This is a good one to end with.
James just sent me this one today.
"What's the Bible say
about all the new theme churches?
Cowboy and biker?"
The answer? Nothing.
It says nothing about biker churches.
It says nothing about cowboy churches.
Now, yes, nothing specifically,
but let's just think a little bit.
One thing that does strike me
from Scripture is this:
The Bible never, never, never
indicates that we should have
more than one kind of local church,
except for geographical reasons.
You hear what I'm saying?
There's nothing in Scripture -
by the way, this doesn't just come down
to cowboys and bikers.
This comes down to denominations as a whole.
The Bible gives us no platform
for Methodist churches and Lutheran churches
and Baptist churches, and etc.
The only reason for different local churches
is exactly that - locality.
Geography.
And that's interesting,
because think with me here.
You had some churches
that had Jew and Gentile issues.
What would be an example of that?
(from the room): Galatians.
Tim: Galatians had the Judaizers come in -
very possibly.
The Roman letter,
he's very specifically speaking
to Jew and to Gentile in different portions of it.
But you know what's never said
to any of those churches?
You ought to divide up
and have a Jewish church and a Gentile church.
Let me tell you something else.
The Corinthians were never told
to divide up and have a rich church
and a poor church.
Do you know what else?
Even in the book of Revelation,
when you had five of the seven
that are unhealthy,
Jesus never told the people
inside those churches
to basically pack up and go start a new one
or pack up and move to wherever.
I find that very interesting.
Very interesting.
Now I know things have played out
the way they've played out.
I know we have different denominations
because we have different ways of interpreting Scripture.
And I know it would be very hard
for Baptists to church plant or whatever
if you've got a Presbyterian over here.
I recognize there may be issues
that they would not be able to get past.
I recognize that there needs to be
a fight for doctrinal purity,
and if we have to move away
from something where that purity does not exist,
I recognize that.
But what you need to recognize is this:
Jesus calls for unity.
He prays for unity.
And there is not a single example in Scripture
where you had in one locale
two different churches functioning side by side.
Now somebody might say,
well, didn't they have lots of churches
that met in houses?
Wasn't there a lot of that going on?
Okay, there may have been.
But nowhere are we called
to basically divide these things up.
The thing that comes to my mind
was what Paul said concerning Corinth
when you had some people following this guy
and some people following this guy.
And he said this:
Is Christ divided?
That's the question we need to ask.
Is Christ divided?
And we could say, okay, what's wrong
with a cowboy wanting to start
a cowboy church?
Is there really anything wrong with it?
I mean, come on, they're all going to wear their cowboy hats,
and they're going to wear their boots,
and they're going to sing country-western gospel.
Is there really anything wrong with that?
Or who cares if somebody wants to start a biker church?
I mean, don't bikers need to be saved?
And somebody might even quote:
We need to become all things to all people.
Right?
What I find interesting about that text
is Paul says to those who are under the law,
I became as one under the law.
To those that are not under the law,
I became as one not under the law.
(incomplete thought)
But you know what's interesting?
He's speaking to the Corinthian church
and he didn't say, therefore Corinthians,
divide up.
He didn't say that.
Somebody might say Hudson Taylor -
Hudson Taylor grew his hair long
and he dressed like the Chinese to win the Chinese.
So if I want to win bikers,
I better get me a Harley.
Right?
Look, I would say this.
That if I was formerly a Harley rider
and God saved me,
might I have a special place in my heart
for those guys?
Yeah, I might.
Could I maybe feel a bit more comfortable among them?
Yeah, I might.
One thing I would just say is this:
We don't want to get to the place
where we wouldn't evangelize somebody
because they're not a biker.
And would we want to get to the place
where if we started a biker church
and somebody came in that didn't have a bike,
that we're going to look down on them?
You see, the thing that makes me uncomfortable
about cowboy churches and biker churches
is I think one of the dangers is idolatry.
Look, you don't want
your desire to have a Harley
or your desire to have cowboy boots
to somehow trump your willingness
to love all Christians no matter what stripe they may be of.
(incomplete thought)
Look, the very same thing
that causes me to cringe when I hear
there's black churches and white churches,
or I hear there's an Indian church
over in Houston.
We had people visit us one time
when we were at Fatty's
and they said they heard about us on I'll Be Honest
and they came over here.
I think they may have come over here
maybe for business,
maybe they came just to see the church.
But I asked them about where they went to church
and they went to an Indian church,
like not red Indians like Apaches,
but Indians from India kind of church.
And I don't like that.
And I remember Ryan Fullerton
speaking out against the fact
that there were Gypsy churches in Romania.
And I think rightly so.
It's like why are we dividing God's people up?
I know this,
that from the very get-go,
I prayed for a racially diverse church in Grace.
And you know what?
It tests our love.
There are times when you have to fight
through difficulties
and you have to fight through prejudices
and seek to love each other.
But this is what Jesus was praying for -
unity among His people.
And I think we need to strive for that.
I would just say this,
that you know is there a place
to dress like Hudson Taylor
if you want to win the Chinese?
I think there is.
But you know, he did not -
you know how they had the bald front
and the ponytail in back?
If you read Hudson Taylor's biography,
he was a shiny white guy from England.
His head would get burned all the time in the sun.
Wearing their shoes was extremely uncomfortable for him.
He did this to win souls.
He didn't do it because long hair in a ponytail
was an idol to him.
We just need to be honest.
We need to be honest about our cowboy hats
and our cowboy boots
and about our Harley Davidsons,
because if they become an idol
and we basically are creating
a church around that idol -
see, that's different than him
getting a hairstyle that he would not have gotten
if it wasn't for the fact he wanted to win souls,
and wear shoes that he would not have worn.
They were almost like Dutch wooden shoes.
They were super uncomfortable.
They talked about how they hurt his feet.
James: And it wasn't a subculture.
It was the main Chinese culture.
Tim: Right.
So, yeah.
Well, any other comments on this subject?
Probably a good time to stop.
Okay, well, let's pray.
Father, I pray for these men and these women.
Lord, make us discerning -
truly discerning,
biblically discerning.
Help us to be able to separate.
Help us to be able to tell one thing from another.
Help us to be able to interpret things
in light of Scripture
and apply Scripture
to all the practicalities of our everyday life.
To know how they apply,
to see, to discern.
Lord, help us by constant regular use
and exercise applying Scriptures
to become very discerning people.
Wash us with the water of the Word.
Sanctify us by Thy truth
into that image,
that perfect image,
that beautiful image of Christ.
We pray in His name, amen.