Bonhoeffer

I have just finished reading the biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a book which really changed my thinking. Like many evangelicals I had a vague understanding of Bonhoeffer as a German theologian who wrote a couple of well received books and then died at the hand of the Nazis in the closing weeks of Word War II. This book pulled back the curtain so that I could see the historical context of this scholars life and come to better appreciate the struggles which he faced. What's more, I came to appreciate a different approach to the Christian faith than my own.

One of the phrases which Bonhoeffer was famous for was "religionless Christianity." Now some took this to mean that faith in God was entirely a personal matter, or that it was something that only had meaning in the "existential now." In fact, the "God is Dead" theologians actually championed the use of this phrase "religionless Christianity." After reading this book I am more convinced that what the martyred theologian meant was that we need a faith that is more than just tradition, that we have to understand it is not just a set of rules for conduct. I am afraid that this has been the culture that I have grown up in and typically accepted without question. It seems to me that Brother Dietrich is speaking of something far deeper, indeed the sort of faith that could lead him to be involved in a plot to kill Hitler and to do so with a clear conscience.

I suppose at the core of all of this is his emphasis on the will of God. He was utterly convinced it was God's will to do everything he could to end the reign of the Nazis. Some German Christians abhorred what the government was doing just as much but could not bring themselves to oppose it, thinking it was their Christian duty to be obedient. Seeing how a man trained in ethics could come to the conclusion that he did makes for fascinating and thought provoking reading.

Pastor Appreciation

We have just been through October which someone designated "Pastor Appreciation Month." I have to say that I felt a keen sense of appreciation this year in an unexpected manner. As much as I try to get across to people that I am more than a preacher, it seems that preaching is the one thing I do which the majority of folks cannot. To say it another way, I will always prefer to be called "Pastor Corn," but understand when church folks call me "Preacher."

Add to that the fact that I very seldom preach anywhere but my own pulpit. I don't know why, but I have never been much in demand as a revival or homecoming speaker. In a weeks time I had opportunity to speak in chapel at FWBBC and to the Cumberland Association. In the first of these I was filling in for Matt Pinson and in the second for Dr. Pic. Both messages were well received and I have gotten quite a few compliments on them.

I got to thinking about this late one Sunday night, just before falling asleep. Is it just possible that the Lord orchestrated these two speaking engagements to say to me, "Randy you have something to say. I appreciate you." That may be a humble way of being egotistical, but it is what I have come to believe. As I said at the outset of this post, I have felt a keen sense of appreciation during this "Pastor Appreciation Month." Now you know why.

Bad News

It has happened again. An acquaintance in the ministry has been forced into resignation. I really don't know the particulars of this case, and I don't really want to, I'm just saddened by this all too common turn of events.

Why does this happen? How can something that starts out so positive and with all parties claiming they have made it a matter of earnest prayer, end in a power struggle? I think there is enough blame for everyone in such matters. That being said, what are the common problems that might be addressed and thus avoided?

First, I think that most churches don't know what they need when it comes to looking for a pastor. If you do a survey of the congregation and took seriously all the suggestions made you would end up with something of a cross between Billy Graham and Spiderman, with a little bit of Joel Osteen thrown in for good measure! Maybe this could be the time for an interim pastor who could observe the strengths and weaknesses of the church and then make some suggestions. Most church folks are too close to the problem or are just blind to what an outsider would see as a glaring need.

Second, I think potential pastors ought to be a bit more realistic. Let's face it, most pastoral types, especially young ones, are optimists. That can be a very good thing, but when you are told that the last three pastors of a church you are considering were fired it may be the better part of valor not to send in a resume.

All of this being said, I am sure there will continue to be more pastoral mismatches in the future. My prayer is that neither the churches, nor the dismissed pastors, will be damaged beyond repair in the process.

Yesterday's News

Recently, I was in the process of refiling a number of articles from my old filing system into my new one. This resulted in reading perhaps half a dozen articles from Christian magazines published in 1994. I don't know if you have ever had this experience or not, but it is interesting to read something, written as breaking news, years after its publication. You have historical perspective and, if it is a field you have a good bit of knowledge about, you may know how things turned out. This same sort of thing can happen with books. While I was a seminary student I once came across a book that had an intriguing title, Millennial Studies. When I opened the volume I found an even more interesting subtitle, "Is Kaiser Wilhelm the Antichrist?" I suppose we know now that he wasn't.

Now, I suppose that one lesson to draw from this is that we shouldn't jump to conclusions, forecasting the darkest of all possible outcomes. Still, one of the purposes of articles and books are to alert us to possibilities. We might say that burden is on the writers, but in our information age there must also be a responsibility for the reader. There are some folks who figure that if it is in print, it must be true. We can't be that trusting, but neither do we want to become cynics. We must be discerning about what we read. I will generally look to see who the author is first and then if I'm unfamiliar with his or her work, I will look to see the publisher. When you come to something posted on the internet then all bets are off. I usually look at information from the web with a jaundiced eye. Does that mean I reject it out of hand? No, it might be accurate, it just needs some sort of verification.

I love to read. Wether it is a magazine or journal article, a book, or something on the web, I think that this is a wonderful time to be alive and swimming in the sea of information. I would just say that we need to be discriminating about what we consider a "float" in that ocean. Remember, not everything will stand the test to time.

Committee Meetings

I remember reading years ago that the great preacher G. Campbell Morgan detested church committee meetings. If I recall correctly his comment was they were endless discussions of who could and couldn't have a key to the back door of the church! Well, I don't detest church committee meetings, but I do long for the day when they can operate on an agenda, take less than an hour, and be scheduled some time other than right after I have preached.

How do you accomplish that? Well, I suppose I could come up with the agenda myself and then push through the items limiting the amount of time on each. I could just say when we will have the meeting and do it when I am at my best. The problem with all of this is that I don't really think I have the right to impose the agenda with a pre-designed outcome in view. Why should someone spend their time coming to a meeting if all the decisions have been made before hand? And when it come to me picking the time, people simply will not bend their schedules to my will. In other words, if I want people to come I'm going to have to work with the majority and resign myself to being the most flexible person in the group.

So, does it sound to you like I'm a pastoral wimp? I can see how some of my "pastoral authority" friends might see it that way. I am simply trying to recognize the value of everyone on each of those committees. I do believe there is greater strength in consensus than dictatorship. I suppose you could say that I am trying to have long view of this issue. I just wish we could do it a bit more efficiently.

"I Read Your Blog"

I suppose it was bound to happen sooner or later. I fellow pastor actually said to me, "I read your blog." What's more, he seemed to like what he had read. My first thought was, "now isn't that nice?" My second thought was, "Is there anything in there that might be a bit too revealing?" Ok, I know that second question makes me sound a bit paranoid, but I have heard of more than one person who seemed to think of their blog as a private journal instead of what it really is, a public forum.

I have thought off and on about that encounter for a couple of days now and it has reminded me about why I post a blog. I see this as a way to let a few people in on my somewhat private thoughts. There just isn't enough time to say these sorts of things from the pulpit, and besides that, not all are or will be proper pulpit fare. What's more the audience for this blog are a select group. You see, you really have to want to know what I'm thinking to take the time to look it up. Let's face it, a number of folks in the typical Sunday morning crowd are not all that curious about what the pastor thinks. They want to hear a good Bible message, sing some songs, put in their check, and briefly fellowship with a few friends. Who would want to add to that list, the exploration of the pastor's psyche? Only the few who really see their relationship with that pastor as a two way street. It is not just a matter of what he can do for them, or for the church, but perhaps what they can do for him that would make all of them a more effective team.

So, for the few, I say thank you and I hope that this little window will allow you to see me, and what I am about, a bit more clearly.

The Word On The Street

I am sure that most everyone has heard the expression, "the word on the street." It is a way of saying what people are talking about, and it sounds so much better than saying what they are gossiping about! Truth is, people will talk and it isn't always gossip. That word gossip carries a negative, even menacing sort of connotation. When someone gossips they either intend to hurt someone or they don't really care if they do. It is hard to understand how a Christian could ever be so calloused as to do such a thing, and yet, sometimes, we do.

Now, as I said, people will talk. My caution is simply this, is what I am talking about gossip? Could it be hurtful to someone or is it being given with a careless disregard for the feelings of others? If you have to say yes to either of those questions, then why are you talking about it in the first place?

I heard a friend say once about a mutual acquaintance, "When that fellah dies, there won't be one secret in the casket with him!" The reason that is true is this man never seemed to think it was wrong to "share" whatever came his way. He never seemed to ask those two questions I posed earlier.

Spurgeon, in speaking to his ministerial students, once commented that every minister needed a "blind eye and a deaf ear." Yes, there is always going to be a "word on the street," but it may be wisdom to turn a deaf ear to it.

The Strength Of Weak Times

Yesterday had all the makings of a train wreck. I don't really know why, but I just had a sense of foreboding as I left my office for the Sunday morning service. The attendance was down, and some of the most personally uplifting people in the church were not present. On top of all that, I was not all that confident of my sermon. I also have a real antagonist who just seems to glare at me through most of the services. I can almost read this disgruntled church member's mind. The usual message is "How long is this going to take?"

Now, that hardly sets the stage for a great message, and I am the last one to ask if one of my messages approaches greatness, but to use the biblical phrase, I delivered my soul. I really think it was a direct answer to prayer. After the service I recalled Paul's statement in 2 Corinthians 12:10 which says in part, "For when I am weak, then I am strong." I got some of the most sincere compliments on that message that I have ever received. I walked back to the parsonage thinking, it really must have ministered to people.

Now, why had I been so down beforehand? Some might suggest it was the work of the Devil, and they might be right. I prefer to think it was a lesson from the Lord. Just because I am not doing all that great, it doesn't mean the Lord can't use what is sincerely offered. That is also an illustration that in spite of the fact that I am the one standing the pulpit, it really isn't about me. Maybe those that were blessed saw more of the Lord and less of me. I hope so.

Gym Membership

Today was, hopefully, the beginning of a new pattern of regular exercise at the gym. I have been a member for a little over two years now and I would have to say that my use of the facility has been sporadic. I usually will get into a pattern of going five days a week and then after about a month something will break the pattern. I don't really know why, but there will just be something that makes not going today easier if I didn't go yesterday.

All that being said, I have been there regularly enough to notice a pattern. I have been faithfully working away on the elliptical machine when someone comes in and signs up. You see them over the next month or so and then they disappear. I friend of mine told me that he bought a year membership and only went three times! I hope he got a great workout those times because he certainly paid a high price for them!

Why do we do that sort of thing? We pay for something and then don't get the benefit of it, even joke about avoiding it! If I knew the absolute answer to that I would write a book about it and make enough money to buy the gym. What I can say from my experience is that priority is critical. Just how high on the "To Do" list is working out? For me that translates into what I do first. In fact, I have found that when I determine to go to the gym first thing in the morning I am usually more successful in creating that pattern which all the exercise folks say is so important in improving overall health.

So, let me ask you, would you benefit from working out regularly? That is an important question, but the follow up is perhaps even more so, how high a priority will you set on this? Almost all of us would answer yes to the first question. How you answer the second question will determine if it is worth doing at all.

Organization

I admit it, I have a thing for organization. Someone famously said, "a place for everything, and everything in its place." I have to admit that there is just something about working to get all my books in just the right order, my papers in just the right file, and a large pile of things "weeded out" and assigned to the trash. The other day I had one of those unusual days where no one would expect to see me. It had snowed, a wet, heavy snow. Traffic was at a crawl and I could invoke the "absolution of the snow" to justify my time in the office. I really enjoyed seeing everything "organized."

Now, typically I will do this sort of thing about once a year, and this was a bit early in the year for me to take on the task, but, as I said, the opportunity presented itself. Somewhere in the process it occurred to me that my life is something like my office. There are times that I need organizing. Somethings (maybe priorities?) need to reordered, other things are out of place and need to be put in the right file (read goals or ambitions), and finally some things just need to be chucked!

I have to admit, it is more difficult to organize myself than it is to organize my office. It takes time and typically time without distractions. I had the luxury of a "snow day" for my office. I think wisdom would be to just take a personal organization day, regardless of the weather.

Baptized?

It was early one week day when I got an unusual phone call. A pleasant sounding young lady had an inquiry. She wanted to know if we kept records of baptisms? The answer to that is both yes and no. I know that some churches keep a sort of "accession book" which notes when anyone is baptized or when someone is voted into the church membership. Yes, we have a membership roll, but no, we don't have a book where we just note when someone is baptized.

So far, so good, then she hit me with a follow up question that I had a hard time getting my mind around. "Well, I might have gotten baptized there, but I really don't remember. I was hoping you could clear that up for me." My first thought was that she had a recollection of getting baptized, but was unsure about which church had performed this ordinance. No, she was unsure if she had ever been baptized and thought that if she had, it would have been at the church I serve.

Baptism is supposed to be a symbolic identification with the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. If you can forget whether you did that, then do you really understand its significance?

All of this was running in the back of my mind as I assured this young lady that I would look into our records. My hope is that I can find some record of her, or her family, which would give me the hope of making a connection. Perhaps I can point her in the direction of a real relationship with God. She mentioned that she had not really "been in church" since childhood. Who knows, maybe this curiosity of hers was planted by God? I don't know about her past, but I hope there can be a relationship between her and God in the future.