Building

I missed blogging last week because I was on a mission trip to Puerto Rico. I did not have access to the internet down there most of the time except on my phone and I am not sure I would enjoy typing something up from my phone.
Now I am back and we have been focusing on what we can learn from the David Kinnaman book UnChristian. This book shares some of the views that young people (between the ages of 16-29) outside of Christianity have of us as Christians. One view they have is that Christians just want to get converts. They have felt that Christians are just out to get bigger numbers for the membership roles or to get a notch in their belt.
This view has been propelled by evangelists who have very professional presentations. Young people see this as marketing tricks to get people to "buy" their product. This view also becomes real for young people when they are abandoned by Christians once they turn down an offer to attend church or a Bible study. They feel written off and as if the Christian did not really care about them. The main concern of young outsiders is that they want Christians to genuinely care about them and not just try to convert them.
I do not want to just give you more gimmicks or a to-do list on how to share your faith. I just want to encourage you to build relationships with people outside the Christian faith. Not in order to convert them, but because they are a child of God.
While in Puerto Rico I was reminded of this calling to build relationships. We had two projects to be done by our group in my mind. Half of the group was going to work with some kids; do crafts, sing songs, teach a lesson. That group was going to build relationships. My group was there for work projects. We repaired two church roofs, painted, moved a wall, replaced 31 shutter cranks and a few other things
A couple of days in Puerto Rico our hosts wanted to take us site seeing or to visit a ministry and inside I was frustrated. I wanted to get the work done. If we did not have those distractions we could get more work done. My mind was not on building relationships.
However, God kept calming me down until I finally realized that this trip was about building relationships and not work projects. Sure the work was nice, but I need to take my time to get to know these new friends. One night I had a chance to sit and chat with one of these new friends and I learned so much from that talk. God reminded me to slow down and take the time to ask questions and hear someone's story.
My prayer for you and for me is that this lesson will not just be for mission trips, but everyday. That every day I will take the time to slow down and get to know someone instead of just working on projects. People are not projects, they are loved children of God. They are our brothers and sisters and God wants us to get to know them and care about them. God also wants us to share our faith with them as we build that relationship. This is not to just convert them, but it is to let them know about something that has changed our lives and it could change theirs if they want.
So let's keep building what is important, relationships.

An Accurate Stereotype

85% of young people outside of Christianity view Christians as hypocrites. I call this an accurate stereotype. I found this description in a list of oxymorons. Stereotypes are by definition not entirely true, but if it is accurate, then it is true. And this describes Christian hypocrites well. A hypocrite is someone who says one thing and does another. And it is true that Christians do this, but I think it is also true that most everyone does this.
These same young outsiders that say Christians are hypocrites also agreed that everyone else is hypocritical from time to time, so it is not that big of a deal that Christians are. It does not bother them that much because Christians are just like everyone else when it comes to saying one thing and doing another.
Their problem comes when Christians do not admit their hypocrisy. It bothers them when Christians try to act as if their actions always match their words. So I want to encourage Christians to get better at acknowledging that we miss the mark. As Christians we need to be open and honest that we make mistakes even as we try to live for God.
Not being able to live perfectly the life God has called us to is nothing new. The Apostle Paul even wrestled with this. In Romans 7:15 he says, "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do." Paul admits here his hypocrisy of not doing what he knows God wants him to do, and then doing what he knows God does not want him to do.
I think we all wrestle with that, I know I do. It is evidence of the struggle between good and evil in all of us. It is the tension created between our natural being and the supernatural working in us. It shows that the Spirit of God is at work in us, but not yet finished.
I hope as Christians we can address this accurate stereotype by acknowledging that we do not always act perfectly. I also hope that we will not settle for just acknowledging it, but press on to match our actions with the will of God. I hope we can continue to struggle and that God's better calling will be done more often.

To Reach the Next Generation

The congregation I serve is beginning a focus on how we can reach the next generation with the message of Jesus. We will be using David Kinnaman's book UnChristian: What the Next Generation Thinks About Christianity...and Why It Matters. So over the next two months we will learn what we can from this book.
For today though I want to praise God for the man that reached me with the message of Jesus. Thursday I will go to the celebration of life service for Stan Wierson. Stan was the pastor that looked at a 14 year old scrawny awkward kid and saw something more. Even though I was not a Christian at the time (I was a church attender because Mom made me go). The summer of 1992 Stan hired me to be on the staff of Summer Games.
I was a counselor and supposed to be sharing Jesus with the kids coming to camp, but first I had to get to know him myself. I did meet Jesus my first week at camp and that began my new life in Christ and the new direction of my life. Two years later I felt a call to full-time ministry, again with Stan highly involved in encouraging me in that direction.
Stan was a man with great vision as he started Summer Games. He also had great vision in seeing the gifts and talents in people. I am one of over 200 people Stan helped hear the call to ministry. Stan also was a man of courage and trust. He would allow high school and college students to take real leadership in ministry where many are hesitant. He trusted these students to do their best with God's help, and gave us confidence in working with God's guidance.
I hope that I can grow in reaching and touching the next generation as Stan did. And I hope as a church we can support and encourage the next generations as God reaches out to them with his love and grace.

Life of a Hero

I found a definition of a hero that says a hero is someone who has given his or her life for something bigger than oneself. On Memorial Day we do celebrate the many heroes who have served our country through our armed services. The men and women who have died in wars protecting our freedoms and rights are heroes we need to remember and honor.
In 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 Paul reminds us of Jesus' call to remember the meaning of his death in communion. In communion we remember that Jesus lived a heroic life as well. He gave his body and blood for something bigger than himself. He gave his life for us, so that our sins could be forgiven.
Finally, I want us to remember that as Christians, we too are called to live the life of a hero. We are called to give our lives to something bigger than ourselves. Jesus has freed us from sin in order to have a relationship with God that allows us to live for something bigger. Living for ourselves is not what we are called to do, and yet too often that is how we live.
God wants us to allow Jesus to live in us and lead us to live for the bigger things in life. We had a couple of members this week head down to Kansas for a few days of helping a community recover from a tornado. That is giving your life for something bigger, that is living the life of a hero.
I hope you know what bigger thing you are living for, but if not just ask God to show you where to give your life. You could give your life to the poor. You could give your life to the elderly. You could give your life to the outcast. God's love and grace is so large that it may call us to many different things, but all will fall under building his kingdom.
Go and live the life of a hero, live for something bigger than yourself.

Saying Thank You

In the passage from Luke 17:11-19 we hear the story of ten people healed by Jesus and only one of them returned to thank Jesus. I don't want to blame the other 9 too much because Jesus told them to go to the priests and that is what they were doing. Yet Jesus still had wanted more of them to come back and say thank you.
Saying thank you is a simple thing, but we often overlook it. I know I am guilty of not saying thank you. When I get presents from my family or even friends on my birthday I do not send thank you notes. I guess I think I deserve the presents because it is my birthday, and I will thank them by giving them a present on their birthday.
The first time Helen got presents from my family on her birthday she asked for their addresses. And I questioned why she need them. She said to send thank you notes. I told her that my family did not need or expect thank you's for their gifts, but she asked for the addresses and sent them anyway.
I also believe that God does not need or expect our thanks, but I know God loves it when we do give him thanks and praise. Normally we may only thank God one out of ten times, but we can grow and improve on that. We can all grow in watching for how God is blessing us and then say thank you.
Thank God in prayer. Say to him how much it means to you for God to be working in your life. Praise him and thank him for all the little and big ways God is working.
Also, thank God publicly. Tell other people how God has blessed you. This invites the other person to join in your thanks, but it also might encourage them to give thanks as well.
We can grow in saying thank you to others, but also to God. Thank you for reading.

What are you doing next?

Yesterday we congratulated our Class of 2011. We have seven graduating seniors this year in our congregation. We asked each of them to introduce themselves and share what their plans are for next year. All seven of our graduates are going on to college (4 of them to Iowa!).
This got me thinking about our faith journey. As we grow in faith there are times of graduation where we move on to the next phase of our faith. When I first was a Christian I was a follower. I was learning everything I could from other people and studying the Bible myself. Then I started working alongside the people I had been following. Eventually I took the lead, first with youth and later with adults. (I never have graduated from following because I am still a follower as I lead.) There were not too many parties or celebrations for my graduations, but nevertheless I can look back see those times of moving on to my next phase of faith.
So when is the last time you graduated? Have you taken the next step in your faith recently or has it been a while? Is it time for a graduation?
Sometimes we settle into our faith and stay where it is comfortable. This is okay for a time, but God calls us forward. We need to step up to the challenge before us. It can be difficult. It can be scary facing the unknown, but it is where God calls us.
So what are you doing next? Is it time to get into a small group? Is it time to lead a small group? Is it time to find a place to serve? Whatever your next phase of faith is, go knowing God goes with you.
Congratulations to the Class of 2011, both high school and college. God has great things planned for you.

Mother - God

I was struck yesterday during our prayer time at our early service on Mother's Day. The prayer lifted up how we pray "Our Father," but also how like our mother God is. I even preached that God's heart is very much like the heart of a mother. The ideal mother loves her children unconditionally and this is part of who God is. Wesleyan's usually focus on God's love and grace. We believe those are the foundation of who God is. We might also say those are the foundation for the ideal mother as well.
I believe men and fathers also give love and grace, but that is often not thought of as their primary qualities. And what struck me yesterday after going on about how much like our mother God is, we then went into praying "Our Father."
It is interesting how we can get so stuck on words. For some changing the Lord's Prayer by saying, "Our Mother" would be blasphemy. I admit, even to me, it feels strange to do that, but I do not think God would be offended. Using father or mother to describe God only points to a part of who God is. God is indescribable and uncontainable in words and maybe we need to get used to being free to express how God has reached out to us.
The other piece of this is that our faith seems to more often connect with women. For some reason men often are hesitant to share about their faith and be open to what God is doing. I am still wrestling with why this is, although I think part of it is that men are generally less connected to mushy, loving God ideas that we often communicate as the church. Maybe we need to give some attention to God deserving our respect and his power. That may be more of what men are looking for.
Well, a couple of pretty early thoughts from me this morning. Let me know your thoughts. I still need dig a little deeper into these and pray through them little more. Let us pray, "Our Mother..."