Soul Renovatus

The power of narrative...

I'm becoming more convinced of the power of narrative in preaching and teaching...

It's initially strange to think that I'm learning these lessons teaching 5th and 6th graders.

However, we've been experimenting with our teachings.  Many times we like to talk about the story.  That is, we mention a passage of Scripture, and then we explain it's application to our daily lives. 

But what if we just told the story period? Instead of becoming good preachers and teachers, what if we became good storytellers?

Here's an example, in our latest series, we told the story of Moses and the burning bush.  How many times have we heard that story?  But what is it about the story that makes it so compelling?  What seems to be the point?

Well, in the case of Exodus 1-3, we decided that God always hears the cry of the oppressed (surprise, surprise).

So, with that in mind, we asked ourselves, How do we capture that one idea and crafted a good story out of it?  How can we let the story speak for itself with that one point in mind?"

Well, we decided to tell the story, but omit all of the characters.

We talked about slaves, and how they were slaves for a long time, about how an evil slave master killed off all of the boys.  Consistently throughout the story, we had everyone yell, HELP!!  We also had the slaves ask the same questions:

"God, can you hear us? Do you even care?"

These two questions were littered throughout the entire story.

We inserted a son, who was miraculously saved from the evil master, and eventually seeing these slaves being beaten.  They continued to cry help and ask those two questions.  The son thought it would be great to beat the slave master himself, to feel like one of the slaves.  The slaves didn't react to well to this.  The son ran away.  He saw something strange...something like a flame.  It spoke.  And it said...

"Moses, I have seen the misery of my people in Egypt, I have heard their cry and felt their suffering, and I'm coming to HELP."

Now...there were some details I left out for the sake of brevity, but can you get a glimpse of the power of narrative?  All throughout the story, the vibe was, "Does God really care about us?  When we're in a lowest moments, does God hear us when we cry out?"  The end of the story says YES.  But we didn't have to tell them about that point.  We just let the story say it for us.

I remember stories much more than I remember teachings about the story.  I guarantee your students (and any age you teach) will as well.  We always remember good stories over great teachings.

We need more great storytellers. 

It's only a matter of time...

Seriously, this stuff makes me sick:

Guitar Praise

(does anyone know how to embed a photo you've uploaded to Typepad? I'm having problems)

Look, I'm sure there's some redemptive qualities to it, but a whole 'nother game?  Is there a possbility of this being an add-on pack to original game?

Plus, I just like some of the music in the real Guitar Hero more.

This is Christian marketing at its best worst.

Forgiving the Church...

A great quote from Henri Nouwen:

"When we have been wounded by the Church, our temptation is to reject it. But when we reject the Church it becomes very hard for us to keep in touch with the living Christ. When we say, "I love Jesus, but I hate the Church," we end up losing not only the Church but Jesus too. The challenge is to forgive the Church. This challenge is especially great because the Church seldom asks us for forgiveness, at least not officially. But the Church as an often fallible human organization needs our forgiveness, while the Church as the living Christ among us continues to offer us forgiveness."

 

"It is important to think about the Church not as "over there" but as a community of struggling, weak people of whom we are part and in whom we meet our Lord and Redeemer."

Why personality assessments are important in hiring...

I met with one of my professors yesterday and we were walking through my personality assessments from class.  Not really much has changed over the years with my personality, but what was interesting was asking questions regarding its applications in what job I get. 

If you are familiar with the Myers-Briggs personality inventory, my type is ENFP.  The first letter deals with how you get your energy, from people (E-Extrovert) or by away from them (I-Introvert), the second is how you see the world, how you take in information, either through the five senses (S-Sensory), which is the type of person who can map out the details of a vision or big picture, or through intuition (N-Intuitive), which are more of the big picture people.  The third letter deals with how you make decisions, through thinking or by your gut.  This doesn't necessarily mean thinkers don't feel and vice versa, but if you were cornered down in the end, how would you make decisions?  The final letter deals with how you organize.  J's (Judging) are the Type A organizers.  They have to have everything lined up for them.  P's are more spontaneous and less organized than J's.

Now, what was interesting to me as we were talking was the second letter.  I am a big vision guy, a big picture guy.  I see the possibilities in people, the hopes, the dreams.  However, when I read most job descriptions, I read something like this in the expectations:

-able to cast vision and big picture for youth ministry
-great attention to details (or good administrator)

There are certain people who are good at both.  If you find one of those types of people, consider yourself blessed. However, for the most that aren't, what if you're the vision person, but have a harder time mapping out the details?  The fact is, you need to surround yourself with people who are the "detail" people.  What I found in my past church experiences was that the church expected you to perform at a high level at both.  What ended up happening to me was that the things that I did well were knocked down a notch because I was expected to be the details guy.  When I tried to foster support, getting those who were detail people to help me, there was the attitude of "this is what we pay you for." 

This went on for 8+ years, and it killed me.  The same goes with organization.  My spontaneity and improvising was great, but I had a harder time organizing in general.  I didn't have an assistant, and again, for the same reasons, could not find anybody to help me, or it was chalked up to "this is what we pay you for," or "you should be mature enough to know how to do this."  It doesn't mean I can't do it, it just takes a TON more energy for me, and, in the end, if I am spending most of time doing these types of things, it sacrificed what I'm good at, or at least performed at a much lower level than I'm capable of.

Most people thought this explanation was just making excuses, but reflecting on this for the last 2 years, I see that it was really about understanding how you "fit" within in a culture, and whether or not that culture has realistic expectations of who you are, and let you operate in your strengths while helping you find support for your weaknesses.

I'm just curious on how many people have been dismissed or resigned from positions because of this fact. Some people have problems with using personality assessments in hiring, but I'm a believer that you are not just hiring a resume, but a particular type of person (and I have a huge problem with resume hiring in churches, I'll explain in another post), and if that person does not fit in your culture, or if there is not going to be support for that person in areas where they are not as strong in, yet expected to perform high in, then you need to find someone else.

My problem was, I wasn't even aware of this until after the fact.  It's only been the last couple of years of sitting back and reflecting that I've been able to see this.  I'm a believer that a person must operate in their strengths (that's really what you hired them for), and to have support for them in the areas they are not good at to improve on the weaknesses.  If you're focus is to have them improve their weaknesses to get up to the level of their strengths, you will burn them out and chase them out the door.  Quite honestly, I don't think churches even consider that they are part of the problem.  It is mostly attributed to that person's lack of performance, so (and I'm speaking from a youth ministry context), you're switching leaders every 2-3 years or so, because they can only do so much.

Now, I'm not saying this is the SOLE cause of the longevity problem, but I think it's one part that isn't really thought about too much by church hiring committees, boards, etc...

Long enough for now, I hope it makes sense.

Ok, I'm just going to say it...

I am tired of people getting amped up on others when they don't say the particular "catch phrases" about Christians sharing Jesus with others.  The last couple of weeks, I have been reading various blogs and having face-to-face conversations with some who are upset are certain people because they apparently missed an "opportunity to share the gospel."  Specifically, I hear that of one of my pastors, Rob Bell, when he's out and about at things (the Seeds of Compassion conference comes to mind) as well as his weekly teachings.

My friends, in response to this let me ask a question, is it possible to speak about something, or a truth, without ever mentioning its name or label?  I think anyone with any shred of common sense could answer that.  Assuming you know the correct answer, wouldn't it be possible for someone to share the truth of Jesus without going through the standard mantra of description?

My wife (who is 1000 times more brilliant than I could ever dream, posted a comment on my friend Erica's blog regarding this:

"Okay, I just watched the clips of Rob at the Seeds of Compassion event. As a follower of Jesus and a member of Mars Hill I must say I am very proud of how Rob spoke beautiful truths in response to those questions. I am blessed to have the privilege to be engaged in those truths each and every time I hear him teach. I am blessed that he has spoken such truth into my life personally and directly. To say that he did not share Christ is absurd! As Christians, aren't we supposed to share Christ with our lives? If all truth is God's truth, then when we speak truth are we not sharing Christ?

As for not sharing the power of the cross, I am in complete disagreement. I have no idea whether he gave a "gospel presentation" off camera, but the words he spoke were indeed the power of the cross! Redemption and forgiveness and resurrection were the issues he spoke on - if that's not the power of the cross, I don't know what is! He did not need to use the specific phrases we are so used to hearing in our churches to share the power of the cross. There are those people who somehow seem to think that the depth of our faith can only be felt and heard with those certain words. How that shortchanges the ability of God to penetrate into the hearts and minds of all people! Rob may have gained more respect from his honest, thoughtful, and poignant responses than if he had done nothing but preach a mini-sermon. He may have lost respect. What if his answers encourage people who wouldn't normally take interest in what Christians had to say to listen to him and be curious about his writings and teachings? From my own personal experience, people who are dis-interested in or turned off by Christians are more than likely to take an interest in Christ from the Christ they see demonstrated in my life, not the the "Christian" words I speak to them."

Some think that because some of these words were not mentioned, the message of the gospel (which could be one of the issues, as that word in itself needs defined) has been "watered-down."  If I speak on the power of forgiveness, of death, and resurrection, do you think it would have any possibility of speaking of Christ, and especially the cross?! 

I think people come to listen to Rob, or Doug Pagitt, or whoever else you want to label as a heretic, evil, or bad (or you fill in the blank), already come with an agenda to nitpick anything they can find (and will take things out of context quickly) without considering that they can speak some truth.  I am always trying to be aware when I take that posture with those whose views I don't totally adhere to (a certain seminary prof comes to mind), but at the same time, I am asking God for the humility to be open to truths that emerge.

If your mind is too shallow to not even consider the person speaking truth, then you are shutting off the Holy Spirit.  What are you so afraid of?

I think people like Rob are showing those who don't profess in Jesus that there are Christians who do want to make the world a better place, who in my mind actually put love on display.  What powerful words Rob spoke in those few minutes regarding violence in our world.  It was a tough question, and he handled it beautifully and spoke with such hope.

So please, for the love of Christ and His Kingdom, please consider this plea to be humble; to acknowledge that God can teach us from anybody, anything, or any circumstance, no matter what our feelings toward them are.  We will become more like Christ because of it.

I think I could go back...

I was talking with some guys from darts last night about church.  One of the guys I talked with used to be studying to be a youth pastor.  He got pretty jaded from church and got fed up.  I said I could relate.  With that, I told him, "I think at this point I could go back to full-time church work, although it would have to be under very specific conditions."  I think that was the first time I had said that since being here at Mars Hill and actually believing it.

Now, I don't know what Julia would think about that (although I'm pretty confident on what she would say), but it's a much better place than where I was.  I think have a lot deeper well to draw from to put a frame around my experiences, and a little more maturity on what to do the next time around.

Of course, time will tell, but this is way beyond where I thought I would be now.

So what about church buildings?

My friend Joe told me he was doing a podcast last night on church buildings.  So I was curious, how important is a facility to a church? What percentage of your community's budget should go into it? 

Mars Hill is obviously very minimal in regards to their facility. Many people who have visited look at me after and say, "That's it?" The tour usually takes somewhere around 2-3 minutes.  I know there was one church that visited that had a discussion about how "minimal" the Shed was. Rob says many times, "Church is not where you gather, but where you scatter."  I think MH takes this to heart by not investing too much in the facility and channeling those resources elsewhere.

Anyway, what you do y'all think?

Am I too "anti-?"

I grew up hating Christians and the church.  I just didn't like them all, especially when the pronounced my judgment to hell everyday.

I hated the fact when i was working for a paycheck in churches that I was told to get "x" number of kids or be deemed "unsuccessful" or "ineffective."

For years I have oriented my life to fight against some of these injustices.  How I would stand up for the loners, for fresh ways of being the church, for passionate ways of following Jesus.

But what happens when all of those issues are taken away?  Then what?

I was sharing this in house church last night.  We have walked through almost every NOOMA made, and we are 6 chapters through Velvet Elvis, and what I'm finding is that everybody in our house church agrees.  There's no heated, passionate debate on issues in the book.  There's no plea on my part to really think about what's being said, or read, or seen.  We are all on the same page.

Now what?

I've been learning to take a book look in the mirror and start taking action on the things I'm for.  There's no more room to devote energy to these debates.  They're not there anymore.  So now what do I do?  Do something about it.  It's been a very surreal, healing part of being here so far.  The conversations I have are not about the pet topics, not about the "emerging church," not about hot theological debates, but what are going to do about the passions God has placed in us?  I want to tell you that when you don't have to expend energy fighting, you can participate with God in some pretty incredible things.

It's amazing to me how many churches are little bent toward what I used to spend my energy doing.  I think a lot of times churches are focused on trying to please everybody.  Sure, they may say they're not, but when a top giver in the church wants something done, people listen.  When someone decides to upset the basket with some hot topic, issue, or small task, fires are brewed, lines are drawn, and a weekly soap opera begins.  It's almost as if our week isn't very exciting if this stuff doesn't happen.

I just don't want to be any part of that now.  I'm coming on almost a year out of a paycheck from the church, and I am always curious that if I could ever go back to the environments I found myself in.  I don't think I can.  I think that was my Egypt.  I've left that place, am arriving at Sinai, and discovering a new mission God has for me, to start doing all of the things I've been dreaming about, fighting for, and preaching on.

I honestly think most in our churches are too "anti."  Always defining ourselves by what we are against.  What are we really for?  And are we doing something about it? 

Think about it for a second. What do you spend most of your energy doing?  Is it with an "anti" posture, or is it with a "pro" posture?

Observations from my new job...

I've been working my new job for about 3 months now, and it's been an interesting time.  Obviously, it's different than being full-time in the church, but I'm immediately confronted with some similarities:

1. Production:  I'm immediately hit with this.  From the feedback I get from the members that call me, I would say about 85% of the time they tell me that I'm the kindest person they have ever talked to (and some of them have been members for 25 years!).  I was always baffled by this statement until a couple things happened recently, one of them being able to listen to another agent take a call.  It was pretty much like most customer service reps I hear: boring, unenthused, with no personality whatsoever.  I've heard about 3 other agents now so I can understand why people are saying that.

The other time was when I was just evaluated last week by a supervisor.  Each month I get a "coaching" from a supervisor who listens into 3 calls and then talks to me about them.  I had never met anyone so cold.  Basically it was like this, "You're not using you're business friendly phrases here, and you need to do this to get your revenue up."  When people call me, I want them to feel like we're in the living room or at the table having a conversation about planning their vacation.  I was grilled on using "Uh-huh" during my call.  Usually when I don't is when the caller asks if I'm still there.  So I guess the supervisor didn't like the informal lingo.  So it doesn't matter how pleasant I am, if I don't make enough money FOGET ABOUT IT.  I'm actually making about 85% of my goal, which only about 20% of our agents so far have hit 100%.

OK, so what does this have to do with my other job?  It was the same situation at most of my other churches, but just substitute lingo. "Well you should have X amount of kids by this time, and X amount of kids by this time, and X amount of conversions."   Well, you're office should always be like X and you should never ask for help because you're a pastor and that's s abusing authority, and ...you get the picture.

The pressure to produce is rampant in the church.  And how production is defined is pretty much exactly the same as the job I work for now...which I think is a real problem.  Look, of course I would want more students involved in our ministry over time, who wouldn't?  But there is a STARK difference between using strictly numbers without asking about the relational elements.  It is the relationships with people I remember that has had the most significant spiritual impact on my life, not whether I showed up to this particular large gathering or not.

2. Passion:  It really does go a long way.  I don't necessarily feel "called" to do this job, but at the same time, part of following Jesus is pouring you're all into it.  I want the caller to feel as relaxed as possible, and want them to know that I enjoy what I do.  I actually don't mind this job.  It's fun trying to plan vacations for others, but when I heard those other agents I feel like I'm talking to Ben Stein when he says "Our system is made of nine planets..." gig.  Seriously, I'd rather stare at ants walking on the sidewalk then listen to some of those agents service a call.

It is the same in the church.  I'm grateful that no one in all of the churches I've served have ever questioned my passion.  That is one quality I know that hasn't faded.  It's a passion for life, to help people enjoy it, even if I don't feel like I am enjoying it.  I know that God uses all of us no matter if we feel great or not, and that is such an amazing, humbling fact.  So in whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God, which passion.

3. Integrity:  This has really come up in the last couple of weeks at my new job.  In the market to get revenue, I'm finding out that some other agents trick the system to get credit for revenue when it really should be given to me.  Of course now I'm a little more careful to document to get credit for certain things, hopefully increasing my revenue this month, but I know I would never do that to another agent.  In a huge call center, no one is going to know what the situation is unless you document it.

In my church settings, I remember having disputes with parents over some pretty ridiculous things.  I actually documented it and filed it away.  When my integrity was in question I made sure I had a history of the conversation for those very reasons.  I also kept a log of my hours on where I had been and such.  There were a couple of churches who required me to turn it in every week (I have mixed reactions on that, but I digress).  Again, the encouraging thing about all of my church experiences is that no one has ever questioned my integrity overall.  I'm sure there were a few incidents here and there, but overall if someone were to ask if I had integrity, they would say a resounding yes.

I still don't know how I'm feeling about what's next.  It is definitely getting more difficult as time goes on.  I miss the daily grind of church life, but part of me doesn't miss it.  I miss being a part of full-time youth ministry for a paycheck on a regular basis though.  I loved what I did, it's hard to be away from it.

At the same time, I've had much more time for friends, neighbors, and my community.  It's felt more life-giving than many other times in the past.  It's great to have time for them when they have needs, or just because.  I know that we have desperately needed that aspect in our lives, so I'm grateful to God for this season.

The power of encouragment and mentoring...

I have the privilege of mentoring a couple of elementary students through 2 different schools.  One is an effort of our church, in which I mentor a kindergartner, and the other is my local elementary school, in which I mentor a 4th grader.

When I initially started out, I was told this 4th grader is a good 1-2 grade levels behind everyone else.  On the board there was a sheet of assignments that students had left to do.  You would see a couple of names, and even a couple of names with multiple assignments here and there.  In the left hand corner though, from a distance, looked like a novel with a bunch of scratches on it.  It was my 4th grader's assignments he had to make up.  It was twice as long as the others combined.  I can't imagine how this kid felt being reminded every day that he's stupid (as he had heard from his siblings and some of his classmates all of time). 

So, needless to say, we have a long road ahead.  I've been working with him for about 7-8 weeks now, and there is a particular story I want to share with you.

There was a Social Studies test he had to pass or was told he isn't going into 5th grade.  This clearly upset my 4th grader, and he had already written in his mind that he wasn't going to pass, that he was doomed to be held back, therefore confirming the voices in his head that says he is stupid.

Just the week before, when filling out a sheet about himself (he was to write his own autobiography for class), he told me that his one goal in life was to go to college.  I'm sure many who would hear that (including his family) would hope that he just makes it to high school at this point. 

One of the first things I told him when we met was that I would never call him dumb and stupid, because it simply isn't true.  Of the many times we would work on things together, he would tell me the answer about 85% of the time.  I told him he's a lot smarter than he gives himself credit for.  I could see some of the confidence start to build.

Back to the test.  We studied hard for this thing.  I drilled him.  I even went to his house to help him the night before the test.  I got to meet his mother, gave her the study sheet, and told her how smart her kid was and that she needs to help him study (I'm pretty confident that maybe some of her previous efforts were not positive).  She nods her head and tells me she will.

Spring break happens, I come back the next week, and ask him how he did on his test.  Not only did he pass, but he got a B!  He was beaming from ear to ear!  Not only that, but the sheet on the board in his classrooms with all of his makeup assignments were gone, and I was told by his teacher that he no work to make up! He also told me his mom helped him study for the test! So we got to play Connect 4 most of the time.  He was so proud.  As was I.  You could see the hope shooting out like lasers from his eyes.

Proverbs 16:24 says, "Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones."  I am reminded through my 4th grader of the power of encouragement.  To literally, "instill courage" into this young boy.  I don't how many times I have not been encouraging to others, how I don't pursue it daily (as Hebrews 3:13 tells us to do).  I look at many of these students we are mentoring, and see what a need there is for people to come along side them, to "instill courage" in them and give them hope.  If you think about it, this is how the Holy Spirit is described, the Paraclete, the "one who comes alongside."  Our gift is that we can be "paracletes" to these children. 

I remember asking the teacher about the children's support system in her class.  She told me that out of the 20 kids she has, she would say 3 of them have supportive parents.  This is the reality more than the exception.  There are so many kids out there who need you.  I do one hour/week.  That's it.  That one hour has made a significant change in my 4th grader's life, because I have the privilege of coming along side of him, instilling courage, and letting him hope again that he can fulfill his dream of going to college someday.  This is what shalom is about.  This is how exciting life can be.

This is the gospel on display.