Sacred Cows in the Church?

 

I have spent much of my adult life in the church. I love the church, but it is not perfect because it is filled with people. People with faults, hangups and wrong thinking. As a pastor for 40+ years, one of the biggest challenges I faced was 'sacred cows' in the church. Not literal four-legged cud-chewing cows but traditions and even objects that people have elevated to Biblical status.

Here is a more technical definition. “The term 'sacred cow' is commonly used in Christian circles to describe those elements of church life that have been elevated to such a high level of importance that they cannot be touched, criticized, changed or removed. Above all, sacred cows are not essential to the fundamentals of Christianity, but people treat then as if they are.” (Source unknown)

Allow me to share just a couple I have encountered.

• Passing the offering plate. Many churches no longer use offering plates but have offering boxes/baskets at the doors of the sanctuary. If you stop that tradition, you may find stiff opposition.

• Worship style. This one of the biggest “sacred cows” in the church. If you want to start a 'war' in the church, try changing the worship.

• Dress standards. There was a time when people came to church in suits/ties and dresses. But today many don't even own a suit or a Sunday dress. Dressing up for church is not wrong but we cannot have a 'dress code' for people to attend our churches.

• Bible translations. There are many good translations to choose from, but we should not elevate ONE translation as THE only translation we should use.

One word of caution. If the health of the church is suffering and it is decided that a certain 'sacred cow' must be killed, make sure it's God's will and His timing. Killing a sacred cow could be messy!

Leaving Differently

Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way.  Matthew 2:12

All across the world, airline terminals are buzzing with the returning footsteps of Christmastime visitors planning to go home. Most everyone is using the second half of a round-trip ticket.

The wise men planned a round-trip, and they changed their route home. The Bible does not tell us which way they went, but it does tell us why they changed their plan. “Being divinely warned,” the Bible says, they were led by the Holy Spirit to take a route that would protect them from being captured by Herod.

I don't want to read more into the verse that what it states but the thought that when people meet Jesus Christ, they leave different. You can't have a face-to-face encounter with Him and remain the same.

• Saul meets Jesus on the Damascus Road and had a radical transformation. Acts 9

• Zacchaeus had an encounter with Jesus and had a total change. Luke 19:1-9

• But not all encounters ended with a positive outcome. A rich young ruler refused to meet the requirement for discipleship and left very sad.

  Luke 18:18-24

As you leave Christmas 2022, I trust you had an encounter with Jesus Christ and you are determined to face 2023 in a new direction.

Whose In Control?

 But the fruit of the Spirit is... self-control Galatians 5:22-23

Self-control is not a popular virtue in our culture. We are an instant-gratification, act-on-impulse, if it feels good do it society. If you shop at Walmart you will observe that parents have failed to teach their children self-control. Self-control is a base value. Other virtues cannot exist without it. God values self-control of extreme importance, for it is listed in His Word as a fruit of the Spirit.

A child cannot, by himself, understand the need to be self-controlled unless parents teach the virtue. Children refuse to bring their desires under control because it is part of their fallen nature. Children are not self-controlled but self-centered. They cannot help it. When you hear a child in the store screaming for a certain toy, or candy, they are demanding that self be satisfied. It is the parent's responsibility to bring their children under submission so that when they come of age, it will be easier to yield to the Holy Spirit's control.

A person has only two choices: Be controlled by his flesh or be controlled by the Holy Spirit. If you refuse to accept Christ as your Savior, you will by default be controlled by your lower nature (the flesh). Once the spirit of a person has been raised to life by the Spirit of God, the old desires of the flesh do not immediately disappear.

There is a battle that rages on. “So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other so that you are not to do whatever you want." Galatians 5:16-17 (Emphasis added)

You will find that every day you will have to choose: The flesh? The Holy Spirit? Remember you are not helpless against the desires of the flesh. walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

  

Have you ever in your life commanded the morning? Have you made the dawn know its place,   Job 38:12

Mornings are challenging for many people, for a variety of reasons. Why do mornings seem so difficult? Especially for working parents, there is so much to do in a short period of time. Getting kids ready for school has its own dynamic. 

When God was speaking to Job, He reminded Job that only God could command when the morning begins. Only God makes dawn know its place. Allow me some literary freedom and put a different slant to the phrase - Have you made the dawn know its place. We need to take control over our mornings and not allow things just happen. 

I think mornings are so hectic because we do not plan or control our mornings. What are the kids taking to school/daycare for lunch? What clothes are they going to where? Dad, where did you leave your briefcase/car keys last night? 

May I suggest some things that will make your mornings smoother." 

• Leave room for unhurried moments. Make sure everybody has enough and rises early enough to avoid rushing.
• Complete chores the night before. Prepare lunch boxes and put the in the fridge overnight. Layout kids' clothes before going to bed.
• Give yourself more time. Add 10 or 15 extra minutes to your usual schedule.
• Set reasonable expectations. Expect your child to do what they are capable of. i.e., washing and dressing themselves.
• Husbands and wives - work as a team. 

Tomorrow morning CAN BE less hectic if you plan for it. 

 

When You're Just...Done

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding - Proverbs 3:5

It is said that it's a woman's prerogative to change her mind and I've found that to be true. (Husbands, have you ever helped your wife rearrange furniture? Enough said) 

But I've found that it's harder for men to change their minds. It's not an easy thing to do, especially changing your beliefs. One of the must difficult things for me was when I attended Bible college was changing some of incorrect beliefs. But we don't have to do it alone. God will help, if we ask. 

All we must do is decide we want to change our minds - like the man who brought his son, the one that could not speak, to Jesus. Mark 9:14-29 This man has doubts about Jesus, and about what Jesus could do, but he decided to change his mind about those doubts …and he asked for help:

"Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, 'I believe; help by unbelief."

Changing our minds - to align our beliefs with those of God - is one way to step out of our old selves and into our new selves. It's the only way we begin to become the person God intends us to become.