{"id":37803,"date":"2024-10-28T11:00:03","date_gmt":"2024-10-28T18:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=37803"},"modified":"2024-09-09T16:23:07","modified_gmt":"2024-09-09T23:23:07","slug":"raise-your-hand-lift-your-head-and-let-your-eyes-meet-mine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/raise-your-hand-lift-your-head-and-let-your-eyes-meet-mine\/","title":{"rendered":"Raise Your Hand, Lift Your Head, and Let Your Eyes Meet Mine"},"content":{"rendered":"

I love giving people the opportunity to commit their hearts and lives to Jesus. It’s safe to say that over the last 30+ years of pastoral ministry, I have had the great honor of leading thousands of people into a public profession of trust in the Lord. Those “altar calls”<\/a> have happened in a myriad of ways. I ask people to raise their hands and wave at me, indicating a desire to get right with God. Other times, people are invited to come to the front – to “hit the sawdust trail,” as popularized by evangelists such as Dwight Moody and Billy Sunday. Billy Graham carried that forward with his “Just As I Am” invitations in stadiums and circus-like tents. Some preachers prefer to have their eyes open, while others like their eyes closed for privacy. I know ministers who count to three, asking folks to shoot their arms up high “on three.” Case in point: I recently watched a podcast conversation between Carl Lentz and his children<\/a>. Carl, the former Hillsong pastor, had a high-profile failure in his marriage and ministry and is currently experiencing healing and restoration in broken areas of his life. Thank you, Lord, for your grace and mercy for us ALL.<\/p>\n

In that conversation with his kids, Carl asked them if they could quote his altar call “script” verbatim. They could. Here it is:<\/p>\n

“ONE: Jesus loves you; he died and rose again so you could have life. TWO: \u00a0the Bible says right now is time for salvation. Don’t wait another day! THREE: lift your head all over this place. Shoot your hand up high. I see you. Yes. I see you. I see you, \u00a0my brother. I see you. I see you, my sister.”\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

It got a hardy belly laugh from the entire Lentz family. I giggled, too, because I thought of how my own kids playful mock some of the things I do and say in church. Thankfully, my kids still love Jesus and His Church, and I understand the Lentz kids, too. Unfortunately, that’s increasingly not the case for many of this rising generation. They are seeing massive hypocrisy in the evangelical church in America. Perhaps Russell Moore is right: \u00a0it needs an altar call.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Losing Our Religion<\/em> was written in 2023, amid aftershocks from the 2016 and 2020 elections. It is just in time for the 2024 elections, in which we can fully expect, and have already seen, more of the same brouhaha<\/em>. And at the center of it all seems to be the Evangelical Church…again<\/strong>. For starters, we’re not supposed to be at the center of it all. The Church has always been at its best when it’s in the margins. We get things messed up when we pridefully position ourselves in the middle of the cultural conversation.<\/p>\n

I have, perhaps like you, watched ‘The Church’ lose its credibility, authority, identity, integrity, and stability<\/strong>. You are spot on with those chapter headings, Mr. Moore. In the pursuit of power, The Church keeps diminishing its witness. It’s like we’re selling our birthright for a bowl of stew. A stinking bowl of stew. Lentils. Broth. A few chunks of meat. We’re so “hungry” for power and position and willing to do “whatever it takes” in the short run to get it, even if it harms the Gospel in the long run.<\/p>\n

And we just look downright foolish.<\/p>\n

Case in point: all the social media buzz that went around after the attempted assassination of former President Trump. People were, again, calling him God’s anointed because the attempt didn’t end in a fatality. Or, they drew attention to the blood on his right ear and what it supposedly represents…(this is from widely circulated posts and memes)…<\/p>\n

\u25a0 Right ear:<\/strong> The right ear represents hearing and obedience. In ancient times, it was considered the most important ear, as it was the ear that heard God’s words.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

\u25a0 Blood:<\/strong> Blood represents life, sacrifice, and atonement. In this context, the blood is a symbol of purification and consecration.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u25a0 Consecration:<\/strong> Consecration means to set something or someone apart for a specific purpose, making it holy and dedicated to God. In this case, the blood on the right ear signifies the person being set apart for a sacred task or role.<\/em><\/div>\n
\n

\u25a0 Priestly consecration:<\/strong> In Leviticus 8, the blood is applied to the right ear of Aaron and his sons, consecrating them as priests. This act sets them apart as mediators between God and the people.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u25a0 Purification:<\/strong> In Leviticus 14, the blood is applied to the right ear of the person being cleansed, symbolizing their purification and restoration to the community.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

In case it is unclear, many people posted the above commentary about President Trump. Come on, people. Come on, evangelical church. This stuff has to stop. We look foolish. It’s time for the capital C church to “raise its hand, lift its head, and let its eyes meet mine.” It’s time for an altar call. Time to repent. And when we do, Jesus will be faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (see 1 John 1:9).<\/p>\n

So, I ask:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Is the modern American evangelical church like that of Peter when it keeps “cutting off the right ear<\/strong>” of those we somehow deem to be against Jesus (see John 18:10)?<\/p>\n

Is there blood<\/strong> on our proverbial hands from the private and public crusades we’ve been on, presumptively thinking we have God’s singular blessing?<\/p>\n

Should the church repent and be consecrated<\/strong> for service unto King Jesus only for its blatant hand-holding with the world’s systems?<\/p>\n

Have we wrongly been looking for an earthly priest to anoint rather than being consecrated unto the one and only final Prophet\/Priest\/King…JESUS<\/strong>?<\/p>\n

Does The Church need a healthy dose of humility, and purification of its pursuit of power and position, to be restored to a good place of servant-like ministry within our communities\u00a0and for the sake of a rising generation?<\/p>\n

Yes, to all of the above.<\/p>\n

Yes, my brother. Yes, my sister.<\/p>\n

Yes, I see that hand.<\/p>\n

Let’s Pray.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I love giving people the opportunity to commit their hearts and lives to Jesus. It’s safe to say that over the last 30+ years of pastoral ministry, I have had the great honor of leading thousands of people into a public profession of trust in the Lord. Those “altar calls” have happened in a myriad […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":172,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2310],"tags":[2005,785,1817,372],"class_list":["post-37803","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-doctor-of-leadership-3","tag-america","tag-evangelical","tag-moore","tag-religion","cohort-dlgp02"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37803","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/172"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37803"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37803\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38299,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37803\/revisions\/38299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}