Leaning Forward

Lesson of the Week: authenticity

Contemporary culture plays footsie with some of the more potent words in our vocabulary. They become pop buzzwords, language that morphs the concept into something not intended in the etymology of the terms. We love to place our particular twist on things, the mark of our own generation on language.

Take, authenticity, or authentic, for example. This isn't a mysterious term. From a Greek compound, autos, meaning self, and hentes, meaning to do something, the word authentic means genuine or original as if I did it myself. So, to be authentic, or to exhibit authenticity is to be real. It means to be totally genuine, the real you.

Modern wordsmiths added a couple of twists to ratchet up the meaning. So today, authentic has been twisted to mean profane, raw, edgy, street wise, perhaps honest to the point of embarrassment. Authentic people are truly admired because they push the envelop of decency, season their language with over the edge descriptives, perhaps offer some shock therapy to others, a jolt to wake up the people around them. One famous youth leader/speaker/author would drop an expletive into his talks and make the point that some people were more concerned with the one single word spoken than the essential message he was trying to deliver. So, today "shock jocks" rock the house with colorful language, images, thoughts, and all manner of language just for the sake of authenticity.

No biggie. That is, until a reverse application is accepted as the norm too. So, the new formula for authenticity says if you're not profane, not angry, do not push the envelop, are not edgy, and don't drop language bombs in communication you're not authentic. The test of authenticity is then shifted from that which accurately projects who we are personally to that which resonates with the people listening to us. So, authentic communicators today are not people who are necessarily true to themselves. No, the real thing is measured by how much what is said is true of the people listening.

The Bible speaks about the temptation to speak what "itching ears" want to hear. It's what Paul wrote to Timothy, "For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear" (2 Timothy 4:3). It's a pretty vivid illustration, this mention of "itching ears". It pictures a temporary inconvenience, an itch that moves first here then there, according to the circumstances at the time. The warning is clear. Some preachers will aim their words at the multi-faceted audience rather than the audience of one, and will permit their message to reflect the group and not themselves. On a modern score-card this is seen as authentic. In reality, it may just be plain staging, saying things in a way that pushes buttons in the hearers. How cool. How authentic.

Authentic means real to you. So, our speech and actions, the lessons we teach and preach, the way we communicate to the people around us, must reflect what is real to us and not what touches the buttons of our listeners. Being rude and crude may make some people admire your frankness. At the same time, it may just announce a shallowness of faith that hasn't reached to the language part of your life.

Then, it more than an authenticity issue. It may then be a resistance or disobedience issue. So, we should speak what is genuine to our faith, and not jsut what other people like to hear.

Read of the week: Carpe Manana by Leonard Sweet

Evangelism professor and author Leonard Sweet could just well be described as a futurist too. Carpe Manana (Zondervan, Grand Rapids: 2001) asks, Is Your Church Ready to Seize Tomorrow? Without a moments hesitation I list this book among my top ten reads of all time. More than any other contemporary work this book prepared me for the challenges of mission in the rapidly changing world of the twenty-first century.

An audacious, but accurate premise forms the central thesis of Sweet's cultural assessment. In short, our population can be slotted into two primary societal categories: natives and immigrants.Rather than being ethnic distinctions, natives and immigrants are age related. In short, immigrants are people born before 1962. Then, natives are our population born since 1962. Carpe Manana is, more than anything else, a primer for immigrants, a naturalization class for people living in the post-modern world.

Before you get all offended at the premise, take stock for a moment. Since 1990 and the invention of the world-wide web (www), life as we know it shifted. The digital world happens faster than ever before and increases velocity at a rate that we can hardly fathom. Younger Americans are native to this new world. They are not fearful or suspicious of technology, and at right at home with the new toys of this world.

On the other hand, older Americans, of which I am proudly one, are typically aliens in this new world. This would make me a hybrid of sorts, as I love my gadgets and the cool new ways to communicate and relate in this high-speed information super highway. Like most immigrants, however, I don't understand how any of them work and usually need a few natives around to help me navigate the foreign language manuals and instructions that make them operative for me. There's a frustration threshold that raises my blood-pressure when I try to set the time on my Blu-Ray player. it's the native-immigrant thing.

Sweet's analysis doesn't pit the ages against each other. Rather, he addresses a demographic truth that was evident back in 2001 and grows exponentially each day. That is, for the most part, churches are not reaching or impacting the native populations. One reason: the traditional church in American, a strong- hold for immigrants, does not understand native ideals or thoughts. To bridge this learning gap, perhaps a cultural gap, the naturalization classes teach us about them, and, in the background, poses ways to understand and impact them in mission.

There are many other fine books explaining the demographics of the gen X'ers and milennials, several really notable works by Thom Rainer and Ed Stetzer, among others. But, Sweet's book was among the first to address this cultural divide and explain why such an age differentiation is so significant in the spiritual landscape of the United States today. Even more, Sweet poses a scenario that is significant. Most of the 85% of congregations that are plateaued or declining today are doing so because they failed to anticipate the new world. They did not think about tomorrow.

The implications for ministry are profound. We can Carpe Manana by taking definitive action today. At times this happens through simple observation of the world around us---changing neighborhoods, the shifts in demographics around us, the world that thrives on information, the relationships that people long for and seek.

Of my library, Carpe Manana is front line reading, because it challenges me to think out there some.

 

 

Mid-week LIFT: The table is set

Good works should be an obvious outcome of faith! In the Bible these deeds are the fruit of lives properly cultivated in Christ. According to the Apostle Paul, speaking to King Agrippa in Caesarea, "...I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds" (Acts 26:20). Later, James affirms that faith without works is actually dead (see James 2:17). He further counsels "Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins" (James 4:17). 

Good works can be a huge stumbling block, however. Humans must resist the temptation to earn our way, to reduce these acts of faith to little more than a tenet of our work ethic. So, there are scores of church people who stay busy about the church chores and expect some favor from God because of the busy-ness. Well, yes, blessings attend service and willing participation in the mission of the church. Still, correct biblical theology rejects earning salvation. It is the gift of God.

Often church people get a little obsessive about the good works thing. Church staffs and ministry teams are constantly devising "missional" opportunities to activate church people. The language today is about connecting to and engaging the world around us. Creative teams envision these good works and design custom means of implementing them. Many churches demonstrate a flair for ministry, working out of innovative designs to bring the Good News of Jesus their local setting. These are usually very alive congregations, the people of God actually on mission.

God goes us one better. He is always at His work (John 5:17). He is always working for our good if we love Him and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). Now get this. He has also prepared these good works well in advance. Hear the Apostle---"For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:10. You see, God graciously and generously invites us to join Him in this work. The table is already set. We must but gather and partake.

The world is short on the good works scale. There's a loss of civility and goodness in a self-absorbed culture. Sure, there are do-gooders out there, and thak God for them, people with a social conscience and a genuine heart for people living on the edges of society. Yet, the good works prepared in advance for God's people are deeper than the cosmetics of mere social conscience. These good works are redemptive in nature, can only be spiritually discerned, and must honor the Father and edify Christ's body. The social concerns are but an outer dimension of the redemptive compassion. And we do them because we cannot do other. A good tree brings forth good fruit.

The lift in this is simple. We don't have to be on the cutting edge of modern technology or possess great skill at dreaming the good works of the Kingdom. He has prepared them in advance. We must then slow down a mph or two, pay attention, listen, and always be prepared to respond to His invitation to join Him in mission.

"Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good..." (Titus 3:14).

When leadership goes to church: the ego thing!

Corner offices, keys to the executive wash room, and some of the other business perks all run on ego. Even the acronyms of business---CEO, CFO, COO, EVP, VP, AVP, and all the rest---are just cool corporate expressions of EGO, the cult of self.  Parking privileges, express elevators, corporate credit cards, travel expenses, golden parachutes, and the other goodies of corporate America are the rewards of success that world. 

But, when leadership goes to church, there is the other word, the servant ideal, the leader driven by a call and modeled after The Master, the one who came to serve. It is the leader whose person is over-shadowed by the one who calls us.

This does not mean we give up our identity or cannot have ego in the pursuit of this calling. Certainly history is a record of the characters God has used in His redemptive program. Yet, most of them, like John the Baptist, submitted their uniqueness to His rule of their lives. They didn't get in the way. When they did, they were usually chastised in such a way as to reposition them, like Jesus' words to Peter, "Get behind me Satan!" Our ego and the resulting agenda must be seconded to the person of Christ, the one who lives in us. Our discipline is to learn to be ourselves, now defined by the new creation, without being a stumbling block to the message of redemption.

Most spiritual leaders are awed by their calling and know that it is evidence of His grace. Many are extremely gifted individuals, skilled communicators, bright students of the Word, visionary, passionate, industrious, creative, among many other superlatives. The discipline of Christ, that is, the graces of becoming his disciple, involve the mastery of self so that the public attention, being on the stage, living in the proverbial "glass house", neither elevates or lowers the ego. Our significance must exist beyond the last sermon, the kindnesses at the door (or snide remarks either), the performance treadmill,  the dynamics of our ministry, or any of the other approval addiction quirks. Like John the Baptist we must learn to live, "he must become greater, I must become less" (John 3:30).

Contemporary spiritual leadership often resembles the "entourage" mentality, the high-profile leader surrounded by the functionaries, even groupies, in their shadow. One tycoon said sharks always attract plankton. Perhaps. But, spiritual leadership should never mimic culture. Maybe this is why the church today is so spiritually compromised, a mirror of pop culture. When savvy and finesse and objectives and and instincts and strategic plans super-cede the spiritual qualities discovered in Christ, the people and mission of the church cannot be far behind.

When leadership goes to church the individual out front is subsumed in the servant image. Many great contemporary church leaders stand on large stages, lead mega-churches with huge staffs, author volumes of books, Tweet, Face Book, appear frequently in the media, and have access to the halls of power at many levels. Yet, there is a contriteness and humility that shifts the attention from themselves to honor the one who called and provisioned them. 

This is the day of the media star. But, when leadership goes to church, there is ony one star, the Bright and Morning Star, Jesus our Lord.      

The life I live---

There is a now and then concept in Scripture that challenges us from two different directions. One is the backward glance, the reality of now versus what once was, and the other is forward, what is now as compared to what will be. Both cross our lives, one casting us to the change that should be in us, the other thrusting us forward to the joys of what awaits in the Kingdom.

The Pauline Epistles look both ways. But, often, the Apostle reflected and wrote about his new life in Christ, the transformation that has already happened, and continues to happen as long as we live. Galatians 2:20 seems to summarize this thought about life now as compared to then, the look back. He wrote, " I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me". Here, in bold clarity he speaks about the life he once lived and the life he lives now, or at the time of his writing. It is the testimony of life that has been altered, that is, changed, drastically. The words are written in such a way as to make them normative for every believer. We should all be changed.

If standards are being lowered this is one, our reluctance to announce the radical alteration Jesus brings to human nature. Well, we do talk about some of the outer appearance issues that define people living under a church culture or those desiring inclusion in the Body. The "then" picture for some of us included hanging in bad places with the wrong people doing all manner of thing considered unsavory for church types. But, then and now is more fundamental than that. The radical change is deeper, victory over our natural inclinations to sin. "The life I live..." is the current reality, the alteration at a level deeper than cosmetics, the "new man" of Scripture.

Growth. Maybe that's the terminus of this dilemma, the reason few of us can put the new creation on public display, the radically changed heart. For more than a generation we're measured our success by the people we get wet every year, you know, the ones we can talk or cajole into the baptismal pool. But, baptism is only step one of this process. it is obedience that should mark the personal growth of the believer and signal that this change is happening, right now. If being transformed into the image of His son Jesus is the life process, then growth should lead us down the path of radical change. "The Life I live..." then becomes a contrast to the "life I used to life", the old man ans compared to the new man, an old creation made obsolete by the new.

And, we cannot influence our world until this happens in us. When the Bible talks about multiplication, I doubt very seriously if it means multiplying the number of people who've made superficial commitments to Christ and who are unwilling to understand the Lordship part.

The life I live is the current version, the contemporary truth. And, it must radically different from the one I used to live.

Tomorrow 4: Today

Today we're talking about today. Wel, more than that. Our topic is The Power of Today. It is a way of concluding this short series on a pointed note: we can only carpe manana, that is, seize tomorrow, by being decisive today. Like in right now, this minute. Today.

Scripture presents us with a present-future, the realities of the Kingdom reaized in life now. of course, that is a simplism of sorts, know that nothing on earth can approximate the glories of the Kingdom or heaven. Not in the least. Still, our faith changes us deeply and we can know the joys of the Kingdom life in the present, a sort of introduction to the future in the Kingdom. It is a profound biblical concept.

While we minimize the role of works in our faith and emphasize the incredible, amazing grace of our Heavenly Father, we know Scripture is a book of action. Jesus spoke words of urgency when he taught that we must do the work of God while there is light, warning that a time is coming when the light will no longer shine. His parables deal with planting and reaping, investing talent, serving God from a heart that moves outward to good deeds, and trusting God as we live out the truths of faith. The Epistles mention, prominently by the way, the spiritual graces of vigilance, discipline, watchfulness, diligence, running races, serving as a soldier, and many other action figure images of faith.

Then, in this active scenario there is the concept of now, the reality of today, and living for today. We don't know what the future will bring. We cannot forecast what is going to happen. Preparation for the future is the template for entering tomorrow boldly. But, the action word is now. We cannot wait till tomorrow to prepare for it.

Paul wrote it clearly. "...Now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation" (2 Corinthians 6:1-2). We'll close this series by talking about The Power of Today. 

Make today count!!!

The serious business of la-la land football---

It's Saturday, kids, so let's talk football. All the talk this week about super conferences and university presidents reviewing the financial benefits of asking other big schools to join their conferences reminds us that it's not about the sport anymore. It's about the money.

Well, so where's the news in that? It's been about the cash for a long time, the millions raked in at the box office, the concession revenues, and, of course, the genuine ATM machine, television time. As a result, many of the true sportsmen are disenfranchised by the commercial side of football, whether in the college or professional ranks. Enter fantasy football. Now, we've entered the serious world of football in lan-la land, the pretend version that is forming leagues and super conferences in living rooms across the fruited plain.

It's serious stuff too. Wikipedia estimate 19 million Americans participate in fantasy football at some level. There are office, neighborhood, family, squad, platoon, battalion, corps, and church leagues. Women have a league, children can participate, and some of the male types take this thing as seriously as their prostate infection. Just like the real game, this virtual world has player drafts, free agents, permits trades, bribes referees, and sells many an adult beverage on Saturday afternoon. Someone reported support groups for the people addicted to the play, not to mention the marriage encounter groups and counselors available for the FFW's (fantasy football widows), and children orphaned by their parent's obsession with the league.

Sports mania is nothing new, and nothing to laugh about. If people can be manic about their games, we're there. Last year at the beach a group of college studs hit the beach and Harriet and I made a friendly wager about how long it would take them to start tossing a ball of some kind around. Less than ten minutes to be exact. Then the contests began: throwing the football thru a hoop, landing the boccie ball inside a circle, baseball toss, and the new rage among sports fans, corn-hole. That names just gives me the shivers. But, they're all pieces of a sports enthusiasm on steroids. We've gone a little nuts. 

So, settle back for college games every night of the week and into the wee hours on Saturday, and professional pigskin on Sundays and Mondays, at least. When they sign off, just grab the smart phone and do some fantasy football with your management team.

Arm chair quarterbacks and middle age men unite. You can re-live your football dreams in la-la land.

Lesson of the week: seedtime and harvest

There is a rhythm about life that is comforting. It reminds us that upheavals may temporarily interrupt the schema of creation. But, according to God's plan, factored into every atom of this universe, there is continuum. As they say, life goes on. Simply recognizing the new day or new birth or the budding earth are His ways of telling us that "...this too will pass." It is the promise of seedtime and harvest, the guaranty God gave to Noah and his family in the wake of the flood. 

Maybe this truth slips into the underbrush of very occupied lives. The routines become drudgery in many instances, the treadmill that sucks some of the joy right out of daily living. Still, the miracle of the sun and the moon, the stars in the sky, and the rotation of the earth and the changing of the seasons is an announcement from heaven that newness is al around us, and we are always in the cusp of spectacular possibilities. This has been a shocking discovery over the past two months. Brian's death amplified much of what is wrong in our world and brought some of the prevailing despair right into our home. Then, like a precious gift falling from heaven, John Lewis and Laura Elizabeth Carpenter were in my arms. God was screaming, "Here is life. it continues. There is truly hope". Having family close was equally special. A choice delight is our daughter Elizabeth and her husband Scott, and my immediate family members.

But, having a four-year old and newborn in my arms was God's way of telegraphing what is good about this world too. You see, it is hope. The new day, the baby, the harvest, the little blooms, the changing colors, the sun and the moon and the stars, are all strands of hope God laced into His world. A flood covered the earth, God's disdain for the evil in human hearts, a wrong that knew no end. Still, in the aftermath of the deluge God announced, "As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, will never cease" (Genesis 8:22). It is an element of grace, this continuum, that covers us and eventually brings us to the morning of joy.

So, now fall is settling over us. There has been a fall-like quality to the early mornings lately, and those of us in the Low Country know summer can reappear any time. But, even here there are leaves on the ground, the harvest decorations are in the stores, and we are escorted into a season promised by God. Surely, it is His marvelous handiwork, and it declares His glory. At the same time, the cadence of the clock and the turning of the calendar are signals that His promise continues. As long as He sees fit we can find hope in the newness of every single moment. He promised it, forever.

And, "The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it" (1 Thessalonians 5:24).

Summer and winter, springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon, stars in their courses above.
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.
Great is Thy faithfulness, Great is Thy faithfulness
Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have needed Thy land hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me!  

Read of the Week: Revelation 21

Heaven is in these days. Many people are reading the first person accounts of heaven written by authors who report visits there, however brief. Almost every day some fine people ask my opinion about them and comment about the peace and comfort the books bring to their troubled soul, usually people who are experiencing the deep loss of a loved one. Harriet and I have received gifts of most of these most recent writings, have read a few of them ourselves, and can testify to the solace that they offer to the mysteries surrounding our sons death in July. 

Being biblio-philes, we both love books and read a wide a variety of topics and literary genres. Like most grieving people we too seek the joy of the secret things of God and explore these works for truth that will guide us through the crucible of of loss. But, there is a caveat super-imposed over the treasures we discover in these volumes. It is the simple reality that they are of human origin and therefore cannot carry the weight of Scripture to console our grief. For this reason, we tend to find greater solace in Revelation 21, and other selected passages, as notes of promise regarding the afterlife.

This is not to question the authenticity of the extra-biblical writings. Only God knows the reality behind them, Most have been written by sincere folks who have encountered something unique, perhaps even supernatural, in their near-death experience. They certainly can inject a level of consolation to those thrown into despair over tragic events and shortened lives. For me, I can find this same kind of relief in well-crafted memoirs, profound poetry, or even incredibly written fiction. Some artists are gifted in expressing the deep anguish and ultimate joys associated with death. On occasion these word-smiths can lift us to heights of previously unknown understanding about the after-life, even the glories of the heavenly Kingdom, with their descriptive words. So, I usually can't find fault with their writings. When people want to get my approval for reading the latest chronicle of heaven, I pray that they will find some measure of peace as they wrestle with their loss.

Books can reflect truth without being the truth. Charles Darwin or Carl Sagan may mention scientific truth, say something about gravity, in their works but still arrive at untruthful conclusions. As a result, I usually counsel people desiring to explore the mysteries of life and death to explore The Book for truth about any given topic. Regarding heaven, Revelation 21, among many other biblical texts, is the best source of information about ife after death. In most cases, I add that (1) we can know the author of this material in a deep, personal way, and (2) we can trust what is written because it is truth.

Deuteronomy 29:29 advises us here. The historian wrote, "The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and our children forever...".  In the mystery of His ways, God has chosen not to reveal everything to us. What is revealed must stand the test: is it consistent with Scripture? Otherwise, it cannot be taken as truth.

Inquiring minds want to know. Moral relativism leads us to give credence to first person accounts. We really have a hard time ignoring what is thought to be real in human experience. Yet, our experiences, no matter how credible to us, cannot be accepted as absolute. Sinful humans can err, like the many ways an automobile accident can be interpreted by witnesses.

When I need the comfort of heaven, I go to The Book. Revelation is the book about heaven, and Chapter 21 contains the truths that bring the most comfort. 

Mid-week LIFT: Perpetuating life

The Gypsy culture has a saying that connects with me right now. They say a person never really dies until the last person who knew him/her is gone. This means a person can live beyond their years in the memory of those who were most influenced by them.  So, this isn't the Rosetta Stone either, a find unearthed yesterday at digs in Israel, But, it is a truth about perpetuating life, and the basic blessing of remembering others.

Humans must place a fulcrum in this memory thing to avoid the tipping point that can throw us into extremes. We can surely build memorials and monuments to people and events that have shaped us. Without discernment these places can become altars of worship if we idolize the memory with too much zeal. There is often a macabre character superimposed over a precious memory when we lean too far into the rituals of preserving that life or ideal or circumstance.

Just as surely, we can forget. Some people and events are stuffed into a drawer of photos or filed away in a cabinet or hard-drive, remembered only when we stumble over it, or when the calendar reminds us of milestones and highlights. So, we are the Post-It note culture. Like the office pictured above we're the world that needs reminders, little things to prick our memory, the new world of strings around the fingers. We must not become so entangled in life as to allow important people and events to slip to the backwaters of our crowded memory banks. Somewhere there is a balance of remembering without worshiping, and a system to help us never forget.

Two months later the death of our son Brian E. Holmes, on July 18, 2011, is perhaps more fresh and real than before. We are missing him at a deeper level now, and coming to grips with the reality that we cannot talk to him or laugh with him or have deep theological discussions with him. It is a sadness that weighs on us more now than previously. Maybe the denial is easing away and the other hurdles of the grief cycle are coming into view.

But, we haven't erected a memorial in our house, neither have we forgotten. Part of this process must be the reality therapy of knowing we can't do those things any longer or in any human sense communicate with him or experience his personal presence. But, we are learning to remember. And, as long as we can remember, and as long as anyone is alive who remembers Brian, in a sense he will live too. Yes, our Father grips us tightly and we know Brian is in heaven. Reading Revelation 21 brings peace about that with the just a mere glimpse of what heaven must be.

The ancient Hebrew people erected memorial stones at places to preseve the memory of people and events. Scrpture tells us many of those stones "are there to this day" (Joshua 4:9). The New Covenant isn't etched on stone tablets, but on the human heart (see Jeremiah 31:33 and 2 Corinthians 3:3). So, Harriet and I are remembering our son by erecting a spiritual marker (see Blackaby, Experiencing God) in our hearts. How do we do this?

We join the Apostle Paul and say,  "I thank my God every time I remember you..." (Philippians 1:3).