Jesus’s Broken Church E-Book

Peter DeHaan

• Herausgeber: Rock Rooster Books
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 146

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2020

Beschreibung

Do you have a nagging feeling that something's missing from your church experience?

You're not alone. And it's time to discover a better way.

Church-reform advocate and Bible scholar Peter DeHaan, PhD is a strong proponent of meaningful Christian community. In Jesus's Broken Church he uses Scripture to guide us into right practices and away from the off-track customs that most every church adheres to.

The problem is that today's church follows an Old Testament model. We go to a building where we have professional clergy serve as our liaison between us and God. Then we pay for the whole thing with our tithes and offerings—just like Moses instructed.

But Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament. Through him we are the church, we are living stones. We don't need to go to a building. As the church, we take it with us wherever we go. And we don't need paid clergy either. Each of us serves as priests to one another. Or at least we should.

In Jesus's Broken Church, you'll discover:

- How Jesus moves us from an Old Testament understanding to New Testament enlightenment

- The early church's approach to their meetings, which we neglect to follow today

- Essential New Testament practices that are more important than song and sermon

- Biblical ideas to inform the activities of our spiritual communities

- Seven religious concepts that require reformation

If you happen to like how your church functions, then don't buy this book. It will only make you mad. But if you sometimes leave your Sunday service feeling let down, that something is lacking and there must be more, then this book can guide you into a new direction.

Get your copy of Jesus's Broken Church today to discover what's missing and how to fix it.

Leseprobe

Jesus’s Broken Church

Reimagining Our Sunday Traditions from a New Testament Perspective

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Peter DeHaan, PhD

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Jesus’s Broken Church: Reimagining Our Sunday Traditions from a New Testament Perspective Copyright © 2020 by Peter DeHaan.

All rights reserved: No part of this book may be reproduced, disseminated, or transmitted in any form, by any means, or for any purpose without the express written consent of the author or his legal representatives. The only exception is the cover image and short excerpts for reviews or academic research.

Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

ISBNs:

978-1-948082-47-1 (e-book)

978-1-948082-48-8 (paperback)

978-1-948082-49-5 (hardcover)

978-1-948082-56-3 (audiobook)

Published by Spiritually Speaking Publishing

Credits:

Developmental editor: Kathryn Wilmotte

Copy editor/proofreader: Robyn Mulder

Cover design: Cassia Friello

Author photo: Chele Reagh, PippinReaghDesign

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To all who sense that something is missing

Contents

Zealous about Church

Chapter 1: The Old Testament Approach

Chapter 2: Following the Old Testament Model

Chapter 3: Jesus Fulfills the Old Testament Practice

Chapter 4: The New Testament Approach to Church

Chapter 5: Ten More New Testament Practices

Chapter 6: Five New Testament Ideas for Church

Chapter 7: Seven Things That Must Change

Chapter 8: Church Keys

Chapter 9: Perspectives We Must Change

Chapter 10: Next Steps

Moving Forward

Further Discussion

Acknowledgments

About Peter DeHaan

Books by Peter DeHaan

Zealous about Church

“Why do you so hate the church?”

Shocked, I furrow my eyebrows and scowl at my friend. “I don’t hate church.”

“But you’re always criticizing it in your blog.”

This gives me pause. True, much of my writing about the church doesn’t celebrate what she does well but rebukes her for what she does poorly or doesn’t do at all.

“I don’t hate the church,” I say again, as if trying to convince myself. “I love the church, really I do. I write to challenge her to do better because I know she can.”

My friend nods, but I’m not sure I convince her.

In truth, I’m zealous about church.

Over the centuries the church has done much to advance the cause of Jesus, help people find their way to eternal life, and perform acts of generosity that point an unbelieving world to Jesus. Today’s church continues to do that. And I hope church has done that for you.

But lest we feel smug about the church’s achievements, today’s church does only a small fraction of what she could be doing, of what she should be doing. I’m sad to say that the church has lost her way. She’s off track and has missed the mark for much of her existence. This pains me as much as a spike driven into my heart, into my very soul, the core of my being. I mourn what the church is because she’s falling far short of her potential, of her calling.

It’s like being a parent of a brilliant, gifted child who muddles her way through school and gets Cs, even though she could be earning As in advanced classes. As a loving parent, we’d do whatever we could to shake the apathetic inertia out of our child and get her to live up to her potential. But since she won’t, we prod her to do better.

Just as we would do this for our children, I do this for my church with the same imperative passion. I metaphorically shake her in hopes that she’ll do better—because she can. I do this through the words I write. It’s the best way I know to help.

At this point, some of you may be saying “Amen, preach it!” but others—most of you, I suspect—may have felt your hackles rise at my insulting, impertinent words. You’re angry and thinking about slamming this book shut. You might be yelling at me right now. That’s okay. I get it. But before you bail on me, I challenge you to stick with me a little bit longer. Give me a chance to explain.

A Biblical Church

If asked, most people would say the practices of their church are biblical. I’d say that about every church I’ve been part of. I’d even say this for every church I visited in my book 52 Churches and its sequels.

Let’s run through a typical church service.

There’s preaching. That’s in the Bible. Check.

There’s singing. Also in the Bible. Check.

There’s praying, an offering (or two), and a concluding blessing. All biblical. Check, check, check.

We meet every Sunday, just like the Bible says. Check. (More on that later.) We may volunteer, tithe, and respect our pastor. More checkmarks. Yes, today’s church services are most biblical—or so they seem.

Yet, we read the Bible through the lens of our experiences. The things we do in church, we find mentioned in the Bible. This confirms we’re doing things the biblical way, God’s way. Yet we may be connecting dots we shouldn’t connect.

For example, the Bible tells us to not give up meeting together (Hebrews 10:24–25). Is this a command to go to church every Sunday? Not really—despite what many preachers claim.

We take our experiences, then we find justification for them in the Bible, even if it isn’t what Scripture says. This is confirmation bias. We do it all the time. You, me, everyone. But we must stop.

Sunday Church

Most Christians have a practice of going to church on Sunday. Some people even go twice. Why do we do that? Why Sunday?

The quick answer most people would give is that that’s what the Bible says to do. But I don’t see that in Scripture. Yes, it does say that we should not give up meeting together (Hebrews 10:25), but it says nothing about church or Sunday. It just says to pursue spiritual community.

Why Sunday? It’s always perplexed me why we meet on Sunday and not Saturday. Granted, Jesus rose from the dead on the first day of the week, on Sunday. And his followers happened to be together on that day, but they were hiding out of fear, lest they too be captured and crucified (John 20:19).

And Paul did tell the people in Corinth to set money aside on the first day of each week for a special collection for the people in Jerusalem (1 Corinthians 16:2). But this was a command to one church for a short-term initiative.

When it comes to Sunday, that’s about it. The word Sunday doesn’t appear in the Bible. So meeting on Sunday seems to be more of a tradition than anything else. I certainly don’t see this commanded in Scripture.

What About the Sabbath? The word Sabbath occurs 150 times in the Old Testament. God gives a lot of instructions about the Sabbath. Two key commands reoccur.

First, the Sabbath is a day of rest (Deuteronomy 5:14 and about fifteen more places). God tells his people to do no work on the Sabbath. The other six days of the week are for work and the seventh, the Sabbath, our Saturday, is for rest.

This is what God did when he created us. Six days of work followed by a day of rest. There’s a nice rhythm to this. Work and then rest. Our rest on the seventh day gives us a break from our labors. This prepares us to function more effectively for the next six days.

The second key element of the Sabbath is that it’s holy (Exodus 20:8 and about twenty more places). The Sabbath is set apart. The Bible also says to execute anyone desecrating the Sabbath (Exodus 31:14). That’s some serious stuff.

But what does it mean to keep the Sabbath holy? Though we can find some guidelines in Scripture, it’s up to us to determine what this means for us today and how to apply it.

Here are some secondary verses about the Sabbath.

Observing and celebrating the Sabbath is a lasting covenant (Exodus 31:16).

The Sabbath is a sign between God and his people (Ezekiel 20:12, 20).

Every Sabbath requires a burnt offering (Numbers 28:10).

We should delight in the Sabbath (Isaiah 58:13).

Yet to Isaiah, God also says, “I cannot bear your worthless assemblies.” This includes their Sabbaths (Isaiah 1:13). And in Hosea, God says he will stop the Sabbath celebrations (Hosea 2:11). This certainly gives us something to contemplate.

What Should We Do? Interestingly, just as I’ve found no command in the New Testament to meet every Sunday, I’ve yet to find a verse in the Old Testament that says to meet every Sabbath. Though some of the Old Testament’s celebrations did fall on the Sabbath, which required the people to have special observances on those days, this wasn’t a weekly occurrence.

If we’re going to do things according to the Bible, the one essential command is that we must not give up meeting together. This doesn’t necessarily mean church, Sunday, or weekly. It simply means pursuing intentional spiritual community. Though Sunday church may be one way to accomplish this, it’s not necessarily the best way.

Next, if we want to factor the Old Testament into our thinking, we should set aside one day for rest and keep it holy. That’s about it. How we do this seems up to us.

Meeting Together

Back to Hebrews 10:25. This passage doesn’t mention church. It says “meeting together,” that is, spending time with each other. If you came to my house—which would be far more personal than reading this book—we’d be meeting together, just as the Bible commands.

If we go out to eat each Sunday, that’s meeting together. If we do game night once a month, that’s meeting together. So would having a movie night, hanging out at the coffee shop, and working together on a service project. These are all examples of us meeting together. Going to church is just one possibility. But let’s remember, this passage doesn’t command us to go to church. It merely tells us to meet. How we meet is up to us to determine. Sort of. (Again, more on that later.)

However—here I go ruffling your feathers again—going to one of today’s churches on Sunday morning may be one of the least significant ways we can meet. At most churches today, we spend the better part of an hour twisting our neck to see around the back of someone’s head as others entertain us. Yes, today’s church is more about a chosen few performing than about the majority present taking part.

Then we go home. This is scarcely a prime example of meeting together. If our church service—even the best ones I’ve ever been to—is us meeting together as the Bible commands, we’re doing a poor job of it. We’re getting Cs (or Ds or even Fs) when we should be getting As in advanced classes.

That’s why I mourn for the church I love so much. That’s why I write. I write because I know she’s capable of so much more.

I know this is a lot to take in.

Take a deep breath with me, and then let’s turn the page together. We have much to cover.

When I criticize the church, it’s because I love her and want her to do better.

Questions: Are you zealous about church? Why or why not? What would you like to see changed at your church? All churches?

Chapter 1: The Old Testament Approach

To understand where we are now, we need to go back and look at where we began. We need to start our investigation in the Old Testament.

Once, when leading a Bible study, I asked our group to turn to an Old Testament passage.

Our newest member glared at me. “We’re Christians. Why are we looking at the Old Testament?”

I raise an eyebrow. “The Old Testament is relevant to us too.”

“But Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament, so it no longer applies.”

“Yet the Bible says all Scripture comes from God and is useful for teaching” (2 Timothy 3:16). My friend gave me a weak nod and turned to the passage without further complaint. Our group ended up having an insightful, faith-building discussion. I hope that will happen again with us now.

In the Old Testament, when God gives Moses the Law, he sets three key expectations for worship, along with a lengthy set of mind-numbing details to guide the practices he wants his people to follow. God addresses this throughout Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

These three main elements relate to the worship space, the worship team, and their financial support: tithes and offerings. The rest of God’s instructions support these three tenets indirectly by guiding the people into right living as a daily way of worshiping God through their personal practices and interpersonal interactions. These prepare them to move into relationship with him and worship him more fully through their many annual feasts, festivals, and celebrations.

A Place

In the Old Testament, God is most particular about the place where his people are to worship him. He gives detailed instructions on how they are to do it.

First, God sets specific parameters for the tabernacle and surrounding worship space. He gives exact instructions for its size, materials, and construction methods. In some cases, he even specifies who is to oversee the work (see Exodus 26–27 and 35–36).

The tabernacle and adjacent area function as a home for the various objects used in the people’s religious practices. God gives detailed directions for these implements of worship too. He specifies dimensions, base components, and fabrication instructions. Again, he sometimes names who is to head up the production (see Exodus 28–31, 33–34, and 37–40).

Later the people get situated in the land God promised for them. In doing so they transition from a roaming people to a nation with borders. They no longer need a portable tabernacle that they can set up and tear down as they roam about the desert.

Years later King David has the idea to build a temple to honor God. Although prohibited from erecting this grand edifice himself—because he was a warring military leader with blood on his hands—the king sets aside provisions for its construction (2 Samuel 7:1–17).

It’s David’s son Solomon who builds this permanent worship space for God’s people (1 Kings 6). In doing so, the tabernacle built by Moses transitions to the temple built by Solomon. The portable tabernacle of the desert as the focal point of worship shifts to the permanent temple in Jerusalem.

With few exceptions, the people must go to this house of worship, the tabernacle—and later the temple—to approach the Almighty. God’s people see the tabernacle/temple as his dwelling place here on earth (1 Kings 8:13). They must go there to experience a divine encounter with him.

Clergy

But the people won’t connect with God directly. They refuse. They’re afraid of him. Here’s what happened.

In the Old Testament we see Moses on Mount Sinai, hanging out with God. They’re having a spiritual confab of the highest order. God has some words—many words, in fact—for Moses to give to the people. In one instance God says they will serve as his kingdom of priests, a holy nation (Exodus 19:6). Did you catch that?

God intends to have a whole nation of priests. And who will they be priests to? Implicitly, other nations, the rest of the world. But this doesn’t occur. I’ve found no evidence in the Bible of them as a nation ever serving as priests. What happened?

Just one chapter later in the book of Exodus, the people see a display of God’s awe-inspiring might. They pull back in terror. They keep their distance. God’s magnificent display of power terrifies them. The people are afraid of the Almighty.

Because of their intense fear, they don’t want to hear what he has to say. Instead, they beg Moses to function as their intermediary. They ask their leader to do what they’re afraid of doing: listen to God. Moses serves as their first liaison with their Creator (Exodus 20:18–21). In effect, this makes Moses the people’s first priest, though the duty officially goes to his brother, Aaron. In doing so, the people fail to become God’s nation of priests.

After this, God seems to switch to plan B.

Instead of his people being a kingdom of priests, he sets some of them aside—descendants of Aaron—to serve as ministers, functioning as the middlemen between the people and God. This is something far different than his original desire for everyone to be a priest and connect with him directly.

This idea of divine-human interaction isn’t something new. Recall that God talks with Adam in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:8–10). And after sin forces Adam and Eve’s exile from their paradise, God speaks directly to Cain, confronting him after the murder of his brother, Abel (Genesis 4:8–10). Then once sin fills the world with evil, God approaches Noah with a solution (Genesis 6:11–22). Much later God has multiple interactions with Abraham (such as in Genesis 17:9), as well as his wife Sarah (Genesis 18:10–15). God then meets Moses through the burning bush (Exodus 3) and later talks with him face to face (Exodus 33:11). And God also speaks to other people in this time between Adam and Moses.