leadership – Salvaged Faith

Nehemiah: Having Each Other’s Backs

Posted on January 29, 2023Leave a comment

Text: Nehemiah 4: 1-3, 6-9, 16-18; 5:1-7

Here at Immanuel, we have team of folks who have working together on a safety and emergency response plan.

One of the things that this group has discussed is that there are different kinds of potential threats to a community.

Those that are external, like a tornado… and those that are internal, like a fire.

And so you need to respond differently to each.

With an external threat, sometimes you need to hunker down and shelter in place.

But an internal threat might require you to exit the building and get to another location.

In all these plans however, our focus is on working together as a community to make sure people are safe and cared for.

Nehemiah shares his account of the call he receives from God to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem… and in the process rebuild the community of the people of Judah.

Last week, we talked about how so many people responded and rolled up their sleeves and got to work on this effort.

Each took on their part of the project with enthusiasm!

And yet, it was not all smooth sailing.

The project immediately faced obstacles and threats that could have derailed the entire thing.

Some of these were external threats… from groups that opposed seeing Nehemiah succeed.

But some of them were internal threats and problems within the community itself.

First, let’s look at those external threats.

Nehemiah had been sent with authority from the king of Persia to rebuild this wall.

But the reach of the Persian Empire was vast and covered far more than this little corner of the world.

Regional governors had been appointed to oversee all of these different areas of what we now know as the Middle East and they didn’t all get along with one another.

Early on in chapter 2, we are introduced to Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite and Geshem the Arab, who oppose the efforts of Nehemiah before he even gets started.

“They were very angry that someone had come to seek the welfare of the people of Israel” (Nehemiah 2:10, CEB)

But why were they so upset? Why did they care?

Well, they each represented groups that had been ancient enemies of the Israelites.

When God helped Moses lead the people out of Egypt and into the Promised Land, they forcibly displaced and battled with many other peoples and cultures.

Some of these groups would have rejoiced to see their neighbors brought to their knees and definitely didn’t want to see them rise in prestige or power again.

But there also may have been a sense that the Israelites were getting special treatment being allowed to restore their community.

Maybe they had a bit of jealousy about work of restoration that wasn’t happening in their own city-states.

So they begin to ridicule and attack the Jews and diminish the work that is being done.

One of my favorite taunts comes from Tobiah, who exclaims, “Why, if a fox climbed that wall, it would fall to pieces under his weight.” (4:3, MSG)

What a puny little wall, he is saying.

What shoddy work, done by miserably unqualified people.

At first, the people of Judah were kind of inspired and energized by these taunts… redoubling their efforts until the wall was nearly half of its intended height.

But, as often transpires – violent and hateful words began to become physical attacks.

Sanballat, Tobiah, and these enemies of the people began to plan an assault against the wall.

Living under constant attacks can be exhausting.

Before too long, the words got under their skin.

The people began to believe that they couldn’t be successful.

“The builders are pooped, the rubbish piles up; We’re in over our heads, we can’t build this wall.” (4:10, MSG)

Through it all, Nehemiah turns towards prayer and asks for God to hear their cries.

And then, he gathers up all of the people and gives one of those inspirational speeches that lifts their hearts.

“Put your minds on the Master, great and awesome, and then fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes!”

What is more… he puts into action a plan so that the people will be unstoppable.

He creates these partnerships so that half of the people stood guard with shields and lances and the other half would work at rebuilding with a tool in one hand and a spear in the other.

Each person had someone else who had their backs.

Because they were all spread so far out in different parts of the city, they used trumpets to rally folks together if an attack came from any direction.

And when they needed to, they took turns and switched places… which was vitally important, because they worked from dawn to dusk.

When evening came, no one returned to their own homes, but they camped out and slept in their clothes, guarding the wall.

Faced with an external threat, they hunkered down and sheltered-in-place… keeping their eyes focused on God and committed to having one another’s backs.

Friends, I think of all of the ways that our church did that throughout the pandemic.

We may have had to hunker down, but we didn’t give up the things that were important like worship or small groups… we just found a new way to connect with online and printed worship.

We formed care groups so that we would be responsible for checking up on one another.

Elder care ministry and teacher buddies were formed so that folks who might be more vulnerable had extra support and encouragement.

And as we are coming out of this pandemic season, I think about those external forces of competition that we might be facing.

The Samaritans and Ammonites and Arabs in this story didn’t have to be their enemies, and yet as they battled for attention and resources, they believed lifting yourself up means putting someone else down.

Our “enemies” aren’t quite so obvious.

But we, too, are competing for people’s time and attention in the multitude of things that pull at them from different directions.

And sometimes, we can feel as if we are having very little impact and can get discouraged.

Maybe we start to cry out, like the Jews did:

We are pooped and burnt out and can’t possibly compete. We are never going to be able to get back to where we were.

And so we, too, need to encourage one another and have one another’s backs.

We need to give one another permission to take turns and share the load.

We need to celebrate the progress that we ARE making and all of the small ways that God is working in our midst.

One simple way, today, that you can do that… In the foyer we have a table with cards that say, “What I love about my church.”

Fill one of those out and add it to the wall…

and take some time to read all of the good and encouraging things that others are saying about who we are and what we are about.

Alright, we’ve talked about some external threats… but what about when the call is coming from inside the house?

All of this great work is happening in rebuilding the wall, but before too long, Nehemiah starts to hear some complaints from the people against one another.

You see, the everyday folks who lived in and around Jerusalem still had to feed their kids and tend their flocks.

And decades of first Babylonian and then Persian rule had nearly wiped them out with the taxes and levies that were enforced.

What is worse… governors and officials who had been appointed to oversee these collections in the past had lined their own pockets through excessive fees and charging interest.

The people had nothing left. They were burnt out and overextended.

Some of them were forced to sell their children into slavery or mortgage their land just to eat.

What good would it do to build the wall and bring Jerusalem back… if the people were gone and the land was no longer theirs?

So Nehemiah calls all of the leaders together and holds them accountable.

No longer would interest be collected.

Fields and vineyards and children would be returned.

The leaders are there not for their own personal self-interest, but for the good of the whole…

Centuries of prophets had called out this kind of selfish and oppressive behavior in the time before the exile… and Nehemiah made his leaders commit to walking in the ways of God.

In the life of our community, the internal threats we face are a bit different.

But I do wonder about the ways that we have burnt people out who are overextended…

How might we need to work to share our burdens of ministry more equitably?

What would it look like if we each worked to give of our time and talents to support the work of the whole ministry of this church… instead of relying upon those who are already carrying the load?

I also wonder about who we have forgotten and who has been pushed to the margins.

We have done really excellent work of reaching out to support some groups like our elders.

Are there neighbors whose voices and lives have we overlooked?

For many years when I first came to Immanuel, Imani was a completely separate church that shared part of our building.

For the last four years, we have created the same kind of space for Immanuel Gospel Fellowship, but now they have become part of our larger Immanuel community.

What does it really mean, however, to extend welcome to people of a different culture or ethnic background?

What does it really mean to claim them as a part of us and us as a part of them?

And what would that look like for welcome of homeless neighbors?

Or community members who rely upon food stamps?

Or our youth who are LGBTQ?

How can we partner and work together and make sure that people know that we have their backs?

Threats to community are abundant and can be internal or external.

But in all things, let us keep our eyes minds focused on God, who is great and awesome, and work together as a community to have one another’s backs.

Let’s fight for our children, our families, our neighbors, and our community.

Amen.

The Real Housewives

Posted on September 27, 2020Leave a comment

Text: Romans 16:1-16

Last week we explored the nuts and bolts of what a house church was, how it functioned, and who was part of it.

One of the things I lifted up is that while occasionally they would have had traveling preachers and apostles come visit, for the most part, these communities spent time reading and listening to scripture together.
They read from what we now consider the Old Testament.
And they received and read aloud letters from those who had known and experienced the good news of Jesus Christ.

The Book of Romans is one such letter.
Before Paul ever has the opportunity to travel there, he sends along his instruction and his teaching.
He wanted to share God’s good news with them and help them navigate some of the struggles they were experiencing.
And so for Christians in Rome, the very first time they would have heard these words, would have been gathered together in their homes.
It would not have been something they sat down to read.
It would have been something they heard.

My colleague Carol Ferguson writes about what it must have been like:

Can you imagine you are alive in 56AD, in the greatest city in the world, the heart of the empire, a place teeming with people, a place teeming with religious faiths and shrines of every description, a place where the spoils of nations are paraded through the streets, where a few coins will buy you a spot to watch gladiators kill each other for fun, where emperors are worshipped as gods?
Can you imagine that you are gathered together with a motley crew of compatriots, some wealthy and some poor, soldiers and serving girls and socialites, some with Jewish roots and some Gentile, because you’ve heard a letter from Paul—the Paul, the one whose letters are prized across the empire—is on its way?

Close your eyes and picture yourself there…
Crowded together others in a home, some standing, some reclining, children running around…
You can smell the food cooking from the nearby kitchen and the sweat of the day’s work…
And then you hear a voice reading aloud the words of Paul…

A quick question… as you place yourself here… whose voice did you hear?
Was it a man’s voice?
It’s Paul’s letter of course, so maybe that feels natural.
But when we turn to the words of Romans chapter 16, what we find is the introduction of Phoebe.
Paul takes time here at the end to lift her up and introduce her, giving her authority and credibility.
He asks them to welcome her and take care of her.
This was a common practice, so that the community receiving the letter would know that this person has the authority to not only speak, but also interpret what was within.
Jann Aldredge-Clanton describes Phoebe as a coworker of Paul’s “and as a minister of the church in Cenchareae… [she] led the community and presided over worship. And independent woman of some wealth, Phoebe was also a benefactor of Paul and many others.” (The CEB Women’s Bible, p. 1432)
And so after she carried that letter from Paul onto the streets of Rome, she would have been welcomed likely by Prisca and Aquila and the “church that meets in their house.” (16:5 CEB).
They would have gathered to sing and pray.
And break bread.
And then Phoebe would have stood in their midst and spoken.

Lest we think this was some kind of fluke and Phoebe was just one woman with a particular exceptional gift, the introductions at the end of Romans continue.
Paul gives his greetings to the leaders of the house/churches throughout this region, to other ministers of Christ who have been traveling, to friends he has met along the way and those who are family.
There are twenty-nine names listed here…
And ten of them are women.
Phoebe… the minister who brought the letter
Prisca… who is mentioned before her husband as the leader of the house/church… someone who was known to help mentor visiting teachers like Apollos.
Mary, the twins Tryphaena and Tryphosis, Persis… all women who have labored in Christian ministry for God.
Junia, who along with her husband, was not one of the 12 apostles, but possibly part of the 72 sent two by two by Jesus in Luke 10.
Rufus’s mother, possibly the widow of Simon of Cyrene who carried the cross of Christ.
Julia, who likely hosted one of the house/churches in Rome with her spouse.
Nereus’s sister, who probably played the same role.

I think we have typically thought back to this time and considered the place of women to be subjugated to men.
We have imagined them as housewives who cared for the family and took care of the home.
We couldn’t picture women active in ministry and if we did, they were always eclipsed by the work of those famous male apostles.
It feels relatively new for us to consider female as clergy.
In the United Methodist tradition, while John Wesley licensed women to preach, and women were ordained in the 1800s, they were only granted full clergy rights in 1956.
In other traditions, leadership by women is still rejected.

But scripture, history, and archeology paint a really different picture.
We find women leading ministry not only in the early church, but also in Jewish and Roman cultic traditions as well. Gravestones identify women as leaders of synagogues, elders, priests, and more.
In addition, many women ran their own household’s without mention of a husband, like Lydia an independent businesswoman who hosted Paul in Philippi, or Nympha who led the house church in Laodicea.
The stories of these women and others throughout scripture, show that women were essential ministers of the gospel.
They not only established house/churches, but also carried the good news from place to place.
It wasn’t some egalitarian dream world – but there was a place for the leadership of women.

Yet, Carol Ferguson notes:

As Christianity became more structured, more institutionalized, rules forbidding women from preaching or teaching—which itself suggests that it was happening—begin to appear. And in time the church was able to forget, and argue that women couldn’t lead because women had never led—a circular argument that short-circuited thousands of years of gifted, called leaders from leaving their mark on the church.
Sometimes you can still see the eraser marks in our scripture.

Ferguson lifts up a few examples.
First, there is Phoebe, herself.
In the original Greek, she is called a diakonos. It is used in talking about commissioned ministers of the Gospel, ministers with significant status, and deacons who had official duties within the church. It can also mean someone who serves another.
I looked this passage up in my favorite bible this week and the CEB translations reads:
I’m introducing our sister Phoebe to you, who is a servant of the church in Cenchreae.
It feels more like someone who cares for the church, instead of leading it.
With that one choice of how to translate a word, Phoebe becomes a servant rather than an official minister of the gospel, even though the context reminds us that as a wealthy benefactor, Phoebe herself would have had many servants in the traditional sense.

Someone else who gets erased from this passage is Junia.
Paul tells us that she came to Christ before him.
She was imprisoned with him for the crime of being a Christian.
She, alongside her partner Andronicus are called not just apostles, but prominent among the apostles – those who are sent by Christ to share the good news.
But for centuries, the name Junia was translated as Junias.
Theologians argued it had to be a man’s name, because women couldn’t be apostles.
We imposed our understanding of the place of a woman upon the text, rather than let the text change how we thought about the ministry of women.

I recently have been studying the sisters, Mary and Martha, from Luke’s gospel.
There, too, we have an image of women who are busy doing housework, serving the male disciples… or at least Martha is doing the serving.
Mary is described as slacking off, listening to Jesus instead.

But the word used in this passage to talk about the work Martha is doing is diakanos.

Mary Stromer Hanson lifts up a compelling argument based on this text.
Earlier in this chapter, Jesus sent out thirty-six pairs of disciples in ministry, likely including women, maybe even Junia and Andronicus.
They are to go out into towns and spread the good news and to establish themselves in a home… the very first iterations of this house/church model.
Jesus then himself enters a village and is welcomed and received into a home by Martha.

Now… here is where Hanson’s argument gets really interesting…
While modern translations say that Martha had a sister, Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching.
Grammatically, this could instead be translated:
Martha had a sister, Mary, who also sat at the foot of the Lord.
Meaning, they both were disciples of Jesus who listened to and followed his teaching.
Martha, it goes on to say, is distracted….
Distracted by what?
My bible says “getting things ready for their meal.”
The Message says, “by all the things she had to do in the kitchen.”
The King James Version reads, “Martha was cumbered about by much serving.”

But do you know what the word used here is?
Diakanos.
What if, Hanson argues, Martha, who has opened her home, is not preoccupied by the cleaning and the cooking… but by the ministry she is supporting in her own house/church.
In the community that she has been called to establish to spread the good news of Jesus.
Martha is suddenly transformed from a frantic housewife into a dedicated minister of the Lord.

We imagine Mary sitting there besides Jesus, refusing to help, but Hanson argues that grammatically, it doesn’t actually appear that Mary is there at all.
She has left.
Possibly, Mary was one of the seventy-two, sent out by Jesus in this act of ministry, while Martha supported that ministry from her own home.
Martha isn’t worried about Mary not drying dishes.
She claims to be overwhelmed by her work of ministry in the community, but Jesus sees past that concern to offer a word of comfort:
You are troubled about your sister being away. You are worried about what might happen to her out there in this risky ministry of evangelism. You want her to come home and serve in this way instead.
But she has chosen a good thing.

This long list of leaders at the end of Paul’s letter to the Romans are filled with servants of the Lord, ministers of the Gospel, leaders of the church.
Today, looking back, we might find the inclusion of so many women surprising.
But they simply were doing their part to bring folks together around the good news of Jesus.
Whether that meant traveling or opening their homes or preaching or leading.

And that’s what we all have done in these past six months.
We have opened our homes to God and led the people we love in the faith.
I love the way my colleague, Rev. Carole Ferguson describes this transition.
Whether or not we thought of our selves as leaders, we’ve all be worshipping in house/churches.
And you have made it happen.
You set up Zoom or Facebook so it would stream to your TV.
You brought your spouse a cup of coffee to sip during worship.
You yelled at your kids to come and watch.
You typed out prayer requests for friends and loved ones in the chat.
You lit a candle on your desk.
You sang along to the hymns.

Paul wrote a letter to the community of believers in Rome, but it was each of those twenty nine names listed at the close of this letter that did the hard work. They were the ministers.
They stepped up to lead and worship and support the ministry.
I can stand here and write and deliver a sermon, but you are the leaders of this church.
So, say hello to Karen.
Say hello to Dawn and Scott.
Say hello to Herb and his mother.
Say hello to the children in the Wright home who lead us in worship.
Say hello to Shirley and her sister-in-law, Sandy and Bob.
Say hello to the church that meets at the home of the Lockins and Osthus and Gordon families.
We have 255 households in our congregation, so this could take a very long while, so I will just say this:
Hello and greetings and love to all of you, faithful ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Keep up the good work.

Sermon adapted from: https://carolhferguson.com/2020/07/12/ladies-of-the-house-church/

Delegate!

Posted on May 18, 2015Leave a comment

These are the jobs we are assigned to do as the Church Council, according to the Book of Discipline:

Plan and implement all the programs of nurture, outreach, witness and resources.
Administer the church organization
Envision, Plan, Implement and Evaluate the mission and ministry of the church.
Act as the administrative agency of the charge conference.

That is a lot to accomplish for a group that meets for 90 minutes once a month. Yet, according to the Discipline, all of this is our job to provide for.

So, how is it possible?

Exodus 18 (MSG)

^13-14 Moses took his place to judge the people. People were standing before him all day long… When Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, “What’s going on here? Why are you doing all this, and all by yourself…?”

^15-16Moses said, “Because the people come to me with questions about God. When something comes up, they come to me. I judge between [them] and teach them God’s laws and instructions.”

^17-23Moses’ father-in-law said, “This is no way to go about it. You’ll burn out, and the people right along with you. This is way too much for you—you can’t do this alone. Now listen to me. Let me tell you how to do this so that God will be in this with you… Your job is to teach them the rules and instructions, to show them how to live, what to do. And then you need [to appoint competent people as leaders over smaller groups]… They’ll be responsible for the everyday work of judging among the people. They’ll bring the hard cases to you, but in the routine cases they’ll be the judges. They will share your load and that will make it easier for you. If you handle the work this way, you’ll have the strength to carry out whatever God commands you, and the people in their settings will flourish also.”

^24-27Moses listened to the counsel of his father-in-law and did everything he said.

The advice Jethro offered Moses was to delegate.

He didn’t have to shoulder all of the responsibility himself. He didn’t have to do it all on his own. And by delegating responsibility and sharing authority, both Moses and the people would flourish.

First, he had to train those additional leaders and equip them… you can’t be responsible for something if you don’t know what the expectations are.

But then Moses had to get out of their way. He didn’t have time to micro-manage. They didn’t have time to continually come back and ask if they were doing it right.

They all needed to trust one another.

As a result, Moses could periodically check-in and evaluate his leaders. And, he was available when there were big issues to discuss.

As the Ad Council, we could look at our purpose statement as defined by the Book of Discipline and try to shoulder it all ourselves, as Moses did at first.

Or, we can delegate.

When we delegate, we make clear the expectations by setting goals and strategy and communicating our vision and mission. Then, we need to empower our committees to do the work of ministry.

We give them a budget, we make sure they understand our vision as a church, and then they have the responsibility and authority to do whatever they need to do, within those parameters, as their work.

This means the council is freed up to truly handle the big picture and major decisions. We are freed to hold the church and committees accountable for living into our mission and vision.

“If you handle the work this way, you’ll have the strength to carry out whatever God commands you, and the people in their settings will flourish also.”

D-I-Y Pastoring #NaBloPoMo

Posted on November 5, 20141 Comment

My first church had one person on staff… myself. So, I painted and cooked and folded bulletins with a very tiny army of volunteers… in between the “pastoral” work.

And I’ve always been a roll-up-the-sleeves kind of person. I stick around to help out. I wash dishes. It is who I am.

In the past week, I’ve helped paint our nursery and moved stuff around. I made copies. I cut out commitment cards. Not because there weren’t people who couldn’t do it, but because I’m hands on. I want to help.

Along the way, I’m discovering that makes me an unusual lead pastor or head of staff. I have blogged about postmodern leadership styles before and I am reminded of Frodo-like leaders… who need a team around them. Lots of skills working toward a common goal. A journey we take together, wearing different hats along the way. Discovering who we are as we go along the road.

As I paint and fold and cut, I allow others to let their gifts shine. I demonstrate my willingness to not only meet them where they are, but join them in their experience. And I’m able to hear their stories as we work alongside each other and build relationships.

Can I add… there is something awfully rewarding about defeating a copy machine and getting the brochures all done. Or listening in as children walk by the new nursery and squeal with excitement.

What a crazy and wonderful job I have.

possibilities…

Posted on October 11, 2011Leave a comment

Ten days ago, our church had a fall committee retreat to begin dreaming/planning/living into the new vision for our church (to reflect the light of God). My people worked SO hard and did such an amazing job and we now have five vision areas and four key results that we want to work (with God’s help) to achieve:

We want to reflect the light of God by:

1) Spending time in the light

2) Being on FIRE as a church

3) Being a beacon in our community

4) Passing the light on

5) Letting our little lights shine.

And the areas we want to see results in are:

1) Be intentional about helping each person connected to our church grow spiritually

2) Empower every person to claim their gifts/assets and offer them to others.

3) Become a more visible presence in the community to make a positive difference for good.

4) Care for and about every person who comes through (or has come through) our doors.

As we continue to imagine the possibilites, we are revamping our administrative and committee structures, we are throwing out new ideas, we are leaving behind things that bog us down, and I am so re-invigorated for what ministry can look like here in Marengo. It is so much fun to be a part of this church and to keep dreaming about where we might end up!

a church that agrees too often

Posted on August 24, 20111 Comment

After a few years in my congregation, I realized I had a major, however, hidden problem…

My church didn’t know how to disagree.

This may not seem like a problem on the surface. What pastor wouldn’t be thrilled by a church that jumped right on board with their requests and was quick to respond in the affirmative to a query.

The problem is… not all my ideas are that great. And instead of really tackling an issue and building consensus, a quick yes with no discussion was getting us no where. No one gained ownership. The formation of better and stronger ideas through brainstorming was not being accomplished. I learned a quick yes was far worse than a toughly battled over no.

There was an underlying issue that was at the root of this “problem.” A church with a history of conflict was finally in a place of peace. No one wanted to rock the boat. No one wanted to disagree for fear of starting a whole new season of problems. It was easier to say, “okay,” than to step up and take the risk.

A culture of yes, however is just as harmful as a culture of no. I could never be sure if people really agreed with an idea or were just too unsure of themselves to say anything. It is eerie having an administrative board meeting that only takes 15 minutes because everyone votes up the agenda items without discussion.

This past winter, I gathered our leadership together to begin tackling the problem. I wanted to let them know it was okay to disagree. It was okay to have an opinion. This was a safe place to raise questions and bring up different ideas.

So we played a little game: Early Bird vs. Second Mouse.

I had found the game on a site full of ice-breakers, but I knew instantly that it would be helpful. The group was divided into two opposing sides and each was tasked with defending a statement. One half of the room had to prove “The early bird gets the worm” and the other half had to support “The second mouse gets the cheese.”

Each statement has its own merits. And it wasn’t anything that any of our folks would take personally.

First, each group had to discuss amongst itself and figure out why their statement was the best. This took brainstorming, conversation, and creativity.

Second, each group had to figure out how to present their position to the other half of the group and myself, the impartial judge. I was amazed at their energy, their humor, and their abundance of good and thoughtful responses.

At the end, we asked if anyone had been swayed by the other side’s argument. One or two did say that they naturally felt like the other side fit more in line with their own life philosophy, so it was hard to defend their own statement.

It was a good conversation, but then I took it a step deeper. I asked them why they thought we were playing this game. And I asked them to think of the last time they disagreed in a meeting.

In the end, we laid out some ground rules for future conversations and I think we instilled a sense of safety and comfort for some of the hard decisions we would face later in the year.

It was a fun morning of disagreement. And I say that because I firmly believe that conflict is not in and of itself a bad thing.

Being Honest about Weakness

Posted on October 20, 2010Leave a comment

Like any one of the rest of us, I have been blessed with particular gifts. I’m lucky enough to have answered a calling that uses those gifts almost every single day. I’m grateful for the opportunities that I have to serve and to put the skills God gave me to use.

But like any one of the rest of us, there are also things that I am not called to do.

I am not a details person. I can see the big picture and how things flow and can give a general impression about something… but I tend to leave out the small details that make the thing work.

I am not a confrontational person. I don’t see things in black and white, so it is very difficult for me to make another person aware that something is absolutely wrong. I see both sides of a situation. I understand where they are coming from. And that makes it awfully hard to say, “no,” at times. I do really well in groups… like standing up for injustice as a part of a crowd of others. But I’m not likely to be the person who is a lone voice in the crowd making the ruckus. Because I don’t think in black and white, I also don’t think with typical logic and have a hard time defending my thoughts. (the flip side of that, is that I’m a GREAT mediator)

And I am also not gifted/blessed with the skills for youth ministry.

I LOVE my youth. I adore them. They make me giggle and inspire me and some days downright confound me with the depth of their questions. They are some of the most energetic and crazy and rambunctious and interesting people I get to work with every day. But I am not built to be a youth leader.

I have done okay in the past. I manage to corral their energy. I have a lot of really helpful resources I have used… and some stuff that has not been so helpful. And the youth themselves have been great. But all along, I have been hoping, praying, waiting, searching, for someone who would hear the calling to help with the youth – someone who IS gifted and blessed in the particular ways that youth need.

We have to be honest about our weaknesses so that others are aware of where they are needed. If we never ask for help, we will never receive it.

So I asked. And I have been so excited this fall to have someone to work with… someone with experience with teenagers, with energy to match mine and theirs, with passion for making a difference in the lives of young people. This year is going to absolutely rock.

Working together as the body of Christ – allowing one another’s strengths to shine – can change the world. When we get out of the way in the places where we are weak, then we have the energy to do what we do best.

Gallup has done some work on leadership and claims the best leaders are the ones who are able to do what they do best every day. Their “strengths based leadership” tools help you to discover your particular strengths (or gifts in Christian language) and then to apply them to your work. Some churches have used this instead of spiritual gifts inventories to discover the best leaders and workers for the various ministries of their churches.

To be the body of Christ – we need to live out and embody those things we know and do best… but then we need to get out of the way. We need to let others teach us and help us. We need to give others a chance to lead. We need to practice saying, I need you.

That is a difficult thing to do in the middle of a rural German community. But it is what Christ calls us to. Get out of the way and let others do their work. Be honest about your weaknesses. Lend a hand when your gifts are called for. It is not a sign of failure… it is a sign of true community.

pull to plant

Posted on November 7, 2009Leave a comment

This week I’ve spent a lot of time outside. For Pastor Appreciation Month my congregation gave me a gift certificate to Earl May and some gardening tools. And it was an extremely meaningful gift because a) it means that they understand some of the ways that I take care of myself (gardening) and b) it allowed me to get some things done in the midst of the stressful time of ordination papers too.

To be honest – if I hadn’t recieved that gift, the south side of my house would still be a mess. There would be tall grasses and crazy trees and weeds and leaves all over. I affectionately have referred to it as the eyesore on the south side. At least once before I’ve tried to clear the area – but then when our plants didn’t arrive, it soon grew back over.

So this past week – in the amazing warm weather for the first week of November (in the 50’s) I’ve taken a few hours each day to slowly but surely work on it.

Monday, my mom went with me to pick out some shrubs and bulbs and then helped me do some clearing. Throughout the week I’ve dug out stumps, removed the plastic underlayer, pulled weeds, broke a shovel and have some nasty bruises to show for my work.

Then yesterday – the shrubs went in the ground. There are two “fire chief” conifers, a blueberry plant, and a mandarin azaela. Today after the Iowa game I will probably be working on planting some tulip, crocus and dafodill bulbs.

In the midst of all of that, I had some time to think. About how overgrown other areas of my life are and where the chaos needs to be put in order and weeded and new things planted. The truth is that new things cannot take root unless room is made – unless everything else moves away.

As a pastor this is absolutely true. The last week in October I tried to work on my papers, but I left too many of my other responsibilities in the way. I got very little done and it took a lot of effort to get there. But this week I took time away from my other tasks, escaped to coffee shops and my office and progress was made.

As I try to nurture leadership development – I have to get myself out of the way and pull up my roots so that there is room for new leaders to emerge. I’m thinking about various ways to encourage new growth in the congregation and to fertilize those who have said yes, but aren’t sure of their new surroundings. A leadership retreat is definately in my plans – but I’m also thinking about restructuring our meeting arrangements so that more than one group meets at once, and I move between groups. Not having me to rely on means that others will have to take over the reigns – but I can also be there when they do need me. My real task needs to be working with leaders, not running the meetings.

That arrangement would also free up more time to meet individually with leaders in the congregation, do the visitation of our homebound members, and build relationships with our youth and families.