Fire, Flat Screens, and Catacombs

Last January the church building housing our student ministry and administrative offices caught fire. While part of the building was lost, part of it was untouched by fire but suffered heavy smoke damage.
Now, 10 months later, the clean-up and repairs are nearly complete. As is the case with most insurance settlements we received far less than what it would actually cost to replace everything we had (building, furnishings, technology, etc). So we rebuilt with less square footage and are trying to furnish the building with donated furniture instead of new.

Needless to say, I have had moments of frustration through the process. “Why can’t we get back what we had?” “Why do we have to settle for less square footage?” I also wanted to improve on what was lost. “We should be able to replace that old TV with a flat screen and those stained couches with leather ones!” Our staff and students have been scheming fundraiser ideas (everything from scrapping the burnt metal from the building to holding up a bank) in order to raise the money we need to get our facility back to the way it should be…

…or should I say “in order to raise the money we want to get our facility back to the way we think it should be”…

…or should I say “in order to take God’s money from other things to use it on a facility God blessed us with to bring it up to the ridiculous standards our culture places on material things as if the facility itself was what changed students lives.”

Let me unpack this for a moment…

Listen to the way Eugene Peterson words Jesus’ instructions to the disciples as they head out to minister…

"Don't think you have to put on a fund-raising campaign before you start. You don't need a lot of equipment. You are the equipment, and all you need to keep that going is three meals a day. Travel light.” (The Message, Mt 10:9-10)

You mean the disciples did ministry without million dollar facilities with stage lighting, coffee shops, and comfy couches?

Are you telling me that the disciples took the gospel to the people instead of trying to pull them into the church in order to hear the good news?

Big churches with nice facilities are not wrong – a lot of life changing encounters with Christ happen in and through them, I am privileged to see it first hand – but nice facilities are not the answer either. The early church, due to persecution, met underground in catacombs and had transforming connections with the living God despite the rotting corpses surrounding them. God is bigger than bricks, carpet, and light fixtures. He can meet you anywhere.

God challenged my heart when my focus became the facility and not the people it was meant to hold. I’ve come to see the facility we do have as an incredible blessing, but couches and flat screen TV’s will never transform a person’s heart. God wants to use me and you and countless others as the equipment he uses to share the true blessing of Christ’s forgiveness and love.

So I think I’ll hold off on planning that bank robbery, be content with what I have, and focus on equipping God’s most valuable equipment.

Death of Suburbia?

here is a very thought provoking and perhaps prophetic look at society's shift from the suburbs back to downtown and the role the church could play.

http://www.drurywriting.com/keith/death.of.suburbia.htm

My Bible’s drowning in Alphabet Soup

The other week the office wing of our church tragically caught fire and most of the pastoral offices, including mine, were lost. One of the saddest losses was a NIV Study Bible given to me by my aunt and uncle when I first came to faith. I had used that Bible all through college and often used it to preach or teach from. It didn’t completely burn up, just some charred edges, but I won’t ever be able to use it again. So I began looking for a new Bible to replace the one I lost. I realized a couple of things...

First, there are a multitude of Bibles to choose from. The alphabet soup of over 50 English translations is bewildering – NIV, TNIV, NLT, NASB, NASV, ASV, NCV, NKJV, KJV, CEV, ESB, ESPN, NBC, HIV, XYZ. Ok, maybe not the last few, but you get the idea. Entire books are written on deciphering these Bibles and the translation philosophies behind them. Let’s not forget that for every Bible translation there is a children’s version, a teen version, a woman’s devotional version, a man’s devotional version, life application versions, and on and on, customizable to the nth degree.

The second observation is that Bibles are expensive. If you want a nice leather bound study Bible it will cost you around $60. Even a generic run of the mill NIV pew Bible is around $10. Apparently, God’s word comes with a price tag (unless it’s from the Gideons).

Recently, I read a comment about this that got me thinking…Why are there hundreds of variations of the English Bible, with more on their way, when some people don’t have a single version of the Bible in their language? (In defense, translating the Bible into a new language is a tediously long process.) One could also ask why do languages with one translation not have study Bibles, devotional Bibles, life application Bibles, etc in their language?

Could it be because of money?

Printing Bibles is a business. Bibles make publishers money. It’s profitable to create a new version of the Bible because publishers can copyright it and sell it, and then sell the many variations that follow the release of a new version. Even the Word of God isn’t beyond the reach of American consumerism. Are you bored with the Bible you have? Why not upgrade? I think I’ll get the one bound in leather, with my name in gold print on the cover. Then in a few years I can upgrade to a newer better version of the Bible.

Maybe we Americans don’t need to buy a new Bible…maybe we should actually read the three we already have. (Unless it has charred edges and reeks of smoke, then a new one might be worth the money).

Carbon Guilt and Pollution Penance

Environmentalism has become hip. Its getting more press and celebrity endorsement than ever before. But apparently it’s also weighing heavy on the American conscious. Environmentally conscious people are experiencing what’s been coined as “carbon guilt.” They begin to feel guilty about how their lifestyle negatively impacts the environment. Guilt necessarily isn’t a bad thing; it often leads to change. If someone feels guilty about their negative impact on the environment, then ideally that guilt will lead them to change the way they live. But not in the good ole U.S. of A! Why go to all the effort of changing your lifestyle when you can pay someone to do it for you? Companies are actually cashing in on carbon guilt by offering Carbon offset programs. In Carbon offset programs “Service providers invest consumers' money in environmental projects, such as renewable energy research or forest conservation, with the goal of counterbalancing the carbon dioxide generated by a subscriber's energy consumption.” Walla – no more pesky carbon guilt trips. Its pollution penance! Bye, bye carbon guilt…hello American Consumerism (I’ll just be sure to save some money back to pay someone else to lower their pollution in my name).

I wonder if we bring this same rationale to our faith. We sin and feel guilty…but its hard to change your behavior, so instead we deal with our guilt by giving or serving. Americans are very good at giving to charities compared to the rest of the world. (We should be since we have so much money). However, I wonder how much of that comes from actual joy of obeying God’s command to give, and how much is in response to the guilt we carry. Do we really understand God’s grace? If we serve out of guilt we’re missing incredible joy that comes from serving out of humility and love.

Roosters and Steers

I grew up in rural Indiana and had many experiences with livestock. One of the great frustrations in dealing with livestock is trying to get them to go where you want them to go. Most of the time coercing them with feed usually does the trick. However, some times no matter how much bribery, coercion, or flat out beating, the animal simply won’t cooperate. I found roosters to be particularly difficult. “Herding” chickens into the coop is a challenging task. As you slip in the last chicken there’s always a rooster who slips out, as you chase him down, all the others escape – back to square one! Steers have the opposite problem. Sometimes they don’t move at all. You can push, pull, prod, and goad with all your might, but you might as well be tugging on a 1,300 pound rock. They simply won’t move.

Working in ministry brings up a lot of the same frustrations I had when I worked with livestock. Sometimes things feel like a whirlwind of feathers and dust. Things are moving a mile a minute, and you can barely hold it all together. Other times things are dead in the water. You try to lead and influence someone or some group with all your might, but still nothing.

I often wonder in those times if this is how ministry is supposed to feel. Is leading others in growing relationships with Christ supposed to be this hard? I wonder if in these times I’m frustrated because I’m trying to do God’s work instead of letting him take a go at it. Maybe I feel like things are out of control, because they really are. Maybe the problem isn’t my circumstances. Maybe it’s me and my illusion of control. Maybe its time to let the steers and roosters go.

Guardin' the Garden

Picture the Garden of Eden…what do you see? Lush tropical forests, sparkling waterfalls, succulent fruits on every branch, Adam and Eve swinging on a hammock in the shade – paradise! I recently read an article that made me take a second look at Genesis and the Garden of Eden. Did God really create such a paradise for Adam and Eve?

Genesis 2:4-15
4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created. When the LORD God made the earth and the heavens- 5 and no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth and no plant of the field had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no man to work the ground, 6 but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground- 7 the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. 8 Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9 And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil… 15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

Notice something…God’s planned paradise involved Adam and Eve working and taking care of the earth. At the very beginning of creation, God intended a partnership between him and mankind and between mankind and the earth. There is something very spiritual about taking care of the world. Too often environmental issues are separated from spiritual issues, and at times from Christianity all together. God’s call to care for the earth involves environmental advocacy. Christians should be some of the loudest voices concerning environmental issues because we know the God who created the environment. Working and taking care of the physical might just be spiritual.