Vineyard Church | Weekly Update September 25th, 2024

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: HEROES IN A HALF SHELL. TURTLE POWER.

If you had an amazing childhood like me, that opening line is set to music and will be stuck in your head for the rest of the day (you’re welcome). Remembering that song is also transporting you back to a time when our education extended beyond the bounds of the school day and into afternoon cartoons, where our vocabulary and cultural awareness were enriched by the likes of G.I. Joe, M.A.S.K, Transformers, and the most authentic version of the Turtles ever created while we avoided our chores and homework.

It is crazy to consider this, but Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles had a pretty significant impact on culture. Turtle Mania left an indelible mark on 90’s fashion, humor, and vocabulary, but also increased pizza sales across the country. Yes, this is a fact… The Ninja Turtles were so influential that Pizza Hut experienced a country-wide boost in pizza sales in the 1990s which led to significant expansion for the franchise. Inspired by four reptiles and one rat, an entire generation changed the way they dressed, ate, and spoke… See where I am going with this?

There is danger in creating a compare/contrast relationship between the influence of popular culture and the influence of the church because, even though it doesn’t always feel like it, the church has infinite capacity to change lives whereas popular culture possesses finite power to modify behavior, often temporarily. This is an important point to be grounded upon; no matter how much it feels like “we” are less influential than popular culture, the church is God’s plan and God doesn’t need a plan B.

When looking at the powers that influence culture, it can be easy to give them more than their due because sometimes those in the church look like those that are outside the church… Those on the “inside” of the church can be seemingly indistinguishable from those on the “outside”, or the differences are so small they are hard to detect. This stands to reason because we all came from the outside, so of course some of that would be tracked in when we come inside! One main point that has developed through our series on the Ten Commandments is that God saved BEFORE he gave the law, and we know from Romans 5 that God loves us so much that he saved us while we were STILL sinners… The change that will mark us different comes when we recognize this love and learn to live with respect for it.

So, the important thing is that the differences come, and what was tracked in gets cleaned. We know that the mission of the church, which flows from the Great Commission that Jesus left his followers is to tell the world about Him, and then teach one another to be like Him. Unfortunately, more people will stop with hearing about him and never advance to entering into a process that would train and disciple, bringing forth the change that sets followers of Jesus apart from the world. The influence of the church can change lives, but if someone is just looking for behavior modification, that change will not be realized.

One major reason for the resistance to the influence of the church is something we will unpack this coming Sunday as we continue our Ten Commandments series looking at the fourth commandment, the direction to surrender to the rhythm of the Creator God. Time is one of the biggest barriers to discipleship, which will then testify to the fact that if we cannot submit to the rhythm of God (fourth commandment) we likely are struggling with the first commandment. The decline of the American Church can be partially attributed to this as we see competition for time pull churchgoers from engaging in discipleship and church family life. Locally, this affects our church family along the national averages: Only 37% of our church attends on a given Sunday, 18% serve in a ministry, and 15% engage in small groups. The biggest reason for this is the loss of margins in life that make time a more precious resource.

It is encouraging to remember that these numbers do not define us, and they certainly do not capture the true intention of followers of Jesus who want to be changed and are in the process of being changed. Metrics measure where we are, but scripture testifies to where we are headed. At the Vineyard, we have opportunities to grow together as a body and reflect the Living God into Yellowstone County. We accept the commission to tell people about Jesus, and then grow together to look more like Him.

Some of these opportunities are kicking off soon as Fall Small Groups are open for sign ups and the calendar is filling with church family activities. We can experience the influence of the church together as we grow more fully into the Body of Christ, the activity of the Living God on earth. Pizza is awesome. Jesus is better! Cowabunga!

Adam Greenwell
Pastor
Billings Vineyard Church | www.billingsvineyard.org