I blew my cover yesterday. I was talking to my 7 year old’s soccer coach. He’s a great coach and all the parents want him coaching their kid. He’s fun, even-tempered, a good athlete who knows the game and passes on that love of the game through his love of the kids. He asked me what church I went to and then started sharing about his own church experiences. They happened to be in churches that I knew and when he started talking about pastors I had to let him know that I was a pastor and I knew some of the people he was talking about. I didn’t want him to say something he might regret later because he didn’t know that I knew the pastors he was talking about.
But in a way it was really the coach who blew his cover. I didn’t know that he was a Christian until he asked me about church and found out I was a Christian and then started talking about Christian stuff with me. He doesn’t usually preach through his words. He just loves on the kids and everyone loves him as a coach and so if he says something about God it’s easy to hear. You know it’s real. And he lives it in other ways, too, like he and his wife adopting several kids, some of whom are of a different race.
Last Sunday the Raiders lost badly (yes, I’m still a Raiders fan: I actually wore my Raiders polo shirt today). They seem to be getting worse with each game (it’s going to be a long season). One of their players made the news because he was penalized for dropping to his knees and raising his hands to heaven after making an interception (it’s illegal to drop to both knees: excessive celebration). He’s a Christian and said he was thanking God (although one blogger wrote that he seemed to be calling more attention to himself than to God) and complained that he was being penalized for doing something Christian.
I don’t know anything about the football player’s faith. He may be a very sincere Christian who just didn’t realize that his gesture of prayer was against the rules. But I wish that he had just paid the fine and not said anything about the league being anti-Christian. Instead of being tagged as a complainer, I’d rather be like the soccer coach who is quietly living out his faith by having a positive impact on kids and their families. “Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Monday, October 5, 2009
God's presence
As part of my devotional life I spend a few minutes in centering prayer and then in a time of examen, assessing the last 24 hours and asking where God has most been present or absent.
I meet for prayer with a couple of pastor friends and I mentioned that my time of examen was getting stale, that it didn’t seem like I was getting any better at sensing God’s presence. Together we figured out why: I was focused too much on my feelings rather than on God’s activity. I thought that if I felt good then God must be present (“in Your presence is fullness of joy” – Psalm 16:11) and if I didn’t feel good then God must be absent. But for a guy who’s in denial of his feelings most of the time (especially when I’m under stress) that’s not a good gauge.
So I’ve started to look for signs of God’s activity. And an interesting thing has happened. I’m starting to see that when I’m in a stressful situation I have a great opportunity to act in the power of God’s Spirit. I may not feel “joyful” about it, but through my resolve and boldness to follow God, He is invited into the situation and can act. Situations that I used to count as times of God’s absence are becoming opportunities for God to be powerfully present.
I’m not saying that “God helps those who help themselves”. That phrase isn’t from the Bible: it’s quoted in Poor Richard’s Almanac, edited by Benjamin Franklin. But I am saying that I’m learning that “I can do everything through him who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13). Finding rest in Jesus (“Come to me… and I will give you rest” Matthew 11:28) doesn’t mean being passive. It means aligning myself with his purposes so that I find myself swimming easily in the current of his will.
I meet for prayer with a couple of pastor friends and I mentioned that my time of examen was getting stale, that it didn’t seem like I was getting any better at sensing God’s presence. Together we figured out why: I was focused too much on my feelings rather than on God’s activity. I thought that if I felt good then God must be present (“in Your presence is fullness of joy” – Psalm 16:11) and if I didn’t feel good then God must be absent. But for a guy who’s in denial of his feelings most of the time (especially when I’m under stress) that’s not a good gauge.
So I’ve started to look for signs of God’s activity. And an interesting thing has happened. I’m starting to see that when I’m in a stressful situation I have a great opportunity to act in the power of God’s Spirit. I may not feel “joyful” about it, but through my resolve and boldness to follow God, He is invited into the situation and can act. Situations that I used to count as times of God’s absence are becoming opportunities for God to be powerfully present.
I’m not saying that “God helps those who help themselves”. That phrase isn’t from the Bible: it’s quoted in Poor Richard’s Almanac, edited by Benjamin Franklin. But I am saying that I’m learning that “I can do everything through him who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13). Finding rest in Jesus (“Come to me… and I will give you rest” Matthew 11:28) doesn’t mean being passive. It means aligning myself with his purposes so that I find myself swimming easily in the current of his will.
mary and martha
I think both Martha and Mary had it wrong (see Luke 10). Mary was too inward, Martha was too busy. Mary had no reason for being in the world, she might as well have left for all the good she was doing. Martha’s efficiency was admirable, but she’d forgotten why she was doing what she’s doing. So why does Martha get Jesus’ gentle reprimand? I think it’s because God knows most of us are like Martha, not Mary. So he had Luke record Jesus' interaction with Martha.
Monday, September 28, 2009
worship hooky
Our family was heading to 701 E. Meadow yesterday morning. There was a JAM training session and then we were going to participate in the Stop Child Trafficking Now Walk. One of the kids asked, “Are we going to worship?” So I thought about it and replied that there are things that God cares about besides worship.
In Isaiah 1 God tells his people, “…your special days for fasting—they are all sinful and false. I want no more of your pious meetings.” (verse 13 NLT). That sounds pretty harsh, but here’s what God’s looking for: “Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows.”
So what’s more important to God, our Sunday morning worship or doing something to look after the fatherless and women who are being treated as mere commodities at the cost of their humanity? We can’t say that we truly worship a God of mercy and justice if we aren’t doing something to make mercy and justice a reality in our world.
Too often our worship services are about our looking good to God (and each other). The more we re-tell who God is, the more it should impact us. The more we proclaim God’s greatness and goodness, the more the Holy Spirit should be able to transform us into reflections of that greatness and goodness in this world.
I don’t recommend skipping worship every Sunday. Regularly re-telling, re-living and re-creating the gospel is an important formative event in our life together. But sometimes I need a reminder of why God doesn’t just whisk me away to heaven. If Jesus thought that journeying through our world as a human was important, than it should be important to me, too. And Jesus said his mission was “to preach good news to the poor …to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." (Luke 4:18-19) What's mine?
In Isaiah 1 God tells his people, “…your special days for fasting—they are all sinful and false. I want no more of your pious meetings.” (verse 13 NLT). That sounds pretty harsh, but here’s what God’s looking for: “Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows.”
So what’s more important to God, our Sunday morning worship or doing something to look after the fatherless and women who are being treated as mere commodities at the cost of their humanity? We can’t say that we truly worship a God of mercy and justice if we aren’t doing something to make mercy and justice a reality in our world.
Too often our worship services are about our looking good to God (and each other). The more we re-tell who God is, the more it should impact us. The more we proclaim God’s greatness and goodness, the more the Holy Spirit should be able to transform us into reflections of that greatness and goodness in this world.
I don’t recommend skipping worship every Sunday. Regularly re-telling, re-living and re-creating the gospel is an important formative event in our life together. But sometimes I need a reminder of why God doesn’t just whisk me away to heaven. If Jesus thought that journeying through our world as a human was important, than it should be important to me, too. And Jesus said his mission was “to preach good news to the poor …to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." (Luke 4:18-19) What's mine?
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
giving and giving away
This past Sunday our membership passed our budget for fiscal year 2010 (which starts in October 2009 for reasons an accountant will have to explain). After presenting an initial budget for consideration back in August, the leadership team became uncomfortable with how low a percentage we were giving to outreach (community and global mission partnerships as well as outreach efforts made directly by our church community). We had cut everything we could in operations and personnel and had come up with a balanced budget. But after developing a balanced budget in August, we decided to present a deficit budget in order to increase our giving to outreach. We were glad that the membership agreed and passed the deficit budget. But I want to take a moment to explain something that didn’t come out in the discussion on Sunday.
Some of what we give goes to partnerships (people and organizations) with which we have a strong relationship or to efforts with which we are directly involved. That money is given with a sense of confidence that it will be used well. But there is also money that goes out without an explicit understanding of how it will be used. For example, we know that money given to the Covenant will be used partly for supporting missionaries and revitalizing churches, and that money given to the Pacific Southwest Conference of the Covenant will go to church planting and mercy and justice efforts. But we don’t have direct control of that money.
By increasing our giving to the Covenant and to our conference we are essentially letting go of that money. It’s no longer under our control. The point isn’t so much to give money away as to give up money’s hold on us. I recently heard a discussion on the radio about poverty as a spiritual discipline. A Jain theologian (this was a BBC program including Jews and Muslims, not a Christian radio program) commented that “those with the most possessions are the most possessed” by materialism. If we want to be filled with the Holy Spirit, we need to empty ourselves of other things, including money, that would otherwise come to have a hold on us.
I'm proud to be a part of a leadership team that recognizes both the need to be responsible stewards of the finances God’s given us and the need to set an example of working to break money’s hold on us. That’s a tension that we all live with, especially in our affluent society. But we have God’s promise: “Seek first [God’s] kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Matthew 6:33.
Some of what we give goes to partnerships (people and organizations) with which we have a strong relationship or to efforts with which we are directly involved. That money is given with a sense of confidence that it will be used well. But there is also money that goes out without an explicit understanding of how it will be used. For example, we know that money given to the Covenant will be used partly for supporting missionaries and revitalizing churches, and that money given to the Pacific Southwest Conference of the Covenant will go to church planting and mercy and justice efforts. But we don’t have direct control of that money.
By increasing our giving to the Covenant and to our conference we are essentially letting go of that money. It’s no longer under our control. The point isn’t so much to give money away as to give up money’s hold on us. I recently heard a discussion on the radio about poverty as a spiritual discipline. A Jain theologian (this was a BBC program including Jews and Muslims, not a Christian radio program) commented that “those with the most possessions are the most possessed” by materialism. If we want to be filled with the Holy Spirit, we need to empty ourselves of other things, including money, that would otherwise come to have a hold on us.
I'm proud to be a part of a leadership team that recognizes both the need to be responsible stewards of the finances God’s given us and the need to set an example of working to break money’s hold on us. That’s a tension that we all live with, especially in our affluent society. But we have God’s promise: “Seek first [God’s] kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Matthew 6:33.
imdepressed.com?
My prayer partner made a wry observation this morning: no one tells about their hurts and disappointments and sadness on social networking sites. The online community is unbearably and artificially “happy”. My prayer partner even wondered if the number of online “friends” one has was inversely proportional to the number of true personal friends one has (but he acknowledged that was the cynic in him talking).
In a way, this is a reflection of our society: it’s not OK to be too public with your weaknesses and imperfections. And it’s also a comment on the nature of online “community”: it’s a place for putting your best foot forward (unless you’re unfortunate enough to be a celebrity who’s videotaped puking on his bathroom floor), at least as much as you can control.
So where can we go for the support to get us through those times that we all face on a regular basis, times when we’re feeling sad, ashamed, weak, remorseful, or hurt? Nothing can take the place of a face-to-face confession or a good cry or a hand on the shoulder. After Job had hit bottom, losing fortune and family and health, his friends came to him and just sat and said nothing for a week. They understood that physical presence is sometimes the best thing you can offer a hurting friend and it’s not something you can offer online.
In a way, this is a reflection of our society: it’s not OK to be too public with your weaknesses and imperfections. And it’s also a comment on the nature of online “community”: it’s a place for putting your best foot forward (unless you’re unfortunate enough to be a celebrity who’s videotaped puking on his bathroom floor), at least as much as you can control.
So where can we go for the support to get us through those times that we all face on a regular basis, times when we’re feeling sad, ashamed, weak, remorseful, or hurt? Nothing can take the place of a face-to-face confession or a good cry or a hand on the shoulder. After Job had hit bottom, losing fortune and family and health, his friends came to him and just sat and said nothing for a week. They understood that physical presence is sometimes the best thing you can offer a hurting friend and it’s not something you can offer online.
light
At our last monthly visit to a residence for people who are HIV positive we did the usual: cooked dinner for them, hung out in the common area, and then ate with them. Interestingly, I met several people I hadn’t met before (we’ve been going there monthly for almost 4 years). One person stood out to me: a woman who was joyfully overseeing a fast-moving game of cards and seemed to have something playful to say to all the players. Everyone was “honey” or “sweetie” to her. And she was obviously loved by everyone there. I talked to her briefly after the game and she showed me the same warmth that she had for everyone.
Later I asked about her and found out that she was a new resident. Then I asked about the others around the table. I was surprised to find that some of them had been at the residence for several years but had never bothered to or wanted to come out to eat with us (I don’t think our cooking is that bad). But because of this new resident they were willing to come out of their rooms and be social. They knew that she’d put a bit of sunshine in their day and it was worth it.
Am I like that new resident? Are people drawn to me because they know I’ll bring some sunshine into their lives? And if they are, I hope that brightness is a reflection of God’s light in me. People may be hostile to organized religion or to dogma or to theology, but when God’s love is shining through me, it will be an attraction whether or not they know the source. “Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:16.
Later I asked about her and found out that she was a new resident. Then I asked about the others around the table. I was surprised to find that some of them had been at the residence for several years but had never bothered to or wanted to come out to eat with us (I don’t think our cooking is that bad). But because of this new resident they were willing to come out of their rooms and be social. They knew that she’d put a bit of sunshine in their day and it was worth it.
Am I like that new resident? Are people drawn to me because they know I’ll bring some sunshine into their lives? And if they are, I hope that brightness is a reflection of God’s light in me. People may be hostile to organized religion or to dogma or to theology, but when God’s love is shining through me, it will be an attraction whether or not they know the source. “Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:16.
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