A Little "Chapped"

Sometimes when I write this page I’m feeling all spiritual and full of encouraging words, but that’s not the case today. Have you ever had one of those months when you felt like everything you tried to do ended up a pile of dirt (that’s the nice way of saying it) and somebody was standing by the pile throwing dirt clods at you? Well that’s the kind of month I’ve had over the past two weeks. I know. I know. There are more than two weeks in one month, but it sure feels like it’s been at least a month. I am sure I’m not the only one who has tough times, but today I’m going to get a few things off my chest. I’ve tried to make this blog ‘real’ in the past, and tell you exactly what I’ve been feeling. Today is no exception. Shortly after I came to Mountain View we made the decision that our family of faith was going to be a body of believers who were purpose driven. In other words, we were going to be involved in doing ministry that was centered on the biblical mandates of the great commission and the great commandment. Those two basics would be the foundation and purpose for our ministry and mission as a church. So, with that in mind, we adopted a mission statement which said, “Mountain View Exists for the Purpose of Exalting Christ and Sharing His Love”. In pursuing that purpose, we adopted the core principles of: worship, discipleship, fellowship, evangelism, ministry and prayer. You would think these fundamental tenants of Christianity would be above reproach. They’re all definitely biblical and they help keep us focused as we seek to become fully functioning disciples in Christ’s family of faith. As we began this journey, we found that many of the traditional aspects of our religious practice started to change to more relevant practices that people in our modern culture could relate to. In no way was the message of God’s word ‘watered down’, but the method of presentation was improved and modernized. We put up multimedia projectors, screens, and started using a lot more technology and lights. Why? Primarily because people were getting saved who had the gifts and talents to do those kinds of things and they wanted to exercise their abilities as a form of worship to God. Others were saved that had musical abilities and played instruments that didn’t fit the traditional mold of “church music” – whatever that is. So it’s only natural that they would want to join in offering up praise and worship to God thru the talents with which He had blessed them. But if you believe some folks around us, we shouldn’t allow them to play any instrument other than the sacred organ and piano in church. In fact, there is a group of people who have spent thousands of dollars printing and distributing flyers that define a purpose driven church as a heretical church, teaching an apostate doctrine. One of evidences of this heretical church, according to them, is that it exchanges its blessed hymnals for projectors & screens, and swaps the organ and piano for ‘heavy metal’ instruments! I guess that makes guitar playing in church a grievous sin against God! Can you believe that? Listen, I’ve heard some organ and piano playing in church that screamed to be drowned out by a ‘heavy metal’ Stratocaster! All of heaven would probably stand up and applaud in appreciation for the relief! And I can hear the naysayers now, “You can dress up an adulterer and bring him to church but he’s still an adulterer…” Wait a minute. Since when does playing a Stratocaster equal adultery? Besides, I don’t think the traditional blessed organ and sacred piano are specified anywhere in the Bible as a mandate or spiritual requirement. I don’t remember reading any passage that says the disciples got together with Jesus on the Mount of Olives and sang number 119 in the Blue Hymnal while Peter played the blessed organ & John tickled the ivories on the piano! But some folks seem to think that way… This past week I became aware that several of these flyers have been passed around town that suggest that any church that calls itself “purpose driven” is practicing heresy! And the pastor of such a church must be a heretic himself! Excuse me… can anyone show me how being purpose driven is against biblical principles? In fact, the opposite is true. Our purposes are revealed by inspiration of the Holy Spirit thru the words of Scripture. Therefore, our purposes are straight out of the Bible, Spirit inspired and Spirit led. And they lead us to discover the purpose for which we were created – to glorify God! The flyers that attack the idea of being “purpose driven” say that the church has swapped their theological basis for a corporate model of secular leadership… Sorry, but I haven’t got a clue where that came from. I guess the reason this group is so upset could be the fact that purpose driven churches are growing while the dry, cold, religious churches are dead and dying. They attack the purpose driven model because is it set up around principles that cause it to grow, "like a shopping mall"! Duh! Is that supposed to be bad? I thought church growth was a good thing! Shouldn’t we get excited when people come to faith in Christ and are rescued from eternal separation from God? I just wonder how many people these folks have been instrumental in leading to the Lord lately? This kind of thing really burns me up sometimes. I get a little chapped when I hear so-called believers wasting their time and their breath tearing down other Christians when they could be reaching the lost with the love and grace of Jesus Christ. In fact, they ought to be ashamed of themselves! We’ve got far too much more important stuff to be concerned with than this trivial nonsense! And inevitably when this kind of garbage comes up, it comes up like a backed up sewer. It’s a surprise. The stench rises up from the basement... never thru the front door to meet you face to face. Some of the folks who have been spreading this stuff around are former members of Mountain View. God bless them, but I’m not going to be out tracking them down and trying to bring them back. I’ll just pray for them and love them from a distance. Besides, there are too many of you in this faith family with hearts sold out to Jesus, for me to worry about a few naysayers. I probably take attacks like this too personally, but I see them as attacks on you too. They’re really attacks against all of us. But as the Bible says, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” And when the enemy starts pushing in on every side, we have great cause to rejoice! Satan is not going to waste his time attacking impotent believers! He’s going to go after those who are making a difference… and Church, you are making a difference! So let us continue on, fighting the fight of faith as we claim the victory that is already ours in Christ Jesus. Let us not turn to the left or to the right but remain focused on the call of Christ upon this family of faith as we each pursue the purpose for which we were created – “to glorify God and delight in Him forever.”
PS - Just for the record, I like organs... especially when they're humming like a Hammond B3 in a good blues band... You like that too don't you Scruffy?

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