Why Rock the Boat - guest post

Why do you encourage missional thinking? Why do you bring in innovative thinkers with their radical and transformational ideas? Why do you invest so much time and energy getting pastors fired up to lead their churches into organic, refreshing, authentic ways of doing ministry? Why do you push these amazing, wonderful, life-changing concepts and encourage pastors to implement them? Why do you convince people that disciple-making is not a program, but that it is a radical way of thinking and living, a fresh but ancient wave of spiritual reproduction? Why do you challenge church leaders to dismantle their fortress mentality and to learn instead what it means to unleash the church - to BE the church outside the institutional walls?
...

(Read the rest of this post here.)

...

I wonder about so many things. Once in awhile I wish I could ask church leaders questions that I wonder about, but then I fear that nothing good would come of it. But if I could, if I thought it would matter, these are a few of the things I might ask.

I am excited to be invited to guest post on another blog, An Elbow in the Ribs. I thank my husband for encouraging me to keep wondering about things and to keep asking questions.

Church Matters

Yes, church matters.

If the church is the "body" of Jesus, then it matters greatly.  The church can and should be a powerful force for good when it is in the business of love and grace and healing and forgiveness and delivering Good News.  However, at times throughout history the church has also been a powerful force for harm - and this ought not to be. This unbelievably sad reality damages and destroys people as well as the reputation of the church.

"Church matters" can also refer to the business of the Kingdom that so many of us have been caught up in.  These church matters can drain our energy and dominate our time and our thinking - especially if we are in a leadership role, but even if we are "just" lay people.  While it can be argued that any organization will need some kind of organizational structure, it is wise to remember that we are not called to bow down to the structure nor to people in positions of power.

During the decades that I invested my time and energy in church matters, I learned a lot about what matters to many in the church world.  I have sat through discussions about the four P's that church leaders need to discuss: purpose, people, program, property.  Some of the discussions were lively and fun while others were neither lively nor fun - discussions about how those four things should line up and about how they really land in each of our churches.  Then there are the rules to live by - the things by which we judge spiritual growth or personal holiness.  What a crazy long list that one is!

I do not blame any person(s) for the setting of external standards; indeed, I dared to "instruct" on the "standards of life and conduct" and to encourage steps of spiritual growth. What I mean to say here is that I have finally realized that many of those church matters are not what really matters.

Are there steps that lead to spiritual growth?  Quite probably, just like there are steps to other kinds of growth.  Will there be evidence of maturity in the lives of believers?  I certainly hope so. What I object to is the practice of measuring "spirituality" or "holiness" or even worth and value by outward appearance - things like church attendance, tithing, philosophy of ministry, preferred style of music, volunteerism, time management, Bible reading or memorization, diet, habits, political affiliation, or other external behavior.

...

Quite possibly the preceding paragraphs provide more detail about church matters than most of my readers would ever want to know.  Indeed.  But yes, church matters seem to really matter to church people.  My whole point is that we are missing the point if we obsess about these things. 

...

So what really does matter?

At this point, I can only answer for myself as part of the body of Christ.  To do that, I try to focus on Jesus, on His life and teachings as my example.  I know that love and grace are probably the things that matter most - as well as forgiveness and generosity and healing.

In fact, I just might come up with my own list of what I believe the church should be about: reconciliation, redemption, and restoration.

I believe these are things that really matter.

War on Christmas? Bah Humbug!

Can I just say it?
Sometimes I’m embarrassed to be known as a Christian - & especially when it’s something Christmas-related. I LOVE Christmas & I may even think that it is the most wonderful time of the year. AND I might find myself reading that last sentence in a lilting sing-song voice.

There are so, so many wonderful things to love about Christmas & to celebrate – especially as Christians. It is after all “our” story – the story of the Incarnation that is so integral to our faith – and one that we are to share with others.

But instead of celebrating the glory of the story, I’m afraid that we too often forget the story; at least we sound like we’ve forgotten. And I’m not even talking about the commercialism of Christmas – although whenever I hear some “preacher” (from the pulpit or from their Facebook page) admonishing the rest of us to “keep Christ in Christmas!” I pretty much always remember something that my friend presented one Sunday morning many Christmases ago. She stepped to the microphone & started her own personal rant about keeping Christ in Christmas. She told us that it just wasn’t possible because He kept breaking out of that one single day and insisted on spilling over into the rest of the calendar. She told story after story of how neighbors did Christmas-y things on any old day of the year. Her conclusion: we shouldn’t try to keep Christ in Christmas, but instead we should let His spirit flow through us and affect how we live every single day.

But I got sidetracked there for a bit…
What was it that I was feeling grinchy about?

Oh, yes, it was about how we seem to have forgotten the best themes of the Christmas story – like peace on earth, good will to men and that we’ve been given good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Instead of celebrating, we’ve turned to complaining - and about the silliest things! What kind of person, I ask you, would be upset because someone uses the wrong words to extend good wishes? This is most perplexing to me – that Christians would get mad because someone wishes them “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas”! Unbelievable. And that we would jump on some wild crazy conspiracy story & have big arguments about what a decorated tree should be called! Oh, Tannenbaum, you sacred thing. Wait; tannenbaum actually means fir tree, so maybe we should get upset when someone uses a spruce tree or a pine tree or some other species of evergreen. No, siree; it must be a fir tree.

Yah, yah… now I’m just being downright silly.

But I keep distracting myself. I was starting to talk about that horrible evil of saying "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas". May I confess something? I am guilty & have been for many years now. I think I remember when I first started the practice. Maybe I was feeling extra sentimental & celebratory & generous as I was getting my Christmas cards ready to go out. I must have been thinking that I wanted my wishes of good will to be more expansive than just about Christmas – so I began to write Happy Holidays on my cards & letters. *gasp* Another year I was feeling nicely sensitive as I noticed that several of our friends were going through rough times so it felt really flippant to say “Merry, merry Christmas” when I knew that their Christmas would be anything but merry. Little did I know that I would be guilty of participating in the war on Christmas by offering an alternate wording instead of the “sacred” greeting!

As my world expanded, I also began to realize that there are some people who don’t celebrate Christmas & it was my great privilege & honor to count some of them as friends. It didn’t really make sense to wish them Merry Christmas, but maybe I could learn about what kinds of holidays they do celebrate & could wish them well some other more pertinent way. Had I taken another step toward the slippery slope of tolerance & mutual respect?

Okay; maybe I’ve stepped over the snarky line, but yes, I think it is silly to be upset if someone wishes me greetings of the season, but not in the exact words that I want them to use. It’s sort of like being invited to a party, but complaining that the invitation is written with the wrong color of ink. They didn’t have to invite me to the party, you know! Just like people don’t have to wish me any greetings at all! Hello!

Besides shouldn’t we who call ourselves Christians be the ones to take the lead in expressing good tidings of great joy? Why would we expect the pagans to do it?

Bah humbug!