Lateral Ministries: Following Jesus Beside You

In the 12th-century King Arthur legend "Perceval, the Story of the Grail," the knights of the Round Table embarked upon the quest for the holy grail, believing that it held miraculous powers from God. The grail was believed to be the cup Jesus used in the Last Supper, with which He instituted the Lord’s Supper. The legend also held that Joseph of Arimathea caught some of Christ’s blood in the cup at His crucifixion. While the grail legend is a medieval myth, it was not and is not without important symbolic meaning. When Sir Percival found the castle he sought, the castle of the Fisher King, he saw a vision of the Grail, and his chivalry bound him to reverent silence so that he failed to ask the question that would have healed the king, “What does this mean?" or "Who does the grail serve?” As such, he failed and was forced to continue his quest seeking redemption.  When we consider an act of worship, wise reverence asks, “What does this mean?” and “Who does this serv...

Despite popular opinion, not all religious paths lead to God. There are right ways and wrong ways to worship God. Jesus says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Proper worship goes through the High Priest’s intercession. It’s Christian worship, or it’s unacceptable to God. This time (next to last in this series), I’ll share six truths about principles that support proper worship, biblical teachings about how we present ourselves before God as worshippers, and facts about the attitudes that ought to fill our hearts and minds as we worship God. I’ll also share some things about different traditions. Principle I: In the previous posts in this series, I’ve talked at some length about the fact God seeks worshippers who will worship Him in spirit and in truth (John 4:19-26). True worshippers must worship in spirit and truth. No need to say anything more here.  Principle II: Treat God with Appropriate Respect. In Malachi 1:6–14 (ESV)...

An average family walks into a church of Christ auditorium on any given Sunday and finds a seat. Mama and the kids scoot into the row, and Daddy sits at the end by the aisle. They look around at all the unfamiliar faces and shift in their seats.  A young mother seeking the Lord comes to church with her two children: a four-year-old boy and a two-and-a-half-year-old girl. She twists, wrestles, and corrects, trying to keep quiet, wondering if she’s causing a distraction or if others are irritated by the children and her.  A family comes to a typical church of Christ from another background. Used to a very different approach, they don’t understand our shared convictions about worship and may feel disoriented. We don’t want them to feel out of place. If they feel out of place, they’re almost sure to be out of the place permanently.  Another person Jesus died for comes from no religious upbringing at all and has already overcome severe anxiety before walking into a church buil...

Following up on my last post about Scriptural worship, I want to say a few more things. Paul says, in 2 Timothy 2:15, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth” (ESV).  The International Children’s Bible simplifies the reading, “Do the best you can to be the kind of person that God will approve, and give yourself to him. Be a worker who is not ashamed of his work—a worker who uses the true teaching in the right way” (ICB). So, it’s essential to handle the text of the Bible correctly, soundly, or healthily, all of which means, we interpret the text to mean what it actually means. We practice exegesis, which means we draw meaning out from the text, not eisegesis, which many people practice, which means they read their own ideas into the text and so interpret it as saying things it doesn’t actually say. Just a little elementary word dissection will help us grasp what we mean when we say we must ...

Traditional or contemporary? If you know what that question means, you’re aware that the culture wars of our times have pushed their way into the church so that some believers think the future success and survival of the church depends on compromising with the ever-changing (and yet somehow always staying the same) culture of the world.  One of these ways has been the “worship wars” of the last few decades. For what it’s worth, I completely disagree with the compromisers and adapters. It’s a little complex, but the opposite is closer to the truth. The future success and survival of the church doesn’t depend on compromising with worldliness in any way. Scripture calls us to be separate from the world (2 Cor 6:14–18). Church worship is as it should be when it is Scriptural. Church leaders ought not to ask world leaders for advice about anything. We should all look to the Bible, especially the New Testament, to tell us what God is looking for in Christian worship. This doesn’t mean th...

The world is more than what it appears to be. In Isaiah 6:1–8, the prophet Isaiah says, In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!” Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned f...

The world is more than what it appears to be. By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible (Hebrews 11:23–27 ESV). What would you do if you could see the invisible?  The first thing some think of when they hear the word “invisible” is fantasy, sci-fi, or superhero fiction. “What would you do if you had some kind of superpower?” is a different question. True invisibility isn’t fiction; it’s a present spiritual reality. This is why, despite what many in our times think, Scripture never ever pits faith against knowledge. According to Hebrews 11:1, genuine faith is knowledge!  Scripture pits faith against sight. G...

Christians love to give because we’re grateful God “richly provides us with everything to enjoy” (1 Tim 6:17 ESV). God is THE giver of all things (Acts 17:25). Liberal generosity pleases God (2 Cor 9:7). Let’s review a few basic principles of the biblical theology of giving. In other words, we’ll answer three simple questions. (1) Why does God want us to give? (2) What is giving that pleases God? (3) How do we do it?  Consider these two Bible passages: “But when you give to someone in need, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you” (Matthew 6:3-4 NLT). “Love your enemies! Do good to them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked. You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate. Give, and you will receiv...

The church is a fellowship on the move, a truth movement dedicated to unity, and a unity movement dedicated to the Truth. As the cherished hymn says, “What a fellowship!” However, if we are true, we must indeed be a movement: moving in truth towards greater unity.  But what does it mean to be a truth AND unity movement? It’s easier to be one or the other, but both?  Briefly, it means truth, as revealed through Christ by the Holy Spirit in Scripture (John 17:17), is held to be essential (John 18:37; Rom 1:18, 2:8; 2 Cor 13:8; Gal 2:14; Eph 4:15, 21, 25; Col 1:5; 2 Thes 2:10, 12; 1 Tim 2:4, 3:15, 4:3, 6:5; 2 Tim 2:18, 3:7-8, 4:4; Titus 1:1; Jas 5:19; 1 Pet 1:22; 1 John 1:6, 8, 2:4, 21; 2 John 4) foundation of Christianity. Though exhaustive agreement on every point of Scripture isn’t realistic in this age, comprehensive agreement on the essential foundations of the Faith is a no-compromise issue (Rom 14; 1 Cor 1:10; 2 John 9–11). Those who will not be bound by essential Christia...

Judge Righteously! Be careful how you judge! All division between humans follows making judgments. It's impossible not to make judgments (every decision is one), and it would be immoral not to make the kinds of discerning judgments between right and wrong Scripture (and every concept of good vs evil) requires. There's no way to be a good person unless you're choosing not to do evil, and there's no way to do that unless you can judge between the two and know the difference. Jesus did say, "Judge not, that you be not judged" (Matt 7:1 ESV), but He also followed that hyperbolic commandment with several qualifying instructions in verses 2–6, which I summarize:  (1) You'll be judged by God by the same standard you use to judge others (v. 2). (2) Don't judge hypocritically (v. 3–5), but as long as you're not being hypocritical, "judging" your brother with the sincere intent to help him is good.  (3) Then, v. 6 says, "Do not give dogs what ...