Mark Waltz | ...Because People Matter

Ashton Kutcher, Jesus Christ, & Love

I'm sure I don't have the full story. It's tough to capture someone's full journey from Twitter, although it can be quite revealing. Jeff Bell turned me onto Ashton Kutcher's Twitter today. He'd begun following his Tweets, intrigued by Ashton's frequent comments of his reading of The Shack.

To me, there's something about Kutcher that's free-spirited, fun and... well, just entertaining, so I hopped online to check out Ashton's thoughts. I stopped when I read this:

"I've had over 200 reply's about God Jesus etc. and the one word not mentioned is the only essential word LOVE."

It made me sad, then mad. Apparently, Jeff and I weren't the only God-believing Twitter stalkers to check out Kutcher's reading notes. And apparently, there are still a bunch of Christians who still miss the point.

Jesus summarized the whole Law, the whole story, the whole kingdom with these words:

"Love the Lord your God... and your neighbor as yourself." (Matthew 22.37-38)

Ashton, I'm sorry we missed the point while trying to make a point. Again.

All or Nothing: A Prayer for Obama to Fail?

Todd Rhodes over at Monday Morning Insight linked to this headline yesterday: Joseph Farah at WorldNetDaily is praying for Obama to fail. His all or nothing view of Obama and his agenda over the next four years draws one more distinctive line between conservatives and moderates, between Republicans and Democrats, between Christians and Christians. I'm appalled.

Here's the first half of Farah's comments:

Pray Obama fails

---

Posted: January 19, 2009
1:00 am Eastern

© 2009 

Many American Christians believe, as an article of faith, that we are to pray for the success of our leaders.

It has become a sort of conventional wisdom among soft-minded believers. The biblical proof-text for this misguided way of thinking is Romans 13:1-4:

"Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.

"Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.

"For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:

"For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil."

What could be more clear-cut? At face value, it would seem the Bible is telling us government is a God-ordained good and that we are not to resist its terrors.

Many a coward has been bolstered in his conviction against challenging tyranny by not reading too deeply into the Scriptures. Yet, nowhere does the Bible ever suggest evil rulers are to be obeyed. When the rule of men conflicts with the commands of God, the Bible leaves no doubt about where we should stand.

That's why I do not hesitate today in calling on godly Americans to pray that Barack Hussein Obama fail in his efforts to change our country from one anchored on self-governance and constitutional republicanism to one based on the raw and unlimited power of the central state.

It would be folly to pray for his success in such an evil campaign.

Read the rest of the story here.

Deception Destroys...Again

My wife spoke this week to a friend whose church is going through the devastation of another church leader who lived in deceit for a year. Whatever ups and downs, moments of hope or periods of relief he found over the past twelve months, he never got really honest with himself or another human being about the spiral of seduction he was snagged in with his confidant turned lover.

Now the spiral is a splatter of shock and embarrassment all over his family - wife and kids, his church - trusted peers and trusting people... and his own life. It's messy. It's painful. Within days his church will hear about the deception, the unraveling lies and the mask that kept the secrets covered - for a season.

None of us are beyond temptation or above vulnerability. But, I don't get it. It seems so unnecessary. God's wired us for community, for relationships where we can safely and honestly unpack the crap in our lives. God's designed us with capacity to listen with enough curiosity to really care and enough discernment to honestly hear the truth. God's created a dynamic of relationship that will strengthen us when we're weak, pick us up when we fall and challenge us to keep walking what we're talking.

But I guess we prefer a reality that shields us from the truth within us that we don't want to face. We opt for the plastic images that promise something easier than the real work in our own marriage. We opt for the pseudo acceptance of someone who knows only part of our life, while we escape from the only real opportunity we have for real grace among those who know us best.

I'm praying for our friends. For their church. For their staff. For this man. And I'm praying for our church, for our staff and for our own marriage.

Not one more. Not one more.

Can We Just Go Home?

So, last week while enjoying some ice cream with some friends in the Seattle area, this real-life scenario went down...

We went to DQ for ice cream around 8:30. As we approached the restaurant we noticed the exterior signage was not illuminated, however, lights were on inside. It looked like somebody was home. The posted hours stated 9:30 closing time, so we wandered in.

Our friends' young boy needed to use the restroom. So, in spite of the yellow "wet floor" sign that had been transformed into a "restroom closed" sign, I encouraged him to go ahead. When the second person from our party decided to use the facilities, one of the high-school-age employees called out, "Um, the restrooms are actually closed."

Nah. She had to be kidding. I walked over to her. "Really. You're still open for nearly another whole hour. Surely the restrooms aren't closed."

"Yes, they're closed. People shouldn't be in there because of the chemicals we use," she claimed.

I smiled and suggested, "Come on, be honest. You just want to go home at 9:30 when the store closes, right?"

She insisted that, no, they clean the restrooms at this time every night.

As we sat and ate our ice cream (much to their dismay, I'm sure), we noticed the blatant move this customer service team had taken to protect their effort to get out of the restaurant as soon as guests were gone. Check this out below:

Yep. They had positioned these high chairs to block the passageway to the restroom.

Amazing. And sad.

Unfortunately, volunteers and staff members in churches send the same message to guests, albeit with much more subtlety. When we check our watches, ask if we can leave (because most of the guests are gone), wear our tiredness openly... we say, "Are we done yet? Is this over?" And our guests draw their own conclusions about our value of them compared to whatever might be happening for us elsewhere.

People matter. At Dairy Queen (or not) and in our churches.

The New Dollar: The U.S. Mint's Two Cents

Here's an update.

First my mom suggested that just maybe "In God We Trust" was etched in the side of the coin. Then Matt Forte left a comment confirming her suggestion. Here's his comment:

Mark, I totally agree with you. But the argument is at least partially worthless once you look around the edge of the coin. "E Pluribus Unum" and "In God We Trust" appear there.

Hop over to the U.S. Department of Treasury's United States Mint site and you'll see this image and narrative about the program.

Today's lessons:

1. Let's be careful about what we allow to sidetrack us.
2. Let's research well before we pass on or hop on the email bandwagon.

Lesson #2 was for me. Thanks, Mom. Thanks, Matt.

The New Dollar: My Two Cents

I'd seen a news blurp a week or so ago about the new dollor coin due out soon. Today I received the first of what will likely be thousands of emails floating around the country warning of the evil, godless condition of this coin.

Here's the message of the email:

It does not have "In God We Trust" on it. Another way of leaving God out. Send this on and let consumers decide if it will win acceptance or not. Let's just keep spending our paper money; forget the new coin.

I thought I'd jump in with my two cents.

Honestly, I don’t find this to be a point of contention for me. Trusting God has never been about words, coins or even schools. Trusting God is about my heart. About how my confidence in God’s agenda dictates my behavior, my conversation, my relationships… and whether or not I’ll lean into God’s kingdom purposes as I understand them better and better. Printing a phrase on a coin, bill or anything else does nothing to bring anyone to trusting Jesus.  If these words do mean something to those of us who trust him, that gets lived out relationally, allowing others to be impacted by our God-trust.

I’m afraid this recent string of emails about a new coin will have a number of well-intended Christians missing the point - again. After all, when was the last time you handed money to a sales associate and stopped to read the coin’s inscription? Or pointed out the script to another person?

The more important struggle for me is how I spend any of my money – paper, coin or plastic (by the way, last I checked, my bank wasn’t printing anything about God on my debit or credit cards). What are my family and friends experiencing in my life of trusting God? Is the way I handle my money, my words, my attitude, my time, my energy communicating anything about my trust in God? You bet it is.

Let's just keep trusting God, huh?

Embarrassed to Use the Word Evangelical

It's late. Too late to be writing a post. But, I've been distracted like a bunch of you have been. This accusation and unfolding story with Ted Haggard is so disheartening. I feel embarrassed. And I don't much like the word Evangelical.

I realized how embarrassed I was as I spoke with a friend on my cell phone as I sat at gate F11 in O'Hare International Airport earlier today. My friend was slower getting the news about Haggard than I had been, and I was bringing him up to date with what I'd caught in the news. The conversation was brief. I didn't judge what I didn't know (there's still plenty we don't know...).

And I felt embarrassed. I was suddenly aware that others around me in the gate area could hear my conversation. They heard me talk about the Evangelical Association. They heard me express despair about what this communicates to the world about Christians.

And I suspected that if they listened at all, that they heard me speak as a Christian, probably an Evangelical.

Crap.

I know we're an imperfect lot. All of us. Me, too. Especially me, too. I'm praying for Ted, his wife and his kids. I can't imagine what's going on in their world - or what has gone on in their world. But, I hate all of this.

• I hate that the labels "Christian", "Evangelical" and "Republican" are all tied together in many American minds. I know Christians can be in politics. I know Evangelicals aren't all alike. And, I know there are Democrats in the Kingdom of God. Somewhere our American lens has caused us to lose sight of the only power that transforms a life - Jesus Christ. (see Tim Stevens post about voting)
• I hate that this accusation is so politically charged. Not just by Ted's accuser, but by the media and other Evangelical leaders. Will this affect what happens at the polls on Tuesday? Probably. I suppose there'll be a number of spins on the impact - regardless how the voting goes (see Friday's late post from the L.A. Times)
• I hate that I'm losing sleep over this.

So, I'm going to bed now. More later...

Confusing Christianity and American Politics

A few days ago the New York Times ran an article (and a video report on their website) about Gregory Boyd's recently released book, “The Myth of a Christian Nation: How the Quest for Political Power Is Destroying the Church,”. Seems the book is stirring up the same controversy his messages did a few years ago. Just prior to the last presidential election, Boyd preached six messages, themed, "The Cross and the Sword" aimed at clarifying the message of Jesus Christ; that is, it is not American politics - Republican or Democrat.

I've respected Boyd since I worked through his book, "Repenting of Religion". I appreciate his grasp of grace and how we handle that message in our culture. In the recent NYTimes interview, he said,

“I am sorry to tell you that America is not the light of the world and the hope of the world. The light of the world and the hope of the world is Jesus Christ.”

The lines get so easily blurred - and that confuses...

Kingdom-building Buzz vs. "We Don't Get It" Buzz

Several of my staffer friends and I at Granger Community Church predicted that this series and our promotion method would create two kinds of buzz - positive buzz that would hopefully help lots of folks who aren't attending church or trusting Jesus into our services... and negative buzz by some church-going folks who simply don't get it.

There's already some negative buzz around the blogsphere. I love Todd Rhodes over at Monday Mornings Insights. He gets that we're about helping people get a good look at Jesus so they hear that God says they matter. Todd also has a great way of starting a conversation on-line that generates ...well, lots of controversy. His post yesterday, linking to our PureSex series promotion, resulted in both negative and positive buzz.

In the end we really care that the folks in our community know that we believe they matter to God. I love being in a church where Christ-followers:

• are committed to investing in relationships with their friends and family, eager to use the tool of the weekend service to help them see Jesus.
• accept that as humans (believers or non-believers), we all have a sex life - active, in-active, lame, or hot. We're sexual beings, created that way by God.
• are learning the intricate connection between our sexuality and our spirituality. Our identity, intimacy in relationship and expression of who we are with God and others is all tied complexly and intentionally together.
• acknowledge that it's healthy and honoring (to both God and the people we love) to learn how to love better.

So, pray with us that God will use the legitimate interest people have in love and sex to help us connect them with the Creator who geniusly designed humanity for wholeness in relationship.

Oh, one more thing: Happy Valentine's Day!

P.S. - Suggested Reading: Song of Solomon  (warning: the book starts with this phrase, "Kiss me full on the mouth!" and goes from there...)

Consequences for Taking a Blog Hiatus

Well, after being back in the blogging sphere for a few days, I'm beginning to feel the sharp sting of suffered consequences for being "gone" for nearly two months. Here are just a few I've encountered so far:

• Good friends take you off their blog links (i.e. - Corey, what gives, bro?)
• If you've read as few blog posts as you've written, catch-up is... well, eternal
• Teaching pastors will shovel on the guilt with a message about journaling, using blogging to make their point (really - my friend Rob did it tonight at our New Community service! And, he used Corey's blog to illustrate. Salt in the wound.)
• Never being chosen by your teaching pastors to illustrate any point in any message, using your blogging pattern (unless it's about sloth, of course)
• As you try to find your way back "in", you end up creating stupid lists like this one
• People still aren't sure they want to read you, 'cause they're waiting to see if you're really going to say anything worth reading

(Note to self: use the weekend to come up with something readable by Monday.)
(Second note to self: list Corey in my friend list - maybe he'll add me back into his blog link list.)

Christmas or Holiday: Part 2

It's been an engaging conversation these past few days. People have some significant energy about what's implied by the greetings and titles we use in our culture when we talk about the Christmas - or holiday - season.

I just want to make a couple more comments about the matter.

• For years I have, along with scores of Christians around me, greeted and bid farwell to people with the phrase, "Happy Holidays", "hope you have a great holiday season". As I've wished people well, I've done so embracing the wonder, the joy of the love of the Father who sent his Son, Jesus, as an infant into our historical timeline. And no one thought anything about it. It was synonomous with "Merry Christmas".

Now, when I or any other Christ-follower uses that phrase, we'll likely be questioned about our intent. That's unfortunate.

You should know that I'm not going to walk the religious/political tightrope. I'll probably just live life and celebrate Jesus throughout the holiday season. Don't be surprised if you get a Christmas card from me or a holiday email that wishes you "a blessed holiday season" or "a joyous Christmas" or "a joyous season". It's all the spirit of Christ.

• I'm reading and hearing that a number of businesses have recently issued statements, indicating their intention to market differently next year, using "Merry Christmas" instead of whatever phrase they used this year.

Of course, scores of Christians are celebrating this as a victory for "us", for our society. It's hard for me to join the celebration.

Christmas or Holiday: Do People Still Matter?

The whole “holiday vs. Christmas” debate gets under my skin. I’m tired of the rhetoric.

If Christ-followers are going to enter the conversation, let's at least do so in an informed manner. The last thing people in our culture need are Christ-followers who discredit themselves, their argument and their God by being uninformed about history and the celebration we embrace called, Christmas.

I wish we Christ-followers wouldn’t get so worked up about whether our kids have Christmas break or a winter holiday break. Labels aren’t the point. Jesus is. Nobody is taking away our ability to honor Christ in our lives.

For instance, Easter was celebrated in the early days of the Early Church, not Christmas. Late December holidays were celebrated by Europeans and others before there was ever a “Christmas”. Seems that Pope Julius I decided to mark the Christmas holiday on December 25 (since the Bible is silent about the time of year) as an alternative to the cultural debauchery associated with society's year-end party. Throughout the 5^th – 8^th centuries the custom spread from Poland to England.This time of year was chosen by the Pope in an effort to absorb the debauchery that marked the pagan celebrations in December. Christmas is a Christian holiday – established in contrast to other celebrations that honored pagan gods that Christ-followers didn’t trust.
 
In America the Puritans wanted nothing to do with the pagan holiday, so it was actually outlawed in Boston from 1659 – 1681. In fact the first Christmas after the declaration of America’s freedom, Congress was in session on December 25^th. It wasn’t until 1870 that Christmas was declared a recognized holiday in America.

So, too often many Christ-followers in unintended error and ignorance, get worked up about the pagans in our “God-fearing” country taking away our religious, Christ-centered Christmas and replacing it with “holiday”.

My point? Our job is and always has been to live as the light of the world within our culture. Our job has never been to “Christianize” America or the world through political, legal or otherwise forced strategies. The church of Christ and his followers will always have Christmas. We do recognize the Christ - the one true God.

So, light the tree! Sing a carol! Read the Christmas narrative! Send cards that celebrate the Christ-child and God's kingdom on earth. Immanuel - He's here... whether our neighbors say "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays".

I'm grateful for Rob Bell's (he's not the first and only one to point this out, but he says it well) take on Immanuel in chapter 3 of his book, Velvet Elvis. It's the same point that our weekend series "Pop Spirituality" celebrated a year and a half ago. Signs of Jesus are all around us. Joy, laughter, giving, and love all mark the presence of our Christ – whether those experiencing life and relationships acknowledge him or not. Our call, our privilege is to point to the Light - wherever He is... whether it's a holiday or Christmas.

He’s here. In every "here". "God with us ... Immanuel."

Enter the dialog. But, do so informed. Do so with respect for people. Because people still matter to the God we celebrate on December 25th.

Merry Christmas ... and happy holidays!  [Read Part 2 here]

Multiplication of Consistently Poor Service

There's a local steakhouse in town that my wife and I enjoy... marginally. We enjoy most of the environment - it's casual, relaxed. And we enjoy the most of the food, including the steaks - when they get it right. But that's the problem. They haven't gotten it right for us four out of the last five times we've dined there. Medium comes out rare. Medium rare comes out medium well. They usually make good on the free meal after three trips to the kitchen, but since we'd both like to eat our meals together in less than two hours, it's been a while since we've been there.

So, chalk it up to our bad luck, right? Maybe. Maybe we're just hitting the lousy chef every time he's working. Maybe of all the steaks in the restaurant, ours is the only one getting screwed up.

Doubt it.

Inevitably, we know that if the consistently poor service is happening for us, it's happening for others.

Case in point: this morning I was talking with my friend, Greg about favorite places to dine with our wives. Our experiences about this steakhouse were identical - inconsistently poor service, poor food prep.

Okay, that's only two couples. True. And the numbers multiply from there.

If the experience is consistent, it's happening consistently with lots of guests.

The same is true of your church. Just because you only hear concerns from two people doesn't mean everyone else is happy.

Correcting this kind of poor service delivery is about fixing entire systems of service delivery. New patterns must be established - over time. Trust in service must be re-established.

If we ever go back to the steakhouse, we'll risk it several times before we trust there's a new pattern. And that's a big risk.

Just-In-Time Training vs. You're-On-My-Time Frustrating

While in Florida last week, we were treated by the Village View church staff to a great dinner in The Villages. The restaurant was the Nancy Lopez Legacy Country Club. Great ambiance, inviting decor and delicious food.

Now, when I eat out, I always want to know the server's name. There's a good chance I'll want something during the meal, and I'd rather not call out, "Hey, you!" Plus, when I extend a personal connection with the server, I'm also laying down a service test: Will he/she meet me at that level? Will they serve with genuine care and connect on a human level rather than a mission of task?

That evening, I located the name badge on our server's shirt. Nice touch. It was gold. Impressive. Then I read his name: "Trainee". Not so nice touch. Not impressive. Now, I might just have to yell, "Hey, you!"; that would have to be better than "Hey, Trainee". This restaurant chose not to partner Mr. Trainee with a visible, near-by Mr. or Ms. Trainer. Rather, they announced, "This guy's new. And we don't you to remember his name. In fact, there's a chance the experience may be so bad, that we'll never get to the point of creating a real name tag for him. He's in a probation period. Thanks for helping us with the test."

Now, before I sound too much like a hard-core critic and pretentious snob, I should add that when I see someone in training, I pull out some extra grace. I know they're new. I know they will make mistakes and not serve with the same ease and/or timeliness as a comfortable, competent veteran server. I get that.

So, when he wasn't sure of the answer about our first question off the menu - "What's the fish of the day??" - he went to the kitchen for the answer. I was pleased with his willingness to say, "I don't know, but I'll find out."

However, by the 8th time (no kidding) that he went to the kitchen for the answer, I was losing my patience - not with him, but with the management. This poor man was hung out to dry. He was ill-informed and under-trained. He didn't know the vegetable of the day, the soup of the day, the fresh catch... essential things to creating an adequate experience for the guest - me.

This management team may have considered that if he learns by asking, his training experience will be complete. Maybe. But they failed to consider the experience of the patron who never accepted to be part of the training program. Nor did they consider the frustration and embarrassment for this man who was left feeling incompetent and unprofessional.

It was another great reminder that when our guest services teams in our churches are ill-informed, we hang them out to dry. We frustrate them, because they feel incompetent and unprofessional. And, we sabotage the experience of our guests, who leave wondering who's leading this chaos.

I don't live in Florida; if I did, I'm not sure I'd go back to the restaurant.

And I'm sure there are guests in our churches who never return because we don't know our own menu or how to order from it quickly and easily.

How's My Driving?

I felt like I was in a "ride 'em cowboy" scene straight out of "City Slickers" alongside Billy Crystal and Jack Palance. Except I wasn't on the open range in Montana, I was on I-90 coming out of Chicago, trying to get home. At mile-marker 58 or so at I-90/94, 27 lanes of traffic merge into 2 and a half feet of asphalt with large construction barrels and bright orange cones that'll ruin paint, even the engine of your vehicle, if you leave your designated lane. It's ugly.

It's dark, 10:20 pm, I'm in my lane, pretty happy that I hadn't missed my turn-off. I was going to get my family home without getting lost. Huge stuff for me! As I'm navigating the barrels and cones, this 18-wheeler comes barreling at us, determined to use our 2 and a half feet of asphalt to continue his 70 mph pace. I laid on the horn and pressed on. I quickly realized I was no match for this driver or his truck, so I relunctantly slowed enough for him to pass in front of our van. I was not happy.

Then, a second truck - the one pictured here - shot into our lane like a cruise missle, aimed at taking out anything in it's path. Now, I was more than not happy, I was angry.

I say I was determined, my wife says I was stubborn. I took him on.

I jammed my thumb smashing the horn. I leaned hard toward his looming cab and hit the gas. I was settled in my saddle and I was determined to take on the odds.

The odds were against me. After much horn blowing, saying things he couldn't hear, the driver of the Smith Transport rig pressed into my lane, scraping the side mirror of our van with his trailer. Now, I was livid.

Then I saw it. With my front bumper inches from his tail, I read the sweet question, "How's My Driving?" and the phone number that followed. Yes, I made the call, providing every number, symbol, icon and lettering on the truck. He was not driving with the excellence his company boasted of.

I don't know his name. I do know his company. What I know today is that I had a bad experience with Smith Transport. For me, this fiasco happened not with a single driver, but with the entire company.

Beyond venting my frustration over a couple stubborn drivers on the toll road (not me, them), I'm left with this simple reminder: You are your organization. Each individual team member in your church is your church to the guest that encounters them.

Are you - are they - smokin' what you're selling?

Communication and Climate Control

After waiting all spring for spring to arrive, summer finally blasted into northern Indiana with smoldering temperatures in the low 90s and high 80s. I love the heat of summer, don't get me wrong. The contrast of the changing seasons is part of the attraction to the Midwest (okay, attraction may be a little extreme). The problem the last few days has been the mercury level in our house. We've had a multi-room sauna the past few days because our air conditioning wasn't conditioning the air.

As an after-thought and last resort, I changed the filter. Still it was hot as, ...well, it was still hot. So, I broke down and asked for help. I called the heating and air people.

Here the small, but annoying, saga began. I called an outfit with a strong reputation; others spoke highly of them. My daughter could sing their jingle (I'm sure she doesn't watch too much TV). What happened with this company is a classic example of in-house vocabulary that doesn't translate to the customer (or guest).

The company advertised "free estimates". When I called to request service, I never used the word "free", but did ask for an estimate "on repairs for my system". When I used the word "estimate", the personnel immediately translated my call into a "new system inquiry" and sent someone out to my home who wasted his time and mine trying to sell me a new air conditioning unit.

It took another phone call and conversations with two people to finally get the repairman to my house. Through all of it (including the repairman being promised 90 minutes earlier than he arrived), the company never apologized for the miscommunication or wasted time.

Now, here's the deal. I almost canceled the service call, but I didn't find a company who could come out the next day. Two things caused me to stick with this company:

• My desperate need (my wife was suffering from the heat, too)
• This company's previous reputation for excellence.

Everything about them was excellent - except they had assumed that their customers would all use the same language they did... and then they failed to take responsibility for the miscommunication that resulted. It's worth asking a couple questions about the climate of the communication in your church:

• What's the "insider" language in your church? Maybe it's Christianese that guests don't understand, or maybe there are labels and names for events, rooms, ministries that just don't communicate. Will people miss opportunities because they use words we use, but they don't mean the same when they use them?   
• Do all your staff and volunteers take ownership for "misses" when they finally come to light?   

Our failure in either of these areas risks annoying people (at least) and turning them away (at the worst). Either prevents a barrier to communicating the good news that God says they matter.

If you want to read the comical, irritating dialog between me and the company, use the link here...

 

Still Missing the Point

I have some new memories from Memorial Day weekend that I'm still trying to shake. Not the memories from our weekend services - they rock. Our own Dr. Bob knocked the ball out of the park with a message on community and relationships. (Dr. Bob joined our teaching team 3 years ago and still serves as Vice President and Dean of Graduate Studies at Bethel College in our area.) Our arts team STOMPed out amazing percussion routines again to set up Dr. Bob's message. Once again, people came to church and didn't find religion, they were pointed to Jesus and invited to engage in personal relationships to take next steps toward him. No, I'm not trying to shake those memories - I love them all.

Since it was a holiday weekend, I spent more time than usual around tables filled with food, talking with a variety of folks - from family to new friends. It's often inside these less formal, less structured settings that real stuff in each of us is most visible. Boy, was there some stuff visible. It's these memories I want to shake, but...

A Muddy Christian Worldview: Us vs. Them

I'm still on the west coast enjoying the sight line of palm trees against a blue sky. I could really get used to this. As I've enjoyed the local scene, I've visited a number of churches in the past couple days. Even here in sunny L.A. the teaching in local churches can still be annoying - even damaging.

This past Saturday evening a cool website led me to an apparent relevant, progressive church who happened to give their platform to a guest professor from a nearby, well-known, evangelical college. I think it was a mistake.

Although this church was innovating ways to open dialog in their personal relationships with friends within their culture, this guest speaker managed to present a paradigm that threatened...

Breakfast Barricades

I live in northern Indiana in the path of the snow belt from Lake Michigan. We call it Lake Effect. I think that's intended to remind us that we get to enjoy the water and beaches of the great lake... when it's warm. I bring all that up to say that when it finally starts getting warmer, we Hoosiers find ourselves in the path of the department of transportation - fixing pot holes. Some days I prefer the snow.

Today was one such day. This morning on my way to a breakfast meeting I approached the main thoroughfare out of my neighborhood and discovered the DOT boys were out. Actually, I assumed there was more than one, although one was all I could see at the moment. And he was in my way.

He'd pulled up to the stop sign where I needed to make a right turn to get to my meeting on time. Only his truck was twice as wide as my car and he was sitting on the wrong side of the road. A large barrel barricade blocked my path to the right. Just as I pulled up behind him, hoping he would drive out of my way, he hopped out of his truck to complete his job.

As he grabbed the final barricade that would block my on-time arrival for breakfast, he made eye contact with me. "Good", I thought, "he'll see that he's in my way, move a barrel and I'll drive on." But that's not what happened. Instead, he placed his barricade firmly in front of me, shook his head and pointed me in the opposite direction. The road crew he was setting up for had not begun their work yet; there was no traffic lined up behind me. He could have moved one barricade and waved me quickly through. Instead, he denied me access and assured my tardiness.

I was not happy. And he didn't care.

This guy had forgotten several things. For starters he'd forgotten that my taxes write his paycheck. He'd also forgotten that the road work he was doing was for me and my neighbors. Ultimately, he'd forgotten that he was in this role as a public servant, and he'd forgotten to serve. He had an agenda, a task, and he was focused. Asphalt.

The serving teams in my church and your church have an agenda, a task. There are places to be, bulletins to print and assemble, kids' programs to run, a service to prepare and lead. We have an agenda. But all that we're doing, down to the scraping of snow on a spring day where there shouldn't be any, should flow from a heart of serving because people matter. In your guests' eyes, any other motivation becomes a barricade.

At Granger Community Church our mission is "helping people take their next step toward Christ... together." Is your agenda giving your guests and members access to their next step? If not, reevaluate who's doing the serving, what the serving role really is and the motivation for doing so.

People have more than a breakfast meeting to get to. They're trying to meet Jesus.

Move the barricades... motion 'em through.