The Morph-ing of the Local Church

Gems from Greek: The Morph-ing of the Local Church
By Dr. Curtis D. McClane
Chair, Religious Studies Department
Professor of Religion & Spiritual Formation
Global Christian University

Adjunct Professor of Bible
Johnson Bible College
Knoxville, Tennessee

Minister of the Word, Prayer & Outreach
Highland View Church of Christ
Oak Ridge, Tennessee

Recent research has sought to define the church in terms of metaphors and illustrations. Something as mysterious and transcendent as the church is hard to get our arms around and define. Two important works have been seminal in my thinking about the nature of the local congregation, showing both the New Testament images used (2004 Minear) and the process of transformation at the heart of Paul’s concept of ministry within that context (2006 Thompson).
Based on this, allow me to suggest that the work and the presence of the local church is constantly “morph-ing.” Too often we have static views of the nature and essence of the church and wonder why we get frustrated when things keep changing. But I want to make a case for the amorphous nature of the body of Christ. The process of change and transformation is more fundamental to the nature of the church than its polity, tradition of worship practices, etc.
This is emphasized by Paul’s choice of language in his letters. It is highlighted in the New Testament by the morph root words he uses. Look at the passages below:

Philippians 2:6-7 Jesus originally was in the form (morph) of God but humbled himself to the form (morph) of a servant.

Galatians 4:19 Paul expresses his personal agony and inner angst like that of the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed (morph) in his readers.

Romans 12:2 Paul admonishes his reader not to live conformed to the pattern of this world, rather they are to be transformed (morph) by the renewing of their minds.

2 Corinthians 3:8 Turning to the Lord lifts the veil on the heart so that believers can reflect the Lord’s glory. In this process Paul’s readers are being transformed (morph) into the likeness of Jesus with ever-increasing glory.

As we can see from the above Scriptures, Paul envisioned spiritual formation, transformation and renewal to be at the heart of community life in Christ. Rigid concepts of how people ought to behave and how programs ought to function and how budgets out to be spent all run counter to this notion. Instead of seeing the church as a business to run, people to manipulate and programs to put on we need to be counter-cultural in our perspective of the local congregation. Since Jesus is the greatest example of “morph-ing” we have, it makes sense to think that his followers would be living examples of “morph-ing” also. But practically, what does this mean for ministers, elders, deacons, teachers, ministry leaders, and members of the local church?

Allow me to suggest the following:

· Servanthood itself takes on a diversity of shapes
· We do not allow the world to squeeze us into its mold
· As faithful Christians and disciples we are changed from the inside out: heart and mind
· We are daily being changed into the likeness of Jesus

No wonder the local church seems to be constantly changing! It is inherent in the DNA of congregational life. Lives are constantly changing because of circumstances. But on a deeper level we are changing because we are in the process of being “morph-ed” daily. This prepares us for the amorphous nature of relationships, problems, life situations, etc.
This helps us take on more ownership of the changing of our brothers and sisters in Christ. This is why Paul could agonize like a woman in childbirth. Instead of pulling our hair out because the organizational, institutional aspect of church life is not happening, we trade that for agonizing over lack of change (morph) in the lives of our fellow believers.
At the very core this means we believe that only God can change the human heart and transform it by the working of his Spirit. The Spirit of God takes the raw material of clay and molds into the image of Christ. This takes on a lovely diversity of appearance as each one is gifted differently. We try to encourage one another not to be fashioned like the culture around us. Ultimately, the inside “morph-ing” process will show itself on the outside. Changed hearts and minds slowly morph into the likeness of Jesus.
Remembering all of this frees us from two fears: the fear that things will change and the fear that they will not. “Morph-ing”—praise God for his work of transformation in our congregations!

Resources:
Minear, Paul S. 2004. 2nd ed. Images of the Church in the New Testament.
Philadelphia, PA: Westminster/John Knox Press.

Thompson, James W. 2006. Pastoral Ministry According to Paul: A Biblical
Vision. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.

Tornadoes, Towers and Tragedies

This spring is quickly approaching one of the deadliest on record in our country. So far over 100 people have lost their lives to twisters meandering through the Midwest and heartland of our nation. In addition to the metereological questions arising as to the cause, ontological questions arise when people ask, “What did they do to deserve this?”

There has been since nearly the beginning of time the thought that pain, suffering and tragedy are just recompense for a life misspent. If you encounter bad things, you must have done something to deserve it.

Yesterday in our small group discussion we discovered the same kind of thinking that was around in Jesus’ day. He referred to a contemporary event that most of his audience knew about: “Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no!”(Luke 13:4,5).

Tragedy has nothing to do with guilt. It may cause guilt, especially what we call “survivors’ guilt.” But, tornadoes leveling neighborhoods and towers crushing people have nothing to do with recompense or somehow people getting paid back what they are owed.

We live in world where senseless, needless and irrational tragedies abound. The cyclone in Myanmar, and now more lives are being lost because of authorities keeping a tight control on relief efforts. I do not claim to know the answer to all of this. It is a crazy world we live in.

Here is the only thing I do know: what makes sense, and what is needful and what is most rational is this—I live a repentant life, guilt-free because of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. Then no matter the tragedies that surround me, I know that I am in the hands of a loving Father whose heart breaks too when these things happen.

In Christian love, Curtis

Don't Scramble, Prioritize!

Opportunities for Spiritual Growth and Engagement:
Don’t Scramble, Prioritize!


I left the pepper plant in the garage too long. It is hanging down its head and crying. In desperation I dug an extra big hole, deposited an extra amount of enriched soil, watered it with a copious amount of fertilized water—too much, too late.
As I ponder on this little vignette of my gardening catastrophe, I am struck with how this describes so much of our life efforts. Only when we see the heart, the relationship, the value, the priority nearly dead do we shift into what I call “the scramble mode.” We run around, scrambling here and there, grasping for anything and everything as a last straw of hope.
This entire approach to God is neither healthy nor glorifying to God. Waiting too late has its own consequence—no more opportunities. Our daily lives are filled with opportunities to attend to the priorities. But if we shove them back on the shelf, the time will come when they will present themselves no more.
I love hot peppers. Only a hot-pepper-lover would understand this statement. But if I love hot peppers so much, why did I leave this one special plant in the garage too long?

+I got too busy
+I forgot
+I kept putting it off
+Every time I saw it I kept reassuring myself, I will do it tomorrow
+Pepper plants are hardy and resilient
+I still have time left

You know the excuses. We have all made them. The rationalizations muffle the sound of the screaming priorities. Busyness, self-preoccupation, procrastination, rationalization, false sense of security—we have relied on all of them at one time or another.

Some one in the hospital—why did I not go by and give them a word of comfort and prayer before they died? I intented to…

+I got too busy
+I forgot
+I kept putting it off
+Every time I remembered I kept reassuring myself, I will do it tomorrow
+People are hardy and resilient, they will get better
+I still have time left

Remember, don’t scramble, prioritize! You’ll never regret it. To God be the glory!
In Christian love, Curtis

Spiritual Maturity & Self-Consciousness

“Maturity: among other things, a new lack of self-consciousness—the kind you can only attain when you have become entirely indifferent to yourself through an absolute assent to your fate.
He who has placed himself in God’s hands stands free vis-à-vis men: he is entirely at his ease with them, because he has granted them the right to judge.”[page 75]
Hammarskjold, Dag. 1993. Markings. New York, NY: Random House Publishers.

I would say more than just maturity: I would call this “Mature surrender of self.” How does one get to the point of lack of self-consciousness? This is difficult because we know we have to be self-aware in order to function normally. There is a thin line between self-awareness and self-consciousness. Spiritual maturity is getting to that place in our inner self where the distinction is clear. Self-awareness and self concept are developed in a healthy way, rooted in the image of Christ. Self-consciousness focuses on the limitations and the lack of worthiness to be one’s self and to be a work of God in Christ.

The only way to do this is to place one-self in the hands of God. As the clay we are made into His image and through Christ re-shaped and molded for His divine purposes. It is so easy to live our inner life stifled because we forget that we do not stand or fall before other human beings. Rather, our stability and maturity rests in the willingness of our will, desire and readiness to be vulnerable and pliable and waiting in the hands of the Almighty.

Even if others judge us, and they will because they are human beings and we have no way of controlling that freedom, there is an inner freedom in knowing that we are judged by God and we stand or fall before the divine presence.

Perhaps the hardest thing is to realize that our self-worth and self-concept are not tied to our performance or worthiness. God does not judge us worthy. We were initially judged unworthy by God and found wanting in our own ability to fix the human predicament of sin and sorrow. That is why, out of Divine Love, our own unworthiness was replaced with the worthy sacrifice of Jesus. We cling to him for our worth. We go to the cross for the paradox of flinging the unworthy self at the feet of our Savior and then unworthily picking up the cross and with a renewed sense of worth and freedom carrying that cross. It is our own sinfulness that keeps us carrying the cross, the unworthiness that thinks that by carrying the cross with Jesus still on it, somehow our super-human attempt at such a feat will merit our new standing before God.

Spiritual maturity and the inner self—a never ending journey that seems to present ever-changing landscapes of potential destination. Just when we think we have arrived, just around the next corner is a new vista to be traversed, a new challenge to be accepted, a new day to dawn upon us.

I love the image of being placed in God’s hands. This is the position of protection, security and safety. It is complete trust and reliance upon God to supply the inner worth and strength and value as we negotiate the terrain of life with relational challenges lurking behind every new bend in the road. Sometimes those challenges can leave us reeling and wondering if we truly are in the hands of God. But faith and inner assurance granted by the Holy Spirit gives us confirmation that all is well, and all shall be well. This is the ground of our being in relationship with God. The One who made us will shade us. The One before whom we kneel and pray everyday is Our Heavenly Father. It is to this Heavenly Father that our inner work in entrusted and that we live with a new resurgence of freedom and joy before others who really do not know us, and will never take the time to encourage us in our travels with God.

More than anything, O Lord, help me to become more and more like Christ. Help me to be more spiritually mature, and enjoy the freedom and inner peace that only You, Jesus and the Spirit can offer. In the name of Jesus I pray, Amen.

Leaving and Searching

Back in February of this year, the New York Times National released a survey that indicated over 44% of adults say they have left the faith of their childhood [Neela Banerjee, “Poll Finds a Fluid Religious Life Among Americans,” Feb. 26, 2008]. This survey reveals interesting and crucial insights for the future of the church.

Professor Stephen Prothero, chairman of the religion department at Boston University offers this explanation: “The trend is toward more personal religion, those [churhes] losing out are offering impersonal religion.”

So, what is the difference between personal religion and impersonal religion? This question begs a deeper analysis that I can give it here. However, allow me to make some observations.

First, this is the elephant in the room that no one has wanted to talk about in our fellowship for years. Every congregation I have served has had a number of elders, deacons, teachers, and members whose children have left the church and chosen another denomination. While talking to those children [many of whom are boomers now], I have discovered that they rejected the traditions and forms, and were in a quest for a meaningful and less judgmental fellowship. They have in effect been the divine kick in the pants to our fellowship.

Second, when relationships are ignored rebellion is not far behind. Form and tradition by the time it reaches the third and fourth generations becomes empty and hollow. The two greatest commands have been ignored and replaced by the minutiae of external forms. The quenching of the Spirit has been the result.

Thirdly, the Restoration Movement plea has been our own Achilles heel. A plea for unity has become a pronouncement of arrival. We must never forget that the spiritual journey is a movement toward the Lord. We must welcome the questions, the searching and the quest of the next generation. Maybe we are raising in our midst the next Stone, Campbells, Scotts to challenge authority and tradition that has obscured the freedom of Christ and the good news of Jesus.
Let us offer the cup of love and understanding for individuals in such a state of fluidity!
In Christian love, Curtis

Two Things are Certain

Actually, three things are certain: taxes, death and judgment. You no doubt have heard of the dictum: “Only two things are certain in this life,death and taxes.” I was reminded of this saying when I went to the Post Office this week to mail my tax forms in and stood in a long line. It went at a snail’s pace and I thought I would never get out of there!

But while standing in line I was reminded of the saying about death and taxes. On a deeper and more serious level it raised this question for me: “If I am not living in this world but am living in the kingdom of God, why do I have to pay taxes? Isn’t this paying allegiance to the “kingdom of Caesar?” I mean, if I really want to be separate from the world, then why not make a clean break of everything and claim ultimate allegiance to God, thereby absolving myself of any obligation to the government?

Jesus has a word to say on this.

In this Synoptic Gospel accounts [Matthew 22:15-22; Mark 12:13-17; Luke 20:19-26] the Pharisees tried on one occasion to trap Jesus in his conversation. Both the Pharisees and the Herodians conspired and baited him with this question:

“Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?”

He knew their insincerity, so he asked for coin. They gave him a denarius [sort of like our penny today] and he asked, “Whose image and what inscription is on this coin?”

They answered, “The emperor’s.”

Jesus simply answered, “Give therefore to the emperor Caesar the things that are his, and to God the things are God’s.”

Simple. Direct. No further questions needed. Not a case of allegiance. Just a case of faithfulness and lawfulness. These are the two things certain in view of the judgment and eternity: faithfulness and lawfulness. It comes down to a question of witness. Am I faithful and law-abiding? As Christians we have dual citizenship: heavenly and earthly. This duality only causes us trouble when allegiance to God is threatened. Otherwise, faithfulness and lawfulness are the two certain things that will catch the attention of people who care about neither. They will see the inner peace and the quality of relationships around us.

In Christian love, Curtis

Seen in Passing

This morning I was waiting to get on the elevator at the hospital. The person in front of me in the lobby was wearing a T-shirt with this saying on the back of it:

“Live your life so that the preacher will not have to lie at your funeral.”

Thought-provoking…for several reasons. Does this mean that sometimes ministers lie at funerals? Does this mean your only motivation for living a good life is so that true statements can be made at your funeral?

There is a really good assumption underneath this statement: the realization that we are facing our own funeral someday, and the life we live will be the legacy we leave behind. What we live is what we are writing as our epithet.

Live your life...not only to the fullest, but also to the memory and example you will leave behind. Living our live to the fullest each day is predicated on the following things:

· Each morning is a gift unwrapped with the rising sun
· We gratefully step out into the morning air filling our lungs with the breath of God
· Our eyes capture the beauty of spring and we sense the pulsating earth with renewal all around
· We care and are compassionate toward each person we meet today
· We live our lives according to the covenant commitment we have made to God, our spouses, our children and our brothers and sisters in Christ
· We grasp each moment, each opportunity to use our personal gifts to bless others
· With enthusiasm, wonder and joy we dive into the challenges of the day

Perhaps you can add other things to what you think it means to “live your life.” Authenticity, consistency, genuineness, maturity, perseverance, and faithfulness with God’s grace and power will enable us all to live in such a way that we will not have to be an imposition on the preacher when the time for our funeral arrives.

Truth lived…truth spoken. What a combination for eternity!

In Christian love, Curtis

The Beauty of Baptism

Yesterday we were privileged to witness Dennis and Lovanna being baptized into Jesus Christ. It was such a powerful testimony to the work of God, Christ and the Spirit in their lives. Baptism is a beautiful metaphor enacted in the context of a community of faith. Its beauty is witnessed in the following dimensions: initiation, commission, resurrection and identification.

Baptism initiates us into the family of God. This is the language and picture of birth. Being “born from above” makes us aware that baptism is a physical, symbolic act of an inward transformation that connects to the people of God. It is a communal act.

Baptism commissions us to go forth as a witness. In obeying the Great Commission, we are commissioning others. Every person baptized in the water and Spirit is commissed to go forth and share the good news of Jesus.

Baptism resurrects us with our Lord. We re-enact the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus at every baptism. Those being baptized have been united in the death and resurrection of Jesus in a way that is hard to understand. But, we are raised “from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”

Baptism identifies us as people of grace. Sin and death no longer have mastery over us. Since we are dead to sin and alive to Christ, our identity is rooted in the giftedness of salvation. Consequently, we offer ourselves back to God as a graced-gift!

Baptism is a gift from God. It symbolizes transformation and humility all wrapped up together. It is a work of God in which the Spirit is imparted. Yes, indeed—baptism is beautiful, both in what it symbolizes and what it does. Thank God for his unspeakable gift in Christ!

In Christian love, Curtis

The Hardest Journey

Over forty years ago a meeting took place in Japan in which the leading Christian thinkers gathered together to address what seemed to be the loss of spiritual depth in modern culture and humanity. Among other topics, they addressed the inward awareness of God, attention to the ills of society and heart-felt compassion that responded to such crisis.

Out of this momentous meeting Douglas Steere, one of the participants, wrote a pamphlet entitled, The Hardest Journey. The title came from a passage in Dag Hammarskjold’s book (actually a publication of his personal journal), Markings. If you have not read Markings, I encourage you to get a copy and read it for your own edification.

But the quote that Steere appropriates for his pamphlet is the following: “The longest journey is the journey inwards.” Not only is the journey the longest one, it is the hardest. It is hard for the following three reasons:

So many things blind us to an inner awareness of God’s presence.
Too many Christians turn a blind eye to the ills of society
Heartfelt compassion is often blocked by apathetic acquiescence

We can live our daily lives on auto-pilot so much we lose our ability to sense “God’s abiding presence.” We live on such a fast-paced schedule we have blinders on and are not still long enough to see the ills of our society all around us. And finally, we lose the ability to feel deeply the pain of others because we quietly accept what we do not have the time or inclination to change.

A long and hard journey—who wants to take that on? I remember a couple of years ago climbing to Chimney Tops in the Smokies. The trail was treacherous at places, winding, and uphill all the way. Rocks, boulders, large tree roots, slippery paths, etc. all added to the difficulty of the climb. But the breath-taking view at the top was worth it all! Every time I make a long climb to a summit and an outstanding overlook and panoramic view, the shutter lens of my inner soul takes a snapshot that leaves the picture imprinted on my mind forever. It was worth the effort.

Whenever we take the time, make the hardest and longest journey, to be aware of God’s inner presence, enabling us to respond to the ills of society with a heartfelt compassion, it is all worth the effort!

In Christian love, Curtis

Everything I Need to Know I Learned...

You have seen the options that complete the sentence above: …in kindergarten, from fishing, from a jigsaw puzzle, etc. I want to add my own twist on this

Everything I Needed to Know I Learned from a hundred dollar bill.

Actually, I walked right by it on Friday afternoon. You would think being in Orlando, Florida that someone would have taken more care of their one hundred dollar bill.

But I learned something about life that one brief encounter on the sidewalk. When my eyes saw the bill I was enticed (actually physically jerked) to stoop down and pick it up. After all, being at the mall and finding a one hundred dollar bill…who could ask for more! In a brief flash I felt greed and covetousness surge through my veins. It was all about claiming the bill for myself. After all, finders keepers, losers weepers! Right?

Hold on! Wait! Something was wrong. Upon closer inspection I noticed the color was wrong. The green was too dark. It looked pretty good otherwise. Guess what…it was a counterfeit, a poorly made one at that. It was hard to tell how it was made or reproduced. But there it was…a counterfeit reject lying on the sidewalk fooling no one but me for about five seconds.

In those five seconds I learned more about myself than I had known in a long time. What if it had been real? What would I have done with it?

The covetous, greedy corners of the human heart are exposed in a flash of a moment. Everything I needed to know about myself I learned from a one hundred dollar bill. I learned that I am too materialistic. I learned that I think about my good fortune at the expense of others too much. I learned that the world is too much with me.

Authenticity…needed not just for the one hundred dollar bill to be properly spent, but more importantly for my heart to stay focused on the will of God. A counterfeit bill has an uncanny way of exposing a counterfeit heart! God help each of us to be authentic in our daily walk with the Lord so that something as simple as a one hundred dollar bill (counterfeit, mind you!) will not undo us and render us a fake!

In Christian love, Curtis

Being Someone's Angel

Don’s cold and dirty hands grasped the gas pump handle. He was “down on his luck” he would later recall. He needed gas to get work. His world had just come unglued, pulled apart by the opposite forces at work in a messy divorce. No longer did he have the luxury of his kids being around. No longer did he have the luxury of home with all of its cozy furnishings. The settlement had taken care of that nicely.

With the tank full, Don hung the gas pump handle back in place and reached for his wallet. It was gone. No way to pay for the tank full of gas. How much more could happen and how much lower could a person get? Just at that moment, while feeling totally at a loss at what to do, a stranger at the next pump handed him a twenty dollar bill and drove off.

This was an epiphany for Don. At least from two perspectives: his view of how God provides and how angels work. He told me years after this happened that it was a turning point in his life. He realized that God truly provides. He also realized that angels work in small, quiet ways with no fanfare. Since that time he has looked for small ways to be a messenger from God to others.

That is what an angel is…being someone’s answer to a prayer. But in order to be someone’s angel we have to develop the desire to help others in need, the eyes to see others in need, the ears to hear the cries for help and the hands to respond to others in need.

Desire…eyes…ears…hands. Simple requirements for such powerful results. We have to have the passion to meet the world’s needs. This is at the heart of the good news… we are God’s answer to someone’s desparate prayer. No earning of wings. No miraculous hat tricks. No flying over the continents or dodging speeding bullets. Just a twenty dollar bill in his name. A moment transformed and a life changed.

Are we ready to be someone’s angel?

In Christian love, Curtis

The Silence of Death--Shoulder on Shoulder

“I just want to hold my baby!” she sobbed, rocking her self slowly back and forth, with legs tucked under her at the top of the stairs. Seven month-old Chase had just breathed his last moments before. Now the anguish of a young mother pierced the silence of the nascent morning air.

The crib was tucked in the corner of the front living room. A cute little bumper pad encircled the inside. Little toys and cute little stuffed animals and a pulled back blanket occupied the space. It was a silent space. A space that for seven months was reserved for Chase. It defined his world and shaped his identity. Now that space was no longer sacred. At least not in a present sacredness. Now only a past sacredness, the kind of thing where you realize that something important once was going on here at this place, on this spot. But no longer.

Sobs and tears and questions split the silence. It is odd how the silence of death awakens within the human heart questions that have been silenced for a long time. Why did this happen? Only silence I can provide. Was I not a good enough mother? Only comforting silence and reassurance is what I can provide. I tried to be the best father to my children. And this is what I get. What did I do wrong? Again, silence is the best response. The silence of death can only be met with the ministry of presence.

If death is separation, then ministry is presence. Words and reality seem to be separated. The only way to re-unite the unthinkable with the unspeakable is to just be. Be in the presence of silence and pain offering the mediated presence of God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

This is only the second time in my life I have had to respond to a family who has experienced SIDS. With all of the medical advances the last fifty years, this still stumps the medical community. I had just touched Chase’s little chubby cheeks Sunday morning. He looked so rosy and healthy and he was resting in his mother’s arms so peacefully. Who would have thought at that moment that in lest than twenty-four hours his little life would ebb away and the silence of eternity would steal his crib.

The silence of death forces us to be silent with our lips and be very careful what we say. Words can be silent barbs that pierce to the farthest depths of the heart and tranquilize it to feeling again. Even words that are spoken with the intent to help. We have all heard it before: he is in a better place. You can have another son. God took him because he needed him more.

As we walked up the wooden steps to the front door of that clapboard country house, perched on the side of the hill, it seemed eerily quiet. The coroner, the EMS and the detective had all just left. Chase’s little body was being whisked away for an official autopsy. The father’s anguish could not bear to let go of the lifeless body. How can they take away my baby? As we went inside I had the eerie feeling that time had stopped. After trying to listen to the grandmother and make sense of her words between heaving sobs, I accidently brushed my leg against one of the little toys sitting on the floor. I was horrified as music began playing. I frantically was able to get it to stop. It seemed so inappropriate. How could music from one of Chase’s toys bring any comfort? It only punctuated the silent pain and heavy grief occupying the living room.

There were three cane-back chairs arranged by the crib. It looked as if all three (mother, father and grandmother) has just been sitting there around the bassinette, touching and caressing the wicker around the outside, fingering the cloth bumper pad, folding the blanket and numerous other meaningless motions all trying to figure out the oppressive silence crushing their very chest.

“Weep with those who weep” (Romans 12:15).

This is the heart of Christian hospitality. This is experiencing a life “for the sake of others.” And Sunday here at Highland View we saw a vivid example of such support. The entire congregation came forward to hug, cry and support Cameron and Priscilla. Their pain became ours.

Weeping is the soul’s overflow of anguish. The cup of inner self can no longer hold it in. The emotional overload is a burden too heavy to carry.

I remember years ago a wise gentleman once told me if you do not weep on the outside, you will weep on the inside and drown in your own tears.

Weeping is a cleansing of the soul. The dark corners of fear, confusion and chaos are wiped clean. The fresh breeze of the holy is allowed to flow through.

Weeping binds hearts together. Tragedy and crisis are the crimson threads used to weave God’s name in our cloth of innocence. Perhaps we weep not for just our tangible losses, but also for something we cannot put our finger on, but that which draws us together: things will never be the same again.

This conundrum of life is bathed in tears of helplessness and hopelessness. But our God is a weeping God, and comforts our hearts. It is only then that we can comfort one another.

In Christian love, Curtis

Is it I, Lord?

Is it I, Lord?


Is it I, Lord?
The question haunts me now
Have I betrayed you
In what my heart allows? (Choral Refrain)

Is it I, Lord?
Your dark eyes pierce my soul
Seeing deep inside me
Where I need to be whole (Choral Refrain)

Is it I,Lord?
I refused to speak up
Leaving You all alone
To taste of sorrow’s cup (Choral Refrain)

Is it I, Lord?
Caught up in sin again
Forbidden pleasures
Forever causing pain (Choral Refrain)

Is it I, Lord?
Like Judas selling self
Pieces of silver
Thirty times worthless wealth (Choral Refrain)

Is it I, Lord?
My sad, repentant heart
Aches tenderly for You
Giving me a brand new start (Choral Refrain)

Choral Refrain
Yes, it is you
I look on you with mercy
Bringing you back to Me
Forgiving so tenderly

[note: a little while ago the Lord put on my heart this poem in response to my reading and contemplation about Judas betraying Jesus. Our talented Tracy Rollins put it to music. My quiet devotional time has been enriched with this song, and I just wanted to share it with you. Only a sad, repentant heart aching for the Lord, which finds mercy and is so tenderly forgiven can understand the need for a Savior. It is only then that we are ready to reach out and be involved “for the sake of others.”]
In Christian love, Curtis

Gems from Greek: The Morph-ing of the Local Church

Recent research has sought to define the church in terms of metaphors and illustrations. Something as mysterious and transcendent as the church is hard to get our arms around and define. Two important works have been seminal in my thinking about the nature of the local congregation, showing both the New Testament images used (2004 Minear) and the process of transformation at the heart of Paul’s concept of ministry within that context (2006 Thompson).
Based on this, allow me to suggest that the work and the presence of the local church is constantly “morph-ing.” Too often we have static views of the nature and essence of the church and wonder why we get frustrated when things keep changing. But I want to make a case for the amorphous nature of the body of Christ. The process of change and transformation is more fundamental to the nature of the church than its polity, tradition of worship practices, etc.
This is emphasized by Paul’s choice of language in his letters. It is highlighted in the New Testament by the morph root words he uses. Look at the passages below:

Philippians 2:6-7 Jesus originally was in the form (morph) of God but humbled himself to the form (morph) of a servant.

Galatians 4:19 Paul expresses his personal agony and inner angst like that of the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed (morph) in his readers.

Romans 12:2 Paul admonishes his reader not to live conformed to the pattern of this world, rather they are to be transformed (morph) by the renewing of their minds.

2 Corinthians 3:8 Turning to the Lord lifts the veil on the heart so that believers can reflect the Lord’s glory. In this process Paul’s readers are being transformed (morph) into the likeness of Jesus with ever-increasing glory.

As we can see from the above Scriptures, Paul envisioned spiritual formation, transformation and renewal to be at the heart of community life in Christ. Rigid concepts of how people ought to behave and how programs ought to function and how budgets out to be spent all run counter to this notion. Instead of seeing the church as a business to run, people to manipulate and programs to put on we need to be counter-cultural in our perspective of the local congregation. Since Jesus is the greatest example of “morph-ing” we have, it makes sense to think that his followers would be living examples of “morph-ing” also. But practically, what does this mean for ministers, elders, deacons, teachers, ministry leaders, and members of the local church?

Allow me to suggest the following:

· Servanthood itself takes on a diversity of shapes
· We do not allow the world to squeeze us into its mold
· As faithful Christians and disciples we are changed from the inside out: heart and mind
· We are daily being changed into the likeness of Jesus

No wonder the local church seems to be constantly changing! It is inherent in the DNA of congregational life. Lives are constantly changing because of circumstances. But on a deeper level we are changing because we are in the process of being “morph-ed” daily. This prepares us for the amorphous nature of relationships, problems, life situations, etc.
This helps us take on more ownership of the changing of our brothers and sisters in Christ. This is why Paul could agonize like a woman in childbirth. Instead of pulling our hair out because the organizational, institutional aspect of church life is not happening, we trade that for agonizing over lack of change (morph) in the lives of our fellow believers.
At the very core this means we believe that only God can change the human heart and transform it by the working of his Spirit. The Spirit of God takes the raw material of clay and molds into the image of Christ. This takes on a lovely diversity of appearance as each one is gifted differently. We try to encourage one another not to be fashioned like the culture around us. Ultimately, the inside “morph-ing” process will show itself on the outside. Changed hearts and minds slowly morph into the likeness of Jesus.
Remembering all of this frees us from two fears: the fear that things will change and the fear that they will not. “Morph-ing”—praise God for his work of transformation in our congregations!

Resources:
Minear, Paul S. 2004. 2nd ed. Images of the Church in the New Testament.
Philadelphia, PA: Westminster/John Knox Press.

Thompson, James W. 2006. Pastoral Ministry According to Paul: A Biblical
Vision. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.

"For the Sake of Others: Open Hearts, Open Hands"

This year promises to be an exciting one! We want to join hearts and hands and “with one voice” glorify God in our serving others. The congregational focus this year will emphasize being involved in wonderful opportunities to make a difference in the lives of others. Look at the list below of things already planned:

* Winter Series=”Loving Others as Ourself”
* DR Workshop weekend (Dominican Republic)
* Love Bear Workshop
* Small Group new study on Luke
* Habitat for Humanities
* Hearts on Fire
* Worship Weekend with Randy Harris
* Summer Series focused on “Radical Hospitality”
* David Fleer in September

These are just a few of the opportunities afforded us in our congregation to use our gifts for the glory of God. Listen to this verse from Peter’s pen:

“Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms” (1 Peter 4:10).

Notice some important points…

· Our gifts are received from God
· They are for the purpose of serving others
· Faithful administration of those gifts defines personal stewardship
· God’s grace comes in various forms

Let us each encourage one another this year to use our grace gifts in all of their diverse forms in our congregation to serve others in the most faithful and humble way we know how. We are here for the sake of others. Our own personal, spiritual growth is so that we can become faithful servants more like Jesus every day. We join hearts and hands in this exciting new adventure. May our community life of faith be one of mutual empowerment as we live to the glory of God for the sake others! In Christian love, Curtis

P.S. Fellow colleagues in ministry: it is important for us to be reminded every day that our giftedness in ministry is just that...a gift. We deserve nothing. We can boast about nothing. We can take credit for nothing. Transformed hearts produce open hands. Closed hearts produce closed hands. As I look at my open hands, what do I see in them this year? Will there be a "cup of cold water" being offered in the spirit of "radical hospitality" that is inspired by compassion, motivated by gratitude and offered as encouragement? This trilogy of a treasured heart in Jesus can radically change the world around us.

We are called to step out in faith and let God use us to challenge the status quo by our example. We are being made daily into the image of Christ for those to see what they cannot see...the living Lord in daily form. Let us abandon self for God's greater plan. Amen.

Well-Wishers for the Weak?

“Blessed is he who has regard for the weak…” Psalm 41:1.
The motif of weakness is so important in biblical theology. It is out of the weak that Your strength O God is manifested. The weak are so helpless, vulnerable, and often hopeless. For some reason this has come to be an important concept associated with the Christmas season. It may be because of the birth of Jesus in a manger. Little babies are weak and helpless. They are totally dependent on the loving care of parents.

When I think of weak, it will go along with the three-fold commitment in my own heart for next year: compassion, gratitude and encouragement. I think of how Jesus extended compassion toward the weak. The weak were the lepers, the lame, beggars, the poor, the suffering, the outcast, and even children. The fringes of society, the marginalized and disenfranchised, became the center of his concern.

Weak is precious. Strong is horrible. Weak makes one ready and open to the gracious acts of a compassionate God working through loving people. Strength needs no one and is self-sufficient. Strength dominates and defines. The problem is that strength is strong until another stronger strength comes along. Then, because of a lifetime of self-sufficiency, it does not know how to ask for help. This helplessness can lead to a radical and new weakness, preparing the dawn for renewal. Or, it can lead to despair and total destruction.

I need to check on the Hebrew word here for “weak” and see how it fits into the Psalmist’s theology and economy of a theodicy and even a theocracy. One thing I have noticed in the past is that the weak do not blame God for their plight; rather, they lean on God for sustenance and life support.

Today we will be visiting the sick and shut-ins and singing Christmas carols and delivering baskets of goodies. It is that expression of good-will which attempts to show with compassion our love and concern for the weak. We all fear weakness, and perhaps caroling at the nursing home is our way of facing our fears, and realizing that with divine strength we can face our ultimate weakness—dying in a hospital, hooked up to life-sustaining machinery.

Trembling hands place the poorly wrapped gifts under the tree. There is the hope that the strong family members will come home and bring memories and love. The weak are often lonely, and cling to hope daily that someone will notice their existence and affirm that their lives were not lived in vain.

Weak is wonderful. Only in our weakness is our strength through God and Christ revealed. It is the kind of strength which has learned to lean on God. This makes me ask this morning if there are not blessings I have missed because I have not had enough regard for the weak. The drug addict, the quadriplegic veteran, the alcoholic, the runaway, the divorced, the abused, the terminal patient…I could continue the litany of loss, but I only prolong the moment of my own connection. Which specific person will God put in my path today who is weak? How do I respond? Do I offer the heart and hands of Jesus? Is my own weakness revealed in that of another? If I could remember that the Christmas season is because of and primarily for the weak, our society and culture and world would be different. This entails much more than being a well-wisher for the weak! I have to have personal regard, investment of time and a compassionate heart.

In Christian love, Curtis

Overheard in Passing...

The manager and an employee were having the following discussion:

Employee: “I tried to give her the benefit of the doubt.”
Manager: “Why should you respect someone who does not respect you?!”
Employee: “ But she is my co-worker and I tried to give her as much latitude as I could.”
Manager: “But, why should you respect someone who does not respect you?!”
Employee: “I thought she was a good friend and hardworker when I recommended her.
But she dissed me by what she said. But I still care about her.”
Manager: “But, why should you respect someone who does not respect you?!”
Employee: “And I tried to listen to her concerns…”
Manager: “But, why should you respect someone who does not respect you?!”

This conversation went back and forth with the manager sounding like a broken record with his response until the employee just quit trying to defend her friend. I could not figure out all of the ways that the employee’s friend was showing her disrespect, but the manager asked a question that I could not get out of my mind. It just being repeated over and over.

Why should I respect someone who does not respect me?

This is a great question, and often gets at the heart of testing our resolve to care about others. What is the answer to this question?

Perhaps the Golden Rule comes into play here. I know that we often think people ought to earn respect. But on the other hand, perhaps we should treat people with respect whether they deserve it or not.

Why should I respect someone who does not respect me? Good question. Probably because somewhere along the line I am going to be disrespectful to someone else and I need their respect to get me back on track.

Respect. It is a Christian virtue that goes beyond what is expected.

In Christian love, Curtis

Toward a Theology of Involvement

What does it mean to be involved for Jesus? Perhaps we need to periodically step back and ask ourselves basic questions related to our faith and our commitment to Jesus.

To begin with, we have to be converted to and committed to Jesus Christ first. If that is in place, we will then be willing to use our gifts for the work of the kingdom and the building up of the body of Christ. But, and this is important, we don’t do “religious stuff” in the name of Jesus. Anything we do considered “good works” comes from God’s agenda, we just have to realize that we are coming on board to what He is already doing.

Marlene Wilson suggests that theology is not something you merely study. It is the message of God that lives in and through us. And perhaps we need some strong images to remind us of that reality. Try these on for size:

Steel girders underpinning our actions
The skeleton holding our beliefs together
A Springboard that sends us out into life as unique persons of God
An application that makes computer hardware function

She concludes with this wonderful thought: “A person’s belief system (their theology) is meant to be personal, vibrant, and evergrowing; not static, impersonal, and boring. It’s the stuff of life—beliefs impacting life impacting faith impacting actions impacting beliefs—with God directing the scenario for each of us.” [How to Mobilize Church Volunteers. Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Publishing House, 1983), 13.

What image describes your belief and involvement? Why are you doing what you are doing? Why are you not doing what you should be doing? How does God, Christ and the Spirit fit into the picture?

In Christian love, Curtis

P.S. All of us in various aspects of ministry [teaching, preaching, working, etc.] have an operative metaphor that informs our theology. Do we know what it is? I spoke at Johnson Bible College’s Conference for Small Churches last Saturday. My topic was “Kingdom Teamwork: Building Positive Relationships for Effective Decision-Making.” I will write more on this later.

But suffice it to say here that involvement, teamwork, collaborative ministry are all encouraged and participated in by the power of the Holy Spirit. We need to always remember that we are partners with God and our brothers and sisters in Christ for the work of the kingdom in a dark world. The apostle Paul uses the word συνεργός, “fellow-worker” approximately thirteen times in his writings. It is this joint partnership in Jesus that makes a difference in using our gifts. There is a synergy that God uses to accomplish what would be impossible with one individual.

We need to think of ourselves as synergistic συνεργός! To God be the glory.

Church Under the Rainbow

This morning as I drove to work the most beautiful rainbow appeared in front of me. I was so moved by its distinct bands of coloration and the awesomeness of God’s creation that I turned the radio off. I sang hymns of praise to Almighty God in the car.

So many thoughts were racing through my head at once that I had a hard time sorting them all out. But when I pulled up into the church building parking lot, the rainbow encircled the building and I had an “epiphany” moment. This is what the church is all about.

God’s covenant people are protected by His love, encircled with His presence and claimed as His own. It is this sign of the covenant that marks us as His creation that is loved. In the Bible there are at least 3 major covenant signs initiated by God.

Rainbow for all of humanity
Circumcision for Israel
Baptism for the church

Sadly, too many people not in covenant relationship with God do not appreciate the rainbow nor its theological implications of God’s relationship with His creation. Baptism transforms the rainbow. Christians see it as a re-affirmation of the Faithful One who loves His creation, sent his Son to die and desires an intimate relationship with individuals.

A covenant people. That is who we are. Every time you and I see a rainbow we need to remember who we are and how awesome God is. His power, divinity, love and sovereignty come to the forefront.

If the rainbow is that beautiful, how much more is the beauty of God and the intimate life He desires with us!

In Christian love, Curtis

"Eureka! I Have Found It!"

Archimedes is credited with discovering how to calculate the volume of an object by the water it displaced. He apparently was bathing when he had a flash of insight. According to tradition he leaped out of his bath tub and ran up and down the streets shouting, “Eureka! Eureka! ( I have found it. I have found it!).”

We all have had our own “Eureka” moments. Yesterday I came back to the church building and could not find my study Bible. I searched high and low. I agonized, thought, retraced my steps, looked under and over, around and behind…still no Bible.

After my small group was over it dawned on me where I left it. I went over to the Providence House and there it was. I had laid it on a table right before eating lunch. “Eureka! Eureka!”

You know the kind of Bible I am talking about…the one that has all of your study notes written in the margins, special verses underlined…word study notations, even dates written above the chapters to remind you of life-changing events. That was my “preaching” Bible. I had to find it.

“Eureka! Eureka!” I wonder if we are as excited about our own spiritual insights, experiences and discovery of a deeper relationship with God as Archimedes was with his mathematical formula? What “Eureka” experience have you had lately? Have you been excited to run up and down the streets and share it with others? Am I as excited about finding Jesus and helping others find Jesus as I am finding my study Bible?

In Christian love, Curtis