Five Things I Wish We Christians Would Do in 2014

"I have come that you may have life, and have it to the fullest." ~ Jesus in John 10:10

OK, here it is: another blog entry about the new year setting goals for improvement.  These are a bit different, though, since my prayer is to be part of an ongoing renewal among Christians by taking seriously the message and character of Jesus Christ.  There are many things that we can add to this list.  And this list is certainly not intended to be exhaustive.  Nor is it intended to take shots at any particular group of Christians or any individuals.  The list is more like a prayer: a personal prayer for my own growth in Christ that I hope extends beyond my own intentions and actions and becomes more and more part of what it means to be a community called by God for His purposes. 

1) Listen more to what the Bible and good Christian examples have said about Jesus than what the media says about Christianity. There are plenty of voices in American media – Left and Right, Christian and secular – that propose to speak for Christianity and/or for God.  However, these sources often lead to a misunderstanding of either message or methods of Jesus, or both.  Therefore, I really want to discover and rediscover the heart of the Good News of Jesus through reading (and re-reading) Scripture, through prayer, through interaction with sincere men and women of faith, and through looking at the best Christian writings throughout the centuries in order to be shaped by the work of the Holy Spirit.

2) Live simpler, appreciate the smaller things more.  So much of the Bible reminds us of the value of what would be deemed “small things” by most people.  Humble beginnings, simple resources, and consistent day to day devotion are held in much higher regard by God than the “get all you can while you can, regardless of who it hurts” mentality that is prevalent in many parts of our culture (even in parts of “Christian culture”!).  I want to live simply not just so I can have less stress (which is a bonus!), but also so that I can be free to give to others in the name of Christ, while still meeting the other financial responsibilities in my life.  This does not have to mean living like a monk or a hermit.  But it can mean learning to appreciate extra time with family and friends, while not drowning in the “newest, latest, and greatest” of material things.

3) Guard what I say and how I say it.  Often we Christians get into trouble not because we are wrong about certain facts or even in our theological understandings.  Where we most often get things wrong is in our attitude and in our delivery.  A haughty (proud) mind set and approach to anything, according to Scripture, is a breeding ground for personal sin and is something that God opposes.  May we learn that we can be right about “facts” and still be “wrong” if we do not speak the truth in love.

4) I want my fellowship and worship with other believers to be the hub of my family’s activity and not just an add-on to my week.  There was a time when much of the community’s calendar revolved around church life.  Sports and even schools would plan with an eye toward key events in the church calendar.  That is no longer the case.  And that means that the church is often cast in the role of competitor for family time.  Consequently, the first thing taken off many family calendars during busy times is church involvement.  This is the opposite of the way the rhythm of our lives was intended to be, however.  The New Testament reminds us that our best living flows out of times of refreshing and worship with other believers.  When we flip that around, the rhythm of our lives is off, and it is our families and our own personal walk with God that suffers the most in the long run.  May we say “no” more often to those things which consistently pull us away from consistent worship and fellowship together, so that when we are able to say “yes”, we can do so in a way that is empowered to participate as strong witnesses for Christ.

5) Learn something new!  For many of us, it is easy to coast and even to stagnate.  This mind set prompts us to merely survive rather than to really live.   We also spend so much time and energy defending what we think we know that we fail to grow into better human beings.  Furthermore, in our coasting toward stagnation, we find it easier to let others think for us.  This year, may we ask hard questions, especially of ourselves and also of those who purport to speak for us.  We can grow and learn something new by reading, and also by asking questions of others.  Who knows?  We may end up building deeper relationships in the process, both with God and with others. 

Christians have always been taught to hold onto everything we have with a loose grip.  Our theology and our history have taught us that we cannot be assured of tomorrow, but that at the same time, we do not have to fear tomorrow.  Walking with the risen Christ is a challenge to our own egos and to our control, but it makes every day an adventure of grace, even when we are just going about our day to day lives.  May this year be filled with God’s grace, with discovery, and with new heights of love for God and for others.  Happy new year!

I Want the Real Jesus for Christmas

The shepherds left their sheep to get a glimpse.  The Magi from the East came a long distance to bring Him gifts and to admire God’s handiwork.  His mother and father left comfortable and familiar surroundings more than once for His sake.  Years later, people would leave their jobs, their families, and even their physical safety in order to follow this Jesus, who went around doing good and proclaiming the in-breaking of God’s new way of living, according to Scripture. 

I want the real Jesus for Christmas, too.  I am no longer interested in the safe, comfortable, popularized distant version of Jesus.  But, like those mentioned above and like countless others throughout history, following the Jesus I see in Scripture is going to be uncomfortable, and even costly at times.  Perhaps I may not have to sacrifice in ways that many other Christ followers throughout the world are sacrificing at this very moment.  Maybe it will not cost me as dearly as it has cost millions of Christians throughout history. 

However, according to Jesus, anyone who will not willingly sacrifice his or her life – “take up the cross,” is Jesus’ words – will never truly follow the real Jesus.  Here are some things that challenge me about following the real Jesus:

1) The real Jesus was kind and loving to those who were poor and struggling.  Jesus’ first hometown sermon was about “proclaiming the good news to the poor.”  This was controversial and even offensive to those who thought the poor not worthy of extra time and attention.  Yet, the real Jesus spent the most time with these folks.

2) The real Jesus spoke the truth to power, was harshest on religious people, and was most patient and gentle to lost people.  Our culture – even our “Christian culture” -- would reverse all of this! We often tell power whatever they want to hear so that they can perhaps share their power with us (just look at how the far Right and the far Left in American Christianity has pandered to those in political power in the last forty years especially).  We tend to go easy on religious people, especially those who get a lot of media attentions (again, because we like seeing “one of us” in prominent places, so whatever they say and in whatever way they say it often becomes more important to us than what Jesus said and how He said things).  And, we tend to be particularly harsh with lost people (I think it’s because, like the corrupt leaders of Jesus’ day, we know that these people have relatively little power and influence, and we feel better about our own sins when we castigate theirs!).  The way we reverse these characteristics of Jesus is a form of idolatry: creating Jesus in our own image, instead of humbly allowing Jesus to transform us into His own image.  We miss out on the real Jesus by continuing in our stubborn and controlling ways.  Which brings us to our next point….

3) The real Jesus humbled Himself.  That’s right.  The One who had all power, through whom all things were made (see John 1), the Lord of lords, came not in a way that overpowered those who opposed Him.  Instead, He came in love-filled truth and truth-filled love.  He did not stop being loving when He was right.  And He did not sacrifice the truth of His message just to appear loving.  He was both all at once: a lesson that all of us could stand to learn better.  Often when we are right (especially in matters of religion and ethics and the Bible), we think it gives us the “right” to express ourselves any way we choose.  Again, I notice that Jesus saved His harshest critique for those of us who were either already followers (like the 12 disciples), or who thought they were following God but were really substituting God’s ways for their own (like the Pharisees in the Gospel of Matthew).  When Jesus approaches people like the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4), or the crafty tax collector Zaccheus, it is the gentleness of Jesus that shines through and that leads both of them to repentance.  It is true that with these two Jesus does not ignore their need for correction, but Jesus does it in such a way that encounters them with life-changing love.  Mean-spirited and judgmental rhetoric would have likely accomplished the opposite response from these and others like them.  I also note that even when Jesus was delivering hard truth to the powerful or to those who were abusing their religious or political power, there was a deep desire for them to be changed.  Jesus even loved the rich young ruler who publicly rejected Jesus’ invitation to eternal life.  This Jesus – the real Jesus—cared more about the message getting to those who needed it than He cared about simply “being right” or shaming those who were wrong.

After Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, the Apostle Paul would write that we should be more like the real Jesus (from Philippians 2):

Who, being in very nature^[a] God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature^[b] of a servant, being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
    he humbled himself
    by becoming obedient to death—
        even death on a cross!

People are not lining up to follow the “principles of Jesus.”  Nor will they line up to follow the American Jesus, the Republican Jesus, the Democrat Jesus, or every other cheap substitute.  People are hungering to follow the real Jesus: the Jesus whom the Gospel and Paul and many devoted Christians throughout history describes.  

This Christmas – and throughout the year – my prayer is that I will accept no substitutes, that I will not try to create Jesus in my own image (or in the image of some other well-known vocal Christian), and that I will not be afraid to imitate the real Jesus, regardless of what religious or non-religious people say. 

And along the way, this real Jesus reminds me to love even those who want to make Jesus into something He is not.  I am called to love them, even if they disagree with me.  Perhaps His greatest gift to us is the ability to do just that in His name. 

Merry Christmas!

Fixing the Mess We Made: A Response to Dr. Thom Rainier

A Facebook friend of mine shared a well-written blog from a longtime pastor who started his ministry in 1984, in the early days of the so-called "Church Growth Movement."  Dr. Thom S. Rainier (a respected former pastor who is now President and CEO of Lifeway Christian Resources for the Southern Baptist Convention), entitles his article, “7 Ways Pastoring Has Changed in Thirty Years” (see: http://www.christianpost.com/news/7-ways-pastoring-has-changed-in-thirty-years-110044/ ).  After a brief introduction to what I see as the context of his article, I will look at his seven points and give my own assessment as to why things have changed in the ways he has described.  I appreciate Dr. Rainier’s work in this article and in many other writings throughout the years, and I credit Stan Parker for bringing the article to my attention on his Facebook post. 

The Way Things Were

I started in vocational Christian ministry almost a decade later than Dr. Rainier did, when the report card for the Church Growth Movement (CGM) had not fully come to light.  I remember long conversations in my seminary days with other students and pastors (and people who, like me, were both students and pastors) about the love affair that Evangelical churches were having with certain emphases in church life and the possible dangers, theologically speaking, of that movement and those writers.  

A handful of "successful" (in terms of numbers) churches and leaders became beacons for new and/or struggling pastors.  These “successful” pastors were shying away from reading pastoral theology or even from formal pastoral training and were instead defining their roles in terms of secular CEOs.  Popular business school writers, like Stephen Covey, author of Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, became standard “textbooks” for this new generation of pastors, and writers who emerged from their ranks sounded much more like Zig Ziglar (the popular motivational speaker, who himself was a Christian and therefore found astounding success in his publications sales) than like Luther, Wesley, or Calvin. 

Those of us who came a bit late to this party (early to mid 1990s) found ourselves already enmeshed in the struggle to find our identities as pastors.  Some of us chose writers like Henri Nouwen, William Willimon, and Eugene Peterson (writers whose sense of ministry tended toward the theological/pastor/shepherding approach), while others flocked toward the likes of Bill Hybels, George Barna, and John Maxwell (Church Growth Movement writers and pastors who embraced a “CEO” kind of approach).  In the short-run, those of us who chose the former writers (the shepherding approach) found ourselves feeling the pressures of non-conformity.  Why were we choosing to seek growth at a slower pace, instead of plugging in the latest marketing tools and homogeneous growth unit techniques?  Why did we still insist on prominently displayed crosses, public reading of Scripture, mixing old hymns with the new choruses, and not finding ways to make this treasure trove of Baby Boomers feel “at home” so that they would give, attend, invite their plethora of Boomer friends, and “get involved” with us?  

Some of these same pastors were “rising up the ranks” to become leaders on district and global levels of mine and other denominational groups.  A handful of these leaders were even elevated to celebrity status and urged their own growing spheres of influence to immerse themselves in the techniques and writers that helped them to produce the numbers that made them a “success.”

Then What Happened?

Colleagues who chose the Church Growth Model early on often did see some short term growth: emphasizing numbers can actually bring about some numeric growth, at least in the short run.  However, many of those same leaders and churches have, over the past thirty years, seen once overflowing sanctuaries diminish, and all of the debt acquired in building “bigger and better and best” buildings and programs still accumulating interest as smaller and less funded congregants are still struggling on. 

The reason?  Many of those who once funded and attended have either found better marketing elsewhere, or they did not have a deep relational or theological connection to secure their long term loyalty.  Still others (especially older Boomers) have abandoned these slick marketing-driven churches and denominational groups for – of all things! – the more traditional Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant mainline churches!  It is as if these “older Boomers” (many of whom are at or are approaching retirement) looked at their mortality for the first time and said, “Is this all there is to my spiritual life?  A few choruses and a ‘relevant’ sermon?” 

Statistics now tell us that this group has become a large “feeder” group for churches with unapologetic tradition in both liturgy and approach.  As one Catholic leader has said recently, quoted by now retired Methodist Bishop William Willimon, “While you many of you Protestant groups were trying to be so relevant, many of us were just sticking to the ancient truths and practices that have worked for us for centuries.  We figured that would be relevant again someday!”  And they were right.

Statistics also tell us that the children and grandchildren of those who helped drive the CGM are either seeking more traditional and “authentic” expressions of spiritual life, or are simply abandoning church altogether (the so-called “nones”, which are a demographic of those who in record numbers are indicated their religious preference as “none”).  Those who are staying in church life are seeking more traditional expressions, even if parts of their worship experience may be called “contemporary”(what I have sometimes called, “Thousand year old liturgy with bass guitars”).  The same spiritual shallowness that moved their grandparents and parents away from once overflowing sanctuaries and auditoriums has caused this younger generation to seek out smaller, more intimate communities where authenticity and spiritual/theological depth are the norm.  Whereas the CGM generation’s mantra was thought to be: “Market to me correctly and you just may get me”; this generation’s cry is more along the lines of: “Stop marketing to me and just be authentic!  I get enough marketing every day!”

Ironically, even one of the leading Church Growth Movement writers, marketing expert George Barna, has written in his book Revolutions that he sees very little hope for the future of church life as we know it.  I would argue that this is because the vision of church life that he and others like him adopted and even help create was not the revolution they thought it would be.  It fell short theologically and relationally.  So, it may not be such a bad thing that churches and the pastorate have changed so drastically in the past thirty years or so, and it may be great (not negative or disconcerting, as Barna seems to think) – theologically speaking – that Barna sees little hope for his version of church life to continue in the future.  This leads me to my assessment and reflection on Dr. Rainier’s timely article in terms of the context I have tried to establish.

Addressing the Seven Changes

Thomas Rainier addresses seven changes he has observed in the past thirty years that are essential for being a pastor in today’s church environment.  I will address one at a time and then conclude my article.

1) Thirty years ago, most people in the community held the pastor in high esteem.
 Dr. Rainier is correct, but it seems that, based upon reasons I give above, we pastors are to blame more than society is to blame for this.  As I stated, most of Evangelical Christianity thirty years ago entered into a struggle for pastoral identity.  Most of the prominent pastors – and many who became influential denominational leaders – opted to redefine the role of pastors and overseers in terms of CEOs, human resource directors, coaches, and marketers.  Our society is overrun with these roles but has very few shepherds, preachers, and spiritual leaders.  By abandoning or at least putting on the back burner the essential roles of the pastor, the pastor lost his/her defining function: it was exchanged for roles that “blend in”, and so, as Dr. Rainier rightly asserts in his article, “Today most people don’t know who the pastor is. . . .”  We as pastors forgot who we were, and so how can we expect them to know?

2) Thirty years ago, most people in the congregation held the pastor in high esteem.  The same basic explanation given in number 1 above can be given here.  I can add to this, though, that ongoing pressures from the Church Growth Movement emphases up and down denominational (and local) leadership chains to “produce numbers” has led to reluctance in pastors to confront, correct, teach, or even establish clear boundaries in church life.  Consequently, pastors lose respect for themselves and this becomes contagious.  I have sat with several former pastors - some now retired - who have confided in me that they are glad to be done with ministry, because they felt as if they were always having to pander and perform.  Those who pander and perform may be liked in the short run, but they are not often respected in the long run.

3) Leadership skills are required more today than thirty years ago.  Here Dr. Rainier is a bit vague, but it seems that he means that we cannot just preach and do pastoral care anymore and be deemed a strong pastor.  Again, the CGM moved the pastorate away from personal, face to face care, and so I think he would be surprised at how many congregations, according to some statistics, desire more face to face care from their pastors!  If anything, the bad taste left behind by pastors who thought they had to simply adopt a CEO model and steamroll their ideas through would indicate that a secular approach to leadership would do more harm than good these days, and that authentic, loving, initiative-taking care would go a long way.

4) Interpersonal skills are required more today than thirty years ago.  I don’t know if interpersonal skills are MORE necessary today than any other day, but he is right in principle: relationships matter more than flash or “success.”  Dr. Rainier says that pastors are expected to “relate nearly perfectly to everyone.”  I do not agree with this at all.  I think that the CGM has caused people to tire of the “leader on the pedestal” approach and wants instead to, in the words of Henri Nouwen, see a leader that is not afraid to be authentic and even show his/her wounds to the congregation so that we might seek God’s healing together.  This authentic approach is better for the leaders, too.  Just note how many Catholic and Protestant (including key CGM pastors) have had serious moral failures in the past three decades due to pressure to be perfect or near perfect in their leadership skills without first being authentic in their relationships.

5) Outreach was accomplished by getting people to come to church thirty years ago.  He is right on here!  "Get the backsides in the pews or chairs" was the mantra at the beginning and the summit of the CGM and in much of modern Evangelical church history.  Dr. Rainier says that “now barriers must be addressed in order for someone to be receptive to come to our churches.”  He is right, to a point.  But I would go further.  Growth now has to be seen as more than simply coming on Sunday mornings.  What happens beyond Sunday in the lives of those who come (or who might come someday) is much more valued today than simply counting people as “present” at a particular service.  Of course, we still need the revolutionary act of gathering together, praising together, and breaking bread together during times of intentional worship.  But these gatherings include preparation for “going”: the mission of the Church in the world.

6) Thirty years ago, there were very few ‘nones.’  His is correct here, of course.  But, my reasoning for the “nones” is given in the introduction.  We must address them with authentic encounters with Christ and His love, and not slick marketing ploys.

7) The internet and social media have made pastoring much more challenging than it was thirty years ago.  This is very insightful on Dr. Rainier’s part.  Rumors can spread quickly online.  False accusations can become more troublesome than ever.  Potential for abuse can be overwhelming due to the rise in social media and internet access.  However, there are also opportunities to connect in meaningful ways with the rise of social media and the web.  We can know much about one another – sometimes too much, perhaps – but never before has the potential to communicate the Gospel been so great.

Conclusion

In some ways, this has been the most cathartic article I have ever written.  I want to say again how much I respect Dr. Thom Rainier’s work, and I do not mean to play “gotcha’” with his concise and well-written article.  What I do hope to point out is that the paradigm from which he has written has a context that has done much to shape the way we as Evangelical Christians view church life.  That same paradigm has also caused some of the issues that Dr. Rainier and all of us who care about the Church and the Kingdom of God continue to wrestle with.  May we wrestle with the strength, love, and authenticity that God’s Spirit provides.  And may we trust God to help us overcome the issues that challenge the growth of God’s Kingdom – even if we ourselves helped create those issues!

My Veterans Day Prayer

I write this on Veteran’s Day, a day set aside to honor men and women who have served and who are currently serving in the United States military.  My family includes generations of people who have served or who are currently serving in every branch of military service.  Many friends with whom I graduated high school and college have also worn the uniform of the military.  Each one of their faces comes to mind on days like these.  Only God, their families, and they themselves know the hours of work, preparation, and sacrifice that have gone into their commitment to serve in the armed forces.  Most of them I have spoken with through the years – including my own family members who have served – have said that their biggest fears while serving are not about their own safety, but about the safety and health of family members and friends they are away from.  They find their thoughts drifting homeward, wondering if a friend or loved one is safely going about their day, even though a soldier’s life has far more potential dangers than the average person.  With these things in mind, and with genuine respect for men and women who have served and who are serving, I want to share an outline of a prayer.

I. As a Christian, I look forward with you to the day when your job is deemed unnecessary.  Jesus came as the Prince of Peace, and the Bible, in both the Old and New Testaments, calls forth images of a day when we will “beat our swords [and AK-47s and tanks, etc.] into plowshares and study war no more” (Isaiah 2:4).  In my prayers, I join with countless others – including most military personnel I know – in praying for that day to come quickly.  Every Christian, especially those who are in the military, is called to follow this Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ, whose ultimate goal is not war, but peace.  Moving toward a time when we can say, “We no longer need weapons of any kind.  What we need now is more folks to harvest all of the bounty that God has provided us,” sounds like an impossible dream given the current state of our world.  It would be impossible if not for one thing: God has promised it!  So, even as men and women serve and fight, we pray that each battle would be the last and look forward to the day when they no longer have to be called upon to serve in this way.

II. I pray that we honor our military without worshiping it.  No Christian would say that he or she worships anyone or anything but God.  However, the nature of idolatry (the worship of things other than God) is subtlety.  It creeps in little by little and takes the place of the True God.  Sometimes in showing our appreciation for precious men and women who serve in the military, we unwittingly turn them into Christlike figures.  In showing our appreciation for the military might and skill of our nation, we sometimes show more enthusiasm for might and power than we do for the One who came as a humble servant, Jesus Christ our Lord.  I pray that we can say to those who serve in the military “thank you,” while reminding them of the Scriptures that say that when a nation trusts in its own might it is doomed, because our strength really comes in trusting the ways of God (see Psalm 20:7, for instance).

III. Sometimes even the best nations get it wrong.  When we say “yes” to following Jesus Christ, we commit to a new kingdom: God’s kingdom.  We are still residents of other kingdoms – kingdoms like the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Malawi, etc.  However, we have said to Jesus, “We believe Your kingdom is the best one, and so anything that comes into conflict with Your kingdom must take a back seat.”  Anything less than this, according to Jesus, is not Christianity.  Now, as good as my country is at times – and my country of birth, the United States, has done a lot of good things – there will be (and have been) many times when it has been at odds with God’s approach to things.  At those times, I owe it to the kingdom of my highest loyalty, which is the Kingdom of God, to say something.  My prayer is that I would not share these criticisms with a mean or disrespectful spirit.  But my prayer is also that I would have the moral courage to say something – to “speak the truth in love,” as the Bible says – so that there can be a clear witness in regard to the Kingdom of God.  Sometimes that may involve making the Left or the Right or the Centrists or even the military uncomfortable.  If so, with all due respect, so be it.

IV. I want people to live in peace.  This is only because the Lord I seek to follow and the Bible I seek to live by is filled with calls for peace – real peace.  I am called to pray for enemies, and to do the best I can to “live at peace with all people,” to paraphrase the Apostle Paul in the New Testament.  When our nation, including our military, is working toward those ends, I am solidly in harmony with them. Sometimes peace may come about in ways that I and others will not be fond of, which would include the killing of people on a battlefield.  At other times, peace will come without a shot being fired.  Ultimately, my prayer is that the goal of our nation, including our military, would be peace, and that this peace would be so rooted in God’s ways that it would be lasting.

To keep this prayer outline from being just a pipe dream, I will actually share a prayer.  Because I believe in this God whose Kingdom is defined by service, forgiveness, love, and peace, I believe He is big enough to answer this prayer.  And I pray that all people –including soldiers of every era – would join me in this prayer:

Gracious God: You are the author of life.  You give us life, and then you offer us a life filled with your presence and your peace.  We are in a fallen world that values power over humility.  We value killing over conversation.  We value death over life.  Radically change our hearts and give us the discernment we need to bring about your kind of peace in your way: the way modeled so beautifully by your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.  Give us holy boldness and wisdom, so that we do not elevate any other kingdom over yours.  Give us loving hearts, so that even when we feel led to critique our nation or its leaders or its military, we would do so in love with redemptive purpose.  We pray for protection and peace for those who serve in the armed forces.  We pray for protection and peace for their families.  We join them in praying that you will speed the day when all nations would “beat their weapons into tools for prosperity and good, and study war no more.”  In the name of the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ our Lord, we pray.  Amen.

     

Following the Reckless Jesus

It is easy for us to fall into the trap of seeing Jesus as extremely orderly and as almost stoic in His approach to things.  It doesn’t help that so many movie portrayals of Jesus make Him out to be a somber, scowling character straight out of Shakespearean tragedy. 

We tend to want to see Jesus as efficient, orderly, and as very “black and white” in His thinking and actions.  Make a mistake around Jesus, and He will quickly correct you!  Step out of line around Jesus, and He will set you straight.  Break a rule, and He will be the holy, eternal policeman issuing a divine summons that you had better not ignore.  Don’t get too close.  Don’t interrupt His script.  In short, we want efficient, straightforward Americanized Jesus, who has little time for pettiness, small talk, or slackers. 

But the Jesus of the New Testament is quite different.  In the Gospels, Jesus goes against all the things that an efficient God whose job it is to run a tight ship should be.  For instance, Jesus hangs out with people who are not very refined.  Even His closest followers rarely follow proper etiquette, often speak out of turn, and sometimes make suggestions that would make even a Roman soldier blush (“Shall we call down fire on these Samaritans who are not listening to you?” is an example of one of their brilliant quips).

The more we get to know Jesus in the Gospels, we see that He Himself can appear almost reckless at times!  In one of Jesus’ parables, He speaks positively about a farmer who sows seeds without regard to where they will go: some landing on good soil, some landing in the middle of thorns, and some just scattered in the middle of the road to be eaten by birds!  Jesus also teaches about an important man who throws a banquet, but at the last minute (because the host is not getting the response he hoped for), he tears up all the old invitations and sends servants out “into the highways and byways” to bring in whomever is available to fill his table.  If Jesus’ teachings are not reckless enough, just look at His actions!  He walks right up to lepers and touches them.  He welcomes rowdy kids who are interrupting a gathering of attentive adults.  And He walks right up to a notorious woman at a local gathering place in the middle of the day in a “hostile territory”, and just strikes up a conversation (it’s a good thing there wasn't a twenty-four hour news cycle back then – think of the headlines!). 

Why would Jesus, who was sent to show us the “heart of God the Father” and to usher in a new way of living, come and say and do these seemingly reckless and rowdy things? 

Could it be that Jesus wants us to stop being so “in control” and safe and instead to live in a way that takes seriously that God exists?  He commands all who would follow Him – who would be called His disciples – to “love as I have loved.”  This means that the world around us can no longer be at arm’s length.  We can no longer neatly organize ourselves into a quiet corner of existence and stay there, if we are to follow this Jesus who lavished His love and mercy at full speed to everyone He came in contact with.  To do this, we really have to be convinced that Jesus’ way is the only way.  We cannot water it down with our political or even religious safety nets.  It may seem reckless, but it is really not.  It is simply faith-filled, love-filled living – which, according to Jesus, is the only way to live!

Five Things Pastors Wish People Knew About Ministry

Countless articles and books have been written about the theology and practice of Christian ministry.  There have even been “what I wish I knew then” books, as well as “what they didn’t teach you in seminary” books.  Most of these books and articles have placed valuable resources into the hands of pastors and those who work closely with pastors in Christian ministry.  Differences in personality, denomination, theological persuasion, and location join many other factors in affecting how one approaches his or her ministerial assignment.  Therefore, all learning materials that address Christian ministry, like all learning materials in most other disciplines, always require adaptation and properly contextualized application in order to be useful to each situation. 

Having said that, here are some observations from my own twenty-plus  year journey and conversations with others in Christian ministry that many if not most ministers wish others knew about their calling and profession.  The list is not exhaustive, nor is it reached by scientific research.  It simply represents a “behind the scenes” glance at what most of us in ministry value in our jobs.

1. We really want our families to be a priority – for us and for you.  Ministers have a lot of work to do, as do most people in our congregations.  However, we often feel torn between wanting to make an impression as “hard working” people and setting a proper example in regard to how one may be an effective example to one’s family in a “workaholic world.”  When congregations pick up this hint and affirm that, we tend to want to keep our families (and ourselves) in that particular church community for a long time.  When we see it bear fruit in the lives of others to whom we minister – for instance, when we see families being challenged to adjust their work and family priorities – it is a great encouragement to us and can provide a witness to the community at large.  We want to be near our families and not make them feel as if the church is competing for their time and attention.  At the same time, we also want the church to know that we are seeking to “earn our pay” and their trust by being consistently present and by managing our time and the church’s resources properly.  When this goal becomes a partnership between ministers and congregations, everyone wins - including spouses and children!  When you acknowledge to our families that you are committed to their health and growth, and not just to their spouse/parent "doing their job", you are increasing the health of the entire church!

2. We consider study time part of our job – and not “extra” or free time.  Only someone who has done it for more than a few months can describe the mixture of joy and terror that comes in preparing to stand before God’s people at a worship gathering and seek to interpret and apply Holy Scripture in a way that seeks to represent God’s purposes for their lives.  All of the other tasks we do in ministry are important: being present to the congregation and community, planning important administrative meetings, overseeing the proper distribution of budgets, etc.  However, those relatively few minutes per week when we stand and say, “Today, this is what the Lord is saying to all of us in this Scripture passage,” haunt us all week.  I have often told congregations not to complain too much about sermon length, since I have to live with the sermon all week long, and they get the “short version.”  Pastors can help congregations by taking seriously their preparation time and budgeting their time wisely.  Congregations can help pastors by valuing the fact that part of the job description for most every pastor includes several hours of preparation work during the week in order to “rightly divide the Word of Truth.”

3. We admire those whose gifts are different from ours, but we struggle with our own gifts and calling at times. This means that we secretly – or not so secretly – have days when we wish we were as “up” on certain aspects of church life as some of our talented lay-leaders are.  We may love the idea of an inviting church building, but we may feel that we are “at the mercy” of those who know a lot more about building than we do.  We may love dynamic and vibrant worship services, but some may not have the musical talent to take strong leadership in this area.  Therefore, we need men and women who will be gifted interpreters of our vision (as long as we are following God's vision), whose gifts and callings in the church make up for what we are lacking.  We as pastors can make this easier by not feeling “threatened” by those who have what we lack.  Non-pastors can help by patiently “having our back” in areas where we are weak, much like the way Aaron and Hur held up Moses’ arms in Exodus 17 when he grew weary.

4. We struggle with devotional times more than you think.  For many of us, our sermon preparation time (see number 2 above) is not exactly the same as our devotional time with God.  It is a time of intense prayer and devotion to God, of course.  And, it lives with us and shapes us spiritually and in other ways in much the same way we hope that the finished product (the sermon) will do for others (again, see number 2 above).  However, time alone to be genuinely nourished by God and to lead our families in this way is just as much of a challenge for those of us in ministry as it is for most other believers.  Allowing us to be honest about this with you without feeling judged or mocked is very helpful.  Even more helpful is the recognition that, like you, we sometimes need “catch up times” with God and with our families.  An old cowboy once said, “I’d rather have a fresh horse than a fast horse.”  Encouraging us and even joining with us in setting aside key times for prayer and refreshment will help us all run this race further.

5. We really do care about this stuff!  For most of us, ministry is not just a job.   Many of us could make more money elsewhere.  However, we are called to consistently think and pray about ways to involve as many people as possible in God’s Big Plan for God’s world.  And most of us do think and pray about these things nearly all the time.  We talk about them with our spouses, friends, and other family members, and we often sit alone or in groups looking at ways to involve one more person and to reach one more life for Christ.  At the same time, we are often doing a lot of self-examination in regard to our motives and methods: are we simply being “sales people,” or are we doing biblically-based, Christ-centered ministry?  Method is more important to us than you might think.  If we feel pressured to “fudge” too many things, or if we are asked to compromise the integrity of the Church too often, we will soon feel unwelcome, and the church itself will suffer by blending in so much with the world that it becomes irrelevant.  And, speaking of the “r” word (relevant): Most of us struggle with that, too.  There is a sense in which we care so much that we want people to walk out of the church doors and say, “That service hit me right where I live!”  On the other hand, most of us in Christian ministry feel that trying to be too relevant too quickly to too many is overrated and fails to produce the patience and reflection that God calls His people to be identified with (see the Book of James, for instance).  So, bear with us when we move a little more reflectively and slowly than you might think is best.  And help us when we get so enthused with “results” that we leave behind key theological truth!

Thanks for listening.  

Not Better...Just More Visible

This time of year (August) is a time of particular reflection for me.  It was August of 1995 that I was ordained in the Christian ministry on the Dallas District Church of the Nazarene.  My wife, Edna and I, were newlyweds, having been married less than two years.  I had not yet completed seminary.  I had been in ministry a total of less than four years but had only served as a senior pastor of a small yet determined (and thankfully, veryh forgiving) church for just under two years.

I was not quite 25, and here I was kneeling at an altar in front of the entire district assembly congregation that included my mother and father, friends, mentors, and other family members.  My lovely wife knelt beside me as hands were places upon our heads and prayers of consecration were prayed.  We were right in the middle of Christian ministry, and as I looked at my devoted wife and a congregation full of people from all over the district, imagery that ranged from quicksand to lush meadows ran through my mind.  Deep down I knew that, despite all the training that people were putting into me and the prayers that were going up, I was just "Charles Wayne", a boy from East Texas who was now being asked to "shepherd the flock of God."

Of course, the formal training for ministry continued, and the lessons (some of them hard lessons) continue to this moment.  Eighteen years later, I still do not feel like an "expert," although I have had the privilege to help train others who were approaching this calling both in and out of the Church of the Nazarene, on district boards and in universities and seminaries, and as a mentor from the pulpit.  There have been hard times and hard people.  There have also been people whose wisdom, prayers, and maturity have taught me so much about the grace of God and patience and care of God's people, even toward those who are called to care for them.

As is true every year when I re-examine the theology and practice of ordination, this year I have run across another nugget of wisdom and comfort that would have been helpful to me early on, and that I hope will be helpful to others who read this blog -- especially those who this year at district assemblies and church gatherings all over the world will gather together and hear this charge in some form or another from those charged with overseeing and praying for them: "Preach the Word."

This is an excerpt from Barbara Brown Taylor's book entitled, Leaving Church: A Memoir of Faith.  Taylor is a longtime Episcopal priest (ordained at a time when there were very few women who were Episcopal priests), university and seminary professor, and a well-respected writer and communicator.  In this excerpt, Taylor reflects on the first time she tries on her clergy collar in front of the mirror as a young and newly ordained minister facing the awesome task of the vocation of Christian ministry:

"As I stood in front of the bathroom mirror studying the full effect, a visual memory...surfaced in my sight.  When I was a little girl riding in the backseat of the family station wagon to visit my relatives in south Georgia, I remember looking out the window to see men in black-and-white pajamas working in the fields.
'Why are those men dressed like that?' I asked my mother.  Turning around in her seat, she explained that they were state prisoner, who were dressed like that because the uniforms made them easy to see.  If they tried to escape, she said, then the guards could find them quicker, and if they showed up at some farmhouse looking for food, then the people who lived there would know to call the police.

'See how they stand out?' she asked me.  Staring out the rear window of the car, I watched them until we were a quarter mile down the road . . . . 

Looking in the bathroom mirror twenty-five years later, I could see how I was going to stand out too.  For good or ill, I too would have a hard time escaping.  As my beloved rector had told me in seminary, being ordained is not about serving God perfectly but about serving God visibly, allowing other people to learn whatever they can from watching you rise and fall.  'You probably won't be much worse that other people,' he said, 'and you certainly won't be any better, but you will have to let people look at you.  You will have to let them see you as you are.'

Clearly, the uniform was designed to facilitate that.  My new clothes said, 'Keep your eye on this person,' without granting me any real control over what others made of what they saw.

----------------

So, take time this week to breathe a special prayer along with me for those who will become more visible in the coming days.  Let it remind us that we are all more visible as followers of Jesus Christ than we think, and that His grace really is available and sufficient to help bring to completion that which He has begun in us.

The Ethics of Forgiveness

Ruth Bell Graham, the wife of Billy Graham, once remarked that a good marriage is the union of two forgivers.  Given the flaws of human nature, it would be fair to say that any successful relationship that goes beyond the surface issues of life would also need people who are consistent practitioners of the art of forgiveness. 

Christianity’s Trademark

The late Huston Smith, world-renown writer in the area of comparative religion, was once asked to summarize the key emphases of major world religions.  When it came to Christianity, Smith without hesitation chose this word: “Forgiveness.”  All religions have teachings on forgiveness, and most encourage their followers to practice it.  However, Christianity at its very essence – given its views of humanity and God, for instance – is saturated with the idea of forgiveness, according to Smith. 

From the Book of Genesis account of Adam and Eve’s need for restorative forgiveness, to Israel’s wanderings, to the coming of Jesus Christ, whose “model prayer” (often called the Lord’s Prayer) in the Gospel of Matthew emphasizes not only our need for God’s forgiveness, but also God’s call to forgive others, Christianity’s promotion of forgiveness is a constant.

 

Unfortunately, though, it is a difficult art to practice.  It is also one of the more misunderstood elements of Christianity.  Is forgiveness a blanket pardon?  Does it excuse the wrongs that have been done? Is forgiveness the same things as reconciliation? Can we “forgive and forget”? 

If we are going to spend any amount of time in a deep relationship, personally or corporately (this includes church life!), we must become a union of consistent forgivers. Volumes have been written on this subject by very capable authors, and I recommend such writers.  My favorite writer on the subject (quoted below) is probably the late Fuller Seminary professor Dr. Lewis Smedes, whose book entitled Forgive and Forget? is a now classic summary of what it means to be a practitioner of consistent forgiveness.

Here are some theological and ethical aspects of forgiveness that continue to help me as I seek to be a follower of Christ, a good husband and father, and a pastor to a diverse group of people. 

Key Elements of the Art of Forgiveness

In his book, Forgive and Forget? [note the question mark!], Lewis Smedes sets our minds at ease right away: it is virtually impossible to forget a wrong done to us, but it is not impossible to forgive it!  How can this be, since every time we remember a hurt we find it easy to rehearse the initial pain that went along with it?  The first step, according to Smedes, is to recognize that forgiving is not tied to forgetting.  Furthermore, our remembering often requires us to, in his words, “rehearse forgiveness” over and over until we can at some point separate the person from the action and not allow the action to determine our feelings in the long run. 

Other key reminders about forgiveness:

1) Forgiveness does NOT pretend an action did not occur. Even in our Christian experience, God does not look at us and pretend we did not sin.  Instead, God says, “You have sinned, but I will not hold your sin against you.”  This is the whole truth of the good news that Christ brings.  We are indeed in need of a savior – of genuine forgiveness for sins we have really committed.  God does not live in a state of denial.  Rather, even in recognition of our sins, God allows His mercy and love to determine the relationship.  In other words, God knows and sees and even acknowledges actual wrongs, yet chooses love and forgiveness instead of abandonment and vengeance. 

2) Forgiveness is not the same as reconciliation. An illustration I have used with church members and with students goes like this.  If someone I knew and trusted stabbed me with a knife, and I had to be hospitalized, chances are that person would be arrested and even spend some time in jail.  Over time, as I heal from the wounds and he emerges from prison, there may be scars that remain, and I have choices to make:

 I can seek revenge (i.e., try to stab that person or at least try to make his life miserable for having stabbed me).  This option may give me some sort of short term relief, but it does not take away the initial pain.  Nor does it allow the relationship to move forward.  In fact, it allows a hurt from the past to set the direction for most of the rest of my life. 

Another option would be to pretend that nothing ever happened.  This may cause some immediate relief in regard to my not having to confront a difficult circumstance, but that person’s presence in my life means that those memories will return.  And, if I simply allow that person back into my life as if nothing ever happened, it could be dangerous for me and for the future of the relationship. Counselors call this approach “denial,” and it causes more long-term conflict, since those in denial not only battle the scars of the past, but also engage in an un-winnable internal struggle regarding their feelings and actions.

The best choice may be something like this:

Stabber: Have you forgiven me? I am sorry for what I have done.  I was very different then, and I have become a very different person with different responses.
Me: The stabbing hurt me in many ways.  It cost me time and energy in recovery, and I still have sad feelings about it. But yes, I have chosen to forgive you.  I would like to believe you when you say that in the future this will not happen again, and I choose not to hold that terrible past incident against you any longer.

Stabber: Can I borrow your pocket knife?
Me: No, I am not ready for that.
Stabber: I thought you forgave me!
Me:  I did, but we are not at a place of trust yet.  The last interaction I had with you ended terribly and was injurious to me and to my trust in you.  I want to believe you when you say you are different now, and I will be watching and hoping that what you say is true.  You do not have to be perfect, but I do need to see that we can establish a relationship of trust.  My goal one day is to be able to hand you my pocket knife without any kind of fear or distrust, but that day will take time.  Let’s work together on it.  I will do all I can to provide avenues of rebuilding trust, and it would help me if you could recognize that I need some time and some evidence.

In the above scenario, there is true recognition of the wrong done, there is a choice to forgive instead of seek revenge, and there is an open door for long-term reconciliation.  The forgiveness and not seeking revenge part is a personal choice that involves the party who was wronged.  This aspect of forgiveness does not depend upon anything that the perpetrator of the wrong has done (though in my scenario above, the perpetrator is repentant and wants to be forgiven).  This scenario also demonstrates a willingness to reconcile and to regain trust that has been lost. 

Like Christ Himself, we are called to create open doors and opportunities for reconciliation where possible.  We cannot guarantee that those who have harmed us and betrayed our trust will walk through those doors.  However, we are called to do what we can to find opportunities where possible. 

What if They Don’t Want to Reconcile?

Often people who harm us have no interest in reconciling with us.  We are not responsible for this.  God does not call us to take responsibility for the choices of others, but we are responsible for our own choices.  Forgiveness is a way of taking responsibility for what we can control without letting what we cannot control dominate us.  Reconciliation is a beautiful thing that can even bring long term strength and intimacy to a relationship.  However, reconciliation requires both sides seeking to establish or re-establish trust over a period of time.  Those who choose not to reconcile with us can haunt us, unless we consistently remind ourselves that we can forgive: we are not bound to relive or repay the wrongs done to us.  Even those with whom we have reconciled can remind us of times when we were the recipient of harm at their hands.  These instances are the opportunities to “rehearse forgiveness,” in the words of Smedes, by reminding ourselves and, when necessary, them that not only has God wiped away the debt, but so have we.  And when this process becomes difficult for any reason – and it usually does – God Himself has promised to take up the slack for us!  He has done that for us, so that we can do so for others.  Thanks be to God.

Intentional Diversity

“Why do they always sit together in the cafeteria and still expect us to include them?” This is how a conversation about diversity began with a college student. It was true that a group of students who happened to be of the same race were sitting together in the cafeteria, and that their race happened to be very much in the minority at this particular Christian university.

 Then it hit me: “Look around,” I said to the student. “Do you see other clusters of people of the same race sitting together?” The answer was obvious. Table after table of white skinned people were sitting together, casually talking and eating and laughing. They were of the same race and were sitting together, and to them and the student observing it seemed quite natural. “That’s different,” the student offered. But he had no real reason why this was different. So, I asked him a question: “If one group far outnumbers another group, whose moral obligation would it be to be inclusive: the bigger group or the smaller group?” He thought for a moment and said, “I guess it would make sense for the bigger group, since the bigger group has the power and the numbers.”

 This little exercise in observation became a sociological and theological case study! It is one that I believe has far reaching implications beyond college campuses and cafeterias. Jesus’ ministry to the “least of these” was not just about those who had very little – although we must be quick to recognize that this was a key element of His ministry. Jesus’ “least of these” ministry was also about those who were outnumbered, overlooked, and even looked down upon. Those who were different due to economics, race, or even population were of great concern to Jesus then, and I believe they still are today.

 So, using our cafeteria case study above and applying it to Christian ministry, here are a few observations that we must consider: 
1. It is the responsibility of the majority and not the minority to initiate inclusiveness. To simply say we want diversity and then wait around for lesser represented groups to flock to our midst is illogical at best, and at worst it contributes to ongoing resentment and distrust.

2. Taking initiative means finding entry ways into the culture and experiences of another group that are acceptable to the group we are seeking to engage. This means that approaching an underrepresented group or person on my terms as a person whose race is in the “majority” will not be sufficient. Due to past racial and cultural experiences, certain groups already practice what theologians and sociologists call a “hermeneutic of suspicion” regarding those in majority communities. This means that there are some built-in cultural suspicions from any minority group regarding a majority culture, usually based upon historical realities. These can be overcome, of course, but they require awareness and sensitivity on the part of the majority culture.

3. Intentionality involves the biblical idea of “seeking.” We who are in an overly represented culture, whether it be in a campus setting, a community, or in a church building are called to take initiative in the “seeking out” process, recognizing that we may have to come humbly and even in a repentant way based upon misunderstandings, exclusions, and other actions that we are identified with. This is true even if I have never individually perpetrated a racist or exclusionary act.

 Jesus, as He sent His disciples into the rest of the world in Matthew 28, expected them to “go” into regions where the Christian message was unknown and often misunderstood. He recognized that if the Church was to grow and become the agent of God’s change that it was created to be, they would have to take Spirit-led initiative, introduce their message humbly, and consistently be people who sought out the “least of these” – those who are overlooked or underrepresented. This moves us from an “us vs. them” mentality, toward an approach that asks, “How can everyone become part of what God is seeking to do in specific cultures and in the whole world?”

The Subversive Art of Reading

The Dangers of Not Reading

The conversation began this way: “Pastor, we have got to distribute these warning fliers this Sunday.  All of our freedoms, especially our freedom of religion, are in jeopardy!”  This well-meaning church member was obviously concerned, judging by the look in her eyes as she grasped the rubber band bound stack of fliers in her hand.  “Leave them on my desk, and I will take a look,” I said.  Over the years, the church board and the entire congregation knew that this had become my policy.  I take seriously the idea that whatever the church distributes or shares in some ways represents the church.  Not only did I read the fliers, which at first glance seemed overly alarming: big red letters, emotional appeals, and “slippery slope” arguments with no direct quotations of the forthcoming legislation in question.  It was that last part that really got my attention.  None of these expert legal and/or religious minds were actually engaging the legislation they were attacking, although there was plenty of negativity and emotional appeal against key state legislators whose track records had not exactly earned them the favor of most Christian voters like those in my congregation.  But the obvious absence of direct encounter with the legislation in question caused me to do something that I was to learn was both revolutionary and even subversive: I went online and actually read the entire legislation! 

To my surprise and dismay, there was nothing in the proposed legislation that even came close to the horror stories that the so called experts from this Christian source had gotten my church member and many like her all stirred up about.  While it was true that there were things in the proposed legislation that people of good conscience could have serious disagreements about, and it was also true that some of those proposing the legislation had a track record of going against certain things that many of my fellow Evangelical Christians were opposed to, there simply was nothing in the legislative proposal that seemed to merit the panic and foreboding that generated the stack of fliers now resting on my desk.  In short, this particular organization seemed to be playing upon fears and upon the disconnection already earned by certain legislators to forward an agenda that actually had nothing to do with Christianity or religious freedom.  I simply slid the stack of fliers into the garbage can.  More about that later.

Learning to Read

I have often credited several people for teaching me to read.  Of course, my parents, grandparents, teachers,  aunts and uncles, who early on surrounded me with books and read to me had a great deal to do with the beginnings of my journey into reading.  When I entered Christian ministry, reading took on a new dimension for me.  In fact, there are a couple of seminary professors – particularly my first systematic theology professor – who really taught me to read.  What I mean is: this professor and others like him emphasized that being a minister of the Gospel has always included the responsibility of being a continual learner, not just for the sake of my own enlightenment and education, but also for the sake of leading others into a faith of depth and real meaning.  Reading for me became more than a diversion or even a bother: it became a part of my calling.  My professors made sure I had plenty of it to do!  But in  doing so, and in being challenged to read in ways that explored and interacted passionately as well as analytically with all kinds of works, reading took on a different dimension for me.  I learned that reading could be – and sometimes should be – a struggle, an adventure, a pleasure, a painful interaction, and sometimes a combination of all of these, and that this was alright. 

To this day, I tell the students I have been privileged to work with in the past fifteen years or so that my goals as their instructor are not just about learning the course materials, but also learning to read in such a way that you will never be able to look at any book or pamphlet the same again.  Nor will you ever be able to simply “take someone’s word for it” without studying to “show yourself approved,” echoing Paul’s words to Timothy in the New Testament.  Reading became both an ethical responsibility as well as a revolutionary – even subversive – part of my calling to be a Christian minister.  Of course this implies that I am to lead others into this kind of revolutionary journey, which puts me at risk of being confronted about my own interpretations.  I have learned and embraced the fact that this is part of that “iron sharpening iron” that the Bible speaks of. 

The Potential Cost of Reading

Subversive reading includes reading for enjoyment: reading things that excite and challenge us.  It also includes reading those things that challenge and even aggravate us in a way that temporarily suspends our own disbelief long enough to honestly engage where an author is coming from.  We then re-engage our Spirit led analysis and are then in a position to filter out some aspects of what we have read and cling to other aspects.   Of course, sometimes this subversive call to read means that we no longer simply believe the television and radio personalities and take initiative to engage for ourselves.  Unfortunately, this seemingly logical and simple act can be the most subversive of all to some: especially those who want so much for something to be true that they will forgo reading or analyzing something that may conflict with the narrative they prefer.  As Christians, especially as Christian pastors, I really do believe that we have a responsibility to lead those around us beyond this simplistic and neglectful way of approaching reality.  But there can be a cost to this.

In the case of the church member I mentioned above, the “cost” for me was their decision to leave my congregation.  Later in the week when the woman who brought the materials followed up with me and this time not only wanted me to share the fliers but also set aside some time in the worship hour to bring these “grave matters” to the attention of the congregation. 

I told her that I had indeed looked not only at the fliers but had also read the supposed “dangerous” legislation, and I saw a real disconnect between what the fliers claimed and what was actually true.  She looked at me as if I had torn a Bible up right in front of her!  “Pastor, don’t you care about Christian values?  Don’t you care that the very freedoms we value are going to be taken from us if we don’t help motivate fellow Christians to vote this down?”  I said, “I do believe in Christian values.  An important value in Christianity is honesty, and I feel that if I distribute the flier it would be dishonest.  It may be that the legislative bill is not the best one for lots of reasons, but I have read it.  I have even read what other Christians have said about it, and I am convinced that this campaign to defeat it has nothing to do with Christian freedoms or religious values and is simply about garnering political influence for the organization that sent them.  If they can get well-meaning people afraid, then they can get them to give to ‘the fight,’ even though in this case, there really is no threat to freedom or to Christian theology.”  I urged her to vote for whatever legislation she wished, and to privately urge others to do so.  But I could not in good conscience make this a church matter.  The church, I told her, has bigger fish to fry.

In her request for membership transfer to a larger and more politically activist church up the road, she expressed her disappointment that I did not care enough to speak out for "Christian values" and those things which threaten them.  In my phone follow up with her, she and I actually parted gracefully.  I did ask if she had ever gotten around to reading the actual proposed legislation.  She paused and then said: "Pastor, this organization got several experts including high paid lawyers to do that for us, and I trust their interpretation."  I hung up the phone with chuckling to myself, "Who would have thought the simple act of reading could cause so much trouble?"  Maybe Jesus, whose first hometown sermon consisted simply of reading the Isaiah scroll promising a Day of Jubilee, folded it up, and subversively said: "Today, this has been fulfilled in your midst," just before almost getting thrown off a cliff(!), chuckled too.  

From Black and White to Living Color: The Purpose of This Blog

The Complicated Life of the Believer

The biblical injunction from God through the prophet Micah to “do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with the LORD your God” seems straightforward.  However, Christians today, like Israel back then, know that it is not.  Our world is filled with complex permutations of circumstances that often cloud what “justice” should look like (hence, we have an overabundance of lawyers).  We also struggle with the difference between genuine mercy and enabling harmful behaviors.  Not to mention the fact that humility is in such short supply, even in Christian circles, as to become almost unrecognizable.  Even attempts at humility can become nothing more than photo opportunities that result in the opposite of humility, otherwise known as pride or even hypocrisy.

We live in a gray world in which we are often pleading for simple answers.  Even country music, long noted for its wrestling with sin, has gotten in on the act.  One recent hit song cries:

            I miss Mayberry; Sittin’ on the porch drinking ice cold Cherry Coke;
            Where everything is black and white.

Beyond Black and White

Unfortunately, the black and white simplicity of Mayberry or Leave it to Beaver only exists on TV.  Even Scripture reminds us of this.  One only has to look at the lives of biblical characters like Adam, Abraham, Samuel, Samson, and David – just to name a few – to see that not even Scripture proposes an easy “black and white” approach to living.  Our world is in living color.  It lives in vibrant contrasts of reflected light.  It dies in real red blood and sometimes in flesh colored agony. 

Therefore, Christian ethics begins in the gray: the murky, clouded highways filled with complicated stories of real life people in specific contexts on this journey called life.  The ends of Christian ethics are not found in the transition from gray to black and white, however.  Instead, the goal of Christian ethics is a movement through the gray and into real color-filled living.  This color-filled living takes seriously the nuances of context and circumstance.  It allows us to take into account the complex tapestry of voices – past and present – through which God continues His dynamic and vibrant -- albeit sometimes messy-- work.

Honesty demands that we admit that there are many gray areas – indeed that we live and work and minister and die “in the gray.”  The truth-filled love of Jesus Christ demands that we recognize that simplistic black and white thinking does not always do justice to the truth or to what is good and right.  The “good” and the “right” are the keystones and goals of Christian ethics.  Christian ethics is about not only getting to the results of what is good, but it also addresses how we get there: our motives, our character, our context, etc.  Living as “children of light”(I Thess. 5:5) involves allowing the light of God’s love and truth to bring into high definition clarity those circumstances that inform our decision making, so that in the end we may be consistent followers of the God who reveals Himself in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

The basic tools of developing an ethical system, as well as the relationships that inform and guide our approaches to ethics as Christian ministers are the main subject matter of this blog.  Honestly confronting the “gray” areas can shed clear light upon Christian ethics as more than a set of decisions to be made and defended.  Instead, we will begin to see the heartbeat of God Himself as we allow the guiding principle of love – what can be rightly called John Wesley’s “supreme theological and ethical category” – to move us beyond the seemingly hopeless gray areas, through the simplistic and short-sighted black and white trivialities, and into the breathtaking colorful landscape of grace.

Getting There

In a manner than seeks to be rooted in Scripture and the Christian tradition, paying specific attention to the Wesleyan tradition, my goal is to first of all honestly address the gray areas.  As the late singer songwriter Rich Mullins once wrote: We are awfully small, and we are not as strong as we think we are.  That means that our simple "black and white" solutions often betray more about us than they do about the issues we are trying to fix or solve.  The demonstrate our desire to move quickly from gray to black and white, much like the movie Pleasantville, in which the characters are trapped (without realizing that they really are trapped) in a literal black and white world with strictly controlled routines and bland existence.  The two teenagers who become trapped in this world from their world of real life at first enjoy and even embrace the simplicity, but soon realize that although the world of color and complications is frightening, it is a far better way to live.  They seek to demonstrate to the inhabitants of Pleasantville that the colorful and complicated world that they fear is worth the risk.  

God has no fear of living color!  God, in fact, has given us this colorful world and has even given us a dangerous gift called freewill, with which we can either live passionately in the beauty of His love and grace, or live in darkness.  Black and white solutions, though often promising short term comfort, are soon overwhelmed by the nearly infinite possibilities in a world filled with people who have the freedom to say "yes" or even "no" to God.  

I am seeking to trust God enough to allow me to face the discomfort of the gray areas.  I also want to trust God enough to move me beyond simplistic or trite solutions that often masquerade as black and white solutions.  Of course, I am not saying that everything in the Christian life is complicated.  There are indeed simple truths, and these truths are, in the words of the classic hymn, simple gifts.  However, there is a difference between simple and simplistic.  My prayer is that Christians allow God's Spirit to demonstrate the passion and power of living beyond the gray and moving into the glorious realm of life where the light of His love fully shines and illuminates the darkness with the whole spectrum of living color!