The Scrappy Church

“So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from   the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight...For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised...All this is from God, who through Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them and entrusting us with the message of reconciliation.”     - II Corinthians 5: selected verses

What constitutes the Christian faith? Is it strong and mighty; powerful and blessed; or scrappy and ready? Looking at the “what’s new” section of a Christian book catalog I receive, I saw a new book that was for all small churches out there that haven’t given up or packed it in. The book was entitled: “The Scrappy Church.” If you think about it, that has been the history of the church when teaching and preaching has occurred: the church is lean, scrappy and Biblically based.

  Hyperbole is a literary device used as a deliberate exaggeration to convey a particular point. In the parable about the mustard tree, Jesus uses this device to describe the kingdom of God originating and emanating from small things. There were smaller seeds than the mustard seed, but Jesus used hyperbole to emphasize his point the greatness of the small, insignificant mustard seed and the greatness of God’s kingdom.

  “We walk by faith not by sight” are famous words all of us have heard. Is there a way to do that? How do we do that when things look so much larger than what we can do or control, especially when we feel small like that mustard seed? The answer - we are in Him and He is in us!

 Walking by faith not sight - what does Paul mean? Does walking by faith mean check your brain at the door of the church and pick it up when leaving? Does it mean to compartmentalize faith as a separate way of knowing God apart from the way we learn and know the world around us? So much of “easy Christianity” has applied this notion that we believe the Word but at the same time we disengage our minds as we live our Christian walks, as that is walking by faith not sight. Is that what Paul means? Is that the correct interpretation? Not at all! Elsewhere Paul tells us ‘faith comes from hearing.’ Clearly there is a cognitive process involved in faith. Upon the Resurrection, at least 500 were shown visibly via the five senses that Jesus was alive and that includes Thomas! Is this a contradiction by Paul? The answer is not at all. Remember, when we have passages that are difficult to interpret, we interpret scripture with scripture. So clearly there is a cognitive process occurring. Centuries ago, Augustine said “How can you receive any knowledge if it is not intelligible to the mind?” What did he mean? You cannot make any statement about God without some understanding of what the concept means. The most common and accurate criticism of contemporary Christianity is that the church has retreated to an anti-intellectual and anti-knowledge position that is based on experience and nothing else. Let me tell you, that is a house built on sand.

Christianity is a faith with a book that gives us revelation as to who God is; it also contains doctrine for our understanding and application. The Bible would not make any sense if we bypass reason and merely walk by faith.

  So what does Paul mean? Does simple, rational reason ever get us to faith? The answer is no. One cannot reason themselves into belief in the meaning of the Cross, the Resurrection, or the New Birth. “Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen” is the definition Hebrews gives us. Again it does not repudiate what we see! The Bible does not tell us to take a leap of faith into the darkness.  Christianity is quite the opposite. The Bible tells us to take a leap out of the darkness and into the light. It gives us hope and assurance in an area where we don’t see or don’t know where we are going! Consider the Psalmist’s assurance in Psalm 119: “Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Practically speaking, what does that look like? Though no one has ever seen God, we are promised that we will see God. We are promised that we will see loved ones who departed this world again if they believe in Christ. How do we know this is true when it cannot be verified? That is the lesson; God says it is true and we believe.

  In the words of Paul in II Corinthians 5: 6-21

                                      - We are always confident

                                      - For we live by faith, not by sight.

                                      - If we are out of our mind as some say, it is for God!

                                      - We are therefore Christ’s ambassador, as though God were making Him appear through us!

Yes, We ARE the Scrappy Church!!

Yours in the Strong Name of Jesus! 

Pastor Harry.