A Conversation about Brian McLaren’s A New Kind of Christianity

Responding to Brian McLaren’s Question # 6: The Church Question

Welcome: You’re reading Part 8 of my blog series responding to Brian McLaren’s book A New Kind of Christianity (read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, and Part 7). Many have engaged Brian’s thinking by focusing on a systematic theology response (visit here for a boatload of links). My focus is on pastoral theology or practical theology. As a pastor, counselor, and professor who equips the church for biblical counseling and spiritual formation, I’m asking: “What difference does our response to each question make for how we care like Christ (biblical counseling) and for how we live like Christ (spiritual formation)?”

What Is the Church Here For?

In addressing the church issue, Brian asks a series of important questions. “Around what grand endeavor can we rally? What one great danger do people need to be saved from and, more positively, what one great purpose do they need to be saved for? Around what melody can we harmonize without trying to homogenize?” (p. 164).

In response, Brian believes that we must “rethink our core mission” (p. 165). Brian’s rethinking is motivated by his belief that the church has lost touch with “normal” people and that preachers have forgotten how to speak their language. He’s also motivated by his perception that the church is living within an isolated or withdrawn religious subculture, or spiritual country club.

I’m not sure what churches Brian is visiting, but I agree with him—I wouldn’t applaud those churches either. I find it ironic that Brian uses the “spiritual country club” imagery for the churches he’s against. It seems to me that an exorbitant percentage of young Emergent church leaders are all coincidentally called to minister in churches filled with cool, trendy, well-educated, philosophically-inclined, upwardly-mobile, suburban, white-collar types. Isn’t God calling any young Emergent leaders to minister to blue-collar, high-school-educated, rural, or urban people?

A Church Of Biblical Counseling

Brian also seems to think that only he and his fellow Emergent church leaders are ministering in the mess and muck of life, and that only they are speaking the language of the people. The truth is, non-Emergent churches are in the trenches, on the front lines providing ministries based upon truth and love.

Faith Baptist Church in Lafayette, Indiana, under the direction of Pastor Steve Viars, is a prime example. They’re staunchly conservative Evangelical in theology and cutting-edge in ministry practice and outreach. They’re a church of biblical counseling, not just a church with biblical counseling. Their biblical counseling ministry is not just within their congregation, it is to their community.

Every week over 100 community members receive free biblical counseling from Faith Biblical Counseling Ministries. Their waiting list is seemingly endless. Someone must believe they are speaking their language.

As part of Faith Community Ministries, the church built a community center…not for the congregation, but for the…community. The list of need-meeting ministries is amazing, such as Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Community Blood Drives, Community Foster Car, Habitat for Humanity, Red Cross Disaster Shelter, Court Appointed Special Advocates, Clothing Closet, Food Pantry, etc. As part of this ministry, Faith also built a state-of-the-art outdoor skate board park. Many of these “Skaters” end up in church…with their skate boards and their torn jeans to hear exegetical, expository, biblical preaching every Sunday. These young Skaters believe Faith is speaking their language.

Faith’s Vision of Hope residential treatment center offers faith-based treatment for girls age 14-28 who are struggling with unplanned pregnancy, alcohol or drug abuse, eating disorders, or self-harm. State agencies and the court system regularly refer girls to Vision of Hope—with the full knowledge that the program is based upon biblical counseling. Someone realizes they are speaking their language.

Faith Bible Seminary combines the traditional M.Div. emphasis in theology, the original languages, and pastoral training within a mentoring environment in partnership with area local churches. Students gain first-hand experience with Faith Biblical Counseling, Vision of Hope, and other unique ministries. They have no problem attracting students nor do their graduates have any problem finding local church placement. People know they are speaking their language.

Spiritual Formation in Truth and Love

Brian offer’s his view of the new core mission of the church. We’re called to focus on communities that form Christlike people living as agents of transformation. “The church exists to form Christlike people, people of Christlike love. It exists to save them from the danger of wasting their lives” (p. 164). The meaning of those words depends upon how Brian answered his previous five questions. As Mike Wittmer notes:

“Brian’s shallow evaluation of our problem (no Fall, original sin, total depravity, or hell) produces a shallow understanding of salvation (love as much as you can and let God’s judgment burn your bad stuff away) which produces a shallow view of the church (it exists merely to stop people from wasting their lives).”

Brian wants to know, “How does spiritual formation in the way of Jesus differ from religious education in the way of Christianity?”(p. 170). Great question! Of course, to answer this we must go back to Who Jesus is and why He came. If Jesus is a community organizer Who came to usher in the “sacred ecosystem” (p. 165), then formation in Jesus looks like one thing. But if Jesus is the God-man Who came in Holy Love to justify, regenerate, reconcile, and redeem sinners, then it looks like quite another thing.

Brian traces the church’s problem to knowledge without love. I don’t know anyone who would argue that we should only have love or only have knowledge. But Brian seems to minimize the role of knowledge—truth, doctrine, theology. The same Paul he quotes in 1 Corinthians also says in Philippians 1:9-11 that our love must abound in knowledge and depth of insight. Paul is not pitting love against knowledge. Paul is saying that truth or love alone are never enough. Brian says the church should be a school of love (p. 170). I would say, and I believe it’s a crucial difference, that the church should be a school where love abounds in knowledge and depth of insight.

Brian also says that we need to be Spirit-saturated people. I agree. Of course, we have to ask and answer the question, “How does the Spirit saturate us?” In what ways and under what condition(s) does the Spirit enter a person’s life? I would say, through rebirth, through salvation—through justification, regeneration, reconciliation, and redemption. (See my response to Question # 5.)

Brian’s view of the Fall, of Christ, and of the Gospel all seem to call into question salvation as justification, regeneration, reconciliation, and redemption. In this chapter, Brian furthers states that the goal of the church is to save people from wasting their lives. That’s quite different from saving them from sin, depravity, and alienation from God. So, without salvation, how does the Spirit saturate a person?

I believe the Bible teaches that the goal of the church is to introduce people to Christ Who saves them. They are thus justified, regenerated, reconciled, redeemed, and indwelt by the Spirit and thus they are empowered to be formed into the image of Christ. Then, as new creations in Christ, together as the Body of Christ, we minister to one another (biblical counseling and spiritual formation) so that our inner lives increasingly reflect the inner life of Christ and so that our outer lives increasingly sacrificially minister Christ’s grace to hurting and hardened people. That’s certainly not a wasted life.

The Rest of the Story

In our next post, we respond to Brian’s answer to the sex question. He asks, “Can we find a way to address human sexuality without fighting about it?” What does biblical counseling have to say about addressing human sexuality?

Join the Conversation

What is the purpose of the church and how is it accomplished?

Should Pastors Pastor?

Megachurch pastors are not likely to see themselves as that—pastors. According to recent findings from Leadership Network’s Large-Church Senior Pastor Survey, 81% of Sr. Pastors with more than 2,000 attendees view their role as “preacher/teacher” while only 16% see themselves as “pastor, shepherd, or spiritual guide.” And only 10% say they are strongest in pastoral counseling and spiritual direction. (You can find an article on this study in the Christian Post.)

Sad News, Not New News

While to me this is very sad news, it is hardly new news.

Pastor, author, and professor Eugene Peterson noted in a 1993 article for Christianity Today that the practice of pastoral soul care and spiritual direction was a forgotten art. Through his research he concluded that until about a century ago, pastoral work was synonymous with soul care—the Scripture-directed, prayer-shaped care that is devoted to persons singly or in groups, in settings sacred and profane.

In his 1989 book, The Contemplative Pastor, Peterson noted that pastors now focus on running a church (administration) and have abandoned their historic call to pastoral soul care. Peterson saw many of the ministers of his day as CEOs and polished public speaker. But can they relate? Do they care? Do they practice pastoral care? Are they even aware of their ancestors in pastoral practice?

“Yes, But”

I can hear you now…

“Yes, but there’s no way a pastor with 2,000 people can counsel, pastor, or shepherd everyone!”

I’m not saying they could or even should provide personal ministry to everyone.

I’m saying they should be able to shepherd someone! More importantly, the Bible says that a pastor should be able to shepherd (1 Peter 5:1-5; Acts 20:25-38; Colossians 1:28-2:2).

Objection # 2

Or, you might say, “Yes, but the work of the pastor is equipping the people to do the work of the ministry, not doing all the work of the ministry.”

I agree 100% that pastors are equippers. Of course, nothing in the survey noted this as their self-identified role.

Additionally, how can you equip people for the personal ministry of the Word (counseling, shepherding, spiritual direction) if you have little or no experience or ability or passion in that area? And how many mega-churches have equipping ministries for lay counseling, lay care-giving, lay shepherding? (Answer: a very low percentage.)

Another Potential Objection

Or, you might say, “Yes, but through the pulpit ministry of the Word, so many more are fed.”

Here’s my problem with that—if a pastor is not involved in the personal ministry of the Word (shepherding, pastoral counseling, spiritual direction), then the preaching is more from theory than from real-life, raw, relevant ministry experience.

Hiding behind the pulpit ministry of the Word can easily become an excuse to avoid the personal ministry of the Word. The pulpit ministry of the Word and the personal ministry of the Word are not enemies. They should be partners.

Join the Conversation

What do you think?

Should every pastor be involved in the personal ministry of the Word through shepherding, pastoral counseling, care-giving, soul care, and/or spiritual direction?

Should pastors pastor? Or, does pastoring a mega-church grant pastors a pass on pastoring?

Is a pastor a soul physician or a CEO/public speaker?

100 Top Resources for Your Life and Ministry

“Want to change lives?”

That’s the four-word summary of my passion that drives everything I do with RPM Ministries: “Want to change lives?”

I want to equip God’s people to change lives. I know that’s not as “user-friendly” or “seeker-sensitive” as many more self-absorbed questions.

However, I have faith that people of faith want to change lives with Christ’s changeless truth.

The Macy’s Santa Claus

Of course, I’m certainly not the only person passionate about equipping. That’s why one of my commitments is to be a bridge-builder directing you to additional equipping sources.

I like to use the analogy from the movie Miracle on 34th Street. Remember how the Macy’s Santa shocked everyone by sending customers to the “competition” (Gimbels)? Why? Because for him it wasn’t a competition! Life was all about helping others to find what they needed.

That’s the passion behind my bridge-building, resource-providing ministry.

Ministry is not competition. We’re co-workers together. God’s resources are infinite. Human needs are close to infinite. Let’s work together, building bridges and pointing each other to the best sources for changing lives with Christ’s changeless truth.

That’s why you’ll find on the right hand side of my website my blogroll and favorite websites that I follow and recommend.

For your convenience, I’ve listed below (with automatic links) these 100 top sites. Take a look, visit, enjoy–and be equipped. Because…you want to change lives.

Join the Conversation

What blogs and web sites do you recommend to someone seeking to be equipped to change lives with Christ’s changeless truth?

Where do you go to find Christ-centered, comprehensive, compassionate, and culturally-informed equipping for biblical counseling, spiritual formation, Christian living, and church ministry?

7 Biblical Truths That Must Shape Life and Ministry

Blog Series Note: How to Care Like Christ seeks to equip lay people, pastors, and professional Christian counselors with the biblical knowledge and relational skills to change lives with Christ’s changeless truth.

Two books are standard in any physician’s office: The Physician’s Desk Reference (PDR) and The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy (Merck). Both are considered “Bibles of medical knowledge and practice.”

With its 3,223 pages of prescription drugs, the annually updated PDR is the most comprehensive, widely used drug reference available. It details the usage, warnings, and precautions for more than 4,000 prescription drugs.

Merck is the most widely used medical text in the world. It provides the latest information on the vast expanse of human diseases, disorders, and injuries, as well as their symptoms and treatments. Intended for physicians, it is still useful for the layperson. As one sage has commented, “It is a must for everyone in a human body.”

If the PDR and Merck are the Old Testament and New Testament for physicians treating the body, then the Bible is God’s final, authoritative word for physicians treating the soul. It is the Soul Physician’s Desk Reference (SPDR) manual for dispensing grace. It’s “a must for anyone who is a soul.” God’s Word provides not only the latest, but also the eternal, enduring information on the soul’s design and disease, as well as its care and cure.

What do we discover as we read the pages of the Soul Physician’s Desk Reference (SPDR)? We learn what makes biblical counseling biblical. We learn our Great Physician’s authoritative truth about how to:

1. Nourish the Hunger of the Soul: Preventive Medicine—God’s Word
2. Know the Creator of the Soul: The Great Physician—The Trinity
3. Examine the Spiritual Anatomy of the Soul: People—Creation
4. Diagnose the Fallen Condition of the Soul: Problems—Fall
5. Prescribe God’s Cure for the Soul: Solutions—Redemption
6. Envision the Final Healing of the Soul: Home—Glorification
7. Dispense God’s Care for the Soul: Spiritual Friends—Sanctification

These seven biblical categories are essential for seeing the life of the soul through the lens of Scripture. We will examine them meticulously, as a med-school student examines the skeletal structure of the human body.

The Rest of the Story

*Return tomorrow when we explore how to nourish the spiritual hunger of the soul.

*For the full story, feel free to visit: http://bit.ly/7vaE

Several years ago, “Tim” (not his real name) shared his story with me. His uncle had repeatedly sexually abused him while he was in elementary school. Tim never told anyone about the damage in his soul until he finally found the courage to tell a pastoral counselor. Hear Jim’s words.

“Bob, it was incredibly hard. I felt so ashamed, but I got the words out—sobbing as I shared. The second I finished, my counselor whipped out his Bible, turned to Genesis 3, and preached a thirty-minute message on sin. Bob, it wasn’t even a good sermon! But worse than that, I knew that I was a sinner. I’m clueless as to how my pastoral counselor intended to relate that passage to my situation. At that second, did I need a sermon on my personal sin?”

Tim did not return for his second session with his pastoral counselor. Instead, he arranged an appointment with a professional Christian counselor. Here is Tim’s rendition of his second counseling experience.

“Bob, at first things went well. My counselor seemed to be able to relate to me, seemed to have compassion for what I went through. But after two months of counseling I was ready to have him help me move beyond sympathy and empathy. I knew that I wasn’t loving my wife and kids like Christ wanted me to. But my counselor kept telling me that I was too hard on myself and that I was too damaged to love the way I wanted to love.”

The tale of two counselors. One hears a sordid story of sexual abuse and immediately responds to his sobbing counselee with a sermon on sin. The second hears his counselee’s longing to move beyond damage to dignity, from victim to victory, and informs him that he’s too disabled to function fully. These two diverse approaches illustrate the ongoing divide concerning what makes biblical counseling biblical. Just what is biblical one another ministry?

Tim’s story forces us to ask ourselves some hard questions. Practical questions such as:

*In your own life, do you tend to be more on the “truth/Scripture side” or more on the “love/soul side”? Why?

*Has anyone ever interacted with you like either of Tim’s counselors? What did it feel like? What were the results?

*What view of the Bible and of “people helping” might have motivated Tim’s counselors?

*What content does a person need to know to be a biblical counselor, pastoral counselor, lay counselor, spiritual friend, soul physician, mentor, discipler, or people helper?

The Rest of the Story

Return tomorrow when we explore how to make one another ministry truly biblical.

I’d like to invite you to join me at the AACC’s World Conference from Wednesday, September 16, 2009 through Saturday, September 19, 2009 in Nashville, TN.

Our Biblical Counseling and Spiritual Formation Network (BCSFN) has many equipping events planned to empower you to change lives with Christ’s changeless truth.

BCSFN Pre-Conference

The BCSFN will hold its first “Conference-within-a Conference” during the AACC World Pre-Conference on Wednesday, September 18.

In the morning session from 9:00 AM to Noon, I will present on Developing a Theology and Methodology of Biblical Counseling. Learn seven essential biblical counseling competencies necessary to build a truly scriptural approach to Christian counseling.

In the afternoon session from 2:00 to 5:00 PM, Ron Hawkins will present on Using the Bible Accurately and Effectively in Biblical Counseling.

To register for the Pre-Conference go here http://tinyurl.com/nw5z2p and then select the Pre-Conferences by Kellemen and Hawkins to join others interested in biblical counseling and spiritual formation equipping.

BCSFN Track Presentations

During the AACC World Conference, from Thursday, September 17 to Saturday, September 19, the BCSFN has its own track, where we will be hearing from the following speakers:

*Ian F. Jones, “Biblical Counseling in the Historical Church,” Thursday, September 17, 8:45 to 10:00 AM, Session 103.

*Gary Moon, “Discipleship vs. Apprenticeship: An Experiential Approach to Spiritual Growth,” Thursday, September 17, 2:15 to 3:30 PM, Session 203.

*Robert W. Kellemen, “How to Practice Comprehensive Biblical Counseling: Implementing a Dozen Dreams,” Friday, September 18, 8:45-10:00 AM, Session 303. Learn how to care like Christ by providing Christ-centered, comprehensive, compassionate, and culturally-informed biblical counseling and spiritual formation.

*Scott E. Wiggington, “For Crying Out Loud: Reclaiming the Lost Language of Lament in Christian Counseling,” Friday, September 18, 2:15 to 3:30 PM, Session 403.

*Phil Monroe, “Engaging Biblical Texts in Trauma Therapy,” Friday, September 18, 4:15 to 5:30 PM, Session 503.

*John Thomas, “What’s Good About Feeling Bad: Developing a Theology of Suffering, Saturday, September 19, 8:45 to 10:00 AM, Session 603.

*Rick Marrs, “Making Christian Counseling More Christ-Centered,” Saturday, September 19, 2:15-3:30 PM, Session 703.

To register for the AACC World Conference Tracks, go here http://tinyurl.com/l284w6 and then select the Biblical Counseling and Spiritual Foundations tracks when you sign-up.

BCSFN Mixer

Please join us on Friday evening for the BCSFN Mixer. Our time together will include fellowship, connecting, discussing the latest happenings in the BCSFN, and interacting about ways our division can better equip our members. We want to get to know you and benefit from your participation!

Register for the AACC World Conference

Please visit the following link to register for the 2009 AACC World Conference: http://www.aacc.net/conferences/2009-world-conference/

I look forward to connecting with each of you.

Note: Knowing our identity in Christ is vital to glorifying God, defeating the lies of Satan, and ministering powerfully. As you read the following summaries:

*Meditate on the associated verses and on the truth they share about you.

*Reject the lies of Satan about your identity.

*Thank God for who you are in Christ.

*Select one verse/truth per day and specifically apply it to your life and relationships.

My Identity in Christ

Romans 3:21-26; 4:3, 5, 6, 9, 22, 23, 24; 5:17, 19; 1 Corinthians 1:30; 2 Corinthians 3:9—I have been credited with Christ’s righteousness.

Romans 5:17—I am a recipient of God’s abundant provision of grace.

Romans 5:18—I have new life in Christ.

Romans 6:2—I am dead to sin.

Romans 6:3—I am baptized into Christ’s death.

Romans 6:4—I am buried with Christ in His death to and over sin.

Romans 6:4—I have been raised to new life in Christ.

Romans 6:5—I am united with Christ in His resurrection.

Romans 6:6—My old self is crucified with Christ.

Romans 6:6—My body of sin has been done away with.

Romans 6:6—I am no longer sin’s slave.

Romans 6:7—I have been freed from sin in Christ.

Romans 6:8—I died with Christ to sin.

Note: Excerpted from Soul Physicians: http://tinyurl.com/d8grf6

Note: Knowing our identity in Christ is vital to glorifying God, defeating the lies of Satan, and ministering powerfully. As you read the following summaries:

*Meditate on the associated verses and on the truth they share about you.

*Reject the lies of Satan about your identity.

*Thank God for who you are in Christ.

*Select one verse/truth per day and specifically apply it to your life and relationships.

My Identity in Christ

John 15:11—My joy is complete in Christ.

John 16:33—I have overcome the world in Christ.

John 17:16—I am not of this world.

Acts 2:44; 4:32—I am a believer.

Acts 5:20—I have new life in Christ.

Acts 8:3; 2 Corinthians 1:1—Together with all the saints, I am God’s Church.

Acts 11:26—I am a Christian, a little Christ.

Acts 13:39; Romans 3:24, 26, 28, 30; 4:25; 5:1, 9, 18; 10:10; 1 Corinthians 6:11; Titus 3:7—I am justified freely and fully in Christ.

Acts 20:32; 1 Corinthians 6:11—I am sanctified in Christ.

Romans 1:6—I am called to belong to Christ.

Romans 1:7; 1 Corinthians 6:1, 2; 2 Corinthians 1:1; Ephesians 1:1; Philippians 1:1; 4:21, 22; Philemon 4; Jude 3—I am a saint.

Romans 3:24; 1 Corinthians 1:30; Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 1:14—I am redeemed in Christ.

Note: Excerpted from Soul Physicians: http://tinyurl.com/d8grf6