church

Church hopping

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Ok…I’m not really hopping. Hopping would assume I’m actually looking for a church home. I’m not. But a friend is speaking so I came to hear him. 

The room is half full. No one has spoken to me as I passed through the larger than usual facility. Invisible. That’s how I feel here.

The worship is ‘contemporary’. That word is increasingly nebulous. Maybe unsingable, unintelligible…maybe those are better words.

The worst part is that the band seemed to notice that few were singing…so they just sang harder. So…a band up ‘there’ singing harder and harder…as the rest of us watched. Is this worship? 

My friend nailed the message, as always. Passionate, articulate. 

So this is church today. Hmmm. 

A glimpse of heaven…

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Its probably not a good thing to admit…but for much of my ministry life I haven’t seen a lot of similarities between the church on any given day and heaven. Not that I’m looking for pearly gates or golden streets. But looking for a singular longing for God, for hearts united in worship, for people who passionately desire to be more like Jesus. Some days it seemed an enormous chasm between the church and heaven.

But then there was yesterday.

Maybe it was just me. As I drove in I found myself thanking God for the amazing opportunity I had that day to camp out in a passage of scripture containing the words of Jesus. And then there was also the incredible privilege to share that passage with a group of people I loved. I found myself worshiping even as I drove. And enjoying this sense of being in the right place at the right time and partnering with God. Does it get any better than that?

As I arrived the band was warming up. One of my favorite vocalists was leading. The sound was perfect. The lights…spot on. It was going to be a good morning.

At the appointed time I stepped out to do a mini-teaching on giving, just before the offering. Its one of my favorite things because I know that when we live generously, there are blessings all around. So I enjoy talking about it, not because folks will give more, but because generosity causes disproportionate good in the life of that person who is growing in generosity.

I went backstage as the band played the last worship song. At some point I heard it…the band stopped playing and I heard the congregation singing in a way I’ve never heard…it was as if the building was filled with voices of angels.

I wept.  A part of me thought, ‘how can I recover and go out to teach in a few moments?’. The greater part of me just didn’t care. We were literally in the presence of the Holy One. And nothing else mattered.

Then it was time to go teach. I pulled myself together and went out to teach out of Matthew 3. I heard a voice in my heart say ‘Now…slow down…and listen to Me’. The teaching flowed, the illustrations made sense. And at the end when I invited folks to indicate their willingness to pursue Jesus with passion, the whole room stood. As I prayed a final prayer I was once again on the verge of tears.

Yesterday I was blessed to glimpse heaven in the church. A place of beauty and purity and hearts open to the work of God.  I was changed in that glimpse. How I will pray for us will be different. What I watch for will be different. How I serve, how I lead…will be different. Thank you Father for your Kingdom on Earth. Just a piece…just for a moment. May Your Kingdom come…completely, everywhere, always.

Turtles

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ImageSo…I just saw a turtle cross the road. Well…actually he was attempting to cross the road. He was still in the other lane.

Fascinating thing about turtles crossing the road: no one every questions their motives. Chickens? They get their motives questioned all the time. Turtles? It’s less about why the turtle crossed the road and more about ‘do you thing he’ll make it?’

As I get older I think I have more in common with the turtles than the chickens. Chickens kinda dart here and there, rather self-serving…looking for something to eat. Turtles? If you see a turtle headed somewhere…you can bet he or she have somewhere particular in mind.

Truth be told though…what I really have in common with turtles is their shell. If you follow the creation story and believe that God did it all, then for some reason God gave turtles a shell. It’s clearly a protective measure. Untold turtle tragedies have been averted because they have the ability to just retreat into their shell and wait for the threat to get bored and just go away. It’s as if the turtle says…”alrighty then…I’m going to go into my shell for a while…and when you go away, I’ll be back!”

I think I find I’m a turtle when it comes to that. I’m not sure why. I don’t know if it’s a simple defense mechanism born of years and years of personal attacks in leadership and or ministry. Or perceived threats, as in “I don’t know if you’re safe…so until I know, I’m going to just peek at you from within my shell. Or maybe…I’m just a shell kind of person.

The hard part about living in a shell is that it tends to separate you a bit from those around you. As Henley wrote, “seems like every form of refuge has it’s price”. I happen to think that Jesus creates in us a heart that enables us to be brave and trusting and to venture out of our shell. And even to help other shell dwellers to venture out as well.

When we think of safety as a value in our church, that’s what we mean…those who feel locked up in their shells can stick their heads out and experience safety…a place where judgment is withheld, where love abounds, and all us shell dwellers can abandon our shells in the context of biblical community.  

No More Hamburgers!

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indexImagine you are Ray Kroc. And you have this awesome idea for a new restaurant…a place where you will make hamburgers and fries and milk shakes and little chunks of chicken. And you will market it all to kids all over the world. And you’ll call it McDonalds.

Now…imagine…after selling literally billions of hamburgers to millions of people you decide to change your business model and begin to teach the children to whom you are marketing that hamburgers aren’t quite right for you. Hamburgers don’t quite meet their needs. Hamburgers are boring. They’re irrelevant. They should eat something else….like chicken sandwiches.

Predictably, you’d see those kids begin to go to your competitors who serve better chicken. And eventually, because you can’t stay open only selling coffee…you’d close.

I wonder…and I know this will come off as uncool and antiquated, but I wonder if we’re not doing that same thing with the way we provide children’s and youth programming in church.

Here’s what I mean: parents arrive at church, head to the children’s department, check their kids in at the kiosk, and then cruise to the coffee bar. The kids have a great time and certainly learn about Jesus. But there’s no exposure to the worship service.

Then the day comes when they move from the children’s department to the youth department. There they are taught and perhaps entertained. They get to talk about all the pressing issues of the day…about being a teenager in the modern world. Let me be clear…I haven’t been a teenager in decades and I truly wouldn’t want to be a teen today navigating the craziness we call our world. But once again, the teens hang in the youth department until they are old enough to get a job. And in the process they pretty much avoid ‘big church’ altogether.

What’s the outcome? Young adults are leaving the church in droves. It’s boring. It’s irrelevant. No wonder…they were never exposed to it as they grew.

As a church…we are teaching our kids the spiritual equivalent of Ray Kroc’s decision to stop selling hamburgers. By creating programs that segregate our kids we are teaching them NOT to attend church. Am I wrong?

I’m all for programs that help our kids go deeper in Christ. But keeping them insulated, isolated from the core of church content isn’t serving us well. And in time it will kill the church.

At GCC we’re beginning to have serious conversations about how to build services that will invite the children to worship and the youth to engage.

Let me be clear…its not about church survival. It;s totally about the spiritual future of our kids. It’s time for a change.

Do Y’all Help People?

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WillWorkForFoodIt’s winter. We’d just gotten another dose of Siberia outside. One associate is in Florida playing golf (he timed that well). Another is in New York on his honeymoon. Another is working out of his home. The rest of the staff has wisely stayed off the highways as the snow keeps falling. I figured SOMEBODY needed to come check on the building…so here I am in my office…in the building alone.

I don’t typically answer the phone. There are other people better suited for that role. But today, if the phone rings…they get me.

Sure enough the phone rings. I manage to figure out how to answer it (yeah…technically challenged).

The person on the line asks a simple question: ‘Do y’all help people?’

This is what we call a benevolence question…do we help people with their financial needs?

My answer isn’t one I like to give: yes we do, but given the level of the need in our community we are forced to restrict our help to those in our congregation. She says she understands and hangs up.

Whenever I’m on the receiving end of a call like that I always pause for a moment, stare at the ceiling and ask myself the question again…do we HELP people?

A part of me wishes that we could write a check for every need. That’s neither possible or helpful. Without knowing the complete situation of each person, helping can actually hurt. As I’ve said before, ‘For some people, if money could fix it, it’d be fixed by now’. In other words, in many cases, money is not the problem. I heard something at a meeting the other day that says it well: “Homeless people aren’t homeless because they ran out of money. They’re homeless because they ran out of relationships”.

Still the bigger question remains…’do y’all help people?’ Well…DO we?

I doubt there’s a church in existence that doesn’t think this is true…otherwise…why are we HERE?

But…do y’all help PEOPLE?

I happen to believe we help people on a number of levels.

First of all…what other voice tells the story of God to the world? What other voice exists to call people to attend to their souls? What other voice speaks ageless truths into tragically human life situations?

Yeah…we help people.

Secondly, who else truly offers the chance to build life altering relationships with other spiritual seekers? The kinds of relationships that walks us through our personal dark night of the soul.

Yeah we help people.

Thirdly, who else rolls up it’s sleeves and gives sacrificially of it’s time and money to the poor, to the down and out, and the up and out. From 17,000 shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child to over $8 million raised for local and international ministry to thousands of bras donated to fight sex-trafficking to housing the homeless in our community, Grace Community Church helps people.

When the phone rings and I have to answer that question…it’s good to stop and acknowledge what God is doing through us here now.

Yeah…we help people.