Size doesn't matter...

Success is a seductive mistress. Her beauty, and the fact that she's the object of everyone's desire can lull you into thinking that, once you've captured her, your integrity, faithfulness, wisdom, and worth are impeccable, above questioning. After all, it's the successful people who get on airplanes and go places in order to tell other people how to do their jobs.

This might be well and good in some matters, but I'm suspicious that it might not be a good way of finding the best people to address 'church life'. I say this because success, especially a 'snapshot' of success (such as attendance statistics for Sunday morning worship, or the number of baptisms in the past year), isn't granted to leaders or communities solely on the basis of their faithfulness. A great example of this is Ahab the King of Israel.

You can find his story in I Kings 16-22. Outwardly, I could produce some snapshots that would indicate that this guy must be faithful and righteous. After all, he was at the forefront of two wars with the Arameans, a fierce and violent tribal people who sought to steal Israel's land, wives, children, and gold. But in both wars, Ahab's trips were overwhelmingly victorious.

In American culture, Ahab would be hailed as a bold, innovative leader, and he'd get a few book contracts and start the seminar circuit: "How to get rid of the evil when the odds are against you." It's the kind of seminar pastors seek out, because they want to be successful too, just like Ahab.

Here's the problem though. At the very beginning of Ahab's story, we read this: "Ahab...did evil in the sight of the Lord more than all who were before him." (I Kings 16:20). The Bible gives us a peek into Ahab's private places, and it's there we see his unhealthy marriage to a wicked woman, his faultering and fearing, his double-mindedness and idolatry, his lust and greed. Victorious though he was in battle, his unwillingness to obey God and do the hard things eventuated in Israel's defeat, and his ignoble death. And all this after his book tour and becoming a big time player on the seminar circuit!! He would probably have made appearances with Oprah and Larry King.

So why does God allow an evil king to win a victory or two, significant victories in fact? The key, I believe, is found in a phrase in I Kings 21:6. It's a phrase that occurs many times throughout the prophets: "...and you shall know that I am the Lord" God says that he'll provide victory as a teachable moment for Ahab, so that this weak and indecisive king might learn, once and for all, that the God on whose behalf he is ruling is worthy of trust, worship, and obedience. In other words, God uses people, even in their disobedience, in order that we might learn to trust in His faithfulness and depend on His mercy. The Bible is filled with examples of God using this strategy: "but we have this treasure in earthen vessels..." "consider your calling..." "kindness leads to repentance..." You get the picture.

Unfortunately, we don't really get the picture. We think that the guy who wins the war is wearing a white hat, and so we follow his example. But if God used the guy 'in spite' of his character, not because of it, we can end up following the methods and strategies of someone who will lead us off a cliff.

That's why, in matters of ministry, the very first thing one must consider is the state of the heart - those intangibles like prayer, humility, service, love, and a commitment to the word, are far more important than the size of one's congregation. It's a conundrum, that humble and faithful servants often serve in struggling places in obscurity, while ambitious folk chase the spotlight. One must be equally careful to avoid the conclusion that outward success is evil, because this too would be a foolish paradigm.

Instead, I'd suggest simply shifting the focus of the conversation away from outward expressions, because gives successful outward expressions to the very least of us. Instead, let's expand our horizons by seeking out people who can teach us to pray, digest the word, and serve the broken in this world, for these are the kinds of successes we most desperately need.

correction to previous post

The Book, "Paul, Women and Wives", can be found here. Sorry about the mistake on the previous post.

Also, there's an interesting historical explanation, the best I've ever seen, regarding women, men, and headcoverings, in this Commentary on I Corinthians.

I've some thoughts in answer to Bobby's question (see comments below), but will wait to see how others chime in, if at all.

Digest Amazing Grace

Don't just watch it. Watch it and learn a little history so that you know that there was a time when someone, on the basis of Christian conviction, stood against the overwhelming tide of a Christian nation in order to bring the social implications of the gospel to bear on society. Here was a person who understood the gospel's implications on:

1. the slave trade - that the dignity of each human is more valuable than the economic advantages of a few, gained by oppression.

2. the rush to war - that the lives of soldiers are vital enough, valuable enough, that all means of diplomacy should be fully exhausted before attempting war.

3. politics - that Christ and His kingdom reign, which invites justice for all, and the end of oppression for all people, must be a vision which spills out beyond the walls of our private lives and into the world we live, through art, literature, politic, music, education, health care reform, and more.

4. patience - because the real emancipation came 22 years after the first introduction of the issue in the House of Parliment. Between start and finish there were setbacks, opposition, discouragement, challenge. But William and others "ran with patience" the race that was set before them. So should we.

Each of the four elements above have very real application in the present, and so it seems to me that this a movie for our day. There's a scene in a worship service, where the pastor begins to speak about the necessity to end the slave trade and people walk out. "Give us salve for our spirits. Tell us we're forgiven. Keep it on a spiritual plane. But don't speak to us about the implications of the gospel on our pocketbooks, or our energy consumption, or the dangers of nationalism." Such mindsets among the faithful too often keep the salt and light of the gospel from becoming visible.

But Wilberforce kept going, holding forth the torch of truth in the midst of hostility. It's an encouraging example to me.

Wilberforce said: "I have two concerns: The suppression of the slave trade and the reformation of society"

Happiness, people, and stuff

Richard Layard's book, Happiness, offers compelling and overwhelming evidence from a variety of sources to indicate that, beyond a certain threshold, instead of adding a sense of satisfaction and well-being, wealth has exactly the opposite effect. Feelings of depression, isolation, and anxiety begin to increase when we have too much stuff. The writer of the Proverbs wisely asked for 'just enough' and it's my estimation that most of us reading this blog are beyond 'just enough'.

At the same time, I don't think the point is to vilify wealth, but rather to learn how to value the right things; relationships, community, simple pleasures, enough time to connect with neighbors and be creative - in our culture, if we have these things we're rich indeed, because we already have clean water, education, and access to enough food and shelter to make us comfortable. But the reality is that we've forsaken the pursuit of relational wealth in favor of increased material wealth at a time when many, though not all of us, already have enough. The result of this: increased isolation and social pathologies, and even a diminished sense of national physical health (America ranks 27th in the world in health care/ general health, behind all of Europe).

But just crying 'simplify' isn't a true solution. How, in a city where a house close to work costs over a half-million dollars, are people to find 'enough'? I fear that young people just starting in their careers are either destined to the pursuit of vocational choices made solely by their fiscal rewards, or that they will be destined to jump on the destructive treadmill that is the present American dream - working long hours, commuting long distances, and lacking either time or energy for civic involvement and intimacy during the few free hours that remain.

Perhaps what's needed is a move away from the isolationism and individualism that is the prevailing ethos of the west, and a move instead towards more communitarian values. This could show up in co-housing, food co-ops, community gardens, and...??? and yet I'm not convinced that these changes will ever be made unless required because of political, economic, or environmental necessity. Why is this? I'm wondering what holds us back from simplifying and sharing resources if we know that happiness is diminishing even as our wealth increases?

Any thoughts?

Smorgasbord or Mono Diet?

If you watch this little you-tube piece, you’ll see a creative little caricature of how the state of the church in our capitalist, consumerist culture has mutated to the point where we who comprise the various ‘members’ of Christ’s body have a myriad of choices at our disposal when deciding where to go to church. Of course, if we don’t like where we are, we’ll go somewhere else, somewhere that more closely resembles the desires of our unique personalities and souls.

What do you make of this? Here are some possible answers:

“This sucks! It just proves how selfish we all are. Church, after all, isn’t about having our needs met, it’s about meeting other people’s needs and using our gifts.” That sounds good, but if your children are screaming every Sunday that they don’t want to go to Sunday School because the ‘rooms smell bad’ and you investigate, discovering that the trash cans have rotting fruit in them, and that there are funny stains on the carpet, I wonder if you’ll stay? I especially wonder if you’ll stay if you confront the issue and the people in charge just smile and say, “we’re a friendly church.” If you leave, are you just another consumer? I don’t think so. I think the reality is that we all have our limits, as well we should.

“This is great! The ‘competition’ forces church leaders to take their calling seriously. Remember what happened when the church had a monopoly. That period in history was called the dark ages for a reason. I’m glad we live in a time and place where there are choices.” Yes, but if monopolies fed the weaknesses of church leaders, the multiplication of choices no doubt feeds the weaknesses of church attenders. After all, what constitutes a ‘legitimate’ reason for leaving a church? I don’t think there’s an easy answer to that question. In fact, I’m increasingly convinced that the reasons articulated by people aren’t always the real reasons – though they themselves might not even know the real reasons. But the bottom line is that the multiplication of choices, coupled with the culture of transience that is ours has resulted in a kind of cavalier attitude towards church life.

If it were a marriage (and I understand that it isn’t, but stick with me for a minute), it’s is if we’ve become a culture of partner swapping, whereby we abandon our spouse for the slightest flaw, jumping quickly to another until we find her mole, or extra three pounds of flesh, or piercing laugh at bad jokes. Such a culture of disposability sickens me in human relationships, and deeply saddens me when such a mindset bleeds into the church.

So what is it? Great? Sucking? My sense is that it is what it is. Mindful that I’m not the only person in town who is preaching perhaps makes me a better preacher. But it shouldn’t. Knowing that you can leave one community of faith in order to find one that better ‘meets your needs’ can make you a healthier Christian. And it might. Or it might just reinforce the prevailing ‘throw away’ disposability of our culture that is at the root of so much that is destructive. I just don’t know which it is. That’s why I need prayer, and friends who will tell me the truth, and a commitment that, whatever I do, I will learn how to be in committed relationships – even in a faith community.

Tomorrow: You must be Bourne Again!