Loving, Learning, and Leading

"Be the change you want to see in the world" Gandhi I have worked in some truly great places and also in some very dysfunctional places.  I like the word dysfunctional because it suggests that the predominant way of relating to one another inhibits the designed function.  I worked at a Health Center when I first moved to Cleveland that was so dysfunctional that their culture became an excuse in itself.  I would ask about the availability of routine  immunizations that were needed for children, and the response would be "You know how we are", or "Do you know where you are?".  Because of poor systems, terrible accountability, administrative incompetence, and indifference to the suffering of many, this clinic would offer sub-standard care.  It was never anyone's fault; it was always the "system".  It is dysfunction that has been institutionalized. Many of the readers of this blog may relate to having had lived, worked or volunteered in a dysf...

"It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses" C.S. Lewis The word "idol" is a somewhat archaic term.  We think about it in primitive cultures who bowed down to statues or who, in ignorance, worshiped a force of nature.  We use the term differently today as we think about music stars, TV personalities, and athletes as Idols.  Those few people who are so admired, that throngs of people desire to be like them.  The show American Idol is all about the opportunity for fame and to be put in a position where others can admire you. In Biblical language, Idols are those things that receive our loyalty over and against God.  Idols in that context, are neutral in themselves, but evil in our relationship with them.  Jesus tells us a story about a rich young man who asks him how to receive eternal life (Mark 10:17-31). Jesus responded that the one thing needed was to do away with his many possessions so that he would be in a positio...

"People do not fear change, what people fear is loss" Sharron Parks I have been deeply considering the mechanics of change and transition.  After all, the basis of Christian discipleship is transformation of our person to be more and more like Jesus.  The church, is to be a instrument of change.  Not only in the lives of its members, but a credible witness of the power and presence of the living God in its neighborhoods, cities, regions, nations, and the "ends of the world".  Change is a fruit of healthy Christianity. Yet, as Ron Sider points out in his provocative book "Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience", Christians often experience the same degree of moral failure as non-Christians.  In fact, we tend to experience more guilt as we experience what Martin Luther King Jr., described as the distance between our "isness" and our "oughtness".  What Jesus understood, but his disciples then, and his disciples now struggle with, is tha...

Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in your ways Psalm 119:37 Optometry is the discipline of correcting what we see.  Optometrists are trained to correct various vision disorders through corrective lenses.  Its always amazing to me when I go to the optometrist and my contact prescription has changed.  It is not until I put in the new contacts, that I realize how poor my previous vision was. One of the interesting things about our vision, is that we accomodate.  We can get used to seeing very poorly.  I played football my sophmore year in high school and even returned kick offs while my vision was probably at least 20/100 (I need to be 20 ft away from what normal folks can see at 100 ft away).  The game changed dramatically for me, when I started wearing contacts. Believe it or not, what you see and how you perceive things is not only a function of some pretty sophisticated anatomy, but also your spiritual state, your cultural...

He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.  (Mark 8:31-32) Earlier in this chapter, Jesus had asked the disciples if they understood who he was.  He was not asking them if they knew his name, or where he was from, or his family history.  No, Jesus was asking them if they understood His position and His purpose.  Peter responded that Jesus was the messiah, or the Christ, which means the "annointed one".  This title was reserved for a man that had been anticipated for hundreds of years, who would be sent by God to restore Israel and rule in righteousness. Jesus responds to Peter's confession with futher explanation of what being the messiah would mean.  It meant that Jesus would suffer and die, then be resurrected....

"I pledge allegiance to the Lamb: and to the kingdom for which he stands" From Common Book of Prayer for Ordinary Radicals I find that I experience the most confusion, the most pain, and make more poor choices when my life is complex.  Complexity is a paradigm of thought and action, where our lives are so cluttered by the nuances of life, that we begin to lose sight of the bigger picture.  We become myopic in our approach to life, because we become consumed with the details.  Soon, the important is subdued by the urgent and the small. We become so busy making money that we forget that money is only a tool to provide for our provisions and the provisions of others.  We get so busy doing ministry, that we neglect connecting with God.  We are so busy getting our children to activities, that we neglect authentic fellowship with them.  Life becomes complex, with hundreds of moving parts; fragmented, fractionated, and frustrating.  This week, I began to ...

"The fool tries to adjust the truth so he or she does not have to adjust to it" Dr. Henry Mcloud Over the past few months, I have been struck with a line Professor Walter Fleming said on the first day of a Pastoral Formation Class at Northeastern Seminary in Rochester:  "I will not be responsible for others irresponsibility".  One of the vocational pitfalls of being a pastor is to mistake leading and shepherding of a community with controlling it.  Many pastors have been taught that it is their responsibility to oversee the outcomes of the lives of those in their congregations. Once that has been internalized, we begin to feel extreme amounts of guilt and anxiety over things we can not and should not control. I believe that same process happens nearly everyday in relationships near and dear to our hearts.  In general, we take responsibility for our significant other's destructive behaviors.  We make it our responsibility not to simply...

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. (John 3:17) I have been reflecting on John 3:17 for an upcoming sermon at New Hope.  The contrast of Jesus' mission of salvation (saving the world) over condemning the world is refreshingly inspiring.  It allows the Church, which according to Christian Scripture is literally the bodily extension of Jesus, to understand its role and mission.  The Church is to also "seek and save that which is lost" (Luke 19:10), and bring light in darkness (John 8:12). It seems that there is a tension between the Church's mission (inspired and centered on the person and mission of Jesus), and its practice.  We much too easily settle on a condemnation ministry instead of a saving one.  There are a number of reasons for this: 1. Saving ministry requires a true love for the other .  Remember that John 3:17 follows John 3:16.  It is G...

I have been thinking a lot about intimacy lately.  Intimacy as defined as an exclusive sharing of our person with another.  There are levels of intimacy and different types of intimacy. The intimacy that I have been thinking about is the deepest types of intimacy where we share our deepest thoughts, rawest emotions, and our cherished possessions.  That type of intimacy builds a lifetime bond and ruins us forever from a diet of shallow and superficial relationships.  This is true in our platonic, romantic, and ultimately, our spiritual relationships. The psalmist knew something when he challenged his community to "Taste and see that the Lord is good" (Psalm 34:8).  It is only by experiencing God that we know His goodness as opposed to simply knowing about His goodness.  As He shares His thoughts, His love, and His cherished possessions (everything in creation, and even more, His one and only Son) and we in return share our deepest thoughts, dreams, emotion...

Well, it is officially the lenten season on the Christian Calendar.  Traditionally, lent is the 40 days prior to Easter (not including Sundays) and begins on Ash Wednesday.  It was set apart for a time of purification of oneself to gain a deeper relationship and appreciation for Jesus Christ. Within the Lenten tradition, the practice of fasting is often employed as a means of purification.  So we hear of people giving up meat for Lent, or a particular TV show, or even wearing a particular thing.  Interestingly, the means became the end.  To many, the goal of lent was to deprive yourself of something to demonstrate your commitment.  While there is practical use in the discipline of learning to "do without", it is an exercise in "missing the point" when we focus exclusively on ourselves and our own will power. The purpose of fasting is not to focus on giving things up, but to focus on spending time with God and strengthening our relationship and appreciat...