The Christian church is a gathering1 of people who are called according to Christ’s purpose, who are conforming to Christ’s image, who are justified by Christ’s sacrifice, and who are glorified by Christ.2
Membership is based on conversion resulting in a surrender of a member’s whole life to Christ.
The church may gather in homes, buildings, open fields, or anywhere.
Unfortunately, some churches have named buildings “church” and this has resulted in confusion. Some people enter the building named church and attribute the building name to their own membership in the church. Attendance does not make someone a member of the church. Some people pay the church and consider their payments evidence of church membership. Payments, even sacrificial payments, do not make someone a member of the church. Some people are employed by or serve the church voluntarily and consider that their employment or service evidence their membership in the church. Neither employment nor service make someone a member of the church.
Attendance at the gathering is by invitation and never coerced. In this age, everyone11 is invited to the church, however, not everyone who gathers is a member of the church.12
When the church disperses from its gathering, the members are still members of the church and sometimes referred to as the church informally.
Brandon L. Blankenship is an assistant professor, continuing legal education presenter, and business educator. He and his wife Donnalee live on their hobby farm south of Birmingham, Alabama.
In 1889, James Alexander Bryan came to Birmingham, Alabama to serve as a full-time minister.
Bryan, of Birmingham, has been one of God’s chosen men to bring down under the powerful force of love the prejudices which divide the races in this new world. Like his master, he has been able to clear the barriers in his ministry to man.
He has counted twenty-seven languages among the people to whom he has ministered. “In this immediate vicinity,” he says, “where my work carries me into every corner, I find Hungarians, Slavs, Germans, Bohemians, Chinese, Japanese, French, Armenians, Sicilians, Italians, Greeks, Irish, Scots, Africans, English, East Indians, etc. – a varied assortment to be sure.”1
In 2021, through the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Jefferson County’s broad business interest, Sister Cities, and missions, it is hard to imagine that every nation, tribe, and tongue is not represented, in some way, in Birmingham.
Brother Bryan taught us a superior method to clear the barriers between us. I cannot imagine there was ever a time from its birth when Birmingham citizens did not experience inequity and mistreatment. I cannot imagine there was a time when the evil of racism or nationalism, or tribalism did not exist in Birmingham. But around Brother Bryan people worked for a common need and the work was energized by the powerful force of love.
Brandon L. Blankenship is an assistant professor, continuing legal education presenter, and business educator. He and his wife Donnalee live on their hobby farm south of Birmingham, Alabama.
He who dares not offend cannot be honest. -Thomas Paine
Confrontation does not have to be disruptive. It does not have to be condescending. It does not have to demand the accolades of being right, or more intelligent, or any other form of being better. It does not have to win an audience, village, tribe, or cult. It does not have to be received well or not well.
Faced, however, with evil, or errancy, or danger the Christian Way requires leaning into the fear of responding with an answer.
Brandon L. Blankenship is an assistant professor, continuing legal education presenter, and business educator. He and his wife Donnalee live on their hobby farm south of Birmingham, Alabama.
Navigating a democratic republic is complex for Christians. Consider St. Paul’s instruction concerning government
Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. 3 For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; 4 for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil. 5 Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience’ sake. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing. 7 Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor. Romans 13: 1-7 NASB
Romans 13: 1-7 NASB
This instruction would be simple (although not necessarily easy) to follow under the authority of a king or dictator. Whatever the King commanded, the Christian would be subject to unless it contradicted a command from God. In a democracy or republic, where the citizens themselves participate in authority, participation in the government becomes complex.
St. Paul would have been writing this around 57 AD when Rome was established as a republic. The members of the senate, which governed and advised, was aristocratic and not elected. There was a strong divide between the wealthy class and the poor class. The wealthy class controlled most of the power and the poor class dissented and eventually earned the power of the veto. By 57 AD, the Roman was contending with a power struggle with emperors.
This form of government compared to the form of government in the United States does not give clear guidance to Christians living under a democratic republic such as in the United States.
Assuming that Christians have a duty to vote, how do they pick a candidate?
Here are the reasons why I plan to write-in Richard Stearns in 2020 for president of the United States:
I don’t want to throw away my vote.
Stearns was the president of World Vision United States for 20 years and therefore has the experience to run an international organization focused on the Christian way.
Prior to World Vision, Stearns was the chief executive officer of successful for-profit companies.
Stearns earned an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Stearns has experience dealing with the media.
Stearns is the husband of one wife and the father of five children.
Stearns has committed much of his adult life advocating and providing for the poor. Matthew 25
Stearns has demonstrated integrity by aligning what he does with what he says.
In his book, The Hole in Our Gospel, Stearns lays out the need for organized action to address national or global challenges.
Stearns has never been accused of much less convicted of de-humanizing others.
Brandon L. Blankenship is an assistant professor, continuing legal education presenter, and business educator. He and his wife Donnalee live on their hobby farm south of Birmingham, Alabama.
Today, at least in the United States, there is a prevailing perception that decisions are weighed out by consulting the head and the heart. The thinking and the feeling.
But many confuse feelings for appetites. Appetites make my heart beat fast, my breathing shallow. Appetites make me perspire. What they are really saying is that decisions are weighed out by consulting the head and the gut. The gut, rather than the heart, is where appetites reside.
If you consider decisionmaking to be a conversation between the head and the gut, the heart is actually left out of the conversation (the decisionmaking process) alltogether.
Affections, a type of love, reside in the heart. Affections are distinct from cravings, lusts, and hunger — all of which are appetites.
Personal decisions are made by consulting at least the head (I think …), the gut (I feel …), and the heart (I love …).
C.S. Lewis observed the heart is where affections and sentiments reside. I think one thing. I feel another. I do what I have an affection for, what I love.
How then do I prioritize what I have an affection for, what I love?
Brandon L. Blankenship is an assistant professor, continuing legal education presenter, and business educator. He and his wife Donnalee live on their hobby farm south of Birmingham, Alabama.
According to my wife, I work a lot. Mostly I agree with her. When we first married I worked in technology and it was common for me to work all day, all night, and all the next day. I have had a couch in my office for years because I discovered that I can sleep for 20 minutes and work another four hours productively. Later, the practice of law rewarded hard work. The more I worked, the better result I got for my clients.
To be fair, I did take time off. Over the years, we have taken vacations lasting from three days to a month. In fact, not too long ago I took a year-long sabbatical from working and teaching. Even then, my wife would tell you that I worked on “projects” the whole time.
No Formula for an Awesome Marriage
What I find remarkable is that our marriage today is better than it ever has been. We have been married for 27 years – and we dated eight years before we married. There have been times when I have been a sorry husband, and in spite of that, today we have an awesome marriage. It would be disingenuous for me to say that I had discovered a formula that you could follow for certain success. I haven’t. In fact, as my friends have suffered divorce over the years I am only certain of one thing: you are only married as long as your spouse wants to be.
Even so, during one of our dates, I asked my wife if there was anything – anything – that I got right over the years. Anything that I could share with others that might increase their chances of an awesome marriage. Here is her list:
You go on dates with me often;
You give me your undivided attention every day;
You ask for forgiveness and forgive.
“You go on dates with me often…”
This reminds me of a quote from Alabama’s most prolific movie star, Eugene Walter, “if you have $10, throw a $10 dinner party.” Walter never let mismatched silverware or paper plates stand in the way of a dinner party. The same is true for a date with your wife. If you have $10, have a $10 date.
Before we had children, this just happened naturally. Now, it requires intention. Decide what you are doing, pull out the calendar, write it down and stick to it. Honor this appointment more than you would honor an appointment with anyone else. In ten years, an appointment you rescheduled with a client will be forgotten. Not so with your spouse. And this date has other rules. To qualify as a date:
-it has to be just us; -phones go in airplane mode; -the conversation can be about anything except scheduling or logistics. Find some other time to schedule your time, budget and work out who will share which duties.
“You give me your undivided attention every day…”
Imagine the kid who holds his mother’s face in his hands so he can tell her something important. Even if it is just a few minutes, I work to give my wife that level of attention, every day.
“You ask for forgiveness and forgive…”
All relationships are built on trial and error, mostly error. Everybody I have ever met I started off not knowing. I don’t know what I expect, and I don’t know what they expect. At some point, one of us makes a mistake. Whether the relationship continues to grow is based on our ability to forgive.
When Zig Ziglar was in his eighties (and had been married over sixty years) he was asked in an interview what the biggest argument was with his wife. He said, “sitting here today – I don’t remember a single argument I had with [my wife].” The interviewer scoffed, “after over sixty years of marriage you never had an argument?” Zig replied, “I didn’t say we didn’t have arguments – I said I don’t remember any of them.” That is the most awesome marriage ever.
My lifelong relationships are peppered with forgiveness. By the way, those relationships are the most meaningful to me. Why would your marriage be any different?
A Closing Thought
When I first started practicing law, I would have heated courtroom arguments with the other side. When we finished, we would shake hands, go eat lunch or get a cup of coffee, or at least just hang out and talk a little while. Sometimes we would apologize right there about letting the argument get personal or pushing this or that – and then it was over. If forgiveness is so powerful at home, why wouldn’t it be in our profession?
Brandon L. Blankenship is an assistant professor, continuing legal education presenter, and business educator. He and his wife Donnalee live on their hobby farm south of Birmingham, Alabama.
