In a recent telephone conversation, someone asked me about how we were doing with our Five Practices small group teams. I shared that I thought we were doing well. The groups have been actively asking the pertinent questions about how we can become more fruitful, and what we need to do to be better at what we're already doing. We talked a bit more, and the topic turned to future plans. Short-term, mid-term, and long-term goals seemed to pose a slightly different challenge. Change (see my last blog, June 22, 2009) was not something that was going to come easy for a lot of people. It usually doesn't. (Just ask any first-time parent, especially after the first eighteen years!)
Nevertheless, I began to think about what it would look like if we could see what today would look like from the perspective of five years from now. I would like to be able to say that the difficult work that we're doing right now was the turning point in our congregation's growth explosion, propelling us toward a great new place in our history as God's people of faith. What would this year look like from the perspective of the future? Would this be a year of growth? Would this be the year that made all the difference?
I read somewhere that the Gospel of Luke was unique in its way of presenting a view of Jesus who ministered during his time on earth from the perspective of what the Kingdom of Heaven was supposed to be like. Seeing the present from the perspective of the already arrived future Kingdom. What he attempted to help those around him see was that the Kingdom was a different place than what folks were experiencing. He painted a view of life lived under God's rule, rather than life lived in revolt of Roman rule. He painted a view of life where everyone was given a chance at redemption, forgiveness, and a new beginning. He spoke about life that could be lived in community where everyone was invited. He turned the current views of what society valued on its ear. It meant changing one's perspectives, one's values, one's understandings of God. It was difficult to do, and as a result, many people, out of the fear of that change, rejected him and his teachings.
How does a people of faith begin to envision what could be? How do we begin to see that what could be is a matter of the decisions we make today? How do we overcome our fear of change, knowing that it could mean the difference of salvation for someone we've not yet met? If we were to look back on the present from the perspective of the future, what would we see - today? Who would we see? And how would that affect who we are called to be in Christ?
Just a few thoughts I had...
Monday, June 29, 2009
Monday, June 22, 2009
Changes...
Boy, was I scared. I wasn't sure if it was going to hurt. I had never had one before, unless you count the ones my mom had given me as a toddler. But this was my first real one. I wasn't sure what it was going to look like when I got done. But I knew something would be different. Haircuts usually do that to you.
Why do we always fear change? Psychologists and psychiatrists have been asking that question for years. What is it about change that scares us so? Is it that we are afraid of how others will perceive us? Is it that we ourselves will have changed so much that we might fear being unrecognizable? What is it about change?
Maybe it has something to do with our control. When we initiate change, it is because we have mustered the courage somehow and have determined that what will happen afterward will somehow be better than where we are right now. Maybe its because we're in control of the change process - or at least part of it. And when we are not in control, that's when we get scared.
Let's face it. We don't really like being out of control, or worse yet, not having any say whatsoever. It frightens us. Change is always difficult, but somehow, we believe, if we are in control of it as it is happening, then we can say to ourselves (and anyone else who might be listening) that we meant to do it. We were in charge of our change.
But what happens when our control is no longer an option? What happens when we are not asked our opinion? What happens when our opinion doesn't much matter? What happens when our lives seem to be taken over by others, or when our decisions don't carry much weight anymore? What then?
At the end of the book of John, Jesus and Peter have a touching reunion, where grace and forgiveness are shown in a purely redemptive fashion. Jesus asks Peter three times if he loves him and three times his response is 'yes Lord, you know I do.' Three times Jesus gives a command to tend to the sheep of his flock.
And then Jesus goes on. He says, "Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go" (John 21:18). Disturbing. Frightening. Being led where you do not wish to go? Being out of control?
Sometimes, it seems, Jesus just asks too much from us. "Go, sell what you own, give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me" (Mark 10:21b). "Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens , and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light" (Matthew 11:28, 30). "Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, even life itself, cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14:26-27).
Sell everything? How will I live? Wear a yoke? Isn't that oppressive? I'm not a beast of burden! Hate my family? Hate myself? Carrying crosses? No, Jesus it is too much. It is just too much. You are asking me to give up myself.
Exactly. We are called to give up making our own decisions and to trust in God. Radical. Outrageous. Extreme.
But if we really want God to be God, that is what is required. To submit our control to God. To allow God to be the one who can change us and transform us. "See, I am making all things new!" (Rev. 21:5). That includes us! And when we see what God is doing, how can we believe, even if only for a moment, that what God is doing could not possibly be better than what we have now?
I think its time for another haircut. And this time, I'm not going to worry about whether or not the barber does what I ask. After all, I'm becoming a new creation in Christ.
What about you?
Grace and peace,
Brad
Why do we always fear change? Psychologists and psychiatrists have been asking that question for years. What is it about change that scares us so? Is it that we are afraid of how others will perceive us? Is it that we ourselves will have changed so much that we might fear being unrecognizable? What is it about change?
Maybe it has something to do with our control. When we initiate change, it is because we have mustered the courage somehow and have determined that what will happen afterward will somehow be better than where we are right now. Maybe its because we're in control of the change process - or at least part of it. And when we are not in control, that's when we get scared.
Let's face it. We don't really like being out of control, or worse yet, not having any say whatsoever. It frightens us. Change is always difficult, but somehow, we believe, if we are in control of it as it is happening, then we can say to ourselves (and anyone else who might be listening) that we meant to do it. We were in charge of our change.
But what happens when our control is no longer an option? What happens when we are not asked our opinion? What happens when our opinion doesn't much matter? What happens when our lives seem to be taken over by others, or when our decisions don't carry much weight anymore? What then?
At the end of the book of John, Jesus and Peter have a touching reunion, where grace and forgiveness are shown in a purely redemptive fashion. Jesus asks Peter three times if he loves him and three times his response is 'yes Lord, you know I do.' Three times Jesus gives a command to tend to the sheep of his flock.
And then Jesus goes on. He says, "Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go" (John 21:18). Disturbing. Frightening. Being led where you do not wish to go? Being out of control?
Sometimes, it seems, Jesus just asks too much from us. "Go, sell what you own, give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me" (Mark 10:21b). "Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens , and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light" (Matthew 11:28, 30). "Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, even life itself, cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14:26-27).
Sell everything? How will I live? Wear a yoke? Isn't that oppressive? I'm not a beast of burden! Hate my family? Hate myself? Carrying crosses? No, Jesus it is too much. It is just too much. You are asking me to give up myself.
Exactly. We are called to give up making our own decisions and to trust in God. Radical. Outrageous. Extreme.
But if we really want God to be God, that is what is required. To submit our control to God. To allow God to be the one who can change us and transform us. "See, I am making all things new!" (Rev. 21:5). That includes us! And when we see what God is doing, how can we believe, even if only for a moment, that what God is doing could not possibly be better than what we have now?
I think its time for another haircut. And this time, I'm not going to worry about whether or not the barber does what I ask. After all, I'm becoming a new creation in Christ.
What about you?
Grace and peace,
Brad
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