Mr. Brown

It’s his hat that I remember most.  I don’t think I ever saw him without it.  You know the kind: navy blue truckers hat... the kind with the foam front half and plastic mesh back half with the little plastic snap band for sizing.  U.S. Navy was emblazoned in gold on the front and that stuff that looks like scrambled eggs was on the brim.  He always wore it perched on his gunmetal grey hair, everywhere he went.  He dressed well too, always with a polo shirt and slacks.  He’d be walking down the street and there was no doubt it was Mr. Brown when you saw him.

His smile.  I remember that too.  He always had the biggest smile and friendliest laugh of anyone I’ve ever met.  Always a joke.  Always an encouragement.  Always brightening your day.

Mr. Brown was an elderly black gentleman who I met when I was 17 and working at the restaurant.  I never knew his first name, he always introduced himself with a smile and said, “I’m Mr. Brown, what’s your name?”  He’d come in and say, “Hello,” to everyone in the dining room and every staff member.  He had a way of talking to you that made you feel like you really mattered.  He’d remember your name (and everyone else’s) and ask you how your dad was doing, how you did on your final, or some other tidbit about your life that he had tucked away during your last conversation.  He was a presence when he came into a room.  You couldn’t miss him.  He was the most amiable man I have ever known.

I only saw him angry once.  One of the counter girls had been treated poorly by her boyfriend shortly before and she had been crying.  Mr. Brown put his arm on her and told her that she was beautiful and that she was too valuable to waste her time with someone who couldn’t appreciate that. I believe that her soon-to-be-ex-boyfriend would have been really sorry if he been there, at that moment.  Mr. Brown soon had her sniffing away the tears and laughing along with him.

Mr. Brown was generous with his time.  He helped me do my taxes for the first time.  I think he did the same thing for almost every young kid there.  He helped my friend work on his car and helped me fix my bike once.  He always seemed to be helping someone with something.

We walked together from the restaurant to my house to do my taxes.  It was normally a 20 minute walk, but it was five times that with Mr. Brown.  Along the way, he stopped at almost every shop and business to say, “Hello,” to people he knew there.  He took time with every single one of them to flash his smile and to listen to their story.  And, he introduced me to every single one of them as if I was his closest friend in the world. 

Mr. Brown impressed me so much, that I vowed that someday, I’d be like him.  I want to live in a community of people and be known by everyone.  I want to be able to encourage people and help them out.  I want to lift up those whose spirits are down, and be the kind of guy who can make a young girl smile through her tears and be just a bit scary to her loser boyfriend who hurt her.  I want to help some dumb kid with his taxes and maybe pass along a few life lessons along the way.

That’s who I’d like to be.  Just like Mr. Brown.

For years, I’d see Mr. Brown and his Navy hat walking around the streets of this neighborhood.  I moved to a different part of the city for a few years, and I haven’t seen him since I’ve moved back.  He’s probably passed on by now.  It may not be theologically accurate, but I like to picture Mr. Brown strolling the streets of heaven, wearing his Navy hat, stopping and talking to every single person there, remembering their name, and listening to their story.

He may be gone, but Mr. Brown lives on in my memory, and in my desire to be just like him.

Observations from the Front Porch

I sat on the front porch rail listening to Ken and Daniel strum their guitars. We waved periodically as people we knew walked past the cabin on their way back to their cabin or to the cafeteria. Occasionally someone would stop and talk for awhile, but often they just waved and went on their way.

Ken’s daughter Jennifer sat next to us weaving pine needles into a decorative garland that would have been at home on any Appalachian front porch.

Only…

We weren’t in the Appalachians. We were sitting on the front porch of the Nurse’s cabin at summer camp in Pine Summit Church Camp, Prescott, Arizona. Ken and Nancy, volunteers from our church, were the camp nurses. Daniel and his wife were also volunteers, leading praise music during sessions. And, the people walking by weren’t just our neighbors, they were the volunteers and youth at the church camp.

I had just spent a week in Durango, Colorado with a bunch of high school kids, living together in college dorms for the High School summer camp and now I was in Prescott with a hundred elementary and Junior High kids for their camps.

Spending a week with your fellow Christians at a church camp can be an amazing experience, not because of the highs of worship or excitement of rock walls and other adventure experiences, but because of the mundane things that we often miss in our frenzied life back home.

Traveling together, living in close quarters, and experiencing community on a small scale is powerful, in a way that you cannot understand until you have lived it.

There is something healthy about watching the senior pastor cross the hall with his towel and shower shoes, a days scruffy growth on his face and sleep in his eyes. It may not be pretty, but it makes him seem more human and definitely decreases the hero-worship factor that some try to cultivate.

Or, walking together down to the cafeteria to pray as a group and then going in to see what culinary surprises were in store today. Those short conversations on the road are the start of long friendships. At their camp, our high school group even visited the grocery store and then came back to their cabin to prepare a huge feast together where everyone did their part; there was more food than an army could eat. That shared meal together was a lifetime investment in just a few hours.

This sort of rubbing up against each other, living life in close proximity, is missing from our world and from our churches, especially in big cities. It is just this sort of shared life and transparency that leads to healthy relationships and personal growth. It’s harder to hide behind a mask when you sleep in the room next door to each other. It’s harder to pretend to be better than someone else when you just flushed the toilet two stalls down from them. Interpersonal skills, sharing, and forgiveness are all tested when you travel crammed together for days in a van. Mistakes are made, drama occurs, tears are shed, and yet, they are all dealt with and we grow…because, in close proximity, we have to. You don't get to run away and spread your drama on Facebook. You get to grow together here and now.

Shared jokes, small conversations, meals together, and late nights on the front porch together build strong communities. It’s just too bad that more people don’t experience this. Perhaps we need church camp for adults.

Truth Found in a Porta-John

The sounds of loud snoring came from the row of porta-johns as I went by. “That’s weird, I hope nothing’s wrong,” I thought. Then I decided, “Someone’s probably joking around, trying to freak people out,” and I went on by to return to my campsite.

To this day, I’m sorry that I did.

Several hours later, a woman came by our campsite. “Have any of you seen Petey?,”she asked.

None of us knew Petey and said so. She then told us that Petey was an old fella who was camping there that lots of people knew. “He’s not healthy,” she said, “and no one has seen him for hours. He has trouble getting around and has breathing problems.”

A terrible realization dawned on me as I told her about the sounds I had heard earlier.

When they checked the porta-johns, they found Petey. The sounds I had heard and ignored were the sounds of a man suffocating to death. After the door had closed, he had fallen in the little space between the door and the toilet and had been unable to get up, and so died suffocating in a porta-john.

I’m not entirely sure where this falls on the scale of ‘Bad ways to die,’ but I’m pretty sure it’s up there on the list.

Had I taken the time to investigate my suspicions, a man might not have died.

I bring this up because, this last Sunday, a woman was sitting in a pew at before church. It appeared she was sleeping and many people passed her by without noticing. Yes, I know it is customary to wait until the sermon to fall asleep, so this must have been unusual. Sharon, our church secretary didn’t pass by. She noticed that things weren’t right, and she saved a life. The lady wasn’t sleeping, she was in diabetic shock with blood glucose in the 20s!!! That’s barely enough to maintain life. If Sharon hadn’t taken the time to notice, then she could have died right then and there.

There is a lesson here that goes far past the issue of life and death. The deeper issue is our awareness of others around us. As we become more and more focused on ourselves and less aware of others, the sense of community dies. We become more and more separated and it becomes harder to care about anyone but ourselves.

Ecclesiastes describes this very situation almost 3000 years ago:

There was a man all alone;
He had neither son nor brother.
There was no end to his toil,
yet his eyes were not content with his wealth.
"For whom am I toiling," he asked,
"and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?"
This too is meaningless -- a miserable business!

Two are better than one.
Because they have a good return for their work:

If one falls down, his friend can help him up.
But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!

Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
But how can one keep warm alone?

Though one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves.

A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

Ecclesiastes 4:8-12

The need to be a part of a community, to be loved, to be cared about is deeply embedded in our soul. The challenge then is this: How do we get our eyes off of ourselves and on to others?

This is not an easy thing to do.

People are difficult. Humanity is messy.

The task is to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. But what if our neighbor is a jerk? What if our family member is cruel? What if our coworker is weird?

It is a whole lot easier to love others if we can be truthful with ourselves. We too can be cruel, weird, and mean. If we can be loved, then we can love others.

I believe this is what the lies behind God’s call for us to love others. It is only by breaking out of our own selfishness and serving others that we begin to improve ourselves. Alone, we are nothing but self serving chemical reactions, but in a community, we become so much more.

Today, make it a point to love someone else.

It doesn’t matter if they share the same beliefs as you. Love them.

It doesn’t matter if they are nice to you. Reach out to them.

It doesn’t matter if they are outgoing or introverted. Pay attention to them.

It doesn’t matter if they have nothing to give back to you. Give to them.

Find yourself by serving others. It is an incredible gift to them and to yourself.

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Philippians 2:3-4

The rest of the story:

Ironically, Petey turned out to be my first funeral as a minister. Because we were many miles back in the middle of nowhere, we had to wait for the Sheriff to come an investigate the death and the coroner to come and take Petey away. The lady who had originally come looking for Petey came back later and asked, “Wasn’t one of you a preacher or some such?” I said I was a new minister and she replied, “Well, we think Petey was a Presbyterian and figured he’d like it if someone said a few words.” So, 20 minutes later, I found myself doing an impromptu funeral in front of a porta-john, miles from civilization, with a newly dead body on the ground in front of me covered by a sleeping bag. Rest in Peace Petey.

The Journey - A Skit for Church

This is a skit co-written by Rodger S. Loar and Erin Paige. It was performed Sunday, January 31, 2010 at Mountain View Christian Church by Nate Allen, Rebecca Loar, and Bedillia Gonzeles. Directed by Erin Paige. Copyright January 2010.

If you like the skit and wish to use it for your church, you have our permission so long as you give written credit in the bulletin or or other service flyer as follows: "The Journey - written by Rodger S. Loar and Erin Paige, Copyright January 2010, www.rodg3r.blogspot.com."

---

The Journey

Actor A is walking across the stage very slowly. He is carrying and/or dragging a large very full army bag that is obviously very heavy. It should be stuffed with paper but also have some very heavy items that make noise especially as he sets it down. He is struggling. He tries different positions, sometimes he tries to drag it, sometimes carry it. He slips and falls. Actor A finally gets frustrated and sits down dropping the bag with a loud clunk putting his head in his hands.

(Actor B enters also carrying a bag but it is smaller and lighter.)

Actor B: Why are you just sitting here on your Christian Journey?

Actor A: Because it’s hard. I don’t think I’ll ever be good enough or strong enough for this walk. Being a Christian is not easy. This road is really rough and I’ve got all this baggage. I don’t know if I’m going to make it. (Puts head in hands)

Actor B: Wow. That’s a big bag. Whatcha got in there?

Actor A opens up his bag and begins to take items out to represent his life load.

Actor A: (Pulls out a large chain) This chain is my addiction. (Keeps pulling chain out of bag for a long time, passing it to Actor B)

Actor B: Whoa, that’s a lot of chain! That must be some addiction.

Actor A: I have carried it a very long time. I’ve tried to get help, but I just can’t seem to break it. (he pulls a short length of chain trying to break it)

(He then leaves Actor B holding the chain and then reaches back into his bag and pulls out an absurdly large Victorian type family picture frame with picture of family and barbed wire tacked around the edge) Then there is my family. My wife and I just don’t seem to enjoy each other as much anymore. We’re both so stressed and we end up taking it out on each other. We fight about everything. And the kids, they are struggling with school and getting into trouble. And then there are my inlaws, Oh my inlaws (hand on head and rolls eyes)

Actor B: (Tries to grab the frame) Ouch! Is that barbed wire on there?

Actor A: (conspiratorially) you’d have to know my family

Actor B: (gestures to her own backpack) You should see my family… (pause, while they share a knowing look) What else you got in there?

Actor A: (Pulls out a sledge hammer and a smaller claw hammer handing them to Actor B. Actor B struggles with the weight and finally sets them down) Work is rough. They laid off a lot of people last month and I don’t know how much longer I’ll have a job. And, now I’m working long hours doing all their work too! Plus, most of the guys at work aren’t Christian and they always seem to get me to do things that aren’t very Jesusy.

(He starts rooting around in the bag some more and flippantly pulls out a large wad of cash)

Actor B: Well it sure looks like money is good.

Actor A: Wait. (pulls out 5 big stacks of bills, one after the other, handing each to Actor B) Yeah, but there's more bills than money. We are constantly struggling to pay the bills. We don’t make the best choices with our money, we’re always eating out and seem to buy a bunch of stuff we don’t need. (He reaches back in the bag and pulls out a soccer ball, a drum stick, a pair of large swim flippers, ballet slippers, and a football Actor B keeps trying to hold onto everything as he pulls it out, juggling everything ) Oh yes, there’s the kids. They are so busy with sports and clubs and stuff. They’re each involved in too many activities; we are constantly running them to and from one thing to another. We barely have time to breathe.

Actor B: (somewhat taken aback) My goodness, is there more???

(Actor A reaches in bag and pulls out a very large, very sticky ball of tape [wad up black electrical tape into a big ball, with the sticky side out]) Then, there is my grudge with my dad. I am stuck and I can’t seem to let it go. I just can’t seem to forgive him for everything he did. I am so angry. (Actor A sticks the ball of tape to Actor B – Actor B responds with a grossed out look on her face)

Actor B: You know, you don’t have to walk this road alone. Everyone has their struggles. Heck, I’ve got baggage of my own (Indicates her own backpack) I’ve had people help me through. Maybe I can help. How bout we leave some of this stuff at the cross. Why don’t we start with your kids. They learn how to balance their lives from you. Maybe you could encourage them to each give up one of their activities. They don’t have to do them all and you will help them learn time management. Maybe we can leave some of this here as a start. (she places most of the sports stuff at the cross, but Actor A takes back the ballet shoes and the drum stick)

Actor A: Yeah, then they would have time for homework, or church, or maybe then I could get to see them once in awhile that’s not in the car rushing somewhere.

Actor B: Right. What about work?? Can we leave your worries about work here?

Actor A: I don’t think I’m quite ready to let go of all that yet. (He leaves large hammer on the ground, but takes small hammer and puts it in the pack).)

Actor B: That’s ok. Maybe we can work on that together. I know it’s hard, but we can be praying together. And don’t forget, I can help you carry things too. In fact, give me some of that chain (she takes half and puts it in her bag, the rest is left where it lays on the ground).

Actor A: I would like to be better with my money. Can you help me find ways to do that too?

Actor B: Sure. I have a friend at church who’s really good with money. I’ll introduce you Sunday. He helped me learn how to save and even give money back to God by donating to church and some of my favorite charities. Do you think you can leave your money here and trust God with it?

Actor A: Yeah I’d like to. It is really hard, maybe I could just leave part of it now. (takes about half of the money and leaves it in front of the cross, puts the rest of the money and the bills back in the bag for now).

Actor B: There! Your load is looking lighter already. Let’s keep walking. Maybe we can learn some things together.

(The 2 continue walking. Actor A stumbles but Actor B helps them back up and they keep walking.)

Actor C comes on stage struggling with a large bag of her own. Actor A and Actor B watch for a moment and then Actor B starts to walk over to help. But, Actor A puts a hand out to stop her and says:

Actor A: That’s alright! I’ve got this one! (heads over and puts his hand on Actor C’s shoulder) “You know, you don’t have to walk this road alone.

(lights fade to black. Galatians 6:2 is displayed on the video screen while a voice reads it aloud.)

Galatians 6:2 Carry Each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ

Ten Things I Wish for the Church

Ten Things I Wish For the Church

I did not grow up as a Christian. I just didn’t know anything about God. When I began to follow Jesus in my early 20s, I did not take his call passively. I got involved, I got moving, I got to work. Often, when I look at the church, I see people who sit in pews for an hour and then rush off back to their lives that are basically non-christian.

It makes me sad to see the waste of it all. If God’s people really took His call seriously on their lives, some amazing things could happen in our churches, neighborhoods, our nation and our world.

I wish…

Number 10: I Wish that Christians would give their time to God. Our society is so driven by busy-ness, rushing around to the next meeting, working two jobs, and getting our kids involved in every extracurricular activity possible, investing countless hours driving them everywhere and never mind their spiritual growth, their moral values, their peace of mind (or yours). Stop. Slow Down. Say no. Take time. Turn off the Television. Quit doing every hobby on earth. Tithe your time, that is give up enough of your busy-ness that you can use 10% (at least) of your time to do God’s work, to discuss values with your kids, to just spend time making a difference. AND, don’t forget to take some additional time in peace, rest, retreat, prayer, and relaxation.

Number 9: I Wish that Christians would break their love of money. This is another area where we have followed our society. We spend and spend and spend and then borrow more so that we can keep spending. We have to have Televisions in every room, the latest cars – two of them (along with the latest car loan), the biggest house (along with that gigantic mortgage), the coolest gadgets, iPods, Rock Band, vacations, maxed-out credit cards, travel, etc. etc. etc. Quit spending every dime you have and begin giving 10% (at least) to God’s work. Give to your local church, give to missions, give to homeless shelters, give to charity, etc. Heck, buy some groceries for the single mom next door. Then, save another 10% over and above any retirement account that you have. Then, live within the rest without borrowing.

Number 8: I Wish that Christians would remember why they came to God in the first place and then share that good news with their friends and neighbors. This doesn’t mean grabbing a bullhorn and heading for the street corner. It means engaging people you care about in honest, heartfelt discussions about spiritual things.

Number 7: I Wish that Christians would understand that following Jesus has little or nothing to do with politics. You may be guided by your faith as you vote, but I don’t remember Jesus saying anything about legislating the Kingdom of Heaven.

Number 6: I Wish that Christians would disciple. Jesus called us to do this in Matthew 28:19. Spiritual and personal growth is supposed to be a part of our Christian walk. That means personal, small group, or one-on-one exhortation outside of the Sunday sermon. Do you have a more mature Christian speaking into your life? Are you working with someone else?

Number 5: I Wish that Christians would teach the Word to their children. I have worked with youth and children for more than a decade and I see a consistent truth: Kids whose parents study the Bible outside of church and talk about spiritual things with their kids have better, well adjusted, and active Christian kids. Those who expect the youth group to teach their kids are the ones whose kids leave the faith as young adults. Deuteronomy 6:4-9. Parents, takes some time each week (if not daily) to read the Bible together and talk about it. This takes us back to Number 10 above, you have to make time for this. The added benefit, is that it will help you, help your marriage, and bring your family together.

Number 4: I Wish that Christians would remember Christ’s gentle message of grace to the hurting, the lost, and the sinners. He reserved his anger and rebuke to those that were using religion to press down on those same hurting, lost, and sinners. This is an important message for the abortion debate, the homosexual marriage debate, and any other place where we come into conflict.

Number 3: I Wish that Christians would remember that faith calls for action. Read and follow the words of James 1:27, Mark 12:31, Malachai 6:8, James 2:14-18, Matthew 25:35-26, Matthew 5:13-16, Matthew 6:2-4. Serve, volunteer, give, love, help. Don’t just sit in the pew on an occasional Sunday and believe that you have done your Christian duty for the week. Read Matthew 25:41-46 and take the warning to heart, God takes this very seriously.

Number 2: I Wish that Christians would remember that we are all human. Christian sometimes try to act like everything is OK, keeping their mask on even though they are hurting inside. This pushes new people away because they look at their own lives and realize they can’t be perfect. This is also an issue with leaders. People put pastors on a pedestal and then are hurt when the pastor falls. We are all sinners, saved by grace.

Number 1: I Wish that Christians would return to the strong community of the early church where we lived together, ate together, and served together weekly if not daily. Maybe it is a big-city thing, but it seems that everyone lives separate lives except for Sunday from 10:00 – 11:15.

This is the last installment in my Top 10 in 10 Days. I hope that you have enjoyed it. I have appreciated the response. My goal was to get my Christian and non-Christian friends all thinking about God, religion, the Bible, and spiritual things in their lives. This is an important area of life that many people neglect.

My next post will be next Monday in the A.M.

Are You Being Served?

Over more than a decade in ministry, I have watched an interesting phenomenon occur. There are a group of church-attenders who leave another church, show up at ours, stay for awhile, and then leave to go to a new church down the road. There, presumably they repeat the process.
Upon their arrival, they generally have something negative to say about their previous church and upon leaving, they generally have something negative to say about us.

The most common reason that I have heard is, “I’m wasn’t being fed.” This is then followed by some need that they have that wasn’t being met by the church: “no one came up to me and talked to me on Sundays” or “my marriage was in trouble and no one helped me” or I really want a small group for singles over the age of forty.”

Each of these reasons goes back to the original, “I’m not being fed.” Can you hear the selfishness and laziness of that statement? Several of the Proverbs speak of the ‘sluggard.’ My favorite is, "the sluggard buries his hand in the dish; he is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth.” I love the picture here of this lazy guy putting his hand in the bowl of food and just being too lazy to lift it back up to his lips. The application here is obvious. “I’m not being fed” translates to, I want someone else to fill my needs and I am too busy to do anything about it myself.

The writer of Hebrews says, “We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness.” Did you hear that? He says, “Quit being babies and grow up!” He tells them that they ought to be able to teach themselves and others by now, but they are so immature that they aren’t ready for it.

I cannot speak for every other church, but this one has some excellent teaching. Our preaching pastor is an expert in his field, he teaches other pastors how to preach. He is gifted at combining the art and science of hermeneutics and homiletics into an interesting and informative lesson. We also have small groups with good teaching in them. Also, almost every other church that I have visited falls into this category. The teaching is usually very good. It has been a rare occasion indeed when I have left a sister church taking issue with their teachings. This tells me that the food is there, it just isn’t making it to their lips.

The picture we need to get is of a giant Thanksgiving dinner. The whole family is there along with many guests. There is a spread of food on the table, enough to make it sag. There is turkey and dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce (the real kind with whole cranberries, nuts, and orange peels), green bean casserole, hot fresh bread with real butter dripping off of it, mincemeat, sweet potato pie, and all the other fixin’s that you could imagine. Much of the family and guests are eating, but there are a few that are just sitting there. Grown adults, salivating at the smells, their stomachs are grumbling, but they just sit there with their hands at their sides, their plates empty…waiting for someone else to put food in their mouth.

That is not what the Christian life is.

There is no call for servants of Jesus to sit there and let others do for them, in fact, quite the opposite. All of the New Testament is a call to action. It is full of verbs:
Make disciples, Serve one another, Be, Do, Love…

The message of God’s Kingdom is not, what has the church done for me lately; it is, How can I serve God and others. It has nothing to do with my own entertainment and everything to do with the sacrificial giving of my time, money, and self to God’s work.

In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul compares the church to a body. We are all parts (eyes, hands, feet, stomachs, etc) and all of us have parts to serve the body as a whole. It is time that we separate our consumer-driven culture from our church body. We are not a business, we are a Body, a community, a family.

Picture that Thanksgiving dinner again. This time, we work together. I’ll roast the turkey because I have a wonderful recipe for brining it that makes it extra juicy. Aunt Meg will bake the bread because that’s what she does. Dad will make the cranberry dressing using grandma’s old iron crank grinder bolted to the edge of the kitchen table. My friend Kris will bring over her fancy china and we’ll ask Denise and Hazel to make a beautiful centerpiece. Grandma Ruth Gonzeles will bring the giblet gravy and all the little girls will set the table while the boys bring in a bunch of mismatched chairs for everyone to sit on. Dan Vincent will make the pumpkin pies and Chip will say the blessing. Theo will show up bringing a homeless person that he just met and Earl will be ready to take the leftovers from the meal to the rescue mission. When the meal is done, we’ll all clean the dishes and then sit down on the porch and talk with each other while the kids play in the back yard.

That is the body of Christ, each person actively doing their part and all of us spending time in community…In communion.

If you want to be fed, pick up your Bible and start reading

If you want to be fed, volunteer at the church or at a service ministry.

If you want to be fed, begin introducing yourself to others at church.

If you want to be fed, join a small group Bible study.

If you want to be fed, stick around after church and get to know others.

If you want to be fed, you’ve got to do some of the work - feed yourself.

If you are one of those who tells me that you aren’t being fed, don’t be surprised if I don’t have a sympathetic ear. In this house, if you don’t work, you don’t eat! (2 Thessalonians 3:9-15)


Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. 1Peter 4:10

Embers

This blog originally posted Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Current mood: lonely Category: Life

Well, camp is over for the summer. Got done with CIY three weeks ago and Junior High Camp last week.

I'm always a little sad after camp. Every year. It took me a little while to realize why, but now I know. It's community. For one straight week, I get to live in a Christian community, eating, drinking, woshiping, sleeping, playing, etc... all in Christian community. Just like the first church in Acts.

We live, love, laugh, cry, argue, and play together. Every meal is communion. Every thing we do is worship. We are focussed on each other and on God.

I used to think camp was a nice break from the real world. Now, I realize that the real world is an unfortunate break from where I'm supposed to be.

The theme of CIY this year was, "you were never meant to be alone". That is so true. The level of relationship that is achievable in a closeknit Christian community is beyond anything else. And, best of all, it is just a peak at what eternity will be like in pure and total relationship with God.

The unfortunate truth is that our culture has become so 'me' centered and focused on our impassioned search for brief fixes of happiness, that we no longer attempt real community. We have begun to look at church as a community center that is there to provide services to us and not as a family that needs and loves us, a body that we are an irreplaceable part of. No, now we switch churches on a dime because we 'aren't being fed' or because another church has 'better worship'.

This church hopping, which is encoraged by many of the McMega Churches has been terribly destructive to the real relational community that can (and at times has) existed in the past.
Yeah, they have latte's down the street, and 7 services every weekend at the one around the corner. This one has a special group that caters just to my specific interests and that one sends their youth group to Disneyland for free every year.

Can we be honest here? All that is a 2nd rate chasing of the world. Vegas and Hollywood both do a better job and at least they are honest that the glitz and glamour is all fake. We aren't supposed to go to church to be entertained or catered to. We are supposed to worship God in community that is infinitely more joyful than a few moments of passive pleasure.

When did we forget that a relationship requires commitment, time invested, intentional love. How did we lose the knowledge that community is hard to build but infinitely worth it. Where did we misplace the understanding that God wants us to be a body, a family, a relationship?

If you can read this and believe in Jesus, I dare you to reconsider how you look at your faith. Are you a passive recipient of services? Are you a bored occasional visitor? Do you skip going to service because you ahave other 'important' things to do? Are you church hopping or shopping? If you are, open your Bible and look at Acts 2:42-25. That type of vibrant, loving, committed community is what we are supposed to have. It is achievable. It just requires you.
Like any relationship, it requires time. It requires you to be there. It requires you to want to grow closer to other people. It requires you to invest in others. It requires you to serve others. It requires you.

We don't need to reinvent Christianity to appeal to the masses. We just need to return to it.

When will they ever learn

This blog originally posted Friday, October 06, 2006

Current mood: contemplative Category: Life

The Kingston Trio, a 1960s era folk band had a song called 'Where have all the flowers gone'. Pretty song. Somewhat depressing and fatalistic. The refrain is 'when will they ever learn'.

One of the hardest parts about working in ministry is watching people self destruct. You get a ringside seat to watch people you care about make bad decisions, decisions that destroy their lives and/or damage the lives of others. Time and time again. Even more painful is that they often make bad choices, knowing what the right thing is.

Then, after the damage is done, as they look around the destruction and begin picking up the pieces, they come to some realization that what they did was a mistake. Often, people around them warned them, red flags where everywhere; but selfish pride kept them on the path they were on.

Usually these are financial or relationship issues. Should I buy that big ticket item? Should I marry that person? People always seem to make the choice that is easiest or the most fun in the short term. They pay for it later.

Sometimes, people (Christians especially) seem to think that life just happens. Christians blame the devil for all sorts of ills. Non-Christians just say it was bad luck or fate. The truth is, a great deal of what goes wrong in our lives are our own choices. Often these choices are made despite wise council to the contrary. Sometimes, random bad luck happens, sometimes the devil gets you in his sights, but, most of the ill that occurs in our lives comes from mistakes that were chosen.

It's like the insurance industry tells us. "There is no such thing as a car accident." All car accidents are really the result of a bad choice (either intentional or unintentional) of someone. They really should be called purposes, not accidents.

The same is true of our lives. An awful lot of purposes happen to us that are our fault or the fault of someone around us making a dumb choice. It gives new meaning to the book title 'The Purpose Driven Life.'

Maybe it's time to admit that we don't have all the answers ourselves. Maybe it's time to invest in a community of friends and family that support each other and give counsel. Maybe it's time to quit being so self-centered and prideful and realize that other people can be there for you. Maybe it's time to actually seek advice from other people who care about you when you are about to make a major decision. (for the record, seek someone who won't just tell you what you want to hear). Maybe its time to purposefully prevent the accidents of life that cause so much pain.

As I write this, I recognize that it probably won't matter. As you read this, you'll probably think 'Oh, that's a good point.' But, then you'll just go out and make a bad choice without giving it any thought. I probably will too.

When will we ever learn.