A Big Decision Ahead

On Palm Sunday evening our congregation will gather together to make an important decision about our church's future. Following several months of preparation and consultation provided by some of our denomination's leadership, we've been invited to consider a set of recommendations for our ministry. This "prescription set" is designed to position us as strongly as possible to make new disciples for Jesus the Christ. We've spent more than a month praying about this, discussing it, thinking about it, and trying to discern if this is God's direction for our church. We covet your prayers on April 5.

I'm trying to look at these recommendations not just as a pastor of our church, but as an individual Jesus follower. My heart and soul is in fulfilling the Great Commission. (Matthew 28:19.) Something happened in 1979 that changed my life and ministry forever. I now live to do whatever God calls me to do so that others can have a real, transforming relationship with Jesus. So, though some of the specifics of our recommendations are daunting, I felt a real sense of hope in the overall direction - doing big and bold things in our church so that we can be a stronger force for reaching people who are far from God.

While many of the specifics of our disciple-making recommendations are exciting, I can't say I'm comfortable with all of them. Still, I hope and pray the proposal as a whole is approved and enacted by our church, for one primary reason. What if this is in fact God speaking to us? God has a habit of inviting people to do things that don't make sense on the surface or in the immediate moment. (Ask Noah, Moses, Joshua, Gideon, David, Mary, Paul, or any number of others.) Sometimes it's about faith and trust, regardless of whether we understand something fully right now or whether it feels comfortable to us. I'm less concerned about the challenges of moving ahead with the prescription set than I am concerned with possibly missing something through which God may be inviting us radically to step out in faith and trust.

That's just me, as a person, not as a pastor. I embrace God's call to love and respect those with differing views. Regardless of what happens on April 5, God is still God, Jesus is still Lord, and the Holy Spirit is still at work, strengthening Jesus-followers, and challenging us to fulfill the primary mission of the Body of Christ.

I'll see you around the next bend in the river.

Peace At Any Price

Keeping the peace at all costs...

Nobody likes conflict. Well, I think some people do enjoy a good scrap. However, within friendships, families, marriages, groups, and organizations peacefulness is a desired state. Everyone feels better when there's a sense that everyone is getting along.

I'm sure Jesus of Nazareth was no different. Jesus-followers believe that Jesus was and is fully human. As one of our species, he surely enjoyed the times of harmony and contentment, and was discomforted by times of turmoil. Therefore, can you imaging how it would have been for Jesus when he was within days of heading into the city of Jerusalem for the annual Jewish Passover feast? Knowing what was ahead, I wonder if he thought it might be best just not to make the trip, and to stay beneath the radar in the holiday crowds. He had to know that his presence, his mission, and his very identity were all destined to create disturbance. Crowds with varying levels of loyalty would gather round him, eliciting anxiety and jealousy amongst many in religious positions of power. Leadership in Jerusalem would fear for the reaction of Roman authorities if this itinerant Galilean create too much buzz among the mobs. Zealots might be agitated to the point of action, thinking that this Jesus could be the fuse that would ignite and incendiary uprising against the Roman occupiers. Religious experts would inflame righteous indignation to a white-hot fury over this pretentious Nazarene. Reaction to Jesus would not be neutral. Jesus knew it. He knew he would not bring peace, but a sword.

Sometimes peace is necessary and needed, and it reflects the shalom of God. Sometimes peace is nothing more than the veneer covering up injustice, unrighteousness, moral apathy, spiritual indifference, and an abundance of other dynamics that keep us far from the heart of God. We need to pray for God's vision, for humility, and for discerning hearts, that we might know the difference. I'll see you around the next bend in the river.