~by Pastor Mike Middaugh

Maybe you have watched a TED Talk. The world of TED, a nonprofit committed to spreading ideas, revolves around an annual conference where some of the best and brightest from various fields share the most fascinating insights they have to offer. These short talks (18 minutes or less) have also become quite a phenomenon online in recent years, and in November of 2012 TED announced the viewership of its 1 billionth video. Assuming the average talk length is 15 minutes this means we had collectively clicked through roughly 10 million days’ worth of these videos at that time.

So why is TED so powerful? What is it about these talks that causes hand-picked attendees to shell out over $8,500 a ticket for the main event?

Author Megan Hustad, in a recent opinion piece for the New York Times titled “The Church of TED,” offered one answer. She compares TED to a religion, suggesting that for many people TED has taken the place of much older orthodoxies. She writes: “the best talks are reminiscent of a tent revival sermon. There’s the gathering of the curious and the hungry. Then a persistent human problem is introduced, one that, as the speaker gently explains, has deeper roots and wider implications than most listeners are prepared to admit. Once everyone has been confronted with this evidence of entropy, contemplated life’s fragility and the elusiveness of inner peace, a decision is called for: Will you remain complacent, or change?”

While some TED talks are pure entertainment, offering comedic relief amidst a sea of heavy topics, most speakers are there to suggest a better way forward, presenting cures to the various ails of human existence. The tagline of TED itself is that these are “ideas worth spreading,” suggesting that humankind is made better by the mere presence of these conversations.

To an extent they are probably right – just watch this TED talk by Peter Diamandis’ titled “Abundance Is Our Future” to learn how far our own innovation and advancement has brought us. Yet, I would suggest there is still one thing missing. Amid all the optimism and motivation, the bright ideas and the grandiose visions, there is one question that goes unanswered.

Will we ever “arrive”?

Will we ever get to that place that all of this work and enthusiasm is hoping to take us? Will we reach that better existence, that more healthy whole, that more peaceful and equitable way of life? Can we do it, and if so how will we know?

This is why the gospel is better than TED. Because all of those questions I just presented have no answer. Left to our own devices we will claw and scrape, and climb and crawl trying to find our way out of the mess of the world and the mess of our own broken, self-interested hearts, and we will never get there. Not on our own.

The gospel is honest about that. The gospel says a savior has come because we need saving. We cannot do it. Our powerlessness is threefold as we suffer the weight of our sin, the decay of the world, and the death we all face. But the gospel also offers otherworldly hope as it tells us someone greater than us has conquered those problems on our behalf. In so doing he has also ushered in the better future. We will arrive, and we are on our way.

That better future, as presented in the Bible, looks like a new, perfect existence of God’s own creation. Until we get there he grants us glimpses of his goodness, and joy in the work we do, now.

When we live in light of this reality it changes the way we think and the way we work. We no longer strive for advancement out of a sense of desperation, but out of calling. We no longer carry the weight of the world on our own shoulders, we let it rest on his. We no longer have to prove ourselves to ourselves and to others, to achieve a sense of salvation, we know one who has already saved us and live in light of his grace.

I like TED. I am endlessly fascinated by the creations of those more talented than I. I love the dreams we are able to dream together, and the ways we are working to improve the lives of people around the world. But I see these things as yet one more reflection of someone else’s greater glory, as examples that we have been made in the image of a God far more creative, innovative, and merciful than we ourselves can ever be.

And of course, these are ideas worth sharing, but there is a bigger idea made famous centuries ago that has been shared, and will be shared, to the salvation of all who believe.

~by Pastor Mike Middaugh

There are a tremendous number of books and articles written today about how to make the Church better. In my daily reading of various blogs or online sources I am bound to stumble across at least one new piece every day about what the Church really needs. The solutions presented include: alternate worship styles, a greater digital presence, being more relevant, or engaging in certain “new” kinds of outreach. And if you do not believe me, just Google “how to fix the church.” I can only hope that some of the resulting hits are sarcastic.

This trend (of how to fix the church) has come about in recent years partly because of a nationwide decline in church attendance. Essentially every denomination, and churches of all sizes, have been impacted by this cultural swing. As a result, they are searching for ways to reach new people. There is an element to this desire that is noble and valid – all around us are a lot of people out there who may or may not know Jesus and we are called to reach them (see Matthew 28:19ff).

However, I believe there is also an aspect of this trend that is dangerous. The underlying theme seems to be: if we can find something that works to build up or grow our church then we will have achieved… something. Maybe that something is a sense of accomplishment, or that I will have created a future for my church, or found comfort in being surrounded by other people, or even that God would be pleased with me.

The problem with the above paragraph is that it all centers around us and our desires. Just look at the pronouns. We. Our. We. I. My. Me. Similarly, a number of the articles or books that float around are written by those who have left the church and who, in one way or another, are describing what the church didn’t do for them.

You see the trend. Always creeping into our lives, even under the guise of wanting the best for our local church, is the false sense that all of this is about us – that God exists to make us great, that we are most important, that the church is here to serve us, or that our desires are what really matter. On these points scripture is clear: God makes God’s name great, the Bible is all about Jesus, the Church is here to serve him, and we are his disciples. That last part means he leads, we follow.

Consider again the words of Psalm 23 which you may know by heart:

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along righteous paths
for his name’s sake.

In that psalm we see the reason God does all that God does. The last line tells us it is for “his name’s sake.” He loves us simply because he is God and that is who he is. Jesus saved us simply so that we might know him and so that his grace would abound.

Sometimes we loose sight of this truth. We think “if I am not being served at my church maybe I should go somewhere else.” Or that “if we can just figure out the right answers, then we can build a better church.” But as soon as we make it about us, we have messed it up.

Our call as Christians, as the people of God, and as members of His Church is first and foremost to follow – to prayerfully and carefully make decisions about our lives as individuals, and to do the same corporately as we gather together in community. When we live this way, God’s Spirit works in our hearts bending our desires to match his own.

The great news when we get behind this is that he continues to extend to us his grace, and that his Church will never fail. It is actually far better and quite freeing that we are able to be about him and not about ourselves.

This is important for us to remember at Calvary. We have some big decisions ahead of us, decisions that will set the course for the future of this community of believers. As we make these decisions I will be the first to say that we should seek to do all that we do with the best that we have. Seeking the best resources, articles, books, experts, and whatever else to help guide us. We should also make sure that we are “all in” in all that we do.

But as we are all in, let us make sure we are all in for what he wants and for where he is leading, rather than where we would seek to go.

We are working to create a new, recurring class at Calvary. One that I hope many people will want to take advantage of. It is being designed for new Calvary members and old (old as in experienced :-)) Calvary members alike, as well as pretty much anyone who wants to know what Jesus and the Bible are really all about.

As part of this 5 week class I have been working to summarize the BIG STORY of the Bible. If we were to condense it all down, how would we explain it?

Ultimately, there are four great acts of the Bible:

Creation: Everything that exists, exists because of God. I has all been made by Him and for His glory. Creation is the work of His Word – the very Spirit and Breath of God forms and sustains all things. None more-so than humankind. We are made in His Image and Likeness, to care for the world and live in harmony, shalom, with one another, enjoying and responding to the presence of our Maker.

Fall: Sin has entered the world. It infests and corrupts all things. Adam and Eve rejected God’s will and God’s word. We call this “the fall” because it is not just their story, it is our story. We all, in pride, have chosen ourselves and our desires over God’s plan and God’s commands. We have taken matters into our own hands wishing for power and knowledge. This rebellion results in spiritual death, physical death, and the decay of all that exists.

Redemption: Yet as dark as the fall may be, God’s light is brighter still. God has not left us or abandoned His creation, but instead has chosen to redeem it. His Word and his promises come to humankind, first through the prophets of old and now through the sending of His Son. This is God’s master plan – grace is His response to our rebellion. Justice is still needed, but He has chosen to take it upon Himself, that one man might die for the people. And not just death, but new life as well. Jesus conquered all so that we might conquer all. The empty tomb is the great triumph of God’s story.

Restoration: The story does not end at redemption but slowly unfolds into the restoration of all things. First, it is our spiritual lives. We have been washed and made new, death has no power over us. Next, restoration begins to take hold in the world. God’s people, His Church, are sent into the world to bring hope and forgiveness, healing and shalom. And finally, eventually, all that is old will be made new again. God has great plans for a new heavens and a new earth, an eternal reality when we will dwell with him and darkness will be no more.

If this summary isn’t summarized enough, if you would rather have one point instead of four, then here it is:

In the end (and the beginning), the entire Bible points to Jesus. Every book and every page. He is the Hero, the White Knight, the Leading Man, and the only truly “Good” person of the story. More than that, he is God’s son, the very presence and being of God come down to live among us, in order that we might be saved. By being joined to him in His death and resurrection we are forgiven and made new. And that is the best part of God’s BIG STORY.