Busy is the New Lazy!

What do you think of when you consider laziness?  My guess is you almost immediately think about some college kid laying on a couch playing XBox or PS3 and skipping classes.  I would tend to agree with you (although when I did this it was a PS, I was not lazy, I was saving my energy!). Dan Allender in Leading With a Limp argues that busy is the new lazy. He says, "Being busy seems to be the polar opposite of laziness, but a busy person is not so much active as lost. (128)" Wow! That is a paradigm shifter.

In the Matrix of Brokenness Allender argues that weariness is something that all leaders will face and they will respond with either fatalism or hope. Fatalism usually displays itself in the context busyness.  Hope comes when we find disillusionment in these lesser things that keep us busy. As we become disillusioned we turn toward that greater love, the Christ who called us initially and become bold in our declaration that he is best and lesser things must find their proper place.

As I read this I could not help but think of Hebrews 4:

“Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened.For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, “As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest,’” although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.” And again in this passage he said, “They shall not enter my rest.”

Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, again he appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.”

For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.

Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
(Hebrews 4:1–12 ESV)

This is one of my favorite passages in the Scriptures because it subverts our conception of rest.  We think of rest being a good nap.  Rest is something that can only be found in the creation rhythm of our God as we embrace him in faith. When weariness hits we can become fatalistic and busy ourselves with lesser things.  On the flip we can embrace this Creator God and his rhythm and find rest which provides hope.

I know this is a flaw in me.  There have been times in the recent past (not so much since I joined my current ministry team) where I have been weary of a direction or a situation and I determine to busy myself with the building of my own kingdom.  I get busy with minutiae and leave the greater good of vision casting, direction setting, and aligning because of the weariness that comes from dealing with those who struggle to "get it".

I am learning that if I am overly "busy" then I am not pursuing the best.  As I look over the last few weeks of my calendar I see that it has been very full.  I know that I have experienced being tired.  However, it has not been busyness.  My tired feeling is an emptiness of serving and giving of the core of my being.  It's a good tired. It's a hopeful tired.

I know that I am in process.  I also am thankful for people like Doug who understands the rhythm of the Creator and calls me to account. God has also given me a subversive Bride, Beast, and Princess who draw me into his rest. How about you? Are you experiencing fatalistic busyness or are you disillusioned with the lesser things?

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The Manipulation Postulate

Loneliness, according to Dan Allender in Leading With a Limp, is one of the things that any leader will bump into. He can choose one of two responses: hiding or openness. Hiding is the act of manipulation. We feel alone and solitary.  As a result we hide.  In our hiding we manipulate the world around us to think that all is well.  The next thing you know another pastor has flamed out of ministry or has killed himself.  Leaders are alone.  I have written previously on the "oneness" of ministry.

The opposite response is openness or as Allender puts it, "Honest Hunger (120ff)." This honest hunger requires us to open ourselves to people.  This openness is an authentic listening to others and the willingness to invite others in.

I don't know if I can explain how hard this is. But maybe using an unrelated illustration will help. I like a good beer.  I enjoy evaluating the hoppiness or wheatiness or aroma or smoothness or flavor of a beer.  I enjoy the experience of sitting with friends at a watering hole and taking in a pint of something dark and rich. When Amy and I worked with Campus Crusade for Christ at Illinois State University we were located in a small town.  We were a part of a small community where people very different opinions about whether someone could drink a beer. Many of these people supported us financially.  I was afraid that if they knew or saw me drink a beer they would stop supporting us. Therefore, we did not drink alcohol of any kind in Bloomington-Normal.  We hid and manipulated the situation.

You see, this is the situation that leaders find themselves in every aspect of their lives.  They evaluate every little thing. "If I say I saw THIS movie or that I watched THAT television show or I think THIS political thought or whatever, what will THEY think?" So we hide. We never really tell anybody what we think about anything.  We deflect for the sake of keeping things easy and clean.

At some level that is OK.  We are called to respect the weaker brother. This is someone who does not experience the same kind of freedom in Christ that we experience.  However, there comes a point where if you never let anyone in, if you never communicate what you really think about something, you go crazy.  You go crazy because nobody knows you.

I am struggling with this.  I am struggling to learn who those people are that I can be completely open and honest with.  I am really struggling with what Allender says though:

"Honest hunger after truth requires us to remain open to everyone, including those with whom we disagree and have conflict. It also requires that we  remain open to the fact that we desperately need the very people who challenge and contradict our cherished notions of the truth. We may never agree, nor do we need to do so, but we need others--especially those who challenge us to dig deeper and become more human. The hunger, then, is not so much for agreement on factual accounts, but more for truth that leads to a greater delight in truth."

Did you catch the "everyone". That will be hard. That will be hard because peace is often my highest goal and not truth.

Well do you hide? I do and I have never really liked hide and seek. It's time to call "olly olly oxen free" and end the game and come out of hiding.

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CBS to Air Tim Tebow Super Bowl Ad

I really enjoy the Super Bowl. I really enjoy Sports Talk Radio. I really like it when two opposing worldviews collide. However, I do not like it when I turn on Sports Talk Radio and all I hear about is the "culture war". Over the last few days there has been a tremendous amount of conversation, yelling, and pure craziness regarding Tim Tebow, former Heisman Trophy winner, appearing in a Super Bowl Ad for Focus on the Family. The problem lies in the fact that the commercial is Pro-Life.

There have been a large number of Abortion Rights groups speaking out against the commercial and CBS for airing it. What is interesting is that there is no flack coming from these groups regarding the commercials that put women on display as sexual objects. Which of these commercials is most hurtful to women? I would argue that one which objectifies women and uses them for nothing more than their physical attractiveness is more damning.

I am also saddened by the rhetoric that has come out of this.  I have many of my fellow Metro-Detroiters saying that Tebow should not be allowed to "shove his beliefs" down their throats. To my knowledge Focus on the Family paid for the ad time. Planned Parenthood, to my knowledge did not purchase any airtime. If an advocacy group wants to advertise let them pay for it. Is it possible to have the intellectual integrity to see that both sides of a coin have the freedom to speech? You as a television viewer have the freedom and ability to mute the commercial or pause the DVR and then hit the "live" button.

We live in a country where the freedom of speech is part of our Bill of Rights. If you do not like that there is an ad about being Pro-Life and you desire "balance" then pony up the 2.5 million and broadcast your take.  Until that time comes please, please, can you let sports talk go back to sports talk? Thanks.

via CBS to Air Tim Tebow Super Bowl Ad.

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Equipping People in their Faith Journey

My latest sermon:

[podcast]http://danielmrose.com/wp-content/uploads/Grace-100124-reduced.mp3[/podcast]

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Ethan's Wish...

At the turn of the New Year we all make resolutions. When Ethan, my eight year old son went to school after the turn of the new year he and his classmates did a project where they made a wish. The teacher got the idea from the Japanese Daruma Doll. Here's a quick second grade summary of the Daruma Doll:

"In Japan, one way to make a New Year's wish is to buy a daruma doll. This doll has no arms, legs, or eyes.  It does have a heavy bottom.  If the doll tips over, it rights itself. The doll is a reminder to never give up! When a wish is made, one eye is drawn on the doll.  When the wish comes true, the second eye is drawn.  The doll is kept until the end of the year."

So each student colored a doll and then responded to three questions:

• My wish for the year 2010 is...


• One way I can help make my wish come true is...


• Another way to help my wish come true is...

Ethan is eight. He is in second grade.  When he was baptized, our pastor Bob Smart, prayed that Ethan would become an evangelist.  He asked God to use him to lead many people to Jesus.  We talk to both of our children (we also have a daughter Libby who is 6) about their "bapitisms" (as they say it) often.  We show them how God is making good on his covenant promises that he made to them and to us on the day of their baptisms. They are embracing these promises too.

Back to the story. Ethan brought his daruma doll project home a week or so ago and here are his responses to the questions (his spellings, not mine!):

• My wish for the year 2010 is... to teach more people about Jesus's ways!


• One way I can help make my wish come true is...to meet more people that dont belive in god!


• Another way to help my wish come true is...get my friend's togeter that do belive and tell people that don't belive!

Our kids go the neighborhood school.  They meet kids who are Muslim, Sikh, Christian, Atheist, and anything else you can imagine.  They both come home regularly and say, "We have to pray for so and so because they don't believe in Jesus." Ethan and Libby long for their friends to know Jesus. I have to tell you I am learning more about what it means to be on mission for God from my "Beast" and my "Princess" than I ever did in seminary or in any of my training as a missionary.

In the world of an 8 year old Christ follower there are people who believe, there are people who do not. If you do not believe then you are missing out on so much love, fun, and friends! He can not understand why anyone would not want to know Jesus.

How about you? Oh, in case you think I made this up, the picture on the left is Ethan's daruma doll.

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I'm a Jerk.

Jerk: a contemptibly naive, fatuous, foolish, or inconsequential person. I am one. How do I know? I know because in my life I have struggled with the feeling of betrayal. I think I have authentically experienced it. I think that I sometimes read different situations and think that betrayal is happening when it is not.  However, when I face the pain of betrayal or even the perceived pain of betrayal I become a jerk.

Dan Allender in Leading With a Limp provides what I call the "Matrix of Brokenness". You can find it here.  Regarding the issue of betrayal Allender argues that narcissism is the negative response.  Where does this narcissistic response come from? It comes from envy (96). Envy grabs you and you respond with a narcissism that is ugly, in short, you become a jerk.

When I read that and thought about it I was not sure if I agreed with this idea or not.  However, as I pondered a time over the last few years when I felt betrayed, my evaluation led me to the realization that my initial response was indeed narcissistic and was indeed narcissistic and fueled by envy.

I was being evaluated for a leadership position that was being vacated by another person.  I had been in a similar leadership a few years before and in my estimation this would be a formality.  However, it turned out to be one of the most painful experiences I have endured.  I did not get the position.  I did, however, receive a large list of things that I was failing at in ministry, relationships, and perceived in my walk with God.  This list was delivered with the tact and grace of a sledge hammer.  Nonetheless, the evaluation was accurate in many ways.  My initial response was anger and a sense of betrayal. I wanted answers. I wanted to quit.  I stopped relating to God and turned inward.  I was so wrapped up in my own sense of self-confident awesomeness that I could not see how this was God's hand calling me to a new level and season of development.

I would not have admitted it then but I was envious of whoever would take on the role that I was passed over for. In my mind this role was an amazing place to serve and lead.  From this role a leader would have influence regionally and nationally within the organization. I was envious that it would not be me. There was not anyone in place to take the role and this envy turned to an ever deepening narcissism. Clearly God needed to teach me.

He has. He is. I am still learning this lesson.  I am learning how to respond to all this.  I am learning that often my perception of "betrayal" is nothing more than God using people to move me away from my self-centeredness. This is why the appropriate response to betrayal is gratitude.  I need to be thankful that I have the opportunity to grow closer and to enter more deeply into reliance on God.

I am a jerk.  But I am not as much of a jerk as I used to be.

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Book Review: Counterfeit Gods

http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=FFFFFF&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=danielmroseco-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&m=amazon&f=ifr&asins=0525951369 Timothy Keller is the pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, New York.  His recent book Counterfeit Gods continues to cement his place as one of this generation's leading voices in calling the church back to where it belongs. Keller, however, has the unique ability to speak to the hearts of people who do not claim follow Jesus as well.

The driving question that Keller is seeking to answer comes from a description of Americans by Alexis de Tocqueville who said that Americans exhibited a, "strange melancholy that haunts the inhabitants...in the midst of abundance. (x)" De Tocqueville analyzes this "strange melancholy" and comes to the conclusion that it is the result of taking an "incomplete joy of this world" and having that become the center of your life. Keller states, "That is the definition of idolatry. (xi)"  He goes on to say that an idol is, "anything more important to you than God, anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than God, anything you seek to give you what only God can give. (xvii)" This is the central motif of Keller's text.  He then draws us back to the reality that it is in relationship with Christ, the idol breaker, that we can be set free from our idol worship.

Keller hits on topics like money, greed, power, politics, sex, and love. He grabs your attention with riveting personal stories from his life, his ministry, and from the headlines.  The economic collapse of 2008-09 plays a heavy role. If you come to this text with an open mind then you will walk away from this text with a challenged heart. It is strong in biblical exegesis as Keller works through key texts and draws out their central teaching and their contemporary application. I would say that the weakness of this text is that the issues raised are difficult and that in such a brief text they can only be given a cursory examination.  I would like to see Keller develop this text more fully at a scholarly level.

I was deeply challenged by the book.  I was most especially brought to a place of deep consideration regarding the idolatry of religion.  I think that as a pastor I am easily swayed by this idolatry. I can get caught up in my Reformed, Presbyterian dogma and lose sight of the sacrificial savior who called me to follow him. Following a self-sacrificing savior is painful, difficult, and yet fully satisfying and glorious! But, the comfort of a religious dogma that provides all the answers is seductive and so easy to embrace.

I encourage you to grab this little text and evaluate the idol factory in your heart.

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