Wednesday, June 27, 2012

I Have Spiritual ADD

It's confession time. I have Attention Deficit Disorder. I have never seen a doctor about it. I have never been diagnosed with it. I have never had anyone stand up and accuse me of ruining a project because they discerned that was the critical problem. No, this is a matter of self-diagnosis.

Recently High Point University hosted Malcolm Gladwell on their campus for a series of lectures and discussions. Gladwell has written four books and is currently on his fifth. They are Tipping Point, Blink, Outliers, and What the Dog Saw. I have read the first three and hope soon to begin on the fourth. They are an excellent read, all non-fiction.

Enough of the commercial for Gladwell's books. In an on-stage discussion, Gladwell made the comment that his father, a mathematics professor, was not a driven man putting in eighteen hour work days. Rather he was a focused man who made the most of every minute he was involved in a project. He might work two hours, take a brief break, work two more hours, and then take another break. During those two hour sessions, not even screaming in his ear could destroy his concentration. He was focused.

Oh, to be so gifted! A car drives by on the highway outside my office and I get distracted. I hear the phone ring in my administrative assistant's office and I get distracted. My mind wanders to my calendar suddenly, and I wonder if I have forgotten an appointment or a phone call I was to have made. I have no focus!

This holds just as true for my spiritual life as for my office work. I call it PADD, Prayer Attention Deficit Disorder. I know I am not alone in this having heard other people's confessions on the subject, but it's still my problem. The world has a way of distracting me from focusing upon deepening my relationhsip with God. The aching in the soul gets lost in the growling of the belly. I lose focus.

Jesus had a word of encouragement for those seeking focus that's recorded in the sixth chapter of Matthew, verse 33, "As a priority desire to possess His Kingdom and His righteousness..." (my translation) The Kingdom of God was the favorite topic of Jesus in his preaching. When he said that obtaining it was to be THE priority in the life of one of his followers, he was not only teaching it, he was also living it. Focusing upon the Kingdom of God was to be the priority for every believer.

Focusing upon the Kingdom must be the priority of every believer and every church and every association of churches as they seek to be faithful in their obedience to their divine calling. Nothing can become more important than living out the priorities of the Kingdom of God. Its nature and calling must be at the heart of every proclamation, shape every effort of ministry, and become the goal of every spiritual seeker. To be distracted from this is to lose sight of why Jesus came, died, and was raised from the dead.

The individual believer focuses upon living out the Kingdom in this world by living out the two Great Commandments (Matthew 22). The local church focuses upon living out the Kingdom by using its resources to make the love of God real in its community and to the extent it can around the world. The local association of churches must use its resources to strengthen its members in their efforts to fulfill their God given calling.

Focus keeps the main thing the main thing. Focus allows us to direct our energies to the real priorities of life. Focus allows us to work toward goals and see progress being made. Making the effort to focus helps overcome ADD whether in the secular or spiritual realm. Focus under the control of the Holy Spirit can change the world.

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Stuck in Spiritual Molasses

A saying with which I grew up in rural Kentucky was "As slow as molasses in winter". I knew what someone meant even if I didn't like molasses. The best molasses were thick and flowed slowly off the spoon. If it got cold as in the winter, then it didn't flow at all. As a boy there were times I was accused of working at a speed comparable to cold molasses.

What about a Christian's pace of life? What about a church's? In honesty we have to admit there are things, forces, people that slow us down while trying to accomplish what we know we need to be doing especially in fulfilling the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20). Even if there is a deadline hanging over our heads, we still meet hindrances that don't outright stop us but slow us down to the point we wonder if we will ever reach our goals. Maybe some of these are familiar to you.

Confusion. I can think for two weeks about what the first step ought to be. I can worry for a month about which option is best. I can lose sleep night after night wondering if I really understand what I'm facing. In the meantime nothing is getting done.

Distractions. My energy and focus on this project may be directly proportional to my interest in it. If the interest level is low, a lot of other ideas will want to crowd in and take my attention away.

Fear. If I mess up on this idea, my goose is cooked! If I delay long enough or go slow enough, something else might bail me out and the consequences won't be nearly as bad.

Ignorance. I don't know what to do and I'm not sure where to get the answers to my questions.

Lack of assurance. It might not be outright fear, but there is enough uneasiness about what is supposed to happen that caution reigns and action proceeds at a snail's pace (or cold molasses).

Lack of resources. The project could have been done in one tenth of the time except for having to gather scattered resources, proper tools, and trained personnel.

These hindrances are just as true of a church and an association as they are of an individual in the effort to carry out the Great Commission both as a task and as a lifestyle. Oftentimes we will use the same kind of excuses to get ourselves off the hook, just on a larger scale.

Distractions have to be handled. Proper prioritization can minimize distractions. Determining realistic deadlines and holding to them will minimize the damage of distractions. Being able to say "no" to non essentials is one of the best ways to keep distractions from hindering the work of the Great Commission.

Confusion, fear, and lack of assurance often go together. Many leadership gurus will say that some of the best learning takes place through failing. You may fail on that first step; that is not failure. You have eliminated one of the options. Now start again with this new knowledge. Tell those people who laugh or criticize when you fail to get in there and help or get out of the way!

"Ignorance is curable, while stupidity is forever" is one of my favorite proverbs. Ask the necessary questions up front, get the information you need, and then full steam ahead. If information is all you lack, the masses are waiting to provide it. Most people are ready to cheer on a hard worker.

A lack of resources is a challenge, not a problem. Before you start, as an individual or a church or an association, get a good idea of what you need. Put it together, whether it is material or a team, and then start. Accept the fact that adjustments will have to be made while progress is being made, just work to keep the progress from stopping.

Another name for all these hindrances might at times be procrastination. Don't let cold molasses destroy a good idea and your efforts to fulfill the Great Commission!

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Handling Being Second

The story is told that years ago a car race was held between a Russian and an American. These were the only two cars involved. The end result would be a first place and a second place finish. How that sounded depended upon the reporter. The American won and was announced as the winner with the Russian coming in second. From a different perspective another newspaper account reported that the Russian had come in second and the American next to last. Both were true, but the feelings with which you were left were considerably different.

Perspective can make a tremendous difference in the way you handle coming in second, or next to last, or behind a crowd of one. Sometimes we need to be assured that coming in second is okay. You don't have to be first to feel good about your effort. Coming in second in a race of two should be as positive as coming in second in a race of a thousand. Yet we often find it hard to accept the fact that we are not the best, not the first to finish the race, that our efforts have not surpassed those of a multitude. We will not come in first every time. Somewhere we have to learn to accept the position of second place.

The crown prince plays second fiddle to the king. The vice president has to wait his turn behind the president. The second son has to wait for the first born to choose the preferred inheritance. There is an actor or actress, an understudy, that is always waiting in the wings just in case they are needed if the lead is unable to perform. The first one to the ferry gets on and others have to hope there is still space.

Is being second any worse than being third or fifth or tenth? Do we see the only possible option as being first? Do we consider everything else as the equivalent of losing, and who wants to be a loser? Ultimately it does come down to a matter of perspective. Not coming in first leaves you a loser, or being second to the best. The position is the same, but there is a world of difference in your perspective of yourself.

In the New Testament a man once made the statement with pride that, "He must increase, but I must decrease." (John 3:30) He was John the Baptizer and he was speaking of Jesus the Messiah. John knew from the beginning of his ministry that he was to play a secondary role. The One who was to come after him was to have the preeminent position. John carried out his responsibility without regret or envy. He came first but he was to become second.

The number two position is the support position. You back up the person in front of you in case they need help. Yet you are not recognized unless needed. Your name is not listed with the credits beside the star. You have to know all the lines and be ready to step in on a moment's notice, but the glory goes to the name at the top of the showbill. The show can go on with confidence because you were waiting in the shadows.

The Apostle Paul made a big deal out of being content in a secondary position in his letter to the Roman church, chapter 12. Three times he mentions the need to keep ourselves in proper perspective as we consider our relationship with others. Don't think more highly of yourself than you should. Outdo one another in showing honor to others. Never be conceited (vv. 3, 10, 16). In our relationships with others, we honor our relationship with God by lifting others above ourselves.

There is no better place to do this than in the family of God. In this context we reveal the workings of a heavenly family that is operating on earth. All members are brothers and sisters of Christ and of each other. Each member exists to promote the welfare of others and help them fulfill their spiritual potential as a child of God. Promotion of others can only occur when self takes second place.

The same must be said of associational work among churches. The association must come second. Its priorities must come second. Its demand upon the time and resources of the individual churches must come second behind the priority of the local church in fulfilling its divine calling from its Creator and Lord. The Church is a divine creation coming into existence at Pentecost (Acts 2). The association of churches has been created by man to assist the local churches fulfill their Great Commission (Matthew 28). That means the association will often have to make do with less. Its schedule will be at the mercy of local church calendars. Its leadership will be called upon to give their priority time to the local church and not to the association.

I can live with being second as an associational missionary when I know the winner, the one taking first place, is bringing the greatest glory to God and our Lord Jesus Christ. When you are second behind the best, there is no shame.

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Prepared for Commitment

A contract says you are making a commitment whether it for buying houses and cars or service contracts for our computers and copiers. We sign contracts for our rental agreements and our utilities. Contracts, both written and oral, are a basic part of our lives.

Every contract is an understood agreement that there will be a system of give and take among the contract parties. Part of the understanding is that the participants in the contract are prepared to meet the terms. This is no mystery, but with this general understanding, it is still amazing how many contracts are broken because someone was not prepared.

Lack of preparation can exist because a party is not committed to the contract in the first place, or because some scenarios are not foreseen. This leaves parties in the contract unable to meet their obligations even though they had entered the agreement in full faith they could fulfill their commitment. External factors such as health or national economics can be beyond an individual's control.

What of those other situations where a break in the contract could have been avoided simply by making a choice? That involves the marriage contract. There may be some cultures where a party in a marriage has no choice, but that situation does not exist in America, at least not in a legal sense. A marriage exists here because two individuals willingly put their name on a document recognized by our government signifying a commitment to each other for some reason. We would like to think love had something to do with it.

A pastor friend of mine and I recently communicated on the North Carolina constitutional amendment relating to the definition of a married couple. In our discussion we brought up the definition of marriage that Jesus used in Matthew 19.

We both recognized that the question of gay marriages was not the subject of the controversy between Jesus and the religious rulers confronting him. Rather it was the question of the permissibility of divorce. My pastor friend's final comment was that it was odd that we would make such a big deal over homosexuality and its interpersonal manifestation but say so little from our pulpits about divorce, a subject on which Jesus spoke with much emotion.

Divorce nullifies a contract uniting two consenting adults. Rarely do the two people agree to the contract expecting it to end at some point short of death. Promises are numerous and dreams are big. The future is bright with the hope of a shared journey facing life together. Two together can succeed where one might fail. It is a beautiful vision.

Then along come the disagreements, the arguments, the unresolved tensions, the irreconcilable differences, and (I love this one) the decision that they are no longer compatible. A contract meant to last a lifetime is broken because situations arose for which the two individuals were not prepared to come to some form of acceptable agreement that would save the marriage.

If the divine intent was from the beginning for a man and a woman to join together in an intimate relationship designed to last a lifetime, why do nearly fifty percent of marriages in America end in divorce, even among professing Christians? Where is the voice of the Church in supporting God's plan for marriage? It spoke loud enough keep gay and polygamous marriages from being recognized as legal unions in our state. Where is the effort to hold together the marriages we say are right?

We should never enter into a contract for which we are not prepared. Marriage is a contract that should represent the self-sacrificing commitment by each of two individuals to live together in an intimate relationship that results in each one making the full effort to support the other, build up the other, honor the other above self, and work to assist the other in fulfilling their full potential in the eyes of God. Nothing can accomplish this better than making the commitment to love each other without reserve and without regret. We still hear those traditional phrases of "for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health" in wedding ceremonies. Marriages last when we are prepared to make such phrases a part of our commitment. Life brings changes, but the committed love between a man and a woman sealed in marriage should not be lessened by them.