by Ryan Smith | Oct 27, 2016
Let’s face it: Oklahoma is an underdog story.
To many, we are a people defined by the dehumanizing Trail of Tears, the scrappy optimism of the Land Run, the shock of the OKC Bombing and the devastation of F5 tornados.
To Oklahomans, we are defined by the pride of a people, the building of families and communities, turning attacks into memorials and coming alongside each other to rebuild.
Oklahoma is marked as a people who rise up. We have to be. We aren’t Texas. We aren’t New York or L.A. We have miles of coastline, but it’s more adequate for fishing than sunbathing. Whatever Oklahoma is, it has been made by its own two hands.
This is why 2008 was such a pinnacle year for many in our state.
For many like myself, having been born and raised in Oklahoma, the arrival of the Oklahoma City Thunder meant much more than simply a new logo on a jersey. It was a benchmark. It was a degree of validation. However, like many things in our state history, had it not been for a natural disaster (the New Orleans Hornets temporary housing post-Katrina), we likely never would have received a look from the powers that be.
Nevertheless, we did get that look. We didn’t get the NBA by being good enough or big enough. We earned it by proving ourselves. It was the recognition Oklahoma never seeks, but has certainly earned.
We welcomed a rag-tag group of young men, seeking to find their own way in a new world where they may have felt overwhelmed but were ready to accept the challenge. The team went an abysmal 23-59 its inaugural season – and sold out every game – gaining a reputation as one of the rowdiest home courts in the league.
We cheered through playoff losses, statistical slumps, and stuck up for our players (perhaps to a fault) because we understand what it’s like to struggle. And when you struggle as an Oklahoman, it’s the other Oklahomans who come alongside and pick you up. That’s what we do. And we’re good at it.
For many, this is why Kevin Durant’s decision to bail on OKC for the coast was such a slap in the face. Oklahomans don’t do that to each other. Granted, KD was brought here for business. He’s not an Oklahoman, but he carried more than his fair share of our hopeful projections on his shoulders.
Durant’s decision was not painful simply because it meant our team likely would suffer in the win column. It’s never been about that for us. For many in Oklahoma, it was a signal that perhaps we were wearing the Emperor’s New Clothes the whole time we had been paraded down the NBA red carpet. Our invitation to the ball was amazing, but midnight was striking, and the reality of our place was beginning to re-emerge.
What we were left with is something we as Oklahomans are all too familiar with: the question of “What’s Next?”
How will we rebuild?
For this reason, the 2016-2017 Oklahoma City Thunder is the most Oklahoman team yet. Not because they’re building up – they’ve done that before. Not because we have a superstar at the helm – we’ve had that before. This team epitomizes Oklahoma not because we got down or have to get back up. This team is Oklahoma to the core because they took the supposed deathblow and have been found still standing amidst the rubble. Not only are they standing, they are fighting forward.
Sports are symbolic. They are an escape. But one reason they are so popular is because they have a way of espousing identity and social commonality in a language no one can fully speak, but everyone understands. This year’s team is so exciting not because of its playoff chances or potential to stack up the Ws. This team is winning fans and attracting eyes because of one reason: they are going to work…hard…and no one knows quite what they’re going to accomplish.
OKC is not the sexy pick. While they aren’t the bottom of the barrel, few would say they are upper echelon. What has the attention of the sports world, however, is the determination, the bounce-back, and the scrap of a team that refuses to pout or look back.
After years of boom, we’ve hit a bust. That’s old news for Oklahoma. But as Oklahomans, we have learned not to place our hopes in the booms or fall apart in the busts. We do the work and fight forward.
As Thunder fans, we come alongside this team at this time not just because we’re fans, but because we’re Oklahomans. We fight forward together.
It’s what we do.
Thunder up!
by Ryan Smith | Oct 18, 2016
What is a church? Is the local church even necessary anymore? With access to numerous teachings, events, resources, and other tools, hasn’t the idea of church membership, church discipline, and other church-isms gone the way of the organ, potlucks and business meetings?
In my previous two blogs on the subject of the local church, I have aimed not simply to supply an apologetic for the local church, but to give a personal account for why I have stayed with the local church while many seem to walk away. Those articles are available here (Older Believers) and here (The Church Prioritized).
While the merits of older believers and prioritizing the church are relatively agreeable, and even transferable to a variety of contexts, my third and final (blog-wise) reason for staying with the church may be a bit more controversial.
I have stayed with the local church because of Church Authority.
Now I know, when we hear the word “authority,” we immediately bristle – particularly in regard to the church. In a world where the title of “most quoted Bible verse” has gone from John 3:16 to Matthew 7:1 (“Judge not, lest you be judged”), it is difficult to gain a hearing on not only the merits of church authority, but also its humble beauty.
So why would a loving God, whom I am in personal relationship with, subject me to such a cold organized structure and bureaucracy? Doesn’t that sound more worldly than godly?
Yes and no.
Certainly the idea of church authority has been abused to the furthest extent of human depravity and has given a black eye not only to the bride of Christ, but to the idea of the church itself.
But we must ask: is God mainly a God of individuality and personal relationship or does he lead through organization and structure? Would He do this to His people – the church?
Consider this: right out of the gate in Genesis, we are introduced to our Creator God. And what is the first thing we see this amazing Creator God doing? Setting boundaries (sky from water, water from land), separating (day from night, plants and trees according to their kind), defining and structuring (land animals, flying animals, human beings). And as he creates mankind in His image, he establishes something: structure, roles and authority.
When God calls out a people as His own and leads them as a chosen nation, He first establishes structure, roles, and authority.
From the family structure to the Hebraic law, God shows the need for accountable authority. Jesus affirmed these structures and authority. He then established, created and died for the church. The Spirit-inspired Scriptures tell of God’s leadership in creating pastors, elders, deacons and other structured responsibilities not to rule the church, but to lead the church as under-shepherds of the true Shepherd.
The Word is clear that the Christian faith does not end at walking an aisle, praying a prayer or raising a hand. It does not end at an inspiring message or amazing worship music. There is much more to the reality of following Christ.
In passages like 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1, God gives the highly accountable role of overseer (pastor/elder) not simply to run a well-oiled service, but to pastor a people. There is a front door of believer’s baptism to the identified church where one is known and knows others. The ordinance of Communion is a continual identification with the body of Christ and time of relational examination. The church is also called to examine professing believers and ensure they are truly brothers and sisters in Christ lest wolves enter the fold.
In essence, pastors are to humbly lead a people while submitting to the authority and Word of God. They are to feed them with true doctrine and beauty of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They are to protect them from false doctrine.
This accountability doesn’t end with pastors, however. The body of the church is to care for spiritual widows, orphans and others. We are to hold together like a body – not just busy with programming – but united in the upward call of building each other up to the form and image of Christ in the world by the power of the Spirit.
So lets talk nuts and bolts – what does this mean for you and me?
The final and main reason I have stayed with the local church is I don’t trust myself, and I need help. God has given this help ultimately in the Spirit, but has given me over to oversight in the context of a local church. I am identifiable, committed and accountable.
I need to know that if I am tempted by sin and begin to wander from the path of righteousness, a brother in Christ will confront me. I need to know that if I cling harder to this sin and deny that brother, that he and another will come again to hold me accountable to the Gospel and my professed Lordship of Christ.
If I ignore even the Gospel, the authority of God’s Word and the Lordship of Christ, I need a church body to pray for me, confront me with the Gospel, and if necessary, even tell me the hard truths of the faith that if no fruit is coming from my life, my profession of faith may be nothing more than a lie.
Our great God has structured and ordered the church to work in this way because we live in a fallen world with temptations and snares at every step. Jesus is clear that there are many who will taste of the things of Christianity and the church, yet ultimately walk away from Jesus while still calling him “Lord” (Matt. 7:13-23, Luke 8:4-8).
I firmly believe in the power and seal of the Holy Spirit. I believe once we are in Christ, we can never be snatched from His hand. But I also believe the Bible when it says to test myself and be tested. I believe it when it says there are prowling lions, disguised wolves, and supposed angels of light seeking to distract and dissuade me at every turn. I believe it when it says I need pastors to preach the Word continually to me. I believe I need the Gospel and other believers in community every day.
I believe the Bible when it says we should not cease meeting together. I believe it when it says I need to hear believers sing the truths of the faith, and I need to sing it to others. I believe the church is not just about me, but about the unity of the Spirit displayed through believers.
I believe the call of Paul to walk in a manner worthy of the calling of Christ in Ephesians 4 not just individually, but in a committed manner,
“with all humility and gentleness, with patience, accepting one another in love, diligently keeping the unity of the Spirit with the peace that binds us.
‘There is one body and one Spirit – just as you were called to one hope at your calling – one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all…and (Jesus) personally gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, for the training of the saints in the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ, until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son, growing into a mature man with a stature measured by Christ’s fullness.
“Then we will no longer be little children, tossed by the waves and blown around by every wind of teaching, by human cunning with cleverness in the techniques of deceit. But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into Him who is the head – Christ. From Him the whole body, fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament, promotes the growth of the body for building up itself in love by the proper working of each individual part.”
I believe the church is not about me, it is about we. We belong to Christ and to each other. May God be glorified in the body of His church together.
by Ryan Smith | Sep 26, 2016
The gods of our age are many, and their worship thickens the cultural air. We have known these gods and, even as Christians, have felt the allure of their siren songs. Many stars battle to be our sun.
Sex is our god. Money is our god. Sports are our god. We as individuals are our god.
I am certainly not saying sex, sports, money, or individuality are bad. They are each good in proper contexts. However, they make terrible gods.
For years, we have seen these gods in their different realms – working together in collusion for mutual benefit, yet still for selfish gain.
For example, every weekend, millions of people sit down to invest attention, emotion, and time in a sporting event. We love the god of sports. As his worship center is filled, the god of money raises his voice at opportunity. Advertisers clamor to the god of sports in the name of the god of money. There are billions of dollars flowing from the temple of sports, and the god of money feasts through sponsorships, advertisements, and ticket sales.
And how will the god of money be worshiped and upon what altar will its sacrifices be made? Not upon its own, but its worshipers will gather at the temple of the god of sex, as advertisers roll out scantily clad women holding bags of Doritos.
The allure of sex is then connected to a product. And why would someone bow to the god of sex? Sex feeds our god of self on the altar of lust. We must be pacified, and our bodily cravings must be satisfied. We deserve and demand because the god of self deserves to be worshiped.
And so on it goes. The combinations are limitless, and this list is not exhaustive, but you have likely seen it play out.
This phenomenon certainly isn’t new. “Sex sells” has been a marketing mantra for decades, and people have been drawn to identity in sports as far back as ancient chariot races and wrestling Athenians.
So if this has always existed, what makes our time so uniquely significant?
The gods are colliding.
While these (and other) gods have been gaining in prominence and power over recent years, I believe we are reaching a point at which they are no longer comfortable in the constraints of their own kingdoms.
We heard rumblings last month as the first transgender athlete competed in the Olympics. However, the god of sport deferred to the god of sex, and little fuss was made. Both gods were accommodated.
But as the kingdoms of these gods have increased, their ability to defer and stay in collusion is wavering.
We are starting to hear the first cries of discontent. I believe in the next few years, we will be watching a battle of ideologies, beliefs, and previously-unquestioned norms colliding with other previously-unquestioned norms.
We are seeing it now, but let us watch as these questions come up more in our culture:
- Can individuality be exalted over the god of sport in its own temple?
- What happens when adherents to Islam, Judaism, and other religions begin to be targeted regarding their beliefs on sexual ethics as Christians have been?
- What happens when sexual exploration runs further into litigation as corporations, leagues, and governments are forced to decide between individual liberty and the stretching of their own pocketbooks?
- What happens when the first transgender athlete begins to dominate in their field or on the flip side, sues a league for competitive disadvantage?
- What happens when an athlete with large monetary sponsorships seeks a different sexual deviation outside of currently accepted norms?
- What happens when a nation founded on democracy and the will of the people begins to be torn apart and litigated because of the sense that a nation built on the common good does not adequately serve the sovereign of self?
We are seeing the battles begin in places like North Carolina where government is being punished for previously non-contentious sexual-related bathroom laws. They are being punished not by the court of law, but the court of public opinion. Lucrative sporting events (as well as concerts and travel) that would bring millions of dollars into the local economy are being transferred somewhere else.
How long can the god of sex and the god of money maintain tension before one snaps?
When the false gods of our time begin to see each other no longer as uses for mutual benefit, rather as opponents to be cleared on the way to Olympus, war is the only option.
And this war is not going to be pretty.
As the gods of sport, money, the individual, and sex begin to no longer serve one another and claim outright superiority, we are going to see massive arguments and battles in the public square.
As Christians, we should not revel in these gods colliding. “I told you so” is not a Christ-like response. Rather, we should know that, at some point, each of these gods will be exposed for what they are – false idols.
As gods are exposed and battles intensify, it is likely we in the public sphere (particularly as Christians) will be caught directly or indirectly in collateral damage. We, however, must resolve to be even more steadfast in holding to and declaring the unshaking foundation of God in Christ and the gospel. There is one true God, and He will be shown for who He truly is. But this will have a cost.
The gods are colliding.
A time of greater tumult and persecution is coming, but so is a time of greater opportunity and truth.
by Ryan Smith | Sep 8, 2016
Why bother staying with the local church? It seems daily we see blogs, articles, and statistics stating why people are choosing lone-ranger Christianity. The local church is messy. It’s slow. It’s hard.
While I will gladly leave that discourse and its conclusions to much better writers, I want to share why, by God’s grace, I have stayed with the church. This is not a manifesto for or against a particular church or style of programming. Rather it is a personal invitation to see what I have found in over 36 years of struggling, stumbling, rejoicing, and living alongside the local church.
In my first blog on this topic, I discussed one major reason I have stayed with the church: the presence and influence of older believers.
In this post, I aim to highlight another reason I have stayed with the church. The reason is simple. It was really not something I did, rather it was done for me. The local church was prioritized.
While I have grown to embrace the local church, and am striving daily to pass on this love in my own household, it was in my parent’s household that I first saw the local church prioritized.
Though I don’t ever remember sitting down and having a direct conversation about it, it was a clear tenant in our household that we were part of the church. Not just that we were going to attend on Sundays, but we were part of a larger body. I learned it on Sundays and Wednesdays, yes, but also on Saturdays visiting widows with my dad, on Tuesdays with my mom as we went to help set up or serve a group of people. We were part of the local church. It was non-negotiable. It was not adjustable. The church was ingrained. The church was special.
I say the church was non-negotiable because it was non-negotiable. Whether I felt like it or not, whether I learned anything or not, regardless of how many gray hairs I gave my Sunday School teachers, we were going to be a part of the church.
However, this wasn’t due to a lack of trying on my part. As a youth, I can remember several times kicking and screaming at my parents. I disliked and feared the church. I didn’t want to go. I didn’t like the people there. I didn’t like button-up shirts. I had NFL pre-pre-pregame to watch and I was not going. Ten minutes later, I was in the car on the way to church.
Most of my anxieties growing up had nothing to do with the church itself, but with social or other reasons. There were a few times at my insistence that my parents decided to let me stay home (or even in the car) during my formative years. I regret every one of them.
As a parent now, I recognize what a struggle it must have been for my parents to prioritize the local church. I think back on every strategy they employed to keep us engaged (or just pacified). I think of every back-room conversation they must have had as I fought against them in my youth as I struggled with the social aspects of the church. It would have been so much easier for my parents to drop it.
Less arguing. Less struggle. Less.
I thank God every day they opted for more.
I write this blog not to brag on my upbringing or even laud the efforts of my parents. For them, I have no doubt, prioritizing the church in our household must have seemed like a weekly struggle simply to fall forward and not walk through the church doors with hands around each other’s throats.
I write this not for myself, but to highlight two modern day church issues.
One, I lived in a different time and place. Small town Oklahoma in the 80’s and 90’s didn’t fight my parents in prioritizing church. We had relatively few (if any) school or social activities on Wednesday nights, and scheduling anything on a Sunday morning was unthinkable. Our time was carved not only because my parents prioritized the church, but our community did as well.
Those days are gone.
That being said, my assumption is even if it came down to my budding MLB career or future as an Olympic goal keeper versus regular time spent with the gathered church, for my parents, there would have been no debate. We would be with the church. Even if we had to miss a gathering, the prioritization of the church would not have wavered.
Granted, hindsight is 20/20 and I cannot fully place myself in the shoes of other parents in an increasingly anti-church society. The choices are difficult, the time limited and the struggle real. While I will leave those discussions to more qualified writers, I would give only one piece of advice: however and whatever it looks like in your context, prioritize the church fiercely. Fight for her.
A second thing to be said: there are many parents who grew up prioritizing the church whose children did not stay. There are also many children who grew up in homes that did not prioritize the local church at all.
To this, I want to offer a supportive ear and a word of encouragement. This is one reason I wrote my previous article first. The spiritual growth of your child or lack of support from your parents is not fully dependent on you. However, you have been given a powerful tool in prioritizing the local church and that, ironically, is the local church. For the spiritual orphans and widows whose families dismiss the church, there are many spiritual fathers and mothers to come alongside. We have one family blood and it is that of Jesus Christ.
For the parents who continually urge their children toward the local church to seemingly no avail, take heart. Like me, your children are catching more than they are necessarily sitting down to learn. One of the greatest lessons your child may have learned is that you prioritized the local church. Place your kids in situations where they can be a part of godly community with peers as well as be invested in by other older spiritual family. Let the Spirit be the Spirit. You remain faithful.
Church, we need to recognize for many who do not have an environment of prioritizing the church, we must help them prioritize it. This does not mean keeping a Christian calendar busy or making sure they don’t get ahold of any “secular” music. Sometimes a busy church calendar is the greatest enemy of true growth in Christ. It means prioritizing Bible reading, listening to questions, walking alongside, investing and inviting. It is likely much simpler than we think.
The local church is messy. It’s slow. It’s hard.
But so am I. So are we. And we are loved.
Let us love one another with highest priority – as Jesus loved us.
by Ryan Smith | Aug 24, 2016
I love the local church. However, this hasn’t always been the case.
Like all Christians, my faith in God has run through seasons. There have been extremely dry seasons in which I questioned not just the existence or goodness of God, but whether or not I truly trusted Him. There have also been seasons where the Spirit has plowed with me through rough terrain and made my faith-muscles stronger in the process.
There have been life-altering mountaintop experiences with God that have drawn me closer into the arms of my Father. More often than not, however, there have been the steady rhythms of grace in the day-to-day battle for righteousness and the help to filter all things through the gospel.
Throughout each of these seasons, the church has remained constant. Constantly filled with broken people, yes, but also broken people who have helped usher me toward God in the knowledge of what it means to be a part of His chosen bride.
Life with the church has been a journey. My assumption is you are on the same journey at whatever pace. Like you, I have been hurt by the church. I have also been helped by the church. Most importantly, I have seen the church is not about me at all, but about Jesus. The church is God’s plan, and He has washed her in His blood to purify and cleanse her. What greater entity could we ever hope to be a part of?
As I said earlier, this has not always been my heart. As a teenager, I went through many crises of faith. As a young man, I was tempted to walk away from the church. There were many days when I was younger that I did not want to be with the church at all.
As a pastor, I hear many of these same sentiments echoed in the voices of the church. I hear moms and dads concerned that their kids don’t want to go to church. I hear kids concerned that their parents shy away from the church for a variety of reasons. I see some people who gather with the church physically, but spiritually and emotionally are somewhere else entirely.
What I tell many of these people is the same thing I want to tell you: I’ve been there.
Over the course of my next few blogs, I want to share with you three reasons why, by God’s grace, I have stayed with the church. I don’t want to do this to simply share my story, but to call out to you in yours as well, in order that these reasons may be of help to you in some way.
So what is the first reason I stayed with the church?
Older believers.
There is a time in my past that is spiritually etched into my soul. It is perhaps the largest crisis of faith I have ever encountered. The pendulum of my faith was swinging wildly between what I had been taught, what I knew, and what I was afraid I believed.
I was afraid the Christian life was a sham. I was afraid the church was a ruse to keep young people in line and off drugs, older people active, and type-A people in power with a place to be important. After all, I didn’t see or experience the “abundant life” we kept singing and hearing about.
I would quietly walk away, I decided.
I didn’t want to make a scene.
It was fine for them. It just wasn’t for me.
But for some reason, I could not walk away.
I remember one morning sitting in a church service as these thoughts swam around the dark waters of my mind. It was at that time, for some reason, my eyes focused on our pastor. He was quietly listening to the church sing the truths of the Gospel. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen someone look more content. But he was the pastor, I thought. He was supposed to look like that.
So I looked at people my grandparents’ age. Ones who I knew had walked for decades with the Lord – many out of very dark places. I looked at godly men and women who had poured into me as a child – people whose stories and testimonies of God’s faithfulness I had personally heard or seen.
But I also saw the hypocrites. I saw the bored, the manipulative, and the unengaged. I saw those who also believed the church was not for them. But in comparison to those who were joyfully proclaiming Christ, I knew it was not them who held the greater truth.
I closed my eyes and focused on the sometimes off-pitch and warbly voices of those who were clinging to the faith of the Gospel. They were singing truths that I was not sure I believed. But I did believe they believed them.
I wasn’t sure about the Gospel, but I knew they were. Despite my doubts, the thing I could not do was walk up to one of them and confidently say their anchor was a sham – that they were, in reality, floating aimlessly just like me. This is not just because I didn’t want to hurt their feelings. It is because they were not floating aimlessly. Their anchor was secure.
I wasn’t sure about the God I believed in, but I was sure about the God they believed in. He was real and could be trusted.
Instead of walking away from that God, I chose to seek that God. That moment made all the difference. When the winds of doubt shook me, I held firm to their anchor only to find, in time, that it was the same one I was tethered to as well.
Thanks be to God for old saints in the church.
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us” – Hebrews 12:1.