Cruciform Music

I love music, but I have come to realize that its power is being under-utilized. I invite you to think carefully about the words of the songs you hear in worship this week.

Church history and personal experiences illustrate the universal tendency of Christians to cycle downward into a style of living and a type of Church that might be called “self-serving Christianity.” Any form of discipleship that relegates service and witness to a department of the church or a group of zealots is unbiblical. This is a “Jesus-and-me” distortion of Christ’s call.

Diet and Doctrine
This deterioration of vital Christianity might be related to the type messages that fill the minds of many believers. A great percentage of what we hear about following Jesus has to do with our “personal” lives – my forgiveness, my home in heaven, my family, my peace, etc. Although these are wonderful aspects of the Christian life, a diet – what we read and hear – that only includes these type blessings inadvertently encourages our selfish tendencies.

All Christ followers need a balanced diet, a consistent flow of teaching and encouragement that connects our personal relationship with Jesus and our participation in His ministry in the world. This balanced approach to life and ministry might be called “cruciform”. The vertical line in the Cross reminds us of the necessary interaction between holy and loving God and His children. God reaches down to us in grace, and we respond in faith, confession, praise and allegiance. The horizontal line in the Cross reminds us that joining God in mission to lost and hurting people is vitally connected to authentic faith in God. Without the horizontal axis of the Cross, the form becomes a big “I.”

The doctrine and teaching of Scripture come to us in two primary ways – proclamation (oral or written) and music. Even if sermons, books and teachings match the cruciform description, there is still the issue of music.

Types of Music
The Bible has many texts, psalms and prayers that are vertical in nature. But it also has countless passages that are horizontal. Sometimes the two are linked in the same passage (Ps. 46:10; 67:1-2). Using this as a pattern, we can think of Christian music fitting into one of three categories:

1. Vertical. This music exclusively deals with topics related to the character of God and our relationship to Him – praise, confession, thanksgiving, God’s attributes, heaven, etc. This type of music dominates worship services as well as the airways. The vast majority of songs used in worship are vertical.
2. Horizontal. This music exclusively deals with topics related to the mission of God and/or our role in His mission – go, preach to the nations, serve the poor, etc. These songs are generally treated as “novelty” songs and are used almost exclusively in settings such as a “Missions Sunday.” Worship leaders rarely include a horizontal song in the order of worship since these songs do not seem to keep the “flow” of praise and worship. Horizontal songs, however, play an important role in mobilizing the Church as Christians hear them in concerts, by radio or on iPods.
3. Cruciform. This music addresses vertical as well as horizontal aspects of the faith – praise and service, thanksgiving and witness. Relatively few of the songs used in contemporary worship fit this description although worship leaders are open to using this music since it can continue the flow of worship. Samples: Missions Flame (Matt Redman), You Said (Hillsong), Give Me Your Eyes (Brandon Heath), Follow You (Leeland), and Until the Whole World Hears (Casting Crowns).

The Cruciform Music Project
A rising wave of pastors, mission leaders, musicians, song writers and publishers are exploring ways for music to become a greater tool in the renewal of the Church and the mobilization of Christ’s body in His mission.

For more information on the Cruciform Music Project, see a list of songs, submit songs, ask questions, or make suggestions, visit www.followone.org/cruciform-music.

Maximum Impact Investments

It has been my joy for the past twenty years to help Christ followers and church leaders make Kingdom investment decisions. To help your yearend charitable giving have maximum impact on the world with Jesus’ love, consider these suggestions:

1. Give to organizations that non-Christians are not likely to support. Explicitly Christian ministries (including churches) have a smaller pool from which to draw. People from many faiths or no faith may give to a homeless shelter, but they will probably not support an evangelistic work with international students, a church planting project or a pastor training effort.
2. Think globally not just locally. We must take part in God’s work in our own neighborhoods, but it is not biblical to limit ourselves. As bad as things may be here, there is tremendous suffering around the world. Faithful stewardship is global – “in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the uttermost” (Acts 1:8).
3. Think strategically. There is joy in knowing that a gift might help someone. There is greater fulfillment in seeing your investment help produce “grace ripples” across an entire community, nation or the world. Some gifts and ministries keep on “giving” – like teaching a man to fish in addition to giving him a fish.
4. Think holistically. Of course, we need to show mercy to the poor. But some poverty is well-disguised. No one is “more poor” than the person that does not know the love of Jesus… even if they live in a nice home.
5. Support ministries that are trustworthy. Not everything that smells like a rose is a rose. Be careful. Support ministries in which you have a trusting relationship with the leaders.
6. Focus on the purpose of the gift. Your donation is an attempt to honor Christ as you help meet the needs of His children and His Church. A true gift is selected according to the desires of the “recipient” and not according to how the gift will make the donor feel.
7. Guilt is an inadequate reason to give. Some people feel guilty about how much they “have.” Guilt is not a good motivation for giving. If you’re feeling guilty, talk to Jesus. He alone can remove guilt and help you begin a new life.
8. You can’t give what you don’t have. If this has been a tough financial year, don’t get uptight about not being able to give the type gift you have traditionally given.

Last Minute Gift Idea – Help a key Chinese, Hispanic or Anglo ministry leader participate in the Connection2010 conference in Orlando February 5-7. Scholarship assistance is also needed for some high school and college students. Fifty scholarships are needed. I want to provide a Scholarship

Don’t Fence Me In

I just had another wonderful visit with my sweet and godly mother, Sarah Mae Davis Loftin in Jackson, MS. She loves to talk about her only son, and I love to listen. Mama told me something about my childhood that I had never heard. “No fence could hold you back,” she said.

When I was 4 years old Mama convinced Daddy to build a fence around our small back yard. She desperately needed a place to send me where I could burn off some energy during the day. Mama remembers Daddy working hard all day, with my help. Just as he was finishing the last section, Mama looked up and saw me scaling the new fence on the way to my friend Tommy’s house. “James, you always had places to go.”

I’m still trying to go beyond the “fences.”

My favorite Christmas carol is Go Tell It on the Mountain. Christmas without this song is just not Christmas. If the birth of Jesus is really good news of great joy for all people, we have to take this announcement beyond the fences of our own family, comfort and culture.

Although the history of slavery in America is painful and ugly, God’s grace prevails in even the most sinful and dehumanizing situations. Upon their arrival in America many African slaves learned about the birth of a Savior who would set all men free. Amazingly, some slaves were able to separate this gracious truth from the inhumane treatment they received from the very people that delivered the Good News. In keeping with their African traditions, the slaves sang and danced about the miracle of Jesus. One of the songs that emerged was Go Tell It on the Mountain.

Although we celebrate the birth of Jesus year after year, over 2 billion people have not heard the news of His coming. For the glory of God and the good of those who have yet to hear the angel’s message, let us sing the Good News from whatever “mountaintop” we have. And if you can dance, then dance. Beyond any fences of fear, pc-ness, comfort, prejudice or doubt, let’s sing:

Go, tell it on the mountain
Over the hills and everywhere
Go, tell it on the mountain
That Jesus Christ is born.

What are some ways you are creatively telling the message this year?

What are some fences that are trying to keep you quiet?

Vampire Confessions

As of today Twilight New Moon made history by becoming the third biggest grosser in box office sales worldwide = $259 million in three days. This success and the current cultural fascination with all things vampire got me thinking.

I have a confession to make. I WAS A VAMPIRE… and sometimes I relapse into my old blood-sucking ways.

Dallas Willard has defined vampire Christians this way. One in effect says to Jesus: “I’d like a little of your blood, please. But I don’t care to be your student or have your character. In fact, won’t you just excuse me while I get on with my life, and I’ll see you in heaven.”

The gracious blood of Christ on Calvary cleansed me of all sin, wiped away my shame, and launched me on a journey of faith. But I sometimes fall back into the self-centered thoughts, words and actions that dominated my pre-Christian days. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not talking about the type behaviors that make headlines. I’m talking about a preoccupation with all things “mine” – family, friends, work, etc. These are all good things in and of themselves. But my preoccupation with them can easily distort the biblical priorities for Christ followers.

One example. Almost all prayer requests deal with issues directly related to the life of the person making the request. There is nothing wrong with asking for prayer for my job, my health, my mother’s care, my friend’s wife or even my dog. But if this type need dominates my life and prayers, what does that tell me about my faithfulness to Jesus’ core calling to follow Him in service to others? My prayers have sometimes sounded like, “Jesus bless me, my family and my friends. Thanks. Bye.”

This kind of “discipleship” does not honor Christ or further His mission in the world. This lifestyle is a vampirist caricature in which religious people try to suck blessings out of the Savior while continuing to live by their own interests. God help us.

Pray for me. I want to be a man that allows the blood of Christ to move me beyond selfishness to servanthood. I want to be faithful to my family and friends, but also join God’s mission to lost and hurting people beyond my circle of intimacy and comfort. I don’t want to be a vampire.

Carolyn and I will celebrate Thanksgiving with all our clan in Mississippi this week. We have a lot for which to give thanks. God is good.

Raining in Georgia

Atlanta got hammered by storms last weekend.

My family had gathered there to celebrate the fourth birthday of my grandson George. It was raining when we arrived, and it was raining harder when we left on Sunday. Although the joy and laughter of my grandchildren were life-giving, infectious and hope-building, the storms and clouds were relentless. Quite a contrast.

Record-setting rain, lightening, flooding, shock, loss of property, loss of life, fear, pain and loneliness. In mansions and in shacks, people are dealing with the thoughts and emotions of the song written by Tony Joe White in 1962, Rainy Night in Georgia.

As I drove south out of Atlanta, I contemplated the pain and loneliness in much of human experience. I also thought through the raw life experiences recorded in the Bible – especially in Job and the Psalms. It may even be raining in your life right now.

Although my life has been blessed – free from much of the trauma that is familiar to many – I do know about loss, broken relationships, unfulfilled dreams, betrayal, grief and fear.

Tony Joe White includes an interesting phrase near the end of his romantic poem. Perhaps these words hint at how he made it through the storms of life, or perhaps they were only meant to impress the current object of his affection. “When it’s hard to rest I hold your picture to my chest and I feel fine.”

So here is the question. In times of pain, what is it that you hold to your chest in the hope of getting the power, direction and hope that are beyond your abilities?

Pain is universal. But knowledge of the love and mercy of our resurrected Savior is not universal. Billions of priceless souls must face the storms of life without a picture of the only One that can transform darkness into light, hopelessness into hope, and brokenness into wholeness.

Hold Jesus close this week. It may be raining, but there is a Rainbow of promise. Jesus is the hope of the world. Share that Good News.