When Mission and Academia Collide

Dr. Anthony Le Donne’s departure from Lincoln Christian University has created quite a buzz on the internet.  The attempt is being made to make Dr. Le Donne a martyr for intellectual freedom.  I am not so sure that this is the heart of the matter, but in Dr. Le Donne’s own words:

“I am writing with disappointing news. After over a year of pressure from Lincoln Christian University donors, concerned citizens, and certain employees, the president of the university has decided to terminate my employment. I have been told that this decision is in direct response to the publication of my popular-level book, Historical Jesus (Eerdmans, 2011). I have no doubt that the LCU administration made a staunch effort on my behalf, but eventually needed to assuage the fears of (what I am told) is a largely anti-intellectual constituency.”[1]

Sometimes I am too flippant.  This can become a hindrance when I have the opportunity to do good and instead try to be funny.  At least two opportunities were presented to me during my time at Lincoln Christian University.  Both took place in group settings.  The first was a “think-tank” session where several seminary students, past and present, were asked to reflect on a possible change in the school’s name from Lincoln Christian College and Seminary to Lincoln Christian University.  We were asked by the school president what questions we might have.  My only question at the time was, “How much more per hour will it cost me to have the word ‘university’ on my degree?”  See?  Flippant.  (Although I was paying $500 a credit hour before I finally earned my MDiv!)  I should have instead asked, “What will this mean for Lincoln Christian’s emphasis on being a sending school and remaining true to her identity as a Restoration Movement institution?”

Another opportunity came during my exit interview from the seminary about this time last year.  This interview took place in a group setting (I guess in order to save time).  The usual questions were asked, the usual pat answers, for the most part, were given.  Finally, the inevitable closing question was asked:  “If you could be president of the university for a day, what would you do?”  My (paraphrased) answer to that question was:  “I’d be more interested in keeping this institution’s focus on being a sending school rather than in expanding its academic reputation and options.”  My response was met with instant opposition from several of my peers.  Generally speaking, the negative reaction could be summed up as (1) we need Christians in all vocations, (2) and Lincoln needs to pursue academic excellence.  To both of these assertions I agree.  Not just being flippant but also a people-pleaser, I refrained from elaborating on their responses with the two immediate thoughts that came to mind.

First of all, if someone wants to get a business degree and then actually get hired, one ought to go somewhere that offers a business degree that is respected in the business world.  Yes, we need Christians in every vocation (well, save for exotic dancing, pornography, telemarketing, and other unsavory entrepreneurial fields—only slightly joking about the telemarketing, by the way), but when we turn a school whose focus is preparing men and women for Christian vocation into a school that tries to “be all things to all people,” the school quickly loses its identity.  This has happened again and again to schools within our particular movement.  Bethany College is a prime example.  Founded by Alexander Campbell in 1840, it makes no claim to being a sending school or a Restoration Movement institution today:  “The College's program of classical liberal arts education prepares students for a lifetime of work and a life of significance. Bethany places particular emphasis on leadership and incorporates pre-professional education in dentistry, engineering, law, medicine, physical therapy, public administration, theology and veterinary medicine.” [2]  There’s also Butler University, Texas Christian University, and Pepperdine, to name a few other institutions founded by our movement but who have now all but lost their identity as a Restoration Movement schools.

There’s a reason we have Christian campus ministries, and it’s not just to evangelize students who do not know Christ.  Campus ministries ought to also exist in order to provide college students pursuing non-vocational ministries a place to preserve and nurture their faith while swimming the strong currents of secular academia.

So if a Christian is seeking a non-vocational ministry field, I would point them to a secular liberal arts school with a strong campus ministry presence, a Christian liberal arts school that has a reputation for generating graduates who excel in the particular vocational field the prospective student is seeking, or a Christian sending school that partners with a secular liberal arts school to provide its students with vocational diversity.  I would not recommend that a student who wants to be a businessperson go to a school known for preparing men and women for vocational ministry.

Secondly, pursuing academic excellence and embracing viewpoints that are destructive to one’s stated mission do not have to coexist.  Many of Dr. Le Donne’s supporters have accused the school of sacrificing academic freedom/excellence in making this move.  Any institution has the right to maintain standards by which it is able to carry out its stated mission, so academic “freedom” is limited in any institution of higher learning.  (Just ask intelligent design advocates who have been canned from secular schools!)  There has been a lot of dancing around the issue by these same people concerning Dr. Le Donne’s book, but the fact of the matter is he does implicitly challenge several key Christian doctrines when his position is taken to its inevitable conclusion.  John Hobbins says it well when he sympathetically responds to a pro-Le Donne blog post:

“LeDonne challenges the tacit (not necessarily the real: you will appreciate the distinction) epistemological foundations of broad swathes of Christendom. 

“Moreover, at least not in the book in question, he does not offer a cogent alternative epistemology whereby a believer in Jesus in the sense of Philippians 2, Romans 1, or John 1, to cite confessional statements from the NT, would have justified belief.

“Am I missing something? 

“LCU's mission statement is plain as punch. Whereas I am convinced that LeDonne is an excellent scholar, it is not clear to me that he was contributing well to the objectives of the institution which hired him unless he also articulated a religious epistemology (a rationale of justified belief) compatible with his findings as a NT scholar.

“Since I have some knowledge of the tradition LCU represents, I would add that this would appear from the outside to have been a train wreck just waiting to happen.

“Here's hoping that an institution that relates to a more post-modern polity (in the positive sense!) picks up this fine scholar.” [3]

I was one who expressed my concern about Lincoln Christian University’s direction when approached by an official representative of the school.  The interesting thing about the conversation is that Dr. Le Donne was not even on my mind, but his was the name that popped up in immediate response to my concern.  But Dr. Le Donne’s position in the historical Jesus conversation was only a symptom of what I saw as a larger concern.  It appears to me that the institution seems far more interested in gaining the world of academia’s approval than it is in preparing men and women for vocational ministry.  I was as much told so when the remark was made by the representative that there isn’t a need for preachers like there used to be.  If that is indeed the case, fine, but don’t ask churches and other donors who for years have given their support for the express purpose of preparing men and women for vocational ministry to be happy when you shift your focus to something else.  And when your shift includes the tacit approval of perspectives on what we can know from the Bible that clash with the perspectives of those same churches and other donors, only the naïve would see no inevitable fallout.

I believe Dr. Le Donne is a fine scholar, possesses more intellectual firepower than I can ever hope to have, and will leave a bigger mark in the world of academia than most.  That’s why I see this as a win-win situation both for him and for the university.  I have no doubt he will be able to find a place where he can continue to exercise his intellect and promote his ideas, and Lincoln has taken a positive step in retaining the identity that the majority of her supporters and alumni want her to keep.  But there is still work to be done in this latter endeavor, and only time will tell if this was only a speed bump on the road to "progress" or a turning back to values the school was founded upon.

If you want to lose my respect, all you have to do is call me “anti-intellectual” “fundamentalist,” or someone holding to a “sectarian, obscurantist view of Christianity” (all comments recently posted in response to Dr. Le Donne’s departure from LCU) merely because I disagree with you on how to approach the Bible from epistemological, historical, hermeneutical, and theological perspectives, or because I disagree with you as to what LCU’s emphasis should be.  I don’t see name-calling as very helpful in this dialogue.  Just because my worldview conflicts with yours does not give either of us license to bash the other.

Did LCU's administration cave to pressure from donors, concerned citizens, and certain employees?  I imagine there’s some truth there.  But the greater question is, was it right for them to do so?  In my eyes, LCU is offering a product, a product funded, supported and carried out by those same donors, concerned citizens, and certain employees.  If those entities are unhappy about the product being produced, then they have every right to make some noise and threaten to take their support away, or give it to an institution that will produce the product they are seeking.

Bottom line on this whole issue is this:  if you are unhappy about this move by Lincoln Christian University, do something about it.

Stop merely writing angry blogs.  Stop signing your name on petitions.  Start writing generous checks, and when you do, sign your name on them.

In other words, don't be upset because people put their mouths where their money was; instead, put your money where your mouth is.

If you think LCU ought to be a place where someone like Dr. Le Donne can have the academic freedom to explore and promote whatever ideas he wishes, then give the institution the financial freedom to be such a place.

Convictions that cost nothing aren’t worth a whole lot.

The Many Faces of Facebook: An Open Letter to Christians Who Use Social Networks

There are tons of blogs and articles on the good, the bad, and the ugly of Facebook statuses out there; just ask Google about it.  So why am I bothering to offer my perspective on the issue?  Well, it’s not that I think I can add any new information to the conversation.  However, I would like to address this issue from a Christian perspective, and in particular, I’d like to address it to my Christian friends.

With over 900 million users, Facebook has become one of the world’s largest cyber gathering places.  It’s a great way to share information, to voice opinions, to have conversations, to promote people/places/things, to stay in touch with long-distance friends, and to connect with people we’ve never met face-to-face.  Expressing oneself requires only a few keystrokes and the click of a mouse.  But like anything else inanimate, Facebook is a tool that can be used for good or ill.

James, the half-brother of Jesus, knew how dangerous our speech could be.  Close to 2,000 years ago, he wrote, “It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell” (James 3:5-6, MSG).  The principle carries over to the written word as well, perhaps even more so.  Once something is put down on “digital paper,” it’s pretty hard to take back.

Facebook got its name from the book with students’ pictures, names, and basic information which some colleges and universities hand out at the beginning of the academic year to help their student body get to know one another.  But sometimes when I read certain status updates, I wonder if people have inadvertently wandered in from other sites.  Below are seven “alternate” Facebook sites all Christians need to avoid.  (I picked the number seven because it’s Biblical—yes, that’s said with a wink.)

Firstbook.  Firstbook is especially popular in the small town/rural community.  The members of this social networking site love to be the people with the latest 411, especially if the news is particularly tragic.  If they hear that someone’s Aunt Lucy passed, or so-and-so’s son got busted for pot, or what’s-his-name got in a serious car accident, their fingers will lock up if they don’t hit the keyboard within 5 seconds to let everyone else know that they were the first to know.  Sometimes this will be disguised in obscure terms, like, “Praying hard right now” (see Vaguebook below), so that they can justify leaking the information out when someone comments with, “Why?  What’s going on?”  Often their Firstbook cronies will know all the gory details before immediate family members of the person(s) involved do.  This is really insensitive, especially in the event of someone’s death.  If I lose a loved one, the last place I want to hear about it is from some distant acquaintance’s status update.

Rebook.  (No, not the shoe brand, that’s Reebok.)  This site offers a vast smorgasbord of items for its uninspired and unoriginal subscribers to pass on to others.  Now don’t get me wrong, I appreciate something being passed on if it’s thought-provoking, newsworthy, insightful, or humorous.  If you find something interesting, by all means, pass it on.  (But really, folks, there has to be a limit to talking cat pictures and snarky “greeting card” covers, right?)  The really annoying ones I’m talking about here are the reposts telling me if I love Jesus, world peace, baby seals, tofu, etc., I, too, will repost this information.  The absolute worst are the ones that claim a prayer will be answered, an angel will get its wings, world hunger will be solved, etc., if I share it.  These people should be thankful I don’t pass these on; otherwise, God might indeed answer my prayer and they’d no longer have the capability of polluting my newsfeed with such posts.

Vaguebook.  Vaguebook is the information superhighway’s gathering place for people silently screaming for attention.  You know the type.  They’ll post something like, “Ticked off! >.<” “What comes around goes around,” or “Words can’t convey how I feel right now.”  Their Facebook friends will gather over said status update and scratch their heads as they wonder what this post is all about.  Meanwhile, the original poster is dying a slow death inside as they watch their baited line float along the currents of the newsfeed.  Then, that first comment finally appears:  “Everything all right?”  “Can I do anything for you?”  “What’s wrong?”  With the hook set and feeling validated/loved, the Vaguebooker will then open the floodgates on the unsuspecting but compassionate inquirer.

Inyourfacebook.  The passive-aggressive set have made Inyourfacebook a cyberspace success.  Here is where people can unload on others with relative impunity.  Got a beef with your next-door neighbor?  Your boss?  The school board?  That rude checker at Wal-Mart?  Someone else’s bratty kid?  No problem!  Log in and give them a good what-for so everyone can see just how mad you are and how you aren’t scared to show it.  Cool thing is, you can do this all from the relative safety of your La-Z-Boy, and if the target of your ire gets offended, there’s nothing that says you have to answer that angry knocking at your door.

Blackbook.  No, this isn’t a site to store all the contact information of your past loves.  Blackbook is where people go to suck the joy out of all others.  Every status update from them is a complaint, a grim observation, or a dark cloud seeking to rain on everyone else’s parade.  Some people, like me, are pessimistic by nature, but the Blackbookers revel in spreading their gloom to all corners of the global community.  Don’t try to cheer these folks up, either; they seek not comfort, but company, for their misery.

Foulbook.  The ESRB has rated this site “M” for mature, meaning that status updates from Foulbook’s subscribers may contain “intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content and/or strong language.”  (I take issue with the “mature” and “adult” ratings of the ESRB.  Exactly how mature or adult is a person who consistently reduces the English language to crude profanity and talks incessantly about inappropriate subject matter?)  Foulbook, sometimes called “F-book” for obvious reasons, is where you can find statuses filled with cursing, shared images one step removed from outright pornography, and constant glorying in ungodly behavior.  “Tied one on last night, it was great, lol.”  “That @#%&$* better watch out for me.”

“Check out the (insert body part here) on this hottie!”  “@#$#%#$ #$%#$%^ !@#^*% #$%#$%!!!!”  Foulbook makes NetNanny dial 911.

Samebook.  Samebook is where Christians go to blend in with the culture around them.  Nothing about their status updates, interests, or likes would make anyone suspect them of being a Christian.  This makes it a haven for those who don’t want to offend anyone, who believe “religion” is a private matter not to be shared in the marketplace of ideas, who are more worried about what people think about them than they are the final destination of those same people.  Often the argument Samebookers will make is this:  “If I’m sneaky about my faith, then I’ll eventually be accepted by those in the culture around me.  Then I can share my faith.”  But that moment of sharing never comes.  There’s too much of a price to be paid.  People might think you’re a kook.  They might mock you.  They might even unfriend you.  That’s why Samebook will always come free of charge.  Don’t get me wrong; I’m not advocating a cyberChristian ghetto like Faithbook or Christbook (yes, these sites exist), where Christians only hang out with other Christians and talk about their latest witness wear purchases.  We need to be engaged in the culture around us.  But if all we do is mingle with those around us and never show the distinguishing marks of being a Christ follower, what’s the point?

Do your posts look like they belong on any of these sites rather than Facebook?

If you’re feeling a little put-upon by this blog, I’d like to encourage you with this confession.  I have to admit that it’s somewhat embarrassing for me to share this.  There have been times when my status updates look like they could have come from a great many of these sites themselves.  I’m a recovering abuser of my Facebook opportunities, and I still fall from time to time.  So I don’t come to this issue from on high with an outstretched index finger of condemnation (please ignore my humorous-to-me profile picture as you reflect on this), but as a partner in brokenness seeking to soften my sharp edges along with yours.

Here’s a simple acronym I came across several years ago that can help all of us in our quest to make the most of our Facebook posts.  It was originally intended for our speech, but it crosses over into status updates and tweets as well.  I don’t know where it originated from, so I can’t give credit; if anyone knows the primary source, please post a comment below.

T.H.I.N.K. before you post.

T – Is what you’re about to post TRUE?

H – Is what you’re about to post HELPFUL?

I – Is what you’re about to post INSPIRING?

N – Is what you’re about to post NECESSARY?

K – Is what you’re about to post KIND?

These are not easy standards with which to approach social networking.  Often a post can be true but not helpful, necessary but not kind, or kind but not true.  But if we can filter our posts through this grid, I think we will find the quality of our status updates markedly improved.  

Facebook is not just a pastime; it’s a tremendous tool, and like any tool, it can be used for good or for ill.  Above all, Facebook, just like any other expression of our identity, ought to point people to the person and work of Jesus Christ.  Let’s do our best to make the most of it.  “Be gracious in your speech. The goal is to bring out the best in others in a conversation, not put them down, not cut them out” (Colossians 4:6, MSG).  Blessings!

Sleeping Beauty

This was a message I delivered during our community-wide sunrise service this past Easter, April 8.  I believe it is relevant to many small-town communities across America.

The Prince and His Bride.

John informed his wife Isabel one night that a guest was coming to dinner.  And this wasn’t just any guest; this was one of John’s former wives.  And she wasn’t just coming to dinner, she was coming to stay with them permanently.

John loved this former wife of his dearly.  But they had been separated, and she had gone missing in South America over fifteen years ago.  And after a bizarre trail of mysterious travels she finally surfaced, appearing first in Germany, then in Rome, then in Milan, and now, finally, she was going to be reunited with John at his home in Madrid, Spain.  And John was excited and overjoyed at the news.

Isabel’s reaction to all of this was quite odd.  She listened to John attentively, nodding her head, even smiling at times.  And when John’s former wife arrived, Isabel welcomed her into her home and made a place for her at the dinner table.  Night after night, year after year, John and Isabel and John’s former wife could be found in the dining room at supper time.  Isabel took care of the other woman, combing her hair daily, applying makeup, even helping to get her dressed.  But never once did John’s other wife utter a word of thanks or give a smile of gratitude.

It was a bizarre arrangement, to say the least.  And no doubt you’ll think it even odder when you learn that John’s former wife wasn’t even alive.  He and his current wife Isabel shared their dining room with a carefully preserved cadaver.

John’s full name was Juan Peron.  He was the former dictator of Argentina.  And his former wife, the beautiful Evita, the darling of Argentina’s working class, had tragically died at the young age of 33.  It was she whom Madonna played in the 1997 film Evita, in which she sang those famous words, “Don’t cry for me, Argentina.”

Heartbroken over his wife’s death, Juan Peron immediately paid a forensic doctor $100,000, a very handsome sum in 1952, to preserve her body.  And he commissioned a giant monument to be made in her honor where her body would be on permanent display.

Don't cry for me, Argentina!

But in 1955 after a military coup, Juan Peron was run out of Argentina.  Evita’s body remained, but the new regime was reluctant to destroy it, lest they incite a riot.  So it was hidden away in various places, even spending some time stuffed inside the couch of an army major.  It finally came to rest in a grave under a false name in Milan, Italy, where Peron’s supporters discovered it and retrieved it for him in 1971.

It takes a perverse and morbid mind to prefer the cold touch of a lifeless corpse over the warm embrace of a vibrant wife.  Most of us would say that Juan Peron was a somewhat disturbed individual.  I think Jesus would agree.

Revelation 3 begins with a letter Jesus dictates to the church at Sardis.  It is the fifth church of seven to whom Jesus directed the apostle John to compose a letter.  The former letters to the churches at Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, and Thyatira have revealed to us that the church in John’s day, much like the church today, was beset with cultural compromise, hostile persecution, rigid legalism, and the danger of apostasy.  The letter to the church at Sardis reveals that it was on the verge of losing its relevance in its community.  Hear the word of God, starting Revelation 3, verse 1:

“And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: ‘The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.

“‘I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. ² Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. ³ Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you. ⁴ Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. ⁵ The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. ⁶ He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”

The seven churches in Asia Minor to whom Jesus
directed John to write.

The city of Sardis, located some 40 miles southeast of Thyatira in Asia Minor, was a rival of both Ephesus and Smyrna.  The once-proud capital of the ancient kingdom of Lydia, Sardis had been destroyed by an earthquake in 17 AD, and quickly rebuilt.  Having an estimated population of 80,000, it was a city of sophisticated paganism, housing temples to various deities and demigods.  It also had a synagogue roughly the size of a football field, able to hold a thousand worshiping Jews.

In his letter to the believers at Sardis, Jesus makes no mention of their persecution, a good indication that the church there was not under attack—this despite the fact that the Christians were surrounded on one side by zealous Jews and on the other by polytheistic Greeks and Romans.  While churches in Smyrna and Pergamum were facing hostility from their pagan and Jewish neighbors, the church in Sardis was safely secure.

The church in Sardis was safely secure because it was safely asleep.  No one gets too upset at a church that does nothing, says nothing, that keeps to itself and minds its own business.  No one gets too upset at a church with no witness, a church with no influence, a church with no relevance.  According to one New Testament scholar, the church at Sardis was the perfect example of inoffensive Christianity.  No one gets too upset at a church like that.  No one, that is, except Jesus.

Jesus is not subtle when he holds up the mirror to the church at Sardis.  They have the reputation of being alive, but in his eyes, the only eyes that really count, they are dead.  The church at Sardis had become a lifeless shell.  They continued to meet for services; they praised God, they recalled the good old days.  Other churches knew of their existence, had heard of their reputation, but for some time that reputation had been like a large chocolate Easter bunny; it looked impressive on the outside, but on the inside it was just empty air.

Is our reputation only surface-deep?

These weren’t bad people.  They hadn’t compromised their faith.  They still loved Jesus.  They were just asleep, inactive, for all intents and purposes, dead.  By means of contrast, Jesus says those who have remained awake are walking with him in unsoiled, white garments.  That’s a sign for purity.  It seems to me that Jesus is saying here that those who have dozed off are sleeping in dirty clothes.  Can it be that a silent church is as offensive to Jesus as a sinful church?  I think perhaps the answer is yes.

Implicitly, Jesus also seems to indicate that those who will not carry his name boldly will have their own name removed from the Lamb’s Book of Life, that those who will not openly confess his name to others will discover that Jesus will not confess their name before the angels or His Father.  Now, you might think to yourself, that just means they were never Christians in the first place.  I'm not here to dance on the end of a pin with you.  I say tomayto, you say tomahto.  The result is the same.

Sadly, I think of the seven letters Christ wrote to the churches in Asia Minor over 1900 years ago, this letter is the one that would most closely resemble the letter he would write to the church of small town America today.  I wonder if Jesus would tell us that we are focused more on the glory days of a bygone age than we are on our ongoing commission today?

You're right!  This is way cooler than my iPod Touch!

Many small town churches have lost their relevance and their voice in their communities.  The world has shifted around us, the landscape of small-town America has changed.  Gone are the days when everyone knew their neighbors and most everybody farmed for a living.  Although 25% of Americans live in small towns, only 2% of those living in small towns are actually farmers these days.  The small town has become globally aware and socio-economically diverse.  And yet we continue applying principles that were effective sixty years ago and wonder why our congregations continue to dwindle.  In a wireless, high-definition, three-dimensional, surround-sound culture, the church continues to bring a flannelgraph mindset to the marketplace of ideas and wonders why no one cares.

One of my seminary professors, Dr. Paul Boatman, once remarked:  “I have visited congregations where the buildings are well cared for, the people are friendly, at least to one another, and they have a schedule of ‘churchy’ activities.  Yet as I left, I found myself asking, ‘Why would anyone choose to be a part of the church?’  The faith was not presented winsomely, the worship had an air of lifeless ritual, and the whole experience was akin to visiting a family museum.”

The church must continually assess and adapt its methodology in presenting the good news about Jesus Christ.  In an ever-changing world, the church must ever change the way it presents the unchanging gospel.  We cannot be so stuck on the past that we ignore the people of the present.

If we don't stop apathy, it
will stop us.

But I think even more than that, the church must first regain its passion for the gospel.  Like the church at Sardis, we must remember what we have received—the incomparable riches of God at Christ’s expense.  And we must cling so tenaciously to the gospel that we cannot help but share it with others.  If we really believe that Jesus is the only means of salvation, hadn’t we ought to act like it?

Edinburg is changing.  It’s changed in the seven short years that I’ve been here.  Not all the changes have been positive; in fact, many have been for the worse.  But two things have never changed:  the gospel of Jesus Christ and the church’s mission to share that gospel with others.  Now, more than ever, Edinburg needs the church to be the church.

There are hundreds of people in this community who desperately need Jesus.  Why is it that, when those who need Christ the most finally realize it and they begin to seek the Lord, they go to a church outside of our community to find Him?  What is it about our churches that they find so unappealing?  Can’t they find Jesus here?

It's not our size but His that matters.

We can say it’s simply a numbers game, that our churches are too small to make a difference.  But that’s not the problem.  It was Dr. Howard Hendricks who once said, “The problem is not the size of your church, it is the significance of your church.  The reason many churches are small is that they are comprised of a group of small people with a very small God, a very small faith, and a very small confidence that God wants to use them in a significant way in their community.”

Are we troubled that Christ might perceive our community’s churches to be alive by reputation but are dead in evangelistic zeal, that our buildings are well-maintained, but we never venture out of them, that our idea of mission is to send money to foreign countries while we neglect the needs of our next-door neighbors?  Are we disturbed that Christ might say of us, “They go through the motions, but it’s been a long time since they have expected me to do anything in Edinburg?”

If we are troubled by these thoughts, we must also take comfort that Christ is the Living One, who was once dead himself but is now alive, who holds the keys of Death and Hades in his hand, who by the word of his mouth can raise the dead.  He is the resurrection and the life, and the grave is no bar to his call.

Jesus is in the resurrection business.

The is the One who raised Jairus’ daughter from the dead, who breathed new life into the son of the widow of Nain, the One who at the tomb of his dead friend shouted, “Lazarus, come forth!”  Jesus is in the resurrection business.  That’s what he does.  And if we ask him to, he will roll back the stone of our ecclesiastical tombs, rip away the grave clothes of our complacency, and shout out, “Churches of Edinburg, come forth!”  If we want him to, Jesus can raise us from the dead, too.

If you go over to our church and walk down the hall to my office, you will notice two signs on my office door.  Both are pertinent to our present time and situation.  The first one simply says, “Perhaps today.”  It’s a constant reminder to me that time is short, that at any moment, the sky could be torn open, and with a shout of command, with the voice of an archangel, with the sound of the trumpet of God, Christ could return and the end of days be upon us.  And there are still many, many people here in Edinburg who do not know him.  Before the Lord comes like a thief, we ought to do our best to see that everyone possible is keeping an eye out for his return.

The second sign says, “Yes, there is a God, and no, you aren’t him.”  That’s a reminder to me that I cannot, that you cannot, that we cannot, our churches cannot accomplish this mission on our own.  If we want to win this community to Christ, we’re going to have to lean on his grace, be transformed into his likeness, and be empowered by his Spirit.

So here’s where the rubber meets the road this morning.  If you look around Edinburg and don’t like what you see, if you look inside your church buildings on Sunday morning and you don’t like what you see, if you look at your family and your extended family and you don’t like what you see, if you look at your own walk with Jesus and you don’t like what you see, it is time to take action.  Here’s what you do:

Pray.

The church is the only army that advances on its knees.

I want you to pray for revival.  I want you to pray for revival in your own walk with Christ, pray for revival in your families, pray for revival in your churches, pray for revival in this community.  Pray, starting now, and keep praying all the way to Pentecost Sunday—this coming Memorial Day weekend.  Pray every day.  Pray expecting something to happen.  Pray to a big God, a God with a big heart and big hands who would love to see something big happen here in Edinburg.

But be careful, brothers and sisters.  If you pray like that, with intensity, intentionality, and conviction, God will honor your prayers.  He’ll start to work in your life, he’ll start to work in your family, he’ll start to work in your churches, and he’ll start to work in this community.  He’ll take you from where you are to where he wants you to be and where you need to be.  He’ll move you ever closer to him.  Your path to Jesus will be difficult, fraught with peril, but it will be the most rewarding journey you’ll ever take.

Juan Peron was a sick man.  After recovering Evita’s body, he would often encourage his current wife Isabel to spend some time lying next to the cold and lifeless cadaver resting on the dining room table.  He thought that somehow, through this close proximity to the dead love of his life, Isabel might somehow absorb her charisma and beauty.

Intimacy with Christ
transforms us.

Jesus is a much better bridegroom.  He does not ask his beautiful bride, the Church, to lay next to something dead so that she might incorporate the qualities of a corpse.  No, he lavishes love on his bride, and he tells her, “Come close to me, spend time with me, follow me” because he knows that the closer we are to him, the more like him we will become.

Sleeping Beauty touched the spindle of a spinning wheel and fell into a deep sleep.  Soon everyone in the castle fell asleep, too, and a hedge of briar roses grew up around her castle until it was completely obscured and impregnable.  And there they lay for a hundred years, silent and all but forgotten as the world passed them by.  That is, until a persistent Prince decided that nothing would stop him from seeing Sleeping Beauty.  He eventually broke through to her, woke her with a kiss, and they all lived happily ever after.

Perhaps we have touched the spindle of complacency, have fallen into the slumber of irrelevance, and the hedgerow of indifference has grown up around our sanctuaries.  If that’s the case, the Prince of Peace will not let us rest.  He will pursue us with his relentless love.  He will chase us down until he makes us his.  We still have work to do, Sleeping Beauty!  Have you not felt the kiss of your Prince?  Have you not been warmed by the embrace of your Master?  Wake up!  Be his Bride, be his Church.  Pray for revival.  Love God, love people, save the world!