Review - When Christians Get it Wrong

I just finished an advanced copy of Adam Hamilton’s When Christians Get it Wrong. I really like Adam Hamilton’s books for one main reason: while Hamilton is not one to break much new ground, he has the gift of writing with exceptional clarity. I rarely read his work and think “I had never thought of that.” Instead, I read it and think, “I never thought to put it like that.” I have to think that this is what has made him such a successful pastor; he has the ability to take complex and controversial ideas and clearly and lovingly explain them.

So here again, we have another book on how negatively Christianity is perceived and how Christians need to accept some of the blame for that and more importantly do something about it. David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyon’s book UnChristian seems to be the leader of the genre but a little snooping on Amazon will show you that there are a number of Christians talking about what is wrong with Christianity. (See also Dan Kimball’s They Like Jesus But Not the Church, Jason Berggren’s 10 Thing I Hate About Christianity or the movie Lord Save us From Your Followers.) I have read a number of these and they all have some fascinating insights. What I like about Hamilton’s treatment is what I already mentioned: he makes it clear, he makes it understandable and he delivers it in a way I think people will be able to hear.

The book stems out of a conversation Hamilton had with a young man who had some strong negative perceptions of the Christian faith. He covers five main areas of perception: Christian behavior, science and politics, other religions, the problem of evil, and homosexuality. In each of these he clearly lays down some challenges – that we might have more than a perception problem, we may have a behavior problem and even an understanding problem. He offers some thoughts on widening our understanding and changing our attitudes. He also shows some examples of what it looks like when we “get it right.”

I will be honest, like some of his other work, this one will rub some folks, including readers of this blog, the wrong way. When you hit politics and homosexuality and call for some repentance and correction, someone will not agree. In the clarity of his writing does not leave a lot of room for interpretation – which is a good thing – unless you don’t agree with him. While it may not leave room for interpretation, it is good teaching and so it leaves room for learning and growing.

I hope people read this book. It is written at a level clearly appropriate for lay people. My review copy came in at around 85 pages so is the perfect length for Sunday school classes, small groups and reading groups. I look forward to it coming out so that I can read your comments.

Peace,

will

*disclosure note, Abingdon Press provided an advanced copy of the book to me, at no charge, for review.

The Church Facebook, Twitter and Community

Wondering why one the members of you church wasn’t in her regular pew on Sunday? No need to wonder, she was at the lake, soaking up rays and drinking beer. Did you know that a member of your church staff, such a nice gal, really likes especially violent Quentin Tarantino movies? How about that wonderful woman in your Sunday school class… every time you ask her how she is doing, she says “I am blessed!” Except today it’s Monday and you didn’t ask her but you read her expletive-filled rant on facebook about exactly how angry she is at the customer service of her phone company. Ever curious about the political views of your “friend” from church? Maybe not so much after you heard them expressed in 140 characters of partisan hatred on twitter.

Only recently have I begun to consider the profound impact social media will have on Christ’s Church. I want to tell you that, on the surface, it looks like a bad thing, but I believe it may be one of the best things that ever happened. Social media may be, in a strange way, taking us back in time to a place where community looked a little different.

I didn’t grow up in church but I did grow up in community. The town I grew up in claimed fewer residents than my current church claims members. The thing about a town of around 5000 is that if you knew somebody, you knew them. In a small town you tend to know an awful lot about people whether you try to be nosy or not. For my friends and my family’s friends, whether I thought about or not, I of course knew: where they lived, where they worked and what kind of car they drove. I likely knew: where and if they went to church, whether or not they approved of drinking alcohol, whether or not anyone in the family smoked and their political affiliation. Really that is a limited list. I likely knew if they were a rude driver (by whether or not they had ever cut me off), whether they were racist or sexist (by their comments and jokes), and what they liked to do to have fun.

Honestly, I knew stuff about my friends and neighbors that I would have rather not known, but what about the person in the pew or chair next to you? What about the person in your Sunday school class? Or the man you usher with every Sunday? Or that woman who team teaches children’s Sunday school with you. Now I am not saying that it is good or even appropriate to know the most intimate details of these people’s lives. I believe in good boundaries and they need to allow the level of intimate sharing to move with the level of intimate relationship. However there is a danger lurking here. There is a danger of putting on our Christian cloak as we enter the church and taking it off when we leave. All of us can maintain a “Christian persona” for a couple of hours a week, right? But what do we look like when we take it off?

The apostle Paul exhorts in his letter to the Romans (12:9)

Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good.

The word he uses for “genuine” means “without hypocrisy” or literally “without a mask.”

This is the beauty of social media. It can take the mask off. When our private and social world interacts with our church world, people get a chance to glimpse us as we are. And here is the good news: it leads to a better picture of reality and gives us a little hope of accountability.

The reality is that we are not always the people we try to act like on Sunday morning. First of all, as Christians, we believe that we are all broken people in need of the redemption available through Jesus Christ. So, we will not always live up to the picture of perfection that we may wish to use to judge ourselves or others. Second, as Christians, we don’t agree on what that picture looks like. I think some reality and integrity here is a good thing. How we spend our free time, what we believe about politics, how we deal with our emotions, these are things that Christians, even those who share a denomination, might disagree on. But, if we consider ourselves living in community, shouldn’t we want to see each other without our masks?

And what about accountability? In the new world of “leave church, drive home, open the garage - insert car – close the garage,” it is easy to feel like no one is watching. When, through social media, we start sharing more of the details of our lives, we not only have to think about what we are sharing, but what we are doing and occasionally, someone in our community might ask about what exactly we are doing.

Hebrews 10:24-25 reminds us,

And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

The more we know about one another, the more we are able to do this.

Let’s be clear, social media is not a substitute for true community. It may be a move in the right direction towards reality, transparency and accountability. But it may also remind us that we probably all need to spend a little more time with one another, enough time to begin to be more open and honest about who we are. But in the meantime, here are a couple of suggestions about how we deal with knowing a little bit more about one another.

First, don’t freak out. If you see something online that shows a different side of someone you thought you knew, don’t overreact. If you see your prim and proper Sunday school classmate in a bikini holding a brown bottle floating down the Guadalupe, takes some time to ponder what that means. If it totally contradicts what you knew about her, consider where you developed that conflicting image. Also leave some room for misinterpretation. That bottle could be root beer. (Someone recently noticed, through a social media site called foursquare, that I spend a lot of time at local Catholic church. Was I converting? Nope, just watching my son play t-ball.)

Second, don’t be afraid to talk about it. If someone you consider a friend writes or shows something online that raises some questions for you, talk to them. If your friend, who professes faith in Christ and lives accordingly, suddenly posts a hatred filled rant online, you might be called to ask why and talk about what has happened to provoke such a post and how it reflects their beliefs.

I think this could get interesting. See you online.

peace,

will

More with the Not Panicking

I have been thinking a lot lately about leadership and how it relates to systematic discipleship. I wrote a couple weeks back about the importance of holding fast and not panicking. In my post “Don’t Panic" in reflecting on Exodus 32 I wrote:

This scripture is powerful in the area of ministry that I work in. I try to help churches develop systematic plans to make disciples of Jesus Christ. The hard part of this is that it almost always involves change and that change takes some time. Here is why most churches will fail to make the change: at some point along the line, it will seem too hard or feel like it is not going to work and the people may panic. The leader has a choice: push on or turn back.

This idea of the leader's need to remain calm and focused in the midst of the necessary change often brought about by clear vision keeps coming back to me as I journey again through the Old Testament. God teaches us so much by pointing out the failures of leaders. We see it again in 1 Samuel 13 with Saul, who is supposed to be waiting for Samuel to come and offer to the Lord. He sees the people slipping away and decides to take it upon himself to offer the burnt offering. As soon as he is done, Samuel shows up and says, "What have you done?" Saul replies,

“When I saw that the people were slipping away from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines were mustering at Michmash, I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down upon me at Gilgal, and I have not entreated the favor of the Lord’; so I forced myself, and offered the burnt offering.” (1 Sam 13 11b-12)

Translation: "I panicked!" And it cost him. A lot.

If, as leaders, we are going to lead people through change, there will be points when it feels like they are slipping away and we have face two temptations: One, we saw in the story of Exodus 32, that is to just do what the people ask instead of what God asks. The other, as we see today, is to lose our own nerve and then our trust in God and try to take the whole thing into our hands. That doesn't work out so well either.

I am really blessed to be in a situation where most of my work focuses on implementation of systematic discipleship. I have many sub-roles within that role. One of my job titles is "junior assistant vice president of anxiety management." I knew coming in that moving a church from a program focus, where the goal was to keep everyone busy - to a discipleship focus, where the goal was to walk with people in a journey of discipleship, was going to be difficult, slow and occasionally frustrating. I knew that staff and lay people would (and they do) come to me panicking that it is not working and we better come up with a new plan (or just offer the burnt offering ourselves.) On my good days, I respond, "It is working, just not on your timetable. Be patient. Be faithful."

Be patient. Be faithful. Don't panic.

peace,

will

Stepping Out

I spent this past weekend speaking at a conference youth camp. Let's stop right there.

I don't do youth camps. As I have explained to countless people, I am not called to youth ministry and clearly God has not equipped me for anything of the sort. My specialty is adult ministry. I tend to be terrified of anyone under twenty. I think it has to do with the fact that I know young people can see right through me, down to my very soul, and are unknowingly aware of every fear and insecurity I possess.

There is this other thing as well: To say I am a reserved person is about as big an understatement as you can get away with without inciting laughter. If you have ever even peaked into a youth camp, reserved is not a word that you would tend to use unless you were saying something like, "the area in the back of the room is reserved for people who are too reserved to worship like everyone else." Youth worship with such reckless abandon that it makes a bookish introvert like me run for cover faster than a turtle in a mosh pit.

So, how I found myself this weekend at my second youth camp is a mystery of God I cannot quite explain but one I attribute a little to the influence of my friends Rusty Freeman and Ryan Barnett. The odd thing is that Rusty and Ryan know me pretty well so there is a mystery in why they would think I would have any chance of adding something to the life of these kids.

At my first camp this past winter, I did my best to fit in, preach well, not get hurt and not look like an old man who had, in senile confusion, wandered into the wrong camp. And all in all, things went pretty well. But this time, I made a different choice. If I was going to do this, I had to do this. I had to believe there was some reason that I had been asked, some reason that God had clearly called me to say yes, some reason I was there. So this time, I decided to enter into the time, not carefully, but with as much reckless abandon as the kids I would be worshipping with. This is a lot easier with mentors to look to. My friend Mark Swayze and his band were leading the music and if anyone knows how to lead worship with reckless abandon it's Mark. Rusty also has somehow maintained the ability to worship with the same energy as the kids year after a year.

They both know something really important - they are leaders and people are looking at them and to them. Some kids at camp need no help getting into the spirit of worship. But there are always others, especially kids who were born with that same "I'm more comfortable reading in my room" personality that I was. They will follow the lowest energy person in the room. It is a shame if it is me.

So this time I made a different choice. I decided from the first night to sing, dance, pray, kneel, forget that anyone was watching me but God. I decided when I stood up to speak, I would say what was on my heart even if it wasn't in my notes. I decided I wouldn't vet every word to make sure that it was perfectly theologically astute. I decided to share stories that my congregations haven't been allowed to hear. I poured out so much that, when I was done, my throat hurt, my head hurt, my back hurt and I felt spent.

I don't keep a ranking but this was clearly in the top five of the most amazing spiritual experiences of my Christian journey - Because I stepped out and let go.

On the last night of the camp a young girl came forward to pray with me. In tears she thanked God for bringing her to the camp and bringing me to the camp. She then repeated to me, clearly, the themes that ran through all of my messages and related them to the struggles she faced in her life. And then we prayed together. That alone was worth the whole thing.

I don't do youth camps. As I have explained to countless people, I am not called to youth ministry and clearly God has not equipped me for anything of the sort.

Okay, well maybe.

What does this look like for you in your life and ministry?

What are you afraid of?

What is outside of your comfort zone?

What might you need to let go of to serve in a way that God is calling you?

Who is watching you?

Is there anything you are doing that might be getting in their way?

What might God be calling you to?

Who might God be calling you to be?

See you at camp.

will

Don't Panic!

Exodus 32
1When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered around Aaron, and said to him, “Come, make gods for us, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” 2Aaron said to them, “Take off the gold rings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” 

I have been pondering this passage this week. Over the last couple of weeks, I have been reading through Genesis and Exodus hearing the old stories anew again. This is such a powerful narrative in the early story of God’s people and their struggle to be obedient. As I was pondering it, it called to mind another story, this one much more secular. Last week, I watched the movie, The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. Really, the movie is not very good which is unfortunate because the series of books on which it was based is amazing. It came to mind because of some of the most important words in the book, words imprinted on the cover of the fictional Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy upon which the story is based. Those words, “Don’t Panic!”

God speaks those words to us in one form or another over and over in scripture. Scripture also blesses us with stories of the unfortunate things that happen when we do panic. Exodus 32 is one of those stories. Moses has disappeared up the mountain a little too long and the people begin to get nervous. I guess that is to be expected. Here is the truly tragic part of the narrative: their leader followed them. Aaron allowed their panic to drive his actions and those actions were deeply disobedient.

This is an important biblical lesson on leadership. It is human nature - the people are going to get nervous, the people are going to panic. However, it is not our role as leaders to react to their panic. It may be our job to respond in ways that reduce anxiety and bring comfort. But it is also our job to remain obedient in the midst of the uncertainty. Aaron had the choice to say, “I trust God and I trust Moses. Remain calm. Things will be okay soon.” Instead, he followed their lead and forged the idol they desired.

This scripture is powerful in the area of ministry that I work in. I try to help churches develop systematic plans to make disciples of Jesus Christ. The hard part of this is that it almost always involves change and that change takes some time. Here is why most churches will fail to make the change: at some point along the line, it will seem too hard or feel like it is not going to work and the people may panic. The leader has a choice: push on or turn back.

Where Aaron failed, Moses got it right. In Exodus 14, the people have barely left Egypt when things turn rough and they panic.

10As Pharaoh drew near, the Israelites looked back, and there were the Egyptians advancing on them. In great fear the Israelites cried out to the LORD. 11They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us, bringing us out of Egypt? 12Is this not the very thing we told you in Egypt, ‘Let us alone and let us serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” 

But instead of following the crowd, Moses says,

13But Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid, stand firm, and see the deliverance that the LORD will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you see today you shall never see again. 14The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to keep still.”

Once we believe that we have heard and are following God’s vision for our church, we have to lead with that kind of trust and show that sort of trust to the people.

Churches will always face these moments. If a church implements a new visionary plan for discipleship, there will be a moment where it doesn’t feel like it is working. There will be a moment when it seems like it is too much of a strain on another part of the system. There will be a moment when it will seem like it should be creating more results faster. During these moments, people may panic and want to create a new idol or go back to the safety of Egypt (even if it didn’t work.) It becomes the leader's job to assess, to comfort, but not to react. It is the role of the leader to say, “Do not be afraid, stand firm.”

Peace,

will

Switch

Here I go recommending another book that doesn’t have “church” or “Jesus” in the title. I think recent church history shows us swinging wildly between two poles: on one side acting like we are businesses and adopting business practices to run our churches and on the other distancing ourselves from anything at all secular. There is a fine balance in being in the world and not of the world. The late Albert Outler coined the term “Plundering the Egyptians” referencing the book of Exodus to make the talk about “the freedom that Christians have (by divine allowance) to explore, appraise, and appropriate all the insights and resources of any and all secular culture.” (Albert Outler, “Plundering the Egyptians” in, Evangelism & Theology in the Wesleyan Spirit, Nashville: Discipleship Resources, 1996, 75-88) I like plundering the Egyptians.

I just finished Switch, How to Change Things When Change is Hard by Chip Heath and Dan Heath. Heath and Heath wrote another one of my favorite books, Made to Stick. (You can read a quick review of that on my old blog here: http://willatgrace.blogspot.com/search?q=made+to+stick) I think Switch is a must read for pastors. This is especially true for pastors who find themselves in the role of change agents, trying to help their church or organization grow and change in ways the help it to more effectively serve its mission. But it also true for pastors in any setting because, as this book helped me remember, all pastors are change agents. (This book didn’t talk about pastors at all but it still reminded me.) As pastors, we are involved in helping people to change. We help people lead to a radical change in life that comes with a relationship with Christ (justification). And we help people go through a lifelong metamorphosis of recreation in the image and likeness of Christ (sanctification.) It is God that makes this happen, individuals who submit themselves to it and pastors (and other ministers) who help convince people to enter into this process and facilitate their journey. In other words, part of the work of the church is to convince people to make a change and then help them to make a change.

Sometimes this involves systemic work in changing systems and structures and sometimes it is about the one-on-one work of individual discipleship. Switch helps us to see why such change is hard and how we can make is easier. Back under the heading of “plundering the Egyptians” deciding to follow Christ has some similarities to deciding to lose weight or eat better or keep your house neat. The similarities quickly break down but the initial steps of inspiration and motivation look a lot alike.

What breaks my heart the most as a pastor is that I truly believe that when people stand up front and profess their faith and take vows of membership they really mean it. They really want to change their focus from whatever led and motivated them in the past to following God. However, so many of them lose their way. And I think we can help them and I think the Heath brothers have some very simple ideas that can assist us. Switch made me consider exactly how much change we are throwing at people right up front when we ask them to become followers of Jesus. We expect them to change a lot of things (show up on Sunday, come to a class on Wednesday, start giving away some of your income, watch your language) and changing a lot of things takes self-control and “self-control is an exhaustible resource.” (p. 10) People do want to change and they are not lazy, nor do they lack discipline, but sometimes we are expecting them to do too much at once.

The authors offer some clear ways to think about approaching change. They use the analogy of psychologist Jonathan Haidt to explain that our brains have two sides, an emotional side and a rational side: an elephant and a rider. (p. 7) It may sound a bit crass to my church colleagues but the authors show us that it about directing the rider, motivating the elephant and shaping the path.

This is a fun and insightful book. I love the Heath brothers. Even if you never use anything in this book it is fun to read and you might learn a little something about yourself and what motivates you.

peace,

will

Systematic Discipleship and the Small Membership Church

The U's Assistant Director of Discipleship, Michael Andres and I took at trip to Weimer, Texas yesterday to lead a module of the Southwest Texas Annual Conference Local Pastor Licensing School. This is a two week intensive retreat required for people who have been licensed by their District Committees to serve as licensed local pastors. Most of the people in this category have not started seminary or course of study yet so the school serves as a sort of "boot camp" to give the pastor everything she will need (hopefully) to get started in local church ministry.

As I understand it (and someone will certainly correct me if I am wrong) the majority of these new local pastors will serve, at first, in small, often rural congregations. Some could potentially be associates at larger churches and any of them may eventually move on to larger churches but most will start in fairly small membership churches. This made for an interesting transition and translation for Michael and I. We were invited to speak about systematic discipleship and discipleship pathways. We were invited by Rev. Bill Johnson after he saw us present at the Large Church Initiative. Although churches of all sizes were represented at that event (thanks to the Living Congregations Institute which made it easier for churches from the Southwest Texas Conference to attend) the focus was on large membership churches (around 250 in worship and up.)

So switching gears from sharing the material with large multi-pastor, multi-staff and even multi-location churches to sharing it with pastors of mostly small membership churches led us to think a lot about how what we are doing translates. We really think it does translate. While trying to overlay University's Pathway to Discipleship on a small membership church model would be overwhelming and overkill, the principles of focus and accountability are translatable from 5000 to 500 to 50 to 5.

It really comes down to the question, "do you have an intentional plan in place to help people grow as disciples of Jesus Christ?" If the answer is yes, it leads to other questions like,

Is the plan clear?

Can people understand it?

Does it account for phases or stages of spiritual growth?

Do you have a way of keeping track of people and holding them accountable?

Do you have ways to see if it is working?

If the answer if no, it leads to questions like.

What are we currently doing that helps people grow?

What have we done well in the past?

What unique gifts for disciple making has God given us as a congregation and how can we use them?

I am looking forward to working with more of the smaller churches in our conference over the next year. I am sure with a little focus on the process of discipleship, they will do some miraculous things.

peace,

will