Glory in Weakness?

I do not want to go down the path I have been on for a while, but simply want to highlight a characteristic that I have noticed in the church. We know that the Apostle Paul stated that he 'gloried in his weakness'. We know that in Romans 14 he encourages us to 'prefer the weaker brother' yet it doesn't seem to me that WE, I include myself in this, do this very well. We really like winners, we love 'success stories'; we like the strong, we only like hearing of failure in the aftermath of it, once someone is on the other side of failure and are reporting it as a past event. But embracing people, who have failed or never really succeeded, is something we don't really do.

In thinking about it for myself, I have thought of the challenge of loving someone who isn't winning, isn't overcoming, and doesn't have it together; it's not an easy thing to do. If I think about people I know who have been very successful, admired, well-liked, popular, all the good stuff, then they fail, and it is absolutely amazing to see how quickly all their admirers peel away. They no longer call. They no longer return phone calls. They no longer extend invitations to fellowship or just hang out, and it is really something.

I want to be the kind of person who sticks with someone who is no longer popular, or in good standing. I want to stay in contact with my friends throughout the ups and downs of their lives. That has been one of the great things about the Internet; so many people have contacted me and expressed encouragement and love. I have people contact me thanking me for things from the 70's and 80's and beyond; it is really nice and a great source of pleasure for me. Not just receiving encouragement, but being able to give it as well; sometimes just staying in contact, sometimes hearing of someone going through a tough patch and just letting them know I am thinking of them and praying for them. Sometimes I haven't met them, but I know of them through their ministry and they have impacted me.

Hopefully people don't get callous to this sort of thing. I know it always blesses me that someone would reach out to me now that I am not 'somebody'...don't worry I don't feel that or believe that today, but I know it's the way it works. I guess this comes back to the issues related to friendship and relationships that reflect a heart of compassion and true empathy. I just know experiencing it and watching others experience it causes me to doubt just how much we really 'glory in weakness', or how we see others as something other than 'the weaker brethren'. What is it in us as individuals and as communities of faith that allows for this sort of behavior? Embracing others in strength and success and then jettisoning when people fail to meet our expectations. It's almost as if a person ceases to exist if they no longer are visible or popular. I think that's a very sad thing.

The only way it will change is if we change as individuals and begin to see those who have been left by the wayside and reach a hand out to them, one person at a time. It certainly isn't going to happen institutionally. When I resigned from a very visible position in ministry, there were a handful of people who remained close and sought to be a support to me, but one guy in particular, apparently made it a point to make sure he contacted me every week for at least a year. He heads a very large growing church, has tons of demands on his schedule and plenty of others responsibilities, yet he called me at least once a week for over a year. I could tell it was a priority for him; it was simple, 'How you doing?' 'Anything we can do for you?' 'Hang in there, buddy, we love you.' And you know what? I believed him, and it was a wonderful lesson. That's the kind of thing I'm encouraging us to do. Don't let fear or discomfort keep you from doing this.
It's easy to love the lovable...(Luke 6) not so much the weak or even ungrateful.

Todd Hunter's Visit

Recently Todd Hunter came and shared with our church. Todd and I go back a long way. It was so refreshing to see how he treated our little church like it was 3,000 people. As to the content, it really was powerful and thought-provoking. There is no doubt that things have changed dramatically over the past couple of decades; the environment in which we seek to communicate the Gospel is more challenging than ever. All the things that we took for granted years ago, people believing in God, believing the Bible is the Word of God, believing Jesus was the Son of God are no longer viewed in the same way. As the song says, “Well that was yesterday and yesterday’s gone.”

I became a Christian long ago and witnessing was a big part of our agenda. I would walk up to complete strangers at the beach or parks and witness to them, many times praying with them. It was easy compared to today; back then it was like fishing at a trout farm. To gain a fuller understanding of some of the changes that have taken place, I will direct you to a couple friends of mine, Jason Clarke (http://www.jasonclark.ws) or Todd Hunter (www.3isenough.org). They will help you increase your understanding of where things are today.

Today when you talk to someone about God, they want to know which ‘god’ you are speaking of. They may point to a telephone pole and tell you that's their god or higher power. It’s one of the effects of pluralism, the melding together of diverse cultures and their systems of belief. If we are to gain respect of others, there is no lecturing them, or dismissing their belief systems. Evangelicals have been guilty of this sort of attitude and have been resoundingly rejected by our culture. We need to be ready to listen to them and answer their questions. Todd referred to a book, The Fall of an Evangelical Nation, by Christine Wicker, part of which lays out the attitude toward Evangelicals in America; it is not a pretty picture. They don't like us and they don't want to hear from us on Larry King Live lecturing them and telling them what they are doing wrong. Years ago when the evangelical talking heads began to appear on television news programs, I would cringe. I didn't want them speaking for me. I didn't want to be identified with their smug and condescending manner, but nonetheless, we have been. You and I have been lumped together, and we have a lot to overcome if we seek to communicate the gospel in this new atmosphere. I'm not sure if Todd was quoting someone else or this came directly from him, when he said, 'many people feel we won.....but we lost' and I think it's true; we broke onto the national scene and proceeded to come off arrogant, the purveyors of all that is true. One of the problems was the Christ that was expressed was affiliated with one particular political party. Let’s face it, it’s as if Jesus was a Republican. After a disaster these people would appear on the television screen and do what I call reverse prophecy. That is to say, in the aftermath of such an occurrence, they would let the world know why it happened, for the most part because of the sin of a particular city, state or country. What city, state or country where a natural catastrophe happens is going to be free of sin? I think these voices would be much more credible if they tell us before something happens, when, where and way, and how, then it people might listen. But to come out in the aftermath of some disaster and appear to be pleased that ‘they’ got what they deserved, is so disheartening and so unlike the heart of Christ, in my opinion.

So we, evangelical Christians, got the visibility we wanted and we blew it. For the most part we, and yes, I say we, because people in general see Christians through the images they have seen on television. Of course they also have formed their opinions from knowing and interacting with Christians in day to day life. They appear to have a difficult time with the fact that in many cases we don’t walk what we talk.

But even with these negative view points held by a large percentage of people in our society, there is another study that indicates that these same people, who have a negative view of evangelical Christian, would be open to and willing to have a discussion or dialogue with a Christian; a dialogue that would not have their belief system ignored and glossed over while we wait for our chance to 'preach the gospel' to them. If we communicate in ways that they don't understand, what good does that do? Are we afraid to listen, to look at things from a different perspective? Could we be afraid that our faith may be influenced? Or is it that we just aren't interested in people. If that’s the case, I think people will pick up on that. Todd used a phrase, 'Anchored to the rock and geared for our times’. It's not a matter of abandoning our beliefs at all; it is learning the language so we can clearly communicate the message we have and have it be understood. At that point a person may still reject it, but at least they understood what you were saying.

One of the other things that Todd pointed out was regarding the way we see people. Do we really care about that person? Do we really want to understand what they believe? Are we even willing to take the time to listen and understand them? Do we care about them because they are created in the image of God, or do they represent another scalp on our belt? I am really not trying to be cynical here. I am just reacting to what I have seen and known to be true.

What Todd did was put it into a context so it is more clearly seen. Is the goal to communicate or simply preach? One of the examples Todd gave was of a person having a favorite spot they fish in, but because conditions change, the fish relocate, yet the fisherman is unyielding and stays in the same place waiting for the fish to come back to where he is. I wonder sometimes if we lose sight of the goal. John Wimber used to talk about 'doing what the Father was doing' in reference to Jesus ministry model. Jesus said he was on his Father’s business and that he restricted himself to do only what the Father is doing. I'm always asking myself what the Father is doing in any situation and if I need to be on standby. Other than that, I try to love people because God does. How can we not love what we believe God created?

So the weekend with Todd was stimulating and thought-provoking. I think it helped us see the current picture more clearly, and we were certainly struck by the challenges we face today in making Christ known to the world in which we live.