Tuesday, April 29, 2008

A Stiringly Good Read

I love to read. My problem is that I am a slow reader and I tend to read several books at the same time, which can cause me to be a little slower in getting a book finished. I wasn't always a reader. I can't tell you what books I read before high school but I can tell you when I got the "real itch" to read. I was a junior in HS and dating a girl named Sue (no relation to the boy name Sue). She was a jewel of a girl, kind, smart, and pretty. We would have a period during the day when we both had freetime and we would wander off to the band hall and I would lie on the floor and she would read The Hobbit to me. It made me feel like I did when I was a kid and went to my grandmother Stratton's and she would read to us. I would lie there and listen to Sue's voice as she read chapter after chapter. I was enthralled with the story (I had never heard of JRR Tolkien nor any of his books). When the school year ended, and the book was finished, Sue gave me a copy of the first book in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I was going away on a family trip for part of the summer and she gave me the book to read. To keep me "inspired" she had put little notes throughout the book, with little hints about characters or situations that were about to happen and there we even a few love notes put in for good measure. I devoured the book. And I was hooked on reading.

When I got back to school that fall I came across a book I think was called Little Woman. I'm not sure what caused me to pick it up but the subject matter interested me, the true story about a woman responding to the call to be a missionary in China and her struggles to get there and while she was there (there was a movie made about her, The Inn of the Sixth Happiness - great movie). Anyway, I devoured that one, too.

One of my favorite authors in the area of fantasy and historical fiction is Stephen Lawhead. I started to read his stuff as an adult and what is so cool about it is that my son loves to read his stuff as well, so we would be reading his books and talking about the story. What a fun way to bond.

I still love to read fantasy (reading Hood by Lawhead now) but I have moved into reading, for a lack of a proper description, biological musings. Kathleen Norris' books Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith and The Cloister Walk were very inspiring and insightful. I still go back to Amazing Grace for quotes and ideas.

If you haven't read Donald Miller's Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality your missing a real treat (they're making that one into a movie - that should be interesting). I read one of his earlier books, Through Painted Deserts: Light, God and Beauty on the Open Road, and was often transported to my month long road trip the summer of my graduation from high school with two very dear friends. I wish I had the skills then to have kept, at a minimum, a journal of that experience. The dust of time has covered much of my memories of that trip but every once in a while something shuffles the dust enough for me to remember a remnant of that time.

I am currently reading Anne Lamott's Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith. I came across one of her books back in the late 90's while I was on a college tour as a high school counselor. I was becoming more consistent in my journaling at the time and was even starting to write "reflections" that I'd email to people who were kind enough to receive them (this was before blogging became the rage). I was just looking at books and picked up Bird by Bird, which deals with writing and life and I found it very thought provoking and humorous.

Now, these "biographical musing" authors don't necessarily fit into my "mold" of what a Christian should be like or behave or even think, at times. When I read their works I am often challenged to rethink what I believe and why, which is why I like reading their stuff. They make me laugh, cringe, they can shock me and anger me, affirm my doubts and questions, but they always cause me to look upward. They make me work at my faith and they draw me back into the reality of the world where I don't usually like to be. Whether I agree with them or not, I can't argue that they challenge me to put feet to my faith.

Which is one of the main reasons I enjoy reading. But I admit I also love books - the feel of them, the visual stimulus of them. I like the ambiance I get when I walk into a room that is filled with books - their smell, their mosaic design in the bookshelves. When you and I go into a home and visit, whether family or friends, there are certain things we look for to give us a clue about these people - pictures, nick-knacks, CD's, and books. You can get an idea of what their interests or hobbies are by what "coffee table" books they have lying around. (At my house you wouldn't get much of a clue because we don't have any - they're all on my bookshelves in my office but if I could, I'd have 5 or 6 lying around) And I love to go into bookstores and hang around. Or libraries. I haven't done so much here in SC but at other places I have lived I would go a couple of times a week and hang out at the library and work. I found inspiration there from being surrounded by so many books. When I lived in Burlington, VT I had 4 college and a university library to go to within a mile or two from my home. I was almost in heaven.

My Aunt Marti is my Mom's youngest sister. She is a librarian, retired now but still exercising her library skills in a number of ways. Whenever I see her, which is not very often because she lives in Ohio, she usually asks me about what books I might be reading or tells me about a book or author that she has read or heard speak. When I started doing my email reflections she would write back with words of encouragement, or about something that touched her and challenged her that I had written, and occasionally suggestions on what I should do in the future to make my writing better (my Mom still does - usually about spelling). She and my mother were often the main reasons I kept writing.

So, all this has spilled from my mind as a result from reading something Anne Lamott wrote in her book, Plan B, about her mother and her mother's friend, who was a librarian, and the impact they had on her:
"They both taught me that if you insist on having a destination when you come into a library, you're shortchanging yourself. They read to live, the way they also went to the beach, or ate delicious food. Reading was like breathing fresh ocean air, or eating tomatoes from old man Grbac's garden. My parents, and librarians along the way, taught me about the space between the words; about the margins, where so many juicy moments of life and spirit and friendship could be found. In a library, you can find small miracles and truth, and you might find something that will make you laugh so hard that you will get sushed, in the friendliest way. I have found sanctuary in libraries my whole life, and there is sanctuary there now, from the war, from the storms of our families and our own minds. Libraries are like mountains or meadows or creeks: sacred space. So this afternoon, I'll walk to the library."
I write all this because what I read caused me to start thinking about those people that have drawn me into a world of conversation, debate and even escape at times. I thank my Mom, Grandmother Stratton, Aunt Marti, Librarians, and an old high school girlfriend for inspiring me to read. And the authors who take me places that I might not otherwise choose, or be able, to go.



Monday, April 28, 2008

Ramblings About Today's Goings On

I'm parked out in some neighborhood street, watching the sun fight it out with the rain clouds, and checking my email and a few blogs while I wait for my daughter do tryouts for Color Guard at the high school. Every several minutes or so I have to either close or open my windows, depending on which element is winning at the moment, the rain or the sun. There is something comforting about sitting in your car and listening to the rain fall. It's better when you're in a tent while camping, assuming that it doesn't last for long and your tent stays dry inside, and even more so if your lying in bed with the one you love.

It was a little strange dropping my daughter off at the high school. In just a few rapidly passing months she will be heading there as a student. It's hard to see your children grow up and struggle their way through adolescence into adult hood, even harder if they are your daughter. You want so much to protect them, protect them from the heartaches, the bumps and grinds of adolescence, the people who will try to manipulate and use them. You want them to be independent but still you worry about the choices they make, will they stand true to their upbringing and faith or how far will they wander from "our"path we've tried to steer them in order to discover their own path. These are wondrous, joyous, frustrating, confrontational times. I hadn't talked to her all day, except for two short text messages and yet, as soon as she got into the car, I was blamed for a friend not being able to ride with us to the tryouts, all because I said that I needed the girl's mother to call me and give me and the school permission to allow her to ride with me. It reminded me of something Anne Lamott (click here to learn more about her), one of my favorite authors, writes in her book Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith about her son and dealing with his adolescence, and I can relate to her frustration. Talking to a friend of hers she asked what Jesus would do with thirteen-year-olds. This was his reply:
"In biblical times, they used to stone a few thirteen-year-olds with some regularity, which helped keep the others quiet and at home. The mothers were usually in the first row of stone throwers, and had to be restrained."
And receiving insight from a another friend who works with friends she received this bit of insight in reference to her son, Sam, she writes this:
"...Sam doesn't need me to correct his feelings. He needs me to listen, to be clear and fair and parental. But most of all he needs me to be alive in a way that makes him feel he will be able to bear adulthood, because he is terrified of death, and that includes growing up to be one of the stressed-out, gray-faced adults he sees rushing around him."
Good insight, where they are in the chronological march through adolescence!

On another front, but still dealing with teenagers, there has been some interesting news about Miley Cyrus and some recent photos, first on the net and then soon to appear in a Vanity Fair mag. First, if my daughter had pictures posted on the net like she did, I'd be pretty upset and there would be a lot of grounding going on, including those that took and posted some of those photos. But as for the Vanity Fair photos, what were they thinking?!!!!!? She is 15 years old. She and her family claim to be Christians and, as one commentator put it, if this type of Christianity is what they want to promote, please don't. Vanity fair says that her parents/father/handlers were present and saw the photos and were fine with it.

The fact is, I can't help but wonder if we do a disservice in holding up someone at her age as a "role model" for other grils her age and younger. Every word, action, behavior and misstep is seen by the public in usually vivid detail. No family, I doubt, can hold up to that kind of scrutiny and challenge. And yet, we do need role models for our children. So it's a quandary. Add to that pressure a media savvy, media push to all woman that, if you want to be attractive, if you want to be accepted, if you want to be somebody, if you want to be taken seriously, you need to reveal a little bit more than you are at the moment. And it only takes one too many "at the moments" before you have crossed a line and modesty, good judgment, and your Christian witness are pushed towards the door, if not out completely.

She said she was embarrassed and sorry. I'm sure she is. She now needs to be more specific and do the same with the Christian community.

Which leads me to another issue. Rev. Jeremiah Wright. I watched him during his Q & A session with the press corps today. Here are my thoughts:
- Even though there were a couple of things I could agree with him on, the way he stated them and his attitude prevented me from accepting them.
- Even though he is a pastor and preacher of the Gospel, the way he stated to Gospel and his attitude when doing so prevented me from being able to agree with him.
- As much as he claimed that he was defending the black church and its traditions, the way he presented it and his attitude while doing so made it difficult for me to receive what he was saying.
- Although I believe that there are times when the people of God must speak up about moral and ethical failures in society, culture and government, it is always to be couched in the context of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which offers forgiveness and wholeness, justice and compassion. As I listened to him speak, his attitude and the words he spoke did not allow me to hear the Gospel he claimed he was proclaiming.
- If Jesus' words are to be taken as truth, that He is the way, the truth, and the life and that no one can come to God except through Him, then there is no other way, and Jesus statement that there "other sheep that are not part of this fold" is referring to the Gentiles who would become believers and followers of Him, not that Islam is another way to God.
After listening, what I walked away from was that his whole presentation was more about him that about the black church or about Christ. Which made me realize that every pastor has the same risk of thinking that their ministry is all about them. When you take your eyes off of Christ and place them on yourself, the fall is great, even if not very quick.

Those are my thoughts on that issue.

Well, time to pick my daughter from tryouts. Hope it was a good time for her. I could use a little positive attitude on her part at the moment. And I need to make sure mines right as well!

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Clarifying the Purpose of the Church and the Christian

It has been a while since my last blog entry. For the 5 or 6 readers that I have, I apologize for the long silence and I appreciate your encouragement to get back on the horse. It's not that I haven't had anything to say. Trust me, I have lots. It's just that I have had difficulty taking what's in my head and writing it out. That has carried over even into writing my sermons at times but God finally breaks through my fog and I'm able to grasp hold of the message that he had been giving me. But, as for the blog, well, it's been a little tougher. It's interesting how, while I'm driving in my car, I seem to be able to take my thoughts and ramble off out loud much of what's been rolling around up there but by the time I get home and get back into that frame of mind, it's late in the evening and, though my mind is going strong, my body just isn't there and I start to nod off. "My spirit is willing but my flesh is weak."

So here I am, hoping that, on this wonderful evening, sitting outside by the fire, I will be able to take what has been running around my head, at least one of those thoughts, and articulate them on the page (screen, monitor, whatever).

At my church's Wednesday Night Bible study we are being guided in our discussions by the book "Discover Your Windows." (I wrote about this and another book in an earlier blog - Lining Up With God's Vision.) We've been having pretty amazing and intense discussions from what we have been reading in the book AND from God's Word. I've been very pleased with how people are responding to the challenges that we have been forced to talk about and deal with. As a result, it has caused me to go back and reflect on my own "theology" of the purpose of the church and my mission as a Follower of Christ. This is what I want to write about in this blog entry.

I have always found it interesting how some churches spend weeks, even months, working through a "mission statement", with times of intense discussion, arguments, and disagreements. I don't fully understand why nor do I fully understand how a church can be unsure of what their purpose and mission is to be. It seems to me that there are two key verses in Scripture that lay out what our mission and purpose is to be pretty clearly as a Church and as Followers of Christ.

The first is known as the Great Commandment, which is found in Matthew 22: 36-40. Here's what Jesus says:
"Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?"
Jesus replied, "‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments." (NLT)
There are three things in these few verses that I believe we are called to pursue, to strive for, and to make as our purpose and goal. The first is to love God and to love Him wholeheartedly. We're not given much wiggle room here. It's to be a total commitment. And, as it pertains to the church, we are to use every means possible to challenge our people to do just that - to call them to a deeper commitment to Christ, His Gospel, and His Church (the body of believers).

Secondly, we are told, or rather, it is implied, I believe, that we are to love ourselves: "Love your neighbor as yourself," Jesus said. It seems to me that before I can truly love others, I have to begin to love myself and in order to do that, I need to understand who I am in Christ, what He has done for me, and accept the forgiveness that He offers. It doesn't mean that I don't start loving others until I start loving myself, it means that seeing who I am in Christ opens the door for me to better see others as Christ sees them. I'm talking about issues of recovery, working towards wholeness/holiness, and allowing God to heal the brokenness in our lives.

Thirdly, we are told to love our neighbors. It's called evangelism, it involves service, it's acceptance of the person, even if we don't accept their sinful behaviors (remember Jesus' challenge to the crowd who was ready to throw stones on the prostitute? "He who is without sin, let him cast the first stone"). However, even if we don't accept or approve of their behaviors, it's not up to us to change them, or even to judge them. That's God's doing. Our call is to love others as God has loved them.

The next passage is what is known as the Great Commission, found in Matthew 28:19-20:
"Go to the people of all nations and make them my disciples. Baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teach them to do everything I have told you. I will be with you always, even until the end of the world. (CEV)
There are three commands here that Christ gives his followers (the Church, the Believer). First, we are told to go and make disciples (Acts 1:8 comes into play here, too). That word "go" is an often over-looked word. I think the thought processes in many churches is to wait until people come to it - "We've been here for years - they know where we are - our doors are always open." Problem is, most people today don't even take notice of where the church is, it has become a part of the landscape. Also, why go to church if you don't have a clue about what it is that church has to offer. And certainly, who wants to walk into a place filled with a bunch of strangers doing things you don't understand? Christ said we are to go to where the people are and make disciples. To make anything takes time, planning, and it usually involves us being a part of the process - meaning, as it relates to us who are Followers of Christ, we are to develop relationships with people where they are.

Secondly, we are commanded to baptize those that have come to accept Christ. Now, I'm not sure how the United Methodist Church hierarchy would feel about Christians going out and baptizing new believers of Christ but I have a strong suspicion that it might be frowned upon. But involved in this process of "baptizing" is the important step of becoming a part of the fellowship of Christ's Body, and that is something all of us can have a part in. This is done by building relationships with others, connecting new Followers of Christ and seekers with other Followers of Christ to help in nurturing them along. It's having open and accepting and loving arms.

Lastly, we are commanded to teach them the Gospel - "teaching them everything I have taught you." This is discipleship. This is instruction. This in mentoring. And it's not done just by the Pastor and the Sunday School teacher. It's done by every person who claims to be a Follower of Christ. And it's not done just with words but also by our example, by our behavior, by our lifestyle.

When I first entered the ministry, I floundered. I was like a ship that knew I was to head in a certain direction but I didn't know how or exactly where I was to lead the church. I didn't have a deep nor clear understanding of the purpose and mission of the church and, for that matter, my life as a Follower of Christ. But as a result of a period of time outside of pastoral ministry, working in the "secular" world, serving as an active layman in the church, and reflecting a great deal on the church from both sides of the pulpit, I began to sense a clearing in my mind (a rare thing, indeed). When I was called back into pastoral ministry (something I was not happy about at first), I went in with a compass and a clear map on where I was to lead the church. Now, please understand, I am still learning. It's not that I have attained complete clarity on this issue, but I "press on" towards the goal I know we are called to achieve, which is to glorify God, and we do it based, at a minimum, on what I believe is the foundation on which we are called to be as a church, that which I have just written about.

Kent Hunter writes in "Discover Your Windows" the following:
"When you aren't focused on the primary purpose (of the church), you have a tendency to become focused on everything else."
If you are involved in a church, you know how true this is! Which explains why so many churches don't grow or decline, and why there is often power struggles and dissension. They have lost their purpose.

So, what should the mission statement of the church be? Here's my suggestion:
"The church exists to go to where the people are and introduce them to Christ through their words and life, to help them experience wholeness through a real relationship with Christ and His Body, and to assist them in cultivating ways to more deeply love God, love themselves, and love others."
That's what I've come to believe, anyway.