Leaning Forward

The missing generation

Today is the final game day ofthe 2009 Upward Basketball season at Northwood Baptist. For many of the huge cadre of volunteers who make Upward happen for the eight week season it is breath and sigh time, the conclusion of eight action packed and long Saturdays, practice sessions during the week, telephone calls, post-game snacks, and for our deacons, more complex set-up routines. So, today we salute all the people who make it possible and the leaders whose hard work contributes to another successful season.

With Vacation Bible School, Upward is one of the most effective outreach ministries for a generation that is not, for the most part, churched. Much has been written about the millennials and the younger populations, how to reach them, and the congregations that are actually doing a good job at it. Still, for the most part, this group, which will eventually be the largest demographic of our citizenry, live basically outside the influence of a local congregation. What is this world going to look like if this generation grows up without Christ and the church? That's a hard prospect to consider. but, based on the stats now, that's the direction things are headed. We must reverse this trend!

So, today, I'm praying for something to fill this seasonal gap so these wonderful children can hear the message of the Good News till our next installment of basketball in 2010. What can it be?

Many thanks to our tireless volunteers. With the gratitude, let's encourage contact with these children  and their families after the season ends.

Remember: "And, whoever welcomes a child like this in my name welcomes some" (Matthew 18:5).

Getting younger by the day

It always give me a psychological boost seeing these vibrant, youthful people with old bodies. No, they're not Benjamin Button incarnations living in a surreal sci-fi reversal of the aging process. In fact, most of them  bear the distinguishable marks of their age, the lines and colors and posture and movements of people with some mileage. Still, there is a jaunt to their step, an eagerness that moves them forward and keeps them aligned with the times, culturally relevant, in some respects, the church of what's happening now crowd that have stayed connected to a changing world. They inspire me because they refuse to get old in spite of what their body tells them. Constant learners, they have a child-like, wide-eyed approach to life that welcomes change and energizes the world around them.

This thought was occasioned by a conversation I had yesterday with one of the participants in the Kaz Alliance meeting held at our church this week. She's from out of state, is well over 65 and is one of these lively, jumpy older types that isn't going to sit still for more than a minute or two. We talked church for a bit, and she lamented the death of her home church where the older people were truly old, the younger people had all become frustrated and left, and, you know, the church is now floundering, stuck in the 1970's and can't get up. She said something memorable. "Why do people always have to act their age?"

Now, there's a reversal! My parents always chastised me to act my age, to grow up, to become a big boy. Now, here's this fast-talking, hyperactive senior adult telling me she encourages people not to act their age. What gives?

Spiritual maturity has a quality about it that is hard to define. We are to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, to put aside childish things, take meat and not milk, and all other manner of spiritual growth hormones so we don't act like a bunch of babies the rest of our lives. At the same time, there is a newness, a freshness that marks our walk with Christ, the new thing that He is doing in us all the time that keeps us as fitting receptacles for the new wine he pouring in us constantly. It is the unseen reality that leans us forward a bit and gives us a new outlook, a fresh encounter that keeps us fresh. The visible things are wasting away, that old body of ours. But, the invisible things are eternal.

I'm praying to get younger by the day, knowing full well that this old earthly tent is going down fast. I'm asking God that I  "...be made new in the attitude of your mind..." (Ephesians 4:23).

Just in case you were wondering.

Economy of words

Tuesday @ the LifeWorks Charleston event I couldn't help but notice Henry Blackaby's economy of words, that is, his ability to say a lot while actually saying little. One friend recently told me I have the spiritual gift of elongation, usually covering everything with excess language. Even in writing I tend to be overly expressive, hiding truth behind unneeded adjectives and descriptives. When I turned in my doctoral paper at Southeastern, a 350 page tome, one of the committee members said, "there must be an idea in here somewhere." Was that a compliment, or what? Like the guy said in the hallway after a sermon one Sunday,"now, there's a sermon!" Say what?

Brevity is a grace. Stand up. Speak up. Shut up, the old preaching professors used to say. K.I.S.S., as in "keep it short sweetheart", was the preacher joke of the sixties, carefully crafted sermon notes sealed with a wifely K.I.S.S. Even so, speaking artists still honor those with the gift of gab and the ability to deliver forty-five minute diatribes, three points and a poem, alliterated, footnoted, and annotated by Turabian's rules. One of my previous pastors always preached two sermons every Sunday---the one before the invitation, and the longer one after the invitation, usually explaining the first one. Who knows?

So, Henry Blackaby's straight-to-the-point message, using minimum words was good. Maybe it's his wisdom, years of experience in preaching to all kinds of audiences that provides this simplicity. More than that, it may that he actually only speaks what God says to him, his message really being a Word from God---direct, focused, on point. I had the impression that he could have told stories and used personal illustrations all day long, but even that was done strategically, only to emphasize a point. And, does this man know how to use a pregnant pause, or what? He often left us hanging out there to gnaw on his last words for a while.

My grandmother used to say that God gave us two ears and one mouth so we'd listen twice as much as we speak. Somehow, I think she was talking right to me, the wordsmith among the grandchildren, the schemer who could talk his way out of anything. It's true, according to Scripture we should be quick to listen and slow to speak. Maybe there's something about this economy of words after all.

I'm reminded of the educated professor who wrote a dissertation on some far out academic topic. He sent it to a friend for evaluation, asking "do you understand this?" After wading through page after page of long words and complicated language, the reviewer wrote back, "I understood every single word, but not one sentence." maybe there's something to this economy of words thing.

"When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise" (Proverbs 10:19). More, "A man of knowledge uses words with restraint..."(Proverbs 17:27). Again, "God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few. As a dream comes when there are many cares, so the speech of a fool when there are many words" (Ecclesiastes 5:2).

Ouch!

Changing the world

Having heard him speak on numerous occasions, the message of Dr. Henry Blackaby was not new to me. The fact that he spoke it in front of more than 500 lowcountry business leaders was noteworthy, however, creating the expectation that things will be radically different in our area as a result of his straightforward words. Simply stated, if the world is to be changed, it will occur through the marketplace, where believers live and work and interact with the world.  

Well, that is a thrilling prospect, until reality rubs the sharp edges off. The reality is that 500 strong Christ followers is in fact a drop in the bucket compared to the largely indifferent populations that define our corner of the world, or any corner of the world for that matter. Every single Sunday millions of Christians gather nation-wide in our churches to worship and study. Then they disperse to the marketplace after they say amen. Yet, cultural decay continues and we witness the continued moral slide of our entire civilization. What gives?

Yes, I love the ministry of LifeWorks of Charleston and their emphasis on changing the world through marketplace interaction with it. With Henry Blackaby and others, I agree that the church deployed in the marketplace---that is, schools, factories, malls, hospitals, board rooms, universities, law offices, households, neighborhoods, and all the rest of man's habitats---is where genuine witness can occur, using words when necessary.

Once again, however, the problemis in pulling it off. It seems that in just about every venue, the church has become long on words and short on delivery. You'd think 500 sold out business leaders would influence the city, or that thousands of church people could make a difference when church let's out every Sunday. But, it isn't happening. The pep rallies are drawing the crowds. They're getting charged up and excited. But, for some reason they aren't getting in the game. Whats the deal here?

It is fear, I suspect. You know, intimidation, the pressure of the times, the weight of societal biases. The Christian voice is a large one, but quiet, the silent majority, to use a worn out phrase. Usually we are shouted down in the public square because we don't have the bucks for media coverage or the juice to stand tall in the marketplace. Not really out-numbered. More like, out gunned.

This is what Biblical encouragement is about. Pop religion talks about back-slapping, good ole boy stuff, the shallow encouragement of cheer-leading, crowd dynamics, and positive reinforcement, mostly ego trips and mind games. Biblical encouragement is actually instigating courage in one another. And, here's the catch. It isn't really generated in talking about how cool we are or tapping our inner selves or reaching the reservoirs of strength hidden deep in the human psyche. On the contrary, Biblical encouragement rehearses the sufficiency of his grace, his faithfulness in all generations, the reliability of his promises, the glory that attends obedience. Reciting the mighty acts of God and discovering His strong hand in leading His people is where real encouragement is mined.

Here's a newsflash from the pages of the New Testament. "Encourage one another and build each other up" (1 Thess. 5:11).  This is how the world is changed.

"Be of good courage, brother Ridley...".

The humanists got it right

 

OK, the Lowcountry humanist organization purchased a billboard on I-26 to remind skeptical commuters that other folks in the Tr-County area share their unbelieving beliefs, whatever that means. If their intent was to encourage their enlightened brethren, then their effort is a bust. You see, even the most faithless heathen knows that the merge onto I-26 is the one place in the world where faith in the Living God is a prerequisite to the next mile. Strategic placement may just not be among their signature themes.

More than that, the wording of the billboard suggests an oxymoron that such sophisticated thinkers should have discerned. The first part is a simple enough question: don't believe in God? It's raised In a matter of fact, leisurely, conversational way, almost as if it were an assumption of those people leaving the troubled inner city, headed to the peaceful suburbs. There's no explanatory note, no intro, nothing to crank up the conversation or introduce the topic. Just, don't believe in God? Easy enough.

Maybe their copywriters just didn't think it through, or perhaps the joke is really on people like me! The second phrase, "You are not alone", is really a classic. Can it be that the humanists are subliminally acknowledging God's presence in all things, the omnipresence of our Majestic God? Like Yoda promising that the "force is with you" as you enter the new frontier of I-26, the heathen's billboard reminds the commuter that you are not alone. What a hoot! I couldn't have said it better.

Enough fun and laughs. Yes, the fool has said in his heart there is no God (Psalm 14:1). At the same time, most of us have become adjusted to the Godless direction of life and are getting accustomed  day by day to the secular leanings of our culture. Just as clearly we can all detest this kind of advertising and lament the existence of such hopeless organizations. Yet, this is America and the humanists can purchase such a billboard if they've got the juice to do it.  

Here's the good part. Even with their intent, God is in control, and has so-opted their billboard to remind all the commuters entering I-26 that they are not alone. What a reversal!

If God is for us, who can be against us!

Another personallity disorder

OK, Mr. Freud. What seems to be the problem here? We Southern Baptists keep puffing out our chests with talk about being the largest Protestant denomination as if such a claim, even if true, would provide us some merit on the red carpet of faith. Yes, we can play the stats game with anyone and certify the claim as largest with hard numbers, since for us, size matters. While we're at it, though, we may have to admit to deeper, more troubling disorders, something a good bit more severe than the megalomania that makes us count membership with such accuracy. Since more than half of our membership is lost from Sunday to Sunday, we may have to consult the DSM-IV (that is, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders) and finally own up to the Retention Deficit Disorder (RDD) that is evident to everyone but us.

Retention Deficit Disorder (RDD) is the continued inability to retain people. At the least, RDD is a serious disciple-making dysfunction whereby people enter the family of faith, participate at some level for a given period of time, then disappear from the radar screen at a later point. Among Southern Baptists, which are the largest Protestant denomination, by the way, about half of our 15,000,000 members are in this category, on the role but not currently participating. Non-resident, perhaps, in-active, as if there were such a category, indifferent, attending another church somewhere, or just sleeping in after a long week, this group threatens to become the largest segment of SBC life, if they are not already. They are the unchurched in the next pew.

RDD results from many internal pressures and cannot be traced to one single functional breakdown. Rather, RDD is most often diagnosed when discipline, accountability, and normal body functions are interrupted. People are often detached from body when they are separated from the head, that is, from Christ. This is a spiritual impetus. Others are bored, nothing to do, not part of the action which keeps the body engaged. More never get connected and are left our of normal body interactions. Still, some are injured and pull back from body-life in self-protection. Whatever the cause, RDD is a body problem, and should be addressed by the body.

Body language dominates the New Testament. The "...parts should have equal concern for one another..." (1 Corinthians 12:25), and there are strains of mutuality that are interspersed throughout the Epistles. Seventeen times, or there about, the "one another" passages in the Epistles speak to the blessings, joys, and responsibilities of church membership. Retention deficit indicates an abnormality in the system, a dysfunction, a signal that some important aspect of corporate life is unplugged.

Our greatest witness might just be of our love for one another. Jesus said, "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another" (John 13:35). Seems to me we should begin our quest to change the world by loving those people who have fallen aside and deal with the Retention Deficit Disorder that so clearly identifies who we really are. 

Shoot, you don't even need DSM V, now under review, to diagnose RDD. Just read the Bible. It's there!

Oh yes, it's Sunday

Life for me is aimed at Sunday. You may say, "well bud, you need to get a life!", but it wouldn't change the pivotal role that the Lord's day plays in my personal and professional life. Yes, it's somewhat more true now that I am a pastor and a member of a church staff. But, even before then Sunday was the tipping point of existence, the crucial sixteen daylight hours that defined the rest of the week. Even now, when so much of the first day of the week is dedicated to what some people would call work, Sunday establishes the pace for the other days, provides the mental and spiritual and physical stuff that enables the long hours and challenges demands of this life. Oh yes, it's Sunday. Thank you, Lord!

What gives Sunday this impetus? In short---

• it is the Lord's Day & should be celebrated
• it is a day of corporate worship & prayer
• it is a day of witness
• it is a day of Bible teaching & study
• it is a day of disciple-making
• it is a day of fellowship
• it is a day for a nap, usually
• it is a day of dispersion, when church dismisses

Sunday prepares me for life,fills replenishes my fuel tanks, propels me through the week. For many people it's just another day---sleep in, read the paper, honey do day, family, etc. Nothing wrong with that, except that there's no re-fueling. Same old, same old. Sad. 

So, it's Sunday. Rejoice and be glad. Give thanks. Worship. Study. Fellowship. Witness. Serve. Get some rest if you can.

It is the Lord's Day. Make it about him.

Four plus five equals nine

Leaning in the OC direction, odd numbers bother me some. So does starting something in mid-week or at the quarter hour or at some point other than the obvious beginning. So, when I'm making lists they need to be neat and clean, even numbers, or at least equal sets. It's weird, I know, but I always had a meltdown when doing three points and a poem preaching. Three was a little unnatural for me. Give me two or four or fourteen. Not three.

So, ending up with nine imperatives for our church as we venture into our fabulous new facility was a trial by fire for me. I would have preferred eight or ten, but nine is the number. So, I'll just have to wipe away the sweaty palms and work through the stutter when I talk to the church about them. Nine. I'd rather have my gums scraped.

My friend Ron Barker was here the other day to lead our staff retreat and he covered these nine things with us. To soften the impact of this odd number they were transmitted as a four and a five. But, four plus five equals nine in the old math and that is still troubling. Anyway, here they are. Don't have a nervous breakdown if odd numbers cause you to have a rash too.

Five character traits of a church that is reaching people:
1.    An atmosphere of grace
2.    An out-of-the box mentality
3.    An intentional disciple-making process
4.    A generous spirit
5.    An environment of worship

Now, four questions the church must always ask:
1.    How many unbelievers are showing up?
2.    How man people are getting saved?
3.    How many people are involved in Bible study?
4.    How many people are building bridges with non-Christians?

Four plus five equals nine, and that seems out of whack to me, nine! But, it doesn't trouble me as much the as the answers to them.

Want to join me in praying about them?

Happy Saturday. Are you using this day to prepare your heart for tomorrow? Shalom.

Move past go

All the talk about thinking out of the box is passe. It's old stuff. Plenty of people can think up nifty ideas and compose ministry concepts beyond traditional norms. Shoot, how many pastors or church staff members do you know who meet in affinity groups or clusters to bash the traditional church and launch off-the-page strategies to turn the world upside down. The trouble is not hatching new schemes. There's tons of creativity, what the Gallup people call Ideation, among the corps of men and women God calls to church service. Hey group! Ideas are not really the problem. It's pulling them off that is the rub.

You see, today we lack traction, and I mean nationwide. Beyond the church and our spiritual lives there's a production problem, a breakdown in the getting it done column. There's plenty of ready, aim, on your mark, get set--- but, little in the trigger department. As a result, most of the out-of-the-box stuff developed in these fertile minds actually rots in the ammo box, unused. You see, the deal today is not thinking outside the box. No. It is living, ministering, operating outside the box. Once again, it is that rare gift of putting legs to those fresh, innovative ideas and making them happen.

I read a book a couple of years ago titled Execution, The Discipline of Getting Things Done(Larry Bossidy & Ram Charan, Crown Business: New York, 2002). This work examines the widening gap between promises and results in the marketplace. Now, I know some Christ followers will be offended by my making a comparison between the marketplace and the church. Get over it!  That's not the point, anyway. The books makes three conclusions: execution is a discipline; execution is the job of every leader; execution must be a core value of organizational culture. Go ahead, argue with them if you can. They seem pretty accurate to me. And they apply beyond corporate headquarters or the local cotton mill. Write it down. Many believer's are caught on this whirly-gig, cranking ideas by the minute while the backlog just keep piling up.

Jesus kept his disciples on point by providing a ready example of getting things done. Luke continues his account of Christ in Acts 1:1 by reminding Theophilus of all "...Jesus began to do and to teach".  The Lord spoke on more than one occasion about the new thing he was doing! It was a new covenant, new wine, new life, a new mind, a new command, new treasures, and the revolutionary invitation to become fishers of men, this said to a group of fishermen. Outrageous stuff, really, totally outside the box. First will be last. Dead will live. The greatest will be the least. Unless you become like a little child you cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Kingdom concepts. Far out. The stuff of heaven.

But, it was more. On the cross Jesus didn't say, "Wow, what an idea!" He didn't debate the thieves about the emerging church or pastor's who use unorthodox ways to proclaim the Good News. There was no point-counterpoint with the Roman soldiers about the merits of idol worship. Instead, he said, "It is finished." He completed the assignment that God the Father had given him. This is execution. Traction, if you will.

Ideas truly are the seedbed of movements. But, thinking outside the box is no longer the currency of our times. R and D departments and think tanks crank out the ideas all day long. The prize goes to the ones who finish the race, endure to the end, complete the task. What changes the world is getting it done, making it happen, finishing the assignment, doing the job. It's moving past go.

It's not too complicated either. Larry the Cable guy, not exactly a rocket surgeon, says, "Git 'er done." Amen.

Biblical Rx for setting priorities

After only 12 days I am sick and tired of being nagged every single day about my weight. During the Body Test segment of my daily workout Tootsie, our Wii Console, moans in a funeral home voice and tells me, "You're overweight!" I can almost feel the clammy handshake that usually goes with such gloom and doom, our own personal funeral director.  So, I've been studying how to disable that part of the program, discover some kind of over-ride to the depressing daily refrain, "You're overweight!" Surely there is a de-programming button or wires to dis-connect. Maybe I can just learn to control the audio portion of the thing a little and simultaneously close my eyes to black out the red flashing screen that heralds the announcement.

OK, I know I'm overweight. That's why we shelled out the cash to bring Tootsie home in the first place, to have an exercise program that you don't hang clothes on. And, so far it's been pretty good. We're both down a few pounds since inviting Tootsie into our living room. I'd like to help her loose weight too, maybe by dislocating her voice box or something. Oh, the larceny in the human heart. Still, I regress.

Yes, we all have problems. Weight, addictions, time management, bills to pay, parenting, careers, relationships, marriage, lifestyles, and who's going to win the Amazing Race this go 'round. Most of my problems occur because my priorities get out of whack, you know, losing sight of what really matters in this life, distinguishing between what is urgent, and what is important. Sometimes we need a little nagging, a voice that keeps reality right in front of us, a reminder of the serious attention deficiency that haunts so many of us today, a Tootsie to keep the truth out there.

Accountability is the deal. And, that is good and bad. It's good because us humans often need a little nudge to keep us moving, a prodding voice to remind us where we are in the bigger scheme of things. It's bad because, honestly, mature believers should be able to stay on point, should be able to navigate this life with Jesus as out guide. Don't we say that his grace is sufficient? Can't we do all things through him who gives us strength?

The other day, after the tenth day of hearing, "You're overweight!", I sat down with my Bible to find some comfort and guidance. You might know, my finger came down on John 3:30: "He must become greater, I must become less." Now, there's a proof-text for all of us weight conscious folks. Beyond that, it is a priority shifter, and attitude adjustment that can figure into just about any of life's mysteries. Here was old John the Baptist, often mistaken for the Lord, under the temptation of being more than he was, saying that his balancer was increasing Christ, decreasing self. There, my friends, is an Rx for setting good priorities, and keeping yourself in perspective.

And, getting it from the Bible is far better than hearing Tootsie nag you about it all the time.