Godgrown

Updates from February, 2006 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

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  Mark 11:21 pm on February 24, 2006 Permalink | Reply  

  Why Do I Even Go? part 2 

  Just a quick reflection before I turn down the bed covers for the night –

  Katrina and I had a good talk this evening about Christian “evangelists” or “missionaries” who find their self-worth in being able to relate to new cultures. Many people sail to far away lands to “share the Gospel” but only after years and years of language training, people group acculturation, and loads of money to travel back and forth during furlough.

  Why not instead of priding ourselves in our ability to reach out to other cultures, and spending TONS of money to do so, let’s live deeply into the culture we are already a part of. We know the language, the customs; the redeeming and broken qualities in our own culture very well. Why not use our years of experience in our own culture to truly speak the Gospel in our own language?

  My wife and I are both from the Midwest. We know some of the tendencies and customs of the people there. We know that there are countless workaholics who have forgotten the blessings of Sabbath. Knowing that, we can speak the Gospel in such a way that addresses the very core of their brokenness. Isn’t that what the Gospel is supposed to be? Isn’t it supposed to be GOOD NEWS? What’s so exciting about something that doesn’t seem relevant to you? Who cares about something that happened 2,000 years ago? Give me something that matters to my life today. If its true that Jesus “will be with us always”, then he must have something to say to the corporate executive living in Lincoln Park, Chicago, and the single mom living in Hyde Park. As a fellow Midwesterner, he has something to say to me.

  

  
   

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  Mark 1:57 pm on February 24, 2006 Permalink | Reply  

  Why Do I Even Go? 

  These past few Friday mornings I’ve been making my way down to BOB’s (Breakfast on Beech St). It is a little room just west of the downtown district here in Abilene (yes, there is what some would call a “downtown”). Early each morning about 30 homeless and poor show up on the doorstep of a church kitchen and stand in line together. Great people from churches all over the city come to serve the hungry – I’ve been coming just to befriend some of the people eating.

  This morning as we stood in line, rain pouring down on us, I began to catch a glimpse of what it might be like to huddle together under a bridge to stay dry. One person I overheard had been staying in a cotton field to protect themselves from the cold winds, but when the rains came, flooding pushed them even from that humble abode. In contrast, I had come from a nice warm house, (small as it may seem to me at times). I had enjoyed a nice meal the night before, and I had had a nice shower and a good shave before I drove in my working car down to BOBS to meet everyone. Needless to say, finding a starting place for conversation with them can be difficult.

  How do you even begin a conversation with people so very different than you? What can you say to them that will connect with them on a meaningful level? What issues are taboo and isolating? Do I purposely dress to fit in? Where did the concept of “us” and “them” begin in my own life?

  As I left I found myself asking the question: why do I even go?

  Something is calling me to people who are different than me. I’m sure I’m a minority here, but I get a real rush anytime I can make a deep connection and establish a friendship with someone who has very little in common with me. I’ll spend the rest of my day with people just like me, arrogant, overeducated, overfed… Just for an hour or two I’d like to be the outsider looking in. For just a little while I’d like to be totally thrown out of my comfort zone; the one with the biggest learning curve. It’s awesome the things my friends on Beech Street have taught me.

  
   
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  Mark 1:04 pm on February 23, 2006 Permalink | Reply  

  dependence 

  After a deliciously inviting lunch with my totally rockin’ wife, I’ve been set on a course of thought that will last till at least the end of this sentence. Maybe the end of this blog…

  Ever noticed how as humans we tend to move from codependency, to independence, to interdependence? I’m fascinated by this, and realize it has HUGE implications for how I handle relationships in ministry. Many times people get stuck in one stage or another; we can all readily recall one or two people who never really made it past the codependent stage; they felt so comfortable living in it during the growing-up years. Renegades and autocrats are considered stifled in the independent stage, considering themselves loners, or at best they are leading in a league of their own. Others may follow if and only if they abide by certain rules. It is truly our goal as individualistic Americans to move beyond isolation and independence and engage in healthy communities.

  What is the real pull for relationship within humanity?

  How are we biologically, emotionally, and spiritually charged to connect with those around us; and then why do so many people fall short of creating a healthy tension of interdependence?

  I am currently a Community Minister at a local church in town. I suppose you could say it is my aim to see people move closer toward interdependence on each other and ultimate dependence on God. How would it do to pull out from that community to seek other communities? What are the relational repercussions of seeking “community” far and away from the “Community” ministry I am a part of within my congregation? In other words, can I be missional and loyal at the same time?

  Just thinkin’.