I have a dirty secret.
Honestly, it’s not that much of a secret.
I am white, American, and male. Those three facts alone mean that I experience on a daily basis a level of privilege that many people don’t.
OK, many of you are about to stop reading and your eyes have rolled into the back of you head. I actually heard them roll. I have a teen-agers, trust me I can see an eye roll a mile away. Please keep reading. This is going somewhere. It’s not another “white man self-loathing” kind of piece.
Over the last few days I have bumped into an article by Rhonda Stephens entitled, “Parenting: Are We Getting A Raw Deal?” I saw it once and read it. I saw it a second time and read it again. The first time I laughed and remembered my childhood and how it reflected much of what Stephens wrote. I appreciated that at the end she makes it clear that maybe the current state of affairs is not the way things ought to be.
I’m slowly working my way through the Lord’s Prayer as a roadmap to missional living. Do you want to catch up? Here you go:
Love that is just an idea is not love at all. Grace that is just an idea is no grace at all. Mercy that is just an idea no mercy at all. Peace that is just an idea is no peace at all.
All these things need to be embodied. Love, grace, mercy, peace all need to be lived to be something. If they are not lived and carried out in the body, then what are they? Nothing.
I’m slowly working my way through the Lord’s Prayer as a roadmap to missional living. Do you want to catch up? Here you go:
Love that is just an idea is not love at all. Grace that is just an idea is no grace at all. Mercy that is just an idea no mercy at all. Peace that is just an idea is no peace at all.
All these things need to be embodied. Love, grace, mercy, peace all need to be lived to be something. If they are not lived and carried out in the body, then what are they? Nothing.
Mission that is carried out only in ideas, strategy, or concepts is no mission. It is nothing. It is dream and talk. A friend of mine constantly says, acta non verba. “Action, not words.”
Jesus in the prayer that he taught his disciples said,
Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Jesus was keenly aware about the necessity to embody the mission in the world. The word we translate “earth,” can be understood with a range of meanings. It can be translated as “soil” and “people” and “country.” Now, we know that Jesus didn’t speak Greek. He most likely spoke Aramaic and Hebrew. Matthew when trying to express what Jesus was saying here uses this word that can mean “earth” and all these other ideas. Why? Because Jesus was trying to tell his disciples that what he wanted was for the kingdom, his kingdom, to be lived out right here, right now.
The mission, the faith, whatever you want to call it is not a sales pitch, it’s not a media strategy, it’s not to be a marketing campaign. No, the mission is to be something lived. It is to be the living of, the embodiment of, Jesus kingdom right here in the flesh, on the dirt, and with the people.
What is this supposed to look like? I think it’s supposed to look like the poem that Jesus taught earlier in Matthew,
“God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs. God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted. God blesses those who are humble, for they will inherit the whole earth. God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be satisfied. God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy. God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God. God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God. God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.
Oh that we who claim to follow Jesus would live this way in our bodies.
Originally published at write.as on February 7, 2019.
I’m slowly working my way through the Lord’s Prayer as a roadmap to missional living. Do you want to catch up? Here you go:
The next bit in the prayer is, “Our father who is in heaven, hallowed be your name.” You may be thinking, “What does that have to do with mission?”
I’m slowly working my way through the Lord’s Prayer as a roadmap to missional living. Do you want to catch up? Here you go:
The next bit in the prayer is, “Our father who is in heaven, hallowed be your name.” You may be thinking, “What does that have to do with mission?”
First, mission is to be rooted in the identity of God. It is to be shaped by who he is. The driving values for mission are to reflect the nature of “our father.” As we step into mission we must ask, “Who is God? What are his values? What does it mean to serve his kingdom? If he were sitting here with us what would he be encouraging us to pursue?”
For entirely too long mission has been reflective of ourselves.
I will never forget reading Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret. It was the first book that began to make me think about the reality that mission ought to be shaped by who God is and not by our cultural preferences. Taylor was one of the first Western missionaries to practice incarnation mission. He entered into the culture that he was seeking to serve. He dressed like the Chinese people he lived with. He wore the same hairstyle and facial hair. Taylor was not seeking to bring people to English-ism he was seeking to bring the gospel to the people. His mission was rooted in his understanding of the identity and nature of God.
Second, mission is to be embodied. This is rooted in the first. One of the things that I love about God is that he doesn’t wait for people to become “godly” to engage them. He enters into their lives and meets them where they are. This is becoming, for me, the single most important aspect of seeking to be on mission. The incarnation, God becoming man in Jesus, points us to the merciful, gracious, and loving identity of God. He didn’t stand far off, he entered in.
My favorite story about Jesus is quickly becoming his interaction with Thomas. Jesus could have written him off. Instead, he invited Thomas to touch and feel him. This is what embodying looks like. “Thomas, you doubt? That’s OK, touch my hands and my side.” Ah, I get choked up thinking about it.
Finally, I like the way that Eugene Peterson in the Message writes this verse,
“Our Father in heaven, Reveal who you are.”
I think this points us to one more bit about how this line ought to shape mission. Our mission really needs to be about revealing God to the world. I have seen much mission being about revealing ourselves. We make much about ourselves and what we can offer to the world.
Consider the phrase from the church planting world, “Launch Large!” This is a branding, marketing, and business approach that really works well. The new church creates a marketing campaign that is supposed to make a “buzz.” The buzz will bring people in to fill the auditorium. It’s all about making much of the new church and congregation. Usually these campaigns try to communicate how the new church is better than the other churches in town and how the particular can better meet needs than the other churches in town too.
I think that this approach is antithetical to what we ought to be about. We ought to be about revealing God as he is. Not seeking to make ourselves great and the center of the story.
What is churches sought to engage the world these ways? What if they first and foremost rooted their mission in the nature and identity of God? Then, they sought to embody that mission? Finally, their emphasis was on revealing the God in whom they rooted everything in in the first place? **I think what would happen is that we would see more gospel, greater love for the other, and healthier faith communities.
What do you think?
Originally published at write.as on February 5, 2019.
The other day I wrote about the difference between program and presence. I stated that I though that the Lord’s prayer is a road map to presence. Lord’s prayer starts with, “When you pray…”
Jesus has just been asked by his disciples to teach them how to pray. He makes an assumption that they will indeed pray. As I consider my own spiritual life that this is an appropriate assumption. Praying is really hard for me, it is not natural or top of mind. I like to fix things and make things happen, prayer feels like the exact opposite of that.
Yet, for those of us who are seeking to follow the way of Jesus the expectation is that we will pray. That is the starting point for this journey into presence. It is prayer.
I’m curious, do you see or understand prayer to be the central driving force to being on mission in your community, neighborhood, or city? I certainly don’t.
There, I wrote it, I don’t see prayer as the central driving force to mission. I see physical presence to the be the center.
Throughout the gospels we see a pattern of prayer then teaching then miracle. I think the pattern holds. Often, Jesus disappears to pray. I think we can understand this to be his regular practice.
Yet, I have grown up in my spiritual life to believe that bible study is the foundational practice, followed by evangelism, then prayer, then serving “least of these.” Attending regular worship gatherings is in there too as an underlying expected practice.
I am growing to believe that prayer is possibly the singular most important thing that we can do.
When I make that statement I am not talking about the wish list kind of praying that many of us think of when we think about prayer. I am also not thinking about saying “grace” over a meal.
I’m coming to believe that prayer is the practice by which we open space to engage the divine presence in our lives. We quiet ourselves and listen more than speak. It is in prayer that we are able to engage with God as who he is, Spirit.
What do you think? Am I making too much of prayer? Is it really necessary for us to truly practice mission in our communities, neighborhoods, and towns?
The other day I wrote about the difference between program and presence. I stated that I though that the Lord’s prayer is a road map to presence. Lord’s prayer starts with, “When you pray…"
Have you noticed how we think about “them” and “us” or “them” and “me”? It’s not something that I notice myself doing very much. I see it in a lot of other people.
That’s the point though isn’t it? Them, not me. Today, I was reading in the Psalms and I was struck by this reality.
In Psalm 5 there is a call by David for God to judge his enemies and protect him. He wants God to declare them guilty and destroy them.
In Psalm 6 David opens by saying, “Lord do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath.” Not me God! I’m so sorry. I know I messed up, but don’t discipline me. Let me off and forgive me.
Them. Not me!
On the one hand this is what I love about the psalms. They are brutally honest. I read them and think, “Wow. These people were messed up.” I also read them and think, “Oh man, I am so these people.”
I have been thinking about this today, this juxtaposition of “Them. Not me.”
Why is that we demand grace for ourselves and judgment for our enemies? What is it that is in us that is like this? Have we ever thought about the reality that for some other person we might be the “them?” Could you imagine if you knew someone was beseeching the divine to destroy you and pour out wrath on you?
How might we change if we try to let go of the “them, not me” mindset?
I wonder if I might be able to love a little better. I think so, but too often it’s them, not me.
– Originally published on December 3, 2018 on Medium
I have been re-reading through Faithful Presence by David Fitch this last week. As I read, I am struck by the significance of presence over and against program.
If you’re at all like me, you rest very little. You work a bit too much. Your mind never stops running and you are always thinking days, weeks, months, and years in the future.
Today it is cold.
It is so cold, that everything is shut down. Schools, churches, County offices, all closed. I have a home office and it is my normal place to work. Yet, today I’m forcing myself to take a bit of a snow day.
Every once in a while we need to find down time. We need to rest. We need to try and shut down our minds and get quiet. So, I’m doing that today. I’m shutting down notifications, grabbing a book, and a cup of tea (chai if you’re wondering), and I am going to rest.
When I’m engaging in a new community, one I’m building or newly joining, I am very aware of my lack of knowledge regarding norms. Norms in communities are essential to their health and well-being. The hard thing is that most often norms require storms.
What do I mean?
Norming and storming is the cycle of growth in communities. The initial folks gather and create norms. As others enter in there will be storms, conflict, and then new norms will be created. This process creates a spiral of depth in community.
Communities that seek to avoid conflict at all costs remain in a faux honeymoon. They never become all that they could be. Depth of relationship never grows.
I have been re-reading through Faithful Presence by David Fitch this last week. As I read, I am struck by the significance of presence over and against program.
Many conversations that I have with colleagues are about how to “reach” the emerging generations. I’m coming to the conclusion that this is the wrong question. The better question is, “How can we be present with the emerging generations?”
Do you see the difference? One question is about how we can, in a sense, sell/convince/capture the other is a question of being and engagement.
The first question leads to programs. If we can find the right program that will “capture” their interest then we can “reach” them and bring them in. Programs become the center of creative outlet, financial commitment, and time consumption. What is great about programs is that they are easily measured. The metrics are clear and you can determine your success by counting.
Programs in a monolithic culture are very useful. They work because we can assume what people like, want, and how they will resonate. We can also assume that people probably desire the same outcome: being part of our congregation. You see, monolithic culture is key to the success of programming and goes well beyond skin color and economic status. It needs to cut into worldview. During the mega-church boom programs were effective because it could be assumed that many, if not most, people wanted to be part of a congregation, they just needed to find the right one. People were looking for congregations that met them in their niche culture. For the sake of growth and success congregations were happy to oblige.
Then the culture changed, it fragmented, it evolved into something that was not monolithic. We slowly became more isolated from one another even under the guise of deep connection via the internet. Where we are now is the logical conclusion of what began 50 years ago. No longer are there necessarily groups of people looking for niches, now we are so desperately individualistic that the way we used to think about “reaching” people has lost much meaning. We can no longer make any assumptions about any group, much less any individual.
We must seek a new way forward. This new way is not in programs, it is in presence.
The questions before us as the people of God is not how to “reach” people. The questions are now, how can we be with people. How can we be like the God we claim to follow who “moved into the neighborhood”? As one of my favorite poets, Derek Webb, wrote, “We must become what we want to save/that’s always been the way.”
Presence demands more of us than programs. It demands that we set aside our outward desires for looking successful. It demands that we are OK with connecting for the long term. It means that we will have to give of ourselves to others in relationship and connection. We will have to understand that our metrics have to be set aside. They don’t have meaning in the new paradigm. You can’t measure relationship, connection, spiritual growth, and wholeness. Presence is not some new thing we do at our church buildings. It is an intentional living into the world within which we find ourselves.
I am becoming more and more convinced that the Lord’s prayer is the road map to being present in our families, neighborhoods, and towns. Read it. Ponder it. Let me know what you see in it…
“Pray then in this way:
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And do not bring us to the time of trial,
but rescue us from the evil one.
For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” — Matthew 6:9–15
In some reading this morning there was a line, “the earth we tread on will dissolve like the morning dawn.”
This struck me.
I live in the future. I find it very difficult to live in the moment and embody the here and now. The reality that the earth will one day dissolve like the morning dawn grabs my attention because it is a stark reminder that if I miss this moment, it is gone.
Embodying the moment, living here and now, understanding that all is vapor, therefore, enjoy the work, enjoy the play, enjoy life.
I recently spent time dwelling on Ecclesiastes and this is the same message that resonates there. We have but one life and it is a gift. What will we do with it? How will we live?
No.
What will I do with? How will I live?
Over the last 24 hours I have discovered a new social media platform, Mastodon. I have connected with it in ways that remind of Twitter when it first go going. I am connecting with new people and beginning to build relationships. I am so excited that there may be a space where I can process, connect, and share without the worry of the trolls. It’s exciting!
In light of this, I have begun thinking about friendship. I am trying to allow myself to enter into what it means to have friends and connect. I am realizing that I need people more than I ever realized.
I have been a person that stuffs his feelings and emotions. When I was younger, I used to joke that I didn’t have feelings. If people were in my way, I ran over them (metaphorically speaking, I don’t have any hit and runs on my record). I kept folks at an arm’s length because, because why?
Because I feared losing them.
So many people in my life have left. My father wound is that he left. He wasn’t evil, or mean, or bad, he just left. Sure, he showed up every other weekend to take us to his house and occasionally showed up for a game or event. But, by and large, he left.
I don’t want people to leave. My fear is that when people get to know me, really get to know me, they will leave. You can imagine how hard this has made building a marriage. I’m still working through that. My default is always to hide. It works that way with my kids too.
To be sure, I have had many breakthroughs with my wife and we have a healthy marriage. I am more open with her than anyone else in my life.
I have a couple friends that I can be this brutally with too.
As I enter into new relationships this old fear crops up. Will they leave?
You see, the thing about friends is that they show you who you really are and that’s what makes friendship so beautiful and scary.
…click…
