Leadership Confessions

Are You Ready For Christmas?

It's an oft repeated question in the month of December: "Are you ready for Christmas?"  Mostly, I take the inquirer to mean 'have you bought all your intended presents?' or 'have you stocked your pantry adequately for the volume of guests you are expecting?' or 'Are you sufficiently sick of your employment that you could use a few days off to finish out this calendar year?' (or some combination thereof).  But Advent, the season of waiting, is also a season of preparation.  We are to prepare our hearts with, at very least, the diligence and the intentionality that we prepare our homes or our calendars or travel plans for this high and holy celebration.

"In French homes, it is traditional for children to follow the custom of preparing a creche in the days leading up to Christmas.  For each prayer or act of kindness that they perform during the season, they place a piece of straw in the manger.  With each token of straw, the children are preparing the place for Christ to be born - literally, by creation a soft bed of straw, and also figuratively, by preparing their hearts with acts of kindness and prayerful devotion. The custom of preparing the creche mirrors the act of Christians preparing their hearts for the arrival of Emmanuel, God with us."  ("Christmas Eve: The History of the Feast", in God with Us, p. 119)  For a more contemporary way to enact this in your home, see here 

It is as if all through Advent and now as we come to the final few hours before the celebration, "we ourselves become the manger, inviting Christ to dwell within us just as He found rest in that Bethlehem stable" (ibid).  

So the real question is not about your home, what's under your tree (or, if you're a guy, what's still at the mall waiting for you to begin your Christmas shopping) or what's on the menu for the next few days.  The real question is are YOU ready for Christmas?  

What To Do with Santa Claus?

It was my 6 year old daughter who first piped up...  She had come across a little porcelain figurine of Santa kneeling at the Nativity which caused her to remark very mater-of-factly: "I didn't know that Santa and Jesus were alive at the same time, dad."  

It's been over 100 years since journalist Francis Church wrote a much-reprinted editorial: "Yes, Virgina, There is a Santa Claus" and people of faith and good conscience still wonder what to do with the jolly old fat man in the red suit.  Some shun him completely, feeling that by doing so, they are appropriately rejecting the consumerism that has come to mar the season in the Western world.  Others embrace him whole heartedly, as evidenced by churches hosting Santa Breakfasts and the like.  But like so many other facets of our faith, I am convinced that either end of that spectrum is perhaps less that healthy and I'd like to propose a third way.  This year, why not redeem St. Nick from the myths and caricatures that have come to dominate and return him to his rightful place in history.  

On December 6, the church has historically celebrated the Feast of Saint Nicolas.  He's come a long way "from being a fourth-century Bishop in the distant Roman province of Lycia, through innumerable pious legends, until he became "Sinter Klaas", which is older Dutch for Saint Nicolas; in our day, Americans have turned him into Santa Claus, patron saint of the season commandment to shop until you drop." (from Richard John Neuhaus' The Feast of Saint Nicolas, p. 41, God with Us).  Listen to some of his story to discern what aspects of his life and character can be redeemed:

Very little is known about his life, but he is remembered as a man of great faith and compassion.  He was also a fierce advocate for those who had been unjustly condemned.  But he left behind no writings: the legends surrounding his life are all we have.  Nicolas is most well know is the West as the patron saint of children and gift-giving.  His connection to the American character of Santa Claus is faint, but it can be traced.  According to tradition, Nicholas' parents died when he was young, leaving him a large sum of money.  With his inheritance, Nicolas practiced charity, helping those in need.

One legend in particular illustrates his generosity: a family in his community was desperate; the father had lost all of his money and had been unable to find husbands for his three daughters.  The daughters were in danger of being given over to prostitution or another form of degradation when, one night, Nicholas appeared at their home.  He tossed three bags of gold into the open window (or down the chimney, in some versions) - thereby saving them from a terrible fate.  This tale is probably the source of his eventual connection to the tradition of gift giving at Christmas....

Aside from the obvious disparities between Saint Nicolas and the secular Santa Claus, perhaps the most poignant difference between them can be seen in the nature of the gifts they give.  While Santa has his bundle of toys, the gift that Saint Nicholas gives is nothing short of freedom from poverty and desperation.  The life of Saint Nicholas is an example of faith made flesh in actions of true charity." (ibid, pages 39-40)

So instead of rejecting Saint Nick, I humbly suggest that we re-tell his true story and reclaim the deeper principles and more compelling practice of true Christian charity this Christmas.       

Earning the Right to Be Heard

This past week, the sun was out and so on my day off, my almost 8 year old and I headed out for a bike ride.  In the next neighbourhood over from ours, they have just installed new bike lanes so we thought we might try them out.  Bike lanes are great, but they are not without challenges.  For example, these ones have a row of parked cars on one side and zooming traffic on the other (not a great combination if you are almost 8 and like to weave around a bit on your bike). 

The other challenge came when we approached and went through the series of 4 round-abouts.  Now the signage clearly indicates that bikes are to merge with vehicle traffic into the round about (as opposed to zipping off onto the sidewalk).  We did so, but there was one motorist in particular that was deeply disturbed by the fact that we were riding slower than he would have liked to go (his deeply amplified bass and techno beat indicated as much).  As we cam through the roundabout and out the other side, he passed us and shouted (almost knocking my little dude off his bike!) "take the sidewalk, slowpokes". 

My son wasn't sure what to do or what he meant, but he sure understood the tone.  Which confused him.  He asked me later "dad, weren't we following the signs and the rules?" (he's a first born - this stuff is important!).  I explained that we were but that some people had other things that were more important to them.

But the comment that irked me more was a gentleman in a truck who felt it necessary to slow down, roll down his window and let me know that he felt we should be on the sidewalk because my kid was (in his words) 'swerving all over the road'.  Now, these bike lines may be many things but they are nothing if not generous.  There's lots of space for a cyclist to serve to avoid an opening door or to be well out of the way of passing traffic.  What raised my parental ire was not even the content of his message but the tone in which he said it.  If he had have been genuinely intersted in our safety, he would have taken a very different tone.  As it was, the tone was highly self-righteous and pedantic, which got under my skin. 

As I reflcted on it, however, I thought of the tone that many Christians take in conversation with the broader culture.  In some ways, much of the public discourse that occurs around the topic of religion is very much like the man in his truck...  A Chrsitian will drive by something that they disapprove of, hurl a tract or a pithy self-righteous saying at the person or event and then keep driving.  The problem is that this comes from a place devoid of any relationship.  If the man in the truck would have been my friend and he was moved by a genuine concern or we had a pre-existing relational history, both of us would have responded much, much differently. 

I wonder if one area that this is particularly evindent in is the area of evangelism.  Perhaps we should stop spending our time shouting from the truck and get down into the bike lanes and earn the right to be heard. 

Some Thoughts on Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving. Sometimes it feels like a one-weekend reprieve between the crush of back-to-school and the crass commercialism of Christmas. Its original intent was a day carved out to pause and reflect on the goodness of God and the generosity he demonstrates to us.

But in a society where we’ve increasingly lost touch with our agrarian and spiritual roots, we also seem to have lost some vital thanksgiving rituals that could further assist us in cultivating a harvest of gratitude in our busy lives. 

I grew up in a farming community so, for us, Thanksgiving was a big deal. With hundreds of hectares of wheat, soy, and canola under careful cultivation, and sophisticated machinery to keep the large wheels of modern agri-business running, Thanksgiving was still a very simple and almost archaic celebration.

The men would bring a sheaf of wheat to the front of the church. The women would bring canning and produce of various kinds, and it would all be presented at the altar as a kind of thank offering (Leviticus 7:12–14) for God’s amazing grace and provision. We would sing simple songs and acknowledge that “we plow the fields and scatter the good seed on the land, but it is fed and watered by God’s almighty hand.” Bringing in the sheaves was a simple but profound way of saying to the Lord and to the gathered faith community that we are wholly and humbly dependent on him for our daily bread. 

But with most of us living far from our food sources, and with chip-enabled plastic cards automating the transactions that connect us to our daily needs, how do we intentionally  xperience and express this same kind of gratitude? 

How, when, and for what

Some of us give thanks in song. This not only has solid basis in Scripture (Ezra 3:11; Psalm 69:30, 95:2; Jeremiah 30:19; Nehemiah 12:26–47), but also makes it possible for non-farmers to participate. Still others offer prayers of thanksgiving (1 Timothy 2:1; Philemon 1:4) before meals or extemporaneously in corporate worship.

But there is a curious breadth of Scripture, however, that focuses not only on how we give thanks to the Lord, but also when and for what. It is here that we find thanksgiving can take root and grow in the surprisingly fertile soil of ordinary life. 

We are invited to offer thanks simply when God brings someone to our mind (Philippians 1:3); when we enjoy good food (1 Timothy 4:4); when we witness someone’s faith grow (2 Thessalonians 1:3); when we observe generosity in the lives of others (2 Corinthians 9:11); when someone comes to faith (2 Corinthians 4:15); when we ask something of God (Philippians 4:6); or when a person exercises his or her spiritual gift (1 Corinthians 14:16). There is also a long list of references where the mechanics of thanksgiving are completely subsumed in the rush toward the ultimate object of our thanks and praise: the Lord!

But the real challenge for most of us isn’t spiritual; it’s practical. How do we wring thanksgiving out of the watery messes of everyday floods?

G.K. Chesterton once suggested “the greatest of poems is an inventory,” and Canadian author and farmer Ann Voskamp takes this idea to new heights in her delightful book One Thousand Gifts. In it, she tells of how she was becoming consumed with the challenges of raising six kids, being caught off guard by grief, and missing God’s peace and presence.

Her solution? Make a list. Voskamp began a gratitude journal project, writing down the smallest evidences of God’s grace she could find each day as a way of priming the pump of praise. Eventually, her list reached one thousand items and she’s still going strong.

Voskamp wryly notes that for most of us, “every breath’s a battle between grudgery and gratitude and we must keep thanks on the lips so we can sip from the holy grail of joy.” I’ve started keeping my own list because I realized gratitude is like any spiritual practice – it needs to be repeated in order to take root and grow in a person’s heart and life.

So this Thanksgiving, if you find yourself lost somewhere between grudgery and gratitude, start making a list and see how far it takes you. I’m fairly sure you’ll end up affirming with the psalmist that “the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations” (100:5).

(Note: This article appears as a "Text Message" in the October 2011 issue of the MB Herald)

Read Your Bible, Pray EVERY Day?!?

Some of you might remember the old Sunday School song which chides little children to "read your Bible, pray every day... and you'll grow, grow grow."  Verse 2 continues with the guilt-ridden image of "forget your Bible, forget to pray... and you'll shrink, shrink, shrink".  (There were corresponding actions to make sure you really got the point).  Most of us as adults have a difficult time doing anything every day except for enjoying a good cup of coffee, eating a few times and stumbling into bed after half-paying attention to the evening news.  

So in the midst of busy and daily life, what is the benefit of reading your Bible every day?  Put in the sing-song language of verse 2, is there any significant danger to NOT reading my Bible every day?  (I mean, shrinking in spiritual stature doesn't sound all that dangerous, does it?)

In the Old Testament, we see a cycle emerge that almost certainly typifies most of us in our spiritual lives.  It shows up prominently in the book of Judges but also in the minor prophets.  I'll over-simplify my case here perhaps, but in my own life, it usually looks a little something like this:
1) Sin - I choose to do something wrong or choose not to do something right   
2) Consequence - be it natural, spiritual, immediate or delayed... 
3) Repentance - Sometimes I make it here on my own, other times only by the gracious work of the Holy Spirit reminding me 
4) Restoration - until I begin the cycle again

In the Old Testament book of Hosea, God reminds the people that they are only talking with him once they experience very bad things at the top half of this cycle.  They get in trouble, they try every conceivable alternative (see Hosea 5:11-13), then finally, when things get so bad they don't know where to turn, they turn back to God ("For as soon as trouble comes, they will earnestly search for me." 5:15b).  

As an illustration, picture you have a fire hall down the street from your house (we do).  You set as a goal to get to know some of the fire fighters you meet there (perhaps your kids go to the same school - this is again the case with us).  If you didn't talk with them when you were both dropping you kids off but only spoke with them when you were in the midst of an emergency situation, you would be unlikely to get to know them very well.  The challenge with an emergency is that both parties are focused on the problem and not on building any kind of meaningful relationship.  Any thin connection that exists centres mostly around the problem that needs a solution not around a genuine and shared desire for authentic community.  

But what if, in order to reach your goal of a better relationship with these fine people, you visited the fire hall each day.  Or what if you took the time each day at school drop off to ask about them and their lives.  To genuinely make an effort to get to know them.  To listen to their concerns and needs.  To understand what motivates and what scares them.  The likely-hood is much, much higher that you would begin to develop a genuine relationship.

Similarly, if I turn to God ONLY when I am in trouble, I am not likely to be focused on getting to know God but simply seeing Him as a way out of my current emergency situation.  Hosea says "Oh, the we might know the Lord!  Let us press on to know Him!" (6:3a).  To which God responds "I want you to know me!" (6:6b).  But in order to get to know someone, I need to make an intentional investment of time with deepening the relationship as the goal.  This is difficult to do if I am always asking God only for help, but it does become easier to press on and press in if I make that choice not only when trouble comes but today.  

Perhaps the real power of daily prayer and Bible intake isn't in the ritual itself, but in the simple act of prioritizing the relationship.  If you and I can do that, perhaps we are likely after all to - as the song says - grow, grow, grow!    

The Privilege and Solemn Duty of Ministry

I was officiating a funeral service today.  It was one of the rare services I do where the deceased was a professing Christian and so I got to preach from Scripture, to pray and to talk about our hope of heaven (I know that likely sounds odd but I usually do community funerals where this isn't the case so anytime this happens its a rare occurrence worth celebrating).  

At the reception that followed, I met an old Baptist pastor.  I'm not sure whether it's their demeanor, their choice of affirmative words for you as the 'young guy' who is now doing what they did for years and years or if it's their choice of suit and tie but you can almost always tell the retired pastor in the crowd.  

We exchanged minsitry stories and he asked how "the work" was going (a phrase that I deeply love because I only hear it used by older Baptist ministers).  Then we headed off to the graveside service.  Upon completion of the final prayer, he offered one of the most sagacious comments on ministry that I've heard in a long time.  He was sitting in the car as we said goodbye, and he nodded towards the casket as it sat ready for internment complete with the beautiful lillys and red roses of the casket spray.  He took a deep breath and said with the gravitas that only a retired Baptist preacher can muster, "it's our privilege and our solemn duty to get people ready for that."  

It was a simple statement but it's power struck me in a fresh way today.  My role as a pastor is indeed that - both a privilege and also a solemn duty.  To rescue the perishing.  To care for the dying.  To begin with the end in mind and to teach and lead in such a way that when the end comes - both for me and for those under my spiritual care, there is a sense of readiness.  This is the privilege and solemn duty of my ministry.  What's yours?        

The Hand of God in EVERY happening?

I've often heard the abbreviated quote from  Mother Teresa about seeing God's face in the distressing disguise of the poor.  But this morning I re-read the quote in context and it shed some new and interesting light on it for me.  Here is the broader context:

We are called to be contemplatives in the heart of the world - by seeking the face of God in everything, everyone, everywhere, all the time, and his hand in every happening;  seeing and adoring the presence of Jesus, especially in the lowly appearance of bread, and in the distressing disguise of the poor" (qtd in Common Prayer, p. 411)

This context helps me put some perspective around my weekend experience of what the airlines euphemistically call "weather delays" which usually means at least 24 extra hours in airports with kids (not the most fun experience).  But instead of simply asking "can I see God in the faces of the under-resourced people I meet?", the broader context of the quote pushes me to ask "where do I see God in things like airline delays, broken luggage, an 7 hours in the Milwaukee airport?"  (truth?  I'm still working on it...)

How about you... Where do you see God at work today?  Can you see him working in delays and difficulties?  Can you see him working in difficult family relationships?  Can you see him working in tight financial spaces?  Can you see him working at your dinner table this evening?  

Where do you see God at work today?

Do You Confuse Fallow Time with Shallow Time?

I read a study recently that compared the number of paid days off that the average worker in various countries receives.  Europe (no surprise) scored the highest with around 5 weeks off per year.  Canada was up there with a few weeks and the US was close to lowest on the totem pole with around 2.2 weeks off per year (including statutory holidays).

Perhaps that's why when I tell people here in the US that I'm on sabbatical for 3 months, they are incredulous and simply can't believe it.  Some have heard of 1 month sabbaticals but a full 12 weeks off...  their usual response is essentially 'who in their right mind would give a person that much time off?!' 

Some of my sabbatical reading has highlighted the benefits of extended sabbath time, likening it to a wise farmer rotating crops so that land can lie fallow.  In his book "Nudge", Len Sweet says this:

One of the worst mistakes you can make in life is to confuse fallow time with shallow  time.  When you look at a field that is allowed to lie fallow for a season, it looks as if nothing is happening.  But appearances are deceiving.  In those fallow seasons, the soil is being replenished and restocked so that it can continue producing a harvest.  Seeds need rich soil for nature to work.  When it looks on the surface like nothing is happening, down deep, everything is happening... 

Let the  soil of your life lie fallow for a season, plowed but not planted.  To rest from doing allows the soil to be enriched by God, making the soul more fertile for God's next planting (106).

Fallowing rituals are essential for all of us to replenish our spiritual, physical, emotional and relational aspects of our lives.  So what is your plan for doing nothing this summer?

What Would Jesus Buy?

I'm always mildly bemused when a press release notes that their particular event will be a collection of "the most influential Christians in the world".  Usually I take that to mean that the event will feature a healthy cluster of people who are the most similar to or most liked by the event host.  So when I saw this headline earlier today: "Christianity’s Most Creative and Influential Voices to Attend..." I thought I should read more.  

What event is it, you might ask where I could find this meeting of the minds.  This depth of wisdom all in one place?  Why, none other than The International Christian Retail Show in Atlanta, GA from July 10-13.  

And who are these key influencers that shape the present and future of the Christian movement?  (Another solid and logical question - good for you as a thinking person!).  None other than John Schneider (Bo Duke of The Dukes of Hazzard) whose RV will be parked on the convention floor and will be available to talk about a movie he is releasing later this year.  Also present, the Duggars, of TLC fame.  

Now, don't hear what I'm not saying.  I'm not knocking anyone of these people in particular...  It's just that this type of thing smacks of the commidification of religion.  It adds fuel to the fire that Christianity is a niche to be marketed to as opposed to a vibrant and sacrificial faith to be lived.

Sadly, I have already anticiapted your final question: 'where can I get my ticket to attend this culture shaping celebration of the Word?'  And sadly, (gasp) the answer is that you can't.  Not even if you were in Atlanta and you wanted to go... because the event is only open to retailers :-) 

Why Becoming Like Jesus Takes Time

Recent studies coming out of sports and educational psychology (for example see Malcolm Gladwell's argument in his book Outliers)have caught my attention with their intriguing but straight-forward conclusions: that becoming good - I mean really, really good - at something (anything, really) takes longer than most of us think.  Many researchers suggest that in order to truly master a craft or a musical instrument or a sport or a spiritual practice to the level well beyond proficiency is a commitment of over 10,000 hours or 7-10 years of your life!  

Now translate that into the life of discipleship...  When was the last time you heard your spiritual director or pastor say that "in order for you to truly enjoy prayer, you'll have to put in upwards of 10,000 hours."  Usually, you hear things like 'come to our 90 minute class (or maybe a weekend retreat) and you'll be a great pray-er'.  Or take the practices of preaching or hospitality or Scripture intake & reflection - where are you at on your journey?   

So the question for engagement and reflection is this: "are we promising people things that are leaving them disillusioned or are we telling people that becoming like Jesus is going to take time?" (and LOTS of it)