January 26, 2012

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Obesity and Starvation are both Killing the Church

But many of us who have seen significant growth in our churches know a dirty little secret: Significant growth has its own ill effect on helping communities develop deep faith. Numeric growth of Christianity doesn’t indicate a more harmonious was of life with God. The metaphor of the body is a good one for churches. A body that’s too big puts a strain on the systems of the body. At the same time, communities who never embrace new people or new perspectives find themselves starving. Both obesity and starvation are pathways to death.

Doug Pagitt in Preaching in the Inventive Age

I have been wrestling with this quote for a couple of days now. Both obesity and starvation are pathways to death. It struck me because we are the most obese culture that has ever lived. Obesity is an epidemic that is radically altering the future of our country. It is going to bankrupt the health care system of this country. It is going to forever alter the generation that is growing up obese right now. It has changed our view of ourselves and the view the world has of us.

But until I read this quote I never associated obesity with the megachurch culture that dominates the landscape of American Evangelicalism. Can we equate, to a degree, over-sized churches with obesity? I am beginning to think that we can. Obesity goes beyond poor eating habits. It truly becomes a disease. Once the body has too much fat and has increased beyond a healthy mass it begins to effect the bodies ability to function properly. It takes a lot more energy for the body to simple keep running. It puts a strain on the heart. It puts strain on joints. It can lead to diabetes by effecting the kidneys. It effects movement, activity, flexibility, rest, and long term life expectancy.

Unfortunately, how we are being the church in our country can lead to a lot of the same symptoms. The amount of work and resources necessary to maintain a megachurch is immense. This always increases stress levels and the health of those responsible for making that church work. It certainly effects flexibility and the ability to hear from God and adapt quickly. It can certainly effect life expectancy, sometimes for the church itself, and certainly for the staff members involved. Obesity disrupts the natural healthy ways the body is supposed to function. In the church this can certainly be the case as well.

The major concern with obesity in our country right now is its effect on children. Growing up obese simply ramps up the medical issues that can accompany it and effect life longer and more severely. Young children who struggle with obesity very seldom grow up to be healthy adults. Might this be true in the church as well? If a church grows too big too fast at too young an age might it also have the same effects? If a church doesn’t have the depth and maturity to handle large crowds and large resources in a healthy way is it creating a ticking time bomb of destruction for itself and its staff? Interesting question to consider.

I am not throwing megachurches under the bus here, I am simply pointing out some of the inherent dangers at being over-sized. You can be over-sized and healthy, just look at some of the monstrous specimens in the NFL and NBA. However, studies show that the long term prognosis for these athletes isn’t good unless they take big steps to get healthy as they age and reduce their mass over time. The life span of an average NFL lineman is a depressing statistic.

At the core of this whole thing is the simple reality that God has designed the church like he has designed our bodies. There are healthy ways of living that maximize our ability to live productively and healthfully. Without careful attention to what we need to be healthy we can end up in a place where bad habits and poor consuming habits have rendered us unhealthy and unable to do the work God has created us to do.

What do you think? Is there more to this than I have stated? Am I overreaching? What do you think of Doug’s quote?

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January 24, 2012

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Ten Books I Am Reading/Preparing to Read

As often happens in my life, I have a collection of books I am currently reading or preparing to read. Looking at Kindle I realized that I now have ten in the hopper that need to be consumed and digested before adding anything else to the menu. Here are the books I am reading and some thoughts about them. What are you reading right now?

The Meaning of Marriage by Tim Keller – This one comes highly recommended by numerous people. I am just beginning it, but I can already tell it is going to be a worth while read.

Real Marriage – Mark and Grace Driscoll – This book has already generated quite a bit of publicity and controversy. I am reading it because of my desire to engage in conversations about sexuality and marriage. I don’t want to comment on it just by what others say about it. I am pretty sure I will have issues with the approach of this one, but I am working to have a very open mind going in. I am especially interested to contrast it with Keller’s book.

Preaching in the Inventive Age – Doug Pagitt – This one I picked up for $.99 on sale a couple of weeks ago. I meant to read it when it came out and never did. So I am glad to do so now almost for free.

The Church is Flat – Tony Jones – This is the work Tony created for his PHD program at Princeton. It is one of the most thorough accounts of the emergent church, its origins, and practices. Knowing that Tony invested a tremendous amount of his life into this, I want to give it a shake.

A Public Faith – Miroslav Volf - I am actively engaged in this book and there is a tremendous amount of excellence here. I need to really carve out some intentional time to finish reading it and really wrestling with it. A big recommendation.

The King Jesus Gospel – Scot McKnight – I am most of the way through this book and it is not only really good but really important. Scot hits this one out of the ballpark with his presentation of the gospel and what it means to gospel in our world.

Untitled – Blaine Hogan - This book is focused on the creative process. I am excited about its potential for writing, sermonizing and ministry ideas.

Quitter – Jon Acuff – Jon is the writer of Stuff Christians Like, which is the most consistently humorous and creative blog in Christendom. This book should be very entertaining and challenging. It is focused on the idea of why we never complete the dreams we set out to accomplish.

Veneer: Living Deeply in Surface Society by Tim Willard and Jason Locy - This one came highly recommended and seems like a good companion to the discipleship work I am doing right now.

Those are the ten for right now, what are you working on?

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January 23, 2012

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Mondays are for Life as a Place Kicker Ramblings…

Mama, don’t let your children grow up to be kickers.

Whenever a field goal kicker misses my mother in-law feels bad, not for him, but for his mom. Watching your kid carry that kind of burden is tough. Well after yesterday’s games, Lawrence Tyne’s mom is relieved and Billy Cundiff’s mom is thankful her son used his college scholarship and NFL dollars to get a college degree and an MBA.

The tale of two kickers. One made it his kick. One missed his. In a moment their actions would decide whether they would be the hero or the goat. That really is the magic of sports isn’t it? Seldom in life does your legacy come down to a clearly defined moment. The limited time frames of an athletes career and the games they play make for artificially created and yet beautiful drama.

Tom Brady is Tom Brady not because of his good looks, model wife, or incredible fortune and fame. (OK those things kind of define him ) He is Tom Brady because he has been clutch in moments that really mattered. If he wins his fourth Super Bowl in two weeks he will establish himself as the greatest QB of his generation.

Michael Jordan is Michael Jordan because his unmatched competitive drive refused to lose in the biggest moments. Michael willed his team to victory, time and time again. Kobe is the only basketball player we have seen since that has remotely the same kind of drive.

John Elway was the guy who couldn’t get it done until he helicoptered through the air on a crucial play late in the Super Bowl and became a legend.

Dan Marino, Bernie Kosar, Karl Malone, and Charles Barkley, they are all fantastic legendary players who never got there. Sometimes it was a moment missed, other times it was simply having the breaks go the other way. But how people view them changed because of moments like the two we watched yesterday.

When I first became a pastor, I felt like my life was a series of game winning field goal kicks. The sermon I was preaching, the worship I was planning, the youth event I was leading, those were my moments. They would either make or break who I was. If I succeeded in those moments I would change people’s perceptions of me and if I succeeded in those moments lives would be changed. It all hung on my shoulders.

Thank God I recognize how wrong I was. Life in the kingdom of God isn’t like life as a field goal kicker. Our pursuit of God and our work for his glory is all about a life well lived in continual, sacrificial, redemptive service of the world. It is never one moment, as a success or failure that defines us. We are defined by the love of God that redeems us. And the measures of our success are measured over the long term. We will fail. We will have moments of success. But our goal in the kingdom is to spend our life continually experiencing moments of obedience that change us and impact the world.

The artificial drama of sports is intoxicating. It changes the outlook of fans, for the good and bad. But it is not the way life works in the kingdom of God. And for that I am deeply thankful. (Especially since as a fan of the Wizards, Redskins, Capitals, Orioles and Terps my outlook is mostly jaded, pained, and frustrated. There has to be a beattitude that applies to me. Blessed are you when you root for perennial losers whose owners make torturing their dedicated fan base a way of life for in the kingdom of heaven your team owner is Jesus!)

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January 18, 2012

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When the Internet Goes on Strike (Thoughts on SOPA)

I wanted to give you something to read today with all of your internet time freed up since you aren’t scanning Wikipedia for articles about Def Leppard or waste your day looking at funny cats and creative fails over at I can has Cheezburger. Those and other popular sites have gone on strike today to protest two government internet bills called SOPA and PIPA. These bills which are looking to regulate internet activity involving piracy have drawn massive protests from virtually all of the internet world. Huge sites have gone black today to protest these bills and to draw attention to them.

From a theological perspective I really love this protest. I agree with these companies that these bills are a bit limiting, even if the idea behind them isn’t bad. The urge to try and protect American jobs and intellectual property is a great thing. The way this bill goes about doing it may not be the best way in doing so. I understand the objections. I am not up in arms about the bills, but I get why people are so upset by them.

But what intrigues me much more is the way these companies have gone about their protests. Oh, I am sure they have spent a lot of money (because they have it) on lobbying Congress about this bill. But using the internet itself and their withdrawal from the system, even if for a day, is a great way of trying to promote change. Sometimes the only way to make the system stop and take notice is to withdraw from it’s support. Not every circumstance calls for that type of response, but more circumstances call for it than certainly we as American Christians want to acknowledge.

Sometimes not voting is the best vote. Sometimes not buying a product, or any product has a greater impact. Sometimes we have to use the system to do our work and sometimes we have to abandon the system to make change. A lot more people will be aware of these bills and their impact after today. Regardless of what the bills mean and whether or not we should protest them, I am very intrigued by the actions of these companies.

What do you think? Are there any lessons for us in the church that we can apply from this?

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January 17, 2012

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Jesus Needed to be Sanctified

John 17

“I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them.  I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.  They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.  As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.

 

This week I have been reading through all the prayers of Jesus recorded in the gospel. The culmination of the recorded prayers of Jesus is John 17 and Jesus’ extraordinary prayer for his disciples before his death. There is so much beautiful theology in this prayer that it has taken me a few days to unpack all the language around covenant, identity, incarnation, mission and holiness. One piece of this prayer I never truly noticed before is the section where Jesus talks about sanctifying himself.

Wait a second, Jesus needed to be sanctified? Being sanctified is being made holy and Jesus was born holy. Being sanctified is having our sinful nature replaced with the presence and direction of the Holy Spirit. Jesus had no sinful nature and was already fully in communion with the Holy Spirit. So how and why was Jesus sanctified?

In the context of the prayer it is clear that Jesus is talking about being sanctified as part of the process of being sent by God and being obedient to the will of God. Being sent to do the will of God and carrying through that will through obedience sets us apart and sanctifies us in a powerful way. So in this way, even Jesus who was without sin, as he obediently prepared to die on a cross was being sanctified. He was being blessed, shaped, and drawn into the presence of the Father through his obedience. He was also glorifying his Father in the most powerful way possible, through his own sacrificial obedience. Our glorification of God also works to sanctify us in powerful ways.

I have honestly never thought about Jesus being sanctified before. My understanding of sanctification wasn’t broad enough. It was too focused on sin management and personal change rather than obedience and the glorification of God. Through the example of Christ then we find another important part of our pursuit of God. We are made more like Christ when we learn to be obediently sacrificial according to the will of God. This glorifies our Father and changes us from the inside out. This prayer of Jesus is one we should really reflect on. Jesus has shown us the path to sanctification and made it possible for us to experience it through his own work. Thanks be to God.

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January 16, 2012

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Mondays are for Capsized Cruise Ship Ramblings…

How in the world does a ship the size of a floating city ending up capsized just off shore? Frankly I am glad that I am not the one who has to answer that question. The captain of the Costa will have to answer that question and the results are going to change his life forever. He is facing grave charges for negligence and manslaughter.

Seeing a ship sitting on its side like that however, seemed to be a metaphor for so many things in our world right now. With whole countries on the verge of bankruptcy, with massive investment firms and corporations having already sunk below the surface, and with once vibrant and flourishing churches collapsing beneath the weigh of debt, overhead, and dwindling numbers the world seems awash with capsized cruise ships. Is there a common theme? Are there lessons to be learned?

Over and over again we find that the actions of those in leadership can have dire consequences. Not all is known of the actions of the captain of this ship. Why did he choose a different course? Why did he go so close to shore? Did he abandon the ship before the passengers were off? Was he asleep, not paying attention, or being stupid? We don’t know, at least yet. But we do know that on a clearly laid out route this ship makes all the time the captain deviated from the norm and the results were disastrous.

There are so many things that can make us deviate from our prescribed course. In the financial realms the disasters we are experiencing are the result of greed, short term gain vs. long term intelligence, and a love affair with debt. All of these are deviations from the prescribed path. All of them lead to bad choices and capsized cruise ships.

In the church our deviations are frankly very similar to the those in the financial realms. Churches regularly practice greed and pride in the name of expanding the kingdom. Christ called us to go and make disciples. He said that he would take on the task of building his church. But bigger buildings, more people, more money, and more fame are tempting for anyone. They are justified when you slap the “work of God” label on them. But we already see how quickly this road can lead to a church that is capsized, taking on water and simply trying to rescue the people who are jumping off into the water. We lose our way as the church when we chase a seat at the table of power. Whenever we think we need to take things into our own hands in order to do the work of God, instead of relying on God’s power, direction and methodology we risk running aground.

This cruise ship disaster is also a reminder of what is at stake. People are dead because of this mistake. People who were on vacation, on honeymoons, and gathered for family reunions lost their lives when that ship ran aground. In our churches people’s lives are at stake as well. Those who are broken and lost turn to us for hope. When we deviate from God’s will we lose our ability to give them hope. We lose credibility to our story. The lost stay lost, the broken stay broken and that is on our shoulders.

I think I will print up a picture of that cruise ship and hang it over my desk. I need the reminder of what is at stake for the choices I make personally and for our church corporately. There is too much at stake to veer from the course God has laid out for us and run the risk of losing it all.

January 11, 2012

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The Ramifications of Losing Your Church Building

Seven churches that left the Episcopal Church to join the Anglican Mission in America are now being forced to give up their property. A judge ruled that the diocese of the Episcopal Church owned their buildings and land rather than the churches themselves. So now these congregations which left their diocese and the Episcopal church over issues regarding homosexual clergy and same sex marriage, will now have to decide if they will appeal the ruling or start making plans to find a new home.

There are some really interesting ramifications of this ruling. First there is the issue of having to vacate your church building and start over. Some of these churches have been in these locations for a very long time and have very large congregations. This isn’t just a matter of going over to someone else’s house. This is finding a space for thousands of people to worship each week. As a pastor this is a logistical nightmare that I wouldn’t wish on anyone. Second there is the issue of what does the Diocese do with these buildings. They can probably put small congregations back into the existing buildings or maybe try to start new ones, but what are the long term prospects for that? The Episcopal Church is not exactly renowned for church planting, neither is it growing at this stage.

It is very easy to imagine the diocese needing to sell this property in a short period of time because they don’t want the cost to maintain it. So will the churches that are being forced to vacate try to buy the property from the diocese? Will the diocese even consider this? Would they sell the buildings back churches that have left them? Will bitterness prevent this?

There are so many interesting questions stemming from a terrible situation. This is a situation that should sadden us all. This is the Body of Christ being broken by sin. This is the unity of the Spirit being ripped apart by a battle for the heart of the church. This is sad. The pain and brokenness of this body being ripped apart is far from over. I simply pray that God will give grace to all involved and that somehow his Spirit will being able to repair the rending apart of his body, not just here but throughout our world. I pray that we will no longer need the courts to mediate our disputes as a the Body of Christ.

January 10, 2012

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A WHOLE New Life Week 1

Sunday we started our new worship series at DCC focusing on what it means to be made whole by God. For the first couple of weeks we are looking at the idea of spiritual balance as a route to wholeness. The most important part of that balance being intimacy with God.

I especially talked about the differences between knowing about God and knowing God. Too often our participation in religion has led us to exchange knowing God with knowing about Him. We think our participation in the systems of religion is the same as having a direct connection with our creator. When that occurs it is a guarantee that our life will be incomplete rather than whole and assuredly out of balance spiritually. How balanced is your spiritual life? How much intentionality is focused on cultivating intimacy with God in your life?

You can listen to my sermon or download it here. 1.8.12 – Intimacy with God

Here is another trailer we created for the series just to get excited about what God is doing in our midst. We do like to have fun.

January 9, 2012

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Mondays are for Tebow Ramblings…

A bumper sticker I read when I lived in Colorado, “If God’s not a Broncos fan then why are sunsets orange?”

I am sure there will be a slew of new ones that say, “If God’s not a Broncos fan then why does Colorado run on Tebow Time?”

The hoopla around Tim Tebow, his polarizing play at quarterback and his faith is truly amazing. As soon as the Broncos stunning victory over the Steelers was complete yesterday I took to the social media world to watch the explosion of Tebow related commentary. There hasn’t really been a phenomenon in sports quite like this before, partially because of the explosion of social media.

I haven’t written about Tim Tebow much, but here are my thoughts.

On Tebow as a Professional Quarterback

He isn’t a very good quarterback, but he is a good football player. He is the type of guy you would want to play with and he is certainly a guy I root for, regardless of his faith. He is unorthodox, unpolished, and unrelenting. That is a combination I actually enjoy. He is a quarterback that struggles to make routine plays, but in the right circumstances seems to will himself to make the big plays at the biggest moments. In basketball people like Bill Simmons talk about the irrationally confident shooter. He is a player who doesn’t realize his limitations or how good he really is. He thinks he is way better than he is. And yet with the game on this line this guy will take the biggest shot of the season, instead of passing to his much better teammates, and he often makes it.

That is what Tebow reminds me of. He is the irrational confidence quarterback. He overthrows the running back on a screen pass seemingly half the time. He can’t roll right and throw the ball. He throws the ball four feet short of his receivers regularly. And yet with the game on the line he makes plays that he has no business in making. I like that about him.

 

On Tebow as an Evangelist

All of those thoughts about Tim as an athlete aside, I think of him as a very public Christian in very different ways. Much has been made of Tebow’s outspoken faith, which is regularly on display as he kneels down to pray after big plays or big wins. In fact Tebowing – dropping down to one knee in random public places is a silly fad these days. So what to make of Tim in regards to how he handles his faith publicly?

I have great appreciation for the way Tebow tries to work his faith into his whole life. He is not a part time Christian. He doesn’t compartmentalize his faith. He is a Christian at all times, in all places, no matter what he is doing. That is something that really should be celebrated by us as a church. There are a lot of public figures that are Christians of some ilk and yet no one knows because their faith is compartmentalized and hidden from view. No one can accuse Tim of being ashamed of his faith.

His expression of his faith, however, leaves me something to be desired. Tim Tebow’s public statements about his faith and his displays of faith in sports are very similar to how I thought about evangelism when I was 17-18 years old. I used to write Bible verses on my wrists when I taped them up before wrestling matches and I used Philippians 4:13 as my theme verse. I would chant it to myself almost as a mantra before I went out to wrestle. I felt this need to remind all people at all times that I was different than them because I was a Christan.

The NFL is full of Christian men. It is full of men who run ministries, go on mission trips, support their churches and have strong faiths. There are certainly other Christians out there that will talk about their faith and do so when given opportunity. Growing up with God’s coach, Joe Gibbs, I saw a great example of how a great coach could live out his faith in transformational ways without being renowned for it. His quiet faithfulness, integrity, and ethos have changed many lives. I head Mark Schlereth, former Redskins and Broncos All-Pro lineman tell my youth group about how Gibbs led him to faith his rookie season in the NFL. Gibbs is renowned in the NFL for the quality of who he is and his coaching acumen. But he never put his faith on display in quite the same way as Tim Tebow.

That isn’t so much a criticism of Tebow as an observation. I just think there are more effective ways of demonstrating our faith to the world than dropping to one knee after a big play. Now, if Tim began to give God credit and glory after bad plays as well as good ones, losses as well as wins, failures as well as successes, then I would be a much bigger supporter of his displays. We need not confuse the world at any time about God’s involvement in this world. God doesn’t care whether or not the Broncos win a football game. God’s kingdom is breaking into this world to redeem all of creation. I don’t question whether or not Tim Tebow is working towards that redeeming work, he just doesn’t do it on Sundays when he throws a football.

 

January 6, 2012

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Who are you? Finding identity outside of our jobs…

When you tell someone who you are, what is the first thing you tell them? For most of us, Americans at least, the first thing we tell people is our job. I tell people I am a pastor, then maybe that I am married and I am a dad. When I meet new people, one of the first questions I ask them is, “What do you do?” What we should ask instead is “Who are you?” As Mike Breen’s work reminded me again recently we are human beings not human doings.

At the heart of how we describe ourselves, and how we evaluate others is the reality that we define our worth through what we produce. We are work production and work oriented people. The things that define us most are the things we do. This should cause us some pause and question. This Chevy commercial is a great example.

Does this ever strike you as strange? Who I am is not defined by what I do for a living. My worth is not attached to a title or a role I play. Who I am is defined by things far more important than that. First and foremost I am a child of the living God. The God who created this world knows my name, calls me son, and smiles upon me. His love for me is so overwhelming and extravagant that he has not only forgiven my sins, but came and lived as a man, died and rose again to enable me to be forgiven. This same God has now chosen me to be an instrument of his grace upon this earth as his kingdom work of redemption takes place. Above all else this defines who I am.

I am defined by my love for family. I have such a debt of love not only to God but to the amazing family God has blessed me with. My whole life is lived in response to the love I have been shown. This defines me.

I have many friends that I give myself to the best that I can as much as I can. I am faithful, prayerful, supportive and generous with them. This defines me.

I gospel (Yes that word can be a verb). I use my life to proclaim the story of Jesus as Lord and Savior. This defines me.

My job is a huge part of my life, but how much I produce there does not define me. The number of people at our church, the size of our building, the money we bring in or how many people know my name does not define me.

God has no desire for us to be defined by what we do. He desires to give us an identity based on who we are as his children. So let me ask you again, “Who are you?” Who does God say that you are? How much of your identity is wrapped up in what you do instead of who you are? There is great freedom in finding our identity in Christ alone.

Let’s choose to be free.

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