TWC Church Family,

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in the context of a mid-20th century German Lutheranism that had lost much of its spirituality and piety, was once asked why he read his Bible.  His reply? “Because I am a Christian.”

Today, I believe we have lost the same answer albeit to a different question.

Many are asking the question nowadays: “Why should I come to gather in worship?”

The answer?  “Because I am a Christian.”

A believer growing in her relationship with Christ will also have a growing relationship with the body of Christ, for whom Christ came to die.

During the last 18+ months of the pandemic, my message has been steady and unflinching: “Our church will display an unmatched level of graciousness towards one another as people navigate the coronavirus in wildly divergent ways.” That is still the case.  That is still my message to you. Our church will stay Christ-centered through turbulent times.

Yet today – with the delta variant on the decline – my new message spoken with much love and gentleness to you is also this: “It is time.”  It is time to gather for worship. It is time to hear God’s Word. It is time to bring children to church. It is time to practice the Sabbath.  It is time to re-establish healthy rhythms and habits on the Lord’s Day. In short, it is time to do what we were created to do: worship God with brothers and sisters in Christ!

Our church family wants to raise a generation of worshippers who respond to the supposedly complex question: “Why should I gather for worship?” with a profoundly simple answer: “Because I am a Christian.” Don’t overthink it. Don’t overanalyze it. Don’t wonder “what I get from it”. You worship because you were created to worship in a community by a relational God. You worship because God is worthy of your praise.

Can you do that as an individual? Sure. I hope you do! Yet, it’s not an “either/or” question but a “both/and” response that God longs for you to give.  A saved Christian is one who belongs to Christ’s body, the church. The New Testament is clear: that’s the only way the Christian life is designed to work.

Of course, there have been extenuating circumstances for those with “high risk” health conditions during this pandemic. God understands. The church understands. God sees you and loves you!

I am speaking more to the Christian who has unwittingly allowed the “unhappy times” in the wider world to influence his outlook and attitude about “the church”.  Don’t do that. Re-establish a healthy rhythm. We exist for worship.

It is time.

Grateful to be with you on this journey of deep discipleship,

Pastor Jason Carter

Discipleship is a paradox in the local church. Discipleship is central to our calling but one of the hardest things to orchestrate in the life of the church.

In March 2020, our church began a series of adventures and pivots sparked by the coronavirus. American Christianity has learned lots of lessons during the last 18 months: live stream, zoom meetings, endless sermons on fear, and elaborate plans for worship.

Yet the biggest takeaway for most churches regardless of size, denomination, or geographical location has been this: the coronavirus exposed a massive discipleship gap in nearly every church in America.

Thus, there are already intentional efforts underway to incubate discipleship at all levels of our church to meet the various discipleship needs of our church family:

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The Way: Apprenticeship with Jesus will be the backbone for designing a discipleship pathway which continues to mature and equip our leaders, including elders, deacons, life group leaders, and future lay leaders of our church family.

Every elder will go through The Way at least once during a three-year period on Session. We will also be inviting our Deacons & Life Group Leaders into The Way for this MATURING & EQUIPPING ministry because we recognize that “Nobody graduates from a life of discipleship.” We are all called to continuous growth.

You can read more about The Way: Apprenticeship with Jesus here.

Soli Deo Gloria,

Rev. Dr. Jason Carter

*****For the especially curious, you can read THE WHITE PAPER on Discipleship at TWC.

Read this blog post at the Reformation 21 website.

The tribute discusses Andrew F. Walls’ pioneering scholarship which included his acknowledgement of the “southern shift of gravity” of global Christianity.

To download a PDF of Leadership Culture Principle #1: The “No They” Policy, click here.

My first sermon series at Trinity Wellsprings Church was entitled “Pillars of Ministry”, a seven-week window into several themes that I hoped would define my pastoral leadership at my new church home:  

• The Simple Biblical Gospel: What is our foundation?

• Prayer: How do we connect with God?

• Servant Leadership: How shall we lead?

• Discipleship: What is the goal of the Christian life?

• Community:  Who are we?

• Mission:  What is the point of community?

• The Word of God: What is our authority?

You might notice that attention was paid to the question: “How shall we lead?” as I recognized TWC needed to adopt a new leadership culture for our church to thrive.

During my first few months at Trinity, one building block that I sought to lay within the heart of our leadership culture was what I called TWC’s No “They” Policy (which I informally instituted in 2017).  Not only did I share this “policy” with staff but also communicated it with our congregation at a Sunday night vision and prayer meeting.

TWC’s “No They” Policy

The concept comes from author Larry Osborne who writes:

Leadership-oriented teams don’t succumb to the tyranny of the “theys.”

When I came to North Coast, our board leaned heavily to the representative side of the scale. As a result, whenever we dealt with a controversial issue, we spent a great deal of time discussing an apparently large and influential group of people known as “they.”

No one seemed to know who they were, and those who did seem to know weren’t too keen on identifying them. But boy, did they have clout. It seemed to me that they were the largest power block in the church.

As a result, before making decisions, we spent hours worrying how “they” might respond. And afterward, we second-guessed ourselves whenever someone reported, “I’ve been talking to some people about this, and they have some real concerns.”

To make matters worse, I could never find out who “they” were, or how many of them there were. It was strange. For a group as large and powerful as “they” appeared to be, they sure valued their anonymity.

Finally, I’d had enough. I told the board that as far as I was concerned, the “theys” no longer existed. I’d happily listen to comments and critiques from people with real names and faces. But nebulous theys who didn’t want their identity known and hypothetical theys we couldn’t identify would no longer have any sway.

The board agreed. So we instituted a “no theys” rule. It immediately pulled the rug out from underneath the biggest group of resisters we had and eventually exposed them to be a tiny minority (and at times, a mere figment of our imagination).

Our “no theys” rule applies not only to the board; it also applies to every staff meeting and to all of my dealings with the congregation. Now whenever someone says that they’ve been talking to some people who have a concern, I always ask, “Who are they?”

If I’m told that they wouldn’t be comfortable having their names mentioned, I respond, “That’s too bad, because I’m not comfortable listening to anonymous sources. Let me know when they’re willing to be identified. I’ll be happy to listen.”

~ Larry Osborne

 ~Instituted by Pastor Jason Carter | 2017

Several principles stand-out in our No “They” Policy:

(1)   We covenant not to speak on behalf of “people” or “they” who disagree with the leadership of the church. I will instead choose to speak for myself.

 (2)   We covenant to handle conflict face-to-face, following Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 18:15-20. We will avoid using email during our own heated moments or for potentially conflictual matters. Email is one of the worst communication inventions ever created in the history of the planet for being misunderstood. Face-to-face is always better than blasting off an email, especially to an entire group.

 (3)   We covenant not to gossip or empower gossipers (Eph. 4:29; 1 Tim 5:13). In the church, we long to use our tongues for “building up” (Eph 4:29) rather than tearing down others by engaging in gossip.

 (4)   We covenant to remember that the Teaching Elders & the Ruling Elders in the Presbyterian church are called by the congregation to lead our church on mission not simply to manage the status quo.

Therefore, I covenant to embrace change as an inevitable part of being at Trinity Wellsprings Church and its ongoing mission. (“Groups are hardwired to believe that survival usually means reinforcing the way things have always been.” ~ Tod Bolsinger.)

Change is hard. Change is inevitable.  When churches are faced with seasons of change, a “No They Policy” can be a helpful reminder for navigating the inevitable changes that confront any organization as it seeks to stay on mission. 

A Sermon Recommendation:

How do you cultivate a Christ-centered home? You raise kids who know ONE GREAT TRUTH from the inside out — a truth worth living and dying for. Family devotions at the Carters recently included listening to this sermon by John Piper from the Passion Conference One Day in 2000. It’s a clarion call to “not waste your life” but rather “boast only in the cross”.

I’d recommend Christian families listen to this message with their children (best for ages 10+ and certainly great for teenagers; we listened to the audio around the table). It’s also a great reminder to everyone — young and old — to live your life for the glory of God. As pioneer missionary C.T. Studd once stated, “Only one life, ’twill soon be past; Only what’s done for Christ will last.”

A Recommended Podcast Episode (For the 4th of July Weekend):

Many of our present controversies in America revolve around how we tell the story and meaning of America. Is America — at its core — rooted in injustice and racism? This is how some now prefer to tell the story of America. Others tell the story of America as a Christian nation from its famous Puritan inception, a moral beacon of light in a dark world, “A City on a Hill” to use John Winthrop’s famous expression.

Previous generations (esp. the WWII generation) would have found the question itself repugnant. Why would Americans ever need to take exception to American Exceptionalism? Yet today the question is a clear nexus around which multiple controversies swirl: has America been a champion of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, even despite the horrors of the African slave trade, the Trail of Tears, & the Japanese Internment Camps, a unique modern story of democracy worth celebrating and enjoying?

In our current day, much of our national dialogue is spinning around our history. How do we tell the story and meaning of America?

Let me recommend the “Life and Books and Everything” (hosted by TGC’s Kevin DeYoung) episode entitled “The Meaning of America”.

DeYoung offers some great perspectives on how we tell the story of America (which might also be helpful for parents to pass on the insights to their children).

A Recommended Blog Post:

Finally, let me recommend “Parents, Take Note of the Spiritual Practices Common in Kids who Flourish as Adults” from TGC’s Trevin Wax. The post is a helpful reminder that (1) families and parents shape the spiritual journeys of kids way more than any church, school, or youth group ever could, and (2) be sure your own household is encouraging these spiritual practices of your own children beginning at a young age.

Are we primarily raising kids to be successful in life and thus putting the majority of our time and energy around helping our children with worldly pursuits?

Or, are we primarily concerned for the spiritual flourishing and spiritual nurture of the children that God has given us?

It’s a stark question. As it should be.

You are invited to read Part 1 first. Here are five more sermonic tidbits lifted from the series When Life Hurts: The Story of Job.

1.     Job teaches us about the Sanity of Tears.

Job cries for God’s justice in the face of extreme and grave injustice. 

Job cries for God’s presence when he experiences the hiddenness of God.

Job cries for God’s voice when he experiences the silence of God.   

Has Job gone mad?

Has he? Or do our lack of tears implicate our own callousness to the injustices of our world and all the ways we normalize our own spiritual apathy to the things of God?

• Oh, that we would cry for God’s presence.

• Oh that we would cry to hear God’s voice….the way Job did. 

When was the last time that I wept and cried because of my sin before a perfect and holy and loving God? Is spiritual growth to be measured only by the temperature of my joy....is it not also to be measured by the depth of my sorrow over my sin? 

2.     What Job faintly hoped for, we experience the reality

“If only there were someone to mediate between us, someone to bring us together.” (Job 9:33; “I know my redeemer lives…Job 19:25-27)

What Job longed for, what Job hoped for, what Job cried out for, we experience in reality.

Job saw the shadows, we see the light. 

A mediator is one who Receives our Sentence, Removes our Sin, and Represents the Sinner -- bringing us To God. 

Christ as the Mediator is the one who (1) Receives our Sentence, (2) Removes our Sin, and (3) Represents us before God, thereby reconciling us to God.

• What Job saw in the shadows, we experience in reality. 

In Job 16:19, Job cries out: “Even now, behold, my witness is in heaven.  And he who testifies for me is on high.”

Job knows there is no earthly witness who could come to his defense.  Job wants a defender that will testify to his blamelessness and righteousness before God. 

Job’s hope builds from Job 9 – to Job 16 and to a crescendo at Job 19 where Job says:  “I know that my Redeemer lives”. 

Christ walks in the book of Job.  And Christ as the Mediator doesn’t walk faintly and in the shadows of your life but walks boldly and powerfully as your Mediator between your great sin and God’s great holiness.

Here is the good news: What Job experienced faintly and in the shadows, we experience in reality. Christ is our mediator! Christ is our witness in heaven! Christ is our Redeemer!  Hallelujah!   

3.     Theology: Know When To Employ It

Complete these phrases:

• Cause…..and Effect

• To every action there is always…an opposite and equal reaction.

• What goes up…must come down.

In a nutshell, this is the theology of Job’s friends.

Job’s friends live by the motto that every spiritual effect has a spiritual cause. Every spiritual action has an opposite and equal spiritual reaction.

Or, if you want to get more theological, this is called the doctrine of retribution. 

• The Doctrine of Retribution: A legalistic and simplified reading of Torah in which linkages between deed and consequence become frozen into absolute principle.[1]

The doctrine of retribution feels like it could be good advice -- in the abstract -- but the fault is that these abstractions make no sense in the particular case of Job.  Job’s friends should have been using a ball-point hammer, instead they take a sledge hammer to the case. And destruction ensues. 

You not only have to know the right theology, but also when to employ it.

4.     The Logic of retribution confuses the Law of Linearity with the Principle of Influence.

Many Christian parents have stumbled over these words:  “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it” (Prov. 22:6).   

“Ahh....the law of linearity…all I have to do is A, and I’m going to get B! It’s the Law of Linearity and it’s in God’s word!”

This is the cause and effect mentality of retribution (but with a positive spin).  Yet, have you ever noticed that really bad parents sometimes have really good kids? And that good parents sometimes have kids who do terrible things? 

That’s because there is a difference between the wisdom principle of influence and the cause and effect logic of retribution.

The Spiritual principle of influence says: 100 parents who love God and train their child well, will raise a greater number of responsible children than a 100 selfish-uninvolved parents.  That’s influence.

But a “Cause and Effect Christianity” is no Christianity at all! A cause and effect Christianity where I am in control is completely devoid of grace, completely devoid of mystery, incapable of real prayer (because you’re still in control!)  and completely at odds with surrendering your will to another because you still hold onto the illusion of control. 

The Law of Linearity actually takes God out of the equation! Because you don’t need to relate to God – you just have to apply some of his principles.  And the main focus is upon making life work  rather than enjoying and glorifying God for who God is. 

The logic of retribution puts God at arm’s length, but Job is not satisfied with the advice.[2]

5.     An Open Posture to God in the Midst of Suffering

What I’m saying is that in the midst of my suffering, that I should  have an open posture to God’s deepening and sanctifying process in and through the trial. 

However, that’s different than saying that it’s your job to figure out precisely what God is doing, each little lesson he is trying to teach you at each little juncture of your life. 

Some of these things that go on in my life have their cause in the heavenly court, just like they did for Job (they happen above my head).  I’m just feeling the effect of a cause I can’t see.  It’s not my job to always know and figure out the Cause.  If you can, good.  If you can’t—fine.

But there is a Job-type of abandonment to God, a posture of openness to God’s deepening and sanctifying process….even when I don’t know the cause.

Did you know that God loves and delights to work in the dark night of the soul – whatever name that may be for you?

Why?  Because God loves and delights to work in the cross. 

So don’t miss your cross.  Golgotha ain’t  pretty, but it sure does redeem. 

6.     BONUS:  Suffering and Resurrection

Did you ever notice that when you read the apostle Paul: Paul is a resurrection guy!  He loves the resurrection. He glories in the resurrection.  He lives in the power of the resurrection.  So what does he do with suffering?  He pleads with God to resurrect the suffering in his life – to take away his thorn in his flesh!

• Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this that it should leave me. (2 Cor. 12:8)

Yet Jesus doesn’t answer the prayer. Why?  It’s a big question.  Yet in this case, Paul knows why: “So to keep me from becoming conceited…a thorn was given to me in the flesh” (2 Cor. 12:7)  So Paul understands a truth with profound implications: God is going to use evil outside of him (the thorn) in his life to deliver Paul from the evil inside of him (the conceit and pride in his heart).   

Do you understand how wise and good and loving God is?  God is going to use the suffering and evil that comes upon Paul’s life (the thorn in the flesh) to deal with the sin in Paul’s life (his conceit and pride).

Suffering/evil comes upon Paul’s life, God uses it in Paul’s life.

***

[1] Susannah Ticciati, Job and the Disruption of Identity: Reading Beyond Barth.

[2] For more development on this theme, read Larry Crabb’s great book The Pressure’s Off.