And some people think I use big words …

My friend Rick posted this on his blog. Worth a read. Worth thinking about. Worth considering doing something about.

And here’s a follow-up post.

“Looking for the right formula …”

The letter reads, “Every year we pray with youth to receive Christ as Savior when they say at first they are coming on rededication or for special service.”

A few observations:

1. Would it be better to give a variety of “decisional” opportunities as opposed to the big three? Occasionally more specific direction as to how one might repsond to the voice of God. The result is that in our churches when people sense the leading of the Spirit of God they click through the three mental models for expression of a decision and when what they are feeling does not fit, then they are stunted at the point of expression.

2. Would it be better to acclimate “encouragers” to a variety of idioms for trusting Jesus? We often look for the “code” words or phrases. These are modern developments. One hundred years ago you would not hear the idiom, “trust Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior.” There are some very biblical phrases. My personal favorite, “follow Jesus.” Or as another has put it, “follow God in the way of Jesus.” Could it be we “reconvert” people by the numbers but we covert them to our “code” words; this has a more gnostic feel.

3. Could we find a better way to get into the stories of the young people who respond to the move of the Spirit? We objectify them as a “number.” We ring the bell each morning for each person who “confesses Jesus.” Would it be better to call out their names over a loud speaker or do nothing at all? Maybe it would be better to let the young people share their story in a small group and mabye not even for the larger group they came with. We report on people by the hundreds and thousands. Does this in some way diminish them as people and prop up our system?

Considering the guidelines.

Objectifying people …

“I hope we can reach [fill in the blank with a given grouping of people]!” With that kind of statement comes a variety of churches “targeting” a given group. Over the past years we have witnessed “biker” churches, “cowboy” churches, and a host of “brand” churches.

What about reaching people - all people. I know the arguments. They won’t come to this church or that church. But, if you hold church in a rodeo arena or a bar you may get some to come. I have little problem with church being held in an arena or a bar (I am sure I will be called on to explain this one). The problem is with the idea of “targeting” groups rather than reaching people. And then I sometimes wonder if we don’t negate the persons in out attempts to reach people.

We exit, hopefully, an era in which we expressed a greater love for noses than for people. When we label a group we “objectify” them. We categorize them with the hopes we can find what they like, don’t like, listen to, don’t listen to and then forumlate a strategy to “go get ‘em.” In the process we miss their story. We miss who they are and from where they’ve come and their dreams of where they may go. We fail to consider the full impact of the crises they have endured and the victories that may be theirs. We may miss an incredible part of God’s story in the process.

I know, we do prop them up by asking them to share their story in a setting where we hope others will make the same connections with God they did. In the end, is this not the same thing? Aren’t we commoditizing their story for our benefit? Haven’t we objectified their story and in some way taken them out of their own story? Does this not reduce them from people to tools?

The solution may lie in a shift in our understanding of mission. We tend to objectify missions as though they are projects. Would it be better to view the church as mission and therefore those of us in the church living out missional lives. The difference may be expressed as we would not only take “mission trips”, but we would live “mission”; lives compellingly connected to the Kingdom of God. Lives expressing how the grace of God captivates us completely - heart, soul and strength.

Larry …

What about a story? Diabetic. Broken leg. Pneumonia. Lost finger. Alarming phrase used by doctor. Lost house. Lost cars. 51 years old. Away from wife. Scared. Little family. No care from family. Anxious. Electric wheel chair. Alone.

Interested brother-in-law. Embers of faith. Hopeful for heaven. Like to live longer. Loves his church. Knows pain causes an upward look. Realizes the hand of God comes in many forms. Eased.

We all live in God’s story. Some of us live with the light of his story. Others live unaware. How may we speak hope and love into others’ lives? Enter their story rather than ask them to co-opt our own. Listen. Be. Share common connections with their story without taking over the story and somehow making it about us.

Pray Larry gets better. More, pray Larry lives in his story of God’s grace.

Dangerous Liaisons . . .

Thinking is dangerous. Were we to “doefully” stare ahead without so much as a sideward glance, we might find ourselves plugged into a way of life and thinking that will be our own end. I have a friend who thinks well. I find his thoughts on the situation in Iraq compelling. Take a read and see what you think.

Interesting preferences …

From time to time our family ventures out for a meal. The waitstaff ventures by and asks for our drink orders. Tommie generally orders water. She does not order water because she has to but she wants to. Now growing up if we went out to dinner and were invited to choose something to drink, there was little doubt what we would select, surely it would be a soda of some sort. Youth drink pop.

Water is far better for you. Our kidneys flush better with water. Our systems do better with water. Those of us who have battled kidney stones, know to be careful with too much pop. We have the freedom to choose.

When we choose to live out the commands of Jesus which ones do we choose? Interestingly the majority of sermons I recall hearing growing up and now at conferences and meetings focus on “The Great Commission.” “Go, making disciples.”

When Jesus was asked which is the greatest commandment, which did he offer? Surely he could have chosen one of the Ten commandments. He did not. Instead, he selected from the “Shema.” What Laurne Winner says is the first “prayer rubric” used in Jewish liturgy serves as the source of Jesus’ direction to his questioners. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all you soul and all your strength.”

We make interesting selections. We choose pop over water. Pop is not bad. It is not the best. Water on the other hand is healthy. Could we see our way to pointing up the value of the command to love God as “the” command to follow. Were we following Jesus would we then, out of our love for God, call out to others to follow Jesus with us?

Could we see the metaphorical selection of water a pointing to the life giving water Jesus offers the woman at the well? Love won out over the behaviors the woman expected from Jesus. What prompts us to make decisions marking us as less distinguished as following Jesus?

Pedestrians no longer have the right of way . . .

Strolling through DFW airport this morning led to a discovery. Walking passengers do not have the right of way. Looking for the gate where my flight would depart left me angling down the long corridor. Soon I heard, “You have a cart behind you, car behind you.” I turned and saw tram car following hard behind. What was really being said was, “Get out of the way.” We’re more mobile, on a mission and you stand between us and our destination.”

Today people are sold the notion spirituality and so spiritual maturity may be expressed by following “these” easy steps. Giving in to an easy step-by-step often leaves us either shallow or wanting. Maturity comes over the long haul. Just ask any reflective person.

The spiritual fast lane is littered with wrecks, stalls and many asleep at the wheel. We should consider pedestrians – those walking – still have the right of way, or maybe the right way. In a culture where transportation was bi-pedal, walking, it is little wonder Paul used this metaphor for following Jesus. We should park our cars in the driveway and learn to walk/follow Jesus rather than hope to speed ahead.

Pedestrian travel is slow, tedious and, well, slow. Our instant culture needs a dose of slow. In the Scriptures, pedestrians have the right of way.

Confusing Celebration and Worship …

Corportate worship, or worship together, often connotes what happens in a given “event” meeting at a local church on Sundays. Interestingly the two Hebrew words and the two Greek words describe posture and action - bowing down and serving. Could we have confused the “event” and missed the “incarnation” of worship?

Stories, pictures and lost heads …

I listened to an interview this morning. One of the morning shows offered a “breaking story.” This new idiom grew from the “ho-hum” of the news. In order to get your attention while regular programming rolls on, anchors now hope to get your attention off the dog, the inside of your eyelids or other sideshow and onto the screen.

One of the soldiers accused of “abuses” in an Iraqi prison responded to questions posed by newscasters. The pictures are abailable across the internet. Now it seems there are other scandals surfacing.

Part of me wants to cry out, “what do you expect from war.” War does things to people - on both sides of the issue or line of demarcation. Jobs will/are being lost because we assume it is natural to engage battle and things will be pristine and clean. My musing regards the shock and surprise of those of us who are stateside. We certainly do not want to encourage such activity. We don’t want to ignore inhumane behavior. Yet, what are we thinking, that men and women thrust into an altogether different culture and the intensities of combat are going to pretend to be playing “cowboys and indians” in the backyard?

What about the outrage over the beheading of Nick Berg? We “expect” that from terrorists so in some regards it does not inflame as much. What about our soldiers bodies dragged through the streets? This is war. But, when it comes to soldiers activities in prison it is all of the sudden not war.

War affects everyone involved - both sides. We are affected in ways we could not imagine. Psychologists will have a name for this after we leave Iraq. A syndrome will develop. Could we agree - war does things to people. Not many, if any, are good.

Should this reality cause us to reconsider the nature of people?

People need stories of “Good News.” How will we tell the story of God in places where war has left is ugly mark?

Lifting weights and following Jesus …

“I need a workout partner. Lifting weights alone is not only dangerous, but it is no fun either.” I remember these words about 8 years ago. I met Steve after Tracy worshipped with us one July Sunday. Never thinking we’d show up, Steve expressed surprise as we leaned on the hood one Monday evening. Within a few months this body that never lifted weights with any regularity was working out three times a week.

I gave only one condition. We would read from the bible so we’d have something to talk about as we worked out. We wanted to explore the relationship between life and faith.

Time passed. Steve expressed faith in Jesus, the King. He teaches a Bible Study class. A couple later came and expressed faith in Christ. We baptized them. Their connection with our church - Steve and his love for “Disc Golf.”

Things changed. Time to work out waned. Steve left working for himself to work for a large furniture store. We have talked about getting together for lunch for some time. Today was the day.

We enjoyed “catching up.” There have been some difficult circumstances for Steve and his family. Yet, the one thing I left inspired by - Steve keeps plodding as he follows Jesus. Not perfect - trying. We discussed the lost art of authenticity. We do not like struggling with life and faith and so we give off a lot of pretensions. There are few if any pretensions with Steve.

I read my friend Rick’s blog today. He talks about evangelism. Very insightful. Take a read - “Well Packaged.”

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