David Whiting Live

Why No Cantata on Sunday?

In the last week, I've been asked a couple of times why we don't do Christmas cantatas (although I'm not really sure what that word means - it 'feels' Spanish).

I've talked about this before, but thought it may be a good reminder.  The bottom line reason is that we want holiday Sundays to feel as much like a "normal" Sunday as possible. Here are some of the specific reasons we don't do cantatas at Northridge:

• We don't want someone to get invited to a special Sunday, be impressed, then come the next week and have it be TOTALLY different. It would feel like a "bait and switch."
• We think however a church "wins" people is how we best "keep" people.  If someone is attracted to God and His Gospel through our "normal" preaching and singing - then they will most likely stay around when the holiday is over.  But if someone is attracted to God and His Gospel through church softball, large outreach events, or cantatas - they rarely "stick" when it comes to long-term discipleship. We want to "win" people in the same way that we "keep" people. 
• Most church cantatas I've seen only impress "insiders." Especially on Sundays where more visitors will likely attend, we want to be sure that we are thinking about how "outsiders" may hear and see something (1 Corinthians 14:23 seems to indicate we should at least consider this). Our culture has Hollywood expectations, and often "insiders" can be as easily pleased as parents attending their elementary child's piano recital. It's only parents that love piano recitals. And it is only insiders who love cantatas.
• The amount of man-hours to pull of a quality cantata is huge... for a one-hour program. Just do the math. Imagine a choir of 50 with 15 practices that last 90 minutes each. That is a total of 1125 ministry hours to prepare for a program that is typical "insider" friendly and "outsider" unfriendly (unless the outsider grew up in church attending Christmas cantatas). Imagine what could be done with over a thousand extra ministry man-hours!

So - that is why Christmas Sunday felt like most every other Sunday. On holiday Sundays - the goal is the same. The target is the same. I have nothing against Easter or Christmas plays or cantatas. We just don't think they best serve our purposes at this point in our church's ministry.

Why Does a Church Grow? I'm Not Sure, But Here Is My Best Stab at an Answer

I am often asked why I think North is a growing church (and I mean real growth - not just numbers)...  more AND better disciples...  I probably am asked a question like this about once a month by other pastors or those outside of North.

I used to struggle to figure out how to answer the question. I could attribute it ONLY to God, but that would make people think there is NOTHING they can do to advance the Gospel in their community. So I needed to figure out how to say, "It is because of God" without minimizing the tasks God has called us to do.

In the last few months, I've finally come up with an answer that I'm comfortable giving... see what you think.

I would attribute our growth to the following four things - in this order:

1. God's blessing... Just as God pardons whom He wants to pardon - He also blesses those He wants to bless. Over the last several years - God has blessed North with more and better disciples.  Without His blessing - the other factors mean nothing and will not give true success. Without God being involved - there will be no eternal fruit. 
2. Commitment to the Gospel... I believe that a continual commitment to the Gospel is crucial for a growing church.  It needs to be proclaimed so it can be embraced by unbelievers and rejoiced in by believers. And I don't simply mean the Gospel being "preached" or an invitation given (we don't do "typical" invitations at North). I mean the Gospel being central in ALL we do. I don't mean a canned Gospel "presentation."  But rather, the Gospel being predominant in the way we talk and live.
3. Commitment to communicating to our culture... It seems that many churches create their own culture that others have to fit into rather than the church taking the unchangeable truth of the Gospel and contextualizing that beautiful message to an ever-changing, messed-up world. This is the controversial part of the list, but the one that is often ignored. 
4. Commitment of the church leadership to a Great Commission vision... I've been reminded lately that without the right leaders around me (pastors, deacons, trustees) - being committed to the Gospel in the language of the culture can't be successful.  I've been reminded vividly through a close friend that if I had to stand alone on what I believe God was calling us to do - I wouldn't be able to do it. I am so thankful for teammates that believe in what God has called us to do. How many of our leaders have been "complained" to, but lovingly but firmly stood by the vision that we are pursuing - more AND better disciples!

Just some thoughts.  What do you think?  What did I miss? 

Please Take Our "Church Name" Survey

If you were NOT at the Vertical Worship service on Sunday night, November 1st, PLEASE take two minutes to take a survey concerning our church name.  If you already took the survey Sunday night, please don't take it again. THANKS!

Also, feel free to take it even if you aren't part of North.  We want your opinion too.  THANKS!

To take the survey - click HERE.

Tomorrow! Important Stuff to Know...

Those who attend North - a couple of important things to know for tomorrow...

• Tomorrow will be a day you will remember for a long time!!!  Don't be late.  To get the full affect of the day tomorrow - you need to be here before the service starts.  You can do it... really... Some of you have never been here before a service started.  Do something crazy and be early!! :)  Tomorrow will be a day you won't forget... five years from now you will be able to answer this question: "Were you at North on the day that...?" (I don't want to spoil it.)  So - be here tomorrow and be on time.  It won't overly impress you, but you won't forget it. (Hopefully that is enough to draw your interest to get you here before the service starts.)
• Tomorrow all members vote to change our church name. Don't forget to vote.  Voting will only be available immediately following each of the 3 services (you will see why tomorrow). 

Let me encourage you to think and pray about a couple of things with the name change:

• Although this may be an easy decision for you - it isn't for many. I've talked to several who are voting "yes" - in spite of some conflicts they have internally (but for the sake of the Gospel - will vote 'yes'). 
• Pray especially for those of us who are STRONGLY tied to the name "Baptist" - it is the only church title we've known. This is REALLY hard!
• No matter how you feel - we love. No matter how you are voting - we love. No matter how the vote turns out - we love.
• We've publicly seen everyone handle this difficult situation with grace, patience and love. That needs to continue tomorrow.

See ya' tomorrow!

Spiritual Asbestos - Silent Killers

While our church was having asbestos removed last month - by law, we were required to post signs all over the facility warning people about the danger of asbestos.  And it made me start to think about how churches spread spiritual asbestos.

According to an OSHA website "the inhalation of asbestos fibers by workers can cause serious diseases of the lungs and other organs that may not appear until years after the exposure has occurred. For instance, asbestos can cause a buildup of scar-like tissue in the lungs and result in loss of lung function that often progresses to disability and death. Asbestos fibers associated with these health risks are too small to be seen with the naked eye." (you can read more HERE - if you want to scare yourself silly)

So - asbestos is an unnoticed killer...  That is what made me wonder what types of things seem harmless in churches, but are actually very deadly.

1. Legalism

There are thousands of churches that practice a "rules-righteousness" approach to Christianity and they have no idea what a deadly killer that is.  They set their rules on movies, cards, dress codes, alcohol, translations, and hundreds of other things... and it creates a prideful arrogance that is deadly. I wouldn't want a new Christian to attend a legalistic church.  They kill souls - both by creating false pride in Christians and by making new believers feel that such a standard is actually a goal to be attained.

2. Confusion of preferences versus conviction

This is a common spiritual asbestos found in all types of churches, and it is a deadly killer for new Christians, and it stagnates the growth of all Christians. If we can't tell the difference between personal preference and biblical conviction - we will create Pharisaical judges who only want to be around people who are just like "us."  And that is not only boring - it is deadly.

3. Country club for saints rather than a hospital for sinners

A silent killer of churches happens when a church acts like they are a country club for saints rather than a hospital for sinners.  When we start thinking that church is all about "give me what I want" or "give me what makes me comfortable" - we've lost our mission and we have airborne asbestos and need to mask up and protect ourselves! What if we ACTUALLY BELIEVED that the purpose of the church was to win people to Christ and grow them in biblical faith?  We talk a good game of evangelism, but most church-going people would never want the church to actually PRACTICE evangelism in effective ways.  That wouldn't make them comfortable.

4. Lack of emphasis on the cross

When a church deals more with sin management than cross dependence - it is spreading spiritual asbestos. When we don't emphasize the cross - we will emphasize "earning God's favor." When we don't emphasize the cross - we will convince ourselves we aren't great sinners.  If we are small sinners - we have a small Savior.  If we see how great of sinners we are - we can rejoice in our great Savior.

Let's avoid all forms of spiritual asbestos. It really is deadly!

What Did You Learn from the Survey? - part 17

One final post on reasons for the name change...

We took a survey of those who attended the Exploring North class last November.  I've talked a lot about how much we learned from the survey, but I haven't been specific as to what we've learned. I wanted to tell you just a few things that we learned.

The reason that we chose to take the survey with them is because they are "new."  Many of them new to faith; most all of them new to North; and a majority new to joining a Baptist church.  Once you've been a Baptist for as long as I have (all my life) - you can become "numb" to what outsiders might think about us - and how it might impact their willingness to attend.  Also, we felt it was best to take the survey NOT among those who might never join a Baptist Church, but those who DID.  If we took the survey among those who never would join a Baptist Church - the information may not be helpful. So we wanted to find people who hadn't attended North until more recently, but were likely from a different background (as a majority of those who come to North do not come from Baptist backgrounds).

Here are some of the things we learned in the survey:

• 30% of those who took the survey took a longer time to visit our church because of its name.
• 67% believe it has a negative impact on those they are trying to reach with the Gospel and that our name is a stumbling block to getting them to visit North.
• 60% said their preconceived notions of what a Baptist Church would be like - weren't true of North.
  

Those three numbers are important.  They tell us that those who end up here - a majority aren't bothered by the name (70%).  BUT - they people they want to reach ARE bothered by the name (67%).  Not surprisingly, we are reaching the people that aren't bothered by the name and we aren't reaching those who are bothered by it.  I am more convinced than ever that we are non-verbally communicating that a "Baptist Church" is for "Baptists." 

The third number convinced us that what people "think" a Baptist is (culturally) is not true of North.  The name is not truly reflective of what people believe a Baptist is.  I've often said - if when people think "Baptist" - if they think - "Bible, Jesus, the cross, humility, kindness" - I would NEVER want to give up the name!!

Here are just some of the comments that were made in the survey:

• "We tried several churches in the area (spent almost 6 months looking). I grew up in a Baptist church and we were avoiding Baptist churches in our search. It was only after not finding anything else that we liked that we decided to try out North."
• "I live down the street and always 'thought' of going, but wasn't sure what to expect. 'Baptist' always meant 'strict' in my book. But then I was having lunch with a friend who said he attended North and how great it was, so I decided to visit. On my second visit I was saved. That was on August 2008 and I've been there since."
• "Before coming to North, I've only visited a Baptist church a few times when visiting my husband's family. Here is what I observed: a choir, red-faced preacher dripping with sweat and preaching at high decibels. People were dressed up, but not necessarily friendly."
• "The church I grew up in (nondenominational) unfortunately had a rather disdainful opinion of 'Baptists.' In fact, I've had a rather difficult time explaining North as a different kind of Baptist church than the stereotype. I've been asked many questions, basically wanting to make sure the church was theologically sound."
• "I was invited about 4 or 5 times to attend and each time I made up an excuse about why I didn't want to solely because it was a 'Baptist' church. Only after we were invited by a second group of friends did we decide it was worth a shot!"
• "People just associate Baptists in general as confrontational and judgmental. When I tell people what church I go to, there are times I simply say 'North,' in order to avoid controversy."
• "I think a lot of people are scared or turned off by the word 'Baptist,' partly because of what they think Baptists are like, and partly because of what others would view them to be like. I am still uncomfortable at times, depending on who I am talking to, saying my kids go to North Baptist School because of judgments people make, and ones that I would probably make too if we didn't attend."
• "My parents visit every summer; my sister suggested they go with us one Sunday last year and my mother's response was, 'I'm not going to a Baptist church.'"
• "I find that when someone asks me where I attend church, I almost hate to say 'Baptist' because of what they think of Baptists. Not because of what I believe."
• "I think, especially in this part of the country, 'Baptist' is a pretty negative term. I think it kinda scares people away. I often feel like I have to explain myself when I tell people I go to a Baptist church."
• "I think it's comforting for people who belong to the club, but intimidating to those who are unchurched and outside of a relationship with Christ. I think the name creates expectations that may or may not be true. I think it would be easier to invite people to a church without labels but who is known for the exciting things going on and for changed lives because of the Gospel."
• "I come from a Catholic background and my family sees the name as a negative."
• "I know some people who have had bad "run-ins" with 'Baptists' and won't set foot in a Baptist Church again."
• "Before I got saved I would hear the word 'Baptist' and I would judge it because of all my 'Baptist' friends, that went to church on Sunday, but didn't live it out any other day. I thought all Baptists were fake."
• "I feel like every time I invite someone to visit I have to say something like, 'yeah, its Baptist, but not like you would expect' - because most people seem to have the same feelings about Baptists that I had before visiting."
• "As inaccurate as stereotypes can be, they're out there."
• "I do think because Baptist has so many meanings to even non-Christians that I find myself explaining why I attend this church rather than sharing the gospel plain and simple because of the raised eye-brows I get when I say the name."
• "I felt that people attending a Baptist Church saw themselves as Baptists first and followers of Christ second."
• "All of my concerns and preconceived notions about Baptists are not found in this church at all. Christ is first and all else is second. That is what I love about North."
• "It would be sad to have the name changed, but I look forward to discussing the change in name with friends and co-workers."

Have Other Churches Done This? - part 14

A question we have heard a lot is, "Have other churches done this?" and "What did they learn? What were the results?"

As part of our research - we talked to two churches in our area that changed their names and took "Baptist" out of the name.  Here are some things we learned:

• Neither church lost people over it - although some were very opposed.
• Those who were opposed like the growth that has occurred after the name change (growth through people coming to Christ)
• Both churches had been stagnant or in decline in attendance.
• One church has grown from attendance in the 40's to the 150's now.  It wasn't the only change, but the pastor views it as a very significant reason for the growth.
• The other church as grown 25% in the last year - following the name change.

So - although we don't know the exact impact it will have - nation-wide statistics and local churches have shown that changing the name will help us reach more people with the Gospel. To see how it has helped two local churches that were stagnant (or recently in decline) makes me excited to think how it may be a useful change in a church that is already growing! Believe me - we aren't pursuing this idea because it is easy or pleasurable! It really is all about the Gospel. 

We must be mature enough to recognize the role that denominational names have played in history, but also to recognize that a church's theology NOT denominational name is what matters.

Romans 10:14 - How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? and how can they hear without someone preaching to them?

We Need Your Ideas - part 13

We need more name suggestions! I know you probably don't think you are creative, you don't have time, and you aren't good with these kinds of things... but give it a try anyway!  My energy has been focused on explaining the reasons to change the name - not what the name will be. So - although we haven't voted yet - we need to start giving serious consideration to it.

Here are a few thoughts I've had (although you can certainly ignore these ideas):

• I would rather avoid "Bible" in the name (although I LOVE the Bible). Typically "Bible Churches" tend toward legalism in our culture. If we want to be sensitive to Christians looking for a church (even though they aren't our target) - "Bible" in the name will probably repel people who would be like us and attract those who would struggle with who we are.
• I would also rather avoid "Christian" in the name. "Christian Church" is a denomination that tends toward a baptismal regeneration teaching (that you can't be saved without baptism). It may not have a negative impact on our target (unbelievers) - as Christian Churches are most common in the south, but it would confuse believers who are looking for a church and are familiar with denominations.
• I would also rather avoid "Community" in the name. Unbelievers perceive that "Catholics" are the largest "denomination", "Baptists" are second largest, and "Community" churches are the third largest.  Therefore, I think that putting community in the name will put us in the same situation we are in now (tying us together with other churches that we may not agree with0.
• I am hoping to have our leaders settle on ten potential names in the next week or two - then get congregational input on those names.

So - go for it!  Click HERE and suggest a name or two or three...

Are you a Calvinist? Are you a Baptist? - part 12

Whenever someone asks me, "Are you a Calvinist?"  - I almost always answer, "How do you define Calvinism?"  I don't mind the word "Calvinism" - but it isn't a Bible word (so I won't die for it), and each person defines it differently (so I won't answer the question quickly).  More often than not - the way someone defines it - I end up answering, "No, by that definition, I am not a Calvinist."  I have found the same with being a "Baptist."  Our culture defines being a Baptist the following ways:

• homophobic
• believes it is sinful to ever drink, dance, play cards, or go to a movie
• dresses up for church (except Sunday night or Wednesday night, for some reason)
• judgmental
• hypocritical
• hell, fire, and brimstone - sweating preachers
• legalism (rules)
• formal
• Bible-thumpers

So, by that definition, I am not a Baptist.

But if someone said that a Baptist is:

• one who takes the Bible seriously
• one who takes God seriously
• one who doesn't take themselves too seriously
• kind, gracious, loving to others
• passionate about loving God
• focused on loving people
• firmly humble in their beliefs

If THAT is how someone describes a Baptist - then, "YES - I am a Baptist!" But those descriptions should fit EVERY Christ-follower - not just Baptists, right?  So what distinguishes me from other devoted Christ-followers?  The Baptist distinctives - I suppose.  So - how many people, when asked what a Baptist is says things like:

• they believe in the autonomy of the local church
• they believe in the priesthood of the believer
• they believe in immersion following one's salvation, not sprinkling preceding it
• they believe in a remembrance view of communion (not as an imparting of divine grace)
• they believe in saved, baptized church membership

By those descriptions - I would proudly call myself a Baptist.  But how many people define Baptists that way?  No one... I've literally asked hundreds of people what they think of when I say the word, "Baptist" - none of them gave those answers. Not one.

A Biblically Illiterate Culture

I recently read a story told by Edward Knippers, a Christian artist.  I found it sadly true of our culture:

A middle-aged woman came to my studio and was standing in front of my "Stoning of Stephen." I told her the title. She seemed intrigued by it but looked at me with no registration at all. I thought she hadn't heard me so I repeated the title and added, "That is an account in the Bible." She said, "Oh yes, the Bible. Is that Old or New Testament?" I said it is New Testament, the first Christian martyr. Then she said, "Now I know why you used so much blue. That is the color I see when I meditate."  I said, "No, that's sky." That is indicative of the society in which we live.

We are told that more people recognize the golden arches than the cross. Now - it is no longer Christmas break, but winter break. It is no longer a Christmas tree - it is a holiday tree. Did you know that after Thanksgiving every year, Starbucks sells two blends that are exactly the same but with two different names: Christmas blend and Holiday blend?

For years, I've been saying that unofficial motto of the US Coast Guard ought to be the church's motto as well:  We have to go out, but we don't have to come back.