Retaining the Ability to Break

Our vision of leadership seems most informed by the common urge to win. A good leader is defined as someone who leads to victory and growth. However to limit ourselves to this as the only description of good leadership might be to misunderstand our very character as followers of Jesus Christ. 

The church is God's representation of the sacrificial love displayed in Christ. It is correct to declare the redemptive power of Jesus. Lives can be transformed. But could it be that the transforming power of Jesus is best revealed from a place of brokenness? 

The biblical account of God’s redemptive strategy seems to suggest this. The incarnation initiated the redemptive strategy from a place of vulnerability rather than strength: an infant. The pronouncement is to the politically weak rather to those of influence: shepherds. The birth is in a stable rather than a palace. 

Jesus is raised in Nazareth rather than Jerusalem. His following is secured with common folk fisherman rather than the religious establishment. The triumphant entry is on the back of a common donkey. And as we know the defining moment of secured victory is the cross: death and suffering. 

There is a lesson here in leadership that we must not ignore. For Jesus, death is the new beginning; failure is the victory. 

Yet as followers of Jesus Christ we resist weakness. We despise failure. 

Even in our history the church is strongest when it is weak. The church seems to grow strongest when driven into hiding by persecution. This has been evidenced in many examples: China, Ethiopia, to name just two. 

I don't think that God rejects strength. But I do think the most effective way to relate to a broken world is from a place of brokenness. It is where we most clearly display the passionate and radical love of God. 

Maybe the church is strongest when it is weak because that is when it is easiest for us to break and take on the brokenness of our Saviour. As Mennonite Anabaptists we recognize that the church is the broken body of Christ for the world. As followers of Jesus Christ, we can be comfortable with embracing vulnerability and brokenness. We are most effective when we feel the weakest. 

May we never lose the ability to break so that we never fail to portray the transforming love of our Sacrificial Lord.

Massacre in Orlando

I am deeply distressed about the massacre of fellow humans in Orlando, Florida on June 12. The fact that the lives of innocent people were gunned down simply for being gay is horrifying.

I find myself in deep mourning.

I mourn the loss of life. I mourn the bitter grieving that families and friends have been thrust into.

I mourn that hatred could so control an individual.

I mourn a society that can foster such discrimination.

All of Canadian society should be weeping.  It is a sad event for the human family. 

But I also find myself weeping for my own people in particular - my family of faith.

I mourn the hateful discrimination of the LGBTQ community in our own families’ experience – and how this massacre reminds them of this.

I mourn the increased terror some of our youth will experience – already too terrified to acknowledge their sexual orientation. 

I mourn the way God will be misrepresented. No one should feel placed outside of God’s mercy and passionate love.

I don't want fear and misunderstanding to begin with feelings of hostility. God is not honoured in violence. Righteousness is not portrayed through violence.

I pray for something different. I pray that my family of faith will be something different. This is my hope.

But today I am in mourning.

There is reason to weep whenever hatred is given expression.

Periods of Dramatic Change

Change is always occurring. But when that change appears more dramatic than usual, it can feel frightening.  I wish there was an emoticon for anxiety to accompany my thoughts on change.

I think that the Christian Church across Canada is experiencing such a time of dramatic change. Although the Mennonite Church Canada family has been navigating this period of change through the work of the Future Directions Task Force, the need for modification is not unique to us. The Canadian context is significantly different than when our current church structures and programs were developed.

In a recent conversation of a small group Bible study I am engaged in, we reflected on the work of the church. For many, it has often felt like spending energy keeping things alive, just for the sake of keeping things alive. This has become a tough sell for many people.

I must admit, I have often felt uncomfortable with the enterprise of Christianity.  Worship has become a retail commodity. Representing God has become an occupational career. When individual achievement becomes ingrained in this spiritual movement, is it any wonder that much of Christianity has become addicted to growth and success? 

Do not misunderstand me. I think God is very active redeeming the world. But has sharing the Good News of Jesus become a means to assure the ministry and financial sustainability of an institutional church? That would seem misguided to me. 

I see a different future: a future where people are invited to discover their own vision through Christ rather than keep the dream of the church alive. I am not advocating for rampant individualism. But individuals must be able to see themselves as integral to a communal expression.

I have seen the importance placed on debates that many people consider irrelevant. I have heard a panic expressed that has made the concerns of the church feel self-focused. 

I see a different future: a future where the transforming wonder of God's grace is experienced by those who have historically been rejected. In a growing secular society, people are aching for spiritual meaning and connection. Our debates should not be dictated by secular society. But our debates should be relevant to the spiritual aching of society.

I don't think we have gotten it all wrong. But much of our wisdom is bound by culture and context. Wisdom is constrained by what we know. The Spirit of God is active in the realm of what we do not know.

In this season of dramatic change it is important for the church to display an unshakable confidence in the God who knows what we do not know. Only then can we push away the fear and despair that always accompanies times of dramatic change.

Is God abandoning the church?

I have been having some disturbing thoughts lately: thoughts that have made me feel uncomfortable. I have been struggling with the notion that maybe God has abandoned the church. Let me explain.

During the Christendom era the church saw itself as invincible. Entire families attended weekly service together. Our congregations thrived. Our institutions grew. Our influence was obvious. We even had the luxury of competing against ourselves. When seen as the place of moral authority within society, the church began to consider its activity as the sum of God's activity.

But success has its price. Influence deadens the hearing so that the still quiet voices are no longer distinguishable. Power decreases sensitivity so that the frail and disadvantaged are unintentionally overlooked. When that happens, the church subtly looses the character of God.

The current thinking of the church represents a posture of unnecessary fear.  In our effort to understand and engage the post-Christendom context, we still consider the activity of the church as the primary activity of God. When society rejects the influence of the church our faith is shaken; we may we feel that God is vulnerable and fragile. We feel plagued with guilt for letting God down. Have we have inappropriately taken the role of God? Do we have self imposed expectations that perhaps never ordained by God?

To be sure, God longs to bring people into the community of the church. However to limit our understanding of God to the context of the church is to constrain God to human thought and ability. It might just be that God is needing to shed the constraints of the church in order to more fully be expressed. This would be disconcerting for the church but it need not paralyze it with fear. In fact when we acknowledge that God's activity is beyond us, beyond our ability to fully understand, our concept of God is enlarged and our faith becomes enriched. If we need to be able to understand what God is doing then it limits God to what we are able to understand, comprehend, and accept.

It is not easy to admit that we don't have the answer. It is not easy to acknowledge that we do not understand what God is up to. But maybe if we let go of our demand to understand all the complexities of God’s ways we might begin to see the overwhelming evidence of God at work.

If that is so, then God has not abandoned the church to reject it.  God has abandoned the constraints of the church so that we can find God all over again.

My, what a merciful God we serve!!

Worth the Energy

It takes a lot of energy to tend to our large church family.

Mennonite World Conference (MWC) met in Harrisburg, PA this summer. That global gathering followed closely behind the Mennonite Church USA Convention in Kansas City, MO. The work of the Being a Faithful Church (BFC) process and the Future Directions Task Force (FDTF) have continued through the summer as well. The conversations have been rich, the dialogue engaging. But it has taken a lot of energy.

It has been tempting to focus the summer entirely on myself. The heat waves beckoned me to the beach. Gentle breezes begged me to fish along rivers and lakes. Growing gardens and lawns welcomed my tending. Of course I was able to participate in all these activities. A summer fully consumed by pleasure may increase my sense of relaxation, but it can also leave me feeling empty and alone.

I could have focused the summer entirely on my family and close friends. Relationships closest to you need attention and are often overlooked. Sunsets offered front row seats on the back deck. Quiet afternoons offered relaxed conversation along shady forest trails. Balmy temperatures provided concentrated times of vacation. Of course I also participated in these events as well. A full summer restricted to those closest to you may greatly enhance these relationships, but it can also insulate them from other important influences. Even good friendships and families can become self serving.

Our culture seems drawn away from larger associations. Attention to the individual is priority. But individual fulfilment requires community. Healthy relationships with friends and family also seek ways to benefit others together.

Our families of faith are facing the pressures of the focus on individuals. But our church families have much to offer. When gathering with people from across Canada or around the world, you are reminded that you are part of something much bigger than yourself. Hearing how God is at work
across the country and the world strengthens your faith. It reinforces the sense that God is at work.

Hearing matters of faith processed from within a different context enriches your own understandings of faith and theology. Different contexts provide new illustrations that can frame the familiar with fresh perspectives.

Staying contained within your own experience and relationships can create limited insight. A broader family of faith can see into your context and see things that you may have become blinded to. A broader family of faith can ask the simple and innocent questions that generate profound reconsideration and review.

There are many benefits to investing energy in the broader family of faith. To remain healthy individuals need to care for themselves, their families, friends and broader relationships. For congregations to remain healthy they too need to pay attention to themselves and to the broader family of faith.

All of these relationships are worth the energy.

The Fight of Truth

When truth is being spoken it is hard to only hear what you want to hear. Truth has a way of speaking directly to the soul even when the mind has tried to dull the hearing.

There are many conversations seeking a hearing. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) has been giving voice to residential school survivors.  The community of LGBTQ, their family and friends have been asking for the church to listen in our national church’s Being a Faithful Church process. People concerned for the health of the earth and its environment are seeking a serious consideration from the church. These emotional conversations sink into the heart where voices cannot be easily muffled. It seems simpler to shut out what is being said. It is often the preferred option.

Not many delight in confrontations. Not many welcome being challenged. It feels easier to avoid tough conversations. It feels easier to ignore the dialogue.

But avoidance takes as much energy as engagement. Denial takes as much energy as acknowledgement. Resistance is as difficult as acceptance.

When truth is being revealed it takes work to remain uninformed. When facts become evident it takes work to maintain disbelief. It is not easy to pretend ignorance.

I have listened to hearts express pain so raw that my mind begs to stop listening. My emotions beg for distance. It takes energy to remain open and vulnerable so that what is being spoken can penetrate me deeply. But it takes just as much energy to deny a fair hearing to what is being said.

When the deep conversations of the heart emerge, a fight ensues. In fact, it would appear fighting is not optional: either we fight to remain uninformed, or we fight in support of the new information. .

I have come to realize that difficult truths are a friend of God. Revelation is a result of the Spirit’s work. I'd rather fight apathy than struggle against the Spirit of God. Confronting the truth is not easy, but it has the potential of setting you free.

This is a fight even a pacifist should not avoid.

Where Are You church?

With our increasingly secular Canadian society I have always been thinking that people have disregarded the church. However this assumption has been challenged for me.

This spring I have been asked to participate in a Justice Tour developed by Citizens For Public Justice and the Canadian Council of Churches (CCC). Together with Susan Johnson,  National Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Canada and Karen Hamilton, General Secretary of the CCC, I have been listening to community leaders across Western Canada express their hopes and frustrations in regards to Canada's engagement with poverty and climate justice. It has been a moving experience. Whenever people share the concerns of their hearts, it is impacting. 

This is where my assumption of secularization has been challenged. I was not surprised to see young adults engaged in the conversation. I was not surprised to hear their passion about issues of poverty and climate justice. I was not surprised to receive their criticism of church leadership. However, I was not prepared to experience the tone of their message for us as church leaders. 

From Vancouver, Edmonton, and Saskatoon across six forums, I heard accounts of community action. I heard of new collaborations. And I heard a growing lament. I heard young adults lament the lack of church presence in their struggles of addressing issues of poverty and climate justice. Many of them acknowledged that it was because of the church that they were currently engaged in these activities. The church taught them that God cares about the poor. The church taught them to love their neighbours as themselves. The church taught them that part of worship is caring for neighbour and the earth that we all share. That is why they were so disappointed to experience the church's absence in the concrete struggles of advocacy and actions seeking social change. 

I heard our young adults express a deep lament. They want their church with them. They want to be part of a faith expression that lives out the values they have been taught by their faith. But while they struggle for social change they look behind them and watch the church in a comfortable embrace of a society that benefits the advantaged. While they stand in solidarity with indigenous communities they witness the church avoiding indigenous peoples. While they stand in solidarity with the poor they witness the church maintaining distance through impersonal charity. 

Our young adults are not very interested in maintaining the current form of church. In that, they are aligned with secular society; it isn’t interested in carrying on the current form of church either. Our young adults are compelled to be engaged with care for the poor and the earth. In that, they engaged with the Spirit of God. 

Our young adults have not disregarded the church. Our young adults are missing the church. Many of our young adults are ready to take serious the expectations that God has for the People of God. And they long to be accompanied by the church in their efforts. 

I was prepared to hear people say; "we really don't care about the church." Instead I heard a resounding question of deep lament: "church, where are you?"

Perhaps that is the question that has resulted in a growing secular society. When the church truly remains aligned to the activity of God's Spirit it will never become irrelevant. 

In May, the Justice Tours will continue in Kitchener, Halifax, Montreal and Ottawa.

Proud of My Church

I was a young pastor ready to embark on one of the most dangerous tasks: helping to lead a congregation through a building process. Building projects are notorious for doing in pastors. Everyone has an opinion. Everyone has a preference. Everyone is an owner. It is a context readymade for conflict.

With underdeveloped wisdom – not yet  baptized with the wounds of heated congregational meetings, I leapt into the context. And what a context: two congregations sold their separate buildings, amalgamated and decided to build a new building together.

I stood behind the wooden pulpit, looked across the congregation and dared to throw out the challenge.

“Building projects are known for producing congregational fighting” I said. “But we will have the opportunity to show the community something different.”

“The building committee will bring us decisions that will need to be made; colour of paint, carpet etc. But this is not about our individual preferences. Some have said that the church is primarily for those who do not belong to it. If so, then perhaps we should be asking our neighbours their preference for colours and textures. How would they like this church to look?”

The congregation rose to the occasion. They toiled together. They displayed the qualities of a community working together for the glory of God.

I was proud of the new building. I was proud of the process. I was proud to be their pastor.

I find myself in a similar situation now. The stakes are higher. Now I look across hundreds of congregations. Each unique and dissimilar and yet every one with a common yearning to display the wondrous love of our holy and passionate God.

This time it is not the construction of a new church building. It is a discernment process of a deeply personal and emotional matter: how to respond to persons attracted to the same sex. For many the stakes seem very high.

This too is a topic notorious for conflict.

But generally speaking, I have seen the Spirit of God at work in our community of faith. I have seen passion expressed: evidence of our love for God and the church. I have seen bold expressions of solidarity: evidence of our love for God and others.

I have seen a people listen to each other’s stories and passions because we know that that listening to one another positions us best to hear the voice of God.

I have seen a people who know that understanding someone is not the same as agreeing with someone, but seeking to understand is the same as seeking to maintain our unity in Christ.

The world is watching the church. It always has. I want the world to see a church that is unashamed to be in disagreement as they discern – because they are confident of God’s righteous grace and holy mercy. A church that knows how to lovingly disagree is a church that is ready to navigate the future.

We are Mennonite Church Canada; congregations representing a wealth of experience, passion and commitment. I am called upon to represent this body of believers. I am called upon to explain this body of believers. I do this with joy. I do this with confidence. I do this with gratitude – for in the midst of emotional disagreement – I see a people committed to extending the reconciling love of Christ.

I am not traumatized by these fearful times. I am grateful for a People of God ready to be church in fearful times. This is my church, and I am proud of my church. 

Taking Notice in 2015

We have begun a New Year and as expected, we've seen the usual barrage of media attention to New Year’s resolutions. People have shared their hopes for personal improvements. Many will strive to make positive changes in their behaviours throughout 2015. Some will recommit themselves to learning and understanding more about God.

My friend helps me to better understand God. As is often the case, it is not by anything that is said. Instead it is a behaviour that seems to exude a God quality. I marvel at the quality. I pray that I might exhibit the same attribute.

Whenever we are with a group of people, my friend notices things unnoticed by others. As conversation develops my friend detects those who are not speaking and things that are unspoken.  As shared laughter bounces off the walls, my friend observes the places of silence. I admire this, and note it.

As people mix and engage one another, I watch my friend gravitate to those not in the conversations; to those on the sidelines. Soon small talk evolves into smiles and the quiet are drawn into the circle. It is a beautiful thing to watch. It is watching God at work through my friend.

I think this is a quality that needs to be exhibited by the People of God. It reflects the character and activity of God. While society spots the obvious, the People of God recognize the undetected. Empowered by the Spirit of God, subtle changes are detected: the groaning of creation, the yearning for acceptance, the readiness for restoration. Such expressions are never ignored by God and should not be discounted by the People of God.

The Spirit of God also draws attention to that which is overlooked by society; sometimes by neglect, sometimes by a discriminating absence of concern. But the Spirit of God does not cooperate with such disregard. For the People of God attuned to the heart of the Creator, the over 1,000 missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in Canada must be noticed. God hears every cry; the missing and murdered Indigenous women’s voices may be silent but cannot be ignored by God`s People.

When a group this large has no voice, the silence becomes a deafening chorus. The church cannot hear everything that is detected by God. Perhaps God is using the family and friends of the missing women to amplify the silence so that the church can hear this throng of indigenous female voices. It would be easier to stay within the confines of society`s selective hearing, but for the People of God such luxury is unacceptable. We are compelled by the acute hearing of God; the One who detects every sparrow falling to the ground.

I am proud of a church that offers a voice into the obvious, but also draws attention to that which is overlooked.

I watch my friend push aside a desire to be in the centre of the conversational energy and instead be directed by the Spirit of God and draw in those on the periphery. I smile with gratitude.

I am glad that I am part of a church that seeks to pay close attention to the yearning of God`s heart. May we always take notice of that which attracts the attention of God and seek to position ourselves in such a way that the Spirit of God may flow through us to the world.

This is my prayer for this New Year.

What to do with Success

It is a common sentiment to wish someone a Happy New Year.

Happiness is often measured by the prosperity that comes from success and achievement.  But people in the church who are deemed successful in the eyes of secular society should be warned.  Such success is not always applauded by church communities.

As a teen I was a fan of Amy Grant, a new budding Christian folk singer. I first saw her perform at a Jesus Festival in Pennsylvania. Sitting on a high stool with only her acoustic guitar and soothing voice, I was captivated. Her honesty and simple love for God drew me in.

Her obvious talent soon made her a successful Christian artist. But then something happened. Her success with ever widening audiences opened doors of new opportunity for her and she started recording with a secular label. Her Christian character and message now had the potential of having an even broader impact.

However, many in the church were not impressed. In fact, her success was interpreted as compromise and abandonment of the faith. The church distanced itself from her. It was a difficult period in her career. As a young adult, I was disappointed by the treatment she received, and remained a quiet fan.

Since then I come to realize that Grant’s experience is not unique. It seems that when people in the church become successful they become suspect. Successful business leaders are presumed to be greedy; artists are assumed proud; and politicians understood as dishonest. It isn’t easy to be successful, especially in the context of the church.

Success does bring an additional strain on faithfulness. Fame will bring temptations of pride. Wealth will bring temptations of luxury and greed. Power will bring temptations of disregard.

Because of these elevated temptations, the church is tempted to shun success and shame those who experience success. I don’t think that is an adequate response for the Church.

Rather than discarding success, the church can be helpful in directing success to its intended purpose. From the call of Abram (Gen. 12) to the recognition of Christ (Jn. 12:32), the intended purpose of success and obedient achievement has been for the blessing of others and the worship of God.  For the Church to abandon successful Christians is to abdicate to destructive consequences. It is precisely the church that should help to bridge the gap between power and disregard; wealth and need; fame and the forgotten.  The church needs to continue mentoring those whose success has been crowned by secular society.

The church should always stand in solidarity with the forgotten, the disadvantaged, and the powerless. But it serves neither those in need, nor those in abundance by rejecting the resource of success.

I wish everyone success. For in God’s economy it will be a blessing for others.