Category: Christian Living

  • unFrozen

    Jesus told this simple story, but they had no idea what he was talking about. So he tried again. “I’ll be explicit, then. I am the Gate for the sheep. All those others are up to no good—sheep stealers, every one of them. But the sheep didn’t listen to them. I am the Gate. Anyone who goes through me will be cared for—will freely go in and out, and find pasture. A thief is only there to steal and kill and destroy. I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of. John 10:6-10, The Message

    There’s a joke told about church people– they are referred to as “the frozen chosen.”

    In some very real ways that description is sadly true.

    I know too many people frozen. They are stuck and can’t move forward. In the guilt of their sin they know with their heads that they are forgiven but struggle with moving forward… They are frozen in their regret. They quiet, honest corners they cry, “How could God love me when I’ve _____.” They are frozen in fear that if they somehow move forward– forgiving themselves a little– the same temptation will befall them again. They are frozen from dreaming.

    They are frozen from living.

    From imagining with wonder the possibilities of what God could do through them.

    They are frozen spiritually, going through the daily motions of life.

    And they live life to the least as a result

    If you are frozen, John 10:10 is for you.

    The frozen feeling is real. Under your own power you are frozen. You aren’t free. You are bound by the penalties of the messes you’ve caused. The thief is winning and will continue to win. You feel powerless in the weight of your failures. You can’t move forward, backwards, or to the side because you really, truly, are frozen.

    Yet, Jesus came so you could be unfrozen. Whether today is the first day you’ve put your trust in Christ or your 20,000th, you are in the same position. Paul (and the Holy Spirit) captured your psychobabble pretty well, didn’t he?

    I can anticipate the response that is coming: “I know that all God’s commands are spiritual, but I’m not. Isn’t this also your experience?” Yes. I’m full of myself—after all, I’ve spent a long time in sin’s prison. What I don’t understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. So if I can’t be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it, it becomes obvious that God’s command is necessary.

    But I need something more! For if I know the law but still can’t keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don’t have what it takes. I can will it, but I can’t do it. I decide to do good, but I don’t really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don’t result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time. Romans 7:14-20, The Message

    The reality is that only you, in the power of the Holy Spirit, and with the freedom paid for by Jesus, can get unfrozen. Going to church won’t unfreeze you. Listening to a million sermons won’t unfreeze you. Tithing won’t unfreeze you. Serving at the church won’t unfreeze you. Giving the poor won’t unfreeze you. Nothing you can do externally will unfreeze you.

    The heat and power to unfreeze you can only come from within.

    Somewhere, near that place where you aren’t quite sure if it’s your own self-talk or the Holy Spirit speaking to you, you need to conspire against yourself and get unfrozen. The source of the heat lives inside of you. You need to trust it and boldly allow it to work.

    And when you do? In Jesus’ words, “I came that you may have life, and have it abundantly.”

    (John 10:10, NASB, personalized the “they” for “you.”)

  • Snake bit

    Darkness creeps in at weird moments.

    A comment. A ungaurded remark by the wrong person. A glance or a stare that you can’t get an explanation for. All of those are things that can set me off inexplicably.

    Normally, I’m pretty happy-go-lucky. Why do those tiny things trigger the my mind so wildly? I wonder those things as I lay in bed with my mind literally swirling in the darkness.

    At times when darkness creeps in I’m left asking myself questions like this:

    • Are these people playing me?
    • Am I just being set up to be the fall guy?
    • How do I get out of the way of this situation I’m imagining?
    • Am I prepared to go another direction, right now?
    • What would happen if….

    If what? That’s when I snap out of my anxiety-filled, irrational Risk game and wake up to reality. No one is out to get me.

    Disappointed with myself, I am left self-reflecting: How did I get to that place… AGAIN?!?

    Snakes in a church?

    You see, like a lot of people who are involved in Christian leadership, I’ve been bitten by a snake before. And once you’ve been bitten you don’t ever want it to happen again. As a result, people who work in churches tend to have a healthy fear of snakes.

    In 2002, Kristen and I left an over-resourced church we loved to accept a call to full-time ministry. It was the culmination of years of hard work, prayerful steps of obedience & preparation, and a lot of sound advice. We left Chicago and headed west for an under-resourced church in an area which described itself as the armpit of California. A huge unchurched population. Rampant adolescent problems. And no viable, functional Christian ministry to those kids.

    Our hearts were way ahead of our skill level. The church wasn’t nearly as willing to reach “the wrong kids” as they originally said. The meth epidemic was exploding all around them and they didn’t know how to respond. So instead of reaching out the leaders decided to close the shutters and try to ride out the storm.

    Within a few months every friend and mentor I’d ever had was telling me the same thing: Bad fit, get out.

    So we did. I began a quiet process of finding another place to do ministry while at the same time respecting my obligation to the church I was serving at, holding out some hope that things might turn around as I was looking and we’d be able to stay.

    A few months later, Kristen and I found a much better fit, well-suited for my skill level, and closer to our family. We accept that churches call, signed a contract, and were eager to close things up at one church to move on to another, better fit. We had kept everything on the up-and-up. I’d asked the advice of people far more seasoned than I and followed their advice closely.

    All that was left was to tell the elders.

    The meeting didn’t go well. They turned on me. These men slobbered angry tears at me about how they wished I was going to be the son they wished their sons had been to them. And they told me I was a horrible husband to Kristen. And a horrible father to my daughter. And that I was unfit for any kind of ministry. And that the devil must have confused me into thinking I was called to ministry when I was clearly not.

    I took it all in. I apologized for disappointing them. If the room full of men turned into bitter boys, I’d be the one in the room to stand up and take it like a man.

    Then they explained to me that they couldn’t allow me to quit because that would be an embarrassment to them. I couldn’t quit because they were firing me! Later, they produced a letter and “a review” of my performance based purely on things they had heard, filled with quotes from my volunteers, things they later told me they never said, and the viscous letter even went so far to say that Kristen was an unfit mother.

    And I was told to read a different letter to the church the next Sunday. (I read parts of it, ad libbing the rest. Oops.) And they were to pay me off to get me out of their sight. Then, when that was all over- phone calls came because they said things about me in private to other people. Letters arrived at our house. People drove by our house slowly to stare. My neighbors wouldn’t talk to me.

    The next 30 days before our moving van left were the worst 30 days of my life. It made no sense whatsoever. I hadn’t done anything wrong. All I had done was quit one job to take a job that better suited me. But, the men I had trusted suddenly turned into snakes, biting me repeatedly.

    I’ll never forget my last conversation with one of the elders. The one whom I’d been closest too. As he walked me to our car on the last Sunday, he handed me an envelope full of money and pretended to say nice things. He tried to apologize for how the elders had acted, but since he was also delivering their hush money, it was all kind of a lie and he knew it. He said, “You know, I’ve wanted to know this whole time something, maybe you can help me? From the first day you’ve loved kids here that none of us would love. You’ve reached out to people we don’t want to even look at but probably should. What book did you read that taught you how to love those kids?” I looked at Kristen. Her jaw dropped. She shook her head. One statement summed up the entire disconnect that haunted the last year of our lives. I help back a smile. I said, “Mark, I learned those things from the life of Jesus. That’s the entire point of the New Testament. The Gospel isn’t just for people born into the church, it’s for everyone.”

    Snakes. I never felt so sick to my stomach in all of my life. As Indiana Jones so famously said, “Why did it have to be snakes?”

    Darkness creeps in

    The last 24 hours, memories of the snakes have crept back in. I wish I could explain it. I guess old fears lurk just under the surface. But these fears paralyze me. I wish it weren’t true. But it is. It’s a weakness I wish I could grow out of but I fear it’s become part of my DNA.

    It’s not a fear like the fear of the boogie man. Instead, it’s a fear of knowing that one day in the future you might have to face that same situation… and how will you respond differently?

    “Am I more prepared today to deal with that situation? Am I more mature? Am I more self-confident?”

    Questions that wake you from a deep sleep. Or prevent you from sleeping to begin with.

    Fear is irrational. It comes from an emotional place. When darkness like that swarms in I’ve learned to rebuke it. That sort of fear isn’t from God.

    That’s where truth always wins.

    The Groom would never treat His Bride that way. Though Jesus had the power, he chose to win our hearts instead of capturing our hearts. He’s doesn’t demand our trust, He asks us to freely give it to him.

    Whom do I trust?

    If I learned anything from being bit by a snake it’s that I need to be secure in whom I put my trust.

    Let love and faithfulness never leave you;
    bind them around your neck,
    write them on the tablet of your heart.
    Then you will win favor and a good name
    in the sight of God and man.

    Trust in the LORD with all your heart
    and lean not on your own understanding;
    in all your ways submit to him,
    and he will make your paths straight.

    Do not be wise in your own eyes;
    fear the LORD and shun evil.
    This will bring health to your body
    and nourishment to your bones.

    Proverbs 3:3-8

  • Incredulous grace

    Have you ever smelled grace?

    The kind of grace that you feel and sense immediately, snaps you to attention warning-less, and fills the room with warm memories of when you first encountered the risen Jesus?

    The smell is so strong it simultaneously sparks remembrance and whets your appetite for more.

    Some believers permeate this kind grace toward others from their very pores. The grace, mercy, and love these people exude is almost unbelievable yet entirely undeniable.

    I call this incredulous grace.

    Incredulous grace tenderizes the meat of the Gospel, making it palatable to even the most highly-refined and cynical person. It is so unbelievable that it is undeniable. It raises a frenzied appetite as its goodness fills the air of the grace-givers-space. It’s simple complexities are hard to fathom but easy to experience. When you taste its richness for yourself you are torn. “Do I tell every soul who will listen or do I keep this secret all for myself?”

    And yet.

    Most of us don’t want to learn how to prepare and serve incredulous grace. It costs too much and takes too much time. We prefer the fast-food versions.

    The sad reality is that there are no short cuts to incredulous grace. It’s prepared only one way, you have to fight to tenderize love, mercy, and grace into the toughness of your body, born as slaves to sin. We have neither the patience to wait nor the innate desire to mature to the point of preparing only the best.

    We rationalize, why get the best when a fast-food fix comes so cheap?

    Instead, we settle for a grace-like substance. We get fat on imitation grace which bears only a chemical likeness to the real thing. It’s unsatisfying. But we convince ourselves that it was meant to be that way. We chose ineffective efficiency over inefficient effectiveness.

    Why?!? Why do we reject incredulous grace for cheap grace?

    Because we are damaged people. To forgive others means we need to forgive ourselves– many of us are too wounded and paralyzed to know how to do that. The fast-pace of modern church life leaves no room for marinating all-night to loosen sins lock on our flavor. We need instant results so we settle for a quick-fix even if it leaves us still hungry.

    And yet some of us awaken to this full palete and decide to fight. First, we resist the addictive urge for fast-food mercy, grace, and love. Then, we learn to loathe the hypocrisy of a grace, love, and mercy industry. Finally, we rise above the pettiness of it all and simply rest in recognition that we are called both the giver and receiver of grace… merely called to prepare the way for the true Grace-giver.

    In the end, to our delightful shock, the aura of grace smelled enwrapping our flesh isn’t our grace at all.

    It is Christ’s smell resonating through us.

    When people look down on us for these acts of incredulous grace we sadly know that they aren’t looking down on us. Our sorrow is in the revealed depravity of religious people who are looking down on the very hands, feet, and actions of Jesus. His grace simply isn’t good enough for them. They turn their noses at the bouquet of a perfectly prepared prime rib for the cheap potpourri of Coke & a McRib. Sadly, true grace has never touched their lips. They know of forgiveness but have not tasted its delights. And they don’t have a clue what they are missing.

    On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?” He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”“You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.” But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

    In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

    “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

    The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.” (Luke 10:25-37)

    Amen.

  • 3 Big Questions

    I can’t decide if its the lack of sleep (ht to Jackson) that caused me to wake up asking myself these questions, if my “fasting from sleep” provided clarity on some things which brought these questions to the surface of my awareness, or if these are just really good questions that popped into my mind this morning after reading through some of the Gospel narrative on the way to the cross. You decide.
    1. What is the difference between what I will do today and what I am about today? I have a lot of stuff to do. Work stuff. Personal stuff. Stuff I want to do. And stuff I need to do. But which of that stuff am I about?
    2. With information, tragedy, and calls to action coming from everywhere in the world at once, am I called to take action globally or take action locally? (The sister question to this is: What can I actually do today to make the most impact for Jesus?) Because the idea that I’m supposed to respond to both is driving me crazy. How is that even possible?
    3. Why is it the relationship between learning facts and changing my behavior? I know all of the facts about big things that need to change in my life but I haven’t taken a single step. Conversely, I tend to change the most on things I’ve just learned about. Why is that? If facts don’t change my behavior, what does?

    This I do know and find soul rest in today:

    When I live with my struggles I deal with them. I grow through pain. When I pour myself out to God, declaring my weaknesses, it reveals His strength.

  • Public Ministry Prerequisites

    A friend recently expressed a frustration that anyone who works in a church feels all the time. He said, “We just get the leftovers of people’s time, energy, and heart.”

    He said it in a negative way. I affirmed him in a positive way. “That’s the way it’s supposed to be.”

    I get the same dirty look every time I say that.

    Here is what most believers in your church really want to know— but you won’t give them a straight answer.

    In your opinion, what does an “all-in” lifestyle look like?

    When am I doing enough for the Kingdom so that I have the right & responsibility to say no?

    This is the elephant in the room in every church. This is what people in the pews long to know. They all want to hear a simple answer to that simple question.

    They need a checkbox and you give them an essay. They ask for a cheeseburger and you bring them a Power Bar. And you wonder why they just tip instead of tithe? That disappointed look as people meander out of your sanctuary Sunday mornings? Yup, that’s it. They don’t know if they are doing enough. And you won’t tell them.

    Why? Because, as church leaders, we don’t like the answer.

    Mark 12:28-34 deals with this exact question. See what happens when a religious leader asks Jesus, “What am I supposed to be doing with my day-to-day life?“

    One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

    “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

    “Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

    When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.

    I love that last line– ZING!

    You didn’t see religious leaders lining up to ask the Messiah another question, did you? Nope. They didn’t like Jesus’ answer back then and church leaders don’t like it today.

    You can hear the groan of every single church staff member. Why didn’t Jesus implore people to give more time to the church? Why? Why?! WHY?!?!?!

    The frustrated staff

    Every staff member I talk to has the same 2-3 problems. (Youth pastors, worship pastors, senior pastors, children’s pastors, small groups pastors… all of ’em.)

    They have vision for great programs. Great ideas. But they struggle to find the resources and people to implement them.

    They all deal with the same pressure: In order to be judged as having done a good job, a noble ambition, they need the resources to implement their programs.

    The frustrated parishioner

    [Confession: I never saw this on church staff! Like literally… it was there, but I never saw it and no one ever articulated it to me. I didn’t see it until I transitioned from being on staff to becoming a parishioner.]

    Each week, sermons implore them to live out the Gospel in their daily life. At work, at home, with their friends, seek justice, etc. Then they are told they need to keep their relationship with God first and their ministry to their family second. But each week they are also asked to help with the programs of the church.

    They all deal with the same pressure: They have a 40-50 hour per week job to pay the bills, they have kids that need help with homework and other stuff in their lives, they need to keep their relationship with God growing, their relationship with their spouse and kids second… there isn’t much time or energy available after that. And the church gives them 30 hours worth of things they could be doing with the 4 hours they have available each week.

    Frustration by design?

    It’s not supposed to be like that. Jesus, our Groom, never intended a life in His church to be frustrating for the bride.

    Worse yet. Everyone is frustrated and it isn’t working. The church, as a whole, is reaching less people. Our population is exploding and our churches are happy to hold steady. That’s a net loss.

    We need to get back on course with what the Bible teaches us about our daily lives.

    Prerequisites to public ministry

    (These are the things you need to take care of BEFORE you consider anything at church. Otherwise, take a ticket and head to the end of the frustration line. You’ll be there a while.)

    1. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Are you putting your relationship with Jesus on hold so you can serve? If so, you are being disobedient. No wonder you are frustrated.
    2. Love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus didn’t mean this metaphorically. He meant it literally. If you don’t know your neighbors names and are not actively loving them… then you aren’t qualified to help out at church. Define neighbors: If their property touches or is adjacent to yours, those are your neighbors. God placed you on your block because He is smarter than you are. He wants you to love and serve them. It’s not something you do when you have time. It’s something you make time to do. And it’s more important than helping at youth group or singing in the choir. That’s why it’s a prerequisite.
    3. Love your family. When Megan was 6 she said to me, “Daddy, I wish you spent as much time with me as you spend with the kids at church.”  Six. Years. Old. That’s when I knew I needed an extended break from public ministry. It wasn’t that I was unqualified. And it certainly wasn’t that I was unsuccessful. It’s that things had gotten out-of-order. Never again. If your family is groaning because you are spending too much time at church… it’s time to readjust.

    If you have those things in order than you can consider helping a program at church. And if you don’t have these three things covered, not just in your opinion, but in the opinion of the people in your life, than you need to stop doing public ministry.

    Trust me, the church will endure and prevail. She will be fine!

    To my frustrated church staff friends:

    Here are two things I learned the hard way.

    • You are not exempt. Being a pastor at the church does not mean you can be so busy you don’t spend time with God, don’t love your neighbors, and don’t love your family. In fact, having your house in order is a biblical requirement (1 Timothy 3:4) for leadership because it validates everything you do and say. #1 & #3 are usually OK with church staff… it’s #2 we forget to invest in.
    • It won’t get better until you change your behavior. I think I made the mistake of thinking that I could circumvent this if I created a good enough program or if I just invested in developing leaders more. It didn’t. It only spun more out of control as time went on. The reality was that it didn’t get better until I took care of those 3 prerequisites.

    “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.” Romans 12:1

  • Remembering Barb Evans

    As a 15 year old junior at Hanau American High School I lived for youth group night.

    For a couple of hours we took over the gym of Hanau Middle School. We played huge, sweaty games, where two teams competed for the sake of having fun. Usually, there was pizza and soda. Then Dan played some songs on his guitar while Barb tried to figure out how the changing of slides on the overhead projector at just the right pace so Dan didn’t lose his place. We typically ended our time with a sweaty Dan sharing something from the Bible and praying together.

    I idealized Dan and listened intently to everything he said.

    But in the Winter of 1993, for some reason, Barb led our teaching time for a few weeks. She was clearly nervous as she explained that for the next few weeks she’d be reading from the Bible her favorite story and sharing a little bit each week on what that story meant to her. It was a dramatic change of pace. Run-run-run-eat-eat-play-play-sing-sing-STOOORRRRYYYTTTIIIMMMEEEEWIITTTHHHBBBBAAAARRRBBBB.

    I thought I’d die from boredom.

    Barb started reading in Genesis 37.

    One chapter in and I was hooked. She read the story and shared from her heart how that related to her life.

    As the days passed I started to look forward less to the silly relay games, the pizza, and the songs… and started to get more excited about Barb’s story from Genesis. Her love for God’s Word was spreading to my heart, too.

    A couple weeks later, the series culminated with the reading of Genesis 50. I hadn’t read ahead so I had no idea what was coming. Joseph, having been sold into slavery by his brothers, reported for dead to his father, tossed into jail for not sleeping with his bosses cougar-wife, saved from the death penalty twice. And yet somehow God kept blessing him. Now, as pharaoh’s right-hand man his brothers were now before him begging for food but not recognizing him. Joseph had his opportunity for revenge. No one would blame him. And God would be able to use it as a great lesson for not selling out your friends.

    But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God?  You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.Genesis 50:19-20

    My jaw dropped. And my life changed.

    You mean… God wasn’t a God who liked revenge?

    Barb explained that God used Joseph, a man who had been wronged by so many people, to save the very people who had wronged him. Never did something ring more true and make so much sense in all of my life. As I looked at all of the crap I had been through. Some of it self-inflicted, some of it inflicted upon me, it all had context for the very first time. Perhaps… maybe… PROBABLY… God had allowed all of that to happen to me so that I could one day be in that position, like Joseph, to chose to offer hope where there was no hope. He hadn’t been the cause of it. But God could take what had been done to me to destroy me and use it for His own glory.

    I still feel the impact of those few weeks of stories today. Life is still full of crap. And because of her words and sharing Joseph’s story with me for the first time, I can always put it in context. Sometimes people seek to harm you. But God can use that for the saving of many lives.

    My life was changed because of Barb’s ministry to me. She shared her heart and mine was opened to the Gospel in a brand new way.

    Barb Evans passed away on Monday, March 7th. She had battled brain cancer for more than a year before, earlier this year, the doctors told her they had exhausted all their options and referred her to hospice care. Her last few weeks were spent at home with her family in Alaska, where she and her husband Dan served as missionaries with Cadence International. She leaves behind Dan, her husband, and their two kids, Caleb & Audrey.

    It’s impossible to measure or convey the impact Barb had on my life. She and Dan were a critical relationship when I found myself living thousands of miles from home, in Germany, on a military base, my junior year of high school. Their youth ministry offered me so much more than just stuff to do one night a week. For the first time ever there were adults in my life that asked me real questions. They listened to what I had to say in a way that made me feel like I was a real person.

    And they gently, and often times not-so-gently, pushed me to think about who I was and who I could become in Jesus.

    Barb’s impact on me went beyond when she was the youth pastor’s wife and I was a student who was always with her husband. (Literally, if Dan would let me I was at their house every day. At his office. At youth group early. Anything I could do to hang out with him. Barb was a saint for not kicking me out!)

    In college, I ended up attending Calvary Memorial Church in Oak Park, the church she had grown up in. Her parents befriended me. I remember Kristen and I sharing Easter dinner with her parents and family. Later, I served on the missions committee where we kept close tabs on their ministry, prayed for them regularly, and I was even sent to visit with them in 2001, shortly after September 11th. As I got involved in the youth group at Calvary, I loved the circle of blessing God had created that I helped lead a high school ministry and was part of a church who had raised and sent a young woman who lead me to Jesus.

    Over the years, my respect for Barb’s deep faith, practical love for those she ministered to, and heart to raise her children as lovers of Jesus has grown with each passing prayer letter. Her impact on my life began when I was 15 years old and has translated into impact on my whole family.

    Her husband Dan lovingly blogged the last year or so on Twitter. It’s such a tender testimony to Barb’s last months, I encourage you to read it.

  • How to be a great church leader

    Sometimes I think that being a great leader in the church looks like being a great leader in everyone’s eyes. After all, greatness is not achieved until you are publicly recognized as great, right?

    • I start to read books about being a business leader and think, I want to do that!
    • I like to listen to interviews with politicians who have done amazing things around the world, and I contemplate a life in public service.
    • I’m drawn to quotes of big time leadership speakers plastered all over Twitter. Wow, I want to say things that brilliant!
    • I feed off of and find energy from success stories of non-profit leaders making a big impact in our community. How can I do stuff with that much impact?

    I confess that when I gobble that stuff up I secretly start to aspire to be like those people. I envy their roles, positions, and greatness. I want to measure my success against the big things those people are doing. I would love it if people looked at me and said, “Wow, Adam is a great leader. Look at his list of accomplishments.”

    Yesterday, my pastors message was just the reality check I needed. I needed to be reminded that in Jesus’ upside down, bottom-up leadership economy… it’s the servant who is a great leader. (And not “servant” for the sake of saying you’re a servant leader in sermons, books, or as a public persona in the way the Christian media portrays it.)

    At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me. Matthew 18:1-5

    Want to be great in God’s upside down leadership economy? Serve the least of these. (Matthew 25:40)

    • The guy who vacuums the carpet in the sanctuary is greater than the guy playing the guitar in front of the congregation.
    • The nurse who wipes away the vomit from a disabled child’s nostrils at 2:15 AM is greater  than doctor who’s name is on the door.
    • The pastor who visits the sick, has homeless people move in with him, or runs a middle school small group is greater than the pastor who preaches in front of thousands, meets only with the powerful in the church, or assigns visitation to lesser employees.
    • The pastor at the tiny church in a small town people wince at when you mention it is greater than the megachurch pastor in Americas Finest City.

    The good news of becoming a great leader in the church

    • No pedigree required.
    • No seminary degree required
    • No ordination required
    • No recognition from a governing body required
    • No board approval required
    • No website required
    • No money needs to be raised

    All you have to do, to be great in Jesus’ upside down leadership economy, is to serve the least.

    Then he told them what they could expect for themselves: “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat—I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self. What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you? If any of you is embarrassed with me and the way I’m leading you, know that the Son of Man will be far more embarrassed with you when he arrives in all his splendor in company with the Father and the holy angels. This isn’t, you realize, pie in the sky by and by. Some who have taken their stand right here are going to see it happen, see with their own eyes the kingdom of God.” Luke 9:23-27, The Message

  • 5 Ways to be a Peacemaker in Your Community

    5 Ways to be a Peacemaker in Your Community

     

    Separation is to the protestant church what kryptonite is to Superman. In my opinion, separation is the bitter herb of the Protestantism Reformation.

    Separations marks are seen in every corner & practice of the church. Nearly every denomination began when one group of people decided they didn’t agree to the point that they needed to start another group of churches. When a leader grows to a certain point in protestantism– a symbol of that power is to create their own ministry. The way we do communion has resulted in separation. The way we do baptism has resulted in separation. The way our churches are governed has resulted in separation. The songs we sing, the way we preach, the Bible we read, on and on… we are a people marked by separation. (Yes, wars have even been fought over some of these things.)

    How many flavors of Presbyterian are there? How many flavors of Methodist? How many flavors of Baptist? Do you even know why they separated in the first place? Would you blush if you examined the issues there? Probably, at least a little.

    It’s in our DNA to separate. When something happens that we are uncomfortable with our gut reaction is to push away and separate. The cost of unity is seen as too great a sacrifice in the face of personal views on doctrine and practice or even personality.

    And yet, Jesus’ words ring out…

    Blessed are the peacemakers,
    for they will be called children of God. – Matthew 5:9

    Leaning into making peace

    If pushing away is natural to us. We need Jesus’ power to help us to lean in to peacemaking.

    While our instincts are to separate, our minds know we are stronger together. We are better together. We are more effective together. We utilize resources better together. We are encouraged when we work together. The world listens to those who work together.

    When we do stuff together we stick out. It feel right because it is good!

    When we chose unity over separation our distinctives merely add flavor to our lives instead of souring the pot.

    Conversely, when the trivial, non-essential, and personal preference cause us to separate we need to call it out for what it is– sin. Jesus called the peacemaker blessed, literally happy. So what does that make those of us who separate?

    5 Ways to be a Peacemaker in Your Community

    1. Take the first step towards reconciliation. Examine the history of your church. For example: Is there a First Church and a Second Church in your town? Separated because of race in a bygone era? Reach out to the other congregation. Ask for their forgiveness. I’m not saying you need to merge congregations… but you will never know the power of reconciliation until you take the first step and humbly ask to have coffee with the other churches leaders.
    2. Develop a sister church friendship with another congregation in your zip code. This doesn’t have to be formal or difficult. But begin the process of your staff getting to know and blessing the staff of the other congregation. Even if it’s just a quarterly prayer breakfast… that’s a step towards making peace. As your congregations develop a sister relationship you will begin to see the fruit of that blessing.
    3. Support good ideas in town. When another congregation has a great idea jump on the bandwagon. Cancel stuff in your church and lend your staff and resources to the idea. Carry an attitude of what’s good for the Kingdom is good for our church.
    4. Support community organizations in town. I was shocked at how easy this was. When I’ve reached out to community organizations doing good things and said, “We’d like to help. Not to make our name great or to even tell people about the church, just to make this a great place to live.” That simple, easy, free step has lead to infinite blessings for the church.
    5. Mediate the divide. What would happen if your church became neutral ground for discourse and disagreement? What if your staff became known as people who went to community board meetings and helped develop 3rd option compromises?

    Dream with me

    Next steps: What if the people of your church started to see themselves literally as peacemakers in their job places?

    What are your ideas for the church becoming known as a place where peace is made, at all cost?

  • Stop learning and start acting

    Photo by Meredith Farmer via Flickr (Creative Commons)

    I’m surprised how much listening and reading we are expected to do as Christians.

    • Listen to a sermon each week – 35-45 minutes
    • Read from the Bible each day – 15-30 minutes
    • Listen to people read Bible verses and sing songs at church – 60 minutes
    • Attend a weekly mid-week service, small group, or youth group – 30-60 minutes
    • Listen to podcasts of even more sermons – 60-90 minutes per week

    Is the Christian life just about listening and reading or is it supposed to be about learning?

    Because if it’s about learning– I don’t learn very much by listening and reading in other areas of my life.

    • I have only read 1-2 books and maybe watched a couple of television shows about parenting, but I’ve learned how to parent.
    • Outside of the Bible, I can’t think of any non-fiction book I’ve finished… ever. I start books but never finish them.
    • I go to a job each day where I learn lots each day, and I’ve never read a book or listening to a lecture on almost any of it. “On the job training” has defined my work life.
    • I’m learning how to garden, but I haven’t read a book about it and I wouldn’t even know where to start to find a lecture about it.

    On and on. In most areas of my life I learn mostly by doing and almost never by sitting passively and listening or reading the same book over and over again.

    The Christian life is so passive. It is repulsive. We believe all of the right things and act on none of it.

    Who is all of this instruction for?

    The people hearing it or the person teaching it?

    If I’m honest, I learn way more when I’m asked to teach from the Bible than I do if I just sit on my hands for 30 minutes and listen. And yet pastors teach and everyone else is expected to just listen… and even if we learn something no one is ever going to ask us to put it into action, nor follow-up with us, nor hold us accountable. Each Sunday is a new data dump. There will never be a test. We’ll never be asked to write papers. No one ever asks us if we are actually learning.

    If the Christian life were a class– church is the lecture series we audit.

    Did Jesus die so I could go to church and listen to sermons I’ll never put into action?

    Is that what we really believe? All of the empirical evidence seems to point to that. Our systematic theology says no, but our practical theology says yes.

    For all the messages that have been preached to me, the thousands of hours of Bible study, and the thousands of hours of mid-week teaching I’ve received you’d think, the hundreds of thousands of dollars invested into me– at some point, someone would look at me and say, “Dude, you know everything you need to know. Get out of here and live this stuff. Stop learning and start doing!”

    That’s never going to happen. Why? Because we measure passive activity and mislabel it as success. We lie to ourselves by rewarding the wrong people, we label passive reception of God’s word as good, and putting the Word to action is tertiary.

    It’s not supposed to be this way.

    James, who knew Jesus’ teaching well, was right. He addressed this danger directly.

    Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.

    James 1:22-25

    Get out and live the Gospel. Stop learning and start acting on what you’ve learned.

    Jesus didn’t die for you so that you could go to church and hear people preach. Of course you don’t believe that.

    Live otherwise.

  • 4 Clarifying questions to begin my day

    Am I called to lead or to serve?

    Am I called to give or to receive?

    Am I called to prosper or to sacrifice?

    Am I called to endure or conquer?