What it Means to Lead with Grace

The only man who behaves sensibly is my tailor; he takes my measurements anew every time he sees me, while all the rest go on with their old measurements and expect me to fit them."
--George Bernard Shaw

Color Blind

Scott is my college roomate. He and his wife Gail (along with there three girls Allison, Emma and Olivia) are doctors in Papua New Guinea, all the way on the other side of the planet. He's an incredibly thoughtful, diligent, dedicated and honest follower of Jesus. I've probably learned as much from him as anyone about what it means to know and love Jesus and the things and people Jesus loves.

He sent out this email about his youngest daughter and I thought it was just great. With the impending race card that's going to get thrown around a lot in the next few months now that Barack Obama has sealed the deal for the Democratic party, I thought this was fitting.

Tonight Gail was asking about someone that came over and was trying to figure out who Olivia was talking about. Gail asked if the person had black skin or white skin. Olivia said, “black skin” but Gail didn’t know if Olivia really knew. So then Gail asked, “Olivia, do you have black skin or white skin?” Olivia looked down and said, “white” but then Gail said, “where is it white?” She pointed to her pajamas (which were yellow).

Wouldn’t it be nice to have to really think about what color your skin was or what other peoples skin was without really caring either way?

Stay With Me (further thoughts on evangelism)

I'm reading Lesslie Newbigin's classic work: The Gospel in a Pluralist Society that out to be required reading for anyone trying to tell and live the message of Jesus in, well...a pluralist society.

It's a pretty heady work, but it's right on track and offers a very urgent and needed message, so stay with me. I think there's a goldmine at the other end (though we'll see if I can get it there, so this will be a bit of a long post. I know, I know, I hate long posts too--but that doesn't somehow keep me from using them. Physician! Heal thyself!).

In talking about John's gospel, particularly Jesus' statements from chapters 14-16, Newbigin makes this comment on the implications of John 16:13 ("When he, the Spirit of Truth comes, he will guide you into all truth..."):

To the Church...the work of the Spirit will be "to declare the things that are
to come," to interpret coming events, to be the hermeneutic of the world's
continuing history."

First, what's a hermeneutic? A short history of the word.

• The word derives from the greek god Hermes, the messenger of the god's. He sent the message the god's wanted the people to hear (aka, the little naked guy on the FTD florist logo).
• It refers to the message that is being sent and how we understand that same message.
• And now means "the art and science of biblical interpretation," i.e., the lens through which we see and experience and then live the message of the Bible.

Second, everybody has a hermeneutic--a lens through which we see and interpret what happens in our lives and our world. As in "Oh, my mom's death meant that." "That my kids no longer love me means this." "That I can't get a job means that." "That he loves me means this." Etc.

We attach meaning and value to what is happening because of the way we interpret what is happening. And for most of us, we never give that lens a second thought. We live, for better or worse, unexamined lives, accepting whatever old lens is blown our way by the prevailing winds around us. A hermeneutic (even if you don't know what it is) is a very important thing.

So--and stay with me--to get back to Newbigin's statement about the role of the Holy Spirit, this means that the Holy Spirit of God interprets history (aka, the events of our lives and how they fit into God's efforts to save and redeem all of creation) to us the Church, the people of God. In other words, we are given a lens through which to understand all the tragedies and joys of life, and not in an unthinking way (because even with a hermeneutic, you still have to decipher and weigh and make sense of things).

So (and keeping staying with me because I think we are close to the gold mine), does this then mean that the Church is to do the same thing for the world? That we help the world make sense of the tsunami's and earthquakes and 9/11's and divorces and addictions and injustices and to quote Hamlet, "the thousand (other) natural shocks that flesh is heir to." And we also help make sense of falling in love and beautiful art and a good meal and having children and playing in the sand at the beach.

In short, we interpret what it means to be human.

And if that is the case, what kinds of relationships would we need to have for the world--that is, the people around us every day--to actually trust and listen to our interpretation? It's a basic given of human nature that we don't listen to someone's take on things without being really close to them. And what's more, we don't listen until we've been listened to.

Christians are often guilty of having a lot to say (like on a blog, for instance) but not having anyone to really say it to (like, again, on, ahem, a blog, for instance). We think we have the answers, but no one is listening because they don't know us.

So maybe we need to change evangelism from 'who can we get to listen to us?' to 'who are we listening to?' In the listening, we show them what it means to be human.

A Good Life Motto

Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
As long as you ever can.

John Wesley, 1703 - 1791 and one of my heroes

Why Christianity is Fundamentally Ennobling of Persons and Why My Life Makes Sense and Actually Means Something

From David Crowder's song:

"God, you make everything glorious. And I am yours. What does that make me?"

Things That Aren't Fair

In my work as a pastor, I've come across a few things in the last couple days that just aren't fair.

In his sermon on what it means to live all of life under the influence and authority of God, Jesus said two things about this:

1 - God sends his rain on the just and the unjust and (Matthew 5:45)

2 - Both the wise and the foolish man experience storms. (Matthew 7:24-29)

Your "goodness" is no open invitation to pleasure and no barrier against pain.

And that rain often just isn't fair. Here's what I experienced.

• Visited a guy in the Neurological ICU unit, there because in an attempt to commit suicide, he shot off the left side of his face. His life is forever changed and so are the lives of his wife and two boys. Not fair.
• My close friends have already been through a lot. Tracy had thyroid cancer as a teenager. Their first son has a congenital thyroid condition that requires constant medication and their daughter has SMA, which means she will always need 24 hour care and likely won't live into her twenties. Tracy was diagnosed 2 days ago with breast cancer at 35. Not fair.

So what do you do? Rail against the heavens? Curse God? Curse yourself? Curse the day you were born? Or accept Jesus' wisdom--that the issue isn't what happens (because who of us can control that?)--it's what happens in you and through you. A tough pill to swallow to be sure.

Want more on this? Download Dr. Tim Keller's message on Darkness.

I'm a Work in Progress

I frequent Leading Smart, a great blog by Tim Stevens, a pastor at a very innovative church in Granger, Indiana.

Reading his post yesterday on advice to a new blogger, I was stopped by number 8. Here it is.

8. Don't Criticize. This is a life lesson, not just a blog lesson. So many people have to validate what they think by cutting down someone else. Just don't do it. You can elevate what works, what you believe, what you think--without criticizing the opposing view.

Which made me, er...ahem...uhhhhhhh...gulp, realize I'd done just that. Not in a huge way, but I'd done it against Perry Noble. So here is my personal vow. No more criticism of a person. Ideas, concepts, approaches--all fair game, but no labeling/name calling/pejorativizing (I just made that word up) of people.

I think Tim is right. More is gained by putting an opinion out without also having to bring someone else down. It's a fine line, but I'll do my best.

Loving the Truth, part 3

Jared, one of my close friends, recently posted about his son's complete and utter truth telling in a way to summed up beautifually what I've been trying to understand and communicate in this series on Loving the Truth.

In his searching work (widely considered the greatest devotional writing of the last 500 years), The Imitiation of Christ, Thomas a Kempis said that we must learn to love the truth, no matter where it comes from. Easier said than done, because who actually likes to hear the truth about themselves?? We dodge, avoid, pull evasive maneuvers, defend, and justify all because we don't like to hear the truth.

John Wesley (heavily influenced by a Kempis' book) said that when we are with each we ought "to speak as plainly as possible" to each other. He encouraged a ruthless honesty buoyed by deep community.

Jared's son Jake (3 1/2 years old) apparently gets this better than the rest of us. An excerpt from Jared's post is below and you can read the whole post here.

Scholars have bantered about numerous ideas concerning what it means to become like a little child; I'm sure there's more than one possible answer. But
I was reminded the other day of one aspect of being child-like. We were out with a friend who was holding Jake's hand walking through a store. One of the women who worked there struck up a conversation with him and he politely answered all her questions. She said to him, "wow, are you always this good?" My friend started making some kind remarks about how nice he was and Jake interrupted with a vigorous head shake and a very clear, "No."

He was telling the truth. Even though it didn't put him in the best possible light, he just came right out with it. He didn't have the sophistication to think about how to answer the question in a way that would make him look as good as possible. He didn't think for a moment that his answer might cause him to be loved less. He just said what he knew to be true.

Going Green

Yep, we're going green. Ukrops, the world's greatest grocery store (seriously, moving here from KC I thought it was Hen House, but I now stand corrected), supplied the recycled poly-bags and we're using them in an effort to take care of the planet; less junk in the landfill and less bags for me to have to wrestle with every time I open the pantry door.

There are plenty of people out there in church-world who think this is just nuts and has absolutely nothing to do with the message of and about Jesus.

For instance, Perry Noble, speaking at the recent Whiteboard Conference (couldn't go, but read the notes) said he wouldn't be caught dead talking about the environment. He'll stick to the Gospel of Jesus, thank you very much. And he's a phenomenal leader and even better communicator.

Nonetheless, that's the common sentiment from people who think we've somehow abandoned the Gospel (apparently, using the phrase "the gospel" makes your point more valid when doing this) by also caring for the environment. But, frankly--and no disrespect to Perry meant--that's an ignorant and post-world-war-II-church-culture-bound reading of Scripture.

Here's a brief biblical rationale for caring for the planet.

1. God created the world--the physical world we walk on every day--and said it was good.


2. God gave us the earth and told us to fill the earth and care for it. Some translations say, "subdue it", which has lent itself to all kinds of "let's do whatever we want with the earth" kinds of readings and actions. But the original word means something like "to tend and care for in order to make it even more productive." It's basic stewardship.


3. In the biblical story, this was all before sin enters the world. Again, this isn't a minor point. No sin=a good material creation + caring for the earth God made for us to care for.


4. In the end, God doesn't junk this "test model" for a "better" disembodied existence somewhere else. He recreates it: A new heaven and a new earth. How you think everything will end up someday determines how you act today.

And here's the irony. Part of Perry's point is that he want to keep the main thing, the main thing. And I agree. The environment is not our God. It's not the whole gospel. But it certainly is an implication of living out the Gospel.

Because if we are really "preaching Jesus" won't that result in people who take the Bible seriously; who then care for the poor, visit the sick, speak up for the oppressed, and take care of the environment? And isn't that a really attractive way to live in the first place, thus making Jesus more appealing and "preaching" Jesus without having to drag people into a church service to hear about God? Aren't we living the Kingdom of God?

Plus anyway you look at it, I'm saving $.05 with every bag of groceries I take home in my new (and much roomier than a paper bag) recycled bag. And that means that in about a year, I'll have saved enough to stop at Starbucks for a skim venti, light caramel, Caramel Macchiato. :-)

Rethinking Evangelism

Evangelism sends shivers down the spines of most Christians (and non-Christians). Usually because they see it as a bad and scary thing.

And that's usually because the average person thinks of the "requirement" to evangelize as something like an Amway sales pitch for Jesus. It's a bad formula that just doesn't work. It goes something like this:
Perfect life + Perfect Jesus-pick-up-line + Perfect sales pitch + Perfect smile = A conversion every time.

Evangelism literally means "good message," and what person in their right mind doesn't want a bit of good news sent their way? So the question is, why is the way it's usually seen come across as such bad news?? And if it's good news, why don't more people respond to it?

As has been famously said: The medium is the message. In other words, people don't hear good news when it's delivered in a bad way. And it seems very much that in trying to deliver good news as a sales pitch, we've become bad news.

These guys are working against that. Trying to re-vision it as something that flows out of life instead of something forced onto people.

From a great article on their website, "The Lost Art of Being Normal":

In the movie, The Big Kahuna, Danny DeVito’s character gives great advice on what I’ve been calling “The Lost Art of Being Normal”:

If you want to talk to somebody honestly, as a human being, ask him about his kids. Find out what his dreams are - just to find out, for no other reason. Because as soon as you lay your hands on a conversation to steer it, it’s not a conversation anymore; it’s a pitch. And you’re not a human being; you’re a marketing rep."