0.01% of the Flesh is Deadly

-->

Whenever I use some hand sanitizer I notice the label boasts that it kills 99.9 percent of germs. While the label is meant to be assuring of effectiveness, my thoughts are always drawn to that 0.01 percent germ. That must be a strong germ, a super bacteria that can outlive a nuclear holocaust of Purell. If so it would likely be the one to kill me––kill all of us for that matter. It only takes one apocalyptic germ to destroy us all. 

In Philippians 3 Paul identifies the true Christ followers as those who put zero confidence in the flesh (Phil. 3:3), not even 0.01 percent is allowed. If we put even that little confidence in the flesh, we are not operating in the Spirit at all. 

We Christians are facing two paths and the destinations of each could not be farther apart than heaven and hell. One path is the path of doing good (the flesh). The other is the path of grace (the Spirit). Our problem is that we think the way to our desired destination is to take the opposite path. You can’t. You can't get to Los Angeles by taking the road to New York.

Unfortunately, we are far too easy on ourselves when it comes to the flesh. A do-it-yourself (DIY) spirituality cannot be thought of as neutral or tolerable. As Paul said, “The flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another” (Galatians 5:17). So when you are feeding the flesh you are rejecting the Spirit. Even if what you are doing looks and sounds good in the eyes of everyone around you, if it is not from the Spirit, it is against the Spirit.

Paul laid out for us a contrast of the deeds of the flesh versus the fruit of the Spirit. Here we find indicators of authentic or counterfeit spirituality.

Paul mentioned that the deeds of the flesh (DIY spirituality) “are evident.” I would add that the evidence is prolific and, unfortunately, way too acceptable in our spiritual climate today. We have been deluded to the point that we see these deeds as not only acceptable but even as good and godly endeavors. I believe this is a root cause for our lack of real fruit in this world and you really can't argue with the analysis. The outcomes are clear.

You cannot get the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22–23) by practicing the deeds of the flesh (Galatians 5:19–21). The two paths are diametrically opposed. That is why we cannot be content with good works that are done in the flesh. Frankly, this is why I wrote my new book, One Thing: A Revolution to Change the World with Love. We have become too accepting of a counterfeit spirituality that results in pride and delusional thinking. This must end if we have any hope of truly making a difference in this world.

Some do-it-yourself spirituality mixed with some Jesus-soaked good news is not okay in any way. We cannot tolerate a false gospel and expect to produce the fruit of God’s Spirit. As long as we continue to walk down the wrong path, we are taking ourselves farther away from the true destination, no matter how right the view looks. Until we stop practicing the false gospel of do-it-yourself spirituality, we will never be on the right track—only further invested in the wrong direction.

The flesh is not to be tolerated, excused, toyed with, allowed, ignored, or overlooked. It is to be crucified. It is to be seized by force, brought to submission, and then dragged to a violent and humiliating death—nailed alive to a cross until it stops breathing. The flesh is hostile to us, not helpful; toxic not healthy. "Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires." (Galatians 5:24 NIV)

As Paul said, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." (Galatians 2:20, NIV) This is the new creation. This is how faith works through love. This is the true gospel spirituality that bears fruit. Everything else is a counterfeit. Everything else is poison.

Living by do-it-yourself spirituality is no better than not doing so no matter how "good" you appear, in fact it is worse. All the effort we put into externally motivating righteous behavior is wasted and further leads us into the delusion of self-righteousness.

You cannot add healthy, organic, free-range, hormone-free ingredients to cyanide and expect it to be good for you. Unfortunately that is often our approach to spirituality when we try to redeem self-righteous, do-it-yourself spirituality with the gospel and hope it will all work out better because of the addition. It doesn’t purify the impure; it just taints the good stuff with lies.

An artist can use external pressure to carve a human figure from a slab of marble. While it may look lifelike, it is as dead as a stone. There will be no beating heart, no circulating blood, or lungs taking in oxygen. It’s just a rock shaped like a human. A true human body is formed from the inside out with the multiplication of living cells that contain the necessary DNA to code the development of life. You cannot create a human being by cutting away excess stone, and you cannot make a new creation with the old means that never worked in the first place. If it did work, as Paul said, then Christ died needlessly (Galatians 2:21). The result of do-it-yourself spirituality is no more true or life-giving than a marble statue is a human being.

Can the gospel be enough? I am convinced it is the only thing that is enough. I will live or die for that belief. If we are not willing to bet our lives on the true gospel to change people within, and instead we hedge our bets with a little do-it-yourself spirituality mixed in for the sake of practicality, then we are selling our whole selves to a false gospel. We must choose between the whole gospel or no gospel—there is no in-between.

I suggest our real problem is that we have put more faith in the law of the old covenant to change lives than in the powerful grace of the new covenant. This begs the questions: Why should anyone want our gospel if we don’t even want it? We have abandoned the true gospel for another. We are as foolish as the Galatians (Galatians 1:6-7).

If you are a leader who is using anything other than the gospel to motivate people you are part of the problem. Guilt, shame, fear, financial security, peer pressure, the promise of prestige or prosperity, the association with success or the removal from things that remind us of failures…these are not the means to godliness––ever. We cannot produce spirituality with means that are less than spiritual. 

Only the true good news of Jesus can produce a new life within. The true gospel will never tolerate a false one. A false gospel will tolerate everything except the true gospel.

____________________________________

This post is from my book One Thing: A Revolution To Change The World With Love

Doing Good Can Be The Enemy Of Being Good

Is it possible that being moral can be just as bad as being immoral from a spiritual perspective? Wow, let that question simmer for a moment. Can it be that the “moral majority” at the tea party on the Right is no better than the Left who tolerate all forms of immorality . . . except of course being morally conservative ?

Paul wrote to the Galatians, "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love." (Galatians 5:6) To us that may have less impact because we do not wrestle with the issue of circumcision today. If we were to contextualize it and say, "For neither morality nor immorality means anything but faith working itself out in love," we would better understand what Paul was saying. Doing good is not the same as being good. Listen, circumcision is not a bad thing but a good thing in the Bible. But it is also a meaningless thing in and of itself. Love, and only love is the one thing that fulfills everything.

In our Christian culture today, sexual sin is at the top of the list of capital offenses. That, however, is not the way the New Testament views spirituality. Acting morally superior to those who are sexually immoral is, in fact, treated more harshly in the New Testament. Why? Here are five reasons: it is deluded, harmful to many more people, far removed from love, is a counterfeit to the true gospel, and is difficult to recognize as sin. We need to treat self-righteousness with more harshness than sexual immorality, if we want to resemble a New Testament spiritual climate. And self-righteousness abounds in churchianity today, almost as much as our judgmental cruelty against sexual brokeness.

I have found that self-righteousness is as forgivable as any other sin, it just isn’t as recognizable as other sins. To many it looks “good” and, therefore, is acceptable.

Doing good can be the enemy of being good. When someone is convinced that they are good because of all the good work they do, then they are deceived into believing that they do not need help. This is why Paul and Jesus address self-righteous leaders so harshly and those broken and entrapped in sexual immorality with such grace. We tend to do the opposite, don't we. 

Those who think they are good need a slap in the face to wake them up. A gentle nudge is not enough, so Jesus slapped the Pharisees silly with sarcasm, insults and harsh rebukes. He called them "hypocrites" sixteen times in the Gospels. Why? Because he loved them and wanted them to realize that they also needed grace to find salvation. 

Paul wrote nice words to the Corinthians and said nothing at all nice to the Galatians for the same reason. The Corinthians were tolerating immorality of such a kind that even the pagans blushed. They were divided and had celebrity preachers that they followed. They turned the communion into a party and got drunk on the wine. But Paul called them "saints" (holy ones) eleven times. The Galatians were striving to do everything right, by the book without compromise and at great cost. They were moral in every way. Paul had no kind words for them. This is the only letter that he did not use the word "saint" when addressing the church. Instead he called them: "cursed," "bewitched," "foolish," canibalistic and "separated from Christ." He went so far as to say that if they thought cutting off a little foreskin on the tip of the organ made them more spiritual than others, then they should go the extra mile and cut the whole thing off and be really spiritual. Yes, he did say that. 

He was trying to awaken minds that had been deceived. He knew this, because he had been one of those Pharisees that Jesus had to slap around before he would come to the light himself. And that was his love and concern for the Galatians.

Thinking you are good when you are just self-righteous is a delusion that we must wake up from. Paul wrote to the Galatians: "If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves." (Galatians 6:3) 

Being deceived is a tough problem. If you knew you were deceived then you wouldn't be deceived. the problem is you are unaware of your real problem. If you knew your zipper was open, you would zip it up, but you are unaware of the problem even though everyone else may see it.

A deluded mind cannot think its way out of the box it is in. The deluded mind is the problem, so it cannot fix the problem. The only way to love such a person is to wake them up with a slap in the face. 

________________________________

This post is adapted from my book One Thing: A Revolution to Change the World with Love

The Invasion Of Do-It-Yourself Spirituality

My home is being surrounded by large warehouse stores full of do-it-yourself (DIY) tools and products. Within six miles of my house are seven such stores! In fact, they all seem to be doing good business even though they are all pretty much the same. Evidence of DIY stores can be seen in every room of my house as well. There are not just television shows dedicated to the DIY revolution there are entire TV channels dedicated to it 24 hours a day. The DYI revolution is not just happening in our culture, it has even invaded our view of spirituality, but there are dire consequences of a DIY spirituality. 

The way we do ministry is plagued by human engineering. Programs are intended to make people more spiritual. We publish curriculum that are designed to make people more faithful. Models of church are intended to entice attenders. We have systems upon systems to accomplish what only God can do. In fact, most of what we call discipleship in our churches is merely an attempt to form people’s knowledge base and conform their behaviors to align with what we think is spiritual. The final product is really just theological moralists lacking true spiritual power. The results, beyond church attendance and proud pew sitters, are pitiful, to say the least.

We put faith in strategies of evangelism that are thought to be more effective than others. Pragmatism rather than the power of the gospel drives the evangelistic process in many churches. If we do the process right, we believe, we will see a higher rate of conversions per evangelistic event. One evangelistic method does not save more souls than another. In fact, an evangelistic method does not save any soul at all. Only the gospel of Jesus saves souls, not our methods. I can't save myself and I sure as heaven can't save you, no matter what method I employ. All of these types of ministry exercises reek of human engineering and quickly lose sight of the miracle of God’s promise and power. We have put more faith in our methods than in Jesus, and that is legalism. That is Galatianism.

We are so driven by pragmatism— after all, we’re really trying to do good things—that we are easily seduced toward a false-gospel spirituality. "I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— which is really no gospel at all." (Gal. 1:6-7)

Really, the only thing that is sacrificed by a false gospel is the true gospel. With that sacrifice, we lose everything that is important and keep a lot of things we think are important but have no real value. We do not lose our churches, our leadership, our finances, our buildings, our branding, our statements of faith, our creeds, our organization, our numerical success; even most of our theology is kept in tact with this false-gospel spirituality. All we really lose is everything most important, namely, Jesus (Gal. 5:2–4). Authentic spiritual life is also lost (Gal. 5:6; 6:15). With that, any real impact on the world is lost and replaced with organizations doing supposedly good things. What we lose is what is most important: faith working through love.

Using legalistic methods to modify behavior is a resort to a false spirituality based on a false gospel and it does not result in true fruit. If the true gospel of grace is insufficient, then all other efforts will be meaningless in the end. All that is not done in love is meaningless (1 Cor. 13:1–13). 

We’ve become so content with a false gospel that we have no clue what the real thing is. When we become so accustomed to the type of goodness that is only possible by humans, we have no imagination for a goodness that is possible only by God. As a result, we often see those without the Spirit of God actually doing better and looking more loving than those who supposedly have the Holy Spirit. This dumbing down of love is evident in our churches to such an extent that none are attracted to us but are actually repelled by us.  

Can the gospel be enough? I am convinced it is the only thing that is enough. I will live or die on that belief. If we are not willing to bet the farm on the true gospel to change lives, and instead we hedge our bets with a little do-it-yourself spirituality mixed in for the sake of practicality, then we are selling our whole selves to a false gospel. We must choose between the whole gospel or no gospel—there is no in-between.

For my part, I do not want anything to do with a Christianity void of love. But most people in the world already know the dirty little secret: our churches are not driven by faith working itself out in love. We can say otherwise, but nobody hears us, because our lack of love shouts so loudly in our posture, priorities, and practices. In much of Christendom we have replaced an authentic spirituality with behavior conformed to a moral standard and accepted that as a Christian life. 

The worst consequence of all when we choose do-it-yourself spirituality is that we get what we wanted—a Christianity all on our own. 

Christianity without Christ is an awful thing.  

____________________________________

This Post is an excerpt form my book One Thing: A Revolution To Change The Word With Love

A Very Uncivil War

The Right and the Left are growing farther apart with each passing week. Liberal politicians and conservatives are in a moral and political “take no prisoners” civil war. Each is strengthening its stance and asserting bold and often baseless accusations at the other side. This war has spilled over into all of life, not just politics, and includes the arts, education, business, journalism, science, technology, social services, military, and faith community.

The church is posturing itself farther and farther away from any positive influence in society, because it is deeply rooted in a moralistic crusade and quite comfortable shouting at the world from a distance. We should be on a transformative, redemptive mission of peace and love like Jesus the revolutionary, but instead we take stands, pass laws, protect interests and campaign against issues. We react to issues and take defensive postures and look as hateful as any faction in this growing divide. We are not a movement of love, instead we are a voting block.

The civil war is hot, and neither side is at all close to building bridges or bringing peace. We simply must take a different approach if we want to make a difference in this world—and now is the time! But in order to make a difference, we must first be different ourselves.

Today’s emerging generation is fed up with an unengaged, judgmental Christianity that is afraid to get its hands dirty with real change but is more than willing to tell everyone else how bad they are.

We have had unrealistic expectations of imposing morality without spirituality in a world that desires spirituality without morality. This is insane. We are surprised that the unredeemed act like they are unredeemed, but the real shock is how the redeemed act like they are not. My new book One Thing: A Revolution toChange the World with Love is a call to the church to respond in love toward the world and not to impose our own values on others but rather live them out.

Many Christ followers are tired of being the laughingstock of late-night television. They are also angered by the poor results the church is seeing as it seeks to be a transformative presence in society. This book will appeal to Christians who are tired of being characterized by the world as angry people known only for what they are against. It offers an alternative that is biblical, effective, subversive, and loving, all at the same time.

It is time for us to trade in our busy religion with so many rules and causes we are staunchly against for a “one thing” spirituality. That one thing is the love that is generated by being with Jesus, being focused upon Jesus, and letting Jesus leak out in our lives. We need to wear Jesus in more ways than just a WWJD bracelet. 

_________________________

This article is adapted from the introduction to One Thing: A Revolution to Change the World with Love

Become Good News People Again

Today’s world needs a revolution. Not a violent one; we’ve had plenty of those. We need a revolution that changes hearts and minds with love. That is what I believe Jesus came for. It is also what I believe he has sent us here for. And it is also what I believe the world is poised to receive.

Jesus didn’t come to earth just to change your Sunday morning routine and voting patterns. He came to change your life every day and in every way. The power of change is for every one of us, not just priests, pastors, and preachers. And everyone that is changed becomes a change agent.

Today the “evangelicals” are quickly being duped to support a bigoted, bombastic, bully who boasts of sexually conquering other men’s wives and who profits off of other's gambling addictions and objectifying young women. This tells us more about the state of evangelicals than the candidate they support. We are no longer good news to this world.

My friend Lance Ford says in his book Revangelical:

What evangelical is supposed to mean—bringer of good news— is completely different from what it has come to mean for many in our society: judgmental, misogynist, bigoted, homophobic. How did this happen? How did the “good news” people come to be widely regarded as bad news?

Evangelical literally means "gospel people" or good news people. The gospel itself is all about transformation—change. We should be the ones bringing a revolution of heart to the world. Instead, we spend our time debating theological stances, moral codes, and political issues. We quickly shout our offense at the world’s values and behaviors. We are people known for resisting change. How did we get here? What will it take for us to rise up again with a real revolution of love that the story of Christ truly merits?

Let’s face it: more of the same thinking will only produce more of the same activity. We need a change of mind—yesterday. We need to think and, consequently, respond differently if we hope to make any change in this world for the better. And that is what my new book One Thing: A Revolution to Change the World with Love addresses. 

___________________________ 

This post is from the introduction to One Thing.

Don't be a Stooge for a Political Cause

-->

An interesting thing occurred while I was editing my new book One Thing: A Revolution to Change the World with Love. Some dear friends read the book for me and offered feedback. They assumed what my view was on certain issues simply because I was not espousing their views. I was not at all saying what they thought I was. The patterns in their brain “filled in” information that I actually never wrote. I asked myself why this happened. I had one of my friends read a chapter three times and then went over it with him line by line until he saw what I was actually saying. We were not so far off in our beliefs after that. One can argue from this that I am not a good communicator, but I think there is more.

I believe we all have been programmed to hear with a bias that doesn’t always allow us to actually hear what is being said. We have been force fed by media only two options and challenged to choose a side. We are so accustomed to the same sound bites on both sides that when we hear something different from our point of view our brains automatically dump the voice into the opposite category without really listening. We’re programmed to defend ourselves and demonize others. We have allowed the propaganda to infiltrate our minds so much that we cannot grasp any other alternatives than the two heaped upon us constantly by media.

It is entirely possible that readers with left leaning will think that my book is too conservative. It is also probable that readers that are conservative will feel I am left-leaning in my thoughts. This is not bad news to me, but actually a sign of success. Why? Because you cannot put Jesus on a side. He does not fit into your categories or align with any political agenda. He will not be the Right’s mascot or the Left’s rallying cry. Jesus challenges all of us, wherever we are, to change. There are two sides: his or not his (Matt. 12:30). He will not be packaged to fit a typical pundit’s commentary or coerced to take our side on any issue (Jos. 5:13–15).

“It was for freedom that Christ set you free” (Gal. 5:1). Free your mind and free your soul so that you, too, can be different enough to make a difference. Do not be a mouthpiece for a cause beyond Jesus. Do not let rich old white men in a room full of cigar smoke and expensive Scotch determine what you believe. A fraternity of elites in ivory towers with utopian dreams and zero tolerance of any other point of view should not determine your choice. You have Jesus as your head. Jesus is not a Republican, and he is not a Democrat. Jesus is not a capitalist or a communist. He doesn’t need to vote; in fact, in the end he has the only deciding vote in his kingdom. He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. Follow him and be different so that you can change this world.

The same old thing never changed anything. There is only one thing that can truly change this world, and his name is Jesus. You can’t have a one-thing spirituality and other things as well. By its very definition, a one thing is an “only thing.” Pursue the one thing at the expense of everything.

Welcome to the revolution. 

 ___________________________________

These are actually the last paragraphs of my newest book One Thing: A Revolution to Change the World with Love available wherever books are sold.

What is an Organic Church? Part One: Multiplication Organizing

I have been a published author and pioneer of organic church movements for 20 years (yeah, I'm officially old). The term "organic" has come to mean many things in church world over those years. Often it has been hijacked from my original ideas and mutated to mean something less than healthy. It has become as suspicious as the same label used on food packaging at the grocery store.

I'm not the first to use organic ideas to describe the church (that would be Jesus and Paul). As the person who published the book Organic Church ten years ago let me set the record straight on what "organic church" means.

1. Organic Church is not just a house church. Many people assume that is what I mean when I use the word, and I assure you it is not. I'm not against house churches but I'm also not against organized churches. Organic is not a descriptor of one kind of model, it is a description of a necessary quality for all churches. In fact, I often say every church is organic or it is not the church. Organic simply means it is alive and natural. It can also mean being void of artificial ingredients. As such, organic is more a quality of the church rather than the type of church. Some churches can be partly organic and partly inorganic. Our goal should be 100% organic. A house church can be completely inorganic, and a mega church can be very organic. So I would suggest we stop using organic to describe one model of church. That said, you cannot do church organically and skip intimate relationships with one another in a spiritual family. Actually one can argue that you cannot be a follower of Christ and skip that. Just because a church meets in a house doesn't make it organic, but one that never brings life into the home is less than organic.

2. Organic Church is a way of relating to God, one another, and the world. In our movement the DNA is the key component of organic church. Our life giving code is within each disciple (a result of internalizing and activating/obeying the gospel) and is the most important part of being organic. The DNA is Divine Truth (relating to God––The great commandment), Nurturing Relationships (relating to one another––the second greatest command) and Apostolic Mission (relating to the world––the great commission). Again, these are qualities every church should aspire to have. This DNA should be found healthy and whole within the smallest unit of church life––the disciple in relation to other disciples. Any church void of the whole DNA is unhealthy, and no amount of better musicians, buildings, programs, staff or sermons can make up for it's absence.

3. Organic Church is about the true life source and the development of that life within a church. Perhaps the most distinguishing mark of what is organic is the source of life and consequently how it grows, develops and reproduces. So much of churchianity is growth being perpetuated from an external source. This is the inorganic approach and is in fact a counterfeit gospel where we try to make people and churches grow with motivation from the outside. When we use guilt, shame and fear to coerce behavior we are being inorganic. When we try to entice people with glitzy entertainment and "motivational" talks, we are delving into less than organic practices. When dollars are required to bring growth inorganic church is the result.

As my mentor George Patterson described, such methods are like trying to make a corn stalk grow faster by grabbing it and pulling on it. Foolishness. We all know that the growth comes from within the plant as cells reproduce. Our life must come from Christ within and grow out because of the internalized good news. Anything else is futile. Christ in you is the hope of glory––and nothing else is.

Combining inorganic practices with organic ones simply nullifies the true with the false. You cannot add just a little poison to a casserole and expect it to be healthy just because all the other ingredients are natural. As I often say, "If the death, resurrection and indwelling of Jesus Christ is not enough to motivate you, a sermon and a song isn't going to be enough."

It is the life within that causes health, growth and reproduction. Every dollar spent in inorganic practices is an investment in the opposite of life and produces something less than real. Every type of church can release true life rather than suffocate it with inorganic methods. Movements have potential for release when we organize around life instead of thinking that we get life by organizing. It is life that produces healthy organization. Organization never produces life––but it can kill it.

I am now a part of a team launching new movements from a few established churches. It is called 100m (100movements). I am honored to be working alongside a team of exceptionally gifted and godly people, including Alan Hirsch, Will Mancini, Dave Rhodes and Jessie Cruikshank. [If you would like to sign up to find out more about 100m click this link. This is the first in a series of blog posts to shed light on what 100movements is all about.]

One of the six areas we work to bring health to an existing church is in the area of organic systems, which we call Multiplication Organizing. In order to release movements we must begin to allow the true life of Christ to burn bright within us. Organization must be built around life, and never the other way around. Good organization never produces life, but good life can produce healthy organization. Your own body is full of systems that make it structured and working properly. All those structures began with a single cell containing your DNA...then multiplying. Church can learn much from this form of organizing.

One symptom of being inorganic is if the organization and programs of the church take precedence over the simple obedience of God's people outside the church. If the life of the disciple is only about promoting the organization of the church everything is backwards. The life in the disciple should be more important than the organization of the church. If everything is about growing an organization than you probably have to pull a few inorganic weeds from your midst. In an organic church, the organization is to help the disciple produce and reproduce the life of the gospel in others. It doesn't really work the other way around.

 

I will be posting a series on how these six areas are a part of being organic, healthy and releasing movements. These six areas are important for all churches.