Church vs. Parachurch

Each of the terms in the title is problematically broad, yet both are unavoidable. 

So let's proceed. I'm sure others have done this better than I, but I feel compelled to put in what I've got.

I feel about parachurch organizations the way I do about denominations. The concept makes sense, but the execution usually ends up being problematic. Parachurch organizations, at their best, address specifically targeted needs in ways that span churches and denominations. They might be clearing-houses for defense against cults, or response to scientistic attacks on our faith. They're Bible colleges, seminaries. A kid's at a secular college for some time, and a parachurch organization provides some on-campus fellowship, encouragement, instruction, camaraderie. I completely get that.

But here's the problem. Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her (Eph. 5:25). Not the parachurch. Christ is the Head of the church (Eph. 5:23), not of the parachurch. He gave pastors and teachers for the equipping of saints for the work of service (Eph. 4:11). The church is created for, founded upon, and united in, its allegiance to the person of Christ who exercises His headship through the specific truths of God's Word (Jn. 8:31-32; 17:17, 21, 23; Eph. 4:4-5). The task of enlisting and cultivating students of Christ has been entrusted to it (Matt. 28:18-20). The task of preaching God's Word come what may has been thunderously pressed upon its leadership (2 Tim. 4:1-6). Assuring doctrinal purity, and guarding against (and repelling, and shutting the mouths of) unbelievers is Divinely mandated for that local church leadership (1 Tim. 1:3-11, 18-19; Titus 1:5-16; 2:1, 15; 3:9-11).    Continue at Dan Phillips

How to Stone People Without the Inconvenience of Picking Up Rocks

Shepherding those who struggle with life dominating sin is not unlike swimming out to a drowning victim. There’s always the potential of having your nose broken by the very one you are trying to save. It’s an exhausting sort of love, but sincere. Churches that truly love their members swim out to each other’s lives in light of the risks.

It’s unloving to let a brother drown. Accountability, or church discipline -as we call it – is part of what makes for a loving community. It’s necessary if we are to be biblical churches. Churches that don’t practice accountability as mandated by the Lord aren’t really churches. Confrontation is a part of true love. If I love you I will not let you leave your wife and children without a fight. Right? Some of my biggest fans as a pastor are people who once hated me for interfering in their lives. Some of my dearest friends are those who have stepped in and confronted mine when I most needed it.

But, having noted the importance of church discipline, I do think we most often get it wrong. Mainly at the level of motivation – not to mention the misapplication of method. We can seem more committed to practicing church discipline for the sake of practicing church discipline than loving people. Yet, the aim is love. Based on Jesus’ description it might just as well be called church loving as much as church discipline. Keep Reading >>>

Courageous Christianity?

Last weekend saw the release of Courageous, the fourth film produced by the media ministry of Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Georgia. Opening fourth at the box office with a call to responsible fatherhood, the movie is being trumpeted as the latest culture-transforming hope for some evangelicals. As with Facing the Giants and Fireproof, endorsements are marching out from various churches and para-church organizations across the country.

I’m less concerned with how individual Christians personally choose to interact with the film and more with the troubling trends of American evangelicalism it illustrates. Is Courageous really something to be whole-heartedly embraced? Art being reduced as a vehicle for sermonizing is problematic enough, but even more so is the type of sermon being preached. The emphasis on personal morality and simplistic transformation turn this film into a superficial lecture rather than a robust exploration of life as a Christian father. Our personal piety, our self-improvement, and our “courage” forms the fabric of the story. Christ and his gospel, along with church life and God’s established means of grace, are marginalized.

The story follows a group of four law enforcement officers who seek to become better fathers and live up to God’s calling of leadership in their homes. When tragedy strikes his family, Adam (played by writer/director Alex Kendrick) looks for renewed identity by telling his pastor “I want to know what God expects of me as a father.” Six weeks later he’s typed up a list of resolutions and is on a mission to live up to each and every one of them. “I don’t want to be a good enough father.” His other friends soon join in and they all agree to hold each other accountable. Resolutions are framed and vows are given in a backyard ceremony. They are warned to now be “doubly accountable” and when challenges arise will need “courage, courage, courage.”   Keep Reading>>>

A Tool for Accountability in a Pornified Culture

In this Gospel Coalition discussion, D. A. Carson comments about the use of Covenant Eyes for accountability in the battle against Internet pornography —

 

 

(Watch on YouTube.)

Today, 72% of kids have been exposed to pornography on the Internet. At colleges,

62% of men and 17% of women spend time online every week for sex-related amusement.

Covenant Eyes provides an accountability forum that monitors every website visited and rates the content. This information is compiled into easy-to-read reports which are sent regularly to anyone you choose. This helps friends, spouses, and parents have ongoing conversations about responsible and pure Internet use. Fleeing sexual temptations means we must flee the alluring anonymity of the Internet. We must choose to be accountable.

________

Free Educational Resources from Covenant Eyes:

• Sign up to watch Covenant Eyes’ free seminar online about Internet safety.
• Get two free e-books for parents and pastors.
• Listen to Covenant Eyes' interview with Al Mohler about the danger of digital distractions.
• Get the free e-book, Internet Pornography: A Ministry Leader’s Handbook.

Related Resources by Pastor John:

• How does unbelief contribute to the need I feel for pornography?
• "This is the Will of God for You: That You Abstain from Sexual Immorality"
• Sex and the Supremacy of Christ, Part 1
• Sex and the Supremacy of Christ, Part 2
• Sex and the Single Person

The Personal Cure for Pride

Let these four phrases be the heartbeat of our ministries (and our lives):

1. I am a sinner (1 Tim. 1:15)

• Remember what I was (think on the sins you’ve been delivered from)
• Remember what I could be now (if God had not stopped you)
• Remember what I still am (research your own heart)
• Remember what I could yet be (if God removed His restraining grace)

Follow the example of godly me from the past who turned the devil’s deadly weapon of pride back upon himself by using it to keep them humble.

Robert M. McCheyne: “Oh, for true unfeigned humility; I know not how to be truly humble. I know I have cause to be humble, but I do not know one half of that cause; I know I am proud, and yet I do Not know half of my pride.”

J. Edwards: (twenty years after his conversion) “I abhor the bottomless, infinite depths of wickedness and pride left in my own heart.”

Richard Baxter: “Pride not only goes with me into the study, but often chooses my very subject and sometimes my very words. Pride writes my sermon, pride goes with me to the pulpit; it forms my tone and animates my delivery. It takes me off of that which may be displeasing to the people and sets me in pursuit of vain applause from my hearers. And when I have preached, pride goes home with me and causes me to eagerly seek for sings that I am applauded, rather than signs that my message was useful in the saving of souls.” Keep Reading>>>

Why Preachers Fall

Fight Club

Is Accountability in the Church an Unneccessary Crutch?