Situation Critical

November, in some Canadian churches, has been designated as a month of prayer for the persecuted church. It's appropriate, then, to highlight the plight of just one of many thousands of cases of persecution around the world. I have written before of the case of Pastor Saeed Abedini (right), a U.S. citizen in prison in Iran for his faith.

His situation has become even more critical in recent days. According to reports from The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), Abedini has been moved from Evin Prison in Tehran to Rajai Shahr Prison in Kara. This prison has been described as "the place prisoners go to disappear."

A Dutch diplomat, Loes Bijnen, described the prison like this: "Rajai Shahr is the place where political prisoners who are seen as a nuisance, are stowed away. Going to Karaj is a severe punishment. Once in there one stops to be a human being. One is put out of sight, even of human rights activists and the press. In Rajaï Shahr, political prisoners have to share cells with dangerous criminals like murderers, rapists and drug addicts who don't hesitate to attack their cell mates. They have nothing to lose: many of them are condemned to death anyway. Murders or unexplained deaths are a regular occurrence." 

Coming, as it does, in the midst of an anti-West backlash in Iran, Pastor Saeed's life is in real danger. There is a petition that has been launched in the U.S. to ask President Obama to intervene to bring about a resolution to this situation. If you are a U.S. citizen, please consider signing it. Jay Sekelow describes this as a "life or death situation" and thinks that there may be 24-48 hours to save Saeed.

If you are a believer, it's time to pray. Persecution is nothing new. The Apostle Paul wrote numerous letters during his time in prison, finally giving his life at the hands of a Roman executioner. He said, in his letter to the Colossians, "Remember my chains." It's very easy for us, living in the free world, to blithely go about our daily affairs, never giving a moment's thought to Christians around the world suffering for doing what we so often take for granted.

Whether it's a Pakistani Christian falsely accused of blasphemy, a Christian in China or Vietnam in jail for being a part of an unregistered church, or a Christian in India, beaten for their faith, they ought not to be forgotten. So take a few moments today to pray for those living under the threat of violence and death. How should we pray? Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians, wrote "Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should."  

Pray for strength and courage for those undergoing persecution. Pray that they would remain faithful. Pray that they would be delivered and that the Gospel message would continue to go forward. Pray for God's presence in the middle of their trial. Pray for their families as they suffer in other ways. Pray for those working through various means to bring about relief and/or release for the prisoners. Pray for government officials who would be in a place to make a difference. Finally, pray that God would keep your heart soft to the needs of others and that they would never have to stand alone.

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Book Review: Who Is This Man?

Book Review: "Who Is This Man? The Unpredictable Impact of the Inescapable Jesus," Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2012. 219 pages.

When you have such notables as Max Lucado, Patrick Lencioni, N.T. Wright, Phillip Yancey and Dallas Willard writing testimonials and Condeleeza Rice providing the foreword, you know you're in for a treat! I may have found another new favorite book. Leave it to John Ortberg to hit it out of the park.

I grabbed this book when I heard John mention it at this year's Leadership Summit. I was intrigued by the question that is implied by this book: what would this world look like without Jesus? What difference did He really make? As Ortberg shares, our world would be barely recognizable without his influence.

Jesus is the ultimate paradox. Born in obscurity to an oppressed people, never traveling more than 200 miles from his home, rejecting the normal avenues to power, limiting his public ministry to only three years, being struck down in his prime: none of these hint of a world-changer. Yet, as historian H.G. Wells wrote, "The historian's test of an individual's greatness is 'What did he leave to grow?' Did he start men thinking along fresh lines with a vigor that persisted after him? By this test Jesus stands first."

Ortberg shares a myriad number of ways that Jesus has impacted our world for the better - many of which would surprise our secular world which has lately been studiously trying to erase any vestige of him. The rise of Western Civilization is largely due to the principles taught by Jesus in his public ministry. We can begin with the promotion of human dignity which changed the way that society treated women and children.

While some cultures may have valued women and children, it was Jesus' followers who spread those values to the world. Before Christ, in the world  ruled by Rome, women were viewed as chattel, children were often abandoned to die if they were born weak or the wrong gender (read female). Jesus accepted women as disciples, and the church which he established became the first egalitarian organization on earth, according to historian Thomas Cahill. All were welcomed and valued. Abandoned children were adopted by Christians because Jesus had taught them that each of them were created in God's image and were loved by Him. It was Christ-followers who established the first orphanages.

Mother Teresa

When plagues struck cities, the healthy would leave the sick to fend for themselves. It was Jesus' followers who would go and care for them, nursing them back to health and caring for them until their death. They cared because Jesus taught that caring for the hurting was a reflection of loving him. They established the first hospitals that even cared for the poor and they advanced the medical profession. Christ-followers like Florence Nightingale and Mother Teresa, in turn, left their imprint on society.

Because Jesus valued children, Christians began to teach them - all of them. Education was restricted in Roman culture to children of the wealthy and privileged. Christians taught children of the poor and slaves alike, wanting to help them to serve God with their minds as well. Philosopher Mark Nelson writes, "If you ask what is Jesus' influence on medicine and compassion, I would suggest that wherever you have an institution  of self-giving for the lonely (and for practical welfare of the lonely), schools, hospitals, hospices, orphanages for those who will never be able to repay, this probably has its roots in the movement of Jesus."

The first universities found their impetus in the monasteries. Christ-followers devoted their lives to study - not just of Christian works, but of the classics and pagan works as well. In fact, after the sacking of Rome, it was these Christian communities, particularly in Ireland, that preserved the great works of ancient literature for future generations. Christ-followers established the first universities, like Oxford in the 13th century, whose motto is taken from Psalm 27:1 - "The Lord is my light." The Sunday School movement was largely responsible for the foundation of the first public schools. The first law to require mass universal education was also enacted by Christ-followers - the same ones who founded Harvard and Yale and William and Mary and Princeton, etc...

It was Christian missionaries who found languages that had not been committed to writing and who devoted their lives to doing so. They compiled the first dictionaries, wrote the first grammars and developed the first alphabets. It was Methodist missionary, Frank Laubach who was called "the Apostle to the Illiterates. He traveled to more than a hundred countries and his organization developed primers in 313 languages.

Contrary to popular thought today, Christianity was largely responsible for the development of modern science. As Alfred North Whitehead, one of the dominant thinkers of the twentieth century asked, "What is it that made it possible for science to emerge in the human race? It's the medieval insistence on the rationality of God." The vast majority of the pioneers of science were believers in Christ, men like William of Ockham, Francis Bacon, Galileo, Copernicus, Blaise Pascal, Joseph Priestley, Louis Pasteur, Isaac Newton, etc...

The book also deals with Jesus' influence on government and the arts, technology, architecture, marriage and the family and so much more. As Yale historian Jaroslav Pelikan wrote, "Regardless of what anyone may personally think or believe about him, Jesus of Nazareth has been the dominant figure in the history of Western Culture for almost twenty centuries. If it were possible, with some sort of super magnet, to pull up out of the history every scrap of metal bearing at least a trace of his name, how much would be left?" How much, indeed.

Whether you are a skeptic or a Christ-follower, I recommend you read this book. It will change your thinking of this man called Jesus, the one I am so blessed to call my Saviour.

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Book Review: I Am A Follower

Book Review: "I Am A Follower - The Way, Truth and Life of Following Jesus," Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2012. 288 pages.

Leonard Sweet is the E. Stanley Jones Professor of Evangelism at Drew University (NJ), a Distinguished Visiting Professor at George Fox University (OR), and a weekly contributor to sermons.com and podcast "Napkin Scribbles." He has authored numerous articles, sermons and close to fifty books.

In brackets on the lower corner of the cover of Sweet's book is this line: "It's never been about leading." This sums up the main theme of the book. Leonard Sweet is not a fan of the leadership or church growth movements in the church and writes this book, seemingly, as a counterpoint to those trend. It is a warning to those who would break Christian leadership and church growth down to a series of principles and best practices. He begins by drawing attention to the video below as a modern parable of following Jesus.



As I read this book, I must admit I wrestled with a lot of what he was saying. I have gleaned a lot from the church leadership movement and, as a confession, even have my own leadership blog. In spite of that, I tried to read with an open mind, respecting Sweet's reputation. I'm glad that I did.

While I would have preferred a less polarizing approach - not everything taught in Christian leadership circles is wrong - I thoroughly agree with his presupposition that all of us are called to follow Christ. Each of us are called to simply follow Him, wherever He may lead, and whatever it may cost. As he says, "The longest distance in the universe is the distance from zero to one." (p.9)

As a scholar and, at heart, a poet, Sweet creatively builds his case that the problem in the church is not leadership, but discipleship. It's not about leading, but following; not about learning principles, but laying down rights. He does this in three major sections.

Via: The Way - This speaks of being on the right road; to join with Christ in a life-long journey of His choosing. He writes of how we in the church have often made Christianity about a decision rather than a lifestyle, and compares this with the reality of the early church. Jesus' way is much different than any other before or after: Jesus calls us to leave all and follow Him, anything less is compromise.

Verita: The Truth - This section deals with Jesus' exclusive claims to truth. In a world of tolerance and relativism, Jesus speaks the truth that all other claims to truth must bow to His ultimate truth. Each of us must lay down our claims and our preferences, whatever they may be. "The distance to the cross is the same for each of us. The distance to the tomb and the cost of getting there are different for each one of us." (p. 153)

Vita: The Life - I liked this section the best. It speaks of incarnational living. What does it mean to allow Christ to live in and through us? It also speaks of the challenge in the church to make disciples, not simply attenders. "First followers live a life of risky and sticky faith. As they live their Jesus story, they also dream a Jesus world and help launch it into being." (p. 206)

Each section includes a study guide for use with group discussion.

He concludes with an epilogue which refers to another video, which can be viewed by clicking on this link. His point in sharing this is that a Christian's life ought to reflect the joy that comes from the privilege of living life with Jesus Christ. We get to do this together, and that's a good thing. "The greatest developmental task of life is to discover your song and sing it ravishingly to the glory of God." (p. 258)

I did enjoy this book, although I feel that some of the criticism of the church leadership movement is unwarranted and unnecessary. Any church leadership conference that I've attended has taught that Christian leadership is, first and at its heart, servanthood. Paul said, "Follow me as I follow Christ." I believe that this is the gist of what Leonard Sweet is trying to express. Where church leaders have abandoned this follower-first principle, Sweet is dead on in challenging them. This book is a great reminder to be sure that I'm not doing my own thing in Jesus' name. The agenda is His to set; not ours.

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What's Wrong With the Church?

Today I sat in on a number of sessions with some of the leading thinkers in the church today, men like Os Guinness and Stuart McAllister. The sheer volume of information is hard to digest, but I'd like to share some of what I picked up today.

It's no secret that in many places across North America the church is in trouble. In many circles, churches are experiencing declining attendance and offerings. In the U.S., the religious right has lost much of its credibility and effectiveness and, many say, its way. In Canada, many Christian leaders have become cynical, wringing their hands over what to do to turn the tide.

In a round-table discussion tonight, some of the issues discussed that are facing the church are these: cynicism, pessimism, selfish entitlement and short-sightedness. Many leaders are looking at the move away from the Christian morality which once defined our culture and are at a loss as to how to reverse the trend. They have a very short-term view of things.The selfish entitlement is partially the result of the prosperity Gospel and its kin. A generation of Christians have come to faith believing that it's all about them; they have an incomplete Gospel.

So, what are the answers? How do we change the perspective of those Christians who have lost a sense of hope?

Travel
I'm not talking about vacation here. I'm talking about moving away from our view of the world that sees everything through the eyes of Canada or the U.S. There's a great big world out there. The time for ignorance is long past, particularly for Christians. We need to take a look at what the issues are in the world around us; not just in our own back yard. If you can't afford to travel, at least read news stories from other parts of the world. Find out what's happening in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, etc... Subscribe to the news feeds for some Missions organizations. Understand what is happening and why the church is growing in many parts of the world. Broaden your vision.

Look at History
This is particularly true for church leaders. We must understand the past. What has the church experienced throughout history from which we can learn? Are there any parallels to our time? How can the church best influence culture? History bears witness to a church that has often faced obstacles which seemed insurmountable. As G.K. Chesterton wrote, “Five times the church has gone to the dogs, but each time it was the dog that died.”

Too many of our young people have become disillusioned with the church failures of the recent past. While those are not to be minimized, they do not negate the truth of the Gospel. A larger view of history reveals that the church has been responsible for much that is good in our world - hospitals, public schools, universities, a myriad of charitable organizations that have enhanced the lives of millions, and so much more. Christian leaders like William Wilberforce and Martin Luther King, Jr., motivated by their faith, have brought about changes that have shaped society for the better.

Keep Eternity in Mind
The Bible tells us that we are made for eternity, yet many Christians act as though this is all that there is. Jesus came to redeem and restore. He came to establish a Kingdom of righteousness that will endure forever. Part of the fulfillment of that awaits His return, but part of it is to be accomplished as we live out His teachings in this day and age in the real world conditions that surround us.

What does His Gospel have to say about human trafficking? or the AIDs epidemic in Africa? In light of eternity, what ought our response be to poverty? How ought we to live our lives as Christians in a world that is in desperate need of hope?

We need to understand what the Church has actually been called to do. When Jesus said to "Come," He didn't say to come to a party, He said "Take up your cross and follow me."  It was a call to sacrifice for the sake of the Gospel. The early church changed the world because they walked in obedience to the teachings of Jesus, even when it cost them dearly. When the Romans would abandon unwanted children by the open sewers to die, it was the Christians who took them home and raised them as their own. When disease spread and families abandoned their own, it was Christians who stayed behind and nursed them until they recovered or died. Why? Christ commanded us to love our neighbour.

For the church to find itself again, (and not everyone is lost) it needs to return to the simple truths of the Gospel. Hope lies in Christ - not politics. I didn't come to Christianity to make me happy, I came because it's true. The message of Christ conforms to reality and He and He alone provides the hope that every soul longs for. I, for one, believe that the best days of the church are ahead.

Which of these do you feel is the most pressing need in the church today?

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What Is a Christ-follower?

When you hear about someone being a Christian, what do you think about?

Popular culture generally looks at a Christian as a raving lunatic who spends his or her time telling everyone else how messed up they are. The challenge for those of us who are doing our best to follow Christ is that there are enough people out there who are like that to really make it hard to be heard. I’ve seen people, who say they serve Jesus, waving signs saying “God hates homosexuals.” I’ve seen others trying to intimidate people into becoming Christians. I’ve met many others who are simply annoying.

As Charles Colson wrote in his book “The Body,” “The best argument for Christianity is Christians: their joy, their certainty, their completeness. But the strongest argument against Christianity is also Christians - when they are somber and joyless, when they are self-righteous and smug in complacent consecration, when they are narrow and repressive, then Christianity dies a thousand deaths.”  Eugene Peterson put it this way, “The word ‘Christian’ means different things to different people. To one person it means a stiff, upright, inflexible way of life, colorless and unbending. To another, it means a risky, surprise-filled venture, lived tiptoe at the edge of expectation... If we get our information from the biblical material, there is no doubt that the Christian life is a dancing, leaping, daring life.”

George Barna recently did some polling in the U.S. on this subject. The research discovered that people are reframing not just faith in general, but Christianity in particular. While slightly fewer adults - and many fewer teens - are identifying themselves as Christians these days, the image of the Christian faith has taken a beating. This battered image is the result of a combination of factors: harsh media criticism, "unchristian" behavior by church people, bad personal experiences with churches, ineffective Christian leadership amid social crises, and the like. The result is that those who choose to remain Christian - however they define it - are also reformulating the popular notion of what "Christian" and the Christian life mean. Some of those changes are producing favorable outcomes, while others are less appealing.

So the question remains, what is a true Christ-follower? Let’s look, first of all, at those things that don’t make you a Christ-follower.

Going to church does not make you a Christ-follower.

I would say that there are millions of people in the world today who go to church every Sunday, yet do not follow the example of Christ. Going to church makes you religious, but not necessarily a Christian. I would argue that in order to be a healthy, growing Christ-follower you need to be involved in a Christian community, but that act, in and of itself, says nothing about your relationship with Jesus Christ.

Giving money to the church does not make you a Christ-follower.

The Bible is very clear that stewardship of our resources - our handling of money - is a spiritual issue, but it also shows us that many people give for the wrong reasons. A true Christ-follower doesn’t give because he or she has to; they give because they believe in God’s work in this world and they want to make a difference.

Saying the right words doesn’t make you a Christ-follower.

God spoke through the prophet Isaiah and said, in Isaiah 29:13 that “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” The apostle Paul tells us that it is both the heart and the mouth that matter. In Romans 10:10 he said, “For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.”

Obeying the rules doesn’t make you a Christ-follower.

Some of Jesus’ harshest criticism was reserved for the Pharisees, a strict sect in Judaism which believed in following long detailed lists of rules that governed every area of their lives. In Matthew 23:27 He told them “You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean.”

The Apostle Paul was a Pharisee, before he found Christ. This is what he said, in Philippians 3:7-9 about him obeying all the rules and regulations. “But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ - the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.”

All of these things that we’ve talked about are good things in and of themselves. It’s a good thing to go to church, to help those in need; to live by the rules. But they don’t make you a Christian. So if going to church, giving to the church, saying the right words and obeying the rules don’t make you a Christ-follower, then what does?

Let’s look to an encounter between Jesus and a young man to see if we can find the answer. It’s found in Luke 18:18-30

1.                 He was a young man of standing in the community.

The Bible tells us that he had great wealth. He was likely a well-respected member of the community. Many of us have been raised hearing lines like “they’re from a good family.” What that generally means is that the person spoken of is from a family that is law-abiding; that stays out of trouble; that works hard; is generally honest; keeps their yard mowed; keeps their house in good condition and is generally not an embarrassment to their community.

He was the type of young man that most parents would be proud to have as a son. He wasn’t a wild and crazy guy who was into the party scene.

2.                 He was a religious man.

Not only was he a man of standing, he was a religious man. When he asked Jesus what he must do to be saved Jesus told him to obey the commandments, specifically the commandments dealing with how to treat your fellow man. Things like, “‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’”

He had kept all of these commandments from his youth up and he was proud of that achievement. This list of six commands was a list that, if obeyed, would win him favor with all of his friends, family and neighbors. How can you go wrong when you’re not violent, you don’t sleep around, you don’t steal, you don’t lie, you respect your parents and you love people? What a great guy? He was a man of standing in the community; he was a religious man.

3.                 He was lost. 

• He knew he was lost.

He asked “What good thing must I do to get eternal life?”

He asked, “What do I still lack?”

• Jesus knew he was lost.

He didn’t recognize Jesus for who He was (See vs. 17). Jesus immediately saw through this young man’s question to the underlying assumption. He assumed that Jesus was merely a good man. In Mark’s account he noted that the young man called Jesus a good Teacher. Jesus’ rebuke seems strange until you look at it in context.

Jesus recognized the fact that all men are sinners and stand condemned before a holy God. This young man thought Jesus was good, like he was good - it was a prideful and carnal statement. Righteousness is not earned by good works, it resides in God. This young man was standing before God in the flesh and was really wanting to know how he could make himself good enough for heaven.

An indication of where he was is found in his question in vs. 18. Jesus had just told him to obey the commandments and his response was to ask “Which ones?” Which is the magic list? It indicated that he knew he hadn’t kept all of them - and all of us know that we have not kept all of them.

We all play the comparison game like this guy was doing. I’m better than you are because I keep four of the commandments and you only keep three. It’s interesting that, even in prison, the issue of moral indignation is raised. They have to isolate criminals who are guilty of sexual crimes because the other inmates would beat them up because they’re only guilty of robbery or assault or fraud or whatever. Someone has said that people are only bad when they do worse things than I would do myself, otherwise they’re only a good person who’s made a mistake. Romans 3:23 tells us “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

I want you to notice exactly what it was that Jesus left out from the list of the commandments. He included everything that related to our human relationships, all of the things that man sees. What He left off were the first four - those dealing with our relationship to God. “You shall have no other gods before Me?” “You shall not make any graven image.” “You shall not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.” “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.”

The reason that Jesus didn’t include them is somewhat speculative, but I think we have a pretty good idea why. Jesus knew this man’s heart; He knows ours as well. He knew what governed this man; I believe it was his status in the community - his reputation, and his money. All of these things came ahead of God. He knew he was lost, Jesus knew he was lost, and finally...

• His pride kept him lost.

What was it that made this man tick? What guided and motivated his decisions? What was his Lord? It appears from this conversation that this man wanted to stay as close to the status quo as he possibly could - yet he wanted to have eternal life - to be right with God.

In other words, he wanted God on his terms.

Notice that Jesus wasn't okay with that. In fact, the young man became very sad and went away because he had great wealth. He made his choice that money was more important to him than being right with God - and Jesus let him walk away.

God has always and will always demand first place in our lives. He created us and Jesus redeemed us and both of those are good reasons why He deserves that number 1 spot. Being a Christ-follower means He’s leading - not you, nor I. Jesus said we are to follow Him, not include Him on our list of interests.

There are a lot of people who want to be part-time believers. They want to follow Christ when it’s convenient, but Jesus never meant for that to happen and He never left that as an option. As a pastor, I often see people who claim the name of Christ but who refuse to submit to His Lordship. Because of this, they give Jesus a bad name. As Mahatma Ghandi famously said, "I like your Christ. I do not like your Christian. They are so unlike your Christ." 

Have the courage of your convictions and live what you believe. Live your life in such a way that you enhance God's reputation in the world.

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