Is Christian Leadership in Crisis?

By Marlon De Blasio and ChristianWeek | October 23, 2022

Earlier this year, Christianity Today reported that, “a cynicism about leadership and authority is spreading in the church.” Scandalous behavior has been rampant, and heightened our distrust of Christian leaders. Earlier this month, an article suggested that the crisis in Christian leadership is largely due to a lack of training. I do not wholeheartedly agree. While formal training can provide a robust academic foundation, it can never substitute for the personal depth of faith required for effective Christian leadership (1 Tim. 3; Tit. 1). Neither should any training program take it for granted that prospective leaders are personally “rooted and grounded in love” (Eph. 3:17). Unless our understanding of leadership goes beyond theory, cultural thought may develop a narrative that suggests evangelical leadership cannot realistically offer anything exceptional. If Christian leadership is to continue on with integrity, earning respect, and making fruitful contributions in a community, each leader must prioritize the personal meaning of Christian.

Literature on Christian leadership is plentiful. It’s replete with teachings on humility, self-sacrifice, Christ-centeredness, teachability, leading by example, and casting vision. Learning how the Lord Jesus grips a leader personally, to “know Him and the power of His resurrection” (Philip. 3:10), is what requires a fresh comprehension in our teachings. We must acknowledge that Christ’s power in us is not merely a belief in the right praxis, but an actual dynamic that provides the sole foundation for Christian leadership. When Jesus said, “for apart from me you can do nothing,” (Jn. 15:5), He was directing us towards real freedom from our natural self-centered propensities. With the authority and prestige that leadership roles offer in a community of faith, it’s not easy to overcome our natural tendency to manage selfishly. The hallmark of Christian leadership is discipling others to become all that God has for them.

Effective leadership grows in personal love for the Truth, with a profound appreciation for the grace of God, and knows deep down what it means that “the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Neh. 8:10). The event of Calvary for me, for my sins, should remain a seminal reality in the making of great Christian leadership. John Wesley became one of the greatest leaders England ever produced, and it all began one evening at a Bible study that continues to be commemorated. Wesley wrote of that event, “I felt my heart strangely warmed. . . . And an assurance was given me, that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.” Immediately afterwards, Wesley began developing countless preachers, pastors, founded benevolent societies, and produced copious literature that built upon a personal knowingness of God’s grace. Even the great Apostle Paul’s successes as a church planter, evangelist, theologian, and mentor, remained personally cognizant of Calvary. Paul said, “But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Gal. 6:14). They also emphasized the Spirit’s fruit of “joy.” As Paul stated authoritatively, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice” (Philip. 4:4).

Every leader will nevertheless continue to experience doubts, struggles, discouragements, failures, and continual temptations. Wesley had them. Paul’s letters reveal them. Christian leaders are called to “fight the good fight of the faith” (1 Tim. 6:12). An effective leader is thus one who perseveres in love for the Truth and grows in the personal fulfillment it reveals. An inward decline in passion for the Truth, and a severe loss of the “abundant life” (Jn. 10:10), can seriously weaken a Christian leader and aggravate temptations towards selfishness.

Recently, I watched a video: Observations About the Ravi Zacharias Scandal One Year Later. I am profoundly sad for what happened to the victims under the abusive leadership of Zacharias. The pain and injustices that were caused by him continue to make me teary eyed. I pledge to exercise vigilance and advocacy for victims whenever I have opportunity, and will encourage others to do so as well. In the video, J. Warner Wallace comments that the motives of Zacharias to commit such transgressions were his access to “power, money, and sexual desire” (22:25). I do not totally agree with Wallace’s view as it applies to Zacharias. There are many Christian leaders who have access to power, money, and probably face sexual temptations, yet do not betray their God given responsibilities. For Zacharias, my analyses are that his personal love of the Truth had waned, and his personal appreciation for Calvary became merely theoretical. Even so, the joy of the Lord was no longer a strength. Ministry became strictly a professional exercise as his personal relationship with the Lord weakened. Even with his access to “power and money,” had he kept up with “fighting a good fight of faith,” he probably would not have engaged in sexual sins. I also surmise that if we were to ask fallen Christian leaders if their devotional lives deteriorated, they would answer in the affirmative.

A major stumbling block is that evangelicalism inadvertently encourages a cult of personality. We measure success by a leader’s numerical achievements. Growing numbers translate into a larger branding of a leader in evangelicalism, and somehow a lessening accountability. We should be establishing a culture of multi-layered leadership: “Where there is no guidance, a people fall, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety” (Prov. 11:14). Everyone must remain accountable and an assumed celebrity “status” cannot rise above direct accountability. The early church was discouraged from developing cult personalities, as the Apostle Paul admonished it from saying and practicing, “’I follow Paul’, or ‘I follow Apollos’, or ‘I follow Cephas’” (1 Cor. 1:12).

Let’s conclude with a notable take away from the pioneers of Christian leadership who led in a milieu of religious and political intolerance towards Christianity. What distinguished them was their growing inward spiritual transformation, which was irresistibly recognizable and effective in Christian ministry. In Acts, “when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus” (4:13). Today, we have the same Spirit. Now education is certainly integral for effective Christian leadership in our world of unprecedented complexity. Nevertheless a fruitful leader must continually be in the school of Jesus and personally learn to build on His grace and power of redemption, within structures of accountability. Otherwise, the right theories alone cannot produce the required Christian leaders for a time like ours.

About the author

Marlon De Blasio and ChristianWeek

Marlon De Blasio, Ph.D. is a Christian thinker, cultural apologist, and author of Discerning Culture. He lives in Toronto with his family. Follow him at @MarlonDeBlasio on Twitter.

About the author

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Does Christian Faith 101 Still Matter?

By Marlon De Blasio and ChristianWeek | September 11, 2022

Nowadays it’s hardly received that, “Jesus is the answer.” It’s cultural now to think that Christianity is a personal preference that may answer questions for some but not necessarily for everyone. Cultural thought has keenly normalized objections to Christian faith. Why should believers continue to build their faith on the basics of Christianity? Isn’t the sophistication of advanced humankind demanding that we rethink our basic tenets? The short answer is, no, because when it comes to critiques of our understanding of sin and redemption, in the wisdom of Solomon, “there is nothing new under the sun” (Ecc. 1:9).

When conversing casually with people about the Gospel I often encounter polite but skeptical comments. I don’t mind, but I have realized that staunch skepticism can never be satisfied. Christian faith appeals to an intangible Entity and so whatever is presented can always be rejected by empirical demands. It can become a game of heads skepticism wins and tails Christian faith loses. To illustrate, let’s pretend the Bible did not record any supernatural events or miracles. In other words, the Old Testament was a book of supposed historical events and the New Testament was a reportage of Jesus as a great moral teacher. Skepticism could then question why there weren’t any recordings of miracles? Commenting that, “there is nothing special about Christian faith. Why didn’t the Biblical writers witness God parting the sea and allow the Israelites to escape enemies, or Jesus walking on water and healing the sick, or that He rose from the dead? Such attestations would strengthen Christian faith as probably special, but there was no witness to anything supernatural.” Determined skepticism will always find something to pushback. Thus our focus cannot be to satisfy a culture of skepticism by rejigging basic Christian beliefs.

Everyone agrees that we are compelled to live in an imperfect and broken world wherein life hankers for “antidotes.” In his highly successful book, 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos, Jordan B. Peterson wrote: “It is my firm belief that the best way to fix the world – a handyman’s dream if ever there was one – is to fix yourself” (366-67). Interestingly enough, Peterson entitled them “Rules,” and not suggestions “for life.” We all think with “rules,” even deconstructionists do so. Intrinsic to humanity is an insatiable search for a rule to “fix” the sad predicaments of sin. Such an exercise often becomes complicated, sometimes eccentric, and fraught with intellectual strife. Yet the topic of Christian faith is inescapably part of the discussion, albeit in a manner that is naturalized and far removed from what the Lord Jesus intended for humankind. So whether favourably or unfavourably, Christian faith seems unavoidable. It’s not going away.

When properly understood Christian faith remains the powerful antidote to fixing lives, but cultural trends have been successful in portraying it as anachronistic. Consequently, many believers are being challenged to rethink the belief that “there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all” (1 Tim. 2:5). This central tenet has been pressured into silence by a culture that deems it as untenable for advanced people. It’s thus becoming an almost irresistible temptation for a believer to deconstruct one’s Christian beliefs in order to accommodate cultural thought. However, it’s really the temptation’s validity that should be doubted.

Recently, I was delightfully enriched by a less popular essay of C. S. Lewis, “Fern Seed and Elephants.” He was commenting on how critical views of Christian faith were focusing on the minutest discrepancies (fern seed) in the New Testament and ignoring its glaring Truths (elephants). Lewis challenged the critics to “Try doubting something else.” That is, try doubting the alleged weight of the discrepancies, and consider the overwhelming elephants of Truth. Let us also try doubting the need to deconstruct basic Christian faith. Let’s try doubting that humanity is better served by the repackaging of sin. Let’s try doubting that the grace of God is not sufficient. And let’s try doubting that cultural thought can suggest a better antidote to sin than the Good News of the Gospel. Of course, there are vastly more considerations to take into account than a simple juxtaposition of doubt versus belief. Yet when it comes to basic Christian faith, an identified discrepancy is usually exploited with maximum extrapolation towards doubt. So, indeed, let’s “try doubting something else.”

People continue to experience genuinely the multi-dimensional efficacy of basic Christian faith. Existential angst is often remedied dramatically. A Canadian scholar, John G. Stackhouse Jr., once described insightfully what transpires in humanity when Christian faith is embraced:

Intellectually, one believes propositions one did not believe before. Morally, one has a different sense of what counts as good and evil, what one ought or ought not to do. Emotionally, one loves what one used to hate or ignore; one shuns former pleasures as toxic and wasteful. One cares about God, other people, the rest of the planet and oneself in a way one didn’t before.

Believers throughout the centuries have presented Jesus as “the way, the truth, and the life,” and He has been faithfully regenerating lives for over two thousand years. Christian faith 101 has withstood the proverbial “test of time.”

Believers of bygone eras, however, were not challenged in their cultures by a systemic disposition of skepticism. We are called to articulate Christian faith cogently, while a powerful media default to a skeptical attitude. Our nomenclature is not only misunderstood and misappropriated, but now misrepresentations can also go viral. Movies, documentaries, sitcoms, news outlets, and magazines, participate in a narrative that often creates subtle, but influential, negative assumptions about Christianity. It’s in the very air that we breathe. Spiritual and intellectual battles are unavoidable. A Christian is now required to discern cultural thought astutely, and courageously engage with it. Let us neither be intimidated nor crestfallen by the task, because our confidence is that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Heb. 13:5).

About the author

Marlon De Blasio and ChristianWeek

Marlon De Blasio, Ph.D. is a Christian thinker, cultural apologist, and author of Discerning Culture. He lives in Toronto with his family. Follow him at @MarlonDeBlasio on Twitter.

About the author

Marlon De Blasio and ChristianWeek

Revitalizing Our Sunday Sermon Experience

By Marlon De Blasio and ChristianWeek | August 21, 2022

Sunday sermons are perhaps the greatest opportunity for the Church. Think about it. Every week multitudes everywhere submit politely to a proclamation of a Biblical theme, with the anticipation of being instructed on how to live by faith in a muddled world. We cannot allow the sermon experience to slip into a mere traditional routine while contemporary issues overwhelm us. The challenges confronting Christians today require a sermon to apply Scripture not only to theological topics, but also to ideologies, political issues, societal tensions, scientific advancements, and more. Relevancy is now indispensable, as it can be presupposed that church attendees are thinking about the foregoing. Bless the hearts of pastors who are trying to deliver relevant sermons while leading their flocks, but the world is becoming far too complex now for any person to address everything proficiently. Pastors and Elders should consider tapping into the gifts and talents of their congregants to complement the Sunday sermon experience. After all, it’s Biblical.

When pulpiteers introduced coffee tables and stools on the platform, they somehow overlooked that a sermon’s value is in its content and not its optics. People attend church not for the spectacle, but to hear the real deal. They desire Scriptural depth. In 2017, Christianity Today reported on a Gallup poll that revealed the primary reason people attend church is they are interested in “the truth:”

“. . . according to a new Gallup poll. . . Preaching on Scripture and its relevance ranked above factors like kids’ programs, . . . community outreach, . . . and social activities. . . Even so-called seeker sensitive churches have discovered that theological depth appeals to lapsed Christians and non-believers. . . They are interested in the truth or else they’d be out golfing.”

After a hectic week in a fast-paced world, congregants want their faith nourished substantially. Routinely, a pastor unpacks a Scriptural theme with practical application, but there are times when the gifts and knowledge of congregants can aid to enrich the message for everyone.

Let’s take a lesson from the testimony of Francis Chan who was a successful mega-church pastor, but transitioned out of that model. Chan came to realize that many gifts in his church were being wasted. In Letters to the Church Chan explains:

The Bible tells us that every member of the body has a gift necessary to the functioning of the Church. When I looked at what went on at Cornerstone, I saw a few other people and me using our gifts, while thousands just came and sat in the sanctuary for an hour and a half and then went home. The way we had structured the church was stunting people’s growth, and the whole body was weaker for it (6).

Chan’s observations should impel us to support pastoral ministry by awakening a fellowship’s dormant resources. Not all fellowships have big numbers, but the availability of gifts can be scaled accordingly.

After a time sensitive sermon, pastors can be joined occasionally by various congregants who can provide pertinent knowledge on a particular topic, for an open congregational panel discussion. Depending on the topic, it may be a lawyer, a nurse, a psychologist, and a business leader. For another topic, it may be a general labourer, a domestic worker, an engineer, a doctor, a science, history or philosophy teacher, and then allow questions from the congregation. Gifts and talents of administration, “helps,” governance, and hospitality (Rom. 12; 1 Cor. 12) are among us and they are under-utilized. Those who have them can articulate the Christian experience of their vocations and provide valuable knowledge to their fellowship. Even so, the participants will feel valued and the church will experience a deeper connection of fellowship as unity is fostered. Furthermore, sermons must now speak to a church’s culturally diverse composition. Discussion will allow everyone to learn from one another and grow together, appreciating the cultural values of our fellowships. The Great Commission calls for all nations to accept grace, be discipled, and grow together as a church family.

Perhaps some church leaders reading this might think that it’s a radical change, but it’s not. Note again Chan’s cautionary insight, “The way we had structured the church was stunting people’s growth, and the whole body was weaker for it.” When gifted people sit down weekly for church and then go home, it’s really irresponsible to what God has given us. Church leadership should develop its people to become everything that God has for them and their fellowship.

Elder boards have a chair for committees such as HR, finance, missions, and maintenance. Isn’t it also high time that a committee for gifts and talents be established to identify particular congregants and encourage them to serve? Likewise, they should also appoint a committee for pulpit ministry to work along the pastor and identify congregants who can contribute pertinently to scheduled topics. We need to acknowledge seriously what God has provided among us.

Given how fast the world is changing, expectations from a sermon will continue to increase, especially among millennials and Generation Z who are advanced, educated and likely to be fact checking while listening. Issues are coming at us thick and fast, and we need to support our pastors by maximizing resources to “equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ . . . so that we may no longer be children, tossed . . . by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine” (Eph. 4:12-14). For now, the golden opportunity of the sermon still exists. Let’s revitalize the experience lest it dries up and becomes relegated to a mere traditional exercise. “Winds of doctrine” will be unrelenting, but our messages can rise up and provide a more corporate and fulfilling experience.

About the author

Marlon De Blasio and ChristianWeek

Marlon De Blasio, Ph.D. is a Christian thinker, cultural apologist, and author of Discerning Culture. He lives in Toronto with his family. Follow him at @MarlonDeBlasio on Twitter.

About the author

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Dear Christian: Five Things to Know About Atheism

By Marlon De Blasio and ChristianWeek | July 29, 2022

Contemporary atheism is not simply a denial of all religions; it’s really an ideology. Conversations between atheism and Christian faith usually get frustrating for both, because the former’s ideology is restricted from considering what the latter claims. Christians should be more informed and not allow a cultural narrative of science vs faith to blindside them, and dampen their confidence. Here are five essential points to enrich a Christian’s knowledge, and to realize that atheism is not so open-minded to evidence as it claims.

1) Devoted to materialism

The material universe, and our world in it, is all that we have, or ever will be. Atheism thinks strictly within these parameters. In its world-view, science must have a tangible point of reference. Accordingly, modern scientific observations of the fine-tuning of the Universe and specified complexity in micro-biology, that suggest compelling inferences to a Designer, are dismissed by default. Now of course these telescopic and microscopic observations do not directly prove that God exists. For a Christian, however, it’s part of a cumulative case which strongly adds support to the personal experience of faith that correlates to Biblical revelation. It thus contributes to the reasonableness of Christian faith. In light of modern scientific knowledge, however, a few atheists have begun to demonstrate intellectual humility by submitting that theories of material/chance creating complexity are failing (See, Thomas Nagel, Mind and Cosmos: Why the Materialist Neo-Darwinian Conception of Nature is Almost Certainly False). Nevertheless, atheism insists on methodological naturalism and refuses to budge, believing that a natural explanation will one day account for fine-tuning and biological complexity. Modern science is pushing that expectation further away as it continues to suggest increasingly that the information in our human constitution was not a fluke, but the intentional act of Mind. Also, the laws of science cannot explain the cause of the Universe, because they were brought into existence when the Universe began. The laws were absent prior to the Universe’s birth and so could not have been the cause. Regardless, atheism barrels along with its non-negotiable ideology.

2) Counter-perspectives are not seriously considered

For decades now, I have had countless conversations with atheists, over coffee, at events, online, and in the class room with students and professors. I have found a few things that are consistently prevalent: they are always quick to refer me to skeptical literature about Christianity, and they enjoy being a gadfly far more than being genuinely open-minded to the possibility of God. When I reveal to them that I read those authors they are usually surprised, because most atheists think that Christians are blind followers of faith, though that’s beginning to change a bit. In the badinage, I recommend contemporary theistic literature but it’s usually disdained, or they claim to have read it but when questioned they clearly can’t evince much. Somehow, they are apprehensive of discovering the Truth. Atheists claim to be free-thinkers but what is really meant is free from thinking about anything to do with God. In my doctoral program, I took a course with an atheist professor, a free-thinker. Years later, I ran into him at an academic event. We exchanged pleasantries, and conversed about philosophical theology. I suggested he read some of the latest literature on theism that had emerged in noteworthy philosophical circles. He waved his hand and said, “No, I don’t read that stuff.”

3) Christian faith is misunderstood

If an atheist claims to be open-minded, an educated understanding of Paul’s Letter to the Romans should be demonstrated. That doesn’t mean that an atheist should read Romans as the Word of God, but at least as an iconic literary piece of history that has influenced Western Civilization. An atheist should be educated on what was intended by the author of Romans, though not necessarily agreeing. I have found that atheists prefer secondary literature about Christianity wherein the authors are already skeptical. Generally, atheism is under the impression that Christian faith means having to listen to indoctrinating and boring sermons, observing ancient rituals, reciting dry prayers, and giving up all the fun stuff in life. Most of all, it believes that an acceptance of Christian faith implies surrendering one’s mind and freedom. It doesn’t get that Christian faith is a personal and liberating relationship with Christ that provides abundant intellectual and existential fulfillment, with a wonderful realization of ultimate reality.

4) It seeks to replace God

Yet atheists live as though God were true. They exercise neighborliness, engage in benevolence, and believe in right and wrong moral actions. Like anyone else, they also expect justice when wronged. Now they appeal to the evolutionary processes as responsible for developing contemporary society. That is to say, a mindless and blind process assembled our minds by natural means and when we became cognizant of our rational minds, we proceeded to establish the required societal norms. This is an ideological belief, and I agree that “the materialist neo-Darwinian conception of nature is almost certainly false.” What about the necessary nutrients for life found in apples, oranges, bananas, etc.? Well, they naturally sprung from the earth – what’s the problem?! However, it seems that some scientists are realizing the shortcomings of material/chance theories to account for fine-tuning, complexity and consciousness, and in desperation are positing some wild hypotheses. Recently, and seriously, scientists have published on the possibility that an alien civilization may send us a message that could help elucidate our existence. Sure, anything but God!

5) Atheism strains reason

Atheism claims to be based on evidence and rationality. The problem is that its interpretation of evidence strains reason. If we began as matter, and evolved by a mindless, blind, natural process, then how is it that we can converse and understand one another? Matter plus matter cannot produce consciousness. It’s a non-sequitur. Neither can matter reason with other matter and solve problems, as humans do. Humans rationalize, observe, comprehend, solve, and create, because of the magnificent mind, ears, eyes, and larynx God gave us. An atheist reading this would probably insist that we don’t know certain things, and in the future science may provide answers. This convolutes rationality and even suspends it from interpreting evidence. Knowledge is based on what science does know. We observe that matter is inanimate and human beings are complexly conscious in a perfectly fine-tuned planet. It’s reasonable to believe that the rationality and consciousness of humans are best explained by an inference to God. Atheism can deny this all day long, but its denial doesn’t make the inference irrational, or go away. Thus, mainstream science is beginning to consider extra-terrestrial influences, as strictly natural explanations seem to strain reason.

In conclusion

A genuine free-thinker should rigorously question the ideology of atheism, and be open-minded to the possibility that Christian faith is not a kill-joy, a science stopper, a mind-closer, or an irrational world-view. With independent thinking, an atheist should read the Letter to the Romans and draw one’s own conclusions. That’s what free-thinking should be all about.

About the author

Marlon De Blasio and ChristianWeek

Marlon De Blasio, Ph.D. is a Christian thinker, cultural apologist, and author of Discerning Culture. He lives in Toronto with his family. Follow him at @MarlonDeBlasio on Twitter.

About the author

Marlon De Blasio and ChristianWeek

Christian Faith and the Illusion of Secularism

By Marlon De Blasio and ChristianWeek | July 10, 2022

The world is complicated, and living by faith in Christ is becoming increasingly challenging. Pressures to relinquish some of our treasured beliefs lurk everywhere, and believers are being tempted to negotiate with cultural trends. Indeed, spiritual and intellectual battles are unrelenting. Essential to an intelligent Christian faith now is an acknowledgement that secularism is based on human initiatives which can never remedy societal ills, or provide what people actually need. Secularism should be deconstructed to show how its current ethos is rigid, and illusionary.

The cultural narrative is that Christianity is losing its relevancy. In reality, the very opposite is true, as grace, mercy, love, and forgiveness apply today more than ever, but the culture is making it awkward for the Christian voice to be heard. At best, Christianity is being marginalized as a belief system that may provide some comfort to those who choose to gather on a Sunday morning, but definitely not sophisticated enough to provide anything substantial to society. Yet secular experts and intellectuals can’t seem to reconcile societal conflicts with peaceful resolutions. Tensions are rising with unprecedented complication. You will notice this immediately if you watch Fox and CNN talk about the same news story. In this cultural whirlwind, Christian faith is being convoluted for believers.

Now let’s step back and objectively analyze people in society. Note that we are not analyzing issues, but “people.” Are people still in need of love? Yes, of course. Are they in need of mercy and forgiveness? Without doubt. Do people continue to exercise curiosity about where we came from and what is the meaning of life? They sure do. The Gospel was never intended for entities or issues, but for “people.” The message of Jesus is not an institutional one; it’s a personal one. When Paul was preparing to go to Rome, the center of culture and institutional power of the day, he wrote: “So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of salvation to everyone who believes . . . “ (Rom. 1:15-16). The message of the Gospel was “to you,” and not to the institutional powers or entities of Rome. The “power of salvation” begins and materializes in the hearts and minds of “people” and not anywhere else.

Today we also interact not with institutional abstractions but with people who represent them, and whom we are to love and respect. An institution is meaningless without the people that represent it. People who represent the entity are the institution, and they are in great need of everything the Gospel offers. Our aim shouldn’t be to convert a political system, or to fight the institutions of secularism, but to communicate the values of the Gospel to the people in them, even if it’s only one on one. I am almost certain that if the Apostle Paul were here today, he would not be waving placards in front of institutions, but engaging people in conversation as he did in Athens (Acts 17).

Let me further illustrate the distinction of institution from person. Let’s suppose you were to address a session of the United Nations and present the Gospel; the institution would consider you and your message irrelevant, even though in reality it’s not so. Now imagine sitting down one on one with a nation’s leader, and over coffee discussing the Gospel intelligently with a loving and gentle tone. That “person” is in need of everything the Gospel offers, and regardless of the outcome the conversation would be more impactful than the former presentation. If that person accepted the grace of God, the change of personal influence on affairs would then be remarkable. Don’t think this is wishful thinking. Even high profiled persons have accepted the grace of God and influenced their space. So let’s not focus on institutional entities but on what the Gospel offers to people in all levels of society.

No ideology or religion can answer the call to fulfill the human longing for love, mercy and forgiveness, and provide answers to the great questions of life. Ideologies are human inventions which have always promised more than they have delivered, and religions do not all teach the same thing. Logically, then, religions cannot all be correct, because each one makes a truth claim that contradicts the other. The often-stated quip that ‘all religions are the same’ is simply not true and emanates from an uninformed mind.

Christianity is unique in that it reveals where we came from, why we are here, and offers grace, mercy, and forgiveness which provide an unmistakable experience of new birth. It offers a radical life changing experience of love, and personal friendship with Christ. The advocates of secularism, with their limited scope, cannot appreciate this language and so in culture they often caricature Christian faith for pejorative influence, but that does not invalidate our beliefs.

Our Christian faith is not based on whether or not a secular entity approves of it, because a “natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor. 2:14). Remember, Jesus said: “Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You MUST be born-again’” (Jn. 3:7). If you have been reconciled to God, then I encourage you to continue with boldness, and prudently share the grace of God with others.

Nevertheless let’s bear in mind that there is no such thing as a super Christian who can saunter through our secular culture. We must remain vigilant. We are confronted daily by this fiercely rigid opponent, and we shouldn’t let secularism confuse and complicate our beliefs. Secularism is driven by human initiative, and “people” have existential needs that it cannot fulfill. The Gospel, however, will continue to provide comprehensive meaning for the spiritual and intellectual fulfillment of people in all walks of life. “If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear” (Mk. 4:23).

About the author

Marlon De Blasio and ChristianWeek

Marlon De Blasio, Ph.D. is a Christian thinker, cultural apologist, and author of Discerning Culture. He lives in Toronto with his family. Follow him at @MarlonDeBlasio on Twitter.

About the author

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Peter and the Disciples: Cowards or Brave?

By Isaiah Johnson and ChristianWeek | May 21, 2022

So often when we hear sermons leading up to Jesus’ death we get a one dimensional description of the disciples. This would be similar to people looking at us and defining us based on one area of our life (which people sometimes do). Quite often people are more complex than one simple assessment.

When we look at the biblical account a different picture seems to emerge.

One of fight or flight. First we read of acts (and potential acts) of bravery then fear since Jesus rules out any physical defence.

Further back from the Garden of Gethsemane we read: 

14 So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, 

15 and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”

16 Then Thomas (also known as Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

No one disagreed with what Thomas said. He and the other disciples possibly thought Jesus would face death when he went there and they would be next as his followers. That was a group act of bravery. They didn’t run away and hide. Bethany is roughly two miles away from Jerusalem.

Then we read of Jesus’ prediction concerning Peter’s upcoming denial (Luke 22):

32 But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”

33 But he replied, “Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death.”

34 Jesus answered, “I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me.”

It is important to note that Jesus was the one to suggest bringing a few swords:

36 He said to them, “But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one.

37 It is written: ‘And he was numbered with the transgressors’[a]; and I tell you that this must be fulfilled in me. Yes, what is written about me is reaching its fulfillment.”

38 The disciples said, “See, Lord, here are two swords.”

“That’s enough!” he replied.

At the critical time of Jesus’ arrest we read the following in Luke 22:

49 When Jesus’ followers saw what was going to happen, they said, “Lord, should we strike with our swords?” 50 And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear.  

Note how first Jesus’ disciples asked if they should defend him, even though they were greatly outnumbered and only had two swords! Yet they were still willing to take this step that would mean certain death for all of them. 

Peter, identified in John’s Gospel as the one cutting off the ear, didn’t wait for Jesus’ reply or show any hesitation, but took the brave and possibly deadly action of striking with a sword. He could have been put to death for that.  This should not be missed or underplayed.

51 But Jesus answered, “No more of this!” And he touched the man’s ear and healed him.

(Note how the direction and focus immediately shifts as Jesus makes it clear there is to be no fighting or protection on their part. It now shifts from being ready to fight to flight).

In Mat. 26:50-56 this scene is described then we are told:  

56 Then all the disciples deserted him and fled. 

Yet right after this statement (of all the disciples fleeing) we then read:

57 Those who had arrested Jesus took him to Caiaphas the high priest, where the teachers of the law and the elders had assembled. 

58 But Peter followed him at a distance, right up to the courtyard of the high priest. He entered and sat down with the guards to see the outcome. (This too possibly have put him in danger.)

In John’s gospel we find that yet another disciple follows along (possibly John):

15 Simon Peter and another disciple were following Jesus. Because this disciple was known to the high priest, he went with Jesus into the high priest’s courtyard, 

16 but Peter had to wait outside at the door. The other disciple, who was known to the high priest, came back, spoke to the servant girl on duty there and brought Peter in.

This disciple possibly had a good relationship with the high priest (which would be amazing considering all that is taking place!). Also, he seemed to carry some authority since he was able to speak to the servant girl and have Peter brought in.

What do we find in all of this? Great acts of bravery before Jesus was arrested. This then turned to fear and self preservation when Jesus said to not defend him. Later, after his resurrection and the reception of the Holy Spirit, they were now boldly proclaiming the word of God in Jerusalem! (Acts 4:13 etc.)

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Isaiah Johnson and ChristianWeek

About the author

Isaiah Johnson and ChristianWeek

Hope and High-Waisted Jeans

Stories We’re Following: From Bible Gateway Blog

By Christian Media and ChristianWeek | June 16, 2021

“We’re told our bodies are projects to work on, something to present to the world for measuring and evaluating. We’re told our bodies are reflections of our righteousness—if we follow God correctly, they’ll look a certain way and mirror his majesty and grace. We’re told our bodies are trophies—something we can work hard to earn glory, something we can give to those who are associated with us. We’re told our bodies are bad, filled with innate and impure longings we should suppress and subdue like hunger, desire, and fatigue.”

Read the full article HERE.

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Christian Media and ChristianWeek

About the author

Christian Media and ChristianWeek

How Is God At Work In Ontario?

By Christian Media and ChristianWeek | November 2, 2020

ChristianWeek is very interested in finding out how God is working in Canada through this global crisis. This story was sent to us from Scripture Union Canada. If you have a story to share please email us!

We’ve started a global school!

When the coronavirus pandemic struck, the lockdown resulted in the cancellation of Scripture Union’s sports camps, clubs, KidsGames, internships, bubble soccer, and training events. It was bittersweet. We deeply mourned the loss of in-person ministry, yet also realized this was a tremendous opportunity to pivot to online ministry.

Doing online ministry is different from in-person ministry. New skills have to be learned, new technology harnessed, mindsets changed, and administration reorganized. Scripture Union took these challenges in their stride and enthusiastically embarked on creating the School of KidsMIn in the spring and summer of 2020.

Prior to COVID-19 we never envisioned developing a children’s ministry global training hub. Yet it was something God wanted done. The lockdown reminds us that “We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps” Proverbs 16:9 (NLT).

The School of KidsMin was launched in September. Within hours of going live, the workshops were equipping and encouraging parents, teachers, children’s ministers and others in Africa, Asia, Europe, Australia, and the Americas. Wow! The power and reach of online training! Little is much when God is in it!

This is the first school of it’s kind started by a Scripture Union movement. Every video is pithy, interactive, content-rich, visually engaging, practically oriented, and biblically sound. Workshops are open source i.e. freely available and may be redistributed. The addition of downloadable worksheets, as well as links to a range of useful resources, also enhance the presentations.

For more information, visit the About page on the School of KidsMin website: www.schoolofkidsmin.com

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Christian Media and ChristianWeek

About the author

Christian Media and ChristianWeek

Heresy Not Tolerated

Revelation Discipleship – Pergamum Pt. 2

By ChristianWeek | July 4, 2020

Continued from Part 1 – Find that here…

Ah, Pergamum. Where religion was the kingdom, and Satan was the king.

The fact that a church even EXISTED in Pergamum is a miracle, and is the very reason that Jesus commends them in the beginning of his letter. They have remained true to His name. Imagine how hard it would have been to be an authentic Christian in the “seat of Satan”.

Even having remained true to His name, many of them have not remained true to His teaching. There were people in the church who were swaying other believers to follow ways that were contrary to orthodox Christianity. 

In Pergamum it all came down to meat sacrificed to idols and sexual immorality. In the culture of the time, people would take animals to the temple for sacrifice where they would burn some of the meat on the altar and bring the rest home to feast with their families. The feasting was seen as a feast for the god, so for a christian to participate in those feasts it was akin to them worshiping that idol. 

The heretics were trying to persuade the people that with the freedom they had as Christians it didn’t matter what they ate or where they ate it. But Jesus clearly thought it did. It would have been easy for them to justify this behavior in the name of relevance and outreach; to connect with those outside the church in an attempt to develop friendships and share the gospel with them.

But Jesus didn’t commend them for their relevance; he didn’t applaud their progressive outreach—he rebuked them for their compromise. 

Now, let’s talk about sex.

If you think our culture today is saturated with sex, you would be dumbfounded by the era of churches like Pergamum. Monogamy was not the norm. Temple prostitutes were used in worship. Concubines were assumed. Sexual promiscuity would have been part of their lives before coming to Christ, so it would have been a hard habit to break. Even harder if they had other “Christians” telling them it was okay.

The heresy that these people were spreading was not only abhorrent in the eyes of Jesus, it was a declaration of war. Jesus tells the leaders of the church in Pergamum that if they don’t put a stop to the lies that He will come and war against them.

It’s important here to notice that Jesus doesn’t say he will war against the church, he is very clear to say he will war against the heretics that had infiltrated the church.

He loves His church. He will protect His bride. 

He then exhorts them to persevere to the end. There are heavenly rewards in the end, hidden manna and a white stone with a name on it just for them. 

Most scholars agree that that “hidden manna” is a symbolic picture of Jesus Christ himself. The manna was given as a daily provision in the desert to the Isrealites, just as the “bread of life”, Jesus, is given to us as our daily provision. It is “hidden” because it only belongs to those who have eternal salvation through Jesus. 

The white stone is not so easily explained. Scholars look at it as a mystery because in biblical times a “white stone” could have meant many things. Jury members used the white stone to acquit in court, white stones were given as amulets against evil powers, white stones were traded between special friends as a token of friendship (like a BFF necklace), and on and on. 

The most commonly accepted explanation is that a white stone was given to the victor in the gladiator games. The victor was given a white stone that symbolized his freedom and his new “free” name. Jesus will declare us victorious and free with the white stone and our special new name.

What does it mean to us?

When it comes to heresy in the church, Jesus is passionately intolerant. “Intolerant” is a controversial word in our culture today, but sometimes it’s the only word that fits. And it’s important here to notice that it isn’t the church that’s intolerant, or John that is intolerant, it is JESUS that is intolerant. So we should stand up and take notice of what his intolerance is aimed toward.

Jesus desires that his bride remains pure, so anything coming from the outside and attempting to pollute her has to be immediately confronted and cut out. We have a responsibility to the risen Savior to remove false teachers from the church.

Western society today is all about being accepting of any and every inclination a person has, and this secular attitude has seeped into the church. 

Jesus says this to several of the churches, remember what we said about Ephesus?

“Satan comes as a wolf dressing as a sheep in order to move among the sheep undetected. As a shepherd, what would you do if you found this disguised wolf? Would you say “Well, God loves wolves, too. We should love it, no matter how wolfish it is acting and our love will win it over?” No, as we “win over” that wolf with our “love”, the wolf will be devouring the sheep one by one. This is going to sound controversial, and very unlike our 2020 modern views, but, as one pastor puts it, we “shoot the wolves”. Good shepherds don’t tolerate wolves, they get rid of them. Good shepherds don’t attempt to domesticate wolves, they eliminate them.”

It was a common danger then and it is a common danger now. 

If the church in the West is going to survive and keep it’s lampstand, it has to deal with the subject of heresy. It has to be willing to “shoot the wolves”. The Church is being watered down one drop at a time as we tolerate sin under the banner of grace. Satan applauds our tolerance. Many churches are receiving a standing ovation from the forces of Hell. 

Theology matters. A lot.

It matters to Jesus; therefore, it should matter to us. 

We must be able to discern the counterfeits. The best way to discern a counterfeit is to have spent so much time with the real thing that the false is glaringly obvious. 

Spend time with Jesus. There is no other way. Period. If you get to know Jesus in a deeply personal way, you will be able to spot heresy from miles away, and you won’t be able to tolerate it. 

If we are going to learn anything from the letter that Jesus wrote to Pergamum, may it be this – Jesus cares that his bride remains pure, and he will fight to the death for it – so we should, too.

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ChristianWeek

Innovation During A Pandemic

BethanyKids Using Tangible Resources To Help in The Pandemic

By Alison Lublink and ChristianWeek | June 5, 2020

What has surprised you the most throughout the pandemic? Has it been that people have started to look out for one another, caring for our elderly and our neighbours? Or maybe how much we depend on social gatherings and how deeply people have felt that loss? Perhaps another surprising revelation from the pandemic is how innovation has forged its way through in unexpected ways.

Prior to COVID-19 we may have thought that we were relatively creative and advanced as a society, but as the pandemic hit and has evolved, people, churches and communities have had to innovate rapidly to keep up with the changing times. It seems that every group under the sun has started to meet online, and even businesses that used to be solely bricks and mortar are now selling through social media and newly launched websites!

As much as perhaps we desperately wish things could “return to normal,” there is a lot about how things are shifting that are helping us hopefully establish a better future.

While digital technology has been a prime example of how our lives have changed during the pandemic, there are other types of technology that have been advanced as well. Everyday people started creating personal protective equipment (PPE), like sewing masks, to donate to essential workers.

One example of this type of technological innovation can be seen on the opposite side of the world from us here in Canada in Kijabe, Kenya. The Assistive Technology Team working for BethanyKids usually spends their time repairing wheelchairs for the many children that come to the organization for care.

But throughout COVID-19 they’ve had to change the way they work. They brainstormed and realized they could start helping in another tangible way with the resources they already had. They started creating 3D printed face shields that can not only be used by other medical teams, but also by the team themselves as they continue to repair wheelchairs.

Joab Matumbai, the Head of BethanyKids’ Assistive Technology Program in Kenya, says “The crisis posed by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic continues to teach us to do things differently each waking day. This has included 3D printing of face shields.

We keep finding encouragement in the assurance that “we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10)

Joab’s work in Kenya is only one example of the ways Christians are innovating during the pandemic. As the global Church this can be a source of encouragement to each of us for how we can start to innovate in our local communities.

It’s comforting to know that despite the turmoil in the world, we are created for bigger and better things. It’s up to us to continue to press on and think of ways that we as individuals can impact our communities.

What skills do we have that we can creatively repurpose to share with others? Much like the people who are skilled in sewing started making masks, we have ways that we can help. It will look differently for all of us, but we can be encouraged in knowing that it is that uniqueness that will continue to help us to get through difficult times.

It is through these acts that we start to see people bonding together around the world and coming together for a united purpose.

About the author

Alison Lublink and ChristianWeek

About the author

Alison Lublink and ChristianWeek