Definer Questions

There have been a few people in my life who have asked me "definer questions." That's my made-up term for questions that cut through all the complexities of an issue and lay the real issue bare in clear, simple terms. Some of these definer questions have lead to successful major life decisions.

There are presently two related definer questions that I am mulling over these days, targeted specifically to the research that we've been doing on discipleship (in large part from Jimmy's efforts).

The first definer question comes out of a study I did with a couple of students over the last year. I figured two young men at the beginning of their lives as adults would benefit greatly from Paul's words to Timothy, who was also facing a world as "the young guy." For each passage of the text, we discussed structure and meaning, but then I always brought it around to the same question each week: What does this mean for being a fully committed follower of Jesus?

Invariably, there would be an awkward silence. We just finished talking about the passage and thought we had a handle on it. But then after this question popped out, all of us realized that we hadn't really mined the depths of the passage. We would look at the passage again and again, and begin to appreciate the layers of the text. Eventually, we'd begin to offer answers to the question - answers that made us uncomfortable because of the cost necessitated by discipleship. But what rich discomfort it was!

The second definer question is more focused on how to evaluate and improve our ministries here at Grace. There are many good things we can do in church ministry - far too many to do all of them. There are things that we've always done - many of which we should continue doing, but others perhaps not. (For example, we didn't do a carnival this summer because it was not the best use of our energy this year.) That question is: Is this the best way to cultivate complete followers of Jesus?

This question helps us keep our focus on our priorities and not put our effort into any number of good things that keep us from the great things. There are a lot of good ways to disciple others, but we want to do the best things we can to cultivate complete followers.

We just had a discussion among some of the leaders about a particular opportunity. So I posed this second question. What transpired was great dialog with quite a spread of opinions, but the differences don't scare me. The dialog was the kind of authentic discussion that we must have for us to keep on mission, with everyone contributing truly pertinent thoughts specific to our church's highest priorities. We may have missed some important ideas if we didn't have a definer question. A definer question gave us a means to navigate a tough issue and to make some decisions now as well as fuel further discussions later. It gave us clarity for the process of evaluating this and other issues.

What are one or two "definer questions" for your life's mission?

My habits are so habitual

We've been studying and teaching about discipleship and a missional mindset over these last several weeks, with the goal of getting our minds right on these ideas before even attempting to do anything specific about it. It is our expectation that right actions will come from right thinking, and right habits will come from right actions.

This great theory, however, doesn't prevent me from my wrong habits that come from wrong actions that come from wrong thinking.

While moving Lynne's folks this week, my brother-in-law (Steve) and I did a McDonald's run for breakfast, since the kitchen had already been completely packed. (Although I consider fast food a bad habit in its own right, that's not where my story is going.) I had a very simple order - one eggwhite muffin combo, one #1 combo, and three #2 combos, all with coffee. To her credit, the gal working the counter was extremely creative in finding ways to fulfill the order by all methods except the correct one.

I confirmed three separate times that they were all combos with coffee. And yet, I had to stop her from filling sodas and to pour coffee instead, then from 3 coffees to 5, then from 3 hash browns to 5. The floor manager noted she had rung up the order incorrectly, which she shrugged off wordlessly. After all of that, I still never got my #1 combo. If I had wanted two eggwhite combos, I'm quite sure I would have said something other than "one eggwhite combo and one #1 combo." Never did she acknowledge an error, apologize, smile, or even try to change her original, determined plan.

Here's where my wrong thinking led to my habitually wrong action: My concern for this person, who God loves and who bears His image, was fleeting at best. In my habit, she existed only to feed me quickly, pleasantly, and without error. When she failed to exist in that manner, my main concern was getting the greasy, high-caloric, high-fat, oversalted breakfast (and coffee!!) that I was on a "mission" to get.

But my real mission is supposed to be to cultivate complete followers of Jesus (Matt 28:16-20). My real mission never really came to mind because of my habits, which came from my actions, which came from my thinking.

I want a new set of habits so that my first thought for people I encounter is to wonder how I can cultivate, even a little. How can I "loosen the lid"? By habit, I'm still more of a consumer than a cultivator. But ... my thinking is beginning to change (aided by a little indigestion, which reminded me of right priorities - bleh).

Why these limits?

I wish I had more hours in the day.

If I won the lottery, I'd give half to the church. Think of the things we could do with that!

I'll sleep later ... there's work to do!

I wish God had made me better at this! It would be good for His purposes - why didn't He give me more talent?

We bump up against these kinds of limits every day. We are limited to the number of years we have on this earth. We are limited in the amount of money we have, even money for worthy, sacrificial causes. We are limited every day by our need to sleep and by the amount of energy we have. We are limited in our capacities and talents. We live lives of limitations.

If I was running the show, I don't think I would have done it that way. If I have purposes for my universe, why would I want to limit the capacity of my little subjects to carry out my purposes? That seems counterproductive. Why limit them from the very things I want to happen in my universe? There's so much work to be done!!!

These are merely theoretical questions, but we face real, tough questions in real, tough situations. We could send more food to an overseas orphanage if we had more money - the nutrition of little kids is on the line! A pastor could serve more needs, do more counseling, prepare better sermons if he didn't have to sleep at night. More people could hear about the claims of Christ if I had better skills at talking with and engaging people - but as it is, they're hearing a substandard rendition of the Gospel. There are real consequences to these limits.

And these limits are put there by God Himself. He designed us to require sleep, He does not permit us to have infinite wealth, He did not give everyone every gift ... or any gift in full measure. He does not permit us to live beyond the century mark, on average. Yes, our our sin and our own lack of diligence contribute to these limits, but there are hard limits put on us by the very hand of God.

Why? We could do so much more of the stuff He likes!

First, we need to reconsider what God wants to accomplish in the universe. We Westerners tend to be task-oriented, and so we foist onto God a task-orientation and assume His goal for the universe is for more of His favorite tasks to be accomplished. It is true that He wants some tasks done. But His greater goal is to develop us into a particular kind of people. And He accomplishes that purpose better with limits than without. What God wants to do in our character, He does more effectively by putting these limits in our lives.

He wants us to be sacrificial (which you don't have to do much if you have no limits). He wants us to offer to Him our prayer-saturated, wisdom-influenced decisions as an act of worship (you don't need to be wise if you have infinite resource). He wants us to choose the best over the good. He wants us to be humble. He wants us to rely on Him. He wants us to have a particular character, and He carves that character with the blade of limitations.

Second, we remember the mind-boggling truth that when Jesus came to earth, He took on Himself a life of limitations. He has existed eternally with all the attributes of God, which means the only real limitations He had were that He could not do anything less than perfect and He could not do anything contrary to His nature. Other than that, He really didn't have any limits. Now, with a full human nature, even a sinless one, He lived within limitations of time, strength and stamina, resources, and the demands of sleep.

Jesus' ministry on earth was performed not only in spite of, but because of those limitations. He died. That's a limitation God had never experienced before. Without that limitation, we are lost in our sin.

Limitations annoy us, frustrate us, and can even draw us into depression. However, limitations are also God's gift to us in order to accomplish His greater purpose. He glorifies Himself through us because we face limitations. It's not a question of having limitations, but what we do with them.

What if we weren't afraid of death?

I'm meeting weekly with a student who's just about to ship off to college under the illusion that I have all kinds of things to teach him. What happens frequently, though, is that during our discussions, one of us will trip over a question that makes us both look up the ceiling and try to figure out just how significant the question is. This happened yet again this week - two guys inspecting the ceiling as if the answer was written there.

The background of the question is that there are many forms of death. There is physical death (heart stops beating, lungs stop breathing), emotional death (no will to be in relationship or to live life), spiritual death (the state we're born in, plus the eternal fire thing), social death (shame, loss of status, friendless), intellectual death (learning nothing, thinking about nothing meaningful), death of security (in danger, no sense of protection), and even economic death (financial ruin). All forms of death, and we could list still others. Death in these terms is not only the opposite of life, but also separation. We are separated from our friends, from God, from security, and so on.

In Scripture, death is punishment for rebellion against God. He brought all forms of death as punishment in varying degrees. Adam and Eve suffered immediate separation after the Fall, Israel suffered waves of death of all kinds to urge them back to the covenant, on the Cross our Lord suffered death and separation on our behalf, and eternal death will be the ultimate punishment in the eternal state.

In Christ, however, death has been defeated. Not just physical death, but all forms of death have been defeated by the finished work of Jesus on the Cross and His resurrection. "Whoever believes, even he dies, yet he will live." (John 11:25)

Yet, fear of death in all its forms cripples us from loving fully, obeying entirely, taking risks for the Kingdom, sharing our faith, giving generously, and on and on. Fear of death prevents us from fully following Christ.

So, our question was, "What if we weren't afraid of death?" Not just physical death, but all forms of death. What would life be like we we had no fear of these things, because all forms of death have been defeated? If we die, yet we shall live - in every form of life. Can I therefore live life with virtually no fear at all of any form of death?

Imagine what your life would be like...

The story of Mary

There are too many stories to tell from our trip to Kenya, but there's one I must tell. It is the story of "Mary" (not her real name).

We were invited to visit the home of Mary by her family. Mary was just recovering from malaria, and we were asked to pray for her complete recovery. That sounded simple enough. It was not simple.

The home was modest - not as sparse as many homes we saw, but still humble. The living room was tightly cramped with 10 or so people conversing over lunch, but they did well enough financially to afford a television. Women flitted in and out of the room to bring the handwashing basin, and then the waves of food - rice, ugali, goat stew, chicken, and fish. It was hard to keep track of who was a wife, who was a sister, and who was an in-law. But plenty of smiles and hospitality.

Mary looked to be in her teens, but she's actually in her 20s. She was soft spoken, sometimes too soft to understand. She exuded a sweet spirit (although we later learned that she could have fits of anger). Mary also had some form of speech impediment, which appeared to be related to a slight deformity with her mouth. (I found out in my class later that week that it is common for people in that area to hide those children with deformities. Indeed, people who attended that church for years didn't even know Mary exists.) We were told that she was challenged emotionally and mentally, but it wasn't clear that perhaps her medicines fogged her acuity. The end effect for us was an immediate empathy for a sweet, troubled girl. I was keenly grateful that Janette was sitting nearest to Mary, who directed almost all of her answers toward Janette no matter who asked them.

Pastor Benard, who knew some backstory that we learned only later, proceeded to ask Mary a surprising sequence of questions. Very quickly, he changed from normal questions about her health and recovery to questions about dreams, fears, and how she was treated. Mary was plagued by all three - horrible dreams, persistent fears, and domestic abuse. Those she said were hitting her were present in the room, but it seemed the awkwardness of this was felt only by our team.

In this part of Kenya, there's no place for Mary to go. There are no safe shelters to provide refuge. It would be nearly impossible for her to find reputable work to support herself. It's hard to find a husband in her circumstance, let alone with the dowry and negotiation system for most marriages there. This seemingly sweet girl with extra challenges in life is locked in an abusive situation with no option but to stay.

The Lord gave several of us pertinent passages of Scripture and deep-felt prayer to share with her, and to no little effect. But we were helpless to extract her. We pray for Pastor Benard as he follows up to have wisdom and creative ideas. We pray for her abusers to repent. We pray for her healing. But with only our own devices, we are helpless to "fix" her situation.

Mary is forgotten by the world, except but a handful of people. And now us. And now you.

The Bible consistently teaches (especially in Exodus, Leviticus, Isaiah, and Luke) that God's people advocate for the vulnerable. We too often politicize questions about who should and should not receive help, but the Bible seems to focus on the vulnerable. When the Bible was written, the vulnerable were the likes of the widow, the orphan, the sick, the foreigner, and the desperately poor - those susceptible to oppression and exploitation. It is the task of God's people to lend strength and aid to the vulnerable.

Without much physical ability to help the vulnerable Mary, we turn our efforts to helping Pastor Benard to help Mary. If there is anything he tells us we can do, we will share that with you. For now, we render aid by praying for God to provide that aid and to halt the actions of those who oppress her.

Ten Things Kenyan Orphans Don't Know

1. What it's like to fly across the ocean. Not only is the experience of international flight highly unlikely for them, but the concept that a team of people traveled over 24 hours stepping foot in 5 different airports in three nations in order to see them has little context for them. They know that different-looking people just show up sometimes, act and talk a bit funny, talk a lot about God, give lots of hugs, and then leave after a week or two, until the next batch shows up a few months or a year later.
2. That there are sponsors. We don't explain the whole sponsorship idea to them. At the orphanage, we don't have sponsors for every child, so having a label of "sponsored" or "unsponsored" would be very damaging. We tell each of them that they have friends in the US, adults and children, who love them and pray for them and write them letters. We don't mention the money or the status of being sponsored.
3. A mortgage. This is more than just the family never having a mortgage. How buildings are paid for is completely different. Most Luo people in this area will never finance a building. Rather, they piecemeal everything. Save enough money to build a wall, then you build the wall. Then you wait to save more money for the next part. That's also how you put gas in the tank or get minutes on your cell phone. You don't fill up the tank or get a monthly plan. You put in a little bit of gas frequently, because that's what cash you have. You put just a few minutes on the phone because that's what cash you have. Piecemeal.
4. Identity theft. No digital footprint at all. Perhaps no birth certificate. No identity card or even identity number. And therefore, completely immune to identity theft. But also prone to falling through the cracks.
5. Having the air conditioning go out. Sounds obvious. But with this also means no griping and moaning when it goes out. No expensive repairs. No tendency to "hole up" indoors and become more isolated from your neighbors. No monthly bill big enough to buy a couple of weeks' worth of groceries in order to be more comfortable. But also no way to cool a malaria-induced fever.
6. A bad waitress. No restaurants, no waitresses, no bad service. There are restaurants around, but most of our kids won't eat in one until they are much older, if at all. Rather, food preparation is an event, a social interaction, a training time from older to younger, a daily rhythm, a responsibility even for the kids. No Happy Meals with toys that become boring after an hour, no playscapes, no mess left under the table that someone else has to clean up for minimum wage. Food is not fast - food is fellowship.
7. The assumption of medical care. If one of the kids here gets hurt, you just go to the hospital. You don't worry about how much money is in your wallet, or even if your insurance will cover it. You just go. Or better, you just call and they come and get you. In the village we go to, if an orphan gets hurt, there is no hospital nearby. Furthermore, there is no assumption of just going. If you don't have the cash on you, you might not get care, so you count your money to decide whether or not to go. And so sometimes you decide not to go. Instead of the assumption of medical care, your assumption is that the child will just make it without care.
8. Fame. Fame and popularity are amazingly low priorities. Not just "American Idol" fame, but BMOC fame at an orphanage in a village. The group ethic is so much stronger - success is more often group success than individual success. Not a Socialist removal of success to level the playing field, but true success as a group. Fewer Lone Rangers. "Luo Idol" fame, if you will. (The more modern the area in Kenya, the more individualism, it seems.)
9. An unwelcome guest. Yes, there are bad characters roaming around, and they are unwelcome. But other than that, if you show up unannounced, they are actually glad to see you! More than that, they are eager to invite you in. We've seen people show up unannounced, and not only stay for dinner, but stay for the week!
10. Escape. This hits me every time I depart. We heroically "rough it" for two weeks, then leave. Within hours we are in air conditioned, multi-storied buildings, and after an elongated day, back in our own beds. They are still there, where we "roughed it." Our two weeks is their 24X7. What we "put up with," they live. Chances are, it is what they will live their entire lives. Our ministry to them gives them a far better chance to live it well, and perhaps bring change to themselves and their neighbors. But few will know escape. (It’s not a horrible place that needs to be escaped, but there are hardships that do.)

Reread this article and realize how many things that Kenyan orphans know that we don’t. Please pray for these infinitely valuable bearers of God's image who know so much.

Mattera's List

In last Sunday's sermon, I forgot to bring with me an article written by Joseph Mattera comparing a "Kingdom mentality" with a "church mentality" - comparing the thoughts and actions of those who put the Kingdom first against the thoughts and actions of those who care more about the institution of church than God's Kingdom. Here's is Mattera's list as he originally published it on his blog (http://josephmattera.org/):

1. A kingdom mindset releases all saints as ministers in the marketplace. A church mindset merely trains people to serve in a church building on Sundays.
2. A kingdom mindset creates wealth to transform a community and nation. A church mindset motivates giving to build our own church programs.
3. A kingdom mindset is a holistic approach that integrates the gospel with politics, economics, and public policy. A church mindset insulates the gospel from politics and public policy.
4. A kingdom mindset views the Bible as a blueprint to structure every aspect of society. A church mindset views the Bible merely as a pietistic book that enables us to escape the world, enter heaven, and be spiritual.
5. With a kingdom mindset churches embrace and love their surrounding unchurched communities. With a church mindset churches only embrace converted individuals within their faith communities.
6. A kingdom mindset trains people for all of life. A church mindset trains people only for church life.
7. A kingdom mindset nurtures leaders who are world changers and “cultural creatives” who articulate truth to society. A church mindset nurtures leaders who speak religious language relevant only to church people.
8. A kingdom mindset speaks of the rule of God over the entire created order. A church mindset speaks of the rule of God through deacons and elders over those in a church congregation.
9. With a kingdom mindset pastors release their people to their vocational callings in the marketplace. A church mindset controls people by marginalizing their marketplace callings and emphasizing only their Sunday ministries.
10. A kingdom mindset applies a Spirit-empowered approach to the natural world. A church mindset involves a spirituality that separates from the natural world.
11. Those with a kingdom mindset are working toward a renaissance of Christendom. Those with a church mindset merely strive for a particular expression (denomination) of Christianity.
12. Churches with a kingdom mindset equip 100% of the saints to fill up all things in every realm of life (Ephesians 4:10-12). Those with a church mindset have as their primary goal to equip the 2-3% of the congregation called to be full-time church pastors, ministers, and missionaries.