What does it mean to be a leader? What does it mean to be a leader in a church community?
Grace Community is not growing. Growth is a sign of health. There's no magic pill to take to get healthy. It takes exercise, a good diet, good amounts of rest, and a good frame of mind. And you have to keep doing it.
Good leaders look in the mirror when assessing blame and look out the window when giving credit. Jim Collins (Good to Great) writes about leaders of successful corporations who, when they couldn't find anyone but themselves to give credit to, would resort to "blaming" luck or timing for what everyone else knew was the leader's wisdom and perseverance. Conversely, if we're not exercising or not eating well, we're not going to get any healthier if we blame it on being in the wrong neighborhood or not having enough volunteers. We have to look in the mirror and ask, "What am I doing wrong and what do I need to change?" And then we have to do it.
So I've challenged the leadership team (including me) to use this Advent season as a time for prayer and fasting. Our prayer question is "How am I hindering God's work in Grace Community and what does he want me to do differently?" Please pray for the leadership team as we take this time to listen to God. Pray that we'll hear God as we continue to serve him and the church community. And pray that we'll have the courage to do what he's directing.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
enjoy
I love fall. Maybe it's because I was born in October, but I love this season: the colors in the trees, the way the sun never quite gets directly overhead, and the cool air on the skin even when the sky is bright blue.
Worship is a physical experience. The most central act of Christian worship is eating and drinking. Jesus makes himself available to us through his body and blood. Even waiting in line to take the communion elements is a bodily experience. I'm aware of the fact that I am standing in line, that there are others worshiping with me, that we are together the body of Christ in this particular place. Christians from other countries may not understand the words of the songs or the sermon, but they can eat and drink with us and we can be the body of Christ together.
The wedding ring vows from the old Book of Common Prayer said, "with my body I thee worship." I am an embodied soul, and my body is meant to worship God. Even my bodily aches and pains remind me that this is not how God designed my body to be and that my body is groaning along with all of creation for the coming day of redemption (Romans 8:18-23).
God didn't give us a body as a temporary nuisance. Our physical shortcomings are temporary, but not our bodies. We're going to be stuck with our resurrected bodies for the rest of eternity. And that goes for Jesus, too. Our physicality is meant to be a means of delight for us and for God, a means of worship and participation in God's joy. When he created the world he saw that it was good. It wasn't just correct or OK or not bad. It was the paragon of goodness, a delight, a source of joy.
Well, enough preaching. Last night, just before I fell asleep, I was struck with the thought that being a Christian is something God wants me to enjoy. It's not enough to be a Christian because it's the right thing or because I owe it to God because he sacrificed so much for me. There is something deeply joyful about being a Christian, something that brings out the joy in every aspect of life, that brings hope to even my physical and spiritual shortcomings. Joy is the second fruit of the Spirit, right after love (Galatians 5:22-23). If God is truly present in my life and I am cooperating with his transforming work in me, then joy is the result. And I am meant to experience that joy as an embodied soul.
It's another beautiful fall day. Enjoy it.
Worship is a physical experience. The most central act of Christian worship is eating and drinking. Jesus makes himself available to us through his body and blood. Even waiting in line to take the communion elements is a bodily experience. I'm aware of the fact that I am standing in line, that there are others worshiping with me, that we are together the body of Christ in this particular place. Christians from other countries may not understand the words of the songs or the sermon, but they can eat and drink with us and we can be the body of Christ together.
The wedding ring vows from the old Book of Common Prayer said, "with my body I thee worship." I am an embodied soul, and my body is meant to worship God. Even my bodily aches and pains remind me that this is not how God designed my body to be and that my body is groaning along with all of creation for the coming day of redemption (Romans 8:18-23).
God didn't give us a body as a temporary nuisance. Our physical shortcomings are temporary, but not our bodies. We're going to be stuck with our resurrected bodies for the rest of eternity. And that goes for Jesus, too. Our physicality is meant to be a means of delight for us and for God, a means of worship and participation in God's joy. When he created the world he saw that it was good. It wasn't just correct or OK or not bad. It was the paragon of goodness, a delight, a source of joy.
Well, enough preaching. Last night, just before I fell asleep, I was struck with the thought that being a Christian is something God wants me to enjoy. It's not enough to be a Christian because it's the right thing or because I owe it to God because he sacrificed so much for me. There is something deeply joyful about being a Christian, something that brings out the joy in every aspect of life, that brings hope to even my physical and spiritual shortcomings. Joy is the second fruit of the Spirit, right after love (Galatians 5:22-23). If God is truly present in my life and I am cooperating with his transforming work in me, then joy is the result. And I am meant to experience that joy as an embodied soul.
It's another beautiful fall day. Enjoy it.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
something's missing
In "Girl meets God" Lauren Winner describes her first experience of Ash Wednesday, so-called because Christians are to receive a cross on their foreheads made of ash as a way of beginning the season of Lent. As she walks through the streets of Cambridge, MS, people stare and she writes that she wonders what they're wondering.
She then describes several conversations she has as a result of the smudges on her forehead: someone asks her where to go to church, another person accuses her of being closed-minded and an unfit college teacher, another person pulls her aside to tearfully share that her parents are divorcing.
As I read, it made me wonder: where are the marks in my life that I am a Christian, a follower of Jesus? If I had such marks some might be curious, others might want to know more, some might be hostile, and others might reveal their thirst, much as the woman at the well did in John 4.
Most of us who follow Jesus in the USA are uneasy with the notion of evangelism in the sense of talking with people about following Jesus. We can talk easily about job stress, housing costs, raising kids, or just about anything other than Jesus. So we, perhaps unconsciously, avoid putting anything into our lives that makes it too obvious that there's something different about us.
Somehow, I want to fill in that gap in my life. Let's give 'em something to talk about. And then maybe we'll have the chance to talk to them about the one thing that's really worth talking about.
She then describes several conversations she has as a result of the smudges on her forehead: someone asks her where to go to church, another person accuses her of being closed-minded and an unfit college teacher, another person pulls her aside to tearfully share that her parents are divorcing.
As I read, it made me wonder: where are the marks in my life that I am a Christian, a follower of Jesus? If I had such marks some might be curious, others might want to know more, some might be hostile, and others might reveal their thirst, much as the woman at the well did in John 4.
Most of us who follow Jesus in the USA are uneasy with the notion of evangelism in the sense of talking with people about following Jesus. We can talk easily about job stress, housing costs, raising kids, or just about anything other than Jesus. So we, perhaps unconsciously, avoid putting anything into our lives that makes it too obvious that there's something different about us.
Somehow, I want to fill in that gap in my life. Let's give 'em something to talk about. And then maybe we'll have the chance to talk to them about the one thing that's really worth talking about.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
not waiting to exhale
Exhaling is an act of trust. It's letting go of what's familiar but already used up so that we can receive something new and life-giving.
When Sarah first shared with the staff that she would like to lead a mission trip to China, I felt in my heart that this was the right thing for Grace Community to do. This Sunday is the deadline for making a commitment to go. And now there's uncertainty. There's a need for us to exhale if God is going to be able to work in and through us.
Exhaling means letting go of our fears. Will it be dangerous? Who will take care of my (fill in the blank: family, job, business)? What if I'm not strong enough or capable enough? All of these are valid concerns. But we have a God who is big enough to take care of all of these things. If we are to experience that care we have to exhale so that we can inhale the life-giving Spirit that will sustain us and enable us to do God's work in places we may not have dreamed of.
Mary sang, "The Mighty One has done great things for me" before she had given birth to Jesus or experienced his public ministry or been awed by his resurrected presence (Luke 1:49). May we, too, be able to sing God's praises as we exhale.
When Sarah first shared with the staff that she would like to lead a mission trip to China, I felt in my heart that this was the right thing for Grace Community to do. This Sunday is the deadline for making a commitment to go. And now there's uncertainty. There's a need for us to exhale if God is going to be able to work in and through us.
Exhaling means letting go of our fears. Will it be dangerous? Who will take care of my (fill in the blank: family, job, business)? What if I'm not strong enough or capable enough? All of these are valid concerns. But we have a God who is big enough to take care of all of these things. If we are to experience that care we have to exhale so that we can inhale the life-giving Spirit that will sustain us and enable us to do God's work in places we may not have dreamed of.
Mary sang, "The Mighty One has done great things for me" before she had given birth to Jesus or experienced his public ministry or been awed by his resurrected presence (Luke 1:49). May we, too, be able to sing God's praises as we exhale.
learning to pray
I was happy to learn that as soon as the prayer retreat on 11/17 was announced 10 people signed up. And there have been more since. Besides being in a beautiful setting on Capitola beach, there will be gentle instruction in the ways of contemplative prayer that I know will give all the participants a wonderful time together.
I've also been happy that there's been a steady stream of people at the end of worship services seeking out the prayer helpers. The prayer ministry classes were well-attended, showing that we're entering into intercessory prayer in ways that we haven't in the past.
I'm encouraged that we're learning to engage both wings of prayer, listening and asking. May we become a church community that's characterized by prayer. And for those of us who worry that you don't know how to pray, "Pray as you can, not as you think you should." God understands and won't think less of us for not knowing how. He gives wisdom for how to pray if we just ask (James 1:5). So just pray.
I've also been happy that there's been a steady stream of people at the end of worship services seeking out the prayer helpers. The prayer ministry classes were well-attended, showing that we're entering into intercessory prayer in ways that we haven't in the past.
I'm encouraged that we're learning to engage both wings of prayer, listening and asking. May we become a church community that's characterized by prayer. And for those of us who worry that you don't know how to pray, "Pray as you can, not as you think you should." God understands and won't think less of us for not knowing how. He gives wisdom for how to pray if we just ask (James 1:5). So just pray.
hymns v. rock & roll
I was meeting with my leadership team prayer partner on Monday night and the topic of preferred worship styles came up. Some people assume that I'm all for drums and distortion guitar in worship, some think that I'm suppressing my love of hymns for the sake of making worship accessible to people who didn't grow up in church. Both are right.
Sure, I was noodling around on the guitar with the worship team on Sunday. I really do love the satisfying roar of power chords or the ringing notes of a clean single coil Strat. I think it's a great way to worship and I'm sure there will be a section of heaven that's a big jam session. But I have more classical music in my CD collection than rock or pop or jazz. I've sung bass in Verdi's Requiem with the Stanford Chorus and even led a choir myself for 5 years.
The point is that music is NOT a universal language: it's a learned language. To Winnie's chagrin, I understand very little Cantonese. So I miss out on the puns and the slang that she and her siblings throw around at family gatherings (most of what I understand has to do with food). In the same way, there are musical languages that we have to learn in order to appreciate and then utilize the many ways that God can be praised.
I may never (this side of eternity) learn to worship utilizing the quarter tones of Indian ragas. But I know that God can be praised with both hymns and rock & roll (although I have my doubts about country music).
Sure, I was noodling around on the guitar with the worship team on Sunday. I really do love the satisfying roar of power chords or the ringing notes of a clean single coil Strat. I think it's a great way to worship and I'm sure there will be a section of heaven that's a big jam session. But I have more classical music in my CD collection than rock or pop or jazz. I've sung bass in Verdi's Requiem with the Stanford Chorus and even led a choir myself for 5 years.
The point is that music is NOT a universal language: it's a learned language. To Winnie's chagrin, I understand very little Cantonese. So I miss out on the puns and the slang that she and her siblings throw around at family gatherings (most of what I understand has to do with food). In the same way, there are musical languages that we have to learn in order to appreciate and then utilize the many ways that God can be praised.
I may never (this side of eternity) learn to worship utilizing the quarter tones of Indian ragas. But I know that God can be praised with both hymns and rock & roll (although I have my doubts about country music).
When is a pastor not a pastor?
My men's GROWth group met last night. (GROW stands for God's Word, Relationships, Outreach, and Worship/prayer). We also met last Tuesday night and spent part of our meeting standing outside waiting to see if there would be any nasty aftershocks following the earthquake. Ah, the joys of living in California! But I digress.
We got out almost an hour late, mostly because as we were sharing prayer requests I realized that there was something I needed to share, something that revealed to me that I'm not the all-together person that I sometimes feel I am or need to be because I'm a pastor.
At first I didn't tell my prayer request, not because I was too embarrassed (although that thought occurred to me later), but because I was in denial when I first asked "Does anyone have any prayer requests?" and then said something that was true but not very self-disclosing after which others gave their prayer requests. But something (probably the Holy Spirit) inside me told me, "What about the thing that was bothering you so much earlier today?" So I said, "I have another prayer request." As I told the story, I realized that I was revealing how neurotic I was because something that day had triggered feelings that I had been trying to suppress for years, and my feelings and obsessing that day showed how unsuccessful my attempts at repression had been.
The guys offered perspective and prayer. Most importantly, they walked with me: their responses assured me that they had had similar experiences and they shared the lessons they had learned. It was good to not be the expert, the pastor.
I know that I'm still in the process of being formed in Jesus' image (Rom. 8:29). And God is using these guys to do that work.
We got out almost an hour late, mostly because as we were sharing prayer requests I realized that there was something I needed to share, something that revealed to me that I'm not the all-together person that I sometimes feel I am or need to be because I'm a pastor.
At first I didn't tell my prayer request, not because I was too embarrassed (although that thought occurred to me later), but because I was in denial when I first asked "Does anyone have any prayer requests?" and then said something that was true but not very self-disclosing after which others gave their prayer requests. But something (probably the Holy Spirit) inside me told me, "What about the thing that was bothering you so much earlier today?" So I said, "I have another prayer request." As I told the story, I realized that I was revealing how neurotic I was because something that day had triggered feelings that I had been trying to suppress for years, and my feelings and obsessing that day showed how unsuccessful my attempts at repression had been.
The guys offered perspective and prayer. Most importantly, they walked with me: their responses assured me that they had had similar experiences and they shared the lessons they had learned. It was good to not be the expert, the pastor.
I know that I'm still in the process of being formed in Jesus' image (Rom. 8:29). And God is using these guys to do that work.
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