WHY BUSY IS NOT HEALTHY

“I cannot imagine how busy you are.” This was the first line in an email I received just last week. It’s a statement I’ve heard many times before.

My reply is always the same: “No, you probably cannot.”

My reply does not speak of my insane calendar, multiple appointments, demanding meetings or general busyness; rather is speaks of how busy I am not.

For some, not being busy is equated with laziness. Many assume staying busy shows strong work ethic or ambition or a drive to serve others well. However, what I’ve learned (and continue to learn) is that busyness and good work are not complimentary.

There are times when I am busy. In those times my world is hectic and even doing little things seems hard. My mind races to the next thing before I finish the thing I am doing. I am neither present nor pleasant in those times. When I do this I suffer, and I am not one who always suffers well.

Which is to say, when I suffer others suffer because my hurriedness, manic pace and frenetic activity leads to my ignoring others – even if they are right in front of me. I see this not only in myself, but in many of us.

We believe we have little time to do much of anything because we want (and are expected) to do everything. This expectation that we place on ourselves and that others place on us is especially true for pastors. We want our pastors to be available as much as possible, or, at the very least, anytime we need them.

And therein lies the problem.

If our pastors are constantly busy, there is a good chance they will not be available when they are needed. If they are available, there’s a good chance they will have little margin to be present when they are with us because … they are simply too busy.

Eugene Peterson wrote, “The adjective busy set as a modifier to pastor should sound to our ears like adulterous to characterize a wife, or embezzling to describe a banker. It is an outrageous scandal, a blasphemous affront.”

What is needed most is not busy pastors but healthy pastors. And, it almost goes without saying, that chronic busyness does not produce health. The best gift pastors can give to their congregations is not an extraordinary amount of time, but the constant pursuit of spiritual and emotional health. This may sound cold and unfeeling, and certainly may not sound like the heart of a pastor.

However, I have seen too many pastors burn out, give up, resent the very people they love, and quit altogether. Of course, some pastors bring unrealistic expectations on themselves. These are the pastors that are – you guessed it – busy.

Ask yourself: “Do I want a pastor who remains healthy or a pastor who remains busy?”

We can’t have both.

In a time when busyness is often considered a virtue we must eschew the call to remain busy. So what can be done? That’s a good question that we will wrestle with in my next blog.

WHY WE NEED TO OWN HOW THE CHURCH HAS HURT OTHERS

I met someone recently who had not attended Church service in more than 14 years. Yesterday was his first day back.

This is not unusual.

Nearly every week I meet men and women who tell me it’s their first time attending a church service in years. It is often an emotional conversation. As one person put it, “It’s the first time I’ve stared the Church, my abuser, in the face.” One woman said, “I’m returning, for the first time, to the scene of the crime.”

These conversations are moving, because those who have the courage to return often share with me about why they left in the first place. Some speak of spiritual abuse, others the constant shame and guilt and still others the overt judgment and condemnation leveled at them.

The worst part is many of them have not abandoned their faith or rejected God; just the opposite. Like the man who returned after 14 years said, “I’ve always loved the Lord deeply, and I have missed gathering with God’s people. It’s just that the pain has been so intense that the thought of returning is terrifying.”

It’s terrifying because the experience of many who’ve left the Church has caused them to become suicidal, depressed or, in the words of a gay man I met with not long ago, “… while I always loved God I kept asking him to let me die so I did not have to live with so much shame.”

It’s tempting, not to mention easy, to hear these stories and dismiss any part we might play and sidestep our responsibility. And the temptation seems too good to pass up for many of us. This is no surprise; it’s common for us to locate failure outside of ourselves when things go wrong.

When was the last time your computer locked up or a program wouldn’t work? My bet is your first instinct was not, “Hmmm, I must have done something wrong.” Most of us immediately assume the problem lies with the computer and not with us. We are slow to consider user error. It’s the same with talk-to-text on our phones, isn’t it?

My phone never gets all my spoken words correct. My response, nearly every time, is to blame the lousy, over-priced technology. My assumption is there is no way it is my fault. We do the same thing with those who leave the Church because they have been wounded.

I heard one pastor say, “Those who abandon the Church claiming they have been hurt are using that as a convenient excuse to leave.” His statement was met with several “amen’s” and head-nods of approval. As one who left the Church for a time due to deep wounds, I can’t think of a more callous thing for a pastor to say or a colder response than “amen.”

The dismissive attitude of the pastor and his congregation is much like my attitude toward my phone. It foists blame on those who have been wounded and spurns any and all responsibility for how the Church has hurt so many. It’s a stubborn refusal to consider user error.

I’ve heard many say, “You’re always bound to be disappointed if you keep your eyes on people because they are imperfect. That’s why you’re supposed to keep your eyes fixed on God.”

Can we just be honest and say that’s crap?

It’s a refusal to acknowledge the people of God are to be a picture of Jesus in this world. And when the Church is the very reason many want nothing to do with the Church we must stop avoiding the reality that the Church is perfectly tailored to get the results it’s getting.

Perhaps the best thing we can do is confess our part in the massive amounts of pain the Church has caused. It’s not telling people, “Well, I am not that kind of Christian.” That doesn’t work. Those who are not a part of the Church do not make that distinction, and neither can we. We are all a part of this massive dysfunctional family called the Church – and we need to own that.

We must begin with the humble courage to apologize for how our brothers and sisters have treated them, and the ways in which we have been a part of their poor treatment. It’s not trying to explain away their experience, but possessing a willingness to listen and empathize – remembering few listen if they believe they will not be heard.

As we listen it’s having the courage to ask, “Does the way we live out our faith bear good fruit in our world?” Jesus said, “… every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit” (Matthew 7:17-18, ©NIV). If the fruit of our lives causes others to be laden with shame, fear, suicidal thoughts and depression – then we can safely assume that comes from a bad tree. And, as Jesus concludes it should be “thrown into the fire” (Matthew 7:19, ©NIV).

And what would a good tree look like? I suspect it would resemble the heart of Jesus who willingly laid down his life for all of us. Rather than excusing ourselves as part of the problem, what if we first chose the expensive path of sacrifice for the sake of others? What if rather than insisting that it’s loving to point out the sin of others, we understood love always allows violence to fall on itself first? In other words, rather than rushing to judgment we would rush to sacrifice.

If we lived this way I imagine there would be even more stories of men and women who chose to attend a church service for the first time in years. Because, maybe for the first time, they will have experienced the good fruit that comes from the heart of God put on display in the life Jesus.

WHY STAYING MUST BECOME THE NEW GOING

My friend Alan Briggs recently released a new booked titled Staying is the New Going. In it he reflects on what a rooted life of connection looks like - on our street, in our neighborhood and in our cities. If we choose to live this kind of life, we just might find ourselves building the kingdom on earth as it is in heaven, right in our own backyard.

Here's Alan ...

It was early on a Tuesday morning, and I pounded away on my MacBook in the coffee shop. The song “Rivers and Roads” played in the background.A year from now we'll all be goneAll our friends will move awayAnd they're goin' to better placesUnfortunately these words ring true in our culture. I live these words over and over again in Colorado. It’s a great place for the restless to come. Turns out it’s also a great place for the restless to leave. This was my story. I came here on the Colorado dream - less of a committed marriage to this place and more like friends with benefits.Restlessness is a prevailing problem today. Many of us exist somewhere, but never make it our home. Our soul drifts to places where life seems more ideal. As we daydream we miss opportunities right in front of our faces. We live in a culture of disembodiment.The ancient words of Jeremiah 29 are relevant to us today. The prophet Jeremiah pens these words to a dejected and exiled Judah. Living in Babylon wasn’t exactly their dream. I can’t imagine how abandoned and pushed aside they felt.Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare (Jeremiah 29:4-8).Recently I spoke on this text. After reading this passage I asked, “Who feels like an exile in this place?” Several people raised their hands. It was a powerful time as we gathered around and asked God to show us contentment and purpose right here.Most people don’t view followers of Jesus as an asset to their place. We aren’t viewed as advocates and blessings in our cities. God used Jeremiah to show me I wasn’t working for the welfare of my city; I compiled the reasons I should flee; I made my escape plan.I had to make some changes. I began to walk new sectors of my city with church planters as they helped me understand the realities. My wife and I saw parties as new opportunities to fold people into our lives. We moved our grill from the back porch to the front yard. I reengaged friendships with those far from the church who I had drifted away from. We committed Friday mornings to drinking coffee with neighbors on the corner. I stopped imagining ministry was easier or more fruitful “over there” and taking our parish seriously. My family began paying a spiritual mortgage instead of spiritual rent. Here are a few ways you can start sinking roots into the ground.To church leaders: Don’t just commit to a strategy or a vision statement; commit to your place. Don’t just look to get over the self-sustaining hump or push for church growth; become a long-term presence in your community. When you commit to your place you are also committing to stay engaged in the lives of those people. Love and serve the part of town you are in, not the one you wish you were in.To neighbors: Realize God has placed you where you are. Perhaps the greatest change you can make immediately rests in who you party with. Before inviting Christian friends over to watch the big game, celebrating your child’s birthday or throwing your Halloween bash think about who you could invite who doesn’t know Jesus.To anyone living anywhere: Live out the gospel faithfully and winsomely right where you are. The grass isn’t greener in that Instagram photo. Choose engagement over disconnection. Take a few risks to include new people around you. Choose to believe you can be the salty and luminous people Jesus charged us to be.______________________________________Alan Briggs is the Director of Frontline Church Planting, a network and equipping hub in Colorado. He is also the Multiplying Pastor at Vanguard Church in Colorado Springs where he makes disciples and trains leaders to multiply. His speaking and writing focus on equipping and unlocking the saints for effective ministry inside and outside the family of God. His book Staying is the New Going released this fall, and Cultivators will release Fall 2016. He and his wife, Julie, have four kids, two adopted and two biological.

WHAT EXACTLY DOES "GOD" MEAN?

God’s name is a verb. This is no small thing.

In the context of the Ancient Near Eastern world from which the Hebrew Scriptures were written names meant something. They told you about the person. For example, Abram means exalted father. Yet, when God promised him he’d be the father of a nation his name changed to Abraham, meaning “Father of Multitudes.”

Names were more than something written on a nametag. They spoke toward your identity. Your essence. And God’s name? It’s a verb.

We learn this in Exodus 3 when Moses asks God his name. God’s replies, “I Am Who I Am.” And then he says his name is, “I Am.” And finally he says his name is, “YHVH.” These three names have the same root word in Hebrew that mean “to be” – which is a verb.

Much has been said about this name over thousands of years. Nahum Sarna writes, “… it expresses the quality of absolute Being, the eternal, unchanging, dynamic, presence.” God is that which causes all things to be.

God is the one who animates all things with divine, life-giving breath. The energy of God is what gives life to all things. God is the source from which all that is comes to be, and he holds all things together. Perhaps this is why some have said the name of God is the sound of breathing. The name teaches us God sustains all things. This has the power to shape the way we look at the world in which we live.

Because if all things flow from God, and all that is possesses the breath of God; then our world is far more connected, beautiful, sacred and blessed than we think.

Consider something you’ve put immense time, energy and effort into. Maybe it was a home project or a book or music or your career or a relationship. You put so much into it you may even have said, “I invested myself in that.”

Think about those words. You invested you into something else.

Maybe this is why we feel the sting of rejection so deeply when someone else fails to appreciate the work we’ve done. They not only criticize your work; they criticize you, because you cannot be separated from your work.

It’s the same with relationships. When I watch someone befriend my children my heart swells and breaks with joy. It goes the other way too. When someone is unkind or hurtful to my children my chest rips open and a hulking bear jumps out intending to do harm. Because my kids are not just another person, there is a part of me in each of them.

Which brings us back to our world that has the breath and life of God in it. Paul, in Acts 17, tells those listening, God gives “everyone life and breath and everything else.” All people have the breath of God within them.

Everyone.

Your enemies. The person who has caused you the most pain. The President you didn’t vote for. The really annoying guy two cubicles over at work. Men and women who were not born in this country that have moved here (legally or illegally). The newlyweds next door, whether they be gay or straight. The person who cuts you off and makes you slam on your brakes when you are on your way home after work. Your classmate who is rather odd.

And every single time we take a breath to speak about these people, every time we inhale to speak words that are kind or unkind,  favorable or unfavorable, tender or mean-spirited – we use the breath of God to do so and speak of those who possess the same breath. You see, we are not as different as we would like to think.

All men and women have been given the same breath. We all come from the same God. We are in his image. We are God’s kids. How do we know this? Because God’s name is a verb, which teaches us, he gives all people, in all places, in all times, life and breath and everything else.

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*This blog is an excerpt from a sermon given on Sunday, September 27, 2015 at Denver Community Church. Listen to the full teaching here.

A CONVERSATION WITH BRAD LOMENICK

My friend Brad Lomenick recently released a new book titled, H3 Leadership: Be Humble. Stay Hungry. Always Hustle. I asked him a few questions about the book, and most importantly all he’s learned about leading over the years.

Michael: Give us a quick overview of the book.

Brad: H3 Leadership is an application driven, practical leadership book that provides much needed guidance on how to not only run, but finish well in the leadership race. Breaking down the “what” and “how daily leadership habits and routines that will awaken and transform the way you lead.

Based on over a decade of work with Catalyst and the gathered insights of some of America’s most respected leaders from wide ranging fields, H3 Leadership will teach and train you to be a better, stronger and ultimately a more effective leader.

M: You’re honest about how you’ve led, which is refreshing. Why did you include so much about, frankly, what you feel like you did wrong?

B: It was important to me to shoot really straight in this book. The very nature of this book required a bit more transparency. But I would also say that I believe the leaders who will have the most influence and impact are the ones who are willing to be vulnerable and talk openly about their struggles and failures.

And that’s a hard thing for a lot of leaders to do. Many times, when we get to a point where other people are listening to us, and we've got something to manage - something to lose - we sort of go into the default mode of “Okay, make sure everything looks perfect.”

Today, people crave authenticity. This need has even influenced the way we shop and purchase our products from organizations. Today, customers buy from those we feel are trustworthy. Equally, we want to invest in people and companies that we can trust, not necessarily because they’re well known or largest or leaders in their industry.

It's one thing to tell others to be willing to share struggles and to talk about failures. It's another thing to say, “Here's what I've failed at.” I think it's important for people to realize this is an ongoing journey.

M: One of your most powerful ideas in the book is about creativity? You argue that it’s not something some people are just born with- that it’s a habit that can be developed. When did you realize this?

B: It became really clear to me while leading creative - and by creatives, I mean people responsible for innovation and brainstorming and thinking outside the box - that many of us are asked to lead those kinds of teams, and we sense pretty quickly that that's not the way we're wired.

Most of the time, creativity and innovation come out of a process, and the process is what actually allows a truly creative idea to emerge. It’s important for leaders to realize that they don't have to be the smartest person, the most creative, or an exceptionally innovative thinker.

What they have to be willing to do is to allow the process to define how creativity happens. It takes patience. It takes a culture that says we're willing to wait on something. It takes leaders who are willing to say, “We're going to let that stew for a while.”

M: You say innovation should be a habit, and that leaders should be change agents. Why is innovation - specifically, continuous, persistent innovation - so important for leaders?

B: Innovation is pushing yourself. When I say change agent, I’m referring to someone who is not just willing to put up with change, but someone who’s willing to embrace it. They see change as a friend and recognize that without change, things die.

Innovation is all about being intentional. It takes courage, stamina, and spark to be intentional, but it also takes failure. You have to know that you’re going to fail, over and over again.

We tend to automatically associate innovation with creativity - and that’s not wrong. It does require creativity. But it’s more about intentionality - the mindset of constantly pursuing something better, of pushing the boundaries and never sitting still. Healthy things grow, and growth requires change.

M: What does the world need most from leaders today?

B: I think the most important thing for leaders today is to understand their individual identity and calling, and to be authentic. We don’t need perfect leaders. We need realness over relevancy. That’s the good news. The pressure is really off if leaders are willing to lead from their authentic selves. There's such a hunger for realness today. If you're willing to embrace that, people will follow you.

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Brad Lomenick is a renowned speaker, sought-after leadership consultant, author and longtime president of Catalyst, largely credited with growing the organization into one of the largest and most recognized leadership brand and gathering that it is today. For over 10 years, Brad led the Catalyst Conference and garnered the reputation as a convener of America’s most respected leaders including John Maxwell, Jim Collins, Malcolm Gladwell, Seth Godin, Mark Burnett, Tony Dungy, Marcus Buckingham and Rick Warren, among many others. In 2013, he published his first book, The Catalyst Leader, and his second book, H3 Leadership: Be Humble. Stay Hungry. Always Hustle., released in September of 2015. A prolific content creator, for eight years Brad hosted the Catalyst Podcast, interviewing change makers from across the globe and attracting hundreds of thousands of listeners per month. Additionally, he frequently blogs about leadership, the next generation, creativity, innovation, social media, teamwork, personal growth, and more on his website. He has been featured in TIME, Washington Post, Fast Company, Business Insider, CNN.com, Religion News Service, and others. For more information, visit bradlomenick.com

WHO IS UNFAITHFUL TO THE BIBLE?

It’s not uncommon today for Christians to accuse someone of being unfaithful to Scripture or unbiblical. And it is not “innocent until proven guilty” - the accusation itself is equal to a statement of guilt. Once a person is deemed guilty he or she is dismissed. It happens so often we barely give it any thought, but this does not mean we should not think about it. Just the opposite.

It may do us well to consider a few things, and move in a better direction that, in the end, could lead all of us to be more faithful to Scripture than ever. And isn’t that the point anyway? To do this demands honesty and a great deal of humility. Before we judge another’s attitude about Scripture, let’s keep the following things in mind.

We Are All Unfaithful

All of us ignore certain parts of Scripture, consciously and unconsciously, for our comfort. In the same way, we promote other parts of the text that reflect our heart, passion and our ego. Those who rush to judgment and claim someone is unfaithful to Scripture ignore their unfaithfulness. In doing so, they often stand as judge over and above others imagining themselves as a picture of fidelity to the written word.

This attitude is little more than a practice in self-deception. We must always come to Scripture humbly recognizing we overlook, misunderstand and ignore things in the Bible. Maybe this is why we can spot unfaithfulness in others so easily. We know exactly what it looks like, because we do it everyday.

Who Is Really Saying It?

A few months ago a preacher on the radio said, “Now don’t get mad at me, I am just telling you what the Bible says.” I have heard this statement many times, and each time I am immediately suspicious because it’s just not true. The preacher is actually the one speaking not the Bible.

What we hear is what the preacher thinks the Bible says. And the preacher is more than likely reflecting on what he or she has read in dictionaries and commentaries and articles. And those who wrote the dictionaries and commentaries and articles are not “just telling you what the Bible says” but what they think the Bible says.

We can never ignore the time and the zip code in which we live. More than this, we must also recognize our place in culture, our gender, our economic status, our ethnicity, our sexual orientation, our education and the list goes on. Because all these things inform how we see, hear and receive the text. All of us read ourselves into the Bible.

We Don’t Know and Never Will

As we read this Bible we should remember it is deeply complex, mysterious, contradictory, backward, straightforward, comforting, disturbing, primitive-yet-ahead-of-its-time and endlessly knowable. We are invited to throw ourselves headlong into this book, knowing we will never have it all figured out.

Because the more we know about something the more we know there is to know, and the Bible is no different. Why would we ever think we can nail this thing down? The invitation is to discover and rediscover the wonder within the text. It calls for us to humble ourselves and stand beneath the weight of what this book is.

If we can do these things, perhaps we will, not only interact better with Scripture, but better interact with one another. We will come to see the Bible is a feast to be shared, not information to be conquered. Together we will ask questions, challenge previously held beliefs, grasp new understanding, move ahead and expand our awareness all in the direction of being more faithful. Rather than judge one another’s faithfulness, we will journey together and learn more about the heart of God in the book we call the Bible.

THE TRUTH ABOUT LIES by TIM CHADDICK

I recently caught up with Tim Chaddick, author of the new book, The Truth About Lies: The Unlikely Role Of Temptation In Who You Will Become. He graciously agreed to guest blog and below is an excerpt from his book. Enjoy!

I’m not sure what comes to mind when you think about your past, but when I think about mine before I met Jesus, it was like this giant burden that I carried on my shoulders. It weighed me down. It left me longing for deliverance. People in every century and cultural background have experienced this pain or shame over what they have done or what has been done to them, wondering if there is healing at all or if we are just doomed to collapse under its weight.

The people of the first century, in the apostle Paul’s day, longed for the same freedom, only they hoped it would somehow come from the many gods of Greco-Roman society. The idea was that you might be able to find deliverance from the sorrow, pain, and burden of the past by showing yourself worthy to the gods. If you did, maybe, just maybe, the gods would show up. They called this an “epiphany,” an appearance of deliverance. Everyone was waiting for it, hoping it would happen someday. Paul’s response to the desire of this culture is classic and controversial:

That epiphany you want? It’s already happened.

Earth-shattering events have taken place, there has been an unveiling, an appearing of God’s grace to lost people— grace that delivers us from the domain of darkness and opens up the prison doors for those in captivity. In the Person of Jesus Christ, the grace of God is shown. The power of Christian living is found in between the finished work of Christ in the past and the promise of His return in the future. We are told this over and over again in the Scriptures. Why? Because these truths must be held together in our hearts if we are to overcome sin and temptation. But this is where we often slip.

If you are a music lover, then you know the pleasure of listening to your favorite album on headphones. I love hearing in both ears the sonic subtleties and nuances of great music and good production. If you love this experience, then you know how horrible it is when one of your earphones doesn’t work. It drives me insane because I’m getting only half of the mix! You need both left and right ears to enjoy the music properly.

Like a pair of headphones, we need to hold both the truth of Christ’s work in the past and the promise of His return in the future. But frankly, some of us are living with only one earphone in. On the one hand, you might be very aware of Christ’s work in the past, but you have no expectation in the future, and so you are filled with worry and perhaps discouragement. On the other hand, you could be alert to the reality of Christ’s soon return, yet be forgetting His finished work, and you end up being burdened with guilt, trying to work your way forward. You must hold both truths together.

You need to listen to grace in stereo.

Many of us give in to temptation because we are distracted by the “next big thing.” You might be dissatisfied with your job or your current relationship or even your church. You might be tempted to think that the solution for your discontent is to find better versions of those things. To use the apostle’s word, you are looking for an “epiphany,” waiting for the next curtain to open on a stage for the thing you think will give you the hope you need— whether that be another career or another relationship. But if that hope is anything other than Jesus Christ, it’s an illusion. It can never give you what your heart needs.

When we are distracted, giving in to the temptations of worldly passions, we find ourselves simply looking for recovery. But this is where grace educates our hearts. God is not in the recovery business; He is in the transformation business.

Grace brings about a change of mind and a change of heart and life. You are not only called to grow, but you are empowered to grow. It does not happen by my own efforts of being a “good person,” or focusing only on the badness of sin. Though legalism tries to capture the will, only grace captivates the heart. If you were to say to a person behind bars in prison, “Be free!” it would be an insult. That is what religiosity and legalism does. But … if the prison door has indeed been opened and a way of freedom made, then saying “Be free!” is not an insult but an invitation. Walk through the door. Jesus Himself has opened it.

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Tim Chaddick is the founding pastor of Reality LA and the author of The Truth About Lies: The Unlikely Role Of Temptation In Who You Will Become, released Aug. 1 from David C Cook. Reality LA is a thriving church in the heart of Hollywood, CA, and is a part of a movement committed to relational church planting and serving the broader body of Christ. Tim and his wife, Lindsey, live in Los Angeles with their three daughters. For more information, go to www.timchaddick.com, @timchaddickand www.facebook.com/timchaddick.

WHY WE TELL STORIES ABOUT OTHERS

Stories are powerful, aren’t they?Perhaps this is why, off all things, we tell stories about those who are not like us. We rationalize our poor behavior toward them and to further the distance between ourselves and “the other” by telling stories. This is nothing new; it’s been happening for 1,000’s of years.Leviticus 13 commands the people of Israel on what they are to do if you have an “infectious skin disease” (what many moderns refer to as leprosy). The commands conclude with, “… they must live outside the camp.”While this may sound extreme, this was a way to quarantine the sick and protect public health. It had nothing to do with who the person was, what they did or where they were from. It was quarantine, plain and simple.However, some religious leaders could not let things stay there. As poor religion commonly does it added rules and regulations to these laws. What began as a command to stay outside the camp for the health of the general public, turned into those inside the camp viewing the diseased as objects to be avoided at all costs. And it did not stop there either.The question arose, “What caused these people to become diseased?” The answer was that God struck them with the disease because of their sin. These were not just diseased people; they were morally deficient and needed to repent.To review: the original instruction was to stay outside the camp for the sake of public health. Which led to teaching the diseased were objects to be avoided at all costs. Eventually, common public opinion held the diseased were morally bankrupt individuals. These stories caused the lepers to become reviled in the eyes of the majority.Stories are powerful, aren’t they?We are much the same today. We insist on telling stories about those we want to keep “outside the camp.” We have our lepers - those who are viewed as “objects to be avoided at all cost” due to their “moral defectiveness.” And who are our lepers?Consider the attitude toward undocumented immigrants. Some spin tails about them being criminals, stealing jobs and costing tax-paying citizens money. The stories are told and retold and the more they are the more they are believed.What about the attitude toward the Black Lives Matter Movement? Not long after a grand jury failed to indict Darren Wilson there was a protest just outside my office in Denver. Thousands of high school students marched peacefully for justice. I chose to go outside and to spend time with them, asking questions and listening. I later posted a comment about my time with those young people and how they were bright, articulate and insightful. What followed were some of the nastiest, racist and incendiary emails and comments I’d ever received. The comments I received were rooted in false stories by some about young, African-American males.Think about the stories told about the LGBT Community. One story was that AIDS was God’s direct punishment against the gay community. After 9/11 Christian leaders blamed the “gays and queers” for the attacks on this country. Not long ago I was invited to meet with several Christians who said through gritted teeth, “We are to have nothing at all to do with gay people!”Stories are powerful aren’t they?We use them to exclude, to revile, to push others away and keep our distance. I wonder what could ever undo the power of a story? The answer, perhaps, is found in a single action that involved no words at all.Matthew, Mark and Luke all tell the story of a leper kneeling before Jesus and saying, “If you are willing you can make me clean.”All the rules, the attitudes, all the stories were represented in this man kneeling at the feet of Jesus. The gospel writers tell us Jesus “reached out his hand and touched him.” Before Jesus said anything to him, before he healed him; he touched him. Everyone who saw Jesus touch the leper would have thought Jesus was unclean. In other words, Jesus became a leper.Jesus’ attitude toward the diseased and whether or not he believed all the stories about them was summed up when he touched the leper. He didn’t add to the stories nor did he create more boundaries. He chose to be with the leper.Father Greg Boyle says, “Jesus was not a man for others. He was one with others. There is a world of difference in that … The strategy of Jesus is not centered in taking the right stand on issues, but rather standing in the right place – with the outcast and those relegated to the margins” (Fr. Greg Boyle, Tattoos on the Heart, p 72).Perhaps the question we should ask ourselves is “Are we with Jesus?” If the answer is “yes” then we will be with the other. We will not tell stories, create more boundaries or work to keep our distance from others. No, we will reach out our hand and touch the other, become like them, be with them and they with us. And if we do this, we will, like Jesus, find ourselves standing in the right place. *This blog is an excerpt from a sermon preached at Denver Community Church on August 23, 2015 titled, “I Think You Can,” you can download the sermon by clicking here.