I don’t know if you’ve heard or not, but Max Lucado recently released a new book titled Fearless. I just read the book and its actually a really good read (most of Lucado’s work is good). Thomas Nelson (the publisher) initiated a pretty big marketing campaign including all of their review bloggers posting their reviews on the same date, September 8th (Amazon.com alone has 567 reviews!). Lucado also hosted some Fearless town halls wherein audience members can ask him questions – check out the videos.
The title doesn’t leave much ambiguity when it comes to what the book is about: Christians should be fearless. Truth be told, many of us live with fear of any number of things: terrorism, economic downturn, making mistakes with the way we raise our kids, disappointing God…I would guess that most of us deal with these fears with some degree of regularity. Lucado addresses these fears and more, offering hope and encouragement, as he takes the reader through a series of snapshots from Jesus’ life where he dispels the fears of his followers. Lucado has a wonderful ability to string words together with an almost poetic rhythm and he always inspires.
But he falls short.
True, most of us could use the kind of reminders that Lucado offers. Most of us do need to learn to trust Jesus and have faith that we are “worth more than many sparrows” (Luke 12:7). And yet, I have to believe that living without fear means more than just having more individual faith, individual trust, and individual knowledge. I don’t know about you, but I am most afraid at those times when I feel like I’m facing all of my problems alone. Me against the world.
I get the feeling that you know what I’m talking about.
And we’re right to be fearful when we’re alone. When we are alone, we are “single strands” (think a measly piece of twine) – and we can easily be broken. But when we find a community to fall back on, it is like taking several pieces of twine and tying them together – you end up with a rope that is exponentially stronger than its singular parts (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12).
And that is the reason why I remain so passionate about the house-church movement. We aren’t meeting in house churches because of the comfortable couches and soft carpet, but because we feel like God is calling us to get deeper in community with one another, to be involved in one another’s lives, and to face our fears as a strong, united whole.
Because when the Body of Christ has your back, what is there to fear?
I encourage you to download our “Top 5 Community-Focused Books” and consider adding them to your nightstand. Go to www.leavethebuilding.com and click on “Resources.”
By the way, this ties in closely with a press release we just put out about how, out of the Top 50 best-selling Christian books, there are zero books focused primarily on community. Check out the press release here.
Hmmm. I’ve been following your blog for a while, encouraged that you were willing to jump out of man’s mold, and cheering you on. But I have to say, I think this post falls short. I was with you right up until this line:
“Because when the Body of Christ has your back, what is there to fear?”
I think you more appropriately should have said “If God is for us, who is against us?” (Rom 8:31)
What happens if, for whatever reason, the house groups fall apart? What happens if a member is thrown in jail for his faith, and can have no contact with his brothers and sisters? If his faith is in the body of Christ, then when that body isn’t available, his fear is once again in charge.
If his faith is based on God, however, he can overcome no matter what his circumstances.
You should preach the gospel of Jesus, not the gospel of the house church.
By: akagaga on September 29, 2009
at 11:16 PM
Hey Akagaga,
You make a good point and it is definitely one that I struggled with while writing this post. That said, I can’t help but conclude that the dichotomy you present (and the one I struggled with) is one born more out of Western Individualism and not the Bible.
Isn’t it interesting that Romans 8:31 uses “us” and not “me?”
To an extent, though, you are right. The faith of each person is ultimately in the person of Jesus Christ – that is a given (though perhaps I could have been more clear).
That said, the whole of Christian witness both in the Bible and throughout history is one of community. Jesus is coming back for his Church, His Bride – not just you or me. And he doesn’t save us in a vacuum devoid of any connection to others – were it not for the continued, historical efforts of the people of God, you and I wouldn’t be able to call ourselves Christians today. In other words, God rarely intervenes apart from his people. God IS for us and he proves it by sending his disciples. That’s why there’s not much to fear when the Body of Christ has your back – its the indication that God has your back.
Lastly, I would encourage you to check out that verse I referenced in Ecclesiastes (4:9-12). Solomon never distinguishes between the Jew and the Gentile – he merely notes that those who are alone have it worse than those who are not.
By: leavethebuilding on October 2, 2009
at 2:35 PM
Actually, the “dichotomy” I presented was not born of “Western Individualism,” but of the many, many Christians throughout history who have suffered for Christ, and the storm that is coming to America to test us all. It’s also based on Jesus’ warnings that many will fall away and betray one another.
It’s also based on the many warnings contained in the Bible similar to this:
Thus says the LORD, “Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind And makes flesh his strength, And whose heart turns away from the LORD. “For he will be like a bush in the desert And will not see when prosperity comes, But will live in stony wastes in the wilderness, A land of salt without inhabitant. “Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD And whose trust is the LORD. “For he will be like a tree planted by the water, That extends its roots by a stream And will not fear when the heat comes; But its leaves will be green, And it will not be anxious in a year of drought Nor cease to yield fruit. (Jeremiah 17:5-8)
I believe it’s going to get hot in America, at least spiritually, and many Christians are standing on the wrong foundation.
By: akaGaGa on October 4, 2009
at 11:42 AM
You may be right about the coming “heat” in America and, if so, we’ll definitely see how things play out in the Christian community.
That said, I must ultimately disagree with your conclusion on the role of Christian community. From a Biblical perspective, faith or trust in God was never done to the exclusion of healthy community. Of course, there is a key to maintaining that healthy balance between trust in God and trust in mankind: the individual must be committed to God above the community. When the community goes south, the individual should stand firm. God’s people are not God – I’ve never advocating to the contrary. And, yet, none of the Biblical authors (or Jesus) ever gave God’s people an “out” when it came to community.
They weren’t for lack of opportunity: God could have stuck just with Adam. He could have delivered only Moses. He could have just called Jeremiah and told him to forget about those foolish Israelites. Jesus could have only called Peter or, better yet, John (since Peter turned out to be a betrayer). He could have taught about individual salvation and that our chief goal was to love God, leaving out the whole bit about the neighbor. But none of that happened.
So, perhaps you’re right. Perhaps many Christians are standing on the wrong foundation. I would only argue that the wrong one to stand on is the one built on “me and Jesus.”
By: leavethebuilding on October 5, 2009
at 2:50 PM
Hey, we finally agree on something! We should never stand on the foundation of “me and Jesus.” Then again, I don’t think we should stand on the foundation of “community and Jesus,” either.
We should stand on the foundation of Jesus. Period.
By: akaGaGa on October 6, 2009
at 11:20 AM
Yes. WE should.
By: leavethebuilding on October 6, 2009
at 1:52 PM
FYI, I carried this topic over to my blog, if you’d like to join in.
http://akagaga.blogspot.com/2009/10/word-for-wednesday-churchs-one.html
By: akaGaGa on October 7, 2009
at 11:18 AM
Hey, thanks! I’ve appreciated the interaction and look forward to more in the future. Iron sharpening iron.
By: leavethebuilding on October 7, 2009
at 5:03 PM
…”From a Biblical perspective, faith or trust in God was never done to the exclusion of healthy community.”…
You’re talking humanism, Faith and/or trust in God is what builds strong communities. It is when communities start drifting from faith or trust in God exclusively that they fail. When they start being more concerned about their community than they are about God, they do a huge faceplant.
That is what we are seeing today in this nation, people upholding sound good, feel good, we’re all one big happy family lies to the exclusion of the laws of God.
The community today, could by and large could care less about God. Think that’s far fetched? Watch some well meaning person try to pass out tracts at your local Wally World, or maybe Fred Myers, it’s a joke.
…”From a Biblical perspective, faith or trust in God was never done to the exclusion of healthy community.”…
If you can make a statement like that and vigorously defend it, then I wish you well, have a nice trip.
By: Angrywhiteman on October 7, 2009
at 1:10 PM
There seems to be some confusion about what I’m advocating.
I’m not, in any way, suggesting that any/every community solves all of our problems – no community is perfect. I’m also not suggesting that to be in community is to follow/trust God – God is bigger than his creation. I’m also not suggesting that we should have faith in community to the exclusion of faith in God – God is our sole source for salvation.
How these things are being concluded when reading this is beyond me.
I am suggesting that God expects his followers to be in relationship with one another – the Bible consistently paints this picture from Genesis where the image of God is described as a communal reality to Revelation where the people of God are saved as a singular whole. I am also suggesting that the Bible is not the narrative from any single person’s perspective – community is inherent to the story. And finally, I’m suggesting that to be the Body of Christ is not merely a matter of common faith in the same God, but mutual love.
Are these really that controversial?
By: leavethebuilding on October 7, 2009
at 5:02 PM
[...] is falling short. If you haven’t read that article, yet, I suggest you take a few minutes and check it out – don’t forget to read the [...]
By: The Controversy of Community « A House Church Blog on October 15, 2009
at 4:57 PM