Missional Theology

Today, we talked about missional theology.  "Missional" is a word that's been thrown around a lot these days that just means, basically, "the church should do stuff."  Honestly, we're having the same conversations I was having in Cru in college on a different level, so I feel right at home.  I'm not really a "Church guy."  What I mean by that is, I wasn't raised in the Church.  I don't have any sort of life long relationship with the Church that brings me nostalgic memories.  It might be weird to say all this because I'm a pastor, but it's the truth.  I've been working within the system and have been coming to appreciate everything much more, but I think my heart will always be somewhere else. 

What brought me into the Church, and still remains my deepest inspiration, is to see how deeply we can be effected by relationship.  Most of you know my story: my mom died when I was one.  She was only 17 when I was born, I never knew my mom or dad.  I didn't have much of a family except for my grandmother.  I met my pastor when I was 17 and that relationship turned my life inside out.  He invited me into his life... he fed me dinner, he took me on car trips, he let me mow his lawn.  I also had lots of other great friends and relationships along the way, with people like my friends from High School, Ben and Melanie, who really helped make me feel like I had a family.  I graduated from High School and went to college and seminary.

What's really inspired me the whole way along is a faith that is relational.  A relational faith touches people in the deepest parts of our souls. 

Missiologist Alan Hirsch uses the term "communitas" to describe what happens in a true missional community.  If you want to think about how communitas works, think of a football game.  The fans in the stand are a community.  They have shared beliefs and gestures and experiences together.  But on a deeper level, there is no commitment.  Yet, if you look at the players on the field, they have communitas.  They are deeply commited, every hour of of every day.  Even in the "off season."  The fans, the community, get excited about what the team is doing, but for the team it's just their lives: it's what they do. 

It reminds me of the story of the chicken and the pig.  They walk past a sign that asks them to volunteer for a ham and eggs breakfast.  The chicken volunteers, but the pig... he's all in!  It's giving some vs. giving all. 

I think sometimes in the Church we become too engaged with protecting and sustaining the community and it's shared values instead of living into a faithful communitas.  We worry about how things look or will appear, and not how our faith is lived out.  What excites me is seeing felt needs being met, seeing lives changed, and seeing people totally transformed. 

If theres one thing I know about Jesus from reading scripture, it's that he messes people up.  He tells people to give away their money, to love the unloveable, and even to forgive enemies!  Jesus messes with our worldview.  He asks for the whole life commitment... to understand that what we have is not our own.

I pray that Churches would be places where lives could be changed.  Places where we welcome the sick, the lame, and the immoral.  I want to see broken people in the Church... I want to see people who have no where else to go have a place where they can call their home.

The Church does not need more programs.  It does not need bigger buildings for more money.  What it needs is commitment to the vision of Jesus Christ.  If we really want to be a missional Church, what we need to realize is that we need to give everything.

At our Church, we're getting ready to join a program called Acts 16:5.  Laurie and I are both really excited about it.  What it does, really, is call the whole Church together and asks "how do we do this?"  Pray for us.
I'm thankful for God's grace for me in this area.  I pray that he would use me to reach out to the hurting and wounded places, so that his message of grace could be heard.

Wee Kirk

After Church today, Laurie, Charlotte and I got together and headed out for the PC(USA) “Wee Kirk” conference, put on by Presbyterians for Renewal.  Wee Kirk means Small Church, and the conference brings together pastors from Churches of 100 members or less.  The conference is being held in Montreat NC, and it’s just such a beautiful, wonderful place. 

Right now, I don’t have too many expectations for the week, other than the fact that I hope to become more aware of God’s presence and more in tune with his spirit so that I can better minister to the wonderful people of our Church and the people of the town.  I’m so new at this whole thing, that I just hope God will teach me some ways that I can better minister to and serve.

Today was kind of a hectic day.  It was a Sunday, and Sundays are always hectic for me.  I’m not the most organized person in the world, and sometimes I feel like it’s hard for me to even keep my head on straight on Sunday Mornings.  But there is always something special about Sundays for me.  Today, I looked at the alarm, and praised God for the opportunity to worship him.  I spent some time getting ready, and rejoiced in one of the benefits of a small Church: being able to pray for each of your members. 

At Church, people were really great in the Sunday School lesson and I think the sermon came together well.  After Church, they gave us a pastor’s appreciation gift.  I think one of the things that we really love about this congregation is just how much love and appreciation they show Laurie, Charlotte, and myself. 

At our first Wee Kirk meeting, one of the things that I realized upon entering the room tonight is just how frustrated people are with the denomination.  One person said something like, “wouldn’t it be great to see our denomination really come alive” and the room broke out in laughter.  I think that’s kind of the point we’ve come to… it’s hard for us to be part of the Church sometimes.  There is so much infighting, so much arguing, and so much disagreement and distrust that it’s almost palpable.  We just don’t know where the denomination is going to be in the next five years.  People are scared.  And that fear has killed some of our ability to be able to see the Church as a place where we can experience new life and hope.

I think that the reality is that this is happening all over the Church.  It’s not just the PC(USA), it’s happening in lots of denominations.  We’re afraid of the culture, we’re afraid of what’s happening around us, and we just don’t know how to respond.  We look at the news, and we hear about wars and poverty and hardship.  We see the increase in secularism and sometimes doubt hits us and almost wonder ourselves what it is that we’re doing. 

I feel lead to pray for God’s Church.  I don’t pray that we’ll all agree on everything, because that’s never been the case.  But what I do pray is that we would be so lead by God that we would live out our lives in love and compassion toward one another.  I know that it’s a high ideal, and I’m very new at this whole pastor thing… but I think that we could make huge strides in the ministry if we simply viewed one another the way that Jesus views one another. 

I fail at this every day.  I look at other people’s failures and judge them, yet I show myself grace and mercy.  Yet, just as Paul said, I am chief of all sinners.  I am broken, and I am wounded.  There’s a mewithoutYou verse where Aaron Weiss says “I need more grace than I thought.”  I realize daily that my biggest failing is not a lack of grace but a lack of humility.

I pray that God would humble me this week.  I pray that my God would shine brightly in the midst of all of my hurt and brokenness.  In my darkness, may his light shine.

Three Months

For the last three years, God has been preparing me for pastoral ministry.  Over the course of that time, God provided a way for me to attend seminary, build vital relationships with peers in ministry, gain invaluable ministry experience, and learn to trust and depend on him.  I wrote papers, I took tests, and I read books.  I had conversations, I practiced pastoral care, I visited the sick, and I shared my faith.  Before that time, I spent time doing ministry college ministry and leading worship in Churches.  After seminary, I applied to a residency program in order to continue to learn from pastors who have been in the field for years.  So here I am, three months in.  So, here are a few things I've learned:

1. Relationships are hard.

I'm what I like to call an outgoing introvert.  I'm a person who strongly leans toward introversion but still likes people.  The liking people thing came after the introversion thing.  For a long time, I labeled myself as a loner, a person who did not need friends.  Then, I began to take on friends for periods of a year or two.  Finally, I got married to my best friend, which has caused me to stretch and grow greatly in this area.  I've built lots of great relationships, but whenever I move on in life I tend to lose them.  I still feel like relationships are difficult. 

This can be hard in the Church sometimes.  I've learned over the past few years that the most important part of ministry is to be in the midst of the people and what's going on in the world.  I've labeled the idea "being carnal."  Jesus, the incarnate son of God, took on flesh to be in the midst of our lives.  In response to that we, as Christians, are called to be fully present in the world as Christ was fully present.  We are called to be carnal.  We're called to be carnal not in the sense that we drink, smoke, swear, and chew (outside of moderation), but in the sense that we are truly human.  We're called to be carnal in the sense that we're living out the new life and new birth that we have been granted in and through our Lord and savior Jesus Christ.

It can be hard to do this.  Laurie and I just had our first baby.  We move away from PA for the first time ever.  For the first time in our live since High School we're living in a community where there are not simple built in relationships with like minded people.  There are, of course, people in the Church who have been amazing friends to us... but the call of Christ, I believe, is to dwell in the midst of all of God's people.  That is, in the town.  In the coffee shops and in the restaurants.  At the football games and in the parents groups.  With all of the changes in our lives, this has been difficult for us to do.  It's been hard to find our niche with so many new life experiences.  We're not from this state. We've never had a baby before.

Yet, God's call still rings true in my heart that we must go out.  I pray that God would continue to lead us as we seek to further his kingdoms in all corners of our new area. 

2.  I don't have it all figured out.

I don't.  I might have thought at one point that having it figured out was possible, but I'm not so sure that's the case now.  The more I talk with people, the more people I meet and attempt to minister to, the more I realize that theres no key to success.  And really, what is success?  For me, is it getting more people in my Church?  Is it making sure we have enough money for the budget?  Is it having a building or a congregation that meets the standard we set for ourselves as "success."

I used to think that if I had it all figured out or if I got to the right place in life I would be truly happy.  Not just intellectually, but in my life.  If I got the right degree, found the right calling, and did the right things God would make me happy.  Yet it seems like everwhere I go, It's just hard to find that sweet spot.  There's always difficulties, there's always problems.  One of my wise congregation members told me something last week, she said "life is challenging."  Isn't it?  I ask myself sometimes, what if I just accepted that?  What if I just lived into the fact that life is fairly challenging?  What if I didn't look for a way?  What if I ran straight into the challenge, taking it for what it is?  It's not the way I'm made, or perhaps it's not the way I've acted in the past. 

Maybe I'll start to understand what's going on here a little bit more if I continue to seek to be present.  Maybe through prayer, preaching, and presence God will just show up.  Which brings me to my next point:

3. God is faithful.

I don't have it all figured out.  The changes are hard.  But God is faithful.

God is faithful despite my faithfulness to him.  Yes, he calls me to be active in his ministry, to participate in the story that he is writing in the world.  He calls me to speak the grace of the Gospel to his people and his creation.  Yet, I am not ever faithful and true.  I make mistakes, and sometimes I outright fail.  Yet God reconciles all of this to himself and sets me back on his path. 

I praise the Lord that our he is living and active.  I praise the Lord that he cuts deep into my soul, and reminds me of what is right and true.  I praise the Lord that he builds me up as his child.  The success that I accomplish is ultimately the success of God the Father, working in God the Son, through God's Holy Spirit.

4. I need people to pray for me and encourage me.

Please do so.

Lord Jesus, may this Church, my life, and the life of my family be guided by your ever present spirit.  May I live in the knowledge of your Gospel, confessing my sins and giving thanks for your work and creation.  And may you run ever before me in the power of your love.  In Christ's name, Amen.

Keeping Busy

One of my favorite authors is Eugene Peterson.  I've always found his writings to be very thoughful, compassionate, and pastoral.  Yesterday, I was reading his book "The Contemplative Pastor: Return to the Art of Spiritual Direction" and one section in particular caught my attention.

In the chapter titled "Unbusy Pastors" he says that pastors need to be careful that they arn't "busy."  According to Peterson, being busy arrises in a pastors life for two reasons: vanity and laziness.  Vanity can lead to business because when you're filling up you're schedule then you feel like you're more important.  Laziness can lead to being busy because we let other's determine what our roles are (you need to be at this meeting because you're the pastor!)... and instead of being proactive about our time.  It's not that a pastor should not be "active."  It's just that we need to be careful of how we fill our time.

So what should a pastor do?  Peterson says there are three things: pray, preach, and listen.  Pastors need to be leaders in prayer.  I've been convicted of this more and more over the course of the last three years in seminary... i've had so many great professors who have emphasized the incredible need for prayer.  When I think of prayer, what comes to mind is dependence.  Prayer allows me to live into the reality that I am not in charge of this situation, and that there is a God who is.  Pastors covet the time they spend in preaching.  We have something that not many people have on a weekly basis: the ability to speak the grace of God in Christ into people's lives.  We need to be careful that we are doing that in the most effective way we can by paying attention to our people and contexts.  Pastors should also lead the way in listening.  I've found that people tend to spend a lot more time talking in our culture than listening.  Pastors should provide people with the opportunity to be heard.  We often jump to quick fixes or cheap answers (someone's always worse off!), but listening to people validates both their concern and their humanity. 

I pray that I and my colleages would be people who pray, preach, and listen.