Merry Christmas

The Christmas Season is a wonderful time to contemplate and reflect on God's ultimate act of outreach: the incarnation. Christmas is a time when we celebrate God's act of definitively identifying with us, entering into our world in order to bring healing, restoration, and reconciliation. May we celebrate our relationships this year with family, friends and God. May we find reconciliation and restoration and may we also bring these to others.

Misery, Happiness and Mission, Oh My!

How do we think about mission/outreach? Is it a program? Is it information? Is it relationships? Is it something else? Are we responsible? Are we called? Are we all called? Do we stay? Do we go? Where do we go? How do we go? How do we stay? 

There are a lot of questions and perspectives on mission and outreach. I have more questions than answers. But I will share some thoughts and things I have heard that make sense to me.

God is on mission. This is the foundation of my understanding of mission and outreach - that God is on a mission to restore all of creation, to restore goodness, to renew everything and that God is reaching out to all people to both be restored and live renewed lives, through the power of Jesus. 

God is on mission and we are called to join. My understanding is that part, perhaps event the main part, of being made in the image of God is a vocational call to represent God – to live and enact his will, his will for renewal, restoration, and reconciliation.

So yes, I believe we are all called to participate in God’s global mission and work of restoration and reconciliation.

Do we stay or go and how? I want to go. I have some Bible training, I have some video training, and I am willing to go. That what mission agencies want, right? That’s enough, right? Where do I sign up, right? I have a passionate relationship with North America. I am both reviled and seduced by our culture and society. I want to go or perhaps more accurately, I want to run away. Problem.

In my first year Intro to Missions class, Professor Bryan Born told us to pray for missions, to cultivate love and passion for other cultures, to long desperately to go, that way if God called us to stay we would be sure we weren’t just chickening out. (He didn’t phrase it quite like that) It’s not a perfect statement but it’s a challenge to comfortable Christians who claim the calling of pew sitting donors…

There is a sense in Christians sometimes, including myself, that the more horrible the idea seems, the more likely it is that it’s God’s will. If we do not want to go to Africa, God will call us to Africa. If we want to go to Africa, God will call us to stay. If we don’t want to be a pastor, we will be. If we want to be a pastor, we won’t be. Sometimes we are even afraid to verbalize our fears or thoughts as if a statement like, “I never want to go to Africa” guarantees us a one way ticket.  There is a suspicious idea in the subtext of our thoughts and speech that suggests that God wants us to be miserable. 

So how do we understand this? We can’t say God wants us to be miserable… I don’t think we can say God wants us to be happy either… I think I would be comfortable saying God desires our lives to be full, to be fulfilling… But full or fulfilling are not simple to define. Also, our ability to determine misery, happiness, or fullness prior to an experience is also open to question… Often things we do to make us happy make us miserable. 

This is my one thought on the paradoxical reality of finding oneself called where one did not intend or want to be. God’s strength is most visible in our weakness. Ambition is often a problematic part of the human condition because more often than not it is selfish and proud. I think that God’s call on our lives is explicitly a call out of selfish ambition and that often this call lived out by going places we did not think we wanted to be because it is in those places that God’s redemption is most profound, on our lives and in the lives of others. And that is what the mission is all about. Again the questions are: Will I become weak? And will I trust God?

Christmas Evangelism

Photo by Victoria Pickering

Christmas is often a time of festive and overt evangelism: Cards, Church pageants, Christmas Carols, a life size nativity on the corner of Clearbrook and South Fraser Way...

Christmas is considered an opportunity by many Christians to put Jesus out there into the community as publicly as possible. Given the religious nature of the holiday there is, either perceived or real, a greater openness to talking about Jesus, coming to church and discussing spirituality in the larger community.  I am curious to what degree is there actually an increased openness in the average person and to what degree is it rather that because we feel a sense of permission we encounter the openness of people that was perhaps there all along...

Seasons in Life...

Sometimes we talk about seasons in life. We acknowledge that different times are for and are characterized by different things. The TREK program with MBMSI breaks itself down into 4 sections. An initial time of training when students learn and also learn to learn/follow. During this time the focus is primarily inward. The second phase of TREK is mission. During this phase there is an expectation of output. One is not just a disciple (learner) but one is to be engaged in “making disciples” (teaching/helping others to learn and follow). The final phase of the program is debrief which is again a time of input and learning but is followed by students returning home with a prepared expectation of output through service and involvement.

Input. Output. Input. Output. – Disciple. Disciple making disciples. Disciple. Disciple making disciples.

This seems like an excellent model and a very realistic approach to both life and ministry. There is recognition of the ebb and flow of life as well as the requirement of receiving in order to give. So my question is how long is too long to be in a particular season? Trek runs: 3 Months training, 7 months mission, 2 weeks debrief. I think we can think of examples of people who have been in either input or output mode for too long – pastors who have burned out, people who bounce from conference to conference, book to book, class to class and yet do not seem to be doing anything. Students interested in perpetually learning and ongoing schooling and study but who appear neither changed by their learning nor moved to action, service and the sharing of that which they have received.We are called to give away what we have received.

I can easily look back and see different seasons of input and output, in a variety of settings and contexts. Clearly in my life and in the daily grind of all of life there is a weekly, daily or even hourly ebb and flow despite a broader sweep of a time mostly characterized by a particular posture. I have been reticent at the idea of moving directly into more school next year as I feel a certain amount of tug or need to process the stuff I have learned through a season of output. This is occurring currently as I am interning at South Abbotsford as well as walking alongside others in various situations. Perhaps the tension I experience is that it currently only minimally is invested into the community toward what could be considered “outreach”.

What season are you in right now? input or output? And when do you see the transition occurring? Should Sunday morning “service” be a time of input or output? How long is too long to be in particular mode?

What am I waiting for?

I have talked and written a lot about self sacrifice, incarnational evangelism, and availability for relationship. I have also portrayed myself as selfish, unavailable and stuck within the Christian bubble. So the question: If I know what I am called to… What am I waiting for? Why the agonizing over what sport or activity to invest time in, to connect with people? Why not just do it? Why the soap opera of uncertainty regarding my future career if I am certain, as I recently preached, that it’s not about me. That in fact, the reality that I live, act and respond like “it is all about me” is precisely the primary problem of not only my life, but of our culture as a whole. 

So what am I waiting for? Well, while I feel the distinct desire and even pressure to just “jump in” in some fashion, further reflection reveals that it is not that simple. What I am talking about with incarnational evangelism (1 Cor. 9:17-23 cf. Unable to Identify) and self sacrifice (Matt. 10:38) is not a small task to be achieved on a Saturday afternoon. It is the cultivation of an attitude and lifestyle which permeates your being and day 24/7. As I discussed previously evangelism is in the little things - BUT it is in ALL the little things, ALL the time. A word I cling to is faithfulness - that I would be faithful in the tasks and opportunities I am presented with, that I would wrestle with my motivations and the impact of my actions… 

If my writing and speaking is encouraging and challenging to others and myself, but I have no impact in my "personal witness" should I stay silent and let the page remain blank?What does "personal witness" mean? How is "impact" measured? Are there different seasons in life? If my life mostly blesses those within Jesus’ community, should I abandon those relationships in order to serve others? My conviction is as follows: That if “It’s not all about me” then for ME to abandon relationships and community in order for ME to serve the greater community and fulfill MY calling, then I miss the point. Rather I am seeking to submit to community and solicit and begin dialogue, dreams and discernment of what God would desire to do with US, having brought US together and blessed US with relationship, provision and grace. Having experienced these things TOGETHER in Jesus, where would God have US go? what would God empower US to do? And how do I fit into the calling and dreams of my COMMUNITY? 

So I am not waiting but I am also refusing to act in isolation and alone for I believe to do so is to fail from the start. I also continue to seek to be faithful to the little things, all the little things, all the time. From asking my wife about her day, to buying a birthday present for a friends, to sitting with the homeless man outside Chapters, to giving chocolate to co workers, to eating organic food, to working hard at my jobs, to being patient in line and driving with grace. I pray for increased boldness that in the midst of my activities as I seek to incarnate the gospel I might also proclaim God’s reign of shalom, Jesus triumph in weakness on the cross, and the reconciliation now possible. Amen.

Please feel free to comment, push back, correct grammar or spelling etc.

Confessions of a former pastor ...

Well this morning was finally the event that has forced me to turn in my pastors "card". I was driving to church, down the stretch of Clearbrook road that skirts the airport, and saw some guy on his long-board heading south. It seemed kind of odd to see a guy in the middle of nowhere at 8:15 on an October morning on his long-board. As is my normal habit I pulled up right behind him and lay on the horn ... No, no , no, of course not! As any good driver would I drifted left to give him lots of room. As I passed him I glanced over to see, to my surprise, Duncan Ris on the board! This began an internal conversation in my head. "Why is Duncan boarding to church? Is this intentional, or does he not have a car today? Maybe he wants the exercise ... I mean after all, he's probably not in nearly as good a shape as I am. Should I pull over? Will the car behind me hit me if I quickly veer to the shoulder and then hammer on the brakes? He must be working really hard on that board since it's not that warm out and yet he's got his jacket slung under his arm."

And with that ... I was at the corner of Huntingdon and Clearbrook, with Duncan only a speck in my rear-view mirror. Hours later when Duncan finally pulled into church (okay ... minutes) I made a critical mistake. I asked the wrong question. "Duncan, would you have wanted me to stop and pick you up?" I was expecting him to reply with "No, thanks for not stopping because I really needed the exercise and had you stopped, I probably wouldn't have had the willpower to not simply crawl ... exhausted ... into your car and just leave my board there alone on the side of the road!" Nope. Instead he said "Yeah, that would have been great." Oops. And then he said something to the effect of "If you won't stop for someone you know I suppose you probably wouldn't be stopping for a stranger!"

As I said ... my pastors card is in the mail and headed back to ... well ... wherever pastors cards come from.

I wonder if my experience illustrates a couple reasons why we struggle sometimes to meaningfully connect with people in our community who we bump into ... people who don't know Jesus. First, I wonder if we make erroneous assumptions. God may present us with a "divine appointment" with a person and yet we may miss out because we internally assume things that end up not being true. "They probably don't feel a need to know Jesus." "If I tried to share about Jesus with them I may only offend them and push them further from Jesus." "They probably don't have time to talk right now, they look busy." Are those things all potentially true? Yup. They are also potentially false. I thought Duncan wanted to skateboard to church. Clearly, I was wrong.

Second, when we're not prepared to act, we have the potential to miss the moment. They more we are held captive to the internal dialogue ... the longer we debate the pros and cons of talking to people about Jesus ... the more likely it is that by the time we make a decision to act, the moment has passed. The persons in line at the Starbucks pick up counter has already had their coffee made and they're our the door. The mom you were standing beside at the school playground has already picked up her kids and is halfway home. Sometimes the window is small ... the moment of opportunity is fleeting ... and the longer we debate in our minds whether or not it's worth sharing about Jesus in a particular situation, the greater the chance the the opportunity disappears. We are more likely to act in the moment if we've decided ahead of time that we will step into whatever situation God brings our way. We need to be prepared to act. The truth is ... the longer I let the internal discussion go in my mind this morning, the further down the road I got and the less likely I was to pick up Duncan. The moment had passed. I mean ... u-turns are illegal ... right?!?!?

So that's my story. I wish I could say that it's only true of me in the situation this morning ... but unfortunately some of the parallels I've drawn above hit close to home too often. Is this just my experience of life, or do you find yourself in similar circumstances ... kept from action because of an internal dialogue that goes on and then missing the moment as a result?

Oh ... and a word to the wise ... if you ever see a guy who resembles Duncan out in the middle of nowhere riding his long board, your day will go a lot better if you'd just stop and pick him up!

Unable to Identify

God’s ultimate act of evangelism was the incarnation of Jesus: “the Word became flesh and blood moved into the neighbourhood” (John 1:14). What is so powerful about this is that God became like us, he profoundly and ultimately identified with us both in his life and death. Jesus made himself low that He might raise us up. One of my most profound experiences of evangelism was on the Downtown Eastside during Urban Mission Adventure with CBC. It was pouring rain, no one wanted to go out to do random acts of kindness or prayer walk or anything. I had hated feeling like a tourist for the past two days and was a bit grumpy. Our team leader told us we were going to go give out cookies. “Great,” I thought cynically, “these people are broken, bleeding, and dying down here and we are going to save them with cookies.” I deliberately put on a sweatshirt and a thick plaid over-shirt, neither the least bit waterproof, and we set out to give out cookies. Pretty soon, with rain streaming down my face, my hair soaked, and the wet starting to penetrate through my layers of clothing, I suddenly started tasting, ever so slightly, one of trials of being down, there the challenge of staying warm and dry. The wetter and colder I got, the happier I was to give away cookies, the happier I was to eat a cookie, the more meaning I found in the whole experience. Because I was, with increasing integrity, able to say more than just “here’s a cookie” I was able to say through my actions “I am here with you, in this cold, wet, miserable place and I have I left the comfort of my home to be here with you, to experience this and to bring goodness, in the form of a cookie.” This experience has profoundly shaped my understanding evangelism as requiring incarnation. I cannot evangelize from a position of power and otherness, I have to identify with people, I have to move into the neighbourhood, I have to feel their pain and then I am able to with integrity share good news with friends. I have to prove that the good news can be for them with my life before my words have meaning. My first challenge is always to identify with those I serve, when I am unable or unwilling to identify with them, to be with them, to live like them, how will they ever believe that my words apply to their lives?

First Corinthians 9:22-23:

²²To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. ²³I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings. 

Will I become weak?

(Photo by roland)

Local vs. International

Is evangelism easier overseas? I feel like it is… I am significantly more comfortable speaking to strangers when on a short term missions trip. So what’s different? I am more focused and more available. For two weeks or whatever length the trip is, virtually 100% of my time is available for whatever need may arise or for whoever may request my time or offer theirs. For two weeks my only responsibility is to love people and seek God, I don’t have to figure out rent or juggle two part time jobs, homework, TV, video games or whatever other responsibilities and activities back home distract and consume my time. Furthermore, the only people I know are working with me. We are part of a team and there is a single focus. At home, I am part of two families, multiple groups of friends, church, work etc. There is little cohesive sense of team at all in my life and certainly not with an eye to outreach. On a trip I am given a role which contributes to a larger vision, at home I struggle to define or see a larger vision which encompasses all of my life and relationships. Where is my missions team at home? What is our mission?

Too Many Friends

“I don’t need any more friends.” This is a statement that not only have I heard multiple times but also resonates in my own life. It is something I began reflecting on in the post “Walking in it” and have continued to reflect on. The question is: “What does evangelism cost?” After considering my own life and also talking to others I am convinced that most of us are too busy to commit extra time to evangelism. So can some of our existing time be transformed, redeemed and more intentionally outward focused? Do we have to say “no” to some “good” things or relationships in our lives in order to make ourselves available for new relationships? A friend of mine recently talked about evangelism as being faithful in the small things: the smile, the greeting, the conversation, the question… I appreciated his perspective and admit that I can sometimes create an overwhelming picture of evangelism that is so daunting I am unable to even begin. But I would add to his description the need to be open for more. It is only of slight value if you greet someone but won’t talk with them, if you will talk but will not offer contact information, if you will meet for coffee but not in your home. If at the same moment you begin a relationship you are ensuring its end, this does little to further the gospel. However, relationships do start with smiles, greetings and small talk – so let us be faithful in the small things and be open to where God might lead.

Update: I have not been very faithful in walking my neighbourhood regularly but I have walked it more often. Last week I walked around the field with a Punjabi neighbour, he didn’t speak English very well and I don’t speak Punjabi so we just walked. Despite, the lack of conversation it was a pleasant walk and I found significance in the human ability to connect even without words. I am still looking for a venue or activity to attend or participate regularly in order to make myself available for those who need relationship.

Motivation and Relationship

Over the summer someone made a fake version of our blog and posted a critique:

Transparent Motives

what if you initiated a conversation with someone as outlined in the seminars at church and they then asked you where you learned about soul cravings and then you told the truth that you had been trained to initiate conversations for the purposes of conveying your spiritual beliefs and went on to confess that you were going to go back to your church and relay the outcome of the conversation.

i would think that they would feel manipulated and devalued. i feel like it would immoral to coerce someone into spiritual conversation intentionally keeping information from them.

Mike

Someone else posted a comment and response

But aren't we as christians commanded to preach the good news to people? In season and out of season according to Paul. the difference is love and sincerity. We preach not just because we are commanded to, but out of love and concern for their eternal salvation. We can easily get hung up on the details but if you are doing something out of love, your motive is pure and you have nothing to worry about.

Paul

I think Mike makes an excellent critique worth addressing and that Paul responds well. I was so sad that these comments and this discussion did not occur on our blog that I have copied them here in order to weigh in.

Mike’s post argues that there is an element of deception and depersonalization in evangelism, particularly this kind systematized of “relationship” evangelism… and so I ask the question: Is there a deception? Does evangelism training depersonalize “the non believer”? Have I depersonalized just now with that phrase?

Paul responds with both the Biblical mandate to witness and also love. I think to expand the argument might be to say that love is always intensely personal and deeply values the beloved. But is Soul Cravings evangelism always loving?

I think the truth is that evangelism in general has in the past often not been loving and not been personal. It has been tracts and blitzes and crusades. We systematize evangelism in order to empower people to share their faith. We have coined terms like relational evangelism and yet are too often clueless and unwilling to engage in real relationships. I would suggest that training in effective relationships would be more useful than evangelism training and that if our evangelism is ineffective it is a deficiency in our love and relationships not our conversational techniques. The assumption of the training is not that people are talking to strangers but friends, real friends. It is also assumed that the friendship exists on its own and that the person is not merely a target or a project. When we enter into relationships our purpose has to be to love, not to convert. Our relationship is strengthened as we share deeply of ourselves, including our faith, and allow the other to do likewise. For the relationship to be real both parties must be impacted by the life and ideas of the other and cherish the other regardless of conversion. We must love the other not only for their likenesses to us but also our differences, which allow us to learn from and challenge each other.

Finally, this blog is not about reporting about trophy conversations but rather discussing the process, success, failure, future and present need of Christian witness in Abbotsford. How do we do it? Why? Where? What attitudes do we have? Does our culture have? How is God moving? And how is he calling us to be a part of His work in Abbotsford? Soul Cravings is not a conversion system but some language and words to help those trapped in the Christian bubble speak intelligibly about their faith to others. However, it must be more than words! If we cannot say that we have experienced God’s Intimacy and a sense of Destiny and found Meaning as a result of faith, we have no right to promise these things to others. Soul Cravings offers us non-Christianese language to describe the Christian experience, it presupposes that we have a living, vibrant and active faith that is deeply fulfilling. Soul Cravings helps remind us that we are more like others than we are different.