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Dominant Culture in Evangelicalism
I’m now a few chapters into Andrew Marin’s Love is an Orientation. I have to tell you I am fascinated by two aspects of the book.1. How much homework Andrew has done. He knows his stuff. He knows the GLBT culture pretty well (from what I can tell) and he definitely knows Evangelical culture pretty well.
2. How much missiology he pours out. This captures my imagination! Viewing the GLBT community as a different culture helps me, a ton!
The thing that has jumped out to me so far the most has been the concept that white evangelicals dominate the church. In essence, our cultural mores control much of our church, dominate the culture, and define the agenda.
At the church we go to the leaders really get this concept and fight hard to push back against “white evangelical expectations.“The result is a church that is ethnically reflects the neighborhood we worship in.
Here are a couple things that I see us fighting for cultural reasons.
– The service will be tightly scheduled, so as to look and feel like we know what we are doing. To our Hispanic, African-American, and Souteast Asian brethren this just doesn’t work!
– The church should offer programs that are both entertaining and educational for children and youth. I see this as the biggest struggle our church faces. It’s an expectation of white evangelicals, but not as strong of a value to the other cultures we worship with. As a youth ministry person I see this struggle with parents of the people we’re reaching. The key is going to be creating a youth ministry that compliments the mission of the church.
– The music should be easy to sing. Yeah, this isn’t the case in our church by a mile.
– Small groups should be clusters of people just like me. Yeah, this isn’t happening and I hope it doesn’t.
See, there is much power in the dominant culture recognizing their position and making room to be uncomfortable for the sake of the Gospel. It is silly to expect other cultures to assimilate to us simply to hear the Gospel message!
No one would applaud a missionary who went to Africa and forced converts to sing Chris Tomlin songs in English, preach in English, and wear Western clothes. We would call that missionary a fool. We would pull his funding. And yet we applaud white evangelical pastors for creating churches who are comfortable only to other whites?
I have been a part of churches who made legitimate efforts to bridge cultures on Sunday mornings and I have been a part of churches who were ambivelent.
The question is: What are the things that churches need to be cognizent of as they reach out to various cultures?
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Getting Started in Investing, part 3
“Hey honey, are you spending more money at the grocery store or something?“ This was something I found myself saying to Kristen over and over again in our tenure in youth ministry. With a growing family it just seemed like every month we made a little less money. We had a budget. We did our best to control spending. But before we knew it our expenses exceeded our monthly income and we had too much month and not enough paycheck. At first it was $100 here or there. But by the end we found ourselves several hundred dollars per month short each month. This slowly depleted our savings and towards the end, with no savings, we had little choice but to use a credit card to make ends meet.
In Part 2 of this series we talked about dealing with the monster of debt & savings. But this is how we acquired this debt in the first place! It wasn’t that we didn’t control our spending and lived a lavish lifestyle worthy of acquiring debt. It was that the price of groceries, gas, utilities, and taxes that shot up by 3-4% per year and our income remained stagnant. As years go by this compounded and we actually made less than we thought.
COLA stands for “Cost of living adjustment.” I need to spell it out because so few of us in ministry never experience it. Some churches try to call it a raise, it is not. Each year actuarialists at the federal government determine cost factors and determine what increase in income you would require in order to maintain the same standard of living. In other words… not getting COLA means that each year you take a pay cut! The assumption by utilities and tax boards is that you will receive this increase, which is why all of your expenses “magically” go up by about that amount each year. It’s not optional or imaginary, it happens.
Here’s an example of the last 5 years and what a COLA should look like for a typical youth workers income. For someone hired in 2004 with a base salary of $35,000, this is what the last 5 year’s would look like.
Year COLA Adjusted Income
Non-Cola Adjusted Income
2005 (4.1%) $36,435 $35,000 2006 (3.3%) $37,637 $35,000 2007 (2.3%) $38,503 $35,000 2008 (5.8%) $40,736 $35,000 2009 (6.2% est) $43,262 $35,000 And this isn’t even considered a raise in salary! This is just to keep up with inflation over the last 5 years. Looking at it from a monthly budget perspective, the difference between a COLA adjusted and non-COLA adjusted income is $636 per month. So if this employee feels like there is a lot less paycheck to go around… it is because there is! They are being faithful to a ministry that is paying them a decreasing amount every month.
Just to rub some salt in the wound, here is what it would look like if over that same period you averaged a modest 3% raise with your COLA.
Year COLA Adjusted 3% Annual Raise 2005 (4.1%) $36,435 $37,485 2006 (3.3%) $37,637 $39,487 2007 (2.3%) $38,503 $41,580 2008 (5.8%) $40,736 $45,229 2009 (6.2% est) $43,262 $49,391 Yes, that would mean that this same employee would be taking home $1200 more per month than the employee who did not receive a raise or COLA just 5 years into a tenure. How much more comfortable would you be with $1200 more in your pocket per month? This isn’t excessive, this is just what your peers experience in the business and government sector. This is what your neighbors receive. This is what it is expected you receive.
In all honesty, this is the difference between a sustainable income that will keep you in ministry for decades and an income that will bury you in financial burden and burn you out in five years. If you want to be in ministry for a long time, you need to get at least a COLA annually or you are accepting a pay cut.
But my church is in financial trouble, what do I do?
Listen, I know that no one goes into ministry to get rich. Having worked for years in Michigan I know what its like to work at a church in recession. (Michigan’s recession started in 2005, now it is deep in a depressionary state.) But while the short-term makes sense to take a cut here or there or not accept a COLA or raise… you are really not helping the church. In fact, what you are doing is contributing to the problem by having a staff stressed out with money worries!
So, what do you do? Some negotiation options. Provide some reasonable alternatives to cutting your pay. (Remember, no COLA is a pay cut!)
– Tell them no.
– Tell them to cut somewhere else.
If they have no choice but to suspend your COLA or even cut your pay here are some options that I would suggest.
1. Get the leaders to spell out the plan to you. “With decreases in monthly giving this is where we are at, this is what we are doing to get things in line.” Find out how your COLA fits into their plan. If they don’t have a plan, ask them to formulate one so your family doesn’t suffer from their lack of foresight. Be a leader to those leaders.
2. Have the leaders acknowledge verbally that they are asking you to accept a pay cut. Get them to be honest, is this a result of poor performance or is this the result of poor planning, unexpected expenses, unexpected decreased giving, etc. Often times church leaders are so passive-aggressive that they will suspend stuff like COLA or increases because they feel you are under-performing but won’t actually tell you this to your face. If that’s not the case… get them to spell that out to you. Because accepting a pay DECREASE feels a lot like punishment.
3. If COLA simply isn’t possible, tell them you will accept a suspension of COLA in lew of receiving it now. Ask them to sign a promisary note for their plan. If you didn’t get a 2008 COLA and won’t get a 2009 COLA, that’s a 13% DECREASE in income to you. If they can’t provide you with a 2010 COLA, will they promise you $10,000 in make-up and 3 months notice for you to find a new ministry?
4. Negotiate for a lesser COLA. The 2009 increase is likely to be over 6%! If they can’t swing it, meet them half way at 3%.
5. Accept the suspension of COLA as a loan. Again, ask them to enter into a promisary note with you. If they don’t have the increase now allow them the option of paying it back to you over time.
6. Negotiate for time off to earn income somewhere else. In lew of a COLA for 2008-2009, ask for 4 weeks of paid time off where you can supliment that income by working at a camp, another ministry, or even a part-time job. Would they allow you to work 8 hours less per week so you could get a job at Starbucks?
Some of these may seem extreme. But remember the goal… your goal is to do ministry for a LONG time. And a big part of being in ministry for the long haul is not constantly being stressed out about money. There are times when you should be meek and humble. But when it comes to feeding your family you should be aggressive to protect them. The reality is that during your career you will earn much less than your peers in for-profit business. Demanding that your ministry pay an annual COLA is hardly robbing a ministry. In fact, it is investing in their most valuable resources… their staff.
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Happy Birthday to Me
That’s right. 33 years baby. 32 was so nice I am reluctant to give it up. But alas the planet went all the way around the sun… and since it worked so hard to do that I’ll leave 32 behind and just plan on making 33 feel better by accepting its label for the next 365 days.Crazy fact: While I hit the 1/3 century mark this year. My mom is only 39. Go figure.
Party with me: That’s right. You can see me live and in person [better than dead and on TV] at Lucha Libre in San Diego tonight. We are joining up with another Great American, Erin from our community group, and together we will dine in the Champions Booth… enjoying its amazing gold pleather boothiness while eating our tacos on fine china. Starting at 6:30 we will enjoy tacos, TJ hotdogs, and soda pop.
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The pastoral personality choice
Have you ever noticed that somewhere out there, someone has chosen what the ideal pastor looks like— sounds like— speaks like— dresses like— acts like— or thinks like? Somewhere I am going to open a door and there is going to be a mannequin dressed like the pastor we are all trying to emulate. If you go to a conference, networking event, or any place a lot of church leaders gather you will see and meet a lot of people trying to fit into an ideal that just isn’t them. The simple reality is that each person serving in ministry has to decide… “Am I going to be me or am I going to emulate someone else?”I first noticed it in college when my pastor started dressing like Bill Hybels. He didn’t wear a suit or even a tie to preach in… he wore a sweater. Why? Because he went to a conference and saw that a leader he looked up to dressed business casual. It’s perfectly natural and scientifically proven that you will emulate people you look up to. I’ve known pastors who have changed all sorts of things about themselves because they want to preach like Andy Stanley or wear cool glasses like Rob Bell or tell great stories like Erwin McManus.
The problem is that if you put on a personality that isn’t you, you’re a fake. Hopefully you have friends in your life who will slap you and tell you that you look stupid in that crazy get up. Judging by the sheer volume of emulators out there though… more pastors need friends like Len in their lives. (Yes, his role in my life is to swiftly kick me in the nuts on a regular basis… whenever I need it. And he’s allowed to enjoy it.)
Today, I watched this video from Ed Young and it really annoyed me. He says that pastors use words like “crap” or “sucks” or “hell” just so they can sound cool. Typically I’m fine with generalizations… and I throw out my fair share as well. But my response after watching his video was simple: It’s more important that I be myself in ministry than that I try meet a standard that Ed Young sets. If I tried to be Mr. Prim-n-proper– Len would give me a swift kick. Plus, when I’m fake every sees right through it anyway! Prim-n-proper I am not.
If I were submitting myself to his leadership, I’d take notice. Otherwise I took his video with a grain of salt… just another person creating another mannequin of what a pastor ought to do, be, or look like.
But this post isn’t just about the standard that Pastor Ed is trying to set. It’s bigger than that. Plus, I like Ed and I wouldn’t want anyone to think otherwise. He’s just a single voice in a mighty chorus of leaders trying to tell people what that mannequin looks like. I find that so many leaders try to control others based around their personal preferences or convictions. So often leaders in the church are personally convicted about something and they misinterpret that work of the Holy Spirit to include everyone on their staff, all the leaders in their church, or even the people who attend the church. And that is, at its simplest form, where legalism begins. A conviction of the senior leader does not automatically become the conviction of his flock!
Here is the big problem with living your life trying to look like a perfect mannequin. One day you will wake up and realize that you are not the person you desired to be. If you try to take a square peg and jam it into a round hole you will just end up miserable. You may talk right, look right, have the right hair style, have smoking cool Rob Bell glasses… but if your heart isn’t right, you’re just a mannequin and not the man or woman God has created you to be.
I’d rather be a cussing pastor who spoke truth into people’s lives than a fake because I tried to live up to standards that weren’t meant for me.
– If God wants you to be a pastor who wears a tie and keeps the straight and narrow… be that leader!
– If God wants you to be pastor bad gangsta who gets mistaken for Eminem… be that leader!
– If God wants you to be a mom who puts her kids in front of her flock… be that leader!
So, rather than looking to emulate the perfect pastor… Why not just focus on who God is asking you to be today and reminding the people in your ministry that you are just as messed up as they are? You need Jesus every day as much as they do. None of us really has it more figured out than anyone else.
Let’s get busy living that out!
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The weekend that was
This morning my back and arms are sore, my legs feel heavy, my eyes don’t want to open… signs of a very cool weekend. I took the weekend off. For the first time in a long time I actually completely disconnected from work. It was much needed.
Last month Kristen scored some great tickets to San Fransisco on Southwest. We jumped on the opportunity to get away! We were really good about getting away without kids in Michigan, but moving 2500 miles away from that network has meant we haven’t had family or church family around to hook us up with some getaway-ability. We made this one happen.
Kristen and I have been to San Fransisco before. First in 2001 we spent a couple weeks in the bay area. We did a lot of the toursity things down in San Jose, Santa Cruz, Napa, and a day-trip to Alcatraz. Then when we lived in Oroville we did some more quick trips around San Fransisco to the parks and driving across the Golden Gate bridge. But we had never really stayed in the city or did anything beyond the true tourist stops. So we intended to change that.
We flew in Friday afternoon and made our way into the city on BART. After getting lost a couple of times we made our way to Japantown. I’m getting more and more “anti-chain” and while the Hotel Kabuki is part of a larger company it is still a one of a kind place. It was as Japanese as I’d like to go without going to Japan. When we checked in the manager told us that since we were hear for a romantic getaway he was upgrading us to a suite. (Always leave a comment when making a reservation!) So he put us in this funky suite with a living room and a bedroom seperated by these fun sliding panels. The kicker for us was that the room also came with a sauna. I never knew I wanted a sauna in my hotel room before… it was a lot of fun!After checking in we went on a walk in classic Adam and Kristen style. We had no idea where we were going and 90% of our intention was to get lost. So we walked up Filmore Street, had lunch at a place called LeMed, and then got royally lost and tired walking around Nob Hill. San Fransisco is laid out like a grid, so you can never truly get lost. Plus, with iPhone’s in hand all you really ever have to do is open up Google Maps. We walked until we were tired and went back to the room to chill and recharge. (Literally, our batteries died!) Later we went out for a dinner. We started at a wine bar then wandered up and down Fillmore Street a few times before deciding on a Thai place. Literally, we walked until our legs could take it no more!
Saturday morning we got up early and met Dave & Justine for breakfast at a little diner. It was fun to hang with them. When Dave stayed with us in December he was completely miserable with his internship and San Fransisco in general. It was fun to see the 180 transformation… amazing what romance will do to a situation! We lingered around at breakfast, enjoying our visit, but finally had to end it when Justine had to go to work.
From there, we checked out of our hotel, explored the Kintetsu Mall (a treat all its own full of places to eat and unlimited Japanese boutiques, totally worth it!) Then we jumped back on the bus and headed to Union Square. Since that wasn’t our scene we kind of went nuts on the transit system for a while. First we took a cable car over to Fisherman’s Warf. I have always wanted to ride a cable car and it was actually more fun than I had imagined!
Again, Fisherman’s Warf wasn’t our scene. We’ve already “done that” and it’s a total tourist trap. So we jumped on a streetcar and headed out to The Castro. As a straight couple that may seem like an odd place to hang out! But it was a total blast. It’s ecclectic and fun. Since it was Saturday afternoon everyone was out and about, chatting on the street, walking dogs, and basically just enjoying a perfect Saturday weather-wise. We had an awesome lunch at the Anchor Oyster Bar before heading back downtown.
From there we just got on more cable cars and explored. We hiked up the famous Lombard Street curvy road deal and took a ton of pictures. Completely exhausted, we rode the cable car back to Union Square, bought a couple souveniers for the kids, and got back on the BART for the trip home.
We got home about 11 and promptly crashed after saying goodbye to Mandy and Jon. (Who earned their saint stripes by watching the kids… who had quite a good time without mom and dad around!)
Sunday morning, I skipped church and played in a golf scramble with Tic. Tic is leaving YS later in the summer and as much as I enjoy his company I knew this would likely be my last big opportunity to spend a chunk of time with him. We played horribly. Each of the people in our foresome had a few good shots, one fantastic shot, and roared with laughter all day until we finally finished at +2. It completely capped off my weekend!
So that was my weekend unplugged. With a big week ahead it was fun to fully do a weekend where we went all out all weekend. I invite you to check out our pictures from San Fransisco. More importantly, I hope you get the opportunity to unplug and get away with the one you love soon.
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Unplugged in San Fransisco
It’s been a long time since Kristen and I have snuck away for a little break. In fact, I’m pretty sure that this is our first night away from the kids since our trip to Washington aboard the Catalyst. I guess technically we were here in San Diego without kids for 3-4 days last year… but selling a business and quitting your job is hardly a romantic getaway.
All that to say, Friday morning Kristen and I are flying of to San Fransisco for a quick trip. We’re taking the kids to school then heading to the airport. Some friends from work were kind enough to watch the kids… and I’m sure they will have a blast. But for the next 30 hours or so Kristen and I will be goofy tourists. We are staying at a swanky hotel, eating at fancy restaurants, riding trolley’s, finding the super curvy road, gawking at the locals… and taking enough pictures to make a bus full of Japanese tourists gasp.
We’ll be back Saturday night. Until then, I bid yea adeiu.
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“Who Are You Anyway?” a year later
On May 27th 2008 I wrote the following here on my blog:
Recently, God has been all up in my video about who I am. It’s crazy how easy I get my identity wrapped up in what other people think of me. I suppose being in a public position will do that to you.
One of the things that Bill Clinton was always accused of as President was that he based a lot of decisions on public opinion. As much as I disdained that style of leadership I recognize it as a legitimate way to handle yourself when all eyes are on you. “Just do what the majority wants and everything will be OK.”
But I don’t think that’s leadership.
Adam’s definition of what a leader is: A leader takes you where you don’t want to go on your own.
Not only do I want to be a leader that takes people where they don’t want to go on their own… I want to be the type of person who is lead by God in ways that I wouldn’t do on my own.
Confession #1: I’ve gotten wrapped up in being called a leader.
Confession #2: I get wrapped up in being called a pastor.
Confession #3: I want to get more wrapped up in my identity as a daddy and husband than as “Pastor Adam.”
Flash forward to May 27th 2009, let’s check in. Since this is all about self-reflection I suppose I’m mostly looking at myself in the mirror and asking if I am happy with the progress.
Confession #1: Is my identity still wrapped up in being called a leader? The irony is that these days I’m just getting labeled as a different type of leader than I was a year ago. My attitude about it is a lot different. My experiences in the last year with YS has caused me to add a couple of words to that definition as well: A leader takes you where you don’t want to or don’t know how to go on your own. In my new life/role I don’t think I’ve ever once stood up “as the leader” and been the leader. Certainly, in my day-to-day life now no one is calling me a leader. And I think that’s helped me shift my identity a ton.
Confession #2: I get wrapped up in being called a pastor. I’m not wrapped up in anyone calling me a pastor. Not in the least. I have a hard time remembering the last time someone called me “Pastor Adam.” That phrase seems silly to me right now. It’s not that I’m any less qualified than I was 12 months ago, it’s that I don’t have that title slapped on me anymore and so people stopped referring to me by that. Ironically, I think I get to do nearly as much pastoral leadership/wise counsel as a non-pastor than I did as a pastor. Figure that one out.
Confession #3: I want to get more wrapped up in my identity as a daddy and husband than as “Pastor Adam.” There’s a sound that has to be emmited when you read that sentence. So read it again and then exhale loudly. That’s what I feel when I read that. Am I closer to that? Absolutely! Am I there yet? I think if you change that quotation from “Pastor Adam” to “Adam McLane” then I see I still have some work to do. I still struggle with this one. I think I will always struggle with this one as there are competing realities that I just have to cope with. But I think there has been progress. I feel way more connected to my kids and to Kristen than 12 months ago. I look back at Fall 2005- Spring 2008 and feel a lot of regret and darkness over how things spun out of control. I’m thankful we’re headed in a much healthier direction today.
I guess I need to think about new confessions for 2009. Certainly, I have work to do. As a work in progress-type Christian I will always have work to do. But it feels good to look back on 12 months ago and see how far I’ve come. God’s grace, patience, and lovingkindness have been abundant in this past year. I pray that God continues to break me in the months to come. I pray He reveals to me more areas of my life I need to change… and even publicly confess.
