unstuck

I love routine. I love getting in a pattern of what is easy and predictable, but that makes it easy to get stuck.

In ministry I have gotten stuck in my ways of doing things. I have found certain things that have worked really well in the past and so I keep doing them, trying to get the same results. But I find that it is dangerous when I begin to trust a method or a model, because that means I trust that more than I trust God.

Some of the things I have developed in the past that worked so well came out of the willingness to change things, be creative and take risks.

I remember a dying church my parents once worked at. At one point like 20 years ago they were a thriving church, the most popular church, drawing tons of people. They found a pattern that worked. But over the 20 years they we're unwilling to change anything because at one point what they we're doing worked so well. They were stuck, trying to get the same results by doing what they've always done.

But times change fast, people change, things evolve and because they didn't evolve with the culture and they didn't change methods to stay relevant they began to die.

Some people just don't like change though.  But we get over it, just look at how many times Facebook has changed things, at first some people hate it, but then we love it, then they change again.  They are always improving and staying relevant and ahead.

It's true what Marc Driscol says, we struggle with "Methodology vs. Methodolatry" The methods should change, the principles stay the same. But when we get stuck in our believing our method is the best and only way to do it, we begin to idolize our methods.

God is freeing me from being stuck in methodolatry. I have made decisions to take steps of faith again, to be creative and take risks. These risks may fail. That is okay, I will learn something and move on, try something else.  I'd rather be following God's movement and leading, even when I'm unsure where we are going, than staying stuck in the monotonous method because it worked at one point.

A new willingness to get unstuck in routine makes me depend on him in whole new ways. It's more work, it's uncomfortable, and it requires more faith... and that is how I know he is leading.

Tailor-Made Christianity

Over the past few months I have really been wrestling with the idea or the question, "What do people want???? (in church, in sermons, messages, talks, worship)" Especially young adults. I have been talking with people and reading books about it.

The past few days I have been driving myself crazy with these questions. Because I watch people come and go, come and go so fast, so often. And I'm like why do they not stick?

I think I am trying to find one pat answer like, "This is what my generation wants." I want to discover it and offer it. But as I talk to different people I am seeing different people want different things. 100 people could say, "I want deep teaching" and that could mean 100 different things. And as I think about church and our culture something clicked, something made sense to me this morning.

In our culture we can tailor make anything to meet our exact needs and wants. Think about how we order food, "No mayo, extra cheese, dressing on the side, wheat bread not white." When I got back from Spain I was overwhelmed by all the choices I had at McAlister's because in living in Spain, you just ordered a drink and didn't even choose the tapa (small portion of food) they brought you and certainly didn't tell them how to make it for you. Or think about your cell phone, think about the thousands of app's you can choose from to serve your life exactly how you need it to. We live in a tailor made culture.

So that is why I think we see people cycling in and out of churches. They go to this church for worship, another church for the sermon, and another church for community. We are tailor making our Christianity to serve us exactly how we want it to.

So maybe I am asking the entirely wrong question. Maybe the question isn't, "People, what do you want??" Maybe the question is, "God, what do you want for the people?"

And if I let him dictate that for me as I lead this ministry instead of trying to tailor make something to meet every want and desire of every person, I can just simplify it and follow God's leading a step at a time, trusting he knows the needs of his people best. I can lead by following his lead.

hard hitting preaching

I have been leading a young adult ministry for about 2 and 1/2 years now. There has been one consistent thing I hear people say about the kind of preaching and teaching they want. And that is that they want "hard hitting" messages. "We want meat, we want deeper teaching, we want you to slap us in the face with the truth, we don't want sugar coated messages, we want someone to tell us like it is."

My friend Jessica and I were talking about this the other day. Our parents generation like the very "seeker sensitive" kind of teaching, light, simple messages, nothing too overly challenging, so that when people come to church for the first time they don't get scared off. And now our generation is kind of retaliating against that style of church. At least that is what it seems like... or they are wanting something different.

So I have been trying to figure out what exactly "hard hitting teaching" means. Here are some of my theories:

They want passionate preaching. They want someone to preach to them with passion, excitement, boldness and seriousness.

They want to be called to a higher standard. But they aren't sure what that standard is.. or maybe they know deep down but they want to hear it, they want to hear it from someone who is living that standard and can model it, but also say it in a blunt, honest, "I'm telling you like it is" kind of way.

They want extreme challenge. They want to know what do I need to stop doing completely? What do I need to start doing? What can I and what should I strive for? It's almost as if they are saying, "just tell me how to live this out and tell me bluntly."

They want to know how. They want to know how the Bible applies to real life and how to actually live it out.

They want to be uncomfortable. Kind of like a child who hates being disciplined but deep down really wants it and needs it. The discomfort of hearing the challenge and feeling the need to change somethings about their lives.

I don't know, this is just what I am picking up on. And maybe I'm wrong, I could just be listening to too few voices. But if it is true or somewhat true, part of me says to all that, "the deepest most challenging message is the fact that you can't do anything to save yourself and earn God's love." Some of that to me seems like tell me the rules to be good enough, but the truth is you never will earn it, you have to admit you're too weak, too broken, and too disobedient to do it on your own. And you just simply have to trust the saving work of Christ and accept and trust his grace and forgiveness.

But on the other hand, Jesus is very challenging, he says you have to give up everything to be his disciple. And on the other hand, I find myself loving bold preaching too. I listen to sermons from Steven Furtick every day, who in my opinion preaches boldly and holds nothing back. He preaches with a contagious passion and energy for the Gospel. I love it. So here is a short clip from one of his sermons, an example of what I think a challenging message is.

http://vimeo.com/32915458

Risk and Investment

In Matthew 25 Jesus tells the parable about how a master gave 3 servants different amounts of money. Two of the servants doubled the master's investment. The third one said, "Master I know you have high standards and hate careless ways, that you demand the best and make no allowances for error. I was afraid I might disappoint you, so I found a good hiding place and secured your money. Here it is, safe and sound down to the last cent. v. 24-25 msg.

He was afraid to take a risk, to invest the money, because what if he lost it? What if he failed with what he was trusted with? So he played it safe. He took the sure way, the way in which he was guaranteed to still have the money. It was comfortable, he didn't have to be creative or change anything he was doing. He could just hide it and continue on with life as normal.

"The master was furious. That's a terrible way to live. It's criminal to live cautiously like that! If you knew I was after the best why did you do less than the least? The least you could have done would have been to invest the sum with the bankers, where at least I would have gotten a little interest." v. 26-27.

Obviously in this parable Jesus is the master and we are the servants. I have been thinking about this parable and my own life and ministry and what kind of job I am doing to multiply the investment God has given me. I like to play it safe. I like consistency, routine, I like what is predictable and comfortable. So this is a very challenging passage to me. Jesus says very challenging things, I am spending time studying his words in the Gospels and he makes some extreme calls and challenges. Here is what he says at the end of this parable.

"Take the thousand and give it to the one who risked the most. And get rid of this "play-it-safe" who won't go out on a limb. Throw him out into utter darkness." v. 28

"Throw that worthless servant outside, into utter darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." (niv)

Dang, I mean that is strong language. But it implies the high importance of multiplying his investment.

The only way we can multiply it is to take a risk, a step of faith, to "go out on a limb." When I fall into the routine of ministry and doing what is comfortable cause it is easy, I stop taking risk, I stop depending on God's spirit to do the work, to do something great. I want to multiply what I've been given. So recently I am asking God what risks he wants me to take, what do I need to change? what does going out on a limb in ministry look like right now?

I'm not sure of the answer yet, but I know my desire to make the most of his investment is stronger than my desire for the routine and comfort of hiding it. I don't want to live out of fear of failure if I take a risk, but rather dependence on Him when I try something I can't predict or control or guarantee will succeed. Jesus guarantees that it's worth it:

"Take the thousand and give it to the one who risked the most."

"For everyone who has will be given more and he will have an abundance."

"Risk your life and get more than you ever dreamed of."

remembering remembering

Remembering and reflecting is one of my favorite things to do, because I remember how God has always been faithful in my life. Today I got out my old Spanish journals that I kept through out my time in Spain. These were the journals I would take every where because I was always learning Spanish. So any time I learned something new when I was in class or out with friends or at the store I would write it down, so the Spanish would stick. I also put down other random thoughts or verses or art that I would draw on long bus and train rides.

Above are some images from these journals I kept for the year and a half that I lived there.

On the first page of every journal I wrote down this verse: "Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. But the man who loves God is known by God." 1 Corinthians 8:1-3.

The reason I put this verse in the beginning was to remind me that as I learned Spanish it wasn't simply for my own knowledge and not to get caught up in just learning the language. But the reason for the knowledge was to love the people there better and more fully. My hope was not for knowledge but for love that would build others up.

On one of the last pages of one of the journals I found this. I remembered what I used to remember when I was there. I wrote this after Spanish class one day sitting by a water fountain in Spain after about a year into my time there.

"Remember in America how every thing is "normal"?
Remember in America how friendships are abundant?
Remember in America how many lives my life intersected with and connected with?
Remember all the Americans...
Remember English and laughing at jokes I understood?
God has brought me up out of a land I love, filled with people I love. And he has been faithful and good to me. I'm learning how to love others from cultures and worlds so different than what I know. And though it is far from "normal" God is expanding me, deepening me and opening my box - expanding my horizons. It's hard and it is good.
Remember how God is faithful?
Remember how neither here nor there is my real home?"

The sentence, "It is hard and it is good", was the way I most often described my journey in Spain.

It's funny that for so long I was so far removed from what is so familiar and normal to me all over again. I love the different seasons of life and appreciate them all equally, but this was definitely a unique one. I love remembering God's faithfulness cause it reminds me that he is faithful even now, in this present moment.

green and blossoming

"What counts is your life. Is it green and blossoming?" ~ Matt 3:11 (msg)

Last week I found out I have 26 vacation days that I have to use before July 1st, so I decided to go ahead and take some of them this past week. It's so good sometimes to just get out of the routine of life, to be still, to listen and to renew your mind.

Pastor Steven Furtick said something that resonated with me. He said, "I get burned out and exhausted in life, when the story is about me, because the priorities are out of line." It kinda convicted me because recently I have felt burned out. And when I heard that it made me realize it is because my priorities have gotten out of line, I have started to make the story more about me.

This morning I was thinking about the verse Isaiah 32:20, "How blessed you will be, sowing your seeds by every stream." And I was thinking about what it looks like to sow seed and invest your life in every season, in every phase of life. When I think about sowing seed, I think about sowing your life, giving of yourself, pouring out, serving, and investing in others where you are. I think of planting life in places and people in response to the life of Christ in us.

It's so ironic because it feels like we will be blessed when we with hold, when we keep things to ourselves, when we protect ourselves, when life is about making myself happy.

But God says, no you will be blessed by doing the opposite. When we don't sow, when we don't give, don't serve, don't pour out to others, then we will become dry and lifeless. But when we plant life, give of ourselves, sow our seeds in people's lives, when the story isn't about me, then we will be blessed.

Then I also read in The Message, "What counts is your life. Is it green and blossoming?" And that is a good question to reflect on. Is my life life-giving or life-saving? Is it sowing and giving or protecting and withholding?

When I am tired and burned out I am trying to save my life and protect myself. But when I rest in the life God gives by staying connected to the root, to the vine, then I can sow, because he is constantly sowing into me. And that produces a life that is green and blossoming.

servant of the Gospel

I have been thinking about the question, "what defines me? what is my life about?" The past few mornings I've been so challenged by Ephesians 3:7-8. The phrases in bold stand out to me.

"I became a servant of this Gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power. Although I am less than the least of all God’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.

A servant of this Gospel. Paul's purpose is to be a servant, his life is about serving the cause of spreading the Gospel. The Message says it like this, "This is my life work: helping people understand and respond to this Message." His purpose is all about Jesus and serving him by helping people understand the Gospel. He says I need God's grace and power working in me to do and be this. Is my life about being a servant of me or is it about being a servant of the Gospel?

That depends on how I see myself and how I see Christ. Here is how Paul see's himself.

I am less than the least of all God's people. He sees himself as undeserving, unworthy of the calling, he doesn't have a sense of entitlement. He understands the grace he has been given which makes him humble. If this was how we truly saw ourselves, it would change the way we react and respond to so many situations. We wouldn't get so offended or feel so entitled to our "rights". We could respond humbly, we could serve rather than trying to be served. "Less than the least" yet he was still confident of who he was and what God had called him to do.

and here is how he views Christ.

Unsearchable riches of Christ He understands the greatness of Jesus. His life is about making the name of Christ great and what all he offers us known. He has experienced the riches in knowing him, knowing his love, knowing his grace, and he wants others to experience it too. The NLT says, "the endless treasures available in Christ." We have so much in Christ that it doesn't matter if I'm less than the least cause it's all about him. We get to spend our lifetime exploring the endless treasures available in him and the blessing that comes when my life isn't about me. In Christ we can more rightly view ourselves and him.

This is what I want to define me: servant of the Gospel. This is what I want my life to be about: Jesus. I think its a life long process to get there and I am far from it. Only by God's grace and power working in me can I ever become that. And the deeper I dive into the unsearchable riches of Christ, the more I explore the endless treasures in him, the more rightly I will view myself and him. And therefore, the less I will be a servant of me and the more I will become a servant of the Gospel.