DoxA

Project Restitution

"I wish I had a nickel for every time I..."

What is it with you? What do you wish you could get rich from having been repeatedly misunderstood, harassed, picked, overlooked, wrong, wronged, hurt, called, caught, forgot, forgotten, moved, stuck, afraid, presumptuous, overly cautious... you get the idea. We all have our thing. But my greater question is, "Where do these nickels come from?"

Whether we say it or not, when something that happens to us which costs us; we want someone to pay. Yet, if we do something to another which costs them we hope for mercy! From the age old notion of the Golden Rule we do our best to treat others as we would like to be treated but rarely do we witness such "others-first" behavior. Hidden camera studies and anonymous surveys have shown our true motives and it's an anomaly rather than normal to be so kind.

This past weekend I, with 26 others from our church, joined over 600 volunteers from 13 other churches to swarm on the 95111 zip code of San Jose. We went there to weed, blow, haul, fix, clean an otherwise neighborhood claiming the highest foreclosure rate in the county. This one day act of compassion, done in concert with the City of San Jose's Code Enforcement office, was called "Project Restoration." Pulled together in just four weeks, we are still hearing the stories of amazement, confusion and delight over a group of people who would jump into a neighborhood, where they do not live and do what the neighbors could not or would not do for themselves and did so gladly expecting nothing in return. Or did we?

Jesus tells a story about a man who, chooses to do a stupid thing, gets hurt and requires the assistance of others. Those who are on the scene are two religious folks of the same background and a hated enemy of these people. We know the story as the Good Samaritan and is found in Luke, chapter 10. However, the Samaritan was to the Jew anything but "good!" In our culture today, for the one who is religious, it would be the same as calling the story the Good Child Molester or Good Terrorist. Yet, it is this good bad-guy who Jesus celebrates as having understood how to be and who is a true neighbor. The Samaritan gave... freely, willing to get bloody, expecting nothing in return and at a cost.

The word Restitution means to restore to original state often with the legal implication requiring the one who did the wrong must pay to make it right. Religious people often want things right!! They rarely see themselves having done anything wrong. So, what's the motive of a group of folks showing up on someone's front yard unexpected with lawnmowers, shovels and brooms? Perhaps to the one getting the assistance, the assumption could be, "I must be doing something wrong?"

I believe this is a good explanation of Christ and the cross.

We must pay restitution for our wrong (sin) in order for our lives to be restored to its original state (communion eternally with God).  So, like a traveler on a dangerous street we lose our way and get attacked, beat up and left for dead... The world walks by and does nothing but then comes Jesus, to many their enemy, yet he gives freely, willing to get bloody, expecting nothing in return and at a cost.

Grace is unmerited; meaning we can do nothing to earn it. Mercy is free; meaning it requires no repayment. What Christ did on the cross is Project Restitution.

In other words... What ever your "thing;" Christ has a nickel for every one.

Get It Together

For those of you who haven't seen this, I ask you to consider what it would take for a neighborhood, city, county, state or nation to work together to pull off the extraordinary in such a way it makes all those standing around wishing they could get in the action or at least want more? I also ask you to consider who are you in this video?

Take a Look and then read on...

I would like to propose the notion that in our society small pockets of this occurs each and every day. Two people get a good idea, implement it at some risk of looking foolish, others join and soon a movement begins (remember the video I posted a couple of weeks ago of the spontaneous dance on the hillside of a music festival?). Whether it's a business brewed in late night discussions among friends or attempting to get a group of neighbors to come together to discover a remedy for a financial impasse one of them faces, there are people who are working together everywhere to do something notable while others stand by and watch.

You may think what I'm saying is well and good BUT these people at the train station knew what they were doing. It was choreographed and timed and anyone just joining in without the knowledge, training and placement would actually make matters worse than better.

Perhaps! But what if, after the music stopped, there was an invitation to learn the moves and get placed and participate?  In our day and age we have relegated the performers to their place and the spectators to theirs with no real intent to integrate the two. While the performers may gain a sense of pride and accomplishment the spectators too, can become as equally proud by doing nothing. Don't believe me? Who are you... Performer? Spectator? Talent? Critic?

I'm always amazed at those who make a profession of criticizing the performances of others. Do we really need other people to tell us what we they think so we can decide what we think? You see, this is the problem we have in our society... we don't stop to help others get it together by asking for their involvement, modeling what should be done and teaching the practices to get them ready to perform themselves.

I believe true community will only occur if the critics lose their voice and we find ways to get more people involved from the sidelines... Let's get it together and start teaching the moves!

Come On, Get Happy!

I've often mentioned that church today has become nothing more than the average Christian getting up on Sunday morning, jumping on the Christian "Tour Bus," to listen to the Christian "Tour Guide" talk about the "Christian" experience as they drive by in the comfort of their seats with no intention of ever getting off to discover what's out there themselves.

I recall a time when in Bible College studying the varying degrees of sin and having the whole philosophical discussion if God treats certain sins differently and what the natural affect of our sins have on us... blah, blah, blah. Nobody like to talk about sin. However, we're pretty good at pointing out sin when we see it. But then again, what ones see is only determined by what one understands. I understand I'm a sinner so I guess I see a lot of what I do as sinful... and naturally, this makes me pretty disappointed in myself and at times miserable.

Sometimes when people have "issues" (notice I like to use quotes a lot?) I'll often tell them to not give me all the details. Sometimes people are happy, if not glad to oblige while others want to pour their guts out and question me for it... I respond, "I'd rather not know a lot of the details because then I'll become responsible to address them all and I don't want to be responsible for everything." thinking if I need more information; I'll ask for it and this way, they'll remain responsible to do the thing they need to do!

You see, when it comes to sin, we know there are things we shouldn't do and then there are those things we know we should! Back to that earlier mentioned Bible College moment. There were a bunch of us who came out of the catholic church (now you might understand the level of discussion regarding sin) it's where I learned about the sins of commission, the ones we make AND the sins of omission the ones we are guilty of because of what we should have done! This comes from Paul's mention in Romans 7:19 "I don't do the things that I know I should..."

If we're on the bus and all we do is talk about what we should do and not getting involved in the details I can see how that would make one "happy." After all being on the bus is safe! There are probably snakes and lions out there... "Come on Pastor... tell us one more time what it was like for Paul... I like that story! Oh, and friend who looks like me and thinks like me and acts like me... do you like our multi-colored bus because, guess what?"

... We had a dream we'd go travelin' together
And spread a little lovin', then we keep moving on
Something always happens whenever we're together
We get a happy feeling when we're singing a song.

Trav'lin' along, here's a song that we're singing
Come on get happy
A whole lotta lovin' is what we'll be bringing
We'll make you happy.

Come on get happy!

It Can be Tangible

Certain things in life are, shall we say, concrete; solid, immovable, undeniable, a force to be reckoned with if moving rapidly toward it. Then there are those things which are equally fluid; slippery, unable to hold, difficult to distinguish, even a bit unnecessary. I once tried to melt plastic the way I melt chocolate. It didn't work. I had no intention of eating the plastic but I did think the concept of making it as mold-able as chocolate seemed a nobrainer to me. Yet when trying to make it "chocolaty" it eventually burst into flames and evaporated into a toxic cloud. I was told the plastic would have melted similarly to chocolate had I been able to regulate a much higher heat and not expose it directly to the heat source. Apparently, plastic has a much higher melting point than chocolate and not all plastics are the same. So... perhaps I was successful in actually melting the plastic although I wasn't able to use it. After all it did melt in the end. But was my attempt effective?

When Jesus told Peter that he was going to build his church upon Peter (Rock) he said, "The gates of hell will not prevail against it." Matthew 16:18. Sounds pretty concrete to me. Yet I struggle to find a (collective) church that has enough gumption to prevail against immorality, oppression and justice. Far too many churches are acting the equivalent of loudmouth bullies from the pulpit but when confronted run and hide and cry foul. This is the image of a church much more fluid; melting at the slightest heat.

Someone once told me, "weak pastors prepare weak people." The point was obvious; what the pastor is or isn't willing to declare for himself will give license for those in his church to do the same. I am oft reminded of this as I prepare the very words I speak. Will I be weak, timid and afraid if someone were to challenge me, tell me my ideas are straw-man propositions? Or will I be bold amid accusations, bucking desires to be liked and standing on truth that comes from an ancient system of morality? As James states, you and I are nothing but a vapor, something that flashed beyond the melting point but regardless of how ancient those very truths found in the Bible may be, I also hear the words of the prophet Isaiah echoed by the apostle Peter...

For you have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God. As the Scriptures say,
“People are like grass;
their beauty is like a flower in the field.
The grass withers and the flower fades.
But the word of the Lord remains forever.” 1 Peter 1:23-25

If weak pastors prepare weak people then weak people make for a weak church.

I ask you: What's going to make the church strong, viable, unmistakable, a force?

What part are you willing to play? I know my part.

Coming In Third

Yesterday when reading Seth Godin's Blog I discovered this video and Seth's commentary on Guy #3. His observation the first guy is just a crazy guy out there dancing. Guy # 2 also can just be seen as another crazy guy... BUT it's "Guy #3 who makes it a movement." Watch what happens next!

Imagine our faith... some think we're just the crazy guy out front. Imagine the church if it were to try something daring? The first church, who tries it would be looked at with doubt; even ridicule. The second would be seen just as ill-formed... but the third just might be on to something!

Is it right to compare those on a hillside, listening to the "front man" of a small band acting counter-culture to the rest of the world? Seems to me like it's been done before.

Lego of My Jesus

 A church in Sweden unveiled a life-size Jesus made out of Legos. It took a year and a half to construct and over 30,000 pieces to make it. The model was based on Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsens's 19th century work Christus, which depicts the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Ironic when you think it can be taken apart and put back together again. Yet, after Jesus claimed in John 2:20 that his body would be rebuilt in 3 days... hmmmm, somehow I don't think this is the real Jesus.

The pastor said the statue would remain permanently at the church and there were no plans to sell it to raise funds.

My guess, it's bound for Carlsbad, California... or maybe the "Holy Land Experience" in Orlando, Florida. What do you think?

Imagine

Passed along by fellow shepherd and friend, Bill Jenkins, I wanted to pass it on to you in light (no pun intended) of the more serious conversations lately about church business on this blog... So, if you haven't seen it by now, get ready to see how this unique marketing concept for Samsung's LED TVs gives another meaning to the words, "Extreme Shepherding!" Just think, if we could get our sheep to respond like this, imagine what the church could do... I know, instead of deacons; we need dogs!

A Conference Does Not a Church Make

I noticed after clearing my desk yesterday, I tossed five brochures on conferences designed to help churches be better churches. I've notice many of them have the same speakers, the same themes, the same styles. All but one were put on by a church... which lead me to believe; While a conference does not a church make, A church does make a conference!

I've attended many conferences and they have been and will continue to be helpful in networking, idea gleaning and resourcing. Yet, with all the positive I've begun to see a negative side to "church" conferences. First, these conferences promote a formula to "Do" church. While many of them will state, up front, some caveat about "this is what works for us and may need to be adjusted for your environment," it still promotes... this is how we do it, baby! And why not? People come for that purpose... Tell me how you do it so WE can do it too!

A second danger in attending these conferences is the discouragement factor. This can be anything from watching the well produced worship performances and looking over your shoulder going, "Why can't we do that?" (I've actually heard that from an elder) to coveting facilities and technology to being so completely overwhelmed with the excellence and exhaustiveness required to do the formula, you just shake your head going, "How am I going to pull this off? I can't even get my preschool volunteers to show up."

 Although these thoughts are real, the experience is valued, hope enters the heart when everyone agrees something has to be done to get the church to the next "level." So, when the conference ends, it usually leaves the attender with a rush of adrenaline which, tends to wear off by the time they pull in the parking lot of their church as the reality of what it's going to take to implement the formula... consequently little is done to actually change the church and all that was accomplished was a drain on the church budget, providing a getaway for the church staff which was intended to encourage but now has left them with a bit of doubt and frustration.
 
So, what's the solution? Ignore conferences and discourage participation? I hope not! We need ideas, we need collaboration, we need networking, we need encouragement, we need to see a high level of excellence, we need formulas! Coca Cola has a formula but not everyone likes Coke... some like Pepsi (not me. I'm a coke guy!). But imagine every time you opened a Coke you didn't know what you were going to drink... Sour today, sweet yesterday; people would stop drinking Coke. So, why is the formula a bad thing?

Before we continue to advocate more and more conferences for the church maybe we should identify what different types of conferences would be good for the church. Maybe we're already doing this by selecting which conferences we attend by the flavor of the church which hosts it. Maybe, we'll see the popularity of conferences which have little to do with Church development and more to do with people development and maybe we'll see churches actually hold conferences for their own people so they'll know how to build a better church... after all; isn't the church really it's people?