Letting Frustration Lead to Grace

I’ll admit it. My blood pressure has not fully come down from Monday Night Football. For those of you overseas, or under rocks, my beloved Green Bay Packers lost last night when replacement referees (the NFL’s officials union is currently locked-out due to a contract dispute) decided to somehow call a Green Bay interception a Seattle touchdown. In a matter of 5 minutes my Facebook feed contained 45 CONSECUTIVE updates from friends that include the word referee and a well, not so nice word. It was a ridiculous call that cost Green Bay the game, and I and millions of others remain frustrated and enraged by it today.

This and many other things tend to frustrate me, from the merely annoying (people’s inability to corral their carts at Wal-Mart) to the much more serious (the millions of people who have never heard the gospel and the billions that are hungry, despite the fact that we have the resources as American Christians to address both in huge ways). I frustrate myself sometimes as well, keeping up some habits that are simply not great (my food intake being substantially higher then my exercise frequency), and some that are flat out sinful. Yet, as I think about it, what do I really ever do about any of it? Sometimes I vent my frustration, as I did with the refs last night, but often I do nothing. Sadly, I think I’m in the norm as an American Christian. Lots of things in the world frustrate us, but that frustration hardly ever leads to any action. I think we are at a point in the church where the problem is not that we do not know what the church and those in it should be doing, we simply choose not to do it.

I Love James chapter 2 on this: Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?  In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. James 2:15-17. We need to stop simply paying lip service to the problems in this world, and start doing something real in the name of Christ about it. 

Here’s my suggestion to you this week: seriously ask yourself: what in this world breaks my heart? What really frustrates me on a deep level? Is it the hungry? The millions who have yet to hear the gospel? Is it a particular person who is lost? A thing systematically wrong in our culture that needs fixing? Figure out what really frustrates you, then seriously and sincerely pray to God, asking what he is calling YOU to do about it. I tell you, God really and truly calls us individually to tackle these things in His name and with his help. This Sunday our Senior Pastor challenged people to truly listen to God’s calling in their life, and we’ve been blown away by how people have been responding to their call. Just mind boggling what God is doing in people’s hearts at Central right now!

So, now that question is put to you. Your obviously frustrated by something in this world that’s simply not right. Consider that the frustration is God calling YOU to stop paying it lip service and to start doing the good that is needed to address it. Answer it please. And see what God will do through you. 

Dream Bigger!

When I was little I dreamed of being a mediocre hockey player that no one never knew, unless he got in a bloody fight or something. I dreamed of being a baseball player like Bill Buckner, remembered for doing something like letting a ball through my legs. I dreamed of being a one hit wonder musician, whose one hit was so annoyingly memorable that people decades later still considered driving off cliffs to get it out of their head (hey, Macarena!). I dreamed of running for political office, but losing in a landslide…

Now, if any of that were true I would have major issues (not that I don’t anyway, but you get my drift). Those are far from the sort of big hairy audacious dreams most of us really have as youngsters. We want the best possible, and dream often of seeing that happen. Sadly, I think churches have begun dreaming like my above example. We seem to no longer shoot for excellence and perfection, but settle for survival and mediocraty. People are busy, so instead of dreaming of expanding our children’s ministry lets just focus on getting enough teachers. High schoolers are in so much, so instead of reaching for raising involvement lets just shoot for not losing anyone else. I’ve even heard of churches setting NEGATIVE goals, like “lets limit the decrease in church attendance to just 5% over last year.” When I see and hear about all of this it makes me wonder: when did we as Christians stop being full of faith and audacity? When did we become maintance workers instead of planters, nurturers, and harvesters?

Steven Furtick, Pastor at Elevate Church in Charolete, NC, has a challenging book out called Sun Stand Still. In it he argues that as Christ followers we need to be audacious in our faith, asking God to use us to do enormous, often seemingly impossible, tasks. The book is based in events that happen in Joshua chapter 10. In a battle in which the very survival of God’s people, the Israelites, hung in the balance Joshua asked God for something simply audacious: he asked for the Sun to stand still. You see, as night was coming there was the very real chance the opposing army would be able to regroup and defeat Israel in the morning. Joshua realized he could not do God’s work best on his own, so he asked God to do the impossible: to make the sun stand still. Think about the faith required to ask that. Joshua obviously had it, but do we?

Here’s the problem. We don’t think of ourselves as great. We say things like: I’m not capable of leading someone to God. I”m not creative enough to help my church go to next level. I don’t have the training, the time, the ideas, the personality, etc. And you know what? Your right. Nearly all of us don’t have what it takes. We’re imperfect. But, God’s perfect. So why not start trusting the perfect God to use the imperfect you to do great things in his name? Why not start having faith that God can use you, yes imperfect you, to do what is needed in this world? Here’s my challenge to you. Would you start going to God in prayer, asking what big audacious thing he needs you to do? And when He starts revealing that to you would you simply pray “God, this seems beyond me, but make the difficult and impossible happen so I may serve you.” Dream big. Be audacious. Be full of faith.

Heady stuff huh? I’ll be back to this subject in a more concrete way next week. Stay tune, and have a blessed weekend!

Being a Team Sport in an Individual World

We LOVE superstars in our world. The athletes that can take over a game, the actor that steals the show, the vocalist that brings down the house on American Idol without a back-up band. Yet, when you think about it, seldom do these superstars truly succeed entirely on their own. Lost in Michael Jordan’s six world titles is the following fact: the Chicago Bulls were a whopping 205-205 with His Airness before he was joined by the likes of Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, and coach Phil Jackson. Only then did Air One morph into Team #1. Ever heard of the Quarymen? It had probably the greatest musician of all times, one Sir. John Lennon, and played local bars to little fanfare. When Sir. John teamed up with some guys named Paul, George, and Ringo music changed forever. The point is, one person teams seldom go all the way, even if they have the biggest star on earth on them. Yet, I think many of us think church works that way. Hire the right Senior Pastor, Youth Pastor, Outreach Director, etc. and your church will grow by the thousands. I cannot tell you how completely and utterly wrong such thinking is. I have never known a church to grow and thrive simply because of the work of the staff, yet churches continually believe if they just hire the right good looking, hip dressing, good voiced, and charismatic guy everything will be perfect.

Let me let you in on what really should not be the biggest secret in ministry, but sadly seems to be: Churches are best positioned to thrive, grow, and be the place God needs them to be when staff and congregants are one team. In other words, YOU are just as important to the work of the church as anyone on staff. Instead of whining about how their Pastor/key staff person is not Rick Warren, Andy Stanley, Steven Furtick, or Bob D. Superpastor of First Perfect Church Two Blocks Away church members have to buckle in and and go on the wild ride with their staff. Look at Acts Chapter 2:42-47. Here it describes in detail how the early church thrived. But, notice it doesn’t mention Peter the superstar preacher, but instead talks about the work the WHOLE church was doing. In five years at Hingham Reformed Church we saw dozens of kids come to Christ and/or get involved in our programs that were not from Hingham Church. Wanna know how many of those came solely due to Andrew David Baker? ZERO. NONE. NADA. ZILCHO. Did my team and I help create an atmosphere conduicive to reaching out? Sure. Did we give our churched students tools and encouragment to reach out? Yep. Did we take the message to where kids were at? You bet. But it was God working through our students that led people to our church and, ultimately, the cross. It was they who did the inviting, the witnessing, and the caring for friends that brought them in the doors and, with God’s help, ultimately to the foot of the cross. It was the triumvirate of teamwork: staff, students, and God that produced results.

Don’t ever think that your church will be all it can be because of the paid team you have in place. The Rick Warrens and Steven Furticks of the world would have likely been ministry flops had they not had legions of people in their churches who stepped up to the plate by inviting the lost, shinning for God daily, praying for those who need it, and starting thousands of conversations leading towards God. Wanna see your community change and your church and God’s kingdom grow? Get on the team. Start loving on others. Start inviting others. Ask your pastor and other staff members what you can do to get on the bus and start changing the world around you. Get on the team, and together let’s change the world.

Needing to Meet Needs

I have a lot of needs in my life. I need my son to stop doing things that warrant trips to the ER. I need the Nebraska defense to remember to actually, oh I don’t know, TACKLE PEOPLE. I need some more money in my checking account, and more time in my day. I need a new IPhone 5 and, most importantly, I need Nebraska to CRUSH Iowa in November to avoid a year of harassment by Iowa fans. If your not catching on, I really don’t need those things (well, Nebraska beating Iowa is pretty close…), but I sure spend a lot of time desiring them. If your reading this your probably in a similar boat. You actually NEED very little to successfully make it through your day and week, but you sure want a lot. This week I really want to encourage you to think about the people who actually NEED things to simply make it through the week. You likely don’t think about these people much, and if you do you probably imagine they live in Africa or other far away locale. But I’m here to tell you there are massive needs in your backyard that need to be met with the love of Christ.

Here are just some examples of the need level in Oskaloosa, far from a metropolis at 11,463 people in the 2010 census.

In the month of August 699 people received food from the Eccumenical Cupboard, our local food bank. To receive food you must receive a referal from a charitable organization (to help insure they NEED food, not simply desire a freebie) AND can only receive food every other month. In other words, that number is not everyone who needs food in Oskaloosa, yet still represents 6% of the population.

Love INC, only one of a number of charitable organizations in town, is currently averaging $45,000 in need requests from individuals and families PER QUARTER, and they have a budget of $60,000 PER YEAR.

It says this in 1 John 3:16-17: If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need, but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?  Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.

What a call to action! As people who have been saved for eternity by the grace of Jesus Christ on the cross we are called to take ACTION to help those with needs. My challenge to you this week is to find a need in your community and do something about it. If you live in Oskaloosa I’m here to tell you that if you called Love Inc, the Ecumenical Cupboard, or United Way and offered to volunteer you would be put to work so fast your head would spin. The needs out there are plentiful, lets start doing something about them with the love of Christ.

Living Room Evangelism

Like many churches Central presented Bibles to students on Sunday School Kick-Off Sunday this weekend (by the way, as much as I like new terminology I’ll take S.S. Kick-Off over Back to Church Sunday every day, and twice on Tuesdays.) Because we have a brilliant Children’s Ministry Director we did this in an awesome way I’d never seen before. During Sunday School every parent of a child receiving a Bible went to a Bible orientation with their student. The Children’s Dir. walked through how to use the Bible, why reading it is important, etc. Then during the 2nd service all the students AND their parents came to the front and the parents actually presented the Bible to their student, promising to help them grow from it. It was so powerful watching parents passionately present their child with the Word and promising to help them grow deeper. Awesome stuff, so if your not at Central Reformed you should probably be stealing this idea!

As a guy whose heart beats for evangelism I share this because I think we all need a reminder that the evangelism field is not simply over the sea, across the city, or even across the street. It’s IN your living room as well. While the Church has taken a beating for the decline in church attendance and membership seen the past few decades (and it does deserve part of that beating), I think family has played a role too. My grandparents’ generation made family devotionals, weekly church attendance, and regular Bible study a way of life for their family. My parents generation made it a little more optional (not in the Baker house, but on the whole). Today’s parents seem to growingly be treating discipling their children as something to be outsourced. Thinking like the consumers we are we rationalize: “I put money in the offering plate, the church then uses that to provide staff and programs, and thusly it is their responsibility to disciple my child. So, my kid better turn out or I’m gonna take money out of that plate next week!” Look, I serve at a church with an incredibly comprehensive ministry for children and students, and they do a TERRIFIC job. But I’m here to tell you every staff person and volunteer who works with students would scream to you that their importance PALES in comparison to that of parents.

Think of it this way. I seldom see a hyper successful athlete whose parents were indifferent to sports. Usually their parent was their coach for many years, grooming them for greatness. Its similar in the Church. There are certainly AWESOME Christians from atheist homes, Buddhist homes, un-churched homes, etc. But, there seems to be a super high percentage of dedicated Christian disciples form homes where prayer was daily, scripture was prevalent, Bible study habits were encouraged, and Christ’s love was everywhere.

Want to do some awesome and effective outreach this week? Pour into your kids. As Proverbs tells us: Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it (Proverbs 22:6). Sit down and read the Bible to them. Start your meal time with a real prayer time, not simply “thank you for grub, Amen!” Ask them what tools you can get them (a study Bible, a devotional, a Bible app, etc.) that would help them grow closer to God (because hey, what do they love more then seeing you spend money on them?). And even more so, would you pray for them this week? Pray for their struggles, for their strengths, and for their future. Pray that they may come to the foot of the Cross and then join the ranks of Christ’s disciples. Invest in your kids spiritual growth this week, and everyone will win.

The Hypocrites are Coming! The Hypocrites are Coming!

Like Paul Revere warning the American Revolutionaries of the coming of the British Red Coats the un-churched are quick to warn one another of the coming of hypocritical Christians. This week I’ve had some great conversations with several non-church goers in our community about what keeps them out of church. Answer #1 has, non-surprisingly, been their frustration with hypocrisy among Christians. One story I was told this week was by a man who had been judged negatively by a woman for his appearance at church, then saw that woman act in a very inappropriate fashion in the grocery store the next week (including swearing at a store worker). The thought that she could judge him, yet act in such a negative way, was simply too much, and he has not been in church in years. Now, I’m not saying that’s an appropriate response to someone else’s hypocrisy, but it is VERY common (67% of non-church goers felt that way in a recent national study). Today I want to offer to actions we as followers of Christ should take to be a light that leads towards God, instead of a giant boulder in the middle of the road.

1. Shine Your Light: The more I’m in ministry the more important I see this teaching of Christ’s being. Jesus says: let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16). When we follow God in the living out of our life we point people towards Him in a powerful way. We show there is something different and great about following God. On the other hand, when we claim to follow God and don’t we tend to have the opposite result. 1 John 1:6-7 says: If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. Look at that word FELLOWSHIP. If we follow God, shining His light by the way we live life, it can lead to positive, even transformative, relationships with others. Take hypocrisy off the table: go into the world purposefully shining your light through your thoughts, words, and actions, all for the glory of God.

2. Throw Light, Not Stones: Christ teaches: Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone (John 8:7). I love the Church, and I love Christians, but I wonder sometimes when we stopped being the Disciples and started being the Pharisees. Why are we so stinking quick to judge and reject people? What good is such judgement and rejection doing anyone? I’m here to tell you it’s most likely leading people towards darkness and not Christ’s light. Our reaction to seeing people with messy lives (by the way, whose life isn’t at least somewhat messy?) should be to throw God’s love and light all over them. It should be to speak with them, to welcome them, to build a relationship with them, and in a loving manner to  lead them and their sins to the foot of the cross. In a recent nationwide study by Lifeway Research 58% of non-church goers WOULD attend church “if people at church cared about me as a person.” Drop the stones and shine God’s light on those who need it.

If we as Christians can fix ourselves, working hard to shine God’s light and replace the stones of judging with the light of God’s love I think we put our place in a much better place to be used to lead people to Christ. Drop your stones, shine your light, and see how God will act!