Insiders vs. Outsiders

This is a follow-up to my sermon, Embracing the Outsider, from January 3. If you haven’t listened to it, please do so before reading on.

Listen here or subscribe to the Epiphany Station podcast.

The Secret of the Ugly Christmas Tree

[The following is an excerpt from a message I've given several times. It is one of my favorite sermons.]

I’m kind of a scrooge. I don’t like all the commercial aspects of Christmas. I don’t like all the presents (though I still gratefully receive them) and the cookies and candies (although I still gladly indulge in them). I’m not really into all the Christmas-y decorations and stuff.

In fact, this is how bad it is. The people we bought our house from left lights strewn on the fence and in the shrubs. All I have to do is plug them in. But it just doesn’t seem worth the effort.

If it were just up to me, we wouldn’t even have a Christmas tree. I just don’t care. I know, I know. But I do have a wife and kids, so it’s not up to me. But I do insist that if we are going to get a Christmas tree that it be an ugly one. You know, a sort of “Charlie Brown tree.”The first year we decided to do this, we went to the tree lot and I asked the attendant for the ugliest Christmas tree they had.

“The ugliest?” he attempted to clarify, in obvious disbelief.

“Yep,” I replied. “Give me the ugliest tree you have.”

“Huh. Nobody’s ever asked that before,” he responded, still trying to make sense of the situation.

But as he and I were still talking, his associate accepted the challenge and set out in search of my tree. Shortly thereafter, he came back with two scraggly looking trees.

“How ‘bout one of these?” he asked.

Now these two trees weren’t pretty, but they weren’t ugly. “That’s all you got?” I asked back. “You’ve gotta have something uglier than that.”

The two men looked at each other as if they were sharing a long-kept secret. Then the man I had been talking to motioned with his head to the other and he quickly took off as on a mission.

He came back quickly with the ugliest, scraggliest, most-pathetic excuse for a tree I’d ever seen. It was about four feet tall with only five or six almost-bare branches.

“That’s what I’m talking about!” I exclaimed. “How much?”

“Ten dollars,” the associate responded.

“Ten dollars?!” I echoed back, showing my displeasure with the price. “I’ll give you five.”

The two men looked at each other the way people do when they know they’ve been outwitted by a superior opponent. But the smirks on their faces were replaced when the associate cursed in disgust while the other laughed in response.

“What?” I asked, not understanding the hidden situation.

Then the man who had retrieved the prize responded, “I bet him $10 we wouldn’t sell this thing. You’re paying me five, but now I owe him ten.”

That was the beginning of our ugly Christmas tree tradition thirteen years ago.

So why, you ask, do I insist on shattering the Christmas dreams of my children by getting a scraggly, ugly, throw-away weed that nobody else wants?

Satan’s Christmas?

Ah… Halloween. The thorn in the side of every good-willed Christian parent. To celebrate or not? Participate in the prevailing culture or a Christian alternative equivalent? Let your kids dress up? What costumes are appropriate and which are not? Those are the questions Christian parents must wrestle with every year. (Not to mention how to deal with all the candy!).
Different parents (all of them good-intentioned Christians who want to do the right thing) answer these questions in different ways – sometimes the same parents answer differently each year. Some parents don’t see any problem at all with their kids dressing up and going door-to-door begging for candy while other parents see Halloween as “Satan’s Christmas” and don’t want their kids having anything to do with it at all. Still others walk the middle ground, either seeing it as a necessary and unavoidable evil that negotiates reluctant participation, or a theoretically fun holiday that’s okay as long as you celebrate at a church and call it “Hallelujah,” “Harvest,” or some other non-Halloweeny name.

Honestly, we’ve come down on different sides of the issue at different times. But we’ve never attempted to tell anyone else what they should or should not do for Halloween. What may be a sin for one family because of their conscience may be completely free another family. Each family should seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit on this matter and talk about all issues Halloween as a family.

Here’s what we’ve decided for ourselves for this year.

• We are NOT going to spend the evening in church. Our church is not having an event and we are not as a family going to any other church event. I am not necessarily against this idea. We have gone to church events in the past and have had a blast. Frankly, they are the best bang for your buck. Lots of candy in a short amount of time and warm inside.
• We are going to a community event instead. Here I see the same positives as a church event PLUS we are out in the community meeting people who are NOT in church. And frankly, I don’t see the difference. If two parties both have costumes, games and candy, one is not “sacred” just because it is held at a church while the other “secular” just because it is not. At times like this, I imagine Jesus shunning the church parties in favor of partying with “tax collectors and sinners” and getting a lot of flack about it from religious people.
• We are going to go trick-or-treating on our block and pass out candy at our house. This is simply strategic. We are new to the community and still don’t know a lot of people in our neighborhood. But every time I do meet somebody, they know who I am (i.e. pastor). I see this as a great opportunity to meet people AND score some more candy.

That’s what our family is doing today. How about yours? How did you decide? Do you have certain criteria you use to evaluate and/or parameters you operate within? I’d be interested in hearing from you.

Have a safe and happy Halloween/Harvest/Hallelujah day!

100 Reasons Why Epiphany Station should Grow

I took the challenge from Nelson Searcy to make a list of 100 reasons why our church should grow. The premise is that if you know the “why,” any “how” is possible. I thought there was no way I could come up 100 reasons – 20 maybe – but once I got going, I couldn’t stop.

By the powers vested in me…

Recent events have me questioning marriage. No, not my own marriage. Really it’s the marriage of marriage that has me questioning – that is, the marriage between state and church in American marriages.

In America, couples desiring to get married have to obtain a marriage license from the state. They then have to be married by a “state-approved” officiant who signs the marriage license and sends it into the state for their official records. Graciously, for a fee, the state has approved me as a minister of Jesus Christ to perform marriage ceremonies on their behalf. And because the state is so concerned about the institution of marriage, in their benevolence, they also allow select couples to be married, for an even larger fee.

That’s right, I said “select couples.” No, this is not about gay marriage (though that will come in to play later). You see, for some reason, I never questioned this happy marriage between church and state… That is, until the couple I’ve been counseling and preparing to marry was denied (delayed, really… so far) a license to marry by the state.

That’s right, a male-female couple that has expressed their desire to marry before God, family and friends has been told, “sorry, no can-do” by the state. And me, a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, who has been counseling this couple and believes they are ready to be united in holy matrimony, is somehow left without authority in this relationship.

That’s it. I want a divorce.

Teach us to Pray

“Lord, teach us to pray…” (Luke 11:2)

Confession: I have really been struggling with prayer lately. I know prayer is important – for my own spirituality, my family, and our church. But for some reason, it’s just a struggle right now. I’ve really been convicted lately that we need to be a church of prayer – that we are just too deep into the battle to be as nonchalant about prayer as we are. But I know that must start with me. If we are to be a praying church, I must first be a praying pastor.

And so I am praying, “Lord, teach me to pray!”

This request of the disciples strikes me. They don’t ask Jesus, as is often implied, to teach them how to pray… or where or when. But simply to pray. In other words, “Lord, teach us to be praying people.” “Teach us about the importance of prayer.” “Teach us to be utterly dependent on God in prayer.”

And so Jesus teaches them by praying a prayer that Christians have recited religiously for 2,000 years. Now, I’m all for praying what has become known as “the Lord’s Prayer” – I pray it myself almost every day. But we must remember that this prayer is not a lesson in liturgy, but, essentially, an answer to the question: “Why should we pray?”

1. Because God is our Father and He wants us to have a parent-child relationship of utter dependence on Him (“Our Father…”).

2. Because God is holy – completely set apart from all things in heaven and on earth – and dependence on Him in prayer keeps this truth in order (“may your name be kept holy”).

3. Because prayer brings God’s kingdom to reign here on earth (“May your kingdom come soon.”).

4. Because prayer reminds us who’s in charge (“May your will be done…”).

5. Because God is our Father, He is our Provider (“Give us this day our daily bread.”).

6. Because in seeking God’s holiness, we are made acutely aware of both our need for forgiveness and our need to forgive others with the same grace (“Forgive us our sins as we have forgiven those who sin against us.”).

7. Because God is our Father, He is our Protector. Every day Satan tries to derail us with temptations and our Father is the only one who can deliver us (“Don’t let us yield to temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”).

8. Because God is all-powerful and His kingdom reigns forever in glory (“Yours is the kingdom, power and glory…”).

Now to stop writing about prayer and become a person of prayer.

Lord, teach me to pray.

Why Christians should watch “Religulous”

Last night, Heidi and I watched Bill Maher’s scathing documentary on religion, Religulous. Maher travels around the globe interviewing mostly religious extremists and bombarding them with questions meant to poke fun at the ridiculousness of their beliefs. The documentary is irreverent, foul, sacrilegious and blasphemous. And here are some reasons Christians should watch it.

1. Maher asks some good questions that many deep-thinking seekers are asking. Like, “Why is faith good?” “Why doesn’t an all-powerful God speak to us directly?” “How can otherwise rational people believe that a snake talked and a man got swallowed by a whale?” “Why is a literal 6-day/young earth understanding important?” “Why is homosexuality such a huge issue for Christians when Jesus never said anything about it?” Many of his questions are sarcastic baiting used to get a good chuckle, but some are thought-provoking inquiries that deserve discussion.

2. The Bible tells us that we should be ready with an answer when skeptics ask (1 Peter 3:15-16). Imagine yourself sitting with Maher. How would you answer his questions? Remember, this is not to be done in a combative argumentative manner, but with gentleness and respect.

3. Granted, the footage is shot and edited to produce the desired effect, but some things even I have to admit are just plain ridiculous. It is good to be able to turn the looking glass on ourselves and see from an outside perspective and be able to either laugh or cry at our own behavior.

4. Our friends, neighbors, family and co-workers may watch and be influenced by it. They will have questions or comments that could lead to a great opportunity to dialogue about your faith.

5. Pray for Bill Maher and Larry Charles (the director from “Seinfeld” fame) and your skeptical friends. The Bible tells us that Satan has blinded the minds of unbelievers (2 Corinthians 4:4). From my believing perspective, this is readily apparent in the documentary. No amount of reasonable debate will ever persuade an unbelieving skeptic as long as they have blinders on. Prayer is the most important element in any one’s conversion.

6. It is good to ask questions of ourselves. We shouldn’t shy away from asking ourselves difficult questions and settling for trite Sunday School answers. A healthy dose of doubt is necessary for belief or it wouldn’t be faith.

Even though there is coarse language, a brief scene of nudity and lots of irreverent stuff that will probably make you angry, I suggest getting together with Christian friends and watching this documentary and then asking one another, “How would you answer that question?” “What is the truth in this documentary?” “How do we need to grow in our own knowledge and understanding of our beliefs?”

The next step would then be to watch it with some non-believing friends with the intent of having a gentle and respectful discussion afterwards. In one night, you may get years of insight into your friend’s worldview and how you can more effectively dialogue in the future.

We live in an irreverent, foul world that must be engaged faithfully and thoughtfully.

Self-Sustainability

I love being a pastor. It is an awesome calling that I don’t take lightly. It can be quite a rush. Unfortunately, it can also be quite a drain. Emotional highs and lows come with the territory. Because of this, the most important person a pastor needs to lead is himself (or herself) – to be able to guide his spirit, emotions, body and mind down the ministry rollercoaster.

About a year and a half ago when I was inbetween pastorates, I went on a solitude retreat and did a lot of introspection about what I need to have a successful, balanced and sustainable life and ministry. I came up with the following list.

The Enemy Among Us

I recently had a great time traveling to other churches and sharing about what God is doing in Thief River Falls and Northwest Minnesota. I shared encouragement from the Bible and from our experience about the hard work that has been accomplished by faith, our labor that has been prompted by love, and endurance inspired by our hope in Jesus Christ (1 Thessalonians 1:3). I shared about how God is blessing our church – really a movement of churches in northern MN – and how the Holy Spirit is moving among us in a mighty way (but greater things are still to come!).

Dialogue with a Friend – part 3

FRIEND:

You are right.  We could get into a long discussion and neither of us probably has the time or energy for that.      Thanks for your note though. I know it took some time to write. And me being me I can’t help but reply at least a little more (and you might do the same, but honestly, if you don’t feel like it I will totally understand, as eventually one of us will just say, well, all right then, it is what it is).

What you said about possibly not needing to profess the name of Christ (“in this lifetime”? one might after he dies?) is interesting.  I remember DH saying something like this in college and it was quite a revelation to me at the time.  Now I believe that, and more.  At the time I thought it was an odd thing to say and I thought he was a little wacko liberal in that aspect. Ha.

Your “but I wouldn’t want to take my chances” comment is a bit bothersome.  My dad said the same thing during our talk!  He even called it “Jesus insurance.”  If people believe in God because they are afraid of him, or of the consequence of not believing, what kind of God is that?  What kind of mentality is that? I know you are not in support of people believing in God to escape hell, but rather to embrace love. Still, it seems to be built into Christianity that people still feel this fear about what might happen to them if they have “chosen poorly.” Newsflash: there is no hell. [“How do you know? What if you are wrong?” I don’t think I am. The God I know won’t send his children to eternal damnation. It is a construct of later Christianity, drawing from Dante, to have this eternal hotbed of flames and torment. Hell in the Bible was referring to a place. I’m sure you know much more than I do about Gehenna].

You said: “Ultimately, everything we know in this world we believe on faith”

This is kind of a cop out.  Surely you cannot compare believing in the fact that the earth goes around the sun to believing in the idea that a human could be born of a virgin?  One is documented, studied, something that happens every day (ok it takes a year for a full trip) and the other is a mystical event that does not occur in reality.  You can believe that it takes faith to believe in both things, but you have to admit the degree of faith varies immensely. And you are surely right – to believe the stories in the Bible you are certainly taking leaps of faith. I agree with you on that.

No I’m not strictly a man of science these days, but a little perspective to all the naiveté of my youth has served me well.  And on that note, it’s a little presumptuous of you to write my autobiography for me, ha. [what about you? Is your more devout state trying to make up for mistakes of your youth?]   I am not merely reacting to the way I was raised, but, as I explained to my parents, I am actually learning more than I was previously afforded to know.  That is, I grew up with a “the Bible says it, God says it, that’s good enough for me” sort of worldview.  How limiting is that?   Is that any way to live? How does that respect the brain God gave us?  What if the Bible contains many things that are wrong? What if other books contain the truth about God? What if the truth is out there in the world to ascertain and experience?

If people search and eventually come back to Christ, then they have good reasons for doing so.  My Dad thinks I may yet come back.  I am happy to let him believe that, but I am not wildly swinging to some opposite extreme to react to the way I was raised.  Rather, I have been in a slow, controlled, rational learning process, discovering the truth about a lot of misleading things I was raised believing (ex: many of the stories in the Bible that are the most fantastical did not literally happen (creation story, garden of Eden, flood, parting the red sea, etc)).

It has been good to feel like I am kind of stepping out of this cramped box into a bigger world where there are infinitely more possibilities, more love and tolerance, and much less fear. Oh, and far fewer “others” as well.

But I am pleased to allow you and other Christians the faith that you enjoy. I expect the same sort of tolerance in return. I’m not saying you personally are intolerant, but it is built into the religion that if you don’t subscribe to that view, you are wrong. And I’ve moved away from that, to a land that flows freely with beer, free thought, tolerance, and hand rolled cigarettes!