Stop the Whining

A couple of years back I wrote a post entitled I Am Right...and You're Stupid! It addressed a growing problem in our nation, where healthy debate is out and criticizing anyone who thinks or feels differently from "me" is the new norm. With a new season of elections upon us and with wide and often tragic divisions in our country and our world, this is getting worse, not better. We have become a culture of chronic whiners. Tearing others down to make ourselves feel better is at epidemic levels. Rather than working towards solutions, we simply bemoan the things that displease us and bark at those who approach problems from a different direction. And this has got to change.

Two of the first real friends I made through Twitter were Kevin & Christie Weatherby. Kevin is a cowboy preacher whose insights constantly astonish me; Christie has a webpage and blog called The Worst Preacher's Wife Ever. They are in the expensive and often painful process of adopting a Chinese child- a great act of kindness and love- and have been getting some crap for their efforts. The other day Christie tweeted a link to a Facebook status that really hit home with me. I asked for permission to share it here and she kindly said yes. Let her thoughts sink in, and perhaps change you...

Here's an idea:

Instead of criticizing the preacher and I for adopting from China instead of America, why don't you go adopt some of those children you are so passionate about.

Instead of criticizing Americans for trying to help Syrian refugees instead of helping our American veterans, why don't you go help some of those veterans you are so passionate about.

Instead of criticizing those that are already trying to be helpers in some way, why don't you go help in some way that you are so passionate about.

‪#‎TalkIsCheap‬
‪#‎GoBeDo‬
‪#‎LiveLove‬

Jesus told us to love one another, to care for one another and to go change the world. But we don't have to all do it the same way. Follow your passion. Be a difference maker. Go. Do. Be. And for the love of God, stop the whining!

Because of Jesus,

Roadies Wanted

"Now the seats are all empty, let the roadies take the stage,

They'll set it up and tear it down.

They're the first to come and the last to leave,

workin' for that minimum wage...

They'll set it up in another town.  

- Jackson Browne, The Load Out

There are many issues that make the 21st century Christian church difficult to figure out. Some are corporate issues the entire community must face together. Some are individual challenges. And some are problems with cultural curses that we have adopted from society at large. I'd like to address one of those today. You see, it seems to me that there are far too many leaders in Christianity today who see themselves as- and who want to be- rock stars! They want the microphone and they crave the spotlight. They garner attention for themselves and "their" ministries, putting focus on things other than God. The gutters along the #NarrowRoad are littered with pastors and other church leaders who made themselves famous, only to discover that Jesus isn't looking for for stars. Jesus is looking for Roadies.

For those of you not familiar with the lingo, a roadie is someone who toils behinds the scenes on a concert tour. Roadies do the set-ups, the repairs, the grunt work and the heavy lifting that make the rock stars look good. They get no glory, just the satisfaction of a job well done and the knowledge that because of them the stars get the attention and love they crave. Many roadies take the job because of their love and respect for the artist they get to follow all over the country. They are there to serve. If we compare the #NarrowRoad to a tour, it should be quite clear who the star is. It's not the famous preacher, or the gifted singer or the televangelist with perfect hair. It's Jesus. And the rest of us- ALL of the rest of us- are called to be roadies. Our marching orders are right there in the Gospels. Be servants. Be humble. Be meek. Jesus told the disciples (Mark 9:35) that "anyone wanting to be greatest must be the least- a servant of all!" The path of Christ becomes a treacherous journey for those who think themselves as high and mighty. The ones who understand Jesus are the ones carrying their bags and bringing them water. The roadies are the ones making headway on the #NarrowRoad.

We live in a society built around lifting up those who achieve wealth, power and/or fame. It is only natural that this has bled over into the church- and into the pulpit. We need leaders and people who will take on power and important roles. But as scripture (and various Spiderman movies) teaches us, with that power comes great responsibility. And a part of the responsibility, according to the Master, it letting go of the power and becoming a servant. We pass on the love and the hope when we give up our roles of glory and become roadies to those who follow behind. 

Hardly a day passes without seeing tweets and articles lifting up the qualities of a great leader, giving information on how you can become a rock star in your church. We get things so twisted. Being on the #NarrowRoad has nothing to do with being a leader and everything to do with WHO you FOLLOW! So stack some speakers, set up the mics and get the lights ready. Then get out of the way and let Jesus do his thing. Be a roadie for Christ!

Because of Jesus.

Wash a Few Feet

In August of 1977, as I was preparing to leave home for my freshman year of college, I went to a special meeting of my youth group at New Garden Friends Meeting. I would miss a lot of things about my hometown of Greensboro, NC, but that group of people was at the top of my list. That night, our youth director Rob Mitchell had the other students was the feet of the departing seniors. It was, at the time, a very odd experience for me.I had never been part of anything like that, and it made me terribly uncomfortable. I mean, feet are nasty. I felt bad for the washers and embarrassed for myself. I felt so totally unworthy. But as the service went on and Rob read the scripture from John 13:1-17 we began to understand. This was not about glorifying the seniors. This was all about humility and service.

It is easy to understand why Peter went ballistic at the thought of having Jesus wash his feet. Sandals and dirt roads most likely made Peter's feet even more disgusting than mine. Peter had already proclaimed Jesus as the Son of God. It just didn't make any sense. Even in his last few hours in his earthly body, Jesus wanted to remind the disciples (and us) that serving others is a prerequisite to leadership. The master should always be a servant. This was a great example. An even better one would come later in the week, when Jesus would sacrifice his life so that we might have eternal life.

Do you understand the power in being a servant? Or do you still seek power in lifting yourself above the people you encounter each day? If  this is something you struggle with, then I highly suggest you wash a few feet. It will change your perspective, I promise...

Because of Jesus,

10 Mission Trip Memories

I have written often lately about serving God by loving others, which has had me thinking about some of the great mission opportunities my youth groups had back in the day. Here's a vintage post featuring 10 thoughts about the various mission experiences we were involved in over the years. Are they random? Oh yes! Do they have meaning to me? Of course! So here we go:

10)  In the late 80's and early 90's the Springfield Friends Meeting group spent a lot of time serving at Our Father's Table, a soup kitchen in High Point. We usually prepared a basic soup and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I remember one week we had lots of leftover food from Furniture Market caterers that we served the patrons- really quality stuff. They couldn't eat it. It was too rich for them. They asked for more PB&J's...

9)  I think the hottest place I ever been in my life was inside the Orlando Second Harvest Food Bank warehouse on our middle school mission trip from FUMC-K in 1994. We also worked in another 2nd Harvest in Nashville in 1999, and it was not much cooler. But those places provide amazing support to the communities they serve in the name of Jesus.

8)  Jennifer Minnigan Kuramochi (FUMC-K) told me once that she was a little embarrassed to admit to the youth pastor at her current church that her high school mission trip was to the Bahamas- twice! We did good work on those trips, but we didn't exactly suffer for it...

7)  Although we sent a small group (see picture at right- and no, I don't know why Ben Thacker is scratched up!) and I didn't go, the Service Over Self trip to Memphis in 1996 was a tremendous mission experience that did great things in service to the people of the inner city in that poverty stricken southern town.

6)  The previously mentioned 1999 Nashville trip was the first time I partnered with the Center for Student Missions (CSM). It was an amazing experience. We worked our rears off in 100 degree heat and 200% humidity, slept on the floor, and had about 75 people sharing one shower (with a strict time limit!). It was awesome!

5)  I had only been at the Union Church of Hinsdale about three weeks when we departed on Work Tour 2000 (see picture) to Dungannon, VA. That trip has several posts of its own, and the poverty we encountered there was incredible. We actually built a wall inside a mobile home to split a bedroom in half. It was a week full of adventure...

4)  The following year we went to Tijuana, Mexico and worked at an orphanage. The children there could recite entire chapters of scripture in English and Spanish. Some of our teenagers couldn't even recite John 3:16. Plus those smart little kids conned us into eating habanero peppers and almost dying! UC's traditional Work Tour closing ceremony, called Candle, took longer than the rest of the trip- or so it seemed!

3)  The group from Wesley Memorial UMC headed to Washington, DC to work with CSM in the summer of 2002. We spent a fair amount of time building bunk beds for future groups to sleep on, so we made a long-term contribution to that ministry. We also delivered meals to AIDS patients. It is the only trip I ever went on, mission or otherwise, in which this peace loving Christ-follower almost killed a student. Several times. Thank you, Chris Morneau, for being one of a kind...

2)  In 2003 we went to Spartanburg, SC and served for several days with a variety of ministries. I especially remember sorting hundreds of pounds of clothing into gender and size specific piles, and then throwing them all back together in another room. Seemed pretty pointless, but it was what we were  asked to do. We also slept over a homeless shelter. Each night they locked us in and told us NOT to leave.  It was a little scary...

1)  In 2004 with WMUMC (see picture) and in 2006 with Trinty UMC we served with CSM in Chicago. Both trips were amazing, but the 2004 trip featured us gutting the inside of an unused Jewish synagogue to make way for a new church in a poor area of town. It was very hard work, and I still wonder how the church is doing now. That was also the trip with one of the most amazing youth worship times ever.

Great memories and great trips. I'd do it all over again if I could. We never go to work with CSM in Toronto, even though I planned it 3 different times. But serving others in the name of Jesus was - and is - a great thing!

Because of Jesus,

"We're Supposed To Be Some Kind Of Different..."

"Then they began to argue among themselves about who would be the greatest among them.  Jesus told them, “In this world the kings and great men lord it over their people, yet they are called ‘friends of the people.’  But among you it will be different. Those who are the greatest among you should take the lowest rank, and the leader should be like a servant. Who is more important, the one who sits at the table or the one who serves? The one who sits at the table, of course. But not here! For I am among you as one who serves." ~ Luke 22:23-27 (NLT)

Way back in the dark ages of the 1970s some of my friends and I became big fans of the band Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and their live album called 4-Way Street. On that particular masterpiece, Stephen Stills performs a medley of his hits For What It's Worth ("There's something happening here, what it is ain't exactly clear...") and 49 Bye-Byes. As part of the song, he launches into a politically charged "sermon" about the youth of USAmerica and the anti-war movement of the day. At one point he reminds the crowd that if they respond to violence with violence, then "that just means we ain't learned nothing yet...and we're supposed to be some kind of different..." He goes on to mention that Jesus Christ was the first non-violent revolutionary...but that's a post for another day. Dig it.

In this world full of inequality, racism, sexism, violence, hatred and class and religious warfare, Christians have far too often taken positions of superiority. We seek to position ourselves as leaders by assuming a "holier than thou" attitude that far too many of us think sets us apart from the "heathens" of our world. It is just one more way that we have forgotten the teachings of Jesus because they are inconvenient in our society. Check out the scripture at the top.  I did a sermon a number of years ago in which I emphasized the phrase "But among you it will be different."  What was Jesus saying?  He we calling us to a life of service. To put ourselves not in positions of leadership, but in positions of service. We are being commanded....not asked, COMMANDED!-  to show the people the love of God whose name is Jesus by serving them in any way we can. Take the lowest rank. Leaders should be like servants. We should appear to be odd to our world, because we understand that it's not about us- it's all about loving nd serving in the name of Jesus!  And yet we in the church spend countless hours figuring out ways to make ourselves feel and seem more important. We're supposed to be some kind of different. Could it be we ain't learned nothing yet?

Then this past Sunday at worship our pastor preached many of those same messages and pointed out a second phrase from that scripture that drives home a similar point. "Who is more important, the one who sits at the table or the one who serves? The one who sits at the table, of course. But not here! For I am among you as one who serves."  If we are seeking to be Christians (CHRIST-like) then we have to realize that Jesus is setting an example for us all.  The world is calling us to lift ourselves up. Jesus is calling us to get down! Power and prestige may be the way of the world...but not here!  Not in the family of God. In the world you may be too young, too old, too uneducated, have too much of a past or feel like the good life has passed you by- but not here!  And how do people know that?  Only if those of us who know Jesus overwhelm them with his radical, ridiculous and  redeeming love and grace. When we become servants of all, we let them know that they may feel left out in the world we live in, and they may feel unloved and worthless there.  But not here!

We (and by "we" I mean myself and the vast majority of American Christians) need a serious attitude adjustment on what it means to serve.  Do you know what Jesus did to illustrate his point about service? Did he write a check to a charity? Did he just pray for the less fortunate? Did he send the disciples out on a mission trip while he went to the football game? NO. Jesus got dirty. He washed the disciples feet. As Pastor Matthew said on Sunday, that is the modern day equivalent of him coming to your house and scrubbing your toilet. Our service needs to be radical, and it needs to be fearless. It needs to be a lifestyle not an event. We need to be feeding people, housing people, caring for the sick and loving the unloved- not condemning people because they sin differently than we do. If we do this as Jesus taught, then people all around us will want what we have. They will beg to know WHY we are acting so strangely, so out of step with our world. And they will come to know our LORD and savior. And then, our world will be some kinda different. Dig it.

Because of Jesus,

An Act of Service

We continue our Thursday Lenten devotionals with a little something different.  Today's Act of Service will give you a glimpse into the world we live in.  It will require a bit of bravery on your part.  Stop by your local grocery store.  Wait until you see someone who may need help carrying their groceries, and then offer to carry some of their bags.  Almost certainly you will be told "no."  They may look at you with fear and uncertainty.  In extreme cases they may even call for help.  We live in a world in which random acts of kindness and service are so out of place, so foreign to people, that they strike fear in their hearts.  Become WIDE OPEN to this fact;  understand that it is only by living life with a servant's heart that we can change this.  Be aware of every opportunity to serve others.  Remember Jesus said if you want to be great you must first become a servant.  Keep trying and and see if anyone will let you carry their bags!


Because of Jesus,