Monthly Archives: October 2024

My People – Christian Cliques and Segregation in Church – Picking our Brothers and Sisters in Christ

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We can’t pick Christ’s church.

I’ve mentioned this story before, but for the purpose of this subject, I’ll repeat it.   As I sat listening to my sister in Christ, who was almost in tears, lament that she was asked to leave her church ‘small group’ and find one that fit her age, I honestly was at a loss for words but didn’t find it unbelievable. My mind became numb because I found it so shocking that a phenomenon that should die in elementary school with the ‘cool kids’ had survived and been used to exclude some members of Christ’s church for other because someone else though they didn’t fit.   My people.

James 2:1

“ESV My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. “

We should be able to put a bow on this subject with scripture, but that would logically pre suppose that people in church follow, know or care what God’s Word says.  That’s a leap based on current research.
Christians discriminate?  And yet we do.  We find people who look like us, talk like us, and we hang out with those people.  After all, isn’t that Christian unity?  Is it?  If it excludes some less desirable Christian folk for the inclusion of others based on some arbitrary wish list to be a part of ‘my people,’ then no.  It’s favoritism.  It’s a clique.
We should be able to stop there, but we are a selfish people.  We like security, and yet cliques in Christ’s church do not offer it.  Instead, ‘cliques’ are an echo chamber, it’s a like minded, like talking, and like walking type of people who may exclude others because cliques are comfortable with spiritual apathy.   It’s like the group of ‘cool’ kids in the 3rd grade who exclude those that don’t fit, the weird kids.

God’s Judgment and the Law

12 For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. 13 For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. 14 For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15 They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them16 on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.

So why do we group up in to cliques?  We are all sinners under the law and receive the same Grace from God?  We are equal.

Should we look to a pastor to address church cliques?  Yes and no.

Does that pastor practice cliques as a way of pastoring the local congregation?  What would that look like?  Does the pastor have a specific group with in the church that they spend the most time with to the detriment of the congregation as a whole?  If the church is so large that the pastor doesn’t even know the families that make up the whole, then that’s another issue all together.   Then the answer is ‘life groups’ formerly identifying as ‘small groups.’  Then that brings us back to my sister in Christ who was asked to leave a group for another one that would fit her better according to their arbitrary opinion.

“You don’t want dads going to a group discussion for moms do you!?  Do you!?”  That’s not arbitrary, that is a group that is tied to God’s creation.  So, no, I am not talking about that.   There is Biblical support for men teaching me, and women teaching women.

So, yes, if the pastor sees or practices clique behavior in the local congregation, that pastor should repent and walk in a way where he doesn’t show favoritism amongst the flock.

So, no, because cliques also live outside the weekly meeting.   Which unchecked, cliques can grow into discord and even church splits. It is up to each one of us to avoid the appearance of favoritism as we move throughout the body of Christ.   It is a counter ‘My People’ mindset, and behaving in a way that is more global, a Christ’s church mindset.

 

So how does this look in life?

Well we know what it looks like in the third grade.  It’s dodgeball day and the coach chooses two captains, and so it goes that each captain gets a turn to choose ‘their team.’  Their people.   Thus comes the judgement by the nine year old captains, the best first and then the least desirable.  And while it could be argued that this is just the way kids are, they see what they see without valuing each kid beyond what they can use them for, (winning).  What we can say is that type of thinking doesn’t belong in Christ’s church, especially with us who are adulting.  (20pts for using cool modern lingo)

We have to figure out who are truly “my people.”   In Matthew 12:48-50, Jesus is very clear that who ever does the will of his father are his brothers and sisters, his family.  His people if you will.    We to expand our biases past who we think are Christians. And without going through the historic church, even the past fifty years in America, the sin of preference or prejudice has crept into Christ’s church.  With the atrocities of racism to something much more innocent like picking ‘my people’ because of age, fluctuating cultural likeness, socio economic status and so on.  We still do it today.

 

So what is a good test?  Do we find ourselves unwilling to see other Christians as important as people we have identified as ‘my people?’

Group of people taking a selfie

1 Corinthians 12 gives us insight into unity within Christ’s church.

“… 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.”

And finally

 

28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave[a] nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

So then we see from scripture how we all are one in Christ and should have concern for each other, not just those we have chosen as ‘my people.’  All followers of Christ have become ‘my people.’  So let us consider how we invest in the lives of those in Christ’s church.  Our lives are to be spent here in service to our brothers and sisters in Christ’s church, all of the church.  We have a huge family in Christ, let’s open our arms for all the people of Christ, not just the ones we choose.

 

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Steven Davis is a toasted preacher’s kid, media producer, practicing apologist, and musician.

 

Church should not be fun – It should be more than fun.

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RIGHT!?

I go to church because my kids have fun.

Hearing a parent say, ‘We go to our church because my kids have fun there.  They get to play and run all their energy out.’  And I’d agree, it is important for children to run around, get their energy out.  But what I didn’t hear was any thing related to Bible teaching for her children.  What I didn’t hear was a reason to go a local church versus just heading over to the local park.  Now to be fair, at a local park, you still have to watch your kids.   And I get it, for sure, it’s nice when someone else watches your children, and you can take a break.  No doubt that is a type of support a local church provides.  100 as those nifty cool kids say.

James River Church, which is the location for the title picture is well known for the fun style experience they have.  And granted, his local congregation is quite large.  And many, including himself, point to the size of the congregation and say that proves his methods work.  But what does scripture say?

The Bible doesn’t explicitly come out and say that the goal of a local group of believers, the church, is to have large numbers, like the mega-church movement. What scripture does say is that many will turn away from following Christ because they love the world.  Matthew 24

So what then about ‘Fun?’  What is so wrong with fun at church?   As one pastor puts it, what ever you draw people to the local church with, you have to continue it.  And if it is ‘fun’ filled with excited dopamine saturated fun, then guess what.  You have to top what you did in the past, otherwise people will be disappointed.

So then people are trained to expect to have fun.  People and their fun filled experiences become the focal point.  Sort of like having a monster truck or a male stripper at a men’s conference.  It is the flesh that is the bait, and somewhere hopefully the spiritual will be addressed.

So what is the purpose of the local church. Let’s see what the Bible says:

Unity and Diversity in the Body

12 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by[c] one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.

15 Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 28 And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues[d]? Do all interpret? 31 Now eagerly desire the greater gifts.

In this scripture, we find one goal of the church is to suffer with those who suffer, and rejoice when someone is honored.  We are to be a community of people who know each other, a family.  Well, doesn’t entertainment bring people together?  Yes, but it would be no different than a football game, baseball game, or community fair. The churches job is to teach what Christ taught and make disciples. You don’t see Christ managing the 12 disciples against the Pharisees in a pickup game of pickleball.  What is the focus of coming together as a local church?

Well, church shouldn’t be miserable?

Of course not.  If the focus of the local coming together is on Christ, following his teachings and making disciples, then the local coming together will transcend ‘fun’ and become a time that builds up the body focusing on the enduring the temporal struggles of bearing Christ’s cross secure in an eternal hope.

— The church should be feeding the sheep, not entertaining the goats:  Charles Haddon Spurgeon—

Well, shouldn’t we have fun as Christ followers?

Ultimately the end result of prioritizing the flesh, ‘fun’ at a local church is we become very self centered, focused on ourselves.  We are the priority.  We show up in anticipating ‘how will I be entertained at church today?’  #summeratthemovies.  As for children having fun at church, there is a line between children having fun for fun sake and discipling children on their level.  Because if children come to church with the expectation that it is all about fun they grow up and you end up like this;

Should church be boring?  Of course not, but it should be Christ centered, Biblically sound and in the process of making disciples.  Feeding the flesh is contrary to feeding the spirit.  What is the focus of coming together?  Is it to have fun?  Is it to have fun with some Bible sprinkled in?   Or is it to come together in a manner that creates disciples for Christ.  I had a ‘pastor’ once tell me that short of sinning, he would do anything and everything to have people come to his local congregation.  But anything and everything is not what he is called to do.

We have ample opportunities to have fun in the community.   Tomorrow is not promised to anyone.  It could be a person’s last Sunday alive.  And shouldn’t we stay focused on the message of Christ, on a sacrifice of our fleshly desires, on our drive for fun to focus on Christ and Christ alone?  Maybe we don’t want to share.  Maybe we have made an idol out of fun.

Maybe we are addicted to our flesh, the dopamine that comes with church entertainment.  This is what I put my bet on.  Maybe we should remember the Christians in other countries that are dying for their faith as we sit in our stadium seating with fake church lobby coffee.   And ultimately, we should remember that our Savior died a horrible death for our sins and we should at least be able to give him an hour or two. #crucifytheflesh

What is the focus of our local church? Do they focus on me having fun? Do they focus in all parts teaching the Gospel and making disciples? If they do, then we are no longer the focus but Christ becomes the center of everything and others become our service of worship.

Hebrews 12:1-2

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

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Steven Davis is a burnt preachers kid, musician, media producer and Bible college drop out.