Where We Stand

I'll admit it: I am a lousy poker player - I'm not real fond of hemming and hawing, bluffing or blustering. I'd much rather just lay all my cards on the table and let the chips fall where they may. That approach probably won't get you very far in poker, but we believe it's the only way of dealing with people, especially when you're talking about planting a church.

Speaking of the church, we've noticed that many people these days don't think too highly of her - for many, the church is about as trustworthy as the guy dealing the cards in Vegas: he smiles like he's your best friend, but at the end of the day it's all about the money, and the house always wins. Perhaps that's why more and more people are looking elsewhere for answers.

Commitments & Confessions

We think the Christian church can and must do better, and we believe it starts with us being up front about who we are and what we are about. This, then, is our baseline commitment: we desire to be brutally honest, even when it's hard, even when it makes us look less than stellar. We do this because we think most people would rather know the truth in advance, rather than finding out later. The purpose of this post is to tell you where we stand.

If we're going to be honest, we might as well start with a confession: we are human and we make mistakes; we don't have it all figured out, in fact, we're still pretty clueless about a lot of things. Worse than that, we are sinners who often do what we shouldn't (or don't do what we ought). So you need to know what you're getting into - if you hang around us long enough, we're probably going to tick you off or hurt your feelings or maybe even do you wrong.

You see, at the end of the day, we need the gospel we preach just as much as those we are preaching it to (probably even more). That's why the church we plant is going to be messy. But it will also be a place where messy, messed up people like us are welcome as they are. This leads to our second commitment: when we screw up, we will admit it publicly and do whatever we can to make it right.

And even as we make this pledge, we also offer a word of hope - Jesus Christ is alive and well and he is working in our hearts, not because we try harder, but because we continue to acknowledge our faults and trust him to rescue us from ourselves. We have a long way still to go, but we find our hearts changing (ask our wives).

What We Think About the Church

We think this great drama of change is not just a private thing; we believe it's meant to unfold corporately, in the presence of others, in this crazy community the Bible calls 'the church'. That means the church is a key part of what it means to be a follower of Christ, and this leads us to several core convictions about the nature and purpose of the church:

1. First, we believe that every human being was designed for worship - the only place where we ever truly find meaning and fulfillment is in the triune God of Scripture, serving him rather than ourselves. Yet all have sinned by rejecting this relationship, and as a result we are estranged from God; we refuse to seek him because we have rebelled against his rule.
   
   
2. Fortunately, God is a missional God – he graciously comes seeking us. His work through all of history culminates in Christ, Christ's work culminates in the cross and in the church, and the church's work culminates in worship and mission.
   
   
3. For the church, mission exists because worship doesn't. This is our purpose – to form a community that draws others to God by embodying the restored relationship that comes through Christ. We in the church must worship well - not simply by singing his praises or preaching his word, but by repenting of our sins, serving one another selflessly, and offering this very hope of reconciliation to those who are still estranged.
   
   
4. The true church then will not only be biblical and confessional, it must also be missional because true worship embraces mission. These are the kinds of churches we need more of – churches that reach the unchurched, churches that plant more churches, churches that make a difference in the communities in which we live.
   

Thus we conclude that both worship and mission should be part of the ordinary, daily experience for every follower of Christ - this is the call for every Christian, for every church, not just a select few. This is what the church is all about. This is the type of community we desire to create in Missoula, Montana.

What We Think About the Gospel

Given this understanding of the church, what must sinners like ourselves do to be rescued? Several key concepts shape the content of our message:

1. Getting right with God - We believe that every problem in society ultimately stems from a problem in humanity - we desire to do good, yet we are fallen; every one of us is fundamentally bent. We serve ourselves rather than God and neighbors. Our broken, dysfunctional lives are merely symptoms of deeper problems within.
   
   The good news of the Gospel is that God himself has made a way to be reconciled - not by requiring us to change, but by calling us to believe that Jesus died, lives again, and he alone can save us. This is the heart of the gospel message: that God does not accept us because we clean ourselves up and finally get it right; he accepts us we when we place all our confidence in Christ, rather than in ourselves. God accepts us because Christ gets it right on our behalf.
   
   All that God requires of us is that we acknowledge our condition, admit our inability to save ourselves, and call on Christ to rescue us. Jesus himself says it plainly: "repent and believe" (Mark 1:15). This is the only way to get right with God. We are justified by faith in Christ alone.
   
   
2. Changing in ways that matter - God loves us too much simply to acquit us; he desires to change us in ways that matter. At the root of every sinful action there lies a heart problem: we desire to serve ourselves rather than God, we think we can find fulfillment by drinking from some other well besides him. Our actions towards God and others simply express the underlying attitude of the heart. So how do we change the wayward affections of our heart?
   
   We never change simply by trying harder; instead, our hearts are transformed as we are united to Christ in faith. Just as Christ justifies us before the Father, so he also gives us a new heart that actually desires to please him. So the gospel that saves us is also the gospel that sanctifies us. We become more like Christ by seeing him more clearly, preaching that gospel to ourselves daily, renewing our faith in him. We are sanctified by faith in Christ alone.
   
   
3. Worshipping in spirit and truth – just as Christ justifies and sanctifies us, so too he perfects our worship. We must never think we please God more by somehow “getting it right” in our form or practice; nor should we think less of those who “get it wrong” – Christ perfects the worship of all who are his.
   
   This should lead us to think charitably towards those whose faith in Christ leads them to different conclusions in matters of worship. We worship by faith in Christ alone.
   

What the Gospel Looks Like in Practice

So how do ideas like these work themselves out in practice? How does the rubber meet the road? (this is a great question you should ask of any church). A simple example might be helpful - what would Jesus say about smoking pot?

Take a few moments to follow that link. This is how the gospel plays out - it doesn't just point the finger of judgment at those who do bad things (like smoking pot, or whatever your favorite "vice" might be). No, the gospel also points the finger of judgment at all those who do good things, who seek to commend themselves to God on that basis.

The gospel says both things - my badness, your goodness - can be idols which cause us to hope in something other than Christ. And that has huge ramifications. It should make us sympathetic towards others. It should make us leery of ourselves. And it should stir a deep love for Christ within us - because his perfection makes up for own lack thereof - not just to get us into God's kingdom, but to keep us there, to perfect our own faith and practice.

Want to know more? Give us a call, and let's talk about it over a cup of coffee...

Justification By Faith

As we approach gospel ministry in Christ’s church, we find several principles to be particularly important: Justification by Faith (JBF), Sanctification by Faith (SBF), and Worship by Faith (WBF).

Definition: When we talk about justification, what we mean is this - how is a sinner "justified" or "made right" in God's sight? You see, Scripture is very clear: human beings have a problem. This problem is commonly called "sin," and its very, very, serious because it separates us from God.

While our sin is often expressed actively when we do things we shouldn't (or passively by NOT doing things we should), Jesus is clear that that sin stems from our hearts (Mk 7:20). We sin because we are sinners, and it is impossible for us to clean ourselves up (Mk 10:23-27). Christ's death on the cross is the means by which we are saved; we access that salvation by repenting of our sin and putting our faith in Christ. (Acts 2:23-24, 38-39).

So how is someone justified? We begin by affirming the five great “solas” of the Reformation – sinners are justified (made right with God) by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Scripture alone shapes our gospel message; God alone receives the glory.

Paul’s evangelistic messages in Acts 13-14 (NIV) illustrate the matter plainly: “through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Through him, everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the law of Moses” (13:38-39). Luke calls this “the message of God’s grace” (14:3); it is accessed solely by faith (Heb 11:6) in Jesus (John 14:6). Unbelievers respond in joy, glorifying God (13:48, 14:27).

With Paul, our proclamation must be focused on what God has done, how he has fulfilled his promises to redeem sinners (Acts 13:32). Even our faith is a gift of God, that no man should boast (Eph 2:8-9). This is what makes the gospel such “good news” – God has done everything; our responsibility is simply to repent and believe.

Rom 3:21-28 describes a “great exchange” in which Jesus Christ does what we could never do ourselves, offering himself as propitiation for our sins. In the moment of our belief, he takes our guilt and we receive his righteousness. Thus man “is justified by faith, apart from works of the law” (3:28), and God is both “just and justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (3:26).

Justification by faith in Christ is at the heart of the gospel; anything less is NO GOSPEL!

So now let's take a look at Sanctification By Faith...

Sanctification by Faith

If Justification by Faith (JBF) is the heart of the gospel message, Sanctification by Faith (SBF) is its lifeblood, its power for daily living.

Definition:When we talk about sanctification, what we mean is this - how does a sinner who has been saved by God's grace actually start to change, to be transformed (Rom 12:2) into the image of God (2 Cor 3:18), to live a life that is holy and pleasing to God, rather than sinful and displeasing? Is it a matter of trying harder? Or is something else involved? How does my sanctification relate to my justification?

So the gospel message for unbelievers is that salvation comes by faith in Christ, and few evangelicals would disagree that sinners are justified by faith alone. When it comes to sanctification, however, many Christians (even in Reformed churches) unintentionally revert to a works-based theology – “I may be saved by faith but I will become more like Christ only through my own effort.” They live as if holiness is achieved by trying harder, that sanctification comes by works.

This creates a sort of practical dichotomy – the gospel message may be good news for “sinners” outside the church, but it often seems strangely irrelevant for “believers” on the inside. The road to sainthood appears to be paved with personal effort. After all, even Paul says “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil 2:12). (Of course, many overlook the following verse: “for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure”. Our working is always subsequent and in response to God’s prior working.)

The Reformers, however, recognized that the gospel does not end once the Christian is justified – it is just as relevant for those who already believe as it is for pagans in their unbelief. Like justification, our sanctification is also by faith.

Martin Luther unpacks this concept with an example of covetousness:

If you wish to fulfill the law and not covet, as the law demands, come believe in Christ in whom grace, righteousness, peace, liberty, and all things are promised you. If you believe, you shall have all things; if you do not believe you shall lack all things… God our Father has made all things depend on faith so that whoever has faith will have everything.

- Luther, On Christian Liberty, 13

What Luther means here is that while the law shows us what we ought to do (eg. “don’t covet”), it does not give us the power NOT to do it. Just as we are incapable of justifying ourselves to God, so also we are incapable of sanctifying ourselves for God. Why? Because even if I am able to control my outward behavior, my heart within is still fundamentally covetous. My external sins flow from internal sins of the heart (cf. Mk 7:14-23).

Scottish preacher Thomas Chalmers reflects on our heart problem, pointing out that we are inevitably torn between mutually exclusive affections:

The love of God, and the love of the world, are two affections, not merely in a state of rivalship, but in a state of enmity, and that so irreconcilable that they can not dwell together in the same bosom. [It is impossible] for the heart, by any innate elasticity of its own, to cast the world away from it… the only way to dispossess it of an old affection is by the expulsive power of a new one.

How then do we alter the affections of our heart? By continually returning to the promises of God in faith! Luther describes it like this:

The soul which clings to [God’s promises]with a firm faith will be so closely united with them… that it will not only share in all their power but will be saturated and intoxicated by them…This, then, is how through faith alone without works the soul is justified by the Word of God, sanctified, made true…Just as the heated iron glows like fire because of the union of fire with it, so the Word imparts its qualities to the soul.

- Luther, On Christian Liberty, 14-15

In other words, our hearts are sanctified (changed, perfected) only as we repeatedly embrace the gospel in faith. Luther offers an analogy from marriage: faith is the wedding ring which unites us to Christ; by it he inherits all that is ours (sin, unrighteousness), and we inherit all that is his (glory, righteousness). Our desires are transformed as we focus on Christ’s magnificent, ravishing love for us. As Jerry Bridges says, “My driving motivation now is not guilt but gratitude.”

Tim Keller sees in this the fundamental dynamic for Christian living: “We are saved by believing the gospel, and then we are transformed in every part of our mind, heart, and life by believing the gospel more and more deeply as our life goes on.” The reality of my union with Christ funds my spiritual change; the indicative drives the imperative. We need to constantly remind ourselves of this truth. We clean ourselves up, then, not be trying harder or by doing good works, but by believing God’s promises more and more.

Jack Miller calls this “preaching the gospel to ourselves daily.” Seen in this light, the gospel message is not just for non-Christians, but for Christians as well. Indeed, as a Christian I need the gospel even more desperately than an unbeliever because I see my sin more clearly – the more I know Christ the more my own sin is exposed.

It is important to note that this concept of sanctification by faith is fundamentally biblical. As Dr. Richard Gaffin says, “What faith will always understand is that the path of sanctification has on it the same signposts as the path for justification – grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone."

Such an understanding carries important implications for faith and practice. First, if we do not commend ourselves to God on the basis of our sanctification, neither should we commend ourselves to one another on these same grounds; if God’s approval is based on faith, then our own approval of others cannot be based on their performance, their piety, or even their knowledge of “the right answers.”

Second, sinners and unbelievers should feel welcome in our churches as they are – you do not have to “clean yourself up” before you can participate in our community. This does not mean that we negate God’s demands for righteousness; on the contrary, we preach the law on the one hand, while compassionately identifying with unbelievers as fellow sinners on the other. In regard to God’s standard of perfection, we are lawbreakers just like they are; yet on account of Christ we are righteous, obedient children of God. The only difference between us and them is our relationship to Christ through faith.

Third, we as Christians must incarnate the gospel by being open and vulnerable about our own weaknesses and shortcomings. With Paul, we must testify that we are chief among sinners (1 Tim 1:15) by publicly modeling the repentance, confession, forgiveness, humility, and charity which characterize a life of faith.

Sanctification by faith in Christ is the lifeblood of the gospel.

So now let's take a look at Worship By Faith...

Worship by Faith

If Justification By Faith (JBF) is the heart of the gospel, and Sanctification By Faith (SBF) is its lifeblood, then Worship by Faith (WBF) explains the reality of our fellowship with God.

You see, Sanctification by faith also carries important implications for how we approach worship. Historically, the Reformed tradition has placed a great emphasis on allowing Scripture to define our practice. We must never believe, however, that “getting it right” in terms of form and practice makes our worship acceptable to God. Like justification and sanctification, true worship flows from faith.

For example, when an unbeliever participates in worship – even if he has the best voice and sings with all his might, even if he pays attention and takes notes during the sermon, even if he tries to personally apply the principles he is hearing – none of this is worship because it does not stem from faith. Apart from faith, our most righteous acts are like filthy rags in God’s sight (Is 64:6), for "apart from faith it is impossible to please God" (Heb 11:6). This is just as true for believers as it is for unbelievers.

This concept is made explicit in Heb 9, where Christ’s work of atonement (9:13-14) is presented as the new covenant counterpart to the OT rules and regulations for worship in the temple (9:1-5). The author of Hebrews sees the concept of “worship” as intimately connected with the concept of “atonement.” By accomplishing the latter Christ simultaneously perfects the former. As the mediator of the new covenant (9:15), his blood purifies the instruments of worship (9:21) and the consciences of the worshippers (9:9). Thus it is only through faith in Christ that our worship can be pleasing to God.

Consequently, while we strive to worship according to the precepts set forth in Scripture, we also recognize that we will inevitably fail to conform to God’s standards – Scripture is sometimes difficult to understand and not all passages are equally clear; more frequently sin impairs our judgment. Whatever the reasons, we must continually remind ourselves that our worship is perfected by our faith in Christ; there is no room for pride on our part.

Similarly, we should be slow to judge or condemn others whose practice does not conform with our own. Worship by faith should encourage charity, not separation.
The churches we plant will not die because we misunderstand a particular issue of doctrine, or misapply an element of worship; our churches will die when we fail to understand the gospel – that we are justified by faith, sanctified by faith, and that our worship is made pleasing in faith.

Worship by faith in Christ is a fruit of the gospel.

These three principles then - Justification by Faith (JBF), Sanctification by Faith (SBF), and Worship by Faith (WBF), when viewed together in light of What the Church is All About - all have huge ramifications for how we think about faith and ministry in the local church. We'll start fleshing some of these things out in the coming months...

What the Church is All About

As Ryan and I think about planting a church in Missoula, one of the questions we get a lot is "Why do we need more churches anyway?" Even those who like the idea often haven't given much thought to what a church should look like; "What is the church really supposed to be about, anyway?"

When you plant a church from scratch you get to step up to the plate and try to answer that question - it's a tremendous opportunity, but it's also a little scary because there is so much riding on your conclusions. That's part of the reason why God warns us not to take the role of leadership lightly (James 3:1). And that's why we want Scripture to guide our vision and shape our practice.

As we approach church planting then, it is critical to identify our core presuppositions up front – how we think about the God, the church, and mission. This is important because our starting points will inevitably shape how we look at everything else – opportunities, dangers, goals, directions, and especially our methodologies.

So why DO we want to plant a church? What DO we think church is all about? How do we delineate our core convictions?

We start by affirming the Westminster Shorter Catechism: “Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.” In this, we recognize that man exists to worship God (1 Cor 10:31; Rom 11:36). Unfortunately, all us have fallen short of God’s glory – both in Adam, and in our own actions – no one is righteous; there is no one who seeks God, not even one (Rom 3:23, 5:12-14, 3:9-12). We are estranged from God, and the brokenness that results affects every fiber of our being – we serve ourselves rather than him.

Given this, we also agree with John Piper, who says that, “Mission is not the ultimate goal of the Church. Worship is. Mission exists because worship doesn’t.” Think about that for a minute. God desires people to worship him in spirit and in truth, and because of our own inability, he himself is seeking true worshipers – not merely to find them, but to actually form them (John 4:23, 6:44). God is creating a people for himself, and this redemptive effort summarizes his work through all of history.

At the heart of our confession, then, lies a central truth: God is a missional God – his work culminates in Christ, Christ’s work culminates in the church, and the church’s work culminates in worship and mission. From this basic recognition, we can make several key observations:

• God, not man, builds his church – Church planting is not simply a matter of human effort or intention – this is something God is doing. It is his work (cf. Acts 13-14, where we repeatedly see God actively intervening to build his church: 13:2, 4, 9, 48, 52; 14:1, 3, 27).
  

• God has been building it from the beginning – everything God was doing in the OT finds its fulfillment in Jesus. Christ is the crux of the entire biblical story (cf. Gen 3:15, 12:2-3; 2 Sam 7:13; Acts 13:32-33). The heart of the gospel is that Jesus fulfills all of God’s promises. Only through Christ can we be reconciled to God, not because of what we do, but because of what the resurrected Christ has done and continues to do on our behalf.

• God has a passion for the lost – Jesus views his own work in terms of saving the lost and building his church. Thus Christ is a missional Messiah (cf. Luke 19:10; John 4:1-43; Mt 16:18; 1 Pe 2:6-7).
  

• The church is at the center of God’s redemptive plan – In Eph 3:6-11, Paul tells us that the church is the climax of God’s eternal purpose, created to manifest the mystery of the gospel to the Gentiles. In other words, the church is God’s means for mission. The church exists to model the gospel – in word, deed, worship, and mission – to unbelievers, and so invite them to participate in the kingdom as well.

In light of these principles, we offer two core convictions for church planting:

1. First, we want to plant churches that reach the unchurched – We desire this because God has a heart for the lost, he commands us to go, and this is where the harvest is ripe. Our aim is not simply to establish a “reformed church,” or to gather people who are already Christians - neither of these are bad; but they aren't at the heart of what the church is all about, either. We must never lose sight of the fact that our calling is to bring the gospel to people who have rejected God so that the gospel may redeem both us and our culture.
   
   
2. Second, we want to plant churches that plant more churches – We believe that mission must be part of the fabric of the church; the goal of our church plants is not to become self-sufficient and acquire a building – it is to call people (both unbelievers and believers) to continual faith in Christ, to lead them in true worship of God, to equip them for service in the church and for life in the culture, and to send them missionally back to the unchurched. While every member of the body has different gifts and abilities, we assert that all Christians are called to serve and witness and participate in mission, just as all are called to believe and worship.
   

So mission exists because worship doesn’t. Conversely, true worship must include mission.

This conviction carries dual implications. As God’s church, we are obligated to think missionally (redemptively) about our unbelieving friends, our neighborhoods, our cities, and the larger region in which we live.1 Ecclesiologically, we are not permitted merely to focus on our own personal or corporate needs and desires. We exist for mission.

As God’s missional agent to the world, however, we must also think missionally (pastorally) about our churches. We must give careful consideration to how we call, train, and equip our flocks, and how we embody the gospel in all aspects of our faith and practice. We are not permitted to view mission simply as propositional proclamation; belief is much more than mere intellectual assent to historical facts. We exist for worship – the kind that flows from a loving confidence in Christ alone, not in our theology, our church practice, or our own moral excellence.

Consequently, neither mission nor worship must ever become a subcategory or parenthesis within our ecclesiology – mission and worship are THE primary tasks of the church. Christians within our churches must come to love the things God loves and to redefine their own practices in light of his, and this will only happen as they realize the relevance of the gospel for themselves, as well as for unbelievers. As Martin Luther says, it is not enough for us to know that Jesus is Christ, he must “be Christ for you and me.”2

Mission and worship are intimately interconnected; both are funded by the gospel. The churches we plant must manifest this reality. If we are serious about these convictions, it will impact how we plant churches.