People Chasers

I saw this bit in Group magazine this morning...

"Jesus loved all people and challenged them to follow him, but he wasn't a chaser."

I hadn't really thought about that before and it's a good reminder for us ministers. Sometimes we are called to be "chasers." Whenever someone starts missing church (or visiting other churches) we're expected to call on them and encourage them to return. It's a call I dread because the conversation is usually awkward and I feel like the "Attendance Czar" who's calling them out for their lack of faithful attendance. I just don't enjoy hounding people to attend church. Of course if I don't call them then I'm accused of not caring or not doing enough to keep them.

I've never really thought about how Jesus would handle the same situation. Can you see Jesus calling people and begging them to return? I'm not sure I can. I see him as someone who welcomes people, loves people, accepts people and invites them to follow. But if they choose otherwise I think he would let them walk away. At least that seems to be the way he called disciples. Can you think of any examples where he handled it differently?

Finally!

I know that some of you are new readers to my blog so fair warning...from time to time you have to endure pictures of dead animals. That being said, I finally got a turkey this morning! This was the last day of spring turkey season and I was on my 15th outing of the season. I was ready to give up. In fact, I had given up. I hunted this morning for a couple of hours at one farm but no luck. So about 7:00 AM I went home, grabbed the fishing poles, and headed to my neighbor's farm to fish one of his ponds. But as I was driving through the field I came upon a group of about six gobblers. I still had my shotgun and they were too busy strutting to notice me getting out of the truck. By the time they spotted me I was within range. Looks like its turkey for lunch!


Oh, and for those who care, it had 1 inch spurs and a 10 inch beard.

Responding to Criticism

Don't you hate it when your own words come back to bite you? This morning I was talking with one of our Shepherds about how I should respond to a certain situation when he said, "You need to go back and re-read your article." I knew exactly which article he was talking about it and so I did. And then I decided to share it with you. It's something I wrote for our bulletin a couple of weeks back. My apologies to those who read both the bulletin and the blog for repeating an article, but perhaps we all need a refresher...

Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Mt 5:10-12)

No one ever said that Jesus' teachings were easy, but I've always found this one to be particularly difficult. To be kind in the face of insults and slander is not easy. And I confess that I haven't always done so. Yet, the teaching remains.

I actually see two things within this passage...a promise and a command. The promise is not "if you follow me good things will always happen and people will always speak well of you." Actually, it's the opposite. If you follow Jesus, you can expect some persecution and opposition. And the command is not "therefore you should get angry and return the favor." Rather Jesus commands us to "rejoice." Later on he tells us to "turn the other cheek" and "pray for those who persecute you." All are very difficult responses because all go completely against our natural instincts.

Our instinct is to strike back. When someone spreads rumors about us, we want to spread rumors about them. When someone insults us, we want to insult them. When someone attacks us, we want to return the favor. But Jesus calls us to a higher way. He calls us to respond with love, kindness, compassion and self-control. It's never easy, but it's always possible.

Here's what I've tried to do in my own life to apply these teachings...

1. When you hear rumors, treat them as such. Don't get riled over something that's only "hear-say." Wait for the truth to come out.
2. When someone speaks wrongly against you, don't respond immediately. Give it a day or two. Give some time for the Holy Spirit to penetrate your thoughts and influence your response.
3. When someone accuses you of evil or wrong-doing, weigh their accusations to see if there is any merit but don't wallow in them. Find your assurance in God and his Word, not in the opinions of others.
4. When someone persecutes you because of your faith, pray for them. Pray that compassion and understanding would infiltrate their heart. Above all, seek the higher path. Never respond in kind. Instead, respond in kindness

Wisdom from Rick Warren

Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you're just coming out of one, or you're getting ready to go into another one. The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort. God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy. We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness.

Tidbits from Orange

It's Thursday morning. We got in from the conference last night after midnight and I'm 3 days behind on sermon prep. So not much time to blog, but in keeping with my goal of daily updates here's some random tidbits from day three...

On church...
Create a rhythm that offers practical teaching and personal ministry.
Do what God has called you to do, but don't criticize other ministry models.
Marry "misional" with the "gospel." Don't run from one to create the other.

On children/student ministry...
Instead of only providing information for students, provide experiences.
Program for application, not just information.
It's a sin to bore a kid.

On culture...
Seek cultural transcendence, not cultural relevance.
Avoid the extremes of cultural infatuation and cultural avoidance.
Engage the culture by doing the gospel as much as you tell the gospel.

On preaching...
The "information age" is over, we now live in the "attention economy."
You are one of hundreds of voices clamoring for your audience's attention.
They need you to cut through the clutter, not add to it.
Will you say anything that will compete in a memorable way against those other voices?