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It's Not About the Money

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Macro-sin and the DOMA

Quite the title, hunh?!

The Supreme Court put further pressure on churches and Christians recently with its decisions concerning the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).  Its got evangelicals and pastors all riled up and wondering what's coming next from the government (even our church's insurance agent wanted to talk about the issue!).

As important as issue as this is, though, I think it's a mistake for the church to go 'all in' on it.

Too often, we can get all bothered by a micro-sin issue.  Right now, it's homosexuality.  A generation ago it might have been divorce or pre-marital relations or substance abuse.  Need not matter what the specific issue is, but we focus on a micro-sin issue almost at the exclusion of considering the macro-sin perspective: every one of is a sinner.

As Paul says, we've all fallen short.  None of us is perfect.

Say what you want about the Court's decisions, but if we get all riled up at this one particular issue while failing to consider how we're all messed up, how we all need grace, how Jesus came to restore all of us, then we'll put further distance between us and the folks Jesus came for.

Bad Marketing

Seth Godin has some interesting comments on bad marketing here.

I get what he's saying- a new ministry came to town recently and did door to door fliers advertising a week's worth of kick off events in local parks on our side of town.  Except the name of one of the parks was misspelled.  Oops.  A big deal?  No.  Will good things still happen with this ministry?  Of course.  But I admit, upon seeing the flier, my first thought was the misspelled name.

I've also been guilty of what he's saying.  When we were designing Hillcrest's Powerhouse Tutoring Center, my first name was the "Whittier Neighborhood Tutoring Center".  Wow- real creative, hunh?!

Just because everyone can do marketing doesn't mean everyone should.

Donald Miller on the Zimmerman/Martin Case

Some very helpful thoughts on this story here

My One Social Media Rule

If you don't want people to see it, read it, comment on it, or know about it, then don't post it, upload it, send it, tweet it.  It's that simple.

Every once in awhile some well-meaning person on Facebook will post something about privacy and clicking and unclicking things so that their stuff is only seen by their friends and not their friends' friends.  I am not sure if these things work or not.  I am sure these things are done with the best of intentions.

But if you put it on the internet, even in secure and private places, then it's still on the internet.

If the possibility of everyone seeing something you post on Facebook causes you to pause (even though you've checked all the right settings), then I think you know what (not) to do.  

Church and a Lemonade Stand

My son and I were playing in the front yard when we heard a faint voice a couple houses down- "lemonade for sale".  Now, I am all for kids and the entrepreneurial lessons offered with the classic lemonade stand.  My own kids have done it and they area a blast.  But a couple things struck me about this stand:

• There was no signage- you know, the lemonade costs $.25 or something like that.
• The stand was blocked by cars- there's some construction on our street so there's cars parked everywhere.  I am sure this girl's folks didn't let her go to the corner (much better location), but no one could tell she had a lemonade stand because it was hidden
• One sales technique- the only sales technique the girl employed was her faint voice- and I mean faint.  If you wanted lemonade from her, you had to have heard her voice and then work to locate her stand.

I think there's parallels between this stand and how we do church.  Often times, church can turn into an enterprise that seeks to serve those who already belong.  So we don't worry about signage, we don't worry about communication, we don't worry about varying our approach, because everyone who needs to know already knows.  We're communicating Jesus like this lemonade stand.  

If you hear us and can see us, then you can come to us, otherwise, we're good.

Trying a couple of different- and rather easy- things though would have made a huge difference in this girl's ability to sell lemonade.  

There's a parallel there too for churches.  

Garbage Wars

Sioux Falls is in the midst of a garbage war.  Unlike some other towns/cities, Sioux Falls has several private garbage providers.  The result is lots of competition for your garbage service.  This new company coming into town has generated lots of attention (and by saying lots, I realize that it's perhaps a slow news cycle here!).  People are posting on Facebook about it.  Neighbors are talking about it.  Tarina even talked with one of the salesmen and thwarted his efforts.  And like the story cites, my garbage provider has already sent me two letters summarizing the new provider's tactics and stating why I am better off staying with them.

No worries- I'm very happy with my service, the price is right, and the company is local and family-owned.

But if only there was a way for faster communication than a letter, which by the time customers receive it, might have already made the switch?!    

At first glance, an email distribution list or a Facebook page for a garbage company might seen to be a bit moronic.  What's a garbage company going to post on their Facebook page- recycling specials?  Pictures of their new truck?

But with the arrival of a new competitor, if it warranted two separate communications through the mail, and if the new competitor has already picked off hundreds if not thousands of customers, then perhaps a more timely communication mode was needed.

Sermon Leftovers: The Masses Leave Jesus

 Jesus is at the top of his popularity level.  He’s teaching with authority, he’s healing the sick, bringing dead people back to life, challenging the religious authorities- he’s wildly popular.  But then he begins to have some strange talks- things like people having to eat his flesh and drink his blood- pointing to his death on the cross- as essential to following him and it gets too hard to follow Jesus.  It gets too difficult to keep following this guy.  

Sure, all of the miracles and easy teachings are great- but when Jesus begins to make me feel uncomfortable, when he begins to ask something of me, when he begins to challenge me- well then, that’s where I get off.  I’d rather maintain my status quo then risk looking like some sort of Jesus freak.

You see, there’s always choice involved with following Jesus.  We can choose to leave, to stop following, to say it’s too difficult to do good in the name of Jesus, or we can be like Peter and say ‘Lord, to whom would we go?.  You have the words that give eternal life’.  We have found the very meaning to life in you so why would we go elsewhere?

Sermon Leftovers: Jesus Feeds the Masses

Here’s what I want to focus on this morning- the disciples approach this problem with an outsourcing mindset.  There’s a lot of people here, they are getting hungry, heck the disciples themselves probably could use a bite, so they come to Jesus with their plan- look, Jesus, it’s getting late.  The restaurants are going to be closing soon, so unless you want a mutiny on your hands, I suggest you wrap up your little talk, as your conference promotional material didn’t say anything about feeding these folks. 

And what does Jesus say- you give them something to eat.  You feed them!

I am fairly certain my response would have been the same as the disciples’- ah, with what?!  We’d have to work form months just to afford a spread for this crowd.  You must be joking!

We know the rest of the story- Jesus finds a boy with some bread and some fish, he gives thanks, and everyone is fed- with leftovers- off of this meager lunch.  It is one of the only miracles outside of the resurrection that is written in each of the four gospels.  But I wonder how many times we approach life with the scarcity mindset that the disciples display in this story.  God calls us to do something or serve someone- he invites us to be a part of blessing others, to be salt and light, and instead of receiving the invitation, we make up excuses.  We say, you must be joking.  And focus on all of the reasons why we are not qualified to help.  We don’t have the right education, the right experience, the right words to say, the right qualifications, the right family situation, the right work schedule, and we focus on what we don’t have- scarcity thinking- instead of what we do have to offer- or abundance thinking.  The boy who eventually comes forward with the fish and the bread- know what he doesn’t say- he doesn’t say, well all I have is this bread and fish, or I only have this fish and bread but it’s going to take a whole lot more to feed this crowd, or I have this but there’s no way it’s going to work.  No, he’s faithful with what he has and lets God worry about the results.  Who can ask for more than that?

Sermon Leftovers: Salt and Light

Jesus uses two very common images to outline what his kingdom of blessing looks like: salt and light.  In the ancient world, salt had two primary purposes.  The first purpose would have been similar to what we use salt for- flavor.  But the more overarching purpose would have been as a preservative.  Remember, there’s no refrigeration, no ice boxes, no coolers, so you used a lot of salt to in order to keep things fresh and preserved.

I think there’s a couple things to think about in relationship to being salt and light and how that seeks to be a blessing to others.  The first concerns what it means to be salt in today’s world.  A couple weeks ago, Pastor Doug talked about your ministry, your calling, and gave people the opportunity to sign up and explore what it might look like to use their gifts and talents within the church.  And that is certainly an important opportunity for each of us to consider.  But you know what else we need?  We need people to be salt in the places where they already are.  We need teachers and principals who follow Jesus, doctors and nurses who follow Jesus, business owners and employees who follow Jesus, artists and musicians who follow Jesus.  As important as it is for you and I to discover how we can minister within the church, it is just as important for you and I to figure out how to live lives for Christ through our work.

The second concerns what Jesus says in verse 16- in the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your father in heaven.  This is one of my favorite scriptures throughout the bible.  We have it painted on the outside of the worship center as you come in.  It’s a key text for Hillcrest and one that’s motivated what we’ve done on these walls and other service initiatives.  But I want to tell you something- it can be cool these days to serve.  It can be popular these days to participate in charitable work.  There’s no monopoly on serving opportunities or opportunities to do good in our world.  This is why the last part of verse 16 is so key- so that people will praise our Father in heaven.  If we follow Jesus, at some point we ought to be able to explain that that is why we are serving.  It’s more than just being a good person or doing the right thing.  We are motivated to do good because of what God has done for us, and we want to make sure he gets the credit- not us.

Sermon Leftovers: Walking on Water

Peter often gets a hard time in this event.  If you follow the gospel- and as we continue through the story- you’ll get the idea that Peter is pretty hot-headed, has a temper, pretty quick on the trigger- that kind of thing.  At first glance then, when you see him getting out of the boat, we’re tempted to think, well there goes Peter again- being all rash and just jumping into the lake as soon as he can.  You get the sense that the Peter is being the stupid one, the one who lacks faith- while the other disciples are being more prudent and responsible by staying in the boat.

But you know what question the first century audience hearing this story would be asking- how come the other 11 disciples stayed in the boat?  Seriously.  Jesus is a rabbi- a Jewish teacher.  And in this culture, if you were fortunate enough to be selected by a rabbi for further education, then it was expected you would do whatever the rabbi did.  So when Peter sees Jesus walking on the water, he isn’t thinking ‘oh, here’s my chance to separate myself from the pack, make a name for myself, etc’.  No, he’s thinking, ‘well if my rabbi can walk on water, then I can too’.  It’s the other 11 who would have looked like fools, not Peter.  

And here’s the other thing- Peter actually walked on water.  Yes, for only a few steps, but that’s a few more steps than you or I have been able to accomplish- right?  I mean, the last time I tried to walk on water, it didn’t go so well.  So while Peter does fall, he still walked on water!  We’ve been talking this morning about being a blessing to others, about being a Good Samaritan to others, and all it really takes is a couple of steps out of the boat.  When you mentor a child, help a child read, serve at the Powerhouse, pack a backpack, get involved with foster care/adoption, or any one of the limitless ways you can physically live out the gospel, you’re taking a step out of the boat.  You’re doing what your rabbi wants you to do.

Sermon Leftovers: Serving Two Masters

One of the things that we often think is in the bible is “money is the root of all evil”.  That’s actually not in the bible.  What is in the bible- in Paul’s letter to Timothy- is “the love of money is the root of all evil”.  Throughout this Story series, we’ve talked about idols, and the idea of an idol being anything that we place a greater amount of importance on than our faith in Jesus.  For many of us in America- this idol is money.  For some of us, it might be physical money in terms of the money we have in the bank or in retirement.  For others of us, it might be the stuff that money allows us to buy- homes, cars, toys, gadgets, etc.  And for others of us, it might be the jobs or education that allows us the jobs that allows us the money or the stuff.  Really, these are just different symptoms to the same problem of trying to serve money.

Jesus is pretty clear- we cannot serve two masters.  If we claim to follow Christ, we will not be able to follow money.  And if we follow money, it will be impossible to follow Christ.  This doesn’t mean money is bad- that is not what I am saying- there’s plenty of examples in our world where followers of Jesus do well with money but still manage for it not to become their god. 

But I think there are some of us  who spend so much energy trying to please both- both Jesus and money, both Jesus and our job, both Jesus and out lifestyle we feel we need to maintain to fit in, both Jesus and our education- that this trying to please two masters has left us pretty worn out.  Tired.  Empty.

Sermon Leftovers: Jairus' Daughter

There is incredible risk in living out the kind of gospel Jesus depicts in these stories.  There is an incredible risk in being like the farmer in the first story and simply telling another person about Jesus.  There is incredible risk in being like the prodigal son in the second story and admitting you were a fool and begging your father for forgiveness.  Not only that, there’s incredible risk for the father in that story- to not only accept his son back, but to throw a party and restore him back to where he was.  And with this story of Jairus’ daughter, there’s incredible risk involved for Jesus, to dismiss the Jewish laws and customs and instead seek out the girl and bring her back to life.

This morning, you may feel like the prodigal son.  You may feel like the seed that’s been tossed on the pavement or amongst the thorns.  I know it can sound cliché, but God is for you.  God wants you to return to Him.  He sent Jesus into this world- as John writes- not to condemn people, but to save them.  If you’ve never made the decision to follow Jesus with your life, I encourage you to take a risk and decide to follow Jesus.

Some others of us here this morning we might be feeling like, you know, we’re good with Jesus.  We’ve made that decision.  And yet, God is calling each of us here to be like the farmer in the first story, to be like the father in the second story, and to be like Jairus in the last story- to be the kinds of people who bring the good news to others.  I know it’s risky and I know it can be scary.  I feel those exact same emotions as well.  And when Jesus touches Jarius’ dead daughter, he risked a lot.  And the people God might be calling you to share his good news with- it might be risky.  Family might think you’re crazy.  Coworkers might chuckle or talk about you behind your back.  Your neighbors might put up a for sale sign in their yard. 

There’s always risk in telling others about Jesus.  And yet if we believe this is the way to live life- if we believe that Jesus is who Jesus said he was- is it really that big of a risk?

The Ones You Didn't Hear

Had some fun this past Sunday with the message but also made me realize the ones I didn't get to teach on would make for some good blog leftovers!  So enjoy!

Thoughts on the prodigal son:

Amazing, isn’t it?  The Father could have said “you are dead to me as I was to you” and disowned him.  He could have punished him and made him work his way back to his good graces.  But instead the father does the imaginable- he runs to greet the son!  He puts his finest robe on him, bestows high symbols of honor on him by giving him a ring and a robe, and kills the choicest animal to start off a party of all parties!  There’s no one in the audience hearing Jesus tell this story who would have expected this outcome.  No one.  To accept back the son was a surprise in and of itself, but to see the father go all out in his love and acceptance would truly have been scandalous.  Unexpected and undeserved.

And yet, that is exactly how God’s love works- it is scandalous, it is unexpected, and it is underserved.  In God’s eyes, it matters not what we have done- what matters is that we come back.  When you are searching for something or someone that is lost, you do not care about the reason it is lost.  You simply care about finding it.  For those of us here this morning who perhaps would say that you are not close to God, I want to assure you it does not matter what you have done, it does not matter why you decided to walk away from God.  God could give a rip about the reasons you’ve turned away.  What matters most is that he wants you to come back, and if you do, what you’ll discover is celebration- not condemnation.

Pastor Doug's Blog

Pastor Doug is blogging weekly here

June's Top Posts

There were fewer posts in June, but here were the top ones:

• Healthy Church Shopping
• If It's Too Good To Be True
• It's Not About the Nail

Seth Godin on Money

Been away from the blog for awhile, but felt this was a good one to come back with.