Tozer

How Many Lead Singers Does It Take to Change a Light Bulb?

Manuel Luz — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 11:46:34 -0800

How many lead singers does it take to change a light bulb?

One. The lead singer holds the bulb, and the world revolves around him.

Recently, I was talking to someone new to the Christian faith. Which is also to say that he is new to the evangelical Christian subculture. He knew that I was a worship and arts pastor, and so our conversation eventually drifted to the weekend services at his church. In the conversation, he said something that jolted me momentarily. He referred to the person leading worship at his church as the “lead singer for the band.”

At first I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. After all, he was a new Christ follower, and without a Christian background to give you a frame of reference, the obvious equivalent phrase to “worship leader” is “lead singer.”

But that got me thinking. What was his experience of his church service? Was he experiencing worship? That is, was he being led to an encounter with the Living Triune God, and responding to that encounter in a transcendent way? And if so, what was the role of the “worship leader” in the actual “leading” of worship?

My friend was experiencing some really good music in his services. And the truth of the matter is, music and all the arts are transcendent by nature. The arts take us someplace, spiritually as well as emotionally. Art is, as Jeremy Begbie asserts, “capable of affording genuine knowledge of reality beyond the confines of human self-consciousness.” Just go to a rock concert and watch. People are being ushered somewhere. The question is, to where are they being moved?

In my experience, I’ve been a lead singer for a number of bands. I know what the role entails, and what is expected of it. And I don't see anything wrong with being one. But I shudder to think that some people might experience me as a “lead singer” when my role and calling and obligation in church is to be a “worship leader,” to serve my congregation and lead them to encounter and glorify God.

A. W. Tozer tells a story that goes like this: Jesus fulfilled scripture when he rode a young donkey into Jerusalem (John 12:12-16). The great crowds came to meet him, taking palm branches and spreading them out before him, praising his name, shouting “Hosanna! Hosanna!” The donkey, looking around at the crowd, then thought to himself, “Wow! I must really be great!”

In the grand scheme of things, I have to remember that as a worship leader, I’m just the donkey. And there’s a big difference between a donkey and a jackass.

More about this in my next blog. Please feel free to comment.

The Church Cannot Die: Poetic Figures, Misunderstanding, and Reality

Nick Bogardus — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 12:43:34 -0700

This is taken from A.W. Tozer's book Man - The Dwelling Place of God.

Poetic Figures vs. Reality

The language of devotion has helped to create the impression that the church is supposed to be a band of warriors driving the enemy before them in plain sight and with plenty of color and drama to give a pleasing flourish to the whole thing. In our hymns and pulpit oratory we have commonly pictured the church as marching along to the sound of martial music and the plaudits of the multitude.

Of course this is but a poetic figure. The individual Christian may be likened to a soldier, but the picture of the church on earth as a conquering army is not realistic. Her true situation is more accurately portrayed as a flock of sheep in the midst of wolves, or as a company of despised pilgrims plodding toward home, or as a peculiar nation protected by the Passover blood waiting for the sound of the trumpet, or as a bride looking for the coming of her bridegroom.

Misunderstanding The Church's Role: Wincing & Sanctioning

The world is constantly lashing the church because she has no solution for the problems of society, and the religious leaders who do not know the score wince under the lash. Every once in a while some churchman in an acute attack of conscience does penance in public for Christianity's failure to furnish bold leadership for the world in this time of crisis. "We have sinned," cries the frustrated prophet. "The world looked to us for help and we have failed it."

Well, I am all for repentance if it is genuine, and I think the church has failed, not by neglecting to provide leadership but by living too much like the world. That, however, is not what the muddled churchman means when he bares his soul in public. Rather, he erroneously assumes that the church of God has been left on earth to minister good hope and cheer to the world in such quantities that it can ignore God, reject Christ, glorify fallen human flesh and pursue its selfish ends in peace. The world wants the church to add a dainty spiritual touch to its carnal schemes, and to be there to help it to its feet and put it to bed when it comes home drunk with fleshly pleasures.

Speaking In It's True Prophetic Voice

In the first place the church has received no such commission from her Lord, and in the second place the world has never shown much disposition to listen to the church when she speaks in her true prophetic voice. The attitude of the world toward the true child of God is precisely the same as that of the citizens of Vanity Fair toward Christian and his companion. "Therefore they took them and beat them, and besmeared them with dirt, and put them into the cage, that they might be made a spectacle to all men." Christian's duty was not to "provide leadership" for Vanity Fair but to keep clean from its pollution and get out of it as fast as possible. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

The Church Cannot Die

We are in real need of a reformation that will lead to revival among the churches, but the church is not dead, neither is it dying. The church cannot die.

A local church can die. This happens when all the old saints in a given place fall asleep and no young saints arise to take their place. Sometimes under these circumstances the congregation ceases to be a church, or there is no congregation left and the doors of the chapel are nailed shut. But such a condition, however deplorable, should not discourage us. The true church is the repository of the life of God among men, and if in one place the frail vessels fail, that life will break out somewhere else. Of this we may be sure.

Worshipers Before Workers

Nick Bogardus — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 19:23:51 -0800

4 But when dthe goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, enot because of works done by us in righteousness, but faccording to his own mercy, by gthe washing of regeneration and hrenewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he ipoured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that jbeing justified by his grace we might become kheirs laccording to the hope of eternal life.

Titus 3:4-7

To teach that the filling with the Holy Spirit is given to the Christian to provide "power for service" is to teach truth, but not the whole truth. Power for service is but one effect of the experience, and I do not hesitate to say that it is the least of several effects. It is least for the very reason that it touches service, presumably service to mankind; and contrary to the popular belief, "to serve this present age" is not the Christian's first duty...

The primary work of the Holy Spirit is to restore the lost soul to intimate fellowship with God through the washing of regeneration...

God wants worshipers before workers; indeed the only acceptable workers are those who have learned the lost art of worship. It is inconcievable that a sovereign and holy God should be so hard up for workers that He would press into service anyone who had been empowered regardless of his moral qualifications...

Gifts and power for service the Spirit surely desires to impart; but holiness and spiritual worship come first.

A.W. Tozer, Tozer on Christian Leadership, February 25th.

What's this helmet for? I thought I only needed sandals.

Nick Bogardus — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 08:37:38 -0800

I've had an image in my head for two weeks. I don't remember exactly how it came about but I can tell you the things that birthed it. Here's a warning in advance for anyone who is trigger-happy either way at a mention of the name of our President: I'm going to mention him first simply because I think the example is indicative of a larger trend, so I promise it will be brief and we'll move on quickly from there.

The New York Times carried an account of a town hall-style meeting that Obama did in Greensboro, NC.

"Speaking at a town hall-style meeting here before a few thousand people, Mr. Obama was asked by a young man about the role that Jesus Christ and his teachings played in Mr. Obama’s life.

He began his response with a broad statement of faith: “I’m a Christian. What that means for me is that I believe Jesus Christ died for my sins, and, uh, and, and, uh, his grace and his mercy and his power, through him, I can achieve everlasting life.”

Invoking the golden rule, he also said he believed in treating all people of all faiths (as well as non-believers) with dignity and respect, and he noted that his mother was “not a believer as I am” – but was also the kindest person he ever knew.

“I’m sure she’s in heaven,” he said.

“I think it’s very important to think that you do not have to have the same faith as me to be a moral person – there are a lot of Jewish people who are as moral, or more moral than I am, there are a lot of Muslims who are decent kind people,” Mr. Obama said. “I don’t think they are any less children of God.”

My next dose of fuel came with a seeing a recent Barna Group Survey that contained these findings.

"Evidence of people’s willingness to part with church teaching was shown in other data from the survey regarding what people believe. Among individuals who describe themselves as Christian, for instance, close to half believe that Satan does not exist, one-third contend that Jesus sinned while He was on earth, two-fifths say they do not have a responsibility to share the Christian faith with others, and one-quarter dismiss the idea that the Bible is accurate in all of the principles it teaches."

And, more alarmingly astonishing, the Barna survey contained these "implications of the research".

"The Christian faith is less of a life perspective that challenges the supremacy of individualism as it is a faith being defined through individualism. Americans are increasingly comfortable picking and choosing what they deem to be helpful and accurate theological views and have become comfortable discarding the rest of the teachings in the Bible. "

"Faith, of whatever variety, is increasingly viral rather than pedagogical. With people spending less time reading the Bible, and becoming less engaged in activities that deepen their biblical literacy, faith views are more often adopted on the basis of dialogue, self-reflection, and observation than teaching. Feelings and emotions now play a significant role in the development of people’s faith views - in many cases, much more significant than information-based exercises such as listening to preaching and participating in Bible study."

Now, those pieces are loaded with things we can talk about and dissect, all of it harrowing news for the Church. I want to keep it simple and point out the combination of relativism and moralism that appears in those reflections of American Christianity. From Obama one second having a somewhat orthodox statement of faith and changing it minutes later to deny the exclusivity of Christ, to survey findings that make plain the average Christian's combination of Biblical illiteracy and emphasis on good deeds and ethics (the result of "Deeds not Creeds"), we need to see something evolving that other, more intelligent, and articulate men have dubbed "Moralistic, Therapeutic Deism". It's like Oprah meets good ol' American can-do spirit.

I would tack onto these examples the emphasis in the American Church over the past two decades or so for politicizing social justice issues - many of those issues being the reason the left-leaning portion of the Church voted Democrat this past election and why much of the right-leaning portion voted Republican before them.

Quickly of course, I need to include the disclaimer that I am in no way saying that treating people with dignity and respect is a bad thing; nor am I saying that being good or ethical are things unimportant to Christians; nor am I saying that it's a bad thing that large portions of the church champion their chosen social justice issues. My concern is when those things are championed at the expense of, or unhitched from, the anchor, foundation, and centrality of Christ and the truth of the Gospel. My concern is what is reflected in that survey.

This is where the image in my head comes in. What I've pictured in my head is an army; one like you would see in Braveheart or Lord of the Rings with rows and columns. Usually when you're given views of a battlefield in those movies you see a certain organization to it all; archers here, catapults there, calvary on the hill. But, what I imagine is a field of banners - row after row in every direction, banners. Though it looks organized - the army has a colorful array of flags - everyone seems to have their own banner or agenda. Worse yet, the troops are naked and unarmed. They are prepared to charge into battle with no organization, no plan, no swords, no shields - nothing but blind zeal (maybe).

My concern is that what is reflected in that survey is that Christians, large portions of the Church, treat Christianity more like a cause to rally behind rather than a vital faith with an eternal source and an eternal consequence. We might be busy and we might be loud, but we are illiterate, insubordinate, and apathetically tolerant. We might be busy, but we aren't training disciples.

A.W. Tozer, with his typical surgical precision, said it well:

"Another substitute for discipleship I would mention (though these do not exhaust the list) is zealous religious activity.

Working for Christ has today been accepted as the ultimate test of godliness among all but a few evangelical Christians. Christ has become a project to be promoted or a cause to be served instead of a Lord to be obeyed. Thousands of mistaken persons seek to do for Christ whatever their fancy suggests should be done, and in whatever way they think best. The what and the how of Christian service can only originate in the sovereign will of our Lord, but the busy beavers among us ignore this fact and think up their own schemes. The result is an army of men who run without being sent and speak without being commanded."

So, what do we do about this? What do we do as a largely illiterate, insubordinate, unprepared group of believers? My humble suggestion would be to constantly be teaching ourselves and training ourselves. I propose beginning with a look at Ephesians 6. That is what I hope to do in some small way with a coming blog series on Ephesians 6:10-20.

Maybe you're like me and you're (mildly) young, anxious, and revved up to save the world; and you're ready to run into the thick of it in cargo shorts and converse. These stats and this passage should, like a loving parent, say, "Slow down, William Wallace." Maybe you're older and tired and think your days of action are behind you. Those stats and this passage should compel you to open your closet, move the boxes, and dust off that helmet that you once knew so well. Or, maybe you have no idea what I'm talking about and I sound like a raving, face-painted madman. "Army? Banners? This dude must have had a BB gun and a wild imagination as a kid. I'm a Christian. I just need my sandals and acoustic guitar, man!" Well, then I hope those stats and this passage stir you to get in the game.

(Please feel free to add comments or questions because I'm doing this for myself as much as anyone else.)