February 2005
Page 1 - The Collapse of the Church Culture By Reggie McNeal
Page 2 - So, What Does Renewal Look Like? By Paul Anderson
So, What Does Renewal Look Like?
By Paul AndersonI was recently on a retreat with a group of pastors in Montana. One of them, who knew nothing about Lutheran Renewal, asked me, "What is renewal?" I'll give you the expanded form of what I gave him. The three ingredients I offered are non-negotiable issues, without which renewal cannot, and will not, happen. Other aspects are certainly a part of spiritual renewal (and will follow in a subsequent article on practical steps to transforming a church), but these three are central. A week before, a pastor from Arizona, in responding to my article on Why Renewal Doesn't Happen, wondered what a "renewed congregation" looked like. Addressing the first question should answer the second, but that next article will paint the picture more clearly.
The Lordship of Christ. On Pentecost, Peter did not preach his experience; he preached the Lordship of Jesus Christ. The purpose of Pentecost is to personalize the life of the crucified, risen, and exalted Christ. Pentecost and Passion are one inseparable whole. Renewal is as much a Jesus movement as a Holy Spirit movement. This may sound too obvious to state, but, in fact, the Lordship of Christ is often ignored. If Jesus is Lord, there's only one vote. The purpose of a church council or board is to find out what the King wants, not to see what we're going to try next to prop up our young adult ministry. Opinions don't matter in a monarchy, because only one opinion counts. Churches that take this reality seriously are on the way to renewal. When Terry Fullam, an Episcopal priest, introduced this principle to the leaders of his church in Darien, Connecticut, it transformed first the leadership, then the whole church. This outlook trumps good ideas, the latest fad, and the best programs. The Lord may lead us to a program, but the bottom line is the Lord, not a new program. To say that Jesus is Lord is to give up control. The pastor doesn't have the final word, and neither does the church council-Jesus does. That means that no one pushes an "agenda" at the board meetings. They may come with concerns or even convictions. But they are confident that through prayer and sharing together, they will come into the Lord's will. They go beyond the question, "What would Jesus do?" to "What is Jesus doing?" They believe that the living Lord has an opinion about the building program, the Sunday school class, and the young adult ministry. And no one can truly say that Jesus is Lord apart from the activity of the Spirit. We must be convinced that if the Lord has His program for us, we can hear Him, individually as well as corporately. That means that we put ourselves in a stance of receiving before doing, praying before planning, asking God before asking people, and waiting before working. It's not always easy to hear from God, but people (and boards and congregations) who make it a priority testify that there is no alternative to being guided by the Spirit of God, regardless of the governmental system in place.
So…
Can we say that the truth of Christ's Lordship is operating in our church?
Does it find expression in our council and congregational meetings? Is our church council willing to let Jesus be Lord in practical ways, like stopping a meeting and listening for His will?
What would need to change for us to be more under the Lordship of Christ?
Why is the Lordship of Christ often resisted in churches?
How are decisions made in our congregation? Is Jesus consulted?
The Authority of Scripture. I sometimes hear people ask, "Is this Lutheran?" A better question would be, "Is it Biblical?" Like a pastor friend of mine said to his bishop, "If it's in the Bible, we want it." The reason renewal-minded people affirm the gifts of the Spirit is that the Word of God affirms them. The reason we pray for the sick is that the Bible encourages us to do so. We do it more out of obedience than out of a desire to see people healed. My batting average in praying for healing is not good, and that creates a discrepancy. The Word of God is clear that God is a healing God, that Jesus is a healing Savior, and that the Church is called to be a healing community. But it doesn't usually work. So how do we deal with the disconnect between what we experience and what the Scriptures teach? One option is to pull the Word of God down to the level of our experience. Frankly, I would rather tamper with electricity. The other option is to continue praying for the sick and to believe that our experience will slowly rise to meet the level of God's Word.
Those who say, "He's into a deliverance ministry," in a tone that is hardly complimentary might want to check the Gospel record again and see how prominent this ministry was in the life of Jesus. Renewal-minded people take deliverance or healing or the guidance of the Spirit seriously for one reason-Scripture does. The Word of God settles all issues. It is the norm for our theology as well as our experience. We don't have one set of beliefs and another set of behaviors. Our conduct flows out of our creed. Because Jesus is Lord and the Scriptures are authoritative, we say like the young Chinese
Christian, "I am now believing the Bible and behaving it." When we pray for people to be filled with the Spirit as they did in the book of Acts, we also invite them to speak in tongues, not because we are into a "tongues movement," but because that is what happened when the Apostles laid hands on people and because the Scriptures encourage it. And the Giver only gives good gifts.
Truth is truth, not because I discover it to be so, but because God establishes it and the Scriptures attest to it. It is not up for grabs, nor is it complicated, like a sexuality study requiring years of discussion and input from the experts in the social sciences. Truth is truth in every culture and for every age. It is not to be debated but to be recognized and received.
So…
Are there any areas in our church where we are more shaped by tradition than by
the Word of God?To what degree do our congregation's values conform to Scripture?
If it is in the Scriptures, is that convincing enough for us?
Are we sufficiently humble to let the Word of God prove us wrong-when we are?
The Empowering Presence of the Spirit. Renewal changes everything. It is not an add-on to what we are already doing in the church. The Spirit is God's answer to the Church's need for God's presence and power. Spiritual gifts are central to the life of the church because it is through them that the ministry of Christ is made visible in the world. A church can have some signs of renewal-inspiring worship, an active small groups ministry, and a sense of joy-but if the leadership is not radically dependent upon the Lord who is the Spirit, it is not a renewed congregation. We cannot reduce renewal to certain activities, only to the activity of the Spirit Himself. Dry bones don't live by activities, only by the wind of the Spirit blowing upon them. Activities can help to prepare the way for a visitation, but they are not the same as God's presence. We prepare the way by pulling down the mountains and raising up the valleys, but how and when the Spirit comes is a divine work, not a human one. Renewal is not a formula, like "Five easy steps to a transformed church." Earth cannot dictate to heaven. Renewal, ultimately, is "not by might nor by power (and we could add "nor by ingenuity or by administration or by staffing") but by my Spirit," says the Lord.
So…
Is the Holy Spirit welcome at our church?
What would change if we were radically dependent upon the Spirit?
Why are some churches afraid of the Spirit? Are we?
How does walking by the Spirit militate against the fleshly wisdom often relied upon with church boards? Are the leaders of our church people of the Spirit who are able to hear and receive the guidance of the Spirit.
Is there any dissonance between what we say about the Word or the Spirit and what we actually practice?
These three principles - the Lordship of Christ, the Authority of Scripture, and the Empowering Presence of the Spirit - are essential. They cannot be sidestepped and still call the congregation a renewed church. A council or board that does not recognize the Lordship of Christ is in a place of serious resistance, not reception. Nor is a congregation a renewed church if it does not listen to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. Renewal is not about any program, activity, or style. Jesus did not teach the disciples to be men of technique but men of the Spirit. The bottom line is the work of the Spirit under the Lordship of Christ to which we joyfully surrender. A charismatic church that has a message in tongues and two prophesies every Sunday may be farther from renewal than a rural church that looks far more traditional but has the sweet presence of the Spirit. That Pentecostal church may need to temporarily shelve the gifts and to focus on a new identity as a people loved by the Father. They may need to back off from doing to discover that receiving is closer to the heart of God. One of the greatest hindrances to spiritual renewal is religion, thinking that "we have it," that we can do it, that we know (the sin of presumption). The Pharisees who said to the revivalist John, "We have Abraham as our father," were as far as they could be from spiritual renewal. They thought that they were doing so well and, in fact, were paralyzed in their dead religious routines. And by contrast, that rural church may need to simply pray, "Come, Holy Spirit," and be open to whatever the Spirit of grace does in coming.
Paul Anderson is the Director of Lutheran Renewal, founder of The Master's Institute, and founder of The Alliance of Renewal Churches.
