Moore on Glenn Beck

Russell Moore has an insightful blog entry on Glenn Beck's rally in Washington this weekend. Read it carefully and thoughtfully.

Who Grows The Church?

"Preacher it is your job to grow the church?" Is that true? It seems that many in the church today believe that, even pastors. But it that true? For a good deal of the years of my ministry I believed that it was my job to grow the church. I would be asked by pastor search committees how I intended to lead the church to grow. I attended conferences and other meetings in which sure-fire ways of church growth were introduced and each time I was told that if I (the pastor) was behind this it would work. The church would grow. Of course, I am for church growth, so I would use those tools and apply the so-called church growth principles. And they would sometimes work. But often they would not. I would go home after a Sunday in which there were no decisions and seemingly nothing happened and beat myself up. I really thought that if I had worked harder or if I had been more faithful that week something would have happened. Try to carry around that kind of guilt!

One night a few years ago I was having one of those Sunday nights. Pastors know what I'm talking about. No decisions had been made for the umpteenth week in a row. The people just sort of look at you and are polite when they leave, but that's about it. I was blaming myself again. If I work harder and apply some principles smarter the church would turn around and the the aisles would be red hot with decisions, Sunday School would grow, etc etc etc. That night I had an epiphany. God surely had been trying to tell me this for a long time, but I just had not listened. In as clear a voice as I've ever heard, the Lord spoke to my heart—"Son, it is not your job to grow the church. It is mine! You just be faithful to preach my Word. That is all that is required of you. If the people respond they respond to Me—not you. If they rebel, they rebel against Me—not you." Since that night I have not worried whether or not decisions are made, attendance is up, giving is up, and so forth. I really don't look at attendance and giving reports that much. My response when someone asks how many were in church Sunday, "The number is exactly what God knew it would be." The spiritual burdens a pastor carries are always there, but the unnecessary guilt of having to cause church growth is not.

Acts 2:47 is instructive: "And every day the Lord added to them those who were being saved." The Lord added to the church. The apostles did not. They were just faithful in what God called them to do. Jesus said the church was His and He would build it [Matthew 16:18]. The pastor doesn't, Jesus does. Paul reminded the Corinthians "I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth" [1 Corinthians 3:6]. Paul was faithful to preach the Word, as was Apollos, but it was God who brought about growth.

The problem lies in the fact that we have brought the world into the church. We use business principles to determine whether a pastor is doing his job. And if a church is not growing in numbers or if it is losing budget dollars, many church members believe something is terribly wrong with the pastor's leadership. Pastors do the same thing. They often see a problem with their leadership when baptisms are down, membership is down, no decisions are made on consecutive Sundays, budget numbers are lower, etc.

Our denomination (Southern Baptist Convention) does not help. We tout the churches/pastors who baptize the most, who have the greatest increase in attendance, who give the most, etc. That kind of thing should stop. I would love one day to attend a pastor's conference and the featured speaker is a man of God who has proven himself faithful in a church where absolutely nothing visible has happened (attendance increase, baptism by the score, etc) or could happen.

The fact of the matter is that there is only one thing God requires of any person, including pastors—faithfulness. The pastor's responsibility is to preach the Word, and he is responsible only to attempt to lead the church into the presence and purpose of God. I use the word 'attempt' on purpose, because he is not responsible for the church's response.

By the way, proper spiritual leadership often does not lead to church growth. Depending on the circumstances, it may lead to a mass exodus. Also, there are church situations in which no numerical growth is possible, and the success of a pastor's ministry in that kind of situation should not be based on baptism numbers, Bible study attendance, etc.

Pastors—stop trying to grow the church. Church members—stop placing upon the pastor responsibilities that are not his. When both pastor and church members are faithful, God will do in the church was He deems necessary and proper. His will is done. Shouldn't that be the goal anyway?

Pinnock

I heard recently of the death of Clark Pinnock. Russell Moore has a wonderful commentary on BP.

Pinnock died on Aug 15. Read his obit on Christianity Today.

The Christian Funeral

Rob Moll has written an interesting book, The Art of Dying, which I recommend highly. In it, there is a chapter on the Christian funeral. Moll is correct when he observes that funerals are best done within the context of a church community and are more than just an opportunity to soothe the grief of the bereaved. He defines the Christian funeral as a "worship service that dramatically recognizes that the Christian life is shaped in the pattern of Christ's own death and resurrection."

For many believers today, there is no sense that the funeral is a religiously significant event. They have bought into the "Hollywood" version of a funeral; it's all about the deceased. There are eulogies and music that reflect who the deceased was and his/her accomplishments. I have even had Christian families ask me to not be 'too preachy'. Unbelievable I know, but increasingly true.

We are losing the Christian funeral because believers are losing sight of its importance. Why have a funeral when it's so expensive and a waste of time? It is important for several reasons. First, it is the last chance for the deceased to influence anyone for Christ. Most Christians have family members and friends who are unbelievers. Some of them will attend the funeral. The testimony of a faithful believer's life [which they obviously know] plus the preaching of the Gospel may soften an otherwise hard heart. I have seen more than one person come to Christ following a funeral service. Second, while there is much more to a Christian funeral, God does use it to comfort the grieving family. Grief is part of life; however, Christians do not grieve hopelessly. As the hope of the Gospel is reaffirmed by the one preaching the funeral, the Holy Spirit comforts the heart and even brings joy in the midst of sorrow. I've seen this happen countless times. A family enters the funeral home or church crying and as the service progresses their countenance changes. There is still grief at loss, but hope brings joy. A funeral consisting of just eulogies neither comforts nor brings hope. Third, as Moll so aptly puts it the funeral is a chance 'for the church to . . . begin reintegrating mourners into the community and . . . to publicly express the church's and the deceased's faith and hope.'

A Christian funeral should include the following:

• Singing—I think congregational music is appropriate although it seldom is used [at least in the Baptist tradition of which I belong]. The songs should not be 'dirges'. They can and should be joyful, focusing on Christ who has defeated death. I recently attended a funeral in which congregational music was used, but the songs made me more depressed than joyful. That's not the purpose at all of a funeral service.
  
• Scripture—I appreciate our more liturgical friends here more than Baptists—their services are full of appropriate Scripture passages from both Testaments. When I am in charge of an entire funeral service, I try to spend at least some of it in the reading of the Bible.
  
• A brief testimony concerning the life of the deceased—everyone in the room knows something about him/her likely, so the fact that he was a family man who loved the Braves, for example, is not what I mean. I believe there should be a clear testimony about his/her faith in Christ.
  
• The preaching of the Gospel, emphasizing hope. In recent years I almost exclusively preach on the hope of heaven, using Revelation 21-22. I use other passages, but I seem to keep coming back to those two chapters. A brief message about heaven reminds the believer of what God has prepared for those who love Him and challenges the unbeliever to consider his/her own eternal destiny.
  

I would agree with Moll's summary, "In some ways a funeral is simply an excuse to publicly get together. Gathering around food, at a funeral home or cemetery, or at-home visitations is an end in itself. A healthy community (here he is talking about the church) and the recovering bereaved simply need to be together. Funerals can be done both well and inexpensively, but the purpose is not to get it done cheaply. Singing hymns, reading Scripture and hearing God's Word preached—all with an ear toward the purpose of a funeral—is how the church displays hope. By doing so the congregation not only gives witness to the rest of the world, but it also serves to reaffirm our resurrection hope" [Art of Dying, 126].

Above everything, the funeral is a worship service, whether it is in a funeral home chapel, cemetery, or church. A funeral is more than just a memorial service. It does remember the one who has died and his/her significance in the lives of those who have gathered to mourn, remember, and worship. More importantly there must be the worship of God, who has through His Son defeated death, and the intentional witness to that glorious hope.

Is Cremation a Christian Practice?

A question that I have been asked more times that you might think is whether or not cremation is a Christian practice. Based on sheer statistics, it is a question people are asking whether they pose it to a pastor or not. The number of cremations in the U.S. is on a major upward swing. I read recently that between one-quarter and one-third of all corpses are now cremated, compared to less than 5% in 1970. By 2025 that percentage will rise to 60%.

Historically, there is no question about the burial practice of Christians; they always opted for burial if given a choice. In fact, there are those who have written that the great care of a body that Christians displayed is a reason why 'the Way' spread throughout the Roman Empire. Like many modern ethical issues we face, the Scriptures do not really deal with cremation directly. 1 Samuel 31:8-13; Amos 2:1-3, and 6:8-10 are the only explicit passages. Amos 2:1-3 is the only one of the three that unambiguously condemns the practice. The partial cremation of the bodies of King Saul and his sons can be connected to the necessities of war and quite frankly the latter passage in Amos is debated by OT scholars. It may or may not deal with cremation. I believe it probably does, but the cremation of bodies can be seen in that passage as necessary due the great numbers of the dead. While there are no 'thou shalts' or 'thou shalt nots' to draw from, that does not mean the Bible is unclear on the issue. In both testaments, it is absolutely clear that the standard way that God's people handled a corpse is burial. Obviously, there is also the example of Jesus. His body was buried in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea. There are exceptions, but they are rare. The exceptions certainly do not lend themselves to approval, even tacitly, of the practice.

There are basically four reasons Christians chose burial over cremation. First, the body was created by God in His image and was proclaimed by Him as 'very good' [Genesis 1:31]. While some deny the physical aspect of the image of God, Genesis 9:6 is clear: "Whoever sheds man's blood, his blood will be shed by man, for God made man in His image." This verse makes no sense at all if the soul (non-body) was the essential part of a human being. Thus the body is not just an appendage housing the soul/spirit (non-body). Human beings are a body/non-body unity, incomplete when that which is non-body is separated from the body.

Second, there is need to consider the Incarnation. "The Word became flesh and took up residence among us" [John 1:14]. John Stott has written, "Christians should treat the human body . . . with special respect. Why? Because this is the form in which God became flesh."

Third, there is the fact that the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit [1 Corinthians 6:19]. Christians have historically believed that the body should be honored because the third Person of the Trinity used it as His home, living through the body and producing His fruit [Galatians 5:22-23].

Fourth, the final part of a Christian's salvation is the resurrection of the body. Paul wrote, "And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, then He who raised Christ from the dead will also bring your mortal bodies to life through His Spirit who lives in you" (Romans 8:11). According to Millard Erickson, "This new body has some connection or point of identity with the old body, but is differently constituted." That different 'constitution' is that it is transformed, outfitted for eternity. However, there is a direct connection between the mortal and immortal body. Christians have believed that burial best bears witness of this connection.

Thus the issue is not whether God can raise a body that has been cremated. Of course He can. Neither is the issue whether cremation is sin. I do not believe that it is. The issue really is two-fold: What burial practice best reflects the hope of the Gospel? What burial practice honors the body as God's good creation in His image? It seems to me the answer is burial. Just as we (Baptists) believe in immersion baptism because it shows best in a symbolic way what has happened spiritually to a person, burial does the same thing—the burial of a body shows in a symbolic way that God created the body good in His image (thus we honor it), and it better reflects the hope of the future resurrection of that mortal body.

Why has cremation become so popular? I can mention a few reasons. First, the traditional funeral is seen as a waste of money; thus it has become a consumer issue. Second, environmentalism has caused a "Save the Land for the Living" mentality to creep into the American consciousness. Third, there is the upswing of other spiritual worldviews, especially eastern mysticism, which is shown in the increased approval of such ideas as reincarnation. Cremation can be seen as a cleaning/releasing of the soul from the dead body so it will be prepared for another life. Rodney Decker observes correctly, "The cremation movement thus reflects the dramatic shifts in American views of 'spirituality' and the radical pluralism of our postmodern culture." Perhaps a traditional burial will be one of the most counter-cultural acts a Christian can perform in the next generation.

But, why are more and more Christians opting for cremation? I think at least two of the reasons above filter in. The traditional funeral is seen as a waste of money and more believers are embracing 'all things green.' I will blog soon on why a traditional funeral is a good idea for a Christian. All I will say about 'all things green' is that the Christian should be not be 'sucked in' to a worldview that may be far less than Christian. The radical environmental agenda that is so sanitized by the color green is more pantheistic than Christian at its core.

There is a specifically Christian way to grieve. Paul wrote that Christians are not to grieve as those without hope [1 Thessalonians 4:13]. Russell Moore challenges us with this thought, "Christian grief, the way the Christian community deals with its dead, signals what it believes to be true about the dead in Christ." Is what the Christian community believes best seen in burial or cremation?