When Does "a vision" Change?

When does vision change? As I grow older that question seems pretty silly. As a person with Asthma, for quite some time all they had to treat it was steroids. It changed my vision literally. I ended up with cataracts caused by the steroids. After having them removed, my sight changed. I loved only having to use my readers, although I bought a bunch so I had them in each room of the house. Sort of kidding there. But as I aged again, I soon needed glasses again. I often don;t need them to watch tv but everything else, absolutely. Another change. Here I am about a year or more past my last change and I seem to need another correction. Ugh! Does it ever stop?
I wonder if God's people feel that way sometimes? In my tradition as a Methodist, pastors change churches often. That continues even when research shows longer pastorates are beneficial. When I started to be honest, I had no plan or vision for the church. I just assumed people would come. My next appointment offered more possibilities but in a highly Catholic area, my expectations were too high. Not to mention the number of UMCS within a mile or more of that church. As I moved to each charge and stayed a little longer each time my vision changed. I soon began to learn that many times when a pastor leaves, there is not just a miss of a step or two but a fall down the whole staircase. I had to do more than preach, it meant teaching. Teaching that from day one of my arrival I needed to prepare then for my leaving. Sounds kind of bleak but in reality there is a lot of hope in between those moments.
So what vision has God given me? For the church to be able to keep doing ministry and stay together, they need to do the ministry together. That means, no more top down but side by side teamwork where the people take stock of who they ar and what they are called to do. Sounds good on paper huh? Or should I say looks good on the screen? I believe I am preaching to help people see what the church and each of us is called to be and do. Second, I am working to get the committees to know their duties and responsibilities and finding people to take on the challenges of working together. They are not to be a place where I push an agenda and get them to rubber stamp it.
There was a time where I am serving was literally busting at the seams. They developed a vision based on where they were and found some property. There they hoped to start a "second campus" and eventually build a new church. But times change. Pastors changed, people moved, left and the busting at the seams slowly dropped off. The vision is still talked about but all the changes have begun to spawn questions about what we do with property. What is God calling us to do and be because we are not now what we were then?
When I was helping coach my son's baseball team, I can remember many of the kids who would go through hitting streaks and slumps. They loved "crushing" the ball into the outfield. Funny how when they hit the ball just right they stood and looked at it fly admiring it instead of running. "Run!!!" We would scream from the bench. When they lost their technique we often had to help them anaylise their swing and help them get the basics back. Sometimes it worked other times, not. BUt the bottome line was we had to go back to basics.
As we in so many churches are finding out, we are swinging for the fence with one program or another and can't figure out why we can't hit the ball. Maybe we all need to take some time to figure out why? Best place to do that is in the Book of Acts. We need to learn to live and grow with each other. We need to get to know each other. And when people see what hope we have in how we live, they will ask the question, "Where do you get that hope?"
The vision for where I am at has changed. It is time to see the Great Physician and get back to basics:
Works of Piety, such as:
Individual Practices--
Prayer
Fasting
Searching the Scriptures
Healthy Living
Communal Practices--
Holy Communion
Baptism
Christian Conferencing (or "community")
Works of Mercy, such as:
Service focused toward individual needs--
Doing Good (Good works)
Visiting the Sick
Visiting the Imprisoned
Feeding & Clothing those in need
Earning, Saving, & Giving all one can
Service focused toward communal/societal needs--
the Seeking of Justice;

Only by living in this way, will a new vision for God's people be found. We might live in the same frames but the new lenses of faith/vision will give us clarity. Now if you'll excuse me I have to find my own glasses... Peace
| |
A Tale of Two Friends
"A long time ago in a land far far away.." How many times have we heard that as kids or even read it to our kids. As we share our lives with each other we may not start "a long time ago..." but we do say "well here's the thing..." This past week I spoke to two friends. Both of which will remain anonymous. The first friend sent me a Facebook message about having a question of faith. He is long time Catholic, a situation occurred where a staff member of his Catholic church was fired because the annulment of her marriage did not go through. He also told me that someone gave him the book "The Shack" by William Young. Those two things came together and had an impact on him. What I heard was him having trouble with what I called the institutional church. We talked about how rules have become important in churches rather than taking care if each other. We talked about how the culture rather than be over an against culture, has actually assimilated the culture. We talked about the disrespect not just of clergy but leaders in all venues and a lack of disrespect to each other as human beings. I mean just today, the value of free speech was on display as people protested for and against the health care bill but...of course some took it too far spitting on one congressman and the other being called the N-word. After about talking for an hour I recommended he pick up a book by Barbara Brown Taylor called, "Leaving Church." In it she describes her journey as an Episcopal priest who thought she would retire from parish but left. Interesting book. Highly recommend it. I also said we all need to find what feeds us. There are so many churches, that fit so many different people that I was sure he could find a place, even another Catholic church, which would feed his soul. Keep his family in prayer.
My other friend was in seminary with me. She was prepared to interview for ordination and in the nicest terms I can use, was told not at this time. A nice way of of saying we see potential but you need some work. Anyway, as a local pastor doing ministry, she had a crisis of faith and left the ministry to pursue a degree in education. God took her from that one venue and has placed her in a completely different one using her gifts and graces. She was not "ordained" by the church but God "ordained" her in another venue to touch and meet the needs of her students. She does not regret her decision to drop out of the system but now has an issue with someone in her current church. That person is very controlling and rule driven in how things should be. She has not been to church in awhile and misses it. Even her daughter says they need to go back. Please be in prayer for her and her family.
When did the church become more of the culture than over an against it? When did brick and mortar = the church rather than church = mission? I continue to be struck by people who say, "we need to get more people in the church" or "we need more volunteers." The people outside the church are not our salvation. Our salvation is found in Jesus Christ. When we see the people outside as the church's salvation rather than broken and hurting people who need grace and have lost our way. We don't need more volunteers, we need more disciples/servants ministry. So how do we do that. Rather than being in the church we we need to go outside the church. We need to invite and be inviting. Most churches say and think they are friendly but in reality they are only friendly to the people we know. What this comes down to is truly praying for God to allow the Holy Spirit to remold and make the church into a outward looking people with an eye to mission, rather than inward focus and survival mode.
The fact that I spoke to two friends on the same day and and both are struggling in their connection of faith through their church says volumes to me. Unless we as the institutional church learn to listen for the voice that calls us beloved we will continue to to miss the mark in reaching those who are hurting, lost and alone or just searching.
To my two friends: I will keep you in prayer as you continue to journey in your faith and pray that you find what feeds your soul.
If your pastor and it's leaders are trying to move the church according to biblical principles, find a way to support them. People who try to turn around churches have a huge & difficult calling. Most churches do not turn around. If they do it takes a minimum of seven years before the fruit of the labor of turn around is seen. Please pray for them.
If you are a pastor trying to live up to your calling to pastor the people and be true to what God calls the church to do, to turn them around, take heart God is with you. There are many of us trying to do the same thing in an atmosphere that is not particularly open to change. My favorite professor in seminary, and one I think I can call friend, said to me something that was shared with him, "we often suffer as much from the church as we do for it." Please know the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few. Pray. I will hold you all in prayer as you do the same for me. Peace as we approach Palm Sunday and Holy Week.


| |