christian, we are Reformation Protestants, we are Arminian, we are Arminian/Anglican, and we are Methodist.  From there the branch divides into Wesleyan Methodist, Free Methodist, Pilgrim Holiness and Nazarene.  From there the branches further divide into a dozen denominational groups and a host of independent churches that self-identify as the Conservative Holiness Movement.

The CHM is, for the most part, Wesleyan in its theological opinions, especially in its commitment to the doctrine of entire-sanctification.   However, it can be quite diverse in many other ways.  There is significant variation in views relating to the sacraments, lifestyle practices, social issues (e.g. divorce and remarriage) and church government.  The CHM does find common ground in their opposition to: immodest worldly attire, short hair on women, and the wearing of jewelry. These common ground issues have become the “street level” means of identifying the movement.  As important as these things may be, there are some other very important “family traits” that ought to be front and center when people think of the CHM.  Identity markers that I would love to see become our ”street level” means of identity.  Traits that can clearly be found in our spiritual roots – in particular our Methodist Holiness Heritage!

The early Methodists found their reason for existence and their vision for the future in Wesley’s call “to reform a Nation, and in particular the church; and to spread scriptural holiness over the land.” Responding to that call led them to reap a harvest of souls for God’s kingdom and ultimately altered the religious landscape of England and early America for almost a century.  However, it must be noted that this breathtaking, forward looking, mission statement worked only in a context.  And that context was the theological content and spiritual character of what Methodism truly was.  You could call it their DNA or their family traits. Let’s examine five of those traits.

First, they were known for a distinctive theological understanding of God.  One of the best ways to understand the impact of their theology is to look at how those early Methodists lived it out. Francis Asbury, the founder of American Methodism is a good example to observe. When Asbury arrived in America there were only a few hundred Methodists, but by 1860 one out of every three Americans was a Methodist.  Asbury crossed the Allegheny Mountains on horseback 60 times, slept in 10,000 different cabins and homes, preached 60,500 sermons in 45 years (a little more than one a day), and became more recognizable than George Washington or Thomas Jefferson.  By the end of the 18th century, Methodism had determined the nature of religious culture in America thus setting the stage for the next 100 years.

Why did he and countless hundreds of other Methodist circuit riders do what they did?  It was their theology that motivated them!   Their theology taught them that every man had infinite worth.  They believed that God not only wanted to save every man but that every man could be saved!  To better understand this you need to remember that Calvinism was the prevalent theology of the day and a core component of Calvinism was election.   When the average Calvinist walked down the street he would think, “It is possible that I might even see one of God’s elect today.”  When a Methodist walked down the street he would think, “Every man I see today is one of God’s elect and it is my job to tell him!”

Second, they were known for their optimism of grace.  I am not sure if grace shaped their eschatology or their eschatology shaped their concept of grace but what I do know is that the early Methodists believed so powerfully in the transforming grace of God that they were convinced that they would transform the church, the nation and the world – ushering in the millennial reign!  The optimism of grace drove Methodist circuit riders farther and faster than new invention could drive the feet of commerce.

Third, they were known for a distinctive view of spiritual experience.  The early Methodists believed that every man could be saved, that every man could know they were saved and that every man could be saved to the uttermost!  The doctrine of assurance gave new converts stability and peace.  The doctrine of entire sanctification gave believers victory over sin and power to live a holy life.  Methodism took people out of their “sinning religion” and taught them that they could walk in complete obedience to God!  With such peace, hope and victory, it’s no wonder that the Methodist were known for their exuberant singing and loud shouting!

Fourth, they were known for their distinctive view of the Church and Evangelism. They were flexible and innovative.  They didn’t need a proper church with stained glass windows and comfortable pews. They preached in the highways and byways, in fields and near mines, on the frontier and in the city ghettos.  They introduced a new style of worship to accommodate the large numbers of unconverted people in their congregations. Worship scholars refer to it as “frontier worship”.  It is now the primary worship style we still use today. They operated missions for the down and outer, cottages for the unwed mothers, orphanages for the destitute, camp meetings for the masses, class meetings for the newly converted and circuits for rural churches. They founded training schools, colleges and universities. No aspect of their society was left untouched by the gospel.  Those early Methodist did whatever was necessary to obey the command to “preach the gospel to every creature”.

Fifth, they were known for their stewardship.  The early Methodists looked right through the world that was around them and saw a Kingdom.  It was to that Kingdom and ultimately to its King that they gave their solemn allegiance and perfect love.  Many freely denied themselves the comforts of home, family and marriage to give their lives in His service.  The rank and file who did build homes and raise up families were so well known for their rejection of this worlds values and ostentation that the very name Methodist was spoken in derision and scorn by those who loved to parade their fashion and display their wealth. It was not what could be gained in this world but what could be invested in the world to come that motivated these people called Methodists.

These are a few of the “family traits” of a people and a movement that history says “owned the 19th century”! I see some of these same traits being manifested today in the underground church in China where 20,000 people are converted every day.  It has yet to be decided who will own the 21st century, but I believe it will be owned by the people who have looked long enough and deep enough into the past to see how God will work in the future.  You can figure it out too but you will need to dig deep into your spiritual roots!

Connected

by Mike Avery, posted in All Articles, Christian Living, Church

–March of 2008

 Connected

Radical independence is a highly admired characteristic in American culture.  From the earliest pioneer to the twenty-first century entrepreneur, Americans take pride in the man who can “go it alone” and “make it happen.”  These rugged individualists possess a homespun philosophy of life that says, “if you need a helping hand, look at the end of your arm.”  We applaud their independence, quote them in leadership seminars and teach our children to emulate their self-reliance.

This independent spirit is to some degree helpful and healthy, but when taken too far it can have devastating consequences.  A part of what it means to be created in the image of God is that we are created to relate to and interact with other people.    Just as the Divine Persons live in intimate Trinitarian relationship, humans cannot fulfill their created role without intimate relationships.  The very nature of true relationships requires inter-dependence.  We were not created to be “stand alone” people, but members of a family and a community that is interconnected and dependent.  We draw emotional and spiritual strength from one another that we need to be a whole and healthy person.

This is never truer than in our own spiritual lives.  “There are two things we cannot do alone,” said Paul Tournier, “one is to be married and the other is be a Christian.”  We are part of a living body that depends upon “connectedness” to God and to one another to function properly and develop normally.  It is true that we draw our spiritual life from the source and fountainhead of all spiritual life – God himself.  But it is also true that we draw precious and necessary resources from one another that enable us to function as a healthy part of the body of Christ.

This line of truth is so important that Jesus included it in His final discourse he had with His disciples the night before His crucifixion.  It’s found in John chapter fifteen and is explained with the analogy of the vine and the branches.  It teaches us a least three important lessons about being connected to Him and to one another.

First, we are not self-originating.  “I am the Vine you are the branches.”  In counseling sessions I have often reminded people that we are only stewards of the life God has given us and we are not free to do with it as we please.  But occasionally I hear these words in response, “No! It’s my life! I’ll do . . .” It is a fundamental error to think that our life is our own.  Only God is self-originating. The source of all life both physical and spiritual is always in another – someone outside ourselves. The branch does not exist without the vine.  Our life is not our own!  It is a gift from God!

Second, we are not self-sustaining.  None of us have life within ourselves. Only as we “abide in the vine” do we have life.  Just as physical life is maintained by the air we breathe, the food we eat and the relationships in which we engage, even so is spiritual life maintained by connection with Christ and with the members of His body. It is, “in Him we live, and move, and have our being.”  And living in Him also means living within His body the Church.  Saint John of the Cross wrote, “The virtuous soul that is alone . . . is like the burning coal that is alone.  It will grow colder rather than hotter.”   The Christian faith is not merely an intellectual, internal faith.  It can only be lived in community.  Abandon the Body and your faith will fade.

Third, we are not self-fulfilling.  Joy, happiness, meaning and value come only in and through a relationship to God and service to one another.  Real life comes to us through the Vine.  We have no ability within ourselves to bear the fruit of a meaningful and satisfying life.   It can only be found as we relate to and draw from the Vine and the other branches.

Too many branches of the visible church believe and practice isolation. They isolate themselves from the Church at large, but worse yet, they isolated themselves from those within their own religious tradition and in some cases from those within the same four walls of their own local church.  They have developed an approach to discipleship where people are exhorted to do what is right and then placed under rigid structures of accountability or fear of rejection to see that they do it.  This has yielded poor results because it ignores the deepest need of the human soul – true connectedness to another Christian.  I have seen my share of people in spiritual trouble and in so many of their cases there was more than a stubborn will that needed firm admonishment involved.  There was a desperate hurting soul that needed the nourishment that only a loving community and a meaningful relationship could provide. (I believe isolation and the resulting loneliness may be the devils most successful tool in luring people in to sin.) One poor soul expressed it like this, “they preached to me and prayed with me, but no one ever asked me over for lunch.”   It is often true that those churches that stress accountability and the “you need to stand on your own two feet” approach often do so because they simply don’t know how to relate to other people.  They either don’t know how or are too afraid to lock arms with those who are struggling.  Building meaningful relationships with needy people is time consuming, uncomfortable and costly.  But the successful results are indisputable.   If you are still unconvinced, take special note of the words spoken at the next communion service you participate in.  The Minister will hand you a piece of bread or a wafer and say, “The Body of Christ, broken for you. . .”  The Church was founded by One whose body was broken to give us life.  Shouldn’t we then go forth and pour out our lives for one another?

There really are no “self-made” men in our world, but men and women who have been fortunate enough to have other people invest so much in them that they in turn were able to make a huge difference on the visible stage of life.  If you are reading this article and truly want to make a difference, then find someone to connect with and pour your resources into them.  When we truly “connect” we can change a thousand lives – one at a time!