Lead, Follow or Get Out of the Way

Several years ago the Chrysler Corporation used this expression in their advertising. I remember Lee Iaccoca uttering this famous line at the end of the commercial. It’s a bold statement, isn’t it? One I think the church would do well to adopt. It leaves little room for complainers, back-biters, gossips, and those who would cause dissension. Is there any doubt as to what would happen if those who aren’t leading or following would get out of the way? Growth, harmony, tolerance, flexibility? It may sound Utopian, but I think this is what God is looking for.

In every church I’ve served in 20+ years, I’ve seen dozens of people who needed to just get out of the way. I’ve seen or heard of countless churches who had grown stagnant because their leaders catered to the very ones who should have gotten out of the way.

Companies that follow this motto will excel. People who live by this principle will be blessed. Churches that adopt this mantra will grow. May God give me the courage to lead, follow or get out of the way. What about you?

Wanted: A Few More Deaths

I’ve worked in a church environment for over 20 years. Prior to that (and since then) I watched my dad operate in a church environment. I’ve served six churches and worked alongside seven preachers. Through it all I have heard on numerous occasions an expression that, until now, hasn’t troubled me. It has aggravated me but never troubled me until recently. The expression has been uttered anytime a discussion has taken place about the church moving forward. I have no doubt it has been expressed with sincerity and in the best intentions. It goes something like this: “Well, we’ll have to have a few more deaths before we can do that.” A preacher I used to work with would put a humorous twist on it by saying, “We’ll have to have a few more dirt naps before that will happen.”

There are some fundamental problems with that expression. First, WHO has to die before a given congregation can move forward in a certain area? The assumption is that this person (or these people) are old and nearing death. My guess is it is referring to church members who have been Christians for a long time, probably most of their adult life. Why do they have to die before church leaders can proceed to move in the direction God wants that particular body of believers to go? Why is the body of Christ paralyzed by “mature” Christians? Time and time again I have heard the same old cliches: “We don’t want to offend them” and “We want to maintain peace and unity.” I’m all for peace in the church. And I’m opposed to offending people just to get my way. But how long will we continue to maintain the status quo in the church just to keep grumpy, belligerent, divisive senior citizens happy? I thought they were the mature ones. I thought they’re the ones who are supposed to set the example of humility, peace, forbearance, and patience. But, instead, the church loses new Christians and young Christians because we continue to placate to the vocal minority.

Second, WHY do certain people have to die before the church can progress? The premise is that older Christians cannot be taught the truth because they cannot or will not accept it. It’s assumed that they are too set in their ways. I don’t buy it! Isn’t waiting for certain people to die an admission that we do not truly value those people? And isn’t it just taking the easy way out? It’s much more challenging and time-consuming to confront, teach, explore together, and work together to settle differences. Waiting it out is easy.

Third, to use such a phrase is an admission that we know God wants one thing, but we’re going to do something else instead. Is God really in charge of our churches? Is HE the one we are trying to please? How can we say yes to those two questions while continuing to wait for certain people to die off? To do so is putting total control of the church in the hands of a few people.

I’m not saying that church leaders should just run over people with no concern for anyone who disagrees. People will always disagree with any decision that is ever made by church leaders. Those who disagree must be lovingly and respectfully taught the truth. This is why it is imperative that church leaders study and know the scriptures. Give people a forum through which to express their opinions. But when the voices have been heard, sound off the truth and proceed to follow it. If it’s an area of opinion, keep it there and stop allowing ignorant people to make it law. Being controlled by ignorance is one of the biggest problems the church has had over the last 30 years. How many more deaths have to occur before we say, “ENOUGH!”?

The first-century church dealt first-hand with this issue. Christianity was a slap in the face to many Jews. Even Jewish believers struggled with letting go of many of their Jewish ways of old. Circumcision was the hot button of that day. And what about Gentiles (pagans)? Surely they couldn’t be a part of the new covenant? When did Peter ever say, “We’ll have to wait till some old crusty Jewish believers die before we start welcoming Gentiles into the fellowship”? Or when did Paul say, “After a few dirt naps take place, we’ll stop asking Gentile Christians to be circumcised”? These men moved FORWARD in faith! They didn’t trample all over people with no concern for them, but they spoke the truth plainly and boldly and moved forward from there. Why can’t the church do the same today?

The only death that needs to take place for the church to move forward already took place 2000 years ago on a wooden cross on Calvary. Isn’t that the only death that really matters?

Pull the Trigger

I enjoy guns. I love shooting hand guns and rifles. Although I’ve never owned a gun (except my childhood pellet rifle), I’m a big 2nd Amendment supporter. My dad owns several guns, and I get to spend an occasional Saturday afternoon target shooting with him at the range.

Allow me to state the obvious: a gun will not fire unless you pull the trigger. You can purchase all the guns you want, but if you don’t load them and pull the trigger they will just sit there collecting dust and, by some, admiration. My outings with my dad at the range will produce nothing but boredom if we just load the guns, point them at targets, and then just sit there. The adrenaline rush happens only when I pull the trigger.

There are times in my walk with God when I have my “gun”, it’s “loaded”, but I never pull the trigger. The call I need to make to a man whose marriage is on the brink of disaster. The visit I need to make to a church member in the hospital. The words of admonition that need to be expressed to a struggling teenager. Or even something as simple as being light to someone whose life is surrounded by darkness.

Our youth group had our first GO Night last month. We split the teens into eight groups and sent them to various places in our city to be light to people with whom they came in contact. I was part of a group who was supposed to approach total strangers at a shopping center and ask them if I could pray for them. I had tried this before with a new friend, but couldn’t bring myself to pull the trigger. On this particular night, however, I was eager. Nervous, but eager. I approached a young couple and pulled the trigger. It was great! I hit the target! They were receptive and appreciative that a total stranger would care enough to stop them and pray for a them.

It makes me wonder how many Christians are running around out there with “loaded weapons” but too scared to pull the trigger.

Bored Christians

It’s an oxymoron, isn’t it? How can there really be bored Christians? Are we supposed to have a relationship with our Creator? Aren’t the needs of the hurting supposed to be cared for by Christians? Don’t we worship an awesome God? Then why are there so many bored Christians?

I look at many of the teenagers to whom I have ministered over the last 20 years and most of them are bored. I’ve been bored myself in the 30+ years I’ve been a Christian. The times I haven’t been bored have been times when I have been swimming in some sort of crisis or when I am doing something bigger than myself. When I went through a divorce in 2005, I wasn’t bored. I was constantly talking to God. He and I were best friends. Sure, I questioned Him more than once, but my walk with God was close. I was surrounded by Christian friends who wrapped their arms of love around me and walked with me through those dark months. When I am at large worship conferences or retreats, I am not bored. The mountaintop experiences always kick boredom right out. 

But we avoid crisis at all costs. We don’t want to go through difficult or challenging times, even though we know deep down inside (and from Scripture) that those are the times when God’s presence is most evident and we’ll experience tremendous growth. Although we love mountaintop experiences, we know we must come down from the mountain sooner or later. As a young youth minister, I used to think that if I could just fill the calendar with enough mountaintop experiences, the teens would not be bored. 

It’s only when we realize that God is present on the plateaus of our lives, not just on the mountains or in the valleys, that our lives will have boredom-less significance. When you’re on the mountain, enjoy it. Celebrate it. Share it. When you’re in the valley, embrace it. Thank God for it. Look for how He is working in your life through it. Welcome the embrace of others. When you’re on the plateau (which is where most of us spend most of our time), look for God…even in the little, seemingly insignificant things. Watch for people or opportunities He will place right in front of you. Those may just be the people or opportunities that will deliver you from boredom.

The Forgotten Ones

The older I get, the more I see God working in my life. I used to miss so much, but as I now look back over events in my recent past, I can’t miss God’s Spirit moving. Last week I had the unique opportunity to attend a week-long Bible camp for developmentally disabled adults. I actually stumbled upon HandyCamp quite by accident (that’s code word for how we Christians often attribute things to God’s Spirit). Our youth group has been to another similar camp called Barnabas two or three times. The only week we could attend Barnabas was the week right before school starts, so I was forced to find something else. After parusing the Internet for almost two hours, I finally settled on HandyCamp, a program run by Lutheran Disabilities Ministry.

My whole life has been spent in fear of handicapped people. Like most of the “normal” population, I was uncomfortable around disabled people. Didn’t know how to approach them. Felt sorry for them. Thought that, because I couldn’t understand them, they couldn’t understand me either. HandyCamp blew that whole idea out of the water!

It took me all of a day and a half to learn that handicapped people are angels. I had so much to learn from these precious souls forced to spend their lives on this earth encased in fragile, deformed, or unusable bodies and/or minds. Many could carry on a conversation; others were unable to speak with words at all. There are other ways to communicate than mere words. I watched one woman “listen” to music by wrapping her hands around the speaker stands. I saw another communicating simply by grunting certain ways.

They were some of the happiest people I’ve ever seen in my life. Most rarely, if ever, watched TV. Most would never own a car, a house, a boat, or any of the “luxuries” with which we often fill our lives. Most would never marry or have children. The majority of them live in a group home with other handicapped adults. There they will happily eek out their existance until their days upon this earth are over.

To the large majority of the general population, they are the forgotten ones. Even the Christian community as a whole has excluded them. Ignorant of the growing number of handicapped people in our cities, churches continue to minister to the poor, widows, orphans, people in other countries and, of course, our own without even realizing we’re sitting on a gold mine of opportunity to share the love of Jesus in a fresh and meaningful way. Most churches don’t have any sort of ministry to handicapped people because they don’t think there are many handicapped people around them. They assume this because there are no handicapped individuals attending their respective churches. What they fail to see is that handicapped people will come out of the woodwork if the local churches starting any sort of ministry for these forgotten ones.

God brought me a long way in my journey out of the darkness of my fear of handicapped people. I still have a way to go. I now look at handicapped differently. I look past their infirmity and look to what’s on the inside. That’s where you’ll find the heart of God himself.

Pondering the Implications

Lately I’ve been contemplating the implications of being a Christian. I think of things like being a child of God, being blood-bought by the Son of God, being filled with the Holy Spirit, being sanctified (set apart by God), being forgiven of my sins (those I’ve already committed and those I’ve yet to commit), being set free from the bondage of sin, being reunited with God in a relationship, being added to a universal family of believers with whom I find comfort, given hope, and receiving peace and joy.

How many people in the world today have those things? When I stop and ponder the presence of Almighty God in me through the Holy Spirit, I am astounded. That God himself would choose to dwell in me is humbling. Christ in me. I have all the benefits of Christ Jesus himself! When the Father looks at me, He sees Jesus!

Christians are literally sitting on a powder keg and we often don’t realize it. God wants to do so much through His children, but His children are too often oblivious to it. I want to start living my life with the power of God’s Spirit clearly evident to others.

I believe with all my heart that Christians can turn this world upside down (or maybe I should say right-side-up) for Jesus Christ. Maybe instead of sitting around complaining all the time about how rotten the world has gotten, Christians should come together in the power of the Holy Spirit and allow God to reclaim, redeem, and revolutionize our broken world. Perhaps that’s what He’s waiting for.

Seekers or Sustainers?

I was reminded today of a fascinating encounter in Luke 20. Jesus is teaching the people and sharing the gospel (good news) of God when he is confronted by the Pharisees. Remember, the Pharisees were the church folk. They were the pious ones who “had it all together.” They were the ones who knew the Bible frontwards and backwards. They could tell you all about God!

It’s interesting that they confront Jesus. They don’t join him in teaching the people the good news of God. Apparently they didn’t believe that what Jesus was teaching was good news. What he was teaching was different. It wasn’t in keeping with “the old paths” they knew of from scripture. They asked Jesus by whose authority he was teaching. Instead of answering their question directly, Jesus asked them a question: “Was John’s baptism from God or from men?” Jesus had an uncanny ability to ask the probing questions. This got right down to the crux of the matter. The Pharisees talked among themselves about how they should answer. If they said “of God,” their refusal to believe John would be called into question. If they said “of men,” the people would kill them, because John was considered a prophet. They ended up taking the same path many in our churches today take when they have no biblical backing for their rantings: they refused to answer.

This story sheds light on two groups of people in our churches: seekers and sustainers. Seekers are like those to whom Jesus taught. They are people who take every available path to discover more about God and how we can better serve Him. Seekers aren’t concerned with new things. They’re not mired in tradition. Seekers aren’t concerned with piety. They’re broken before God and acknowledge their limitations and lack of understanding.

Sustainers, on the other hand, are like the Pharisees. They are people who don’t need to take every available path to discover more about God…they already know everything there is to know about God (or so they think)! They’ve cornered the market on religion. They’ve “arrived.” There is no new truth to discover. There is no different way to look at scripture. There is no need for anything new, so when tradition is challenged they cry, “Unscriptural!” Different ways of worshiping God are labeled as “reckless innovations of men.” Differing points of view of scripture are called “biblical ignorance.” New methods of sharing the good news of God are deemed as “liberalism.” Sustainers are simply here to sustain the old way of doing things. Change is equivalent to heresy. Anything that is out of their comfort zone must be a sin. If it looks different from the way grandma did it, it has to be unscriptural.

Sustainers pride themselves in their piety. Like the Pharisees, they want others to take notice of their righteousness. And, like the Pharisees, righteousness is gained by what I do or don’t do, not by what Christ has done for me. I once knew an elder in the church who believed he hadn’t sinned in years! (Isn’t pride a sin?) Sustainers don’t believe in learning anything new. They’ve studied the Bible since they were young, so what more could they learn?

Jesus’ refusal to answer the Pharisee’s question was not out of obstinacy. I believe it was more out of pity. What a shame that these people who had been religious their whole lives couldn’t see the truth standing right in front of them! These people, who had literally grown up in church, were blinded to the truth by their traditions! It’s not much different in the church today, is it? Seekers are still looking for new ways to reach the world with the good news of God. Sustainers are still trying desperately to maintain the status quo. If the church is ever going to reach the world with God’s good news, we must have more seekers than sustainers. Right now, I’m just not sure if we’re anywhere close.

“Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33).

What If His People Prayed?

Today is the National Day of Prayer. I’m grateful that our country is still “godly enough” to set aside the first Thursday of each May for this nationally recognized event. As I listened to my local Christian radio station this morning, I heard a local pastor being interviewed by the DJ. This pastor was saying how he believed Christians should spend more time praying and to take prayer more seriously. It was a simple message, but one which I think Christians all too often forget.

This pastor mentioned praying for government leaders instead of constantly criticizing them. That’s a lesson I could certainly learn! I catch myself coming down hard on our government almost daily. I am especially critical of those on “the other side of the aisle.” What if, instead of being critical, we went to God in prayer on behalf of our government leaders? What if we sincerely prayed for God to bless our President–no matter who it is or which party he or she represents? Do we really believe God will intervene? Or is it just easier to criticize?

What might happen if God’s people (i.e, Christians) united more often and prayed for God to intervene in our local, state, and federal governments? What could happen if Christians united more often in prayer on behalf of the moral climate of our nation? What if God’s people prayed more for unity among believers? The end of poverty? The end of wars? Human rights? The protection of the unborn? The ending of discrimination? What if we basically took every care and concern we have for our school, job, city, county, state, country, and world before the throne of Almighty God and ask for his intervention?

I often wonder if we put limitations on God.

“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

2 Chronicles 7:14

It’s Time to Pull the Van Over

My family never had a mini van when I was growing up. We didn’t need one–there were only four of us. Even if we wanted one, they didn’t make mini vans back in the 60s and 70s. (I don’t know how large families transported themselves from point A to point B before the mid 80s.) My family needs a mini van now. There are eight of us when everyone is present and accounted for.

When we’re all together in the van and going somewhere, there are usually those instances when the kids start getting a bit rowdy. Maybe it’s arguing amongst themselves; maybe they’re just complaining about each other. As a self-declared tolerant and patient parent, I can put up with it for a while. (I’ve been told my tolerance level is higher than that of some parents.) But I still reach that point when I’ve taken all I can take and my blood begins to boil. I usually express some sort of threat in a loud volume using my “mean dad” voice. If that doesn’t work, I’ll use the classic line that was so often used on me by my parents when I was young: “If you guys don’t cut that out, I’m going to pull this van [car] over!”

Granted, I’ve only pulled the van over a couple times in my 19 years as a parent. But those times were necessary. I had taken all I could take. I could think of no other way to get through the thick skulls of my kids other than pull the van over and spank them! It’s not fun spanking kids. It’s painful. I truly understand now what my mother meant when she would tell me, “This is going to hurt me more than it’s going to hurt you.” I hate spanking my children. I’d rather eat sand. But it’s necessary on occasions in order to get their attention and curb improper behavior. And it usually works. My children are better for it. I’m a better man today because my parents cared enough about me to discipline me.

I think it’s time to pull the van over in some of our churches. Members who act like spoiled children by constantly bickering and complaining because things don’t look like they did 40 years ago in the church need to be disciplined. People in our churches who are dividing the body of Christ over matters of opinion need a good ol’ spiritual spanking! I’ve been in my respective denomination for over 40 years. I’ve seen a lot of changes in the church–positive and negative. I’ve let go of a lot of my traditions that my parents clinged to tightly for so long. Some of those traditions were good; some were stupid. Some I gladly turned loose of; others were almost pried out of my grasp. I’m far from perfect in this area of distinguishing between scripture and tradition. It’s not easy letting go of something you’ve believed to be God’s will and way for most of your life. But Paul did it! He went from one extreme to another. He was wise and mature enough to distinguish between scripture and tradition.

I grow tired of “mature” Christians being the ones who refuse to bend. I’m weary of seasoned Christians acting like babies because they can’t have their way. I’ve heard people who’ve been Christians for 50+ years say things like, “I’m a stock holder in this church!” or “I put most of my life into this church!” as a means of getting it their way. How this must grieve God! I’m convinced that Satan has done more damage to Christianity within the church than from without. And we wonder why we’re losing more people than we’re gaining.

If church leaders were more willing to pull the van over, maybe we would see our churches blossom and perhaps…just perhaps…we’d see some seasoned Christians repent and alter their bad behavior.

The Church, the Jesus Way, and Britney Spears

Sometimes I speculate as to how the world sees the church. Although I desperately want to believe the church is viewed in a positive light, I somehow doubt it. I would imagine the world looks down on the church. We’re probably viewed as spiritual elitists, holier-than-thou, pious, and as people who think that anyone outside the four walls of our buildings are doomed to an eternity in hell. If my hunch is correct, can we blame them?

What has the church really done to be Jesus to the world in which we live? The world viewed Jesus in a more positive light than the religious leaders of his day. Jesus was accepted by sinners because he accepted them. He didn’t judge them. He didn’t condemn them. He had a unique way of accepting the sinner without accepting the sin: a brilliant concept the church today would benefit from if we would apply it liberally. But we don’t. We sit in our ivory towers of self-righteousness and dispense judgment, criticism, and condemnation to the sinful world around us.

Case in point: Britney Spears. Those two words spoken together bring snickering and criticism to the lips of many people…even Christians. I know; I was one of them. Yeah, she’s weird. She’s “messed up.” She’s made some poor choices and unwise decisions. She’s a lost soul seeking refuge in a world of confusion. Who among us is not or has not been in the same boat? My “messed up” may look different from Britney’s, but we’re both still “messed up.” My poor choices may pale in comparison with hers, but I’ve still made them. She and I are really not that different. Yet she is scorned by the church. We toss her aside like all the other “wackos” and move on to those who “want to do what’s right” and make good choices. In other words, we attempt to surround ourselves with people who are “just like us.”

I wonder what would happen if, instead of constantly criticizing and judging sinners around us, we would love them and accept them as Jesus did? I wonder what would happen in the hearts of sinful people if their sin was rejected, but they weren’t? What would happen if Britney Spears got a glimpse of Christians pouring out love and prayers on her instead of judgment and gossip? Time may tell. For you see, a mega church in Kentucky has decided to do just that. When challenged with just such a proposal, over 1,000 single moms inundated Ms. Spears with letters of kindness expressing their love and prayers on her behalf. They even told Britney that she is welcome to come to Kentucky anytime if she ever wants to take advantage of free Christian counseling. Will anything come of it? Who knows? But even if Ms. Spears rejects the letters and the love, praise God that a church in Kentucky has made the decision to love instead of condemn! Hate the sin; love the sinner. Sounds like the Jesus way of doing things, doesn’t it?