A Pastor's Response to Ferguson

Last night was the latest in our country's history of local violence and rioting. It is heartbreaking and it is devastating a town that was already filled with pain and heartache.

Before I go further my cards need to be on the table. I am a white guy. I grew up in an area where there really weren't any minorities. My brother and the best man from my wedding are police officers. One of them serving in an urban environment. Thankfully my life has taken a turn where I now have come very close friends who are black. One of these friends is a police officer. I live in a community where my neighbors cross most racial boundaries.

I have no doubt about the white privilege that I experience on a daily basis. I have no doubt about the systemic racism that my black friends experience on a daily basis. I have witnessed it. I have witnessed it when I was with them. I have seen it in places like my son's football field. It is real and it is present.

If I want to engage in this conversation I must at the start admit, confess, and clearly state that I don't have a clue about what the black folk in my community experience on a daily basis. I must realize that there is a reality in my community that I don't experience. I don't know what it's like to live daily in fear that I just "look like that other black person". I don't what it's like to be followed around the store or to have old women clutch their purses as I pass. I don't know what it's like to have a first assumption made that I'm probably a bad person (well, this one maybe).

I just don't know. My cards are on the table.

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So Church, how do we respond?

First, we need to check our own hearts. What are our presumptions? What are our own prejudices? What are our own experiences with race? What are our own experiences with the police and with the power structures under which we live?

Second, we need to learn about the hearts of others. What are their presumptions? What are their prejudices? What are their experiences with race? What are their own experiences with the police and with the power structures under which they live?

Third, we need to learn the value of listening and research. In a world of immediate media we are quick to speak our opinions and slow to pray and learn. We must learn the art of being fast to prayer and slow to speaking. Proverbs 29:20 is helpful here, "Do you see a man who is hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him."

After we have done these things, we search the Scriptures. We need to learn what God says about justice and law, grace and mercy. Any fool can utter an opinion, we as the Church need to take the Scriptures into account because as a friend of mine likes to say, "The world is watching."

Finally, before we respond we must ask, "How do I respond with grace and truth in love?" This may be the hardest of all questions.

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As I have been preparing my own heart for this day, I have come to this conclusion: In our world there are two kinds of justice. The justice of the state and the justice demanded by the gospel. The first is largely out of our control. Neither you, nor I, can really control the justice system of our country. The second though, is where we have significant influence.

We don't know the ins and outs of a particular case. I don't live in Ferguson and so I can't do much about bringing the justice of the gospel there. However, I do live in Ypsilanti and here, here I can. Here, I can influence the person at the bar or coffee shop who sits next to me. I can influence my neighbor. The justice that the gospel demands is hyper local. Eugene Peterson says it well, "The ways Jesus goes about loving and saving the world are personal: nothing disembodied, nothing abstract, nothing impersonal. Incarnate, flesh and blood, relational, particular, and local."

Our response as ambassadors for King Jesus is to bring grace, truth, love, and mercy. Ultimately this means that we need to be reconcilers. We need to help both sides of a situation like this understand the other. For those who hate the police we must show them the good and help them understand what people like my brother go through on a daily basis. The fear that he will pull someone over and be shot. The fear that when my sister-in-law calls it is to tell us that he won't be coming home today. The constant awareness that he has to have every where he goes with his children because someone he arrested may want to hurt them. He's always living on edge.

For those who don't understand the response of the black community to this shooting we must help them to understand the fear that they live with every single day. We must help them understand that every day they live in fear of being arrested while being black. We must help them understand that there is a disproportionate number of black folks living in poverty and in jail. We must help them understand that living in America as a black person is not necessarily a blessing. They're always living on edge.

If you're a follower a Jesus you are called to be a bridge, to be a peacemaker. If you can not fulfill this role, then it is best to not speak but to pray. Pray for your own heart first and then for the others.

The world is indeed watching. May we make peace in our neighborhoods.

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Be Real. No Don't.

"Be real."

"Be authentic."

"Share your heart."

These are all pieces of advice people give to emerging Christian leaders. What they don't tell you, is that you should only do these things if being real and authentic are happy things. We don't want to hear about the hard stuff. That just doesn't fit with the myth of the "happy Christian life".

Have you noticed that there are very few laments in popular Christian worship music? They just don't exist. Yet there are many psalms of lament. There's even an entire collection in the Scriptures called Lamentations.

We ask, "how are you?" But we don't really want to know.

When the Church is really being the Church something changes. The community of believers becomes a safe place to be messy. It becomes a place where we really do want to know. We want to know what's hard.

I've said often, "We are what we celebrate." I agree wholeheartedly with that. As I continue to grow as a pastor I'm learning that this statement is just as true, "We are what we lament."

Jesus was a man acquainted with sorrow and grief. He was also a man acquainted with joy and celebration. This is the beauty of following a crucified and risen savior. The pain and the joy are both valid.

While some would have us hold back our lamentations, Jesus embraces us in them as much as he embraces us in our joys.

For the follower of Christ, we really are to be real and authentic. We really are to share our hearts with one another. This community, this body of Christ, is a place where we are embraced in lament and joy.

While some say, "Be real. Umm...No don't." We need to say, "Be real. Good and bad. Joy and sorrow. For we love you, all of you."

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Sunday Scriptures: Grace Overflows

In Ephesians Chapter 1, St Paul writes;

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. (Ephesians 1:1-10 ESV)

Ephesians is one of my most favorite texts. I love reading it, over and over and over again. Why? Because it's the gospel. Paul lays out in Ephesians this beautiful, concise snapshot of what it means to follow Jesus.

Where he starts sends my heart and imagination soaring. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him." God the Father didn't accidentally do anything. His perspective is so far outside ours that we can't really get our minds and hearts around it. He has blessed us. It's a finished action. Not only that, but he's chosen us and we are on our way to becoming holy and blameless.

Paul doesn't stop, "In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved." In love, we were predestined and adopted. What a beautiful reality, before any of us ever were, God in his love grabbed on to us as his own all because of his "glorious grace".

It keeps going though, "In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth." Redemption and forgiveness all by grace which is "lavished" on us. He's done this in the context of his wisdom and insight and is bringing unity to all things as a result.

When one follows Jesus, this is the reality of what God has done and is doing on her behalf. This is overwhelming and awesome. As I meditate and ponder on this passage I am laid out by God's goodness, grace, and mercy. His love leaves me filled with joy unspeakable. My heart overflows and my soul is at rest.

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You Must Change

I'm a pastor in an evangelical denomination. That means that my denomination has stated that it wants to be about reaching people who are from God and helping them to enter into a relationship with him.

I love that.

I'm a pastor in a missional denomination. That means that my denomination has stated that it wants to intentionally move towards being where people who are from God live.

I love that.

To live out these things though, we have to change. If we want people who have never darkened the door of a congregation's building to come to know Christ, then we have to change. We have to do things differently. We have to ask ourselves really hard questions about why we do what we do, how we do what we do, and where we do what we do.

But, we don't. Because we probably won't like the answers. The answers will cause us to change.

If there is one thing that most of us don't want to do, it is change.

The thing is, if you want to take new ground you have to change. Whether its business, missions, or sports ball, change is what is required to get to the next level.

What do you think needs to change for you to grow? For your church to reach the people it says it wants to? For your business to achieve the dreams you have? What needs to change?

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Be That Guy, Your Pastor Needs You

More and more studies are coming out about pastors and the realities of their calling. In my denomination there have been two pastoral suicides in the last 12 months. As you can imagine, this has raised some concerns in my wife's heart. We have conversations about my 'feelings' and such.

Being a pastor is really hard. There's no two ways about it. Your life is given to others. You enter in with people's greatest sorrows and greatest joys. When you're new at all this you have a picture of days spent studying the Scriptures, preaching, and writing. You think your sermons will change lives. Then you wade into the reality of being a pastor. You find out that it's not your sermons that change lives, it's God. You find out that people are never finished. There's no closure. You discover that giving people all of yourself isn't enough, because they don't want you, they want Jesus. And you're not him.

Your family doesn't get you and most of your friends don't get you. "Why can't you come to this family thing on Sunday? Just have someone else do the sermon." "You never come to family things during the holidays." "Why can't you get away? Everyone else can." "So you just work one day a week, right?" "You're a pastor, how about you pray for the meal."

Being a pastor is the weirdest, hardest, most beautiful calling there is. But it raises a question -

How does one survive this? You need "that guy".

Every time Amy and I have a conversation about my heart there is this one thing that keeps things square: Three men who I know are completely and totally safe. Three men in my life that I can share anything and everything with. Three men who will tell me, "You're being an idiot." Three men who will say, "We're so angry along with you in this..." Three men who will fight for me. Three men who will drop whatever their doing, wherever their doing it and show up. Three men who I can call, text, email, tweet, Facebook, or whatever in the middle of the night and they will respond. Three men who will constantly and repeatedly preach the gospel to me, over and over and over again. Three guys who are "that guy" for me.

How does someone survive being a pastor? You need "that guy" in your life. You need the guy who will be your pastor, not because he has to but because he just "is".

Do you want to encourage your pastor? Do you want to love them well? Start by inviting them over for dinner and watching the game together. Or maybe just go have a beer and talk about the weather. Start taking steps toward being "that guy". Show up and be there. Learn to keep confidences.

Pastors do you want to make sure you're healthy? Do you want to make it? Cultivate a relationship or two with others that can be "that guy" for you. Some day you will need them.

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Don't Whine. Do.

Yesterday I found myself feeling whiny.

As a parent there are few things that drive me as crazy as whining. When the children begin to whine my mind begins to go away. It slips out unnoticed and it is difficult to find again.

I began to ask myself why was I feeling this way?

There were things that I didn't think I had power to influence. Things felt like they were out of my control. They are.

However, whining is useless. The reality is that I can change more than I realize. When I look to the left and the right, I can make change. I can begin to 'do'. As my friend is fond of saying, 'Acta Non Verba'. That's right, actions not words (yes, I get the irony in this moment).

I've resolved that when I feel the whine begin to rise in my heart I'm not going to let it win. I will open my eyes and look around and take action.

Don't whine. Do.

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Millenials, Boomers, and Leadership

Post by Daniel M Rose.

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You Can't Handle It Alone

Yesterday I wrote about the reality that God does indeed give us more than we can handle. It is when he does that we learn faith. The thing is, there's more to it.

Paul writes this in his first letter to the church at Corinth,

The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. (1 Corinthians 12:21-26 ESV)

Part of the reason that we are brought to a place where we can't handle it any more is for us to learn that we need others. Most people are always trying to be totally self-reliant. When you become a Christian you enter into something larger than yourself. You're part of the body of Christ. You're part of the Church. No one part of the body can say, "I have no need of you." Even more than that, "If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together."

No, you can't handle it. You can't handle it because God wants you to lean on others around you. God wants you to learn to be part of the community. God wants you to know your need for "the hand" or "the eye".

In Exodus 17 we see a moment where Moses was in over his head. He couldn't accomplish something alone, God had given him more than he could handle,

Then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose for us men, and go out and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.” So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses' hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. And Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword. (Exodus 17:8-13 ESV)

Moses needed Aaron and Hur. So do you, so do I. We need people to hold our arms up. That's the point of community. No, you can't handle it. No you can't handle it alone.

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You Can't Handle It

Christians want life to be easy. Many of us were sold a bill of goods when we "placed our faith in Christ". We were given a picture of the happy Christian life, a life of minimal pain and suffering.

But, it turns out that the Christian lives in the same world as the non-Christian and life is still hard. We face pain, suffering, and hardships. Life is just as hard for the Christian as it is for the non-Christian. The difference is what happens when the Christian comes face to face with a hard time.

Many give us platitudes. The most often often quoted platitude: "God won't give you more than you can handle."

Do you want to know a secret? That's not found anywhere in the Scripture.

It's complete and total baloney. God does give us more than we can handle, regularly. James writes this,

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 1:2-4 ESV)

"When you meet trials of various kinds..." There's no if, it's when. You can't handle the trials. None of us can. They stretch us beyond what we can bear. It's in that place of being stretched beyond what we can bear that we finally have to step out in faith. The people who spew the prosperity gospel (Osteen and his like) short circuit what real faith is. Having a deep and abiding faith means that you get to experience more and more difficult trials. It doesn't mean you're freed from them.

"Count it all joy..." says James. Why is it joyful? It is joyful because it is in the midst of the trial and the pain that we learn how to trust in God. It is in the midst of that place when we absolutely cannot handle it that we get to see God and we our faith grows.

I love the family history recorded in the Scriptures, Moses, Elijah, Elisha, and the rest. They were taken beyond what they could handle and their faith and faithfulness grew as they learned the faithfulness of God.

When we go through the trials of our lives, when your friends go through the trials in their lives, do not give them platitudes. Point them to God in faith. Preach the gospel to them. Let them know it's OK that they can't handle it. They're not meant to.

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The Need To Act

When I try to start new things I find it hard. It seems like new things are an interruption in my schedule. They don't seem to fit. New things are awkward.

The simple reality is that when a new thing enters my world I need to act.

I want to go to the gym regularly. By regularly, I mean, every day. My schedule is flexible, I have no excuse not to go to the gym every day. The only way to get to the gym is to get in my car and go there. I can't imagine myself at the gym. I can't dream myself to the gym. No, I have to act.

To live is to change.

If we are going to live we have to act.

Do you want to do something new? Act. Stop talking about it and go do it.

What do you want to do today? Share it in the comments...

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Projection

Projection is something that all of us do. Projection is something that all of us have experienced. It's when someone has something going on in their life and they feel powerless to deal with it. So they find an area where they feel they have some level of power and express anger or frustration.

When projection happens it almost always feels out of left field.

People project about all kinds of things. Most often I have found that it is in relation to some person who they feel is in power over them (a parent or a boss). They feel powerless to confront the person and as a result they lose it with you or me.

The hardest part in all of this is that I do it too. I project stuff. Sadly, it's most often directed at my wife or kids. When something is going on at work I get short with them. That's projection.

Knowing this has helped me to be much more patient with other people. When someone is just rude and mean for no reason, I assume there's something else going on behind the scenes. It helps me to love by faith in the moment. It also helps me to self diagnose areas where I need to keep short accounts with people. If I'm being unreasonable with Amy or the kids I know that I need to check my heart and look for some area where there is unresolved conflict.

We all project. It's like emotional projectile vomiting. It's gross. But, having an idea about why it's happening helps us to love well and to check our own brokenness.

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Then We

Yesterday was a fun day, we celebrated Amy's birthday. The celebration was an all day affair. My wife prefers quality time over gifts. So, we hung out as a family all day. As we were driving home my son said recounted all that we had done and concluded with, "That's a lot of 'then we's'".

There is something special about the "then we".

The "then we" is community in a phrase. It says so much with two little words. The days that are filled with the "then we" are the days that are most enjoyable and fulfilling. They are the days when laughter seems to punctuate every minute. They are the days when I feel most at home.

"Then we" days are few and far between now. The kids are older and busy. Life and ministry are full. Our family of four is often moving in different directions. Yet, when the "then we" day happens it is this great reminder that we are part of something more than ourselves. Our busyness is forgotten, even if for a brief moment.

When was your last "then we" day? I would love to hear about it below...

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Gratitude From Humility

I was thinking about gratitude recently. It's something that we try really hard to teach our kids about. We want them to feel grateful for the many good things and even the hard things in their lives. It's an attitude that Amy and I try to model for them.

Have you ever wondered where gratitude comes from?

Are we grateful because we have good things? Are we grateful because we know that others are not as "good off" as us?

Is gratitude just a comparison and contrast kind of thing or is it deeper? Is there a difference between gratitude and thankfulness?

So many questions.

Slowly, I'm starting to realize that gratitude first comes from place of humility. Humility is the opposite of pride. Pride is experienced when we don't think rightly of ourselves (that is too high or too low). When we are prideful we are unable to experience gratitude because we are either convinced that everything is our own doing or we can't even really receive the things that come to us.

The humble person is able to see things the way they are. They are able to recognize their hard work. They are also able to recognize the role that others have played in their life. When that happens they are able to realize gratitude.

Humility is even tougher to teach and model than gratitude. Both force me outside myself and see the world apart from self-centered reality.

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Parents Are the Top Influence

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Mystery Is Legit

Last night I sat at the pub with a few friends and people were discussing evolution (of all stripes) and intelligent design. It was a fascinating conversation.

The thing that struck me is that nearly everyone, regardless of perspective, had an answer. The one thing that almost nobody wanted to settle for was mystery.

Mystery.

This is something that makes many of us uncomfortable. We want an answer to everything. We want an explanation, regardless of how unreasonable. In our world it is better to have an unreasonable pseudo-scientific answer to cover the mystery than it is to live in the tension of the mystery.

Mystery is a vacuum of knowledge that threatens us. We are afraid to be found out. We don't want to be thought of as stupid. So, we create answers and fill in the gaps with arguments that sound good.

The problem with this is that it makes learning anything new nearly impossible. Especially when learning something new threatens the structure we created to protect us from the mystery.

When there is no mystery we cannot learn.

When we cannot learn we cease a search for what is true.

Mystery is legit.

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The Past Matters

One of the most important things that we can learn in life is that our past matters. It matters because God cares about us and is at work writing a story through our lives.

This has been driven home, again, over the last week or so. As my friend and I have talked with one another he has said, "I am overwhelmed by how God has protected me and my family. I am so blessed to have not had to experience some of the pain that so many others have had to endure. I am so grateful that God has made me a bubble boy."

What I love about this is that he is identifying God's power, grace, and mercy in his life's story.

So many times in the Christian world when people talk about their faith journeys they say things like, "My story is boring. I grew up in the church..." That's not a boring story at all! That's a beautiful story of God's grace to multiple generations. It's wonderful that God protected and provided for you to "never really know a time when I didn't know God."

On the other hand, it's beautiful to hear the stories of people who God saved in more ways than one, their past filled with brokenness and regret.

My parents are divorced. It was really hard to be a kid growing up in a broken home. When I went away to college I was still pretty angry about it. I wasn't all that pleased with God that this was my story. It wasn't until after we had been living in Normal, IL and I was being discipled by Bob Smart that I began to embrace my whole story. He taught me that this was part of God writing a beautiful story of redemption in my life. Instead of running from it, I needed to embrace it.

The things in our past have shaped us into the people that we are today. Our past matters to God. He is writing a beautiful story of redemption.

I would love to hear your story. Drop it in the comments below...

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I'm A Mess. So Are They!

Over the last year I have been keenly aware of what happens when I post something to Facebook. Now, I'm not talking about statistics of likes, clicks, and comments. I've been paying special attention to my emotional response and the emotional responses of others (based on their comments of course, really, it's the best I could do).

The result of this?

I stopped posting my opinions on things related to sports.

This has led me to one simple conclusion: I'm a mess and so is everyone else.

If I post about religion or politics, the conversation tends to be congenial. My friends and I are able to have legitimate conversations about things. We are able to pay attention and deal with the issue at hand. Are there some that struggle? Sure. But, for the most part we're able to have adult conversations that are meaningful.

However, when I post about sports it's all about the emotion. Mine and everyone else's. We can't control it. It devolves into name calling, mean spirited attacks, and just plain rudeness in an instant.

So I don't post about sports any more on Facebook. I'm a mess, and so are they!

We live in a bored culture and sports are the adrenaline. They wake us up and we begin to have feelings and emotions that we don't really know what to do with. It's sad really. But it really is true. Our identities are tied into our sports teams. I AM a Tigers fan. I AM a Red Wings fan. I AM a Michigan fan. These are identity statements that we hold to just as strongly as something significantly more important like the statement, I AM a Christian. So when we perceived an attack on our identity we are ready to fight. Why? Because it is an attack on the core of who we are.

So, no. I won't post about sports on Facebook any more. Why? Because I'm a mess! So are they!

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