Every Now And Then

I often wonder what people where thinking when they build things. How many times have you heard of a business decide to build a bigger building only to find that they have outgrown their new facility a year later? Community planners seem to also run into this problem.

This year I got stuck in a parking lot at our closest mall because the road system couldn't handle the traffic flow. The first time I was in one parking lot looking wistfully across the traffic to our local chocolate shop. I wanted to buy some truffles for my wife but getting to the shop seemed like it would be imposible. I was about ready to just walk when I remembered that the shop had a branch in our local airport which has free 30 minute parking , no lines and is on the way home. With plan B looking like a viable option I found a back way out of the parking lot and scurried away from the traffic as fast as I could.

Unbelievably, I found myself in the same parking lot a few days later staring at the exact same traffic jam. I had foolishly thought that things would be better now that Christmas was over but apparently there were a lot of people who were not satisfied with their gifts or still had money to burn this year. As I looked at the mess I began to wonder why the planners hadn't come up with a better system that would have let the traffic flow better.

The reality is that this only happens a few times a year and the rest of the time it isn't too bad. But has humans we always want the best. I hate buying computers because I have a tendency to way over buy for my needs. Satisfaction can be somewhat elusive.

I think I'm going to work on being more satisfied this year.

If You Say It Fast Enough

My sons and I were sitting around last night shooting the breeze. They are 11, 13, 15 years old. For some reason we were talking about Haiku. Haiku is rather addicting even if you don't know much about it or are pretty bad at it. We were soon rattling off Haiku on all sorts of topics and I would have to say we pretty much fall in the "bad" category.

It wasn't long before an argument broke out when someone tried to use one of those words that can be either 1 or 2 beats depending on how you say it. My oldest son, Ben, has a pet peeve about people who try to get away with a liberal use of this so of course the other two started stretching things way beyond the limits. Can you say superchalephragelisticespiallidousous in one syllable?

From there we ended up in a discussion about pain and poetry with the consensus being that pain produces the best poetry. Is that true? Are we at our creative best when working from a painful experience? No doubt many are also inspired by beauty but my kids say pain wins out. Mmmm. I'll have to think about that one. I wonder if my sermons are better when prepared in pain. Okay, no wisecracks about my sermons causing pain.

Drawing From The Roots

I will be one of the first to admit that I don’t know my denominations history that well. Oh, I’ve read the general stuff and taken the history course that was required but I’ve never delved deeply into what it was all about as many others have. However, I have appreciated a heritage that I have imposed on our roots simply by what I know of other groups which is admittedly a dubious approach. But I will give credit to the fathers until someone shows me otherwise.

One of our fathers was a Mennonite preacher so I have assumed that we carried some Mennonite distinctives. One particular distinctive that I particularly like is that Mennonites tend to be wary of abstract theological issues and focus more on the gospel and how it should influence day-in day-out community life. How Jesus would have us live in relationship with one another is of primary importance. It seems that redeemed relationships with others follows in close priority to a redeemed relationship with God.

Now I may be talking out of both sides of my mouth here because I do like to dabble in abstract theological issues at times. And I suppose that to some that would be a distraction that should be avoided. But I claim that distractions aside I tend to be accepting of the various sides of many of these issues in spite of my willingness to argue my views and I do hold to the priority of loving God and loving others in the way described above. I get frustrated when we let these issues become divisive.

The odd thing is I would probably have difficulty living in a Mennonite community. Perhaps I would get frustrated with what I would perceive to be legalistic issues. But I love the priority placed on the idea that the gospel speaks to us in terms of community and am pleased with that heritage.

Carried Away on Mission

"Mission is inevitable when Christ is incarnated, but without incarnation mission looks a lot like busy religiosity." - Dwight Friesen

This quote is from an article in which the author explains why he does not consider himself missional. It's not that he doesn't believe we have something to accomplish but he doesn't like how we use the term mission. He says that when we are on a mission anything that doesn't contribute to the mission is marginalized and not given proper respect. In a church setting this usually means that everyone needs to be on the pastor's mission and whatever unique mission God has given them personally plays second fiddle.

I think I agree with his sentiment. Now I'm sure it is very easy to overstate the case and I imagine that there are people who would read this and be turning to Matthew 28 just as fast as they could. But I get tired of that. Pastors do have a tendency to try and get people to join a mission that has more to do with their own personal goals than anything else. The danger with that is that there is a tendency to subvert a relationship with God by interjecting oneself in between people and God. I know Paul wrote "follow me as I follow Christ" but I don't think that is what he meant.

Friesen wants incarnational living instead of missional living but I don't think I like that term either. The problem with that term is that people think that they are to be Christ instead of Christ like. I can't be Christ because I'm not Christ. That means in a given situation I want to do not necessarily what Christ would do but what He would want me (Tom) to do. That is what I think it means to present an incarnate Christ through me to the world.

Most of this is nothing more than semantics but it still drives me crazy. Have you ever been in a room when people are agreeing and saying the same thing but you know that they are really thinking something different? That's why it can get tiring keeping track of all the definitions of the terms we use.

Innocent as Doves

Many of his readers (Eugene Petersen for one) see Fyodor Dostoevsky as not only a brilliant author but also as a pretty good theologian. I enjoy reading his stuff too but I especially liked "The Idiot" because of its portrayal of what is believed to be Dostoevsky's idea of Christ made flesh among the Russian aristocracy. Prince Mishkin subverts the prevailing culture by being able to love unconditionally an incredibly wide range of individuals no matter how awful they treat him. He is often thought of as an idiot but in spite of this he is admired by one and all and is able to have a huge impact on their lives due to his innocence and unconditional love.

I was thinking today of Forest Gump and I wondered how much of that story was influenced by "The Idiot" because there is a similar subversion that takes place. The most remarkable affect is on Jenny and Lieutenant Dan. No matter how hard they try to discourage or push Forrest away he won't leave.

I want to influence people that way.

Members

Every year at about this time I start thinking about church membership. I meet with the nominating committee and we try to figure out who we should nominate for the various church offices. I give the committee members a list of folks who "qualify" which means that they are active members in the church. The list is pretty short.

People don't seem to like to join. They can be very active and committed to the church but they just don't want to join. I think for a lot of them this issue has roots in the past. I know a lot of people blame it on the new generation but I think it is the anti-establishment generation that is the problem.

One thing we always talk about is changing the rules so that you don't have to be a member to serve in the various capacities. The people we would likely put in those positions have been faithful after all. That is always countered by the idea that if they are really with us why wouldn't they join?

Fortunately, I think the younger folks are getting over the fear of joining and are starting to take more interest. They kind of think it is cool to belong in that way. I suppose that there are still a lot of people who would disagree with that assessment but I think it is true for us.

I am also pleased that this has not been divisive for us. I don't think very many people actually think about it in when it comes to our church family. Family is family and the only way out is disowning on the part of the individual of the family whether you like it or not. There are no membership questions for that.

An Amazing God

I am working through Augustine's Confessions as a devotional over on another blog. I post a chapter a day and then comment on it, if I feel like it, just to help me interact with it more. I really like today's chapter.

Book 1, Chapter 4

4. What, therefore, is my God? What, I ask, but the Lord God? “For who is Lord but the Lord himself, or who is God besides our God?”[1] Most high, most excellent, most potent, most omnipotent; most merciful and most just; most secret and most truly present; most beautiful and most strong; stable, yet not supported; unchangeable, yet changing all things; never new, never old; making all things new, yet bringing old age upon the proud, and they know it not; always working, ever at rest; gathering, yet needing nothing; sustaining, pervading, and protecting; creating, nourishing, and developing; seeking, and yet possessing all things. Thou dost love, but without passion; art jealous, yet free from care; dost repent without remorse; art angry, yet remainest serene. Thou changest thy ways, leaving thy plans unchanged; thou recoverest what thou hast never really lost. Thou art never in need but still thou dost rejoice at thy gains; art never greedy, yet demandest dividends. Men pay more than is required so that thou dost become a debtor; yet who can possess anything at all which is not already thine? Thou owest men nothing, yet payest out to them as if in debt to thy creature, and when thou dost cancel debts thou losest nothing thereby. Yet, O my God, my life, my holy Joy, what is this that I have said? What can any man say when he speaks of thee? But woe to them that keep silence--since even those who say most are dumb.

I especially like all the paradox in this description of God. I hadn't thought of all these before and I think that many of them are the result of His love. "...owest men nothing, yet payest out to them as if in debt..." That is a beautiful picture of grace.

Jeus Loves Me

Jesus love me. In spite of my disobedience, stubborness, temper, bad moods, arrogance, pride, lack of patience or self-control, meaness, plus a whole bunch of other faults, Jesus loves me.My wife does too but she is known to tolerate my inperfections. How does a completely holy God do that? The power of the cross is incredible!

Natural Church Assimilation

When new people start attending church it seems to add suspense for the regulars as we wait to see if they are going to stick around or not. Many churches have assimilation programs that are designed to increase the rate at which these folks stay. But as you probably have guessed I cringe a bit at the thought of that even though I know of no alternative.

The problem is people are different. Throw my brother and I in a crowded room at a party and he will quickly leave his mark. He will have met a good percentage of the people, be cracking jokes and seemingly assimilate rather quickly. I will take much longer. I will do a lot more observing, get to know a few people and look to hang out with someone I know. I think the same is true for people who start attending church.

I have a pastor friend who has experienced the devastating effects of not letting assimilation be natural enough. He had someone attending church every week who would slip out the back quickly after the service. A regular took it upon themselves to assimilate this person and began a campaign to get them to come to a Sunday School class. The person finally relented and attended once...and hasn't been back to church since.

So how do you assimilate people in a natural way, taking into account the personality of the church and the personality of the new attender? It is not just personality either. Some new attenders come out of situations that are extremely difficult. They want to be in church but circumstances beyond their control make full assimilation (or at least what we think of it as) impossible. Again it comes to truly loving relationships that honor the process of becoming a part of a community. If not it becomes just as disingenuous as building a friendship solely for the purpose of winning someone to Christ and then dumping them once they have made a decision.

Transformed By?

"Dave has named what the real issue is in evangelicalism - power. Evangelicals are enamoured with power and control. That's why numbers and measures are so important to evangelicals, and why compliance is next to godliness. What's important to evangelicals is freeing you from the world that squeezes you into its mold so evangelicalism can, in turn, squeeze you into its mold. Evangelicals resist and declare as enemy anything they can't control - including God, by the way. A post-evangelical is not a one time evangelical who's given up on truth, she's an evangelical who's given up on control."
- Mike Yaconelli commenting on Dave Tomlinson's work, The Post-Evangelical.

This is especially interesting in view of the last election and the seemingly increasing political activism from evangelical leaders. But it is often true in denominations, churches and people too. My question for my own denomination is, "Is there a place for me even if I don't agree with you on a lot of non-essentials?" The pat answer is, "Of course." The reality is we haven't figured out the answer to that yet. It seems that if I don't agree on a lot of the non-essentials then I am not united but divisive. We haven't found a place where we can disagree comfortably yet. Maybe it is about power.

Watching Your Back

In many communitites innovation and experimentation can only take place when there is someone from the mainstream willing to watch your back. Being mainstream this person has credibility with most members of the community. He/she must also have the respect and confidence of the mainstream. This allows the person to vouch for the innovator/experimentor and thereby allow the experiment to continue.

This back watcher intercedes for the innovator when the mainstream questions their legitimacy. "I don't quite understand it myself but I know the intention is right and I think we should let it continue," would be a typical back watcher response. They create an environment that allows the innovator to look completely different than the rest of the community yet still be a part of it. Does Barnabas come to mind?

I think denominations need back watchers too. Unfortunately the emphasis is all too often on getting people and churches to look the same rather than encouraging them to be true innovators. Innovators can be scary because ther innovations are often failures and that looks bad. Who wants to be the one who condones a failure? But that is what it takes to be innovative.

Most back watchers are old, I think. They have been around the block long enough to know that innovation can be life giving. They are often close to retirement or already retired and they are tired of seeing the same old things tried over and over in new wrappings. I think they may even secretly regret not being more innovative themselves when they were younger. They are dying to give "permission" to younger folks to be innovative.

I want to be a back watcher when I'm old. I've worked in situations where I needed one badly and didn't have one. I think they are important. Does that mean I have to become more mainstream to build up my cred though?

Critical Thinking on Christian Campuses

A friend of mine has a kid looking at colleges right now. He wants to find one where critical thinking is not only defended but actually encouraged. Those are two entirely different things.

It is ironic that critical thinking is vigorously defended and championed by most academic types yet they are the very ones who discourage its practice by their students. A mantra I hear from the players on my soccer team is "give the professors what they want to hear and you will be okay." Some of my seniors moan about the loss of the critical thinking skills they had when they came out of high school. These aren't dumb students either. I hear this from some of the brightest.

Perhaps the academic world breeds a level of insecurity that resists critical thinking. Are professors afraid of being challenged, or worse, being found wrong? Are their conclusions so far out on a limb that they feel a strong need to defend their arguments not by debate but by control? I suppose if your life's work is tied to a specific belief you do have a tendency to protect it at all costs.

This is not just my university either. It seems to be widespread in the academic world, at elast in Christian circles. So just where is the Christian college that encourages critical thinking? I'd like to know.

Living in the Sticks

I live in the sticks. Geographically I can get to the Fort Wayne city limits within ten minutes but geography no longer has anything to do with whether you live in the sticks or not. My problem is that the only way I can get high speed internet is by satellite. Therefore I live in the sticks.

Of course to add insult to injury my mom has DSL. How embarrassing. Now if I want to download something of any significant size I have to go running to her. I think she is plotting with my phone company (WHOSE EXCHANGE SITS JUST A BLOCK FROM MY HOUSE) to keep me from access just so I visit her more often.

The whole thing is this is just another example of how our world is changing away from being geographically based. Satellite, here I come.

Developing the Developing

I used to work in community development in the developing world. My friend Joe and I spent 5 years in one of the poorest countries in the world. Joe was from there so he knew the language and the culture. He also had a masters degree in development (the actual name of his degree was much more complicated than that so I don’t remember what it was for sure) from an ivy league school and is quite a bit smarter than me. We had both learned from our training that effective development isn’t easy but we were determined to be different. We had both grown up seeing the wreckage of development projects gone bad and wanted to do something that would actually work.

In spite of knowing the difficulties we soon fell into the same trap as most other programs. There is great pressure to do something very visible not only from the bosses and donors but also from those we went to help. The latter know all about development projects and are experts at playing them for whatever can be had. We were cured, however, by a couple of experiences that still influence how I go about initiating change today.

Joe and I used to travel by motorcycle quite often and one day we set off for an initial meeting with a village we wanted to work with. We both had our backpacks and thermoses. The thermoses were important because the water quality in the village was bad and so we always brought our own. Mine was a beat up Stanley stainless steel one. We also went armed with surveys that had been completed by another organization of the village. We went in knowing what a lot of the problems were.

When we got there we all gathered in the schoolhouse. The chief and tribal elders were there along with just about everyone else in the village. Joe and I went into our presentation. Joe could talk in the native language and he would interpret for me when it was my turn. We discussed the problems of water quality, latrines and other health issues. We rambled on about finance systems, agriculture development and even the diamond mining that was taking place near by.

After about an hour we stopped for comments and questions. Things had gone well with a lot of people nodding their heads in agreement with what we were saying. We felt like we had hit a homerun because we had been talking about things that would have profound positive impact on the quality of life for the people in the room. There was silence for a few minutes and then the chief rose to speak. He was very serious and several people were nodding and adding their own comments. About then I noticed that Joe, who was sitting next to me at the front of the room, dropped his head and kind of chuckled to himself. I asked him what they were talking about. Joe pointed to my thermos that was sitting on the table in front of us and said that they wanted to know why the “glass” in my thermos didn’t break.

You see, where we were they didn’t have stainless steel thermoses. They all have those glass insides that break if they get banged around a lot. My thermos had dents in the side but didn’t break because the inside was made out of stainless steel instead of glass.

I was dumbfounded. We had been talking about the major problems in the village and were offering hope that a solution could be found and the only question that was asked was about my thermos. What fools. Of course by fools I’m referring to Joe and I.

We tried one more time. The processing of palm kernels into palm oil is a big business where we were. The process is labor intensive and not quite as efficient as it could be. Joe and I knew that an oil press would do a much more efficient job so we went about designing and building one. It worked too. It was very efficient at rendering the oil and took much less labor. It was a complete failure though.

In the traditional way the women and children provide most of the labor. After the oil has been rendered from the kernels the women go back and rewash the kernels to get out some of the left over oil. The use this oil to make soap which they sell. This money from the sale of the soap is theirs to keep. Our oil press was too efficient and the women couldn’t get enough extra oil out to make any money for themselves. As a result the whole project was rejected.

Our approach changed dramatically after that. Our first step became developing authentic relationships with those we were working with. By authentic I mean that these were strong relationships that were not simply established to accomplish an objective but because both parties grew to really care for each other.

Step two was to encourage dialogue about the issues they faced. There were always lots of opinions and it was interesting to discover so much of the history that those villages had with the problems they faced. It also allowed them to work through the social impacts that we were clueless about.

Step three was to point to options. These were options not solutions and we tried to be as careful as we could not to provide answers for them. For example, one of the questions they had was why the palm plantations they planted were not as productive as the ones planted by a development program that had long since disappeared. We knew that it was because they were planting seeds from hybrid trees which doesn’t work genetically but we simply asked them where they thought they might be able to find the answer to that question. The following discussion resulted in a field trip to the nearby agriculture university were all was explained.

Of course this approach doesn’t bring about flashy results and is much more of a long term process. Our bosses didn’t understand it so we shut down our work. There are many in the development field who disagree with this approach and so we still see people running around the developing world digging latrines and drilling water wells. Of course, they are not phased one bit by the fact that people having doing that for nearly a hundred years now with very little to show for it.

I had a guy from well known development organization visit me while I was there who was visiting the area to see the work they were doing. We got to talking about a village where we both had been working and he was bragging about the latrines they had built there the previous year. They had dug the pits, put on the slab and built a brick chimney for about 50 latrines around the town. All the people had to do was build the walls and put on a roof. I offered to take him to see his latrines and he was shocked to find that only a handful had ever been completed. Unfortunately I’m sure the report shows that they had built 50 latrines and the donors loved it.

I have written all this to say that it is extremely difficult for people from developed countries to work in developing countries. The issues are extremely complex and what seems like an obvious solution to those from the developed world often fails miserably in the developing world. It might not be popular but I still maintain that the best way to approach this work is with relationship, dialogue and exposure to options. It must be kept that simple.

I also think the same formula applies when people who come out of healthy churches try to help those in unhealthy churches.

Crashing the System

I wonder if the bitTorrent idea used for distibuting published works on the web can apply to churches and denominations as well. The main problem with developing a great idea and getting it into the hands of people who want it on the web is that the more popular it becomes the more bandwidth is used up and eventually the whole system crashes. BitTorrent solves this by having downloaders use their uploading capacity to serve others. The more you upload the better treatment you get when wanting to download.

Perhaps this is an ethic we need to work on. Perhaps we have too many people and churches wanting to download and never upload. The result is the servant (server) gets overloaded and the system crashes.

Just mangling more metaphors!

The Good Shepherd

I'm having an argument (I suppose debate would be a better word) with a friend who is doing his thesis on shepherding in a biblical sense. I should probably give up becasue he is doing the research and I'm doing the very dangerous activity of thinking off the top of my head. Unfortunately, I can't help myself.

My argument is that the life of an oriental shepherd was a lonely one. That is they spent much of their time alone with their sheep leading (not herding) them to food and water. At night they would return to permanent folds near home or temporary ones built near the pastures they were currently using. Only at these times did they come together with other shepherds and cooperate with others to protect the sheep. (I also assume that this was a great time for building friendships, sharing ideas and learning new things.)

My friend rejects this lonely aspect and believes that they worked together much more than that. Therefore we apply it differently to our work as pastors. I say that pastoring is a lonely vocation and pastors should expect it. He says pastors should work together with other pastors in their congregation, even though those "other pastors" are not official and are basically lay leaders, to shepherd the flock. I say that while they should work together there is still a difference and that even pastors of multistaff churches should expect loneliness. He says that there is no difference between multistaff churches and single staff churches except the lay leaders in one are official in the other.

Which ever way I end up going on this I am grateful that the Good Shepherd has entrusted me with a portion of His flock not as a hireling but has His child. On the other hand that means that I must be een more dedicated to my flock and not runaway when it faces danger.

By the way, I also think we don't do enough of the shepherds getting together thing.

They All Have A Story

It has been a long time since I've been here. Our soccer season started and we just finished two weeks of pre-season practice. That means I pull double duty and rarely get to this site. Now that school has started I have my days back for the most part.

One of the things our team did this pre-season was go on a mission trip to Nashville. It mainly involved working at various inner-city ministries and we really enjoyed it. I have seen a lot worse poverty than we saw in Nashville but it still wasn't pretty.

One thing that captivated me was listening to the stories of the people we ministered to. One morning we were sent on an assignment to go find a homeless person to take to breakfast. They were all nice guys (yes, all men) though some were a little less sober than others. It was interesting to hear them tell about their families, especially their children. Yet from those homes they ended up on the street. It is agonizing to hear how the situations slowly developed.

I had supper with another guy at the rescue mission. He was from Jacksonville, FL on his way to visit his grandkids in Kentucky when his car broke down. It had taken him two weeks to get it fixed and in the mean time his money ran out and he ended up at the mission. He is a proud man who has served in the military and has a job back in Jacksonville. Fortunately he had everything fixed and was planning on leaving the next morning. A trip like that would not have been precarious for me but he ended up at the mission.

While eating supper with him a couple of young men, 20 years old maybe, were kind of acting up at a nearby table and had to be told to settle down by the mission staff. My dinner guest slowly shook his head and simply said, "They have a long way to go." It struck me as words of wisdom from an experienced traveler.

Getting Worse

Leaders who are looked up to constantly
who give out answers competently
who everyone assumes are living what they are saying
often have acute experiences of dissonance

“Who I am
and what people think I am
aren’t anywhere close
to being the same thing

The better I get as a rabbi
and the more my reputation grows
the more I feel like a fraud
I know so much more than I live

The longer I live
the more knowledge I acquire
the wider the gap between
what I know and what I live
I’m getting worse by the day…”

Found Poem - Eugene Peterson - Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places


I think there are at least two ways for a pastor to respond to this. On the one hand he can enter a spiral of depression and failure that lead to him either leaving the ministry or subsisting in it as a fraud. He will see himslef as a total failure and be unable to come to terms with the case built against him.

On the other hand, the more he learns of the gap between what he knows and how he lives the more he will understand grace and be all the better for it. He will truly be able to love others because he will begin to see them as God does and he will love himself for the same reason.

WWJD About Poverty

One of the more recent criticisms of North American Christianity, or at least the right wing version of it, has been that it has ignored many causes (justice, poverty) in favor of the pet causes (anti-gay, anti-abortion). While I agree that there is a level of truth to the accusation of imbalance I also get frustrated with what is perceived as the right way to help the poor.

The economic platforms of both the democratic and republican parties have deep histories that go far beyond our own country. Both have proven to successful at reducing poverty at various times in the past. (Both have had failures too.) Believe it or not there are some who favor republican policy not because they are rich and want to get richer but because they truly do believe that it will reduce poverty in the long run and it is therefore the kindest thing to do.

My main point of this post, however, is not to argue which is best but to point out the complexity of the whole thing. Having worked in development in Africa I have seen how complex the issues are. That's why, while I applaud people like Bono who are concerned about the impoverished, I am skeptical about their proposed solutions. (More aid, debt relief)

An excerpt from a LA Times article by Max Boot is interesting. "By any measure, the U.S. is extraordinarily generous, and President Bush is making us more generous still. He has already tripled development aid to Africa and plans to double it again. But for the anti-poverty campaigners it's not enough. It never is. Their animating idea is the same one that was behind Lyndon Johnson's Great Society: Massive transfers of wealth can eradicate poverty. It didn't work in the U.S., and it has even less chance of working abroad.

In the last 50 years, $2.3 trillion has been spent to help poor countries. Yet Africans' income and life expectancy have gone down, not up, during that period, while South Korea, Singapore and other Asian nations that received little if any assistance have moved from African-level poverty to European-level prosperity thanks to their superior economic policies.

Economists who have studied aid projects have found numerous reasons for the failures. In many instances, money was siphoned off by corrupt officials. Even when funds did reach the intended beneficiaries, the money often distorted local markets for goods and labor, creating inflation that drove local businesses out of business. Only one major research paper in recent years has found any positive correlation between foreign aid and economic growth, and that only in countries "with good fiscal, monetary and trade policies," which excludes much of Africa. Most experts think even that conclusion is too optimistic."

To be simplistic about the problem of poverty is easy. What we really need to do though is struggle with these questions and be willing to dig into the complexities of the problem. To be willing to do that is to be truly compassionate.

Participating in Worship

Over the summer we have tried to stress active participation in our worship gatherings. If you come to our gathering you will likely be asked to get up and do something rather than simply sing or listen. There are two contrasting views at work here and I'm not sure which is right.

On the one hand you have the view that people today are used to watching. They are used to going to theaters and concerts where they sit and watch something going on as silent observers. This view would hold that asking such people to be highly active participants is simply going to cause them to run and hide. After all, who wants to go somewhere where you might be noticed, or even worse, be the center of attention.

On the other hand we have those who say we now have what Erick Schonfeld calls a culture of participation. If you note things like wiki, flickr, blogs, etc. you see that people love being participants. They all feel they have something to contribute and they want to do so. To these folks going to a church that does not allow them full participation has no appeal. They are used to being able to participate.

My guess is that both views are valid even within the same individual. There are probably times when people feel like participating and other times when they feel like simply observing. Unfortunately most churches encourage the latter and make no room for the former. As a side note, creating worship environments with the potential for a high degree of participation takes a lot of work which may be the cause of its neglect.

The Ethic of Love

Andy Stanley's July 4, 2004 sermon (you can listen to it at their church website) has a thought provoking piece on tolerance. He says that an ethic of tolerance is being pushed in our society as something positive. According to this ethic we should be toleratant other religions, all political views, sexual orientations, theologies, philosophies, cultures, races, etc.

However Stanley believes that to accept tolerance is to accept defeat. If you and your wife agree to tolerate each other you have basically accepted defeat in your effort to make your marriage all that it could be. He says the biblical ethic is not tolerance but love. We are supposed to love people of other religions, all political views, sexual orientations, theologies, philosophies, cultures, races, etc.

Stanley's thought is challenging and changes the way I think about a lot of things. It makes sense in terms of living in a kingdom life here on earth.

Where Conversion Takes Place

Every now and then I am asked to fill out a survey sponsored by my denominations Youth Leadership Team. I never do because the survey is dripping of preconceived ideas and as I look at the questions I see that they often put me in a catch 22.

They ask how much of the budget is designated for youth. I'm not sure what they want here. We do have a line item for youth but that really doesn't tell the story. That amount would be about 1% of our total budget and I can just hear the rant that would generate. On the other hand we don't have a similar category for adults so by comparison the youth do pretty good. Of course being in a small church the majority of the budget goes into things like salaries, utilities, maintenance, etc. To get an accurate figure of how much we spend on youth you would have to figure what percentage of those numbers should be "billed" to youth. (They would get a high percentage of the building maintenance, that's for sure.)

The other thing we often hear from youth folks is that most people are saved before the age of 18 so that is where we should be putting our resources. That's a half truth because actually most people are saved before age 13 or 14. Teens don't accept Christ at a much higher rate than adults do and those that do tend to be shallow Christians according to Barna.

So, if most people are saved as children we ought to be putting our resources in children's ministry right? Actually most of the children who are saved do so in their homes led by their parents. All this seems to lead me to think that the important thing is to be a community of faith that helps ALL its members in their journey as a disciple.

One more thought about kids being saved in the home. It is interesting to note the child's "place" in the home before they accept Christ. They are loved just as much, allowed to participate just as much, they are not thought of as second class family members, they are cared for just as much, etc. I think the church can learn something here.

Bounded Sets

On June 7 I posted about evangelism and discipleship and how we approach it. Randy F., who is sometimes too smart for his own good, (just kidding) jumped on it because I think he was uncomfortable with not having a clearly defined line between christian and non-christian.

I spoke with Randy last week and he shared about how he was relating it to Paul Hiebert's bounded sets. Hiebert has a model of extrinsic sets that can be well-defined (or "centered" he likes to call them) or fuzzy. Extrinsically fuzzy sets are hard for most evangelicals to swallow because they lead to a lot of difficult problems, all of which seem to orbit around relativism.

The extrinsically centered sets do have a defined boundary between christian and non-christian which makes it much more palatable. In other words, there would still be defined extrinsic factors that determine if a person is in relationship with the center, in this cse Jesus.

I think what got Randy was my drawing of the set with a dotted line. Such a dotted line seems to represent a fuzzy set. However, since I was not familiar with Hiebert's bounded sets I have to say that was not my intention. My intention was not to show when someone became a Christian but how we share the good news with non-christians. I know these two issues are very closely related but I was not trying to address both.

After seeing Hiebert's model of a centered set I like it better than mine because he shows the circle not as a dotted line but with an ameoboid (is that a word?) shape. I like this because those far from the center but within the a long tentacle of the ameoboid shape would represent someone who as not yet grown close to Jesus but has accepted Christ as Savior and Lord. This maybe a new Christian who has recently been introduced to Jesus.

On the other hand, the model can show people who are fairly close to the center (Jesus) but are still outside the set. This may be someone who has wrestled with God for a long time but has yet to accept Him as Savior and Lord.

All in all I find this interesting but I think I need to do some more reading on it.

Depending on God

As our denomination makes major changes in how we are organized it is interesting to see how difficult it is for people to process change without referencing the old organization. Of course, this is necessary to a degree but I am beginning to think that successful change is very much determined on leadership’s ability to reduce the comparisons as much as possible.

In most cases people want to know how each element in a previous system translates into the new system. This is good but only to the extent that the old elements actually translate. The hard part comes when old elements are eliminated or dropped entirely or new elements are added that have very little to do with the past.

In our case we are moving from several annual conferences to one national conference. In addition, in an effort to nurture healthy pastors and churches, we are adding a cluster system in which all of our churches are gathered into groups of approximately 7. What I have noticed is that a lot of people are trying to compare the old annual conferences with the clusters. In reality I think they would be farther ahead in thinking in terms of the relationship between the old annual conferences and the new national conference and thinking of the clusters as something new entirely.

As I have watched this I have thought about how difficult it is for people to set aside something we currently have and change to something entirely new. I think it is difficult for me too. But it is also exciting. It forces me to break dependencies I have had on man made things and depend on God.

Sensory Worship

Okay, first of all, I was going to say sensual worship but I found it difficult to separate the bad conotation from the good conotation. In other words, I kind of liked the sound of sensual worship but I think it would give the wrong impression.

Any way, we have been working at adding some elements to our worship gatherings that are more participatory and involve senses that are underused in worship. We aren't going crazy with it but we have tried to have at least one thing every week that is not typical for us.

For example, last week, as we were talking about the fall of man, we passed out pieces of ribbon of varying colors and textures that represented various sin that each person might be most tempted by. After all sin comes in many forms. Everyone then hung their ribbons on a mesh screen creating a tapestry which we will keep on display through the rest of the series.

I've been waiting for someone to freak out but so far no one has said a word either negative or positive. That is typical for our church. I'll wait and see what happens when I break out the incense.

Weakness

"Therefore, a life in prayer is a life with open hands where you are not ashamed of your weakness but realize that it is more perfect for a man to be led by the other than to seek to hold everything in his own hands." Henri Nouwen - Open Hands

Sometimes pastors have a hard time with this. Honesty about our weaknesses is the first step in recovery but one that is often difficult to take. If we make an admission we feel that we are not as valuable. You would think that pastors, more than anyone, would realize our value comes from being a child of God.

A Sucker For An Upgrade

I have always shook my head at those folks who wait anxiously for a software upgrade. I could never imagine myself rushing out to a store at midnight to be one of the first to receive a new upgrade. Until now!

I have been a faithful Media Shout user for over a year now and I just love it. At the same time I am well aware of its shortcomings and I have been pining for the upgrade that adresses most of these issues. Unfortunately the people at Media Shout were unable to meet the upgrade deadline due some problems with the origninal programmers they were using and have been in the embarassing situation of having to constantly tell customers the upgrade isn't ready yet.

I bought version 2.5 with the free upgrade to v3 and have been faithfully checking the website ever since to see the announcement. Well, they finally did it. Now I just have to wait until they get around to filling my order. The wait is killing me but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Evangelism and Discipleship

First for the disclaimer: The following is simply me trying to get a handle on a topic that my brother Dave and I had a conversation about. Dave was telling me about some speakers he had heard and I in no way mean to describe Dave's own beliefs. Let me say again that this does not necessarily represent my belief one way or the other either but is simply a reflection of my trying to think it through.

Evangelism and Discipleship

Orthodox Methodology


Discipleship Only Methodology


Questions:
1. Which process did Jesus use on the disciples?
2. At what point were the disciples “saved”?
3. Can someone be a follower of Jesus before repenting and believing that He is the Messiah? (Still outside the circle.)
4. What is the difference between being a seeker and a follower of Christ?What difference does any of this make?

The Guarantee

"... any program or paradigm or model or system that purports to be timeless - or, for that matter, 'guaranteed to work' - is to be avoided at all costs!" Mark Oestreicher

I think that so many times we overestimate ourselves and underestimate (or maybe misunderstand) God. I am really happy when people find a program or paradigm or model or system that works for them and their church. I get tired of them insisting that it is something we should all do though. The implied "it comes from God" is presumptuous at best and not to far from heresey. Half the time I feel like I need to just follow a "get out of God's way" strategy. I'm sure there are many would agree that "I" need to do that.

This is why I don't want more than the essentials at the denominational level. For example, there is a lot of talk about a healthy church initiative. I totally disagree that the denomination should be involved in such a thing. Haven't we learned anything from the past? Instead we should allow a Healthy Church Association to develop within our denomination (or even outside) that churches are free to join. They can then support it and hire whatever staff is needed and pay for any resources they desire.

Emotional and Intellectual Stimulation

I think conferences are usually either emotionally or intellectually stimulating and rarely both. I would also say that most seem to target the emotional side. How many times have you left a convention "all fired up?"

On the other hand, some conferences seem to target the intellectual side. You leave these not fired up but with your mind spinning. It takes several weeks to process what you have been exposed to and while it can be exciting I suppose I'm much more subdued than that.

I wonder if this is by design. I also wonder if the balance between the two plays a role in the longevity of the impact. Or maybe there shouldn't be a balance and planners should either go for one or the other. Maybe personality traits play a role in how a conference is perceived. Maybe one's emotional state at the time determines what is taken away fromthe conference.

First day of conference

Well, went to the first day of conference and it was okay. One discussion on church never really got of the ground. I think it was too big of a group and it seemed like everyone was heading in different directions. I think Doug Padgett should have given it a direction but I think he was trying to let it grow on its own.

I went to McClaren's Beyond Pluralism which was fun because I got to watch the Baptists grill him a little about absolute truth. He did well and I though it was a pretty friendly conversation. I don't agree with McClaren's theology at several points but I came away impressed with him as a person after seeing him live for the first time.

Kim is not feeling well today so I might go it alone for at least this morning.

Into the heart of country

Country music is probably my least favorite kind of music. (Okay, maybe it is second behind southern gospel.) But Kim and I are heading to Nashville today for a few days. We are going to the National Pastors/Emergent Convention and we will be spending most of our time on the Emergent side. I will feel much more out of place there so I think it will be a good stretch for me. As I look at the Pastors side of the convention I keep getting the feeling I've heard it before. That's probably very unfair but...

I'm looking forward to it but my main goal is going to be keeping Kim from talking me into skipping sessions to go wander Nashville. Of course that might be good for us too so I'll probably have an uphill battle on that front. Mom will be stayng with the ids while were gone so it will be good to get away for a few days anyway.

Measuring Success

A reader of "Flying" magazine wrote in the March 2005 edition about the Tuskegee Airmen(Called Red Tails because of the red markings on their P-51 Mustangs.) He explained that they were the target of some hostile reporters and politicians who wanted to see their unit dissolved presumably because they had a low shoot down ratio. But the truth was that their skipper ordered them not to leave the bomber groups they escorted and they did what they were told. Apparently it was common at the time for pilots to break off formation to engage individual enemy fighters and in the process leave the bombers exposed. They knew that numbers of kills would earn them glory so they left their bombers in order to realize their individual dreams of becoming aces. Thankfully the bomber pilots had plenty of respect for the work of the red tails and their unit remained. It just goes to show how success can be misinterpreted.

I walk

I walk

I walk through people’s lives
I enter and pass through
I try to mind my manners
It’s not an easy thing to do.

Sometimes I take an easy gait
That’s born of familiarity
The comfortable steps I do enjoy
Too bad they’re such a rarity

Sometimes it’s stomp, stomp, stomp
I blunder in unaware
Totally lacking sophistication
I ruin a poignant air

Sometimes I run as fast as I can
Not wanting to stay long
It is only out of duty
I know in my heart it’s wrong

Sometimes on tip toe I do tread
For fear of setting off the thing
That’s ready to explode or worse
Give a final offering

Sometimes my steps are softly taken
The mood is right for it
I mingle about among the bruised
And even sit a bit.

I walk through people’s live quite often
And I pray to God as I tread
That I will learn which steps to take
As each situation’s read

The Box

One of the genetic mutations many denominations need to overcome in the future is the one that leads them to believe that they are the only ones that are right. I could go many different directions with this but for now I want to limit my rant to expressions of church. Most denominations have a box that contains all the ingredients of what a church should be made of.

Some denominations do a better job of enlarging that box than others do. No church will do everything or be everything that is in the box but rarely will they actually step outside that box because if they do they will no longer be right. In denominations that have larger boxes you will see a little more diversity in their churches because the churches have more to choose from.

I think the denominations with the largest boxes are the ones that will fare best in the future. This creates a dilemma because it is very difficult to organize a denomination like this. Most of the things that are done at the denominational level are geared toward a box with a select group of parameters. If there are other parameters in the box that don’t fit this select group they are simply ignored by the program. This creates a great deal of angst because churches who function within those ignored parameters don’t like paying for something that is of no value to them. And since these programs are at the denominational level they are obligated to all churches. Therefore, churches who do fit the select parameters feel frustrated when resources are wasted on churches that don’t fit the parameters. The result is a smaller box.

In my denomination we call churches that don’t fit within our box unhealthy. I think that is a very dangerous thing to judge. I prefer to leave that up to God for the most part because I don’t know exactly what He might be doing in those churches. I grant that many of those churches are unhealthy but I think God will deal with them.

At the same time I think God may have brought together some of those churches (the ones we put on the unhealthy list) for purposes I don’t and never will understand. Perhaps they are existing now for a specific purpose that only God and the core people of the church know about. What I don’t want to do is get in the way of God at work.

This is why I think denominations should stick with the basic essentials and create an environment where associations form to carry out any programs that churches feel are necessary. Churches that felt a strong desire to be part of a box with a specific set of parameters could associate with like minded churches for cooperation. They could even hire their own personnel or resource other infrastructure to support their effort. They would know that their money is being spent only on what they want and they could develop a high level of accountability because everyone within the association has opted in.

Churches that are unhealthy would be pulled toward health rather than the expensive habit we have of trying to push them that direction. To survive they will have to move or slowly die. In the meantime they will not be a drain on other churches because there will be no denominational programs obligated to them. They would need to opt in to an association for such help and that means accepting change and accountability.

Finally, we would be able to say to those churches that we don’t necessarily understand that we respect them and pray for them as God does his work in them. They don’t need to spend their resources on programs that they don’t use or desire. They still fit within our bigger box and perhaps they will be able to connect with other like minded churches and form their own associations. Perhaps they are part of something that God is just beginning or maybe they are simply serving a temporary purpose that will soon pass. In any case they are loved and welcomed as part of us. Afterall, I think God's box is far bigger than we realize.

Relating Rushkoff to a Denomination?

One of the interesting things to see in denominations today is how they handle the rise of technology. I don’t mean technology in a specific sense but how technology has changed our world and what it allows us to do.

On the one hand we have the fragmentophobes who fear that unless we enforce a strong central leadership structure we will face disaster as the denomination fragments into small isolated groups who no longer desire any connection because they feel no need for it. These folks see technology as providing a centrifugal force that will hurl us apart. It won’t be long until we become disjointed and in the worst case develop extreme views that lead to fundamentalism or worse.

On the other hand we have the monoculturephobes who see great danger in the ability of individual parts of the whole being able to communicate with each other without having to go through official channels. This group will choose what is worst for them because they don’t know better. It is a view most common among the leadership elite who are afraid of “the masses” because they are likely to do something stupid and at the same time throw the elite out on their ears.

The result of these two extremes is a desire to continue with an organizational structure that has never been really effective. (We hear that it has worked for others when in reality it is not the structure that produced the goods for others but a mix of known and unknown factors. This is often illustrated when the “savior” CEO from one company cannot produce the similar result in his next company.) In spite of this we continue because at least it is safe.

The reality is that the capacity technology gives us actually prevents both scenarios from happening. Networking provides the exposure that prevents the former from happening while the rapidity of change prevents the latter (Too much, too fast to ever really build denomination wide consensus.). Instead we should create an environment that understands that we do not direct, only God does. That means creating an environment that not only deals with the issues we face today but also with the unknown issues we will face tomorrow.

In my opinion this is done by minimizing the backbone to basic essentials and allowing structures to form and dissolve within the organism as the need arises. These temporary structures will form naturally and will not necessarily affect the entire organism. The difficulty has to do with power as some fear too much while others fear not enough.

Going The Distance

I admire people who are passionate enough about a cause to keep up the struggle over the long haul. I think that in most situations there are usually a couple of options that one can take that require less energy and focus and are therefore more attractive. But that doesn't neccessarily mean those options are best in the long run.

I feel this way about my denomination sometimes. There are moments when I feel highly energized to push for change. That's followed by times when I think it is better to simply follow along and not say anything. It's the easier path to take. It probably makes a lot of people happy too.

"The tension is here. I dare you to move," is how the song by Switchfoot goes. I hate being dared.

Sounding Off

Why is it that some of the biggest churches have the worst sound? Yes, I know that this statement isn't really true if you actually took the time to get the data. And I also know that there are plenty of small churches with lousy sound systems. (The good thing about the small churches is that the tubes most of them have in their amplifiers are valuable again.) But I don't get out much and I am amazed that the last two large churches I was in (for weddings) had terrible sound problems.

The first had a wireless that was going nuts. Lots of static and drop outs. I assumed bad batteries but wouldn't they have been careful about that since it was a wedding.

At the second church the pastor's mike gave a ringing sound like you get when the midrange frequencies are up too high on the equalizer. I was so distracted I hardly remember what went on.

In both cases the guy running the sound just sat there like he was oblivious to the whole thing. Now I have been told by our sound people how bad they feel when something goes wrong. They wish they could crawl in a hole and die even if it isn't their fault. But these guys acted as if nothing was wrong. Maybe they are just better trained than our guys are and have been to the class on looking bemused when things go wrong.

I just don't get it. It seems that with all the money they spend they would at least have a decent sound system.

Dog Gone

I’ve always disliked little dogs mainly because they have a tendency to have big mouths. They act so tough when I know one good kick could send them flying across the room. (I don’t really kick them but I sure think about it.) For this reason I have preferred to own bigger dogs. Right now we have a retriever/lab mix that weighs in at just a little over 100 pounds.

The sad thing is that my big dog is a wimp. It’s humiliating. She will run up to any dog that enters the yard, flop down on her back and flail her paws in submission. Yes, she will even do this for those little yappy dogs I don’t care for. It is embarrassing.

It got worse when Kim took her to the vet today. She asked about a rash on our dog’s belly and the vet said it was an allergic reaction to grass and tree pollen. What kind of dog is allergic to grass and trees? So now she is on allergy medicine along with her seizure medication. What ever happened to those hearty canines who defended the home place while surviving on dog chow and whatever critters they caught passing through the yard? Instead I’m stuck with a pacifist who requires more drugs than anyone else in the house.

What’s even more frustrating is that she is apparently oblivious to her failings as a dog. If I were her I would be walking around with my tail permanently between my legs. She’s just too goofy to realize she is seriously lacking as a dog. Instead she just lays on the kitchen floor avoiding as much grass as possible, slobbering all over anyone who pays her the least bit of attention and making disgusting noises as she passes gas from both ends.

There is a spiritual application here but I don’t think I’ll bother. I get tired of people turning every situation into a life lesson. Instead I’ll just shake my head and dream of the day when she finally stops breathing and I can get a new dog. I think I’ll call it Killer or Fang or something.

My Retirement Life

I think I've finally found what I want to retire to. I watched the movie "Secondhand Lions" the other day and I can just see myself spending half my time sipping tea on the front porch while chasing away salesmen with a shotgun then spending the rest of my time fishing with a shotgun.

Actually the movie is about living life to the end even after one "retires" and "dying with your boots on." It is summed up well when a child, wanting to know if the two uncles actually existed, asks "They really lived, didn't they?" To which the nephew who was raised by them replies "Yes, they really lived," meaning that they not only really existed but that they lived life to the fullest.

The title refers to a used lioness that the two "retirees" buy to shoot for sport only to find out that it is too old and sick to move. Instead they allow the nephew who lives with them to keep it as a pet and in one last burst of glory the lioness gives her life to save the boy (who she sees as her cub) and be a "real" lion. Notice the title is plural however so it is actually using the lion as a metaphor for the lives of the two uncles.

It is hilarious (at least I thought so) and every time I watch it I catch another tidbit of wisdom about life. I had not heard of it before which I thought was odd since it features heavy weights Robert Duvall and Michael Caine who do an outstanding job.

Diversity

What a loaded word. But I think it is something people are really afraid of and yet many may not realize what a big issue it is becoming. Most people think of diversity in terms of race but I think it is much deeper than that. I think it has more to do with culture.

I think America is becoming even more diverse in terms of culture. Even the little, sleepy town that I live in has several cultures even though it is 98% white. And we don't do that good of a job of getting along or understanding each other. Some have pointed out that America is not a melting pot but more of a mosaic. I think they are on to something.

Churches are notorious for being culturalcentric. (Is that a word?) I think this is even a bigger issue than churches being ethnocentric because location has a lot to do with the latter but most churches can find multiple cultures right next door. The problem is we just have a hard time with people who are different than we are. We need to put more effort into finding bridges over the cultural gap.

The problem is even worse with private Christian colleges. They have become the haven of white, upper middle class, suburban, Christian kids. I get a kick out of professors at my alma mater who survey their students and then tell us what young people think about our churches. I hate to tell them that I am not really interested in what their sample group has to say because they don't fit the context in which I work. It gets even worse when they talk about youth and youth groups. Their students are from a different planet than the one I work in.

The question for me is how do we bridge these gaps. I know that there are some who would say the question is WHY bridge those gaps but there is something about being one with humanity that leads me to assume we must. Unity is kicked around a lot but we tend to be unified about things we agree on and then pat ourselves on the back for fulfilling our unity quota. The hard part is being unified when we don't see eye to eye and we aren't doing a good job at that point.

Busy

For the most part I don't believe in being busy. I agree with Peterson that business is often used to justify one's existence. "If I'm busy I must be doing a good job." Instead I try to spend my time doing what I think is most important for me as a pastor. That means basically studying Scripture, Prayer, being a husband and father, living life with my congregation and studying/reading scholars.

But I got caught being busy. I 've had a few crisis situations come up, I'm working ahead in my sermon schedule, I bought a new dishwasher that leaked after I installed it (not my fault and finally got it fixed yesterday), I am preparing for a soccer tournament and my taxes need to get done. Happy to say that things are much better now even though I still have the taxes staring me in the face. Right now the debate in my mnd is "extension or just do them." The taxes I mean.

Thoughts on Post-modernity

There has been a lot of discussion regarding post-modernism and how it relates to Christianity. As one might expect the reviews have covered the spectrum from full acceptance to complete rejection. The reason for this is that post-modernism itself is widely defined and so you have responses to multiple definitions and expressions. This may be unfortunate as it may cause some to reject the whole because of a problem with a particular definition. It would be similar to Christianity rejecting modernity if they only heard it defined by an atheist. Likewise, post-modernity is liable to be rejected if one only hears it defined by the relativists.

I believe post-modern thought does offer some valuable insights that are helpful to the church today. I will discuss two of those in this post.

Post-modernity has reintroduced the idea of mystery and the inability of man to know all things. The modern church reacts strongly to this not because they think they know it all (well some might think so) but because it leaves open the door for relative truth. Obviously a large number of post-moderns have walked through that door but slamming the door shut is not the answer. It is a tension the church must learn to live with. I believe that in their desire to insist on absolute truth (which I believe in, by the way) many moderns have refused to utter the three simple words “I don’t know.”

I believe that this refusal to acknowledge mystery has had two harmful affects on western Christianity. First of all, our haste has caused us to interpret scripture in only a western context. As much as we know this we can’t seem to help ourselves. The real proof is obvious as prominent African and South American theologians have begun to develop indigenously. We sometimes struggle with their conclusions and we are only at the beginning of this process as even today most of them are still trained in the west. It will indeed be enlightening to hear what these scholars have to say when they are fully developed locally. I think their interpretation of scripture, having developed with minimal western influence, will be enlightening. (Interestingly, many non-western scholars have not noticed a rise in post-modernity in their countries. I think this is because so much of post-modern philosophy is already in their culture. They haven’t really fully developed modern thought yet so they don’t see this shift. Of course I’m looking at this through western eyes so what do I know?)

The second problem with refusing to acknowledge mystery is that the world quickly finds us out and we lose our credibility. We often behave like know-it-all teenagers and it becomes tiresome to the world. The fact is we don’t know everything about God and that’s okay. This is only the tip of the iceberg though. We don’t know everything about growing a church either, or fully what it means to even be a church, and that should be okay too. I think Paul said something about seeing through a glass darkly.

The other valuable insight that post-modernity may help us recapture is a sense of wholeness. The west is known for tearing things apart. This has served us well as our analytical minds have brought us great advances in science and industry. We are always trying to reduce things to the smallest part possible. Give us an atom and we will try to split it. We place high value on personal freedom, often at the expense of the good of the whole society.

Post-modernism returns us to the pre-modern value of the whole to some degree. People who work in pre-modern cultures are usually aware of this value. Pre-moderns think in terms of the whole much more readily than we do in the west. The good of the whole is often valued higher than the rights of an individual. There seems to be more of a connection between one’s actions and the affect they have on others.

In our society today we see post-moderns rejecting the isolating “castles” (homes) that the moderns have built in the suburbs to return to more community minded living. They seem to value relationships more and have less of the “I am a self-made man” mentality that previous generations have valued. They seem to have more of a sense that their actions have an impact on others in society and the environment in which they live.

I don’t think the post-modern mindset is anything new. It has always been there but has been thoroughly dominated by modernity. One of the biggest mistakes people make is too view post-moderns as those from a particular age. While some age groups may have higher percentages of post-moderns the fact is you will find them in every age grouping just like you do with moderns. What we are seeing now is a combination of an increase in the number of people who hold post-modern views and that they are beginning to express themselves more.

To sum it up, we shouldn’t reject post-modernity out of hand. It does have something to offer western Christianity.

When Methodology Gets Confused With Theology

I think my denomination may believe in a right methodology more than they believe in a right theology. I was surprised to discover language in some our denominational documents that seemed to support this uniformity. My guess is that they wanted people to be able to find a familiar church no matter where they went.

Of course this accusation of mine would be vigorously denied. But talk is cheap, as they say, and in practice we have a hard time with this. I understand though. We all have a tendency to believe that we have the only answer.

The problem starts with a uniform evaluation. Once you determine how you are going to measure a church you have also pretty much determined the agenda. Sure, churches will use different programs, and thsoe programs may look very diverse, but the method is still the same despite all the cliches proclaiming the contrary.

I suppose that there are many who would make long lists to prove me wrong. Afterall I am making a strong statement with regard to the definition of methodology. But I am convinced that I can break down every item listed to a similar core. In other words, in the end, they will all fit within a specific set of rules, postulates, and values designed to attain whatever will be measured.

Perhaps that is a good thing for a denomination. The denomination I want to try is one that is more unified around Jesus than methods and is willing to let others be truly different in their expression of church. I believe that is the direction denominations must evolve but perhaps they don't want to evolve at all.

Forced to Pastor

I have the second floor of Lutheran Hospital nearly surrounded with parishoners staying in three of the four corners of the building. All three are serious life and death issues with a lot of family involved. I've spent a lot of time there.

A pastor usually has some degree of latitude when it comes to doing his work. He usually has time to prepare for facing tough issues, sometimes even days or weeks. Much of pastor work can be scheduled and often there is a sense of routine involved. Usually there is space to retreat and regroup before rejoining the fray.

But health issues turn this upside down. I don't have the time or space to think things through like I normally do. I have to be a pastor by the seat of my pants so to speak. It is frightening and I become very aware of my shortcomings in these situations. Thankfully I usually find the people I minister to in these situations very gracious towards me. It is very humbling.

The Finer Things In Life

My wife and I went to a hockey game last night. We were invited by some friends and had the pleasure of watching the game from one of the luxury suites. It was pretty cool with food, a tv, comfortable seats and people to wait on you. I didn't know the few other people who shared the suite but they were not snobbish and it was a very enjoyable environment, very civilized.

The same cannot be said for the game which the home team won by a score of 9-2. To those familiar with hockey you know that this is a proper beating by hockey standards and one can usually expect fights when the score gets out of hand like this. Actually these teams didn't need a reason to fight as the first one took place just 4 seconds into the game. There was apparently a lot of history involved that I was not up on and there were several fights during the course of the game.

I admit to enjoying hockey along with its fights. I suppose that this is due to a sick part of my nature that relates to a coliseum mindset. But I also like hockey because the referee is limited in his ability to impact the game and there is a lot of justice being served by the players themselves. The fights rarely hurt anyone and there is a certain code of conduct for fights that is usually observed. For the most part the players themselves hold each other accountable for what is within acceptable limits in a game. A player may be sneaky enough to avoid punsihment by the referee but he will rarely avoid punishment from the other team.

I suppose there are many who are offended by my being entertained by such violence and I have probably lost your respect. But I've noticed the same principle sometimes works with my kids. Sometimes the more my wife and I get involved the more frustrated everyone becomes. Somehow when they are left to work it out by themselves they seem to come to an acceptable resolution. Funny how that works. Maybe Kim and I need to spend more time watching them from the luxury suite and let them settle their differences on their own.

Handling Grace with Grace

Grace is something Christianity is well acquainted with. It is a foundational principle in our salvation experience after all. But I don't think we handle grace too well. Instead we tend to handle grace in two ways that are not healthy as Christians.

One way to handle grace is to underestimate its power in relation to good deeds. People who do this tend to put an emphasis on works even though they intellectually believe that they are saved by grace instead of works. Their lives are based on following the rules as if they are not quite sure if grace will really do it. A good way to identify these folks is by observing how they interact with children. They over balance rule enforcement and rarely show them examples of grace. Right living is important but we must live rightly for the right reasons.

The other way to underestimate the power of grace is to try to hide one's faults in an effort to conceal things we really need grace for. In our society image is everything. We have come to believe that it doesn't matter what we really are as long as we project the right image. Therefore, if I look like a good Christian I must be one. The fact here is that grace can, and must, overcome all of our faults. Hiding our secrets from other men does us no good. God sees through all of that.

But why is it important to accept grace properly? Accepting grace is foundational to our relationship with God. A person who accepts grace lives a life of thankfulness. It becomes the focus of their life. Someone who accepts God's grace realizes that they are nothing before him in regards to their own achievement. Instead they can truly live as sons and daughters.

Expeditionary Force

Our church makes chocolate, peanut butter filled, eggs to sell as a fund raiser around easter time. It takes a lot of work and we have a lot of people show up to help every night for a couple of weeks. There was a conversation last week as to what was the best part of making the eggs. The consensus was that the time spent together was cherished. I would have thought getting a crack at the "rejects" might have won but I am glad our church values spending time together.

I see church as an expeditionary force. (I've spent a lot of time thinking about this and I've written a lot of notes on it.) This is opposed to a spiritual journey. I really have no problem with a spiritual journey but it is often thought of in solitary terms. I enjoyed reading WIlkinson's "The Dream Giver" but it is primarily a solo journey. I liked Bunyon's "Pilgrim's Progress" but it too is very much a solo journey. I like the idea of expeditions because they are usually thought of in terms of more than one person. I think that is how it should be.

As pastor I have been graciously invited to be the leader of this expedition. Our expedition is made up of all sorts of people who each bring something to the expedition. We have experts as well as porters. Some know a lot more about expeditions than I do but they are gracious to me and a great benefit to us. Some wear all the latest gear and look professional but they are really novices. It shows when times are tough. Some don't really want to be on this expedition and I'm not sure how long they are going to last. In the past I've seen these kind go both ways. Some leave and never come back. Others eventually find their niche and become fully committed to the expedition. All of our members, including myself, work to improve our technique. Some take this more seriously than others. We pick up new expedition members along the way. Some of these come from other expiditions some are simply lost and we run across them as we travel.

In all cases we recognise the importance of being together. This is not a journey we can or should make alone. We need each other and as time goes on we begin to understand the importance of everyone doing their part.

A "Found" Poem and adapted from The Brothers Karamazov - Fyodor Dostoevsky

O for the humble soul of man
Worn out by grief and toil
And still more by everlasting injustice
And everlasting sin
His own and the world's
It is the greatest need and comfort
To find someone or something
Holy!
To fall down before
And Worship!


By way of explanation, a "found" poem is when you take something that exists as prose and turn it into poetry. I first learned about it from a book of poetry written like this by Annie Dillard. I claim no skill at poetry but I like the emphasis it gives certain pieces of writing and it helps me remember them. As for Dostoevsky, I am a big fan. I try to be reading at least one of his novels at all times.

Another Sign of the Apocalypse

"Football (soccer) is not a matter of life and death... it's more important than that." - Bill Shankly

Of course many would disagree with the late coach's comment but so many around the world apparently live by this creed. While watching my favorite soccer channel over lunch today I about fell off my chair when they ran a story about a soccer team specific cemetery. This hasn't happened yet but apparently a cemetery worker in Argentina noticed all the football related articles being left at gravesites and thought it would be good just to have a cemetery dedicated to a single team. In this case the team was Boca Juniors, Argentina's most famous team (I prefer River myself), and the idea was that a mausoleum type structure would be built at Boca's home stadium where departed fans and players could have their ashes deposited.

I am a big fan of a lot of teams in this world. Some are great (Red Wings, Pistons) and some stink (Tigers, Lions). I'm a big enough of a fan that I usually can't watch my teams play a playoff game because I can't endure the agony. I even endure rude and crude message boards just to keep up with my teams.

I can't imagine being such a big fan that I would want my ashes placed in my favorite team's stadium though. In fact, I think it would be sad if anyone mentions my sports fanaticism at my funeral. Hopefully I'm a little more well rounded than that.

The Role of Bishop - Take 2

Ed, I decided to answer your comment with a post because I couldn't keep it short enough. First let me say that I think job descriptions are way overrated so I don’t want to attempt such a thing here. I also gather from your comment that you feel that there is not much for the Bishop to do in what I have described so what follows is with that in mind.

I won’t deny that from time to time an individual may come along who has the charisma to dramatically set direction for the entire denomination and pull it along by sheer force of personality. However, I think these individuals are extremely rare (as in we may have had only 1 or 2 in the entire history of our denomination) and it is foolish to rely on it. Interestingly it is quite easy to find plenty of individuals who think they possess this quality.

Instead we need to rely on the abilities of pastors and lay leaders across our denomination and this means that our Bishop will function differently. I was recently asked if I wanted a strong or weak Bishop. I want a strong spiritual leader in our Bishop. By that I mean I expect him to spend considerable time in prayer, meditation and study of the Word. I also expect him to spend considerable time studying the landscape. That means he would have his finger on trends, fads and significant issues of our time. He would work at keeping up where God appears to be moving.

Out of this the Bishop will be in a position to keep prospective for us. Perhaps this is best illustrated by giving scenarios. Perhaps the Bishop would communicate to a pastor, church or cluster group that he felt they were getting off track in their pursuit of a specific objective. He may tell them that what they are doing is similar to what another group is doing and help them establish a network. He may tell them that though they are unconventional he sees some great potential in what they are doing. He may suggest that they try some approaches that he has seen work in other areas. And he may need to discipline on occasion. I think this is similar to what we see in the epistles and they give us a good example of what we need from our bishop.

I believe that through this the Bishop can become strong because of the influence he carries. That is the kind of strength I want. The opposite would be a Bishop who is given strength by rule. The problem with this is that it is a small step to being a dictator and that is not the kind of strength I want. Unfortunately this is the issue we are dealing with when we try to make a strong Bishop by rule. Many view the proposal to have the Bishop name the cluster group leaders as a way for him to control and dictate his agenda. I don’t see it that way. I see the person as more of a liaison between the cluster and the Bishop. He will be more of a facilitator. Leadership within the cluster will take form naturally. What is important is that the Bishop has a liaison with the cluster that he has a good relationship with. I am amazed at how so many have seen the proposal as being dictatorial or top heavy. I think people are getting paranoid here.

Communication is going to be extremely important in the position I envision. If you read a lot of blogs you kind of get to learn the heart of the blogger. That is what we need from a Bishop. I do not mean that the Bishop must blog but it is that type of regular communication that we need.

Finally let me say that no matter how much I describe this role there will be those who will say it is not enough. However, by design I think that we need to keep our Bishop less busy so that he can be a spiritual guide. There are times when the Bishop will need to impose discipline but even here, as mush as possible, I think the Bishop should delegate such responsibility as much as possible.

Freedom of Expression

Several days ago I posted about the role of Bishop in our denomination. I posted that I believe one of the key functions of the position is that of perspective keeper. As I have thought about this I have found it helpful to think in terms of structure to give a picture of what such a position would look like.

One of the strongest desires that we must resist is for a national plan. As I stated in the earlier post I do not believe that this is a very viable option. It relies too much on the charisma of the Bishop and it assumes too much about the abilities (intelligence even) of the top leadership in relationship too the rest of the denomination.

Many have proposed that we are entering a post-denomination era. Whether true or not is yet to be seen. My own prediction is that denominations will at least need to look differently. I dream of a denomination that takes its behind the scenes support role very seriously and allows for multiple expressions of church within its scope. Of course getting people to agree that multiple expression of church are acceptable is a major hurdle.

As I have listened to people talk about our denomination I have been amazed at the fervor with which they promote their perspective of church as the only way. They also are married to organizational/management strategies that have developed in the modern world. The frightening part about it is the degree with which they support such modern strategies with scripture as the only way to do things.

A good example of this occurred during the national board meeting held this month. The proposal was made that the bishop be allowed to hire staff as he sought fit. One example that was presented was that of Director of Healthy Church Initiative. I thought we had been making progress until this example was proposed. In my view the denomination must limit itself to essentials in order to truly allow multiple expressions of church. As soon as it goes beyond essentials it begins to dictate a particular expression over all others.

In my view a position of Director of Healthy Church Initiative could be a wonderful thing. However, such a position should be funded and overseen by those churches that actually want such a director. The current proposal is that all churches be grouped in clusters of about 7 churches. In my view these clusters should network with other clusters that share a similar vision for a Healthy Church Initiative. Once they reach a certain size, say 15 clusters, they can then look into whether it would be beneficial for them to have a Director to serve them. This would eliminate the burden on those churches that had no desire to participate in such an initiative.

Several have expressed a desire to continue with our current annual conference structure. The same principle applies here. If churches want to organize that way they are free to do so. What they can’t do is force churches to join them and therefore they cannot be a burden to them. Free association provides for better relationships, which I believe, should be one of our distinctive features. (This is why I favor allowing churches the freedom to join the cluster group of their choosing and why I support having the Bishop choose cluster group leaders. The working relationships are preserved in both instances. I remember a mentoring program that tried to dictate relationships and it was a disaster.)

The proposed structure has led many to believe that we are centralizing control. Actually just the opposite is true. Our current structure all feeds back to our HQ so we basically are centralized now. The proposed structure has the potential to allow a high degree of decentralization. This also brings us back to the role of Bishop. It is not a position from which to dictate. Instead this person is more of an observer. He looks at the big picture. He watches our back for us. He keeps perspective for us but allows us freedom of expression.

Tears of .....

"In his book Mortal Lessons, Richard Selzer, M.D., writes: "I stand by the bed where a young woman lies, her face postoperative, her mouth twisted in palsy, clownish. A tiny twig of the facial nerve, the one to the muscles of her mouth, has been severed. She will be thus from now on. The surgeon had followed with religious fervor the curve of her flesh; I promise you that. Nevertheless, to remove the tumor in her cheek, I had to cut the little nerve.

Her young husband is in the room. He stands on the opposite side of the bed and together they seem to dwell in the evening lamp light, isolated from me, private. Who are they, I ask myself, he and this wry mouth I have made, who gaze at me and touch each other so generously, greedily? The young woman speaks. 'Will my mouth always be like this?' she asks. 'Yes,' I say, 'it will. It is because the nerve was cut.' She nods and is silent. But the young man smiles. 'I like it,' he says, 'It is kind of cute.'

All at once I know who he is. I understand and I lower my gaze. One is not bold in an encounter with a god. Unmindful, he bends to kiss her crooked mouth and I am so close I can see how he twists his own lips to accommodate to hers, to show her that their kiss still works." - Brennan Manning in The Ragamuffin Gospel

I'm not sure why exactly but this picture has a powerful impact on me. Christ's accommodation of me on the cross is unbelievable grace. But I'm not sure if my tears are of sadness, guilt or joy.

Catching Up

I got behind in my Bible reading for the year. I am using one of the more popular one year plans that has readings from the OT, NT, Poetry, Prophecy. I have skipped a few years in doing this so I thought I would get back on track.

Anyway, I got behind last week, about six days behind. So yesterday I caught back up which meant reading a large section from Leviticus. My wife doesn't like reading Leviticus all that much and admits to skimming. For some reason I like Leviticus and I have preached a few series from it.

I think a lot of people actually like all the rules. They find the rules freeing because they feel they can do whatever they want as long as they don't break the rules even if they have an ulterior motive. Of course, people have also used rules to control and manipulate people down through the years and I suppose not very many people like that. But for the most part I think a lot of people like rules even though they may protest against them.

That's why people don't like "a new covenant written on their hearts." Now you have a conscience to consider. Jesus quoted Isaiah, "These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me." (Mark 7:6) The only way to be an sincere follower of Jesus is to get to know him and develop a love for him. Then you will obey him because it is your true hearts desire.

Suspicious Minds

"We can't go on together with suspicious minds." - Elvis

This happens to be thesis #29 in the Cluetrain Manifesto. Sadly, I think this is very true in church circles. It is sad that we tend to be suspicious and it is true that journeying together with suspicion isn't very productive. The thing that makes this so true is that it is possible to have an agenda without trying to be sinister and we are suspicious of people's agenda if we think it doesn't match our own.

The cure, I believe, is honest relationship. That is why it so important to spend time building relationships. In an honest relationship fewer things are unknown and therefore there is less to be suspicious about.

The Face of the Denomination

I think our denomination has two competing views of what our denomination should look like and I don't think there is clear understanding on this point yet. Hopefully we will reach some agreement at the national conference.

The traditional view sees a central leadership for the denomination that generates vision and then sees that the vision is implemented throughout the denomination. The local churches are expected to fall in line with this vision and this vision/purpose/mission becomes the "face of the denomination." To head up this institution we want a "visionary" leader who has the charisma to get his vision implemented.

I see at least three major problems with this approach. First of all it has a tendency to waste the creative and intellectual capital that is scattered throughout our local churches. We can get some of it but in the end we are limited to those who have been chosen for the highest governing bodies of the denomination.

Secondly, strong visionary leaders with big charisma are extremely rare and the chances of finding one to lead our denomination is quite small. Don't bother talking about a shrinking leadership pool because that misses the point of how rare these individuals actually are. I would bet that they you couldn't name more than half a dozen such denominational leaders from history off the top of your head. I was surprised that Time Magazine's list of the top 25 Evangelicals listed very few denominational leaders. Many were local church pastors who had national influence. To say this is the type of person you want sure sounds good but is highly unlikely.

Thirdly, I think the face of the denomination should be the local churches themselves. The denominal relationship is a background issue that lurks in the shadows. If the denomination insists on being the face of the denomination it is like one of those parents who hog the limelight when their kid has done something amazing.

Instead I want a denomination whose vision is to help local churches reach their vision. Simple ain't it. We have enough good thinking people who will really take off with their vision for their local church. Yes, there will be some churches who don't seem to get it but that's okay. That's between them and God. I say if they want to stay that way leave them alone. Just keep them from being a burden on the rest of the churches. The more time the denomination spends trying to push them the more they are wasting denominational resources. If they do want to change they can take the initiative. In the mean time they will cease to hold back other churches.

The Role of the Bishop

I attended the meetings of our denominations national board earlier this week. I usually avoid such things but since much of their work is for the national conference this summer I thought I should attend since I will be a delegate.

One of the topics that was discussed was the role of the Bishop. It wasn't a long discussion really but I think there is some confusion there. Such groups are often under pressure to produce something that sounds good. We want to give our leader a list of duties that sound important and worthwhile. Unfortunately I think one of his most important duties doesn't fit in a list very well.

It is hard to name what I am talking about. Perhaps "perspective keeper" his helpful. I think we need someone whose job it is is to look at the big picture from an outside perspective and keep us on track. Eugene Peterson uses an illustration of a harpooner in a whaling boat. As the sailors are frantically rowing to get close enough to harpoon the harpooner sits quietly and waits. If he too would row he would not be steady enough when the time came to throw the harpoon. Amid the frantic activity in the boat he must remain calm.

We need that as a denomination. As us pastors are frantically involved with our churches we need someone who keeps perspective for us. We need someone who steps in and helps keep us on course when we start heading in the wrong direction and don't see it because we are to busy rowing.

Peterson also refers to this as "lashed to the mast." There will be times when we will go to him suggesting another direction. It is up to him to hold fast to the Word and insist we get back on track. He can't be about pleasing us. He must help us stay on course.

For this I need a leader who is dedicated to spending vast quantities of time with God in prayer, in the Word and in meditation. I need a leader who takes time to survey the territory and is dedicated to understanding the times. I need a history who knows our story, where we have been and where we need to go.

Every now and then a strong charismatic leader may come along who helps us take large growth steps by sheer force of his personality. That's fine but it's not necessary. We have plenty of creative and intelligent people who just need the right environment to thrive. They just need to know someone has got their back and is keeping watch for them.