Tag Archive for 'Ecclesiology'

Why I’m Planting a Racially Diverse Church In Cincinnati (10 Reasons)

Published
by
Michael Clary
on August 25, 2008
in Bible, Church Planting, Cincinnati and Race
. 0 Comments

The first reason why I’m planting a racially diverse church in Cincinnati: it’s biblical.

The second reason is this: The world wants racial reconciliation, but only the gospel can deliver it. Everywhere you look, from corporate advertisements to college promotional materials to fashion magazines, it is clear that people want to see a diversity of faces in the imagery. Martin Luther King, Jr. did our country a great service by helping to expose racial hypocrisy. He was (perhaps naively) convinced that white Christians would rush to his aid but most didn’t.

During the civil rights era, our country has come a long way to give all people of various races equal opportunities for advancement. Everyone is clamoring for it. You can’t watch the evening news without seeing it in the advertisements, or hearing of someone being sentences to probation and “diversity training,” or a story about someone violating political correctness with a “gaffe.” In fact, one of Joe Biden’s most recent gaffes involved referring to Obama as an African American who is “clean” and “articulate.” The world loves racial diversity.

But churches have long remained segregated.

I’m not advocating universal racial integration of churches. But I am saying that those who desire true racial reconciliation can only find it in the gospel. Here’s what I mean. The gospel tells us that we are all in desperate need of redemption for our sins. We have a common disease (sin) and a common enemy (Satan). Regardless of race, everyone on planet earth has this problem. Furthermore, we all have, as Pascal famously stated, a “God shaped vacuum” in our hearts that can only be filled by Jesus Christ. Our deepest longings and our highest aspirations are fulfilled in Him.

As such, Paul stated in 2 Corinthians 5 that Christ has given us the “ministry of reconciliation,” where men urge their fellow men to “be reconciled to God.” Our reconciliation to God entails new allegiances, new familial relationships, new identities based on our spiritual commonalities rather than our physical differences. Being reconciled with God should naturally lead to being reconciled to fellow children of God.

Can anything other than Christ deliver this reconciliation? Of course not. Worldly reconciliation can only be achieved through pluralism. “Diversity” becomes an idol we bow to and standards of right and wrong are made to serve this idol. As a result, it doesn’t matter what you think or how you live, as long as you demonstrate “tolerance,” which is code language for pluralism.

The gospel insists that everyone is sinful, and only Christ is worthy of universal honor. Revelation 5 highlights the 7-fold worthiness of Jesus, who is worthy to receive “power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.”

Jesus crushes our common enemy and unites us under his glorious rule. That’s true reconciliation, and only the gospel can deliver it.

Worship Leadership Series (part four): 5 Criteria for Choosing a Worship Leader

Published
by
Michael Clary
on March 9, 2008
in Worship Leading
. 1 Comment

When I was in college, I can’t count the number of worship leading gigs I was asked to do. There were at lguitar_hero_package.jpgeast several dozen different opportunities to lead worship in different venues from churches to college ministries to youth camps to bar mitzvahs. I did it all.

But I wasn’t qualified for much other than to play Guitar Hero.

No one asked me about my character or theology (except for Campus Crusade, for whom I am deeply grateful). Before Passion came around, the only contemporary songs to choose from were the I-love-Jesus-like-I-love-my-girlfriend variety. I didn’t care what the song said, as long as it had a cool sound and interesting melody. I should have been fired.

Most churches just want a guitar guy, not a worship leader, because that’s what the polls and magazines tell them they have to have to survive as a church these days. The problem is, most guitar guys people know are college kids with little interest in theology, just music. But as I argued previously here and here, worship is another tool God uses for the instruction of his people. Worship music is sung theology; it is theology felt. Music is memorable, repetitive, participatory, portable, and reductionistic. It takes complex themes and distills them to their pithy essence for effective internalization.

Why would any church that is serious about instructing its congregation outsource this sober task to a 20-year old guitar guy without any theological training (like I was)?

My point: the worship leader is the chief of musical theology. He should be held accountable for the content of the songs no less than the pastor should be held accountable for the content of his sermons. He is a musical preacher. And his content is more memorable than the preacher’s, usually. While the pastor spends years in seminary to learn to handle languages, church history, biblical and systematic theology, ecclesiology, homiletics (and on and on), most worship leaders earn their mettle from Green Day, John Mayer, Nickelback, or worse yet, Audio Adrenaline and DC Talk.

Yet both are given enormous opportunity to influence God’s people.

So then, the question: What qualifies a person to be a worship leader? There are 5 things a responsible church should consider when choosing their worship leader:

1. He should be a committed student of scripture. This is a lifelong commitment, but should be a commitment nonetheless. He should care more about meaning than music. He should focus more on content than chords. The biblical basis for each song should be unquestionably clear. Continue reading ‘Worship Leadership Series (part four): 5 Criteria for Choosing a Worship Leader’

Worship Leadership Series (part two): Singing is Commanded in Scripture

Published
by
Michael Clary
on February 26, 2008
in Worship Leading
. 1 Comment

In many contemporary worship settings, the focus of the music appears to be primarily self-expression of one’s relationship with God. While there’s nothing wrong with this, I do believe that it is a misplaced priority. I aim to show in this post that worship music in the church is to be primarily for instruction in the truths of scripture and not for self-expression.

Ephesians 5:18ff says this:

And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Ephesians 5 is a great example of the purpose that God assigns to singing in his church. The positive command in 5:18 is to be filled with the Spirit. How, one might ask, is this to be accomplished? Continue reading ‘Worship Leadership Series (part two): Singing is Commanded in Scripture’

How to Waste $1,000,000

Published
by
Michael Clary
on December 24, 2007
in Uncategorized
. 4 Comments

This article on Chicago Tribune’s website (registration required) describes the ever-expanding pageantry of Christmas productions at the Savannah Christian (mega) Churches where attendees (at $5 a head) get to

take a boat ride across a massive lake into Bethlehem, where they mingle with the townspeople who greet them with fresh water, fruit and assorted cheeses. Roman soldiers on white horses lead them along a lighted path, where they encounter the Three Wise Men with a live camel resting at their side. They look on as the archangel Gabriel appears at the Virgin Mary’s home and tells her that she is carrying a child. They watch an evil King Herod, who plots to kill the newborn. Finally, they arrive at the manger, standing close enough to touch the crying baby Jesus.

Or try Willow Creek, for example:

The Cirque du Soleil-style production at Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington features live “angels” swinging from the ceiling like acrobats, a professional violist and a mist-filled stage. The “Imagine Christmas” program is expected to draw 95,000 people this year and is broadcast on a local television station on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Perhaps I was too eager to praise Bill Hybels earlier this year. Honestly, when I read about this I wanted to [insert gross bodily function here]. I can more easily see Christ in Ty Pennington shouting “move that bus” than watching acrobatic “angels” hanging from the chandeliers.

If you were the pastor of a mega-mega-Willow-Back-Purpose-Driven-Saddle-Creek church, how would you spend the $1 million budget for Christmas this year? No question, these churches want to (1) offer a spiritually nourishing experience for the attendees, (2) increase their church’s exposure, and (3) cultivate goodwill in the community, so you’re idea would have to at least accomplish these three things.

Even with the above mentioned goals in mind, I humbly offer my own alternatives to the hollywood produced Christmas pageant.

Here’s my idea: Build ten $100,000 homes for needy families in the city while stipulating requirements and applications to determine the recipients. The goals? (1) church members are nourished spiritually by giving rather than receiving (Acts 20:35). (2) The church wouldn’t want to blow their own trumpet when helping the poor (Matthew 6:2), but these sorts of things, especially at Christmastime, have a way of getting noticed by the media without drawing the ire of the socially conscious. (3) Do I even need to explain the goodwill this would foster?

There’s my lame brained idea. You don’t have to be a genius to find a better way to drop a million and actually advance God’s kingdom.

What’s your idea? You’ve got $1 million, and an army of mega-churchers ready to follow your marching orders. How do you spend it?

Racial Unity in Church Planting

Published
by
Michael Clary
on December 18, 2007
in Uncategorized
. 1 Comment

Laura and I visited Cincinnati today. I was there a week ago and really sensed a leading from the Lord to seriously pursue planting a church there in the urban downtown area. I blogged about it last week.

A wise friend told me recently that when you’re looking to plant a new church, you want to see some tangible evidence that God’s hand is in the project and He is working to pull things together. In light of my trip there today, here are some ways that I definitely see God working.

1. This church plant was being planned before I came along. I was fascinated to find out, while meeting the Cincinnati Baptist Association Director of Missions, that his association has determined inner-city Cincinnati as his top priority for this year. While I was thinking that I would have to come into a new city to start a new work, God showed me that I will be going into a new city to continue and reinforce the work that others have already begun. Continue reading ‘Racial Unity in Church Planting’