Archive for the ‘Grace’ category
March 28, 2013
WORDS FROM W.W. March 28, 2013
We often approach the same event with differing agendas. It’s like going to Lowe’s with Carol. I may be thinking that we’re going there to buy a bag of weed-n-feed, but her agenda is deciding on what new kitchen appliances we’re going to purchase. We enter the front doors and I start heading left…but she’s not following! That’s when she breaks the news to me!
Life often displays our conflicting agendas.
As a pastor I’m often bombarded with them. For instance, I’m thankful that I’m color blind so that I don’t have to be involved in what the color of the new sanctuary carpet is going to be. I have a hard time looking like mis-matched puzzle pieces in what I wear on Sunday morning, let alone knowing whether the carpet looks good or not!
Thursday of Holy Week in an upper room in Jerusalem a group of men with different agendas gathered to partake of the Passover meal. Some of them saw the gathering as a way of impressing the leader. Some of them saw it as a customary meal, like any other passover meal. Some of them saw it as a time to put their feet up. They had been walking a lot lately. An upper room away from the increasing crowds sounded good. One of them knew it was a time of preparation for a difficult time ahead.
Each approached the gathering differently. Only one of them was willing to take the very nature of a servant and wash the feet of the others.
What an awkward moment that must have been, to suddenly realize that one is on a different page than the one who leading! I wonder if there was a few moments of excuses thrown around.
“I was just about to do that, Jesus!”
“What I meant to say was…”
“Next time give me some forewarning. I didn’t know that was what you wanted to see happen.”
“My knees are really bothering me today.”
Thursday was like a traffic intersection where six different streets are converging. So of the mass one agenda, one mission, rose to the surface.
How did the others’ wants and preferences disappear?
Easily! Sometimes comparing wants and needs has a way of sorting out what is really important and what I wish would be important.
Of course, how often do I elevate my desires to the throne, and dismiss the Hope of nations?
I have to remind myself of that when I talk about what I “get out of a worship gathering.” What I tend to trash, someone has seen as being life-changing.
Today I will keep surrendering over and over.
Categories: Christianity, Community, Faith, Grace, Jesus, Pastor, Prayer, Story, Teamwork
Tags: agendas, desires, Jerusalem, Maundy Thursday, Passover, servant, Thursday, upper room
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March 28, 2013
WORDS FROM W.W. March 27, 2013
Carol and I had a unique experience this week while we were in Albuquerque. We went to a restaurant called “Tim’s Place.” (“http://timsplaceabq.com”)
“Tim” is Tim Harris. He was born in 1986 with Down’s Syndrome. His life could be characterized as one that continues to exceed expectations. Tim was voted Homecoming King of his high school in 2004. He was voted “Student of the Year” by his school administration and faculty. Friendliness is his gift. The slogan of Tim’s Place is “Breakfast. Lunch. Hugs.” Tim is the hugger. He roams the restaurant chatting with people and giving hugs. A digital counter on the wall keeps track of the number of hugs given. When we were there it was registering around 88,000.
Carol, who has a heart for kids with special needs, watched Tim carefully as he gave attention especially to little kids, children, and senior citizens (We aren’t quite there yet!). He took the role of host, conversationalist, chuckler, coffee refiller, and whatever else needed to be done.
Carol heard about Tim’s Place from watching a feature about it on NBC’s Today show. The restaurant was started by his mom and dad, who were looking for a way to help Tim experience success. His ability to make people feel welcome was evident from working at a Red Robin restaurant in prior years.
There was something special about the restaurant. The lady who waited on us seemed happy…joy-filled. In fact, everybody who worked at Tim’s seemed in good spirits.
Oh, that more of life was like Tim’s Place! Unfortunately it seems to be more of an oasis in a desert of self-centeredness. A day after we were there our youngest daughter called to say that her boyfriend’s house in another part of Albuquerque was broken into in broad daylight and the thieves made off with a few items.
That’s how our world is! Hugs here, hoodlums there!
Categories: children, Community, Freedom, Grace, Story, Teamwork, Uncategorized, Youth
Tags: Albuquerque, Down's Syndrome, hospitality, restaurant, Tim's Place, welcome
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March 20, 2013
WORDS FROM W.W. March 20, 2013
A pastor’s group that I’m a part of (called Together in Ministry) includes some people who like to laugh and say things that we would never say on a Sunday morning. In fact, a lot of my blog post ideas come from this group. They help me create!
After my first mug of coffee this morning I got to thinking (finally) about some things to put on our church sign. I look for witty and short sayings that might catch some motorist’s eye without causing an accident. As I thought about some things to put on the sign my mind started thinking about how that topic might just played out in my TIM group, but not with sayings that WOULD appear on a sign, but rather with some things that will probably never, ever, ever be seen on the sign of a Baptist church. For some of them…I am tempted! We are told, however, to withstand temptations…and also avoid being fired!
Here’s some list:
“BYOB Communion Sunday this week!”
“All are welcome…but especially those with deep pockets!”
“Bingo this Saturday night- $1,000 jackpot guaranteed!”
“This Sunday! Big donuts and a little sermon!”
“Our restrooms are clean!”
“Make sure you wipe your feet!”
“Free Coffee, but it’s cheap!”
“Baptism this Sunday! Dunk Tank available afterwards!”
“Our music is slower than Lawrence Welk!”
“Looking for a friendly church? Sorry!”
“Our pastor rocks! Sometimes he even reclines!”
“We love everyone…especially if they are like us!”
“We’re a progressive church! We loved the 50’s, but we live in the 70’s!”
“2-for-1 Sunday. Come to one service, get the second service free!”
“Our kids are out of control, but our young people are just out!”
“Jesus loves you! We’re still making up our minds!”
“The world is full of problems. That’s why we keep our church doors locked!”
“We believe in the Bible, especially the parts that don’t convict us.”
“Free Guilt served here! No questions asked!”
“Don’t come in here looking like that!”
“Pastor on vacation! Party this Sunday!
Sometimes it seems my mind is more focused on what I can’t say than what I can.
Categories: Christianity, Community, Faith, Freedom, Grace, Humor, Jesus, Pastor, Story, The Church, Uncategorized, Youth
Tags: Baptist church, BYOB, church humor, church signs, communion, Don't, laughter
Comments: 2 Comments
March 19, 2013
WORDS FROM W.W. March 18, 2013
I was wearing a basketball hoodie, comfortable sweat pants, and my blue Nike’s, as we ate a leisurely dinner at a semi-fast food restaurant. Towards the end of our “snack” I went back up to the soda machine to get a refill on root beer. Just ahead of me was a young man…probably mid-twenties…wearing a nice suit. Another man around sixty, and also wearing a nice suit, approached him and asked the question, “So, where do you go to church?”
Did I mention that it was about 7:30 on a Sunday night?
The young man responded, “Oh…I’m from out of town, but I go to Glad Tidings Baptist Church in the city I’m from.”
The older gentleman then said, “I go to (couldn’t quite make it out) Church. Just got out of Sunday Night Service.”
I, evidently, did not look like church material. Hoodies and sweat pants give kind of an “unspiritual vibe”.
I wasn’t sure what to think. Was I more ticked off at being unnoticed, or by the fact that someone in a suit on a Sunday night in a hamburger place was assumed to be “churched?” I tried to not be cynical, but as I stared at my root beer the cynicism was rising to the surface faster than the carbonation bubbles.
As I read the Bible it seems that Jesus had issues with people who wore their religion on their sleeve. It seems to be a symptom of contemporary Christianity as well. Sunday night suits in hamburger joints is a calling card for more conservative-minded church-goers. Back in my college days at Judson College wearing a cross around your neck was considered “a sign.” In fact, the bigger the cross around your neck the closer to were seen as being to Jesus. Some of those former college classmates can attribute present back problems to heavy college year crosses. I never wore a cross. My cross to bear was Economics 101.
Some congregations base spiritual maturity according to a number- the number of times you entered the church building that week. Others base the fervor of their commitment to save the lost on the basis of how many stanzas of the closing song were sung before the pastor finally surrendered to the benediction.
Could it be that churches of different flavors are simply trying to outdo one another…like Target trying to attract more customers than Best Buy? Is our appearance of “following Jesus” as hollow as the chocolate Easter bunny many of us will bite into a few days from now?
We seem to be more and more confused by what it means to be a reflection of Christ. Suits and ties, giant cross necklaces, a few well-timed “amens”…different looks seem to be fashion statements.
The reality is that the appearance of being Christian is becoming sketchy. When I read the scripture on Sunday morning there are more smart phones being used to read the Word than the leather-bound kind. In most churches what people wear to church on Sunday morning is very similar to whatever attire they usually wear during the week. Many gatherings of followers of Christ happen away from church buildings in homes and coffee shops. I can rarely go into the Starbucks close to my house on Friday mornings and not find a table of guys in the midst of a Bible study. House churches are growing exponentially. The appearance of being Christian is losing its value and hearing in a world of church scandals, irrelevant congregations, and impoverished third world countries. What people are looking for are those who are being more the reflections of the Jesus who was on his hands and knees washing his disciples feet…the Jesus who was willing to get his cloak…his suit…dirty!
Categories: Christianity, Community, Faith, Freedom, Grace, Jesus, Story, The Church, Uncategorized
Tags: Amen, Baptists, benediction, cross necklaces, Judson College, leather-bound Bibles, Sunday night service, Sunday suits
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March 18, 2013
WORDS FROM W.W. March 17, 2013
I pastor a non-proper church. Non-proper in that we don’t get hung up on the unplanned. We do put an order of worship in the bulletin, but it is not deemed to be as sacred as the Word of God. (Although some Sundays you might get that impression!)
A couple of weeks ago we celebrated communion in the midst of the service. Most Sundays when we have communion it is at the end of the service after the children have departed for children’s church. This time, however, with communion is the smack dab middle the children were still there. Either a few people were double dipping on the communion cups, or the communion preparer hadn’t fixed enough. The servers passed the trays out amongst the congregation, and after assembling for the march back to the front each of them sheepishly looked at me…each holding an empty tray. I’ve never said the words of invitation for the cup…without a cup! It was a moment that might have unglued many pastors and congregations, but we took it all in stride.
I follow a Jesus who I firmly believed laughed a lot. I pastor a church that finds a lot of things funny.
One Sunday a few years ago I was wearing one of those Hawaiian shirts with leaves or palms or something like that on it as a design. One of our senior men, who was sitting by his daughter, leasned over and asked her “Is that marijuana on his shirt?”
During a children’s story a four year old sneezed and suddenly displayed to the congregation a nose with Niagara Falls flowing from it.
On an Easter Sunday the wrong video was being shown of a resurrection song danced to by two thousand people, but a heavy metal song had been dubbed into the background.
Usually one Sunday every month we have one of the two candles on the communion table go out. It looks like we’re halfway committed to ritual.
Countless Sundays the words to a different song than we are singing appear on the screen.
Our heater in the baptismal tank has taken a holiday resulting in a few baptisms where the person really…really…really wanted to be baptized.
The iron railing by the walk of one of our entrances has the design of two bowling pins and a bowling ball in it.
One of our stained glass windows has the clear image of a St. Louis Cardinals baseball cap.
We’ve decided that life has enough tragedy in it. Let’s smile as much as we can.
For that to happen a church needs something else as a core value also. It needs to believe and practice grace. Grace helps us find humor in what is often too proper. Grace helps us see the reasons to chuckle in an empty communion tray. It frees us to think of possible future solutions to the present problem, instead of beating our chest and crying “Woe is us!”
Perhaps some churches don’t have funny moments because they don’t live by grace. My best friends in ministry are two guys that I can laugh with…and also cry with. I believe Jesus experienced both ends of the emotional spectrum as well. Art Linkletter used to host a program named “Kids Say The Darnedest Things.”
Perhaps for us it might be “Churches Do the Darnedest Things.”
Categories: children, Christianity, Community, Freedom, Grace, Humor, Jesus, Pastor, Story, The Church, Uncategorized
Tags: . funny, children's story, communion, humor, laughter, pastor, proper, St. Louis Cardinals cap
Comments: 1 Comment
March 5, 2013
WORDS FROM W.W. March 4, 2013
The four servers returned to the front with the communion cup trays. My assistant and I prepared to receive them, proclaim the words of Jesus, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood! Whenever you drink of this cup you proclaim my death until I come again. Drink of it, each of you!”
But there was a problem. We looked down at the trays that the four servers were holding.
Empty. Empty. Empty. Empty.
Four sets of eyes looked up at us with a sense of “puppy-dogish-ness!” We had run out of communion before everyone was served. Or at least…six of us were served! It wasn’t because the sanctuary was so packed out that there simply wasn’t enough. For some reason our communion preparer has fixed less on this day than usual. In addition to that we had the celebration of communion as a part of the worship gathering in the midst of the service, as opposed to being at the end. Thus, the children who normally had been dismissed for “Children’s Church” were participating in communion with us.
The six of us at the front of the sanctuary, the last to be served, were now left out. Paul talked about the gluttonous Corinthians boozing up at the gatherings of the church in Corinth. Those who got there early were tipping back a few before late arrivers- those who had to work longer days- got there. The result would be a group that over-did and another group that did without.
But in our situation no one was tipping more than one of the tiny plastic communion cups.
And there was no “multiplying of the cups” miracle. We just did without.
“Drink of it, most of you!”
The last shall be first, except on some communion Sundays where the last are just left out.
Perhaps some regular church attenders, rigid in ritual observance, committed to the faith while also being void of grace, would look at such an event and call for a congregational meeting. Some might have qualified it as sacrilegious. For us it just was…what it was! No one felt led to run down to the kitchen and see if there was any Baptist wine still in the frig (Welch’s Grape Juice). We just went on. In some ways there was a deeper bond that became a part of our gathering at that point. Our story together had just added another chapter.
It seemed fitting that those who served were the ones who didn’t have anything left for themselves. Serving the Lord is giving it up even when we realize there may not be anything left for ourselves.
I’ve been to a few Baptist potlucks where the end of the line got fruit jello, and the front of the line had about five different layers of food smothering their plates. Communion, however, is a little different.
Maybe I should bring to our church leadership the idea of a “BYOB Communion Sunday.” Although it might be a little unnerving to look out at the congregation and suddenly seeing a bottle being passed back and forth in the back rows. Maybe we’ll have to do a “BYOGJ” instead- bring your own grape juice.
I think I’m going to inquire of my Lutheran friends to see if they have an extra chalice laying around some place. Would that be sacrilegious for a Baptist to use a Lutheran chalice…or vice-versa? I don’t know, but for at least one pastor this past Sunday’s communion was an intimate experience even though the cup was missing.
Categories: Christianity, Community, Faith, Freedom, Grace, Humor, Jesus, love, Pastor, Story, The Church, Uncategorized
Tags: Baptist, chalice, communion, Corinthians, empty, servant, serving, The Lord's Supper, Welch's Grape Juice
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March 1, 2013
WORDS FROM W.W. March 1, 2013
There are sometimes things that a person does just because! Like taking your daughter to a Justin Bieber concert and realizing that the average age of the 20,000 attenders…not including yourself…is 13…rounded off to the nearest year! Why would a parent do such a thing? The answer: Just because!
Last week my girls’ basketball team had a team dinner. Great food, great time together…and then the fingernail polish came out! The twelve girls were painting their fingernails five different colors in preparation for the last game of the season the next day. (When my son’s soccer team was preparing for the state play-offs each of the players dyed their hair blonde!).
You may have already figured out what comes next in the story.
“Coach, it’s your turn!”
“What?”
“It’s time to get your fingernails painted!”
I wouldn’t call it peer pressure that have me cave in. It was more like allowing them to paint my nails…just because! My wife had her cell phone out taking pictures like it was a Cover Girl photo op!
Blue…red…silver…orange…and black…on each hand! I left the team dinner decorated! The next day I spent a good deal of the time with my hands in my pockets or with gloves on. I discovered where the nail polish remover is located at Walgreen’s for use immediately after the game.
What I discovered is that painted fingernails is outside my comfort zone. I was completely aware of my counter-cultural masculine look anytime I was in public. Actually I was aware of it most of the rest of time as well, because my hands are usually palms down in front of me instead of palms up. When one of those nails on each hand is painted with a glittery silver it’s distracting.
Everyone of us has things that are outside our comfort zone. Sometimes we allow ourselves to enter the uncomfortableness “just because.” Sometimes we realize that what we are about is more important that our uneasiness.
I had the sense that everyone was looking at me in those few hours when I was polished. It felt like I had just accidentally burped in the midst of a high-priced restaurant. The blush radiated!
What the experience also gain me was a sense of how someone new feels coming into a church situation. Like a 58 year old man with painted fingernails, there is an intimidation factor. It used to be that churches would recognize first-time visitors by having them stand or raising their hands to receive a special gift. Some would not agree with me on this one, but I think someone visiting a church for the first time feels uncomfortable enough as it is. “Churched people” may have lower anxiety levels, but unchurched people aren’t sure what they are getting themselves into in just being there at all. They may be there “just because.” Like a parent at a Justin Bieber concert, it may very well be a one-and-done experience. What would prompt an unchurched person to want to come back again? Probably about three things! One would be an encounter with the “mystery of the holy.” That they would experience something that they can’t quite describe, but know that something has been stirred within them.
Two would be that the person senses in some way that what happens in worship has relevance for life. It isn’t a “how to” seminar, but rather a look at life through a different lens or from a different perspective.
And three would be that the person would have a sense that the people of the faith gathering are fellow life journeyers, who haven’t arrived, but are still on the journey. The church would convey words like “help”, “compassion”, “inviting”, “grace”, “hope”, and “affirmation”, not “judgment”, “arrogance”, “apathy”, and “frosty.” The reason I was willing to have my fingernails glitter is that twelve other girls had already done it. Even though it was uncomfortable think how uncomfortable…and weird…it would have been if they would have done my nails, but not done their own. Sometimes the church has a critical eye about those who are uncomfortably seeking. In a culture where many people desire to stand out there is still an uncomfortableness about standing out in new situations.
I’ve used the nail polish remover, but the interesting thing is that there is still some residue…okay, maybe a better term is evidence…of the polish. One of my thumbnails that are painted orange looks like I had an orange slushie that leaked. But as I look at it, weird as it seems, I have good memories of that evening…just because.
Categories: children, Christianity, Community, Faith, Freedom, Grace, Humor, Jesus, Parenting, Pastor, Story, Teamwork, The Church, Uncategorized, Youth
Tags: coach, comfort zone, faith journey, fingernail polish, fingernails, first-time visitor, team, team dinner, unchurched, uncomfortable
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February 22, 2013
WORDS FROM W.W. February 22, 2013
My good friend, Tom Bayes, responded to my blog posting about having a passion for good sportsmanship by pointing me to an article written by Dr. Charles Chandler about the rise in “incivility.” His article points at an epidemic of incivility towards ministers. At first glance I was wondering about the connections between good sportsmanship and the treatment of pastors, and then I got it!
You see, a lack of sportsmanship, especially among adults, is linked to this idea of entitlement. A grown man in the bleachers believes he is entitled to say anything and act any way he wants because he has bought a ticket. He blurs “freedom of speech” with the verbal abuse of others.
In Chandler’s article he refers to Dr. G. Lloyd Rediger, author of Clergy Killers, who gives four reasons for the epidemic of incivility in the church. They are very revealing.
First of all, Rediger says that the church now mirrors society rather than leading it. A society that has become increasingly polarized and unwilling to respect the opinions on each side is spilling over into the church. Now a congregation that includes people with differing music tastes more often than not has heated differences over such things as organs, drums, hymnals, projected words on a screen, and volume level. Incivility filters into a congregation as comfort zones are squeezed, no matter whether it is about such things as “is it okay to bring coffee into the sanctuary” to “what to do about a crying infant in worship” to “a change in the time of the worship service.” My comfort zone is different than the next person’s, and the next person’s different from the person behind him…which leads to the second reason for incivility.
Rediger says that America was once viewed as a “land of opportunity.” Now it tends to be a land filled with people who feel entitled. Comfort levels are viewed as sacred, and thus demanded. Rediger says that some people who aren’t as comfortable as they have been in the church become even vengeful. As entitlement becomes part of the environment, grace gets shoved out the door. Forgiveness goes shortly after since it is linked with grace. Entitled congregants often begin staking out their areas, or programs, or hot button issues and construct “invisible fences” with “No Trespassing” indicators.
The church, which has its roots in personal transformation and discipleship, instead becomes more like a Walmart at 5 a.m. on Black Friday!
The third reason mentioned is that the church too often has adopted the business model for operating instead of a mission model. A sense of mission gets replaced with an atmosphere of management. The pastor presides over the weekly schedule of meetings instead of leading the congregation in the celebration of communion. “Administrate” becomes the buzz word instead of “sacred”. Operations becomes more of the focus instead of mission.
And finally, the fourth reason for the rise in incivility is the loss of respect for the role of the minister. The expectation of pleasing people becomes more important then being their spiritual leader and mentor. I wrestle with this one. Whereas the congregation I pastor treats me with respect, I sometimes wonder if the length of my pastorate has a tendency, so to speak, to make me part of the furniture. Coming up on 14 years this summer I have that uneasiness within me that I am sometimes more honored and respected than heard. Such inner feelings are linked to something written a number of years ago by Loren Mead about the most effective years of a pastorate being between years five and nine. After that, he wrote, the pastor’s ability to lead significant change diminishes. He wrote that about twenty-five years ago. In our culture I’m not sure if it is still true. Because of rapid change it could be that the most effective years are now between three and five.
Bottom line, the Body of Christ, that has its roots in hope, peace, faith, forgiveness, and love, must take a look in the mirror and wash the anger, selfishness, and apathy off.
Categories: Christianity, Community, Faith, Freedom, Grace, Jesus, love, Pastor, Story, Teamwork, The Church, Uncategorized
Tags: comfort level, communion, differences, entitlement, Incivility, losing focus, Mission, pastor, personal agendas, polarized, unforgiving
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February 5, 2013
WORDS FROM W.W. February 5, 2013
My barber’s name is Phil Hanson. I began going to him a few years ago because a distinguished elderly man in our church, Charles Slusser, always had such a nicely-groomed head of white hair. One day I finally asked Charles where he got his hair cut and he pointed me in Phil’s direction. Phil is now 78 years old, but so far he hasn’t cut anything on my head but hair. The reason I have continued to go back to him again and again is because he reminds me of “Floyd” of Mayberry, hometown setting for “The Andy Griffith Show”. I want my barber to be more like Floyd and less about style.
Phil has a loyal customer base of mostly older gentlemen who come more for the conversation and less about a cut. Floyd was like that, too. He may have been the only barber in Mayberry, but his shop was a place of conversation.
But, like most of the characters on Andy Griffith, Floyd required some grace. He, Goober, Gomer, Howard, Otis, and especially Barney Fife, all had their stumbles and bumbles. Their talent for doing boneheaded things was the basis for most of the 249 episodes of the series. Otis tried and failed to get sober numerous times. Barney carelessly first his pistol more than once. Even Aunt Bee needed grace in a few episodes.
For some reason Mayberry didn’t hold grudges. Forgiveness found a home there. (My favorite is the episode entitled “Citizen’s Arrest! Citizen’s Arrest!”) In a majority of the episodes Andy at some time would shake his head in disbelief and say, “Bar…ney!” By the time the thirty minute show was over, however, all had been forgiven.
Perhaps our world needs a little more Mayberry, and less of “The Real World.” Grace seems to be harder to come by these days as people seek their corner in the ring before they come out swinging.
Jesus was very gracious when it came to his disciples. Kind of like Andy Griffith dealing with his cast of Mayberry characters, Jesus dealt with men who wanted to know who would be greatest in the kingdom of heaven, wondered why they couldn’t cast out demons, doubted the multiplication of the loaves and fishes, and weren’t sure what was going on a lot of the time.
I sometimes have to step back and realize that the picture I have of Jesus is one where he is battling with the Pharisees, or getting perturbed with the teachers of the Law. My picture needs to be updated with the Jesus of grace. He had the first group of trail-and-error followers. There was not a manual for them to follow, so they needed to follow Jesus closely…and sometimes they messed it up.
I think the church needs to be more like Mayberry, a place of grace. There’s a little bit of Floyd, Otis, Barney, and Aunt Bee in each one of us. A bit of waywardness, cluelessness, and falling short in various ways. The church is a cast of characters trying to get it together, but knowing there may be an episode next week that will cause some head-shaking.
Categories: Christianity, Community, Faith, Grace, Humor, Jesus, Pastor, Story, The Church, Uncategorized
Tags: Andy Griffith, Aunt Bee, Barney Fife, Floyd the barber, forgiveness, Gomer, Goober, grace, Mayberry, Otis
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January 31, 2013
WORDS FROM W.W. January 31, 2013
The church is a very unique people. It is not confined to a building, although most people still usually identify it as a building. It is not defined by its preaching, although proclamation is at the core of who it is. It conveys grace and forgiveness, and yet urges ongoing transformation.
The church also has an unsettling tension about it, for it seeks to minister to people who are dysfunctional in a variety of ways, but it needs functional people to keep it focused, effective, and missional. In other words, the church is about helping people get it together, and yet it requires people who have it together to keep it healthy.
It is true that we are all dysfunctional in some way. “Falling short” is a nice way of saying dysfunctional. My dysfunction might be one easily diagnosed, or it may very well be one that I keep hidden to myself. The dysfunction might be in fractured families or recovering addicts, but it could also be in my tendency to lust after money, sex, and power; or the bitterness in my spirit towards someone who has wronged me. All of us are dysfunctional in some way.
The church, however, is the only group of people besides AA that intentionally invites dysfunctional people to come and find healing, hope, peace, and purpose. And yet, if there are not “healed people” who are functioning well as a part of the church the result can be like a lifeboat whose passengers are all rowing in different directions. There is a lot of splashing going on, but no movement. There is a lot of “wanting” evident, but also increasing frustration.
It reminds me of the early church situation In Jerusalem where a certain group of widows were being excluded in the daily distribution of food (Acts 6:1-7). The first church adjusted and put seven men in place to make sure the function of providing for the women was taken care of. It presented itself as a possible major fracture in the church, based on a group’s culture, and the church restructured to make sure people in need were included.
People whose lives are in turmoil need a church that has people who have battled through the turmoil. And yet the church can not be so “all that”, as they say, that it conveys a sense of arrogance. It can’t convey messages like diet businesses do where they show the before and after pictures of its clients. Broken people need healing, but they will always be under construction.
Like I said, the church is a very unique people.
Categories: Christianity, Community, Faith, Grace, Jesus, Story, Teamwork, The Church, Uncategorized
Tags: Acts 6, caring for widows, deacons, Dysfunctional
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Words from WW Blog 