The Trouble With Holiness

Posted by Jim Thornber on November 10, 2013
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Religion, Scripture. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . 2 Comments

For four years I was an Assemblies of God minister AND a monk with the Brothers and Sisters of Charity in Eureka Springs, AR. This is an excerpt from my book about that experience called “Taking Off My Comfortable Clothes: Removing Religion to Find Relationship.”

Thornber-Comfy Clothes CVR-R2I was in Bible College when I first heard the saying, “I’m a Christian and I don’t drink, smoke, or chew, or hang around with those who do.” We often repeated this little ditty tongue-in-cheek, but there was an element of truth to it, also. Although we knew abstinence from those things didn’t make us holy, we also had to sign a form that said we would not partake in those vices while we were students at the college. I suppose they were fine rules as rules go, but like any law, they only dealt with the outward appearance of holiness, and did nothing to address the matters of the heart.

At the core of that saying is the idea that we can obtain instant holiness if we will simply avoid certain habits. Furthermore, it was expected we would not have friends who engaged in such questionable practices. Somehow, we’ve equated the God-ordained gift of instant salvation through faith in the work of Christ with holiness on demand—my church demands certain practices (and abstinences) and I am holy if I follow those rules. My church says don’t _______ (fill in the blank), so I don’t _______ (fill in the blank) and I feel justified. Or, the church says don’t go there, sinners are there and they will ruin your walk with Christ, so we avoid going to certain places.

That last one has always confused me. If the sinners are not coming to church, I always felt we should go to where the sinners are. After I left the Little Portion, I stayed in Berryville and continued going the Assemblies of God church. Needing a place to live, I put in an application for an apartment and used my pastor as a reference. The owner of the apartment called my pastor and asked him about my character, wondering if it was me he saw coming out of a party in town. My pastor assured the man I wouldn’t have been at such a gathering.

I took that as a compliment. Sort of. Why wouldn’t I go to such a party? Isn’t that where the sinners are? Continue Reading

Scriptures That Bother Me — Nehemiah 1:5-6

Posted by Jim Thornber on November 3, 2013
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Religion, Scripture. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Nehemiah’s Prayer 

“O LORD, God of heaven…listen to my prayer! Look down and see me praying night and day for your people Israel” – Nehemiah 1:5-6 

 

I-want_1I read six verses into the book of Nehemiah the other day and couldn’t continue. What struck me were Nehemiah’s passion and purpose, and the fact that both produced in him a prayer that continued night and day.

I’m lucky to find something to pray about that will last me fifteen minutes, much less day and night.

For all my talk about my desire to teach Scripture and seeing people fulfill their God-given destiny, of equipping people for works of service, of hoping to have more of my writings published and to see my church home grow with new Christians, I still don’t have the passion to pray day and night. With all those things on my agenda, I would hope that I’d have a more dedicated prayer life.

I want to, but I don’t. The paradox, naturally, is that I am writing about prayer instead of actually praying. Perhaps my writing is something I need to pray about!

I did study further to see what it was that caused such a stir in Nehemiah’s spirit. A citizen from Judah visited Nehemiah in Babylon and reported that the walls of Jerusalem were still in disrepair since their destruction by Nebuchadnezzar 130 years before. Because the walls were down, Jerusalem was defenseless against her enemies. Spiritually this was a disgrace because it reflected upon the character of God. Jerusalem was the place God chose to place His name (Neh. 1:9; Deut. 12:5). To allow it to stay in such disrepair was to bring shame on the very Name of God.

Nehemiah was able to pray day and night because he understood the heart of God. This challenged me to consider what things I want and what things God wants. Continue Reading

Scriptures That Bother Me — Matthew 28:19

Posted by Jim Thornber on October 20, 2013
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Religion, Scripture. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Are You a Disciple Are You Just Saved?

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” –  Matthew 28:19

 

FollowMeCan I share something with you that bothers most pastors? It’s the fact that many good church-going people want Jesus to be their Savior, but they’re not too keen on letting Him actually be their Lord. They want to be saved from the penalties of their sins, but they don’t want that salvation to actually impede upon their way of life. They want the comfort of knowing they are saved, but they don’t want to be put upon to bring other people into the Kingdom. They want to ask forgiveness for their sins, but they don’t want to live in obedience to all the teachings of Christ.

This is seen in the ways people invest first in themselves, and then in others. For example, let’s look at the Great Commission of Jesus in Matt. 28:18-20. “Jesus came and told his disciples, ‘I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’” First, Jesus is talking to His Disciples, those who have taken up their cross and chosen to follow Him at all costs. Next, Jesus tells them to go and make disciples. This brings up two questions. First, are you in the process of being a disciple? Not a follower. Not a weekly church attendee, but a disciple, a person who seeks to study the Word, who gets together with other Christians to challenge and be challenged to live the life Christ died for us to have. Hebrews 10:23-25 says, “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds,  not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

Look at that word “spur.” It means to provoke, incite, irritate. When you gather with other Christians then you should be spurring them, provoking and inciting and even irritating them on towards good works. It also means when you gather you are willing to be spurred. But we cannot be spurred if we are not gathering, and we cannot be spurred or provoked towards good works if we only show up every once in a while to a church and leave as soon as possible. Still, this happens week after week in churches all over the world. But according to the Great Commission, to be a disciple and to make disciples means you are personally investing in the lives of others.

And this is terribly inconvenient. It means you will have to invest the one thing that means more to many of us than money – our time. We would rather pay someone to take our neighbor to the grocery store than actually drive them ourselves. We’d rather pay someone to work on the church than show up ourselves. Continue Reading

Warning! Church Membership Ahead! Use Extreme Caution!

Posted by Jim Thornber on October 12, 2013
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Religion. Tagged: , , , , , , . 9 Comments

Extreme Caution

It all started when . . .

I had a conversation with a young mother the who was dismayed at the way she’d been treated in church by other Christians. She told me the deepest hurts she’d ever encountered in life have come through religious people she thought should know better.

The more I considered this, the more I think the leaders in God’s Church have done their people a great disservice. As an Evangelical Protestant/Pentecostal, I’ve heard for years that the only thing a person needs to do to be saved is to “confess Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior.”  I’ve seen people practically coerced into repeating those words, or some semblance of them, only to hear the announcement they’re now saved, cleansed, set free from their sins and ready to live their life for the Lord. Then follows the invitation that almost ruins this new, if questionable convert: “Come and go to church with me.”

Unfortunately, many times in our efforts to get someone to say the magic Salvation Formula, we don’t bother to explain what a Lord is and we forget that none of us knows everything God’s saved us from. We convince people that simply repeating a sentence after us will grant them eternal life and everything on earth is now going to be a big, warm fuzzy feeling of joy and happiness since Jesus paid for your sins and made you a part of the family of God.

However, once we’ve got them in the church door, we’ve conveniently forgotten to tell these new converts about self-righteous Sister Sally and judgmental Brother Bob, the self-appointed spiritual police who make war with anyone who disagrees with them, dresses differently, has divergent opinions on the proper music to use in church or reads an unauthorized Bible. We don’t warn them that some of the tongues they’ll hear will be lashings that won’t need an interpretation. Continue Reading

How To Talk “Christian”

Posted by Jim Thornber on October 6, 2013
Posted in: Christian Spirituality. Tagged: , , , , , , . 1 Comment

“Mary took . . . an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. . . But Judas Iscariot objected, ‘Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor?’ He said this because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what as put into it.” – John 12:3-6

 

say what logo CS3Reading this passage reminds me of why I hate Christian clichés.

Judas, in his desire to line his pockets with the disciple’s money, says the religiously acceptable thing when he talks about giving the money to the poor. However, in order to hide his true motives, Judas mouths a frequently used yet thoughtless statement that sounds good to the listening ear but betrays the truth.

To the casual observer, Judas’ statement appears to be closest to the mission of Jesus, but in reality, his motive is furthest from the heart of Christ. That, to me, is the definition of a Christian cliché.

I’m confessing to you that I’m bothered by how many “religious” statements appear full of compassion and dedication, but are actually self-serving and far from the loving kindness of God. After sharing my crankiness over Christian clichés with some Facebook friends, I’ve compiled a short list of our least favorite Christian sayings. Feel free to add your own, but I warn you; just thinking about some of these can put you in a bad mood.

 

  • “Bless her heart.” This is the quick follow-up after sharing some bit of gossip about “her.”
  •  “I’ll pray for you.” It sounds so religious and spiritual, but we can all count the number of times we’ve said that and failed to follow up on it. When someone asks my wife to pray for them, she stops what she’s doing, looks them in the eye, and prays for their need. I like that, because the person prayed for knows they’ve been prayed for, knows what has been said about them, and knows they’ve been in the presence of someone who means what they say. Continue Reading

Jesus Feeds 9,000

Posted by Jim Thornber on September 29, 2013
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Religion. Tagged: , , , , , , , . 2 Comments

[I wrote this a few years back when I was between ministry assignments. I thought it might help a few of you who are in a similar situation. Let me know if this encourages you.]

“We have only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered. “Bring them here to me,” Jesus said. – Matthew 14:13-21; 15:32-38

loaves-and-fishes-328x328Up until recently, I never had a need or an opportunity to apply these verses to my life. However, since I have been an unemployed minister for a while, I am starting to read Scripture differently, because I am starting to doubt my own resources.

As I search, seek, and ask God about my next assignment, I cannot help but wonder about my skills and talents and why so many churches have no interest in employing me. I do not have an answer at this time, but it has driven me to look at Scripture in a different light.

Because my primary spiritual gift is teaching, I have spent years reading the Bible mostly for those things I could teach from the pulpit or in the Sunday school class. However, since those two forums have recently (and, I pray, temporarily) dried up, I have resorted to reading Scripture not so much for how I can apply it to your life, but for how I can apply it to mine! Yes, I should have been doing this all along, but I am a little slow on the uptake. Just like the disciples in these two passages. Perhaps this is why these stories bothered me as I read them this morning. They hit too close to home.

In the first passage, the disciples show their concern for the crowd, but in a selfish way. They know the crowd needs to eat, but the disciples do not want to take responsibility for this task and ask Jesus to send them away. Not missing a beat, Jesus says, “That isn’t necessary – you feed them” (14:16 NLT).

However, the disciples reply by saying they do not have adequate resources. “But we only have five loaves of bread and two fish!” they tell Jesus.

“Bring them here,” Jesus says.

At that point, I stopped reading.

I am feeling a bit like the disciples. I know I have some resources, but they seem so meager and inadequate for the task. It is all too overwhelming for me. People need to be fed and taught and discipled and trained to do the work of ministry, and all I have is a little Bible training and a passion to teach.

“Bring them here,” Jesus tells me.

And I know what will happen when I do. He will take the little I have and bless it and make it adequate for the job He has assigned for me. Feeling better about myself – if not a tad rebuked – I continued reading. Continue Reading

My Chosen Addiction

Posted by Jim Thornber on September 22, 2013
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Religion, Scripture. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless?—James 2:19-21

addictionI’ve been a Christian long enough to know that addictions can be harmful to your spiritual health. I’ve heard preachers rail against different addictions for over thirty years, telling me to keep my mind and body pure from evil, worldly pleasures. But now that I’m middle-aged, I think I’m spiritually wise enough to enjoy an addiction of my own choosing without too much harm. I mean, what’s it going to do? Kill me? Heck, I’m closer to death now than when I first begun.

The question is: What kind of addiction to I want to take up?

How about smoking cigarettes? No, that’s out. I don’t like the smell of stale smoke on other people’s clothes, much less my own. Besides, smoking and being the lead pastor of a church still doesn’t settle well in people’s minds.

Maybe drinking? Then the question arises, “Drinking what?” Most churches still condemn even a glass of wine in the evening, as simple as that is, but have nothing against drinking three liters of Coke a day, as awful as THAT is. However, I’m not a big fan of carbonated drinks, so that’s out. How about milk? I used to like milk. Then I see a gallon of milk is almost as much as a pack of cigarettes, so I figure there has to be a less expensive addiction to get involved in. And my Lord knows I don’t need to put on any more weight.

How about gambling? That’s an easy “No.” Not that I don’t gamble already. I do so every time I pay my car insurance or go to the movies (When was the last time you paid to see a movie in the theatre and thought, “That wasn’t worth it?” It was a gamble going in, right?). I don’t want to gamble at the casinos because I don’t find it very entertaining. If I’m going to be addicted to something, it ought to be something I enjoy doing.

Finally, in my study of the book of James, I came across an addiction worthy of my time and effort.  Continue Reading

So, You Want To Be “Spiritual?”

Posted by Jim Thornber on September 15, 2013
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Religion. Tagged: , , , , , , , . 4 Comments

“The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him” — 2 Chron. 16:9

spiritual-minuteWhen you hear someone say, “That is a very spiritual person,” what do they mean? I’ve often heard that description used, but when you ask the person who said it what it means, they are often at a loss. I know what it doesn’t mean. To be a “spiritual” person does not mean you walk around silently like some kind of ancient mystic, listening to the quiet breath of God for instructions on what to say and how to pray. It doesn’t mean you’re always ready to say something prophetic and give a word of knowledge and have miracles following you. It doesn’t mean you can quote a thousand different verses on any given subject. Try this for a definition of spirituality: Living your life in harmony with God.

To be spiritual means you make God’s thoughts your thoughts, God’s priorities your priorities. What is important to God is important to you. What burdens God burdens you. When He says, “Go right” you go right, you don’t say, “Why?” A spiritual person decides to follow God knowing that God doesn’t need to explain Himself to anyone. A spiritual person is one whose heart is sensitive to the things of God. 2 Chron. 16:9 says, “The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” God is looking for men and women who are completely dedicated to Him.

When I think about a spiritual person I think of David, who was completely dedicated to God in every aspect of his very earthly life. And his was a very earthly life. In Psalm 18:29 David says, “With your help I can conquer an army. I can leap over walls with a helping hand from you.” Can you envision a leaping David? Can you see him running, coming to a wall and leaping over it without hesitation and continuing his run? Eugene Peterson describes David as “running toward Goliath, running from Saul, pursuing God, meeting Jonathan, rounding up stray sheep, whatever, but running. And leaping. Certainly not strolling or loitering. David’s is a most exuberant story. Earthy spirituality characterizes his life and accounts for the exuberance. Earthy: down-to-earth, dealing with everydayness, praying while doing the laundry, singing in the snarl of traffic. Spiritual: moved and animated by the Spirit of God and therefore alive to God” (Leaping Over A Wall, pg. 11). Continue Reading

REAL Ministerial Alliance

Posted by Jim Thornber on September 13, 2013
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Leadership. Tagged: , , , , . 1 Comment

alliance 2 We had six pastors in Independence show up for coffee, fellowship, laughter, email changes and planning for next year’s ministry. It was great to watch the Baptist and Friends pastors give help to the Lutheran pastor regarding children’s worship. THIS is what it means to be a ministerial alliance! I only hope we have more next week. I was very excited about this and just wanted you to know. I pray good things are happening among the ministers in your town.

Letting It All Go

Posted by Jim Thornber on September 8, 2013
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Church, Religion. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

For four years I was an Assemblies of God minister and a monk with the Brothers and Sisters of Charity at the Little Portion Hermitage. This is an excerpt from my book,Taking Off My Comfortable Clothes: Removing Religion to Find Relationship.

Thornber-Comfy Clothes CVR-R2One of the interesting facets of traveling around the country with the members of the Little Portion was the discovery that different parishes had different tolerance levels for Assemblies of God monks teaching in their church. My unique situation was welcomed with open arms in many cities, but this was not the case in a visit to Dodge City, Kansas. There the priest asked me not to tell the congregation that I was not a Catholic. I was ready for this, because it was not an unusual request. It fell under the heading, “No one can pick on my baby brother but me.”

Too often, we will tolerate any amount of disagreement or criticism as long as it comes from within our ranks. However, if that criticism comes from an outsider, then we often find it unacceptable. For instance, I can tell Jewish jokes all I want because my mom’s family is Jewish. But if those same jokes are told by anyone else, then people start screaming antisemitism. The same goes for jokes pertaining to religion.

However, I also respect the pastor of a church who knows his people well enough to understand their limitations. I was always obedient to the wishes of the priests who invited us to minister. To do anything less would be to dishonor God’s appointed leadership.

I preached in Dodge City three nights in a row and never mentioned I was not a Catholic and there was a wonderful response. But one humorous encounter occurred after the last night I taught. A couple approached me, a bit cautiously I might add, and asked if they could speak with me.

“After listening to you, we’ve come to a conclusion,” the husband said. “Either you are not a Catholic, or you are a recent convert to Catholicism.”

I laughed and said, “Why would you say that?” Continue Reading