Quote:

"Did you come here to play Jesus? Cuz I did."

- Bono - live in LA (rewriting U2's song One)

Taking Action and Action Taken
I'm consumed by making things happen. I want to be productive. I want to move on tasks to produce my desired results. I live this way often. I feel in control when I live like this.
Jesus lived this way. He took action. The world bent around him when we walked into the room. He took action and the world was forced to deal with it.

I also am formed by the actions of others. Where the ability to Act is Taken from me.
I feel out of control in these circumstances. I might think like a victim in these times.
Jesus lived like this also. After the last supper with his close friends, Action was taken upon him. He no longer acted, but was acted upon.

I vasilate between this to extremes.

Our Greatest Gift
A book by Henri Nouwen came to mind this week. It's entitled "Our Greatest Gift: A Meditaion on Dying and Caring" Perhaps it was brought on by the merging experiences of the past few weeks of the Pope's passing and my very good friend Jimmy's mother struggling with cancer.

Here are some quotes from the book that stood out to me:

"I am convinced that it is this joy - joy of being the same as others, of belonging to one human family - that allows us to die well. I do not know how I or anyone else could be prepared to die if we were mainly concerned about trophies we had collected during our best years. The great gift hidden in our dying is the gift of unity with all people. However different we are, we are all born powerless, and we all die powerless, and the little differences we live in between dwindle in the light of this enourmous truth."


" A good death is a death in solidarity with others. To prepare ourselves for a good death, we must develop or deepen this sense of solidarity. If we live toward death as an event that seperates us from people, death cannot be other than a sad and sorrowful event. But if we grow in awareness that our mortality, more than anything else, will lead us into solidarity with others, then death can become a celebration of our unity with the human race."

The Ministry of Paying Attention

At BVC we have a card for first time visitors. It is a lot like cards other churches use. A "visitor" fills out the form. Then the information is passed to all the staff, as a way (I'm assuming) to stay in touch with who is coming through our doors which in theory directly effects our practice and structure.
Here is an example.

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FIRST IMPRESSION CARD
Our church wants to serve you better.
Would you give us your opinion please?

This is what I noticed first: How much larger on the inside than outside

This is what I liked best: The messages are for real life

This is what I like least: Not as welcoming as you could be

This is how you can serve me/our family: Just be there if I need prayer

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I received this card this week and something clicked in me as I read it.
First: the progressive western churches are information hogs and they love to get information from people all the time, but the churches systems are irrelevant and often inform us in directions we do not want to go. For example. The First Impression card above is seeking information and (I'm guessing here) desire for the first time visitor to feel cared for... sort of a personal touch. People feeling cared for is good. Information can be good if it leads to action aligned with your values and beliefs.
The problem with the card above is:
It asks the wrong questions.

It conveys the wrong values.
The whole nature of this card is focused on the idea that the church grows through appealing to people outside the church through treating them like customers. If that's what you are going for, then this card nails it.

It does not easily lead to action on mission.
Ok. You know that this person wants you to be there for them when they want you to pray for them. You know that they don't think you lived up to your friendlyness potential at least not to this person. They think that the messages are for real life. But what does that mean to this person? Especially when taken with the other answers. We know that the building looks small outside to this person. So taking this info what do you do as the pastor? Make your building bigger? double your efforts for making people friendly? Keep preaching "real life" messages?

It sends the wrong message.
The "visitor" filling out the form got the message loud and clear. When I need something, I'm going to call the front desk you take care of it. My individual taste is of the utmost importance and the church exists to take care of these things for me.

A New/Old Idea.
What if we organized our churches around loving people and loving God and in that organization we sought information that was useful. Information that propelled us to action. AND. Systems that function in such a way that they are beautiful.

For instance.
A church that is ultimately dependant on a staff for follow-up and care will need the kind of cards above. But a church that is dependant on the people of the church to care enough to follow up with people and at it's core functions in a different way is beautiful.

So. A large group experience where you fill out a form that is handed down an isle and passed on to a centralized office for data entry then passed onto a team of people who's volunteer role is to "visit" all of the new people and sent them mail via a checklist is not ... natural. And thus.. leads churches to use words like "assimilation". Hiring staff to solve specific problems relating to an unnatural way of life.

The Ministry of Paying attention:
Don't get me wrong. Information is good. I think it is helpful to know who is involved. It is true, that you remember things (information) about people you love. I collect the birthdays of my friends and put them into my Outlook Calendar, so I can call them on that special day. I remember friends anniversaries as best as I can. Mostly this is function of paying attention and remembering or paying attention and being a little bit organized. I have never had my friends fill out a card.

Information generally comes to me when I screw up. A new friend and I've been hanging out for 5 months and then he tells me "last week when Jan took me to dinner for my birthday..." then my heart sinks and I make a mental note or I excuse myself and write it down. I won't miss it again.
Can't we do church like that? Can't the people of the church love each other through mistakes rather then institutional perfection? Can we lower the bar to reality? and what if in lowering the bar to reality we actually raise the care for our people? Can we as church leaders allow our people to love others more naturally? Do we inadvertently take the responsability away from them with our systems and practices as leaders? Do we trust our people enough to let them care for others and follow up in their natural relationships?? What if we really think we can do church better than the people in our church? Are we willing to let people make mistakes? Are we willing to reorganize our structure and our preconceived ideas about what church is so that we can function more naturally?

Just some ramblings...

Back to GR
It's been a crazy week. NYC was a good experience.
The night before I left town someone broke into the church and trashed the place.
My 55 gallon fish tank got busted in the breakin and flooded my office and part of the gym outside my door. Some great folks at BVC were able to clean it up and get the stinking dead fish smell out of the carpet before I returned.

The Pope

I have recently grown more appreciative of this Pope. Growing up protestant the only time you mention the Pope is when you are saying somethign derogatory. There certainly has been enough evidence in history to show that a Pope can misuse his authority and power.
I'd like to go out the way he is.

His death is a gift to the world. A very precious gift. May God transform us by this gift of God.

Ms. Wheelchair stands up, loses crown


Candidates for the crown have to “mostly be seen in the public using their wheelchairs or scooters,” said Judy Hoit, Ms. Wheelchair America’s treasurer. “Otherwise you’ve got women who are in their wheelchairs all the time and they get offended if they see someone standing up. We can’t have title holders out there walking when they’re seen in the public.”

link