Rich...

It is harder for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven than it is for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. -Jesus

We have become so numb to the reality of our situation that we really do not comprehend how incredibly rich we really are; at least in the terms of conveniences’. Even the lowest classes of our society have access to luxuries that 200 years ago kings and queens would of envied. And when Jesus spoke these words 2000 years ago the emperor of Rome seated on his golden throne, surrounded by thousands of slaves could not imagine the conveniences’ that we take for granted today.
I don’t believe that prosperity in its self is wrong, but there is most definitely a point were we fall into the pit of “riches” and become the rich men that Jesus admonished.
Jesus said something else, he said that “we can not serve God and mammon.”
So my question is; who do we serve, God or mammon?

a Godsend

I've been away from the blogging world for some time on account of a busy schedule, but I've been wanting to blog on a few topics that hopefully I'll get to one of these days.
BUT we did have a big event happen in the life of our group here lately that needs to be blogged about, and that was the weekend visit from Dan and Jeanine and some of their community members from Canada.
Dan Lowe spent some years as a member of Communality, an intentional community in Lexington Kentucky where Jese has visited a few times. We got to spend a few months with Dan a couple of summers back while he was taking care of business to get to Canada and needed a place to stay. We estabished a quick friendship with him because he's not only a likeable and outgoing guy, but also an incredible source of knowledge and insight. When our group was first opening ourselves up to the concepts of community/new-monasticism, Dan served as an encourager and mentor. So we were incredibly stoked when we learned that he and his wife that we had heard so much about would be visiting us with some members of their newly established community out of Edmonton.

Truth be told, it has been a helluva hard year for our group, from personal crises to our collective struggle to hang on to our original ideals. After finishing up our big summer project ( the community garden, which needs a post of its own) we were a little bit aimless, wondering where to go from there, what was next, and especially, why? Why were we striving toward this nebulous goal of "community" that none of us really knew what looked like or how to get to? Why were we spending all of our energy battling against a church body ? Why were people not interested in the ideas that had taken our breath away and got us dreaming of a better way to follow Christ than we had ever known? It was a discouraging time.

Enter Dan and Jeanine's group. I was initially worried about the weekend, feeling like there wasn't much optimism we could lend to this budding community. But as the weekend played out and we ate together, talked together, and listened to their stories I was revitalized. Rachel, one of their members, shared about their groups formation and about the house she shares with her husband, another married couple, and three bachelors. Her eyes lit up as she talked about how "beautifully messy" it was and I experienced anew my own enthusiasm. There's something unquestionably spiritual about this kind of get together; a hospitality from each party that is as willing to receive as it is to give. Luke and Heather graciously shared their home and we all pitched in to cook - the Edmonton folks split us a winter's worth of firewood. I was given an armful of new books!

The more I process through the weekend and the conversations, the more I realize what a great gift it was. We connected with amazing people, rekindled our dreams, strengthened our resolve... it was truly a godsend.

This isn't a joke, but you would think it is.

hell, y'all

This is a thought-provoking article on hell by a guy named Jason Boyett. It touches on some of our discussions about modern day interpretations of various books in the Bible. Lots of folks assume that the way today's Christians understand things is the way people always have. Not so, good people. Not so.

http://www.relevantmagazine.com/god/church/features/18239-one-hell-of-a-question

Here's a teaser from the article:

"I heard a lot about hell growing up, particularly about how awful the eternal burning would be. I spent too much of my childhood fearful that somehow my salvation wouldn't take and I'd end up there. The horrors of hell are seared into my psyche.

So I was pretty annoyed to discover the biblical case for the hell of my imagination to be less than airtight. Along with this annoyance came some serious questions."

Bitter Sweet

Hey I just wanted to post a heartfelt thank you and good luck to Jason and Lori Stoffer. We have appreciated you two so much (and my girls love Zora!). Our little group has been tremendously blessed to have you folks around and you have impacted all of us deeply. Thank you for your lended ears in our venting sessions, your deep wisdom, your friendship, for singing to my girls, and for good ol fashioned garden/chicken talk! I hope this next chapter in your lives goes painlessly and may you find peace (and I hope Jason finally gets his degree - lol). I also hope you two hurry back and please don't stop being a part of this blog! We love you all!

health care and faith

For an interesting discussion on the proposed national health care system and how it relates to faith, check out this link on Tamie's blog. Read the comments at the bottom of the post, and if you have a fresh perspective or different information, chime in! The more, the merrier, I say.

Unstructured Free Truth - The Next Generation

Why are young people leaving the church? This seems to be the hanging issue that pokes church folks square in the eye. I’ve heard people’s opinions on this ranging anywhere from how our generation has been corrupted by evolution to blaming it on the Ten Commandments being removed from court house walls…. And the response, at least here in our own valley, has been to shoot up huge ten commandment signs and ridicule teachers from the pulpit. I have yet to hear anyone from the traditional Christian realm, who seems to be pushing the question the most, take any responsibility for the roles the church has played, which to me have been the most vital. One of the many reasons that our fellow peers have struggled with the church is this intense way of acting as if they have already figured it all out. It’s as if to say that any new revelation has to be blasphemy. It takes all questions and squashes them with annoying worthless answers, ever so condescendingly, “You just have to have faith,” or “I’ll pray for you”, forcing us to feel really messed up for sincerely questioning what those around us are calling “faith”. As I have pondered these questions and responses for the last month the thing that keeps reeling through my mind is the verse in Luke 18: 15 -17 “People brought babies to Jesus, hoping he might touch them. When the disciples saw it, they shooed them off. Jesus called them back. "Let these children alone. Don't get between them and me. These children are the kingdom's pride and joy. Mark this: Unless you accept God's kingdom in the simplicity of a child, you'll never get in."
Here you see Jesus telling us to model the open mindedness of children. If we maintain the open-mindedness of children, we challenge fixed ideas and established structures, including our own. We listen to people in other denominations and religions. We don't find demons in those with whom we disagree. We don't cozy up to people who mouth our jargon. If we are open, we rarely resort to either-or: creation or evolution, liberty or law, sacred or secular, Beethoven or Madonna. We focus on both-and, fully aware that God's truth cannot be imprisoned in a small definition. It’s not that I think there isn’t an Absolute Truth. It’s that this isn’t something we are capable of laying claim to. To allude to the “fact”, that we have unveiled Absolute Truth only continues to support our arrogant white American attitudes. I wonder how we are finding humility amongst all of the debate. Why hasn’t anbody asked us why we have sidestepped traditional structured church? For one sect of people to say that they hold the patent on Truth they create a ripple in two ways: First they state that they are the end all, declaring themselves above everyone else, secondly, they squash equality and create a relationship that can only exist as that of a slave and master. A teacher can learn from his student, through humility, because out of the mouth of babes God said he would shame the wise. We can learn from our neighbors…. That’s all the book of Proverb’s is. A book full of sayings stolen from wise people from cultures and religions differing from that of Solomon’s all over the world. To say we hold Absolute Truth is to tell Gandhi his way of life was wrong (though it was closer to that of Jesus than most of ours) and to tell Mother Theresa everything she did was in vain (though I can’t think of any other living example who did a better job of displaying perfect religion and loving the poor).

What I am seeing with this topic is a filtering problem. We all understand how filters work in cars, vacuums, air conditioners, etc. – They filter the air of all the small “harmful” particles that would damage the motor, the mechanism responsible for making the product function properly. The thing about filters, you can get several different stages - some more dense than others designed for a more zero tolerance motor. If you put a filter that is too dense on a motor it's not designed for - it can actually suffocate it causing it to stall. The bottom line, if you aren't a mechanic extremely knowledgable on all types of motors, you can't properly connect the right filter with the right motor. Sure it may run well for a while, but eventually.....
I’m going to pause here and post this – I’ll post the rest tomorrow.

the Exodus of young people from the church

Okay, kids. Here's the blog post I referred to tonight by the friend of a friend, Jonathan Erdman. It is addressing this idea that many in the Christian fundamentalist world (like good old Ken Ham) have about why young people leave the church: that they simply aren't trained well enough in the Christian worldview / Christian apologetics.

Here are a couple quotes of Jonathan's, just so you'll go read the whole entry at the link I provide below.

"As one who has extensively studied Christian apologetics and a 'biblical worldview,' I would like to say a few words regarding modern fundamentalist Christian apologetic movements. It is a simple truth, but one that obviously still gets missed in some circles: you can't brainwash yourself into genuine faith."

AND

"Then I found that the whole idea of one biblical worldview is itself a very disrespectful way to approach the Bible. The Bible does not present itself to us as a worldview textbook. It is true, that it is possible chop the Bible up, pull out verses here and there, and assemble a grand systematic approach to the world. But as I engaged the text itself, in its original languages and in some of its original settings, I found that Scripture is a collection of highly diverse texts, with a wide range of genres (some that are even original to the Bible itself), written by many different persons over a long period of time. Gradually I realized how un-systematic the Bible was, and I was able to relax, which opened up the Bible to me in a way that renewed my faith and pushed me forward."

http://theosproject.blogspot.com/2009/08/exodus.html

Hey I wanted to put some feelers out to see what the interest would be in doing some music some time in some way in our Sunday night group. After the conversation Tuesday night a couple weeks back about our general aversion to the emotional experiences equal God's presence and performance based methods of worship we've all been accustomed to, I thought maybe we should experiment with doing something different. If I'm not mistaken, many of our members are music lovers and or players, so I thought a music element could be a positive thing for us - music has, after all, been a pretty integral part of christian gatherings since new testament times.

The whole concept is completely up for discussion - whether we want to do something like this at all, and if so, how could we do it and how often etc. Let me know what you think.

Oh and if you're reading this and you aren't a part of the group you are still welcome to comment or suggest!

Be Content

I found this on a blog from Malaysia and thought it was appropriate.

Sunday Night Cooking and Location Schedule

Date----------------------------Cooking---------------------------Location
August 9th----------------------Justin-----------------------------Justin's
August 16th---------------------Nicki------------------------------Stetson's
August 23rd---------------------Jason-----------------------------Stoffer's
August 30th---------------------Alex------------------------------Justin's

Family Camp

So on Sunday I had the opportunity to jump in the car with my kiddos and my parents and go up to Plains for Family Camp. For those of you who aren't familiar with it, this is the once-a-summer- time that all of the people from the Churches of God in the state get together for about four days to camp, play, do conferences, have services, etc. It was one of the few times in the last 10 to 15 years that I hadn't been there for the entire event, and so I was partially excited.

Anyway, thoughts of prejudice against the church were on my mind and so I determined to try and not be too focused on things that might otherwise get under my skin like the heavy prayer sighing or that predictable speech about how important it is for us all to chip in on the TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS it takes to put on this camp ( that's right, ten grand). It was fairly ironic that I stepped out of the truck to the sound of "Baby Got Book" which is the christiany version of that rap song "Baby got back" - I just had to shake my head ("Oh baby, I wanna read witcha Cause your Bible's got pictures My minister tried to console me But that Book you got makes M-m-me so holy"). Yes I'm being completely serious.

BUT - it ended up being a really good time, like therapeutically good. I talked with a lot of people from the past who were really excited to see me and the kids, people who have known me since I was a real little girl. In the Church of God I have always been someone important, maybe because I was Frank and Connie's daughter or maybe just because I was part of the church, and Church of God folks love young people (probably because of the young people shortage).

So I started thinking about how important it is to belong to something - a community, or cultural group or extended family or whatever, and how much being a part of that shapes our identity. My family moved away from my grandparents and aunts and uncles when we were little and are not close with them at all, but we've always said that the church was like our extended family. So family camp really brought to light how disconnected I've felt since our (mine and Jese's) break with the church. Like I don't have enywhere to stand. And with all the chaos that we've undergone this past year in our family it was amazing how just being in a place where everyone knows and cares for me made me feel safe and maybe whole.

I guess the question for me would then be, How do we break off from the traditional churches ideas and practices that we may find false and empty, and still maintain a life-giving connection with them? Or possible create our own extended family-like community, which would require some permanence?

We all been there, man.

A BIG HUGE THANK YOU!

Hey you guys, thank you for your gift. I've had a real negative out look on things lately; and your act of kindness has put an abrupt stop to it. I still can't believe I've got such awesome friends, but I'm really glad that I do. I love you guys. I know that I might not show it the way most people do, but you all mean a lot to me.

our version of "the other guys"

Hot diggity. I can post.

Continuing the discussion about prejudice...

We've each got our prejudices, to be sure, but is it possible that because of our age and location and (hopefully) our propensity toward peace, race isn't one of 'em? Maybe that's why we had a difficult time making it through the last chapter and coming up with examples of how we can help to heal the gaping race wound. We don't seem to have issues of racial disparity slapping us in the face in these parts. Native Americans face the most discrimination in our state, but again, there aren't many of the Native population anymore in the white bread Flathead Valley, or if so, I am not aware of Christ-following Natives worshipping separately. Doing cursory google and phonebook searches, I can't find any churches that list themselves as being particularly Native or Polynesian or Hispanic or what have you, whereas that is common some places. For sure it was in Anchorage.

What if, as a group, our prejudices are instead toward those in the mainstream christian subculture? I have to admit that, on a personal level, mine often are. I tend to assume that people who wear massive amounts of "christian paraphenalia" (as if that's even a logical phrase, because can things be christian?) or listen to christian radio all the live long day, or agree with everything a pastor says aren't really thinking. And, that might be true. But does that make my prejudice justified? Does that make the people involved any less valuable? Nay!

Leaving group last Sunday evening, Jason and I talked about how interesting it was that we were lamenting the intense segregation of churches by their denomination when we ourselves are pretty much creating yet another split. We know that the house church / small group concept is much more biblically and historically accurate than clustering up according to specific theological stances to meet in buildings and to pay staff to do the important stuff.And yet.

How can we maintain ties with a larger family / network of believers, even if we don't agree with their chosen format, and do it with honesty, keeping it real? Or is it necessary to maintain such ties? I was going to suggest that we skip ahead to the chapter about falling under the church's authority, but I see now that it is the next chapter. I haven't read ahead, but I'm guessing that may be an important next point of focus for this group.

Indians

So what do you guys think about the plight of the native Americans? And if there were a tribe trying to regain it's independence from the United States what would you think about it?

Question

So who are the pennies of society? Those people nobody wants in their metaphorical pockets. Those people nobody wants to pick up when their laying on the ground. And I don’t mean lepers in India, but people who we can touch in our everyday lives.

Why is there hunger?

With more than 40 million acres of America covered in lawns, turf grass is our largest irrigated crop.

When addressing the issue of hunger here are some facts that should be considered. If we were to take only ½ of this 40,000,000 acres and devoted it to food production we would produce 212,420,000,000lbs. of food annually. The average American eats 1,500lbs. of food in a year. So then, if everyone in this country sacrificed only ½ of their lawn we could produce enough food to feed 141,613,333 people. To put that in perspective that is the entire population of Russia, or roughly 15% of the people on the entire continent of Africa. Think about it, if we all grew vegetable gardens instead of lawns we could grow enough food to feed almost ½ of the people in North America, or every starving man, woman and child in Africa with enough food left over to feed an additional 83,226,666 people. Just some food for thought, or is it some thought for food?

Sunday Night Cooking and Location Schedule

Date--------------------Cooking--------------------------Location

June 7th-----------------Nikki---------------------------Stetson's
June 14th---------------Jason----------------------------Stoffer's
June 21st---------------Justin---------------------------Stetson's
June 28th---------------Alex-----------------------------Stoffer's
July 5th-----------------Jesse---------------------------Stetson's
July 12th----------------Lori-----------------------------Stoffer's
July 19th---------------Emilie---------------------------Stetson's

Busy, busy, busy

Hey everybody! Where are all the bloggers??? Well, we have been unbelievably busy kicking off the summer - I just want to start by saying you guys all rock! I think I can concur with the words of our homie Dan Lowe when saying, "We're doing it folks, we're doing it." The community garden is a total success....things are already growing as I'm typing this. We have tons of plants getting large in the green house anticipating the last frost in the Northwest, and the irrigation system is almost completed. I'm excited to say that Camille has joined our little band of merry folks - at least for the summer - and that will make for a super rad addition (to say the least). We have been meeting every Sunday night for our community meal which has really been encouraging. Its so nice knowing that our family is growing deeper and deeper relationally. Tim and Arianna's wedding is just around the corner - July 3rd - which is super duper. About three weeks ago we slaughtered and packaged our meat birds (22 of the feathered monsters), in record time I might add. Thanks so much to Jay and Tina Stetson (my parents :) for giving us a place to keep them and helping with all the work. Hopefully we can give everyone a more detailed update soon but for now, its simply (haha) gardening, community meals, and studying the 12 Marks of a New Monasticism.

A big (HUGE) thank you

So...Tuesday was one of those crisis days where a series of crappy events takes place and leaves a person lying on the couch in the fetal position, shutting eyes and ears to the sounds of whining children.

This particular series of events included (but was not limited to)...

one child (who happened to be hyped up on coffee and unwilling to nap) taking their diaper off and taking a crap all over

the other child peeing on my moms bed

first child wildly pouring out my precious tomato seedlings (and the soil in which they reside) all over my moms new beige couch

other child throwing a half an hour screaming fit about not being allowed to watch Handy Manny

and finally, the queen mother of all of the crappy events.... MY NEWLY REASSEMBLED GREENHOUSE GOT BLOWN AWAY AND BROKEN AGAIN!!
(leaving dozens, no hundreds of plants without a home)

These plants are supposed to be planted in the community garden which by all accounts is going to be wildly successful this year. So the death of all these plants is going to put a serious damper on things.


Enter our Tuesday night bible study, which happens to be chock full of fabulously adept carpenter types. Anyways, upon hearing my story they headed straight to Lowe's to pick up supplies, pulled out a variety of tools, and skipped bible study to work through dark and rain to erect a new and better greenhouse. How's that for a happy ending?

So... what I really want to say is THANK YOU: Justin, Alex, Tim, Ariana, Matt, Emilie, Mom, Dad, and Jese

....for your skill, motivation, and kindness.

(I'll try and post a picture of the greenhouse, because it's seriously amazing)

Cooking and Location Schedule for Sunday Night

Date------------Cooking--------- Location

May 10th-------Jason------------Stetson's

May 17th-------Justin------------Stoffer's

May 24th-------Emilie-----------Stetson's

May 31st---------Alex------------Stoffer's

Biblical insights from Bono

This little quote was posted on the communality blog and I thought it was rad so I decided to pass it along here. It's a recent quote from Bono, who I don't know a heckuva lot about on account of my not being very hip, but I do know he's a rock star and so it's great that he's talking about the economics of jubilee.

"Carnival is over. Commerce has been overheating markets and climates ... the sooty skies of the industrial revolution have changed scale and location, but now melt ice caps and make the seas boil in the time of technological revolution. Capitalism is on trial; globalization is, once again, in the dock. We used to say that all we wanted for the rest of the world was what we had for ourselves. Then we found out that if every living soul on the planet had a fridge and a house and an S.U.V., we would choke on our own exhaust.
Lent is upon us whether we asked for it or not. And with it, we hope, comes a chance at redemption. But redemption is not just a spiritual term, it’s an economic concept. At the turn of the millennium, the debt cancellation campaign, inspired by the Jewish concept of Jubilee, aimed to give the poorest countries a fresh start. Thirty-four million more children in Africa are now in school in large part because their governments used money freed up by debt relief. This redemption was not an end to economic slavery, but it was a more hopeful beginning for many. And to the many, not the lucky few, is surely where any soul-searching must lead us."

More nourishment for our continuing thoughts about simplicity, global responsibility and the like.

Tis the Season

Hey Gang!

Gardening season is right around the corner and it’s time to start getting geared up! Nikki and I tilled up a really large area out at Crossroads last week to get started. Justin, Arianna, Nikki, and myself (with some help from Nya and Brette) hauled in 6 yards of fresh manure to begin composting for the year, and then Nik and I made a separate trip with 2 yards of 3 way (60% topsoil, 20% sand, and 20% Compost). I have made the necessary arrangements with 2M for our irrigation supplies and was wondering if anybody would be available next week to help me dig out the water lines to the gardening area? Nik and I tilled up a 400’ x 200’ area, not that we need all of that, but it’ll give us a good space to begin dreaming. I was also wondering if Saturday, April 25th would be a good work day for all of us to begin raising the beds? Our useless basement has finally found some use, Nikki has quite a few growing flats down there under UV lights, so we’re on the right track. Everybody also need s to be thinking about how much money they can send towards the garden, we’re going to need about 15 - 20 more yards of topsoil. When you count the cost of the irrigation (some will be donated), the seeds, the fuel for the rental equipment (tractor and tiller last week, mini excavator for water lines), and all the topsoil it really adds up. Anyways I’ve been sick with strep throat the last couple of days which has allowed me some down time to really start planning and I’m starting to get pretty stoked!

Also good news on the chickens - we’ve got 12 meat birds that’ll be ready for butcher in a couple weeks (get ready Justin!), and we have a place to raise them at my folks. Alex has found a large chicken coup at a farm house near his place that, with small renovations can house the 25 layers coming on June 3rd - as long as the post office doesn’t screw it up! So now all we need is some consistent warm weather and the race is on!

Cheers.

continuing the convo

I'm going to go ahead and do a new post to continue the conversation from Alex's post. For those who haven't read it, make sure you read Alex's last post and the comments before reading this.

Is it possible to show love outside of relationship?

The phrase that comes to my mind when pondering this is "Justice is what love looks like in public". For example, William Wilburforce arguing against the slave trade for years in parliament until it was finally abolished was an act of love. His interest in the issue was not personal gain, but a general love for humanity that kept him from looking the other way as people suffered.

I'm definitely not suggesting that we need to get involved in politics to make significant change- and there's a danger in "giving all we have to the poor" if it's not rooted in love.
Furthermore, we can probably all agree that loving people around us and struggling in relationships is much more difficult and more transformational than any money or time we give to someone we have never met. However, as the hands and feet of Jesus in this world at a time when third world debt, American capitalism, and a host of other factors are leaving millions of people in poverty, our christian love should lead us to ask some questions. Like, is it possible that things could be different? Are there things we can do to stimulate that change? What about the way we live our lives, the things we buy, the ideas we support are helpful/harmful to people around the world?

This is all up for debate, so let me know what youo guys think.

No Survivors

Jese received the phone call this morning: the cavalier postal worker announced that our chicks had arrived, but that they were dead... not a single one of our twenty five rare Chantecler baby chicks had survived to come home to us.

The seller was contacted and assured us that this happens all the time, that some postal worker had likely not bothered to read the "Fragile - Keep Warm" warning and therefore the tiny little guys had probably frozen to death in their box.

Lame.

Although we will be getting another delivery of birds in June with no charge to us, let it be known that we have been screwed by the post office no less that TWO TIMES this past month. So, farewell first batch of chicks, we mourn your short and cold life

just a thought

Do we abhor the right to such an extent that we will hurt one another for selfish gain? What does it truly profit us if we gain wealth and status but lose truth and love? I would prefer a life of righteous conduct both to myself and to my neighbor; even if that life meant absolute poverty. But, poverty is a relative concept, for if I lived in a place that was void of every luxury but found in that place brotherly love than I would be the richest man in existence.
To believe that joy is proportionate to the amount of wealth one has is a great deception. Yet, it is wealth that men seek. For the attainment of wealth men and women sacrifice their children. To live in luxury they live godlessly. To have riches they abstain from righteous conduct. Wealth is their god and to this god they pay homage. To him they give all that is truly important in life so that he will bestow upon them his blessing. But, they do not perceive that the blessings of this god are really curse’s in disguise. Wealth is a god that seeks the destruction of man, his purpose is to bring a downfall to civilization.
Nothing corrupts the heart faster and darker than wealth. It is a scourge on families and nations. The want of it has caused more strife and war than anything else. We as a race must brake free of it’s charms lest we as a race face the final result of them; which will be an end. An end to the love and joy that the deepest part of our hearts long for.
I believe that the god of wealth has great power but in comparison to the will of men his power is nothing. So than let us use the power of our will and with it serve a god that will fulfill our sincerest desire and bless us with truth. Let us serve the god of brotherly love, not in secret nor with hypocrisy; but, openly and in truth. If we follow the dictates of holiness then we can make for ourselves a world in his image. The greatest dictate of holiness is love. If we conduct our actions in the confines of love then the family of humanity would dwell together in unity and peace. Too often though we love with dissimulation. Love with self at the center is not love at all. But, when you put the well being and good of others in higher regard than your own that is what love is.
Love will solve all of the problems that we now face. It is the cure for everything that troubles us. By love there is peace and safety in love there is hope and joy. But, so long as love remains just a word that is spoken rather than a word that is lived love will accomplish nothing. It is necessary for us to follow the discipline of love with 100% of who and what we are 100% of the time, anything short of that will not do.

Points to Ponder Before This Sunday....

How important do we really think simplicity is?

We have been running around saying phrases such as "Live simply that others may simply live" and "There's enough for everyone's need, not for everyone's greed". And discussing how, as Americans, we have a ridiculous overabundance of resources and luxury as compared to the poverty of the rest of the world. It is obvious that the earth cannot sustain our overconsumption and the gospel doesn't stand for us doing so on the backs of poverty stricken third world countries. Nik and I would like to really discuss this more. Here's a not-comprehensive list of questions to consider:

1. What specifically is our responsiblity in living out simplicity according to the Scripture?
2. What can we cut out of our lives right away?
3. What goals should we set for the future?
4. What does living simply say about debt?
5. What are examples of things we can share as a group? (I.e. buying items in bulk together at Cosco, car pooling, book swapping, mending torn clothing, sharing tools)

Ramblings of a recovering youth pastor...

How accurately are we portraying the clergy roles in the church? Especially the pastor?

Obviously this is a big part of the baggage that I carry from the traditional church, and I guess it especially pokes in my sides when I hear stories and witness the struggle of the church leadership to have to pretend so hard to be so perfect. We allow for them to place this pressure upon themselves and their families. We demand that they be placed under a microscope. We don’t allow them room to breathe. We force them to become fake, hollow, and hypocritical. The church wouldn’t ever allow for leadership to remain in tact if they are undergoing marriage counseling, filing for bankruptcy, or in the processes of dealing with their “unruly” teenagers…. Have you ever questioned why pastor’s kids have such terrible reputations? Do you think it is because of the anxiety that is passed from parent to child in the response of this perfect lime light that is cast upon them? It appears to me that more often than not we force them to become “white washed tombs”, where they are perfect on the outside but day by day becoming more and more decrepit on the inside. There are currently more than 500,000 paid pastors serving in the United States, out of these consider the following stats:

94 % feel pressured to have an ideal family
90% work more than forty-six hours a week
81% say they have insufficient time with their spouses
80% believe that pastoral ministry affects their family negatively
70% do not have someone they consider a close friend
70% have lower self-esteem than when they entered the ministry
50% feel unable to meet the demands of the job
80% are discouraged or deal with depression
43% report that they are suffering from burnout, frantic schedules, and unrealistic expectations
33% consider pastoral ministry an outright hazard to the family
33% have seriously considered leaving their position in the past year
40% of pastoral resignations are due to burnout

Most pastors are expected to juggle sixteen different tasks per day. For this reason more than 1,400 pastors of every Protestant denomination are fired or forced to resign each month. Over the past twenty years the average length of the pastorate has declined from seven to only four years! Sadly, pastors don’t connect the dots to discover that it is their office that causes this underlying turbulence. Jesus Christ never intended any person to sport all the hats a present day pastor is expected to wear. He never intended any one person to bear such a load.

I personally have felt the demands of the eldership and pastorate and found them to be crushing; they will drain any mortal dry. And our so called “brothers and sisters” will aid in hanging us out to dry (and I’ve been on both sides). Just imagine working for a company that paid you on the basis of how good you made people feel. What if your pay depended on how entertaining you were, how friendly you were, how popular you were, and how perfect your behavior was?
Can you imagine the unmitigated stress this would cause you? Can you see how such pressure would force you into playing a pretentious role - all to keep your authority, your prestige, and your job security? (For this reason, many pastors are resistant to receiving any kind of help.)
The pastoral profession dictates standards of conduct just like any other profession, whether it be teacher, doctor, or lawyer. The profession dictates how they are to think, act, speak, and dress. This is one of the major reasons why they are forced to live very artificial lives.
Because of all this, I feel that the pastoral role is forced to foster dishonesty. We expect our pastors to always be cheerful, completely spiritual, and available at a moments notice. Professional loneliness is another virus that plagues pastors. The lone-ranger disease drives some ministers into other careers. It drives others to crueler fates.
Its lonely at the top, I believe, because God never intended for anybody to be there - except Jesus Christ! In effect the present day pastor tries to shoulder the fifty-eight New Testament “one another” exhortations all by himself. It is no wonder that many of them get crushed under the weight. It’s because of this that I feel we need to reexamine the scriptures that discuss the role of the pastor. Honestly, I don’t see any clarity there at this point. Ephesians 4:11 simply states pastors, (and note that it is plural), and no where does the word describe the capacity of service these roles are to play. It expounds tremendously on the Eldership, which in present day you rarely see played out in traditional churches. Pastor from the Greek, is a word that John Calvin coined to describe a “Sheppard”…. throughout the primitive church in the New Testament, not a single pastor of any of these groups has ever been named. History explains the role we call today “Pastor” much clearer than scripture, but do to the massive amounts of constant whining over the length of my blogs I’ll pause hear in hopes of creating a dialogue at this point….until next time - CHEERS!

Church Dreamings

So here is what I've come up with so far for the "Dream Church" question:

It would be a church which is not afraid to reimagine what church is - that is, a church dedicated to discerning the specific hurts and challenges of today's world (i.e. widespread poverty, lack of education, casual sex, women's rights etc.) and confront those problems with Jesus as a guide.

A focus on deep relationships, marked by a willingness to admit failures/faults and open up as the individual and the community to pursue healing and restoration. An environment like this must of course, first be a place of grace and trust, but also hopefully of accountability and truth.

A variety of ages, beliefs, and backgrounds would be represented.

Everyone would be allowed to (expected to) participate during our time together - teaching each other, or worshiping in the ways that reflect each of our passions. We would embrace creativity in worship through singing, poetry, art, or what the heck ever people are interested in.

A constant connection to the larger church (local churches) would be kept through service/conversation/relationships.

We would be disciplined in our faith to pray, study, and move towards justice in our community and world.

There would not be constant separation of families, but we would learn to pray, worship, learn, and serve together to show our kiddos what community looks like and allow them to share in the relationships. Plus I'm sure we can learn a thing or two from them in the process.

Solidarity: I already touched on this a bit, but I want to expand it to sharing with each other in everything - the struggles and triumphs, financial disasters or building a house, marital collapses or new babies - that we could just plain share life together. But our purpose would extend beyond just the enrichment of community to the responsibility of suffering and sacrifice that is required to be a disciple. The hope would be that we could also experience solidarity with the oppressed, and as a group would be able to do much more to work against that oppression than any of us could do on our own.

March 19th entry for "My Utmost for His Highest"

"He went out, not knowing where he was going." (Hebrews 11:8)

In the Old Testament, a person's relationship with God was seen by the degree of separation in that person's life. This separation is exhibited in the life of Abraham by his separation from his country and his family. When we think of separation today, we do not mean to be literally separated from those family members who do not have a personal relationship with God, but to be separated mentally and morally from their viewpoints. This is what Jesus Christ was referring to in Luke 14:26. ("If anyone come to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters - yes, even his own life - he cannot be my disciple.")

Living a life of faith means never knowing where you are being led. But it does mean loving and knowing the One who is leading. It is literally a life of faith, not of understanding and reason - a life of knowing Him who calls us to go. Faith is rooted int he knowledge of a Person, and one of the biggest traps we fall into is the belief that if we have faith, God will surely lead us to success in the world.

The final stage in the life of faith is the attainment of character, and we encounter many changes in the process. We feel the presence of God around us when we pray, yet we are only momentarily changed. We tend to keep going back to our everyday ways and the glory vanishes. A life of faith is not a life of one glorious mountaintop experience after another, like soaring on eagles' wings, but is a life of day-in and day-out consistency; a life of walking without fainting (Isaiah 40:31). It is not even a question of the holiness of sanctification, but of something which comes much farther down the road. It is a faith that has been tried and proved and his withstood the test. Abraham is not a type or an example of the holiness of sanctification, but a type of the life of faith - a faith, tested and true, built on the truth God. "Abraham believed God..." (Romans 4:3).

Introductions

Wow! So let me just take a second to gush about the fact that we have a blog - Woo hoooo!! Our rag tag little group of friends is suddenly getting serious... serious enough to start writing thoughts that could be read by potentially the whole world. Frightening, really.
I have this terrible fear, however, of writing anything significant considering that later on I am bound to find said writing naive and flawed. Therefore I'm going to cheat for this first post and instead of answering that looming question about the church, I will introduce our group to the world (although I suspect that this readership may be limited to my mother).

Some background: We consider ourselves somewhere between a bible study and a church - more of a community, really, struggling together to find out who God is and how we fit into His plan. We have agreed that Christ called us into deep relationship as a primary part of His Kingdom work, and so we meet together to have meals and share our lives. We are admittedly young and idealistic, probably overly optimistic about some things and flatly wrong about others, but that's all part of the journey and the hope is that as we admit errors and mend theologies and change ideals we will remain family. So here we are -

Ariana- the practical and competent recently engaged (ya!) big sister figure of our group. She attempts to keep our unruly guys in line (emphasis on attempts). Ariana is a loyal friend and sensible thinker, always fun and outgoing. She adds the warmth necessary to keep us feeling like a family.

Jen is Ariana's lil sister who recently moved here from Oregon and has quickly become a part of the group. She possesses the organizational skills many of us lack ( props to you for the blog!). We also thoroughly enjoy the insights - Jen is not one to let us get away with sloppy theology.

Justin acts as the pondering element to our group, often sitting for an entire meeting without saying a single word, only to shock us all at the end with a detailed monologue about all of the intricacies and subtleties of the topics discussed. He can be compared to the Uh-Huh character in the movie Little Rascals. He also serves the important function of making us examine boundaries, as his bizarre T-Shirts often teeter in between hilarious and downright scandalous.

Tim is our groups manly man - the hunting, fishing, meatatarian type. He pretends to be a simpleton but has taught us all a lesson in forgiveness and humility. We also admire his gentleness and patience in all his dealings with his two lovely daughters, Isabelle and Lexi.

Alex is the deep thinker/mystic/poet of our group. His grasp of scripture and ability to articulate difficult topics adds a great deal, as well is his consistent wisdom in skillfully handling relationships with humility and understanding.

Emilie is a fairly recent joiner and still I think somewhat confused by our ramblings. She lends that all important traditional conservative edge to our discussions and has a lovely sweet quality which I admire greatly.

Jese is my husband and so I'll try hard not to be too syrupy in my description. I will say that he is a visionary, passionate, articulate and charismatic personality. He has a passion for theology and a fearlessness about pursing his ideals. His is always thinking forward, and keeps us from stagnation and lollygagging.

Lori and Jason drop in now and then to lend their inordinate wisdom and experience to us young bucks. We greatly appreciate their perspectives and brilliant ideas, as well as their adorable newborn Zoralee.

Well that's a brief look at who we are ( from my perspective). So that ends this first blog... until next time
-Nikki

Are tithing and clergy salaries biblical mandates?

Hmmm....interestesting subject.... Having grown up in the traditional church this has always been pounded into my head in a very fear driven and simple way - if you don't give 10% of any increase you are robbing God (sinning) - now easier going pastors try to put a little gentler spin on it and say that you are actually robbing yourselves because God is faithful, and declares "Test me" and He'll bless you ten fold. This issue seems to have been brought up quite a bit recently so I thought I'd take a crack at -


About a year ago I stumbled across this conversation with a friend of mine that many of you met last spring - Dan Lowe - from Communality, in Lexington, KY. He had mentioned an interesting journey that some community members were taking called "relational tithe", founded by Will Samson (another dear friend from Lexington), and had told me to check it out. They have a very cool website up and running http://www.relationaltithe.com/ which I encourage everyone to spend some time scoping out. The concept behind relational tithe is something we have all definitely talked about many times but I thought I would place some scriptures and things up here for all of us to seriously ponder and come to grips with - its just better to really, really know why we do something right?


So anyway, I have been reading a fantastic book called "Pagan Christianity" which Frank Viola and George Barna put together to basically help desconstruct the tradition that we so often take for granted as biblical mandates. Thanks to Lori and Jason by the way for the loaner :).... so here's an excerpt from their section on tithing and I would love for all of us to comment on where each of us stand with it...(trying to stay away from crippled rebellion):



"Unlike so many, we do not peddle the Word of God for profit." (Paul of Tarsus in 2 Cor 2:17 NIV)



"The church, embracing the mass of the population of the Empire, from the Caesar to the meanest slave, and living amidst all its institutions, received into her bosom vast deposits of foreign material from the world and from heathenism....Although ancient Greece and Rome have fallen forever, the spirit of Graeco-Roman paganism is not extinct. It still lives in the natural heart of man, which at this day as much as ever needs regeneration by the Spirit of God. It lives also in many idolatrous and superstitious usages of the Greek and Roman churches, against which the pure spirit of Christianity has instinctively protested from the beginning, and will protest, till all remains of gross and refined idolatry shall be outwardly as well as inwardly overcome, and baptized and sanctified not only with water, but also with the spirit and fire of the gospel." (Philip Schaff, Nineteenth-Century Church Historian)



"Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. But you ask, "How do we rob you?" In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse - the whole nation of you - because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. "Test me in this", says the Lord Almighty,"and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it." (Malachi 3:8 - 10, NIV)



This passage seems to be many Christian leaders' favorite Bible text, especially when giving is at a low tide. If you have spent any time in the contemporary church, you have heard this passage read from the pulpit on numerous occasions. Consider some of the rhetoric that goes with it:



"God has commanded you to faithfully give your tithes. If you do not tithe, you are robbing God Almighty, and you put yourself under a curse."


"Your tithes and offerings are necessary if God's work will go on!" ("God's work" of course, includes paying the pastoral staff and footing the monthly electric bill to keep the building afloat.)


What is the result of this sort of pressure? God's people are persuaded to give one-tenth of their incomes every week. When they do, they feel they have made God happy. And they can expect Him to bless them financially. When they fail, they feel they are being disobedient, and they worry that a financial curse looms over them.


But let's take a few steps backward and ask the penetrating question : "Does the Bible teach us to tithe? And.... are we spiritually obligated to fund the pastor and his staff?"


The answer has totally shocked me but in more ways than one allowed me to feel like God is honoring what He has begun within our generation and in our personal group - lets join George and Frank in their exploration :

Is Tithing biblical?


Tithing does appear in the Bible. So yes, tithing is biblical. But it is not Christian. the tithe belongs to ancient Israel. It was essentially their income tax. Never do you find first century Christians tithing in the New Testament.


Numerous Christians do not have the foggiest idea about what the Bible teaches regarding the tithe. So lets look at it. The word tithe means the tenth part. The Lord instituted three kinds of tithes for Israel as part of their taxation system. They are:

1. A tithe of the produce of the land to support the Levites who had no inheritance in Canaan. (Leviticus 27:30-33, Numbers 18:21 - 31)



2. A tithe of the produce of the land to sponsor religious festivals in Jerusalem. If the produce was too burdensome for a family to carry to Jerusalem, they could convert it into money.(Deut 14:22 - 27)



3. A tithe of the produce of the land collected every third year for the local Levites, orphans, strangers, and widows. (Deut 14: 28 - 29; 26:12 - 13.)

This was the biblical tithe. God commanded Israel to give 23.3% of their income every year, not 10%. (20% yearly and 10% every three years equals 23.3% per year. God commanded al three tithes in Nehemiah 12:44; Malachi 3:8 - 12; Hebrews 7:5)

These tithes consisted of the produce of the land - which included the seed of the land, the fruit of the land, and the herd or the flock. It was the product of the land, not money. A clear parallel can be seen between Israel's tithing system and the modern taxation system present in America. Israel was obligated to support their national workers(priests), their holidays(festivals), and their poor (strangers, widows, and orphans) with their annual tithes. Most modern tax systems serve a similar purpose.

With the death of Jesus, all ceremonial codes that belonged to the Jews were nailed to Christ's cross and buried, never to be used again to condemn us. For this reason, we never see Christians tithing in the New testament, just as we don't see them sacrificing goats and bulls to cover their sins.

Paul writes,"When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us, and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross...Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day - things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ." (Colossians 2:13 - 14, 16 - 17 NASB see also Hebrews 6 - 10)

Tithing belonged exclusively to Israel under the Law. When it comes to financial stewardship, we see the first-century saints giving cheerfully according to their ability - not dutifully out of a command. (2 Cor 8:3-12; 9:5-13) Giving in the early church was voluntary. And those who benefited from it were the poor, orphans, widows, sick, prisoners, and strangers.

I can hear some of you (and those of us who study together Tuesday nights know all too well) making the following objection right now: "But what about Abraham? He lived befor the Law. And we see him tithing to the high priest Melchizedek (Gen. 14:17-20). Does this not overturn your argument that the tithe is part of the Mosaic Law?"

No, it doesn't. First, Abraham's tithe was completely voluntary. It wasn't compulsory. God did not command it as He did with the tithe for Israel.

Second, Abraham tithed out of the spoils that he acquired after a particular battle he fought.
He didn't tithe out of his own regular income or property. Abraham's act of tithing would be akin to you winning the lottery, or receiving a work bonus, and then tithing it.

Third, and I feel it is the most important, this is the only recorded time that Abraham tithed out of his 175 years of life on this earth! We have no evidence that he ever did such a thing again. Consequently, if you wish to use Abraham as a proof text to argue that Christians must tithe, then you are only obligated to tithe one time - ! - Which I might add is also true for Jacob. In Genesis 28:20-22, Jocob vowed to tithe to the Lord. But like Abraham's tithe, Jacob's tithe was completely voluntary. And as far as we know, it wasn't a lifetime practice. If in fact Jacob did begin tithing regularly (and this can't be proven biblically) then he waited 20 years before he started! To quote Stuart Murray, "Tithing appears to be almost incidental to the stories of both Abraham and Jacob and no theological significance is accorded to this practice by the author."

So this all brings us back to that oft-quoted text in Malachi 3. What was God really saying there?

First, this passage was directed to ancient Israel when they were still under the Mosaic Law. God's people were holding back their tithes and offerings. Consider what would happen if a large portion of Americans refused to pay their income taxes. American law views this as robbery. Those found guilty would be punished for stealing from the government (whether we agree or not).

In the same way, when Israel held back her taxes (tithes), she was stealing from God - the One who instituted the tithing system. The Lord then commanded His people to bring their tithes into the storehouse. The storehouse was located in the chambers of the Temple. The chamber were set apart to hold the tithes (which were produce, not money) for the support of the Levites, the poor, the strangers, and the widows. (Neh 12:44, 13:12-13; Deut 14:28-29, 26:12)

Notice the context of Malachi 3:8-10. In verse 5, the Lord says that He will judge those who oppress the widow, the fatherless, and the stranger. He says,"So I will come near to you for judgment. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive aliens of justice, but do not fear me." (NIV)

The widows , fatherless, and strangers were the rightful recipients of the tithe. Because Israel was withholding her tithes, she was guilty of ignoring the needs of these groups. Herein is the heart of God in Malachi 3:8-10. He opposes oppression of the poor.

How many time have you heard pastors point this out when they preached Malachi 3? In scores of sermons I have heard on tithing, I was never told what the passage was actually talking about. That is, tithes were given to support the widows, the fatherless, the strangers, and Levites (who had absolutely no possesions).

The Origin Of the Tithe and The Clergy Salary

The New Testament urges believers to give according to their ability. Christians in the early church gave to help other believers as well as to support apostolic workers, enabling them to travel and plant churches. One of the most ouststanding testimonies of the early church has to do with how generous the Christians were to the poor and needy. This is what provoked outsiders, including the philosopher Galen, to watch the awesome, winsome power of the early church and say: "Behold how they love one another."

In the third century, Cyprian of Carthage was the first Christian writer to mention the practice of financially supporting the clergy. He argued that just as the Levites were supported by the tithe, so the Christian clergy should be supported by the tithe. But this is misguided thinking. Today, the Levitical system has been abolished. We are all priests now. So if a priest demands a tithe, then all Christians should tithe to one another!

Cyprian's pleas were exceedingly rare for his time. It was neither picked up nor echoed by the Christian populace until much later. Other than Cyprian, no Christian writer before Constantine ever used Old Testament references to advocate tithing. It was not until the fourth century, three hundred years after Christ, that some Christian leaders began to advocate tithing as a Christian practice to support clergy. But it did not become widespread among Christian until the eighth century. According to one scholar,"For the first seven hundred years tithes are hardly ever mentioned."

Charting the history of Christian tithing is a fascinating exercise the more you think about it. Tithing spread from the state to the church. Here's the story:

In the seventh and eighth centuries, leasing land was a familiar charascteristic of the European economy. The use of the tithe, or the tenth, was commonly used to calculate payments to landlords. As the church increased its ownership of land across Europe, the 10 percent rent charge shifted from secular landlords to the church. Ecclesiastical leaders became the landlords. And the tithe became the ecclesiastical tax. This gave the 10 percent rent charge new meaning. It was creatively applied to the Old Testament law and came to be identified with the Levitical tithe! Consequently, the Christian tithe as an institution was based on a fusion of Old Testament practice and a common system of land-leasing in medieval Europe.

By the eighth century, the tithe became required by law in many areas of Western Europe. But by the End of the tenth century, the tithe as a rent charge for leasing land had all but faded. The tithe, however, remained and it came to be viewed as a moral requirement supported by the Old Testament. The tithe had evolved into a legally mandatory religious practice throughout Christian Europe.

To put it another way, before the eighth century the tithe was practiced as a voluntary offering. But by the end of the tenth century, it had devolved into a legal requirement to fund the state church - demanded by the clergy and enforced by the secular authorities!

Today the tithe is no longer a legal requirement in any nation. Yet the obligatory practice of tithing is as much alive today as it was when it was legally binding. Sure, you may not be physically punished if you fail to tithe. But in many ministries you will either be told or be made to feel that you are sinning.

As far as clergy salaries go, ministers were unsalaried for the first three centuries. But when Constantine appeared, he institued the practice of paying a fixed salary to the clergy from church funds and municipal and imperial treasuries. Thus was born the clergy salary, a harmful practice that has absolutely no scriptural validity anywhere in the bible.

There is no doubt that it is imperative for believers to support the Lord's work financially and to give gernerously to the poor. Scripture enjoins both, and the Kingdom of God desperately needs both. The issue under scrutiny that I am trying to raise here, is the appropriateness of the tithe as a Christian "law" and how it is normally used: to fund clergy salaries, operational costs, and church building overhead.

A Burden on the Poor

If a believer wishes to tithe out of personal decision or conviction, that is fine. Tithing becomes a problem when it is represented as God's command, binding upon every believer. Under the Old Testament system, tithing was good news to the poor. However in our day, mandatory tithing equals oppression to the poor. Not a few poor Christians have been thrown into deeper poverty because they have felt obligated to give beyond their means. They have been told that if they do not tithe, they are robbing God and breaking his command. In such cases, the gospel is no longer "good news to the poor". Rather, it becomes a heavy burden. Instead of liberty, it becomes oppression. We are so apt to forget that the original tithe that God established for Israel was to benefit the poor, not hurt them!

Conversely, contemporary tithing is good news to the rich. To a high earner, 10 percent is but a paltry sum. Tithing, therfore, appease the consiences of the prosperous without impacting their lifestyles. Not a few welathy Christians are deluded into thinking they are "obeying God" because they throw a measely 10 percent of their income into the offering plate.

But God has a very different view of giving. Recall the parable of the widow's mite: "Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. he also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. 'I tell you the truth'he said,' this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on'" (Luke 21:1-4)

Sadly, tithing is often viewed as a litmus test for discipleship and faithfullness. If you are a good Christian, you will tithe (so it is thought). But this is a bogus application. Tithing is no sign of Christian devotion. If it were, the first-century Christians in the churches that Paul raised up would be condemned as being undevoted because all available evidence shows that they did not tithe! (Read all Galatians especially Galatians 5:3)

Clergy salary - a tough subject for me to tackle considering I have close family that are supported by this means of living. Nonetheless, I believe we have to investigate the situation in its entirety. Not a few pastors feel that they must preach tithing to remind their congregation of its obligation to support them, their operational costs, and their programs. Regrettably, the promise of financial blessing or the fear of a financial curse has been employed too often as an incentive to ensure that the tithes keep rolling in.

In this way, tithing today is sometimes presented as the equivalent of a Christian stock investment. Pay the tithe, and God will give you more money in return. Refuse to tithe, and God will punish you. Such thoughts rip at the heart of the good news of the gospel.

The same can be said about the clergy salary. It, too, has no New Testament merit. In fact, the clergy salary runs against the grain of the entire New Covenant. (see Acts 20:17 - 38 - Paul's last words to the Ephesian elders, thinking he wouldn't ever see them again - 1 Thes 2:9; 1 Peter 5:1-2) Elders (shepherds) in the first centruy were not salaried. They were men with an earthly vocation. they gave to the flock rather than taking from it. It was to a group of elders that Paul uttered these sobering words: "I have not coveted anyone's silver or gold or clothing. You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive'" (Acts 20:33 - 35)

Giving a salary to pastors elevates them above the rest of God's people. It creates a clerical caste that turns the living body of Christ into a business. Since the pastor and his staff are compensated for ministry, they are the paid professionals. The rest of the church lapses into a state of passive dependence.

If all Christians got in touch with the call that lies upon them to be functioning priests in the Lord's house (and they were permitted to exercise that call), the question would immediatey arise: "What on earth are we paying our pastor for!?"

But in the presence of a passive priesthood, such questions are never asked. On the contrary, when the church functions as she should, a professional clergy becomes unnecessary. Suddenly, the thought That it is the job of the pastor looks heretical. Put simply, a professional clergy fosters the pacifying illusion that the Word of God s classified (and dangerous) material that only card - carrying experts can handle. The words of Christ come to mind,"Woe to you experts in the law, because you have taken away the key to knowledge..." (Luke 11:52 NIV)

But that is not all. Paying a pastor encourages him to be a man pleaser. It makes him the slave of men. His meal ticket is attached to how much his congregation likes him. Thus he is not able to speak freely without the fear that he may lose some heavy tithers. (I have actually listened to a pastoral meeting in Tennessee where several confessed this very thing.)

A further peril of the paid pastorate is that it produces clergy who feel "stuck" in the pastorate because they believe they lack employable skills. I personally know a respectable Pastor who served locally in our community for 20 years who, during financial hardship, was faced with the same fear. He wanted to be able to support his family and still be the Pastor, however all of his skills and training were dedicated to preaching the perfect sermon and studying the bible. While these skills can be noteworthy, they are of limited appeal in the secular job market. The major hurdle that Pastors like him face, and in this economy will continue to face, is forging a new career to support their families. The real hardship is that they really have nowhere to turn, this particular Pastor, due to the financial situation of the church, couldn't rely on Christ's body to help him and his family get re-established.

Even so, it is exceedingly difficult for many contemporary pastors to acknowledge the lack of scriptural support for their office simply because they are financially dependent upon it. As Upton Sinclair once said, "It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it." No wonder it takes a person of tremendous courage and faith to step out of the pastorate. I know a number of us, as well as our friends, have admitted that they were a part of a religious system that subtly but profoundly injured them and their families. Unfortunately, most of us decide to continually be naive about the overwhelming power of the religious system. It is a faceless system that doesn't tire of chewing up and spitting out its own.

Ushers and the Collection Plate

Despite these problems, collecting tithes and offerings is now a part of almost every church service. How did the practice of ushers passing collection plates take shape? hThis is another post-apostolic invention. It began in 1662, although alms dishes and alms chests were present before then.

The usher originated from Queen Elizabeth 1's (1533 - 1603) reorganization of the liturgy of the Church of England. Ushers were responsible for walking people to their seats (in part to ensure that reserved spots weren't taken by the wrong people), collecting the offering, and keeping records of who took Communion. The predecessor of the usher was the churh "porter", a minor order (lesser clergy) that can be traced back to the third century. Porters had the duty of locking and opening the church doors, keeping order in the building, and providing gerneral direction to the deacons. Porters were replaced by "churchwardens" in England before and during the Reformation period. After the churchwarden came the usher.

Well, as I've seen it, tithing, while biblical, is not Christian. Jesus Christ did not teach it to His disciples. When referring to tithing it was always to challenge the inconsistency of the Pharisees and teachers of the Law, not prescribing it as something we should follow. (Matt 23:23) The first century Christians didn't do it. Tithing didn't become a widely accepted practice among Christians until the eighth century, though they gave generously - often well above 10% of their resources - from the beginning.

Tithing is mentioned only four times in the New Testament. But none of these instances apply to Christians. Tithing belonged to the Old Testament era where a taxation system was needed to support the poor and a special priesthood that had been set apart to minister to the Lord. With the coming of Jesus Christ, there has been a "change of the law" - the old has been "set aside" and rendered obsolete by the new (Hebrews 7:12 - 18; 8:13 NIV)

We are all priests now - free to function in God's house. The Law, the old priesthood, and tithe have been crucified. There is now no Temple curtain, no Temple tax, and no special priesthood that stands between God and man. We have been set free from the bondage of tithing and from the obligation to support the unbiblical clergy system. May we, like the first-century Macedonian Christians, give freely, out of a cheerful heart, without guilt, religious obligation, or manuipulaton ... generously helping those in need (2 Cor 8:1 - 4; 9:6 - 7)

Sources:

Cox and Harvey, English Church Furniture

David C. Norrington, "Fundraising: The Method Used in the Early Church"

James Gilchrist, Anglican Church Plate

JG Davies, A New Dictionary of Liturgy and Worship

CB Hassell, History of the Church of God, from Creation to AD 1885

Murray, Beyond Tithing

Hatch, Growth of Christian Institutions

Durant, Age of Faith

Gough, Early Christians

Your "Dream" Church...

From studying Scripture, what components of "the church" would you include and embrace in the makeup of your dream church?