Fearless

Still catching up writing about my vacation reading. I had a chance to read Max Lucado’s latest, Fearless, Imagine Your Life Without Fear. I have always liked Lucado’s writing but I have never considered it earth-shattering. However, I am willing to say that this book is important. Max Lucado has always had a way to make important theological truth accessible to everyone and he has landed on an exceptionally important and timely theological truth.

We are afraid of everything and even worse, we base our decisions and our very lives on this fear. Fear has become a commodity in our society with media and marketing playing to our deepest and darkest fears to get us to do things and buy things that might not otherwise match our values and worldview. And here is the worst part: each breath of fear is a mark of disobedience. The author reminds us that Christ’s most common command was against fear:

His most common command emerges from the “fear not” genre. The Gospels list some 125 Christ-issued imperatives. Of these, 21 urge us to “not be afraid” or “fear not” or “have courage” or “take heart” or “be of good cheer.” The second most common command, to love God and neighbor, appears on only eight occasions. If quantity is any indicator, Jesus takes our fears seriously. The one statement he made more than any other was this: don’t be afraid. (pgs. 10-11)

This is a very relevant book to review on this weblog about discipleship because one of the biggest modern barriers to discipleship is fear. We cannot become what God is calling us to become when our lives are rooted in fear instead of love. If you want to live a life free from the spirit robbing specter of fear, give this one a read.

peace,

will

Surprised By Hope

You might not like this book. I believe N.T. Wright to be one of the most gifted theologians of our time but he tends to make lots of people angry. Wright has found a shady spot between conservative evangelical Christianity and liberal mainline Christianity. It is a spot that tends to drive everyone crazy.

In Surprised By Hope, Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church, N.T. Wright takes on and amazingly hot topic: heaven and the afterlife. It doesn’t seem like a hot topic but it is. Here is the deal: it is not a hot topic as long as you don’t challenge people’s personal beliefs about it. And challenge personal beliefs, Wright does.

Every week, in Christian churches around the world, the people speak the words to the Apostles Creed,

I believe in the Holy Spirit;

the holy catholic church;

the communion of saints;

the forgiveness of sins;

the resurrection of the body;

and the life everlasting.

But, when you ask people about that “resurrection of the body” thing, you find some muddy answers. For Wright, this is not an odd addition to our belief; it is at the center of Christian hope and belief. Starting with an amazing contextual overview of the belief systems surrounding the time of Jesus, the author call us to consider what we believe about Jesus, his resurrection, ascension and final return and at the same time consider what we believe about our own duty as Christians, our own final destination after death and our own role in the present and coming Kingdom of God.

I am not going to review Wright’s work point by point for a few reasons. First, this book has been out a couple of years so there is plenty to read online in terms of reviews and rebuttals. Second, Wright is infinitely smarter than me, so his work can stand just fine without me meddling in it. Third, you really should just read the book. A fair warning about that: I believe that N.T. Wright writes in a readable, accessible way. However, this is some dense stuff. A lay person may need a theological dictionary to get through some terms like eschatological dualism and parousia. But even thought the text gets dense at times, the key messages are clear and readable.

I really think this may be required reading for Christians who are serious about understanding what they believe, especially in terms of life after death. Even if you set the book down disagreeing with Wright’s premises, it will force you to get a better handle on what you believe, how you live those beliefs out every day and how you share the hope within you with others.

peace,

will

Just One Question

If you live in my neighborhood, you may have seen me out a bit more lately. Our new dog, Goliath, needs lots of exercise so he and Violet get a long walk nearly every night. I love long walks, they give me time to reflect and to listen to music, two things that often go together. As I was walking last night with my iPod on shuffle (I am too lazy for playlists) Joan Osborne's "One of Us" came on. I really like the song though it's theology is a little fuzzy. For those of you who are unfamiliar, the first few lines of the song go like this:

If God had a name what would it be?
And would you call it to his face?
If you were faced with Him in all His glory
What would you ask if you had just one question?

In my combination of walking, reflecting, praying and listening to music, that last line really stuck. If you were faced with God in all His Glory, what would you ask if you had just one question? I played with the thought for the rest of the song and tried out a number of questions. What would you ask?

Here is what I came up with: "What do you want me to do?" I reflected on that for a bit and have been thinking about it ever since. The more I think about it, the more I like it. Now, of course, this doesn't work in every situation. If I meet God at the end of my life, it might be more like, "What's next?" but if I get a chance today to chat with the Almighty, I will stick with "What do you want me to do?"

Part of my theology and rationale behind how I do ministry is this idea that every person is created with a unique set of gifts. When those gifts are used for the glory of God, they bring great joy to the person and bring great goodness to the world. I truly believe that the more people who connect their gifts to the work of God, the more this world resembles the Kingdom of God. This is why we do The Pathway to Discipleship at University. It is a pathway because it leads somewhere. We invite everyone to meet Jesus, hear the message of Jesus and then begin to hear their mission from Jesus - what gifts has God given you and how is He calling you to put them to work in the church, in the community, in the world. In the mission phase of The Pathway to Discipleship, we are asking that one question, "What do you want me to do?" This is a question we can ask now. We don't have to wait until we are standing face to face with our creator. It is just a matter of prayer and discernment.

If you haven't asked the question yet, get connected to the pathway. These questions are often best asked in community where others can listen with you.

peace,

will

Leaving Church

I took Barbara Brown Taylor's Leaving Church with me on my mini-vacation to Western New York a couple of week's back. I am not going to post a thorough review because this book has been out long enough that there are plenty of great reviews on the web.

It may have been that I read a lot of the book on the front porch of my childhood home, overlooking the grape vineyards where I spent seemingly most of my childhood, but this book really went straight to my heart. Taylor is an exceptional author (that is an understatement) and she weaves a beautiful story of her call to ministry, her life in ministry and her eventual calling to leave ministry. In it, we hear the glorious joys of the life of a pastor and the many stresses, pitfalls and dark valleys of the life on ministry.

I want to go out on a limb and say this one ought to be required reading: for pastors - that they might hear their own joys and struggles reflected so beautifully and look for the warning signs that lead to the end of a life in the church; for those who love pastors - that they might get a glimpse inside the life, the parts you see and the part you don't see; for those who work with pastors - church leaders, pastor advisory committees, pastor parish relations committees, etc - that they might better walk alongside the one appointed to lead the church.

Taylor is not the only pastor who has left the church. The burnout rate for church pastors is ridiculous. Sometimes it is a right a good thing that a person moves into another season of life and ministry. But sometimes the time is not right but the life is overwhelming. We should all be part of avoiding that.

Even if you are not interested in all that, the book is fun, funny and poignant. Barbara Brown Taylor is a gift to Christ's church.

peace,

will

An Invitation to Prayer

In developing The Pathway to Discipleship, we included an opportunity to take core offerings and electives. Just like a college curriculum, we figured that some things were essential to the journey. But we also know that people have different needs and interests when assembling their own "toolkit" for being a disciple.

As we roll into year two of the pathway, we are beginning to officially roll out some of the electives. The next pathway elective offering is called, An Invitation to Prayer. This is a course that I developed some years ago. I developed it in response to the realization that many people who come to church, participate in the ministries of the church, even lead the church, have no prayer life to speak of. I realized that this was a failing of the church. How, where and when does the church expect new Christians to learn about prayer? Yes, we pray in worship and at other church functions, but where do we teach, explain or model a life of personal prayer and devotion?

An Invitation to Prayer is a two week class that covers some of the obstacles to prayer, takes a biblical look at prayer and offers practical models and methods to help you begin or deepen your conversation with God.

I want to recommend this course to you whether you need to begin, restart or reinvigorate your prayer life. I also want to recommend it for those who already have a deep and abiding prayer life, but want to gain some better language and tools to help those you minister to develop their own prayer life.

The course is just two Tuesday evenings, September 15 and 22 from 6:30 to 8:30. This is an elective in the Meeting Phase of The Pathway to Discipleship so there is no prerequisite. You can register by calling the Discipleship Office at University 210-696-1033. Or email Laura Mick, laura.mick@uchurch.tv.

peace,

Will

The Work of Worship

One of the peculiarities of being a pastor is sitting backwards in worship. This isn’t the case in all churches but at University, in both of our worship spaces, the pastors sit up front looking out at the congregation. This means that, throughout the worship service, anyone who wants to can see my face. If you sit in worship, you can’t see your fellow worshipper’s faces, but you can see mine. My every smile, frown, etc. is right there for you to see. There is a flip side to this. From my perspective, at least in our south sanctuary, I can see your face too – every smile, frown, etc. Only the worship leaders and choir have this perspective and our choir doesn’t even usually have it for the whole service so they miss the most interesting part: the sermon.

In some Christian traditions, the congregation really takes responsibility for the sermon. Perhaps you have experienced this at a church where the congregation is visibly and even audible praying for the pastor, encouraging the pastor, calling upon the spirit, that the word might be heard. One of my esteemed colleagues told the story at my service of ordination of delivering a sermon early on in his career where a woman in the front row rocked back and forth as she prayed, out loud, “help him Jesus” through his whole sermon. (He admittedly needed the help.)

Our church word liturgy comes from a Greek word that literally means, “the work of the people.” When the pastor is praying, presiding over the Lord’s Table, giving thanks over the waters of baptism or preaching, she or he is representatively doing the “work of the people.” The pastor’s role is representative. The pastor is leading the people in the worship that we do together. As I have looked out over the last few Sundays during the sermon, while Pastor Charles has been preaching, I have seen a number of faces that appear to get that. They have seemed actively involved in the sermon – listening, reacting, even visibly encouraging the preacher. But there are many other faces that don’t express that. Lots of folks look bored, disconnected, distracted, sometimes even perturbed. Now I can not know what is behind those faces. I cannot judge their thoughts or even how engaged they really are, but if they are engaged, if they are rooting for the preacher, if they are praying that the word may connect, they are not, in their expression and demeanor sharing that with the preacher. Now, it is always possible that there are some folks that are bored, disconnected, distracted, tired, even perturbed. However, my guess it that most people just aren’t thinking about how their expressions, reactions and demeanor can affect the preacher. We are used to being anonymous observers. Television news people, sitcom starts and talk show hosts don’t see us. They just see the camera. (Those that do see people, like late night talk show hosts, have studio audiences that have been selected, warmed up and even coached to react to and support the hosts.) We don’t owe them any support. They don’t need it. But our preachers - they are doing our work; they are leading us in the worship of God. We need their words and they need our support, we are working together to praise our creator and hear a word back as the ancient scriptures are incarnated in our setting. Every smile, nod, frown, laugh, tear, wink and amen make that work a little better. It takes a little work, but our God is worth it.

Preaching in the Big Room

Preaching is not one of my central duties at University but I always love it when I get the chance. I hadn't been paying attention but it seems that we are now offering videocasts of our North Campus praise service sermons. You can watch my message from Sunday the 9th in technicolor HD here:

Earthonomics: The Effects of De-Creation

This is just a part of a sermon series offered on both campuses. You can see and hear more of the series here:

u|media

peace,

will