Fine Young Man

The discussion in Gospel Transformation last night turned to creating a culture of openness in our church family. We talked about trusting in the gospel so much that people could share stories of sin & struggle and stories of God’s work in their lives without fear of judgment and with full conviction that they would receive grace. This isn’t the first time I’ve heard this desire verbalized and there was a lot of consensus about it tonight.

My mind immediately went to Sunday morning worship time and how daunting it would be to create that culture there. I’m not sure that’s the best place to provide grace and support for tough issues. Wouldn’t we be just as much a family if that kind of care was happening in our home groups? I think so.

However, I do think it is possible for culture to change to such an extent that it does affect Sunday morning, and I just heard a story about how that can happen the other day. A friend of mind who is a minister witnessed something happen at his church that suggested a change in culture. Here are a few ways that came about that might point us in the right direction:

1. Actions of the Leaders – It all started when my friend preached a series called No Perfect People Allowed based on the book by the same title. He is also the kind of person who will love, hug and reach out to anybody anywhere.
2. Artifacts - This may be a hard part of culture to understand, but every culture has physical or concrete features that symbolize the culture. If you align artifacts with new values, you stand a great chance of changing the culture. If I remember right my friend and his leadership made a very simple physical move – they began to dress more informally on Sundays. Dress became an artifact of the culture communicating “Come as you are” to any guests.
3. Rituals & Performances - Here’s what happened a few weeks ago. A young lady in an awful predicament responded to the message. She was broken. My friend announced that he was going to pray for her and he invited anyone who wanted to come down and gather around her during the prayer. Now get this: 75…75 people came down front! What just happened? They performed “no perfect people allowed”. Now, if that sticks and becomes a ritual, my friends, we have ourselves a cultural transformation in that church.

Those are some first stabs at it. What thoughts do you have about how we can create a culture of openness?

Jesus said in John 7:24, “Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment.”

Man, I really learned something today. We had access to a party barge and an awesome jet ski. I pulled the tube with the party barge for a while as a friend drove his two sons on the jet ski. They looked like they were really having a great time. I hope so. I got my turn on the jet ski, taking Holley for a few trips back and forth across the lake. Later on, Kristy and I dragged Drew on for a quick ride. I dropped them off at the boat and took off by myself. I opened the thing up across the lake, veering into coves to check it out. I went around in circles and wove back and forth, and then realized that I was jut plain bored. What? On a jet ski on a beautiful day on a great lake! Why am I bored?

The only thing I can think of is this: I can’t handle journeys that are going nowhere and moments that aren’t necessarily spent accomplishing anything. And yet, I want too. I want to enjoy the journey and I want to enjoy moments of simply “being”. I don’t know where this thought will lead, but it is an interesting thing to learn on a jet ski.

I spoke with my friend Rick today. Somehow during the phone call, we revisited an episode that happened at IHOP one morning over breakfast. We had finished the meal and had talked about everything from theology to telling jokes. It was a good time. The waitress came up, refreshed my coffee, and gave us the bill. I asked if we paid her and she said we could. That’s all I said.

Rick, however, quick-witted as he is, asked her if she was going to pick up his tab. That launched her into a conversation with him about how all her check was going to pay insurance on her new car. Her boyfriend had surprised her with a used truck (new to her) and she was obviously excited about it. The deal he made with her is that he got her the truck, but she’d have to maintain the insurance. That went on for a good 5 minutes.

Here’s the kicker: the whole time I was thinking, “Rick and I were talking about important things, not some stupid truck.” I’m ashamed to say, but I judged this waitress unworthy of having a conversation with. I am ashamed of that. Rick did not, and I’m thankful for that. He engaged her (he’s very good at it) and you could tell that she just wanted to tell someone about the joy that this gift brought. I want to be more like Rick and Jesus, for that matter.

I’m wrestling with the best way to teach my Bible class. This morning I think I confused a lot of people. In my attempt to help them understand the process of working through a text, I made it very confusing. I could see the frustration.

I don’t intend to make it seem so difficult that only scholars can do it. It also seemed to some that I was saying that we just couldn’t understand the text because of ambiguity in the terms. I didn’t want to suggest that either.

I was simply trying to teach a skill rather than what I perceive as spoon feeding. However, I have many years of training and study that they don’t have. Also, this is the way God set it up – teachers and shepherds to help His people. I made it sound as if they didn’t understand they didn’t want it bad enough. I think I want to absolve myself of taking a stance by refusing to tell them what I think it means.

I will repent and proclaim it clearly as I should next week.

Speaking of absolving responsibility…Drew has been complaining of abdominal pain this evening. His symptoms are similar to those of appendicitis on WebMD. Kristy asked me to look at it so we could talk about it. I threw a big tantrum because I didn’t want to make a decision about what to do. Where is my diaper and binky?!