Number Phobia

Jesus tells the story of a shepherd who has 100 sheep.  One of them goes missing, and the shepherd leaves the 99 to find the one.  That's how important the one is to the Good Shepherd.   It's a very good parable about how much God loves each one of us.  How great an effort the Good Shepherd will go to bring into the flock each and everyone of us!

I am making this point intentionally, so that no one accuse me of taking the scripture out of context.  However, there is another element to this story, and that one is all about the number. 

The shepherd knows how many sheep he has.  He knows when one of the sheep is missing.  I suspect if the story were allowed to develop, the shepherd would record all of the new sheep that were born into the flock, all of the new sheep purchased to improve the quality of the flock.  The shepherd would know because the sheep are his responsibility.  Healthy sheep are important too, no doubt, but knowing how many you have it vital.  A good shepherd knows how many sheep they can successfully raise on their land.  They carefully breed sheep to have the lambs born in specific seasons.  There is one male to so many females.  This is all about the numbers.

The truth of the matter is numbers tell our stories.   While our stories are always much more than numbers, but you can't leave the numbers out and tell the story.  It is impossible to know if you are growing or shrinking without numbers, you can't possibly know if you are making money, or losing it without numbers, and if you don't know what you had when you started, you have no idea if you have lost any.  The numbers matter.

So why does the church hate to count?  Why do more people than you can possibly imagine spend countless hours developing strategies that keep us from counting who comes to worship, who professes their faith, how churches spend their money?  What are we afraid of, for goodness sake?!

Perhaps we are afraid we will be guilty of being a poor steward of the resources we have been given, like the man with the talents who buried them in the yard.  Perhaps we are afraid we will discover that we failed to develop our own relationship with God, or encouraged others to do so.  Maybe we will find we are ineffective, and not even sure we believe a relationship with God is the core of our being.  Some of us might even discover we no longer believe.  Those are frightful answers, but if they are even partially true, don't you think its long past time that we deal with them?

Running away from numbers will not save us from anything.  They don't set our value, they frame the story we are living.  They tell us where we are, where we were, and what the immediate future is shaping up to be.  Since God holds all we are, all we have, and all we need, the numbers can't hurt us, they only help us identify where God is working so we can get on board.

The shepherd must have times when the numbers aren't good.  He or she has too many sheep, or too few, they are making lots of lambs or none, some have gone missing.   I don't think ignoring the numbers improves them,  In fact, on the basis of my experience and current weight, I can testify that ignoring the scale does not make you the slightest bit thinner.  Paying more attention might have made the remedial action much easier to endure.

If we spent less time fighting about counting, and more time prayerfully considering what the numbers might be telling us, we might even discover God is doing a new thing.  We may not be able to do it the way we have always done it, but I believe with all my heart this dance is far from over.  I see the energy and the passion building, there are new players changing the game and there is more interest and response than ever in my life time.  People are listening, they are responding to mission, the numbers of adult professions of faith are growing.  Maybe the numbers might even tell us a story worth sharing.

I am counting on it!

Beyond Offended

I have been known to be offended.  Sometimes, in that need I have to be counter cultural, I become offended with people who are offended by me.  Being offended has become a God given right.  If I had a nickle for every time someone suggested I be more diplomatic in sharing a concept, I would be at least $2 richer.  We must be politically correct, we should not say anything that would offend others, and if we have been offended we are entitled to notify the newspaper, police department and all of our friends on facebook and twitter.  We put our hands on the proverbial hips and we announce we have been offended, and the traffic halts and there is such a loud corporate gasp that for just a split second all time stands still.  To cause someone to be offended is a sin greater than all other sin combined.  Many a church meeting has been interrupted and derailed because some person offended some other person.

This week the Upper Room posted this picture to their facebook status.   I usually like their stuff, so I always peek to see what they have to say on any given day.  Only Rene Descartes and the Upper Room offended me greatly with this post.  Whenever anyone has offended me, I try to raise my soul so high that the offense cannot reach it.   

As I try to tell the truth as often as I can, except with regards to my age and my weight, I will confess that this bothered me.  Rene Descartes got right under my skin and try as I might, this little image was stuck in my brain.  Darn it, what do you suppose the Holy Spirit might be saying to me about the right to be offended? 

I am working up a sermon on relational ministry, so I am up to my eyebrows in scripture concerning what Jesus, Paul, Matthew,  Luke, Peter and so many others had to say about doing life together.  I am finding a lot about going the extra mile, sacrificing for others, giving thanks in all things, taking on the mind of Christ, considering it all joy, supporting each other, focusing on the good, abiding in Jesus always, pouring out, being a servant to all, waiting with expectation for the redemption that is coming.  I have found nothing yet that says, be easily offended, demand others honor your desires and sensitivities, insist on your own way, and fight until you are treated in the manner in which you wish to become accustomed.  I haven't given up, but I am beginning to believe Rene and the Holy Spirit are calling me to more.

What would life be like if my spirit could soar so high that offense didn't stick to me?  How much yuck, bad feelings and disappointment would I avoid if it all went by without having any impact at all?  Could there be freedom in avoiding all of that stuff that I dislike so very much in surrendering my right to be offended?

I am almost sold on the idea, but the practical application I see as being challenging.  I have years of experience after all in keeping score, taking offense and getting the satisfaction of having an apology or, if we are really telling the truth, making others pay.  Can I honestly live into a place where offense isn't even a possibility in my faith walk?  I don't know, but I hope so.   I have decided I will take Rene's prayer to be my own.  I want to reach that glorious place that Paul assures me exists: to learn to be content in all seasons, even seasons where others are offensive.  If I can convince my heart that my ego is a bad directional indicator, I see light on the horizon.

 This moving on to perfection is a full time job.  My only hope is to wait on the Lord and to soar on wings like eagles.  I just might learn to like soaring, it looks like fun from where I am standing.

Church: This is not who we are

Everyone has an opinion.  They are a dime a dozen and most people have no problem giving any number of them away.  You can find an opinion on any topic you can think of, and some no one ever has.  While opinions are fascinating, and have the unique gift of helping others learn who we are, they serve no purpose in bringing unity to a community.

The very nature of an opinion divides us from others.  It may help a group of people who share the same opinion find us, and stand around us so we feel affirmed, but they separate us from everyone else.  Has any one noticed lately how good we are a separation?   Wouldn't it be a wonderful thing if instead of piling on, the Church became the great connector?

Honestly, taking sides is NOT the purpose of the Church.  I know, it has been the function of the church, but it is not the purpose of the Church.  Church is not a gathering place for like minded people to pat one another on the back and feel good about being like minded.  Yes, I am aware that in many places that is how church is being done.  I understand why that is a natural resting place when we have the option of forgetting the Gospel and settle for a group of people, just like me.  Only, we don't.

We are a people who serve as light bearers to the world we live in.  We have been gifted and called to serve as the hands and feet of Christ to the people we encounter everyday, our neighbors.  We don't wait for the politicians, the legal system, or the poll data, we share the unconditional love of Christ to the best of our ability every day.  Perhaps I said that wrong, we are called to do so.  There are places where they are, but many have forgotten that this is part of the covenant we were adopted into.

God loves us to much that He doesn't withhold anything to restore a relationship with us, not even Jesus.  Jesus lived, died and was resurrected to give us the pathway that leads to this journey, not just for eternity, but for living into this divine, incarnate relationship every day.  Our response to living this relationship leads us to connect with our world to offer the same relationship to everyone we meet.  Even those with opinions that make no sense to us. 

I will confess right now that this relationship with God, expressed in the Trinity,(God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit) is so core to my being that without it I would be a shell of a person.  I know what it has done for me in so many ways I cannot even remember then all.  How could I not want that for every person God sends my way?  How could the Church not?  Even if we don't have the same opinion, freedom is so intoxicating who wouldn't want to offer it to everyone?!  Can I go even farther and say, if we don't want to do so, do you suppose we don't truly have the relationship we are claiming?  Maybe we aren't free ourselves, and how did that ever happen?

It's beyond time Church.  Please wake up and step into the glorious Body of Christ, where we certainly love and support one another, and we eagerly hope to welcome more and more 'parts' so that we get to see God's Kingdom come, and God's will be done.  Will it be more challenging?  You bet it will!  How much is the joy of the Kingdom worth?