American (church) Idols of the 21st Century

I have been re-reading my copy of "An Introduction to Christianity" by Alister E. McGrath, which I picked up many years ago.  It is a wonderful, basic, introduction to how we got here in the first place!  Every couple of years or so, I go back and read it again, as a refresher, because it is just that good!

I just finished the section on The Early Church, to c. 700, and in this section, Mr. McGrath, discusses the evolution of the Celtic church and how very different it was from the Roman-British church that existed at that time.   In reading this section, I was struck by the similar parallel that I see happening today in Methodism.  Let me quote directly from the book, to help you better understand what I’m talking about:

“It is no exaggeration to say that the Irish church was monastic, with the Abbot rather than the Bishop being seen as pre-eminent…The Irish monastic model came to be seen as a threat to the Roman model of the episcopate, in which the government of the church resided firmly in the hands of the Bishops.  None of the Abbots of Iona ever allowed Bishops to ordain formally then, rejecting the need for any such ‘official’ recognition…Abbeys were responsible for the pastoral care of the churches which grew up in their vicinity.  The Roman Episcopal system was thus marginalized.  The Celtic church leaders were openly critical of worldly wealth and status…”

What result did we Methodists clearly see coming out of General Conference?  A lack of trust in our Bishops due to the obsession with numbers and money (metrics).  It is my opinion that the statement  that came out from the New England Conference delegates is a reflection of that reality.  It doesn’t mean that I agree fully with their statement, but it does mean that I can better understand where they are coming from!  We have a group of churches who sincerely believe that they should be able to minister as they see fit, without being impeded by the hierarchy of the church.  But they also expect to receive the support and resources that come from being in a connectional system.

I agree that our system is too top heavy.  I think our Bishops would agree with that as well.  I acknowledge the fact that there are distinct differences between conferences.  But I also believe that there should be an expectation of common beliefs of theology between each conference and each church.  Call it Methodist Ethos, call it common theology, call it whatever you want, but I believe that the message should be consistent.  Just as there are practices in the Catholic church that make it distinctly Catholic, there are also practices in the Methodist church that make it distinctly Methodist.  Being part of this connectional system does not give us the liberty to pick and choose, but that is what some would like to do.  And I think the driving reasons behind this, are because of a lack of trust and an underlying belief that “picking and choosing” will “fix the problems” that we have heard about for so long!

For more years than I care to think about, we have heard nothing but the bemoaning of our denominational decline.  And plan after plan has been put forward to “reverse the trend” of our impending “death tsunami”.  On one end, we have metrics, and vital congregations and elimination of guaranteed appointment.  On the other end, we have the call to allow individual churches to minister as they see fit.  Proponents of the various positions are equally sincere, they truly believe that they have a plan that will work!  They truly believe that this will fix the problem.  But the vast majority of these plans end up being “sound and fury signifying nothing”.  Why?

If I had to put a finger on it, I would have to say that what we are looking at the wrong things.  We have created our own 21st century idols, hoping that they are the answers to all our problems.  Believe me, I am fully aware that this will not be a particularly popular message for people to hear.  I also know that some of you probably think I’ve gone off my rocker-how could I possibly make a leap to that sort of opinion?!  Hear me out, please.  In modern society we tend to think of Idols, as little carved figures made of wood or gold or precious stones, that people bowed down to, and how utterly foolish ancient people were to think that they held power!  But as Wesley pointed out in one of his sermons, sin can be far more subtle.  Idols can be things that we least suspect.  (See John Meunier's post "Giving the Devil His Due)

I was reading in Ezekiel and I saw some things, some idolatry, that the Lord pointed out to the Prophet and I was amazed at how similar they are to things that we do today.   Let’s take a quick tour and hopefully, you will see what I am talking about.  All scripture quotes come from the Wesley Study Bible (NRSV).

Ezekiel 7:19:

“…Their silver and gold cannot save them on the day of the wrath of the Lord…”

Our current thinking is money will save the church.  Or, money will save us from disaster.  Money involves numbers.  Money is neither good nor bad, it is our attitude towards money that turns it into an idol.  How do we use it?  Is it our top priority?  Or is it a tool that we use for good?  There is no doubt that we have to be better stewards of money, but our focus on money (and the related bean counting that goes along with it) has become an idol.  Like it or not, it is a stumbling block and this is something that Wesley warned about strongly in his sermons.

Ezekiel 7:24

“…I will put an end to the arrogance of the strong…”

I am right, and you are wrong.  It’s my way or the highway.  How often have we heard this type of position?  This is not Holy Conferencing, this is posturing for position.  If I say it loudly enough and often enough I may very well wear you down!  As someone watching from the sidelines, let me put it to you this way-you are screaming so loudly that I can’t hear you!  And quite frankly, if you keep screaming at me, I’m going to tune you out completely.  Enough is enough!  It is time to talk with each other rather than at it other.  Arrogance is an idol.  

Ezekiel 8:5

“…in the entrance, was this image of jealousy…”

There’s a doozey!  “The churches overseas are growing, yet we put in all the money.”  “The (insert name here) Jurisdiction has far too much influence.”  “The current church doctrine keeps too many people away and keeps us from effective ministry.”  “Those mega churches are being favored  over all the rest of the other churches in the denomination.”  “Too many churches have become nothing more than Country Clubs concerned with their own well being and that’s why we are not growing.”  Remember these little tidbits of quotations, anyone?  Oh why can’t I do my job and why are we not growing, we say.  It’s because of “those other folks!”  It’s not pretty, and it’s not something we like to admit to, but let’s face it, there is strife and envy in our ranks and jealousy is her name.

Ezekiel 8:12

“…Mortal, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each in his room of images?”

Ezekiel 8:16

“….between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men, with their back to the temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the east, prostrating themselves to the sun toward the east.”

These two scriptures, in my mind, go together.  Instead of following the ordinances that God commanded, they instead started following the ordinances of the nations around them.  Or, in other words, they started catering to the world in their worship.  As Christians, we are called to be peculiar-different and distinct, just as Israel was in their day.  We are called to worship the Creator, not the created.  We are expected to be different.  Yet, we tend to try to do the opposite.  Instead of being different, we try to be just like them.  Why would someone come to our church if we look just like the rest of the world?  Where is our good news message?  Sin is real, so is hope.  Hope, faith and love-do we offer that to the world at large?  Or do we offer much of what can be found in the world because we are busy trying to be like the rest of the world?

It breaks my heart because I honestly feel that we are no different than Israel at the time of their judgment.  Not only do we distrust each other, we distrust the message that we are commanded to share.  We distrust God and his spirit to guide us and see us through.  From top to bottom we are acting no differently then they did.  We can see the sad results of that level of distrust when the Lord said to Ezekiel in chapter 7, verse 27:
“According to their way I will deal with them; according to their own judgments I will judge them.”

If that was the end of the story, it would be a sad story, indeed!  But there is hope!  Why were the Prophets sent by God?  As an act of mercy, to give people the chance to repent.  That opportunity is still available to us today, if we will choose to accept it.  Will we repent of our idols of numbers and money, of arrogance and jealousy and trying to be like the world?  Will we repent together, as one body, top to bottom, recognizing that we all played a part in arriving at this point?  Will we work together as one body with many parts or will we choose to go our separate ways?  Time will tell.  But understand, whatever choice we make, we will be judged accordingly.    Lord, have mercy!  Forgive us our corporate and individual sins and show us your way!  Help us to let go of, and move beyond, our 21st century idols.  This I sincerely pray.  Amen.

Shepherd Leadership

I think that the first thing that we need to look at when talking about the seven churches in Revelation is the role that leadership played.  Leaders and leadership teams can make or break a congregation.  On the flip side, congregations can make or break a leader or leadership team as well!  Let's go back to First Peter chapter 5 where he tells the leaders his concern (from The Message paraphrase):

"Here's my concern: that you care for God's flock with all the diligence of a shepherd.  Not because you have to, but because you want to please God.  Not calculating what you can get out of it, but acting spontaneously.  Not bossily telling others what to do, but tenderly showing them the way."

Here is Webster's dictionary definition of Shepherd as it relates to leading:

"to conduct, guide (a group of people) and prevent them from lagging or straying" 

So a Shepherd leader guides a group diligently (preventing lagging and straying) and they do so because they want to please God.  It's not because they "have to", or because they like being in charge or because they think they'll get something out of it.  It's because of a love of pleasing God and doing what he has asked of his leaders.

Ezekiel 34 gives us an idea of what God had in mind when he describes what God plans to do as THE Shepherd.  God the Shepherd will:  rescue, bring them out, gather them, bring them to the mountain, feed them with "good pasture", make them to lie down (rest).  He will also, seek the lost, bring back the strays, bind up the injured and strengthen the weak.

Feeling overwhelmed yet?  Sound like Mission Impossible especially with some of the goats at your church who like to ram into everything head first?  On our own, I would agree that the task seems insurmountable!

I started writing this particular piece on Monday with the intent of publishing it on Monday.  I wanted to come up with some sort of list of characteristics that define a leader and really flesh out this idea of Shepherd Leadership.  So I pulled all of my books out on church growth and spent time browsing through them again.  What took me by surprise, was the realization that none of these books talk about what makes a good leader in the first place!  Each and every book, that I have read, specifically, about church growth and turn-around strategies focuses on the congregation-not the minister leading the congregation.  It is assumed that a minister already has the skill set to implement an effective vision.  The closest I can come to a list of leadership skills comes from the book "Turn Around Strategies for the Small Church" by Ron Crandall.  Here are the 11 items that he labeled "Leadership role of the Pastor":

1)  Visionary  2)  Enabler/Encourager  3)  Partner/Friend  4)  Facilitator  5)  Cheerleader
6) Transformational Leader/Change Agent  7)  Spiritual Leader  8)  Caregiver
9)  Manager/Director  10)  Coach for Success  11)  Expert/Initiator

Pardon me for saying so, but I think that list is just as clear as mud!  And maybe, just maybe, that is why we have growth issues in the modern day church.  If a minister-the shepherd-the leader doesn't have a clear understanding of what is truly required of them out in the field, then how can they lead change?  A minister needs a clear understanding of their calling and vision.  They need to know their strengths and weaknesses.  What is a minister's specific gifts and how can they best use them when ministering to a congregation?  If you do not have that in the first place then how can an individual be expected to help a congregation cast a vision?

The first session that Adam Hamilton led at Leadership Institute had to do with Leadership Essentials.  His five point list is where I got the Ezekiel 34 reference from, that I talked about earlier.  Here's what he said:

1)  It's all about people.  Effective leaders build relationships.
2)  Leaders Clarify the Mission.  Mission=Why (Ezek. 34)
3)  Leaders help churches or ministries to discern God's Vision.  Vision=Where
4)  Leaders honestly face shortcomings and pursue excellence.  How can we do this better?
5)  Meaningful, moving, well led worship.

Bill Hybels also spoke at the Leadership Institute but I will leave what he had to say for another day.  As to Adam's list, I like it, I think it is workable but I also believe that the list comes from a place where the leader has a clear personal vision in the first place.  I'm not so convinced that all of our Ministers have that sort of clear vision to begin with!

So instead of focusing on accountability, perhaps the leadership of the church should focus on helping their ministers create their own clear vision before they ask them to help a congregation create a vision for ministry in their community.  Perhaps we need to go back and look at how these individuals are being trained in the first place.  Are we truly preparing them to be able to handle what they will experience when they are assigned to a local congregation?  Have we helped them clarify why they are in ministry?  Is that vision strong enough to carry them over the rough patches?  Do they have the skill set to be able to Shepherd a church through a process of change?  I think that these are questions worth asking.  If we want to see change, we need to make certain that the individuals being asked to lead the change, clearly understand their vision, first!

Want to create Shepherd Leaders?  Then give them the tools they need to be able to see the process through!

The Healing Balm of Harvey Lake-Going with the Flow

Disconnect- (verb) to cause to be no longer connected, (adjective) disjoined, not connected

A perfect description of how I have felt over the last few months!  Life had become merely a matter of going through the motions hoping for that time when I could be rejoined or reconnected.  There was so much to deal with and so little time to catch my breath!  By the time I got to Vermont I was literally physically and emotionally exhausted.  Spiritually I had been holding my own but even that was beginning to wear thin!  I desperately needed a chance to recharge and reconnect!

Nature is one of those things that has always been able to soothe me when I'm going through rough times.  Vermont has plenty of variety in that category!  One of the hardest parts about living in Missouri in the summer time is that it gets so hot and humid that you have no choice but to close up the house and turn on the air conditioning.  No bird song, no hearing the leaves rustle as the wind blows, no sound of frogs singing at night.  Just the quiet hum of the electric fan pumping cool humid free air through the house.  It's tough to walk outside other than to walk to your air conditioned car or from your air conditioned car to your house.  Even gardening becomes an elemental task of endurance, rather than the pleasure it had always been for me!  And swimming?  There are not many lakes here.  There are rivers but you really can't swim in the Missouri or Mississippi and quite frankly, I'm not so sure I'd want to! 

These were not problems I faced at Harvey Lake!  The air was light and sweet filled with the smell of pine.  The windows of the cabin were open day and night.  The water ran crystal clear and cold and there was the steady gentle lap of waves as they hit along the shore.  No cell phone, no satellite television, no major chain store nearby.  I did have a dock that I could go swimming, fishing or boating from.  I had a fire pit in the front yard to roast hotdogs and marshmallows.  I had a porch to sit on and watch the action on the lake and enjoy the incredible mountain view.  And there were card and board games to play on the rainy nights. 

Harvey Lake is located on the eastern side of Vermont in a little town called West Barnet.  The area reminds me of the Vermont of my childhood-uncluttered, unpretentious and perfectly comfortable.  I discovered from talking with our camp neighbors that I was fortunate to be able to rent the cabin.  Apparently the owners, John and Julia, do not normally rent out their cabin.   It is truly a small gem set in a perfect location!  I can honestly say, there but by the Grace of God go I.  The cabin and the lake were truly a refuge for a battered and weary soul!

Lonnie came with us as well.  He had never been east so I had the chance to show him around a bit.  He got a chance to hike up Hunger Mountain and we all experienced the joy of walking around St. Johnsbury.  We ate the most fantastic meal at the local diner and my family got to experience the wonder of shopping at a small locally owned independent bookstore.  Funny story in all of this-St. Johnsbury still has parking meters and my husband and Lonnie were giddy with excitement because they got to park by a meter and feed quarters in to it!  They thought that was just the coolest thing ever!  My favorite part was stopping by a farm in Walden where I was able to purchase fresh blueberries!  I also finally replaced my 10 year old purse with a new beautiful fabric purse handcrafted in Vermont!  One of the things it made me realize was just how much I miss really fresh food which has spurred me on to get in a fall garden as soon as possible!  The produce was lusciously divine, I kid you not!  I love roadside farm stands!

Then of course, there was the reason for the trip-dad's funeral.  It was truly a wonderful memorial to the life of my father who not only made a difference in my life but in the lives of so many around our family.  I had the opportunity to reconnect with cousins and neighbors and dear childhood friends!  There were hugs and tears but also laughter and story swapping and catching up, it truly was a celebration!  Dad would have thoroughly enjoyed the get together!

Leaving was hard.  I made sure I cleaned the cabin thoroughly because I wanted to be certain that I left it in as pristine condition as I found it.  Then there was the stop by the folk's house to say good-bye to my family.  I didn't cry until we crossed the border from Vermont to New York.  Another chapter of life closed behind me, another chapter was ahead of me.  Life continues to flow on whether we are ready for it or not!  I wasn't so sure I was ready!

I was reminded of the importance of the flow when reading Ezekiel this morning.  In chapter 47 it says:

"Wherever the river flows, life will flourish...Where the river flows life abounds."

I needed to reconnect with the flow and to experience life again.  The sounds, the smells, the tastes.  The noise, the peace, the tears and the joy.  I stepped in to the moving water at Harvey Lake.  I immersed myself in the beauty and nature of Vermont.  I wrapped myself in the arms of loving family and friends.  I went with the flow and the healing balm washed over me.  Life will flourish, life will abound.  You just have to go with the flow and sometimes when you are so overwhelmed that can be a very hard choice indeed!

May you find your very own Harvey Lake.  May you recharge, reconnect and go with the flow.  There is a life of abundance waiting, just for you!  And great big luscious blueberries too!

Storm Clouds?

I'm not going to write a long piece today because what I read this morning speaks for itself. From The Message paraphrase of Ezekiel 22:

"The leaders among you became desperate...They grabbed and looted leaving widows in their wake.  Your Priests violated my law and desecrated my holy things.  They can't tell the difference between sacred and secular.  They tell people there's no difference between right and wrong...Your politicians are like wolves prowling and killing and rapaciously taking whatever they want.  Your preachers cover up for the politicians by pretending to have received visions and special revelations...Extortion is rife, robbery is epidemic, the poor and needy are abused, outsiders are kicked around at will, with no access to justice."

Needless to say I stopped right there and started to pray.  Is the storm coming full force or is there hope for a tide of change? 

Here's the answer I got to my question.  Matthew 17:20 from the Wesleyan Study Bible:

"...For truly I tell you if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you."

 Father God, I believe that you are in charge of ALL things.  I have faith that you can work all things for the good of those who love you.  Although it may look like storm clouds are gathering I believe that you will turn them in to showers of faith, wisdom and blessing.  My hope in leaders is like a mustard seed but my hope in you knows no bounds!  Nothing is impossible for you!  Your will, Father, and your will only be done in this place I pray.  Amen and Amen!