Intersected

From Derek R. Keefe’s interview with Andy Crouch Cultivating Where We’re Planted

What does culture making look like in our churches?

I hope churches would dare to celebrate the cultivating and creating of their members that isn’t under the church’s banner, but is nevertheless deeply Christian participation in the culture around them. Church leaders are measured by their ability to motivate people to volunteer and contribute at their church. We’ve done a better job of celebrating people who teach really well in Sunday school than people who teach really well in the public school.

In their book Church on Sunday, Work on Monday, Laura Nash and Scotty McLennan tell the story of the woman who litigated the cleanup of the terribly polluted Boston Harbor for the Environmental Protection Agency—one of the major environmental breakthroughs of the 21st century. She was a member of an evangelical church, and the only time she was ever recognized from the front of this church was the year she taught second-grade Sunday school. Obviously we should celebrate our Sunday school teachers, but when one of our members acting out of vocation leads in such a tremendous restoration of God’s creation, why wouldn’t we celebrate that, too?

I’m conflicted on this. Should we celebrate people doing a good job at their job during a church service?

From Ed Stetzers’s Writing on the Wall: The Future of the Church and its Mission

Many evangelicalshave lost confidence in the gospel. Since society has marginalized the church, it seems people are saying: “Maybe this gospel is not all we thought it would be.” Since the church cannot be trusted, they think, maybe the gospel cannot be trusted either.

Our loss of confidence in the gospel is evidenced by the fact believers are sharing their faith less and less. The seeker movement has unintentionally disempowered evangelism by training people to bring their friends to church services so professionals can take over and seal the deal.

…..

One cannot read Scripture and miss the fact it focuses on a bloody cross and an empty tomb. The gospel is about a Savior who died on a cross in our place. These are facts — not just interesting things to think or talk about — and they are usually unpalatable to our neighbors. If we do not have confidence in them, then we do not have true faith, and we reduce the gospel to a 12-step program for inner peace.

Luke 24:47 says, “Repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations.” When believers lose confidence in the gospel, Christ’s evangelistic mandate withers away. But those who are confident in the gospel become living epistles, God’s love letters to individuals and communities, and messages that carry the gospel’s prophetic edge.

If we fail to regain confidence in the gospel, subsequent generations will continue to walk away from it. Staying culturally relevant is important, and it is beneficial to minister in fresh, new ways. After all, we must remove any roadblocks that keep people from getting to Jesus. But, in the end, if strategies and systems replace the core of the gospel, its meaning and power will be lost.

From John Piper’s How does Pastor John handle spiritual training in the home?

1. We encouraged our children from the very beginning to be alone with the Lord in the morning.
2. We were at the table together every morning, and I led devotions at breakfast with the children.
3. Then in the evening we had family devotions, which was a little longer. We read a longer portion of Scripture, and all the children–if they were able–would pray, not just me.
4. And then when we put them to bed, we tucked them in, blessed them with

The Lord bless you and keep you.
The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you.
The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace,
and joy, and hope, and love, and a good night’s rest,