Category: Christian Living

Pursuing a holistic expression of Christian faith that is true to the Bible and applicable for today’s world.

Be Careful What We Sing at Church

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date February 22, 2015

Be Careful What We Sing at Church

The tempo was upbeat and the song was inviting. Though new to me, I picked it up quickly. On the third time through the chorus, I started really contemplating the words—and I stopped singing.

Really, I did—right in midsentence. The words were wrong.

Though it’s technically illegal for me to quote song lyrics (and I don’t want to out an accomplished songwriter), the gist was that when things go bad, God will immediately rescue us.

I don’t see that happen very often in the Bible. Usually, God waits. I don’t often experience instant resolutions in my own life, either. Usually, he says to be patient.

Yes, God provides, and he does answer my prayers, but he does it in his own way and in his own time. Seldom are the heavy things resolved immediately.

The song paints the expectation of instant gratification. Though appealing to modern society, it’s a bad way to understand God. The song should have said that when things go bad, we need to be patient; in the end, God will come through.

That’s good teaching.

My concern is for people who base their understanding of God from the songs we sing in church. If they believe he will always immediately rescue them, as the song says, will their faith suffer a crisis when their experience is different?

When God tarries, as he sometimes does, will they give up on God and walk away?

I hope not, but I fear so.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

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Tags church, faith, good music, pray, theology, worship

Christian Living

Is Church When Two or Three Are Gathered?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date February 15, 2015
2 Comments on Is Church When Two or Three Are Gathered?

Meeting in Jesus’s Name

Jesus says that whenever a few people get together in his name, he will be there. Isn’t this what church is? Jesus shows up when we collectively meet and treat him as the main attraction; this is the church at its most basic and purest level.

Though we typically think of this as involving hundreds of people, Jesus says it only takes a few. And he says nothing about it being at 10 a.m. on a Sunday or requiring music and a message—just people.

So can church occur with a friend at a coffee shop? I say yes!

How about in a park, at a museum, or on a nature walk? Yes!

Can church happen during dinner at a friend’s house? Yes!

How about watching TV, playing a game, or just hanging out? Yes, yes, and yes!

Does any gathering that fosters community, constitute a church? As long as Jesus is the intention, the answer is yes.

Two or three gathered in his name. That’s what we did last Sunday at a friend’s house; it was church; and it was better than most any Sunday service.

Church can occur anytime a handful of people get together. All we need to do is make Jesus the focus. Shouldn’t we be doing that anyway?

[Matthew 18:19-20]

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Tags church, Jesus

Christian Living

What Does Your Bucket List Say About You?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date February 11, 2015

Identify What Is Important to You

The 2007 movie Bucket List followed two terminally-ill men facing the end of their lives. They each listed things they wanted to do before they “kicked the bucket” (died), which they called their “bucket list.”

Then they set out to do as many of those things as possible.

This movie inspired many people to make their own bucket list.

Some bucket list items are extravagant and expensive, while others are simple tasks that could be done at any time and for little money. Some people list dreams outside their control, such as falling in love or getting married.

Others write down goals or resolutions, such as graduate from college or lose weight. Some items on people’s bucket lists are things I’ve already done, but most are things I don’t care to do or figure aren’t worthwhile.

A Sign of Commitment

As for myself, I don’t have a bucket list.

This bothered me. Did the absence of a bucket list portray a lack of imagination? No, left unchecked my imagination swells to Walter Mitty proportions. Does it mean I’ve already done everything I want to do?

Far from it, I have much remaining on my to do list. Even more worrisome, does an empty list reveal a lack of ambition? I hope not.

I have many goals and dreams, but none of these are bucket list material; they are merely living life to its fullest.

I think my lack of a bucket list is simply a sign of contentment.

It’s not that I don’t want to do more and don’t strive to accomplish things, it’s that I’m content with who I am and were I am. This contentment isn’t natural for me but a reflection of the God who is at work in me.

While I thank God for the imagination, work, and ambition he gave me, I also thank him for contentment that fills me with peace and removes an unhealthy yearning for what I don’t have.

I don’t have a bucket list, and I’m okay with that.

Thank you God!

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Christian Living

What Does The Sword of the Spirit Mean?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date February 8, 2015

Understand the Word of God

In the letter Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus he tells them to put on spiritual armor. Included in his list of gear is only one offensive item: “the sword of the Spirit,” which he says is the word of God.

Many people understand this as a reference to the Bible, the written word of God. Until a few years ago, I did, too (even though the Bible as we know it today didn’t exist back when this was written).

We are then to use the words of the Bible to combat evil and the evil one; it is our weapon to fend off the attacks of the devil and his minions. Sadly, too many people do use the Bible as a weapon, but against each other.

They fling Bible verses like rocks, attempting to advance their point and subdue all disagreement. They forget the real enemy is not in the physical world but in the spiritual one. They forget to listen to each other and to love one another.

Other people see this instruction as a reference to the spoken word of God: the words of the Holy Spirit who directs each of us.

Though a bit jarring to many, this understanding seems more consistent with the text, since it says the word of God is the sword of the Spirit, connecting word with Spirit.

While I think this is a correct understanding, it’s also a risky one. What if we hear wrong? What if what I hear contradicts with what you hear? Then we have a problem.

However, we must keep in mind that the spoken word of God should align with the written word of God. If the two are in conflict, then what we think we heard must be in error.

With so much at stake, some people bypass the Holy Spirit and go straight to the Bible. While this might be safe, it falls short of God’s intent.

Instead, we should listen to the spoken words of the Holy Spirit, confirming them with the written words of the Bible.

This is what the sword of the Spirit means to me.

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Tags Bible, God, Holy Spirit, Sword of the Spirit

Christian Living

Why Do We Do the Things We Do?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date February 1, 2015

Most people whose faith is more than in name only, have certain religious rituals as part of their spiritual practices. A common one is church attendance. Another may be giving money or tithing to the church.

Participation in a Bible study, small group, or midweek meeting is a third practice many people pursue. Introspective spiritual activities can include Bible reading and study, prayer, meditation, and fasting. I’m sure there are more.

Why do we do these things? Here are some common reasons:

Out of Habit

While habits can be good, an unexamined habit becomes a mindless ritual. God deserves better.

To Avoid Feeling Guilty

While there is a good type of guilt, most guilt is bad. Seek to understand the source of this guilt. If it’s another person – either directly or indirectly—it’s likely a bad guilt.

To Earn God’s Love

The starting point in our relationship with God is that he loves us. We don’t need to earn it; we already have it. There’s nothing we can do to make him love us more. (And nothing we can do to make him love us less.)

To Get God’s Attention

Do we do things to show God how righteous we are in order to get his attention? If we do, first of all, it’s just a show. Second, we already have his attention.

Because the Bible Says To

Citing the Bible as justification for certain actions is noteworthy, but we must be careful. Does the Bible actually say what we think it says? Are we making unwarranted assumptions and jumping to wrong conclusions? Too often the answer is “yes.”

I can claim all of these reasons at one time or another. And they are all wrong. Here are the real reasons we should pursue our various spiritual practices; anything else is futility:

To Express Love to God

God loves us and wants to be in relationship with us. We should want to love him back. Remember, we’re not trying to earn his love or get his attention; we’re simply trying to say “I love you, too,” intangible and meaningful ways.

To Worship God

True worship is our ultimate gift to God. Though he doesn’t need our worship, he does deserve it. How we choose to worship him need not be like everyone else, but it should come from our heart.

Loving God and worshiping God may be opposite sides of the same coin. I’m not sure if we can separate the two. The things we do and the things we don’t do should be intentional decisions for the express purpose of loving and worshiping God.

Any other reason falls short.

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Tags love, small group, worship

Christian Living

I Love the Church, Really I Do

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date January 25, 2015

In this blog, I write a lot about the church. My comments are mostly critical.

This isn’t because I hate the church. It’s because I love the church. Really I do. If I didn’t care, I wouldn’t bother to point out how church could be better.

The church often falls short of what it could be, short of what it should be. Our Father deserves more, Jesus desires better, and the Holy Spirit is poised to help us make it happen. It is, after all, God’s church, not ours.

We comprise the church that Jesus started—not our buildings, denominations, programs, or procedures.

People are the church. For many folks this requires a changed perspective.

Consider three short verbs: go, do, and be.

Most people talk about going to church. It’s something they accomplish each week. They go, spend an hour, and leave. They check off their “go to church” box for the week. Then they’re done.

Some people talk about doing church. They want to do church in a different way. I appreciate their vision; I applaud their zeal. They strive to put meaning and purpose back into the habit of attending church.

They are moving in the right direction, but they stop short.

A few people talk about being the church. They want to be the church to the world around them. To be the church, they form a community to worship God and serve others.

They function as the church. They are the church Jesus started. And they’re the church I love.

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Tags church, community

Christian Living

Are You a Christian Pharisee?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date January 22, 2015
2 Comments on Are You a Christian Pharisee?

Whenever I come across the word Pharisee in the Bible, my first thought is, I’m glad I’m not a Pharisee. Then I rush on to read the next verse.

Pharisees comprised a sect of Judaism. A religious bunch, they received the bulk of Jesus’ criticism over their conceited behavior and self-righteous attitudes.

Though Jesus accepted most people as they were, loving them in spite of themselves, he was quick to censure the Pharisees for their legalistic approach to living life. They were the bad guys of the New Testament. I’m glad I’m not a Pharisee.

However, when I come across the word Pharisee in the Bible, I now no longer breeze past it with smug self-assurance. I now substitute the word Christian for it, which gives me the opportunity to consider if I do, at times, act like a Pharisee.

Though this switch obscures the original meaning, it also makes it more personal, allowing for better self-examination.

There are, of course, other words that might work even better for some people, such as Protestant, Catholic, or Orthodox. Perhaps using evangelical or charismatic might make these verses more personal.

Or insert your particular denomination, such as Baptist, Lutheran, Episcopal, Methodist, Pentecostal, and so forth. Pick the term you most identify with, use it to replace Pharisee, and let God speak to you. Then be sure to listen.

Though it’s an uncomfortable thought, I wonder if we Christians are more like Pharisees then we care to admit.

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Tags Christian Pharisee, evangelical, Jesus, read the Bible

Christian Living

Do You Really Want Your Church To Grow?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date January 18, 2015

Most people who go to church say they want their church to grow. However, they usually have an unstated assumption: they want the new people to be just like them. Although understandable, this is also wrong.

Unfortunately, the only place to find more people like them is at another church. In essence, they want to grow their church at the expense of another.

This is a zero-sum game, where the overall church doesn’t get bigger but merely shuffles people between locations.

To truly grow our churches we need to find people who are not like us. But are we truly ready for what that entails? Consider what these folks might look like:

A homeless man staggers in. He hasn’t bathed in days. The odor is so intense no one can stand near him; his clothes are so dirty you don’t even want him to sit down. All his possessions are stuffed into an even dirtier backpack. And when he gets a whiff of the communion wine, he starts acting squirrely.
A young single mom marches in with four children in tow. They don’t look alike, and you learn each child has a different last name. The kids are okay, but none of them wear the “proper clothes” or know the “right way to behave” in church. Overall, they are a disruption.
Two guys saunter in. They’re holding hands and wearing wedding bands; they refer to each other as “my husband.”

How would your church react? Would you welcome these folks, extend the love of Jesus, and refuse to judge? Would your church see these visitors as an answer to prayer or a problem to deal with?

If your church did embrace them, you could grow by eight people. And once they knew your church was a safe place, they’d tell their friends, and you could grow even more.

Over time, your church would look less like you and more like them. Jesus would be thrilled, but what about you?

If this is what real church growth looks like, do you really want your church to grow?

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Tags church, church attendance

Christian Living

How Do We Worship God?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date January 11, 2015

Celebrate the Savior

Many churches call their Sunday morning services a worship service. Does that mean going to church is worshipping God? I suppose it could be, but I don’t think many people believe that.

Instead, they focus on a particular aspect of the service as worship: the singing part. So singing can be worship. But where does that leave someone like me who can’t sing and doesn’t really even like to try?

I’ve also heard ministers say, “Let’s worship God with our tithes and offerings.” That implies donations are worship.

Except that we’re not giving our money to God but to people who—with varying degrees of success—endeavor to spend it on the things they think are important to God.

I’m all about charity. But because there’s an intermediary with our church donations, it doesn’t feel much like worshiping God but instead supporting a manmade institution.

Here are some other ideas of worship that resonate with me more so than singing and donating:

Help Others

Assisting those in need, either with our time or our money, can be an act of worship.

Appreciate Nature

Enjoying God’s creation affirms the creator and can serve as powerful worship.

Study the Bible

Scouring God’s Word for insights about him and how to serve him may be a viable act of worship.

Pray

As we move our prayers from telling God what we want towards sharing and listening, we approach worship.

Fast

Done with integrity, going without can be another way to worship God; it’s not for us but for him.

Hang Out With God

In all these ways, and many others, we can spend time with God. When our focus is on him, we worship him.

What I do know is that the Bible encourages us to worship God in spirit and in truth. Though I’m still working out what that fully means, it is my goal, my heart’s desire:

To wholly worship God in spirit and in truth. The way I do it is secondary.

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Tags worship

Christian Living

Interfaith Dialogue

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date December 28, 2014

A Good Thing Versus a Slippery Slope That Threatens Our Faith’s Essence

I’m a huge advocate of Christian unity and an equally huge opponent of denominations. After all, denominations are the antithesis of unity. Think about it.

Virtually all denominations resulted from disunity: of disagreements over things that didn’t really matter, of not getting along with one another, of saying “it’s my way or the highway.”

The solution is for all Christians to focus on our commonality in Jesus and not let anything else divide us. It’s that simple.

Now, what about other faiths? What should our reaction be to them?

Interfaith dialogue is a great start; it certainly beats not talking.

I recently heard a missionary explain that interfaith dialogue isn’t about sinking to find the least common denominator between two faiths; instead it’s about sharing who we truly are, of fully embracing one another.

Then I shared this idea with some ministers. They were shocked; in their experience, interfaith dialogue is always about finding the least common denominator. They didn’t see how it could be any other way.

I think the key is perspective. If we go into interfaith dialogue seeking to find the least common denominator, we will surely find it and likely find the experience disappointing.

However, if our goal is to mutually share who we fully are in our respective faiths, then true communication will take place and understanding is poised to occur.

When interacting with people of other faiths, we need to communicate our differences, not cover them. That’s when understanding can take place. While we don’t need to agree with one another, we do need to respect one another.

If we approach interfaith dialogue with a least common denominator attitude, then it does indeed become a slippery slope.

However, if we seek to share the totality of our respective faiths, then greater understanding and increased respect is the likely outcome.

And that’s a good thing.

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Tags unity