Of splinters and logs, dust and planks

This morning a follower of Christ told me of another follower of Christ who told her matter-of-factly, "I will be praying for your salvation." That sounded odd to me since I knew her salvation had already been purchased and that nothing could seperate her from the love of God. Apparently my sister was making some choices that my other sister did not approve of so she nonchalantly judged her "unsaved."

Why do we do that to each other? Why do we judge? Why can't we see the heart and character of God in the words of Jesus who gave us a hilarious word picture about judging each other? Jesus told his listeners that before they worried about picking a speck or splinter out of a friend's eye that they first should consider the "log" or "beam" in their own eye and deal with it. (Mt. 7:3)

Can you picture that? I can. Logs are big. Beams are heavy. They are bigger than splinters, bigger than branches, bigger than limbs. When you trip over a log, you know it. If someone asks you to pile up a bunch of logs you know it's a task that is going to require more than you can provide without help. I picture it as a guy spinning around with a 10 foot beam sticking straight out of his eyeball saying, "Woah, look at you, Loser! You've got a piece of sawdust in your eye. How can you not see that and do something about it!"

Why can't we see God's heart in this? Why can't we see that it hurts His heart when we pass judgement on our brothers and sisters? Why can't we trust the Holy Spirit to do His work and be there for our brothers and sisters and love them through the messy times of life? We tend to hang our shingles on Matthew 18 and want to speed right toward booting our brothers and sisters out of the family. We miss the heart of even that process which implies time and a goal of restoration. Think about it ... "if your brother sins..." What does that mean?

I've got to measure it and evaluate it against all of Scripture. Does it mean any sin? If someone speeds, tells an ugly woman she looks beautiful, smokes or eats too much do we form a brigade and go after all the sinners to get them to comply and then throw them out if the don't submit to our code? Maybe God's talking about "the biggies" here? What are "the biggies?" Why would Jesus say this and also give us the beam and speck analogy? I believe it's a concern thing. The process of Mt. 18 should be soaked with loving care and not be a cold, hard code of enforcement.

When I am tempted to start focusing on the choices of others and inflate them to disqualifing events that cost them their very salvation, I sin. I minimize the breadth and scope of my Rescuer's rescuing. I say that it's good but not good enough to cover this one. Not good enough. Not enough.

Life is messy. We all make bad choices. We all are fragile beings who choose sin. It's not helpful at all for me to start whacking my sister with the beam sticking out of my own eye to get her to see the speck, beam, or log in her own. The process is noisy and the result is a bloody mess where everyone ends up hurt.

Humility does not puff up and say curtly, "I will pray for your salvation!" Humility says, "I love you, I worry about you and I'm praying that you seek and trust our Father in this. I have no stones to throw."

In John 8 Jesus comes to the defense of a woman caught having sex with a guy who was not her husband. (That's probably "a biggie," huh?) Against all the religious leaders, he takes her side and tells them to consider their own sin. And then, when they all wander away speechless, he turns back to the woman who is probably stairing at the ground waiting to die and he says, "Who condemns you?" She looks around and see that all the guys with the beams sticking out of their eyes are gone. She's amazed. She's rescued. She's been saved. I think she leaves changed as Jesus tells her to go and live life differently.

"I will pray for your salvation."

"Please don't. Jesus already took care of that."

The language we use

We go to the "sanctuary" to meet with God. We go to "church." We talk about "God's house" and tell children to be quiet and respectful in "God's house."

Those who stumble onto this blog hoping for answers will instead find lots of struggles and will probably leave with more questions than answers. My questions and struggles here reflect the process of my pursuing a graduate degree in Christian leadership. I find my Father allowing a good shaking that is going down to my roots.

Most recently I've been working on what seems to be a simple question, "What is the church?" I've been listening to the Psalms on my iPOD using The Bible Experience. I've been reading books about character, leadership, time management, integrity and marriage. I'm discovering my definitions are off. I'm discovering that my foundation has some pretty week stones that the Lord is gently crumbling and replacing. Some of those stones are represented in the language I have grown up with having spent my entire life in "church."

I realize it may sound like symantics, but bear with me for a moment. Jesus never talked about church as a destination. He never talked about it as a place. Instead he talked about church as something we are. It's a significant difference. It changes the way I think. I have spent thousands of hours in buildings that I have called "churches" over these last 45 years. Christians go to church, nonchristians don't. That was my conclusion. People will know we are Christians by our attendance at church, right?

Scriptures that stressed loving one another were all interpreted through my church lens. If Jesus told us to love one another that meant we were to love each other at church. The commandment to love God was to be fleshed out at church first and foremost. Even the commandment to remember a Sabbath rest was a cloaked directive to go to church. In fact, it seems to me that most of us in the church have reshaped Jesus' command to make disciples. Now it includes a general understanding that our greater goal to get them to come to church. "Lost sheep" now refers to people who have walked away from the church because to walk away from the church is to walk away from Jesus. Even the statistic that 90% of kids who grow up in the church walk away from it when they are in college betrays our bias. Are they walking away from Jesus or the institution?

Scripture teaches us that when we come to Christ we become part of the church regardless of whether we invest in an institution or not. The church is believers. The Lord is present in the church wherever believers happen to be.

Am I saying we should stop going to "church?" Yes. Instead the church (believers) should not give up gathering together to live life, share and discover the width and breadth of God's love. If an organization is filling our lives with more and more demands, adding to our burdens and making us weighed down so much that it zaps our energy and makes it impossible for us to live in the peace and rest that Jesus promised, we need to do whatever we can to get free to pursue Jesus. If an institution is using guilt or manipulation to get us to serve it, we need to step away. If we are using an institution to build ourselves up and convince others how much we are worth and how important we are, we need to recognize prideful motives and step away.

As a pastor, how often have I berated the people who show up, because of the people who don't? Do you know what I mean? I am guilty of spending time and effort in a bible study where the attendance was not large enough for me, sharply grilling those who came with, "Where is everybody?!?" I am guilty of attaching a higher level of significance and spiritual maturity to those who are "truly committed" enough to show up week after week. Maybe the truth was that some of those who stayed away were actually spiritually mature enough to recognize that their position in Christ did not hinge on getting to my study.

As a pastor, have I promoted the organism that feeds my needs, pays me and keeps me busy to a place where it is an idol? Do I serve the organization or Jesus? Do I equip people to operate as the church or do I promote a system that limits them and invites them into a codependant relationship? Do I work to convince them that they will fail away from our organization so that they will not leave? If they leave it will weaken our organization which needs their time and money to exist.

I want to do all I can to build the church, which is the people of God. I want the organizations I lead to free people and help them discover true community that exists outside the two hours we meet each Sunday. I want to provide a place where the church can gather, a place where the church can find resources and be refreshed. I want to provide a structure that is not much of a structure at all.

We have no sanctuary or holy of holies where God hangs out. Our building is not "God's house" and is no more special than the storefront on the corner or the corner table at Panera's.

I am the Eggman. I am the Walrus.Coo coo kachoo

Nonsensical lyrics penned by John Lennon left people grappling for his message. What is the eggman? Who is the walrus? Is it "coo coo kachoo" or "goo goo ga jube," Humpty Dumpty's last line before he fell off the wall to his death?

I've always, right or wrong, interpretted the eggman and walrus to be the center of attention and the final authority in the song. The Eggman and Walrus were, in my mind, the key players that really mattered.

In my continuing studies of biblical leadership I've been given much to wrestle with. What is a true leader by biblical standards?

I've read the books advising pastors to take control and exercise "pastoral authority" in leading their congregation. I've read the advice to make sure my name is printed boldly and large across the top of my letterhead. I've scratched my head hearing advice to place my desk between myself and those who come into my office and to make sure that my chair is just a bit higher up than those who enter into my dwelling. Afterall, I am the Eggman, right?

Eugene Peterson, tongue in cheek, wrote in "Working the Angles" that he is convinced that he could take any high school graduate and make him an accepted pastor in today's church by providing a six-month intensive with a four course curriculum. Course 1, he says, would focus on creative plagiarism supplying the tools for speaking with wit an wisdom simply by following the outlines found in books or through online resources. Course 2 would focus on voice control for prayer and counseling to provide a "holy Joe intonation." Course 3 would provide tools for efficient office management to give the appearance of a tight ship. Lastly, course 4 would present image projection focusing on a half-dozen devices to create the impression that we are "terrifically busy and widely sought after for counsel by influential people."

Biblical leadership is very different from secular leadership. It has nothing to do with self-elevation techniques and everything to do with reputation. When Paul warmly greeted the Thessalonians in the first three chapters of his first letter we see intimacy, integrity, sincerity and a reputation that cause people to want to follow his leadership. When we read Psalm 15 we discover that God desires authenticity that is shown in action. He desires men and women who reflect His heart and character.

Peterson believes in what he calls "angles" of ministry. Preaching, teaching and administration are the visible lines to a triangle and the angles are prayer, study of Scripture and then spiritual direction that we give to others.

My spiritual gifts, according to a variety of assessments are leadership and administration followed by preaching and teaching and hospitality. That gift mix, I am told, is a solid mix for pastoral ministry. Honestly I wonder why things feel so frantic if I do have this supposed "right mix" for ministry?

I suspect Peterson is accurate when he explains the stress that comes in church climates that seem to, "do their best to fill our schedules with meetings and appointments so that there is time neither for solitude nor leisure to be before God, to ponder Scripture, to be unhurried with another person."

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Be still and know that I am God.

But Lord, I have no time to be still.

Be still and know that I am God.

Sorry Lord, I have another meeting at 7.

Be still and know that I am God.

Lord, you understand that I have to get the publicity done for that upcoming event, right?

Be still and know that I am God.

I have to go to that special service.

Be still and know that I am God.

And what am I to do with the man who has cancer? The teenager who is confused? The young couple that is coming at 5?

Be still and know that I am God.

I know you are God but get off my back. I don't have time to be still. I am the eggman. I am the walrus. Too many people are depending on me. I, I, I ... me, me, me...

BE STILL. I AM GOD.

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The Lord is working on me. Is it possible to "do church" so much that we miss the point? Is it possible to be so focused on building attendance and adding good church programs that I cause people to feel the same frantic stress I feel? Is it possible to help hurried believers clear off their plates, head to the mountain and seek God in solitude?

Right now, I'm a good administrator and a decent preacher who is out of balance. The weight of work is pressing, pressing, pressing and consuming my life, my energy and my intimacy with God. I study Scripture for others, I pray for others and give hurried advice looking over the shoulder of the people I encounter to that next thing coming down the road. Like Jesus, I need to push away from the crowd and head up the mountainside where I can be still and rest in God.

I am not the eggman.
I am not the walrus. I am not the Light, I am only a light pointing to the Light.


Biblical leadership and integrity is not measured by the size of our programs, overflowing budgets, published works, name-dropping and self-elevation. It is measured by what the bible calls "fruit that will last." Biblical leadership reflects the heart and character of Jesus and compels others to follow a reasonable and achievable example that is lived out in front of them. It is 2 Tim 2:2 and the partnership talked about in Phillipians 1. Biblical leadership is not "lording over" people and making demands from position or status but walking alongside people and inviting them to a relationship.

I want to be a leader who reflects the heart and character of my Lord. Maybe that means working at Walmart and having a casual group in my home where we share life and be the church? Maybe it means clearing my ministry plate and starting again with a new set of definitions for success.

The stirring continues ...

Living in the Wrong Quadrant?

Am I proactive or reactive? What do I value most? What are my core principles? Who am I? Do my daily tasks reflect the answers to these questions?

To walk by faith and not by sight requires that we walk reflecting who we claim to be. Walking by sight means we fill our days responding to what we see. Our calendars get filled up with tasks that come in reaction to whatever is happening around us.

In Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, author Steven Covey says that all the events and tasks of our days can be placed in one of four quadrants.



1) Urgent and Important

2) Urgent and Unimportant

3) Not Urgent but Important

4) Not Urgent and Not Important


Leadership requires discipline to make sure that the urgent not crowd out the important.
I see the challenges of leadership, recognize the demands and then am baffled how the President of the United States can take a bike ride when I barely have time to use the bathroom.

When we live in the urgent quadrants we do not lead, we respond. Our stress level increases and our bloood pressure spikes. The things we claim to be important (prayer, family time, rest, time with friends) get pushed aside until they too cannot be ignored anymore and become urgent.

For example, we all know that exercise is important but it's not really urgent. It doesn't ring like a phone and it can easily be pushed back until later. We push it back time after time until it finally becomes urgent and important when our weight increases, our blood pressure goes up and we find ourselves in emergency rooms.



We also see it with the dad who continually pushes family to the back burner while he climbs the corporate ladder or works to build the biggest church. Family time is not urgent and vacations can be postponed to later when things are less busy. Things become urgent when his wife leaves him and his kids are angry.


We can have character. We can be men and women of integrity and we can truly desire to be in vibrant relationship with God but leadership requires that we do what others are unable or unwilling to do. Leadership requires taking action to stay true to what we claim to value most.

I remember sitting in my senior pastor's office as a young man and telling him I would need to leave the church picnic early to attend my son's soccer game. He told me that would be unacceptable and that he would need to discuss it with the deacons. Acting on what I valued most, I agreed that a meeting with deacons would be fine with me and that I was more than willing to find a new position if need be. He was more concerned with my being there to run the sack race than he was that I follow through on my commitment to my family.

I remember another occassion when I was asked to speak at a Christian summer camp. Unfortunately it coincided with my daughter's fifth birthday. I explained that my wife and I had a commitment to be there for every birthday. I offered a compromise of bringing my family with me but the director simply told me that would not work and said, "She'll have other birthdays!"

I was blessed to hear Andy Stanley address a group of 3000 youth ministers a few years back. I remember his counsel to us to "cheat the church." He spoke about how impossible it would is for us to meet every demand in our churches and that we would have to decide who to "cheat." His counsel was solid. He told us not to cheat our relationship with the Lord, not to cheat our health and times of rest and not to cheat our marriages and families. The only thing left to cheat, he told us, was the church with its unending demands and programs. He shared staggering ministry statistics with us - broken ministry marriages, hurting ministry families, pastors with addictions and lives out of balance.

Walk by faith and not by sight. I claim to have faith in Christ and I encourage my congregation to spend time with him. I encourage families to build time together. I tell people they can find peace and rest in Christ. Yet, when I live in the urgent and walk by sight, I am far from the person I am encouraging them to become.

Leaders without character play a game with the clock ticking. It is only a matter of time before the buzzer sounds and the game ends as people discover that the well-oiled organization had no foundation. The leader without character leaves his team in shambles.

The leader with character builds other leaders with a win in mind. ("7 Practices of Effective Ministry" by Andy Stanley, Reggie Joiner and Lane Jones) The Great Commission leader sees his target and then makes moves to hit that target. He understands the commandment to ove one another and sees it in light of the Great Commission as an incarnational ministry. Joiner points out that the leader sees things in terms of steps and not programs and requires that we always evaluate if we are taking steps that are moving us toward the target.

One of the most difficult tasks of the leader is to recognize that he is "a light" but "not that Light." (Chris Hill, 2005 Youth Specialties Conference) While people may want to treat him as the Light (Jesus), he must recognize that he is only a light pointing toward THE Light. He cannot accept the mantel of "The Light" and must deflect efforts to put him in that role. He must invite others to join him as equally important lights in a team approach like the one presented by Wayne Cordeiro in "Doing Church as a Team."

There are so many great ideas, great programs, wonderful bands and opportunities that come our way. The people in our churches present numerous ideas as "something our church should do" and we hear "something you should do, Pastor." We want to please, we want to serve and we want to grow our churches. But each time we say yes and take on new responsibilities we stretch the band more and more thin.

Leadership evaluates. Leadership plans. Leadership asks, "Does this move us toward our goal?" Leadership mines other leaders and shares responsibility handing off responsibilty. Leadership is proactive.

Character defines the purpose of leadership. Leadership without character is bankrupt. Leaders must have character. It is a prerequisite for solid leadership.

Wrapped up in gifts?

Get out your crayons and scissors and put together a list of all the things you want for Christmas. Cut up the Sears catalog and the sales flyers and paste the pictures of all the things you want onto your list.

What would you like for your birthday? Father's day? Mother's day? Your anniversary? We all love getting gifts even though we are sometimes unhappy with the gifts we get.

But what about the spiritual gifts that Scripture talks about?

I believe the first challenge we face when considering spiritual gifts is that we have an entirely different paradigm to consider. These gifts are given to us, not for us, but for the benefit of others and the pleasure of God.

Stop and think about that for a minute. In our selfish culture we would be shocked if, after unwrapping our gift, our dad said, "I gave you that gift so that you can share it with your brother and sister, for their benefit." Perhaps that's why so many squabbles erupt in the church whenever the topic of spiritual gifts and their right usage comes to the forefront. We tend to look at spiritual gifts as we do earthly gifts, do we not?

When we look at 1 Timothy 4:12-15 we see that Timothy is told not to neglect his spiritual gift but to use it, develop it and strengthen it. The "Timothy Factor," as Dr. Elmer Towns calls it, is clear. The Lord has given spiritual gifts to His children and has decided who gets what.

We get tripped up when we get wrapped up in gifts and fail to understand the best intent.

I Corinthians 14:12 "So it is with you. Since you are eager to have spiritual gifts, try to excel in gifts that build up the church." (NIV)

How do you discover what your spritual gift is? There are tests and inventories out there to help but I've always found that the best way to discover them is to ask someone else what your spiritual gifts might be. I've found that most people don't really think they are gifted in the areas they are gifted in. The person who has the gift of hospitality usually doesn't see it as a big deal, they operate in it naturally and often think that everyone else should too. The person with the gift of administration often doesn't regognize it as a gift but sees it as a discipline and gets frustrated by others who do not show the same abilities.

It is important to identify your gifts so you can fan the flame, develop them and put them into practice building up the followers of Christ, which the Bible calls "the church."

The leader's impact on modes of worship

"Worship is like a car to get us from where we are . . . to where God wants us to be. Transportation and communication are imperative, the mode or vehicle is not imperative. While it is imperative that we worship God, how we do it has second importance. Worship is like a car that gets us into the presence of God." - Elmer Towns, Putting and End to Worship Wars

I remember the old pastor who joked, "Son, if you raise your hand in my church you better have a question!" We both laughed. His experience had taught him difficult lessons and resulted in his fear of expressive worship methods and the controversy they bring.

Then, I also remember sitting under the teaching of a pastor who singled out a woman in the congregation who was being particularly expressive with arms waving, hips moving and eyes closed tightly. He made her the example for the rest of the fellowship by declaring, "I can see the Holy Spirit on you today!" The bar was set and several others immediately started emulating her actions.

What is the pastor's responsibility in directing modes of worship? I think Towns was right indicating that the mode is secondary to the purpose. Within the context and bounds of Scripture, our mode of corporporate worship should be seen as the vehicle which brings us to the presence of God.

Some literalists like to restrict their modes only to what they see clearly prescribed in Scripture. While their methods are curious, I respect the vehicle they use. It works for them.

My parents' generation is fairly certain that God ordained organ music to be His approved musical instrument while banning guitars at the same time. Their rigid view puzzles me but their vehicle brings them to God.

My teenagers bang their heads and listen to amplified guitars and drums and then quickly change to accoustic guitar to worship. I've even caught them listening to bagpipes and instruments whose names I can't even pronounce. Their vehicle looks less restrictive to me. It brings them to God.

As I consider shaping worship services my goal should be to provide the vehicle that connects while understanding that it will not connect with all. Scrapping a vehicle is only a good idea when the vehicle is empty. Though a gastly picture, crushing a mini-van loaded with passengers to replace it it with a new SUV will definitely bring loud complaints from the passengers.

Existing vehicles require tune-ups and maintenance, no doubt, but we have to use extreme caution before scrapping them to be replaced with something else.

What is Leadership?

I've been wrestling with issues of leadership, character, management and spiritual development while completing the readings for my recent seminary class. I have gifts of administration and leadership and am confident of that. But, administration makes me a manager and leadership makes me a shaper.

There's some conflict between the two but they also can complement each other. The manager can get lost in the details and lose the big picture. The manager develops the methods to accomplish goals. The leader sets direction and enlists people to take up the cause and pour themselves into it.

I have seen leaders who inspire people but struggle to move them anywhere. It's like the football coach who gets his team all pumped up in the pregame speech. While his boys are definitely amped to play the game, their success depends on how well they have been prepared.

I have seen administrators schedule events, put together checklists and chart out goals and budgets only to have no one show up for the events they've planned. They have great systems in place but no followers.

I remember a youth ministry intern I had working with me years ago. He was passionate about Jesus and built strong relationships with students. They were ready to follow his lead. I remember meeting with him a few weeks before a high school canoe trip to help him be sure he had covered all his bases (and to protect myself from the phone calls from angry parents if he hadn't.) We had a couple dozen students registered but when I asked if he had called the canoe company to make a reservation he gave me a blank stare. I got the same stair when I asked about release forms, transportation and adult leadership. I asked him about his plans for food, tents and camping and his look turned more to terror. I laughed with him and helped him with a checklist of details that had to be checked off to ensure a successful and safe event.

All seemed to be going well on the starting day of the event until we reached the place where we were getting the canoes. They had no reservations and no more canoes available! Instead of having a powerful canoe and camping trip, we returned to the church with two dozen disappointed students. He never checked that one of the list. In fact, he admitted that he lost the list within a day of our meeting and thought he remembered everything. While he had leadership potential, he struggled to get followers the rest of the summer because the kids just started to expect that, dispite his enthusiasm, the events wouldn't live up to the billing he gave.

By the end of the summer I had him carrying three-ring binders with schedules and checklists. I worked with him to help him delegate and enlist the help of those in our group who had gifts of administration. No matter what I tried, he'd lose his materials or forget to make key contacts. I knew the reality was that he would never make it as a youth pastor as long as he was unwilling to work to develop some basic administrative skills. He spent the next five years bouncing from church to church before settling into a youth support service where others determined his schedule and all the details of his days.

Did he have leadership abilities? I think he did at some level. People were willing to follow until they discovered his inability to fulfill his promises. Had he been willing to develop some foundational administrative skills, the type provided in thousands of one-day management seminars given daily all across the country. I believe he would have done well. Instead, he shrugged and would say, "Hey, it's not my gift."

I think Bill Hybels said it best noting, "the leader is the organization’s top strategist... systematically envisioning the future and specifically mapping out how to get there."

But, the leader who is unwilling to develop the systems and specificality of the needs Hybels points out, ends in frustration time after time with few followers and co-workers. She is representative of the leader in the ancient proverb saying the leader who travels with no followers is merely taking a walk.

On the flip side, the administrator who is unwilling to develop foundational leadership skills fills his day making plans and developing systems that will be followed by no one. The administrator, however, can be successful when coming alongside a leader.

I am coming to the conclusion that Hybels is correct in pointing out that the most effective leader has the ability to develop systems and provide detailed maps of the journey. This leader sumultaneously possesses the ability to connect with people and persuade as well as develop plans to take the organization to a specific destination.

Theodore Roosevelt said, "The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint to keep from meddling with them while they do it."

Though Roosevelt did not know it, he was promoting a 2 Timothy 2:2 approach to leadership which tells us to take the Truth we have received and then entrust it to other reliable (capable, dependable, thourough) people who will then pass it to others.

Where am I in all of this? Sometimes I am the leader who rings the bell and calls all to follow but, because of outside pressures and too many distractions, have not taken the time to map the direction. Sometimes I am the administrator who sees so many tasks that need to be done that I trample the people I am called to care for.

When balanced, disciplined and focused, I see God accomplish amazing things because of my willingness to submit everything to Him and stay true to what He has called me to.

Rick Warren has said that it is important that leaders know who they are. Who am I?

I am a child of God. Imperfect, flawed, fragile. Renewed, redeemed, accepted.

I am a leader. I know my weaknesses: I am subject to distraction. I am subject to trying to please others. I am subject to taking on too much and relaxing and resting too little. My willingness to give tasks to others without meddling in the results can be misinterpreted when I fail to praise.

I am dependant on Christ. I am surrounded by a very gifted team. I am called to convince people to follow and live like Jesus and shake off the shackles of religion and legalism.

I am called to equip people for ministry. I am a multiplier. I do not crave the spotlight. I am a cheerleader.

I am comfortable with others and humbled by their service. I am committed to shared journies where I sharpen and am sharpened. I am a "we" and "us" type of leader. I am committed to being genuine.

This class is going to stretch me. I can see that already.

Worship. Are we looking for an experience?

The tingles hit and the little hairs on the back of your neck stand up. You give a little shiver. Does that mean the Holy Spirit is making a guest appearance? Do we turn our caps to the side and yell, "Yo, yo, yo ... da Holy Spirit is in da house, y'all!"

And then, when the tingles don't hit and we let out a yawn, do we announce that, like Elvis, the Holy Spirit has left the building?

Is the Holy Spirit fickle? Can we get Him to show up by singing better or dropping to the floor?

Some of us act like the Holy Spirit can be manipulated into performing for us. If that is truly the case then we move God. If we have the power to move God, it means we are in charge. Doesn't it?

I've heard people leave a service where local believers gathered and sadly pronounce, "Man, that place is dead." I've also heard people promote a local church saying, "Man, you can just feel God working there!"

My knowledge of both congregations is that the "dead" church has planted churches, supported missionaries, and given substantial resources to feed the hungry of its community while the church where my friends have felt God's presence, though a wonderful caring body, has invested itself mostly in building beautiful facilities, providing great sound and lighting and paying a staff to run programs for the local body.

Both are bodies of believers where the Holy Spirit is active. One is very exciting and the other is more static. One body has an external focus and the other has an internal focus. One is mature Christians with many years under their belts and the other is made up of growing Christians who are being discipled. Both are communities that love and support their members.

When we come to a worship service seeking an experience, we come with selfish motives. When we go on a mission trip seeking an experience, we go with selfish motives. When the "experience" doesn't meet our expectations, we leave disappointed.

Worship is not a pep rally. Worship is not a mundane ritual. Worship is obedience to Christ even when we get no tingles. Worship is a lifestyle where we lay every part of our lives, every activity, every aspect before God and say, "Make me like you."

When we gather as a group, we bring all that we are and all that we have to offer to our God together. We lift Him up and we build others up. We come to give, not to get.

Who am I to pronounce a church "dead" simply because its members take comfort in calming music and ancient songs? Who am I to judge a church "alive" based on its cool drama team and pumping praise band? Scripture is pretty clear that the way I will know they are followers of Christ is by how they love God and love others. Sixty minutes on a Sunday morning are not going to give me the ability to see that.

I am an ABOLITIONIST

Going, going ... entrenched.

Spiritually, I think I am becoming more and more convinced that the modern American church is missing the call of Jesus. As we package our gospel in neat little boxes with fancy graphics and run our power point presentations to the same crowd that fills our pews week after week, there is a world outside our doors that is perishing and hopeless. We've taken Jesus command to "go and make" and transformed it into "sit and learn." His command to feed has turned into "be fed."

I recently read an account in Alvin Reid's book "Radically Unchurched" that rattled me. Reid starts out his work talking of a young man named Bill and says that Bill's tie-dyed shirt, his wild hair and his shoeless feet are all indications of his being a "recent" convert. I had to reread it a few times.

It reminded me of the time a YoungLife speaker came to my church with a clean-cut girl and stood behind the pulpit and told us that when she first came to YL she had pink hair and a lip piercing and wore wild clothes. He held her up like a polished trophy to get us all excited about how she had so obviously changed. It was as if he was saying, "Just look at her now! Look at what we've done."

That type of stuff hurts my heart. Why do we look at externals and make judgements on the internals? I've known so many, lost, frozen-hearted people with nice haircuts, pretty clothes and well-manicured outter appearances.

I love Shannon. Shannon is an interesting child of God. She dares to put what He says into practice. She drops everything and heads off to serve the poor and oppressed. She sits barefooted on park benches and shares her lunch with homeless people. Her hair is crazy, her look is unique and her life is not wrapped up in material things. She looks a lot like the YoungLife girl probably used to look like. She is totally sold out to Christ and she finds little use for sitting in church week after week without putting her faith into practice.

The rest of Reid's book is quite good. It challenges the church in numerous ways. But I hope we are not challenged to transform how people look while missing the core of what Jesus called us to when He called us to be reborn from above.

Shannon's life shows me she has the heart of Christ. YoungLife girl? All I know about her is that she's got a pretty haircut.*

* By the way ... this is not an indictment on YL or its programs. In reality, the YL guy knew what it takes to get the suits to pull out their checkbooks. He did what works. This says more about the church of America than it does about YL.

Meeting after meeting and class after class.

"What are Christians about? What are we about, not what are we supposed to be about, but what are we actually about?"

I asked that of a class of 25 teenagers this morning. I think their answer was right on. I also think their answer was a little unsettling. They listed the top four things we are about:

1) Meetings
2) Classes
3) Comfort and Safety
4) Relationships with other Christians.

They'll know we are Christians by the number of meetings we go to? Is that what Scripture says? No, it says the unchristian world will know we are Christians by the way we love. I does tell us not to give up meeting together but that's to empower us to do the stuff that we are supposed to be about.

My students said we go to classes and spend our time learning stuff that, when we're honest, most of us aren't doing. Class after class, week after week. We spend a lot of time learning how to share our faith with strangers. We get little evangelism cubes, color coded books and bracelets and tracks so that we are ready to spring the Good News on people we don't know.

And then I asked what they thought we are supposed to be about. They nailed it.

1) Loving God
2) Loving others
3) Serving
4) Sharing

We're supposed to be about being like Jesus, being imitators of Christ. We read in James that we are to be "doers" of the Word rather than people who are just great at listening to it, singing about it and studying it. Put it into practice.

It seems to me that we've got some retooling to do. It's time to serve, to love, meet needs and share not by some mystical lifestyle osmosis alone, but by telling people what Jesus means to us.

This week, we agreed to pray, "Lord, bring someone across my path this week who you want me to share with."

That's a good place to begin.

Why do we walk away?

The table is set and overflowing with our favorites. For me, that means wafts of steam are lifting off the rich, orange mounds of a large bowl of buttered squash. There's medium-rare sirloin, sweet babyback ribs and garden fresh green beans that will snap when I bit into them. Oh man, what a feast!

But I walk away...

Just down the road is a dark, hole-in-the-wall diner. I pull myself up to the table and dig in to a serving of dry, over-cooked meatloaf topped with scalded gravy. I choke down a dinner roll that has been sitting in a basket for at least a few days and I slurp in some lukewarm creamed corn.

Why do I do it? Why do you do it?

We come to Christ and discover His love for us; his care. We taste purpose for the first time. We sit at His table with enough to satisfy us for eternity. And then we walk away.

Why does that dingy diner look so appealing? What magnet does it have that pulls us in? We know where it leads.

I remember my friend with his round-faced kids and his beautiful wife. I watched him walk away and go into the diner. His affair cost him his marriage, his job and his kids. He knew what affairs cost ... still he walked straight into one. Now he tells me he's angry with God.

I've seen some get tricked into going into the diner. They go along with friends and gradually, little by little, they start sampling the menu until they too are choking down three-day-old dinner rolls and wondering how they got there.

Relationship and community. I think it all comes down to those two words. We were created to be in relationship with God and then, community flows out of that relationship. (If you want to read more on that pick up "The Art of Personal Evangelism" by Will McRaney) Our community is deeply impacted by the status of our relationship with The Creator. When we pull away from God and weaken our relationship with Him, we impact our community. Or, we can switch communities altogether.


I think of it like a battery. If my cables are firmly connected, the battery turns my engine over easily. But, if I allow corrosion to build up I start to notice a lag in starting my engine starting. If I disconnect the cables altogether my engine is powerless.

Sometimes my connections with God get corroded. I allow the busy-ness of my days to build up. Or maybe my time in His book becomes less and less which allows more corrosion on my connections. And then there is what the Bible calls "sin." Sin is the stuff that the bible says we shouldn't do because it's corrosive - it weakens our connection, our relationship with God and cuts off the power.

But unlike a car battery, our power source never goes bad. God does not lose His power. He stays the same. When we've chosen to allow the cables to get corroded all we need do is come back to Him and ask him to cleanse us and reconnect us. The damage done to our community (church, family, friends) may not be repairable but God allows offers the opportunity to reconnect.

If you're choking down dry rolls in a dark and musty diner, I invite you to come to the table that Jesus has set for you. Whether you need to connect your cables for the first time or ask him to grind off the corrosion, Jesus never turns us away.

God's desire is relationship. It is what we were created for.


Romans 3:23
Romans 6:23
John 3:3
John 14:6
Romans 10:9-11
2 Cor 5:15
Rev. 3:20

Take these hands

Take these hands
Teach them what to carry
Take these hands
Don't make a fist
Take this mouth
So quick to criticise
Take this mouth
Give it a kiss
- U2 "Yaweh"

Becoming like Jesus.
It is about surrender but not about legalism.
It is about repentance but not good works.
It is about faith but not easy believing.

Becoming like Jesus requires a mix of surrender, repentance and faith. Some surrender but don't give into His lordship. Instead, they subsititute ritual for Lordship. Some repent but never wash themselves with the new attitude, the new mind of Jesus. Some cover themselves with faith but never show any change in their actions and live faith without deed.

The mix of the three is a recipe. When all parts are added equally, mixed well and then baked by the temperatures of life, they yield a follower of Jesus; a man or woman who is becoming more and more like Jesus in action and attitude.

I want to be more like Jesus.

From stagnant to flowing

W. Oscar Thompson Jr., in Concentric Circles of Concern, says that we are designed to be channels of God's love.

We get that messed up. We love with the goal of being loved. We look for people to love us. But that gets things out of order. If we're serious about adopting a Jesus style, we should love first and love regardless of the love is flowing back.

A few days back I posted about people who feel left out and unloved. No matter what we do, it's not enough for them. Thompson says that is because they have the stream of love flowing the wrong way. They are sitting back and waiting to see who will love them and always have an abundance of people who let them down.

When we focus on being like Christ, seeing and meeting needs in love regardless of how we feel about it, we move from being stagnant to being amazed at how God uses us. We discover purpose in Christ. We stop focusing on how others treat us and instead focus on how we treat others.

It makes sense.

God's Calling But I Don't Know His Ringtone

What is God's calling? We tend to want selfish specifics to help us run our own lives but God's will is larger than us.

What is God calling us to do?
1) Love People
2) Share the Good News
3) Rinse and repeat

Read the New Testament. I appreciate Jesus' style. He valued people, called them by name, visited their homes, fed them and healed them. He showed compassion. The people that got Him ticked were the people who had reduced everything to a set of rules and regulations and lost sight of God's heart.

Most everyone is familiar with the story of the Good Samaritan. A man beaten and bloodied lay penniless in the ditch. Two religious leaders walked right by him and ignored him. It was the Samaritan man who stopped, picked the man up and got him cleaned up. He took him to an inn to rest and heal and he paid his bill! Jesus told us it was this Samaritan hero who understood God's heart.

Then there was the woman that religious leaders dragged in front of Jesus saying they had caught her having sex with a man who was not her husband. Jesus came to her defense in this crowd that wanted to see her dead. Then he told her to go home and live differently.

What is God's will? It is that we live for Him and strive to become more and more like Jesus. When we become more and more like Jesus we cannot ignore the bruised and bloodied, the penniless and the down and out. We cannot turn a deaf ear to the abused and oppressed.

Is it God's will that you take that job? Is it God's will that you buy that car, work extra hours for that promotion? I think we've probably got things out of order. Instead we should ask, "How can I better love, share and introduce people to Hope in Christ?"

James was pretty straight forward as he wrote, "Real religion, the kind that passes muster before God the Father, is this: Reach out to the homeless and loveless in their plight, and guard against corruption from the godless world." (Jas. 1:27)

Getting out my "God" stamp

How many times have I said, "I don't feel like God is calling me to that?" Or, "God is urging me to ..."

If I'm honest, I think 99% of the time it comes down to me using some spiritual language to justify what I do or do not want to do. I give it the "God" stamp without even truly seeking God to get His direction. I use God.

I've had people tell me what God wants me to do. I've also had people tell me what God wants me to stop doing. Some have told me they see His anointing at the same time as others level criticism and declare something dead, nonspiritual or not "meaty" enough. How can that be? Has God really anointed at the same time as He has left us high and dry? It makes no sense unless you allow that people tend to use God to make their points.

Today I had the opportunity to listen to someone tell me that God would rather have me put my efforts into meeting needs in Maine rather than heading to New Orleans with a team intent on meeting needs there. I wonder how they know that. Did he wake them up and tell them? Wouldn't it have been more effective to wake me and tell me directly? Why the middle man? I'm pretty sure I would have received my brother better if he came expressing his opinion and seeking our reasoning rather than posing as God's spokesperson.

Why am I taking a team to New Orleans? Simply? Because our Guatemala trip didn't work out and people wanted to return to continue the work we started. God never told me to go to New Orleans. But He never told me not to go either. He's provided over $35,000.00 for us though. Is that evidence of His endorsement? Doors closed on Guatemala and opened for New Orleans. God or coincidence?

It's like the woman who poured the perfume on Jesus feet. Some people got wound up about the expense of the perfume having had a better use than a foot wash. Jesus didn't get wound up about it though.

"God wants me to go to this school, buy this house, get a new car, marry this person." I hear it a lot but I'm not sure what it all means. Does it mean that God endorses whatever we feel strongly about or does God make us feel strongly and thereby give His direction? If the latter is the case, God wants me to eat a lot of donuts because I sure do want them and I like them far too much.

I think we use God to endorse our plans and support our arguments. I think, at least when I read Scripture, that God desires that we represent Him well, serve as ambassadors for Jesus and love others. Beyond that I read that if we delight ourselves in the Lord that He will give us the desires of our hearts (which become like His heart when we delight in Him.)

If we would worry about following Christ in our own lives, the logs in our own eyes would become so apparent that we would probably stop worrying so much about the splinters in the eyes of others.

If we would worry about the clear and direct teaching of Scripture and become Christlike, I doubt we would have much time to worry about styles of worship, dress codes and shortcomings. I bet our criticisms would be swallowed up by a desire to be supportive and lend a hand.

More thoughts on slander

Slander? Whoa, that's a strong word! After my last blog I have continued to wrestle with how to care for the person who has nothing good to say. Are they ripping apart the Christian community and doing more harm than good? Are they sinning? Or, are they pointing out weaknesses and sin?

In confronting sin, Matthew 18 gives us clear direction. If we choose not to privately address the brother who has sinned against us and instead choose to air our hurt to everyone who will listen, we go against the clear teaching of Scripture. If we hang on to bitterness, we choose sin. If we decide to take up arms instead of turning the other cheek, we choose sin.

Our counsel has to be clear with the hurt brother or sister who comes to us with a list of shortcomings. "Have you talked to the person who hurt you privately?" And then, when they say they haven't or can't, we have to be firm that they must do what Scripture teaches and that we won't hear it anymore until they have been obedient to Scripture. We have to trust God that He will minister to them through the process He has prescribed. We have to resist the temptation to get in the middle.

And then, if they continue slandering and maligning their brothers and sisters in the body, we need to take a Matthew 18 approach with them to confront their sin. Slander and malicious gossip is a sin that divides and undermines. It takes the wind out of the sails and takes our focus off working to reach those around us with message of hope in Christ.

What if someone just refuses to be included?

Nobody likes me,

Everbody hates me,

Guess I'm gonna eat some worms.

One of the most painful things in ministry comes when someone you have opened your home to, invited time after time and tried to include sits back, folds their arms and with a resolute look says, "No one likes me here."

The first time I hear it, it makes me sad and I try harder. I bend over backwards to say hello and work to include. I begin to notice that most of these folks are just not joiners. It is like they are determined to be outsiders. They remove themselves, physically and emotionally and normally find one or two others who will join them in their misery.

The second time I hear it, I tend to point out what I have witnessed. I mention times I have seen them withdraw from people who have been trying to reach out and I list off examples. It never matters. It falls on deaf ears and I feel powerless.

The third time I hear it I get angry because I know that people have been trying and have been refused, shunned and even treated rudely. Still, the finger points and the voice is the same, "No one likes me here and I don't this place."

It takes every ounce of self-control I can muster to not stand on my chair and scream, "MAYBE YOU ARE TOTALLY UNLIKEABLE!!! No matter what we do for you it is not enough. What is your problem???"

_______________________________________________________

But what about the sheep who stays around and is perpetually negative about everything and everybody? What are we to do with them?
____________________________________________

When is enough, enough? I've been looking for examples of how Jesus dealt with difficult people. You know what? I can't find examples of Him chasing after people who really don't want to be around Him. I can't find examples of the apostles cow-towing to people within the church who were whining. Paul tended to be pretty tough on them and told them to shutup and put on love.

Yes, we're to go after the "lost sheep" and the one who is wandering away. But what about the sheep who stays around and is perpetually negative about everything and everybody? What are we to do with them?

As I read Scripture it looks to me like we are to urge people to press on to majurity in Christ and call the whining, complaining and slandering what it is; sin. If they consistently refuse to recognize their own responsibility to love their brothers and sisters in Christ as a response to Jesus, we need to confront them again with another brother or sister. If they continue to just want to place blame, I've come to the place of being direct and telling them it is time to stop tearing and dividing and move on peacefully.

Plainly, I just can't find anywhere in Scripture which encourages these folks to justifiy their behavior on how they perceive others are failing them.

As far as it is possible, we are to be at peace with all people but if it's impossible all we can do is pray.

Are we making the grade?

What is success? Here in the United States success normally has measurable markers. In sales we measure success by comparing the number of units sold with similar data from an earlier time. In academia we measure success using a score of 0-100 supplies by a teacher who either gives a subjective rating or reports the result of exams. In the church we often measure success by the number of seats filled, how many baptisms are performed, membership roles and budgets.

Bill Fay, in Share Jesus Without Fear, presents an idea that is difficult to digest. Can we be successful in evangelism without measurable data? Fay believes we can be successful regardless of the result because we have been obedient and faithful when we dare share. His presentation is encouraging for the Christian who has felt like a failure.

I agree with him. When we put evangelism in its proper perspective, we see that we cannot remain quiet but are to offer an answer for the hope within us with gentleness and respect and then trust God to do what He wills. It is God who draws people to Himself. In that sense, Fay relieves the feeling of responsibility and fear of failure and thereby gives his readers confidence to step out and share.

"Church people are mean."

We've been trained to present information. In fact, we offer class after class focusing on evangelism, discipleship, mission and ministry but rarely give people the opportunity to step out and put an incarnational ministry (being like Christ) approach into practice.

Our neighbors have heard our information. They have read our tracts. And they have seen how we treat a waitress who is running behind because of a coworker calling in sick. Information without evidence of transformed life in Christ is usually ineffective and perhaps does more harm than good.

I remember taking a group of teens to participate in a phone bank for a church plant. It was our job to call through a list and ask if people were church attenders and then to invite them to try out the church plant if they were unchurched. I was upset by the conclusion my group made after their experience. Sixteen year old Judy summed it up saying, "Church people are mean."

Perhaps it was just a bad day but we did find that the most hangups and rude responses came from people who identified themselves as church attenders. We had great conversations with numerous unchurched people. I had hoped that church people would encourage our kids for serving and be excited about an effort to reach people for Christ but that was far from what took place.

We have to demonstrate the love of Christ through having a true servant heart. Informational and incarnational must go hand-in-hand if we are to impact people for Christ. If we simply serve without presenting the information we fail to introduce Jesus. If we give information without valuing people and being willing to serve, our message falls on deaf ears. We must earn the right to be heard.