Ephesians 4:3 reminds us to “make an effort to preserve the unity of the Spirit with the peace that ties us together.” As I read and meditate upon this verse, I find myself asking, “Am I making an effort to preserve unity? Am I working for or against peace?”
God, in those moments where I am tempted to jump into the divisive rhetoric that is deeply dividing the denomination of love and serve through, help me to step back and ask if what I’m adding to the conversation is helpful or hurtful.
God, in those moments when I am tempted to engage in divisive debates that are deeply dividing the nation I love and live in, help me to step back and ask if what I’m adding to the conversation is helpful or hurtful.
God, in those moments when I am tempted to belittle or gossip about others, help me to step back and examine why I feel the need to tear others down.
God, in those moments when I am tempted to ignore the needs of my neighbor because of my own selfishness, help me to step back and examine if there are practical ways in which I can address my neighbors needs as they arise.
God, so often I work to preserve institutions, reputations, status and privilege when I should be working for peace and unity.
God, help me to put aside my own selfish desires and pursuits so that I might better love and serve you and my neighbor. Help me to be a person of peace that attempts to bring unity where there is division, hope where there is despair, and love where there is fear. And, help me to remember that peace, unity and hope are available in and through you.
Open my heart, mind, body, eyes and soul to experience you in this world today. Too often, I overlook your presence in simple things, in my family, friends, neighbors, enemies, strangers, and all of creation.
While it can feel that things are spiraling out of control, that stress is winning over joy, help me find hope, rest, and renewal in you.
Remind me that you are in control and help me trust you.
Far too often, I fail to give you appropriate thanks and praise. Therefore, let my words and actions this day be a shout of praise for your amazing love, grace and mercy.
May my work, my interactions with others, my coming and going, my moments of busyness, my moments of rest be holy and pleasing to you.
Merciful God, when I am overwhelmed by the circumstances of my daily life, give me confidence that I am not alone, for You, God are with me.
Help me to always hold onto hope, knowing that no matter what I face today, You, God are with me. You, God, will save me from myself and all those things that attempt me to distract me from You.
God, help me to always choose what is good, what is right, what is pleasing to You. Help me to live, speak, move and act in ways that will communicate that I am Your child.
Creative God, help me to love You by loving others. Provide opportunities for me to put that love into actions, and give me the bold courage to respond in practical and tangible ways.
Thank You, Creative God, for Your amazing love. Be with me this day and help me to be faithfully obedient. Amen.
Deep down, I must hate myself a little. You’re probably wondering why I might say such a thing. Well, it’s because I continually read articles on church trends. In doing so, I find myself sarcastically proclaiming, “Oh, this is just what the sweet baby Jesus needs! Finally, something that will fix every problem in every church. This author has done it! He/She has found the ‘Holy Grail’ of church growth! I can’t believe we haven’t been doing this for years.” Then, I throw up!
You see, every-single-freaking-day I receive an email, a mailer (seriously, who still sends things in the mail?), or see something on Facebook or twitter or whatever that proudly proclaims “THIS is how your church can reach THIS particular group of people.”
Too often, these articles are based on little, if any, research. The author will have visited one (or, at most, two) churches that embrace a particular “style” or “structure” and they decide that this “style” or “structure” is THE answer.
If you dig traditional worship, you can find numerous articles that say, “high church liturgy will solve all of your problems.”
If you dig modern worship, you can find numerous articles that say, “Is that freedom rock? Well, turn it up!”
If you dig the more contemplative approach, you can find articles that say, “Use lectio divina or Taize-style worship to reach more people.”
If you are a trendy hipster, you can find articles that say, “Wear even skinnier jeans. Use more product to make your hair even taller. Buy weird eyeglass frames (whether you need glasses or not).”
You’ll find articles that proudly proclaim, “Want more families? Do this”. Or “Want to reach millennials? Put these 6 things into practice.” And, on and on and on and on it goes.
And, to be honest, too often we are fooled. We want to catch the wave of the next big thing. We want to be ahead of the curve. Of course, if we embrace something after Carey Nieuwhof or Thom Rainer (both great, very insightful guys) or Nadia Bolz-Weber or Rachel Held-Evans (both, great, very insightful women) have blogged about it…we’ve probably already missed the wave.
What clergy and church leaders need to do is find an appropriate balance. Yes, it is important to be well-informed of church trends (even the ridiculously stupid ones- I’m looking at you skinny jean wearing, Starbucks drinking sinners!). However, it’s more important to be in-tune with God and your environment.
Rather than spending an appropriate amount of time in prayer, study, and out in the community, pastors are prone to turn to the latest book or blog and say, “Well, it worked there. I’m sure it will go over like gang busters here!” Sure, we can and should learn from others and pay attention to what’s working somewhere else. But, we need to be in tune with who God is calling us to be in our place and time.
To me, the overall key is being open, honest, authentic, and true to ourselves. If we are attempting to be someone we are not, it will show. If we are not fully sold out to a “style” or “structure”, we shouldn’t be surprised when it crashes.
But, if we are open and honest, if we are authentic and true, if we operate with a great sense of integrity, if we are following what God lays on our hearts, that will show. So, just be yourself!
And, for the love of God, if you are a pastor or worship leader who has embraced the skinny jean trend…just stop it! If you feel called to the skinny jeans, this is the one area where you should not be true to yourself. Seriously, God is not calling anyone to wear skinny jeans. They (skinny jeans), like Starbucks, are of the devil and should be completely avoided!
Change can be difficult. Change can be overwhelming. Change can be confusing. Change can be intimidating. Change can be scary. Change can be strange!
And, yet, there are times when we have to, as David Bowie sang, “turn and face the strange.” In life, change is often necessary.
Yet, too often, the Church is resistant to change. Because we embrace, honor, and celebrate our tradition, our history, our past (and, rightly so, I might add), we often resist anything “new” or “different”. There are times when we spend so much time in the past that we fail to address the present and the future. So, we use ministry models, programs, and structures that may have been effective 30, 40, or 50 years ago and expect them to produce the same results in a rapidly changing world.
Often, we find that we prefer the comfort of what we know. Therefore, our willingness to take risks and step out in faith is often non-existent. “New”, “different”, “change”, and “modern” can appear to be curse words within certain church circles.
In a time when 80% or more of churches are plateaued or declining, change is necessary. We can’t continue to “do things they way we’ve always done them” and expect different results. And, yet, that is what many churches do!
We want change, but we don’t want to change!
We desire results without any effort.
We want transformation without transforming.
We want growth without growing pains.
We believe that the answer will be a new pastor. We say, “If we just get a new (or younger…or male…or white…or whatever) pastor (or youth/children’s/family/women’s/choir/worship director), all our problems will be solved.” We fool ourselves into believing that small tweaks to our staffing will be the solution. A newer, warmer body will fix everything! We won’t have to change our structure. We won’t have to conduct an honest audit on our ministries, programs, or traditions. We won’t need a new (or renewed) vision. We can continue to be comfortable.
Too often, churches are looking for hospice chaplains rather than visionary leaders. We aren’t looking for shepherds to lead us. We are looking for people to hold our hands and tell us how great we are as we slowly fade away.
We aren’t willing to step out of the safety of our boats. We aren’t willing to even dip our toes in the water to check the temperature.
However, the reality is, we are always changing. We are either growing or we’re dying! Choosing not to change is often a simple choice to die. And, in choosing to die, we are still changing. Our churches, whether they are growing or dying, look different today than they did 5, 10, 20, 30, 50 years ago. We are changing whether we like it or not!
Our churches need to learn how to say “yes” and embrace change. We need to say “yes” to new ideas. We need to say “yes” to stepping out in faith. We need to say “yes” in granting people permission to try, to fail, and even to succeed (some don’t embrace change simply because if the change works, well, it worked).
When we resist change, we are often just being proud. When change/new ideas are presented, the proud respond by saying:
We’ve never done it that way.
We’ve always done it this way.
I don’t care about the new vision.
I’m going to keep on doing what I’ve always done.
We tried that before and it didn’t work.
It’s my ball. It’s my rules. So, play by my rules or I’m going home.
If you don’t go back to the old ways, I’m leaving.
If you don’t go back to the way I like things, I’ll stop giving.
When Jesus said, “Go and make disciples”, he didn’t add in, “Oh, and never change because you’re perfect just the way you are!” He also didn’t say, “Wall yourselves up in the church building and just keep doing what you’ve always been doing.”
And, yet, from the outside looking it, it might appear as if that’s what we believe Jesus said.
So, our churches are confronted with some decisions:
Tuesdays with Morris 