Category Archives: Pastoring

How do we grow after we realize our need to change?

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We often talk about our long-term plans for achievement. What about pursuing long-term obedience and change over time?

When we feel conviction from God and desire to change, expecting immediate change can frustrate us. Here Ken Wytsma (lead pastor of Antioch Church, founder of The Justice Conference, and president of Kilns College) talks about our need to return to the spiritual disciplines as we pursue long-term change.

How do we grow after we realize our need to change?

How do we grow after we realize our need to change? from :redux — askquestions.tv

Obey right away, cheerfully, and see God grow you into the image of His Son Jesus. By the Spirit, through grace.

(Of course, we should mention that getting to a place where you truly desire to change — that is to change your character and not just get a new set of circumstances — is no small feat. From that place of discovery a whole new world of change can be found, which is an endless adventure.)

 

It’s World Water Day (and you can help).

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Imagine waking up this morning without water.

None. No water from the taps. None in the toilet. None in the shower. None in the washing machine or dishwasher. None in the sink.  None in the fridge. No ice in the freezer. No water.

What would I drink? How would I wash dishes, clothes, myself? How would I brush my teeth, flush the toilet, get clean? How would I cook? You’d quickly begin to panic, yes? Even writing that paragraph made me feel thirsty. You’d quickly become consumed with finding water. Your thoughts would be filled, and you’d immediately rearrange your entire day around the sole purpose of finding water.

But what if you had no car? And no store in which to buy water? For me, that would mean walking three miles down to the Willamette River. Most people I know won’t even swim in the Willamette much less drink its water–it’s filthy. But supposing I did successfully get myself down to the river, carrying just five measly gallons of water back home the three miles straight up Hidden Springs hill would be virtually impossible. Just 5 gallons of water weighs almost 42 lbs. Now, that 5 gallons is the average usage for Africans each day. (The average American family of four uses 400 gallons of drinking water a day.) That little trip right there that I just described would take all day, leave me exhausted, and would need to happen every single day.  Not to mention my children. There’s no way they could hike those 6 miles. I’d have to leave them at home without supervision, every single day.

That’s all just for 5 gallons of virtually undrinkable water.

My point? We wouldn’t survive without clean water.

This is the reality for 1.2 billion people in our world today. As many as 5 million people die every year of water-related illnesses. A child dies every fifteen seconds of a waterborne disease. It’s a no-win situation. Children either die for lack of water or die because the water they have isn’t clean. The problem feeds every other problem. Women and children cannot work because they have to spend all day fetching water. In developing countries women and children invest two hundred million hours a day to fetching water. That’s equal to a full-time workforce of twenty-five million people fetching water eight hours a day, seven days a week. Children can’t go to school. Without water humans cannot work, cannot learn, cannot function. Without water we can’t even think.

And yet it’s one of the easiest ways we can help.

For three simple ways to help, read the rest at Sacred Mundane …

 

Where do you go to read people?

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Image: Sura Nualpradid

I love reading books. As a theophile, I could spent everyday reading something good, no matter if I’m vacationing or officially working. A good read for work becomes a joy to read when I’m “off.” I relish the challenge of, well, being challenged, and great thinkers lead my mind to begin to make sense of the world, which has been shaped by God’s Word. There’s never enough time to read a good book, but that tension leads me to engage, not escape, the world. So, I love reading people.

Twice a week I go to a regular “third space” (read: coffee shop) to read, write, think, plan, and meet with people. Usually the time connects to a meeting with someone, where the content of our conversation is okay to be spoken in public (otherwise we may meet in confidence at my office). It’s my office-away-from-the-office, and many times people see me and joke that I’m “always” there.

The baristas and I have a whole metanarrative of stories and jokes at play, and many of them have confided their hopes and dreams to the “digital pastor” who somehow has no set “regular” drink to order. In that place it’s fairly easy to notice some trends. While sitting for an hour nearby one can tell who the gracious customers are, and who is merely putting up with the whole production to get what they want. Reading people can be fun.

Of course, some people cannot stand the noise and prefer to get their triple shot venti mocha blah blah and drive away to the private comforts of their own space. Personally, I’ve always enjoyed a low rumble of noise around me, which helps me focus, rather than get distracted (no idea if it’s ADD or the total opposite.) A while back I did a quick calculation and realized that while studying engineering as an undergrad I spent more than 3,000 hours studying in a coffee shop. It was always noisy. Sorta like in that way.

On Fast Company’s Co.EXIST blog a recent feature noted the findings of researchers making sense of why ditching the office could help one be more creative. In the words of the researchers:

“A moderate distraction, which induces processing difficulty, enhances creativity by prompting abstract thinking.”

They noted that high noise levels make for a terrible environment (unsustainable even, I might add), and low noise can actually make you strain to tune out the whispers all around. There’s a “just right” level of distraction that helps us focus. As I have no problem thinking abstractly, I go to public spaces around people to help me think more concretely as well.

People animate the dreams, hopes, fears, and values they embody in their daily stories, which as a pastor I need to know. A lot can be learned by watching someone interact with others in even the most mundane setting as a coffee shop. Especially if you went there not so much to watch them (which could be creepy) but to watch God at work, and to join Him in that great work.

God knows, and has always known, everything about us. Yet, where did He go to read people? He came to earth, to live the life we should life and haven’t, and to die the death we all deserve, but don’t have to endure. Dare I say that Jesus was not content with reading people from afar? He desired to enter into their sufferings and their joys, to know grief and endure it patiently.

In the incarnation, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus we see where and how Jesus went to read people. To that same place, and only there, we are invited to read God.

 

Hard to share: don’t want to be all ‘preachy’ when sharing your faith?

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Do you find it difficult to share about Jesus with others?

You are not alone.

Jonathan Dodson writes in the introductory article for a series, “5 Reasons It’s Difficult to Share Our Faith” on Gospel-Centered Discipleship:

Very often we find it difficult to share our faith. Whether we’re in the workplace, neighborhood, or a social setting, talking about the person and work of Jesus doesn’t come naturally. There are some good reasons for this.

Dodson begins the series with the first one:

1. What if I’m Viewed as Preachy?

Preachy Christians often turn people off not onto faith in Christ. Think of Angela from The Office, the street preacher, or maybe the free speech fundamentalist yellers on campus in college. I remember watching them. They stood on a box to yell. Leading out with hell, fire, and damnation not grace, forgiveness, and salvation.These Christians all share something in common—self-righteousness. If we’re honest, we all have a bit of this in us, but with these figures it’s amplified. We hesitate to talk about Jesus because we don’t want to be associated with them. We’re concerned it would turn others off. But preachy self-righteousness isn’t just a turn off; it’s the opposite of the gospel. This brings into focus our first, principal concern:

We should avoid preachy self-righteousness because it communicates something opposite to the gospel.

Self-righteousness is rooted in pride and greed, no matter how religious or sincere we are, and thus when we are self-righteous will won’t be generous with the words of Jesus. Instead of representing Him, we will default to representing ourselves.

Dodson continues by exploring “How Do We Change the ‘Preachy’ Perception?”

Now, there’s also a critical response to this concern. While it’s true that we should oppose preachy self-righteousness (because it obscures the gospel of grace), it is also true that the gospel offends our own self-righteous sensibilities. The gospel reminds us that we don’t have what it takes before a holy God, that Christ alone has what it takes, and that he’s died and risen to give it to us.

The gospel is offensive; it lifts up a mirror and shows us who we really are, but it’s also redemptive; it lifts up Christ to show us who we can become.

How will this incorrect view of Christianity be corrected? Actions might remedy a perception of personal self-righteousness, but they can’t correct a religious view of the gospel. Only words can clarify the meaning of the gospel. Yet, there remains more difficulties in sharing our faith. In the next article, we will consider the concern that we first have a relationship before sharing the gospel with other

  • See the whole article on moving from preachiness to embodying the Gospel and speaking confidently, humbly, and honestly.

(Re-posted from igrowhere.com)

 

[in]complete: Why didn’t Jesus simply come and out and say “I am God?”

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The first Christians did not get in trouble for saying “Jesus is God.” The Romans believed in a myriad of so-called “gods,” so saying Jesus is another one of those is just to add Him to the pantheon of supposed gods they could worship. That wasn’t the offense of their message.

Instead, the message was “Jesus is Lord,” which is much deeper and far-reaching in the claims about the God-Man (and is “sneeze-able“).

Those three tiny words were actually hugely offensive. Why?

Who was the so-called “Lord” of the Roman Empire?

Caesar.

He was the “God of the gods,” who ruled over all, on earth and in the heavens. Or so they thought. Pagans saw gods in everything, and everything was a god. So, calling Jesus “God” isn’t as forceful as what believers more commonly called Him: Lord.

When we say Jesus is Lord, we must become like the first believers, who were not using religious jargon. They were saying that Jesus replaced Caesar, and anyone else, as the one receiving their worship. These thoughtful Jesus-followers were making a whole-life claim as to who they will obey and follow in this life. They were saying He is above all, the one true ruler, the God who calls the shots. He is in control of all; He is the Caesar of the Caesar.

More than saying “Jesus is Lord,” they were living as if Jesus is Lord, which maks all the difference in the world.

Jesus was not an add-on. They realized that before Jesus they were busy serving other kings and masters, who abused them and let them down. In contrast, Jesus is a good Master, who will not let us down.

He wants our whole life. When He is Lord, life becomes good. Because He is the one Good God.

Mark 12:13-17 (NLT):

 13 Later the leaders sent some Pharisees and supporters of Herod to trap Jesus into saying something for which he could be arrested. 14 “Teacher,” they said, “we know how honest you are. You are impartial and don’t play favorites. You teach the way of God truthfully. Now tell us—is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not? 15 Should we pay them, or shouldn’t we?”

Jesus saw through their hypocrisy and said, “Why are you trying to trap me? Show me a Roman coin,[a denarius] and I’ll tell you.” 16 When they handed it to him, he asked, “Whose picture and title are stamped on it?”

“Caesar’s,” they replied.

17 “Well, then,” Jesus said, “give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God.”

His reply completely amazed them.

Image credits: “Caesar’s or God’s” by Lawrence OP, and “The Biblical Tribute Penny: Tiberius AR Denarius 16-34 AD” by Icarus Kuwait, both on Flickr

 

Talk or Walk: Do we love with words or with works?

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What is the relationship between evangelism and social justice? 

Should Christians talk more about the good works of Jesus, or demonstrate their own good works? I’m convinced it is BOTH/AND, not just either/or, for Jesus came proclaiming the Good News (Gospel) He embodied in His whole life (see Luke 4:14-21).

Skye Jethani (editor at Christianity Today and Leadership Journal) points us to John Stott to help us navigate the ongoing evangelism/social justice divide:

“Atonement-only advocates demand that advocates of social justice justify their efforts. And justice advocates demand atonement-only advocates justify their emphasis on gospel proclamation. But, using Stott’s logic, if evangelism or social activism is flowing from a heart of love and compassion, than neither must be justified. Love is its own justification. As you engage this issue in your own community, do not get snared by the false dichotomy that declares either evangelism or social justice must be superior. Instead, let’s affirm whatever work God has called us to, whether that be proclaiming reconciliation or demonstrating it, as long as his love is found to be fueling it.”

 

I will add that evangelism that cares only for the eternal safety of another’s soul but not for that person’s flourishing in this life is not truly motivated by the love of Jesus. Let’s talk and walk at the same time.

[HT: Tim Høiland]

 

[in]complete: Ways & Means so we don’t end up as slaves of a de-souled culture.

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Continuing from yesterday and the day before …

The prevailing ways and means curricula in which we are all immersed in North America are designed to help us get ahead in whatever field of work we find ourselves: sales and marketing, politics, business, church, school an university, construction, manufacturing, faming, laboratory, hospital, home, playground, sports. The courses first instruct us in skills and principles that we are told are foundational and then motivate us to use these skills so that we can get what we want out of this shrunken, dessicated “world, flesh, and devil” field. And of course it works wonderfully as long as we are working in that particular field, the field in which getting things done is the “end.”

When it comes to persons, these ways of the world are terribly destructive. They are highly effective in getting ahead in a God-indifferent world, but not in the community of Jesus, not in the kingdom of God. When we uncritically accept these curricula as our primary orientation in how to get on in the world, we naively embrace the very temptations of the devil that Jesus so definitively vetoed and rebuked.

Warnings are frequently and prominently posted by our sages and prophets to let us know that these purely pragmatic ways and means of the world weaken and enervate the community of the baptized. The whole North American ways and means culture, from assumptions to tactics, is counter to the rich and textured narrative laid out for us in our Scriptures regarding walking in the way of righteousness, running in the way of the commandments, following Jesus. In matters of ways and means, the world gives scant attention to what it means to live, to really live, to live eternal life in ordinary time: God is not worshiped, Jesus is not followed, the Spirit is not given a voice. …

Jacques Maritain, one of our more prescient and incisive prophetic voices from the twentieth century, continues to call on all of us who have taken up membership in the Christian community to be vigilant and active in what he called “the Purification of Means.” He saw this as urgent work, about which we should not procrastinate if we are to follow Jesus in the freedom where he leads us, and we are not to end up as slaves of a de-souled culture.

—Eugene Peterson, The Jesus Way: a conversation on the ways that Jesus is the way, 2-4.

 

[in]complete: Ways & Means in everything.

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Continuing from yesterday …

In this matter of ways, the how of following Jesus and taking up with the world cannot be depersonalized by reduction into a how-to formula. We are involved in a highly personal, interrelational, dynamic way of life consisting of many elements — emotions and ideas, weather and work, friends and enemies, seductions and illusions, legislation and elections — that are constantly being rearranged, always in flux, and always in relation to our very personal and holy God and our very personal (but not so holy!) brothers and sisters.

Ways and means permeate everything that we are in worship and community. But none of the ways and means can be compartmentalized into functions or isolated as concepts apart from this comprehensive biblical Trinitarian world in which we follow Jesus. They permeate everything we are and do. If any of the means we use to follow Jesus are extraneous to who we are in Jesus — detached “things” or role “models” — they detract from the end of following Jesus. Do our ways derive from “the world, the flesh, and devil” of which we have been well warned for such a long time? Or do they serve life in the kingdom of God and the following of Jesus in which we have been given, historically and liturgically, a long apprenticeship?

—Eugene Peterson, The Jesus Way: a conversation on the ways that Jesus is the way, 2.

(More tomorrow…)

 

[in]complete: Ways & Means.

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“This is a conversation on the spirituality of the ways we go about following Jesus, the Way. The ways Jesus goes about loving and saving the world are personal: nothing disembodied, nothing abstract, nothing impersonal. Incarnate, flesh and blood, relational, particular, local.

The ways employed in our North American culture are conspicuously impersonal: programs, organizations, techniques, general guidelines, information detached from place. In matters of ways and means, the vocabulary of numbers is preferred over names, ideologies crowd out ideas, the gray fog of abstraction absorbs the sharp particularities of the recognizable face and the familiar street.

My concern is provoked by the observations that so many who understand themselves to be followers of Jesus, without hesitation, and apparently without thinking, embrace the ways and means of the culture as they go about their daily living “in Jesus’ name.” But the ways that dominate our culture have been developed either in ignorance or in defiance of the ways that Jesus uses to lead us as we walk the streets and alleys, hike the trails, and drive the roads in this God-created, God-saved, God-blessed, God-ruled world in which we find ourselves. They seem to suppose that “getting on in the world” means getting on in the world on the world’s terms, and that the ways of jesus are useful only in a compartmentalized area of life labeled “religious.”

This is wrong thinking, and wrong living. Jesus is an alternative to the dominant ways of the world, not a supplement to them. We cannot use impersonal means to do or say a personal thing — and the gospel is personal or it is nothing.

—Eugene Peterson, The Jesus Way: a conversation on the ways that Jesus is the way, 1-2.

 

Just having a conversation about Justice.

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Today and tomorrow I am at The Justice Conference, hosted here in Portland. So grateful to join in the conversation.

The Justice Conference 2012 is the second annual international gathering of advocates, activists, artists, professors, professionals, prophets, pastors, students and stay-at-home moms working to restore the fabric of justice. For some it means speaking. For others it means singing. For some it means going. For others it means giving. For all, it means living with mercy and love.

Justice Conference founder (and lead pastor of Antioch Church in my beloved hometown of Bend) Ken Wytsma writes on why justice matters to followers of Jesus and all who trust Scripture:

People matter to God and therefore they should matter to us – every bit of them from the salvation of their souls to the meeting of material needs (see 1 John 4:20-21).
Justice is rooted in the character of God, commanded in his Holy Scriptures and exemplified in the life of Christ and the history of the church.
Justice is the right ordering of our relationships with God and neighbor.
Justice, in all spheres and slices of life and especially in the social sectors, is biblical, God-honoring and right. Politics, theories or political platforms, however, are open to dispute and disagreement.

Because Justice is much bigger than “social justice,” he gives a helpful pie-chart to see how various kinds of justice are interrelated:

 

Do I tend toward religious performance or living by the Gospel of grace?

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A few years ago a friend introduced me to a helpful way to examine my heart and see if I am living in God’s righteousness, or asserting my own self-righteousness. The simple chart shown below was adapted from Tim Keller’s talk “Preaching the Gospel.” I found it at a time when I felt far from God’s will (vocationally), but desired to live more deeply in His will (personally). Since then I’ve walked through it personally with many, each time rejoicing in the Gospel truth.

While the chart is useful for instructing others, we must begin by filtering our own heart through it:

Do I tend toward religious performance (acceptance based on obedience) or living by the Gospel of grace (obedience flowing from acceptance)? 

To this I would add: we are saved by works. Yet these works are not our own; we are graciously saved by the works of Jesus, who lived the life we should live — in perfect submission to God’s will — but haven’t, and died the death we should die, but won’t have to, if we trust in Him.

RELIGION

GOSPEL

  Scripture
In religion one says, “I obey — therefore I’m accepted.” In the Gospel one says, “I’m accepted — therefore I obey.” Ephesians 2:8-10
Motivation is based on fear and insecurity. Motivation is based on grateful joy. 1 John 4:7-11
I obey God in order to get things from God. I obey God to get to God—to delight and resemble Him. Isaiah 53:6; Romans 3:23
When circumstances in my life go wrong, I am angry at God or my self, since I believe, like Job’s friends that anyone who is good deserves a comfortable life. When circumstances in my life go wrong, I struggle but I know all my punishment fell on Jesus and that while he may allow this for my training, he will exercise his Fatherly love within my trial. Psalm 23:4; John 16:33; Phil. 4:11-14; Hebrews 12:1-13
When I am criticized I am furious or devastated because it is critical that I think of myself as a ‘good person’. Threats to that self-image must be destroyed at all costs. When I am criticized I struggle, but it is not critical for me to think of myself as a ‘good person.’ My identity is not built on my record or my performance but on God’s love for me in Christ. I can take criticism. That’s how I became a Christian. Romans 10:4; 2 Cor. 5:21; 1 Peter 3:18
My prayer life consists largely of petition and it only heats up when I am in a time of need. My main purpose in prayer is control of the environment. My prayer life consists of generous stretches of praise and adoration. My main purpose is fellowship with Him. Philippians 4:4-7
My self-view swings between two poles. If and when I am living up to my standards, I feel confident, but then I am prone to be proud and unsympathetic to failing people. If and when I am not living up to standards, I feel humble, but not confident-I feel like a failure. My self-view is not based on a view of my self as a moral achiever. In Christ I am simul iustus et peccator—simultaneously sinful and lost yet accepted in Christ. I am so bad he had to die for me and I am so loved he was glad to die for me. This leads me to deeper and deeper humility and confidence at the same time. Neither swaggering nor sniveling. Romans 10:4; 2 Cor. 5:21; 1 Peter 3:18
My identity and self-worth are based mainly on how hard I work. Or how moral I am, and so I must look down on those I perceive as lazy or immoral. I disdain and feel superior to ‘the other.’ My identity and self-worth are centered on the one who died for His enemies, who was excluded from the city for me. I am saved by sheer grace. So I can’t look down on those who believe or practice something different from me. Only by grace I am what I am. I’ve no inner need to win arguments. Phil. 3:8-9; Mark 10:45; Phil. 2:1-11
Since I look to my own pedigree or performance for my spiritual acceptability, my heart manufactures idols. It may be my talents, my moral record, my personal discipline, my social status, etc. I absolutely have to have them so they serve as my main hope, meaning, happiness, security, and significance, whatever I may say I believe about God. I have many good things in my life—family, work, spiritual disciplines, etc. But none of these good things are ultimate things to me. None of them are things I absolutely have to have, so there is a limit to how much anxiety, bitterness, and despondency they can inflict on me when they are threatened and lost. 1 John 5:11-14; Psalm 73

(Scripture references added)

Keller says he got the idea of contrasting Religion and the Gospel from reading C.S. Lewis’ short essay, “Three Kinds of Men,” in which he says there are not merely two ways to live (God’s way and man’s way), but three: religion, irreligion, and according to the Gospel of grace.

 

[in]complete: What does it mean to ‘Accept Jesus’?

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You may have heard it before: an invitation from Evangelical Christians to “accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior.” What on earth do we mean by that? (Or, since it sounds like religious jargon and we can be poor messengers: what should we mean when we say that?)

Ray Ortlund illustrates the modern idea of ‘accepting Jesus’ in two ways:

You and I are not integrated, unified, whole persons. Our hearts are multi-divided.

There is a board room in every heart. Big table. Leather chairs. Coffee. Bottled water. Whiteboard. A committee sits around the table. There is the social self, the private self, the work self, the sexual self, the recreational self, the religious self, and others. The committee is arguing and debating and voting. Constantly agitated and upset. Rarely can they come to a unanimous, wholehearted decision. We tell ourselves we’re this way because we’re so busy with so many responsibilities. The truth is, we’re just divided, unfocused, hesitant, unfree.

That kind of person can “accept Jesus” in either of two ways. One way is to invite him onto the committee. Give him a vote too. But then he becomes just one more complication.

The other way to “accept Jesus” is to say to him, “My life isn’t working. Please come in and fire my committee, every last one of them. I hand myself over to you. Please run my whole life for me.” That is not complication; that is salvation.

“Accepting Jesus” is not just adding Jesus. It is also subtracting the idols.

—Ray Ortlund, Jr., Christ is Deeper Still (emphasis mine)

We shall not merely invite Jesus into our lives. Our lives are a mess! Rather, Jesus invites us into His life. Through what He has done on the cross — in defeating sin, Satan, and removing all the obstacles we have before a holy God — after all that: God accepts us. And then cleans out our heart idols. They were terrible leaders anyway.

“You turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God.”
—1 Thessalonians 1:9