Republished from: http://theresurgence.com/2011/03/14/navigating-the-emerging-church

Concerning Mary’s Virgin Conception

Regarding the virgin conception of Jesus, Rob Bell speculates that if “Jesus had a real, earthly, biological father named Larry, and archaeologists find Larry’s tomb and do DNA samples and prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the virgin birth was really just a bit of mythologizing the Gospel writers threw in to appeal to the followers of the Mithra and Dionysian religious cults that were hugely popular at the time,” we would essentially not lose any significant part of our faith because it is more about how we live. To be fair, Bell does not deny the virgin conception of Jesus, but he does deny that it is of any notable theological importance. This, however, is a dangerous move for four reasons, as I have written in my book Vintage Jesus, and summarize as follows:

1. The only alternative to the virgin conception of Jesus offered in Scripture is that Mary was a sexually sinful woman who conceived Jesus illegitimately (Matt. 13:55; Mark 6:3;John 8:41).
2. If the virgin conception were untrue, then the story of Jesus would change dramatically: we would have a sexually promiscuous young woman lying about God’s miraculous hand in the birth of her son, raising that son to declare he is God, and then joining his religion (Acts 1:14).
3. If we are willing to disbelieve the virgin conception, we are flatly and plainly stating that Scripture may contain mistakes, or even outright lies. In his book The Virgin Birth of Christ, J. Gresham Machen said, “Everyone admits that the Bible represents Jesus as having been conceived by the Holy Ghost and born of the Virgin Mary. The only question is whether in making that representation the Bible is true or false.” Machen went on to argue that “if the Bible is regarded as being wrong in what it says about the birth of Christ, then obviously the authority of the Bible in any high sense, is gone.”
4. In the early days of the Christian church, there was, in fact, a group who rejected the virgin conception of Jesus, the heretical Ebionites, and it is both unwise and unfaithful for a prominent pastor to accept a doctrine that the church has condemned as false.

Can a true Christian deny the virgin conception of Christ? As Al Mohler has said, “The answer to that question must be a decisive No…Christians must face the fact that a denial of the virgin birth is a denial of Jesus as the Christ. The Savior who died for our sins was none other than the baby who was conceived of the Holy Spirit, and born of a virgin. The virgin birth does not stand alone as a biblical doctrine[;] it is an irreducible part of the biblical revelation about the person and work of Jesus Christ. With it, the Gospel stands or falls.”

Questions about Ministry

1) As an asian-american believer, do you believe you've been called to return to a chinese church (which I guess what your doing now) or does that not really matter?

I think the foundational question is where would you want to plant your membership? The reason why I point to this is because where you decide to plant roots and where you plan on committing, that's where you serve, find community and grow. I've grown up in an Asian-american context my whole life and have attended Chinese Baptist Church all my life. However, i have seen how a lot of churches run and attended all types of churches - multiethnic, dually ethnic, single ethnic, etc. And the thing is that they are all good churches....they preach solid gospel centered messages, a focus on the ordinances, and living out their philosophy of ministry in their context. There's only One church.

So why go back to an Asian church? I think for me personally, it was a matter of church membership over everything first. I felt like I needed to honor my membership until God has made it clear that i was supposed to serve somewhere else. Another reason why I decided to come back was because I saw how difficult ethnic churches were. I mean, growing up I followed a group of pastors that really did church well and their congregations were responding and then i would look at mine and go, "Uhh...what in the world is going on? Is this even a church?" And very gently, God convicted me to stop hoping for the next big thing. He went, "Hey...instead of knocking poor churches, why don't you invest and use whatever i have given you to serve?" That shut me up pretty quickly. I also saw a disturbing trend throughout undergrad and seminary. A lot of young seminarians and pastors would leave their churches to pastor the next big thing and would leave their home churches at their own folly. Nobody to teach. Nobody to discipline. The attitude was "Forget that...let them suffer"

So my plead is "Don't go...we need you" We need biblically trained, gospel focused, enduring pastors to come back and shepherd the ethnic churches. And for some reason, as detached as i was, there's a resemblance with the people you minister to. You have gone through what they are going through. You can relate to them (for the most part). And if i have already bypassed the first hurdle of appearing different...perhaps we can begin to minister. Yes it's our parents church...yes, asian people tend to be stuck in their ways...yes, lunch time smells a bit odd at church...but they still need the gospel preached to them and they still need a shepherd.

2) Do you feel called to Youth ministry? This question meaning do you picture yourself working with youth for awhile or has God also laid on your heart other things such as reaching the unreached (missionary work), etc.?

I thought i wanted to do youth ministry because it was fun and i could eat pizza for the rest of my life. I mean, how hard can youth ministry really be? Just have events and make sure you look cool and the kids will follow you all the days of their life...well at least till they graduate and drop out of church life. I went through 6 youth pastors as a youth. That's almost one a year. And when i did the research, the normal turnover rate for a pastor is 3 years. The turnover rate for a youth pastor is half that. Asian churches...the stats are more grim. So when God made it clear that I was going to serve him through ministry i had to rethink a lot of stuff...2 things stood out the most:

1. The thing that scared the mess out of me was this: a senior graduating the youth group and going "man, my last 7 years was so fun...i didn't learn anything and have no clue what i believe, but winter retreat was awesome! i'll try to be a better person for the rest of my life" NOOOOOOOOOOOO! So i sat out to change everything up with youth ministry - how we teach, what we teach, how we understand ecclesiology, sunday school, events, leadership, etc.

2. I realized that youth ministry was not going to be easy. Not only do you minister to the youth, but you have their parents, your youth leaders, and yourself. I needed a foundational theology that pushed my philosophy of ministry. I also had to come to terms that i wasn't the senior pastor and that i fit into a system (a broken one at that).

So yes, i feel led to youth ministry not because it's easy and not because it's only fun. I'm here because the youth at CBC and the people that they interact with need gospel-saturated lives. And if i can pastor here for the next 30 years and have my leaders run with me for that long...then i'm in. And so my job now is the be as equipped as i can so that i may teach the youth - that's why the MDiv and Dmin. I never wanted the youth to get the scraps of theological garbage that people just tossed at them. So until God clearly tells me it's time to go...i'm here for life. I pray that you continue to find your place and plant and run hard.

Understanding the Balance

How do you balance between personal study and pastoral ministry? Like how do you have the time to equip your leaders, build relationships with your students, and prepare and study for your lessons? How do pastors do this? How did Jesus do this?

I mean, he never seemed like he was in a rush to get things done and most of the time he spent traveling here and there. I'm trying to figure this out for myself and my own ministry. And i don't know if you're like me but when there are a million things to do...i just don't do any of them. Maybe i'm getting complacent in my ministry or maybe i need another sabbath. How can one tell?

Leadership Principle #1: Foundations

This is just from a simple youth pastor's perspective. I have no original thoughts...just those that God has graciously allowed me to learn through my own failings and wisdom gained from older and more seasoned saints.

I think one of the biggest things that I have had to learn early was the issue of foundations. I mean answering the question, "What is the reason why i'm doing what i'm doing?" I think how you answer that question is huge...just because after 3 weeks, 3 months..when things get routine and you don't see "progress" then what do you do? Do you move on? What happens when you don't see things changing? And when do you leave a dead end position and when do you tough it out?

What makes ministry all that much harder is the fact that it's more difficult to evaluate results. How do you go about evaluating a pastor? Is it based off of how many programs he has finished in a year? Is it how many people were "saved" that year? Is his ministry judged off the quality of small groups and discipleship? See it's hard. And esp. when you're not really sure what the job requirements are. But then you have what the church has as requirements for you...and then you have scripture's requirements for you (and hopefully those are one in the same).

But I do want to give you the reality of what it looks like after awhile. And ok, i know i'm young and it's only been 3 years and God will probably beat it out of me later (and i can't wait for that). But I don't want you to go in and just get completely blindsided with it all. And i think this can go for most anything...any project, any relationship, job, whatever. I think after leading for a bit, it gets routine and dry at times. You'll get tired. People will stop following you. You'll experience internal and external conflict. You'll feel like you're not being trained and equipped. You'll start seeing past sins and sins that have been stuffed start to come back to haunt you. The ones you are leading start to question your leadership and authority and then you begin to question your resolve to lead them.

So what do you do? Do you change everything up? Do you quit? Well, my friend, this goes back to our original question - "What are you doing this for? What's the goal?" If i can be honest...there are so many days that i wanted to quit not just this youth minister gig/call, but this whole "christian deal." Why? because it's easier to live the way that i want and it's so much easier to be the follower/bystander than to have the weight of leadership. But I always go back to the foundation.

A good foundation always comes from your understanding of theology. Who is God? What are we caught up in? What is true biblical theology and biblical conversion? So if God is true and God is sovereign and the Word of God is true...then the big questions of existence and purpose are answered. I exist to glorify God by enjoying him forever. While God controls all the details of the universe He knows me personally and intimately. And if God is the one who saved me and calls me...then my calling and place of leadership has been determined by him. Why is this so important? Because as a pastor...my "job requirement" is ultimately according to his standard. And if He is the one who saves people then all i can do is work hard and pray that He might be gracious to save right? So my job isn't to save people...and that is a great relief. Trust me...i'm not good at saving people. I mean, i can manipulate the mood and get people to feel guilty...but i don't see that anywhere in scripture. One of my mentors asked me before i took the job, "Would you still do this even if the youth group dropped down to 3 kids? Do you honestly believe that you'll do the same thing philosophically regardless of how many students you have?"

I ask myself these questions today. Why am I doing this? Because for the time being, God has gifted me with talents and opportunities and so until He makes it very clear that it is time for me to leave...i'll continue to work as hard as i can. Is it worth it? For me...i can't see anything else being more important. This is something that the world will never understand. Church is something that people go to on the weekends. Pastors are a dying breed. Well...if scripture is true and God is who He is, then i can't see anything else being more important.

So let me encourage you dear leaders to press on. The journey is harder than anyone told us it would be. The results are schizophrenic and bipolar. But if your foundation is truly based on the Gospel then remind yourself of the truths wrapped up in it. Remember, that your worth is NOT dependent on what you can produce as a leader. At the end of the day, you are still a sinner saved by grace, equipped by God the Holy Spirit, and we just play our parts well.

On Leadership

The concept is a bit strange. Why? Because when Scripture typically address the role of leadership in two ways - elders & deacons. I know there are a billion books out there on leadership principles and I'm all for them but your understanding of ecclesiology (the church) and soteriology (of salvation) should affect how you view leadership. This is what I mean. The invisible, universal church is made up of genuine believers who have been reconciled to God through Jesus Christ. Simply put - Christians. From there a Christian publicly announces their allegiance by way of baptism into a local body - the visible church. *Side note: this is where there must be a distinction between para-church ministries (i.e. InterVarsity, Campus Crusade, Young Life, etc.) and the local church. Because the para-church, by definition, ought to come alongside ("para") and equip the church whereas the believer has membership into a church (where they participate in baptism, communion, and discipline)...but more on that in another document.

So for anyone to call themselves a "christian", there should be this understanding that they were saved from sin, death, and futility and saved to a local body on the path of sanctification (the slow process of dying to self and being made into the image of Jesus). Nobody is converted and is indifferent with their salvation and disregards the covenant community. That's why in 1 Corinthians 12, Paul reminds the church that the body of Christ is "a unit..made up of many parts." So serving, communing, disciplining, and doing life together aren't optional things that the believer can do...they are requirements of church. And if you continue to read the letters to the churches, the authors make it very clear that there's no partiality in the roles. All are called to serve the body. All are commissioned to be "light-bearers" to the world. So let's make sure we understand this important point. Believers enter through membership and are held responsible for the health of the church. On top of this, church structure in 1 Tim. and Titus lays out a system of elders and deacons and that's a whole other document. But i do have a lot of great books and articles on it. But now that you understand the groundwork, here are some things to remember about leadership:

1. The Glory of God, Not You: Do not forget the Gospel. 1 Cor. 9:14; 9:23; Mark 1:1; Phil. 1:16; Col. 1:5. You were saved not because of your greatness, not because of your faith, not because of your ability to be awesome...you were saved because of the grace and love of God. You were counted righteous only because the Son was crushed and the weight of eternal wrath was poured out on the Son. We are bought at the highest price and may we never boast in anything but the Cross of Jesus Christ. But too many people forget this after they become members and more so when they become leaders. They think they have things that might gain favor with God or they think that God Almighty needs their help. It's ridiculous! God has never needed our help and even our "partnership" with him is granted to us by his grace. So don't forget this. This isn't about us and what we can do for the God...there's no room for any shred of pride when it comes to leadership, salvation, or church. It was God who saved and it will be God who deserves the glory.

2. Persevering: What you'll find soon enough in leadership is that it's hard. People won't listen to you. You find your efforts bearing little fruit. Conversion and life change doesn't happen as quickly as you'd like. People seem like they wanna kill you. Your sheep get fat and lazy. Trust me...the first couple of years (maybe weeks) are great. You're new and have all these fresh ideas that might change the world and then after a little while, things just get routine and people in unison go, "NEXT!" It happens to all. I think that's why #1 was so important...because if your foundation is set on the Gospel...then results are just results that God will take care of and criticism can be taken with grace by shouldn't blow your ministry away. What has always helped me was to ask myself, "If everybody dropped out of this ministry that i'm leading...would i still do it?" And time and time again I respond "Absolutely" Not because it's fun watching your ministry blow up...but because your foundation is built on truth and all you are doing is being faithful to what God has commanded you to do. IT WILL BE TOUGH! I and all the pastors will guarantee you that it will be tough...but we also tell you that it is worth it. Persevere my friends like many that have gone before. Fix your eyes on Christ - the perfect example of one who persevered to the very end.

3. Speak the Truth in Love: Your ultimate goal as a leader is to shape and mold. It is NOT to complete an event. For this position, you have been granted the authority and responsibility to direct and equip. So the end goal should be lives changed into the image of God. And you do this by patiently teaching. It's always teaching, teaching, teaching. You're going to need to always be correcting, rebuking, pleading, and feeding your sheep. That's what a leader does. But again, like #2 your sheep will not always be where you're at...and to expect them to be "at your level" is just pride. Why does God grant you the grace to bring you to where you're at when you can't be patient to lead your sheep to that point? Here's the hard part...you can't allow the sheep to get away with everything for the sake of "i want them to like me" or "we need to be relevant" nor can you blow them up for not following the rules. Guide with biblical truth. Why? Because they can always question your authority...but when you bring a higher authority, then they go against that authority. Make sense? But Paul constantly encourages leaders to speak the truth in love.

4. Student Teacher: You must be first a student before/while you teach. We say here all the time that you can’t teach someone what you don’t know. What will happen is that you will end up

knowing all the right answers and teaching all the right answers and you yourself will NOT be living it out. Your soul begins to shrink and you lose all the power of what God has intended you

to possess. You need to constantly be growing, learning, studying, and on your knees asking God to grow you deeper. And here...be humble enough to admit when you're wrong or that you don't know the answers. Because the more you allow biblical guidance to challenge you, you'll see that we have a long way to go. So do your sheep a favor and be honest about it. But don't stop there and just make excuses. Go study for yourself. Find other people who are further along and ask them what you should be studying. Find out who they are reading and find parts of your worldview, theology, doctrine where you're weak and study, learn, and meditate on those things.

The one who uses leadership to bolster their position is in a dangerous position. Desire to lead because the Gospel has penetrated the deepest place of your heart. Lead because you understand that there are sheep that need caring and feeding. Lead with grace, patience, and wisdom that comes from God's revealed Word. And lastly, as you lead...be willing to follow THE leader that is so far greater than you and I. May we lead in such a way that only reflects His glory.

Disciple Now 2011

What was the purpose of DNOW 2011? When the pastors of Memorial Drive, Wilcrest, Garden Oaks, and Chinese Baptist got together to plan Disciple Now 2011 we realized that this was going to be a different event than we were used to. Already we had the understand that the body of Christ stretched further than just our local churches and we have historically been pretty poor at communicating this to our people. We didn't want to run a typical event where we could have just done it by ourselves. So that meant asking the question, "What couldn't we do without these other churches?" After some time of praying and brainstorming it was clear that our purpose was to fully integrate the efforts of the church in planning and thoroughly mix the youth. We figured that our students go to the same schools anyway...what if we got them to see it for themselves? So many times our youth think that Jesus is only this group or for this social class. Our racism and arrogance is bigger than anyone wants to admit. Our purpose was to crush that.

How did we get our theme "Unified"? Revelation 7:9-12 was our vision. We wanted to push a gospel-centered weekend where the students came and despite color, class, cash, and cool they saw that the CROSS unified them all. It's still our vision for this city and for our churches. It is why we will continue to partner with gospel-centered ministries throughout the city so that this city might be won for God's glory and his renown.

What was it like from a pastor's POV? I was extremely excited to be working with MDBC and SWBC again. Last year it went well and I knew that this year we knew where to focus. This year we joined up with Wilcrest Baptist and we knew their reputation was a true multi-ethnic church (which was perfect). For me, I really enjoyed watching how other youth pastors think, organize, and plan. Not only during the event did I get to see their interaction with students and leaders, but the prep part was probably my favorite. Honestly, I remember when i could take the stage and go for hours and hours with all these creative games to keep students engaged and whatever, but I get up there now and go, "man...i'm really rusty and gettin' old". So it was good to see younger guys just get up there and just do it.

Did we accomplish what we set out to do? For the most part, i think we did a great job. I think from CBC, about 85% actually took their role seriously. I wish we were able to expect the same from the other students that came with us or even the students there, but that just wasn't the case. That doesn't mean it was bad...it's just what it is. The thing i keep hearing from our students was, "Man, it was hard getting to talk to them AND maintaining conversation." But I need to remind you that whether we accomplished our goals there isn't the most important thing...it was whether we were changed from the inside. What i mean is that we could have done everything we were supposed to do there, but when we're back into our routine, have we changed how we look at people now? Does this change how we function at CBC? That's the important part.

Thoughts on our counselors and leaders? I was probably the most excited for this group. Why? Because i knew that they were going to be challenged the most. Probably on several of levels - 1) on the fact that this event would expose a lot of their own heart. It's easy to teach racism and prejudice but to own up to it as a leader is hard; 2) they would be challenged by other leaders and students. I remember telling them very early that this DNOW is going to challenge you more than you'd want it to. Because the other students haven't been taught like ours. Their way of life is different. Their theology might even differ. But it is your job to still teach and guide with all patience. And it was fun because we threw them in a mixed-church small group with another leader outside of CBC (with different teaching styles & discipline). Talk about the fast track of sanctification.

So now what? I've told our leadership that there are several levels of progress here. We go from missions to community to discipleship to service. But from missions to community takes a lot of hard work. You first get to know them through very surface level talk. Then it gets a bit deeper after some times has passed and then you share issues that really matter. After that you begin to do life with them (community). These things take time and a lot of work. It's always easier to just sit back and wait for another event to be "challenged" but what's the use? So the idea is to understand that this Gospel commands us to interact and to fellowship with believers. I trust that as you push harder into this Gospel...the shades of arrogance might lose it's grasp and then you might see what Christ sees.