Pardon me, I was reminiscing

I have not taken much time lately for reminiscing.

That's a problem. I'm in the midst of massive transitions, relationally speaking. I've taken lots of time to look forward -- to plan, to pray, to vision. But I have not taken much time for looking back, giving thanks, remembering.

This morning I find myself in that odd place where I would gladly linger over coffee now that I've had some time in scripture and prayer, and remember. I think it's important sometimes to allow your heart to go soft, to think back.

Transitions. My older daughter gets married in a couple weeks. Yikes. That's a big one. But there are others as well, not so obvious. My younger daughter is living at home this summer, and I am thoroughly enjoying her delightful presence. Both of these have become such amazing young ladies that I am a bit in awe of them. It's fun to look back, fun to measure all the angst of bygone years and see now just how -- in spite of all my mistakes -- they are doing just fine. Much to be thankful for.

And all of that means that their parents are also in transition. This quasi-empty nest phase opens new possibilities, as well as new challenges. It's easy to get so focused on the new challenges and not look back much at the road that led us here.

So maybe a quiet, cloudy July morning is a good time to reflect. To give thanks. To remember. To have one more cup of coffee and live in the past for a few moments, in order to hopefully expand my ability to embrace the present.

Pithy

As any long-term reader of this blog knows, I am a devotee of N.T. Wright. For Father's Day I received a copy of his book Surprised by Scripture. I am only a chapter and a page into it -- it's a collection of essays on the value and methodology of using Scripture in debates current to the modern (or post-modern) world.

All that said, long-term readers of this blog also know that I am fascinated by our context -- by the way in which the debates of (NOTE: All dates are stupidly approximate) the Protestant Reformation (16th Century), the Renaissance (17th Century) the Enlightenment (18th Century) and  Industrialism (19th Century) inform the attitudes of Modernism (20th Century) and our petulant reaction against Modernism, Post-Modernism, which I won't dignify with a date because I don't think it's a real movement yet.

Keeping up?

All that said, I was so tickled with Wright's ability (page 26) to hit the contextual nail exactly on the head with the following quote. As usual, he takes very few words to exactly diagnose a serious problem in the church and suggest a serious solution:

"We must stop giving nineteenth-century answers to sixteenth century questions and try to give twenty-first-century answers to first-century questions."

Love it.

Go Big!

One of the things I've done during this time of visioning and long range planning is to read the book Go Big by Bill Easum and Bil Cornelius. If you are a pastor or otherwise involved in church leadership, I highly recommend this book. It's an easy read, almost stupid easy, but I believe it's exactly what is needed for so many churches today.

I vividly remember hearing Pat Kiefert in the early 1990's talking about church leadership. He made a couple very memorable points that I have carried with me ever since:

1. It's not complicated to create a growing church. It's not rocket science. We know exactly how to do it.
2. The tricky part of creating a growing church is finding a leader who will have the moral courage to make the hard decisions required.

Like I said, I've never forgotten that little talk Pat gave. (In fact I still remember a great deal more of it, but that's for another time.) This book by Bill and Bil takes those two points and expounds on them at great length and with great practicality.  Wondering about church government? Here it is. Wondering about finances? All there in black and white. Wondering about how to deal with difficult people? There as well.  Wondering about the role of church staff, or how to manage a church staff, or what the relationships between staff and lead pastor and staff and congregation should look like? Bingo.

But by far the biggest points in this book are a clear and unflinching look at the critical role played by the lead pastor. You just can't get away from that one.

And the most important thing the lead pastor has to have is a clear, massive, God-sized vision for the church to be doing what the church is absolutely supposed to do: reach people who are far from God with the good news of Jesus, and help them become followers of Jesus. If the lead pastor doesn't have that kind of vision tailored specifically for the local church, what's the point?

So I recommend this book.  BTW, many thanks to Pastor Paul Johansson, who has been a great role model for me for the last decade plus. He turned me on to this book at exactly the right time.

Vision quest

As of this coming Monday, I'll have been at Calvary for three months. I feel like I'm getting to know the congregation, and they're getting to know me. We're starting to see a little movement toward discerning the Spirit's leading toward a specific vision for Calvary.  

So it seemed timely to take some time to go pray, read scripture, discern, and plan. I am currently out of the office doing exactly that. It's been good time thus far, with lots of good prayer and Bible time, lots of reviewing my notes from the last three months, and lots of getting specific details planned for upcoming things. Through the miracle of modern technology I've also had numerous phone and email conversations with coworkers and other Calvary leaders.

One of my goals for this time was to begin to come to clarity for myself as Senior Pastor at Calvary.  I want to have a clear answer for those who ask me what my own personal vision is for this congregation.  In prayer this week, I finalized this statement, then went back and listed some of the biblical basis for each portion of it: 

My prayer is that (Romans 8:26-27, Acts 1:14)

Calvary will become a (Ephesians 4:15-16, 1 Corinthians 14:12)

Jesus-pursuing (John 20:21, Philippians 2:5-11)

scripture-breathing (John 15:7-8, Colossians 3:16)

outward-focused (Luke 9:23-24, 2 Corinthians 5:14-20)

kingdom-seeking (Mark 1:14-15, Matthew 6:33)

community (Acts 2:42-47, Romans 12:1-13)

driven (Mark 1:12, Acts 20:22)

by the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8, Galatians 5:25)

to make disciples (Matthew 28:18-20, Ephesians 4:12)

who make disciples (2 Timothy 2:2, Matthew 4:19)

and so storm the gates of hell (Matthew 16:18, Ephesians 6:12-13)

in the Name of Jesus. (John 17:11, Luke 10:17-20)

This vision time is designed to be a good balance of "big picture" things like this statement, along with specific details like assigning scripture texts for the September / October sermon series, for example. So far it's been good in both ways. 

I want to thank so many people who are praying for and with me during this time! One of the most awesome pieces to this time away is just the massive number of people who have committed to praying for the Spirit to be working in this time of discernment.  Thank you!

Language issues

I took the plunge yesterday and preached my first sermon in Spanish. Understand, I am anything but fluent. I often tell people that I speak Spanish about as well as a three or four year old child. But I can read and pronounce words and generally understand them.

The priority for me to do this comes from the fact that Calvary has a Spanish language worship service and it's important to me that the people who participate in that service sense that they're part of Calvary, not an add-on, not a group renting space, not a separate congregation. So that means the senior pastor should be involved, right?

Therefore, on Pentecost Sunday (yesterday) Pastor Tacho Dominguez preached in our English-speaking services and I preached the Spanish service. We preached on Revelation 5, which makes a marvelous Pentecost text.

But I've been thinking lately about the benefits to the church of Jesus Christ if his people made it a priority to learn another language. What if Christians picked a people group that they care about -- or that they're willing to learn to care about -- and started learning the language? I've been amazed many times to hear people who take the trouble to travel to another country for a church service project, but who refuse to put effort into learning the language. Do these people understand what a slap in the face that is to the people they're trying to serve? I hear them say things like, "We can communicate just fine" or "They understand my heart." No.

Part of the benefit if Christians would start learning another language -- there are many benefits -- is we would begin to learn that interpersonal relationships are always a cross-cultural move. We would start to see that in order to understand anyone or be understood by them, you have to pay attention to language issues.

We would also learn humility, and I believe that American Evangelical churches especially could use a heavy dose of humility.

Without a doubt, we would start to have a greater appreciation for Philippians 2.

So pick a group of people.  In most parts of the U.S., Spanish makes the most sense. However, there are pockets of Russian speakers or Somalis or Hmong or ... well, in the Minneapolis area alone, more than 120 languages are spoken. The nice thing about Spanish is that it's accessible and fairly simple to learn, at least at a basic level. Download the Coffee Break Spanish podcasts or buy a Rosetta Stone program. Pick up a children's book in Spanish and get started picking it apart.

The reason most people don't learn a new language is that it's hard, and it puts them in a place where they don't feel like they know much. Fight through that. Once you know twenty or thirty words, it's a great idea to find a Spanish speaker who will help you learn a little more. Then you discover another of the great benefits of learning a language -- it's all about relationships.

Read Philippians 2, and figure out what people group the Spirit of Jesus is putting on your heart.

Freedom

Mindful yesterday of freedoms too often undervalued and the tremendous cost it has taken to provide that freedom, we celebrated Memorial Day in high fashion that I think my uncle Earl (who served with the 743rd Tank Battalion and lost his life at Omaha Beach June 6, 1944) would have greatly appreciated: We cooked not one, but two venison shoulders on the grill, and ate the first one for lunch out on the patio.  Then the young 'uns and I took up bows and visited the Elm Creek Park archery range and had great fun shooting our way around the course.  Came home and ate the other venison shoulder for supper. Earl was all about family, the outdoors, and home -- think he would have appreciated a great day.

Perspective

I was sitting on our patio a few minutes ago relaxing after a failed attempt to organize my garage.  (It's a long story and I won't bore you with the details.) Overhead I heard a very strident bird calling, so eventually I looked up.  There in the ash tree above my head was this bird, attacking a squirrel's nest that's been sitting there since before we bought the place.

Vengeance on the squirrels, I thought.  Good deal.

But there were no squirrels in the nest.  They're probably down in my hastas, plotting ways to take over the bird feeders Julie put up yesterday.  The bird went bonkers on the squirrel nest, tearing out old leaves and flinging them everywhere, mostly on me.

Annoying.

I've been watching this bird for about a half hour.  My yard, my patio, my lap and my laptop are getting littered with old leaves and debris.

For all I know this bird is renovating in a big time way.  Could be she has major plans to put in a new bay window and some living room furniture.  Or maybe the current nest is not up to code and needs major work.  At any rate, what seems to her a sensible spring cleaning project looks to me like littering.  Funny how a change of perspective makes your actions look different.

Where are the squirrels, you wonder?  They're over in the other side of the tree, where they've apparently abandoned their nest for the moment for a more romantic interlude.  Wonder what they'll think when they find out what the bird has done to the old place.

Making disciples

The title of this post is getting pretty ho-hum.  Making disciples.  We all agree we're supposed to do it.  It's in the Great Commission, for crying out loud.  Of course we're supposed to make disciples.

What we've done is cheapen the idea of what it means to "make disciples."  We redefine "disciple" as "well educated Christian" or "Active church member."  We can all agree that we should try to make this kind of disciples.

But what if "making disciples" is about more than just making active church members or well educated Christians?  Two thoughts on this:

First, what if we change our thinking to match Paul's words to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:2.  Basically Paul tells Timothy to take what he heard from Paul, dispense it to others who will be able to train still others.  So in one verse you've got four generations at least of discipleship.  So what if we took that idea and said (borrowing from Bill Easum) that our job is to "make disciples who make disciples"?  That would change things a bit.  Instead of being satisfied with well educated church members or Christians who stay busy in church we'd have to look at whether they themselves are making disciples, and whether the disciples they make are in turn spawning another generation of Jesus-followers.  The bar just got raised significantly.

Second, what if we contrast "making disciples" with what we usually do -- namely, making church members?  What if we contrast discipleship with membership?  I'm not against church membership per se, but there is (a la Mastercard) an idea that membership includes privilege.  (Look at your church policies -- do members get dibs on wedding dates, or a cut rate on building rental fees for weddings?  I rest my case.)  What if membership is secondary or even neglected, while discipleship is what's valued in the church?  How would that change our practices?

I certainly don't have this all figured out yet, but it's worth pondering.  At length.

Entrenched success

I think often about a quote from George Romney, who at the time was running American Motors.  Remember American Motors?  They produced some amazing cars, like the "Mirthmobile" from Wayne's World:

Yes, the Pacer was quite a car.  Have you noticed that American Motors isn't much of a going concern these days?

What George Romney said was this: "There is nothing so vulnerable as entrenched success."

This is a powerful statement not only for car companies, but for churches.  Because churches have institutional memory entrenched in the sensibilities of the members, we are incredibly vulnerable to what used to work.

Churches find themselves mediating between the unchanging truth of the good news of Jesus, on the one hand, and the ever-changing specifics of culture on the other.  So while the church's message doesn't ever change, the churches methods must change frequently.

And by the way, Christianity will rarely find success going back to something that used to work ten or fifty or a hundred years ago.

I'm reading lately about "radical traditionalism" -- the need for churches to delve into their past to find the nuggets of mission, the nuggets of how specifically God sent this church into the world.  Then those nuggets have to be recast for the present day.  One great example of this is churches that have grabbed hold of Martin Luther's statement about home-based worship and have recast it for the present day when missional communities (pastorates) are springing up across the world.  It's a radical way of re-appropriating our tradition.

Beware entrenched success.  It's what the railroad barons had when someone showed them plans for a gasoline powered truck, and they scoffed, saying "We're in the railroad business."  They didn't realize they were in the transportation business.

It's what the Swiss watchmakers had when, in the 1950's, someone showed them a digital watch and they scoffed.  The inventor went to the Japanese manufacturers with it.

It's what Kodak had when they rejected digital photography, believing instead that they were in the business of making film.

Nothing is so vulnerable as entrenched success.

God is Faithful

Remember the old busy signals?  It was what you got before voicemail when you called someone who was already talking on the phone.  A busy signal.

Lately I feel a little like I should put a busy signal on several areas of my life.  Things have been crazy busy.  Apologies to those of you who check this blog on a regular basis, because lately it's been pretty quiet.

So what's with that?

Between selling the old place, buying and moving into the new place, grieving lots of established relationships and forming lots of new relationships, reflecting on the old job and working through a mountain of requirements to try to get a handle on the new job, giving up the old family routines and trying (usually unsuccessfully) to set up some new routines, it's been a little hectic.

Worth it?  I think so.  All indications are so far that this has been the right move.  It is just incredibly costly in terms of change, time, and stress. Yet it feels like the right thing.  That doesn't make it an easy thing.  Just the right thing.

Then there's the new job.  As senior pastor at Calvary, right now I'm trying to manage change in our church council configuration, youth ministry, children's ministry, worship and music programs and personnel, men's ministry, staffing relationships ... am I forgetting anything?  Probably.

These changes feel like the right things, too.  Not everyone agrees, and that creates conflict that requires more time and energy.

Here's the thing.  Jesus never promised his followers an easy life.  On the contrary, he said, "In this world you will have trouble -- but take heart, I have overcome the world."  Doing the right things might not be easy.  It might require a lot of energy and effort.  It might cost us.

But it sure beats not doing the right things.

In the last few weeks, I have signed off many conversations (especially via email, but also in person) with the words, "God is faithful."  If we are doing the right things and it's really hard, our only hope is that these words are true.  God is faithful, and he will accomplish his goals, his agenda.  We do what we can do and at the end of the day, entrust ourselves to him.