Are you a Team Player?

Several years ago my eldest son was interested in attending the Naval Academy. As you might expect, the entrance requirements are quite stringent. In addition to academic requirements, they have a physical fitness test that has to be administered by a coach. They also require an interview with alumni and admissions counselors to determine your fitness to attend and serve.

Although my son was in pretty good shape, physically, one particular point with which they took issue was that he had not played any team sports, only individual sports, like tennis and golf. In their minds it was important, even critical, that he prove himself to be a “team player”.

I think we sometimes forget the importance of that, particularly in our spiritual lives. We tend to think as long as we are living like we should, doing our individual faith practices, like prayer and Bible study, that we are on the right track. But just like the Naval Academy recognizes the critical need to live and work as a team player, I think the same is true for us as God's people.

I know that there are people who have been “burned” by the church or have otherwise become disillusioned with “organized religion”, but just like in athletics, there are some things we cannot do on our own. It is important that we meet together on a regular basis to exercise the communal practices of nurture, hospitality, and love. These things cannot be practiced in isolation.

The writer of Hebrews says, “Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:23-25).

It is our privilege and our responsibility as members of God's family, the church, to meet together and to encourage one another. There may have been times in your spiritual walk with God that you wanted to give up, to say, “Why am I even doing this?” If you were in it alone, you may well have done so. But we are all in this together. We share our joy, as well as our pain, and that's what makes it bearable.

As you make your New Year's resolutions this year, put being more regular at church on the list. Set a specific goal, like only one missed Sunday a month. That way, you can see how well you are doing, you can measure your progress. Don't do it for yourself, because you think its good for you, like castor oil. Do it for others, because we all need the encouragement and the support of our brothers and sisters in Christ.

The Emergent Church

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to attend a conference on what is alternately called Emergent Christianity or Emergence Christianity. Basically, the question is, what will the church look like 10, 20, 50 or 100 years from now?

There is no question that we are in the midst of an upheaval. This generation's gap is greater than ever, it seems. It has to do with technology, and communication, as well as goals and values. Look at the last presidential election. The great mantra was "change". No one, or very few, stopped to ask, "Change to what?" because change, it was deemed, was enough.

So what is happening and will happen in the church? Young people aged 18-35 are staying away from the church in droves. In some cases it means they have abandoned their parent's religious values, but in other cases not. Its not that they don't believe in God, and polls tell us that most do. Rather, its that the old wineskins are inadequate for their expressions and beliefs.



The conference I went to was outstanding in terms of the speakers and their areas of expertise and qualifications to speak on this topic. Richard Rohr, Brian McLaren, Tony Jones, and Phyllis Tickle. If you look them up on Google or Amazon, you will see that they are some of the top writers and thinkers on this subject.

There was a lot of speculation about what the emerging church will look like, and I think its important to state that many have thoughts and opinions, but nobody knows exactly what it is that is emerging, except to say that it won't be your Grandma's church. Musical tastes are different. Communication is different, now we have blogs, texts, and tweets, and social networks like FaceBook and MySpace that are much more immediate and frequently used by this age group.

A couple of things I thought were interesting about the conference. First, most of the people there were middle aged, 50+ and from mainline denominations. Which means they were not from this emerging generation, nor did they go to one of these emergent churches. There are probably not a handful in the D/FW metroplex. Its not just contemporary worship songs. Its a complete change in the way these folks approach church. Second, the pastors of emergent churches that were there, and especially those who spoke, tended to be, in some ways, more traditional than some of the more traditional congregations I know. For example, these folks walk Labyrinths and the Stations of the Cross, they fast during Lent and pray the Psalms. Many of their practices are hundreds of years old, but they are being packaged in new ways. One pastor talked about a theme they are exploring during Advent (yes, they observe Advent). It is that nothing is wasted by God. What seemed like a backward hick town was the birthplace of the Messiah. In practice, they have one of those rolling drum composters at the church, maybe in the sanctuary, where people can "recycle bad theology". For those who have been hurt by the church they can write their pain on recycled newsprint, put it in the composter and give it a turn. When its done, they will plant something and all this pain will cause something good to grow. Kind of a cool idea and VERY memorable.

Many of these new Christians are much more politically liberal than their parents. So what else is new? I think that is reflective rather than definitive. This generation is generally more liberal.

I still have a lot of reading to do on the subject, but the main point is that emerging means just that: its not finished or complete. We don't really know what it will become, except that it will be different. What is it they say, "The only thing that doesn't change is that there will be change"? I think the biggest issue is, Will the church be ready and willing to embrace the change, or will it be swept away and dismissed as obsolete? Time will tell.

Why I Like Roosters

It was early on a Sunday morning. I was sitting in my living room as the sun was coming up thinking and praying (I wish I could say “watching and praying,” as that sounds so much more biblical, but it is what it is). Outside my window, I could hear the rooster in our back yard welcoming the dawn. Yes, we have a small flock, which includes a rooster or two.

I like roosters, although most people don’t. There are lots of reasons not to like them. They can be aggressive; we had one that would attack your leg if you got too close. They are messy, noisy, and generally unproductive. You can only eat them once, but hens lay lots of eggs. But I still like them.

Roosters are mostly known for crowing at dawn, but anyone who has ever had a rooster knows they just start at dawn, and generally crow all day. They stop when the sun goes down, which is a blessing.

As I listened to my rooster, I thought of Jesus’ comments in the Gospel of John. John really likes the juxtaposition of light and darkness. In Chapter 3, Jesus says, “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.” I think what I like about roosters is that they are heralds of the light.

There are many stories, from Chaucer to Wangerin, that characterize roosters as being so full of themselves that they actually think their crowing brings the sun up from beneath the earth. Based on some roosters I have known, I have no doubt of their own self-importance.

But, of course, no matter what the conceited rooster might think, it does NOT bring up the sun. What it DOES do is remind us that the sun is on the way; darkness will be dispelled, and light is coming. That’s why I like roosters; they are the John the Baptists of the animal world. They tell us the sun is on its way. I think that is also why they make such a good Christian symbol; they are heralds of the light, which we should be, on our best days.

You may not choose to have a rooster in your back yard, but since chickens are the most numerous domesticated animal on the planet, you may be able to hear one, even in the city or the suburbs, at the break of day. If you do, think of the coming of the light into the world. It comes to dispel the darkness, literally and figuratively. Behold, the light has come, and the darkness could not overcome it. Rejoice in the rising of the sun!

Burn, Baby, Burn

Some of you may have seen or heard the NPR item about the church in Florida that plans to burn Qu'rans on September 11. It is very sad. The NPR articles are available here: Fla. Minister: Sept. 11 Quran Burn Still Planned

The Church is a small church in Gainsville, FL, and they have received national and international attention. None of it good, I would say. (There were riots in Indonesia)

I thought about how to respond. I could shake my head and sigh, write a letter of protest that would probably be dismissed, or express my thoughts in as constructive a way as I could. That is what I have chosen. I made the following response on the church's "Ten Reasons To Burn A Koran (sic)" blog. Maybe someone will read it. I will also reprint it here for your consideration. God bless and help us all.


Burning the Quran
A response to http://www.doveworld.org/blog/ten-reasons-to-burn-a-koran

I was very saddened to hear of your church’s plan to burn the Qu’ran on Sept 11. Its not because I believe what it says, nor because I support Islam. I do not; I am a Christian, a pastor in Texas. The reason I am saddened is because by your actions and testimony, you deny the Christian gospel message of love and peace and add fuel to the fires of hatred. You have left the way of Christ, and followed the way of jihad, the holy war. You are becoming that which you profess to hate.

Jesus said, “But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.” (Luke 6:27) And “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.” (Matthew 5:44). Christ’s message is clear. It is the way of love.

I implore you not to follow the way of hate, which is not the way of Christ, but to follow instead the way of love, which he lived and taught.

In my community, the local mosque is sponsoring a prayer vigil, open to the community, on Sept 11 to bring people of all faiths together to pray for peace and for the families of those killed 9 years ago. That seems to me to be a much better, more Christ-like way to remember and mourn. How ironic that Christians are acting like jihadists and Muslims are acting like Christians. God works in mysterious ways, his wonders to perform.

Life Imitates Kart

There is an ongoing debate about whether life imitates art or art imitates life. When something about a movie, novel or painting strikes you as odd, cruel, or crude, is it because life is odd, cruel, or crude and the artist is merely imitating what he or she sees, or when the artist pushes the envelope, do the rank and file follow along, and thus life imitates art? I am not really going to engage this debate, but it is a preface to another thought I had this week.

As many of you know, I celebrated a birthday this week, and my family got me my first video game. I always found it hard to break out that much cash for, what I perceived as a massive waste of time. Must be the Scotchman in me. But, evidently, my family thought I should get on the bandwagon, and so I am the proud new owner of a Wii. What Wii stands for, I have no idea, but it is a fun, wireless gaming distraction.

As part of my Wii “package” I received a copy of the game, Mario Kart. For the uninitiated, it is a whiz-bang rollercoaster ride where cartoon characters drive turbo powered go karts through a wide variety of crazy racetracks.

All of this is preface to my point, which is that there is much about Mario Kart that resembles the lessons and tactics of life. Whether life imitates Kart or the other way around, I will leave for someone else to determine.

A couple of examples: When you are going full speed, it is pretty easy for the inexperienced to hit a wall, or otherwise get off track. Much of life today is lived at full velocity, sometimes even with turbo boost. When you’re going that fast its hard to stay on course unless you really know what you’re doing. Once, I thought that small town life would be relaxed and lived at a slower pace, like Andy and Barney sitting on the porch in Mayberry after supper. I know very few people like that. Even some who have consciously tried to slow down still often move at breakneck speeds. At times life comes at you so fast you cannot react thoughtfully or purposefully, only with the knee-jerk of a reflex response. Perhaps that is why we see so many wrecks and fatalities along the highway of life. You just can’t keep up that pace forever, and eventually, you will only end up in the ditch.

Second, when you are flying down the path, it is very difficult to keep one eye on the road and one eye on the map. If you have ever played one of these games, there is usually a map in the upper corner that shows your route; where the turns and twists and hazards are, and where you are in relation to the other racers. This is very helpful information, but its hard to watch the map and the road at the same time.

All of us need a road map in life, to help us understand where we are going and how to get there. The Bible provides that kind of map, if we will only slow down long enough to read it. The problem is, most of us are going too fast to really see where we are going. To me, this underscores the concept the Bible calls Sabbath Rest. It is actually one of the Ten Commandments. Richard Foster considers it one of the disciplines of the Christian life. How curious that in these hectic days, it is a spiritual discipline to rest.

My advice, then, is to slow down. Don’t just stop and smell the roses, although that would be nice. But spend some time with God, go to church and join the faithful in worship, be renewed in body, mind and spirit. Read your Bible, your road map, to figure out where the heck you are going. And maybe even take some time out for Mario Kart. You might just learn something.