Matt Surber's Blog

Why We Need A Different Kind Of Maturity In The Church

mattsurber — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 18:01:29 +0000

This is a great blog by Carey Nieuwhof that brings up many good points.

WHY WE NEED A DIFFERENT KIND OF ‘MATURITY’ IN THE CHURCH

You’ve had it happen before, people tell you they are leaving your church because ‘they’re not growing’ or they’re looking for ‘deeper teaching.’

They claim they need a place where where they can grow and mature more spiritually.

While I totally understand that people leave churches for legitimate reasons (I have left a denomination at one point), over time I’ve begun to sense a trend. While everyone might have one or two life-time changes in them, the kind of ‘this isn’t doing it for me’ movement that characterizes church today alarms me.

I’ve noticed that the people who often claimed to be the most spiritually ‘mature’ (or at least on that quest) are often people who are

Somewhat judgmental
Generally disinterested in reaching their unchurched friends
Self-focused
Serially dissatisfied
Often unwilling to actually commit long-term to any local church

Question: are these really the characteristics of maturity?

Maybe what poses as ‘maturity’ isn’t always maturity.

Here are three points of confusion I’ve noticed in the maturity discussion in the church today:

Depth of knowledge is seen as the goal of maturity. It’s wonderful that people understand what they believe, but knowledge in and of itself is not a hallmark of Christian maturity. As Paul says, knowledge puffs up. Love, by contrast, builds up. And some of the most biblically literate people in Jesus day got by-passed as disciples.

Clarity is mistaken for superficiality. Sometimes I think people assume a teaching is ‘deep’ because they can’t understand it. They walk out of church and you ask them what they learned. They say “I”m not sure, but wow, it was deep.” How helpful is that?

Preachers need to be clear, but often, there’s a pressure on us ‘to go deeper’ by offering information that’s confusing or even irrelevant in the name of ‘being deep’. I always shoot for clear, even though that’s sometimes more work. It’s easier to be confusing than it is to be clear. And I still shoot for clear even though I know my inbox will get messages from people who can’t understand why we’re not ‘deeper’. But if you want to reach unchurched people (here are 9 signs you are ready to reach unchurched people) and truly help even Christians mature, you need to be clear (Paul, by the way,seems to agree).

Many Christians also appreciate clarity because, unlike complexity, clarity is helpful. If you really want to grow, clarity is of tremendous value.

People think the church is responsible for their spiritual growth. People leave churches because they’re not growing. But whose responsibility is growth? Theirs. Yours. Mine. Why is that people who say they are most passionate about maturity blame others for their lack of maturity? I just don’t get that. Isn’t responsibility a sign of maturity?

For sure, the church can help. In the same way a gym can help you get fit, a friend can help you through a tough time. But you are responsible getting in shape, for getting better and even for your personal and spiritual growth.

So what are some marks of a different kind of ’maturity’ in the church today? Here are five I see:

A passion for application. Biblical knowledge is ultimately designed for application. The kind of maturity that I think honour God most deeply is knowledge applied in love. Our lives should be different. Our marriages should be different. Our parenting should be different. Our love for our neighbours and community should be different. Our confession and repentance should be deep and authentic. Our transparency should be authentic. And we should be radically committed to living out our faith.

Humility. True Christian maturity has always been marked by humility.

A servant’s heart. True maturity comes in many things (including faith) when your quest becomes about others, not yourself. Mature Christians live for Christ and live for others.

A love for unchurched people. If you consider the Apostle Paul to be a mature Christian, consider his obsession with unchurched people. Eventually it got him killed. Real maturity is not a life lived in pursuit of self or even the ‘found’ – it’s a life lived pursuing others and the lost.

A deep investment. I’m going to go out on a limb here, but I do think one of the marks of mature faith is a deep investment in the Kingdom of God. Sometimes I wonder if you checked the giving records of people who complain most about being fed, and you will see scant evidence of a sacrificial investment in the Kingdom of God. Conversely, you will see many people deeply committed to quietly serving others who have a deep investment in the Kingdom. Think about that for a while.

What are you learning about maturity?

What do you think the future of the church would look like if we pursued application, humility, service, love for the unchurched and a deep investment in the Kingdom?

Rick Warren, Mental Health and Embracing Brokenness

mattsurber — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 19:48:28 +0000

This is a great blog article I wanted to share. This great tragedy has opened up some serious dialouge in these areas. what are your thoughts?

Rick Warren, Mental Health & Embracing Brokenness

April 11, 2013 by Kevin D. Hendricks

Last weekend Saddleback mega-pastor Rick Warren shared the terrible news that his 27-year-old son, Matthew Warren, committed suicide. Matthew had a history of depression and had long struggled with suicidal thoughts. Our hearts go out to Rick and Kay Warren, their family and their friends.

It’s been encouraging to see the outpouring of support for the Warrens and a flood of blog posts addressing mental illness.

There has also been criticism. It’s sad, but when celebrities struggle someone is always there to kick them while they’re down. In this case, some people are shocked that the “purpose driven” pastor could have a son who committed suicide.

Gasp! Rick Warren isn’t perfect?!

The idea of pastors’ kids who aren’t miniature pastors in training has always been fodder for ill-hearted prodding. But for someone like Rick Warren, who is more than a mere pastor, but a preacher of hope and a peddler of purpose, it seems all the more painful. How could someone like that lose a son to depression? How is it that Rick’s message has helped so many people across the world but couldn’t seem to help his own son? Why can’t he help himself? (Starting to sound familiar: Matthew 27:42)

They’re horrible questions, aren’t they? But I have to admit I asked some of those questions myself.

Aside from being mean, those questions are simply unfair. Yet they are still asked.

Why?

I think part of it has to do with this expectation that Christians have to be perfect. But we’re not. So we avoid things like mental illness, depression, pain, struggle and failure. Those things are the opposite of perfect, so we don’t dare talk about them. When those things suddenly come to light, as they always do, we’re shocked and hurt and we don’t know how to deal. We lash out with questions based on poor reasoning.

Part of the problem is our expectations. If we could just tear down that bizarre idea that Christians are supposed to be perfect, that church is a place for happy, smiling, perfect people, then these realities might not be so difficult.

Churches must embrace brokenness.

Church should be a place where it’s OK to struggle with depression.
Church should be a place that’s home to the recovering and relapsing liar.
Church should be a place that welcomes the alcoholic.
Church should be a place where leaders can have faults.
Church should be a place where we’re not afraid of pain.

And not just in a back room, everybody knows it but we don’t talk about it kind of way. And not in a generic, ‘oh I’m a sinner too’ kind of way. We need to be honest and up front about our brokenness. It’s more than a marketing issue—it goes to the very core of our faith. But should also flow from the top down and inhabit how we communicate. Our communication should reflect our brokenness.

It’s by embracing our brokenness that we can unseat these dangerous expectations. We can cut off those ugly questions before they start. We can allow our churches to truly be places of welcoming and love, not just for the perfect, but for the rest of us.

May our prayers be with Rick and Kay Warren, their family and their friends in this difficult time. May our churches be welcoming places for hurting people.

Central Church Big Easter Thanks!

mattsurber — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 19:58:44 +0000

Yesterday was awesome! We made much of Jesus Christ and His resurrection. Thousands of people over 5 services heard that God is passionate about them and there is hope in Christ Jesus.

Special thanks to the hundreds of people who served to make it all possible. If I tried to list every group I would leave someone out, but just know how appreciative we all are for you!

God is so good and His hand is on Central Church right now. We want to be faithful and obedient to His Word and will!

I love Central Church! Thank you for letting me serve here as your Lead Pastor.

Serving Alongside,

Matt

Some Wisdom for The Church

mattsurber — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 21:01:08 +0000

This is a great article from my friend Ed Stetzer. He is the President of Lifeway Research and studies churches and culture. What are your thoughts?

NASHVILLE (BP) — The election of Jorge Mario Bergoglio as pontiff sparked an interesting response from much of the mainstream media in the United States.

There was a great deal of angst, and even shock, that the Catholic Church chose a leader who holds to traditional Catholic beliefs. It appeared many were hoping the church would suddenly choose someone who would move away from all the conservative moral standards Catholics find rooted in their sacred texts, but which seem outlandish to those who have moved on to more progressive thinking.

The yearning of the media during the days leading up to the papal conclave may not have come to fruition, but it helps us consider this moment. You can see the reaction across the channels, but one example may help. For example, take Erin Burnett’s comments on CNN, including this bold statement: “The Church helps the poor and the lonely, and I bet there are a lot of people who might return to the Church if it changed.” Erin is blunt enough to say what many have thought — that if churches would just get with the times, people would return. But is there any evidence to show this to be the case? In short, no.

This desired capitulation to culture is a familiar refrain. As a matter of fact, this is the story of much of mainline Protestantism in the United States. In the desire to engage culture, several mainline Protestant denominations aligned with culture’s values and in a great historic twist of irony, their churches didn’t stop shrinking. They shrunk faster.

Regardless of whether or not you believe you are right, as I assume Erin does, the claim that capitulating to the whims of culture will lead to a renaissance in religion has no statistical basis whatsoever. It seems many in the media were hoping for a liberal mainline Protestant as pope, and shockingly, a Catholic showed up.

Those espousing conservative beliefs considered antiquated by mainstream culture are often the ones experiencing growth. The Great Awakenings even provide historical precedence for this. In previous religious renaissances it was Baptists and Methodists who saw the explosive growth. Today it is the Pentecostals.

The Pentecostals, according to the National Council of Churches, are one of the few denominations actually growing in the United States. The Assemblies of God grew by 3.99 percent from 2011 to 2012, and the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World were up 20 percent from 2011 to 2012. Meanwhile, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), a progressive mainline denomination and the 10th largest in the nation, saw a drop of 3.42 percent and the United Church of Christ, a small denomination only getting smaller, decreased in membership by 2.02 percent — and this is in one year, not a decade. The math does not look good.

My friends leading several of these growing Pentecostal denominations will assure you they have not changed their beliefs about controversial issues nor have they sought to downplay their practices, which many find odd and outdated at best. Yet, their churches are growing.

Regarding the Catholic Church, although many former Catholics from the northeastern elite have walked away from their faith, many devout Catholics consider these beliefs not something to easily discard in the name of cultural expediency.

Now, obviously, I am not a Catholic. I am not only a Protestant, but a conservative evangelical one at that. However, I do think the breathless reporting of the mainstream media, surprised that Catholics would choose someone with actual Catholic beliefs, actually shows something more about the media — their desire for religion to evolve, and, at the end of the day, a misguided impression that cultural capitulation will lead to more religious believers.

Moving away from your beliefs neither creates converts nor reverts (those who might return, like an Erin Burnett). It simply downplays what you believe and softens your impact on a society that needs you for what you believed and acted upon in the first place.

Needless to say, I disagree with Catholics when it comes to some of their doctrine. But, even as so many keep saying, “if they would just change, I’d come back,” the last thing the Catholic Church needs is to capitulate to the culture of the day because, well, they really aren’t coming back.

Ask the Episcopalians.

Thoughts? -Matt

Big Stuff @ Central Church

mattsurber — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 19:38:58 +0000

WOW! That’s my response right now to our church. I can’t begin to express how excited I am about what God is doing. Here are a couple of praises to report from the last few weeks:

1. We had over 50 new people become Ministry Partners through our Starting Point (our membership class) in February. This was our first class so that is a pretty amazing start! Our next class is Sunday, April 21.

2. Over 600 of you turned out for Lead Time, to hear about what God is doing at Central and to be equipped for the the addition of a third service. HUGE!

3. We had over 30 indicate last week a desire to follow Christ as Savior in our services! BIG Praise.

4. The @MyCentralChurch series has been well received, looking at our church and what God is calling us to be in our community and world.

Those are the praises. There are many more throughout our church and the many ministries that happen that most of us are never aware of. Here are a couple of things I want you to join me in praying for or that I need your help with (or both!):

1. The addition of our 3rd service. Starting March 24th we have 8:30, 9:55 and 11:15 services. We are adding this extra service to continue to grow. I need your help by being proactive in INVITING people to Central! I want to fill all the services up! Many new people experiencing what a real relationship with Christ looks like. THANKS!

2. Easter. 5 services. Good Friday at 7:00 pm (*reflective service), Saturday at 5:00 pm and 3 Sunday morning, 8:30, 9:55 and 11:15 am. Who will you bring with you? I’ll be kicking off a new series called, “Don’t Waste Your Life”. Its going to be good!

3. April 20. SERVE DAY. We will be going into our community and serving… showing the love of Christ to those around us. This is for everyone! 9 am-noon. Service projects all over Collierville, Germantown and surrounding areas.

Lastly, I am so thankful for our church and for you. I love being your pastor!

Matt

Guilt by Association

mattsurber — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 20:42:07 +0000

It is official. The sometimes undercover lack of tolerance for Christians is officially out in the open. The recent story about Tim Tebow speaking at First Baptist Dallas is enough proof. It was such a significant topic that it was part of the Sports Talk Radio scene here in Memphis.

Here is the what all the fuss is about. The Pastor of First Dallas has stood up on some biblical issues, dealing with homosexuality. He said it was a sin. He has also spoken out about Islam, Mohammed and Mormonism, saying it was a cult. So an American Pastor has given public statements based on his beliefs and what he believes the bible says, and now Tim Tebow is a homophobe and closed minded if he is invited to speak to the church, not to speak on these issues mind you… but rather his faith in Christ?

We have gone from the person making the statements being slammed, bad enough, to those who just have any association (…Tebow does not attend church there, nor has he publically spoken on any of the topics mentioned above) with the group or person being torched as well.

Gone are the days of speaking the truth or even having the freedom to have differing ideas. We now live in a culture where any stance on truth will be met with venom.

So be prepared. While we desire to be full of grace and truth like Jesus was (John 1), I’m not sure the culture is down with the truth side of the equation anymore.

A Word To Central Church

mattsurber — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 15:48:06 +0000

What an amazing weekend we just experienced at Central Church! God is doing so many things in so many people’s lives. It was great yesterday to meet dozens of new people in our worship services. In the days ahead, here are a few things that you can help with:

1. Invite. We want to have a culture of invitation here at Central. When you meet someone, or are having a conversation with someone, invite them to Central Church

2. Pray. Pray for each other and pray for God’s Spirit to continue to move.

3. Serve. Find and ministry and plug in. Use your gifts and talents for the Lord. He gave them to you!

Also…

If you are new or have never become a Member/Ministry Partner, then we have just the thing for you! STARTING POINT. We will meet Sunday evening, February 17th at 5:30. Free food. At this event we will try to answer your questions about who we are, where we are going and what we are about . You will have an opportunity at the end of the evening to join us as a Ministry Partner/Member if God is leading you here. I look forward to meeting many new folks at this event!

Praying everyone has a blessed week. Can’t wait to worship together again this weekend!

Serving Alongside,

Matt

Lead Pastor of Central Church, Memphis Area

mattsurber — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 16:36:02 +0000

Well it has been a bit since I last updated here as my family and I have been in transition. In November, I became the new Lead Pastor of Central Church in Collierville, TN (suburb of Memphis). Central Church is a large, dynamic church with an amazing reputation of ministry in the greater Memphis area along with a strong missions emphasis around the world. Central Church’s Children’s and Student ministries are some of the best in the whole mid-south, in addition to thriving ministries in every area of the church.

If you live in greater Memphis/North Mississippi I would definitely invite you to come check out what God is doing here at Central.

My new contact info is:

Matt Surber, Lead Pastor

Central Church

2005 Winchester, Collierville, TN 38017

pastormatt@centralchurch.com

901-888-4673

web: centralchurch.com

Was the Early Church the Perfect Church?

mattsurber — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 13:56:27 +0000

Many people seem to feel that the first church we read about in Acts was the perfect church. But was it? We talked about that this past Sunday at The Fellowship. We looked at some of the hindrances to the church being effective on its mission. Check it out. Then, join us this Sunday at either our Two Rivers or our Mt. Juliet location. See you then!

Acts Effect WEEK 4- Spiritual Integrity from The Fellowship on Vimeo.

“Filled with The Holy Spirit” Means, What?

mattsurber — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 21:29:23 +0000

Just what exactly does it mean to be “filled with the Holy Spirit?” That’s a question people have been asking for centuries. And this past Sunday morning at the Fellowship, we took a look at that topic for ourselves. It was week #2 in our latest series called The Acts Effect. It’s been a great time together and I hope you’ll check out the video. Join us this Sunday! I’d love to see you there.

The Acts Effect Wk 2 from The Fellowship on Vimeo.