The Power of Story

I love movies. They inspire me. They challenge me. They anger me. They bring me to tears. They make me think. I love movies. I tend to love them first in my heart… and while this is good, it is a bit scary. Why? Because stories are powerful. Stories have a message, a theme, a big idea that they invite their audience to discover… in their heart. The scary part is that they do not always take me where I want to go. For example…

Have you see Cider House Rules? The movie is driving at the idea that abortion is acceptable… at least in situations of incestuous rape. The appeal is not to the audience through logic or reason, but through a powerful story where you grow to pity the situation forced upon the rape victim.

Have you seen Million Dollar Baby? Once again the movie is making a case for Euthanasia… that it is OK to medically assist severely physically disabled people in suicide. Once again, the appeal is by means of a compelling story that moves you to pity for the characters and their situation. No logic or reason is needed… the story moves you to consider these conclusions from your heart.

Both of these conclusions while dreadfully sad do not fit within my Christian worldview. Yet many come to agree with these conclusions because their hearts have been won over by the power of the story.

Stories are powerful. I heard a screenwriter comment that “every movie is about redemption.” Meaning... movies, at least good movies, shed light on the complexity of the human condition and show how characters find their way out of their predicaments (get redeemed).

Stories are powerful. Hollywood knows this. God knows this. But I’m not sure that the church knows this. The church tends to focus solely on appealing to logic and reason. We shoot for the mind and forget the heart. But did you know that the Bible is 66% narrative… yep it’s 2/3 story.

That is why I think Hollywood is more influential today than the church. Their stories last longer than ours. I think that is why I was enraptured with David Wilcox last Friday (see post). Because he let me experience the truth of his “message” through his stories & songs.

So I raise a toast to the great storytellers... may your stories be good and full of truth. And at the same time I light a fire under the church… package your truth in stories… God has... plus, they last longer.

Good Work vs. Gospel Work

Last Thursday some friends gathered at my house to discuss the topic of serving our world. We wondered what motivated people in general? We shared how we had been involved in serving others and how we felt about it. We asked what role should Christians or the Church have in serving the needs (physical, emotional, spiritual) of our world.

We decided to run a 2-week Campaign for Blood:Water Mission, which is fighting the aids pandemic in Africa by providing fresh water. We were staggered when we found that $1 gives 1 African fresh water for 1 year. But in our discussion we wondered how "good works" related to "gospel work" that the church is called to. We found that we did not completely agree... or at least that we were not as informed as we should be.

I noticed that Scot McKnight blogged on this topic, in response to the following question, which he received:

Myself and some friends are attempting to ask questions and eventually act on the homeless situation in downtown [city]. But as we’ve been discussing it, there are a few questions that we feel that we need to tackle so we can all be on the same page. Here it is: “What is our intention in simply desiring to fight systemic injustice? Should we do this with the intention of some larger plan of salvation for those we are trying to help? Or should we simply do it with no agenda just because systemic injustice is wrong?”

The question is how does good work related to gospel work? I encourage you to read the response and ensuing comments.

Easter... coming to a church near you!

At least I hope so. The Lent season is coming to its climax... Resurrection Sunday. So here is the trailer for Easter. I picked this up from Mark Batterson at National Community Church... it is actually a trailer for their Easter weekend. But I think it applies.

the games we play...

We had a Sunday night tradition in my family, when I was growing up. Sunday Night became Family Night. The night started with a family devotion, where my dad tried to get me and my brother and my sister interested in some Bible passage and the deeper truth which it was teaching. We learned to deal with the devotion, because we knew what was coming afterwards. Games!

Our favorite family game was the board game SORRY. I still think it is the best board game ever. But not until recently did I read the tag-line for Sorry... you know the second title of the game that describes what it is all about. Yah. So the tag-line for Sorry is "the game about sweet revenge." No wonder I loved this game as a kid (and still do)... because I love getting revenge. Don't you?

So recently in a staff meeting we were kicking around some creative ways to approach an upcoming series. Someone threw out the idea of "the games people play". After a short brainstorm (which is a minor miracle) we all loved it. We love it because we all love playing games.

We also love it because we love the metaphor of "playing games" in life, in faith, and in church. You know at one level our "games" are innocent and fun... sort of like Sorry. But at a deeper level there are some core heart issues involved like jealousy, revenge, fear, control. We hope that this upcoming series is a fun way to get beyond the colorful dice and play money... and get to the deeper heart issues that end up destroying ourselves and others.

"It is what comes from inside that defiles you.
For from within, out of a person's heart,
come evil thoughts

sexual immorality
theft
murder
adultery
greed
wickedness
deceit
lustful desires
envy
slander
pride
and foolishness.

All these vile things come from within;
they are what defile you."

-Jesus

So what games do you find yourself playing?

How Great is Our God

My wife and I and a couple of friends went to the "How Great is Our God Tour" last night. It featured singers Chris Tomlin & Matt Redman and speaker Louie Giglio. This was certainly todays Jesus Rock at its finest. It naturally blended the finest in show production (with fancy lights and LED panels) with Christ-centered worship (with little left to the imagination).

As a confessing intellectual (not that I'm all that smart... but I love hearing from smart guys) my favorite piece was the talk by Louie. His mixed his passion for the glory of God and hankering for science into a soul-stirring, worship inspiring look out at the cosmos and in at the human body. When Louie shines the light on creation it certainly stirs my soul into wonder and amazement at the Creator.

By the word of the LORD the heavens were made,
and by the breath of his mouth all their host.
Psalm 33:6

Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love, that he may deliver their soul from death and keep them alive in famine.
Psalm 33:18-19

Here is Louie holding up a golf ball (representing in the Earth) in front of a 15 foot image of the sun... giving us an image of how small we are.

Wizardly Wisdom

I devoured a recent article about John Wooden in my March 19 edition of Sports Illustrated. The story, "Birth of a Dynasty", tells the story of the coach's first basketball National Championship team ('63-'64). After that win he went on to win 9 of the next 11 National Titles. Wow!

What I didn't know is that he didn't win his first championship game until the 16th year of coaching. I had always thought that his rise to success came much quicker... 16 years, talk about patience and persistence. Another wow!

Ala Yogi Berra... he became know for saying very quotable things, like the following.

When you’re through learning, you’re through.

It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.

He’s admitted his stubbornness kept him from winning sooner. (not really a quote, but an honest and humble confession)

Whatever you do in life, surround yourself with smart people who’ll argue with you.

As a young pastor, new father and growing Christian... I need this type of wisdom to guide and direct me as I navigate the turbulent waters of life.

Start with the ending

Last Friday night my wife and I double dated with my brother and his wife. In celebration of my little bro's recent birthday we took in a David Wilcox concert. Wilcox is a solo folk artist who is as much a storyteller as he is a singer/songwriter.

His show started with a clever yet insightful song, Start with the Ending, my favorite of the night.

The show was at Little Brothers down on High Street. Boy am I glad that there is no longer smoking in bars. The small crowd of 100 ranged in age from college students to 60 year old married couples. Most were deeply acquainted with his music even reminding him of lyrics when his memory failed him.

I was drawn into the magic of the night and mystique of the man. As the night continued a theme began to emerge... which seemed to be as much a shock to Wilcox as to the crowd. He shared repeatedly about the recent death of a close friend which added depth to songs of longing and loss and hope.

I was struck at how present Wilcox was. It was as if the evening was a give and take between him and us. The room seemed small. The stories and songs seemed to be about more than just a concert but almost like a church service that begged us to consider the bigger questions of life.

The songs were not Jesus hidden behind kitchy images... but were honest takes on selfishness, fear and love. His songs ring with the honest truths and pains of life. His stories, like parables put abstract ideas into concrete terms that the congregation could wrestle with during the following days. If you want to get a taste of David Wilcox, I recommend Live Songs & Stories.

think global... act local

Here are some thoughts that might help you with the first part of that phrase. A friend forwarded me an article called Companions of Life by Phillip Jenkins which is written to answer the question... What must we learn, and unlearn, to be agents of God's mission in the world?

If you are anything like me you view the world through the lens of Fox News, CNN or USA Today... which largely makes us bad world citizens. And on top of it it makes us bad world Christians. We just have a pretty white, democratic, European view of the world. I'm no hater of the USA... but this article sheds some light on what God is doing in the church around the world.

Consider Jenkins insights:

*Within a few decades, the African continent could be, in numerical terms, the center of world Christianity.

*By 2050, white non-Hispanics could represent just 15 or 20 percent of the world's Christians.

*Rather than thinking about how to carry the message, then, the churches of the Old Christendom must now undertake a rigorous self-assessment to determine just what "we" have that "they" still lack.

*If one wishes to reach Guatemalans or Ghanaians, then approaching people of those origins within the United States is an excellent way to begin.

*What we must unlearn is a much more straightforward matter, and in fact there really are only three minor items on this "to forget" list, namely history, geography, and politics.

History, in the sense that Christianity has been only a white European faith system until recently.

Geography, in the sense that Christianity no longer moves from White North to colored South but is moving from South-to-South.

Politics, in the sense that the western package of politics into which faith traditional falls is not the same package in the South or East.

*In short, Christians of European descent should learn that they are not necessarily the norm within the Christian tradition.

*As the companions of life, of course newer churches remain flexible and bend our familiar dividing lines. Perhaps by observing how they do this, we can find our way back from a faith that has been, on occasion, too hard and strong to flourish.

ROOTS

I had the fun experience last Wednesday of revisiingt my theological roots. I attended a local alumni luncheon with my seminary president at a local Christian university. It was a blast especially since I was able to share the lunch table with Dr. Bailey of Dallas Seminary and Dr. Brown of Cedarville University. Here are a few of my thoughts:

I felt like a midget among giants: Not only do I typically line up in the front row for group pictures, but I was surrounded by men and women who are smarter, more well read, more rounded and more profound (by far) than I am. It was a healthy dose of humble pie.

Dallas formed me: My 4 years in Dallas were like a continual diet of "Miracle Gro." The way of thinking, the worldview and the intensity about which Dallas approaches the Bible, the church and culture has profoundly affected how I think and live. I feel very comfortable asking tough questions of Scripture and the Church and even disagreeing with others while still locking arms with them. And I owe Dallas Seminary a debt of grattitude for this.

I have a voice: I am growing more comfortable in who I am and what I believe. My experience and my walk with Christ have given me a slant on the world that I am comfortable with. For example our lunch conversation rolled around to the emergent church and social justice and even in the presence of a university and seminary president I felt like I added to the conversation, without just kissing butt.

We all have roots that have formed how we think and act and are. I find great value in identifying the people, the movements and the ideologies that have such impact upon us. This type of evaluation lends itself to a healthier and more humble view of the self without unneccessary defensiveness that "our story" is "the story."

Sexual Failure and Guilt

My last post was a reference to some Biblical tips on how to fight the temptation to sin sexually. Today is hope and help for us when we fail. Again I'm refering to John Piper and his recent challenge at Passion '07 entitled: How to Deal with the Guilt of Sexual Failure for the Glory of Christ and His Global Cause.

While it is necessary to prevent against and avoid sexual sin. We must also be prepared to return to God for forgiveness and strength after we stumble. And we must not let our struggle "guilt us out of" investing our lives in the cause of making Christ known.

Here are some notes I jotted down while listening to this talk. I bought my copy on iTunes in the Passion Bundle #2, which included a Charlie Hall song and a Chris Tomlin song.

Sex and Singleness

Let's talk sex. Many of young men and women which I am surrounded by are single. And these young adults need to talk sex because God has wired us all to desire it... mentally, physically and emotionally.

I did not not get married until I was 29 and thanks to God was able to remain a virgin until then. But in my 20's when my sex drive was kicking into overdrive my desire to for physical intimacy seemed to war against my desire to draw near to God. My 20's were a cycle of purity, sin, guilt and repentance in this area of sexual purity. But as one of my favorite pastor's has said Purity paves the way to intimacy. So out of service to my single friends here are some great tips from John Piper on how to fight for sexual purity.

10 Tips for Sexual Purity:

1. Do not seek regular sexual gratification through masturbation.
2. Do not seek sexual satisfaction through touching or being touched by another person.
3. Avoid unnecessary sexual stimulation.
4. When the stimulation comes and the desire starts to rise, perform a very conscious act of transfer onto Christ.
5. Pray that God would give you, in ever-increasing strength, a longing to know and love and obey him above all else.
6. Bathe your mind in God's Word.
7. Keep yourself busy.
8. Don't spend too much time alone.
9. Strive to think of all people, especially people of the opposite sex, in relation to eternity.
10. Resolve to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and he will add to you everything you need sexually.

For more of Piper's help, read the entire article.

Apex brings Burkle family first...

We went to Dayton this past weekend and did something that we haven't done in 3 years... go to Church together. And you know what... we actually liked it. Being on staff at a large church doesn't lend itself to going to Church as a family (at least in our situation). So when we took this past weekend off to go to Dayton to tell Christine's folks that baby Burkle #3 is on the way (I'm calling "it" Trey), we all went to church together.

We had heard of this this place called Apex Community Church so we did our homework and took in the Apex experience. So here are some of my reflections on the Apex experience.

A Network of Community Churches? Apex bills itself as network of House Churches. I'm not really sure what this exactly means. On Sunday it seemed like a regular church service, the "house church" thing was not publicly mentioned. But it appears that there is more to Apex that the weekend "gathering" and it involves houses.

Apex is relaxed. The first thing that we noticed when we walked in is that part of the building was vacant, the carpet was a bit tattered and duct-tape was involved in the interior decorating... but it didn't seem to bother anyone. We followed the crowd to the "free coffee" shop, filled up and headed into the service. People strolled in as the opening music played and many brought young kids and small babies into the main service. These things seemed natural and ok and acceptable. I was put at ease by the spirit of the place.

Apex is young. From my pew you could count the number of grey heads on both hands and feet. The average age must have been in the 30's... but I did see a number of elder brothers and sisters in the crowd. No one on stage was over 40. What I wondered the most about the older folks in the crowd was what they really thought of the really loud music. The worship band pounded out some grinding worship that went with the series on depression called "Downcast."

K-town screams family. In between the 2 Sunday morning services was this place called K-town made for kids & parents (is this church?). It was like a Christian version of a "Dora the Explorer" kids concert. The show combined singing, dancing, skits and a pint-size moral story about Honesty that even I could remember... "Remember kids, you can't cover-up a lie forever, cuz lies stink". I have been able to use that one already about 6 times with my boys in the last 24 hours.

Apex is Simple. The Sunday experience was really pretty simple. The band got up and led worship for 15 minutes. The teacher got up and taught for 45 minutes. Then the band got up and led worship for another 15 minutes. The message was from the bible, with a fair share of humor and sarcasm... but the message was simple... if you are depressed you need to need Jesus in the midst of the storm. Pretty simple.

This approach to church is not very formal yet seems to hold the Bible and Jesus in high regard and packages them in a way that is attractive to young families today.

Now that's out of the box!

There is a new church on the block in Columbus or should I say in the cinema... and it is appropriately called BOX. I spotted one of their billboards as I was driving around town and I was so intrigued that I jumped on their web-site. The site is clean, simple and so mysterious that it is hard to figure out which box to put these guys in. Maybe thats the point.

After a bit of poking around I found out that this new venture is led by a successful artist. Woah... can you be a Christian and an artist? My spider sense is going crazy folks. Well this crazy artist, Darrin Hoover is also the star of a TV show called POP which is like Bob Ross meets Saturday Night Live. But Darrin has a better head of hair.

Only time will tell whether this is new wineskins for a cross-centered gospel or it is just another passing fad of the XXI century church. I'm watching and praying.

She is...

I reluctantly rolled out of bed at 5:30 am this morning. That is pretty early for a sleep-loving guy like me. Why was I up so early… you might ask… well that is same question the barista Starbucks asked, as he made my Grande Low-Fat Cinnamon Dolce sans Whip.

Simple answer. To help my wife. The barista was impressed. Yep, Christine has a small business and she had to be set-up for a show across town by 8am. She needed my bulging muscles to unload her car and help her set up. As I was scurrying around 270… I was thinking about how special she is. And what I landed on is that the very things that make her amazing (and frustrating at times) to me… are the very things make her a “bad” pastors wife. That may not make sense, so let me try to explain.

She is entrepreneurial: She is a doer not just a talker. She is a leader not just a follower. When someone tells her she can’t do something that sparks within a fire to prove them wrong. She has a state recognized sole-proprietor business, for goodness sake… nuff said.

She is passionate about more than my ministry: Just five minutes with Christine is enough to see her passionate approach to life. And a similar amount of time around our house is all you need to realize that I and my ministry are not the Sun around which our lives revolve.

She is opinionated: She is no wall-flower and even confesses that sometimes she likes to debate just for the fun of it. Now throw that into your traditional pastors wives potluck and you’ll understand why she isn’t invited to many traditional pastors’ wives potlucks.

She isn’t super-spiritual: This is the worst part. She doesn’t salt her answers with bible quotes or references. Her conversations are not split into “prayers” and “praises”. She hasn’t even led a ladies Bible study in my ministry… now you see my quandary. But because of this she keeps me grounded. I can tend to over-spiritualize things so we balance each other.

I love her even if she gets me up at 5:30 in the morning and even if she doesn’t wear the typical pastors wife flowered dress.

What Would Dwight Do?

Time for some midweek funny... BUT beware this guy has the strength of a grown man and a baby.

Irresistibly Uncomfortable

ir•re•sist•i•ble - not resistible, enticing

Have you ever been around someone who was irresistible? You know the type of people that you just like being around. They may make you feel safe or valuable or necessary. Some people are just irresistible.

un•com•fort•a•ble - causing discomfort, uneasy

Have you ever been around someone who makes you uncomfortable? The type of person I’m thinking of is someone who is such a good person, that in comparison you feel like mud. When you are around them you feel like to need to clean up your act or your words. They make you uncomfortable with who you are… and without saying anything to you they make you want to change… to become better. I’ve been around those types.

I was reading John 4 today and I thought… Jesus was irresistibly uncomfortable. In the story, Jesus spends time with this woman whose life is a mess. She knows it. And all her neighbors know. And the story tells of their one-on-one conversation.

At the end the woman can’t get enough of Jesus. She is so enticed by who he is that she runs off to tell all her neighbors (who think that she is a sleaze… by the way). But what she tells them is how uncomfortable she was with him. He was so good, so loving, so righteous that she knew she needed to change. She got it… that Jesus is irresistibly uncomfortable. If you get caught up too much on either one of those words then you are missing a key part of Jesus.

When I encounter Jesus I find him irresistible. He is good and caring and bold and loving. I long to live that way with a clear conscience. At the same time I become quite uneasy with myself. I realize that things deep within who I am are not OK. The bible calls this sin. I live with it and know it and it makes me uneasy with Jesus. So my journey as a follower of Christ is to let Him change me from the inside out.

Tradition and Truth

A good friend of mine (Cory) forwarded me a link to this silly skit called “World vs. Christian.” It is a great take-off of the Mac vs. PC commercials. It pokes a bit of fun at all the silly issue of how one should dress for Church. As a guy whose donned everything from a 3-piece to flip-flops on Sunday I had to laugh.

For me it raises a good point about a much bigger issue that we as the church should deal with… that is the issue of our traditions. Two thoughts jump out at me and here they are in order:

We should value our traditions: Tradition is valuable. I see it as the cultural expression of timeless Christian truth that is passed down from generation-to-generation. And although it is culturally influenced it is valuable and even commanded in Scripture (Deut 6:7; 1 Tim 5:2; Titus 2:3-4). Tradition is how we tell the next generation what is important and how we lived it out in our generation. So we should know our history and the traditions they formed and value them.

We should evaluate our traditions: Since tradition does not equal Bible it is open for evaluation. A seminary professor of mine once said, “No generation has ever gotten church right.” That has freed me up to see that each generation has the freedom to express timeless, Biblical truth in a way that is understandable in their day. And for this reason we must evaluate tradition… so that we don’t value it more than God’s Word (Mark 7:8) or turn people away from Christ because of it (Acts 15:19).

Redemption of ALL THINGS

To suggest that the sin of man so corrupted his creation that God cannot fix it but can only junk it in favor of some other world is to say that ultimately the kingdom of evil is more powerful than the kingdom of God. It makes sin more powerful than redemption, and Satan the victor over God. Reducing the gospel to a strictly spiritual dimension of human existence concedes everything outside of that dimension to the enemy.

from Michael D. Williams
Far as the Curse is Found: The Covenant Story of Redemption (2005)

A cup of servant leadership

I slipped in to the third place to get me a tall, vanilla, low-fat latte and a caramel apple cider for Christine... as we were on our way to take the kids to Chuck E. Cheese today. I rarely take a second look at the cup. But in my rush to get back to the car I forgot to get a cup cover, and maybe the exposed cups were the reason I looked today.

I got a small leadership lesson thanks to cup #196. It got me thinking about how I'm doing... at being a servant leader that is. Am I bossing people around or am I serving them? Am I celebrating others success or am I taking all the credit? Am I giving away opportunity and power and credit or am I hogging them?

Thanks for the unexpected challenge Pat!

There’s a stranger in my house

I was recently asked by someone, “What are the biggest issues that families are facing today.” I think that is a great question and I wish I had an equally great response, but I’m not sure I do. After some thought, I decided to attack the question in a way that is new for me.

In general I have tended to see the family as this safe institution in a protected home and that the biggest evils that it faces come from outside. Basically, evil is out there and it comes in and disrupts happy family in here. But I’m not so sure anymore. I think that the biggest problems that families face might actually originate inside the family members or the family system. On the outside… families might look fine… but their biggest challenge is that certain strangers (whether identified or not yet) are already in the house. So here’s my list in no particular order (And whether your family is just you or you and your spouse or it is full of kids, I think these apply):

1. sexual frustration: If a man is involved sex is an issue. He wants more of something for himself and that can screw him up whether he is single or married. If a woman is involved her frustration becomes the emotional side of intimacy or a desire to be sexually attractive.
2. loneliness: This can plague all people. Single folks long for someone to be physically present. Married families long for someone to be more emotionally present. Kids want more TIME from parents. Or we feel alone in a certain situation or struggle we face. We all fight some degree of loneliness.
3. rejection: No one likes to feel rejected by others especially in their own families. A single hates hearing no from someone they are interested in. Spouses fear rejection of their true selves so they don’t reveal their hearts. Kids feel reject by parents and parents fear that Johnny or Susie won’t love them if they don’t buy them everything they want.
4. busyness: Modern contraptions that were supposed to make life easier and get jobs done quicker so that we have more time for leisure have actually had the opposite effect. We are busier than ever which leads to too little together or down-time.
5. consumerism: We all fight the urge for more. We regularly spend money we don’t have to buy things we don’t need to impress people we don’t like. After a while we even feel like we need these things and that we actually deserve them.
6. selfishness: Life is a movie about me right? I’ve got the leading role in every scene. This focus on ‘me” breaks down our ability the value of the “others” in our lives that is necessary for healthy and joyful living.
7. trust: Life begins to feel a little too much like Survivor. We fear being voted off the island and need alliances but aren’t sure who we can trust. We actually learn to mistrust people when experience teaches us that they will let us down. The results are a devastatingly insecure view of the world.

What strangers live in your house?

I'm sore

Physically. I can't remember the last time I have been this sore. For the last 72 hours ibuprofen has been my friend. And I have the 2 guys in this picture to thank.

My buddy Bob, the tall one, invited to come up to his gym for a kick-boxing workout. I was truly excited about the chance to go into Bob's world and see where and how he spends a good portion of his life. So I can thank Bob for part of my soreness... he got me there.

Then there is Jason, the other shortish guy. He was the class instructor. He was the one that put me through 45 minutes of non-stop kicking, punching and calisthenics. And I can thank him for helping me to get my "money worth" out of the free class. Thanks Jason!

You know it is quite a humbling experience when you are physically pushed to a point where you have to stop and let your burning lungs suck in enough oxygen to keep you from passing out. And it is doubly humbling when you realize that the entire class could literally kick your butt, especially when half of the class is women. These were some tough girls.

And if I ever get in a street fight I want Bob and Jason on my side.

Are you feeling priestly?

No. I’m not talking about the famed star of 90’s hit TV show, Beverly Hills 90210, Jason Priestley… although his ground-breaking sideburns did strongly influence me to jump on the side-burn band wagon. It looks like he has updated his lamb-chops… nice work Jason.

What I talking about is the Christian teaching from the 16^th century officially called “the universal priesthood of believers.” What that basically means is that Christians don’t have to go through a priest to talk to God or confess or whatever, that in a sense they are priests and can go directly to God for themselves. A pretty liberating thought to the mass of 16^th century parishioners and at the same time a scary thought to minority population of priests whose livelihood depended on people depending on them.

The back story about this new 16^th century teaching is pretty riveting. A young Augustinian monk named Martin Luther started reading more of the Bible (see 1 Peter 2:5,9) and listening less to the pope and church tradition. He felt that people were being taken advantage of by the Church so he wrote out 95 things he thought the church was doing wrong and nailed the list to church doors… pretty ballsy. His attempt to get church leaders to have a family discussion and get back on the right track didn’t exactly work out and the event grew into the Reformation which birthed a new style of Christianity we call Protestantism.

Now his idea that Christians can go directly to God… we call it “the universal priesthood of believers”… has been twisted by some people. Some people respond by saying, “Cool, I can go directly to God and I don’t really need the church… because I’m a priest.” This can lead to a Christianity of “me & God” without the church… that is quite foreign to the Bible. I was reading my handy-dandy Church history book yesterday which fleshed out Luther’s thoughts on this everyone is a priest idea. Here it is…

“While it is true that all Christians, by virtue of their baptism, are priests, this does not mean as some later interpreters have said – that one is self-sufficient to approach God for oneself. There is a direct communion with God that all Christians can and should enjoy. But there is also an organic reality within which all communion with God takes place, and that reality is the church To be priests does not mean primarily that we are our own individual priests, but rather that we are priests for the entire community of belief, and that they are priests for us. Rather than setting aside the need for the community of the church, the doctrine of the universal priesthood of believers strengthens it. It is true that access to God is no longer controlled by hierarchical priesthood. But we still stand in need of the community of believers, the body of Christ, in which each member is a priest for the rest, and feeds the rest. Without such nourishment, an isolated member cannot live.” (Justo L. Gonzalez, 33-34).

WOAH… our priestliness actually means our lives depend on others MORE not LESS. How un-American! How Radical!