Accidental Pastor

I like to read all kinds of books on business, management and leadership. One of the authors who does a great job on his blog and in his books is Seth Godin, the marketing master. In a recent post he makes this point: Make promises and keep them.

This seems to be the problem with Christians and the Church in North America. We have failed to deliver on our "promise." You see, most everyone knows what we are supposed to be about: Doing unto others, turning the other cheek, being merciful, giving, blessing, all that Sermon on the Mount stuff. Someone else made our promises 2000 years ago, and we really haven’t lived up to them, have we? However, like the bunch of Pharisees we are, we keep saying to God, "Thank you that I am not like them." Well guess what, we are exactly like "them."

Godin makes the point that great organizations "overdeliver." My suggestion for all of us for 2008? Under-promise and Over-deliver. Tell others: We don’t have everything figured out, but here is what we do have figured out: we want to love God with all we’ve got and love our neighbors at least as well as we love ourselves. Let’s be nice to each other, especially our family members and then spread that circle out to include our co-workers and everyone we come in contact with daily.

I don’t usually discuss politics in any way, either in Next-Wave or on my journal. I find that like religion, political discussions can be very divisive. However, I want to go on record with a political prediction, just so I can look back and say I told you so 11 months or so from now! Here we go:

1. I predict that Barack Obama will not be the next president of the United States.

2. I predict that the next president of the United States will not be a Republican.

3. I predict that the Republican nominee will not be a Mormon.

Here are my reasons:

Cultural change comes slow and in an incremental way. For Barack Obama to be the next president we will have to overcome a number of historical firsts. First freshman Senator to be elected President. in the post-television era (read 1950 to present). First black man to be elected President. It is more likely that we will elect the first woman president, than the first black president.

In times of slow economic growth or recession, the party in power nearly always loses the presidency. It is pretty clear that 2008 is going to be a very difficult year economically. The Republicans have had eight years to address these issues and they are not finishing well, at least that will be the perception.

Check back with me on Thanksgiving Day and we will see how I did.

I don’t have much faith in the conventional wisdom. When the entire crowd is proclaiming some sort of "truth" my hackles begin to rise and I tend to question their view. I guess it is the same for me with science. I don’t have much faith in science.

I was watching a documentary the other night talking about the progenitor of the Big Bang Theory. He was a catholic priest, mathematician who extrapolated the tenets of Einstein’s theories and posited that if the universe is expanding that at some point it must have been smaller. From this came the "cosmic egg" and the big bang idea. Uh, that seems like an interesting theory and certainly is the result of some deep thinking. But I’ll tell you what, I am going to wait and see about the whole thing.

At one point in history a fellow named Galileo pointed out that the earth was not the center of the universe. That got him excommunicated, but we have pretty much been able to ascertain that he was right.

Okay, I said all of this just to say, Global Warming, huh? It snowed in Daytona Beach, Florida this week. I hate it when it gets that warm!

Once in a while I am overwhelmed by the courage I see displayed in someone. This can happen at a film or when reading an article, or simply when I am listening to someone tell a story. I just finished reading a long post by one of my favorite blogger-authors, Jordon Cooper. You can read the post here.

I guess it is the context of that post that has tears leaking from my eyes. You see Jordon Cooper is one of my heroes. A young leader who is following Jesus’ call on his life, Jordon works in an inner city mission. He actually enjoys going to work and has been rewarded with a stolen bicycle and numerous death threats. The most recent one apparently scared him because the targets of the threat had expanded beyond Jordon himself to his family.

I remember clearly a breakfast I had with Jordon at a Denny’s in Orange County near LA. He was there as a visiting "professor." As we talked the call of God on Jordon’s life became to clear me. In the aftermath Jordon has embraced his calling and helped found Resonate in Canada.

I don’t always agree with Jordon’s take on life, politics and the spiritual pursuit, but I greatly respect his authentic expression of discipleship as he writes about the trials and struggles of following Jesus in his Canadian city.

As I was reacting to Jordon’s recent posts and the one I referenced I was reminded of the opening phrases of an old Steve Camp song:

Some people want to live
within the sound of chapel bells,
But I want to run a mission
a yard from the gates of hell.

And with everyone you meet
I’ll take them the gospel and share it well
And look around you as you hesitate
for another soul just fell

Let’s run to the battle,
Run to the battle.

Jordon is living his life on the front lines of the battle that is raging in his city. And his courage moves me.

I find it difficult to find contentment. How about you? I know that there are those who practice living in the present, being satisfied with the status quo, remaining calm and peaceful, and experiencing "joy." I just don’t seem to be one of those people.

I am always looking at the present in terms of the things that need to change in order that a "better" future might be attained. There are certain subjects that I really get worked up about. For example, the state of the church in America. Another example, the state of organizations that I have once been a part of. Even though my current involvement is minimal, or in some cases, non-existent, I think I could actually froth at the mouth without trying very hard!

Some folks take medication for this kind of condition. I have not found a magic pill that will take away this discontent. Maybe I could at least be nicer about these things that make me downright angry. Ah well, these are the kinds of reflections that are crossing my mind on the eve of 2008!

[My sister, Liz Wear, snapped this photo of me as I was waxing on at the annual Christmas eve gathering at my father’s house.]

This culture delights in the misfortune of celebrities. For the last couple of years Britney Spears has been an object of judgment and derision. The sins of others are "delightful" in our eyes. Now Britney’s little sister is pregnant. The Disney star’s latest season of Zoey 101 is "in the can" but should it be shown? The Spears’ girls mom had a book on parenting all set for publication. Oops! We’d better stop the presses, that might be too much for the American public to handle.

Don’t get me wrong, I couldn’t  stand up to the kind of scrutiny that celebrities of all stripes undergo in today’s world of non-stop "new" media. Most of us couldn’t. If we did look good enough, then we would be attacked for being "too" good. Mitt Romney is a good example of this phenomenon.

People undergoing great psychological strain are asked a series of questions to determine their mental status. They are asked to decipher the meaning of proverbs such as "People who live in glass houses should not throw stones." Depending on their response a practitioner sets a course of treatment. Here is my question for today: What does our fascination with the "sins" of others say about our culture? What does it say about us as individuals? What treatment do we need?

I am quite sure that I will never run for public office. I have just enough self-awareness to know that I don’t have the temperament for the job. Waste and inefficiency irritate me greatly, almost to the "breakdown" level. That’s a good reason to abstain, don’t you think? A better reason in my case is that my life could not stand the scrutiny that candidates undergo in today’s political process.

One need only turn to John 8 to see Jesus’ way of handling the "glass house" v. "stone" question. In this case the sin was adultery and the sinner had been caught in the act. The "stoners" were without question applying the letter of the law in a "perfect" way. But Jesus stopped them cold by writing in the dirt. The common interpretation is that he was writing the sins of the accusers in a way that they could see. He challenges those without sin to start throwing! None of them could meet that standard.

Soon it was only the woman and Jesus remaining. Without any accusers to condemn her, Jesus himself offers these words…"Neither do I condemn you." He covered her sin and offered her the hope of a new and changed life.

Instead of reveling in the failures of others, let us demonstrate the kindness and compassion of Jesus toward them. Let’s drop our rocks and pray that the grace of God would continue to cleanse us and wash us.

It is a rumor and probably a myth that Nero "fiddled" while Rome burned as a result of a fire that he set. No matter where the phrase comes from it has come to mean: "To occupy oneself with unimportant matters and neglect priorities during a crisis." Is this the story of the life of the church in America today, or what?

There has been a lot of conversation in the last year or so about "heresy." I suppose we can partially blame that on my friend, Spencer Burke, who titled his latest book, "A Heretic’s Guide to Eternity." Or perhaps we can thank those folks like D.A. Carson and the Pyromaniacs or Slice of Laodicea for occupying their time with hunting down those who do not adhere to their standards of orthodoxy.

On the eve of the start of the tenth year of publication for Next-Wave I wonder if most of us are not occupying ourselves with unimportant matters. But Charlie, you might say, what is the big crisis?

First of all, I will have to ask my younger friends to forgive me in advance for a couple of things. I am probably a "modern" thinker. I am a baby boomer. I think in terms of cause and effect. I don’t think you can build a building by picking out the color of the wallpaper first. I think sequentially. I believe that movements need to move. I have personally witnessed the rapid decline of a movement in the aftermath of the death of its founder. I was raised in the era of Billy Graham and the Four Spiritual Laws and just can’t shake the feeling that the world and its inhabitants are "going to hell in a handbasket" at a rapid pace.

I have to admit that I have been somewhat comforted by the ideas put forth by some of my friends that "hell" may not be all we thought it was cracked up to be, or that making a decision is not the same as making a disciple, but can we really be satisfied with the results of our "church" methodologies?

I was personally quite motivated to evangelize young people because my oldest son, who had been raised as a church goer and attendee of Christian school, was quite willing to tell me as he approached the age of 16 that he didn’t believe in God or, for that matter, the church he was raised in. I tried everything I knew to cause him to change his mind. I took him to evangelistic meetings. I reasoned with him. I gave him books. Nothing worked. Eventually he got married, had his firstborn son, and attended a Promise Keepers conference and went forward for the altar call on Friday night. "Whew," that was a close one, I thought.

As a teenager in the 60s, the era of sex, drugs and rock and roll, I was a poster child for the idea, "Don’t trust anyone over 30." And in fact, when I reached the age of 30, I didn’t trust myself very much. Certainly the church of my youth had nearly completely missed my generational cohort by refusing to usher our music and our desire to lead into their sanctuaries of worship. If this were not so, every church in America would be bursting to overflowing. We know that the megachurch success stories are the exception, not the rule.

If the parents and elders of my youth missed evangelizing my generation, what will happen as the "new" baby boomer elders make the same mistakes? What of the millions of young people who have been raised without any exposure to the Bible or church except what they can see as they whisk by Robert Schuller, Joel Osteen and Benny Hinn while on their way to MTV? I am sorry that I can’t abdicate my own role in the process of evangelization of the next generation by becoming "transformational," "missional," "incarnational," and leaving it up to the Holy Spirit to preach the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the next generation.

Perhaps I can join with so many others of my generation and proclaim that the younger leaders are "not ready" to assume leadership and responsibility. Bill Clinton was the first baby boomer president, and George Bush has been the second. Let’s be honest. Did they do that bad a job compared to their predecessors?

Today there are those who are praising Nobel Laureate Al Gore for his role in highlighting the global warming crisis. No matter what your politics, it is clear that Mr. Gore made a valiant effort to stop the "fiddling." I am wishing that church leaders of every age and every stripe would face an inconvenient truth. We are failing our children! Whatever we thought worked, no longer does. We have to do something more than just talk about it if we are going to change the outcome.

Just a quick side note in conclusion. My son has followed through on his Promise Keepers’ commitment and is an active part of his local church community. As I prayed with my daughter-in-law over the phone yesterday before she underwent surgery I realized that our faith in God is alive and well and continuing into the next generation. I am grateful for God for his intervention in our lives and for the hope that our faith provides as we face the challenges of daily life.

Having friends, true friends, is kind of a rare thing, I think. I have been blessed over my life to have some really close friendships. You know the kind I am talking about. While you may not be spending much time together, even if there are months of separation, or lack of contact, you can almost pick up the conversation right where you left off.

One of my more recent friends is a guy named Scott Bane. I met him as I was working for Steve Sjogren over the past couple of years. Scott is one of those unique people who just oozes integrity. He is well-educated, hardworking and knows the Bible inside and out. These are excellent qualities in a Christ-follower, but they are especially good in a pastor.

He’s been going through some physical ailments for years and more acutely over the last several weeks. I really didn’t understand how tough the sledding has been until I read his blog post today. Before you think this is a plea for sympathy, it is not. His post was making the point that most of us need someone who will "just listen" to the stuff we are going through.

From his post:

I am more convinced than ever that one of the greatest failures of the church is our unwillingness to listen to people.  We already know how to fix them so why would we care to hear the unique details of their story?  If you have ears to hear it, you’ll notice the way people try to tell you their story long before you’ve even given them reason to believe you’d listen.  They are so lonely, feeling like no one understands the way they feel, that they will start spilling their guts to almost anyone.  This is a vicious cycle because each person they tell that does not truly listen only perpetuates the isolation and the heartache.  They go through life feeling as if no one knows and no one understands so they begin to believe that no one cares.

Do you see what I mean? That is deep stuff. Well, one of the things I have to be thankful for in 2007 is that I have had a good friend named Scott Bane to listen to me.

Things have been a whirlwind since we have returned to California. I have renewed friendships, and broadened my client base. And I have been working very hard to keep up with everything coming my way. Tonight I have been burning the midnight oil getting ready for a big case tomorrow. Hopefully the eye of the storm will come soon!

The trip from Tucson to Moreno Valley, CA was not uneventful. Just about 30 miles from Quartzite, Arizona we blew a tire on the trailer holding our minivan. U-haul came to the rescue and two hours later we were back on the road. We pulled into our new home and were asleep on the air mattress by 9 p.m. We had about 9 hours on the road that day!

I spent yesterday working with a client. This morning it is RAINING! Good for the wildfire problems, bad for moving in! Ah well, this is life…