Knowledge – Page 3 – Deeper Life Ministries

Living Beyond Ourselves

March 1, 2013March 21, 2013 by Mike Avery, posted in All Articles, Church, Theology

The Christian life can be marked by such a sense of God’s presence and power that one is enabled to live and work in a way that is not easily attributable, if attributable at all, to merely natural or human ability. The effect of this kind of life is totally incongruent to natural ability. It is clearly marked by something beyond oneself! From a biblical perspective, this is not something that merely can be but something that should be.

D. L. Moody lived such a life. He was a source of constant wonder because the results of his ministry were so totally incommensurable with his obvious personal qualities. He had a very ordinary appearance, was not ordained by any religious body and was uncultured and uneducated – even crude and uncouth to many. This was a constant bewilderment to many of Moody’s contemporaries including Dr. R.W. Dale, a leading clergyman in Great Britain. Dale attended Moody’s meeting in Birmingham, England to see if he could discover the “secret” to Moody’s power in preaching and evangelism. After hearing Moody speak, he concluded that the work had to be of God as he could see “no relation between Moody personally and what he was accomplishing for God’s Kingdom.” Moody’s ministry was marked by something beyond himself!

The Biblical explanation for a large part of this is called living “in the power of the Spirit.” Paul illustrates this principle in Galatians 4:22-28 using an Old Testament character, Abraham, to give us an example of the contrast between life enabled by the Spirit and life simply lived in the energy of the flesh. Abraham fathered Isaac, the son of promise, with Sarah, contrary to the natural order of things. Isaac’s conception was altogether beyond their natural human ability. It was Divine intervention that enabled them to bear a son. However, at an earlier point Abraham fathered Ishmael with Hagar – an act that was clearly the result of the natural human energies of their bodies. The spiritual lesson of this story is that any life that has results beyond natural human ability is a life that is being lived through the enabling power of God’s Spirit. With this in mind, we should see spiritual significance in the Bible’s many stories that revolve around barren women. Sarah, Rebecca, Hannah, Manoah, Elizabeth – all barren until God “opened their womb.” God is teaching us that if we are to have any spiritual fruit, do any spiritual work, then it will be because of what He does through us and not what we do within our own human energy.

The alternative to Spirit enabled living is living “in the flesh.” When the NT speaks of those who live in the flesh, it speaks of those whose lives are oriented around themselves and who know only their own resources. Paul describes this in Romans 8:5, “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh. . .” To live in the flesh is to think and work in the context of one’s natural abilities. It if life on your own! Those who live in the flesh may be educated, refined and cultured but they still will produce nothing beyond what the flesh can produce. Their life can always be explained in terms of human ability and accomplishment.

The question which we must ask ourselves is this: Is there something about me that cannot be explained in natural terms? Is there something found in my life that is never to be found in a non-Christian? Do I evidence a life that is lived beyond my own resources?

Renewing the Vision

January 31, 2013March 21, 2013 by Mike Avery, posted in All Articles, Christian Living, Church, Ministry, Theology, Worship

Charles C. McCabe was the Director of Church Extension for the Methodist Episcopal Church as well as a brilliant strategist. In the spring of 1881, he was riding a train in the Pacific Northwest when he saw an article about the National Convention of the Free Thinkers of America. The newspaper included the text of a speech delivered by prominent atheist Robert Ingersol. As McCabe read the speech he became quite angry. Ingersol had said, “The churches are dying out all across America. They are struck with death! By the dawn of the 20th century, churches will be but relics of a bygone day”. McCabe got off the train and fired off a telegram to Mr. Ingersol in Chicago. It read,” Dear Bob, We are building more than one church a day for every day of the year and propose to make it two a day!” The story got out and someone composed the following chorus:

The infidels, a motley band, in council met and said,
“The churches die throughout the land the last will soon be dead.”

When suddenly a message came that filled them with dismay,
“All hail the power of Jesus’ name, we’re building two a day”.

We’re building two a day, dear Bob; we’re building two a day!
All hail the power of Jesus’ name, we’re building two a day!

Charles McCabe clearly shared the vision of Methodism’s Founder, “to reform a continent and to spread scriptural holiness across these lands.” Methodism envisioned itself as a reform movement. A vision that propelled the Methodist church to the forefront of outreach and pioneer evangelism in America until it could be said that the Methodists owned the 19^th century!

Despite the multitude of stories telling of the Church’s transformative impact on cities, countries and civilizations, there has been no shortage of hostile voices predicting her demise. Yet even while the scoffers scoff the Church of Jesus Christ steadily penetrates a darken world like yeast penetrates a loaf of bread “until the whole be leavened” and will continue to do so until that day when “at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father”. The future of the Church does not hang in the balance! Victory for the Church of Jesus Christ is inevitable!

The truth in the paragraph above stands without equivocation. However, any thinking person who reads the above statement and then simply looks at what is happening in the vast majority of churches in North America and Europe today would have cause to question the veracity of what I wrote. It is true that the Invisible Church of Jesus Christ is and will be triumphant. It is not true that every part of the visible church on earth experiences that same conquering spirit. While the Church is harvesting a bumper crop in Asia, Latin American and Africa the harvest seems to be rotting in the field in Europe and North America. The problem is certainly not with the Lord of the Church or with His power to prevail. The problem lies with a Laodicean spirit that has gripped the visible church of North America and Europe. The problem is not new! Read Paul’s words to a church that was not yet twenty-five years old! Take a moment to read again the first three chapters of the book of The Revelation. Take a literary walk down the pages of church history reading the stories of the Reformers and the Revivalist and you will see what I mean!

A willingness to acknowledge historical fact and present reality about certain parts of the church should not turn us into pessimist. One does not have to join the “church is dead” movement to be able to admit that the visible church has at times lost her way, backslidden, become unfruitful and needed major reformation and revival. As a matter of fact, I believe the church in America is in such a time right now. James MacDonald says the evangelical church is experiencing a time of “epic failure.” He further says that, “Until we acknowledge that the church in North America is failing, we won’t take the steps necessary to see that trend reversed.” MacDonald’s word to the evangelical church should be taken to heart by the Conservative Holiness Movement as well.

The Call to Resurgent Hope

I along with the faculty of God’s Bible School and College have the greatest appreciation for and the deepest commitment to that part of God’s Church identified as the Conservative Holiness Movement. This is the tradition that GBS has lived and worked within long before there was such a name designation or a movement identified as such. The “Call to the Conservative Holiness Movement” was written by our faculty as an attempt to restate the strengths of that tradition, to acknowledge its weaknesses and to dialogue on how to restore what is vital to its future. By the very nature of such a call we are acknowledging problems, struggling to find answers and humbly offering solutions. The last section, Article X, in the Call to the Conservative Holiness Movement is a call for Resurgent Hope. The CHM needs a renewed vision for its future. It lacks a “grand idea” to marshal its youth and to propel it forward. The absence of such of vision has caused the movement to become disoriented and allowed it to drift away from its historical landmarks – the things that made it special in the first place. However, the key to a renewed vision or a new vision altogether begins with a willingness to acknowledge apparent problems with an eye to corrective measures.

There is an Elephant is the room!

It has been obvious, for a long time, to many of the leaders within the CHM that the movement is in a state of serious decline. It has failed to grow numerically by means of new conversions while membership roles in some of the largest and oldest denominations have decreased as much a 60%. Unfortunately too many key leaders have simply ignored the obvious. You could say it is the elephant in the room that nobody wants to talk about! To reinforce my own observations with facts, I had a third party survey conducted. The survey was conducted among the eighteen denominations that identify with the CHM. The leadership of each denomination was asked to identify their top two churches so that the pastor of these churches could be interviewed. (It should be pointed out that using the top churches in each group heavily weighted the survey towards a more favorable outcome). Fifteen of the groups cooperated with the survey which allowed us to question the pastors of 30 of the top churches in these denominational groups. I then surveyed four of the largest independent churches in the CHM and added the results to this survey. The pastors were asked three questions. (1) How many conversions of unchurched people have you had in the last five years that have been discipled to the level of membership? (Not yet a member but ready to be) (2) How many conversions of unchurched people have you had in the last five years that have been discipled to the level of maturity that allows them to be involved in ministry? (3) How many third generation Christians do you have in your church?

Here is what we found:

80 % of the top churches in the CHM have had no unchurched person converted and discipled to the level of membership within the last five years.
In the six largest churches surveyed only one had unchurched people converted and discipled to the level of membership in the last five years. Only two had converts discipled to the point of ministry involvement.
The churches with the most third generation Christians tended to have the least number of unchurched converts, while churches with the least number of third generation Christians tended to have the most unchurched converts.
The majority of the churches surveyed had at least one convert that had been discipled enough to use in ministry but was still unable to be considered for membership.
There were three churches that I considered “outliers” and set them apart in the survey results. Together these three churches had 180 converts of unchurched people in the last five years. 60 of these converts were discipled to the level of membership. 120 of these converts were discipled to the level of ministry. All three churches had a combined total of only 24 third generation Christians (that is an average of only 8 each). These churches are exceptional and have something to teach us!

The survey highlights a number of problems. First, most CHM churches are not reaching the unchurched. Second, when a CHM church does see unchurched people converted it rarely retains these converts. This problem of attrition has several contributing causes but it is primarily because the average CHM church has failed to address the process necessary to grow these converts and to assimilate them into the core fellowship of the church (the process of becoming and belonging). Hence most of them backslide or go to another church. Third, the survey revealed something else that I had only surmised. It revealed that churches with high numbers of third generation Christians do the poorest job of reaching the unchurched. This is true despite the fact that many of these operate impressive ministries to that very population. It is alarming to see that these large churches, that are resource rich, can operate impressive outreach ministries and never truly “reach out.” This is the elephant in the room!

How do you eat an Elephant?

Occasionally one of my colleagues or students will share with me what seems to them to be an insurmountable problem. I will listen carefully then ask them this question, “How do you eat an elephant?” While they are looking at me in absolute bewilderment I will answer for them, “One bite at a time!” All of our problems, no matter how large, can and must be addressed “one bite at a time.” For the CHM the process of addressing the serious problem of decline will be a long-term deliberate strategy that must be implemented “one bit at a time.”

Success in eating the elephant means that the CHM must avoid the danger of two extremes. The first extreme is to do nothing. Since the elephant is so big and the challenge is so overwhelming the danger is that we just ignore it and do nothing at all. On the other hand, we must avoid the other extreme of trying to eat the elephant in just a few bites. Massive and sudden change can divide, demoralize and possibly destroy a church or movement.

Doing nothing is not acceptable!

However insurmountable the problem may appear to be doing nothing is not an option. Like a man paddling across the Atlantic with a hole in his boat, we can neglect the problems of our movement for a while, but if not eventually addressed we will certainly sink. Complacency can be one of our biggest enemies. It is sometimes hard to spot complacency because it can hide its failure to act behind impressive rationalization. Complacent leaders and pastors will pose the argument that true success cannot be measured or quantified. They say that such measurements are the world’s way of evaluating a successful ministry and that simply counting conversions, members, offerings, buildings, etc . . . is not the way God measures success. They contend that the only true criterion for ministry is faithfulness. There is so much truth in this argument that it is difficult to debate. There is much to be said from the Word and from practical ministry about faithfulness. It is extremely important in both the eyes of God and men. However, holding up faithfulness as the final measure of true success can be a “cop out” for failing to do the hard work of reaching people. Even if that isn’t the case, it is certainly an oversimplification. I agree with Timothy Keller when he says that there is a more Biblical gauge to evaluate ministry than either success or faithfulness – it is fruitfulness (John 15:8).

If complacent leaders and layman can comfort themselves with an appeal to their faithfulness (one that has certainly been uncoupled from the concept of fruitfulness) then that may prove to be a strong enough “sleeping potion” to keep them from addressing the true barrenness of their particular denominations and churches. I am afraid that as long as the various groups that make up the CHM can afford to hold the annual IHC, operate their own annual campmeeting and give respectable offerings to a foreign missions program they will remain complacent – even accepting of the failure of the local church to be fruitful and reach its surrounding community.

The importance of Vision Renewal for the CHM

If you have ever driven a car with misaligned wheels you know that it is difficult to keep the car in the middle of your lane – it constantly wants to pull to one side. That is what it is like to be in a movement, church or organization that lacks vision. Everyone may be very busy doing something but they are continuously pulled off center – away from the main thing. Without a compelling vision to motivate, energize and direct, people will wear themselves out with meaningless activity. Any church or movement that is engaged in such activity becomes the breeding ground for skepticism, criticism and a host of “rabbit trials” that take it away from its main objective.

In greyhound racing there is a little mechanical rabbit covered in fur that sits on the end of a long metal rod that circles the track ahead of the dogs. The operator of this mechanical rabbit always keeps the rabbit ahead of the dogs so as to keep them running but never allowing them to catch it. In one race, while the dogs were hotly pursuing the rabbit, there was a short in the electrical system that caused the rabbit to explode. With no rabbit to chase the dogs didn’t know what to do. Some of them went crazy jumping through the fence. Others just wandered aimlessly around the track. Still others laid down on the track and howled at the spectators. Not one dog finished the race. Without a vision to pursue: dreams fade, people drift and once-vibrant movements slowly die.

Vision Obstacles

The CHM is resource rich! It has a wealth of talented people who are deeply committed to their faith. It possesses what it takes to move forward with the work of vision discovery, renewal and implementation. Yet it does have some major “vision obstacles” that it will have to be overcome. Things like:

Reluctant Leadership – So much rises and falls around leadership. The CHM struggles to be open to the kind of visionary leader that has the capacity to lead it from where it is to where it needs to go. Even where that kind of leadership exists, it has too often bowed to the politics of fear or lacked the resolve to push beyond the obstacles.

Pietistic Pride – The CHM battles with a strange paradox. On the one hand it struggles with an inferiority complex while on the other hand it struggles with pietistic pride. There are times when our opinion of ourselves is too exalted. So much so, that we tend to look down on the rest of Christ’s body as “not quite where we are.” This sanctimonious arrogance needs to be replaced with a little sanctified humility. After all pride made the Devil the Devil!

Pre-occupation with the Past – When CHM folks get together you will hear far more talk about our “holiness heritage” than you ever will about our “holiness future.” Our Methodist Holiness history is fascinating! But it is still history! The past must serve as a guide post not a hitching post – it should be the rudder on the ship not the anchor. God consistently reveals Himself as One who is forward looking. He is primarily interested in where we are going not where we have been. It is the Devil who wants us pre-occupied with the past! Movements and churches that have been mightily used of God in the past, and for one reason or the other get stuck there, will be set aside and someone else or something else will be raised up to take their place.

Resistance to Change – Continual change is the reality of our time. The church is not an isolated island from the rest of society and by its very nature it cannot be. It too is changing. As a matter of fact, change is not new to the church. For those of us within the holiness tradition, John Wesley and the early Methodists serve as an example of innovative and creative change to meet the ministry needs of their time. The CHM has proven quite resistant to change in methodology, technology and organizational structure even when it is apparent that change could advance the kingdom without any compromise to the message.

An Unhealthy focus on Single Issues – Churches were never meant to have a single focus like Pizza Hut or Jiffy Lube. The church must be fully Biblical and properly balanced in all its priorities and emphasis! To be a healthy body it must be a whole body. Too many CHM churches are known for one thing – the lifestyle positions they embrace. When this single focus prevails it can hurt the church both internally and externally. Biblical holiness does in fact have behavioral consequences that impact my lifestyle. But it also cast them as a part of discipleship and growth where they are lived out in an atmosphere of relaxed self-discipline and humble dependence on God – never as the main thing.

Fear Driven Decision Making – Movements, churches and pastors who constantly test the winds of “what others might think” end up neurotic, paranoid and pathetically immobile. Fear has been the catalyst for many needless rules and regulations. The fear of what others “might think” has killed many positive outreach initiatives. A man fearing spirit and the general fear of change has hindered churches from needed adjustments that would have positioned them to better serve their own people as well as those they might reach.

Vision begins with God!

God is more than willing to help a struggling or failing church or movement to regain its footing, but He will not climb over the impediments of no vision, poor planning, weak execution, horizontal thinking and a lack of faith. Leadership must take seriously the work of vision casting. For me to propose a vision or even attempt to restate a vision for the churches, the denominations and the organizations that make up the 21^st century CHM would push the boundaries of arrogance or ignorance (I will let you decide). The work of vision casting and mission development is not a “cut and paste” moment achieved by a few hours of “goggling” all the good web sites. Vision comes from the Lord! It comes when leaders and laymen seek God, find a divine burden, and mold it to their situation! Vision is not some mystical dream detached from reality. Whatever vision God gives a church it will have some parallel to the mission and vision laid out for us in the book of Acts and duplicated throughout the centuries by the church. Vision is anchored in one’s core values, grows out of one’s main reason for existence and fits perfectly within the context of one’s ministry situation (gifts and resources). Vision is birthed when someone has a heart that aches so badly to know how to advance God’s Kingdom that they are willing to get alone with God long enough to say, “speak Lord for your servant heareth” and then stay still long enough for God to speak to their situation. Vision is not solely owned or produced by one person but I do believe that God normally puts the vision for a church, an organization or a movement into the heart of a one person and not a group of people. I also believe that He confirms and refines that vision as the leader shares it with a small group of elders or spiritual leaders to whom he is accountable or with whom he shares oversight of the ministry.

Vision Components

A vision statement explains where a church or denomination is headed and helps to formulate a picture of what it will “look like” as it accomplishes its mission. I can’t author a vision statement for the CHM or the individual churches that compose its membership but if I could the following components would be a central part:

UpReach – I believe prayer and worship are two core elements that are struggling to survive in ways that truly impact the CHM. We live in a post-Christian culture where not only do men sin with no sense of remorse but where anti-Biblical values and anti-Christ views are entrenched at the highest levels of the institutions that undergird and govern our society. Only prayer can break such a stronghold. We must once again become a praying church.

The culture we are called to win is one that is lonely, empty and materialistic. They are desperately seeking for something they do not have – something transcendent. They are crushed by the disappointment that they cannot create happiness for themselves beyond the momentary. They have a deep longing in their soul to know, to experience and to worship God. The church that provides an experience of unashamed worship, marked by the presence of God, is the church that will never lack for people. We must return to the kind of worship that is marked by God’s presence. This may be our greatest need!

OutReach – Many holiness churches began as store front missions. They located where the sinners were because they believed it was their main job to see sinners saved, sanctified and established in the family of God. It seems that the CHM no longer believes that this is their main mission and unfortunately the statistics support such a conclusion. The CHM has become primarily a preservation movement. However, that can change! A renewed vision for the CHM should make the Great Commission a vital part of its main mission so that we might “reform a nation and spread scriptural holiness across this land.”

InReach – According to Dr. Brian Black, there are approximately 3000 churches in the USA that in some way identify with the CHM (compare that to the North American church numbers for the: Nazarenes – 4800, Wesleyans – 1710, and the Free Methodist – 957). With all these churches and all the individual talent within the CHM one would think the movement could and should be doing something significant for the Kingdom of God. However, we are resource rich and cooperation poor. We have miserably failed to reach within – join hands – and unite for the greater good of advancing the work of God in church planting, education, printing, missions and compassionate care. Instead of one or two strong mission organizations there are thirty-one struggling ones. Instead of one or two strong colleges there are eight struggling ones. Instead of one strong holiness church in town there are four “family controlled” struggling ones. Cooperation for stewardship reasons alone would free up millions of dollars to further the Kingdom and the message of scriptural holiness! No movement on earth could gain more from just simply working together than could the CHM.

DownReach – The CHM has a wealth of Biblical, theological, doctrinal and practical teaching that is not being passed down to new Christians or to younger generations. The CHM needs a renewed commitment to discipleship, mentoring and preaching. Discipleship is the perfect arena to “teach” many things that should not and cannot be adequately “preached.” Mentoring is the key to helping our immature converts and young people maneuver the choppy waters of life successfully. Just keeping the few converts we do have coupled with saving our own would double our population numbers within a few years. Preaching as it is being done in many CHM churches is passionate exhortation with the goals of inspiration, motivation and evaluation. Preaching in today’s world needs to be passionate explanation with the goal of transformation and application. The post-modern mind today doesn’t want someone “yelling” at them. It wants someone explaining the Bible and giving them ways to apply to their life right now!

Someone has got to see it!

Francis Asbury saw an American frontier evangelized for Christ and the Circuit Rider was born. William Booth saw the poor of England sinking in despair and the Salvation Army was born! Martin Wells Knapp saw a school to train a new generation of Christian soldiers and God’s Bible School was born. Rev. Eber Teter saw the state of Alabama without the message of heart holiness and the Friendship Wesleyan Methodist Church was born – at whose altar I found saving grace. Someone must see what can be before it can or will come to pass!

The founder of Disney World, Walt Disney, died five years before Disney World was completed. On opening day in 1971 someone said to director Mike Vance, “Isn’t it too bad Walt Disney didn’t live to see this?” To which Vance replied, “Oh, Walt did see it! That’s why its here.”

Somebody has got to dream and envision a renewed holiness movement. I long for a movement unified in purpose – linking arms in mission and message! Martin Luther King saw an America where racial inequality was abolished – “He (God) has allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land!” I too have been to the mountain top and I’ve seen on the other side! The CHM just needs more mountain climbers who will get above the fog at ground level and see what “can be” in our tomorrows!

Developing Deep Christians

January 9, 2013 by Mike Avery, posted in All Articles, Christian Living, Church, Theology

If you had the opportunity to attend a public event at the United States Military Academy in West Point, NY you would see an impressive group of young men and women who are being prepared to go anywhere in the world, under any circumstances and swing into action the minute their boots hit the ground. They are military officers in the making. Upon their graduation they will be commissioned as “leaders of character committed to the values of Duty, Honor, and Country . . . prepared for a career of professional excellence and service to the Nation as an officer in the United States Army”.

Is there any similarity between what happens at West Point and what happens at your local church? Does your local church have a systematic process that produces mature Christian disciples who can pray, share their faith, explain the Bible, defend their doctrine, put the wellbeing of others ahead of their own, stand up under persecution or do whatever they need to do for Christ’ Kingdom wherever their feet hit the ground?

You don’t have to answer that question because we already know the answer. The church is struggling to produce men and women who fit the biblical standard of spiritual maturity. We are failing to produce people of depth – deep in spiritual character, deep in faith, deep in prayer, deep in love for God and others! This process is actually called discipleship and it is not happening in the average church.

The Call to the Conservative Holiness Movement speaks to this in Article VIII. It decries the fact that we have, “largely abandoned our Methodist system of spiritual formation and forgotten how to fulfill our Lord’s command to make disciples. We have sought revival without preparing to preserve its fruits. We have emphasized spectacular conversions and neglected the biblical necessity of disciplined growth in faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love”. The end result is that the CHM suffers from too many shallow Christians.

I felt the “push back” and irritation from a lot of conservatives as soon as that last sentence formed on the page in front of me! But alas it must stand! Conservatives face the normal fallout of failing to disciple their people. However they also face another subtle danger – that of appearing to be deep rather than actually being deep! It is very easy for us to look spiritual while actually being as shallow as the carnal Corinthians. Being deep is more than just knowing and honoring the Bible in visible ways (especially those that make us look spiritual in our setting). That can happen while failing to demonstrate the character it commands. One can be meticulous, even legalistic, about his tithe and yet fail ever to develop the spirit of generosity. One can dress modestly and still have a sensual spirit. Sheer knowledge of the Bible doesn’t make one godly. The mere application of a few visible commands doesn’t mean we have cultivated holy character. One can read the Bible daily, acquire significant amounts of Biblical knowledge, adopt standards of dress and behavior, yet have no straight-line correspondence between that and real Christlikeness. One can embrace the conservative creed, adopt its life-style principles, and learn the language of the “old fashion way” and still be shallow.

Many conservative leaders readily admit that the CHM is not getting the job done when it comes to the discipleship of new believers. Some recognize that we also are not taking the second step and engaging in the lifelong mentoring process that creates deep Christians. However, few if any are talking about the problems that result from not discipling – a problem that Thomas Bergler calls the “Juvenilization of Christianity.” When converts are not placed on a deliberate trajectory toward spiritual maturity, the character traits of duty, discipline, scriptural living, holy habit, holy affections, denying oneself, sacrificial loving and giving – all traits of mature Christians – are decoupled from normal adulthood and moved down the road to some future time that may or may not arrive. The shallowness that is left is a self-centered, emotionally driven and intellectually empty faith that is focused more on “being fulfilled” than on “being faithful.”

Discipleship the only Cure!

New believers do not develop into deep Christians on their own any more than a little boy playing soldier becomes a great general on his own. We know this from church history and from personal experience. More importantly, we know this because the Bible gives us examples of how God Himself develops deep people. Jesus chose to spend the majority of His time discipling His twelve disciples. With only a three year public ministry, I think it remarkable that He made a limited number of public appearances and preached relatively few sermons while investing the vast majority of His time in the men who followed Him. Watching this process unfold in the Gospels, it looks like just three years of walking, talking and eating with them. But in reality Jesus was building character, teaching them how to think as He thought and reshaping the spiritual parts of their lives in such a way that would prepare them to live, suffer and die for His Kingdom. This three year investment had such exponential results that we still feel its effect today!

Christians who are spiritually deep people have gone through God’s discipleship program. Whether it is Moses, Paul, John Wesley or John Doe, all deep people have three things in common. Each has been cultivated by God through direct encounters, experienced the character development made possible by difficult circumstances, and has been exposed to deliberate mentoring by resourceful people.

Divine Encounters

The journey to becoming a deep person begins with a direct encounter with God. This is what the church has called a person’s conversion. No man can or even wants to become a deeply spiritual person who has not had a heart change wrought by the Holy Spirit. The Apostle Paul’s experience on the road to Damascus was such an encounter. He was not only converted to Christ but given his life’s calling. But there are other encounters with God. Some are very personal like Jacob’s encounter with God at Peniel. That was an encounter that gave Jacob a painful insight into his own carnal self and left him with a changed nature, a new name and a life marked forever by an amazing touch from God. Other encounters give us insight into the character and nature of God. Moses’ encounter with God in Exodus 34 is an example of this. Moses had asked to see God’s “face” (glory) and was told he would be permitted to see God’s “goodness.” What he asked for and what he received was quite different – a difference that is important. Dennis Kinlaw clarifies this difference with this comment, “you can have a spiritual experience that is very exciting and yet is contentless or you gain an insight into the character of the Eternal that will change you forever.” These encounters with God along the path of life are crucial to our development into deep people.

Difficult Circumstances

A.W. Tozer reminds us that, “It is doubtful whether God can use a man greatly, until first He wounds him deeply.” In my almost forty years of walking with the Lord, I have been blessed to receive numerous words of appreciation and kindness. They have encouraged me and strengthened me in my work and walk. However, it has been the difficult circumstances of life; the harsh winds of trial and adversity; the unjust words of a foe; and the dark night of the soul that has done more to shape my character in Christlikeness than almost anything else. Deep people have been discipled by the character shaping experience of difficult circumstances.

Deliberate Mentoring

Deep people are not self-formulating. Their lives are enriched by the counsel and wisdom of others. All of us need Godly men and women who have experienced life and know God intimately to speak into our lives. Most often this comes in a person to person encounter. However, it may take the form of books or other spiritual resources. Moses had his father-in-law Jethro. Paul had his traveling partner Barnabas. Timothy had his spiritual father Paul. Wesley had his books, his brother and his Moravian friends. The early Methodists had the class meeting – a system that produced a steady stream of deep people. Tozer had the writings of the Early Church Fathers and the Mystics. Deep people will always have someone in their life that affirms, instructs, corrects, and holds them accountable.

The Implications of Failing to Disciple

The CHM has got to stop using the altar as the primary place of spiritual formation. The altar can certainly be a place of spiritual transformation and decision. But spiritual formation and growth takes place in the discipleship phase of Christian living. The work of discipling believers and mentoring deep people can no longer be a point of mere discussion. It must begin in earnest. Our failure to disciple deep people has already created a scarcity of spiritual leaders who have that blend of maturity, wisdom and balance that is needed to lead effectively. If we do not reverse the trend, the CHM could well be headed into irrelevance.

Alan Redpath wisely noted that the conversion of a soul is the miracle of a moment, but the maturing of a great saint is the task of a lifetime. Our Methodist fathers understood this and modeled for us the art of making disciples like no one else in the last 200 years. It’s our heritage—it should be our practice—it may be the key to our survival!

A Return to Disciplined Spirituality

March 15, 2012 by Mike Avery, posted in All Articles, Christian Living, Church, Theology

– April 2012

A Return to Disciplined Spirituality

The Call to the Conservative Holiness Movement’s Article V is a call to return to the principled piety that was fundamental to historic Methodism’s success in spiritual formation. John Wesley’s approach to the cultivation of holy character was nothing more than the methodical application of the ordinary means of grace that the Bible says are central to spiritual health and growth. Wesley defined the means of grace as the instruments appointed by God to “convey to men, preventing, justifying, and sanctifying grace.” Wesley’s list of these means included: Scripture, prayer, the Lord’s Supper, fellowship and fasting.

For some in the CHM, a call to reach into the treasures of our past is a call in the wrong direction. The assumption is that “everything has changed” therefore new approaches to the development of spiritual life are needed. I would dispute both parts of that equation. I readily acknowledge the constant change in the culture around us but I firmly assert that basic human nature has not changed. Thus the fundamental human problem has not changed. Neither has the Biblical solution to that problem changed nor has the effectiveness of that solution changed. Faith still comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. The ordinary means of grace are just as effective in today’s 21^st century church (if given a chance) as they were in those first Mediterranean house churches established by Paul centuries ago.

The CHM should not let go of its historic approach to the development of spiritual character. What it does need to do is to work on applying it with a better balance between discipline and dependence. It is easy to slip into the extreme of either approach. The extreme side of discipline is to overemphasize the role of what we do to cultivate spiritual life. This position is characterized by the mentality of striving. It emphasizes knowledge, rules, re-dedication efforts, and human activity while virtually ignoring God’s grace extended through the enabling power of His Spirit. Its emphasis on “what-do-I-need-to-do” can lead to the bondage of legalism. On the other hand, the extreme side of dependence is to overemphasize God’s role in our spiritual development to the neglect of any human initiative. This position is characterized by a “Jesus-did-it-all passivity.” It stresses experience, the supernatural, and the person of the Holy Spirit to the neglect of human endeavor. The one side rolls up its sleeves and says, “God helps those who help themselves.” The other side responds with, “It’s all by grace.” The CHM has generally fallen into the ditch of the former but is now showing signs of falling into the ditch of the latter.

The Biblical answer to this imbalance is that spiritual formation is both human and divine. Kenneth Boa stated it succinctly when he said that “discipline should work in concert with dependence, since grace is not opposed to effort but to earning.” Paul places these elements back to back in Philippians 2:12-13: “So then, my beloved, …work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” Paul makes it clear that working out our salvation is not the same as working for it. He is also careful to balance this with the fact that God is active within us, accomplishing what all our learning and labor cannot.

The CHM must also guard diligently against the danger of just practicing the means of grace as an end in themselves. The “doing” of certain spiritual practices can create a subtle carnal smugness. The means of grace are never an end but merely the instruments through which God administers His grace. The means of grace were not given to satisfy our sense of “doing” but to transform us from the inside out! One can read the Bible faithfully yet fail to demonstrate the character it commends. One can be meticulous about his prayer time yet fail to ever really pray or experience the oneness of true intercession. One can kneel at the altar to receive the elements as ritual only and completely miss the reality of His presence. Wesley warned about following the outward signs only without our hearts being renewed and enabled by the Holy Spirit.

Alan Redpath wisely noted that the conversion of a soul is the miracle of a moment, but the maturing into a great saint is the task of a lifetime. Our Methodist Fathers understood this and modeled for us the art of disciplined spirituality like no one else in the last 100 years. It’s our heritage – it should be our practice—it may be key to our renewal!

Holiness

March 15, 2012 by Mike Avery, posted in All Articles, Christian Living, Church, Ministry, Theology

– March 2012

Holiness

I was sitting in the barber’s chair when my barber, Tony, asked me what I was working on that day. I told him I was writing. He asked me what I was writing about. I told him I was writing on the subject of “holiness.” He grew very quiet and finally said, “That’s a subject nobody talks about. Of all the things that get talked about in here I have never heard anybody talk about holiness”.

Tony is right. Purity and moral excellence is certainly not in the top ten lists of today’s societal values. The media will only talk about it when they have the opportunity to mock a morally decent person as a hypocrite– otherwise the subject is just too boring. Movies typically cast the morally upright as some “out of touch simpleton” whose attempts to do the right thing are valued only for a few laughs. Sadly, most people have never heard a sound, scriptural discussion on holy living – not even in church.

The subject of holiness desperately needs to be re-discovered and re-introduced into the culture and values of America. That process should begin in the church. The practical presentation of holiness has long since been cast out of the pulpits and publishing houses of the people that made it a household word in America – the Methodists. Actually, many of the twentieth century holiness groups (descendants of Methodism) have also de-emphasized the message or abandoned it altogether in their quest for respectability and acceptance at the table with mainstream evangelicals. It is true that Evangelicalism has become the dominant expression of Christianity in America. But it is also true that the moral and spiritual life of the nation has collapsed while embracing its flimsy offers of cheap grace, the promise of heaven no matter how you live and the disgusting doctrinal conclusions that Christians are just “saved sinners” who are far from “perfect” but are “forgiven” nonetheless. It shouldn’t surprise any of us when surveys show that there is almost no difference at all in the core values between the churched and the unchurched in America! What is missing? Holiness!

The Biblical call to holiness leaves no room for Christians who want to coddle sin and live in a state of perpetual immaturity and worldliness. Not only does scriptural holiness teach that Christians can be liberated from willful sin and empowered to live lives of obedience to Christ; it also teaches that the Christian can be cleansed from the inner propensity to rebellion, selfishness and pride through the work of the Holy Spirit. A holy life is a life where spiritual and moral character is taking root and being lived out in a sensible, upright and godly way.

This is the message that birthed the Wesleyan Revival, took 19^th century America by storm and raised the level of social and moral concern on two continents! The post-Civil War holiness revival impacted numerous denominations in America and influenced many Christian Leaders outside the Methodist holiness tradition. Oswald Chambers, a Scottish Baptist, was significantly affected both spiritually and theologically by his association with the American holiness movement. In his popular devotional My Utmost for His Highest he wrote, “Continually restate to yourself what the purpose of your life is. The destined end of man is not happiness, nor health, but holiness….God has one destined end for mankind, viz., holiness. Never tolerate through sympathy with yourself or with others any practice that is not in keeping with a holy God. Holiness means unsullied walking with the feet, unsullied talking with the tongue, unsullied thinking with the mind – every detail of the life under the scrutiny of God.”

Many in the broader holiness movement today would be embarrassed by Chambers words. They would see them as extreme, maybe even hypocritical. However, there is still a clear witness to the historic message of scriptural holiness! The Francis Asbury Society is a strong voice among Methodists. The mainline holiness groups still have a few scholars, pastors and laity who aren’t ashamed to lift the torch for scriptural holiness. The most welcoming home for the holiness message is among the Conservative Holiness Movement. They write it in their church disciplines, teach it in their Bible Colleges, preach it in their pulpits, editorialize it in their periodicals, celebrate it in their testimonies, and emphasize it in their conventions. For the most part, the CHM is strongly committed to the message of holiness.

However, providing the message of scriptural holiness a home and keeping it healthy are not one and the same. The Call to the Conservative Holiness Movement addresses this in Article V. The Call points out certain weaknesses that can and will undermine the message. Let me enumerate some of my own concerns with the CHM’s stewardship of the holiness message.

I am concerned about legalism. That scriptural holiness has behavioral and lifestyle ramifications cannot be argued: external matters are not unimportant. But when we turn our primary focus away from the heart and onto externals (usually particular standards of dress or modes of behavior) we are in danger of reducing holy virtue to custom and thereby trivializing both.

I am concerned about “works righteousness.” Holiness people take the formation of moral and spiritual character seriously. However, the balance between God’s work in us and our work in forming holy habits can get out of balance more easily than one might think. God graciously invites us to work in cooperation with the Holy Spirit through a variety of spiritual disciplines appropriate to our need, but it is always God at work in us. We have nothing that has not been given to us by the Holy Spirit. All holiness is God’s holiness in us! The temptation to believe that any progress forward is somehow our own doing can be a very real problem. The tendency to believe that careful obedience to Biblical principles or personal adherence to codes or cultures of lifestyle somehow earns merit or standing with God is a subtle form of pride that must be rooted out. Andrew Murray reminds us that, “There is no pride so dangerous, none so subtle and insidious, as the pride of holiness.” Deep devotion to Christ and careful attention to righteous living must be motivated by loving obedience or we will fall into the ditch of works righteousness.

I am concerned about perfectionism. Holy people have not attained a state of “sinless perfection” that renders them incapable of any wrong action. Holiness involves both purity and maturity. There is still much room for growth in the sanctified life. Holy habits deepen into fixed patterns of living as we learn to walk in the Spirit. We can and do make many mistakes. There may be times when our attitudes or actions are simply wrong. When that happens we should, in good old honest humility, exercise repentance, make amends and learn from our failures. We never learn from failures denied. Only by seeing them, admitting them, and mending them in total meekness will we follow Peter’s admonition to “grow in grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18). This is how holy people respond to failure. However, perfectionism cuts us off from our essential humanity, forcing us to deny who and what we really are, or to downplay or outright deny what we have done. When this happens we are simply pretending we are something we are not, and such duplicitous behavior is destructive. True holiness is not the breeding ground for pretentious behavior or self-righteousness. Rather it is the womb in which honesty and humility are nurtured.

I am concerned about message drift. There is a certain amount of tension and balance in which every Biblical truth must be held. The same is certainly true of the call to holiness. The balance wheel for holiness is unadulterated love for God and others. If holiness loses that balance, it will become a crotchety, sterile, loveless way of rules and regulations that values law over love. One ends up behaving like the Priest who valued unsullied hands for temple service more than helping the wounded Samaritan out of the ditch. It can also go the other direction and become nothing more than a mental ascent to a positional sanctification that is void of any real sanctity. The theological concept of being “in Christ” is reduced to nothing more than a convenient semantic cover-up for a life of sin and failure. I fear both extremes. Scriptural holiness will not take you down either path.

I am concerned about isolation. The CHM has made valiant attempts to honor the Biblical call to separation from the world but has simply become isolated from the world thereby hiding its candle under a bushel. The message of holiness needs to be lived out loudly in the market place of life and we are the people to do it! It needs to be broadcast over the Web, printed in books and argued as the path to true happiness for individuals and families.

My barber is right. You don’t hear talk about holiness in the barber shops, bakeries or board rooms of America. But the day will come when “Holiness unto the Lord” will resound throughout the earth and be part of an eternal conversation by those who have “pursued that holiness without which no man will see the Lord.” I want to be one who promotes the conversation now – don’t you?