Month: October 2011

Where Do You Work and With What?

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“Prepare your work outside, get everything ready for you in the field;
and after that build your house.”
Proverbs 24:27 (NRSV)

Uncle Eldon and my Mom outside the old house.

The picture at the right gives you an idea of the condition of the house.  Gutters were falling off.  Paint was drastically needed.  As I remember the story, there were places you could see through the siding directly into or out of the house, and the roof leaked.  In the winter time, if water was left out in the kitchen, it would be frozen by morning.  Grandma wanted a new house – in a very bad way!

Grandpa had another plan.  He said, “We’ll build the barn first, and the barn will pay for the new house!”

The North Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church, of which I am a member, started a new program for the development of clergy called the Clergy Fruitfulness Initiative.  The purpose is to help us re-evaluate our gifts and abilities for ministry and determine how those are being used (or not) in our current place of ministry.

A key element of this program is the Birkman Method personality assessment, which is a tool to help us see what makes us tick and what pushes our buttons.  What needs do we have that need to be met in order for us to thrive?  How do we react when those needs are not being met, and what can we do to counter these negative responses?

By going through this process, we are reminded that we are God’s creations.  Our gifts and personalities are good.  Our weaknesses are not something to apologize for; they are simply a part of who we are as God’s creations.  Luckily another of God’s creations has the gifts we don’t have.

Ephesians 2:10 comes to mind:  “For we are what God has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.” (NRSV)  Although we are not “saved” by our works, good works are what we are created for.  Even Jesus, the one we are to emulate, is reported as saying in John 4:34, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work.”  Works are our purpose.  Works bring us nourishment and fulfillment, but from where do these works come?  Is it not our very selves?

Ultimately, our true place of work is in us, which is God’s creation.  Although our citizenship may be in the kingdom of God (see Philippians 3:20), our home is in us, which is also God’s creation.  And God looked at all God had created and called it “very good.”

We are both “barn” and “house,” place of work and place of rest.  We have to work within ourselves, and we have to rest within ourselves.  We need to build up our inner “barn” before we can work, be successful, and find peace in our day job (from which we draw our salary) and even in our lives, our inner being.  We need to know what God-given tools are in our inner “barn” that can be used in our place of work (be it a church, factory, hospital, retail store, etc.) before we can find fulfillment, before we can feel at home even in ourselves.

For instance, I’ve realized through the Birkman Method that I “have the combined strengths of being able to spend time on my own or with my close friends and being comfortable in social settings.”  These are tools in my barn that needs to be built up by combining “socially casual activities with plenty of time to be and work by myself or in the company of close friends.”  When I am not able to use these tools and when these needs are not met, I become stressed and do not feel at home, at peace, or at ease in myself.  “Too much group activity, especially when forced on me, is likely to cause me to withdraw while extended periods of solitude can generate feelings that cause me to seek out the support and acceptance of the group.”  The stress forces me to work on my barn (my gifts or tools for works) that I should have been working on and maintaining all along so I could rest easily in my home, in myself.

  • How have you felt fulfillment through jobs, tasks, or activities you like to perform?
  • How have you felt stressed in your jobs, tasks, or activities?
  • What gifts or abilities do you need to use to feel fulfilled?
  • What needs to be built up in you for you to feel at home in yourself?

We Don’t Need Your Cookies

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Back in 2005, I attended a “church growth” seminar in Dallas, Texas. The keynote speaker was Rev. Mike Slaughter of Ginghamsburg United Methodist in Ohio, one of the larger and faster growing UM churches in the country. He shared an experience that sticks with me.

That church had a “Cookie Patrol” that takes cookies to first time visitors.  So, every Sunday afternoon, a group of people would meet down at the church to bake fresh cookies to be delivered to potential members.

One day, a member of the church came to Rev. Slaughter and told him, “I just love to bake, and I want to help with the Cookie Patrol.  I’ve got a great kitchen at home, so let me tell you what I’ll do. I’ll make several dozen cookies each Sunday and bring them to the church. I just don’t have time to spend at church on Sunday afternoons.”

Pastor Mike responded, “You don’t understand. We don’t need your cookies. We need you.”

He knew that the reason the Cookie Patrol was a worthwhile ministry was not simply the cookies taken to potential members but the relationships that developed among those who joined together in the church kitchen on Sundays. “Stuff” is not all that important. People are.

We live in a society in which the only thing that seems to matter is efficiency.  The end result, as quickly as possible, is of utmost importance; there seems to be little emphasis on the journey itself AND the people we journey with.  When we complete a task, it is good to celebrate the end result, but what do we really remember?  Is it not the people, the things we did, and the lessons learned in the process of completing the task?

Think about it: when Jesus started his ministry, what was one of the first things he did?  He found companions to serve with on his journeys.  These guys were not all that efficient.  On many occasions, they should have been fired, and yet, Jesus sent them out in pairs to preach, heal, and serve.  Notice that he did not send them out as individuals, and when they finished, they all came back together as the entire group to debrief and celebrate their journeys and accomplishments.

Jesus went to the cross himself, but I don’t believe that was his intent.  “If you want to be my followers, deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow me,” Jesus says in the midst of his journey (see Mark 8:34).  The goal is not to do the work of God alone.

Wouldn’t it have been more efficient for Jesus to go quickly from town-to-town healing people as quickly as possible?  Yet, we see again and again that he stops to teach and preach; he stops to share a meal or conversation with people who are known sinners, enemies, and friends.

With all of this in mind, I have come to believe that life in the church, in the community of faith, is not all about efficiency.  It isn’t just about the stuff or the end result.  It is about bringing people together in relationship in a way that may not be the most efficient but includes the most people, creating relationships and fostering love.  Let us remember, “Where two or more are gathered,” there is Jesus.  When we care for “the least of these,” we care for Jesus. It may not be the most efficient way, but it is the most Christ-like.

We don’t need your cookies.  We need you.

One Rock At A Time

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Jesus said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.”  (Matthew 17:20, NRSV)

I know it wasn’t just my Sunday School teachers as a child.  I know others from other churches who were given the same impression that I was.  With just a miniscule amount of faith, a mountain would move in the “snap of the fingers” or the “blink of an eye.”

I know it’s not just me.  I’ve had family, friends, and acquaintances say that their experience matches mine.  Many a time in life, I have had obstacles in my way that could easily be defined as the proverbial mountain.  I have no doubt that I (and others that I have witnessed in similar situations) have had at least the faith of a mustard seed and yet that mountain didn’t move – at least not quickly.

For many years, this all troubled me.  What does God have against me?  Am I not righteous enough? What’s the deal?

Then, one day, I saw the story of Abraham’s faith in a new light.  In Genesis 15:1-6, God promises Abraham (Abram at this point) in his old age that he will have descendants as many as the stars in the sky.  Then I thought about.  In Abraham’s lifetime, he only saw two descendants, Ishmael and Isaac.  And yet, he still trusted that God would follow through on the promise, so he passed on that promise, that faith, to Isaac (and presumably Ishmael) without ever seeing it fulfilled.

What if Jesus’ point is less about faith bringing immediate change but incremental change.  Let’s say Peter decides a particular mountain needs to be moved.  So, he starts moving it, one rock at a time.  His brother Andrew comes along and asks, “What are you doing?”

“I’m moving this mountain,” he responds.  “By doing so, we’ll be better able to care for people on the other side.”

“That makes sense,” says Andrew as he picks up a rock using his God-given strength.

Before you know it, through other similar exchanges, more disciples are there working to move that mountain, rock by rock.  Peter and Andrew may never see the mountain moved – and they know that – but they keep plugging away out of faith in the possibility and the call they have heard to move the mountain.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer participated in a plot to bring down the Nazi regime.  He and his immediate cohorts failed on multiple occasions, but they still stayed true to trying to end the tyranny in Germany that was spreading beyond.

The civil rights movement was (and is) working against a mountain of racism, but many like Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr. worked, one rock at a time, to make a difference.  King could foresee that he would not see it fully moved, and yet he kept working.  Obviously, we have come far and much of that mountain has moved, but there are still rocks in the way.  With faith, though, they can still be moved!

In these instances, faith has less to do with immediate gratification and more with commitment to the program, trusting it is possible even if we never see the completion, maybe never reaching the goal in our lifetime.

  • What is your mountain?
  • Who can you invite to help you move that mountain?
  • Are you willing to commit to moving that mountain, no matter the outcome?
  • Have you been invited to help move someone else’s mountain?
  • How can you use your God-given talents to help them?

Do I Need to Give It All Away?

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This past weekend (September 29 – October 2, 2011), I attended a retreat at Laity Lodge near Kerrville, Texas (address is Leakey, Texas).  “Laity Lodge is dedicated to enabling Christians to know Jesus deeply and to serve him in the everyday places of their lives . . . while reveling in a small bit of heaven on the Frio River.”  This is a part of a larger ministry (Foundations for Laity Renewal) to help, especially, the laity, “To serve God by creating opportunities for people to encounter God for the transformation of daily life, work, and our world.”

At the retreat, my wife and I were visiting with David Rupert (a contributing editor for The High Calling – another ministry of the Foundations for Laity Renewal) who produces the weekly newsletter for The High Calling.  He noted that one of the difficulties he faces is getting articles that help people focus on how to live out their faith in relation to their “secular” job(s).  That got me thinking about something that many a lay person in the church has brought up from time to time in studies.

Quite often emotions rise when people consider the “rich young ruler” (Mark 10:17-31; Matthew 19:16-30; Luke 18:18-30) who comes to Jesus wanting to know how to “inherit eternal life.”  This is the one who goes away sad when Jesus tells him to sell all he has, give the proceeds to the poor, and follow Jesus.  Through the years, I’ve heard many responses to this story:

  • Questioning:  “Does Jesus want me to do that?”
  • Fear:  “I haven’t done that.  Is God upset with me?”
  • Side-stepping:  “Jesus is just testing him; Jesus doesn’t really want him to do that.”
  • Clarification:  “I feel like I’m following Jesus, but I didn’t sell everything.  Is that okay?”
  • Obstinance:  “Jesus is crazy if he thinks I’m gonna sell everything and give it to the poor!”

I’m sure there have been others, but these are the ones that stand out to me.

Here’s my take:  I think Jesus did want that one person to do just that.  I think Jesus has called others to do the same or similar actions, but not all.  The water is obviously muddied, though, when we see Peter say after the man has gone away sad, “Look, we have left everything and followed you.”  Jesus responds by affirming Peter and the other disciples who have done this: “Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age—houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life.”

Since Jesus has responded in this way, doesn’t that say that Jesus expects all to do the same?  Am I wrong in thinking that Jesus calls only some to this extreme level of dedication?

Luke’s take, though, gives us an important insight.  In just thirteen verses after the interchanges between Jesus, the rich young ruler, Peter, and the disciples, Jesus tells the disciples what to expect when they get to Jerusalem (which they don’t understand), and Jesus heals a blind man outside of Jericho.

Then, chapter 19  of Luke opens with the story of a tax collector named Zacchaeus.  Jesus sees this one of short stature in a tree and says, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.”  Many grumble that Jesus would associate and go to the home of one who was so despised by many in that 1st century culture.  Yet, Jesus’ willingness to share with him brings about a vast change of heart in Zacchaeus who says, “Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.”

Jesus’ response is NOT, “Sorry Zacchaeus.  You have to give all your possessions, not just half.”  Neither, does he respond, “Zacchaeus, I need you to quit your job as a tax collector.”  Jesus doesn’t even say that he needs to follow him on the way to Jerusalem.  He simply (yet profoundly) exclaims, “Today salvation has come to this house!”

Not everyone is called to give up everything and follow Jesus.  Some are called to give what they are able to supply the needs of those in need and to work in their “secular” with integrity, being sure to not defraud.  In doing so, I believe a divine element is brought forth and expressed in the “secular” world allowing others an opportunity to see God in their midst.