“Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength. Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”
(Deuteronomy 6.4-5; see also Mark 12.29-30; Matthew 22.37; and Luke 10.27)
You have the ability to give yourself a truly wonderful gift. You have the ability to give yourself a gift that will benefit and enrich your life in a whole multitude of ways. You have the ability to give yourself a gift that will bless and enrich the lives of the people around you. You have the ability to give yourself a gift that God is encouraging you to receive, because God desires that your life be filled with joy.
It took me years to realize this. It took me years of soul-searching and internal struggle. It took me years of asking questions and pondering possible answers. It took me years of patient listening and painful mistakes along the way. Eventually, as I ruminated on my life and the Christian witness and the intersection between the two, some light bulbs started to go off in my head. I began to see some things in a new way. I began to try some things I’d been afraid to try. I began to see the simplicity of it all. I began to experience new joy in my life. Not that I’ve completed that journey, oh no, not by a longshot. I have a tremendous amount of growing and learning yet to do. But I think I’ve learned enough in this life so far to believe that I’m on to something – on to something important.
It’s right there, in the pages of the scriptures. It’s the verse from the Old Testament scriptures that Jesus lifts up as “the greatest commandment” of them all. It’s there, once in Deuteronomy and three times in the gospels. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength.” That’s it. It’s really that simple. And it’s really that hard. It’s simple because what that verse captures so well are the marks of a balanced, faithful, healthy, and truly joyful life. It’s hard because to get to that point where we’re loving God with all our heart and all our soul and with all our mind and with all our strength takes a lifetime (or more?) of diligent, disciplined work. None of us love God that much. As much as we try to sincerely live a good Christian life, none of us are truly “all in.” That’s why this is more of an invitation than it is a commandment – an invitation to go deeper, in each one of those four areas, constantly and regularly throughout the whole course of our lives. That’s why the ancient Israelites felt the need to talk about this verse morning, noon, and night, constantly seeking to apply it in their daily lives, and teaching it to their children. This little verse stands at the bedrock of a balanced, faithful, healthy, and truly joyful life.
I have come to believe that a balanced, faithful, healthy, and truly joyful Christian life involves four key ingredients:
1. Loving the Lord our God with all our heart: the emotional dimension of faithful obedience. God has given each of us a heart. We have been given emotions that can strengthen our life, or cripple it. Whether our lives will be filled with happiness, merriment, peacefulness, calm, centeredness, and love, or instead with anger, bitterness, resentment, jealousy, envy, anxiety, and hate, is – to a very great extent – up to us. All of us experience negative emotions from time to time, some people more so than others. We can all learn better ways to work through our negative emotions so they won’t cripple us or make us miserable to be around. We can seek help from trusted friends or counselors or therapists to learn how to deal effectively with our emotions. We can learn how to respond to situations thoughtfully rather than react to them instinctively. We can learn how to manage our own anxiety. We are called to love God with all our heart, and I hear in that an invitation to take conscious, intentional, deliberate steps to make our heart – our emotions – as healthy as it/they can possibly be.
2. Loving the Lord our God with all our soul: the spiritual dimension of faithful obedience. God has given each of us a soul. We have been given a spiritual life that requires intentional cultivation. From an early age we can experience and appreciate the beauty of God’s creation, but as we grow older we have a multitude of opportunities to deepen and enrich our spiritual lives. Spending time immersing ourselves in the scriptures and engaging in times of prayer and meditation is absolutely central here. As we mature in the faith, the scriptures go from being a book that we have a hard time wrapping our head around to a book that we turn to routinely to give us strength and comfort and direction for the road ahead. As we mature in the faith, we develop the capacity to pray sincerely and joyfully and earnestly, both in our speaking to God and in our listening for God to speak to us. We are called to love God with all our soul, and I hear in that an invitation to take conscious, intentional, deliberate steps to make our soul – our spirituality – as healthy as it can possibly be.
3. Loving the Lord our God with all our mind: the intellectual dimension of faithful obedience. God has given each of us a mind. We have been given an intellect that can be used to strengthen our own life as well as the lives of others. We have been given the ability to reason and think and explore possibilities and learn a huge multitude of things. As T. H. White put it so beautifully in The Once and Future King: “Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting. Learning is the thing for you. Look at what a lot of things there are to learn – pure science, the only purity there is. You can learn astronomy in a lifetime, natural history in three, literature in six. And then, after you have exhausted in milliard lifetimes in biology and medicine and theocriticism and geography and history and economics – why, you can start to make a cartwheel out of the appropriate wood, or spend fifty years learning to begin to learn to beat your adversary at fencing. After that you can start again on mathematics, until it is time to learn to plow. . . .” Science, art, literature, poetry, music, and so much more, are all things we can value. We can develop a greater appreciation for the world and all its beauty. We can learn skills that will better equip us for the living of this life. There should never come a time in life when we stop learning! We are called to love God with all our mind, and I hear in that an invitation to take conscious, intentional, deliberate steps to make our mind – our intellect – as healthy as it can possibly be.
4. Loving the Lord our God with all our strength: the physical dimension of faithful obedience. God has given each of us a body. We have been given a physical form in which to inhabit this world, and God invites us to be good stewards of these bodies. We make a thousand choices every day about what we do with these bodies that God has given us. What do we put into our body? What do we do with our bodies to build them and maintain them so that we will be able to live out as long and full a life as possible, and enable us to joyfully serve others more easily and more productively and for longer periods of time? Often, I find myself disheartened by the growing rate of childhood obesity in this country, or by people whose lives have come to a premature end because of poor choices they made that affected their bodily health, or by people who find themselves burdened with a debilitating condition that could have been avoided had they taken better care of themselves. On the other hand, I find myself greatly heartened by stories of people who have managed to get their alcohol addiction under control, or who have mustered up the strength to stop smoking after many long years, or who develop new exercise or dietary habits that enable them lose weight or gain strength so that they feel like a whole new person. In the past couple months, I’ve been greatly inspired by a very large group of 50+ women who have been walking or jogging at Hawk Island every Saturday morning. For some of them, this is a huge step forward towards a healthier and happier life – way to go, ladies! We are called to love God with all our strength, and I hear in that an invitation to take conscious, intentional, deliberate steps to make our bodies – the physical aspects of our being – as healthy as they can possibly be.
Our hearts, our souls, our minds, our bodies – all of these are gifts that God has given us. All of these aspects of our being can be in a state of good health, or a state of poor health, or somewhere in between. It’s very possible to be reasonably healthy in one dimension and reasonably unhealthy in another. Imagine, for example, a fine teacher with an incredible mind but poor physical health, or imagine a good athlete whose emotional life is in shambles. Both of those people have developed strengths in one of the four dimensions of a balanced, faithful, healthy, and truly joyful life, but both of those people are undoubtedly finding themselves burdened because of a lack of health in some other area of their life. There comes a time in each of our lives when we have to face the hard stuff. There comes a time in our lives when we need to be able to say to ourselves, “Okay, this aspect of my life is out of control – and I need to do something about it.” Sometimes, we put that off. Sometimes, we know what we need to do, but we have a hard time mustering up the courage to actually do it. Other times, we stand in denial of changes we need to make, and so we rob ourselves of a brighter future. Every now and then, somebody takes a step forward, realizing what they need to do, and then mustering up the strength to actually do it. I met a pastor recently who was on the verge of celebrating one year of sobriety, after realizing a year earlier that he needed to join Alcoholics Anonymous. Good for him! When people do things like that – wow. I’ve never yet met anyone who has regretted making significant changes to their life that have resulted in greater health – emotional health, spiritual health, intellectual health, or physical health. These people are able to love life more . . . and they’re able to love God more.
I have come to believe that part of our calling as Christians is to take seriously that invitation to love God with all our heart, and all our soul, and all our mind, and all our strength. I have also come to believe that the more we do that, the more of our “all” that we give, in each of those four dimensions (don’t skip any one of them – all four are critically important!), the more true joy we experience in life. We become able to do that which we love to do and are called to do in this life with more energy and more productivity. We’re more pleasant to be around. And life is just simply more enjoyable.
God doesn’t make these changes in our lives for us. God gives us the ability to make choices, freely, out of our own volition. We can pray to God all we want to make things different about our lives, but we must remember that God gives us freedom to make our own decisions. When we truly listen for God’s voice speaking to us about what we need to do with our lives, and when we actually begin to do those things that God is inviting and beckoning us to do, real changes – positive changes – begin to occur in our lives.
A good way to begin would be to conduct an honest self-assessment. If you were to look at your own life and think about each one of those four dimensions – emotional health, spiritual health, intellectual health, and physical health – which one of those four is the weakest in your life at the present time? Which one of those is most in need of improvement? Perhaps that might be a good place to invest some time and energy. For some people, it might mean taking stock of your physical health and making improvements. For others, it might mean deciding to go back to school or take some classes through community education. For others, it might mean finding a good counselor to help you work through issues in your life that are causing you stress and anxiety. For others, it might mean delving into Bible study or developing a more disciplined prayer life.
You have the power to bring yourself more joy in your life. You have the ability to change many of the circumstances of your life. You have the capacity to grow. You have the possibility of experiencing whole new depths of living that you haven’t experienced yet. Go for it. Take a step in a healthier direction. Work to improve some aspect of your life. Make the change that you’ve known for years you need to make. You’ll find yourself growing in your appreciation for life. You’ll find yourself growing in your love for God. You’ll find yourself thinking, “Gee – I wish I’d done this years ago.” Give yourself the gift that only you can give yourself, the gift that God is inviting you to receive, the gift of a healthier life, a more joyful life.
Trust me. You’ll be glad you did.
Peace and blessings,
Bill
December 1, 2010
November 1, 2010
Things to Celebrate, and Things to Work On
"I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert." (Isaiah 43:19)
Back in June, our church used a diagnostic tool - a survey instrument created by an organization called Natural Church Development - that is designed to assess a congregation's overall level of health and to help a church have a better understanding of its particular strengths, as well as areas it needs to work to improve. Te results are now in - and we're sharing them with you! These results have already been shared with the congregation at a special forum on October 24; the purpose of this article is to bring those of you who weren't able to be present for that meeting up to speed. What we have learned from this process is going to significantly affect how we focus our time and energy and resources in the coming year, so it is vitally important that everybody make an effort to educate themselves about the process and its implications.
Natural Church Development originated in Europe about twenty years ago. The original founder of the movement was disturbed by the decline of Christianity in Europe and began a major research effort to study congregations that were growing rather than shrinking, with the purpose of trying to determine the salient characteristics that appear to be common in congregations that are growing. The initial study involved 1000 churches in 32 different countries; now, twenty years later, research has been conducted on 45,000 churches in 70 countries around the globe. The Natural Church Development Institute has identified through its research eight characteristics that are routinely found to be strengths in any congregation that is growing, regardless of denomination, culture, or country. Those eight characteristics are:
Churches that go through this process several years in a row tend to find, on average, that:
We invite your prayers and your support as we go through this process. We are taking a good, hard look in the mirror, and we will be doing some difficult work to create a stronger, healthier, more spiritually vibrant church that will benefit you and everyone else who wanders through our doors.
Peace and blessings,
Bill
I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert." (Isaiah 43:19)
Back in June, our church used a diagnostic tool - a survey instrument created by an organization called Natural Church Development - that is designed to assess a congregation's overall level of health and to help a church have a better understanding of its particular strengths, as well as areas it needs to work to improve. Te results are now in - and we're sharing them with you! These results have already been shared with the congregation at a special forum on October 24; the purpose of this article is to bring those of you who weren't able to be present for that meeting up to speed. What we have learned from this process is going to significantly affect how we focus our time and energy and resources in the coming year, so it is vitally important that everybody make an effort to educate themselves about the process and its implications.
Natural Church Development originated in Europe about twenty years ago. The original founder of the movement was disturbed by the decline of Christianity in Europe and began a major research effort to study congregations that were growing rather than shrinking, with the purpose of trying to determine the salient characteristics that appear to be common in congregations that are growing. The initial study involved 1000 churches in 32 different countries; now, twenty years later, research has been conducted on 45,000 churches in 70 countries around the globe. The Natural Church Development Institute has identified through its research eight characteristics that are routinely found to be strengths in any congregation that is growing, regardless of denomination, culture, or country. Those eight characteristics are:
- Empowering Leadership: are church leaders focused on equipping members for ministry?
- Gift-Based Ministry: are tasks in your church distributed according to the criterion of gifting?
- Passionate Spirituality: is the spiritual life of the church members characterized by passion?
- Effective Structures: do the structures of your church contribute to growth?
- Inspiring Worship Service: are your worship services an inspiring experience for the members?
- Holistic Small Groups: do the small groups address the life issues of their members?
- Need-Oriented Evangelism: are the outreach activities related to the needs of those you are trying to reach?
- Loving Relationships: are the relationships of the members characterized by love?
- Five of our eight scores are above average.
- One of our scores is higher than 65 (above the "normal" range).
- The average of our eight scores is 52, which makes our congregation a slightly-better-than-average congregation, overall, when compared with all other predominantly white churches in the United States. Most churches, when they begin the NCD process, tend to score about ten points lower than what we scored, on average, so we have already been commended for the relative strength of our church's life and witness.
- Three of our scores are below average.
- One score is so low that it is almost outside the normal range.
- There is a very large gap (29 points) between our highest score and our lowest score. That represents a concern because areas of weakness in the life of a congregation can have an adverse effect on areas of strength. On the other hand, areas of strength can be used to bolster up areas of weakness, which is what we want to do.
Churches that go through this process several years in a row tend to find, on average, that:
- the overall quality of the church improves by 6 points;
- the church's growth rate increases by an average of 51% (so, for example, a church that typically brings in 10 new people per year would bring in 15 new people per year, and a church that typically brings in 200 new people per year would bring in 300 new people per year);
- fewer people join the church by transferring membership from other churches and more people join the church who have little or no prior church background; and
- the work load of participating members decreases significantly as more people are willing to take on responsibilities and the workload is spread around more.
- 66: Gift-Based Ministry (our strongest area)
- 57: Loving Relationships
- 56: Empowering Leadership
- 56: Holistic Small Groups
- 52: Effective Structures
- 46: Inspiring Worship Service
- 44: Need-Oriented Evangellism
- 37: Passionate Spirituality (our weakest area)
- How are church members integrating their faith into all areas of their lives?
- How do we promote faith in our people so they believe firmly that God will work even more powerfully in our church in the coming years?
- In what ways do people in our church spend personal time connecting to God during the week?
- What opportunities do we provide for people to learn how to use the Bible as a guidebook for life?
- What indications do we have that people read the Bible on their own? How are they integrating what they read into their everyday lives?
- What opportunities (in worship or in groups) are given for people to talk about God's work in their lives?
- What are we doing to move religion from being a private matter to a commonly accepted topic with other believers?
- What are we doing to help people grow in their relationships with Christ?
We invite your prayers and your support as we go through this process. We are taking a good, hard look in the mirror, and we will be doing some difficult work to create a stronger, healthier, more spiritually vibrant church that will benefit you and everyone else who wanders through our doors.
Peace and blessings,
Bill
October 1, 2010
The Elections Are Coming! The Elections Are Coming!
In those days Peter stood up among the believers . . . and said, "Friends . . . one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us . . . must become a witness with us to his resurrection." So they proposed two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus, and Matthias. Then they prayed and said, "Lord, you know everyone's heart. Show us which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place." And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles. (Acts 1.15-26)
Hear ye, hear ye! It's election time! I'm not talking about the civic elections coming up on November 2; I'm talking about the ecclesiastical elections coming up on October 31. It's time to elect a new slate of officers to serve this church in leadership capacities - Elders and Deacons - for the next several years. It's time to select a new round of spiritual leaders who will help guide and shepherd this community of faith as we seek to grow in our walk with God and in our faithful service to Jesus Christ.
We elect new officers every year, typically to serve a three-year term. They remain Elders and Deacons for life, even after they are no longer in active service on the boards. The way we do things in the Presbyterian Church, this is the biggest and most important decision that the members of the congregation make every year. We elect people to lead us in the ways of Jesus Christ. The congregation hands over power and responsibility to the elected leaders of the church, and then trusts the elected leaders of the church to lead them faithfully and well.
The Session (which is comprised of the elected Elders and the Pastor) is responsible for the overall mission and government of the church. It is the Session that ultimately bears the overall responsibility for everything that goes on here in this community of faith. Issues that need to be addressed are addressed by the Session, or delegated to some other appropriate committee. Decisions about the future direction of the church are made by the Session. Decisions about the budget are made by the Session, upon recommendation by the Finance Committee. Decisions about staffing (except for Pastors and Associate Pastors) are made by the Session, upon recommendation by the Personnel Committee. The Session essentially has the power to oversee everything that is going on here in this community of faith, except for a relatively small set of responsibilities (primarily having to do with worship) that are entrusted to the pastoral staff of the congregation, over which the Session has no jurisdiction. The Session has the authority to direct committees within the church to undertake certain tasks, or even to overturn decisions that committees have made when the Session feels the need. It is an enormous responsibility, one that should be entrusted only to the most wise, mature, faithful, responsible, thoughtful, committed, dedicated, and discerning people among us. It is absolutely vital to the health of the church that the congregation elect the best possible leaders each and every year. It is not a job that should be entrusted to somebody who has a personal need for public recognition, or who craves after power, or who has a personal axe to grind. The leaders of the church routinely have to face and deal with truly difficult decisions. in the two and a half years that I have been here so far, your Session has faced innumerable issues of one sort or another that have stretched us and challenged us (and your Session has done an extraordinarily good job handling those challenging issues). This is not a job for the faint of heart, or for people who can only see one side of any issue, or for people who care more about their "slice of the pie" than the good of the congregation as a whole, or for people determined to have "my way or the highway," or for people who lack a passionate commitment to Jesus Christ and to the mission of the church. We need to be looking for leaders to whom we are willing to entrust some really big and important decisions. As we look at people who potentially might serve, we would do well to ask ourselves questions like these: "Is this person a model of good, faithful Christian living?" "Does this person have the ability to work collaboratively with other people on a team?" "Would I entrust the overall welfare of my entire well-being to this person?" "Would I entrust my household finances to this person?" "Would I seek out this person for personal advice and counsel?" "Do I sincerely trust this peron's judgment?" "Would I go to this person if I had a question of a spiritual nature?" "Is this person someone whom I would be willing to follow?" "Does this person have the gifts and the talent and the energy necessary to help lead our whole congregation to grow in our spiritual walk with Christ?" It's an enormous responsibility! And it is the responsibility of the congregation to select the very best.
Ditto with the Deacons. As our Constitution puts its: "The office of deacon as set forth in Scripture is one of compassion, witness, and service after the example of Jesus Christ. Persons of spiritual character, honest repute, of exemplary lives, brotherly and sisterly love, sincere compassion, and sound judgment should be chosen for this office. It is the duty of deacons, first of all, to minister to those who are in need, to the sick, to the friendless, and to any who may be in distress both within and beyond the community of faith." Our Deacons undertake that ministry in a variety of different ways. Their effectiveness is totally dependent on the congregation's willingness to elect people to that position who truly have the right gifts, talents, and skills for the job. Once again, it is vital that, every year, we select the very best.
To assist the congregation in this vitally important task of selecting the absolute best people for these crucially important ministries, we have a Nominating Committee. The job of the Nominating Committee is to review the entire membership of the church and identify those individuals who truly have the gifts and skills and talents necessary to be highly effective Elders and Deacons. God has given different people different gifts, and all gifts are important and necessary for the healthy functioning of the body of Christ, but not everybody has the gifts to be a truly effective Elder or a truly effective Deacon. Those people who do not have those gifts are not less important in God's eyes. (Go re-read Paul's discussion of spiritual gifts and the body of Christ in 1 Corinthians 12!) Some people are called to other ministries in the church that are just as important but that require different gifts. For example, someone could be an absolutely amazing Sunday School teacher, or an incredibly talented musician, but might make a pretty lousy Elder or Deacon. That's okay! Those people are no less valuable to the body of Christ! Just because somebody is good at one ministry within the church does not necessarily mean they would be as effective at other ministries within the church. Part of our responsibility as Christians is to help ourselves and other members of this community of faith discern our gifts and calling. Some people have gifts that suit them better for other ministries that require different gifts, and we should never elect people to serve as Elders or Deacons simply because they "haven't had their turn yet." That is not how this system is designed to operate. The church functions best when the members of the church truly know what their gifts are and are plugged into ministries within the church where their gifts can truly shine and enrich the lives of other people as we seek to carry out the mission that Christ gives us.
It needs to be understood that serving as a Deacon is not a "stepping stone" on the way to serving as an Elder. Not everyone who serves as a Deacon truly has the right gifts to be an effective Elder; not everyone who serves as an Elder truly has the right gifts to be an effective Deacon. They are different ministries that require different skills, interests, and talents - different ministries that require different gifts.
It also needs to be understood that just because an individual has served one or more terms previously as a Deacon or an Elder at some point in the past does not mean that they should not be considered for service again. The church benefits by having wise and experienced leaders who can mentors and shepherd newer or younger leaders. These are difficult jobs, and it's good for the whole community of faith if their are some wise and experienced people to help nurture others long so that they, too, can one day be wise and experienced leaders, passing on what they have learned to the next generation. Too many inexperienced people on the Session or the Board of Deacons can make the boards less effective than they need to be.
The purpose of the Nominating Committee is to help the congregation discern which people truly have the gifts to be highly effective Elders and Deacons, and then to engage in conversation with those people to see if they feel themselves truly called by God to engage in that ministry at this particular point in their lives. As I write these words, the Nominating Committee is hard at work doing just that, and I would invite and encourage you to keep the work of the Nominating Committee in your prayers. The Nominating Committee will present to the congregation a slate of names for each of the available positions. But just because the Nominating Committee presents a slate of names does not mean that the work is done. The Holy Spirit might still be working. In our Presbyterian way of doing things, there is always to be an opportunity for nominations from the floor, and I always make sure that I provide for that opportunity. Expect that to happen every year, because it always will! Every individual whose name is placed in nomination must declare their willingness to serve if elected. If there are more names placed in nomination than there are positions available, then we vote by secret ballot; otherwise, a simple voice vote will suffice.
Proxy voting is not allowed. In our Presbyterian way of doing things, we believe that the Holy Spirit is always at work, and can and does work in the course of meetings themselves. I have arrived at Presbyterian meetings in the past expecting to vote a certain way and then changed my mind in the course of listening to the conversation and debate. That is supposed to be able to happen. Proxy voters do not have the benefit of hearing and participating in important conversation about important matters; therefore, we do not permit voting by proxy.
I cannot tell you how important it is that the members of the church faithfully participate in the election process every year. Every year, the church faces a new set of challenges. Every year, the church needs to grow deeper in its relationship with Christ. Every year, the church needs to expand its outreach and mission to the world. Every member of the church has a responsibility to take part responsibly in the life of the church, and participating in this election process is one of the primary ways we do that. You have the power and the responsibility to help select the best leaders for this community of faith that you possibly can! The welfare and well-being of the entire community of faith depends on your selecting the absolute best. You get to help decide who those "best" are.
From time to time over the years, I have heard complaints from some individuals about decisions made by the Session, and I sometimes wonder to myself: Did these individuals take part in the election process? If not, then they truly have no right to complain. That is neither fair nor responsible behavior. Every member of the church has one golden opportunity every year to truly have a voice in what happens around here, and that is by participating in the electoral process to make sure that we are electing the absolute best people to make the decisions that impact our life and ministry. It's how we do things here. It's part of what it means to be Presbyterian.
The elections are coming! October 31. Be there.
Peace and blessings,
Bill
Hear ye, hear ye! It's election time! I'm not talking about the civic elections coming up on November 2; I'm talking about the ecclesiastical elections coming up on October 31. It's time to elect a new slate of officers to serve this church in leadership capacities - Elders and Deacons - for the next several years. It's time to select a new round of spiritual leaders who will help guide and shepherd this community of faith as we seek to grow in our walk with God and in our faithful service to Jesus Christ.
We elect new officers every year, typically to serve a three-year term. They remain Elders and Deacons for life, even after they are no longer in active service on the boards. The way we do things in the Presbyterian Church, this is the biggest and most important decision that the members of the congregation make every year. We elect people to lead us in the ways of Jesus Christ. The congregation hands over power and responsibility to the elected leaders of the church, and then trusts the elected leaders of the church to lead them faithfully and well.
The Session (which is comprised of the elected Elders and the Pastor) is responsible for the overall mission and government of the church. It is the Session that ultimately bears the overall responsibility for everything that goes on here in this community of faith. Issues that need to be addressed are addressed by the Session, or delegated to some other appropriate committee. Decisions about the future direction of the church are made by the Session. Decisions about the budget are made by the Session, upon recommendation by the Finance Committee. Decisions about staffing (except for Pastors and Associate Pastors) are made by the Session, upon recommendation by the Personnel Committee. The Session essentially has the power to oversee everything that is going on here in this community of faith, except for a relatively small set of responsibilities (primarily having to do with worship) that are entrusted to the pastoral staff of the congregation, over which the Session has no jurisdiction. The Session has the authority to direct committees within the church to undertake certain tasks, or even to overturn decisions that committees have made when the Session feels the need. It is an enormous responsibility, one that should be entrusted only to the most wise, mature, faithful, responsible, thoughtful, committed, dedicated, and discerning people among us. It is absolutely vital to the health of the church that the congregation elect the best possible leaders each and every year. It is not a job that should be entrusted to somebody who has a personal need for public recognition, or who craves after power, or who has a personal axe to grind. The leaders of the church routinely have to face and deal with truly difficult decisions. in the two and a half years that I have been here so far, your Session has faced innumerable issues of one sort or another that have stretched us and challenged us (and your Session has done an extraordinarily good job handling those challenging issues). This is not a job for the faint of heart, or for people who can only see one side of any issue, or for people who care more about their "slice of the pie" than the good of the congregation as a whole, or for people determined to have "my way or the highway," or for people who lack a passionate commitment to Jesus Christ and to the mission of the church. We need to be looking for leaders to whom we are willing to entrust some really big and important decisions. As we look at people who potentially might serve, we would do well to ask ourselves questions like these: "Is this person a model of good, faithful Christian living?" "Does this person have the ability to work collaboratively with other people on a team?" "Would I entrust the overall welfare of my entire well-being to this person?" "Would I entrust my household finances to this person?" "Would I seek out this person for personal advice and counsel?" "Do I sincerely trust this peron's judgment?" "Would I go to this person if I had a question of a spiritual nature?" "Is this person someone whom I would be willing to follow?" "Does this person have the gifts and the talent and the energy necessary to help lead our whole congregation to grow in our spiritual walk with Christ?" It's an enormous responsibility! And it is the responsibility of the congregation to select the very best.
Ditto with the Deacons. As our Constitution puts its: "The office of deacon as set forth in Scripture is one of compassion, witness, and service after the example of Jesus Christ. Persons of spiritual character, honest repute, of exemplary lives, brotherly and sisterly love, sincere compassion, and sound judgment should be chosen for this office. It is the duty of deacons, first of all, to minister to those who are in need, to the sick, to the friendless, and to any who may be in distress both within and beyond the community of faith." Our Deacons undertake that ministry in a variety of different ways. Their effectiveness is totally dependent on the congregation's willingness to elect people to that position who truly have the right gifts, talents, and skills for the job. Once again, it is vital that, every year, we select the very best.
To assist the congregation in this vitally important task of selecting the absolute best people for these crucially important ministries, we have a Nominating Committee. The job of the Nominating Committee is to review the entire membership of the church and identify those individuals who truly have the gifts and skills and talents necessary to be highly effective Elders and Deacons. God has given different people different gifts, and all gifts are important and necessary for the healthy functioning of the body of Christ, but not everybody has the gifts to be a truly effective Elder or a truly effective Deacon. Those people who do not have those gifts are not less important in God's eyes. (Go re-read Paul's discussion of spiritual gifts and the body of Christ in 1 Corinthians 12!) Some people are called to other ministries in the church that are just as important but that require different gifts. For example, someone could be an absolutely amazing Sunday School teacher, or an incredibly talented musician, but might make a pretty lousy Elder or Deacon. That's okay! Those people are no less valuable to the body of Christ! Just because somebody is good at one ministry within the church does not necessarily mean they would be as effective at other ministries within the church. Part of our responsibility as Christians is to help ourselves and other members of this community of faith discern our gifts and calling. Some people have gifts that suit them better for other ministries that require different gifts, and we should never elect people to serve as Elders or Deacons simply because they "haven't had their turn yet." That is not how this system is designed to operate. The church functions best when the members of the church truly know what their gifts are and are plugged into ministries within the church where their gifts can truly shine and enrich the lives of other people as we seek to carry out the mission that Christ gives us.
It needs to be understood that serving as a Deacon is not a "stepping stone" on the way to serving as an Elder. Not everyone who serves as a Deacon truly has the right gifts to be an effective Elder; not everyone who serves as an Elder truly has the right gifts to be an effective Deacon. They are different ministries that require different skills, interests, and talents - different ministries that require different gifts.
It also needs to be understood that just because an individual has served one or more terms previously as a Deacon or an Elder at some point in the past does not mean that they should not be considered for service again. The church benefits by having wise and experienced leaders who can mentors and shepherd newer or younger leaders. These are difficult jobs, and it's good for the whole community of faith if their are some wise and experienced people to help nurture others long so that they, too, can one day be wise and experienced leaders, passing on what they have learned to the next generation. Too many inexperienced people on the Session or the Board of Deacons can make the boards less effective than they need to be.
The purpose of the Nominating Committee is to help the congregation discern which people truly have the gifts to be highly effective Elders and Deacons, and then to engage in conversation with those people to see if they feel themselves truly called by God to engage in that ministry at this particular point in their lives. As I write these words, the Nominating Committee is hard at work doing just that, and I would invite and encourage you to keep the work of the Nominating Committee in your prayers. The Nominating Committee will present to the congregation a slate of names for each of the available positions. But just because the Nominating Committee presents a slate of names does not mean that the work is done. The Holy Spirit might still be working. In our Presbyterian way of doing things, there is always to be an opportunity for nominations from the floor, and I always make sure that I provide for that opportunity. Expect that to happen every year, because it always will! Every individual whose name is placed in nomination must declare their willingness to serve if elected. If there are more names placed in nomination than there are positions available, then we vote by secret ballot; otherwise, a simple voice vote will suffice.
Proxy voting is not allowed. In our Presbyterian way of doing things, we believe that the Holy Spirit is always at work, and can and does work in the course of meetings themselves. I have arrived at Presbyterian meetings in the past expecting to vote a certain way and then changed my mind in the course of listening to the conversation and debate. That is supposed to be able to happen. Proxy voters do not have the benefit of hearing and participating in important conversation about important matters; therefore, we do not permit voting by proxy.
I cannot tell you how important it is that the members of the church faithfully participate in the election process every year. Every year, the church faces a new set of challenges. Every year, the church needs to grow deeper in its relationship with Christ. Every year, the church needs to expand its outreach and mission to the world. Every member of the church has a responsibility to take part responsibly in the life of the church, and participating in this election process is one of the primary ways we do that. You have the power and the responsibility to help select the best leaders for this community of faith that you possibly can! The welfare and well-being of the entire community of faith depends on your selecting the absolute best. You get to help decide who those "best" are.
From time to time over the years, I have heard complaints from some individuals about decisions made by the Session, and I sometimes wonder to myself: Did these individuals take part in the election process? If not, then they truly have no right to complain. That is neither fair nor responsible behavior. Every member of the church has one golden opportunity every year to truly have a voice in what happens around here, and that is by participating in the electoral process to make sure that we are electing the absolute best people to make the decisions that impact our life and ministry. It's how we do things here. It's part of what it means to be Presbyterian.
The elections are coming! October 31. Be there.
Peace and blessings,
Bill
September 1, 2010
". . . and Fostering Spiritual Growth"
Our congregational mission statement ends with those words: "and fostering spiritual growth." "We are a warm and caring community of faith . . . fostering spiritual growth." Those aren't just words, and that's not just something extra that the church can do when we feel like it. We have a responsibility - and obligation - to provide and promote activities that nurture spiritual growth in the lives of people of all ages (not just children!), and to encourage people to actively participate in those activities. There is not one single person in any church anywhere who doesn't need to continue to work on continuing to grow in their spiritual walk - not you, not me, not anybody.
Spiritual growth is, first and foremost, about our relationship with God. Jesus highlighted two commandments from the Old Testament above all others: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength" (Mark 12.30 / Matthew 22.37; quoting Deuteronomy 6.5) and "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Mark 12.31 / Matthew 22.39; quoting Leviticus 19.18). More than anything else, spiritual growth has to do with growing in our faithfulness to that first commandment, and by extension to the second commandment. The love we extend to our neighbors is rooted and grounded in the love we have for God. Spiritual growth has to do, first and foremost, with developing and nurturing a life-giving relationship with God.
There are big changes afoot here at Mason First Presbyterian Church, as we seek to deepen our commitment to that last part of our mission statement (". . . and fostering spiritual growth") and as we seek to grow in our fidelity to Christ's first commandment ("you shall love the Lord your God . . ."). A tremendous amount of work has been undertaken over the course of the past several months by the Christian Education Committee and the Director of Christian Education (and, yes, yours truly) as we have vigorously engaged questions about how we might improve and enhance our overall spiritual offerings and commitment. Dozens - maybe hundreds - of hours have been spent thinking, praying, discussing, deliberating, debating, reading, talking, sharing, learning, growing, and above all, seeking to discern the will of God for this congregation here and now. As a result of these deliberations, there are a number of changes that are being implemented - right now, this very minute! Here are some highlights:
The Christian Education Committee is being reconstituted as the Spiritual Growth Committee. Practice saying it a few times: "Spiritual Growth Committee." It's going to take some time to get used to this new name. Call it "SG" for short. The name is being changed for several reasons; two that I can think of are: (1) the phrase "spiritual growth" will hopefully remind us that we are all called to grow in our spiritual walk (in other words, spiritual growth is not just for children and youth!); and (2) the word "education" implies head knowledge, while "spiritual growth" is a more holistic term, involving our whole being. Remember - Jesus talked about loving the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind, and with all our strength - so there is an emotional dimension, a spiritual dimension, an intellectual dimension, and even a physical dimension to all of this. Clear away whatever images you may have of "Christian education" - it's not just for children and youth, and it's not just book learning. Think less about a "school" metaphor and more about a "garden" metaphor. We are all - every single one of us - planted in the garden of God, and the work of the committee is to help us grow in that garden, to help us all grow to become as strong and robust and healthy and vibrant and joyful and Spirit-filled as we can possibly become. That's no small challenge!
The purpose and responsibilities of the Spiritual Growth Committee have been completely re-written. Most of the committees within the church have an official list of responsibilities, and many have clear statements of purpose. We have gone back to the drawing board and completely re-written the C.E. - whoops, I mean S.G. - committee's purpose and responsibilities. It has been at least ten years since the work of this committee has been so extensively reviewed. This is not a small edit; this is a complete re-write. The new purpose statement reads: "The purpose of the Spiritual Growth Committee is to foster and facilitate the spiritual growth of members and friends of the church of all ages in a manner that is consistent with the Reformed tradition and the ethos of the Presbyterian Church (USA)." That statement intentionally includes reference to both members and friends of the church, intentionally specifies people "of all ages," and intentionally emphasizes the distinctiveness that we hold as Reformed (and always reforming) Presbyterians of a certain theological tradition that differs from numerous other Presbyterian traditions that exist in our country today. The whole list of committee responsibilities has also been re-written. The resulting document is similar in some respect to the old description - but it's a whole lot deeper.
The Spiritual Growth Committee now oversees the work of four sub-committees. We have broken the work of the Spiritual Growth Committee down into four distinct demographic segments, by age: (1) preschool and elementary; (2) middle school; (3) high school; and (4) adult. Each of those four segments has their own particular unique needs, the new sub-committees will be responsible for fostering and facilitating the spiritual growth and development of those different segments in the congregation, and each segment has particular needs and issues that differ from the other three segments. This will ensure that each age group is being adequately addressed at committee meetings. There has habitually been so much work for the Christian Education Committee to do that some age groups have received very little attention by the committee (adults in particular). This also allows for involvement by volunteers who find themselves drawn to one of these segments more than the others.
The Director of Christian Education is now the Director of Spiritual Growth. As an outgrowth of all these conversations, we are changing the title of this important position. Soon there will be a completely re-written job description as well. By the time we are done with this work, we will have a list of responsibilities for the committee and a list of responsibilities for the Director that will complement each other better than they have in the past.
We have a new vision for youth ministry in the church. In the course of our conversations and our learning this summer, we discovered some truly wonderful denominational resources regarding effective youth ministry that have somehow escaped our notice until now. Among those resources are not one but two vision statements for youth ministry that the committee has adopted. These vision statements are intended to guide us in our ministry with youth to make sure that we are staying true to the reason why youth ministry exists in the first place - to help youth grow to become faithful servants of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
There is more - much more - that could be said about the bright future that awaits us, as we embark on this renewed quest to promote spiritual growth in the lives of all people in this congregation. For more information on any of these new directions, please talk with Bonnie Friend and Margaret Doolittle (Spiritual Growth Committee co-chairs), Lori Pollitz (Director of Spiritual Growth), or me.
God doesn't call any of us to remain "as we are." God beckons us - God challenges us - to grow in our walk of faith. We have a renewed commitment to create a multitude of ways to help you do that. God calls us to be a "community of faith . . . fostering spiritual growth." With dedicated commitment from our staff and from our many talented volunteers, and with faithful participation on your part, we will all grow deeper in our Christian walk. We will grow in our love for God, and by extension, our love for our neighbors.
Peace and blessings,
Bill
Spiritual growth is, first and foremost, about our relationship with God. Jesus highlighted two commandments from the Old Testament above all others: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength" (Mark 12.30 / Matthew 22.37; quoting Deuteronomy 6.5) and "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Mark 12.31 / Matthew 22.39; quoting Leviticus 19.18). More than anything else, spiritual growth has to do with growing in our faithfulness to that first commandment, and by extension to the second commandment. The love we extend to our neighbors is rooted and grounded in the love we have for God. Spiritual growth has to do, first and foremost, with developing and nurturing a life-giving relationship with God.
There are big changes afoot here at Mason First Presbyterian Church, as we seek to deepen our commitment to that last part of our mission statement (". . . and fostering spiritual growth") and as we seek to grow in our fidelity to Christ's first commandment ("you shall love the Lord your God . . ."). A tremendous amount of work has been undertaken over the course of the past several months by the Christian Education Committee and the Director of Christian Education (and, yes, yours truly) as we have vigorously engaged questions about how we might improve and enhance our overall spiritual offerings and commitment. Dozens - maybe hundreds - of hours have been spent thinking, praying, discussing, deliberating, debating, reading, talking, sharing, learning, growing, and above all, seeking to discern the will of God for this congregation here and now. As a result of these deliberations, there are a number of changes that are being implemented - right now, this very minute! Here are some highlights:
The Christian Education Committee is being reconstituted as the Spiritual Growth Committee. Practice saying it a few times: "Spiritual Growth Committee." It's going to take some time to get used to this new name. Call it "SG" for short. The name is being changed for several reasons; two that I can think of are: (1) the phrase "spiritual growth" will hopefully remind us that we are all called to grow in our spiritual walk (in other words, spiritual growth is not just for children and youth!); and (2) the word "education" implies head knowledge, while "spiritual growth" is a more holistic term, involving our whole being. Remember - Jesus talked about loving the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind, and with all our strength - so there is an emotional dimension, a spiritual dimension, an intellectual dimension, and even a physical dimension to all of this. Clear away whatever images you may have of "Christian education" - it's not just for children and youth, and it's not just book learning. Think less about a "school" metaphor and more about a "garden" metaphor. We are all - every single one of us - planted in the garden of God, and the work of the committee is to help us grow in that garden, to help us all grow to become as strong and robust and healthy and vibrant and joyful and Spirit-filled as we can possibly become. That's no small challenge!
The purpose and responsibilities of the Spiritual Growth Committee have been completely re-written. Most of the committees within the church have an official list of responsibilities, and many have clear statements of purpose. We have gone back to the drawing board and completely re-written the C.E. - whoops, I mean S.G. - committee's purpose and responsibilities. It has been at least ten years since the work of this committee has been so extensively reviewed. This is not a small edit; this is a complete re-write. The new purpose statement reads: "The purpose of the Spiritual Growth Committee is to foster and facilitate the spiritual growth of members and friends of the church of all ages in a manner that is consistent with the Reformed tradition and the ethos of the Presbyterian Church (USA)." That statement intentionally includes reference to both members and friends of the church, intentionally specifies people "of all ages," and intentionally emphasizes the distinctiveness that we hold as Reformed (and always reforming) Presbyterians of a certain theological tradition that differs from numerous other Presbyterian traditions that exist in our country today. The whole list of committee responsibilities has also been re-written. The resulting document is similar in some respect to the old description - but it's a whole lot deeper.
The Spiritual Growth Committee now oversees the work of four sub-committees. We have broken the work of the Spiritual Growth Committee down into four distinct demographic segments, by age: (1) preschool and elementary; (2) middle school; (3) high school; and (4) adult. Each of those four segments has their own particular unique needs, the new sub-committees will be responsible for fostering and facilitating the spiritual growth and development of those different segments in the congregation, and each segment has particular needs and issues that differ from the other three segments. This will ensure that each age group is being adequately addressed at committee meetings. There has habitually been so much work for the Christian Education Committee to do that some age groups have received very little attention by the committee (adults in particular). This also allows for involvement by volunteers who find themselves drawn to one of these segments more than the others.
The Director of Christian Education is now the Director of Spiritual Growth. As an outgrowth of all these conversations, we are changing the title of this important position. Soon there will be a completely re-written job description as well. By the time we are done with this work, we will have a list of responsibilities for the committee and a list of responsibilities for the Director that will complement each other better than they have in the past.
We have a new vision for youth ministry in the church. In the course of our conversations and our learning this summer, we discovered some truly wonderful denominational resources regarding effective youth ministry that have somehow escaped our notice until now. Among those resources are not one but two vision statements for youth ministry that the committee has adopted. These vision statements are intended to guide us in our ministry with youth to make sure that we are staying true to the reason why youth ministry exists in the first place - to help youth grow to become faithful servants of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
There is more - much more - that could be said about the bright future that awaits us, as we embark on this renewed quest to promote spiritual growth in the lives of all people in this congregation. For more information on any of these new directions, please talk with Bonnie Friend and Margaret Doolittle (Spiritual Growth Committee co-chairs), Lori Pollitz (Director of Spiritual Growth), or me.
God doesn't call any of us to remain "as we are." God beckons us - God challenges us - to grow in our walk of faith. We have a renewed commitment to create a multitude of ways to help you do that. God calls us to be a "community of faith . . . fostering spiritual growth." With dedicated commitment from our staff and from our many talented volunteers, and with faithful participation on your part, we will all grow deeper in our Christian walk. We will grow in our love for God, and by extension, our love for our neighbors.
Peace and blessings,
Bill
July 1, 2010
Why We're Here (Part IV): The Preservation of the Truth
A hundred years ago, the United Presbyterian Church in North America – one of our predecessor denominations – spent some time and energy thinking about why the church exists. That’s always a good question to ask. It’s important for us to constantly remind ourselves why we’re here, because it is so easy for us humans to lose our way, to wander from the path that God has set before us, to “go astray,” like lost sheep. We can be more intentional about doing that which we know we ought to be doing when we have a deep understanding of what we’re all about in the first place. A hundred years ago, the United Presbyterian Church in North America identified six “great ends of the church” – six fundamental reasons why the church exists. The fourth “great end of the church” is the preservation of the truth. What does that mean for us, here and now?
“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” (Exodus 20.16 / Deuteronomy 5.20)
“Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long.” (Psalm 25.5)
“And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.” (John 1.14)
“The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (John 1.17)
“The hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4.23-24)
“The one who sent me is true, and I declare to the world that I have heard from him.” (John 8.26)
“If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” (John 8.31-32)
“I am the way, the truth, and the life.” (John 14.6)
“This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.” (John 14.17)
“Pilate asked him, ‘So you are a king?’ Jesus answered, ‘You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.’ Pilate asked him, ‘What is truth?’” (John 18.37-38)
“Speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.” (Ephesians 4.15)
We believe in a God who cares about truth.
No – scratch that. That’s true, but it’s not the whole truth. We believe in a God who is truth – truth embodied in human form. John’s gospel emphasizes this reality more than any other book in the Bible. The Word incarnate, Jesus Christ, is filled with both grace and truth. God calls us to know the truth, to experience the truth, to live according to the truth, to belong to the truth, and to speak the truth in love to one another. Truth matters, and if we are to walk this Christian journey with integrity, we need to take truth seriously. To paraphrase the fourth great end of the church, we need to preserve the truth.
But Pilate’s question is a good one: “What is truth?” Are there circumstances in which telling something other than the truth could be justified? (What about “little white lies” to cover up a surprise birthday party for a loved one? What about Germans under Hitler’s regime who lied to the Nazis in order to protect Jews who were hiding in their homes?) Perhaps when we pause to consider what “preserving the truth” means, we need to consider the intent behind our words and actions. Could there be situations in which “preserving the truth” might involve speaking an “untruth”? Does “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” mean that we never say anything that is not 100% factual? Could “truth” be a concept that is deeper and more profound than the distinction between “fact” and “fiction”? Can fiction be “true”? What is “truth”? How do we “preserve the truth?”
I don’t have clear answers to these thorny questions – and lots of people have written far more extensively about this subject than I have – but let me offer a few proposals for your consideration. I don’t claim to have the last word on this subject, so I leave room for any of you to offer a rebuttal!
Deception. One way in which we fail to “preserve the truth” is when we intentionally seek to deceive somebody else for reasons that lack honor and integrity. Trying to smuggle Jews to safety out of Nazi Germany—I would suggest that falls under the category of a cause that possesses honor and integrity, and it is greatly unfortunate that people had to resort to deception in order to save human lives. But there are plenty of times when people seek to deceive other people for reasons that lack honor and integrity, perhaps for selfish gain, or fear of what other people might think, or low self-esteem, or fear of being caught. Any time we seek to deceive other people for reasons that puff ourselves up at the expense of other people, anytime we seek to deceive other people to escape from a bad situation that we’ve gotten ourselves into and we have no one to rightfully blame but ourselves, anytime we seek to deceive other people for reasons that Jesus himself would question – those are times when we are not “preserving the truth;” those are times when we are failing to walk the Christian life with honesty and fidelity and integrity. Those are times when we need to turn from our destructive ways and turn towards the ways of our Savior.
Denial. Another way in which we fail to “preserve the truth” is when we live in denial of the truth, especially when we live in denial of painful truths about ourselves that we would prefer to avoid. Sometimes, we deny the truth that we’ve done something wrong (when in truth we have, but don’t want to admit it to ourselves, let alone anyone else). Sometimes, we deny the truth that we’ve caused someone else pain. Sometimes, we deny the truth that we have anger or fear or envy or insecurity buried inside us that comes out in ways that hurt other people. Sometimes, we deny the truth of the medical issue that we, or someone we love, is facing, and we fail to take appropriate measures to address the situation – such as going to the doctor when we need to but don’t want to, or are afraid to. Truthfully, I’ve been amazed at just how much denial there is out there in the world; I have seen it surface in people’s lives, time and time again. Sometimes, it can be hard – very hard – to face a truth that we need to face, and we humans come up with all sorts of excuses or other ways by which we can avoid facing difficult truths. (But remember: “. . . the truth will make you free.”) Whenever we live in denial of the truth, we are not “preserving the truth;” we are failing to walk the Christian life with honesty and fidelity and integrity. Those, too, are times when we need to turn from our destructive ways (our self-destructive ways) and turn towards the ways of our Savior.
Truth. It takes courage to try to live a life “filled with grace and truth,” trying to follow in the footsteps of our Savior. To be willing to face the hard truths that life throws our way sometimes, to be willing to stand firm to our convictions even when other people around us might try to pull us down, to be willing to speak the truth in love to other people (and to be willing to allow other people to speak the truth in love to us), to be willing to take a stand for all that is good and true and right in the world – none of that is easy. In my younger days, I was not always good about living a truth-filled life; there were times when I lied to protect myself from certain consequences that I wished to avoid; there were times when I exaggerated stories to make myself look good; there were times when I thought other people couldn’t handle the real truth and so I adjusted my story accordingly. I’m not proud of any of that, and I’m grateful that in my adult life I’ve managed to put those destructive behaviors almost completely behind me. (I say “almost” because there are still those times, every now and then, when it’s tempting to fall back into old patterns – when stretching the truth, or telling an outright lie, might somehow feel easier than telling the real truth, because sometimes, the truth is really painful to face.) Living the truth, embodying the truth, preserving the truth – that can all be extremely difficult.
But God doesn’t want us to take the easy road. God calls us to take the road filled with honesty and fidelity and integrity. God calls us to live a life that is worthy of being called “Christian.” That’s not easy. But it’s worth it. Goodness gracious, is it worth it. A life filled with honesty and fidelity and integrity is so much richer, so much deeper, so much more joyful, so much more Spirit-filled, than a life filled with half-truths and lies. The truth does indeed “set us free.” We just have to be willing to face the truth, the hard truth, whatever it may be – and once we’ve faced it square-on, life is better on the other side.
We Christians are called to “preserve the truth.” It’s not easy to do. But it’s worth it. It’s well worth it. May God grant us courage and grace as we seek to do that, each and every day.
Peace and blessings,
Bill
“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” (Exodus 20.16 / Deuteronomy 5.20)
“Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long.” (Psalm 25.5)
“And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.” (John 1.14)
“The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (John 1.17)
“The hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4.23-24)
“The one who sent me is true, and I declare to the world that I have heard from him.” (John 8.26)
“If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” (John 8.31-32)
“I am the way, the truth, and the life.” (John 14.6)
“This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.” (John 14.17)
“Pilate asked him, ‘So you are a king?’ Jesus answered, ‘You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.’ Pilate asked him, ‘What is truth?’” (John 18.37-38)
“Speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.” (Ephesians 4.15)
We believe in a God who cares about truth.
No – scratch that. That’s true, but it’s not the whole truth. We believe in a God who is truth – truth embodied in human form. John’s gospel emphasizes this reality more than any other book in the Bible. The Word incarnate, Jesus Christ, is filled with both grace and truth. God calls us to know the truth, to experience the truth, to live according to the truth, to belong to the truth, and to speak the truth in love to one another. Truth matters, and if we are to walk this Christian journey with integrity, we need to take truth seriously. To paraphrase the fourth great end of the church, we need to preserve the truth.
But Pilate’s question is a good one: “What is truth?” Are there circumstances in which telling something other than the truth could be justified? (What about “little white lies” to cover up a surprise birthday party for a loved one? What about Germans under Hitler’s regime who lied to the Nazis in order to protect Jews who were hiding in their homes?) Perhaps when we pause to consider what “preserving the truth” means, we need to consider the intent behind our words and actions. Could there be situations in which “preserving the truth” might involve speaking an “untruth”? Does “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” mean that we never say anything that is not 100% factual? Could “truth” be a concept that is deeper and more profound than the distinction between “fact” and “fiction”? Can fiction be “true”? What is “truth”? How do we “preserve the truth?”
I don’t have clear answers to these thorny questions – and lots of people have written far more extensively about this subject than I have – but let me offer a few proposals for your consideration. I don’t claim to have the last word on this subject, so I leave room for any of you to offer a rebuttal!
Deception. One way in which we fail to “preserve the truth” is when we intentionally seek to deceive somebody else for reasons that lack honor and integrity. Trying to smuggle Jews to safety out of Nazi Germany—I would suggest that falls under the category of a cause that possesses honor and integrity, and it is greatly unfortunate that people had to resort to deception in order to save human lives. But there are plenty of times when people seek to deceive other people for reasons that lack honor and integrity, perhaps for selfish gain, or fear of what other people might think, or low self-esteem, or fear of being caught. Any time we seek to deceive other people for reasons that puff ourselves up at the expense of other people, anytime we seek to deceive other people to escape from a bad situation that we’ve gotten ourselves into and we have no one to rightfully blame but ourselves, anytime we seek to deceive other people for reasons that Jesus himself would question – those are times when we are not “preserving the truth;” those are times when we are failing to walk the Christian life with honesty and fidelity and integrity. Those are times when we need to turn from our destructive ways and turn towards the ways of our Savior.
Denial. Another way in which we fail to “preserve the truth” is when we live in denial of the truth, especially when we live in denial of painful truths about ourselves that we would prefer to avoid. Sometimes, we deny the truth that we’ve done something wrong (when in truth we have, but don’t want to admit it to ourselves, let alone anyone else). Sometimes, we deny the truth that we’ve caused someone else pain. Sometimes, we deny the truth that we have anger or fear or envy or insecurity buried inside us that comes out in ways that hurt other people. Sometimes, we deny the truth of the medical issue that we, or someone we love, is facing, and we fail to take appropriate measures to address the situation – such as going to the doctor when we need to but don’t want to, or are afraid to. Truthfully, I’ve been amazed at just how much denial there is out there in the world; I have seen it surface in people’s lives, time and time again. Sometimes, it can be hard – very hard – to face a truth that we need to face, and we humans come up with all sorts of excuses or other ways by which we can avoid facing difficult truths. (But remember: “. . . the truth will make you free.”) Whenever we live in denial of the truth, we are not “preserving the truth;” we are failing to walk the Christian life with honesty and fidelity and integrity. Those, too, are times when we need to turn from our destructive ways (our self-destructive ways) and turn towards the ways of our Savior.
Truth. It takes courage to try to live a life “filled with grace and truth,” trying to follow in the footsteps of our Savior. To be willing to face the hard truths that life throws our way sometimes, to be willing to stand firm to our convictions even when other people around us might try to pull us down, to be willing to speak the truth in love to other people (and to be willing to allow other people to speak the truth in love to us), to be willing to take a stand for all that is good and true and right in the world – none of that is easy. In my younger days, I was not always good about living a truth-filled life; there were times when I lied to protect myself from certain consequences that I wished to avoid; there were times when I exaggerated stories to make myself look good; there were times when I thought other people couldn’t handle the real truth and so I adjusted my story accordingly. I’m not proud of any of that, and I’m grateful that in my adult life I’ve managed to put those destructive behaviors almost completely behind me. (I say “almost” because there are still those times, every now and then, when it’s tempting to fall back into old patterns – when stretching the truth, or telling an outright lie, might somehow feel easier than telling the real truth, because sometimes, the truth is really painful to face.) Living the truth, embodying the truth, preserving the truth – that can all be extremely difficult.
But God doesn’t want us to take the easy road. God calls us to take the road filled with honesty and fidelity and integrity. God calls us to live a life that is worthy of being called “Christian.” That’s not easy. But it’s worth it. Goodness gracious, is it worth it. A life filled with honesty and fidelity and integrity is so much richer, so much deeper, so much more joyful, so much more Spirit-filled, than a life filled with half-truths and lies. The truth does indeed “set us free.” We just have to be willing to face the truth, the hard truth, whatever it may be – and once we’ve faced it square-on, life is better on the other side.
We Christians are called to “preserve the truth.” It’s not easy to do. But it’s worth it. It’s well worth it. May God grant us courage and grace as we seek to do that, each and every day.
Peace and blessings,
Bill
June 1, 2010
Worship: An On-Going Evolution
Last month, I reflected on the nature and practice of “the maintenance of divine worship,” noting that “I anticipate that there will be continued, ongoing conversations about how we might make our worship services as inspired and inspirational as we possibly can.” When I wrote those words, I did not anticipate I would be writing about worship again so soon! But our Worship and Music Committee has been doing just that – having continued, ongoing conversations about enriching the nature and practice of worship here at Mason First Presbyterian Church – and we want to let you know that there are some changes coming!
The Worship and Music committee has been talking, thinking, and praying about a variety of aspects of our worship service for many months. Specifically, we have been talking about worship service elements important to many of you, including announcements, the prayers of the people, and the length of the service. These conversations have emerged both from our own prayerful reflection and in response to congregational feedback. Worship should never remain static from one year or generation to the next; we should always seek to grow in all aspects of our walk of faith, including how we engage in joyful and spirited worship of the living God. If worship remained static from one year to the next, we might all still be singing Gregorian chant (in Latin, no less)! But we also want to avoid pendulum swings – first doing one thing, then the complete opposite, then swinging back to where we were before, never really making any substantive progress. What we want to see is ongoing, continual evolution in our worship style – gradual changes over time, as we pass on the faith from one generation to the next.
Various changes were introduced in 2009. The most noticeable – and the one that drew the largest amount of concern – was the almost-complete elimination of verbal announcements. That decision was made for a variety of reasons, including concerns regarding (1) the length of the service (the “call to worship” was sometimes delayed up to 10 minutes past the hour), (2) inequities between some people/groups who diligently submitted announcement requests to the office in a timely fashion and others who did not, (3) some Sunday morning bombardments of last-minute announcement requests, (4) announcements for Mason community events not associated with the ongoing life and ministry of the church, (5) some verbal announcements not being able to be heard by everyone, (6) the repeating of information in the bulletin and newsletter, and more. But this change produced some unanticipated and unintended consequences, including a loss of a feeling of community, the occasional offering of prayers that felt more like announcements to other people than prayers to God, and a perception that participation in some church events or projects may have dropped without the ability to verbally highlight their existence or progress. We have heard you! We have talked about all of these issues, and more. And so, in an effort to continually listen for God’s voice speaking to us through the Spirit in many and diverse ways, we are making some changes – not only with respect to the announcements, but in a few other respects as well. We are not simply swinging back to where we used to be; instead, we are taking a step forward, seeking to be faithful to God’s call here and now.
Beginning on the first Sunday in June, look for these changes:
“Gathering” time begins at five minutes prior to the official start time of the service (for example, at 9:55 am for the 10:00 service). The choir and other worship leaders will enter the sanctuary, the tower bell will ring, and I will offer my welcome to the gathered community.
Sharing of Joys and Concerns and the Life of the Church. Here it is – the return of announcements, and more! This is the time for individuals, committee chairs, project leaders, etc., to share with the congregation joys, concerns, and announcements about various things going on in the life of the church. These communications will be made by you, not by me. We will not use a microphone, so it will be important that you speak up (and if you don’t have a strong voice, find someone in the congregation who does!). Please try to be concise - the goal is to finish by the time our service starts at 10:00. This is your time to share with others the things that matter to you.
Prelude and Call to Worship. When the sharing of joys and concerns and the life of the church has concluded, I will invite us to prepare our hearts and minds for worship, and Sandy will begin the prelude. This is a time to meditate, reflect, and open yourself to God’s voice.
Passing of the Peace. Following our opening hymn and our litany of confession and pardon, we will engage in the passing of the peace of Jesus Christ with one another. The passing of the peace used to be a regular part of the worship life of this congregation, and now we’re bringing it back. We will have just heard that we are forgiven and loved by God; this is the time to share God’s forgiveness and love with one another, and offer a loving welcome to people – friends, acquaintances, strangers – remembering that we are all part of the body of Christ and that every member is indispensable to the body. I encourage you to say something to each other like, “The peace of Christ be with you” or “Peace be with you” or simply “Peace.” Take advantage of this opportunity and God’s forgiveness to be reconciled to people with whom you might be estranged, making a point to extend the peace of Christ to them! Here is a wonderful opportunity to “love your neighbor as yourself” and demonstrate that we are indeed a “warm and caring Christ-centered community of faith.” After a minute or two, Sandy will begin playing the organ or piano and we will conclude this time with a musical response (such as the Gloria Patri) to the declaration of God’s love and forgiveness and to the love and forgiveness which we experience with one other.
Prayers of Thanksgiving and Supplication. Late in the service, we will continue to offer a time for open prayer to Almighty God. We have been in the habit of using the terms “joys” and “concerns” to describe the prayers that we offer during this time. The format is not going to change substantively, but we are going to change the terminology, to try to go a bit deeper here. “Prayers of thanksgiving” are simply that – prayers that we are offering to God that name things in life for which we wish to offer words of thankfulness to God for the bountiful blessings that God has given us. “Prayers of supplication” are prayers in which we are asking God for help of various kinds – for ourselves, family or friends, our larger community or nation, even the world at large. In both types of prayers, please remember that we are speaking to God, not our fellow worshipers. This is not the time for sharing lots of details; God knows all the details already. These personal prayers can be offered silently, or spoken aloud. If you can’t hear what everyone says, that’s okay – the point is, we’re talking to God here! If two people verbally pray at the same time, that’s okay too – God can sort it out! Use this time to talk to our living Lord about what’s going on deep down inside your heart.
Our goals are to kindle a greater sense of congregational community, enhance our warm and caring interactions with each other, and enrich our Spirit-led prayer with God. If these aspirations are successful, we believe it will be a worthy investment for those who commit to arriving at church five minutes earlier than in the past. Certainly, the changing of any routine requires a period of adjustment, and we encourage you to give these changes a try for the next few months. Then, if you think these goals are being met (or not), let your Worship and Music Committee know, because they have met, prayed, and studied for many months, individually and collectively, to discern and address our congregation’s worship service needs. Greg Lang and Rod Guy are the 2010 Worship and Music Committee co-chairs; they invite one-on-one feedback or written, signed notes so they can get back to you for follow-up.
As I said last month: “Let’s give God the best worship we possibly can.” Alleluia! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns!
Peace and blessings,
Bill Pinches
with Greg Lang and Rod Guy
The Worship and Music committee has been talking, thinking, and praying about a variety of aspects of our worship service for many months. Specifically, we have been talking about worship service elements important to many of you, including announcements, the prayers of the people, and the length of the service. These conversations have emerged both from our own prayerful reflection and in response to congregational feedback. Worship should never remain static from one year or generation to the next; we should always seek to grow in all aspects of our walk of faith, including how we engage in joyful and spirited worship of the living God. If worship remained static from one year to the next, we might all still be singing Gregorian chant (in Latin, no less)! But we also want to avoid pendulum swings – first doing one thing, then the complete opposite, then swinging back to where we were before, never really making any substantive progress. What we want to see is ongoing, continual evolution in our worship style – gradual changes over time, as we pass on the faith from one generation to the next.
Various changes were introduced in 2009. The most noticeable – and the one that drew the largest amount of concern – was the almost-complete elimination of verbal announcements. That decision was made for a variety of reasons, including concerns regarding (1) the length of the service (the “call to worship” was sometimes delayed up to 10 minutes past the hour), (2) inequities between some people/groups who diligently submitted announcement requests to the office in a timely fashion and others who did not, (3) some Sunday morning bombardments of last-minute announcement requests, (4) announcements for Mason community events not associated with the ongoing life and ministry of the church, (5) some verbal announcements not being able to be heard by everyone, (6) the repeating of information in the bulletin and newsletter, and more. But this change produced some unanticipated and unintended consequences, including a loss of a feeling of community, the occasional offering of prayers that felt more like announcements to other people than prayers to God, and a perception that participation in some church events or projects may have dropped without the ability to verbally highlight their existence or progress. We have heard you! We have talked about all of these issues, and more. And so, in an effort to continually listen for God’s voice speaking to us through the Spirit in many and diverse ways, we are making some changes – not only with respect to the announcements, but in a few other respects as well. We are not simply swinging back to where we used to be; instead, we are taking a step forward, seeking to be faithful to God’s call here and now.
Beginning on the first Sunday in June, look for these changes:
“Gathering” time begins at five minutes prior to the official start time of the service (for example, at 9:55 am for the 10:00 service). The choir and other worship leaders will enter the sanctuary, the tower bell will ring, and I will offer my welcome to the gathered community.
Sharing of Joys and Concerns and the Life of the Church. Here it is – the return of announcements, and more! This is the time for individuals, committee chairs, project leaders, etc., to share with the congregation joys, concerns, and announcements about various things going on in the life of the church. These communications will be made by you, not by me. We will not use a microphone, so it will be important that you speak up (and if you don’t have a strong voice, find someone in the congregation who does!). Please try to be concise - the goal is to finish by the time our service starts at 10:00. This is your time to share with others the things that matter to you.
Prelude and Call to Worship. When the sharing of joys and concerns and the life of the church has concluded, I will invite us to prepare our hearts and minds for worship, and Sandy will begin the prelude. This is a time to meditate, reflect, and open yourself to God’s voice.
Passing of the Peace. Following our opening hymn and our litany of confession and pardon, we will engage in the passing of the peace of Jesus Christ with one another. The passing of the peace used to be a regular part of the worship life of this congregation, and now we’re bringing it back. We will have just heard that we are forgiven and loved by God; this is the time to share God’s forgiveness and love with one another, and offer a loving welcome to people – friends, acquaintances, strangers – remembering that we are all part of the body of Christ and that every member is indispensable to the body. I encourage you to say something to each other like, “The peace of Christ be with you” or “Peace be with you” or simply “Peace.” Take advantage of this opportunity and God’s forgiveness to be reconciled to people with whom you might be estranged, making a point to extend the peace of Christ to them! Here is a wonderful opportunity to “love your neighbor as yourself” and demonstrate that we are indeed a “warm and caring Christ-centered community of faith.” After a minute or two, Sandy will begin playing the organ or piano and we will conclude this time with a musical response (such as the Gloria Patri) to the declaration of God’s love and forgiveness and to the love and forgiveness which we experience with one other.
Prayers of Thanksgiving and Supplication. Late in the service, we will continue to offer a time for open prayer to Almighty God. We have been in the habit of using the terms “joys” and “concerns” to describe the prayers that we offer during this time. The format is not going to change substantively, but we are going to change the terminology, to try to go a bit deeper here. “Prayers of thanksgiving” are simply that – prayers that we are offering to God that name things in life for which we wish to offer words of thankfulness to God for the bountiful blessings that God has given us. “Prayers of supplication” are prayers in which we are asking God for help of various kinds – for ourselves, family or friends, our larger community or nation, even the world at large. In both types of prayers, please remember that we are speaking to God, not our fellow worshipers. This is not the time for sharing lots of details; God knows all the details already. These personal prayers can be offered silently, or spoken aloud. If you can’t hear what everyone says, that’s okay – the point is, we’re talking to God here! If two people verbally pray at the same time, that’s okay too – God can sort it out! Use this time to talk to our living Lord about what’s going on deep down inside your heart.
Our goals are to kindle a greater sense of congregational community, enhance our warm and caring interactions with each other, and enrich our Spirit-led prayer with God. If these aspirations are successful, we believe it will be a worthy investment for those who commit to arriving at church five minutes earlier than in the past. Certainly, the changing of any routine requires a period of adjustment, and we encourage you to give these changes a try for the next few months. Then, if you think these goals are being met (or not), let your Worship and Music Committee know, because they have met, prayed, and studied for many months, individually and collectively, to discern and address our congregation’s worship service needs. Greg Lang and Rod Guy are the 2010 Worship and Music Committee co-chairs; they invite one-on-one feedback or written, signed notes so they can get back to you for follow-up.
As I said last month: “Let’s give God the best worship we possibly can.” Alleluia! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns!
Peace and blessings,
Bill Pinches
with Greg Lang and Rod Guy
May 1, 2010
Why We're Here (Part III): The Maintenance of Divine Worship
A hundred years ago, the United Presbyterian Church in North America – one of our predecessor denominations – spent some time and energy thinking about why the church exists. That’s always a good question to ask. It’s important for us to constantly remind ourselves why we’re here, because it is so easy for us humans to lose our way, to wander from the path that God has set before us, to “go astray,” like lost sheep. We can be more intentional about doing that which we know we ought to be doing, when we have a deep understanding of what we’re all about in the first place. A hundred years ago, the United Presbyterian Church in North America identified six “great ends of the church” – six fundamental reasons why the church exists. The third “great end of the church” is the maintenance of divine worship. What does that mean for us, here and now?
“Clap your hands, all you peoples; shout to God with loud songs of joy!” (Psalm 47.1)
“Praise the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty firmament! Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his surpassing greatness! Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp! Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe! Praise him with clanging cymbals; praise him with loud crashing cymbals! Let everything that breathes praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!” (Psalm 150)
“Hallelujah! For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth! The kingdom of this world is become the kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign forever and ever, King of kings, and Lord of lords!” (Revelation 19.6; 11.15; and 19.16, as quoted by G. F. Handel in the “Hallelujah” chorus of The Messiah)
“David danced before the Lord with all his might. . . . David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet. As the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, Michal daughter of Saul looked out of the window, and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord.” (2 Samuel 6.14-16)
“And Peter took the lame man by the right hand and raised him up; and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. Jumping up, he stood and began to walk, and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.” (Acts 3.7-8)
“So, here I am to worship, here I am to bow down, here I am to say that You’re my God. And You’re altogether lovely, altogether worthy, altogether wonderful to me.” (Tim Hughes)
“What is the chief end of man? Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.” (The first question of the Westminster Shorter Catechism)
“Christian worship joyfully ascribes all praise and honor, glory and power to the triune God. In worship the people of God acknowledge God present in the world and in their lives. As they respond to God’s claim and redemptive action in Jesus Christ, believers are transformed and renewed. In worship the faithful offer themselves to God and are equipped for God’s service in the world.” (The opening paragraph of the Directory for Worship in our Presbyterian Book of Order)
Worship! We should get excited when we hear that word. Worship! It’s a celebration of joyful thanksgiving for the good that our Lord has done in our lives and in the life of this world. At its best, worship flows out from the deep places in our hearts, as we look up to God with tremendous outpourings of gratitude for the depth and the richness of God’s amazing love and mercy. There are a multitude of stories in the Bible of people bursting out with joy, leaping and dancing and celebrating with festive musical instruments, as they respond with genuine, heartfelt gratitude for the bountiful love of God that has been made manifest in their lives. Worship! Joy! Thanksgiving! Festivity! Celebration!
We all know that worship can become a rote activity, something we undertake because we feel we are “supposed” to, something that doesn’t connect with the deep places in our lives, something that we find dry and boring and sometimes even lifeless. That is not what worship is intended to be! If we are participating in worship halfheartedly – reading the words on the page but not pondering their meaning, thinking about our grocery list instead of the scripture readings and prayers, mumbling the words of the songs, putting a token gift in the offering plate – then the problem lies with us, and we need to discipline ourselves to participate in worship in a more responsible and meaningful way. If, on the other hand, the scripture passages are poorly read, or the prayers are obtuse, or the music is of poor quality, or the sermon is irrelevant to the living of a faithful Christian life or is something other than a biblically-rooted, theologically-grounded witness to Jesus Christ, or the worship leaders are lacking in joy, passion, and energy, then the problem lies with the church, and we need to challenge those in leadership positions to go deeper. No one should have to suffer through a poorly designed or poorly executed worship service – but, at the same time, neither should any of us approach worship with anything less than a full heart bursting with gratitude and thanksgiving for the good that God has done and is continuing to do in our lives.
Worship is not for us. Worship is for God. The Christian philosopher Søren Kierkegaard offered an analogy that views worship as “theater” – with a stage, actors, and audience. Many of us might say that the stage is the chancel area (the front of the sanctuary), the actors are the pastor, liturgist, musicians, and other worship leaders, and the audience is the congregation. Kierkegaard would say: Wrong! The stage is the entire sanctuary. The actors are the entire congregation. And the audience – the audience is God. Worship is all of us, together, worship leaders and congregants alike, united in one common voice, offering our praise and thanksgiving to almighty God. We need to be nudging and challenging one another – as individuals and as a whole community – to be offering to God the most vibrant, most engaging, most Spirit-filled, most inspired, most faithful, most creative, most resounding worship services we can possibly offer.
In our Presbyterian tradition, there is a tremendous amount of freedom and latitude offered to us in the manner in which we can construct worship services. In our weekly Sunday worship services, scripture must be read and proclaimed, prayer must be offered, the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper must be celebrated regularly and frequently, the Sacrament of Baptism must be administered at appropriate times in the lives of the members of the congregation, and people must be given an opportunity to present their tithes and offerings to God – but everything else is up for grabs! The order in which we do things, the music we offer, the songs we sing, the length of the service, the manner in which we offer prayers, the creeds and confessions we say, the style of the sermon or other scripture-based proclamation – there are no “rules”! We have the freedom to create and design worship in a huge multitude of ways. Some decisions are the Pastor’s to make (or to have the freedom to delegate to others), such as the selection of Scripture lessons to be read, the preparation and preaching of the sermon or other form of exposition of the Word, and the music to be sung (I’ve delegated most of that responsibility to Sandy Wright-Auge, who has been doing an outstanding job finding music appropriate for each week’s scripture readings and theological themes) – while other decisions are the Session’s to make (or to delegate to a worship committee), such as determining the dates for the celebration of the Sacraments, being responsible for the arrangement and furnishings in the space where worship is conducted, and the use of special appointments such as flowers, candles, banners, paraments, and other objects of art. Good worship leadership takes effective teamwork and planning, and I am very grateful for the large number of people who help us make decisions about the worship life of this congregation or who assist in worship leadership in a variety of different ways. I am also cognizant that there are many ways in which we can make our worship services and the space in which we gather for worship more engaging, and I anticipate that there will be continued, ongoing conversations about how we might make our worship services as inspired and inspirational as we possibly can.
Why does the church exist? For the maintenance of divine worship. Let’s give God the best worship we possibly can. Alleluia! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns!
Peace and blessings,
Bill
“Clap your hands, all you peoples; shout to God with loud songs of joy!” (Psalm 47.1)
“Praise the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty firmament! Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his surpassing greatness! Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp! Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe! Praise him with clanging cymbals; praise him with loud crashing cymbals! Let everything that breathes praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!” (Psalm 150)
“Hallelujah! For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth! The kingdom of this world is become the kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign forever and ever, King of kings, and Lord of lords!” (Revelation 19.6; 11.15; and 19.16, as quoted by G. F. Handel in the “Hallelujah” chorus of The Messiah)
“David danced before the Lord with all his might. . . . David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet. As the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, Michal daughter of Saul looked out of the window, and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord.” (2 Samuel 6.14-16)
“And Peter took the lame man by the right hand and raised him up; and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. Jumping up, he stood and began to walk, and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.” (Acts 3.7-8)
“So, here I am to worship, here I am to bow down, here I am to say that You’re my God. And You’re altogether lovely, altogether worthy, altogether wonderful to me.” (Tim Hughes)
“What is the chief end of man? Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.” (The first question of the Westminster Shorter Catechism)
“Christian worship joyfully ascribes all praise and honor, glory and power to the triune God. In worship the people of God acknowledge God present in the world and in their lives. As they respond to God’s claim and redemptive action in Jesus Christ, believers are transformed and renewed. In worship the faithful offer themselves to God and are equipped for God’s service in the world.” (The opening paragraph of the Directory for Worship in our Presbyterian Book of Order)
Worship! We should get excited when we hear that word. Worship! It’s a celebration of joyful thanksgiving for the good that our Lord has done in our lives and in the life of this world. At its best, worship flows out from the deep places in our hearts, as we look up to God with tremendous outpourings of gratitude for the depth and the richness of God’s amazing love and mercy. There are a multitude of stories in the Bible of people bursting out with joy, leaping and dancing and celebrating with festive musical instruments, as they respond with genuine, heartfelt gratitude for the bountiful love of God that has been made manifest in their lives. Worship! Joy! Thanksgiving! Festivity! Celebration!
We all know that worship can become a rote activity, something we undertake because we feel we are “supposed” to, something that doesn’t connect with the deep places in our lives, something that we find dry and boring and sometimes even lifeless. That is not what worship is intended to be! If we are participating in worship halfheartedly – reading the words on the page but not pondering their meaning, thinking about our grocery list instead of the scripture readings and prayers, mumbling the words of the songs, putting a token gift in the offering plate – then the problem lies with us, and we need to discipline ourselves to participate in worship in a more responsible and meaningful way. If, on the other hand, the scripture passages are poorly read, or the prayers are obtuse, or the music is of poor quality, or the sermon is irrelevant to the living of a faithful Christian life or is something other than a biblically-rooted, theologically-grounded witness to Jesus Christ, or the worship leaders are lacking in joy, passion, and energy, then the problem lies with the church, and we need to challenge those in leadership positions to go deeper. No one should have to suffer through a poorly designed or poorly executed worship service – but, at the same time, neither should any of us approach worship with anything less than a full heart bursting with gratitude and thanksgiving for the good that God has done and is continuing to do in our lives.
Worship is not for us. Worship is for God. The Christian philosopher Søren Kierkegaard offered an analogy that views worship as “theater” – with a stage, actors, and audience. Many of us might say that the stage is the chancel area (the front of the sanctuary), the actors are the pastor, liturgist, musicians, and other worship leaders, and the audience is the congregation. Kierkegaard would say: Wrong! The stage is the entire sanctuary. The actors are the entire congregation. And the audience – the audience is God. Worship is all of us, together, worship leaders and congregants alike, united in one common voice, offering our praise and thanksgiving to almighty God. We need to be nudging and challenging one another – as individuals and as a whole community – to be offering to God the most vibrant, most engaging, most Spirit-filled, most inspired, most faithful, most creative, most resounding worship services we can possibly offer.
In our Presbyterian tradition, there is a tremendous amount of freedom and latitude offered to us in the manner in which we can construct worship services. In our weekly Sunday worship services, scripture must be read and proclaimed, prayer must be offered, the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper must be celebrated regularly and frequently, the Sacrament of Baptism must be administered at appropriate times in the lives of the members of the congregation, and people must be given an opportunity to present their tithes and offerings to God – but everything else is up for grabs! The order in which we do things, the music we offer, the songs we sing, the length of the service, the manner in which we offer prayers, the creeds and confessions we say, the style of the sermon or other scripture-based proclamation – there are no “rules”! We have the freedom to create and design worship in a huge multitude of ways. Some decisions are the Pastor’s to make (or to have the freedom to delegate to others), such as the selection of Scripture lessons to be read, the preparation and preaching of the sermon or other form of exposition of the Word, and the music to be sung (I’ve delegated most of that responsibility to Sandy Wright-Auge, who has been doing an outstanding job finding music appropriate for each week’s scripture readings and theological themes) – while other decisions are the Session’s to make (or to delegate to a worship committee), such as determining the dates for the celebration of the Sacraments, being responsible for the arrangement and furnishings in the space where worship is conducted, and the use of special appointments such as flowers, candles, banners, paraments, and other objects of art. Good worship leadership takes effective teamwork and planning, and I am very grateful for the large number of people who help us make decisions about the worship life of this congregation or who assist in worship leadership in a variety of different ways. I am also cognizant that there are many ways in which we can make our worship services and the space in which we gather for worship more engaging, and I anticipate that there will be continued, ongoing conversations about how we might make our worship services as inspired and inspirational as we possibly can.
Why does the church exist? For the maintenance of divine worship. Let’s give God the best worship we possibly can. Alleluia! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns!
Peace and blessings,
Bill
April 1, 2010
Friends and Partners in Nicaragua
You’ve been hearing me tell about bits and pieces of my experiences in Nicaragua during our children’s sermons on several recent Sundays. Numerous people have requested to hear more. . . .
We have friends and partners in Nicaragua. I had an opportunity to meet our partners and make some friends there last month. I think I left a piece of my heart there with our friends and partners in Nicaragua. Twenty years ago, the Presbytery of Lake Michigan (our network of 70 churches in central and western Michigan) established a partnership with CEPAD, the Council of Evangelical Churches of Nicaragua. CEPAD is a nongovernmental, Christian organization that was founded by a group of Nicaraguan pastors immediately after a massive earthquake destroyed Managua in 1972. Originally, CEPAD’s mission was to work together to provide emergency relief to earthquake survivors. After the initial crisis was over, the founders pledged to continue working together as a development organization, a disaster-relief agency, and a council of Protestant churches. Currently, CEPAD is engaged in development work in about 30 rural communities across Nicaragua.
One of the communities where CEPAD works is a small city called Nueva Guinea, six hours by bus to the east of Managua. Nueva Guinea is a city of 53,000 people that is only about 50 years old. In many ways, it is not too different from small cities here in the United States. There are dentists, doctors’ offices, law offices, schools, churches (about 70 total), hotels, a hospital, a library, a computer lab, lots of shops and corner markets, street vendors, pool halls, an internet café, a small university, a private school, car repair shops (but not many cars), bike shops, police cars, taxis, a public park, volleyball games, baseball games, basketball games, and the list goes on. A number of homes have televisions and/or computers, and a lot of people have cell phones (although landlines are rare). There is socioeconomic stratification – some people are obviously reasonably well off (judging by their houses), some people seem to fall in something akin to a “middle class”; some people are extremely poor. All of that felt very familiar – though most of that looks very different from what we’re used to here. I didn’t see many books (they’re expensive); I saw a lot of wildlife and animals (everything from a multitude of roosters all over town that begin crowing at 5:00 a.m. to a horse parade down the main street of town); I saw a lot of clotheslines; I saw a lot of litter along the streets (though people take pride in making their own property look nice); there was moving water running along the edges of the rough dirt streets (I’m told that the water is runoff water – such as might be left over from washing dishes or clothes – but is not sewer water). I saw a tremendous number of people spending time outside, leisurely talking with their friends and neighbors, working hard at their various professions but not running on crazy schedules the way we seem to here.
I stayed in the home of Pastor Ramon, one of the pastors there in Nueva Guinea. I was not a tourist – I was a guest. Many of us would consider the accommodations a little rough: a dirt floor, little or no running water, a toilet with no seat and no flusher, a small amount of electricity, not much privacy. I carefully inspected my rickety bed for bugs before I climbed into it. But what we received in hospitality more than made up for the rustic conditions: sumptuous meals . . . music and Spanish lessons on the porch . . . long conversations about life and church and faith . . . lots of smiles and hugs. One morning, I had the opportunity to take a walking expedition with some members of Pastor Ramon’s church to deliver donated clothes to the really poor people who live just outside Nueva Guinea in houses that are little more than wood beams wrapped in black plastic with pieces of scrap metal for roofs. Another morning, I was treated to a walking tour through Nueva Guinea, being introduced to my hosts’ friends and a number of local storeowners (and I discovered that leche con banano is pure heaven). One evening, I attended a meeting of a year-old congregation that is trying to raise money to make improvements to its building and to its manse. Another evening, I participated in a worship service at the church where Pastor Ramon serves, and I was asked to preach. My text was John 17; I talked about our unity in Christ, despite barriers of culture and language. I managed to read the scripture text out of the Spanish Bible that I had purchased there in Nueva Guinea, and say a few sentences of my own in Spanish (with a lot of coaching ahead of time from one of my hosts). Another evening we had a fiesta at a farm, where one of our trip members was treated to a surprise birthday party, with music provided by a live band that marched in during the midst of our dinner. On our last night we gathered for another fiesta, with more sumptuous food and drink and delightful conversation . . . and tears of farewell. Our hearts had been profoundly moved.
These wonderful people had welcomed us into their homes, into their lives – and none of us will ever be the same again.
The churches in Lake Michigan Presbytery have had a partnership with the churches in Nueva Guinea since 1991. Originally, we went there on mission trips – building houses, painting schools – but after a few years the mission trips evolved into a partnership. Instead of us continually being on the giving end and the people there continually being on the receiving end, the goal is to figure out, through relationships and conversation, what we can do to help each other. It is truly a partnership; it is a two-way street; the vision is that each side of the partnership – they and we – will both be contributing to the partnership, will both be receiving from the partnership.
The question, “What can we do to help them?” may seem easy enough on the surface. Just take one look around, and it’s easy to imagine all sorts of things we could give or do that might help the people of Nueva Guinea live lives more like ours. But is that what they truly want? Perhaps not. Perhaps we need to be careful not to import our first-world “civilization” into a developing nation that needs to develop in its own way, at its own pace, on its own terms. One of our mission partners there (who is originally from the United States) said that when he first arrived in Nicaragua a number of years ago, he thought he knew exactly what the people of Nicaragua needed. Now, he’s not so sure. The reality of that situation is very complex, far more complex than meets the eye. It is very easy for us to make attempts to be “helpful,” according to what we see, based on our own lives and experiences. It is much more challenging to engage in real conversation with the people there about what they think would be helpful.
So what do we do to help the people of Nueva Guinea? Currently, we work on family development projects like the “Patio Project,” which offers extensive, multi-year training to women in some of the more outlying areas, teaching them how to raise chickens and pigs and how to create small backyard gardens that produce consumable vegetables and fruits. (That’s where some of our two-cents-a-meal money goes.) We support a sewing project that helps women create goods they can sell to enrich their own livelihoods. We promote interfamily violence prevention, self-esteem development for youth and women, and more. The newest initiative is to work towards the establishment of a public Christian radio station in Nueva Guinea. While we were there, five members of our delegation met with five of Nueva Guinea’s pastors for nearly an entire day, developing a set of goals and objectives for the partnership to work on together over the course of the next five years.
The question, “What can we do to help the people of Nueva Guinea?” is tricky enough. But the next question – “What can the people of Nueva Guinea do to help us?” – is even trickier. I suspect all of us who went on this trip would answer that question differently. Certainly, all of us felt that our lives were richly blessed through the time we spent in their company. It was a significant culture shock to return to the United States – and, for me, honestly, not entirely pleasant. Upon landing at the Atlanta airport, I suddenly felt bombarded by noise and things and busy-ness. I miss the casual conversations that people have throughout the day on their porches and on the streets of town in Nueva Guinea. I miss the unhurried pace of life. I miss the incredibly generous warmth and hospitality that was extended to all of us. I miss not being constantly surrounded by television and media. Returning to the United States, I was struck by just how much stuff we have here in this country, and – to be perfectly honest – how much less joy we seem to have in our lives here. What percentage of people in our country struggle with depression? What percentage there? I’m willing to bet that the percentage is significantly higher here. Could it be possible for people who have so far fewer things than we do to have a greater sense of joy in life?
Hmm. What can the people of Nueva Guinea do to help us? Maybe, among other things, they can help us look at life itself through a different lens. Maybe our encounters with them can help us question some aspects of our life here in the United States that need to be called into question. Maybe our encounters with these people – who are created in the image of God, just as much as we are – can help us learn and experience some things about who God is and how God is calling us to live in this world. Maybe we can grow in our Christian walk through cross-cultural encounters like this.
I was particularly struck by my experiences in the churches there, and by the conversations we had about church life. A number of our friends and partners in Nicaragua have visited us here in Michigan; they have traveled around to some of our churches; a group of them was with us at Family Camp at Camp Greenwood back in September of 2008. As I listened to some of them reflect with us on their experiences here in Michigan, I discovered that they too have been struck by what they have seen in our churches. They are concerned that our churches don’t seem to exhibit as much joy as theirs do. They are concerned that there doesn’t seem to be as deep a sense of authentic community in our churches as in theirs. They are concerned that our churches are filled with older people and are noticeably lacking in youth and young adults. They worry about the health of our churches. They worry about our effectiveness and about our ability to pass on a meaningful faith to succeeding generations. As we looked at their churches, we were not surprised to hear them say things like that, because their churches are filled with life, filled with passion, filled with energy, filled with children and youth and young adults. The worship service I preached at was filled with people who were probably, for the most part, under the age of 45. There are Bible studies and small-group in-home meetings throughout the week. There are worship services multiple times throughout the week. There are people who are leaving behind lives of alcohol or drug abuse or crime and choosing to make a radical change of life to follow in the ways of Jesus Christ. We spent time on our bus talking amongst ourselves about the realities plaguing the vast majority of our churches here – membership decline, aging congregations, loss of our youth, trouble reaching younger generations – and those are realities that the churches we saw in Nicaragua simply do not have. We wondered amongst ourselves not only what they have that we seem to lack – but why it is that we seem to lack some of the things that they have. One member of our group commented that it is as if their churches offer “Christianity” – while our churches here seem to be offering “Christianity Lite.” There is a robustness in their churches that we just don’t seem to have to the same degree.
Hmm . . . maybe there are some things we can learn from them.
Now, to be fair, there are lots of things they struggle with, too. One evening, I attended a congregational meeting at a relatively new church (the building was little more than six wooden posts, a concrete floor, a metal roof, and a little bit of electricity to provide for lighting and a sound system). Children were wiggling and parents were trying to get them to hush. The discussion centered on questions about how to come up with funds for a building project, how to get people to follow through on commitments they had made, how to increase the size of their congregation, how to get more people involved. Honestly, that conversation could have happened here just as easily as it did there. Their churches struggle with issues just as much as ours do. I asked my host pastor’s wife how we could pray for their church, and she said we could pray that their church’s economic situation might improve, and we could pray that their church might have a greater impact on the wider community. So much is the same. These people are not that different from us – decent, good, hard-working people, trying to make an honest living, trying to raise their children well, trying to deal with age-old problems of crime and human sinfulness, trying to be faithful Christians in a world where that can be difficult. They’re really not that different from us.
But something about their churches is very different. Something’s going on in their churches that, in general, isn’t happening in our churches here, at least not to the same extent. Declining membership, aging congregations, loss of youth and young adults – those are not problems they have! What do they have to teach us? I suspect lots!
So it’s a partnership. We give to them . . . and they give to us.
We have friends and partners in Nicaragua. Their names are Isidra, Rafael, Heyni, Job, Milagro, Jobito, Ramon, Esther, Danni, Kevin, Mérari, Fabian, Antonio, Adriana, José, Rachel, Cesar, Arsenio, Juana, Lester, Jiseyli, Keylor, José, Maria, Ana, Berlein, Junior, Ingrid, Amaro, Maribella, Juan, Pedro, Leda, Aaron, Damaris, Maribella, Nicolasa, Zopi, Alexander, Jhonny . . . and the list goes on. Those may be just names to you, but to those of us who got to know them, they are real people with hopes and dreams and worries and fears, people who laugh and people who cry, people who work and people who play, people who have a deep faith in Jesus Christ and a passionate commitment to the mission of the church. Honestly, they’re a lot like us. It was a real delight to get to know them. I will be keeping in touch with some of them over the months to come, and I am eagerly looking forward to September 2011, when some of them will come to visit us here in Michigan and we can renew our friendship.
I left a piece of my heart in Nicaragua. When I see our friends next year, I hope to get that piece of my heart back again. But I have a feeling that when we say goodbye, I may lose it again. I can live with that. It was worth it. It was definitely worth it.
Peace and blessings,
Bill
We have friends and partners in Nicaragua. I had an opportunity to meet our partners and make some friends there last month. I think I left a piece of my heart there with our friends and partners in Nicaragua. Twenty years ago, the Presbytery of Lake Michigan (our network of 70 churches in central and western Michigan) established a partnership with CEPAD, the Council of Evangelical Churches of Nicaragua. CEPAD is a nongovernmental, Christian organization that was founded by a group of Nicaraguan pastors immediately after a massive earthquake destroyed Managua in 1972. Originally, CEPAD’s mission was to work together to provide emergency relief to earthquake survivors. After the initial crisis was over, the founders pledged to continue working together as a development organization, a disaster-relief agency, and a council of Protestant churches. Currently, CEPAD is engaged in development work in about 30 rural communities across Nicaragua.
One of the communities where CEPAD works is a small city called Nueva Guinea, six hours by bus to the east of Managua. Nueva Guinea is a city of 53,000 people that is only about 50 years old. In many ways, it is not too different from small cities here in the United States. There are dentists, doctors’ offices, law offices, schools, churches (about 70 total), hotels, a hospital, a library, a computer lab, lots of shops and corner markets, street vendors, pool halls, an internet café, a small university, a private school, car repair shops (but not many cars), bike shops, police cars, taxis, a public park, volleyball games, baseball games, basketball games, and the list goes on. A number of homes have televisions and/or computers, and a lot of people have cell phones (although landlines are rare). There is socioeconomic stratification – some people are obviously reasonably well off (judging by their houses), some people seem to fall in something akin to a “middle class”; some people are extremely poor. All of that felt very familiar – though most of that looks very different from what we’re used to here. I didn’t see many books (they’re expensive); I saw a lot of wildlife and animals (everything from a multitude of roosters all over town that begin crowing at 5:00 a.m. to a horse parade down the main street of town); I saw a lot of clotheslines; I saw a lot of litter along the streets (though people take pride in making their own property look nice); there was moving water running along the edges of the rough dirt streets (I’m told that the water is runoff water – such as might be left over from washing dishes or clothes – but is not sewer water). I saw a tremendous number of people spending time outside, leisurely talking with their friends and neighbors, working hard at their various professions but not running on crazy schedules the way we seem to here.
I stayed in the home of Pastor Ramon, one of the pastors there in Nueva Guinea. I was not a tourist – I was a guest. Many of us would consider the accommodations a little rough: a dirt floor, little or no running water, a toilet with no seat and no flusher, a small amount of electricity, not much privacy. I carefully inspected my rickety bed for bugs before I climbed into it. But what we received in hospitality more than made up for the rustic conditions: sumptuous meals . . . music and Spanish lessons on the porch . . . long conversations about life and church and faith . . . lots of smiles and hugs. One morning, I had the opportunity to take a walking expedition with some members of Pastor Ramon’s church to deliver donated clothes to the really poor people who live just outside Nueva Guinea in houses that are little more than wood beams wrapped in black plastic with pieces of scrap metal for roofs. Another morning, I was treated to a walking tour through Nueva Guinea, being introduced to my hosts’ friends and a number of local storeowners (and I discovered that leche con banano is pure heaven). One evening, I attended a meeting of a year-old congregation that is trying to raise money to make improvements to its building and to its manse. Another evening, I participated in a worship service at the church where Pastor Ramon serves, and I was asked to preach. My text was John 17; I talked about our unity in Christ, despite barriers of culture and language. I managed to read the scripture text out of the Spanish Bible that I had purchased there in Nueva Guinea, and say a few sentences of my own in Spanish (with a lot of coaching ahead of time from one of my hosts). Another evening we had a fiesta at a farm, where one of our trip members was treated to a surprise birthday party, with music provided by a live band that marched in during the midst of our dinner. On our last night we gathered for another fiesta, with more sumptuous food and drink and delightful conversation . . . and tears of farewell. Our hearts had been profoundly moved.
These wonderful people had welcomed us into their homes, into their lives – and none of us will ever be the same again.
The churches in Lake Michigan Presbytery have had a partnership with the churches in Nueva Guinea since 1991. Originally, we went there on mission trips – building houses, painting schools – but after a few years the mission trips evolved into a partnership. Instead of us continually being on the giving end and the people there continually being on the receiving end, the goal is to figure out, through relationships and conversation, what we can do to help each other. It is truly a partnership; it is a two-way street; the vision is that each side of the partnership – they and we – will both be contributing to the partnership, will both be receiving from the partnership.
The question, “What can we do to help them?” may seem easy enough on the surface. Just take one look around, and it’s easy to imagine all sorts of things we could give or do that might help the people of Nueva Guinea live lives more like ours. But is that what they truly want? Perhaps not. Perhaps we need to be careful not to import our first-world “civilization” into a developing nation that needs to develop in its own way, at its own pace, on its own terms. One of our mission partners there (who is originally from the United States) said that when he first arrived in Nicaragua a number of years ago, he thought he knew exactly what the people of Nicaragua needed. Now, he’s not so sure. The reality of that situation is very complex, far more complex than meets the eye. It is very easy for us to make attempts to be “helpful,” according to what we see, based on our own lives and experiences. It is much more challenging to engage in real conversation with the people there about what they think would be helpful.
So what do we do to help the people of Nueva Guinea? Currently, we work on family development projects like the “Patio Project,” which offers extensive, multi-year training to women in some of the more outlying areas, teaching them how to raise chickens and pigs and how to create small backyard gardens that produce consumable vegetables and fruits. (That’s where some of our two-cents-a-meal money goes.) We support a sewing project that helps women create goods they can sell to enrich their own livelihoods. We promote interfamily violence prevention, self-esteem development for youth and women, and more. The newest initiative is to work towards the establishment of a public Christian radio station in Nueva Guinea. While we were there, five members of our delegation met with five of Nueva Guinea’s pastors for nearly an entire day, developing a set of goals and objectives for the partnership to work on together over the course of the next five years.
The question, “What can we do to help the people of Nueva Guinea?” is tricky enough. But the next question – “What can the people of Nueva Guinea do to help us?” – is even trickier. I suspect all of us who went on this trip would answer that question differently. Certainly, all of us felt that our lives were richly blessed through the time we spent in their company. It was a significant culture shock to return to the United States – and, for me, honestly, not entirely pleasant. Upon landing at the Atlanta airport, I suddenly felt bombarded by noise and things and busy-ness. I miss the casual conversations that people have throughout the day on their porches and on the streets of town in Nueva Guinea. I miss the unhurried pace of life. I miss the incredibly generous warmth and hospitality that was extended to all of us. I miss not being constantly surrounded by television and media. Returning to the United States, I was struck by just how much stuff we have here in this country, and – to be perfectly honest – how much less joy we seem to have in our lives here. What percentage of people in our country struggle with depression? What percentage there? I’m willing to bet that the percentage is significantly higher here. Could it be possible for people who have so far fewer things than we do to have a greater sense of joy in life?
Hmm. What can the people of Nueva Guinea do to help us? Maybe, among other things, they can help us look at life itself through a different lens. Maybe our encounters with them can help us question some aspects of our life here in the United States that need to be called into question. Maybe our encounters with these people – who are created in the image of God, just as much as we are – can help us learn and experience some things about who God is and how God is calling us to live in this world. Maybe we can grow in our Christian walk through cross-cultural encounters like this.
I was particularly struck by my experiences in the churches there, and by the conversations we had about church life. A number of our friends and partners in Nicaragua have visited us here in Michigan; they have traveled around to some of our churches; a group of them was with us at Family Camp at Camp Greenwood back in September of 2008. As I listened to some of them reflect with us on their experiences here in Michigan, I discovered that they too have been struck by what they have seen in our churches. They are concerned that our churches don’t seem to exhibit as much joy as theirs do. They are concerned that there doesn’t seem to be as deep a sense of authentic community in our churches as in theirs. They are concerned that our churches are filled with older people and are noticeably lacking in youth and young adults. They worry about the health of our churches. They worry about our effectiveness and about our ability to pass on a meaningful faith to succeeding generations. As we looked at their churches, we were not surprised to hear them say things like that, because their churches are filled with life, filled with passion, filled with energy, filled with children and youth and young adults. The worship service I preached at was filled with people who were probably, for the most part, under the age of 45. There are Bible studies and small-group in-home meetings throughout the week. There are worship services multiple times throughout the week. There are people who are leaving behind lives of alcohol or drug abuse or crime and choosing to make a radical change of life to follow in the ways of Jesus Christ. We spent time on our bus talking amongst ourselves about the realities plaguing the vast majority of our churches here – membership decline, aging congregations, loss of our youth, trouble reaching younger generations – and those are realities that the churches we saw in Nicaragua simply do not have. We wondered amongst ourselves not only what they have that we seem to lack – but why it is that we seem to lack some of the things that they have. One member of our group commented that it is as if their churches offer “Christianity” – while our churches here seem to be offering “Christianity Lite.” There is a robustness in their churches that we just don’t seem to have to the same degree.
Hmm . . . maybe there are some things we can learn from them.
Now, to be fair, there are lots of things they struggle with, too. One evening, I attended a congregational meeting at a relatively new church (the building was little more than six wooden posts, a concrete floor, a metal roof, and a little bit of electricity to provide for lighting and a sound system). Children were wiggling and parents were trying to get them to hush. The discussion centered on questions about how to come up with funds for a building project, how to get people to follow through on commitments they had made, how to increase the size of their congregation, how to get more people involved. Honestly, that conversation could have happened here just as easily as it did there. Their churches struggle with issues just as much as ours do. I asked my host pastor’s wife how we could pray for their church, and she said we could pray that their church’s economic situation might improve, and we could pray that their church might have a greater impact on the wider community. So much is the same. These people are not that different from us – decent, good, hard-working people, trying to make an honest living, trying to raise their children well, trying to deal with age-old problems of crime and human sinfulness, trying to be faithful Christians in a world where that can be difficult. They’re really not that different from us.
But something about their churches is very different. Something’s going on in their churches that, in general, isn’t happening in our churches here, at least not to the same extent. Declining membership, aging congregations, loss of youth and young adults – those are not problems they have! What do they have to teach us? I suspect lots!
So it’s a partnership. We give to them . . . and they give to us.
We have friends and partners in Nicaragua. Their names are Isidra, Rafael, Heyni, Job, Milagro, Jobito, Ramon, Esther, Danni, Kevin, Mérari, Fabian, Antonio, Adriana, José, Rachel, Cesar, Arsenio, Juana, Lester, Jiseyli, Keylor, José, Maria, Ana, Berlein, Junior, Ingrid, Amaro, Maribella, Juan, Pedro, Leda, Aaron, Damaris, Maribella, Nicolasa, Zopi, Alexander, Jhonny . . . and the list goes on. Those may be just names to you, but to those of us who got to know them, they are real people with hopes and dreams and worries and fears, people who laugh and people who cry, people who work and people who play, people who have a deep faith in Jesus Christ and a passionate commitment to the mission of the church. Honestly, they’re a lot like us. It was a real delight to get to know them. I will be keeping in touch with some of them over the months to come, and I am eagerly looking forward to September 2011, when some of them will come to visit us here in Michigan and we can renew our friendship.
I left a piece of my heart in Nicaragua. When I see our friends next year, I hope to get that piece of my heart back again. But I have a feeling that when we say goodbye, I may lose it again. I can live with that. It was worth it. It was definitely worth it.
Peace and blessings,
Bill
March 1, 2010
Why We’re Here (Part II): Shelter, Nurture, Spiritual Fellowship . . .
A hundred years ago, the United Presbyterian Church in North America – one of our predecessor denominations – spent some time and energy thinking about why the church exists. That’s always a good question to ask. It’s important for us to constantly remind ourselves why we’re here, because it is so easy for us humans to lose our way, to wander from the path that God has set before us, to “go astray,” like lost sheep. We can be more intentional about doing that which we know we ought to be doing when we have a deep understanding of what we’re all about in the first place. A hundred years ago the United Presbyterian Church in North America identified six “great ends of the church” – six fundamental reasons why the church exists. The second “great end of the church” is the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God. What does that mean for us, here and now?
Let’s begin first with that last phrase, “children of God.” If we’re going to affirm that the church exists for the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God, we need to know who the children of God are. It is all people, everywhere? Is it just those who call themselves Christians? Just those who have been baptized? Is it some subset of Christians? (Are only 144,000 saved?!?)
We understand that God created all people, everywhere, “in the image of God” (Genesis 1:27). We were created, indeed, to be in relationship to God. But something went wrong; the powers of evil and sin entered this world; we drifted away from the people God created us to be. All is not as it was intended to be. So, from practically the very beginning of all things, God has been trying to bring us back home.
We understand that God called the ancient Hebrew people to be “the children of the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 14:1). God freely chose to enter into a special covenantal relationship with these people, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; God called Israel to be “a priestly kingdom and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:6). The Old Testament recounts the story of how God continually reached out to God’s children with love and mercy and justice, and how God’s children continually wandered from the path that God had set before them. Every now and then there were moments of repentance and reformation, such as when King Josiah tried diligently to restore Israel to faithful service to God (see chapters 22 and 23 in 2 Kings), but on the whole the story of the Old Testament is a story of an extraordinarily faithful God and a more-or-less unfaithful people. We can see ourselves mirrored in the pages of this story.
We understand that with the coming of Jesus Christ into the world, the invitation to become children of God has been extended to all of us who are not direct descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. As Paul so eloquently testifies in chapters 9-11 of his letter to the church in Rome, we are like a “wild olive shoot” that God has grafted onto the olive tree. We are latecomers to this salvation story! That is why the New Testament uses the language of adoption: “when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children” (Galatians 4:5); “you have received a spirit of adoption” (Romans 8:15); “he destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 1:5). The people of Israel were the original children of God; those of us who respond to God’s call in Jesus Christ become the adopted children of God. Every time somebody responds in good faith to the grace and the claim of God upon their life, they join the household of God, and the world is one step closer to what God originally intended it to be. The invitation to become part of God’s household is to be extended everywhere, to all people, and it is our job, our privilege, and our responsibility to keep extending this invitation anywhere and everywhere we go.
The phrase “children of God” therefore can refer to three different groups of people: first, the people of Israel; second, all those who have already responded in faith to the claim and call of God upon their lives; and third, all those who might yet become members of the household of God. We belong to the middle group, but it is important for us to remember that we need to have loving and familial relationships with the other two groups – those who were members of God’s household before us, and those who might yet become members of God’s household after us. Paul reminds us that God’s covenant with Israel still stands and that we Christians have not displaced the Jews in God’s heart, “for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable” (Romans 11:29); Matthew and Luke remind us that we bear responsibility for spreading the love, grace, and justice of God to the whole rest of the world: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20); "You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). We can never claim that God’s love belongs to us, and to us alone. There is room in God’s heart for so many more, and it’s our job to spread that love.
Therefore, the church is called to promote “the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God.”
We provide shelter. Shelters offer refuge from all the unpleasant realities of life, all that stuff that exists in our world that is not as God intended it to be. Disaster relief, housing for the homeless, food for the hungry, medical care for the afflicted and injured, resettlement for the refugee, places of refuge for victims of abuse, care for the widows and the orphans, recovery programs, all kinds of initiatives to help people become independent and self-sustaining – the list is endless. Wherever there is a child of God (or a yet-to-be-adopted child of God) in need, there we need to be, providing shelter through the incarnation of the body of Christ, the church.
We provide nurture. Nurture has to do with helping people grow: supporting them, encouraging them, teaching them, developing them. When we nurture someone, we help them to grow, to become better, stronger, healthier, more self-reliant, more self-confident, more mature. Nurturing people doesn’t happen at a distance; nurturing people happens close at hand, when we really get to know the people whom we are seeking to help. Teachers, tutors, mentors, parents – the good ones really know the people with whom they are working. Wherever there is a child of God (or a yet-to-be-adopted child of God) who could stand to grow (and we all fall into that category!), there we need to be, providing nurture through the incarnation of the body of Christ, the church.
We provide spiritual fellowship. Fellowship is a unique kind of relationship between people of similar interests; spiritual fellowship is an even more unique kind of relationship between people who find their grounding in God. When you know that you can look deeply into someone else’s eyes and see in that person someone who places a firm and certain trust upon the rock of our salvation, that’s spiritual fellowship. When you can sit down with someone and offer heartfelt prayers for one another, that’s spiritual fellowship. When you can talk with someone and know that this other person sees the world through a God-oriented lens, that’s spiritual fellowship. When the church is at its best, we can look past all the other barriers that might divide us from one another, and all the matters about which we might disagree with one another, and we can see inside each other the mark of the Holy Spirit and, indeed, even the very image of the divine. There are times when I find myself in conversation with other people whose theological views are vastly different from mine, but I know deep down that at some basic, root level, those people really get it, and those conversations can often be tremendously rich and deep, despite our surface-level disagreements. That’s spiritual fellowship, and it is incredible and amazing and profound. The deeper we go in our own spiritual walk, the closer we come to others – because the deeper we go, the closer we are to the center of all things. Wherever there is a child of God (or a yet-to-be-adopted child of God) yearning for depth and meaning in life, there we need to be, inviting them to go deeper into their relationship with God and with one another through the incarnation of the body of Christ, the church.
Why does the church exist? For the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God.
Peace and blessings,
Rev. Bill Pinches
Pastor
Let’s begin first with that last phrase, “children of God.” If we’re going to affirm that the church exists for the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God, we need to know who the children of God are. It is all people, everywhere? Is it just those who call themselves Christians? Just those who have been baptized? Is it some subset of Christians? (Are only 144,000 saved?!?)
We understand that God created all people, everywhere, “in the image of God” (Genesis 1:27). We were created, indeed, to be in relationship to God. But something went wrong; the powers of evil and sin entered this world; we drifted away from the people God created us to be. All is not as it was intended to be. So, from practically the very beginning of all things, God has been trying to bring us back home.
We understand that God called the ancient Hebrew people to be “the children of the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 14:1). God freely chose to enter into a special covenantal relationship with these people, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; God called Israel to be “a priestly kingdom and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:6). The Old Testament recounts the story of how God continually reached out to God’s children with love and mercy and justice, and how God’s children continually wandered from the path that God had set before them. Every now and then there were moments of repentance and reformation, such as when King Josiah tried diligently to restore Israel to faithful service to God (see chapters 22 and 23 in 2 Kings), but on the whole the story of the Old Testament is a story of an extraordinarily faithful God and a more-or-less unfaithful people. We can see ourselves mirrored in the pages of this story.
We understand that with the coming of Jesus Christ into the world, the invitation to become children of God has been extended to all of us who are not direct descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. As Paul so eloquently testifies in chapters 9-11 of his letter to the church in Rome, we are like a “wild olive shoot” that God has grafted onto the olive tree. We are latecomers to this salvation story! That is why the New Testament uses the language of adoption: “when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children” (Galatians 4:5); “you have received a spirit of adoption” (Romans 8:15); “he destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 1:5). The people of Israel were the original children of God; those of us who respond to God’s call in Jesus Christ become the adopted children of God. Every time somebody responds in good faith to the grace and the claim of God upon their life, they join the household of God, and the world is one step closer to what God originally intended it to be. The invitation to become part of God’s household is to be extended everywhere, to all people, and it is our job, our privilege, and our responsibility to keep extending this invitation anywhere and everywhere we go.
The phrase “children of God” therefore can refer to three different groups of people: first, the people of Israel; second, all those who have already responded in faith to the claim and call of God upon their lives; and third, all those who might yet become members of the household of God. We belong to the middle group, but it is important for us to remember that we need to have loving and familial relationships with the other two groups – those who were members of God’s household before us, and those who might yet become members of God’s household after us. Paul reminds us that God’s covenant with Israel still stands and that we Christians have not displaced the Jews in God’s heart, “for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable” (Romans 11:29); Matthew and Luke remind us that we bear responsibility for spreading the love, grace, and justice of God to the whole rest of the world: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20); "You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). We can never claim that God’s love belongs to us, and to us alone. There is room in God’s heart for so many more, and it’s our job to spread that love.
Therefore, the church is called to promote “the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God.”
We provide shelter. Shelters offer refuge from all the unpleasant realities of life, all that stuff that exists in our world that is not as God intended it to be. Disaster relief, housing for the homeless, food for the hungry, medical care for the afflicted and injured, resettlement for the refugee, places of refuge for victims of abuse, care for the widows and the orphans, recovery programs, all kinds of initiatives to help people become independent and self-sustaining – the list is endless. Wherever there is a child of God (or a yet-to-be-adopted child of God) in need, there we need to be, providing shelter through the incarnation of the body of Christ, the church.
We provide nurture. Nurture has to do with helping people grow: supporting them, encouraging them, teaching them, developing them. When we nurture someone, we help them to grow, to become better, stronger, healthier, more self-reliant, more self-confident, more mature. Nurturing people doesn’t happen at a distance; nurturing people happens close at hand, when we really get to know the people whom we are seeking to help. Teachers, tutors, mentors, parents – the good ones really know the people with whom they are working. Wherever there is a child of God (or a yet-to-be-adopted child of God) who could stand to grow (and we all fall into that category!), there we need to be, providing nurture through the incarnation of the body of Christ, the church.
We provide spiritual fellowship. Fellowship is a unique kind of relationship between people of similar interests; spiritual fellowship is an even more unique kind of relationship between people who find their grounding in God. When you know that you can look deeply into someone else’s eyes and see in that person someone who places a firm and certain trust upon the rock of our salvation, that’s spiritual fellowship. When you can sit down with someone and offer heartfelt prayers for one another, that’s spiritual fellowship. When you can talk with someone and know that this other person sees the world through a God-oriented lens, that’s spiritual fellowship. When the church is at its best, we can look past all the other barriers that might divide us from one another, and all the matters about which we might disagree with one another, and we can see inside each other the mark of the Holy Spirit and, indeed, even the very image of the divine. There are times when I find myself in conversation with other people whose theological views are vastly different from mine, but I know deep down that at some basic, root level, those people really get it, and those conversations can often be tremendously rich and deep, despite our surface-level disagreements. That’s spiritual fellowship, and it is incredible and amazing and profound. The deeper we go in our own spiritual walk, the closer we come to others – because the deeper we go, the closer we are to the center of all things. Wherever there is a child of God (or a yet-to-be-adopted child of God) yearning for depth and meaning in life, there we need to be, inviting them to go deeper into their relationship with God and with one another through the incarnation of the body of Christ, the church.
Why does the church exist? For the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God.
Peace and blessings,
Rev. Bill Pinches
Pastor
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