Reframing our priorities,

Redeaming the time because the days are evil- is a concept that may elude us often in a time of overcrowded schedules an abundant labor saving devices. 

But it realy does boil down to reframing our priorities.

I sat down this week with a key law-enforcement figure in our town. This is a town of about 6000 people. We have more calls here than they do in the neighboring town of 2500. And that with les than a quarter of the staff. 

Here a hit of Heroin costs less than a case of beer. It is cheeper to be high than drunk. And  the resulting family disintegration is endemic and trans-generational. My law enforcement contact says he has arrested three and four generations in some of the families in town. Many of the kids here know him by name, as the guy who takes away their dad or stepdad after a fight.

He also said that 76% I this town simply refuses to see the problems, that they would rather not see the simple reality of the kids next door.

This week I will be preaching out of Timothy on the standards for godly leadership in the church. And  there is a theme that runs through scripture that is abundantly evident here: fathers and their children. 

The problems in our small town parallel the problem in many churches. Children run wild and the fathers are either clueless, or disengaged. The irony is that with a very blunt clarity Paul says to his young "son" in the faith and ministry, in effect "look at a guy's kids and how he runs his household, that is how you and your church will eventually end up.

I know that many people consider the pastorate a life calling to the expense of their children. And that many churches turn a blind eye to the behavior of a pastor's kids, "Becasue he is such a great preacher." 

But what Paul is calling us to is the reframing of our priorities- because the days are evil. People don't often ask me for help with sorting out their abstract Theology. The nature of God they could pass a test on. What they need is help with marriages, parenting and finances. 

And that is why Paul simply states that if you can't run your household well, you have no place shepherding a church. 

Pastor's kids are virtually a proverb, and while they may not all have been arrested  in turn here in Union City, there are generations of "churched" kids who are all running aground with their kids and marriages and finances in a desperate state. 

We need to re-frame our priorities around the home, and our measurements of success need to touch people where they live - because the days are evil.

It's not Ideal- it's ministry take2

(Some sort of formatting glitch prevented my first attempt from being legible so here is a second try- God Bless)
The church is not, ideally, a group of people who gather together to be served.  The church is a group of servants who gather together to be encouraged and find opportunity to serve. The church is not, ideally, a group of students gathering together to learn. The church is a group of teachers who gather together to clarify the message and inspire one another to teach. The church is not, ideally, a gathering of victims seeking advocacy and aid, but a group of ransomed captives seeking to build each other up in the ways of freedom. The church is not, ideally, an accountability group, rather it is a group of people who acknowledging their accountability before God, encourage and help one another to stand before Him. The church is, ideally, not a (conventional) charity. Charities are groups who minister out of dependence on human aid. Churches should see themselves as stewards of abundant God-given resources.

Of course the church we attend is not ideal.  All people come to church in deep human need, which is why a gathering of servants is also a place of service. We should understand that we are indeed the means by which God intends to minister to the needs of those assembled. All people come to church ignorant in some way of the truth. Which is why a gathering of teachers, is also the primary place of education. We should aspire to be the means that God uses to help someone else see the truth more clearly. All people come to church wounded, and sinful. Which is why a gathering of the redeemed is also commanded by God to aid victims in their distress, and to advocate for them before the Father. All people come to church rightly ashamed of their sin. Which is why a gathering of people who know that they stand ultimately before a holy God, is the ordained place to graciously shine the light of God’s truth into sinful lives. All people come to church dependant on God, and yet each part of the body is uniquely equipped and provided by God to administer the Grace of God. So the gathering of God’s people is a celebration of God’s great provision.

And that is why in the development of ministry philosophy and the practice of ministry, we must prioritize, not serving, but servants; not teaching but teachers; not social justice, but lovers of justice; not recovery groups, but counselors, not benevolence programs, but philanthropists.

So that speaking the truth in love, we [may all] grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, [will make] the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

(Ephesians 4:15-16)

It's not ideal - it's ministry

(Some sort of formatting glitch prevented my first attempt from being legible so here is a second try- God Bless)
The church is not, ideally, a group of people who gather together to be served.  The church is a group of servants who gather together to be encouraged and find opportunity to serve. The church is not, ideally, a group of students gathering together to learn. The church is a group of teachers who gather together to clarify the message and inspire one another to teach. The church is not, ideally, a gathering of victims seeking advocacy and aid, but a group of ransomed captives seeking to build each other up in the ways of freedom. The church is not, ideally, an accountability group, rather it is a group of people who acknowledging their accountability before God, encourage and help one another to stand before Him. The church is, ideally, not a (conventional) charity. Charities are groups who minister out of dependence on human aid. Churches should see themselves as stewards of abundant God-given resources.

Of course the church we attend is not ideal.  All people come to church in deep human need, which is why a gathering of servants is also a place of service. We should understand that we are indeed the means by which God intends to minister to the needs of those assembled. All people come to church ignorant in some way of the truth. Which is why a gathering of teachers, is also the primary place of education. We should aspire to be the means that God uses to help someone else see the truth more clearly. All people come to church wounded, and sinful. Which is why a gathering of the redeemed is also commanded by God to aid victims in their distress, and to advocate for them before the Father. All people come to church rightly ashamed of their sin. Which is why a gathering of people who know that they stand ultimately before a holy God, is the ordained place to graciously shine the light of God’s truth into sinful lives. All people come to church dependant on God, and yet each part of the body is uniquely equipped and provided by God to administer the Grace of God. So the gathering of God’s people is a celebration of God’s great provision.

And that is why in the development of ministry philosophy and the practice of ministry, we must prioritize, not serving, but servants; not teaching but teachers; not social justice, but lovers of justice; not recovery groups, but counselors, not benevolence programs, but philanthropists.

So that speaking the truth in love, we [may all] grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, [will make] the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

(Ephesians 4:15-16)

Laws of Human Dynamics

There are a lot of things that are true which Scripture makes Plain to us about human relationships.  Things like the sinfulness of man- which means that we by nature do thing that are contrary to the revealed will of God, and the depravity of man - which means that our propensity to sin extends to all areas of our lives.   These irrevocably play out in human relationships, when people do that which is contrary to the revealed will of God, and do so in all areas of their lives especially in the context of relationships.

Our eating is contaminated by the propensity to be gluttons. Our Work is contaminated with out propensity to laziness or greed, and our relationships are impacted by those problems and our tendency to want to control and use other people for our own ends, instead of treating others as we wish we were treated, and honoring others as fellow image bearers.

I recently have come upon something which I realized is an implication of those realities, I suppose you could call it the second law of human dynamics, but it simply states that a life in crisis will continue in crisis until acted upon by an outside force. People who sin habitually have regular problems. These problems are predictable (1 Cor 10:13).  But without outside intervention, they will normally spiral downward in a self destructive pattern.

Take an individual who regularly falls to the temptation to not submit to human authorities,  this being a part of God's revealed will it is a sin.  It will inevitably pop up at home, at work, while driving, and in relation to the landlord, because depravity extends the influence of sin to all parts of a person's life. Combine this with a lust for pleasure, or a desire for comfort and you have the makings of a really powerful feedback cycle, which begins to blame authorities for one's own lack of comfort that has been perpetuated by one's own difficulty submitting to human authorities.

As a simple example:
If I don't get along with the boss, my job, and pay will be at risk, if they are at risk so is my comfort, which means that it is really easy to blame the boss for my electrical bill not getting paid.

And that is where people call the church, and I get to listen to them talk about how badly they have been treated ( which is likely since if you sin against the boss, he will likely sin in return ). The problem is, most of the time, people do not want the Biblical solution to their sin, they want the church to cover for it, to sympathize and provide money to bail them out of their problem.

The answer is actually very simple, we need to encounter God's Grace, a force so powerful it can work repentance in even the most hardened of hearts.  But to share God's grace is often a slow and painful process.  And that is where I am tempted, to not take on another hurting heart, or to give handouts instead of the Gospel.  My temptation's are also common to man, and show up in many areas of my life.

Which is why I need your prayers, that the Grace of God would continually impact my life, and work God's mercy and compassion and wisdom through my life, that it may pour in abundance on the hurting lives I encounter every day.