Committing yourself to agreement: reflections from Philippians 2:1-2
My memory of the event about which I am telling you is that Lorie and I were newly married—one of the first times we were able to rent a car. We filled it up as a gas station in Ft. Wayne, Indiana before we returned it, but it simply would not start again. Not even a growl.
It turns out it was a newfangled electronic chip that burned out, a precursor to electronic systems gracing our cars today. It was just a little chip, but its failure to send a signal made the whole big auto in-operational. It looked and felt like a car. It had gas in it. The steering wheel still tilted and the battery could still power the stereo. Air filled the tires. The upholstery was in fine condition and the exterior still gleamed. All appearances looked normal, but the car could not work unless that one necessary circuit functioned.
So many arenas of life work this way. A vacuum cleaner will not work if the plug comes out of the wall or a belt breaks. A well-bound book without the last chapter does not read. Or consider a musical scale minus the last note. It is no longer a scale is it? Even though it approximates a scale, it is broken and unresolved. Another example is the many organizations with which I work, trying to figure out what is next. They can do fine planning and work through complicated problems to discover new approaches, but if a key leader feels threatened or inadequate, the new and helpful initiatives come to a screeching halt, no matter how many times others circle back to try to kick-start the process once more.
In our verses today, the Apostle Paul adds to this little list, telling us that when oneness, what we might call agreement, goes missing, the church does not work.
“Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.” (Philippians 2:1-2 NASU)
We can show up for services. We can go through the motions of giving, making decisions and trying to keep program alive, but it no longer functions as it should. In effect, our ability to agree is a circuit that makes the church engine roar to life. It is the way, this oneness, that Jesus tells helps others recognize our Christianity as something real and vital (John 17:20-26).
And here is another dimension we must consider: some broken items eventually become irreplaceable. If you misplay a scale, for instance, you can quickly fix it. But misplay it at a virtuoso performance and you can never get the moment back. Consider Christina Aguilera singing the national anthem at the 2011 Super Bowl. Web sites posted scathing attacks within minutes of her flubbed lyrics. Her forgettable performance there will live with her always, no matter how powerful her singing voice.
Perhaps you can live beyond a hazardous and tragic first marriage, or find a new and happy church home after abandoning an unhappy situation. Maybe you can retrain for an entirely new vocation. But if you make this your pattern of response to difficulties you reach a point where you can no longer recover. You will be abandoned even as you have abandoned. You will be alone precisely because you chose end of life aloneness over the current pain of working through difficulties in your relationships so that agreement might be reached.
The point here is how precious our relationships are: at work, in our families and most especially in our fundamental units of community—our houses of worship. If we fail to understand their purpose or fail to cherish them, not only do we lose their value for our well-being, but we are guilty of removing the potential of that well-being for others.
The church has been given us by those who struggled through and somehow made it work. Now it is our trust to take care of and hand off to others. It is not someone else’s task from which we benefit. Rather, it is our task from which others get to benefit.
To the heart of a congregation experiencing external persecution and internal conflict, Paul says, “Make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.” From his pen and for our ears, Paul tells us the circuit along which the church keeps running is oneness. Our mental framework (world-view) needs to be the same. The spirit (passion, energy and perhaps the infilling of the Holy Spirit) needs to be the same. Our purpose (what we hope to achieve in our common ministry vocation) needs to be the same.
If these are not in place we must ask ourselves what is missing. We must seek to discover what is wrong. How shall we proceed to re-establish oneness yet again? And please understand: this is not just a discussion of a past, common experience of professing faith in Jesus Christ. We are pointing to a common focus as we face the future, a common commitment to make church life work, and a mutual encouragement of one another as we do.
Paul’s thoughts run the same here in these verses as he moves from past experience in Christ to the church’s agreement and commonly forged perspective as it does its work.
If you have been encouraged by Christ . . . .
If you have any comfort from love . . . .
If there is any fellowship of the Spirit
If there is any affection and compassion . . . .
If these are the foundation of Christian experience, then we must move forward in oneness, drawing on these things if we are to have any integrity. And if there is not a deep level of agreement like this, then we need to go back and re-establish the foundation.
Let us assume the foundation is in place for a moment. What would oneness look like for the congregation then? It isn’t hard! Any congregation would agree to a substantial effort to make a difference in the community where they are planted. They would begin to spread out and make new families feel welcome in neighborhoods where they reside. They would offer tutoring to student struggling to make it in school. They would lead neighborhood bible studies and pray for their neighbors. The church would go to people instead of demanding that people must come to church at a specific time and place for it to count.
A church living in agreement:
- Does not criticize nearby churches who may use a different approach to living out the gospel
- Tweaks its organizational structure when needed to keep matters clear and simple, especially to help invite new and younger leaders into positive ministry experiences
- Offers to work alongside the pastor(s) it calls to serve
- Readily enters the process of expanding and renovating facilities needed to carry out kingdom work
- Commits itself to find newer, deeper and more generous ways to offer to the Lord the first and best of income and all other life assets
A church living in agreement does all this and more with joy. Such a people know they received encouragement from Christ. Together, they now offer that encouragement to others.
Committing oneself to agreement is a key way we express our service to Jesus Christ. And if we cannot make such a commitment to agreement, we need to check the foundation of our house. A house might look like a house. It might feel like a home. But if the foundation is missing it cannot last long. How great a fall it will have!
-mark l vincent
Keep moving or die
Keep moving or die as a slogan for work and life never felt more apropos than now.
- Each advance we make in business procedure or consultative technique is quickly matched by competitors who are just as eager to live to see another day.
- Each dollar we squeeze demands to be squeezed even more.
- Technology just keeps making quantum leaps forward. For instance, I’m writing this in an internet-based word processing program we are testing with the hope to increase our company’s computing mobility.
- Few if any economic certainties allow us to rest on past patterns of procuring and retaining clients.
So we keep pushing on. But it isn’t because we must. It is because I’m privileged to work with a group of people committed to keep moving. We enjoy it. We relish the challenge to design betters way of operating organizationally. We believe it is the grist from which we can guide other organizations down the same path of a thriving survival.
You might be interested to know that these are matters that concerned Theodore Roosevelt, the 26 th President of the United States. His concern did not flow just from the politician or warrior that he was, but also connected to his deep interest and exploits in natural science. Speaking at the Académie de Sciences Morales et Politiques in France, following his presidency and a lengthy hunting safari in Africa to collect museum pieces, he said:
“It Is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”
–mark l vincent
Letting new leaders lead: reflections on Acts 6:1-7
Lorie and I began pastoral ministry in an urban setting–First Mennonite Church of Fort Wayne, Indiana, the congregation where the Ft. Wayne Rescue Mission began. Our congregation was populated in the 1950s and 1960s by young adults coming from Iowa, Illinois and Ohio farms to work in Alternate Service in Fort Wayne. A good number found their spouses and chose to remain in the city rather than return to the farm. In the 1970’s the congregation added to its population by assisting refugees coming from Laos and Chile. By the time I became the pastor in the 1980’s all that was over. No-one was having babies anymore and no-one was moving to the city from the farms. If our church was going to stay the same size or grow it needed to engage in outreach with the people in the church neighborhood.
So this is what we did . . .and with some success. We reached a number of people with no church connection at all, or just a marginal one they had abandoned after childhood. A good number of these folks had significant life agenda to address in order to follow Jesus with all their heart, soul, mind and strength. Many had been divorced multiple times, usually siring/birthing children each time. There was a good deal of former addiction. One particularly tough scenario was an unemployed couple who came to us pregnant with their second child, but the woman was not yet divorced from her previous husband.
This made my time with other Mennonite pastors quite interesting. Their churches were debating whether the rare divorced person that came their way could become a member of their congregations. Many of our newly baptized were divorced. usually more than once. They wondered whether a couple who had once lived together could be married in the church–even if they repented from it. I was a pastor for seven years before I had a wedding where the couple had not lived together.
In short, the people our sister congregations would not embrace as members were the ones we were reaching and preparing for leadership. Instead of trying to debate who was right, we decided the best thing was to return to scripture as the point for our orientation. We tried to study it without bias so we could learn what was appropriate to do in identifying and preparing new church leaders.
I’ve led some significant study in recent months where we did something similar. We returned to the early chapters of Matthew to reacquaint ourselves with Jesus because so many have differing perspectives on who he is and what he taught. In this study we learned Jesus was a person who did not care where the cross was hung on the church wall, who did not cut off relationships with others based on whether the church had an organ or not, and who sets the example of leadership development with people like Judas, Peter and Matthew by his side – all men who would be disqualified in many churches. The manner and method of Jesus give us good insight into what is appropriate and what is not when identifying, calling and preparing leaders. The scene of the early church in Acts 6 as it appoints its first Deacons gives us even more insight. Yes, Acts 6 yields many insights on many subjects, but none more than identifying church leaders.
A brief summary of the passage is that the Greek speaking widows were not receiving material support as were the Hebrew speaking widows. The Greek speaking widows shared the same ethnic heritage–all of them were Jewish– but their culture was substantially different from Hebrew speakers.The Hebrew widows were supplied better because they had natural connections and networks as long-time residents of Jerusalem. The complaints of the Greek speaking widows reached the apostles who met to deal with the situation. They determined that service (the Greek word is diakonia, where we get the word Deacon) is deeply important, important enough to appoint other godly leaders to oversee a more just collection and distribution of material support for the Greek speaking widows. They asked the Jerusalem congregation to identify such leaders and they did. The diaconate was born.
I believe there are at least five significant observations to make as we watch the apostles identify, call and bless new leaders to lead. I offer these observations with the suggestion that the method of leadership selection modeled by the early church is exemplary for us today. We do not need to make the task more difficult than it already is, and we gain no benefit by adding complexity to the simplicity of their method.
1. Ministry is emphasized and expanded, not diluted. The apostles make a distinction between their work of prayer/ministry of the word from “service.” They did not rank them as if one was more important than the other. Instead, they preserved both by expanding roles and identifying new leaders. Had they tried to include the work of service into what the apostles were already doing, ministry effectiveness would become diluted and dissatisfaction would have increased.
2. The expectations of leadership characteristics are high, not low. My daughter attends a church that takes this sort of high expectation seriously. Much like many other leading congregations have discovered, they expect significant training before people are recognized in service ministries of various sorts. My daughter is considering whether she wants to join her congregation’s Stephen ministry program. Her church will expect her to voluntarily participate in a year’s worth of preparation before she can represent the congregation in this ministry.
Similarly, the new leaders in Acts 6 were to be filled with the Spirit and connected to wisdom. The spiritual community surrounding them needed to recognize these gifts and call them out. Warm body slot-filling was of no use and would violate the process.
3. These high expectations were used to identify leaders, not to prevent them or remove them from leadership. Some people try to use these standards of Acts 6 (or also Titus 1 or 1 Timothy 3) to disrespect or remove current leaders. They tell fellow church members, “I know what our pastor did when they were ten years old. So I can’t respect them as a leader.” Or, “I overheard an argument they were having. This means their marriage is troubled and they have no right to be a leader.” If these were the real standards and this was the way they should be applied, then no one could serve!
Others are sorely tempted to discard these standards because they feel they are so high that no-one will agree to serve. So they fill leadership spots with people who don’t know how to say no, or as a means to try to keep someone involved they are afraid might bail. Sometimes they even guilt a person into the role. “It’s your turn. The rest of us are tired,” they say.
Whether it is disrespect or discarding the standards, such actions set up new leaders for failure—a completely different experience from Acts 6 where deacons were called to the role because of their godliness.
4. The kingdom of God is grown, not reigned in or controlled at the apostolic level. This is the underlying mission and foundational impulse of apostolic choices throughout the book of Acts. Perhaps the most critical part of the decision to expand leadership to these new deacons was the apostles’ conviction that they must stay focused on the mission and let the mission guide the decision.
5. Money serves the kingdom, not the other way around. And how often have we seen it the other way around —-kingdom work set aside and “pay the bills” language inserted when we discuss money? When we make the kingdom serve money we delay important, life-giving and faithful action. Sometimes we even reduce the capacity for God’s people to be generous because we substitute fundraising speech for the more appealing invitation to expand ministry.
**********
This text points at us and says “Follow our example!”
If we do follow their example we grow the kingdom instead of preserve a heritage. We identify and train leaders — taking the risk of their failure over the risk of their never having led. And, we keep the church a living extension of the ministry of Jesus Christ, rather than something we feel belongs to us alone.
I have now lived through my own growing up and the growing up of my children. In both these generations I witnessed many persons being called to and nurtured into leadership, including myself, my wife, my children and a good number of our friends. The bright and wondrous moments during all these years came in taking the risks to grow the kingdom. The dark and unhappy moments were when leaders and parishioners, both, gave in to concerns over getting what they want or preserving the kingdom they had built. In such dark moments the living body of Christ was turned into a tomb of memories.
So . . . let us count ourselves a living body, not an empty building, especially as we call out new leaders, prepare them for ministry, and let them lead.
-mark l vincent
Hell’s Creation: probing deeper
In my previous post I wrote about leaders needing to take responsibility to avoid errors in the first place, and then to be humble enough to admit them when they do. I used examples of theological errors to make the point. The resulting discussion focused on one of the errors rather than on the main point of the article, the error of referring to Jesus (or God) as the Creator of hell.
This is an incredibly worthwhile question, however, as it deepens our understanding of the origin, problem and ultimate destination of evil. Many who responded thanked me for using this specific illustration of theological error. Others wondered whether I am the one in error, however, pointing to Matthew 25:41 as an indicator that God did indeed create hell. My response is to offer the following reflections in no certain order.
**********
To recap: the error I pointed to was a statement made by a television preacher that Jesus also prepared a place for those who choose not to listen or obey. My (too brief?) reply was that the Scriptures do not indicate that God created hell. Let me clarify that I use the word CREATED in the same sense of the loving craftsmanship, ex nihilo, in which God actively designed and spun out the universe.
In John 1:3, where the Word that was with God and was God is said to have made all things, the Greek word is:
GINOMAI — meaning to bring something into being (make or create)
The Matthew 25:41 verse that tells us hell was prepared for the devil and his angels uses the Greek word:
HETOIMOS– meaning to make something ready (prepare)
HETOIMOS, by the way, is the word Jesus uses in John 14:2 when he tells his followers he is preparing a place for them in heaven. This is instructive on two levels:
1. Preparing is not the same as creating, at least not in the way it comes to us in New Testament Greek. Creating is to make something exist when once there was nothing there. Preparing is to take something that exists and give it a specific purpose. In this sense, then, hell was prepared not created.
2. Jesus offers the promise of preparing a place in heaven for his followers. He doesn’t say he also prepared a place for those who refuse to follow or listen.
***********
Two additional insights:
1. We’ve already established that Matthew 25:41 refers to Hell’s preparation, not its coming into being out of nothing at God’s spoken word. The phrase that hell was prepared for the devil and his angels occurs in the middle of a longer parable from Jesus. The parable does not identify who made these preparations. To say God did it, or more, to say God did so as an act of Creation comes only from making an inference (assuming something is true because it seems to fit) rather than identifying a direct biblical reference. Inferring as a means of biblical interpretation rather than referencing, God being my helper, is something I wish to minimize or avoid altogether as I preach and write.
2. If I view the direct statements about God as Creator in Genesis 1, and more specifically about Jesus as Creator from John 1, we learn that Creation was an act of breathing life and then redeeming it, not seeking to take it away. From Jesus’ own words, we learn that he prepares a heavenly home for his followers to reside with him. It is for this he gave his life.
***********
It is a well established theological understanding that hell comes into being because God chooses not to be there. God’s withdrawal leaves chaos in its wake.
Some take God’s absence to mean that God finally leaves humans alone and they say they prefer hell as a result. “Yeah!” they say. “No more divine chaperone to dampen our party spirit!” Some preachers are concerned that when hell is described as the absence of God alone that the realities of a hell are being soft-pedaled and lead people to mistakenly take this position. But what is meant in this statement is that all Providence, all common grace, all order and sustaining power is removed. Eternal destruction resulting from God’s absence is a far cry from being able to continue living in sin under God’s common grace!
Understanding hell as the absence of God should lead us to marvel, therefore, at the apostle Peter’s words that Jesus preached to the “spirits in prison who once were disobedient” (I Peter 3:18 NASB). Some believe this is where Jesus spent time between his death and resurrection–in hell, preaching God’s good news. God’s grace shown in the Incarnation seems to run just that far.
**********
The larger and most important aspect of this error, however, is teaching that administrating hell is God’s job, and more specifically a task of Jesus.
In the Godhead, Creator God presides as Judge with the Son functioning as Mediator. This Creator God who judges looks for reasons to populate heaven through the gift of the Son, not to lock its gates.
The most ardent Calvinist believes the eternal destination of all humans is established already, and that only God’s mercy makes it possible for the select to enter heaven. But even such a one believes God is motivated by love and compassion to do so, is sorrowful over the lost, and in no way finds joy in banishing someone from the Divine presence.
***********
We might reflect on these provocative statements as a way to consider these matters more deeply:
- Hell is much more the result of what evil creates, and God’s abandonment of a place or a people because they gave themselves over to evil, than for any other reason.
- Hell as a destination is not the central biblical theme, but the offer of a restored relationship with God is.
- Hell is not a place I need fear–especially as one who pledged my life to Christ in response to the forgiveness and grace I received.
**********
For anyone who reads this far and feels I might not be emphasizing the full counsel of God’s word, please hear my pledge and ongoing commitment to be an exegetical preacher more than a topical one. This means if the biblical text in a specific worship service or specific conversation calls for a conversation on hell, I would not want to avoid it.
But there are only a few texts that make such a demand. Even this one in Matthew 25–the parable of the sheep and the goats where the preparation of hell is mentioned–is much more about linking sincere and saving faith to concern for the least of these than it is about God seeking to place people in hell beside the devil and his angels.
My preaching commitment is to stay with the central and intentional theme of these passages, rather than inferring and exploring tangents–yet another reason I consider it to be a theological error to say that Jesus made hell.
-mark l vincent
Two theological errors
Grace that is Grrrrreat! A sermon from Acts 4:32-37
The following sermon has a diagram in it that sparked a conversation among many families who call Prairieview Mennonite Church their church home-even though the diagram did not project very well on the large screen. It is produced here so that everyone has access to it, but also because this sermon sets the stage for a period of significant discernment the congregation now enters. Its presence here gives us a point of reference we can keep referring to along the way.
Grace that is Grrrrreat!: A sermon from Acts 4:32-37
It only takes a minute to lose sight of Who I belong to and the values I hold. Without regular time in worship, bible study and prayer; without consistent time in Christian sisters and brothers where we encourage one another toward faithfulness, then where I do spend time will influence my responses.
Here is a recent incident from my life . . . .
Lorie and I were at the movie theatre in the middle of the afternoon. It was a good-sized theatre and maybe six people were seated when we entered. We chose a seat in the front row of the upper section and behind the rail. We kept two seats between us and the far wall.
Just after we entered, two women entered and it did not take long to establish that one of these two friends was obsessive-compulsive. She wanted the seat next to the wall in our specific row–the two seats between me and the wall. This was difficult to do without Lorie and I abandoning our seats so they could clamber over us, and socially awkward to do since almost all the other seats were open. This woman’s friend felt the awkwardness and suggested they simply move up a row, still against the wall but in the top row of the lower section. So they moved along.
In less than a minute the obsessive-compulsive friend made it clear she was not comfortable and would not sit there a moment longer. Her accommodating friend offered to move to the middle of the same row. They began to move in that direction, but without even sitting down, the first woman turned and marched back to the seats she wanted in the first place, pinched between me and the wall.
Lorie and I stood up and moved to the side so they could climb around the rail and claim their desired seats. The accommodating friend climbed up last, apologizing for our inconvenience and accidentally spilling a good deal of her popcorn on me in the process. She was embarrassed but her friend cared not. Instead, she began a nonstop narrative of mundane matters that threatened to continue long after the movie started.
My story does not stop there. We still had a few minutes before the movie began. Lorie remembered she had not yet turned off her cell phone and reached down to turn it off just as it began to ring. It was our daughter who had been traveling and we were delighted to know she arrived safely. Lorie decided to leave the theatre momentarily, take the call and turn off her phone before returning. I placed the little satchel we were carrying on her seat to mark it as occupied, but it did not stop the advance of two couples who wanted the seats on the aisle side of where we were sitting. Apparently they believed these were the best seats in the house. The woman at the front of their little column marched right up and claimed Lorie’s seat, actually beginning to hand me our satchel so she could sit in Lorie’s seat. I tried to politely indicate that my wife had been sitting there and would return momentarily. The woman would have nothing of the sort, glaring at me then turning toward her now seated husband as if he was supposed to do something about this obstinate man who would not let her sit down. He looked at the couple beside him to see if they could scoot down a seat, but they were unwilling to move to the empty seats beside them. Feeling the pressure, he offered his wife his seat and said he would look elsewhere for a place to sit. At that point I intervened, glad for an excuse to claim empty seats elsewhere from the many remaining open. I offered ours up, told everyone I was more than fine with moving so they could have their precious seats, and went to claim new ones for Lorie and myself.
While I might sound like I handled the situation with grace, and as much as I want you to think I did, internally I was seething. Whatever was in my grace account that afternoon was now fully dispensed. Had anyone else crowded in on me, spilled something on me or crossed me in some way, I fear I would have been unkind. Worse, I was vulnerable enough to have taken it out on Lorie had we disagreed about something later that afternoon.
This is why I say it only takes a moment for me to forget what my values are and the Christ to whom I am committed. This is why I say it is important for me to embed myself in a Christian community, bible study, worship and prayer so I do not forget who I am pledged to be in moments like these.
———–
Many relationships work like those playing out in that movie theatre. Even a novice observer of human relationships can see it at work if they take time to look. Someone issues commands over their environment. Their companion accommodates. Someone believes they personally bear responsibility for what takes place in their environment and initiates action. Another believes others hold the responsibility and waits to respond to what someone else initiates.
Here is a diagram that illustrates how these dynamics intersect with each other:
Across the top runs a continuum of control. The further left, the more adaptive and accommodating a person tends to be in that particular relationship. The more to the right, the more a person attempts to command and control. The left side shows another continuum, this one showing the center of responsibility. The more a person takes personal responsibility, the higher up they move on the continuum. The more they look to others for responsibility and initiative, the lower they move on the continuum. The intersection, then, where these dynamics meet, maps out the gifts and differences people bring to their relationships and communities. I attached silly names to each quadrant as reminders of what happens when people begin to grate on each other and forcefulness of their style comes into play. The names turtle and skunk are attached to the top continuum indicating how a person views control. Turtles pull their heads in and sulk. Skunks spray their environment.
I developed this diagram from several sources, chief among them are lectures from Willis Breckbill, one of my mentors, now retired after serving as the conference minister for Indiana Michigan Mennonite Conference. He pointed out that turtles might marry one another, and a skunk might marry a turtle, but if two skunks marry, one of them must act as a turtle in order for the marriage to work. I would add that regardless of whether this is workplace team, family, marriage, service organization or church, you cannot escape these relationship dynamics. If you are going to see any of them last in a long-term and covenantal fashion, you must work to soften the rough edges of yourself, even as others do the same– so that the benefits brought by each style can be had by all. The fuel for this, of course, is grace.
In my marriage Lorie tends to be more direct and I tend to be more accommodating. This does not mean I don’t have desires or that Lorie is inflexible. I am simply describing how we function in our relationship. When we are out of touch with grace she can get a little skunky and I can sulk like a turtle with his head encased in his shell. Yet, when we soften ourselves and show grace to one another, Lorie benefits from my instincts to be flexible and I benefit from her instincts to hold out for one’s expectations. When we call on grace we both benefit and we become a formidable and closely-knit team.
This plays out in a congregation as well. Those who desire control over their circumstances want to debate issues and move on. They are pretty confident they will win the debate anyway so they relish and dive into good arguments. “Put the issues on the table!” they say. “Let’s have it out and be done with it.” They figure they can work out relationships after the dust settles. If losers do not want to live in peace afterwards then that is their problem. And, if they happen to lose the debate, then all those wrong-headed people at their (former) church can have their stupid old church. They will find another one that agrees with them. Or, perhaps they will start their own church.
Those who tilt toward accommodation tend to be quiet when others call for open debate. They are the first to defer to the stronger opinions of others. They try to make peace or try not to get in the way–to the point they lose touch with their own opinions and/or feelings until after everyone else has moved on without them. Then, when they finally figure out their preferences it sounds as if they hold everyone else back. “You had a chance to say what you were thinking. Why didn’t you weigh in then?” they are told. But the truth is they were either too busy trying to help others get along, or they were too afraid of being trampled under the forceful opinions of others to be a full participant in the conversation. We must also note that many accommodating people disappear altogether in these moments–waiting to see how it all turns out. If they see a peaceful community continuing into the future they will re-engage, but they will not be part of bringing it into being.
Can you see how each style grates on the others if not for grace providing lubrication for those relationships, fueling the needed appreciation for the benefits each style brings to the community? Where would we be if it were not for the strengths that others bring that compensate for our weaknesses? To be Christian, in part, is to keep returning to the Source of all grace, and to be the people who make families, workplaces and congregations work in spite of where we find ourselves and others as skunks or turtles. We are the ones called to show what grace can do.
———-
This is an important discussion for a congregation seeking its next pastor, trying to discern how it will reach out to its community, and considering if it needs to adapt its structure in some way. These need to be careful, guided and deeply spiritual discussions where all our gifts provide benefit, where we are patient with one another, where we encourage and trust our leaders, and where leader exemplify the grace and peace needed to lead well. In short, we need to draw on the grace of God.
It is good, then, to consider scripture texts where God’s people work together or need to make a decision, and to try to learn from their examples. Central to all these texts–the beginning place for our instruction–is Acts 4:32-37. And central within the text is the phrase great grace was upon them all.
“Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus, sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.”
This early account, summarizing wonderful ministry experiences of the first ever congregation, has been used to justify almost anything a congregation wishes to do. It has been used to justify both capitalism and Marxism. Church leaders who want to establish their apostolic authority appeal to this text, as do those who want church life to be communal. This text is also used to browbeat fellow Christians into being more evangelistic, more generous or more gracious to one another.
As always, we are helped by asking why Luke provides us with this summary. We readily discover that Luke shows us that what Jesus promised in Acts1:8 is coming true, and in wondrous ways. Luke provides evidence that Jesus was who he said he was, that Jesus was establishing his the church through his disciples, and that the Spirit that rested on him as he began this movement now rested on them as they continued it. It was this gift of the Holy Spirit, as much as anything else, that constituted the great grace that was upon them.
If we look more closely we can learn a little more about this congregation and the great grace that was upon them.
1. The disciples continued the rhythm of Jesus’ ministry. When we study the ministry of Jesus we find he followed a consistent rhythm of ministry: solitude and prayer followed by time in community, and then engaging in public ministry. This kept Jesus operational, in shape to continue ministering rather than collapsing in exhaustion, or becoming addicted to the adrenaline of performing for others in order to receive their praise. It appears from these early chapters in Acts that the disciples were doing the same; extensive time together in fellowship and prayer, followed by works of ministry, then returning to the cloister of a prayerful community once more. Grace flows from this rhythm because it keeps us in touch with the grace we received, preparing us to display this grace to others.
2. The disciples continued the rhythm of generosity they had always practiced. Deep within the DNA of an observant Jew was the calendar of Sabbaths, feasts, and the generosity they made possible. By not working one out of seven days, and by observing all the feasts, and by rotating land into and out of crop production so it too could rest TIME was freed up to rest and be available In service to others. By using this time to gather for worship where faith commitments would be recited and expounded upon, they developed an INCLINATION to be generous and merciful, turning themselves into ministry-oriented people. And by living in the rhythm of not taking all they could take because they religiously chose not to work all the time, not gleaning to the corners of their fields so that landless people might also have a food source, and then bringing the first and best of what they did take to God’s house as an act of worship, they developed RESOURCE for ministry. This means observant Jews regularly supplied TIME, INCLINATION and RESOURCE to form a ministering community. These early church members were observant Jews. They simply continued with what they had always practiced. The Law no longer compelled them, grace did. They chose to continue because God’s Spirit and its resulting great grace rested upon them.
Luke does us the favor of reporting how it worked, and providing a model for our own affairs.
Do you want to see your congregation get through a season of important decisions? Do you want to do it in a way that shows you are in touch with God’s great grace? Do you want to do it in such a way that the written records of it describe a time of holy activity and manifestations of God’s Spirit among you? Then you must commit yourselves to the Jesus rhythm of ministry and this ongoing rhythm of generosity. In this way you keep adding to the grace account. Grace will provide the needed oil to lubricate the rough edges of your personalities. Without it, we will grate upon each other. Without it, instead of reports of your proceedings telling of wonder and awe, they will tell of how wonderfully awful it all became.
May God’s grace be renewed in your hearts and in all your affairs. Today and always. A-men.
-mark l vincent
“It” is our value proposition
All of the following ads have the word it in the brand promise:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cnVCFYZSjk
GATORADE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDSnjjdGh5M
COCA-COLA (a classic)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pp5dZZBKTXQ
NIKE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-l2ljY2qDgQ&feature=related
AMERICAN EXPRESS CARDS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dI-xHMM8wXE
McDONALDS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJMsFGH4eoQ
BURGER KING
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTu63IE6BfY
BUDWEISER
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILafW1RHPq4
HOOVER
And here is a link to an ad for Post-it Notes, a product with it right in the name:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sohQCpKslXg
I put together this list as our organizational development firm, Design Group International, developed its own value proposition and brand promise. We settled on the sentence:
Design Group International helps organizations and their leaders discover clarity and implement solutions.
A shorter catch phrase we settled on is:
It begins with design.
We had an extensive internal debate about the proper use of the word it because it offers no definition. Do we mean the client’s success, their fulfillment of mission, their objectives? We did not choose the word it because we could not decide, but because each respective client provides their own definition of what they need. Our value proposition is that we help clients get it done. In a number of cases we also helped the client discover what it was they needed to address to get unstuck and find new levels of success.
Our use of the word it, a word that requires an antecedent to make any sense, points to the important distinction between offering a product and guiding a process. If we only offered a product, we would tell a prospective client they need it. But when we offer a process, the client has to tell us what it is they need. Design Group International guides processes of discovery and implementation so that what the client desires is what gets achieved. I’m glad to be part of it.
-mark l vincent
What is God doing and how can I be part of it?
Storms cancelled church services this past Sunday. Here is the un-preached sermon.
What is God doing and how can I be part of it?
a sermon from Luke 1:67-80
Long-time church members have a pretty good idea of what an endearing and long-tenured pastor of a congregation does. Their mental pictures of what such a pastor looks like might be different. They might have a different gender in mind, but what they think that pastor does is pretty consistent.
Church members want their pastor to be present with them in their community–a fixture so to speak. They want their pastor to preach effectively, intelligent but not overly intellectual, studious but mostly practical in their preaching, friendly to everyone, able to help the congregation focus on outreach and growth without making anyone feel guilty about their fears or lack of involvement. They want someone who develops other leaders, and who is authentic more than anything.
The priest Zechariah seemed to be such a religious leader. And interestingly, it seems that God also looks for and honors leaders like him. You can read about Zechariah in the first chapter of Luke’s gospel. Together, with his wife Elizabeth, they endeared themselves to the people they served in the hill country of Judea.
Background to the text
To understand a bit more about Zechariah and Elizabeth, we do well to start with the book of Malachi, the book that closes the period of the old covenant, what we refer to as the Old Testament.
The prophet Malachi delivers an indictment against a corrupt priesthood. He uses the image of God as a Father who is being dishonored by his son. The rest of the letter tells us how the priests and ultimately the people of God, were dishonoring God, their father.
These priests brought meaningless and worthless offerings to worship — their last and worst instead of their first and best (ch.1). Malachi viewed this terrible example of religious leadership as inappropriate and incomplete instruction, instruction that caused God’s people to stumble. The priests of Malachi’s day were teaching God’s people that inappropriate honoring of God is acceptable (ch.2). Malachi also viewed this as acting treacherously toward God—as if a son acted treacherously toward his father.
Malachi believed that the priests of his day continued this treacherous behavior by treating marriage casually (ch.2), that is, treating the marriage relationship just as casually as they treated their relationship with God. The Hebrew Scriptures are full of comparisons of the husband-wife relationship to that of God and God’s people. These were to be covenants of life-long faithfulness, and once again the priesthood was corrupting the message by casually dismissing their spouses when they tired of them. The priests were doing evil and calling it good.
Malachi concludes this indictment against the priesthood by returning to the theme of giving. In addition to treating worship and marriage casually, the priests were not returning the firstfruits to God. A key if not THE key evidence of a heart relationship with God is participation in the tithe. Jesus affirms this principle in his teaching–not as a matter of legalism, but again, as a sign of living in relationship with God that funds actions of justice and mercy (Matthew 23:23). We see the early church continuing this practice immediately in the opening chapters of Acts as they brought proceeds from their economic activity to fund the work of the church, especially showing mercy to those in extreme need (Acts 4-6).
Malachi ends with a prophecy:
“Behold, I am going to send you Elijah, the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. And he will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the land with a curse.” (4:5,6 NASB)
Malachi is not just referring to fathers/sons in getting their hearts reunited, but God and God’s people. Both are intended. And here is the connection to Zechariah: the angel Gabriel uses these same words (luke 1:16,17) when making the announcement that Zechariah and Elizabeth will have a son after years of infertility and in spite of their advanced age.
* * * * *
In the years after Israel was scattered from its homeland and the original temple was destroyed, the Jews set up communities and places to gather for worship. We call them synagogues to this day, and they are the model on which Christian congregations (the ekklesia) were built. The Jewish priesthood scattered to the villages and nations where the people lived and brought leadership to these synagogues. This is what Zechariah was doing in Judah.
When the second temple was built in the years prior to the birth of Jesus, temple service began again, with priests taking turns coming to Jerusalem to serve for a time at the temple. Zechariah was carrying out just such a special duty when he was visited by Gabriel and told he and Elizabeth would have a son. This son would be the means for Malachi’s prophesy to be fulfilled. Luke 1:6 tells us that Zechariah and Elizabeth stood in contrast to the corrupt priests in Malachi. They were righteous before God and walked blamelessly. They were the type of religious leaders God honored.
* * * * *
By Zechariah’s day, there was significant tension within Judaism. A Greek translation of what we call the Old Testament, The Septuagint (LXX), was developed for Jews who had not lived in the homeland and who had not learned Hebrew or Aramaic. This felt like cultural accommodation to some, and more traditional Jews looked down their noses at the ones influenced by Greek (Hellenic) culture. We see this same tension in the early church when the Greek speaking widows were not being cared for in the same way that long-time Jerusalem residents were when they become widows (Acts 6). This intercultural and perhaps inter-generational tension was tearing at the fabric of the religion. Yet, here came the promise that God was sending someone who would turn the hearts of sons and fathers back to each other–a renewal most profoundly experienced at the Jordan River when crowds of people came to hear John and then Jesus preach that the kingdom of heaven was at hand.
So, it is in this setting that the angel comes, surprises Zechariah with this news, and then makes him unable to speak until his son is named because Zechariah did not immediately believe the news.
The scene of Zechariah’s first words after being struck mute is at the naming of his son John. Everyone in the village gathers’ round. Perhaps Mary was there also, still visiting her cousin Elizabeth as her own pregnancy developed. The phrase in Luke 1:57 that the neighbors and relatives were “rejoicing with her” paints the scene that this was a beloved couple who had operated faithfully as they served God in this village.
Zechariah surprises everyone by not naming his son after himself, and when asked to confirm that this was indeed the name, Zechariah finds his tongue loosed and he begins to sing. Once again, just like Hannah and Mary, at a moment of high joy, a person who loves God and has aligned their life to participate in what God is doing breaks into song.
Here is what he sang:
“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
For He has visited us and accomplished redemption for His people,
And has raised up a horn of salvation for us
In the house of David His servant —
As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from of old —
Salvation from our enemies,
And from the hand of all who hate us;
To show mercy toward our fathers,
And to remember His holy covenant,
The oath which He swore to Abraham our father,
To grant us that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies,
Might serve Him without fear,
In holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.
And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
For you will go on before the Lord to prepare his ways;
To give to His people the knowledge of salvation
By the forgiveness of their sins,
Because of the tender mercy of our God,
With which the Sunrise from on high will visit us,
To shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death,
To guide our feet into the way of peace”
-(Luke 1:67-79 NASB)
What is God doing and how can I be part of it?
What enemies leave you in fear? Terrorists who want to destroy your culture? Disease that ravages your body? Mental illness that holds a loved one in slavery? Temptation that won’t leave you alone?
Zechariah knew what God was doing. God was bringing salvation—especially salvation from enemies like these (v.71). In Jesus, fear of your enemies no longer needs to drive you. You now can live in hope. The coming of Jesus — his death, resurrection, ascension, and promised return — ultimately removes these enemies.
Because we live in a fallen world, where the full work of redemption is more our hope than our reality, it is difficult to get our minds around this–especially when the enemy in whatever form is near at hand and seems to be succeeding. Here is how I’ve come to understand it:
- Jesus helps me in the moment of facing an enemy, if I remember to call on him as my Savior and Lord.
- Jesus has helped me in eternity, even when I don’t remember and even if my enemy wins in this life.
There is both a NOW and a NOT YET to this as there are so many things. Perhaps a phrase I use a lot would be of some use here: “I live in the now not the not yet, but the not yet is in my heart now.” I don’t know where I first learned it, but I find it helpful perspective as I participate in God’s saving work now, and while I wait for the full fruit of it to come.
Zechariah also knew that God saves us from unholiness and unrighteousness (v.75) Given Zechariah and Elizabeth’s reputation, this is a subject Zechariah would care about greatly. He knew holiness and righteousness are not determined by whether one worships at the temple or synagogue, speaks Hebrew or Greek, one’s physical location, or the generation one is from. Instead, it is the commitment to set one’s life apart to serve God. Setting apart in this way is done through renewal of one’s heart and changed behavior instead of external trappings and traditions (see Ephesians 4:17-24). Zechariah celebrates that setting oneself apart for God would be more possible than ever.
Zechariah knew that God was offering forgiveness of sin (v.77). Here, even before the gospel message is preached in the Judean countryside by his son John, we see where John might have picked up the message. Forgiveness makes the changed life possible. It is the source of renewal. Forgiveness gives us the needed experience with mercy. Armed with experience and knowledge of mercy, people can become God’s servants, extensions of God’s mercy into the lives of others.
This is what God is doing. This is how we become part of it! In your embrace of the mercy God offers you become an instrument of God’s holiness and righteousness.
* * * *
So, Once again, we see that asking “what is God doing?” is not a difficult mystery to solve. Neither is asking how we can be part of it. Zechariah, the priest who opens the New Testament along with his wife Elizabeth, provides a family portrait that contrasts with the religious community with which the Old Testament closes. Our life in giving and worship demonstrates whether we have understood the mercy we received from God. When we respond to God’s mercy through our life in giving and worship, we make it possible to provide a community that extends God’s mercy, as we meet together, as we encourage one another, as we sharpen each other, and as we make it possible to care for widows, orphans, strangers, and any other person bereft of what God offers to all of us.
If you have not yet received God’s forgiveness, open your heart and receive it. If you are disconnected from God, then begin the practices of gratitude and love for the people of God once more. And as you do, watch joy and transformation unfold all over again.
-mark l vincent
An ecu network of capital what?
We have been assisting the Ecumenical Stewardship Center, based in Indianapolis, on a number of fronts (www.stewardshipresources.org). One of them is developing a network of capital campaign providers who connect to the Christian denominational families. We think they need to strengthen their place in the marketplace because their services are excellent and they usually provide a less expensive and supportive alternative to the selling of services and production goals of some commercial firms. Here are some frequently asked questions and answers about this new service available through the Ecumenical Stewardship Center.
Why form a network of capital campaign providers among participating denominations? Denominationally-affiliated congregations make more use of capital campaign assistance than ever before, and from an increasing variety of service providers. These providers may or may not adhere to the standards or expectations set in place by a particular denomination.
Persons and organizations within denominations that provide capital campaign services previously had little knowledge of each other. By linking them together through the Ecumenical Stewardship Center, they can assist one another, discover efficiencies, establish partnerships, improve methodology and create larger pools of consultative help for specialized situations. It also makes it possible to serve a larger market and make denominationally-connected providers more competitive with para-church and commercial providers.
When money is paid to para-church or commercial providers, that money is no longer available to recirculate within that denomination’s economy. None of that money circulates back as loans to churches, contributions to mission, support of church camps or for covering administrative costs for the denomination. When a denominational provider serves a congregation as capital campaign counsel, the fees circulate within the denominational family, coming back to serve sister congregations and organizations.
The current marketplace of capital campaign providers for congregations can be described as:
Solo operators — Solo operators usually prefer to do the fundraising portion of a campaign alone. These consultants are usually local and part-time. Their fees are usually subsidized via private income.
Loss leaders — These firms provide free or discounted capital campaign service tied to paid services such as architecture, construction or financing debt the campaign does not cover.
Denominational campaign services — They provide process centered and relational fundraising for congregations, with a deep understanding of the denomination’s culture and polity. These services have been subsidized by denominations in the past, but increasingly must earn their own way.
For-profit consulting firms — These firms, whether para-church or commercial, usually employ a sales force and professional campaign consultants. Fees for these firms are usually the highest, usually involving a proprietary method that is sold repeatedly.
Denominational campaign services must compete in this marketplace. Denominational services focus on the congregation and can build on multiple relationships that are already in place because of a common history. This gives the consultants the opportunity to be process-centered and relational, providing an important distinctive within this marketplace. A tighter coordination of denominationally based capital campaign services strengthens this option within the marketplace.
Who plays what role in this network?
- Providers maintain their service while participating in the network. Participation lets them draw on resources available from other providers, even to the point of borrowing other consultants when needed.
- Denominations that do not have their own capital campaign service can participate, recommending this service to their congregations.
- The Ecumenical Stewardship Center serves as the organizational home for this network of providers, and offers a referral service to congregations that contact the Ecumenical Stewardship Center looking for assistance.
What would show that this network is successful?
- Providers of capital campaign services with a denominational connection have a stronger and broader network of resources to call upon. This includes a deeper bench of skilled consultants.
- Those firms with denominational connections gain administrative efficiency, cost controls, similar expectations of consultant qualifications, preferred rates for constituent congregations and increasing similarity of quality and look/feel of campaigns. It also provides a stronger brand differentiation among the variety of providers that seek to sell their services.
- The campaigns serviced by this network of providers would feature the following distinctives that benefit both denominations and congregations:
Access to and involvement of the best in stewardship education providers.
Access to qualified capital campaign consultants with significant experience in fundraising.
Access to remedial resources and organizational development assistance when needed.
Ability to conduct annual campaigns and comprehensive stewardship audits.
Commitment to maintaining denominational distinction and relationships.
Where can we locate this service? The Ecumenical Stewardship Center ( www.stewardshipresources.org ), provides a referral service for participating providers. It also convenes providers annually for professional development and coordination of the service.
What is the charge for these services? The typical rate corresponds to a minimum campaign fee or .03 of the congregation’s operational budget, whichever number is greater. Campaign Readiness Assessments and development of campaign materials are additional.
-mark l vincent
In praise of our Peanut
Our daughter, Autumn, was called Peanut from the moment she emerged from her mother. Our doctor gave her the name in honor of her tiny frame. Autumn is now an adult, short in stature but mighty in spirit.
I’m taking a moment to celebrate being her dad because I admire her strength and resolve, not just to be a good friend and loving family member, but to make a difference in the lives of children. As a teenager she began describing a call to love children that she believed came from God. She sought certification to work in day care centers while she was still in high school, became a line therapist for autistic children as a means to earn extra tuition money while in college, and took the early morning shift and other odd hours at Alverno College’s Child Development Center to keep building up her teaching experience. Her internships and student teaching put her in several Milwaukee Public Schools. Now, she is in the first year of teaching in a Head Start classroom in Madison. The fruit of all this experience is one strong young lady, no matter how quiet she might seem to others.
During these years, she has:
- been strangled
- had her fingers bent back
- been given a black eye
- had her glasses yanked off and broken
- been peed on
- called every obscenity
None of this troubles her overmuch. Where some would quit at the first physical altercation, Autumn just checks to make sure she has good insurance coverage. What bothers her is that someone might think she isn’t experienced enough yet, or if she is not carrying out her work perfectly. No wonder the children hug her and say, “I love you Autumn!” We echo their joy in having her in our lives.
Lorie and I raised one strong Peanut. She is making a difference. Thanks be to God.
-mark l vincent
I’m all mixed up now
If wicked and naked and bad are good,
And decadent, sinful and guilty pleasure describe food;
If smashing and rad and awfully are what’s great,
And sick and tight and nasty indicate first rate;
Then place me on the list of hungry, wicked, naked, decadent and nasty sons of my father’s britches.
-mark l vincent
Your honor, I object to the RFP
Requests for Proposals (RFP’s) appear to be increasingly ignored by the consulting firms that receive them, and most tellingly, by the organizations that issue them. While we do respond to all client inquiries, and want to do so helpfully and graciously, we rarely follow the requested format of the RFP. We need to put our expertise on display if we are going to win the business and most RFPs prevent it. In addition, our experience is that many organizations make their decision about who to hire for reasons not expressed in the RFP. In my conversations with other organizational development firms, I find we are far from alone in our response.
Here are our reasons:
- It is a rare organization that can articulate its objectives well enough to put them in an RFP. Too often, the organization puts presenting issues in the RFP, but it is the real and hidden issues that really need to be addressed and that ultimately drive the decision of who to hire, regardless of what the RFP says.
- The expectations in the RFP are usually greater than the organization is prepared to pay to achieve. When this happens some of the most competent firms are immediately overpriced, and the hiring organizations signs the cheapest operator–someone who needs the work rather than someone who can perform the work. All too often the result is not achieving the objectives of the RFP and poisoning the organization’s opinion of consulting in general.
- Many RFPs seek a contractor rather than a consultant without realizing it. Contracting work is good and is a staple of what we do, but it usually comes after we have worked with our client(s) to figure out what needs to be done. Many organizations put out their RFPs with extremely specific sets of objectives and strictures on the work. This is good when there is specific work to be done that addresses a problem. It is not good when the organization is trying to figure out what the problem is and how it might be addressed. Simply put, consulting usually comes before contracting and many RFPs expect the reverse.
- Many RFPs expect the consultant to check their expertise at the door. A lot of consulting expertise is inquiry, research, probing, conversation, and developing ideas beside those closest to the issues. The RFP process holds prospective consultants at such a distance that they cannot do their most important work, again diminishing the value of following through on the RFP. How can an RFP achieve its purpose if it declares that breakthrough strategies are unwelcome? Or worse, if it declares that it wants the consultant to do what the organization has already repeatedly done and failed, but this time to do it successfully?
- The RFP is a consumptive rather than collaborative approach to organizational development. Yes, too many consulting firms are also consumer oriented which means the organization and the consultant use each other mutually for their own ends. The attitude seems to be “no-one got hurt,” so we assume this is the normal course. But when organization and consultant treat each other as disposable and interchangeable, how can creative, contextualized work get done that grows a specific organization within its specific market with its unique niche? This is not a call to return to collusion. We only have to look to Arthur Anderson and Enron to see how destructive that can be. But the RFP process needs to provide opportunity to develop trust so that the real work can be identified and completed–done on time, according to the objectives, and at the cost the organization is prepared to pay.
We are happy to consider the RFPs that come our way, but our integrity does not let us respond to those that come to us in the form of balls and chains. We would rather receive packets of seeds.
-mark l vincent
Evidence of a buyer’s market
It took 2.5 years to get an offer on our home. When I began writing this blog entry it looked like we would escape with our shirts, but no equity. Now, the buyers have walked because we would not invest 25% of our home’s value to replace perfectly good working items that might have to be replaced eight to ten years from now. It truly is a buyer’s market.
Along this long journey we acquired the following observations:
- Banks are not our friends. Even long-time relationships with banks are no guarantee of continued levels of service or access to funds. Many who previously could borrow against their assets, and who have pristine credit scores have been snubbed during this economic downturn. It is not personal at all and there is no need to resent the fact that banking is a business. We just need to match the businesslike aspects of the banking relationship, and be ready to change banks or reduce banking services if need be.
- Our real wealth is family, friends and quality relationships. Focusing on relationships provides a far less expensive way to live than trying to accumulate materials items as a sign of wealth.
- (We knew this already) Real estate provides a home, not a nest egg. Owning and then selling a home might mean recovering some of the investment, but the home is far more a means for living one’s life than it is an income producer for my senior years.
At some point Lorie and I will be able to sell our home. At some point we will likely purchase some real estate again. We intend for these lessons to provide light for that path.
-mark l vincent
Duh, yes, the kingdom of God is supposed to grow. A sermon from Matthew 4:18-25
Last in a series on getting re-acquainted with Jesus.
An effort to become re-acquainted with Jesus blows fresh and welcome winds in the life of a congregation. It takes us back to a time before institutions, before denominations, before programs, versions of the bible and variations in worship style. In short, we leave behind those things that divide us and find ourselves at the beginning of a movement that brings much hope to the world. In becoming reacquainted we do our best to strip all these add-ons away and to bear witness to the person and words of Jesus.
The message at the heart of Jesus’ ministry was Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. This is how Matthew introduces his public ministry. We learned this message applies to everyone and for everything they did, did not do, or was done to them. We discovered we corrupt this message when we divide it apart or emphasize one part over the other.
We were present at the Jordan river as Jesus formally entered the kingdom he now offers to us–through his own baptism. We bore witness to the presence of the Triune God as Jesus emerged from the river water. We were with Jesus in a time of tempting, not just marveling at how knowledge of God’s word was a great help to him as it can be to us. We marveled that Jesus chose to spend time in the wilderness rather than exploit his initial popularity following his baptism.
And, we watched him establish his residence in the obscure Galilean town of Capernaum, fulfilling the ministry of John the Baptist as Jesus also began preaching Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand.
In getting re-acquainted with Jesus we were also reminded of our heart posture as we enter the kingdom Jesus offers (see picture):
This posture should mark more than a moment of conversion. It is the posture of our heart as we live a Christian life. This heart posture helps us keep perspective on the purpose of Christ’s church. It also helps Christian communities discern their way forward in unity.
Here is an example: Our firm, Design Group International, has been working with a denominational region of churches for about four years. It was a journey of breaking down walls that grew up between its personnel and its entities—walls built up almost entirely of superficial hurts and silly druthers. The breakthrough to a new unity and cooperation began when key staff and board members got on their knees and offered themselves to God’s service once more—no longer seeking to preserve their positions and their incomes, but working to preserve the life and witness of their congregations. Out of this renewed posture of the heart they were able to begin building a new unity around the mission they believe Christ gives them. I was present with them as they celebrated their renewed sense of mission together. The difference in the atmosphere was palpable. Gone were the tense hallway conversations. In their place was song, prayer and celebration of strengthened efforts in ministry.
With this backdrop of renewed acquaintance we now turn to the ministry of Jesus. The scene is written in Matthew 4:18-25, as Jesus calls his first disciples by the Sea of Galilee and then begins a ministry of teaching and healing the crowds that come to see him.
The ministry of Jesus is simply described:
- Calling people to join him in his life of ministry. Reading ahead to Matthew 10, we discover his method of calling people to join him was followed by modeling of how ministry is done, and then sending followers out to do ministry.
- Itinerant teaching. Jesus took time to teach his followers the implications of living out the gospel message. That the Sermon on the Mount follows these verses is no accident, as it is the core teaching Jesus offered on how to live as a person in his kingdom.
- Praying for and healing the sick.
It is into this ministry that Jesus invites us to follow. It is this ministry that he models for his disciples. It is this ministry that he sends his disciples to do. Here then is an important question: Can you can say A-men to this list of three items that make up the ministry of Jesus?
Although an acquaintance with Jesus has a profound impact, what Jesus asks is simply expressed. Being acquainted with Jesus means repenting. It means aligning your life and allegiance with his kingdom. It means being sent in his ministry.
His invitation confronts you starkly. It blocks your path. It forces your choice.
There might be religion without these items, but there would not be Christianity.
Hearing this, many of us might feel helpless or guilty, certain we have not done what we could. Receiving the good news is one thing. Living it out in front of and offering it to others is something else. We might even feel despair over ever feeling qualified to offer healing to someone.
In answer to this concern we can again turn to Jesus who models the way for us. We already saw how he rationed his energy, living in a rhythm of ministry, rest/reflection and time in a community with friends. We also saw how he limited his scope of responsibility by basing himself in obscure Capernaum rather than seeking to maximize influence among political or commercial leaders. Now–in this text–we see him remaining deliberate and focused as he expands the reach of his ministry—a ministry intended to touch all people for all time.
1. He focused his time around a small group whom he expected would also do the same.
2. He focused his ministry on:
- his group of followers
- the crowd that sought him out.
- the individual with whom he came into contact.
3. He focused his activity–teaching the crowd and providing compassionate care for afflicted people.
Jesus did not do much else. It was enough, and perhaps all he could manage as a fully human person. His focused approached provided maximum impact and it grew from a sustainable rhythm by which Jesus focused his life. His manner of ministry provides the model for us to follow.
Perhaps you remember the statement where your greatest joy intersects with the needs of the world–enter your journey at the crossroads. Your use of this formula helps you enter this rhythm Jesus shows us. Spending yourself in ministry at this intersection is enough. It is not good to do nothing and it is not good to do many things. Find your arena for ministry and engage it with your whole heart. Then rest and reflect. Spend time in a loving community where your accountability rests. This is enough.
My greatest joy is seeing organizations and their leaders function in a healthy and sustainable way—especially organizations that desire to be part of God’s kingdom work. This is what I do. It is enough. I need the silent, unstructured time in between to think, to pray, to write—to get space so I can do my work well. My primary relationships are my colleagues in Design Group International, my nine nephews and four nieces, my parents and in-laws, and most importantly, my wife, and the two households of our adult children. It helps me live in this rhythm of being a sent one of Jesus. What is your intersection? What are you doing in the in-between times?
________
Getting acquainted with Jesus and his ministry provides some implications we might consider for a congregation’s life. Let me state it as if I were the pastor:
1. If you come to me with complaints about this church, another church or your Christian brothers or sisters, it is my responsibility as a minister of the gospel to ask after the posture of your heart and your engagement in the ministry of Jesus. If this is properly in place we can then address your concern–if you still have one. The difference is that this congregation is not here to serve you. Rather, it is here to support you as you offer yourself in service to others in the name of Christ–and thereby find yourself served and refreshed. The only way we can adequately address concerns is if we first are clear about whose church this is, and share a common perspective about its mission and our role. The pastor’s job, as the resident shepherd, is to help you become spiritually mature in this way.
2. If you want to have a long-time relationship with a pastor, you must let her or him follow the Jesus model of ministry too. The pastor needs to focus on a group of leaders, likely to be the leadership board, who in turn will offer themselves to others. The pastor will need to devote his or her public energy to prayer and ministry of the word. Developing these leaders and engaging in substantial public ministry will be enough. If the pastor pursues this type of ministry as their full-time work, give themselves fully to it, and , in fact, are expected and resourced by you to perform in such a way, you will be among the healthiest, unified and strongest of congregations.
I’ll try to make this same point with a true story. I once received a letter of complaint from a parishioner, stating her expectation that I would take a moment to greet and shake the hand of her elderly, wheelchair-bound father. “Is it too much to expect you would do this?” she asked. “It is not unreasonable,” she said pointedly.
My response was that I enjoyed every moment I spent with her Father, and that I was committed to be among the last, if not the last to leave every Sunday. I would stay and greet and talk with anyone. However, were I to spend a mere sixty seconds with everyone following worship, I would be there for at least two hours. If I spent thirty seconds it would take an hour. Fifteen seconds of superficial conversation with each person would mean a thirty minute receiving line. Most persons, including her father, would be unwilling to wait this long just to shake my hand.
I tried to express all this gently. To her credit, my correspondent backed off from her expectation, actually stepping forward to strengthen the hospitality of our congregation. She began to see that the friendly face and ministering presence of our congregation was dependent on how she chose to be a sent person rather than on unrealistic performance demands on her pastor.
If we do not get this right, we will burn through a well-intentioned pastor. Worse, we will be unable to call a seasoned, skilled pastor to minister. They will sniff this problem out and turn down the opportunity. If we do get this Jesus style of ministry right, a new minister who shares this commitment will thrive. Even more, we will make ourselves an attractive destination for those seeking to develop a relationship with God.
So . . .before we walk away from this subject let us remember we who repented and entered the kingdom, we who live with this prostrate posture of the heart, are sent ones who leverage our gifts and talents for the healing of others. Discovering how you will do this is the second part of your spiritual journey (the first being your embrace of the gospel). your acquaintance with Jesus forces this question. Your refusal to figure it out will make you the typical disgruntled church member–no matter how piously you dress it up.
-mark l vincent
Satan B-gone!
The following is a sermon from Matthew 4:1-11, part of a series I’m currently preaching on “Getting Re-acquainted with Jesus.”
I was recently front row center at large Christian university’s chapel service. The worship band was large too—twelve or so young people from at least four ethnic groups I could identify—leading us in to declare our love for God and our service to him. The volume was intense, and I could feel the sound waves from the massive woofers in my chest as this mass of young adults sang their love of God. The music shifted from rock to funk to hymnody, and finally, to a simple acapella prayer chorus. Then the place fell silent, ready to hear the preacher. We were not disappointed.
The worship I enjoy most.
I make no secret that I enjoy this type of worship the most – a gathering that:
- Demonstrates the broadness of God’s kingdom,
- Draws across many traditions and styles, yet authentically focuses on bringing glory to God.
- Is filled with young people given permission to find their voice as they participate in the planning and leading of worship.
And yet, I am sometimes reluctant to describe how much joy I gain—even as I picture my own young adult children worshiping in this way, and delighting in knowing their commitment to Christ and service to others. My reluctance comes because I love Christ and the kingdom more than I love my personal experience within the kingdom. I do not want to make the mistake of confusing the two!
I am widely traveled enough within the larger world of Christianity to realize my description of this chapel service stirs up feelings in a congregation of other Christians. Some might be afraid that this is a worship style I would try to impose. If I try, they are determined to make it over their dead body. Others would offer the silent protest I’ve seen in other places, standing out in the foyer until they were sure the loud music ended and the young people who occupied the stage were now seated. Still others might withhold their giving as a protest against the church spending money on sound or AV equipment—as if it were their money instead of their firstfruits worship of the Lord. And still others might find themselves angry because what I am describing is their worship style of preference and they feel deprived of joy because others are enforcing their preferences.
Were we not careful, we would lapse into open debate, speaking harshly about each other’s points of view, or worse, casting those preferences in moral terms—as if those who agree with us are God’s faithful ones, and those who disagree are unfaithful to Christ and should not be trusted to have anything further to say. Perhaps, since we no longer view our opponents as Christian, we come to believe our fellowship in the same congregation must end. The result? Sisters and brothers in Christ end up as enemies.
Oh, we might say we wish each other well. We might plaster a smile (more like a pained grimace) on our face as we take our love, our giving and our effort to another place. But there is nothing holy nor God-honoring in this!
Worship is but one area of preference.
Worship style preference is just one scenario where we might struggle with one another in this way. Truthfully, all the realms of human experience produce differences that can threaten our unity and health as a congregation.
For instance:
- Perhaps you married someone against your parents’ preference, but it turned out to be an excellent match. In the process, however, you said harsh things to one another and are now entrenched in your positions, ready to pounce and announce how right you are, even after all these years.
- Perhaps education, work or service took you places and showed you things that broke down your prejudices and exposed you to wisdom. Those experiences gave you relationships you consider a great treasure. Yet, you are surrounded by others who did not benefit from what you know and might not ever have the opportunity. As a result, their narrow band of experience views you as a threat to stability, and you feel unappreciated, stifled and quietly resentful—if you are even still here.
- Perhaps your children made choices that others have judged with total insensitivity.
- Maybe your physical condition is not understood and is also readily judged by others.
A cycle of destruction.
The results of this perceived mistreatment can produce a destructive cycle that causes further harm. The cycle proceeds like this:
- We have or don’t have experiences that others do not share.
- We speak positively about our good experiences and preferences but remain silent or speak negatively about the positive experiences of others.
- We are hurt by the silence of others or their negativity. We perceive that others are lifting up their experiences as better than our own.
- We either argue or lapse into pained silence.
- We entrench ourselves in our positions and choose to interpret anything new according to our liking.
- We choose new experiences in accord with our preferences.
- (Repeat)
And the cycle continues for as long as we can stand it. Relationships deteriorate until we leave the church with our pain-filled grimaces.
(Note: A congregation that is the result of two previous congregations makes the potential for this cycle even greater. A congregation in a rural environment makes the results of this cycle even more painful, because the leaving is visible and there are few places for the leaving person to go.)
The harmful effects of a destructive cycle.
We need to be more aware of the harmful effects of this cycle:
- Newcomers and new believers cannot understand why all this is so important and why so much time is spent on all this pettiness. They end up feeling as if they can never be part of the community. The new life and energy they bring is damaged and dampened.
- We saddle clergy with the responsibility to negotiate some way forward between all this misery and sorrow to which we are so committed. Ministry and good preaching is diminished because what should be the time available for prayer and reflection is consumed by administrative meetings, congregational meetings, anxiety-filled hallway meetings, and attempts to placate hard-liners who expect the whole church to share a narrow and selfish point of view. There is nothing more exhausting to the most skilled pastor.
- We stop inviting people into a community of faith and our witness is lost.
- We reduce involvement, leave with the intent to be less involved elsewhere, or we join the spiritual but not religious crowd.
When this cycle kicks in we end up with a good number of people licking their wounds, even while they cannot comprehend how their words and actions have wounded others who are now licking theirs.
It becomes critical for us to bring this to an end—and we are responsible to do so.
An approach to ending the destructive cycle.
Upon hearing these words some might hope they can finally talk about these issues and decide once and for all who is right. Others might prefer to keep stuffing the issues into a closet. But the perspective I offer is that most of these matters are unimportant. We commit an act of selfishness when we force them into the open or force them into the closet.
Unless we acknowledge how our words and actions bring harm to the body when we raise our preferences above our Christian calling, we end up using our preferences as the means to mediate the grace of God to one another. And as we withhold that grace from those who life is different from ours, all connection to and witness of the saving work of Christ is crowded out. We end up blocking the wonderful work God wants to do within us and within this body.
Good pastoral leadership will be willing to discuss an individual’s spiritual journey and to help a person think through how God is calling them, and to know the joy of being called by God. But good pastoral leadership will also be unwilling to trot out old junk and foster a process that encourages Christian people to keep wounding one another.
The best way to set down our hurts is to understand how little they matter. To do that, instead of pushing forward without regard for what wounds us, or going backward to process those hurts all over again, we must give ourselves the option of a new beginning. We must suspend our hurtful conversations until we are re-acquainted with Jesus and his Gospel, until we have reclaimed the mission of Christ’s church (which is different from “my” church) and until we are ready to choose proper issues instead of unimportant ones.
And now we reflect on the Scripture.
This is why we are spending time in these early chapters of Matthew where there is no church, no church institutions, no hymnals, no curriculum, and no variation in worship styles. All we have is the witness that Jesus is the Messiah, the promise that repentance brings God’s great forgiveness including entrance into his kingdom, and the symbol of baptism that I have both repented and entered that kingdom.
In the previous passage we considered the baptism of Jesus. At his baptism, Jesus enters the kingdom that he establishes and invites us to follow. John the Baptist predicted it and pointed Jesus out to the gathered crowd. The Triune godhead is on display at this baptism, inviting all who witnessed it to acknowledge Jesus as the Christ. And at this powerful moment in the story, just when most church leaders would launch a worship service, initiate a program, or invite people to give in support of ministry, Jesus chooses to go on a sabbatical. He has not done much yet but there he goes, fasting and praying in the desert when there was so much pain and suffering to relieve and lives to save.
To understand why Jesus would do this, we need to be re-acquainted with him. That means learning to appreciate his rhythm of ministry, a rhythm you also find in the early church—a rhythm of intense ministry, followed by rest and reflection, followed by time in community (Jesus forms his community by calling his disciples shortly after this).
It is in this time of rest and reflection that Satan comes and tempts Jesus. Satan offers Jesus some shortcuts to a much easier path through his journey of taking on human flesh.
Satan first tempts Jesus to take a shortcut to gratification. It is hard, perhaps, to think of this as a temptation—especially after a long period of fasting–but Jesus draws on God’s word to set perspective. It will not be his appetites that set his spiritual agenda, Jesus says. Instead, it will be spiritual agenda that guides his mastery over his appetites.
Satan then tries to use God’s word against Jesus, offering a shortcut to demonstrating the power of God. Satan takes him to the temple, trying to persuade Jesus to take a shortcut in how God’s power would be displayed in his life. “Throw yourself down,” Satan says. “God is promised to rescue you.” But Satan does as so many others try to do—conforming the Scriptural quote for his own purposes. He conveniently leaves out the context of his quote from Psalm 91, the context of God protecting his servant from the enemy rather than from the servant’s willfully stupid actions.
In his response, Jesus displays the benefit of meditating on Scripture and letting it form the shape of his mental real estate. He replies with what God’s word really says. We are NOT to put God to the test by foolishly putting our lives at risk and demanding that God rescue us.
Satan then tempts Jesus to take a shortcut in achieving God’s call. In the case of Jesus the call was to win back the world. Apparently Satan viewed Jesus as a greater prize than all of us combined. If the God of the universe—the one who created it—would consent to worship the Prince of Darkness, then Satan would give up the world to God. The shadows would be removed. No cross would be needed.
This is potentially a great moment of weakness. God, in Christ, is now incarnate and capable of experiencing the full measure of human temptation, and on the grandest scale. But again, drawing from Scripture, something Jesus can do because of his life rhythm of ministry, reflection and community, he drives off his tempter and enters a public and phenomenal ministry, better prepared to see it through.
Getting re-acquainted with Jesus.
As we renew acquaintance with Jesus I hope we also gain renewed perspective. Jesus must deal with the redemption of the universe. It makes the things that cause us so much grief rather small. Jesus relies heavily on Scripture to guide him through the intense moments of life. He is an example to us for our intense moments. It is hard for us to hold this perspective and follow this example of Jesus, however, if the only time we look to Scripture is to confirm our pain-filled and entrenched positions—actually eager to conform Scripture to our preferences rather than being formed by it.
Thinking about these things returns us to the beginning—our need to repent of our sins and receive the forgiveness of God, so that we can forgive others. Such communities have great grace upon them. And it is within such a grace-drenched community that signs and wonders will draw even more to God.
-mark l vincent
The Beloved Son: A sermon from Matthew 3:13-17
I’m working through a series on “Getting Reacquainted with Jesus.” I don’t plan to post all those sermons here, but the responses I’m receiving on these sermons from Matthew 3 seem to be striking a chord that makes people stop and listen and consider.
Introduction
The purpose of these talks is to start again in this relationship we have with Jesus. Like any important relationship, it is good for it to be made pristine again while also going deeper in affection.
As we get reacquainted, it is important to remember Jesus lived in a time where there was no denomination, no Protestant, Catholic, mainline or evangelical heritage, no Sunday School or children’s ministry. There were no hymnals, no Youth Fellowships, no seminaries to train pastors, no catechism classes to prepare for baptism, no missionary sending agencies and no church publishing houses. It was just Jesus and those he called around him to join him in the kingdom.
If we want to consider Jesus anew, we do well to set aside all these trappings that have many good things about them, but can also end up as a cheap substitute for a real and vital relationship with one’s Savior. And once we do, we can choose anew what forms and what institutions will help us live out our faith. It is similar to what a traveler does when they pack a suitcase, discover it is too full to transport, then lays everything out to determine what truly is essential and meaningful for the journey before they repack their bags.
In the previous study from the first twelve verses of Matthew 3, we ran into this fellow (see photo): John the Baptist, a cousin of Jesus and predicted from even before his birth to be a forerunner who would announce that Messiah was coming. We considered him because he preached the same message Jesus would preach when he began his own public ministry (see
Matthew 4).
From that study we acquired two insights:
- That to be acquainted with Jesus is to encounter the message of repentance and embrace of God’s forgiveness.
- That repentance applies to everyone about everything.
Here comes Jesus
John’s preaching, and later the preaching of Jesus, would be harshest against the established religious community of the day. They were religious and very pious, but their hearts were far away from repenting from their sins. In fact, those who these religious people considered to be the chief sinners were often nearer to repentance. Sinners acknowledged their sinful situation more readily than these religious people who were given to pretense and explaining away their actions. Still, people of all types were fascinated enough by the preaching of John, who had no cathedral pulpit from which to proclaim, that they hiked out to the countryside, sat on the banks of the Jordan River to hear John, and responded to John’s message by wading in the water to receive the baptism he offered. It is in the middle of this community of people looking for relief from their sins, yearning for Messiah to come, and eager for John’s preaching to be true, that Jesus appears on the bank of this same river, and wades in to be baptized by his cousin.
John wants to refuse. After all, he is not the Messiah, Jesus is. Jesus persuades him, however, with the statement that his own baptism is needed. In Matthew 4:15, Jesus says it is fitting for him to do this. That word fitting refers to the conspicuousness of the act. Jesus would be seen stepping toward righteousness just as anyone else who chooses to enter the kingdom. He would be one of those leading off in the direction to which he would also call others. With these words John agrees and the baptism takes place.
As Jesus leaves the water we are painted a beautiful picture of the entire Godhead involved in the act. Creator God is present as the voice expressing his favor and love for the Son. The Holy Spirit’s presence is visible and resting on the Son. And the Son, himself, is dripping with water as he models for us what it means to enter the kingdom.
Getting reacquainted with Jesus
In Matthew’s gospel this is the first public appearance e of Jesus after the flight to Egypt as a small child. It is here we begin to know him and see what it is he brings. In this brief passage we can quickly observe:
- How John viewed him (as the Messiah)
- How Jesus viewed himself (as needing to lead where he would ask others to follow)
- His place in the Godhead (he proceeds from the father, and the Spirit of God rests on him. We learn later in Jesus’ teaching that this same Spirit is made available to the Christian).
Sometimes people get stuck on the record of theses events—especially when they compare the gospels to one another and find differences in the accounts. For instance:
Some try to use the differences in how these accounts are recorded to question the accuracy of the Scriptures. Others, especially those who hold a high view of the Scriptures, try to show there is really no difference, or simply ignore these differences as if they didn’t exist. I would hate to see you become distracted by this sort of thing, especially because it is quite possible and normal for there to be varying, yet entirely accurate accounts for what we see and hear.
For instance:
All accounts rendered about my love for my children are true. All are accurate. All are different and carry nuanced interpretations. You find this sort of thing throughout the gospels, between the historical books of the Old Testament, and even between the book of Acts and some of the epistles. It is natural and normal to have varying accounts like these among multiple witnesses. They help us round the picture of how Jesus was presented by the Godhead at his baptism. We need not get stuck or be plagued by doubt.
Where Jesus goes, he calls us to go
So, in this text we meet the Son who has the Father’s pleasure and the Spirit’s power. We meet the Messiah that John the Baptist and so many others are looking for. And, we meet a leader who models what he asks his followers to do. I think this may be the key lesson from today’s text as we become reacquainted with Jesus. Jesus does not ask us to go where he has not already gone himself. He enters into the kingdom through the witness of baptism and sets the precedent for us to follow. This should help us understand that baptism is not just a witness that one repents and receives the forgiveness of God, symbolized by the washing of out body, but also that we bear witness, that we now live God’s way, and that we choose to be God’s representatives and recipients of God’s direction rather than our own. Jesus begins his ministry there and invites us to follow.
If we know that Jesus goes to those places he then calls us to follow, it becomes reasonable to ask , “Where it is that Jesus goes?”
- ANSWER: everywhere.
Especially to the hurting, the broken and the lost. Jesus also goes to the halls of power, the centers of religious life, the open marketplace, the homes of criminals and to his friends.
It is amazing how in the life of Jesus, and in so many of the stories among those who repent and live their life for Jesus, just how often this journey takes the person everywhere and for the glory of God. We see it in Jesus, of course. We also find it in the Scriptures in the lives of people like Peter and Paul. But we can find it in history too.
One of the biggest for instances for me was when Mother Teresa died. She focused her life on those dying in the streets, but the simplicity of her life and her order brought worldwide attention—to the point that at her funeral, Calcutta became the center of religious broadcasting for that day, with an audience in the billions who heard the gospel read, the Lord’s Prayer prayed, and the Christian witness proclaimed. I found it an incredible affirmation that those who embrace this message that everyone needs to repent of everything just might end up going anywhere and everywhere. If for no other reason, it is because the repentant one is prepared to go. They set everything down after all.
If this message is hitting home for you, you might ask “Where is God calling me?” It is a good and holy question to ask. Surprisingly, it is not that difficult to answer. One of the great German theologians expressed an idea that a friend of mine put into a song. The lyric goes like this: “Where your greatest joy intersects with the needs of the world, enter your journey at the crossroads.” It is at this place that one discovers their calling, and how their unique gifting can be used by God to take them anywhere and everywhere. Finding that crossroad also means one can define the boundaries of their calling rather than being overwhelmed by guilt they are not doing more or not succeeding.
Finding my crossroad also helps me learn that my crossroad is not likely to be yours, nor yours mine. It gives us permission to let us enter into ministry in many different ways instead of expecting that others must share my same mix of gifts, joys and actions.
I believe if more of us were to work our way to the crossroads, we would be much easier on others. We would beat ourselves up less. Our congregation would be at ease and ready to receive what God wants to give.
This same principle applies to congregations. Each church is unique and exists in a unique context. The gifts available to serve match up to the needs that ought to be met in a way that is different than my community in Kohler Wisconsin, or where my parents live in Safety Harbor, Florida, or the places your relatives might live. As a body of believers, we can discover what our collective gifts are, what needs are not being met, and enter our journey at the crossroads, without worry or comparison to what other congregations are doing, or worrying about whether the church is larger this year than last (some churches who do this successfully actually become smaller because more persons are sent from the congregation!).
As a follower of Jesus Christ, you have the opportunity to become reacquainted with him, to let his forgiveness flow, and to commit anew to this wonderful life of serving the Savior, wherever it takes you. You can do it with a new awareness that Jesus has been there already.
-mark l vincent
Who exactly is supposed to repent? A sermon from Matthew 3:1-12
Sometimes distant friends and family who know I’m preaching on a particular subject ask me to post the sermon on my blog. Here is a recent one on becoming acquainted with Jesus anew.
Introduction
Here is a brief history lesson helpful in setting perspective on the subject of repentance.
The American church isn’t a fixed entity, but a dynamic one. Some things might be emphasized for a while, and then another, then it might shift back again. This is particularly true with sermons about repentance. Over the centuries, the American church shifted from emphasizing Judgment to sermons emphasizing Grace. Perhaps it is shifting back yet again.
Consider the First Great Awakening–largely experienced in New England and among the Reformed and Congregationalists in the 1740’s. Many reported palpable experiences of fearing the fires of hell and repented of their waywardness. The First Great Awakening indelibly imprinted the need for personal salvation as a distinctive mark of North American Christianity.
One of the pre-eminent preachers of that day was Jonathan Edwards. His sermon Sinners in the hands of an angry God is so well known and had such an impact that it remains an example of early American literature studied in both English and History classes. Here is a brief excerpt:
“Every unconverted man properly belongs to hell; that is his place; from thence he is. “Ye are from beneath” (John 8:23). And thither he is bound; it is the place that justice, and God’s word, and the sentence of his unchangeable law assign to him.”
Jonathan Edwards preached that salvation is to escape hell. God provides this escape for us in spite of how evil we are. According to Rev. Edwards, the Christian barely gets out.
You can find a similar tone in the 90th Psalm.
“For all our days pass away under your wrath; our years come to an end like a sigh. The days of our life are seventy years, or perhaps eighty, if we are strong; even then their span is only toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away.”
Now consider how we preach on repentance in our modern era. Since the 1740’s, we moved from barely escaping hell to barely being able to escape the love of God. This is particularly true in two almost conflicting streams of Christianity–mainline churches, who for some the word sin has fallen into disfavor, and among the health and wealth congregations focused on getting all the good things God wants to give his children. In both cases, talking about sin or the need to repent is not useful.
Norman Vincent Peale and his emphasis on the “power of positive thinking” was a key influence on this direction. Preachers like Joel Osteen, in particular, stand in this tradition of claiming God’s promises and experiencing God’s favor as a central practice of the Christian life—almost a modern spiritual discipline. Toward the end of his long life, Norman Vincent Peale was asked by many to re-establish his credibility as a preacher of the gospel, and not just as a “think positive” and “get motivated” public speaker. He agreed and wrote a book called The Positive Power of Jesus Christ (1980).
Here is an excerpt from a .pdf file I have of the manuscript:
“I witness to anyone, anywhere and at any time about the spiritual, mental and physical renewal available to any individual through faith in the life changing and positive power of Jesus Christ.”
Can you hear the contrast? Where Jonathan Edwards’ morbid theology has us barely escaping hell, such language has almost entirely disappeared from the language of Rev. Peale. He has us barely being unable to avoid the love of God.
Looking to the Scripture
It isn’t my intention to criticize either of these emphases. Both have an ample supply of Scriptures to back up what they emphasize. And even though the American church has shifted on the whole to emphasize the love of God over the judgment of God, both streams have many followers today. I suspect some of each could be found in many congregations–some wanting the preacher to emphasize sin, and others wanting her or him to emphasize forgiveness.
I offer this little replay of history to invite us to start with Scripture rather than our preference or upbringing, setting aside our preconceived ideas and trying to be proven right. It is important to do this because with this sermon we begin a series on Getting Reacquainted with Jesus, drawing largely from Matthew’s gospel. As we do, the first subject we encounter is this theme of Repentance. We need to consider the subject with open eyes and ears rather than expecting to simply have confirmed what we believe we know already.
Observations from the text (Matthew 3:1-12):
1. Matthew wants us to know that John the Baptist’s ministry was predicted by the prophet Isaiah, even to the point of what John’s preaching would contain. We can also note that John’s ministry begins at a time when people were especially ready to hear and respond to it. The Messiah was being watched for.
2. John’s preaching, and later the preaching of Jesus (see Matthew 4), called people to repent. The key difference between them is that when John the Baptist said the kingdom of heaven has come near he referred to the ministry of Jesus about to get underway. When Jesus said the same thing he referred to his own ministry.
In both cases, the call to repentance means turn around and stop doing what you do that alienates you from God. Why? Because God is near and making it possible to be in relationship with God all over again. I hope you see this important, two-sided expectation in the simple sermon John and Jesus preached: Repentance implies that sin exists and that we commit it. Their sermons inform us that God forgives sin and we should receive this incredible offer from God. In other words, it isn’t a matter of barely escaping hell OR barely being able to escape the marvelous grace of God. Both are true and both are expressed together rather than one over the other.
3. A good number of the people being preached to were religious, pious even. First John, and later Jesus, reserved their harshest words for them, and it seems because they were the most resistant to repentance. It seems once you’ve begun to be virtuous and to take on a committed religious lifestyle, it becomes easy to notice the problems among those who do not instead of your own besetting or new issues. The result can be a hardened heart lying underneath a religious veneer.
Insights for our use
So, if we wish to be reacquainted with Jesus, we must become familiar with the message that introduced his ministry, which happened to also be the same message he offered as he began his ministry—a message of repentance. You can’t claim to be acquainted with Jesus and what he offered, but choose to remain ignorant of or willfully refuse to engage the subject.
To be familiar with this message, we need to know the answer to the question who exactly is supposed to repent?
Answer: Everyone.
It is so easy to point to people committing sins other than our own and demand that they repent. It is so easy to look at others with whom we are in conflict and demand that they repent first.
Let’s look to the Scriptures for some further insight (Romans 3:21-26).
All too often only verse 23 is pointed out as a means to remind us that we are sinners. This is often coupled with Romans 6:23 to show us that the wages of these sins are eternal death–a means to show we barely escape hell. But this was not Paul’s message, just as it was not John the Baptist’s or Christ’s. Rather, Paul emphasizes both the penalty of sin and the grace of God equally as John and Jesus did. When the verses around Romans 3:23 are shared together you learn the apostle Paul taught that all of us sin, and that this problem is overcome in what Jesus brings.
To be acquainted with Jesus then, is to hear him tell you that you sin and that God forgives your sin. Jesus invites you to repent of it and receive all the fruits of this forgiveness.
It also means that if we are a church acquainted with Jesus Christ that this is the message we preach–not half of it alone, not emphasizing one part over the other, and not placing a priority of pointing out the sins of others because we are too busy admitting and repenting of our own.
This brings up a second question:
To be familiar with this message of repentance preached by Jesus and John we need to know the answer to the question, from what exactly are we supposed to repent?
Answer: Everything.
It is so easy to try to create degrees of sin. We place the sins we are NOT committing as the worst ones on the list and consider the ones of which we are guilty as the minor infractions. We bring others’ sins before God and point out how horrible they are while overlooking, justifying or otherwise explaining away our own. Again, let’s look to the Scriptures for further insight, again turning to Paul’s letter to the Romans (1:16-32).
I have found this particular passage to be of immense help in dealing with issues facing the church in what I can hardly believe has been twenty-seven years of ministry. It hasn’t mattered whether it was divorce/remarriage, couples living together, or today’s seeming hot button issues of gay lifestyles, or what I consider to be the much deeper issue of widely available pornography, Paul’s perspective holds true even now.
In Romans 1 the balance of the gospel is again present, although Paul works in reverse order beginning with God’s forgiveness. After stating his joy in God’s great love, Paul tells us what it is that God forgives. And what Paul offers is a declension of sins, a stair-stepping downward into depravity, if you will. It goes like this:
- Giving up God for our own glory and faux wisdom.
- Engaging in non-normal sexual practices, primarily as a means to fill the void left by not acknowledging God. That is, what God is not allowed to fill we try to fill with other things, primarily through human encounters.
- Harsher and ever more creative uses of evil, to the point of deliberately mistreating others–something beyond just using others for our own ends as before.
- And at its worst: recruiting and training others in the practices of evil.
- Harsher and ever more creative uses of evil, to the point of deliberately mistreating others–something beyond just using others for our own ends as before.
- Engaging in non-normal sexual practices, primarily as a means to fill the void left by not acknowledging God. That is, what God is not allowed to fill we try to fill with other things, primarily through human encounters.
I draw two insights from this.
First, every possible sin flows from rejecting God. You cannot read this passage of Scripture and escape its reach. What you have done are doing and will do can be found here.
Second, what we often label as the “worst sins,” the apostle Paul identifies as the “first sins.” Sinful lifestyles often begin in the sexual realm and just get more decadent from there.
Out of fear I am covering too much material in a short amount of time, let me also quickly mention without showing you other passages that for the true follower of God, repenting of everything also means reprenting of what others have done–even sins committed against you. Consider Daniels’ prayers for his people. And Nehemiah’s. Remember too Jesus’ prayer for the Father to forgive his executors as he hung from the cross, and Stephen’s echo of this same prayer as he was stoned.
Bringing it home.
So, becoming reacquainted with Jesus means Repentance.
Your repentance.
Your ONGOING repentance.
Your expectation that you will never be far from admitting your sin and seeking a better way as you celebrate yet again that God forgives you . . .and those who sin against you.
It means openly discussing sin, and a readiness to admit your own, not as a sick means of taking glory in it, but as a means to move beyond it.
It also means offering this grace you received rather than withholding it–joining Jesus in his ministry of preaching the gospel.
It is right and proper, then, to ask you from what it is you must specifically repent, with a renewed awareness that everyone here needs to.
Come.
Receive the forgiveness of God.
-mark l vincent
Quran smoke need not rise in our hearts
On this eve of Quran burning (now apparently cancelled), worldwide riots about the possibility of Quran burning, a pastor who thinks an act of war against the country of his residence should be met with an act of sacrilege (is he the sort that would have sacrificed a pig on the altar of the Jewish temple because he felt the Jews crucified Christ?), and uncertainty how deep the rage against his actions will burn . . . .
In this time of economic turmoil where banks will only loan your own money to you, where the government counts the jobs it saved through stimulus funding as if they were all new jobs, and where homeowners can no longer borrow against their homes’ equity to start new businesses;
In this era of health care reform that needs to be reformed, political and religious speech confused with each other and widely mistaken for spirituality, reality shows that mean more than art, and widespread disregard for civility;
Let the believer be reminded that she is a person of hope.
Let the follower of Jesus recall that the yoke of Jesus is easy and the burden is light.
Let the people of God remain in touch with joy.
Let the one called Christian model the third way, the narrow road, the straight path.
Let us love God with all our hearts, souls, minds and strength——-and our neighbors as ourselves.
-mark l vincent
Blurring the lines of communication: It can be a good thing!
Formal and informal communication are needed in every organization.
Formal communication is an intentional message conveyed in an intentional setting by speech, publication or electronic transmission.
Informal communication is a random message conveyed in a relational setting, usually in conversation but possibly by a written note or e-mail.
Here is a visual way to understand the difference:
Both forms are present in every organization, but each seems to have a preferred tendency often connected to the preferred style of the organization’s leaders. It is wise for those leaders to understand that both are present, both are needed and both are useful to foster teamwork and desired results.
A key to harnessing both is to blur the lines of informal and formal communication. Please do not misunderstand this as blurring the message. Rather, it is to make formal and informal communication less distinct from each other and thereby communicate more effectively.
- Rather than relying exclusively on a formal speech-driven message, leaders can circulate and share the message individually and in small groups. While doing so adds time to getting the message out, leaders should remember that there is a corresponding reduction in the time needed for the feedback loop.
- Formal printed messages can be produced in such a way that they beg to be passed along. Use of cartoons, coupons, helpful content, wisdom, and questions for discussion can make passing content along even more desirable. Even the visual appeal can make a difference.
- Informal settings can be used to gain insight, especially prior to making key decisions at the leadership level. The right use of provocative questions during coffee breaks and parking lot conversations can help those looking for perspective and response find it in a non-threatening way.
Thus:
One other word of advice. Publicly acknowledging that both styles of communication are important and will be put to use is a wise course of action. Blurring communication styles as an act of slyness is to withhold communication and undermines the very result you seek.
-mark l vincent
Fasting from demagogues
Chipmunks are cute . . . .from a distance. When they dig holes in your yard that leaves you with a sprained ankle, or weaken the foundation of your home by burrowing under it, they are cute no longer.
Demagogues are like chipmunks. They crept in when we were away on vacation and burrowed under our house. At first it was just a little Donahue or Sally Jesse Raphael–hosts standing by as people screamed their two minute sound bytes about complex subjects at one another. Now it is entire networks and evening lineups of hosts doing the ranting. We aren’t just spraining our ankles on the holes they leave behind. We are spraining our collective souls.
So . . .
I declare a fast from FOX
Yes, and from MSNBC.
No more reality shows–
Not for me.
And if you want to discuss politics, religion
or even sexuality,
then give me an hour and sipping tea.
Let’s keep open minds.
Let’s demonstrate that we still read
and then reflect,
so we can still say, “Aha!” and “Indeed!”
Let’s keep learning
and continue being guided
by Light
and not by what has already been decided.
Let’s find joy in learning,
conversing and discerning,
so we can live in peaceful progress
instead of society that is burning
with hatred, anger
and fear as a guide.
Give me the narrow path
and a heart that is wide.
-mark l vincent
The Muse 
leave a comment