The New Prosperity Gospel

I have an Instagram account. Within that account I have uploaded 497 pictures. Many of those pictures are food or beer. Some of them are clothes…particularly sneakers I wish I could own. I post stuff about how much I like Texas Rangers baseball on Facebook and Twitter. I post pictures whenever I get a new tattoo. And every now and then I post some pictures of cool places Ive been able to go. I say this as a preface. I am no different from most people. I like to put on display the things I enjoy. Moving forward.

We live in a day and age where it is so simple to broadcast any little thing that entertains us.It is not uncommon for me to scroll through any one of my social outlets and see cross contaminated tales declaring God’s goodness, and the magnification of some “thing” that is evidence of that goodness. A new pair of jeans, a fancy meal, or a day off spent with friends. If this has become our billboard for the evidence of God’s goodness then we are promoting not the life changing gospel of the cross, but instead a trendier version of the prosperity gospel.

The book of Mark chapter 5 tells us the story of a woman who had dealt with a hemorrhaging  in her body for twelve years. Twelve years of continual pain both physically and emotionally. Imagine dealing with some medical ailment for that long. It depleting your finances to visit doctor after doctor, and only for the bleeding to continue. In faith and desperation this woman went to where Jesus was to be healed of her bleeding. In the middle of a great crowd who she was not supposed to come near, she ventured. In the presence of the son of God, she reached out and grabbed a hold of His cloak. Upon feeling His power being trusted in, He turned around and addressed her. In her fear and reverence of what had happened to her she told Him what she had done. Jesus then comforted her and told her that her faith has made her well.

Made her well. Not Well dressed. Not well fed. Well. Her wellness made her new. It transformed her life. What is it we believe our faith has made us? If our material experiences are what we look to be our evidence of grace, then our gospel is false because clothes will fall apart. Our good food, beer, and coffee will just wind up in a toilet within 24 hours of consuming it and our good looks will go away in 20 years (or less depending upon how much of that good food you’re eating). If the good news we proclaim is “Because God loves me I am enjoying this new crap.”, then Christians in financially devastated countries are hopeless because they will likely never touch a new pair of selvedge denim jeans.

The good news of Jesus Christ crucified and risen frees us, calls us, and renews us to the joy of newness of life. That joy is what we should be broadcasting for the world to hear. New life. When we hear and trust in this promise everything is changed, including the importance we place on all of our stuff.

My prayer is not that we will all delete our Instagram accounts or throw out our new jeans. I don’t want any of my friends to start drinking crappy coffee and skipping the meals you enjoy. Instead I pray that the evidence of the cross in your life changes the way you receive and interpret God’s fulfillment of the desires of your heart. Desire Him and delight in His glory.

Gospel Centered Culture: Being The Church In a Snowstorm (and Beyond)

It snowed in Kansas City this week a lot. Were talking about 10-13 inches in certain parts of town. The city declared a state of emergency early in the day. People were staying home and taking Instagram pictures of their snowed in evenings filled with board games and soup. It was really cool at first.

Then we all woke up the next day to snow still on the ground and cars buried on the side of the road. We all met the impending reality of life that must continue in spite of our less than desirable circumstances. I went out for a walk and stumbled upon several people who had buried vehicles that I helped to dig out, including a city plow vehicle. About fifteen people gathered around the back of this truck and pushed him out.

This is what happens in our most desperate of situations; we help to dig and push one another because we are all in the midst of dealing with the same state of depravity.

An Illustration of the Church

This is a great insight into what the church should strive to be. It should be a group of individuals, all aware of their own depravity pulling one another out of the holes they find themselves buried in. Just like we help one another get unburied from the snow, the church should continue to help one another when the effect of sin in our lives gets overwhelming.

How We Push and Pull

We push and pull one another when we do life together. Sin has left an apparent blemish on our world that is evident in the issues we meet. When we experience, death, sadness, jealousy and the plethora of other crappy circumstances it is evidence of the vandalism of God’s shalom. However, when we fight sin in each others lives together through Bible study and intimate discipleship we are propelling one another to scriptural truth of who God is and what He has done for us.

Were Not Going To Fix Anything

The humbling thing here is to remember how little we can do on our own. When you dig someone out of the snow, the may drive somewhere and just get stuck again. You did not fix anything by digging them out, and you wont fix anybodies problems by helping them along in life. It’s not your job. Instead it is our job to help push and instruct one another to look to and trust in the One who has provided a fix to a desperate problem. Your bad luck is not the problem, but sin is. Jesus paid the debt sin left on your life when He was crucified and risen. That truth gives us hope.

Pick Up Your Shovel

I am not suggesting that the church operate this way out of some weird sense of duty, but instead we do this as a way to tell the story of how God sacrificially loved us first and more than we ever could. To know God is to know His mission, and His mission is His glory. God get’s glory when people come to trust him as the bridge to salvation. So church, show people how God has provided a solution to our depravity. Go dig someone out of the same hole you have been stuck in before.

 

The Prices Head South

The Story

Leslie and I went on a vacation this summer to visit some great friends of ours and family in Austin, TX. We had a great week there, as I have had several times before. Usually when I take a trip I am overjoyed to be returning home to Kansas City. It’s that relieving feeling of being back where you belong. However, as we got closer to Kansas City and further away from Austin on that drive home, I began feeling increasingly discontent about leaving. At first I thought it was just the tell tale signs of having a vacation well spent. It became increasingly obvious to Leslie and I however that this was not the case. We had to ask ourselves that question; Are we feeling called to Austin? Are we about to move?

I think it was a week later when I sent a text message to a friend of mine who was actually waist deep in a church planting residency in Austin. I told him that we couldn’t get Austin off our hearts and that we would be praying about moving there and being a part of what church he would eventually plant. You see, Leslie knew when she married me that I felt called to be a church planter and when we did move from Kansas City it would be to plant a church somewhere. So this was the first place for me to start, to talk to the dude who I would pursue doing this with. He responded with exuberant support of us. Then we left it alone. I was determined that if this was just an emotional pull then I would leave it alone until the emotion went away.

About two months went by. In that two months we would go in and out of praying heavily about this decision and completely ignoring it. Then in mid-September we faced the fact that a decision needed to be made. I still felt something for Austin, as did Leslie. I think I was honestly looking for any reason not to say yes, and Leslie was just looking to me for an answer. In retrospect, I am incredibly thankful for her support of me during this time. She was going to support me no matter what decision I came to. She is an awesome wife.

So we’re moving to Austin, TX. It feels really great to get that off my chest publicly. With that, there are a few things to be said.

To Kansas City

I cannot put into words how important Kansas City and the people in it are to me. I moved here three years ago not knowing what the heck I was doing. Over the course of those years I met some of the most genuine people in the world. I have been taught about the Gospel of Jesus in ways I didn’t know were possible. I’ve been cared for and developed so much at Redeemer Fellowship and can’t thank the leadership there enough. I have met brothers and sisters who have changed my life forever. To everyone here, thank you so much. I cannot ever forget any of you.

As we move on from this city to the next, I ask for you to pray for these things.

1. The people of Austin, TX.

The truth is that we are moving to Austin for these people. I believe the Gospel is so revolutionary that it is the only thing powerful enough to save you from yourself. Pray that the people who live in Austin, believers and nonbelievers alike, will be receptive to us. That we can enter the community and start doing the work of missionaries and that we see lives transformed by the Gospel.

2. Leslie and I finding work.

It sucks, but without jobs we wont be able to do this work for long. Leslie has an incredibly mobile career as a nurse, but there have already been speed bumps with the Texas State Board of Nursing and we just pray that those issues get cleared up and she finds a hospital to work at. I just hope theres an opening for me at the Apple Store there, if not I’m sure some opportunity will open up. We need your prayers here.

3. Our families

Leslie’s awesome mom Nancy is losing her daughter to twelve hours of highway. It’s not super far and airplanes are incredibly fast modes of transportation. It’s also difficult for here because where we live right now (1 hour away) is the furthest Leslie has ever lived from her mom. Pray for her and Leslie’s brother Owen as they adapt to life without as much of her as they’re used to.

Also, please pray for my mom. I haven’t talked about this much but my mom suffers from COPD, a devastating lung disease. One of the big reasons we made this decision is to be closer to her and to help care for her as her health has been getting worse since last winter. We are moving her to Austin to where better health care is available. I have been away from my mom for 3 years now and am beside myself to be closer to her and be able to care for her. Pray for her health.

4. Our team already in Austin

Last but not least, pray for our team who have already assembled in Austin and have begun the work of developing relationships with the people in our area. The work they are doing right now is a lot harder than it sounds. Pray that they don’t become burned out or beat down when things get difficult. Pray that we all communicate, make decisions, and build this church for the sake of the Gospel and the glory of God…not for ourselves.

I Am Gonna Shut Up Now

This has gotten really long, but theres a lot to say. I will obviously be talking about this more and will be updating you on how things are panning out and asking for more of your prayers for different things. We are incredibly excited about this. It’s important to say that were not moving to our home, but instead a place we are temporarily displaced to. Home is a place we can’t even imagine yet.

What I Learned From Getting Shingles

“There is nothing like suspense and anxiety for barricading a human’s mind against the Enemy. He wants men to be concerned with what they do; our business is to keep them thinking about what will happen to them.” 

― C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters

 The last several weeks have been strange to say the least. This was mostly brought on by the fact that I was diagnosed with shingles a couple of weeks ago. If you don’t know what the shingles are or have never had them, all you need to know is they are basically nuclear chicken pox, and you most likely have them and don’t know it. The strange thing about my shingles is what most likely caused them; stress. You see, I don’t think of myself as an uptight person. Sure, things stress me out just like everyone else, but I feel like I have been dealing with stress in a really healthy manner lately. I guess not.

My little bout with the shingles caused me to ask myself a few questions about stress and how I let it affect me. Initially, the fact that I had developed some viral infection due to stress caused me considerably more stress than I already had. All the questions about how I handle myself popped up. Am I suppressing things? Am I taking on too many things? Should I talk to a counselor?  Thankfully, the answers were right in front of me.

Am I a Suppresser?

Yes, Chances are, if there is any amount of stressors in your life you are also a suppresser. Let’s face it. It is not only our habit, but our instinct to suppress the things that are stressing us out. If we didn’t hold all these things down to some degree, we would be sloppy messes all the time, wearing every emotion on our sleeve. This isn’t healthy and it makes people uncomfortable.

Am I taking on too many things?

I currently am in the middle of quite a few big things in my life. So are you. So is the person sitting next to you on the bus. This doesn’t make us special. If I were to take on just one responsibility in my life it would be too much to handle alone. So yes, if you feel like you are taking on too much it is because you are. However, Mark Driscoll puts it well when he says that people, “Are like trucks: they drive straighter with a weighted load.” Don’t be afraid of all that responsibility or how underprepared you are to handle it.

Should I talk to a counselor?

 

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

(Matthew 11:28-30 ESV)

 Emphatically, yes. You need to speak to a counselor very much. That is what Jesus is teaching me out of the shingles. You see friend, Jesus is the wonderful counselor who makes your weight not so heavy. When you bury those stressors down in your chest, it is on his shoulders you are to cast them. The negative stress you feel from all that responsibility and business are manifestations of sin in the world. It is the cancer that infests God’s violated shalom. The gospel, however, frees us from carrying the weight of that sin any longer. He bears the weight of all the stress, overwork, underwork, and business that your life can accumulate. Rest in Him, and enjoy His relieving work on the cross.

Culture: Unified

 “Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.”

-MLK

 It was 50 years ago that Dr. King sat in a jail cell and penned his now famous “Letter From a Birmingham Jail.” Obviously we still have much to keep learning from the mind and words of Dr. King. I think we should deal with this letter and who it was written to. We should be wrestling with the fact that it was written as a response to Birmingham pastors who called King an “outsider” and accused him of causing division. I think we should also use this letter to challenge what we think about unity.

 How Does Unity Happen?

I believe we can only attain true unity when we lay down our personal agenda, and instead take up the flag of holiness. It is possible this is what King meant when he said the words quoted above. You see on the cross was God’s creative way of pursuing the good of humanity. It was not the popular, comfortable way. It was offensive and selfless. King wanted us to deal with the ways that we can go outside of what is comfortable to us for the sake of abandoning selfish pursuits that are destructive.

A Culture Unified

This is how a culture, shaped by the Gospel unifies us. It is the constant factor that we can continue to rally around. It beckons us to stop thinking and devising preferences, but instead calls us to feel what the weight of holiness looks like. We then can love our neighbors as God intended for us to; sacrificially. The Gospel forces us to sacrifice preference for the sake of the ultimate good. Our neighbors need Jesus before they need our hands.

So King?

So how does King apply here? Isn’t it possible that King didn’t set aside his preference and agenda? Civil Rights was very much an agenda based thing. True. However, in hindsight our nation is better off with the social advancements made by King and those who worked alongside him. When he said the words, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”, I don’t believe he was simply talking about the African-American struggle. I believe he was talking about the church, and how if one group of us fails to pursue justice somewhere, then our entire mission of justice is threatened. We as the church are tied together by the cross. Lets act that way.

 

Gospel Centered Culture

We can honestly be as relevant as we want and without one key factor all of our relevance is for nothing. We can be as involved with our neighbors, community and city as we want, but without this one thing all of our efforts are in vain. You see the one thing we must continually push towards and try to advance in all we do is the best of news. The Gospel of Jesus Christ.

 What is Gospel Centered Culture?

When I talk about culture being Gospel centered, I am not merely trying to hang a ‘Christian’ banner on something to make it important to the church. Obviously, all disciples of Jesus engage both the Gospel and culture simultaneously. It is impossible to have a culture free Gospel. What I am trying to promote instead is a way of engaging the things that we make of the world in a way that is focused and points to the Gospel of  grace in Jesus Christ.

Jesus calls us to take the aspects of the culture of the top of our pyramids of hierarchy and replace them with Him and His Gospel purpose in us. These various things then move to the bottom of the pyramid, not to be forgotten but instead to point to Him and glorify what He is doing through us and our hands.

The individual who strives to create a Gospel centered culture returns to the cross often, to let it affect every inch of the culture within which they live. This frees us to love our neighbors honestly. To engage our contexts fully. Because God first came to live amongst men as a Man to deliver us the Gospel. We must also live with each other for the same purpose.

Does This Seem Contradictory Yet?

Well, if we are motivated only to be relevant or missional without letting our lives be transformed by the Gospel first, then yes this is quite contradictory. It is because of the Gospel that we are freed to truly experience and engage in culture without the fear of culture taking us hostage.

It is too easy to let the things we make of the world to enslave us. Alone, we are prone to idolize our ethics, art, thought, philosophy and so forth. We have a tendency to make too much of what we produce and fail to ascribe glory where it is due.

We will become puffed up and proud of the work we do in our communities. Even the best work we produce is still a manifestation of my own selfish pursuit of glory. The Gospel knows that and frees me to perform mission without the fear of anyones approval but God alone.

Therefore, Christians, let the Gospel shape your culture. Let it be the words that fall from your mouth and let it be the blood that motivates your muscles to move. Do all you do for the glory of God alone. Then, your cultural relevance and missional mindset are not in vain, but are indicators of pursuing a healthy Gospel Centered Culture.

One More Thing

I am not done here, but I am not trying to write a book in this one post. I will be taking apart little by little the aspects of generating a Gospel Centered Culture. I believe to develop healthy churches, we must develop a healthy Gospel reflex to our culture. Let me know if there is anything you’d like me to touch on. Not that I am an expert by any means, but I am really intrigued by this topic and would like for us to grow together for healthier churches, good communities, and the Glory of God.

Missional Culture

Cultural Attribute #2: Missional

 

“Establishing a missional church means that you plant a church that’s part of the culture you’re seeking to reach.“

-Ed Stetzer ‘Planting Missional Churches”

 

If I am starting to sound like a broken record here, it is because the attributes of healthy culture don’t operate by themselves, but instead they are attributes of a church that boasts a healthy culture. So as we deal with the second attribute of the healthy church culture we are going to take the relevance we talked about before and this time apply it to what we do with our time.

First, lets deal with what has been established as the foundation of healthy culture. If a church wants to have a culture that is healthy then it’s speech and actions must align. therefore, our missional mindset has to do with our application of relevance. You can attend a church that is aware of the current issues of it’s city and what it’s people are going through, but without proper action to these things, you are simply hoarding what you know.

In Acts 17, Paul tells us of how he as missionary traveled and learned the ways, teachings, and idols of the people he was living among. Then, something amazing happened, they asked him what he believed and he began to share. Do you see what happened there? Paul didn’t enter these places with a megaphone and tracts telling people to turn or burn. He also didn’t stand by idly as they continued to worship their gods around him. He lived among them, got to know them, and when the time was right and they invited him to, he shared the Gospel with them.

If the words of our mouths, as the church, are that of hurt and prayer for our communities and neighbors and the resulting action is that of prayerful and gospel centered change to those things then we have a healthy missional church culture. This means, as being members of the local church we become acquainted with our neighbors and allowing ourselves be burdened with the things that burden them. It means we get to know the social issues that are devastating our cities. Then when we are called to action, we present the only fix that will implement lasting change; the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Because Jesus sacrificed himself for our brokenness we are freed by the gospel to live sacrificially and lovingly in our communities to see them restored by the power of the blood of Christ. This is what it means to live missional in our cities. A continual pursuit of this, develops in our churches a missional culture.

 

How about for a little Biblical resolve?

 

“Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. But others said, “We will hear you again about this.” So Paul went out from their midst. But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.”

(Acts 17:32-34 ESV)