Agree to Disagree Agreeably

Some of the nicest and some of the meanest people that I have ever met have been those who claim to be Christians. Have you ever noticed that some people have a heavenly smile, while others look like they’ve been sucking on lemons? For some, the sour looks are a way of life, for others, they are the result of disagreements gone awry.

Have you ever disagreed with anyone? People have disagreements at home, at work and even at church. There is no problem with disagreeing; in fact, disagreements have the potential to expand the horizons of open minded people. The problems lie not in the disagreements themselves, but in the way that people respond to them.

Have you ever watched children on a playground? What happens when one doesn’t get his way? He becomes angry, he takes his ball and he goes home. Sadly, the same behavior is exhibited among some adults within the Christian community. They become angry when the carpet is not their favorite color, the choir doesn’t sing their favorite song, the preacher doesn’t support their viewpoint or a visitor sits in their favorite pew. They reenact the playground scenario--they get angry, but instead of picking up their ball, they pickup their Bible; instead of going home, they go to another church; and instead of dividing friends on the playground, they divide the family of God.

Disagreements can be good and even healthy; but becoming disagreeable cannot. Most churches do not lose members due to their biblical positions, but many lose them due to their harsh dispositions. Disagreements are a part of life and always will be, so let’s examine how to “agree to disagree agreeably."

In my observation, there are two common elements to any disagreement - an issue and opposing viewpoints. It is very possible that both viewpoints may be correct. If one person describes the interior of a house and another describes the exterior, they are both right in their descriptions of the house; but from different viewpoints. Viewpoints vary in accident reports, at sporting events, at smorgasbords and among auto enthusiasts. We don’t break friendships over a referee’s call, items on a buffet line or whether we drive a Ford or Chevy; so why do we break fellowship over things that are even less significant in a church?

It is imperative that we learn to disagree without becoming malicious and degrading. Ephesians 4:29 tells us that our words should edify others and “minister GRACE to the hearers,” lest they grieve the Holy Spirit of God. God desires us to be tenderhearted and forgiving toward one another as we remember the eternal debt that He forgave us.

The Bible records disagreements between godly leaders and how they responded. Two of the most familiar stories are Abraham vs. Lot (Gen. 13) and Paul vs. Barnabas (Acts 15). The characters in both stories eventually separated; but even after their separation, they exhibited grace toward one another. There is no record of unkind words being exchanged, no effort to defame their character and no attempt to lead a coup against them. The Bible indicates that they “agreed to disagree agreeably.”

Since disagreements are inevitable, there are several things to remember when caught in the middle of one: 1) Leave room for opposing viewpoints; 2) Don’t assassinate a person’s character; and 3) If you don’t get your way – get over it! We would never allow a child to attack his siblings because he didn’t get his way, neither can we allow “brothers and sisters” in Christ to tear apart the family of God. A mark of true spiritual maturity is the ability to “agree to disagree agreeably!

The Windows of Heaven are Open

You may be tired of hearing the same things over and over, but I can't stop sharing what God is doing. We had another 5 people saved and 3 baptized over the course of the past week. People are also beginning to share additional stories of opportunities they have been given to share at work and people who are stopping them in restaurants to ask what is going on at Emmanuel Baptist Church. When people are focused and excited about God, it is contagious!

There is a renewed spirit of excitement in our youth ministry, music ministry, school, LIFE Groups, and almost every facet of Emmanuel Baptist Church. I say almost, because we all know that the Pharisees missed Jesus in their presence and there are some who are sadly missing out of the revival that is going on all around them. Our prayer continues to be that God will use us to lead people into a passionate pursuit of Him.

Understanding Church Membership

I remember sitting at a pastors’ breakfast a couple of years ago, when an interim pastor told me that the church he had been serving was calling a new pastor. He asked me to pray for that new pastor and went on to say that he had a big job stepping into a church of 1,200 members. I knew the church he was speaking of and I was taken back by his comment. The interim pastor must have seen it in my eyes; because his next statement was, “Truth be known, even the CIA couldn’t find 200 of those members.” I personally thought, “Truth be known, the CIA couldn’t find 1,000 of them.”

Since that breakfast dialogue, I’ve been intrigued by listening to pastors talk about this thing we call “church membership.” I go to pastors’ meetings and hear pastors bragging about the size of their church membership. The numbers sound impressive, but the actual Sunday attendance is one-third or less. Associations, conventions, and denominational boards use this same manipulation of “membership” numbers for positioning against other denominations or even as leverage to persuade politicians.

Conversations among church-goers regarding membership also intrigue me. Some people don’t want to “join” any church, others join without even knowing what a church believes, and others desire to leave their membership at one church while attending another. Wouldn’t that be similar to maintaining a marriage certificate with one wife, while moving in with another woman? I guess the answer is left to be determined by one’s personal interpretation or definition of church membership.

Speaking for Baptist churches, most require those desiring to teach, work with children, or hold any positions of leadership to become members for the sake of maintaining accountability. The requirements for membership in a Baptist church are simply salvation and baptism. The practice comes from Acts 2:41 as it describes they that gladly (a) received his word, were (b) baptized: and the same day they were (c) added to the church. Denominations differ regarding the requirements for church membership and some require membership candidates to complete indoctrination classes before they can be accepted into the church. While the requirements differ, the basic concept of membership is the same.

As we know, many churches mindlessly practice the traditions they have acquired through the centuries. In an effort to be “biblical, not traditional,” we must examine what the Bible says regarding church membership. As we study the Bible, we find that those who were saved were immediately part of Christ’s body - the Church. While there is much theological debate over whether or not baptism was a requirement for Church membership; it is certain that those who were completely and fully denouncing their pagan lifestyle chose to identify publicly with Christ through the act of baptism after salvation.

So, did the church at Corinth, Ephesus, or Sardis practice local church membership? In Bible times, all of the believers in a city were part of that local church. They assembled and worshiped together. They didn’t fight, split, or consider themselves competitors as many churches do today. They saw themselves as members of Christ’s body. Through the years, the Church has adopted many practices from the business world, including the concept of membership. Pastors want commitment and members want to know who’s on their team, who is going to help pay the bills, who is going to help do ministry, and who should have voting rights.

I would have a hard time proving that local church membership, as it is practiced today, is completely biblical; but I do think it is important for the reasons stated above. While I believe that every person who comes to Christ the Savior for forgiveness of sin is part of Christ’s body, I also believe every Christ-follower should be part of a local congregation. Let me close by encouraging all believers to be part of a local church family, to serve in and through that local church family, and to remain committed to that local church family. We all need a place to belong, until Christ calls us home!

A Mighty Rushing Wind

I can't tell you that we are experiencing anything like the moving of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, but I can tell you that we are at least feeling the effects of His wind! Today the Spirit continued moving in our services. For the past two months, people have been making decisions in our services, in our offices, in their homes, at school, and more. This week, 4 more people were saved. PRAISE THE LORD!

Our church family is getting right with God and He is moving in ways that we could never have imagined. Our key verse for revival has been 2 Chron 7:14, "If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land." It's true... IF those who call themselves Christians will repent and begin living holy lives, God can do miraculous things through them.

The problem as I see it is that too many "Christians" are not true Christ-followers, which means that many churches are nothing more than social organizations. When people say the church is full of hypocrites... they're right! I've been preaching on the tough topics of pride, humility, honesty, holiness, forgiveness, and other lost topics in today's churches. It has resulted in our church family getting right and now the whole community is being impacted by the stories of revival that are being shared across our small town. Please pray that God will keep working, until every person in our church family is in a right relationship with Him.

MORE Saved at ECS Retreat

We just completed our 2008 ECS Spiritual Emphasis Retreat with our high school students. We tried a new format this year and kept the students occupied on our 260 acre campus. They had a variety of activities across our campus, slept on campus, played games at (and in) our pond, swam at the local country club, etc. Each morning and evening, we hosted a chapel service! The services involved our Chapel Band and speakers from within our faculty. It may be one of the best spiritual emphasis retreats that I've ever been part of. Attending a Christian school myself, I know how easy it is to play the game of hypocrisy. I am committed to helping our students realize that spirituality is not a game and we are committed to having a Christian school -- not a "private" school. I feel that if all we do is offer a great academic product... we've failed.

With that being said, we are really trying to help our students see Christ as never before. I spent a couple of sessions really challenging them to recognize hypocrisy and decide to live lives of authenticity. Our Youth Pastor dovetailed with those messages and preached a strong message on "real" salvation. During the course of the weekend, 6 of our high school studnets made decisions for salvation and many others rededicated their lives to Christ. Others still need to be saved, so please join us in praying that they will.