Looking for the Perfect Church?

"Often when a Christian who loves the Lord is troubled by worldliness and sin in the church, he is met with this statement: 'There is no such thing as the perfect church.' ... The accusation that a person is looking for a perfect church has been successfully used to get men with a heart sensitive to God to compromise and stay where they should leave (for the good of their spiritual souls, for the good of their children and the good of their testimony.) By not leaving, they become disobedient and, over time, sear their conscience, harden their hearts, and become party to compromise."

Curtis Sluss, "Being in the Way, the Lord Led," as viewed at http://theprojector.org/projectors/spring2013.pdf.

What happened to NBBC?

Edited 5/10/2013

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Today the board of Northland International University announced their intent to continue in the same direction advocated by Dr. Matt Olson. After firing him a week or so earlier without an explanation, they reinstated him today during the chapel service with an apology for how it had been done. Many of the students cheered and clapped. But not much was said about the reason for the firing. Those issues should have been explained.

Last Tuesday, I spoke with Greg Peters (a board member who has since resigned) and was hopeful that the school could be slowly turned around. He echoed my concerns about the direction Olson had taken the school. But despite our agreement, the board decided to let the Patz family decide because they were the ones who had the most invested over the years. Sadly, the Patz family chose to continue in the same direction and the four non-Patz family board members resigned.

I've read plenty of responses to the situation at Northland. Some are general in their response. Others are specific. And nobody completely agrees as to what should be done. So, I'll add to the mess and share these thoughts.

1. Northland Baptist Bible College hasn't changed.

Many of the alumni have been rehearsing special memories and posting pictures from their time at Northland Baptist Bible College. It is nice to look back and remember the way God used various people to mold us while we were there. But the truth is that most of the professors who taught us and the student body we knew are gone. That makes the changes not seem as bad in my mind. The Northland I remember hasn't changed. It just doesn't exist anymore.

2. Matt Olson hasn't changed that much.

About ten years ago, maybe less, a Northland team visited Mentor Christian School and one of their songs was performed in a disappointing style. When I brought it to Matt Olson's attention, he didn't seem overly concerned. Some time later that school year, he was invited to speak at an Ohio Bible Fellowship meeting at Greencastle Bible Church. It was a good opportunity for the pastors to ask him questions about the direction of the school. One thing that stood out from his presentation was his lack of concern about ecclesiastical separation. He gave the impression that it really hadn't been that important to him in his ministry in Colorado. I found that to be odd at the time. It makes more sense now.

3. Northland International University has changed.

There is no doubt that the school has changed since I graduated in 2000. New faces. New philosophies. New standards. New name. Matt Olson gives a general description of his recent changes on the college's website. He paints a nice picture of them without going into specifics. I actually appreciate one of the changes (use of modern English translations) but believe that the changes in regards to music (which he did not explain) are either dangerous (Charismatic chapel music) or wrong (rock band). Add to that the lack of transparency about the changes and things became worse.

Where do we go from here? This afternoon I received an email stating that the school needs donations as they are strapped for cash. At the time I was at work and had not watched the video announcement in today's chapel service. Now that I know the direction of the school, I won't be sending donations. Think about it this way. When a missionary presents his ministry at your church, you want to know if he has godly character and lines up with your doctrine and practice. Until you have the answers, you will not support him. Apply that thinking to Northland. Would it be right to support Northland at this time? I don't think so. No doubt they will get some support from those who wanted these changes. Let them support the school.

It is time to investigate other Christian colleges to see which ones are "steadfast, unmovable, and always abounding in the work of the Lord." Hopefully, God will raise up a school that will remain true both in doctrine and practice. But if not, all is not lost. God has many faithful pastors across this land who are proclaiming the truth and discipling their congregations in a godly manner. Find them and learn from them.

How would you describe a Christian?

It would be easy to describe a Christian as someone who has been born again through repentance of sin and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And that would be true. But when Jesus spoke about his disciples during his garden prayer (John 17), his description was more than that.

1. They have eternal life through knowing the Father and the Son (3).
2. They have kept God's Word (6).
3. They accept Jesus' words as from God the Father (7).
4. They believe that Jesus was sent from God the Father (8).
5. They are unified through the Father's name (11-12).
6. They have joy because of Jesus' words (13).
7. They are hated by the world because of God's word (14).
8. They are sanctified by God's truth (17).
9. They are sent into the world (18).
10. They are unified so the world will believe the Father sent the Son (20-23).
11. They are wanted in heaven (24).
12. They love as God loves (26).

There is much to consider in that list. Does it describe me and you?

Music: Style and Message

Ask what style of music Christians prefers and you will get a variety of answers. A lot of this is determined by one’s upbringing. But personal taste in music should not be the determining factor in how we worship the Lord and minister to the saints. The Scriptures are full of principles which help us make those decisions. Does the music put a melody in your heart to the Lord and encourage other Christians (Eph. 5:19-20)? Good music is God’s gift to the Church for mutual encouragement and for worshiping the Lord. The combination of good words and good music is important because of the influence it has on our relationship to other Christians and to the Lord. But these are not the only biblical qualifications for acceptable music. We have to compare the message and style with what the rest of the Bible says. Does the music promote worldliness (1 John 2:15-17)? The lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and pride of life should have no place in the style or message of Christian music. That passage alone should keep Christians from using rock, jazz, swing, or other sensual music styles in our worship. Does the music control me (Eph. 5:16)? Christians are supposed to be controlled by the Spirit and not by wine or any other substance. But some of today’s popular worship styles do just that. They are designed to lead people into an emotional trance where they will do whatever they are told. I have often seen lyrics posted on Facebook that are very shallow but have somehow made a huge impact on that person. I presume that the music produced an emotional experience that made the words seem more powerful than they actually were. This brings up another question. Does the music have a clear, biblical message? Jesus promised that the Spirit would guide us into all truth (John 16:13) not into a transcendental state of mind. That type of music is often used in a charismatic, feeling-oriented worship service and should be avoided. Both the words and music style together should accurately portray Christian truth to the listeners. If it does not, it should be marked and avoided.

re: Ephesians 6:2

"When we cease to be children we still owe our parents respect."
—Leon Morris, Expository Reflections on the Letter to the Ephesians, (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1994), 190.

A Few Thoughts on Matt Olson's Departure from Northland

The president of Northland International University, Dr. Matt Olson, made an announcement during the school's chapel service today. In his own words,

"Last Thursday we had an incredible day, our Founder's Day celebrating the life and ministry of Paul Patz. The wonderful day. We had our service here. We had a lunch with the Patz family. In the afternoon we had a meeting with them and shared all the things that are going on ... We shared everything with them what's happening in the ministry here. We talked about our future plans and some of our present challenges. Several of our board member came up that day and after the meeting that we had with the Patz family, the board met together and in the evening they asked me to come back and meet back with them at 8 o'clock Thursday evening. At that time, they shared with me that they believed in the best interest of Northland and Northland's future, that they find a new president."

While some are calling for silence about the subject, I would still like to make a few comments about what just took place.

1. Having gone through a similar situation, I understand the emotions that accompany such an announcement. This must be a very difficult time for him and his family. So, I encourage us all to pray for them.
2. While I disagree with the direction he led the school, I appreciated his demeanor during his response to the "change in plans." It was handled in a classy way and I appreciate that.
3. In his response, Dr. Olson pointed the student body to the Lord and away from asking questions such as "Why?" But those questions still remain. Why was he let go? Is the board concerned about the direction he was taking the school? And what direction will the board take the school in the future?

Time will tell whether things change for the better at Northland. My hope is that the board will make good decisions and will appoint a man who is able to lovingly lead the ministry in the right direction. Thankfully, "with God all things are possible."

Some things haven't changed...

Are today's "Christians" so different than those in past generations. Read these paragraphs and you will quickly see the parallel with our current times.

I must honestly declare my conviction that, since the days of the Reformation, there never has been so much profession of religion without practice, so much talking about God without walking with Him, so much hearing God’s words without doing them, as there is in England at this present date. Never were there so many empty tubs and tinkling cymbals! Never was there so much formality and so little reality. The whole tone of men’s minds on what constitutes practical Christianity seems lowered. The old golden standard of the behaviour which becomes a Christian man or woman appears debased and degenerated. You may see scores of religious people (so-called) continually doing things which in days gone by would have been thought utterly inconsistent with vital religion. They see no harm in such things as card-playing, theatre-going, dancing, incessant novel reading and Sunday travelling, and they cannot in the least understand what you mean by objecting to them! The ancient tenderness of conscience about such things seems dying away and becoming extinct, like the dodo; and when you venture to remonstrate with young communicants who indulge in them, they only stare at you as an old-fashioned narrow-minded, fossilized person, and say, ‘Where is the harm?’ In short, laxity of ideas among young men, and ‘fastness’ and levity among young women, are only too common characteristics of the rising generation of Christian professors.

Now in saying all this I would not be mistaken. I disclaim the slightest wish to recommend an ascetic religion. Monasteries, nunneries, complete retirement from the world, and refusal to do our duty in it, all these I hold to be unscriptural and mischievous nostrums. Nor can I ever see my way clear to urging on men an ideal standard of perfection for which I find no warrant in God’s Word, a standard which is unattainable in this life, and hands over the management of the affairs of society to the devil and the wicked. No, I always wish to promote a genial, cheerful, manly religion, such as men may carry everywhere, and yet glorify Christ.

The pathway to a higher standard of holiness, which I commend to the attention of my readers, is a very simple one, so simple that I can fancy many smiling at it with disdain. But, simple as it is, it is a path sadly neglected and overgrown with weeds, and it is high time to direct men into it. We need then to examine more closely our good old friends the Ten Commandments. Beaten out, and properly developed as they were by Bishop Andrews and the Puritans, the two tables of God’s law are a perfect mine of practical religion. I think it an evil sign of our day that many clergymen neglect to have the commandments put up in their new, or restored, churches, and coolly tell you, ‘They are not wanted now’! I believe they never were wanted so much!

—An excerpt from Holiness by J. C. Ryle