one mo blog

In the book of Acts, when Paul is getting ready to leave Asia Minor and head back to Jerusalem, he gathers the church leaders and here is part of what he says:

And now, behold, I know that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again. Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all of you, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.

Acts 20:25-27

I’m just wondering what it would look like if all Christians had this kind of devotion to the word of God and to the people around them. How would our lives be different if we really believed that our families, friends and neighbors blood was in our hands?

Faith Authenticity, Church, Missional

I finished up my human development paper and thought I’d take a couple posts to give my current answer to the major question it raised in my mind:

Can understanding how people develop help us do ministry better?  If so how?

The short answer, yes, in some cases studying human development can help us do ministry better.  After all, the more we know about people the more effectively we can minister to them.  I don’t really want to get into how Erikson or Kohlberg, two of the three theorists referenced in my paper, may help us do ministry.  However, the spiritual developmental stages proposed by James Fowler in his book Stages of Faith were very interesting to me and I thought I’d explore two ways we could use that theory to be better at ministry.  For the sake of these posts (and my paper) I’m going to assume that his stages are 100% accurate, even though I’m pretty sure they are not always true. 

In this post I want to take a look at his first stage, I won’t bore you with his technical terms, but this stage is generally experienced in ages two through seven, which probably explains my interest in it seeing as I have a two year old little girl.

According to Fowler two things distinguish spiritual development in the first seven years of life:  The inability to see things from other people’s perspective and the fusion of fantasy and reality.  I was especially interested in this idea that young children can’t separate fantasy from reality.  Fowler sites a study where children have irrational fears like “lions, tigers, bears and monsters”, they are then logically talked through a process where they discover that the actual chance of them being attacked by such creatures is slim to none.  However, after that process they are still afraid of “lions, tigers, bears and monsters” because their fantasy world is also their reality.

Fowler goes on to state that mythology, fairy tales, and religious narratives like Daniel and the Lion’s den can help children overcome those fears.  When children hear stories of people overcoming the same things that they are afraid of they are empowered and can see themselves overcoming those obstacles.  Fowler goes on to state the importance of teaching these stories to our children, despite what we may think are disturbing images, so that they may be empowered.

I have to be honest, the first thing that comes to mind when I hear this is VeggieTales.  Don’t get me wrong, I love Bob and Larry, but you have to admit they do water down Biblical stories a lot.  However, I think VeggieTales is just one example of how we water down our stories in order to “protect” and entertain our children.  It seems every time I walk into a Christian bookstore I see another curriculum more interested in entertaining than teaching.  Continuing the VeggieTales example, I especially think of the Jonah movie where the people of Nineveh are depicted as doing things that are “bad” but really are just amoral rather than immoral (slapping each other with fishes etc.).  By doing this kids are entertained and protected from bad images, but it turns out those bad images are the very things they need to be empowered over (of course that is why we use VeggieTales to supplement Biblical teaching instead of replacing it, but that’s another post).

Now, I’m not saying we need to expose four-year-old’s to stories of David collecting two hundred Philistine foreskins.  However, I do think it’s worth considering that the veggification of our stories may cause more harm than good if they are not secondary to stories like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego the way they were supposed to be told, from the Scriptures and without chocolate bunnies.

Faith Children, Church

Now that I’ve decided to make this an ongoing series I feel the need to explain why I’m doing it.  What it is, and what it is not.

What it is:

• A critical view of western Christianity – I think that Dan over at Cerulean Sanctum is right that a lot of churches & Christians do things simply because they can, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they should do something.  Paul said it differently, “all things are permissible, but not all things are beneficial”.  Just because our church could spend a ton of money on a cheesy flash intro page doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s beneficial.
• A teachable moment – Hopefully we can learn from these things and figure out what is beneficial, what is not, and how to best teach the gospel in the context of our community.
• Fun at our own expense- Any of us in ministry have to admit that we’ve come up with some really bonehead ideas.  Something that seemed really cool at the time, but in the long run it had little or no value.  All we can really do with these things is learn from them, ask forgiveness, move on & laugh at ourselves.  So we may laugh at some things that other churches are doing because in our ministry context they would seem pretty boneheaded, but we do it with the humbling knowledge that we’re just as bad (if not worse).

What it is not:

• A way to bash other churches – When I hear about something going on in another church I always view it through the lens of my community and my ministry.  Just because something wouldn’t work here, or would be a bad idea here doesn’t mean that it’s always a bad idea, and it definitely doesn’t mean that it’s a bad church.  I would hope that if someone from one of the churches mentioned in this series were to stop by that they would not be offended by our discussion but rather encouraged that we were inspired by them.

I guess what I’m saying is this:  I want to have fun from this, and I want us to learn from this.  I don’t want it to turn into another blog where we just look at what the “dumb western/traditional/modern churches” or the “heretical emergent/liberal/postmodern churches” are doing and don’t present any alternatives or learn from it.  There are too many web sites out there that are critical of churches without offering any solutions, or realizing that just because something wouldn’t work in my community doesn’t mean that it won’t work where that church is.  Let’s enjoy this, have fun with it, but honor God with it as well.

Just my $.02

Faith Church, Good, Bad or Awful?

Time to play again!

This weeks contestant: A Church in central Florida that plans on errecting a 200 foot tall cross to be seen throughout the land!  Here’s the quote:

A Baptist church in Central Florida won approval to build a 200-foot-tall cross on its campus, according to a Local 6 News report.

 

The massive cross will be erected at the First Baptist Church of Central Florida’s Good Homes property in Orange County, Fla.

 

The church’s Web site said the cross will be visible from the Florida Turnpike and state Roads 408 and 50.

…

The cross will be taller that Disney’s Cinderella Castle, Local 6’s Jacqueline London said.

So, what do you think?

Personally, if this were my church I would hope that the church is giving away at least ten times the amount of money it’s going to cost to build this cross to charity and missions annually.  Otherwise, it seems like an extravagent waste that would be much more wisely spent on other things.

Just my $.02

Faith Church, Good, Bad or Awful?

It’s back, this time with voting goodness, and another answer option!

So I came across this Church’s website & was wondering what you think of it.

Personally, I’m going with “awesome” on this one — in a “not at my church” kinda way.

BTW:  I found this site through Fark and some of the comments on the comment thread are just classic.  My personal favorite:  “Is that where decepticons go to church?”

Faith Church, Good, Bad or Awful?

Just wondering:

Is the word “Missional” in danger of becoming just another buzzword adopted mainly by folks who connect with the missiology of the Emergent church but not the theology?

What is this “Missional”?  Check here and here.

Faith Church

Sorry it’s taken me so long to get to the next post in this series.  But here it is.  If you’re having trouble tracking where this is coming from I recommend going back and reading the first three parts.  I actually had to do just that before writing part 4.

———————————

In Boy Scouts before you can advance a rank you need to finish all the requirements (merit badges etc.) and then have a Scoutmasters Conference.  In this conference you sit down with your troop’s scoutmaster and discuss if and why you should be allowed to advance.

When I was in 11th grade and had finished all the requirements for the Life badge (the one right before Eagle) I sat down with my Scoutmaster for this conference.  One of the emphasis in the higher ranks is leadership, so my Scoutmaster asked me what I thought made a good leader.  I don’t even remember what I said, it was what I didn’t say that my Scoutmaster picked up on:

“What about leadership by example?” he asked me.

I played some lip service to the idea, and told him I thought it was important.

“So show me.” he responded.

Ouch!

He went on to explain that I was one of the oldest & most looked up to boys in the troop, but that I always came to meetings out of uniform.

I was mad.  I was pissed.  I had just spent a whole summer working at Scout camp.  I wore my uniform more that summer than most scouts wear their whole lives!  He was going to keep me from moving on to Life because I didn’t wear my uniform to a few stinking troop meetings!?

Well, I may have been upset, but the lesson sunk in.

The same lesson is true of our Churches.  If we really want to have an authentic community with authentic relationships it has to start with our Elders & Pastors.

I think this might be the most difficult transformation the Church needs.  But the Church desperately needs it.  People are starving for it.

We have this idea that our leaders need to be so Godly they are almost perfect.  We put our Pastors and Elders on this high pedestal that they rarely can get to.  As a result many leaders, unconsciously or consciously, become reserved and fearful of making mistakes.  They end up setting themselves apart from their congregations afraid that if they were truly honest & authentic with their congregation then someone might discover their flaws.

We need leaders who are not afraid to admit “I am flawed”, “I sin”, and “I need accountability and prayer”.  I’ve heard it said that our pastors and elders need to be our spiritual heroes, and I agree!  But, we need our Pastors and Elders to be heroes to aspire to!  These fake, perfect heroes just turn people away because there is no way that we can be as perfect as they appear.  Plus, by doing this we set our leaders up for failure; at some point in time they will fall off that lofty pedestal.

There’s this church I’ve been to every now and then.  I like it because the pastor is always preaching honesty, authenticity and relationships.  A couple months ago I was there and the pastor opened up to the congregation.  He told us about some very difficult things that have been going on in his family, and he asked us, with tears in his eyes to pray for him and his family.

I sat there and thought, “if God ever calls me to be a pastor or elder, this is the kind of leader I want to be”.

This is such a contrast to the leadership we see in the world every day.  Take our politicians for example.  They make excuses for their mistakes, and never admit to being wrong.  I am so much more impressed when I hear a leader say “I screwed up” than I am when I hear them try to weasel their way out of an awkward situation.  We need more leaders who can admit their mistakes.

I wish our leaders were more like King David.  I mean, there was a guy who made mistakes!  But when God sent someone to confront him about his mistakes he didn’t make excuses, he listened.  Then he tore off his clothes, got down on his face and he repented!  I believe this is why God called David a man after His own heart.

What power is in leadership like that!  It gives me shivers just thinking about it…

This post has turned out to be much more train of thought than I intended.  So I hope you have been able to follow it.  Let me just close by saying:  We don’t need our leaders to be perfect, Jesus already did that for us.  We need our leaders to be examples of the way we should live our lives; in good and in bad.

Just my $.02

The Authenticity Series:

1. “I Hate Church”
2. Emotional Vulnerability
3. Pride
4. Authentic Leadership
5. Putting on the New Man

Faith Authenticity, Church

This authenticity series has proven very educational to me.  I think I’ve learned a lot more from the comments than you’ve learned from me, so I’d like to keep the discussion going:

There is a real problem with perception in this country.  The saying “perception is reality” reigns supreme, and everyone wants to be perceived as perfect…or at least better than the next guy.

Have you seen the latest commercial for the Chevy Equinox?  The Equinox is Chevy’s new compact SUV, and in this commercial they go out of their way to compare this automobile to Lexus’ compact SUV.  They talk at length about how similar the two cars are in size, shape and appearance, then they drop the bomb about how much less the Chevy costs.

Chevy is playing off of the perception problem.  They know that for people who can’t afford a Lexus having a car that looks like a Lexus is the next best thing.  They are appealing to our pride.

We do the same thing in our churches.

We may not be perfect Christians, or even as good as the Jones’, but man do we try to look like them.  We try to sweep our dirt under the rug, and put our skeletons in the closet so that they won’t become public knowledge in our church family.

We trade authentic relationships for our perfect reputations – for our pride.

We trade reality for a lie.

It’s time that we as a body of believers…as a Church Family, woke up and realized that we’re not hurting anyone but ourselves.

First, we don’t fool anyone.  Eventually our church family will know something is up.  We don’t fool visitors who come in and know that we aren’t quite being honest with each other.  We especially don’t fool God.  We only fool ourselves.

Second, and more importantly, we end up hurting ourselves in the long run.  By not being honest with each other we deny our Christian brothers and sisters the opportunity to take care of us, to love us in our distress.  That, in turn, denies us the chance to grow through their love and counsel, and it denies Christ the chance to work through His body.

Is it easy?

No, actually it’s really hard, and sometimes it hurts like Hell.

But if we really, really want to glorify God, if we really want to be part of His body, and if we really want to become more like Him than putting down our pride and being honest with each other isn’t an option, it’s a necessity.

Just my $.02

The Authenticity Series:

Faith Authenticity, Church

Is it possible that the problem of authenticity that I ranted about in “I Hate Church” isn’t a problem with leaders or individuals? Is it a problem that and runs much deeper?  Could it be a problem with the system?  Not the church system, but our social system?

I guess I better explain.

I’ve been thinking a lot about my Granddad lately.  He was a great man, grew up during the depression, fought in World War II, worked a blue collar job after the war to raise his family & volunteered for years with the Boy Scouts.  He loved us very much, and I loved him very much.  There was one thing he wasn’t good at though; being emotionally vulnerable.  It’s not really his fault, I don’t think.  My guess is it was a product of his upbringing.  He was raised in a time when it wasn’t proper for men to be emotionally vulnerable.  They weren’t supposed to talk about their feelings, or fears, or health; it was seen as a weakness.

I remember towards the end of his life, we were celebrating Christmas around the 50th anniversary of VE day.  My dad bought Granddad a commemorative VE coin, and he cried.  It was so memorable because I think it was the most display of emotion I’d ever seen from him.  He started telling stories of the war, stories we had never heard.  We had heard the fun stories, the stories about how he got into trouble.  We never heard the hard stories, stories about war, about friends lost.  It was almost shocking to hear him open up like that.

That’s not to say that through the rest of his life he didn’t have emotions or show them…he did, just in his own way.  He had a look that told you he loved you, or he was proud of you, but he wasn’t very comfortable giving hugs or saying “I love you”.

His generation, until recently led and shaped our country, they also led and shaped our churches.

Fast forward to today where emotional vulnerability and honesty is seen as a sign of strength.  We’ve done a complete one hundred eighty degree turn from when my Grandfather was growing up. 

Maybe I’m wrong here, maybe the history major in me is just looking for an answer to this problem in the past.  But maybe our churches’ haven’t fully let go of the social system our grandfathers and great-grandfathers lived in.  Maybe our churches, in some weird way, still see emotional vulnerability as a weakness.

I’m sure there are other reasons for this authenticity problem, but this one could be huge, and is often overlooked.  Institutions often let go of defining systems much slower than individuals do.

I’m not trying to make a judgment on which system is better, I’m just saying that the way my generation views authenticity is very different from the way it was viewed in previous generations.

Maybe our churches just haven’t caught up yet.

Just my $.02

The Authenticity Series:

1. “I Hate Church”
2. Emotional Vulnerability
3. Pride
4. Authentic Leadership
5. Putting on the New Man

Faith Authenticity, Church