AllTheseThings

Going First

My 6 year old daughter recently overheard me monologuing on the subject of leadership.  In typical fashion I was asking and then answering my own questions for the benefit of those around me.  As I was making my closing argument, "so, what is leadership?" (followed by a dramatic pause - of course) my daughter, coloring and only half paying attention, innocently offered, "going first."  The air went out of the room.

Why is it that my diatribe never included this obvious point?  What does that say about me? 

"Who wants to be like me?  Step right up!"  Sad to say, but for the most part that is my leadership style.  It comes down to, "learn to pretend (like me) and you can be a leader (like me)."  But going first?  First in confession, contrition, repentance?  First in sorrow, hunger, service?  First in dependence, humility and need?  That doesn't feel like leadership to me.  The truth is I expect the people I'm trying to lead to be more honest (more real) than I am.

Only half paying attention I should be able to see the obvious - Jesus was about demonstration, he went first. Thanks to a little girl, I'm realizing that most of the time I think I'm leading, I'm pushing.

Didymus

[email protected]

The Beauty of Being Dirty

Let’s all have dirty houses.  You heard me right.  Let’s have dried chicken nugget pieces under the kitchen table, dried up juice streaks on the wall, dust bunnies hopping around the living room, formula stains on our rugs.  Let’s have some rooms that still don’t have furniture in them.  Let's have garage sale bargains in our bedroom.  Let’s wear our hair up in a baseball cap and ratty old jean shorts with our stained white T-shirt from Target.  And then…. let people pop over unannounced.  Or better yet, let’s INVITE them over! 

There’s something wonderfully unassuming about a home that isn’t perfect, and people that don’t look perfect, and a meal that isn’t gourmet and a kids that aren’t dressed to the nines. It’s called being REAL.  How freeing to have people over -- not for a Bon Appetit inspired menu -- but for pizza on paper plates with OREOs and ice cream for dessert.  How freeing to talk about a fight with my husband, or the tears shed on my pillow, or the disappointments in life. 

We need to show the dirt more often.  We all have stains and trash and rips and broken things in our homes ... and in our hearts.  Let’s invite friends over and not bother to clean up – it may translate into some wonderfully real interactions.

Yours,

Lucy

[email protected]

Us Lions: Belonging Before Believing

There is a wonderful passage in C.S. Lewis's The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe where the great Lion Aslan, on the eve of battle, says, "Those who are good with their noses must come up front with us Lions to smell out where the battle is."  Another Lion is struck by Aslan's words, "Did you hear what Aslan said? Us lions.  That means him and me.  Us lions.  That's what I like about Aslan.  No side, no stand-offishness.  Us lions.  That meant him and me."

If I had to select the most important passage in the gospels it would be John 20:24-28, which records the Church's first encounter with unbelievers.  For some reason Thomas was not with the other Disciples when the resurrected Christ comes through locked doors.  When he does arrive on the scene there is no waivering, "Unless...I will not believe."  Wow!  What a display.  Describing Thomas as "doubting" is generous.  Can you imagine?  The Disciples have seen the risen Lord, Thomas just back from 7/11 enters a room still aglow with a divine light and he basically says to his best friends, "drop dead - you are nuts!"  This is beyond doubt, this is betrayal - Judas Jr.

Again and again the Bible surprises and this passage is no different.  One would expect the Believers to say to the Doubter, this traitor, "hit the road."  But one little phrase says so much..."one week later, Thomas was with them."  What? One week later!  What was that room like - for a week?   

Of course we don't know, can't know, what happened.  What we do know is that someway, somehow the first believers and the first doubter were together, and were together in such a way that the doubter-traitor didn't bail.  Thomas was allowed to, or invited to, belong before he believed.

This is the very first act of the New Testament Church.  They were "with" Thomas.  The doubter was included until Jesus did what only Jesus can do - he came through locked doors and Doubting Thomas became St. Thomas.  Belong.  Believe.  Become.

Where is this happening today?  Where are the tax-collectors, the harlots, the  zealots?  Is the Church with them?  What would that look like?  In the face of such unbelief and betrayl, does the Church include Thomas?

There is "no side, no stand-offishness."  We would do well, I would do well, to remember that with its first breath the Church proclaimed..."Us lions." 

Didymus

[email protected]

Red on the Right Returning

A hearty welcome to all you sailors dropping anchor on a port o' call.  I understand the harbormaster over at Port McClellan directed some ships our way.  Everyone at All These Things thanks him and his fleet captains for the visits and for Mike's kind referral and the much-appreciated encouragement and tips on getting this blog up and going!

To reciprocate, I'd encourage our readers to visit here and say hello to Mike, and then bookmark his blog.

Visitors from Port McClellan or elsewhere, make sure to leave us a comment and let us know your thoughts!

Any Port in a storm,

Thomas More

[email protected] 

Be Fruitful, But Not Too Fruitful

Well, this post was to be on separation of powers, until I read this article on declining birthrates.  So it's morphed into a separation of powers of a much different kind.

Lately, this has been a big topic for Mrs. More and I, and a small--but growing--group of friends.  You see, Mrs. More is with child, again--the "again" being the mandatory add-on imposed by numerous friends, family members, and near strangers.  By their response, you'd surmise that this was baby number 17 in the More household.  It's not; not quite.

We hear talk about convenience, college tuition, bedrooms, child-car seats, babysitters, the parents' desires, and--best of all--over population.  By way of background, the More family does not live in Mumbai, Karachi, Delhi, or Shanghai.  Ahh, the glories of pseudo-science and childbirth.  As the article I've noted mentions, birth rates in developed countries are actually going the wrong way.  This is such a significant social and economic problem that world leaders are now looking to PAY women to have more kids. 

Yet, "over population" is mentioned when we tell people about the new baby.  This is where "science"--it's not really science, it's an emotional response wrapped up in irrelevant statistics--has the potential to harm us.  Generally speaking, you do not make micro--family or personal--decisions based on macro--country or world--statistics.  Nor should you.  It would be the height of folly to make a critical decision--say, bringing an eternal soul into the world--on the notion that you'd have a negative impact on the whole world, or at least an impact to a 1/6,500,000,000th degree (which is the impact of one new child to our world population.)

While Samuelson's article explains the perils--economic primarily--of declining populations, it is not hard enough on what's happening in Western countries.  For example, in reality, on average, a family would need to have about 2.3 children, not 2.0 to actually sustain the population.  This is because of premature deaths, children that do not go on to have their own children, etc.  Thus, to simply stay even--and thus keep the average age of our population the same--you have to have more than just 2.0.  You'll note, that even the U.S. is not there.

Nor does Samuelson touch on the situation's moral perils.  I do not mean to imply an individual has some moral obligation to hit 2.3--that would be using the pseudo-science I loath in reverse.  Instead, I want to point out that the first commandment is:

God blessed them; and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it..."

Having children, in God's image, and filling the earth with that image, that's the first command He gave us--just after he blessed us.  I find it interesting, and disappointing, that our cultural has so trained us with "the Pursuit of Happiness" that we only see things from the perspective of convenience to mom and dad.  We don't ask the question:  "Why would God want us to have children?"  If anyone would like to comment below on this question, I'd be much obliged.  But, I'd note that the blessing of children offered at many religious weddings is being actively avoided or frowned upon by the recipients of the blessing!

I don't at all mean to downplay the serious health, emotional, or economic issues that people wrestle with in deciding not to have more children.  There certainly can be extremely valid reasons to hold off.  I appreciate anyone who at least wrestles with the concept at all.  I was heartened by the report that America is doing better--in part, they believe, to Americans' religious beliefs--than most Western countries.  But based on my interactions with folks, I think, as a people, we're still missing the point.  And this will have more than just economic consequences on our society, it will change our very view of life and why we exist.

Fruitfully,

Thomas More

P.S. Since this post went up, I found this article at First Things. 

[email protected]

Doubt: Living in 4D

Go figure.  My name is Didymus and I'm not sure what to say about doubt...

Unbelief, fear, sin?  Ignore, deny, pretend? I never know what to call it or how to fix it.  Here's what I do know - about me.  I use doubt to explain, excuse and justify disobedience - it is permission to die in a pile, turn a blind eye.  Any detection of doubt and, whew, in go the ear buds, out goes the world - sleeping like a Million Dollar Baby!

Yet, I'm beginning to get the impression that Jesus thinks very little of my economy.

Take the Great Commission.  Just when it seems all hope is lost - how will I get out of this? - doubt swoops in for the rescue!  There is one small issue with this con game.  Jesus isn't playing. When I look at who Jesus is actually talking to in his farewell address, there is this troublesome little phrase..."but some doubted."  One would expect Jesus to make a whip and let 'em have it, "worshipers over here to the right, I have some parting thoughts for you.  Doubters, if you would move to the left, a little more, yes, just over the trap door..." But there is none of this from Jesus.  Amazingly He says, to worshipers AND doubters alike,"GO."

Apparently doubt doesn't disqualify discipleship.  Go figure.

Didymus

[email protected] 

Courage

What is courage?  Yesterday, I heard someone say that courage is doing the right thing.  That struck me as a pretty unusual definition.  I think most people view courage (or bravery) as a state of mind.  They might say that it often takes courage to do the right thing.  If so, is that any different from confidence (i.e., that things will work out, or that some good will come of it)?  If it's not exactly confidence, what is the motivating factor for courageous action?  In taking action in response to danger, fear, or difficulty, do we first need courage, or do we just do courage?

Why does it matter?  So many people are paralyzed by fear as they hope and wait for a new, more confident, state of mind with which to tackle their challenges.  Do we help them find courage?  Or do we implore them to do courage?  And is doing courage the road to eventual confidence?

Albertus

[email protected]

My Life as a Wife, Mother & Missionary

One of the most wonderful things in my life is celebrating Mother's Day with children old enough to verbalize their appreciation.  This year my almost-nine-year-old, Jeffrey, wrote:  "I am so glad that you stay home with Matthew, Annie and me and that you don't go to work like other moms.  I love you."  How I needed to hear that!  The reality is that I have struggled lately in wondering if I was adding too many other commitments to my life at the expense of my children.

My 3-year old, Matthew, is left with a babysitter more often than my two other school-aged children, as I make use of the 9am to 3pm time-frame to fulfill other responsibilities.  I serve as Chairman of the Board and fill-in teacher for the small, 40-student missionary school we have started in our city this year.  I work with and support the team of 7 Americans my husband leads who are doing missionary work among university students.  We have students, neighbors, friends, and co-workers in our home on an on-going basis, requiring a continually well-stocked refrigerator and pantry, especially in the culture of hospitality in which we live.  On top of that, it is a culture desperate (in my opinion) for a Randalls Supermarket, where grocery shopping is a daily task in my life--and cooking dinner each night requires a good hour or two. 

As I go through the busy-ness of my days, I desire to leave a significant mark among the people with whom we live.  I desire to show them genuine love and compassion and see God work in their hearts.  But I DESPERATELY desire that my husband and children would find an abundance of love and safety in my arms--that they would know without a doubt that they have been the most important people in my life every single day.  God, grant me the wisdom to find balance in the chaos.

Theresa Olive

[email protected]

It's not you, it's me.

I recently heard the phrase “life is in the opposites”. Maybe it’s a well-known saying, but it’s new to me and becoming more and more appropriate every day that goes by. Here’s my most recent example: an atheist friend of mine tells me he considers himself too messed up (not his actual words, but you get the gist) to come to church or to consider Christianity. To be fair, what was probably in his mind was sitting in a hard pew with very well dressed, well presented people who apparently have it all together, because that is what ‘church’ involves. It was also possibly a lie to get me to go away. However, assuming there was more to it than that….too messed up?? Not messed up enough, maybe. Can we be too messed up for God? As far as I understand things, a relationship with God absolutely requires us to acknowledge our messedupness (spell check didn’t like that one). Which leads me to the inevitable introspection. The Church can’t avoid at least some responsibility for this sad and totally inaccurate perception of who we are and what we do. OK, maybe the evangelical church is more to blame than most. Then again, maybe it’s my church and the people I sit next to on Sunday who have their clothes a little too neatly pressed and their best face on. Alright, alright, it’s me. There, I said it. I like hiding in my comfort zone. I like my church friends and their kids and their homes, and even sometimes, their cars. What I don’t like is thinking about need and dependency and sin (mine or anyone else’s). But isn’t this the fastest way to avoid the whole gospel story? And how sad if people who really are sober enough to recognise their need turn away in search of something more “real”. Although in the grand scheme of things I know it’s not about me, maybe in this instance, it is.

Philomena

[email protected]

Strike! Strike! Strike!

Please! Please! Please! Do.  It looks like the public employees aren't happy running California into the ground at their current pace.  Now they want to do it faster.  The union heads are threatening a strike if they can't shake the politicians down for more--of the taxpayers'--money. 

'This state doesn't work if we don't work,' SEIU 1000 President Jim Hard told the crowd. "We have the power...

California doesn't work very well with their "work."  How much worse would it be with them out for a few days?  Did anyone really have major problems when the federal government "shut down" back in the 1990's?

Yet, they do indeed "have the power."  The power to frighten Democrat legislators to voting for bills they know don't help the citizens, the power to skew public policy in Sacramento, and the power to destroy public education statewide.

If "A day without unions" in California is anything as enjoyable as the "Day Without Illegal Immigrants" was, I say, strike early and strike often.  Last Monday, there was no traffic, plenty of parking, and--from what I heard--reduced lines at hospitals and for other social services.

I can only dream what the lack of public union workers in Sacramento would bring to the state.

Thomas More

[email protected]