LeaderLines: Introverts in Church Leadership

Are you a social introvert?

Adam McHugh is, too. In a Washington Post guest column, the author of the new book Introverts in the Church, explains this personality type:

Introverts are often defined by what we’re not rather than by what we are. We’re labeled as standoffish or misanthropic or timid or passive. But the truth is that we are people who are energized in solitude, rather than among people. We may be comfortable and articulate in social situations and we may enjoy people, but our time in the outer worlds drains us and we must retreat into solitude to be recharged. We also process silently before we speak, rather than speaking in order to think, as extroverts do. We generally listen a little more than we talk, observe for a while before we engage, and have a rich inner life that brings us great stimulation and satisfaction. Neurological studies have demonstrated that our brains naturally have more activity and blood flow, and thus we need less external stimulation in order to thrive.

That’s me, though I was reluctant to acknowledge myself as an introvert for years. And maybe that’s because, as McHugh says, in the evangelical world too often extroverts are hailed as the “ideal” Christians—people who are “social and gregarious, with an overt passion and enthusiasm,” people who “find it easy to share the gospel with strangers, eagerly invite people into their homes, participate in a wide variety of activities, and quickly assume leadership responsibilities.”

If extroverted qualities are regarded as ideal for the Christian, it’s no surprise that those qualities are especially promoted as ideal for the Christian leader.

While we need extroverted leaders, of course, the Body of Christ needs introverts as leaders, too: “We bring gifts of listening, insight, creativity, compassion, and a calming presence,” McHugh writes, “Things that our churches desperately need.”

Adam McHugh provides a helpful challenge to our assumptions of the ideal qualities of Christians in general—and Christian leaders in specific.

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Each Thursday I post my article from "LeaderLines," an e-newsletter for church leaders read by more than 300 subscribers. If you want to subscribe to "LeaderLines," sign up here.

“I know very few people who are as obsessed with the fine details of religion as highly motivated unbelievers”

There’s been lots of ink spilled—the real and digital kind—about the recent Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life revealing that Americans don’t know much about religion. I knew if I waited a day or two, Terry Mattingly would do my writing for me:

The sexy lede out of this study is that atheists and agnostics know more about religion than, well, religious people. That is just accurate enough to be misleading. It’s also not all that surprising. I know very few people who are as obsessed with the fine details of religion as highly motivated unbelievers.

When it comes to how mainstream news outlets have covered this story, Mattingly’s post critiques the good the bad and the ugly. Always worth stopping by Get Religion.

Winning Ways: Gorillas in the Midst

Its midweek: Have you seen the invisible gorilla yet?

In last Sunday’s message, I showed a now-famous video created by two Harvard psychologists. It presented a team in white T-shirts and a team in black T-shirts. I asked you to count the number of times those in white passed the ball to each other.

Most of you got the number right—and about half of you saw the gorilla! In the midst of all the basketball passes, someone in a gorilla suit walked into the frame, beat its chest, and walked out. In every setting where the video has been shown, about half saw the gorilla. There’s no accounting for age or gender or level of education: some see it and some don’t.

The point of the clip in a message on evangelism: Opportunities for spiritual conversations show up in our lives all the time, and we often miss them. We’re too busy counting basketball passes. Our whole focus is on getting through football practice or band practice or completing our school assignments. Our whole focus is on our work obligations or meeting budget. Our whole focus is on the fact that we don’t feel well and the doctor hasn’t quite figured out how to fix it. We’re just counting basketball passes and right in the middle of it all, opportunities for natural spiritual conversations arise like a gorilla beating his chest and we don’t even notice.

So, have any gorillas appeared in your busy, distracted life this week?

How does the gorilla show up? In one of his blog posts, Tim Chester said that everyone has their own version of the ‘gospel’ story:

Creation – who I am or who I should be

Fall – what’s wrong with me and the world

Redemption – what’s the solution

Consummation – what I hope for

I think he’s right. Whatever people hold as their ultimate value will follow this story line—earth-care, fitness, politics, and so on. “When we hear people expressing their version of creation, fall, redemption or consummation, we can talk about the gospel story,” Chester wrote. “Talking about Jesus begins with listening to other people’s stories and sharing our own story of Jesus.”

Keep your eyes open for the “gorillas in the midst” this week!

Tom

You can review last Sunday’s message at HillcrestAustin.org.

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Each Wednesday I post my article from "Winning Ways," an e-newsletter that goes out to over 950 subscribers. If you want to subscribe to "Winning Ways," sign up here.

Links to Your World, Tuesday September 28

Elevator buttons “are 40 times dirtier than toilet seats.”

 

In Afghanistan, sons are so highly prized that families with no sons will present a daughter as “bacha posh,” which literally means “dressed up as a boy”—a practice that cuts across socio-economic lines. They begin treating her as a daughter by the time of puberty. (NYT)

 

If tattoos had to follow truth in advertising laws.

 

Could it be your genes that make you spend too much?

 

The AA “Big Book” was more explicit in its Christian—even evangelical—foundations when it was first being written. The Washington Post reports.

 

29 Famous Quotes Translated into LOLCat

 

Here are images of the 50 Most Extraordinary Churches of the World (HT: Joe Carter). Actually, the title of the post should read “50 Most Extraordinary Church Buildings,” since the “church” in New Testament thought is the people, not the building they meet in. Still, these are some stunning structures.

 

Posts at “Get Anchored” since last Tuesday:

Song of the Week: Andrew Peterson’s “In the Night”

 

Taxpayer-Funded Abortion, Redux

 

LeaderLines: “A Museum to Missed Opportunity”

 

Smokejumpers: The Delta Force of Firefighters

 

“Calvary” by Crooked Still

Song of the Week: Andrew Peterson's "In the Night"

Here's "In the Night," from Andrew Peterson's new project, Counting Stars:



"In The Night" by Andrew Peterson by TomIsAnchored

I am weary with the pain of Jacob's wrestling
In the darkness with the Fear, in the darkness with the Fear
But he met the morning wounded with a blessing
So in the night my hope lives on

When Elisha woke surrounded by the forces
Of the enemies of God, the enemies of God
He saw the hills aflame with angels on their horses
So in the night my hope lives on

I see the slave that toils beneath the yoke unyielding
And I can hear the captive groan, hear the captive groan
For some hand to stay the whip his foe is wielding
Still in the night my hope lives on

I see the armies of the enemy approaching
And the people driven, trembling, to the shore
But a doorway through the waters now is opening
So in the night my hope lives on

Like the son who thought he'd gone beyond forgiveness,
Too ashamed to lift his head--but if he could lift his head
He would see his father running from a distance
In the night my hope lives on

I can see the crowd of men retreating
As he stands between the woman and their stones
And if mercy in his holy heart is beating
Then in the night my hope lives on

I remember how they scorned the son of Mary
He was gentle as a lamb, gentle as a lamb
He was beaten, he was crucified, and buried
And in the night, my hope was gone

But the rulers of earth could not control Him
They did not take his life--he laid it down
All the chains of earth could never hope to hold him
So in the night my hope lives on

Taxpayer-Funded Abortion, Redux

Travis County’s elected officials continue to make its taxpayers complicit in an action the majority find immoral.

The budget that distributes taxes collected in Travis County includes $450,000 for abortions. Taxes collected in Travis County pay for nearly 600 abortions a year. No other county in the state uses the public’s money in this way.

Think about it: Even President Obama felt it important to assure taxpayers that his nationalized healthcare proposals would not use the public’s money for abortions—which means that Travis County officials are even to the left of Obama on this issue. That’s quite a feat. (We can have a separate discussion on whether the President’s health care plan will actually put citizens in the abortion business; my point here is that Obama had the sensitivity to assure citizens they weren’t getting into that business. No such sensitivity exists among Travis County officials.)

According to the Statesman, the vote was three in favor — Travis County Judge Sam Biscoe, Commissioners Sarah Eckhardt and Karen Huber — and Commissioner Ron Davis abstaining. Commissioner Margaret Gómez was absent.

Mary Ann Roser for the Statesman was right to frame the issue in her first sentence as a “fight against using public money for abortions” (emphasis added). Unfortunately the headline frames the debate in an entirely different way: “Travis County Commissioners Court turns down abortion foes.” By that headline, one would think the debate was about the legality of abortion instead of about using public funds to pay for it.

Here’s my post from last year’s debate on this issue:

It comes as no surprise but it does break the heart: The Statesman reports that Travis County residents will continue to be forced to fund abortions.

Half a million dollars of taxpayers' property taxes will be available to abortion providers after Thursday's vote by the board of Central Health, formerly called the Travis County Healthcare District.

"This is a hard issue for the community ... and for me personally," one board member told the Statesman. "In my view and in most instances, abortion is wrong." But, he said, abortions are legal and "we're not a church."

I am genuinely grateful that the member's personal view is that abortion is wrong. In terms of setting public policy, however, he says he based his decision on the fact that abortions are legal and there's a difference between church and state.

Let's break that down.

"Abortions are legal"

Does the bare legality of abortion serve as a stable foundation for government-funding of abortion? Not in any other government entity in Texas, and not nationally thanks to the Hyde Amendment prohibiting federal funding of abortion (a provision that may go away during current debates about health care in the U.S. Senate).  In fact, refusing to provide government funding in no way denies accessibility to abortion.  On the other hand, taking money from residents through tax law and using it to fund abortions makes residents complicit in a procedure the majority of them find objectionable.

In short, the Board's vote on Thursday was not on whether abortion would be legal in Travis County. The vote was whether taxpayers would be forced to pay for it.

This was obscured by Austin Democrats Sen. Kirk Watson and Rep. Elliott Naishtat.  "We know from history that when you remove a safe and legal option," they wrote to the Board, "you can create an environment of desperation that leads to choices that can put a woman's health and safety in danger."

Their letter incorrectly assumes that this was a debate over whether to "remove a safe and legal option."  We can have a conversation about that another day. Thursday's Board vote was whether to make Travis County residents pay for this "safe and legal option." The Board decided residents should be made to do so.

"We're not a church"

The board member quoted in the Statesman said another reason the Board proceeded in favor of the contracts with abortion providers is because "we're not a church."

Indeed. And yet no one was asking his Board to perform the church's job. The church's job is evangelism and discipleship; the state's job is order and justice.  When we speak to state officials on the topic of abortion, we're not asking them to do the church's job. We're asking them to do their job.

Let's look for the day when that job is dutifully performed.

LeaderLines: “A Museum to Missed Opportunity”

I read an interesting article by Texas pastor Gene Wilkes. He compared the history of the quaint Texas town of Jefferson to church work and drew some important conclusions. As leaders, let’s heed his caution:

On our 15th wedding anniversary, I surprised my wife by sweeping her away to a favorite getaway—Jefferson, a small town in east Texas known for its historic bed-and-breakfasts. My wife loves antiques, so the town’s restored homes and history made this the perfect gift for her. After checking into the famed Excelsior Hotel, we began to wander through the town and soon discovered how it gained its place in history.

We were surprised to find that by the late 1840s Jefferson had become the leading commercial and distribution center of Northeast Texas. In the 1870s, Jefferson was second to Galveston in its volume of commerce and had a population of almost 7,500. What had made it so prosperous, and what had happened to make it what it was today? Early inhabitants discovered steamboats could navigate Big Cypress Creek that ran through the town to Shreveport and on to Galveston. Cotton could be carried to the port, and goods from around the world could be floated upstream to the settlers of Texas and on to the western plains. Jefferson was the hub of business from the frontier and farms to the world.

We wondered, if things were so wonderful then, why is it a town of restored buildings and historical markers today? Why was it a tourist attraction rather than a center of commerce? As we poked around, we learned why Jefferson was no longer a vibrant business center.

The event that hurried the end of Jefferson’s vitality was its lazy attitude toward the railroad. It remained primarily dependent on the river for its livelihood. While the town worked on the docks, other towns completed the Texas and Pacific Railroad from Texarkana to Marshall, bypassing Jefferson. Soon trains replaced riverboats, and Dallas replaced Jefferson as the business center of North Texas. Jefferson missed its opportunity to survive by clinging to its proven method of business.

Dependence on one way of doing business turned Jefferson into a town caught in time—old buildings people visit to get away from modern life or to celebrate the past. Jefferson was for me a museum to missed opportunity.

The church in America today faces similar challenges and opportunities of a changing world in which to do its business of making disciples of Jesus. Like the people of Jefferson, church members and leaders must decide how they will respond to the new realities facing them.

Abridged from Paul on Leadership by C. Gene Wilkes, pages 7-8.

Tom

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Each Thursday I post my article from "LeaderLines," an e-newsletter for church leaders read by more than 300 subscribers. If you want to subscribe to "LeaderLines," sign up here.

Smokejumpers: The Delta Force of Firefighters

“Smokejumpers spend their careers going to the wrong place at the wrong time. They parachute to the edge of wildfires deep in roadless wilderness, then fight the massive blazes with little more than hand tools.” Read about one of the world’s most dangerous jobs at Wired. Some enterprising pastor is going to use this story to illustrate radical commitment to missions, I just know it….

“Calvary” by Crooked Still

Testing a new audio-sharing program. Here’s “Calvary” by the alt-bluegrass band Crooked Still--

Calvary by TomIsAnchored

Links to Your World, Tuesday September 21

What does it take to be “The iPhone of Nightclubs”?

 

Girl, 14, fears 21,000 party guests after Facebook invite blunder

 

12 Geeky Reasons Why Rush Should Be Inducted Into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

 

10 Health Concerns Resulting from Internet Usage

 

John Basinger has memorized all 10,565 lines of Milton’s Paradise Lost.

Time reports: What Kids Should Know About Money At 9, 13, 18 and 23

 

It’s the Jet Powered Lawn Mower (HT: Relevant)

 

Sweat from nervous colleagues may subconsciously prime the emotional areas of another person’s brain, without them even knowing it. Wired reports.

 

Another Wired story: “A liquid mixture developed by Imperial College London and a company called Fabrican lets you spray clothes directly onto your body, using aerosol technology.”

 

Life Lessons Gleaned From Videogames

 

Students at a Roswell, N.M. public school face suspension and detention for leaving doughnuts with religious messages for their teachers. Surely there’s more to this story than the USA Today article covers. What were the religious messages? Were the notes provided as encouragement given in the context of an appreciative relationship the students were developing with the teachers? Or did the school board feel that this particular youth group meant the gesture as something else entirely?

 

Buddhism is the peaceful alternative to those violent religions with their Crusader past. No wait. (And see my earlier post on Zen Buddhism’s contribution to militancy in WW-2 Japan.)

 

Posts at “Get Anchored” since last Tuesday:

“What more could I want for the rest of my life than to be someone through whom the fragrance of the gospel is released”

 

Review of "The Race Set Before Us"

 

Acknowledge Your “Tilt” Between Divine Sovereignty and Human Responsibility

 

Lone Starr?

 

LeaderLines: The I.P.I. Principle

 

“The iron bolt which so mysteriously fastens the door of hope and holds our spirits in gloomy prison, needs a heavenly hand to push it back”

 

"Even This Shall Pass Away"

 

“Human life is full of the potential manifest in the gifts God has given us, and full of our inevitable falling short”

 

Winning Ways: Following Christ but Quitting Christianity?

“What more could I want for the rest of my life than to be someone through whom the fragrance of the gospel is released”

I’m grateful to be among those called to proclaim the triumph of your mercy and grace. What more could I want for the rest of my life than to be someone through whom the fragrance of the gospel is released… the aroma of forgiveness and freedom… the incense of reconciliation and restoration… the perfume of knowing and being loved by you? What a privilege.

…

Wherever you take me in the triumphant procession of the gospel is the best place to be. However you want to spread the fragrance of knowing you is the best way to live.

--Scotty Smith’s Sunday morning prayer, reflecting on 2 Corinthians 2:14--“But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.”

Review of "The Race Set Before Us"

“Warnings function harmoniously with promises, not against or in spite of promises.”


That’s the conviction of by Thomas Schreiner and Ardel Caneday in their 2001 book, The Race Set Before Us: A Biblical Theology of Perseverance & Assurance. We can read in Scripture that God has promised to bring to completion the salvation of his people, and we can also read the warnings against falling away. Schreiner and Caneday outline four inadequate ways scholars have reconciled the assurances with the warnings, and they propose their own solution.

Those who hold the loss-of-salvation view believe the warnings indicate believers can fall away.

Those who hold the loss-of-rewards view believe the warnings indicate believers can lose reward but not salvation.

Those who hold the test-of-genuineness view believe the warnings are not addressed to believers but to hypocrites who profess faith in Christ but may have nothing more than false salvation. The authors calls this “one of the most common views in evangelicalism today” (29).

Those who hold the hypothetical-loss-of-salvation view believe that the warnings only caution what would happen if one could fail--an impossible situation.

Schreiner and Caneday believe that none of these answers are sufficient. Instead, God keeps his chosen ones in the race to the finish line by means of the warnings:

To be faithful to Scripture we must preserve the biblical tension between our responsibility to exercise faith and run the race, and the truth that any faith and work we have is a gift of God. If we exclude our role as human beings, we encourage a passivity and a laxity that is contrary to the biblical calls to exertion and effort that we have been investigating. On the other hand, if we rule out the idea that God is ultimately the one behind our believing and working, we introduce the idea that salvation is ultimately and finally our work. Both ideas must be firmly rejected. We are the ones who exercise faith and run the race, yet when we ask ourselves, ‘How does this become a reality in our lives?’ the answer is that we believe and continue running the race because God’s grace has grasped us and propels us to go forward. His work in our lives is the foundation for our work and faith (pages 314-15).

As the 19th century English Baptist pastor, Charles Spurgeon, put it from a sermon on Hebrews 6:4-6—

God says, ‘My child, if you fall over this precipice you will be dashed to pieces.’ What does the child do? He says, ‘Father, keep me; hold thou me up, and I shall be safe.’ It leads the believer to greater dependence on God, to a holy fear and caution, because he knows that if he were to fall away he could not be renewed.

The Race Set Before Us is nearly 350 pages long. For a shorter treatment of the same subject, Schreiner released the 130-page Run to Win the Prize: Perseverance in the New Testament a few months ago. For an even shorter overview, you can read “Perseverance and Assurance: A Survey and a Proposal,” in the SBTS theological journal.

Application for church leaders: God’s calling is effected through preaching; God’s keeping is effected through preaching, too—but not if there is no warning preached, and not if there is no sense among preachers and those who share leadership with them that such warning needs to be preached.

Acknowledge Your “Tilt” Between Divine Sovereignty and Human Responsibility

When asked how he could reconcile the roles of divine sovereignty and human responsibility in earthly events, the 19^th century English Baptist pastor, Charles Spurgeon replied, “I’ve never had to reconcile friends.”

It’s true that Scripture upholds both. As to divine sovereignty, the God of the Bible is presented as in complete control over the events of earth, including the salvation of those he has chosen to rescue for the sake of his glory. As to human responsibility, the Bible holds men and women responsible for their choices, pronouncing disapproval for evil actions and commendation for honorable actions.

So, divine sovereignty and human responsibility are propositions that are both true. But it’s hard to maintain both of these propositions at the same time, and most of us invariably “tilt” our theology to one proposition or the other. I noticed it again in reading the excellent book by Thomas Schreiner and Ardel Caneday, The Race Set Before Us: A Biblical Theology of Perseverance and Assurance (page 327):

We should acknowledge that God is completely sovereign and human beings are responsible. Much can be said to account for how these two relate to one another, but ultimately and finally we must acknowledge that how both of these can be true is a mystery to us. We do not fully understand how absolute divine sovereignty and human responsibility can both be true. Scripture teaches that they are, and we rest in that fact.

Notice that, while the authors acknowledge that both divine sovereignty and human responsibility are both true and should be held together, only one side of that tension is described with the words “completely” and “absolute.” Look at the first sentence of the excerpt again. So, it is true that humans are responsible but not as “completely” as it is true that God is sovereign?

Now, the excerpt above is from a book that does as well as any book I’ve seen to uphold divine sovereignty and human responsibility in Christian perseverance. And yet, to the authors, only one of the two propositions is qualified by the words “completely” and “absolutely.” In the end, there’s that tilt.

I’m not sure we can ever be free of this tendency to “tilt” to one proposition over the other. I know I can’t. (I tilt in the same direction as Schreiner and Caneday, by the way, being Calvinistic long before Calvinism was, um, cool.)

But I do believe that if that tilt is left unchallenged, we end up struggling to find a consequential role for the proposition we regard as lower than the other. And the longer we fail to ascribe the same level of importance to the one proposition as we do to the other, the more errors can slip into our thinking. We can insist on human programming to the neglect of prayerful dependence, or we can object to any version of human programming with the claim that we’re trying to manage without God.

This isn’t a post about Schreiner and Caneday’s book, which, as I’ve said, comes as close as I’ve seen at upholding both propositions as they relate to our race for eternal life. I’ll review it in a later post.

This is, rather, a post about the need to acknowledge our “tilt” toward either divine sovereignty or human responsibility as an explanation for earthly events--and our need to resist the constant urge to resolve the tension between the two.

In what direction do you tilt, and how do you guard against letting your tilt lead you into error?

Lone Starr?

Does [Baylor’s new president, Kenneth Starr] embrace Baylor 2012? Does he understand the issues at play in a document in which the mind and pen of Robert Sloan are so evident? The original Baylor 2012 was written—at least to a large degree—by a biblical scholar and theologian. Starr may indeed have the theological chops to understand, believe, and implement its program, and then to devise a new plan and vision to take Baylor to the next stage of its development. But as fine a man as Starr apparently is, the odds are against him.

--Brad Green for Touchstone, who briefly lays out “three challenges—somewhat unique to Baylor—which Starr faces.”

(HT: Justin Taylor)

LeaderLines: The I.P.I. Principle

It's amazing what happens when you set your expectations high!
A man named Norm Whan used to teach pastors to use the telephone to launch new churches.  He contended that 20,000 phone calls would yield 2,000 people who would express interest in getting more information on a new church start, and a mailing list of 2,000 would yield 200 people at the first service.  It worked over and over again.

Think of that.  Two hundred people who had never met each other became a congregation in a single day.  How did the church planter make that happen?

It happened because of the high expectations placed on the folks coming in.  The two thousand people who had expressed interest in getting more information about the new church would receive a mailing every week for three weeks and then, one week before the new start, all two thousand would be called and reminded about the start date.  Now, here's the interesting part:  If anyone said, "I'll be there," the church planter would then say, "Great!  Say, we need some help setting up chairs an hour before.  Can you make it?"  Or he would say, "Listen, we're asking 20 people to bring a plate of cookies so we can have a fellowship after the service.  Can you bring a plate?"

Even before they had come to the first service, they were being put to work!  The question of whether they were Christians had not even been raised, let alone the question of whether they planned to join the church.  But scores of people would gladly sign up to work for a church they hadn't even attended -- flattered to be asked for help.

Now, what can a long-established church like Hillcrest learn from these new church starts?

Too often we don't ask newcomers to do much of anything in our churches.  Oh, we mean well.  We think, "It's not polite to ask guests to do anything."  But think about what that really means.  What we're unintentionally saying is, "You're not one of us yet."
Instead, we need to put people to work as soon as they're willing.  I call this "The IPI Principle" -- Involve People Immediately.

Obviously, positions involving leadership and teaching should be tied to membership, but a lot of church work falls outside these roles.  As soon as we sense that someone feels "at home" at Hillcrest, invite them to join you in your work!  Give them a stack of bulletins and ask them to help you serve as a greeter... invite them to come help you paint the classroom... ask them if they have the time to help you volunteer in the church office.  IPI -- Involve People Immediately.

This principle extends even to those who haven't made a profession of faith!  Throughout my ministry I've had a lot of "near-believers" attend church because they liked what they were experiencing, and I've put them to work as soon as I could (in appropriate places of service).  A lot of these folks eventually become believers.

There's a saying that's spreading in church work:  "Belonging precedes believing."  This doesn't mean letting people become members before they become believers, but it does point out how important it is to make people feel "at home" at Hillcrest.  And there's nothing that makes a person feel like he belongs like asking him to contribute to the work of the group!

I hope you'll look for ways to Involve People Immediately at Hillcrest!  Treat them like they belong -- and they will!

Thanks for your leadership-partnership with me!

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Each Thursday I post my article from "LeaderLines," an e-newsletter for church leaders read by more than 300 subscribers. If you want to subscribe to "LeaderLines," sign up here.

“The iron bolt which so mysteriously fastens the door of hope and holds our spirits in gloomy prison, needs a heavenly hand to push it back”

Justin Taylor links to some helpful resources on Charles Spurgeon’s battle with depression. Spurgeon, a 19th century English Baptist pastor, is still known as the “Prince of Preachers.” Yet “Spurgeon battled against ‘causeless depression’ his whole life,” Taylor writes:

This “shapeless, undefinable, yet all-beclouding hopelessness,” he wrote, “cannot be reasoned with.” Fighting this type of depression, he said, is as difficult as fighting with mist.

At the bottom of Taylor’s post, note the good resources for pastors and other believers who know “the iron bolt which so mysteriously fastens the door of hope and holds our spirits in gloomy prison.”

"Even This Shall Pass Away"

Robert Plant's version of Theodore Tilton's 19th century poem, "Even This Shall Pass Away" (purchase here). Notice the climax: Even death shall pass away. Tilton's version:

Once in Persia reigned a King
Who upon his signet ring
Graved a maxim true and wise,
Which, if held before the eyes,
Gave him counsel at a glance,
Fit for every change and chance.
Solemn words, and these are they:
"Even this shall pass away."

Trains of camels through the sand
Brought his gems from Samarcand;
Fleets of galleys through the seas
Brought him pearls to match with these.
But he counted not his gain
Treasures of the mine or main;
"What is wealth?" the king would say;
"Even this shall pass away."

In the revels of his court
At the zenith of the sport,
When the palms of all his guests
Burned with clapping at his jests;
He amid his figs and wine,
Cried: "Oh loving friends of mine!"
"Pleasure comes but not to stay;"
"Even this shall pass away."

Fighting on a furious field,
Once a javelin pierced his shield;
Soldiers with a loud lament
Bore him bleeding to his tent;
Groaning from his tortured side,
"Pain is hard to bear," he cried,
"But with patience, day by day,
Even this shall pass away."

Towering in the public square,
Twenty cubits in the air,
Rose his statue, carved in stone,
Then, the king, disguised, unknown,
Stood before his sculptured name
Musing meekly, "What is fame?
Fame is but a slow decay
Even this shall pass away."

Struck with palsy, sere and old,
Waiting at the gates of gold,
Said he with his dying breath;
"Life is done, but what is death?"
Then, in answer to the King,
Fell a sunbeam on his ring,
Showing by a heavenly ray,
"Even this shall pass away."

 
Purchase song from the new Robert Plant project, Band of Joy.

“Human life is full of the potential manifest in the gifts God has given us, and full of our inevitable falling short”

Calvin celebrates the brilliance of mind and body, as any reader of The Institutes is aware. Over against this is his insistence on our tendency toward error, toward sin. So human life is full of the potential manifest in the gifts God has given us, and full of our inevitable falling short. This is a very dynamic understanding of the self. I find no difficulty in accepting both of its terms as true. Pressed for evidence, I would point to the history of civilization and the present state of the world. Calvin offered human brilliance as proof of divinity in humankind. If we accepted this, there would be a great enhancement of respect for ourselves, and, crucially, respect for others, that could only make us better citizens of earth.

Marilynne Robinson, Pulitzer-winning novelist, in an interview with Christianity Today

Winning Ways: Following Christ but Quitting Christianity?

In July, Anne Rice broke up with Christianity. And, like a lot of breakups today, it all happened on Facebook.

Rice was writing novels about vampires long before Team Edward existed, but in the late 90s she surprised everyone by turning her back on 30 years of atheism and becoming a believer in Jesus. She said that she would “give myself utterly to the task of trying to understand Jesus himself.” That commitment showed up in her writing, as she turned from novels about vampires and witches to writing the Christ the Lord series and her spiritual autobiography, Called Out of Darkness.

Good news. But in July she wrote in her Facebook status update: “Today I quit being a Christian. I’m out. I remain committed to Christ as always but not to being ‘Christian’ or to being part of Christianity. It’s simply impossible for me to ‘belong’ to this quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious, and deservedly infamous group. For ten years, I’ve tried. I’ve failed. I’m an outsider. My conscience will allow nothing else….In the name of Christ, I quit Christianity and being Christian.”

Hey, we’ve all had our moments where we want to keep Christ but break up with Christianity. Interacting with other people is just inconvenient and time-consuming and sometimes embarrassing and messy. So, many people have said the same thing Rice said: “I’ve got my relationship with Christ, but I don’t need a relationship with other Christians.”

But one mark of a spiritual uTurn is a commitment to others who love Jesus. Consider Saul’s conversion in Acts 9. When Saul met Christ, he worked so hard to connect with other Christians. Why?

I think it was because of what he heard from the risen Jesus on the Damascus road (verse 4): “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” Do you think Jesus is asking a similar question of us: “Why do you ignore me? Why are you embarrassed about me? Why do you fail to support me?” You might want to say, “No, Lord, none of those things are true. I’m not a big fan of any church but I love you!” But think about Jesus’ question to Saul: To ignore God’s people is to ignore Jesus, and to fail to identify with God’s people is to fail to identify with Jesus, and to fail to support God’s people is to fail to support Jesus.

Jesus expects you to do your part to make his vision for his church a reality. Quitting that effort just isn’t an option. Join us this Sunday @ 10 and let’s learn more about this from our study of Saul’s conversion in Acts 9.

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Links to Your World, Tuesday September 14

Scientists say they've carried out the first rigorous analysis of dance moves that make men attractive to women. You can watch the winning video at the post. But, hey, hey, HEY, why call bad dancing “Dad dancing”? There’s no call for that!

 

This guy paints the shells of snails, and then releases them to go their way.

 

A Cockroach Brain a Day will Keep the Doctor Away: “New research finds that the rudimentary brains of cockroaches and locusts teem with antimicrobial compounds that slay harmful E. coli and MRSA, the antibiotic-resistant staph bacterium.” Wired reports on research that may lead to treatments for humans.

 

The teen robber demanded his wallet, so he gave him his coat, too, and took him to dinner.

 

Survey: Nonreligious doctors more likely to hasten the death of their patients.

 

In “The Good Man Philip and the Scoundrel Pullman,” Betty Smartt Carter provides a clever review of The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ. I shared some comments about Pullman’s book back in April. Read Carter’s brief and imaginative article, too.

 

“More than three decades later, I still don't believe that the series "jumped the shark" when Fonzie jumped the shark.” If you still don’t know where the phrase “jumped the shark” comes from, here’s an LAT article that will explain it all—and defend the Happy Days episode the phrase refers to.

 

“Mr. Brandon is especially bothered by colleges' obsession with secrecy and by what he sees as their misuse of the Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act, which Congress passed in 1974. Ferpa made student grade reports off-limits to parents. But many colleges have adopted an expansive view of Ferpa, claiming that the law applies to all student records. Schools are reluctant to give parents any information about their children, even when it concerns academic, disciplinary and health matters that might help mom and dad nip a problem in the bud.” From a WSJ article reviewing Craig Brandon’s “The Five-Year Party,” so titled on the reality that only 30% of students enrolled in liberal-arts colleges graduate in four years. Roughly 60% take at least six years to get their degrees.”

 

Posts at “Get Anchored” since last Tuesday:

Review of "Darkness is My Only Companion"

 

Flood Cleanup

 

LeaderLines: Stages into Deeper Small-Group Fellowship

 

“When being healed becomes the only goal it’s a problem”

 

“Eroding mutual tolerance in America”

 

“Our Sister Religions”?

 

Money and Happiness

Good Question! “Flesh and Bone” and the Resurrection

I have an occasional (very occasional!) segment on this blog called “Good Question!” where I take a stab at questions people send me. (Click the “Good Question” label at the bottom of this post to see previous entries in the series.)

My aunt sent me the following question:

In Luke 24:39, Jesus said, spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me (Jesus) have.  Does this mean Jesus had flesh and bones? I wonder how wonderful Jesus went through the wall. I know God can do anything that we think not possible. Any way, I’d like to know about what it means for him to have flesh and bone after death and now that he’s sitting at the right hand of God? I think not, huh?

Here’s my take:

That's a good question! The Bible says his resurrection body was "flesh and bones" and the Bible also says he appeared in supernatural ways (like in rooms after doors and windows were locked).  Taken together, we have a hint of what our resurrection experience will be like. The Bible says that Christ's resurrection was the "firstfruits" of a much larger harvest to come, which is a reference to our resurrection at the end of time. So we can expect our future resurrection life to be LIKE and UNLIKE what we now experience, just as Christ's resurrection life was LIKE and UNLIKE his life before the cross. The tomb was empty that first Easter Sunday, which lets us know that the resurrection life is tied to this life in some way: it's not just ghostly or immaterial. On the other hand, the resurrection life is so much better than this life. Our bodies won't wear down and die. In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul wrote that we can think of our present life and our resurrection life like a seed and a tree that comes from that seed. There's a connection between the seed and the tree, and yet the tree is far more magnificent than the seed!

It's something to look forward to!

Shout Out to Fletcher!

Well, congrats to Fletcher Roberts for being featured on the sports section of KVUE’s website. His Anderson Trojans are 3-0:

Review of "Darkness is My Only Companion"

"I never ask 'Why me?' Only 'Why this?'"

That's Kathryn Greene-McCreight's question about her bipolar disorder. Understanding God's goodness while dealing with illness is challenge enough; understanding his goodness while dealing with mental illness is another level of challenge entirely. In Darkness is My Only Companion (2006), Greene-McCreight, an Episcopal priest, candidly recounts what she has learned about herself and her faith through her experiences with bipolar disorder. She helps the reader understand both the manic and depressive states from the perspective of the bipolar personality. She also explains hospitalization and treatment and offers advice for Christians who may be hesitant to seek out the help of psychologists and psychiatrists.

About 2.8 percent of the American adult population suffers with mental illness, representing about 5.6 million individuals. Add family members to the number, and nearly 17 million Americans are directly affected with the consequences of mental disorders. Among that number who are believers, Greene-McCreight's book is a welcome resource.

Flood Cleanup

Robert and Janice Felps are active at Hillcrest. Some of us got to help with a bit of their clean up. They were featured on this news account:

LeaderLines: Stages into Deeper Small-Group Fellowship

About 95 percent of our worship service attendance participates in a small group. That’s a remarkable level of small-group participation! A Common Ground group or Sunday School class provides the environment where real fellowship can develop. So how do we develop it? How do we turn group members into “soul partners”?

That’s the title Rick Howerton gives to those enjoying the richest experiences of Christian fellowship. “My experience as a small-group leader,” he wrote, “has led me to conclude there are ten stages the heart goes through before newcomers to a small group make the group members their soul partners.” He describes these 10 Stages in a recent LifeWay article. To illustrate, he imagines a woman named Grace moving through the stages in her interaction with a small group:

Stage 1: Invitation - Grace is honored to be asked to join the group, believing there must be something about her the leader appreciates.

Stage 2: Anticipation - Prior to the first meeting, Grace is somewhat eager at the possibilities that could come from joining the group. Some individuals will experience other emotions including hesitancy and maybe even fear.

Stage 3: Intimidation - As Grace shows up at her first meeting she feels the need for acknowledgement and acceptance. She may be overwhelmed by what seems to be the depth of biblical knowledge and the spiritual passion of others in the group.

Stage 4: Inhibition - Once the reality sets in that she is not as relationally connected as the other group members - and not as understanding of the subject matter - Grace experiences a meaningful level of self-consciousness. It is at this stage that a group leader must step into Grace's life to help her overcome the obstacle of inhibition.

Stage 5: Exploration - Grace begins to explore what her role in the group is by being a bit more verbal, even being given the opportunity to take on tasks as needed.

Stage 6: Evaluation - Grace asks herself if her role is perceived as meaningful to other group members and vital to the group's life. She wonders, "Is what I'm experiencing here substantive enough to give my time to this group?"

Stage 7: Actualization - Grace mentally accepts the role she perceives is hers. The others in this group acknowledge her as a friend, not just an acquaintance. Grace concludes she is on board with the vision, goals, and expectations of this group.

Stage 8: Reconciliation - In this phase Grace accepts, deep in her being, that she can trust the others to know her needs and respond, to keep conversations confidential, and to be completely reconciled to living the principles and practices espoused in the group covenant.

Step 9: Exhibition - Grace begins to show the core of who she is. She begins sharing more and more of her story, being honest with the group even to the point of embarrassment. She will show evidence of a willingness to hold others accountable as well being held accountable. It is at this phase that many people experience conflict between themselves and other group members. When conflict occurs, if the group leader doesn't step forward to help individuals reconcile their differences attendees may exit the group or find themselves awkwardly reverting back as far as the Intimidation stage.

Step 10: Elation - Once Grace is living healthily in stage nine, she reaches this final stage. It is at this point that a group member will remain on board over the long haul. She understands these new relationships have become her family. She is part of an inner circle that encompasses something her heart has longed for - authentic Christian community.

Think about the names of members and prospects on your small-group roster. What stage is each one in? And what can your group or class do to bring each person to the next stage in deeper fellowship?

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Each Thursday I post my article from "LeaderLines," an e-newsletter for church leaders read by more than 300 subscribers. If you want to subscribe to "LeaderLines," sign up here.

“When being healed becomes the only goal it’s a problem”

Joni Eareckson Tada on her new book, in an interview with Amy Sullivan for Time:

So when you work with people in great pain, do you encourage them to let go of the desire to be healed?

We can certainly ask to be healed. Even I ask for healing regarding this pain, regarding this cancer. Anyone who takes the Bible seriously agrees that God hates suffering. Jesus spent most of his time relieving it. But when being healed becomes the only goal — "I'm not letting go until I get what I want" — it's a problem. There comes a point at which if you don't start living, your whole life is spent jumping from one healing crusade to the next.

“Eroding mutual tolerance in America”

According to this article, high school teacher James Corbett, found to have violated a student's First Amendment rights last year by disparaging Christianity in a taxpayer-funded public school class, is now urging all “intellectuals” to do what he did and “push back against the ‘right-wing authoritarianism’ that is eroding mutual tolerance in America.” If someone’s eroding mutual tolerance in America, I don’t think Corbett has quite put his finger on the source….

“Our Sister Religions”?

My alma mater, Baylor University, is planning a series of events this week called “Seeking Understanding.” According to the report in the student newspaper, it is designed as a reaction to the news headlines regarding protests against a Ground Zero mosque and the planned Qur’an-burning by a 50-member Gainesville, Fla., church.

The Baylor event gives me pause, and I’m trying to figure out if my discomfort is from the inadequacy of the event’s goals or the inadequacy of the event coverage. Someone help me out here.

As I have said before, Christians are to be good neighbors and good communicators, but it seems that the organizers of the “Seeking Understanding” event advocate for only one of those goals.

We are called to be good neighbors, seeking “the peace and prosperity of the city,” as the Bible puts it. Regardless of what our neighbors do with the gospel, our calling is to work together with mutual respect for the well-being of the city. Baylor’s “Seeking Understanding” looks like it will help the Baylor Family to that end.

But we are also called to be good communicators of the gospel, and that’s where I need a bit more information about what the organizers of the Baylor event want to accomplish. The organizers refer to Judaism and Islam as “our sister religions,” and refer to adherents of Judaism, Islam and Christianity as “the children of Abraham.” I would have preferred for the Lariat story to ask a few more questions, because these terms often serve as a sort of shorthand for the belief that we’re all part of the same spiritual family.

Indeed we are not, and that is why it necessary to learn to be good communicators of the gospel as well as good neighbors. Regardless of our religious background—or lack of any religious background—we are all in need of God’s gracious rescue provided in the atoning sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is not disrespectful to communicate this truth. In fact, it is disrespectful of our Lord’s mercy and unkind to our neighbors to not communicate this truth.

Good neighbors—good communicators. Not every event of a Christian church or a Christian university has to achieve both goals—but no event should pursue one of those goals at the expense of the other goal.

So, someone help me as I seek understanding about “Seeking Understanding.” Is the event an inadequate response to religious bigotry, or is it just the coverage of the event that’s been inadequate?

In the meantime, Joe Carter provides some helpful advice for those who feel the only way they can prove they’re against mosque protests and Qur’an burnings is by siding with the pluralists.

Money and Happiness

Time:

People say money doesn't buy happiness. Except, according to a new study from Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School, it sort of does — up to about $75,000 a year. The lower a person's annual income falls below that benchmark, the unhappier he or she feels. But no matter how much more than $75,000 people make, they don't report any greater degree of happiness.

Links to Your World, Tuesday, September 7

The 69-year-old Korean grandma who got her driver’s license — on her 960th try. Never give up. And to you preachers looking for your next inspirational illustration: You’re welcome.

 

When you die, you can now have your ashes pressed into LP form. You can even choose the song. (Link)

 

Jenell Williams Paris says you should avoid old flames on Facebook: “That it's only a virtual friendship is all the more reason to stay away from it.” She’s right.

 

What does your e-reader and sheep have in common? Wired explains.

Tax Dollars at Work: The WSJ offers a slide show of L.A.’s opulent new public school building. Slide show here. Story here.

 

Operation Desert Shield? Operation New Dawn? The Explainer explains how military campaign names are chosen.

 

A homeless man near Portland, Ore., calls 911 on his cell phone, saying he's the sheriff and has been in a hot tub for 10 hours. He asks for "medical help": dry towels, hot chocolate with marshmallows — and a hug. The story, and link to his 911 call, here.

 

Here’s a pulpit designed for an iPad (HT: Stuff Christians Like)

 

30 Awesome College Labs

 

Many thanks to my friend, Rabbi Neil Blumofe, for these words: an invitation to Muslims to be more aggressive at speaking against injustice—and an invitation for non-Muslims to quit the well-intentioned efforts to speak for Muslims.

 

Posts at “Get Anchored” since last Tuesday:

Researchers and Ethics: Not All Are Corrupt, But All Are Corruptible

 

Moral Therapeutic Deism: Do Good and Feel Good

 

Making the Bed in Style

 

Everyone Loves a Good Fight

 

Review of "Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy"

 

Is Your Christianity Pagan?

 

A Weekend Getaway With a Virtual Fling

 

LeaderLines: Intelligence About Things to Be Done

 

Worship music has become so bad we should just sing the Psalms. No wait….

 

Taking an “info-techno Sabbath”

 

Winning Ways: Finders, Seekers

Researchers and Ethics: Not All Are Corrupt, But All Are Corruptible

If you still think that scientists are dispassionate, able to separate their ambitions and biases from the pursuit of objective truth, the fall of Marc Hauser will help you put things in perspective. The moral of his story is not that all scientists are corrupt. The moral is that all scientists, as a subset of all humans, are corruptible.

Moral Therapeutic Deism: Do Good and Feel Good

Several of you sent me the CNN story about the book, “Almost Christian.” Thanks for the head’s up. It’s about a study of teens and young adults who believe in “moralistic therapeutic deism” instead of the God of Scripture. MTD is, in short, a belief that God simply wants you to be good and feel good. Here’s the story.

Food for thought: To think as missionaries to your area, you have to not only identify errors in the culture’s belief system but find ways of addressing those errors. If our church is doing its job, we’ll have people in attendance (and not just youth and young adults) who operate inside the MTD assumptions. What will you do to gently challenge those assumptions?

Making the Bed in Style

If one of your household chores is to make the bed, why not do it in style:

Everyone Loves a Good Fight

Review of "Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy"

"We have been silent witnesses of evil deeds. Will our inward power of resistance be strong enough for us to find our way back?" (Dietrich Bonhoeffer)

Eric Metaxas has provided a valuable service to God's people--and to the German evangelical heritage in specific--by providing a new biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

Bonhoeffer was a German Lutheran pastor executed for his part in a conspiracy to assassinate Adolph Hilter. The Gestapo hanged him 3 weeks before Nazi Germany surrendered to the Allies.

Metaxes seems to have two aims behind his writing: to rescue Bonhoeffer from theological progressives who have co-opted his views as their own, and to distinguish evangelicalism from what passed for Christianity in Nazi Germany.

As to the first aim, the book provides much-needed context for Bonhoeffer's views, and it's that lack of context that has given some progressives the idea that Bonhoeffer was an early advocate of notions they later embraced (most famously, his passing comments of the need for "religionless Christianity" in one of his prison letters). 

In pursuit of the second aim, Metaxas overplays his descriptions of Nazi leadership so that Rohm is described as "that bull-necked pervert" (230), Himmler as "superlatively despicable" (232), Heckle pursued "a strategy of double-barreled flatuence" (242), and Hitler was "the former Vienese vagrant" (313) who operated out of "canine sensitivity" and "lupine ruthlessness" (230). The words and decisions of these men in history were chilling enough without such over-the-top descriptors. Still, Metaxas leaves no doubt of the huge difference between evangelical Christianity and the abberant version that advocated for Hitler's policies in the 30s and 40s.

It was touching to read the exchanges between Bonhoeffer and his fiance (a relationship that never made it to the altar), and eye-opening to read his thoughts on his exposure to American Christianity--particulary his disappointment with liberal pulpits, his appreciation for what was then called "fundamentalist" preaching, and his fascination with African-American worship.

Since this year marks the 100th anniversary of Bonhoeffer's birth, it would be a good year to get familiar with this "pastor, martyr, prophet, spy" through Metaxas' biography of the man.

Is Your Christianity Pagan?

Pagan religion, fundamentally, uses formulas to manipulate one’s god. Brandon O'Brien admits:

I’m ashamed to say that I catch myself from time to time beginning to think about my personal relationship with God in pagan terms.

Here’s an example: My wife and I are nearly three years into a painful and spiritually disorienting struggle with infertility. “Delight yourself in the Lord,” says Psalm 37, “and he will give you the desires of your heart.” The one desire of our heart left unfilled at the moment is the blessing of children. So we have prayed fervently for the Lord’s favor. In light of James’ teaching that the “prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective,” it has been easy for us to feel as if God is unhappy and is punishing us for something. Each of us at one time or another has thought, If we could just figure out what we’re doing wrong, we could fix it and then we’d get pregnant. We’ve been tempted to think that if we could just figure out how to please God enough, if we appeased his anger over some offense, whether real or imagined, that he’d finally behave the way we want him to. That’s pagan Christianity.

This impulse to manipulate God can show up in our preaching, too. I heard a preacher not long ago quote the passage from Proverbs, “Raise a child in the way he should go, and when is old he will not depart from it.” This verse is a promise, the preacher said. If we raise our children in the faith, God has no choice but to honor his promise. If we do our part, God does his. Friends, anytime we start talking about our relationship with God in terms of what God must do in response to our service or obedience, we’ve drifted into pagan Christianity.

Read the whole thing and ask yourself how much you approach Christian prayer and practices in a pagan way.

A Weekend Getaway With a Virtual Fling

From the WSJ:

More than 1,500 male fans of the Japanese dating-simulation game LovePlus+ have flocked to Atami [a resort town an hour out of Tokyo] for a romantic date with their videogame character girlfriends.

…

At the Hotel Ohnoya…the staff is trained to check in Love Plus+ customers as couples even if there is only one actual guest. Says Atsurou Ohno, the hotel's managing director, "We try not to ask too many questions because we want them to be able to remain immersed in that game world."

Some devoted fans will go so far as to pay twice the rate—most hotels in Japan charge per guest not per room—to indulge the fantasy that they are not there alone.

Read the story here or watch the video:

One thing not mentioned in the story of single men in their 20s and 30s going to a hotel for the weekend with virtual girlfriends: Their virtual girlfriends are high school teens.

LeaderLines: Intelligence About Things to Be Done

“Wouldn’t be prudent.”

Thanks to Dana Carvey, one generation of Saturday Night Live viewers will never be able to remember George H.W. Bush’s presidency without thinking of that line.

But according to John Ortberg, prudence is the underappreciated virtue of leadership. “Sometimes we think of courageous leaders as people who are constantly willing to bet the farm against all odds,” he writes, “But great leaders recognize the importance, not simply of values, but also of weighing likely outcomes from concrete action.”

Take Rehoboam in 1 Kings 12 as an example of impudent leadership. Upon the death of his father, the nation asked for some relief from the burdens Solomon had demanded of them. But Rehoboam replied, “My father made your yoke heavy; I will make it even heavier.”

Reflecting on this story, Ortberg said, “Rehoboam had courage, backbone, and vision to say those words. He just lacked prudence. And so the kingdom was split in two, and the unity of the people suffered a severance from which it never recovered.”

Of course, this virtue is often mistaken, and we often excuse timidity and inaction by calling it prudence. Ortberg writes:

Prudence is not the same thing as caution. Caution is a helpful strategy when you're crossing a minefield; it's a disaster when you're in a gold rush.

Prudence is not the same thing as avoiding mistakes. Churches are full of leaders who are afraid to make mistakes, and thereby insure that their churches will never move forward, and that their own souls will shrivel and grow cold from fear and avoidance. But that's not prudence.

Prudence is not hesitation, procrastination, or moderation. It is not driving in the middle of the road. It is not the way of ambivalence, indecision, or safety.

So what is it? Prudence is linked “to shrewdness, to excellence in judgment, to the capacity to discern, to the ability to take in a situation and see it in its wholeness,” he writes. “Prudence is foresight and far-sightedness. It's the ability to make immediate decisions on the basis of their longer-range effects.”

Thomas Aquinas called it intelligence about things to be done.

This is a useful virtue for leaders in any field, but God's people especially need leaders who have prudence. When do church leaders need this kind of insight? Ortberg suggests a few critical moments:

When they are figuring how to navigate change.

When they are choosing which battles to fight and which battles to skip.

When they are calculating decisions and outcomes.

When a team member is not contributing well.

When the congregation is growing restless, or complacent, or fatigued.

When a course direction needs changing.

You should click over to his article and read the whole thing. It will help you develop a whole new appreciation for an undervalued leadership virtue.

Because, sometimes, “wouldn’t be prudent” is more than a punch line for a skit. Sometimes it’s exactly what a leader has to say.

__________________________________

Each Thursday I post my article from "LeaderLines," an e-newsletter for church leaders read by more than 300 subscribers. If you want to subscribe to "LeaderLines," sign up here.

Worship music has become so bad we should just sing the Psalms. No wait….

Jeremy Pierce has a Rant About Worship Songs. I know blog etiquette would have me just give a synopsis and the link, but I don’t want you to miss it. You’ll quickly figure out that all the hyperlinks all point to Psalms. Drat, those inconvenient Psalms sure make it less fun to criticize worship music!

Here are some of the things I really hate in a worship song.

1. Too simplistic, banal, lacking in depth, shallow, doctrineless: Consider that one that just talks about unity among brothers that only mentions God in passing at the very end.

2. It’s so repetitive. I mean, come on, how many times can you repeat “His steadfast love endures forever” before you start thinking the song is going to go on forever? Examples: here and here

3. For some songs, the focus is too much on instruments, and the sheer volume leads to its seeming more like a performance than worship and prevents quiet contemplation.

4. There might be too much emphasis on too intimate a relationship with God, using first-person singular pronouns like “me” and “I” or second-person pronouns like “you” instead of words like “we” and “God”. This fosters a spirit of individualism, and it generates an atmosphere of religious euphoria rather than actual worship of God. Worship should be about God, not about us. Or what about the ones that use physical language to describe God and our relationship with him? Can you really stomach the idea of tasting God?

5. Some songs have way too many words for anyone to learn.

6. It patterns its worship on experiences that not everyone in the congregation will be able to identify with. If you’re not in the frame of mind or don’t have the emotional state in question (e.g. a desperate longing for God. Then what are you doing lying and singing it? Worship leaders who encourage that sort of thing are making their congregations sing falsehoods.

7. Then there’s that song with the line asking God not to take the Holy Spirit away, as if God would ever do that to a genuine believer.

8. Then there’s that song that basically says nothing except expressing negative emotions.

At this point I’m so outraged that people would pass this sort of thing off as worship that I’m almost inclined to give in to the people who think we shouldn’t sing anything but the psalms. Oh, wait…

Click on over to his post.

Taking an “info-techno Sabbath”

Joe Carter:

We consider it peculiar that Muslims stop five times a day to offer prayers to Allah, yet we stop what we do five times an hour to pay homage to our e-mail. “One of the most basic biblical insights,” says theologian J.I. Packer, “is that whatever controls and shapes one’s life is in effect the god one worships.” For many of us, the one true god to whom we give our devotion is the deity known as IT: information technology….

But an ancient practice has helped me dethrone this idol: Sabbath-keeping. In Surviving Information Overload, Keith Miller recommends taking an “info-techno Sabbath,” a 24-hour period when we turn off the cell phone, leave the iPad in the drawer, and stay away from the computer….After putting Miller’s idea into practice for several months I quickly came to two realizations: Sabbath-keeping is very difficult, and it pays dividends I could never have imagined.

Read the rest and consider a tech-free Sabbath this weekend.

Winning Ways: Finders, Seekers

Sometimes a can of cream of asparagus soup can change your life.

Just ask Jeanna Dodd of Centreville, Virginia. She was out of work, short on rent money, and dependent on groceries from a local food bank. But when she popped the lid on a donated can of soup, jewels, gold, silver, rings, a bracelet, and a Rolex watch came spilling out.

The soup can was actually not a soup can at all, but a replica used to hide valuables from burglars. Apparently, someone mistakenly donated it to the food bank. Dodd reported the find, worth about $7,000. When no one came forward to claim the treasure, it was hers.

Jeanna Dodd found a treasure she wasn’t looking for. It’s a different story for Bob Wehle, a diamond hunter at the Crater of Diamonds State Park in Murfreesboro, Arkansas. The park is the world’s only publicly operated diamond site where visitors are allowed to search and keep any gems they find. In 2006 Wehle found a 5.47-carat canary diamond, bright yellow with no visible flaws. It could be worth well over $60,000.

Jesus compared life with him to treasure. In two famous parables in Matthew 13, he said it’s a treasure some find when they aren’t looking for it, while others find it after a long and eager search.

Some discover him when they aren’t looking, like Jeanna Dodd and her soup can. They are just taking things one day at a time, paying the bills, feeding the family, with no time or inclination to ask the deeper questions like, “What is my purpose in life?” or “Is there a God and is he happy with me?” Then, unexpectedly, they get exposed to life with Christ, and immediately they want in on this deal.

On the other hand, some discover life with him after a long spiritual quest, like Bob Wehle and his diamond. They look for fulfillment in religious rituals and books with spiritual themes, hungry for answers to ultimate questions. But when they discover the grace and guidance of Jesus, they know they’ve found the real thing.

One of those stories probably matches your spiritual biography. This Sunday we’ll look closely at what Jesus said about finding the treasure of the Christian life. Join us @ 10!

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Each Wednesday I post my article from "Winning Ways," an e-newsletter that goes out to over 950 subscribers. If you want to subscribe to "Winning Ways," sign up here.