Magic and Ministry Evaluation Advice

I am a bit of a magic geek. I’m not a performer in any way but I enjoy watching magic performed. The illusionists who are at the top of the craft are artists of the highest caliber.  I suppose the reason I enjoy magic so much is both the excellence of the performance but also the challenge of trying to figure out how they do it. Even when you know how they did it, which for me is very rare, it is delightful to see the artistry of the performer.  I especially enjoy the show Fool Us that features the great magic team of “Penn and Teller”.  As two of the world’s leading magicians not a lot of people can fool them by performing the trick while keeping the process secret.  Those that do are genuinely magnificent performers.

One of the things I do as I watch a trick is to remember that the reality at the end of the trick has been the reality all the way through the performance; the performer was simply making it look like something else.   If the rope is authentically a loop at the end, it was always a loop, but there was an illusion that it was something else.  If the playing card with the torn corner is genuinely sealed in a solid block of acrylic at the end of the performance it was always sealed in a solid block of acrylic.  The laws of physics that govern the universe were not set aside by slight of hand.  These are not miracles they are tricks.  What you have to focus on is the state of being at the end.  During the trick the objective is to miss lead us.  Do not trust your judgment while the trick is going on; your perception is not reliable.

That is what Paul is saying in I Corinthians 4:5.  “…do not go on passing judgments before the time…” We have a terrible tendency to look at what is going on in Christianity at the moment, in our churches, and in ourselves and offer authoritative judgments.  Often times in so doing we are wrong.  I am not that old, but in my lifetime I have seen churches and leaders all excited about programs, initiatives, ministries, gimmicks and plans that were going to “change the world,” all of which are now little more than memories, some of which are embarrassing. 

Just for fun let’s take a walk down memory lane.

• Bus Ministry: certainly bus ministry had its moments but it did not change the face of American Christianity the way we were told it would. 
• Puppet Ministry: I knew a college so committed to the life changing impact of church ministry that it offered upper level 4 credit hour classes on puppets.
• Drama Ministry: The arts of acting were to make Christianity understandable to those who grew up with television.
• Promise Keepers: I loved PK and attended several events including “Stand In the Gap” at the capitol.  We were told we are on the verge of a dynamic revival.  But the excitement of those moments did not match the following reality.
• Seeker Sensitive/Driven Ministry: This model of ministry was so dynamic that new organizations began doing specials about the changing power of the new face of Christianity. 
• Christian Role Play Games:  This was or is if it still exists a Christian version of Dungeons and Dragons.  The person I talked to offered the pitch that people would play the game and it would bleed over into their daily life.

I do not mean to be cynical, except for the Christian D&D, all of these efforts had some value and accomplished some good and filled some needs.  What I am saying is that we need to be a bit more prudent about our pronouncements that the latest and greatest thing in church is actually all that great.  It might be a bit of a flash in the pan.

Rather, let us do two things: love and live.  If Jesus has any authority it would seem that loving God with our whole being and our neighbor as ourselves is the place to start.  How that applies to daily life is what brother Paul said in Romans 12:2.  Holy living is the life of a living sacrifice.  When we get to the end of our days and we find something was a temporary tool we need not be surprised, it was a temporary tool all along.  We are better off never having defined it as the end-all-be-all of Christian history.

It is what it is.

As we head into the New Year I am reminded of a conversation I recently had with a very bright and talented young man.  He was frustrated by his job and the silly rules and regulations he has to put up with working there.  As he talked about the rules it seemed that his work place was more of a day care than a work place for grown ups.  I am sure that his frustrations made him more negative than was warranted. Never the less, he had some legitimate complaints.  But as he ended the conversation he said two things that were very disconcerting.  They were two phrases that expressed the same sense of helplessness and hopelessness: “nothing matters” and “it is what it is”.  He seems to have meant, “I can’t change any of this, so why try?  I will just play the game.”  If you are in ministry at any level you can relate to some degree to this sentiment. 

The phrase “It is what it is” has become the slogan for an age that has become very willing to simply accept the status quo and assume that our circumstances must dictate and guide our lives.  It is a statement of the radically obvious, so much so, as to be a statement not worth saying.  To say, “A duck is a duck” doesn’t often need to be said, to say “A duck is a 67 Shelby GT 500” is nonsense.   This statement also assumes that what we perceive is a complete, full, and flawless knowledge of the circumstances.  That simply is not possible.  We do not know what spiritual forces may be at work.  It is only to God that all hearts are opened and all desires known and from Whom no secrets are hidden.  We can say, “It is what it is” because we do not know all of “it”.  I am not advocating that we escape into some Pollyanna realm in which we pretend that hardship and difficulties don’t exist.  Rather, I would suggest two questions, which we’ll follow up with, “It is what it is”.

First question: “What should “it” be?”  Like my young friend it is pretty easy to find faults with any system then, in exasperation say, “It is what it is”.  Once we have seen a/the weakness (es) is a great time to look for better ways to operate.  My young friend is fairly new at this job and this is a very large and old organization so the chance of his implementing changes soon is fairly remote.  But there can always be the internal changes of our own life.  If we don’t like what “it” is, we can make sure we don’t do that ourselves.  As I look back at 2018, I see a lot of things in my year that I didn’t like.  But rather than say, “It is what it is” and maintaining the status quo I have decided to make some internal and personal changes.  Which leads me to the:

Second question: What are you going to do about it?  If something is wrong it will most likely not get better unless something is changed.  If something is radically wrong it will take radical changes, small adjustments simply will not do.  Wishful thinking is not a strategy, at least not one for success.   It may mean dumping everything we thought we knew about our career.  It may mean letting go of all our relationships that are satisfied with the status quo.  If what we are doing is only marginally effective it may be time to do something completely different.  I am not talking about an infinitesimally small (but ridiculously) difficult change like from hymns to choruses.  Rather, a radical reshaping of our lives and ministries.    If what “it” is is not working, what would we have to lose?

I would challenge you this year to make the radical changes that will transform, “It is what it is” into “It is more than we asked for or imagined!”

The Irony of the Christmas Blues

Charlie Brown voices emotions most all of us have felt at one time or another when at the beginning of A Charlie Brown Christmas he says, “Christmas is coming, but I’m not happy.  I don’t feel the way I am supposed to feel.  I like Christmas, but I am still not happy.  I always end up feeling depressed.”

The Christmas Blues are real, powerful, painful and ironic.  Several years ago, I was ministering in a town that was highly transitory.  Almost no one was from there and very few planned to stay there.  A lot of people were a long way from home.  Just after Christmas I went on a community message board and asked people to anonymously share their experiences with depression at Christmas time.  The response was remarkable.  I received message after message from people who were depressed at Christmas.  Some were depressive by disposition and Christmas made it worse.  Others were only depressed at Christmas.  To deal with their depression some worked through Christmas, some volunteered, some stayed in bed all Christmas day, some drank, and some pretended everything was fine.  One woman wrote me a lengthy email and began to mildly stalk me, even showing up at church services just to ‘check me out’.  My secretary found her creepy. 

There is one common denominator to all the cases of Christmas Blues I have witnessed and experienced: FOMO.  If you are not familiar with the term, FOMO stands for Fear of Missing Out.  It happens to us when we feel that something wonderful is going to happen and we are going to miss out.  That fear of missing out on the great experience will cause us to 1) go to great links to be a part or 2) be depressed if we believe we have missed the opportunity. 

Because of the greatest marketing campaign in human history Christmas has become the apex of all warm, sentiment, emotional experiences.  Lucy may have been on to something when she tells Charlie Brown that Christmas “…is run by a big Eastern syndicate”.  We are told we can have a warm, heart-felt, happy feeling that will last us all year long if we have the right experience at Christmas.  With the right combination of sentimental images, expensive gift giving, quiet reverent meditation, or raucous, office, Christmas parties, elegant decorations and quality family time we can have the ultimate Christmas experience.  We are worked into such a state so that we will be susceptible to spend money or, better yet, indulge in credit.  Already there are radio ads about how to pay off Christmas, credit card debt.  We can never live up to the expectations that are placed on us (or we place on ourselves) for the perfect Christmas.  We live with the haunting fear that we are missing out.  When we fear that we are missing out we predictably become depressed.  Christmas Blues are upon us. 

I began by saying that the, “Christmas Blues are real, powerful, painful and ironic.”  How are the blues so ironic?  How is the fear of missing out incongruous with Christmas?  In the passage beautifully quoted by Linus we have these words,  “And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.”   Let’s add some emphasis, “Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.”  The message of Christmas is that no one need miss out.  The Fear of Missing Out is the exact opposite of the message of Christmas.

The difference between expectation and experience is either disappointment or delight.  If experience is less than expectation, we will be disappointed.  If experience is greater than expectation, we have delight.  Christ always exceeds our expectation; He is always delightful.  May God bless you with the delight of Christ this Christmas.

Post Script:  There will be no blog next week.  I will be with family celebrating the birth of the Messiah in feasting and worship. 

Just because you are sincere doesn’t mean that you are not terrible.

I was recently consulting with a church about their stagnation.  They had a leadership problem.  Other leaders in the church were aware that there was a problem. To cut to the chase of it all they had a problem person in a key leadership position.  Everyone knew he was the key factor that was keeping the church from making progress.  But when his behaviors became the subject of the conversation there was a unanimous chorus of what a “great guy” he was, how nice, hard working and willing to help, he was gifted, capable, and the first one to show up for work-in a word-he was sincere. My professional and personal experience tends to cause me to doubt the purity of his character and motives, but for this essay we will assume he was as sincere as the wind-driven snow is pure.  In all honesty, there are some cases where sincerity doesn’t mean jack!

Doña Cecilia Giménez is an 80-year-old amateur artist who is very sincere and devoted.  She was distressed that a picture of Christ in a local church was beginning to flake and fade.  So, she took it upon herself to restore the fresco to its former glory.  The result was less than she hoped.  In fact, when her work was first discovered it was believed to be an act of vandalism.   The picture has been described as a “crayon sketch of a very hairy monkey in an ill-fitting tunic"; prompting the name “Ecce Mono” -Behold the Monkey- a pun based on “Ecce Homo” the work’s original title.  All the sincerity in the world could never compensate for a genuine lack of skill, talent and training.  Compared to Ms. Giménez, Adolf Hitler was an artistic genius.  Somehow we must find the balance between a good heart while at the same time insisting on competence and not allowing sincerity to be an excuse for poor quality.

If we do not find that sweet spot, we will end up with poorly led churches that will never fulfill the great commission.  Thankfully, we are all capable of change.  The evil heart can be converted and the unskilled hand can be trained.  But until that happens we must never allow great skill to over shadow an evil heart nor allow sincerity to set loose a clumsy hand. 

What Redneck Wisdom can teach us about discipleship.

Sometimes Redneck sayings can teach us somethings about being a disciple.  In Jesus’ last teaching on Earth (John 16:25-33) we may have such a moment.  This is the last teaching of Jesus. The next chapter is Jesus' Priestly prayer, and then it's to the Garden, the trials, and the cross. In this passage Jesus gets to the core of our struggle in faith. "...For the Father himself loves you...” There is more difficulty with these words than we care to admit, imagine, or accept.   The love of God towards us is the fundamental point of our faith.  “For God so loved the world...” But there is a change in this passage. In John 3:16, Jesus used the word Agape for love. Agape is the self-sacrificing love for the well being of the other. God loves the pedophile and the pimp.  God loves the lust-filled adulteress and the drug lord.  He loves the liar and the thief. He loves them so much that He gives His Son as a sacrifice for them and for us. But the word love here is different. The word here is Philia.  It is the word for the love of a friend. Being a friend of God is different from being the object of His salvation, sacrificial love.

 God wants to be with us, He likes us; our company and doing stuff with us are delightful to Him. This frankly is hard for us to wrap our minds around. We have no trouble seeing God as the holy judge who punishes sin. We have very little trouble seeing God as one who saves us by the cross, motivated by Agape.   But God as a friend who wants to be rolling through life with us?   That's harder for us to comprehend. When we struggle with hardships and frustrations, failures, and questions, we wonder why God doesn't come riding in on a charger and save the day. Perhaps, that is the wrong image, the wrong way for us to think about God.

 Like all analogies this one will break down if pressed too hard. But hear me out. There is a redneck saying that goes, “A good friend will come and bail you out of jail in the middle of the night.  A great friend will be sitting beside you saying, ‘Man, wasn't that great’?” We tend to think of God as a friend who will come and post the bail and sign us out of jail. But He wants to be the one who is in jail with us. Now, only a fool would propose that we should engage in riotous behavior that lands us in jail. But the best times of life are the times of high-risk shared with friends. Close companionship plus difficulty or suffering equals a bond closer than all others. I have read numerous accounts of men who have fought wars together.  They report a bond that is closer than the bond of family.  Sports teams that survive the trials that are the hardest have friendships that last the longest.

Perhaps the struggle with being a friend of God is because we play it too safe. We risk too little so that we will never struggle. Maybe what we need is not more cushions on our pews or better climate control in our sanctuary, or nicer music in our ears.  Maybe what we need is more blood on our knuckles, more sweat in our armpits and more adrenaline in our blood.  In our grasping for security at home, at church, and in life we have removed the very thing that will help us understand God as a friend.  Jesus concluded his teaching on Earth by saying, “In this world you will have tribulation, but take courage I have overcome the world.”  We work really hard at trying to avoid tribulation.  So our friendship with God is bland and inspired.  Maybe we should engage in those Kingdom things where we may get bloodied but we will walk away saying, “Man, was that great or what?”