DownshoreDrift

Wilderness Leadership

The era of the “promised land” is over for the mainline church in America. Because we have not been faithful, we find ourselves again in the wilderness, or perhaps, in exile. In either case, the establishment is collapsing and with it, the predictability, security and comfort that has allowed us to be at ease in Zion for several generations. The model of the “king” is no longer appropriate for leadership in today’s church. We need leadership more akin to the “judges” of ancient Israel, who arose out of the community in crisis to lead by the consent of and in concert with the community. And those judges were selected not by caste or class, but by demonstrating the authenticity and therefore the authority that comes from having attended to the inward journey with God.

Edward A. White from "What Kind of Pastor Will Most Likely Empower Laity."

I think that the idea of the "Church in Exile" was intriguing to me in this quote. If we are really in exile, or the Wilderness in relation to our culture, then what does that mean for how we function? For leadership? For cultural engagement? Yes, it appears that Christendom has crumbled. What will replace it and how will we manage a post-Christian America? It is apparent that spiritual leadership in a post-Christian culture must be more focused on God and our walk with Him, than it is on success, results, power, and influence.

Learning Service Under a Better Master

The Christian is a person who recognizes that our real problem is not in achieving freedom but in learning service under a better master. The Christian realizes that every relationship that excludes God becomes oppressive. Recognizing and realizing that, we urgently want to live under the mastery of God.

                                          Eugene Peterson, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction 

Alexis de Tocqueville on America

Alexis de Tocqueville was a brilliant French historian and political thinker who travelled through America in the 1830's and made assessments of our democracy, our people, and our culture. His major work was Democracy in America (1835). His thoughts are very insightful and they show the original seeds of the state of America today that have now reached full bloom. I found a good number of quotes about American's individualism and pursuit of prosperity that I found very interesting as well - it is rare to see much early analysis on these factors in American life. Here are a few of the quotes:

America is great because she is good. If America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.

Liberty cannot be established without morality, nor morality without faith.

The Americans combine the notions of religion and liberty so intimately in their minds, that it is impossible to make them conceive of one without the other.

The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults.

Thoughts on the In-Breaking Kingdom of God

“The central theme in the ministry and teaching of Jesus is the kingdom of God, or as Matthew calls it, the kingdom of Heaven. This key idea ties his entire message together. The “kingdom of God” permeates Jesus’ ministry, giving it coherence and clarity. It is the undisputed core, the very essence, of his life and teaching.” ~ Donald Kraybill, The Upside Down Kingdom, p. 16.

“In broad strokes, most biblical scholars agree that the “kingdom of God” means the dynamic rule or reign of God. The reign involves God’s intentions, authority, and ruling power. It doesn’t refer to a territory or a particular place. Nor is it static. It’s dynamic – always becoming, spreading, and growing. The kingdom points us not to the place of God but to God’s ruling activities. It is not a kingdom in heaven, but from heaven – one that thrives here and now. The kingdom appears whenever women and men submit their lives to God’s will. ~ Kraybill, p. 18.

Jerry Bridges and Bob Bevington talk about the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ in their book, The Great Exchange. To introduce this study, they talked about the different facets of the gospel and they declared that the whole gospel must be preached and believed for us to really know God.  One of the facets of the gospel is the Gospel of the Kingdom:

                                  

“In the gospel, our worldview is radically changed. We refer to this facet [of the gospel] as the gospel of the kingdom. It means that our definitions of health, wealth, security, comfort, and prosperity are turned upside down compared to the world’s view. It means we embrace the paradoxes of Christ’s teaching – to live is to die, to be great is to be a servant of all, and to be rich is to give sacrificially. All our values change, as do our views on community, poverty, gender, racism, orphans and widows, and the sick and the weak. But none of this can happen authentically apart from the cross, where our sin was exchanged for his righteousness.”

~ Bridges and Bevington, The Great Exchange, p. 16.

Micah Mandate: Doing Justice, Loving Mercy, Walking Humbly With God

Since last August, we have been going through a spiritual formation study on Wednesday nights at our church. We spent several months talking about loving God. Then, we explored what it meant to love people. Now, we are talking about how we do that "to the ends of the earth." We have taken a pretty different approach on each area and I have really grown through it. One of the books that we are using for this last movement is The Micah Mandate: Balancing the Christian Life by George Grant.  He deals with Micah 6:8, which says: "But he has showed you, O Man, what is good and what the Lord requires of you: To do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God."  His premise is that if we do those three things, then our lives will be in balance and we will be salt and light to the world. Jesus appealed to Micah's mandate in Matthew 23:23 when he said to the Pharisees, "But you have neglected the more important matters of the law - justice, mercy, and faithfulness." 

Thom Wolf says that when interacting with the larger culture, we start with justice issues, we the show mercy to people that we connect with, and then we share our faith with them. He calls it "Weeds, Deeds, and Seeds."  When we live in a culture that is ignorant or hostile to the gospel, we should seek to come alongside them and set right what has gone wrong by bringing the Kingdom of God. We should pull the weeds that have grown up around them (Justice).  Then, we should do good deeds (Matt. 5:16) among them (Mercy).  Finally, after their hearts have been made receptive, we should plant the seeds of faith through the gospel (Walking humbly with God).  Of course, it does not have to necessarily go in this order, but caring about justice issues and doing good amongst unbelievers surely does open their hearts to ask, "Why are you doing this?" I experienced that directly as we went down to help right after Katrina.  Dr. Wolf goes on to say that the Micah/Jesus Mandate is the same as what Paul is saying when he calls us to "faith, love, and hope." It's just that amongst believers, Paul starts with the heart and our relationship with God and works his way out to our effect on the world.

FAITH = Walking Humbly with God = Planting Seeds (faith comes from hearing the gospel)

LOVE = Mercy = Good Deeds (sacrificially laying our lives down for others)

HOPE = Justice = Pulling Weeds (our hope in in the salvation that is to be granted to us fully one day)

So, basically, the Christian life is a balance of all three of these components as they continue to mix and work in our lives.  Unfortunately, we often get out of balance and focus more heavily on one area over the other.  Throughout my life, I have seen this imbalance in Christians who were totally focused on trying to change America through politics and social action. I have always felt that wrong. On the other hand, I have met Christians who only wanted to pray and try and do 2 Chronicles 7:14 as though it was some magic formula to restore us to the 1950's. Also, wrong. George Grant says,

Ready For the Storm

Erika and I were playing some music tonight and she pointed me to this Rich Mullins song from years ago that I had never heard before. It was actually written by Scottish singer, Dougie MacLean. We ended up singing it and it spoke true to what we are feeling and to what God is doing in our lives. Do we really trust Him? Do we believe that He is good, even when our common assurances seem to be fading? Can we give Him everything? The song is called Ready For the Storm:

The waves crash in the tide rolls out
It's an angry sea but there is no doubt
That the lighthouse will keep shining out
To warn a lonely sailor
And the lightning strikes
And the wind cuts cold
Through the sailor's bones
Through the sailor's soul
'Til there's nothing left that he can hold
Except a rolling ocean

Oh I am ready for the storm
Yes sir ready
I am ready for the storm
I'm ready for the storm

Oh give me mercy for my dreams
'Cause every confrontation seems to tell me
What it really means
To be this lonely sailor
And when the sky begins to clear
The sun it melts away my fear
And I shed a silent weary tear
For those who mean to love me

Oh I am ready for the storm
Yes sir ready
I am ready for the storm
I'm ready for the storm

The distance it is no real friend
And time will take its time
And you will find that in the end
It brings you me
This lonely sailor
And when You take me by the hand
And You love me, Lord, You love me
And I should have realized
I had no reasons to be frightened

Oh I am ready for the storm
Yes sir ready
I am ready for the storm

Am I ready? In Christ alone.

Someone put together a slide show to Rich Mullins' version of this song. The music is hauntingly beautiful.

Pastors (and Christians) Should Never Complain About Their Churches

Since August, I have been teaching Spiritual Formation on Wednesday nights using our church mission/vision statement, Loving God, Loving People . . . To the Ends of the Earth. We are in the "Loving People" stage and have been using a couple of books as resource material. One of those books is Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Life Together.  I was reading this book and making notes today for the study tomorrow night when I ran across a statement of Bonhoeffer's that challenged me once again.  Pastoring a church in the South means that you are one congregation among many. Invariably, church members begin to compare one church to another, one pastor to another, and the services, resources, and excitement levels of each church. We even compare the members.  Pastors do the same thing. We compare one church and ministry to another, and often get irritated with our church if it does not perform up to our expectations. This happens easily because we are always gazing upon the ideal and the unfinished task before us, driving ourselves and those around us to performance in service of that ideal. "If we could just get these people to cooperate," we think to ourselves. Sometimes, the criticisms of one another grow even more severe, ending in a pastor leaving or being fired, or a church splitting. Bonheoffer speaks decidedly to this issue and it should cause us all to stop our complaining, repent before God, and thank God for the fellowship that we have with one another in Christ.

Prepare to be humbled and encouraged:

We pray for the big things and forget to give thanks for the ordinary, small (and yet really not small) gifts. How can God entrust great things to one who will not thankfully receive from Him the little things? If we do not give thanks daily for the Christian fellowship in which we have been placed, even where there is no great experience, no discoverable riches, but much weakness, small faith, and difficulty; if on the contrary, we only keep complaining to God that everything is so paltry and petty, so far from what we expected, then we hinder God from letting our fellowship grow according to the measure and riches which are there for us all in Jesus Christ.

This applies in a special way to the complaints often heard from pastors and zealous members about their congregations. A pastor should not complain about his congregation, certainly never to other people, but also not to God. A congregation has not been entrusted to him in order that he should become its accuser before God and men. When a person becomes alienated from a Christian community in which he has been placed and begins to raise complaints about it, he had better examine himself first to see whether the trouble is not due to his wish dream that should be shattered by God; and if this be the case, let him thank God for leading him into this predicament. But, if not, let him nevertheless guard against ever becoming an accuser of the congregation before God. Let him rather accuse himself for his unbelief. Let him pray God for an understanding of his own failure and his particular sin, and pray that he may not wrong his brethren. Let him, in the consciousness of his own guilt, make intercession for his brethren. Let him do what he is committed to do, and thank God.

Chistian community is like the Christian's sanctification. It is a gift of God which we cannot claim. Only God knows the real state of our fellowship, of our sanctification. What may appear weak and trifling to us may be great and glorious to God. Just as the Christian should not be constantly feeling his spiritual pulse, so, too, the Christian community has not been given us by God for us to be constantly taking its temperature. The more thankfully we daily receive what is given to us, the more surely and steadily will fellowship increase and grow day to day as God pleases.

Christian brotherhood is not an ideal which we must realize; it is rather a reality created by God in Christ in which we may participate. The more clearly we learn to recognize that the ground and strength and promise of all fellowship is in Jesus Christ alone, the more serenely shall we think of our fellowship and pray and hope for it.

Bonhoeffer comes from a Lutheran perspective that we place our faith in the finished work of Christ outside of us.  We are made righteous by the work of Christ on the Cross and we are not to place our faith in our experience. We must believe in Jesus alone. Apart from our experience, it is true that Jesus died for us. All spiritual experience flows from that faith, but it is faith that comes first.

I can tell you that the vast majority of Christians, especially Southern Baptists, spend an inordinate amount of time complaining about one another and the state of the Church. I have been very guilty of that myself quite often and repentance is necessary.  Our unity is based in the spiritual reality of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, and not in the Church's fulfillment of each pastor, leader, or congregants "wish dream."  May we learn to love one another sacrificially, even when we aren't perfect in one another's eyes. May our unity be based on Christ and transforming faith in Him, and not our performance or lack thereof. 

Retreat Into Comfort or Engage the World?

I am reading Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Life Together, which is truly one of the most amazing little books I have ever partaken of on the nature of Christian community. He views the community of Christ (the church) very realisitically and through the lens of the Cross. Since I am teaching on spiritual formation on Wednesday nights and we are starting with the Cross in our first movement and will look at community and relationships in our second movement (about 2 months from now), I thought that this book would be fitting. Our third movement, which we will get into next spring will involve our spiritual growth and health always leads us out to engage a lost world - because that is what Jesus did. Bonhoeffer, at the beginning of Life Together points us in this direction, I suppose so that no one would think that he is advocating a cloistered, disengaged life. Here is an excerpt containing a quote by Martin Luther that should make the our hair stand on end:

It is not simply to be taken for granted that the Christian has the privilege of living among other Christians. Jesus Christ lived in the midst of his enemies. At the end all his disciples deserted him. On the Cross he was utterly alone, surrounded by evildoers and mockers. For this cause he had come, to bring peace to the enemies of God. So the Christian, too, belongs not in the seclusion of a cloistered life but in the thick of foes. There is his commission, his work. (Luther quote following - me)  "The Kingdom is to be in the midst of your enemies. And he who will not suffer this does not want to be of the Kingdom of Christ; he wants to be among friends, to sit among roses and lilies, not with the bad people but the devout people. O you blasphemers and betrayers of Christ!  If Christ had done what you are doing who would ever have been spared?"

What do you think of Bonhoeffer's words? Of course, Jesus had his twelve disciples, but he also knew what was in a man and he did the will of the Father. At the end, they all betrayed him because he did not do what they thought he was here to do. I am a huge believer in community, relationships, teams, and fellowship. I believe that Jesus died and rose for the dead to establish the Church. At the same time, we must all we willing to be persecuted and outcast and go into the world to represent Christ, even if no one follows.

What about Luther's words? They are very strong and definitely speak to our desire to withdraw into the Christian ghetto of our own making where we only have good influences and things are safe. Ultimately, I think that he is right and I am convicted. I have spent far too much time dealing exclusively with Christians, my church, the SBC, and those who are of "my tribe."  Of course, the Christian community is paramount, and as a pastor I am to be a shepherd to our body first and foremost. But, my main job is to get us to join with Christ where He is working. Perhaps God's intent is that we be a mobile, sent community, loving God and loving others as we go to the ends of the earth.

Heartfelt Response to Bonhoeffer Post

Earlier today I received an email from a young lady regarding my Bonhoeffer post of this morning. It really touched me and she said that I could post it. I thought it might cause us all to think a little bit more deeply about the consequences of NOT being the type of community of believers that God calls us to be. I also thought it was quite prophetic as she calls us to look for the people around us instead of just looking out for ourselves. Here it is:

Alan,

                                  

I read today's blog.  I would've posted a comment, but the computer I'm working from won't allow it.  I wholeheartedly agree with Dietrich Bonhoeffer . . . But I'm frustrated.  I have experienced the need for church fellowship and true community for a long time.  I've said for many years that if I could, I would live in the church.  Unfortunately, it hasn't happened...  By "live in the church" I meant live in the community in which wish dreams are not a factor, grace is abundant, and like-mindedness and common goals are the norm.  I have inwardly begged to be a part of this type of community.  I have cried out to the people of the church to possess this type of mind-set.  I have NEEDED to feel like I could go to my Christian friends and tell them my struggles and hear real truth.  Yet I feel more comfortable going to non-Christian friends.  I have NEEDED to spend time with Christian people who know my life and faults and love me just the same.  Yet my non-Christian friends are more available and less judgemental.  I have NEEDED people to be all up in my business and pull things out of me for accountability purposes.  Yet my non-Christian friends pull things out of me, but have no truth to give me in return.  I have felt the sting of feeling like an outcast many times for sharing my life's history and current struggles with people of the church, not receiving the grace that I know God gives me.  I have experienced the frustration of seeing people on Sundays, smiling, laughing, singing, and praying and leaving not to hear a word from any of them until the next week.  All the while, I am crying inside, begging them to help me, be my friend, and tell me truth without judging my faults.  I KNOW my faults.  No one has to tell me that I'm doing something wrong.  I KNOW when I'm doing something wrong.  What I need is someone to hold me accountable to it and someone to pull things out of me and someone, ANYONE, to love me anyway.  I know the wish dream Mr. Bonhoeffer is talking about, and I have been aggravated.  I couldn't have written that excerpt better myself . . . .

                                                                      

. . . . I feel as if I come to church with a veil over my face, but not purposely.  I have nothing to hide.  I admit that I have faults.  I admit that I still do wrong.  I admit that I struggle in many, many areas and I struggle hard.  But I also admit that I love my Jesus just as much as any other believer. I admit that I would be among the lowest of the low without God's grace and love in my life.  And I admit that no matter what good or bad I do, or how the church changes or stays the same, I will ALWAYS have Christ in my heart.  So, I WISH everyone in the church knew me, cared to know me, and hear the things that I have to say.  But it seems some people would just rather live in their wish dream, get their business done with God, and go home to their earthly family.  They don't have time to get to know other people; they have their own lives to live. Or they would rather not hear that someone's life has been/is messed up; they have their own lives to worry about.

                                                                     

Perhaps I seem to be coming across as extremely negative and, again, I apologize.  I've just recently been in that place of need once again, so I'm extra frustrated with the church.  Don't get me wrong, I'll get over it.  I LOOOVE the church.  I don't know if I can ever express how much.  And I am not innocent of ever being part of any kind of wish dream community.  But I realize more and more how much change in all of us needs to be done. 

Thoughts? How can be we a type of community that really sees people the way they are and engages with their life in a way that helps them, instead of being communities that see people the way we wish they were and does not want to get our hands dirty? Sometimes, I feel like if anyone has a problem, they become a project to fix so the church is not defiled, rather than a person to love because God loved them first. What about you?

A Refreshing Word: Bonhoeffer on Wish Dream Fulfillment in Christian Community

Probably one of the best statements I've ever read on the church and Christian community comes from Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Life Together. It comes from pages 26-29. I have been preaching through Acts and this fits quite nicely. Stop everything you are doing and read this right now!  You won't be sorry!

Innumerable times a whole Christian community has broken down because it had sprung from a wish dream. The serious Christian, set down for the first time in a Christian community, is likely to bring with him a very definite idea of what Christian life together should be and to try to realize it. But God's grace speedily shatters such dreams. Just as surely as God desires to lead us to a knowledge of genuine Christian fellowship, so surely must we be overwhelmed by a great disillusionment with others, with Christians in general, and if we are fortunate, with ourselves.

By sheer grace, God will not permit us to live even for a brief period in a dream world. He does not abandon us to those rapturous experiences and lofty moods that come over us like a dream. God is not a God of the emotions but the God of truth. Only that fellowship which faces such disillusionment, with all its unhappy and ugly aspects, begins to be what it should be in God's sight, begins to grasp in faith the promise that is given to it. The sooner this shock of disillusonment comes to an individual and to a community the better for both. A community which cannot bear and cannot survive such a crisis, which insists upon keeping its illusion when it should be shattered, permanently loses in that moment the promise of Christian community. Sooner or later it will collapse. Every human wish dream that is injected into the Christian community is a hindrance to genuine community and must be banished if genuine community is to survive. He who loves his dream of a community more than the Christian community itself becomes a destroyer of the latter, even though his personal intentions may be ever so honest and earnest and sacrificial.

God hates visionary dreaming; it makes the dreamer proud and pretentious. The man who fashions a visionary ideal of community demands that it be realized by God, by others, and by himself. He enters the community of Christians with his demands, sets up his own law, and judges the brethren and God Himself accordingly. He stands adamant, a living reproach to all others in the circle of brethren. He acts as if he is the creator of the Christian community, as if his dream binds men together. When things do not go his way, he calls the effort a failure. When his ideal picture is destroyed, he sees the community going to smash. So he becomes, first an accuser of his brethren, then an accuser of God, and finally the despairing accuser of himself.