Scratching the Surface

I've spent the last couple of weeks thinking about my "practical benevolence ideas." I really appreciate everyone's encouragement, but the more I think about it, the more I agree with Darin. That stuff isn't really about benevolence - it is about coping with a terribly faulty system. They barely begin to scratch the surface of what really needs to be done.

Do you guys remember in Braveheart, when Robert the Bruce always knew what really needed to be done? Instead of going out and doing it, he always retreated to his father's tower. He let his father continue to dominate the situation, and what's worse, he BLAMED his father for for being his father. Despite great examples of courage, leadership, and despite his own considerable personal abilities, disaster had to occur before he would do what needed to be done.

I feel that way a lot about my relationship with my church. I feel like I keep retreating, retreating, retreating into a situation that isn't going to change. They're going to keep being who they are; they're going to keep trying to spread their kingdom the same way they've always tried to spread it.

I'm afraid to follow Jesus, and it is too easy to keep on retreating. Does that make sense?

in HIS love,
Nick

Practical Benevolence Ideas

For Christians - ministers, leaders, members alike - benevolence is one of the most emotional and challenging issues laid before us by the Lord. The major problems seem to distill to one deep question: how do we harmonize responsible stewardship concerns with the gospel imperative to serve the poor? The following suggestions were made off the top of my head in a ministerial forum, but I would like to share a broader discussion of them here, if possible.

This is the original question I was asked:

Benevolence, however, is an important aspect of the Lord’s work that individually and congregationally we are called to do. May I suggest that you give some positive suggestions as to how churches may do this work more effectively? And could these suggestions as well be practical. After all, some churches may get as many as 2-5 phone calls a day requesting help with bills, etc. Many are on heavily traveled roads and have several show up on their door step on a regular basis. Some churches have almost all local/community people to call, some have mostly “passers-through” who want help along their journey. And every church is limited by both money and man hours. Further, many churches do not allow the preacher to do “church” benevolence, and anything he does is out of his own pocket. IT IS NOT EASY. What suggestions do you have to get the job done effectively?

The following were my responses:

1) Take the church out of the phone book. By all accounts in the discussion, this is the main source of scammers. Remove their ability to contact you. And most faithful Christian travellers in 2008 do not wait until they get somewhere to plot their course.

2) Get out of the building. Again, by all accounts, this is the second main source of scammers - beating a path to the building. Get out of the building, and the scammers will stop coming.

3) Time management at the congregational level- I do not believe that there is a true manpower issue. I believe the issue is willpower. People are unwilling to sacrifice their routine luxuries of time and recreation to serve their community in the name of Christ. Thus the labor falls on the preacher, who put the target on himself when he took the job. The way we currently operate is comfortably wrong.

4) Get involved benevolently in the local community. Stop waiting for the needy to come to you. GO TO THEM. Start small - start right where your church building is. Adopt one block. Adopt one family. Then expand that gradually, and watch the kingdom of God burst forth. If your church building is in an affluent area... MOVE! Go where the poor are. When you know you are deeply involved in benevolence, saying "no" becomes less guilt-ridden. And when your congregation is known for benevolence, people won't have to look you up. Your reputation will guide the needy to you.

5) Intentionality is the key here. What does your congregation INTEND to do about poverty in your community?

What do you think?

in HIS love,
nick

Nickel Creek and the Authority of Exceptions

One of my favorite bands in recent memory is Nickel Creek. Brother, sister, and close friend, the three started playing together as little kids on the bluegrass festival circuit, and hit it pretty big in their late teens and early twenties with a self-titled debut album. For a little while, they had videos on CMT and national exposure as a rising star. Then, because they are musicians and not stars, they've fallen off the popular radar, which is probably how they like it.

Regardless of all that, they have a great song on that debut album called "Reasons Why." The lyrics go something like this:

Where am I today? I wish that I knew

'Cause looking around there's no sign of you

I don't remember one jump or one leap

Just quiet steps away from your lead

I'm holding my heart out but clutching it too

Feeling this short of a love that we once knew

I'm calling this home when it's not even close

Playing the role with nerves left exposed

Standing on a darkened stage, stumbling through the lines

Others have excuses, but I have my reasons why

We get distracted by dreams of our own

But nobody's happy while feeling alone

And knowing how hard it hurts when we fall

We lean another ladder against the wrong wall

And climb high to the highest rung, to shake fists at the sky

While others have excuses, I have my reasons why

It is a tremendously evocative hook for me: "Others have excuses, I have my reasons why." I thought of it last night while reading NT Wright's The Last Word. In the UK, he titled it Scripture and the Authority of God, and I don't know why he decided to go against his usual and endearing pattern on this side of the pond, but that's a whole different blog. He writes, "Those individuals and churches which have 'heard God speaking' through a passage of Scripture, and have acted accordingly, tend to be those where division is most apparent." (The Last Word, pg. 33)

Could this be any more true in our brotherhood? Our identity is based on the belief that our group and no other understands the Bible correctly and worships according to its dictates. That understanding has made us very insular: not only have we often failed to see our own weaknesses, we've believed that the weaknesses of other groups pertained solely to them. We could learn nothing from the failures and weaknesses of the denominations.

"They're denominations, you see. Of course they're messed up, and they don't even know why. They'll give you a bunch of excuses, but if they'd just read their Bibles, they'd get better."

Unity DOES matter, we all say. Others have excuses (why they're not unified); we have our reasons why.

in HIS love,

Nick

PS - Watch Nickel Creek perform this song here!