Before you head off into your weekend, here are three things that I have read and been thinking about this week. Hope they are as helpful and challenging for you as they have been for me.
Have a great weekend!
#1
“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world. The unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”
George Bernard Shaw
I don’t believe we are called to be unreasonable and make the world bend to our will. I do believe, however, that Jesus’ way of life is viewed by the world to be unreasonable. And we are called to live his way and not bend to the will of the world. As we do this we offer a witness that is one part critique and another part invitation. Living Jesus’ way shines a light and opens a door all at the same time.
#2
The church is not called to be an agent of change – God is the agent of change. The Lord of the kosmos has already wrought the Great Exchange in his cross and resurrection, and the life of the people of God is sustained by that mighty enterprise. The calling of the church is to place itself where God is already at work.
Advent: The Once and Future Coming of Jesus Christ by Fleming Rutledge
I love change. I get up on Monday excited because a new week brings all kinds of potential. Imagine how amped up I get for New Years! And yet, what a great reminder that God is the change agent…not me. My job is not to bring change. My job is to keep in tune with what God is doing, point it out to others, and adapt my life to it.
#3
Weak leadership does not promote vital lay ministry; it compromises the health of the entire body by failing to provide the laity with the basic spiritual guidance they need in order to be effective leaders themselves.
Leading God’s People: Wisdom from the Early Church for Today by Christopher A. Beeley
Confessional post!
I am a verbal processor. Often I don’t know what I think until it comes out of my mouth or someone else’s mouth. Case in point. In Sunday school class last week I said, “I offer suggestions, advice, and invitations from the pulpit.” The context was about the church giving its pastors permission to have authority in their lives. Not authority over but with them flowing from the Holy Spirit working through Scripture. Imagine my surprise to hear myself say that. As a result, here is what I discovered. I often water down a message to make it more palatable except on rare occasions. I don’t like to be controversial. I like to keep the peace. I don’t think I have been ineffective per se. But perhaps I could be a more effective communicator by offering more authoritative perspectives instead of suggestions.
Perhaps more than you cared to hear…but I needed to say it for me.
todd nelson 