DO WE NEED TO BE RIGHT ABOUT CHICK-FIL-A?

The shouting match over Chick-Fil-A heads into another day of people who are talking and not listening. It appears that the reason they want to talk about it is so that they can prove they are right by dismantling the arguments of those on the other side of this discussion. This entire argument has only shown, once again, how adolescent behavior is the norm in our day. 

A couple of days ago, Michael Kimpman, wrote an article on Relevant about why we need to pursue a third way, titled, Being Holy in an Age of Being Right. He speaks into this issue showing that what's really needed is not more talk, but more humility and a willingness to listen and love. 

He writes:

The culture wars rage on. It seems that everyone has an opinion about Chick-Fil-A these days.The "Do you like their chicken sandwiches and waffle fries?" discussion has been traded for asking whether or not you’ll be boycotting the fast-food-chicken chain for their stance on gay marriage.

From the maker of The Muppets; to the Mayors of Beantown and the Windy City, the list of folks cutting ties with the chicken chain is growing. The culture wars are in full swing, complete with protests, blog posts, name-calling and threats of glitter bomb violence.



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MY LOVE OF CRITICISM

One thing that I value greatly is criticism. Perhaps it’s more accurate to say that I value some criticism, because there is some criticism I do not like.

Throughout the years of serving as a pastor in a local church, I have had more than my fair share of criticism. Most of the time it was warranted, but that does not mean it was always given well. This is because there are two kinds of critics. Some are self-centered and some are others-centered

The first are not really critics, they are complainers. Their criticism is about something that is bothering them. They want something to change, or expect an apology because things are not going the way they want them to go. Central to their criticism is self-centered desire.

Not too long ago I received a note that was exactly this. Anger and sarcasm dripped from every word, and they called me every name except Michael. They gushed about their frustration over certain issues and demanded that we change.

Reading those kinds of notes is not easy, and I hope that my skin never grows so thick that it will be easy to read that sort of thing. I reminded myself that none of what was said about me was true, and then replied telling the person that when anger and name-calling are central to the criticism I stop listening. I offered to sit down and meet with them, but said that I was not looking for an argument.

Thankfully those kinds of notes are few are far between. Most of the time I encounter critics who speak out, and central to their criticism is a desire for the greatest good. This is the kind that I embrace.

Several months ago, I received an email from a person who was feeling frustrated and upset – they made that very clear. However, there was no anger or vitriol in his words. What came through clearly was a concern and a desire to see something changed for the betterment of everyone.

What he pointed out was something that I had never considered, and it gave me great pause before I replied. Eventually I wrote back and asked for more feedback so that I could understand the issue better.

It opened up a wonderful dialogue, and we made some changes as a result that have served everyone well. This is no credit to me, but to that critic. He did not come in like a cold, damp, blustery wind on a cloudy day. His words were welcomed like a gentle breeze on a warm day.

To be honest, I’m thankful he wrote me, because it helped me see things I otherwise would have ignored.

We all receive criticism, and are all critics. Perhaps we should consider what it at the center of our criticism. Is it others or our egos?

CAN YOU IMAGINE THAT?

Five years ago today, my brother and I drove out of Grand Rapids, MI in an overloaded moving truck and headed west for Denver, CO. A few weeks before I had accepted the opportunity to serve as the lead pastor at Denver Community Church (DCC). This feels like my first milestone with our faith community. 

The best way to describe my feelings is to say that I am eternally thankful to be a part of such an amazing faith community in which I can journey alongside such an amazing group of men and women, and spend hours everyday doing what I love with people I love. 

As I have reflected on this anniversary I came across something I read to our faith community a few days after being at DCC when we met on a Wednesday night. It was my first meeting with those who called DCC home outside of our Sunday gatherings. Before the meeting I thought, prayed and considered what I would say as the "new pastor."

As I read this again, I realized that five years later, by God's grace, we have moved far closer to the kind of church we imagined together that night. My prayer is that five years from now we will be even closer. 

Written on July 11, 2007:

I want to take some time and just imagine together. Remember what it was like to imagine? You all have been through a difficult transition … any transition from one pastor to the next is difficult. You were in survival mode. My wife and I have been through the valleys together, and in those times you do not dream or imagine. You simply survive.

Tonight I want to call you out of those shadows into the light of day, and invite you to dream with me; to imagine what could be. To see what is and, more importantly, to see what could be.

We are poised to begin a study of the Sermon on the Mount. We need to understand that this teaching of Jesus was a lightning rod in His day. It was groundbreaking, threatening to the powers that be, would have been considered treasonous by the Roman Government and was an invitation to a new world, a new way of living. Jesus was launching a revolutionary movement.

So I want us to dream together tonight, and ask you some questions about what it might be like to be a faith community of whom it is said, “They are a part of the revolution that Jesus started 2,000 years ago.”

What would it be like if we were a faith community who said that we were about the Kingdom of Heaven? What if people knew that our chief concern was not possessions, buying, selling, making tons of money or fame and fortune? What if we did not by into the lie that empire has fed to us called the "American Dream" of health, wealth and happiness, but lived as people who shared everything and gave to those who had need? What if we were people who chose to be among the poor, the outcasts and the least of these, because that is who the Kingdom belongs to?

What would it be like if we were a faith community who lived within the darkest places in our city? The whorehouses, the porn shops, the crack neighborhoods, and were seen as a city that was shining on a hill that cannot be hidden?

What would it be like if we were a faith community who were concerned about life? Not just life before birth, but after as well? What if we were known as people who cared for the widow, the orphan, and the immigrant within our gates? What if we were people who were known to be proactive about all issues concerning the health of all people and the quality of life for all people in this world?

What would it be like if we were a faith community who were known to promote peace and wholeness in the lives of people across our world? What if instead of retaliating when we were done wrong we became a creative group of peacemakers who said, “I will not fire back, but I will respond to you in peace and love so that you might know about the God who is in heaven?” What if we were people who loved those who are considered to be our enemies … what if we prayed for them and cared for them?

What would it be like if we were a faith community who was spoken of as people of prayer and worship? What if people said, “Those people … when you are with them it is like you are in this boundless conversation with God?” What if, when we are together, there is a tangible goodness like someone else is present with us - a deep, abiding sense of love, peace, grace and compassion?

What would it be like if we were a faith community who was known to be generous? Who gave out of our poverty? Who was known as a place that has much because we give much? What if we not only give away food, but taught others how to make it so they can teach others, who teach others?

What would it be like if we were a faith community who was known as safe? What if we were a place where those with addictions, prostitutes, criminals, gang members could come and receive a warm hug and be welcomed? What if we were a place where a person with no home sat next to a wealthy person with five homes? What if no matter what you had done in the past you knew you were accepted just as you are?

What would it be like to be this kind of faith community? What would happen if together we performed and proclaimed the Good News of Jesus Christ? What would happen to this city if we were this kind of faith community? What would people say? What would people do?

What is it like to dream about this? 

If we are this kind of community, the good news is that people will not see us, they will see Jesus. Paul reminds us that we are his body. Instead of him having two eyes, two, ears, two hands, two feet, and one mouth .., he now has millions of eyes, millions of ears, millions of hands, millions of feet, and millions of mouths. 

If we are this kind of faith community, when people see us they will say, “They are a part of the revolution that Jesus started 2,000 years ago.” 

Can you imagine that?

DID COLORADO SPRINGS ANGER GOD?

Photo courtesy: Cassidy DeJong

Colorado Springs must have angered God. I’m not sure what they’ve done, but he has to have a reason for burning up homes and possessions. One thing we know: God sends messages through natural disasters to certain groups who defy him and peddle evil.

How else could we explain what’s happening?

Mark 4 tells us that Jesus controls the wind. And it is the wind, in large part, that has caused the fire to spread. Perhaps we should heed the warning of Jesus in Luke 13 and repent or else face the reality of perishing like them.

Is it possible that groups like Compassion International and Bibles for the World have secretly condoned certain sins that will, in the end, keep people out of the kingdom of God? What message is God sending to groups like HCJB Global and Biblica?

This fire seems to be warning to them, and everyone to repent. They need to step up and reaffirm the Evangelical tradition. They must turn back from distorting whatever it is they have distorted about God’s character.

Does this sound ridiculous?

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If you would like to help those affected by the fires, please visit Help Colorado Now.

IS HEAVEN IS NOWHERE?

Chances are good that you are not going to heaven. Well, at least not the heaven that you may have pictured it. In fact, heaven may be far greater than anything we could have ever imagined.

This is good news to me. I don’t know about you, but I was never crazy about standing around in a white robe, singing for eternity. I’m sure we will all do a fair bit of singing, but thankfully it’s not all that we will do.

Recently scholars N.T. Wright and Christopher Morse have revisited the subject of heaven. As well they should. There are many notions and misconceptions about what heaven might be or could be or is. And with the heightened interest in heaven, thanks to books like Heaven is For Real and 90 Minutes in Heaven, we may want to take more time to consider heaven.

Let’s be honest, it’s fun to think about a place somewhere out there that is nonstop bliss and wonder. But is it possible that our desire for what we think heaven should be may be misguided? What if heaven is not so much a place, but a time that is yet to come? Would our perspective of life, here and now, change if we understood heaven differently?

What do you think of heaven? How have you been taught about it?

Perhaps it’s time to explore those questions more thoroughly. A new book by Wright, How God Became King, explores these questions in depth.

If that feels like too much, you can start, by reading an article on Huffington Post titled, “N.T. Wright Asks: Have Christians Gotten Heaven All Wrong?”

“The oft-cliched Christian notion of heaven -- a blissful realm of harp-strumming angels -- has remained a fixture of the faith for centuries. Even as arguments will go on as to who will or won't be "saved," surveys show that a vast majority Americans believe that after death their souls will ascend to some kind of celestial resting place.

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THE CHURCH AS A PLACE OF DOUBT

“This is bulls**t.” These were the last words that Andrea Palpant Dilley said to her father as she walked out of church in the middle of a sermon. She did not return for a little more than two years.

Eventually she returned, but still possessed the same questions and doubts that made her leave. Her story is like the story of so many. Those who cannot reconcile Christianity and the world in which we live.

Perhaps the problem is not with the thousands of people like Andrea, but with those who are in the church. The ones who attempt to explain everything and answer every question. In doing so they effectively say, "Doubt is not welcome here." Which causes many to feel as though they are not welcome.

What if it was different? What would it be like if the Church was known as the place where we could struggle, ask questions and voice doubt? Is it possible that we would see fewer people who feel the need to walk away?

Andrea recently wrote an article on the CNN Belief Blog about her experience. Reading it has caused me to wonder how we can better embrace struggle and doubt. What do you think about what she wrote? Is it too simple of an explanation? Does it match your experience?

Here is her article titled, My Faith: Returning to the Church, Despite My Doubts. She writes:

"During my junior year in college, I took a butter knife from my mother’s kitchen  and scraped the Christian fish decal off the back bumper of the Plymouth hatchback I’d inherited from my older brother. Stripping off that sticker foreshadowed the day, a few years later, that I would walk out of church ..."

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GOD, A BRUTAL DEITY?

Did Jesus really need to die so that God could forgive our sins? Doesn’t this suggest that God was somehow restricted by sin? Was he limited to only one choice? Did he find it more reasonable to punish sins rather than forgive them?

Did we really owe God a debt that we couldn’t pay or was the debt owed to someone or something else? In paying that debt did God really have to punish another member of the Trinity with such violence?

If he did, then what kind of God is he? Is he safe? Can we trust him? Is it safe to say that Jesus was really saving us from that God? Is God ultimately a vindictive, vengeful God who is seeking retribution? Did Jesus save us from that retribution … is that how the story goes?

Did Jesus then, in his death, earn God’s forgiveness on our behalf? If that’s the case, then why have we been told that forgiveness is a free gift from God? And why, before Jesus died, did he tell people that their sins were forgiven? And if God the Father is the one who forgives sins then why did Jesus say that he had authority to forgive sins?

Is this the gospel, the good news about the Kingdom of Heaven that Jesus preached? Is this what the story of the cross is all about? Our sin getting removed so we can access God? Is the story really just about some cosmic-legal transaction?

These are just a few of the questions that we asked this Sunday as we considered the cross. We spent our time exploring what can happen when we choose to look at the crucifixion of Jesus in only one way.

Conversely, we discovered that we should always be finding new ways to express the universe-reshaping story that is the cross. Just like the parent of a newborn child knows, there are not enough ways to describe the wonder of childbirth.

How much more the cross?

You can listen to the teaching from Denver Community Church on Sunday, June 17 here. Then ask yourself the question – how would I describe the cross?

IS THERE SOMETHING WRONG WITH ME?

I am an introvert. Nearly everyone that hears this from me for the firs time laughs because they think I am joking. But it’s true. Those who know me well have learned this about me.

I need a lot of time for quiet and for reflection. If my time is saturated with meetings, people and conversations I become agitated and anxious. I build my schedule in a way to accommodate this, because I’m not fun to be around when I’m agitated.

There have been times when I have felt (or been made to feel) that my being an introvert was not a good thing. As a pastor some think that I always have to be “on” and willing to meet with as many people as possible when they want to meet.

There have been days where I have felt deficient and struggled with how I am wired. Thankfully over the last several years friends and fellow leaders have come around me to affirm who I am and encourage me to remain healthy. Their words and care for me have enabled me to be at a healthier place than I have ever been.

In all of this I have learned that there are many other extroverts who feel the same way I did. They feel like they are not doing enough, that they can never find the quiet they need and often feel like they do not have a place to fit.

Thankfully, Adam S. McHugh wrote an encouraging and helpful book titled Introverts in the Church: Finding Our Place in an Extroverted Culture. If you have ever felt less than, not needed or discouraged it is well worth the read.

He recently did an interview on InterFaith Radio. You can listen here. Perhaps if you do, you will realize that there is, in fact, nothing wrong with you at all.