Tag Archives: change

BSA Continues Down The Road

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The headline of the article says it all, “Boy Scouts president calls for end of ban on gay adults. . .” It is a journey that began, for many, long ago. A journey that was presented to the eyes of the rest of the world in 2013 when a vote was taken at the BSA National Conference to allow boys, under 18, who identify at gay to be members. It was a first major step down the road. Last week, BSA President, Robert Gates, spoke to those assembled at the 2015 BSA National Conference. In his address he proposed that the time is at hand to take the next step down the road.

I would be lying if I said I did not see this coming. In fact when the vote was taken in 2013 I gave it five years, at most, until the ban on gay leaders  was lifted. Now I am not saying that I had some great insight, I am sure there were many others who made similar predictions. My point is that the first step taken down that road two years ago should have been obvious and here we are about to take another step down this road. But in the end, I am afraid that it is not the road to the glorious destination it is trumpeted to be.  It is rather, a road that leads away from the foundations upon which scouting was built, and the values I hold as a bible believing Christian.

Now I could go down the road that argument leads to and find myself going back and forth with those who disagree with my position, those who feel this decision is the greatest things to ever come out of scouting. But experience has taught me that such arguments accomplish very little. If people do not come from a common starting place, then the ends seldom converge. Instead, I choose to state my position by addressing three quotes from Dr. Gates speech.

The first quote has to do with how we respond to the society in which we live. Dr. Gates says that as a result of “the social, political and judicial changes taking place in our country . . . the status quo in our movement’s membership standards cannot be sustained.” In other words, our society has changed so much that we are out of step with it and need to change if we want to continue to exist. Now this is a response to challenges, but is it a good response.  What this is telling me is that if things get hard, then you just give in.  Is this really the lesson we want to teach out children? That when things get tough you just give up. If this is really a justification for suggesting the change I find it cowardly and shameful.  For an organization that holds honor at such a high level, what honor is there is just giving up? What strength is found in going with the crowd? What virtue is found in trading in long held values?

True honor would be found in standing strong in the beliefs held from the beginning, beliefs that have guided the BSA for over 100 years.  I find far greater respect for those who will stand firm for their beliefs and values in the face of ridicule and hardship, even if it means the eventual demise of the organization, than I do in those who change their foundational beliefs simply to survive.

I’m going to be honest, there comes a time when all social movements (when it boils down to it the BSA is a social movement, that is to say it is intended to build up society) reach a point when they must decide, are they going to be true to their foundations even if everything says it will lead to its demise or compromise simply to survive. It is the far more noble action to stand for your values in the face of opposition than to surrender your beliefs to appease others.

The second quote concerns the position BSA policy puts boys into relating to their church. Dr. Gates says, “As a movement, we find ourselves with a policy more than a few of our church sponsors reject, thus placing Scouting between a boy and his church.” This argument is fallacious in that the exact same argument can be given from the other perspective. By changing the policy to allow for homosexual involvement we embrace a policy that more than a few of our church sponsors reject, thus placing Scouting between a boy and his church.  Based on the poor logic of this statement, I will forego any further discussion of it.

It is the third statement that concerns me most, as a Bible believing, evangelical Christian.  Dr. Gates states, “Our oath calls upon us to do our duty to God and our country. The country is changing. . .” Yes, he is correct. You would have to blind to not realize this fact.  But change is not always a good things or for the better. Worse yet, change simply for the sake of change can often be worse than maintaining the status quo. But this is a different discussion.

There is something for more significant about this statement that struck me the moment I heard it. “Our oath calls upon us to do our duty to God and our country. The country is changing. . .” I had no more that heard this quote when without thinking, I finished it by saying “but God doesn’t.” God does not change. Any person who calls themselves a Christian must accept this fact, God does not change. Why not? Because a god who changes is not a god in whom faith can be placed. If you do not know that tomorrow God will be the same as he is today, then how can you trust that his salvation will last.

But I can remain confident that God does not change.  In Malachi 3:6  God declares, “I the LORD do not change.” James 1:17 tells us that He is “the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” Psalm 33:11 tells us, “But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.” And Hebrews 13:8 tells us “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” No, God does not change! 

Because He does not change, I can place my faith in Him. This is why Psalm 18:2 declares, “The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.” Because He does not change, I can be confident in His word. A word that tells me that a homosexual life style is contrary to God’s teaching.

God’s teachings are repeated over and over through the Bible. In Leviticus 18:22 God told the nation of Israel, “Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable.” In I Corinthians 6:9 – 10 homosexuality is grouped with  other sins like, “idolaters, adulterers, thieves, greedy, drunkards, slanderers and swindlers.” And Romans 1:26 – 27 clearly presents it as unnatural.  Now again, we can get caught up in the discussion of how these are to be understood, but I believe the Bible to be the inspired word of God and that God’s Word is true. In light of this, I can stand strong in the values presented in the long held BSA policy with confidence because, God does not change.

This same God, whom many of us have followed in the BSA for over 100 years, does not change. Therefore, to change our position based on an ever fluctuating societal view versus the position of an unchanging God, is at best foolishness and at worst, a direct a affront to the righteousness of God Himself.

Please understand the point I am trying to communicate. My opposition is not out of hatred, for this same God has taught me the need to “Love your neighbor as yourself”. (Mark 12:31) It is not out of fear that our children will be “preyed” upon, such thinking is unfounded and ludicrous. It is out of my commitment to the first point of the scout law, duty to God.

As I consider the implications of this address, I am left to wonder the true motive behind Dr. Gates’ remarks. If it is out of compassion for those who feel excluded, I share his heart, but must remain faithful to my duty to God. If it is out of fear of loosing membership from being out of step with society, I understand, but must remain faithful to my duty to God. If it is for any other reason, I must still remain faithful to my duty to God.

And so, as the BSA continues its journey, step by step, down the road they have chosen, I see it as only a matter of time until their path and the path of many more will go their separate ways.

 

 

What’s in a Name? – Branding The Church

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“Welcome to GraceLife.  We are so glad to have you here.”

Word’s like this are heard more and more often all across this country.  Why?  Because many Churches have jumped on the change your name band wagon.  They argue that by giving ourselves a new name we can better explain who we really are.  Really? So “Church” no longer does the job of explaining who we really are?

Churches have chosen to drop the word “evangelical”, “fundamental”, “gospel” and” Bible” from their name because it is “confusing”, “people really didn’t know what it means” or “it leaves a bad tastes in people’s mouths.”

So they change their name to something like, “GraceLife,” “LifeJourney,” “Crossway”, “CrossPoint,” etc. Now you may ask “Well, what is wrong with that?”  My answer is that, in and of itself, it is not wrong. The problem lies not in the new name, but the justification behind it.

Let’s take a look at these reasonings. First, what exactly does” GracePoint” mean anyway? This is clearer than “Gospel”? It seems to me you have to do as much explaining to non-churched people (and probably those raised in the church) of what “GraceLife” means as what “Evangelical” means.

Second, most of these churches have dropped using the word church in their name.  Now for some it may still be in their official legal name, but in their regular everyday usage they simply refer to themselves as “GraceLife”. Apparently the word church turns people off.  Really? So here is what I take from this.  We have allowed society to coop words like “church”, “evangelical”, “fundamental” and “gospel” so that we are afraid to use them. As a result, we choose the easy route and simply avoid them rather learn to defend their true meaning. So some have chosen to change their name rather than educate people.

But as problematic as I see this rationale, there is a more disconcerting reasoning behind the trend.

Marketing

“We need to get people’s attention.”, “How can we get people to remember us?” So churches come up with a new name (and maybe a cool logo) so people recognize it immediately. After all marketing research has shown that catchy names and slogans are easier for people to remember. They call this “branding,” not unlike the symbol burned into the hide of a young calf by a rancher.

Now before you think that I am bashing marketing, I am not. Marketing is a great tool, but it is just a tool. A tool that has clearly worked in the world around us. When you see a Pepsi logo you know immediately what it is. But as a church are we supposed to be looking at corporate America as our example? Marketing should not be the guiding force of the church. That is to say, marketing research should not be a reason to justify a change, though it can help us find the best way to communicate the message of the gospel.
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Catchy Names, Slogans and Logos

So marketing research has shown us that catchy names and slogans stick with people. I can quickly prove this true by throwing out several slogans to you and you will know exactly what it is. First, “Have it your way”, Second, “just do it” and third “your in good hands.” If you guessed that respectively these are Burger King, Nike, and Allstate you would be right. So catching slogans help us remember the company to which they are attached.

The same is true when it comes to logos. If I showed you a picture of “Golden Arches”, a “Red Target” and a “swoosh” odds are you would know what companies they represent. The first is McDonald’s, second is Target and third is Nike. Yes marketing has a job to do and when branding is successful, the logos becomes indelibly written on people’s minds.

Stepping beyond the slogans and logos we now come to the names. Marketing tells us that names should not be bulky. They should communicate what is important about your “company” in as few syllables as possible. So we look for quick easy names. As a result, rather than ” Walton’s Departments Store” we have “Wal-Mart”, rather than Boston Mass Transit Sandwich Shop” we have “Subway” and rather than “Sound of Music” we have “Best Buy”.

In each of these cases, branding served the companies well, but how does this transfer to the local church? When does branding cross the line from being a tool used by the church to being a guiding force of the church’s direction?

We Are Not Trying To Please People But God

It seems to me that the answer is not as complicated as people would have you think. Twice in scripture Paul poses the answer.  In Galatians 1:10 he presents the question we must all ask ourselves. “Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.”

In 1 Thessalonians 2:4 presents it not as a question, but as a statement of truth. “On the contrary, we speak as those approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please people but God, who tests our hearts.”

Now I present these not as a condemnation of marketing in the church, but as a challenge to those who elevated marketing to the level higher than it should be. What is the deciding factor in your decision-making, pleasing God or pleasing man.  After all, that is the very essence of what marketing is. It is an attempt to find those things that will tickle peoples ears.  Those things that will get people excited and talking about the product. It is to find those things that please man. And while this does not automatically place it in opposition to God, it must make us stop and think.  Have we so taken from the world around us, that we see its systems on the same level as the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Thinking of Christ

So as I hope I have communicated, I am not simply throwing marketing techniques out the window, but I am questioning their emphasis.  Is a catching name, slogan or logo where we need to be putting our emphasis.  If not, then what should be the emphasis of the church? As I ask this question I shake my head thinking, “Is this a question that should really need asking?” The emphasis of the church should be nothing less that Christ Himself.  This is why we come together.  We come together to worship Him.  We come together to entreat His help and guidance.  We come together to hear His word.  We come together to build His body. This is the church, believers in Christ who join together to build up one another and Glorify God.

For 2,000 years the church has had a “logo” that is automatically recognized the world over.  The Cross.  It symbolizes the sacrifice that Christ made, that He gave His life as an atonement for the sins of the world.  Travel the world over, and you will find the Cross.  In homes, on mountainsides and at the pinnacle of Churches.  Yet today, how many church building are built without a Cross visible to the sorounding community.  Instead, we send out our flyers in the mail with our churches new exciting logo.  A logo that too often fails to promote Christ’s Church, but rather simply our local congregation. Yes, perhaps the logo has a cross within it, but not at the forefront as it has always stood.

What of names? For years names of churches helped people to find them and to know what they believed.  The word church simply means “of the Lord”, that is to say a group of people committed to the Lord.  And while church has been taken into use by other religious groups, the almost universal understanding of the word is an assembly of Christian believers.  Beyond this, churches often gave a geographical part to their name, not to say that those are the only people they reached to, but to know its location.  And, until recently, almost all churches identified their beliefs system through terms such as “Evangelical”, “Baptist” and “Methodist.” In many of these cases, these were denominational identifiers to unite them with others of like thinking.

When I hear a name like “GraceLife” there is nothing that tells me we are speaking of a church.  There is nothing to tell me where they are found. There is nothing to help me understand their beliefs. And if I come from a particular denomination, there is nothing that lets me know this is a like minded body.

Final Thoughts

Lest you think I am judging all churches that changed their names as wrong, I am not.  I simply want us to stop and think seriously about why it is we choose to change names. What is it that is guiding our change?  Is the change glorifying to God or is it pandering to man? Is the name change really the image change we want to present or is our concern changing the image people have of us as a body?

So go ahead and change your name if it is for a valid reason.  Create your logos and slogans, but remember that the only change that really matters is the change that comes from within.  A change in the hearts of your people.  It is this change that will stick with those who look at your church, not names, slogans and logos you present.

 

I Surrender All

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All to Jesus, I surrender;
All to Him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust Him,
In His presence daily live.
I surrender all, I surrender all,
All to Thee, my blessed Savior,
I surrender all.

All to Jesus I surrender;
Humbly at His feet I bow,
Worldly pleasures all forsaken;
Take me, Jesus, take me now.
I surrender all, I surrender all,
All to Thee, my blessed Savior,
I surrender all.

All to Jesus, I surrender;
Make me, Savior, wholly Thine;
Let me feel the Holy Spirit,
Truly know that Thou art mine.
I surrender all, I surrender all,
All to Thee, my blessed Savior,
I surrender all.

All to Jesus, I surrender;
Lord, I give myself to Thee;
Fill me with Thy love and power;
Let Thy blessing fall on me.
I surrender all, I surrender all,
All to Thee, my blessed Savior,
I surrender all.

All to Jesus I surrender;
Now I feel the sacred flame.
O the joy of full salvation!
Glory, glory, to His Name!
I surrender all, I surrender all,
All to Thee, my blessed Savior,
I surrender all.

Words by Judson W. Van DeVenter, 1896
Music by Winfield S. Weeden, 1896

 

Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”
“Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.”
“Which ones?” he inquired.
Jesus replied, “‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’”
“All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?”
Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?”
Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
Peter answered him, “We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?”
Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.
Matthew 19:16 – 30

Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.”
Luke 9:23

I can do all this through him who gives me strength.
Philippians 4:13

 

One of the fascinating traditions of New Year’s is that of resolutions. Those ideas we have, promises we make to be someone different, to do new and exciting things. The fact is that most of us who have made resolutions typically give up within a few weeks. Not surprising. They typically include ending established habits. But it is not easy to give up things that you have held dearly, even if it is to become a better person. But many times, that is what it takes. So we continue to try. It is this need to give up things held dear and change that permeates the theme of Judson W. Van DeVenter’s hymn, “I Surrender All.”

The hymn begins, “All to Jesus, I surrender; All to Him I freely give. I will ever love and trust Him, In His presence daily live.” For those of us who have chosen to follow God, there is no greater commitment we can make, yet it is not always as easy as it may seem.

“All to Him I freely give.” These are words that we can so easily say, but not so easily live out. This is why Jesus said of the rich young ruler in Matthew 19:23 – 24, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

Like I said, the words are easy to say, but the reality is that living them out is not. Think about it, Jesus told this man that if he wanted to attain eternal life he had to “go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” (Matthew 19:21) Go sell your possessions. Could you do this? Could any of us? The answer is, that I am sure that some people could do it, but stop and look at the reality of what Jesus was telling him. It was not to simply sell his belongings, it was to give up what was dearest to his heart. This is what the hymn is speaking of when it says, “All to Jesus, I surrender; All to Him I freely give.”

The hymn continues, “I will ever love and trust Him, In His presence daily live.” You see, to make such a decision, to make such a commitment is not a one time thing. It is something that we must do again and again, each and every day. I wrote about this several years ago in a blog entitled “New Year’s Resolutions.” In it I wrote;

“You see, a resolution is not a one time thing. It is an ongoing commitment. In a world were we want, and to often get, things instantly, we need to slow down and accept that things take time. That changes will not just happen, but rather that we will need to work for them.”

The commitment that we put into following is a daily thing. This is why Jesus says in Luke 9:23, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.”

Yes, it is daily, but by God’s grace we do not face it alone. The hymn continues, “Make me, Savior, wholly Thine.” If we wish to change who we are and if we wish to surrender to Christ, then we can find the strength to do so in Him. In the same blog I referenced earlier, I also wrote;

“But remember this, we do not need to do this alone. We find accountability and support in friends and family. And for those of us who know Jesus as our personal Savior, we find our strength in him alone.”

The strength to make the change, the strength to surrender, is found in Christ alone. For, we “can do all this through him who gives (us) strength.” (Philippians 4:13)

Yes, we have been called by Christ to surrender all. We have been called to give up those things we hold most dear, that stand between us and following Christ. And Christ is there to strengthen us to surrender, if we will only turn to Him and trust Him. When we take these steps and begin to know what it truly means to surrender, then we can genuinely sing from our hearts,“All to Thee, my blessed Savior, I surrender all.”

 

 

Read more about “I Surrender All.“

New Year’s Resolutions

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I have been pondering the idea of New Years resolutions. They have a long history going back to the early Roman Empire and continuing though today as detailed in the article “Resolutions Worth Keeping” by Chris Armstrong, found in Christian History magazine.

Now if we are all honest, at some point in our lives we have probably taken part in making New Year’s resolutions. These resolutions often include such things as loosing weight, exercising more, eating healthier, spending time with family and friends and being nicer to people.

There is, of course, nothing wrong with these resolutions. But how do our resolutions usually work out. If we chooses to loose weight, odds are we binge on food through December 31 under the idea that we will suddenly change on January 1. And what happens after January 1. We may do well for a day, for a week or even a little longer, but then comes that day when it slips our mind and without thinking we eat that thing we shouldn’t have. We then see ourselves as having failed. Often we say, well, since I have already eaten this, I will just take the rest of the day off and start up again tomorrow. We continue this way for a while, slipping here or there and restarting each time until we finally say, “what’s the point?” “I keep stumbling.” So we end out pitching the whole resolution.

So what is the problem. First we treat January 1 as though it has some kind of magical powers. We think we can do whatever up until midnight and then we will magically gain the ability to resist what we have been indulging in. This is like deciding that we are going run a marathon without having prepared and trained for it. It is not just the date or even our decision that will make the difference, but we must also change our habits and this is something that is not done over night. It takes time. We can not realistically think that we are going to change overnight, even if it is a “New Year.”

Second, we to quickly see a stumble as a failure and give up. But stumbling is not a failure, it is a chance to grow. It is from these experiences that we better learn to deal with temptations and bad habits. How do we grow, by correcting the error immediately. When we say, well I will continue this for the rest of the day and start again tomorrow, we are actually rewarding our stumbling, making it easier and easier each time we stumble to just let it slide. Soon it even becomes easy to justify a conscience decision to violate our resolution. We need to realize that stumbling only becomes failure when we do not pick ourselves back up and continue on.

It is the same way with the sin in our lives. We live a life indulging in our personal sins (over eating, drunkenness, pornography, sexual sins, etc.) and then think we can just put these things behind us the day we make a commitment to God that we are going to change. (Yes, I have heard the stories of the life changing conversions. The heroin addict who came to faith and the addiction was miraculously cured. I also believe that while this can happen, it is the exception and not the rule.) We need to accept that change is going to be a process and that it may take a long time. There is no magic pill that will make it all go away overnight. There will be times that we stumble, but what do we do with those stumblings? Do we make excuses? Do we use it as an opportunity to indulge? Or do we correct the behavior immediately? Do we pick ourselves up and move on?

You see, a resolution is not a one time thing. It is an ongoing commitment. In a world were we want, and to often get, things instantly, we need to slow down and accept that things take time. That changes will not just happen, but rather that we will need to work for them.

But remember this, we do not need to do this alone. We find accountability and support in friends and family. And for those of us who know Jesus as our personal Savior, we find our strength in him alone.

So as you take time to make your resolutions, think about those things that really matter. Think about those things that will not only improve your life, but improve your relationship with God as well as others. And realize that you are setting out on a journey that may well last the rest of your life.

“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God”
I Corinthians 10:31