Is It Really the "System"?

Most who read this blog know that I am deeply committed to encouraging very simple, organic and relational expressions of the Body of Christ (Wayne Jacobsen's relational understanding of church is probably closest to my sense of what is best). But I find myself serving people in all kinds of expressions of the church, often as an "evangelist" for the journey of intimacy with God and one another. And it may not surprise you that I find basically as much brokenness in the simple/house church world as I do in more traditional, institutional forms of church. There are many reasons for that, which I won't discuss at this point, but it did make me think a lot about some common threads of conversation that I often hear in the organic church world, all of which revolve around the evils of the "system." Is it really the system that's the problem? I don't think it's entirely healthy to think that way. Why? My thoughts are below.

First, I believe that it is more accurate to say that the problem with a broken system lies with the underlying assumptions and values that give shape to (and are further promoted by) the system. In other words, the system is broken and breaks people because so many of its core values are out of alignment with God's values. For example, "systems" are usually created because of the assumption that there are "some who understand" and "some who don't understand but need to," or the assumption that people need external control in order to become who God intended them to be. Other false assumptions that feed the system include the many assumptions that feed the "mass production" approach of the church system in the West, the "corporate system assumptions" that drive most churches, etc. I am sure you can compile your own list if you think about it. How many of the core assumptions of TC (and of many "House churches" or "emerging churches") are derived more from our culture than from God's heart and God's word?

Why is it important to distinguish between the system and the values/assumptions underlying it? Because if deep and effective change is to take place, we have to examine and replace basic assumptions and values, not just the systems that those assumptions give birth to. Pretty obvious once you think about it, eh? But it's frightfully easy to focus on the external system rather than what gives birth to it, methinks.

The second reason it isn't healthy to just think about "system" is more of a relational observation on my part. I have noticed that a lot of people are bitter/angry with the system (whatever that system might be) and seem to feel okay at being bitter because it's directed towards "the system." The problem with this is that systems are neutral in terms of "hurting" people. Yes, they may be assembled in such a way as to make wounding more likely, but it's still the people in the system who do the wounding! So when I hear someone who is angry with the system, I know that in reality they are angry with people in the system, and that until they realize that and move into forgiveness for the people in the system who harmed them, they will remain trapped in their bitterness. In my experience, anyone who is bitter towards a system is not really holding bitterness towards a system but rather towards people caught in that system. And this is hugely important because until the bitterness is gone, merely coming out of the system won't result in the healing that God desires for them.

So...when I find someone who is clearly angry, and I hear words about the system, my heart breaks for that person. I know that they were indeed probably hurt by those in the system, and I also know that freedom lies, as always, in forgiveness. You can't forgive a system because you are not in relationship (really) with a system, but you can forgive people. And when you do, the bitterness towards the system miraculously disappears--amazing! :-)

Just a few thoughts from someone no longer in the system but who feels free to engage the people in it.

What do you think?

Tom, one of Abba's little boys

Short post

It occurs to me that the world won't end if I don't post something here :-)

Just a quick thought from a recent journal entry. For obvious reasons I have been thinking a lot about my frequent "do whatever it takes" prayers I have offered to God and then to the painful journey that we have recently been through. My thoughts are below. I welcome your thoughts.

I am following up here on an earlier thought about you not bringing trouble to grow us but using it when it comes. Basically, what if the “whatever it takes” is not the pain but the revelation of your awesome goodness in the midst of the pain? And what if, since you promise always to be with us in the midst of the struggle (even though we often forget this because of our fears and the enemy’s lies), that the real “whatever it takes” is a greater revelation of who You are and who we are to you?

So what do you think?

Tom, one of Abba's children

Sink or Swim?

Many, many years ago I heard one of my scoutmasters tell us that he taught his sons to swim by taking them to the end of a fishing dock and throwing them in the deep water (really!). He was kind of proud of this, but I remember wondering if he was very "safe"! I didn't really feel like he was someone I could trust. How about you?

Is trust developed by putting people into frightening situations? In other words, if I wanted my sons to learn to trust me, would I do that by placing them into a situation that would scare them to death? Wouldn't it be more likely that if I wanted my sons to trust me that I would be kind and gentle and generous, rescuing them when necessary from that which was harmful to them and also teaching them how to face tough things maturely (not by "sink or swim" but by getting into the water with them)? It seems to me that trust grows when someone is good to us, not when they deliberately set us up for hard things.

What's my point with this? Just that I realized today that I sometimes tend to think of God as putting me into situations in order to make me have faith, instead of to reveal His kindness and power. After all, since He "allowed" this hard thing, He must be expecting me to grow in faith through it. The problem with this kind of thinking, though, is that it makes me less likely to trust God or to want to get close to Him! The other problem is that such thinking is simply not biblical. Scripture does tell us that trouble, trials and tribulation will come, but my Bible tells me that this is so that my faith can be tested and/or revealed 1 Peter 1:6-7). Yes, sometimes this testing takes us beyond where we think we can go, but this is to reveal that God can be relied on, not to force us to rely on Him with a faith that isn't there (2 Corinthians 1:8-11). Rather the faith that is in us because of God's faithfulness revealed to us over and over in the past rises up and surprises us with its presence! Note that this is not true for people who think faith is a feeling. Faith is not a feeling--fear is a feeling--faith is a settled decision to trust, even in the dark, not blindly but boldly because we know who God is.

Anyway, just thinking more about faith and wondering if I am making sense! It just seems to me that if I am to grow in my trust of someone (God or anyone) then what grows my trust best is a revelation of that person's goodness, love and trustworthiness, not my having to trust them because I have no other choice. But I could be wrong, I guess. What do you think?

Finally, in something totally unrelated to this topic, but very related to the Simple Church world, I want to recommend a great "Simple Church" article by my friend, Scott Linklater, which you can view by clicking here. It's called "Detoxing: Unwinding Ourselves and the Church." Take a peek and see what you think.

Discovering trust in the dark places from the One who is there with me,

Tom, one of Abba's children

One Liners

I am a bit pressed for time this week, leaving early for Chicago tomorrow, so for good or ill, I am putting some of my "one liners" down for posterity. Some of them are a bit long to be called a one liner, and some of them I will elaborate on, but some folks have asked for some of these, so here they are.

"Living loved and listening is the only way to live loving and love living."

"As we learn to live loved, our lives become a paradox that creates a question that may lead to an invitation." Elaboration: especially in today's world, the peace, kindness, other-orientation that comes from living in intimacy with Father tends to be very noticeable. When others are frantic and we are peaceful, when we refuse to enter into another person's anger, when we are kind in the face of harshness, etc., it creates a question in people's minds that often leads to an invitation to share why we are so different!

"New Testament has very little to say about leadership, but when it does it describes it in terms of being another's slave. Whenever anyone comes to me as a 'leader' my first question is always, 'Does this person feel like they are serving me or do they expect me to serve them?' And as one who is a 'leader,' can those I 'lead' sense with consistency that I am their slave?"

"The 'five-fold" gifts to the church mentioned in Ephesians 4:11 ff. are just that: GIFTS, and if they act otherwise they are not Jesus' gift to His people, no matter how 'gifted' they are."

"The fivefold gifts cannot 'equip' without first healing the saints. We have seen too much of what unhealed people do when they are 'equipped' for works of ministry!"

"Apostles train us how to be 'sent' to our own little sphere, Prophets train us to hear God (prophecy is about hearing more than talking!), Evangelists teach us how the Good News will naturally explode once it becomes truly good news, Pastors teach us how to care, Teachers train us how to learn."

"Fear is a feeling, faith is a growing conviction."

"Faith is the fruit of growing intimacy with Abba, not a work that derives from information."

"Transformation occurs best in community, life-on-life in the power of the Holy Spirit!"

Okay, enough of these.

Just a few one-liners...what do you think?

Stay lost in Papa's love.

Tom, one of Abba's kids

What If I am Rufus!!

"Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother, who has been a mother to me, too." Romans 16:13 NIV

There is a natural and good tendency in most of us to identify with some of the characters in a story that we read or hear. Thus as a child (yes, I still remember my childhood) I found myself drawn into the stories in such a way that I was Superman or the heroic cowboy, etc.

This natural tendency, given by God, also works when we read scripture, of course. So it is that we become Abraham or Sarah, Deborah or David, Peter or John, the Apostle Paul or Barnabas, as we read Bible stories. There is much that is good about this. The Bible itself tells us that the stories are there as an example for us, and identifying with the characters helps move the example past our head into our hearts. And certainly as we read the Gospels it's powerfully compelling to place ourselves in the story as we read or listen to them. And Paul says, "Imitate me as I imitate Christ," something that isn't possible without some degree of identification with him.

But there is also a little danger involved in identifying with someone like Moses or David or Peter or Paul, I think. It's the danger of so identifying with a "larger than life" figure like these that we lose sight of our calling to become our own unique but not-so-visible expression of God's image. In other words, if I am called to be me and not Paul or Peter or John, then I must be careful not to try to walk in a path that only they were supposed to walk. It will only frustrate me to try to be a "five talent man" like Paul when in fact I am one who has been given 1/2 talent!

What I am getting at is that I have met oodles of believers who are frustrated because they try to be just like Peter, etc., when in fact they are not Peter. Peter was the only one of his kind! And as one of the 12 chosen by Jesus, he was a rare person indeed! Jesus had hundreds of followers (over 500 of them saw Him after His resurrection according to Paul), but only 12 of them were chosen to be in that original apostolic band. What if I am more like Zacchaeus, or Lazarus or Rufus or Rufus' mother? Can I give myself permission to be more "ordinary" but just as important in the overall scheme of things? Is it okay to go down in God's history as the one someone else simply identifies as "chosen in the Lord"? Or for you ladies, is it okay to go down in God's history as someone "who was a mother" to others?

I am not suggesting that we shouldn't aspire to become all that God has meant us to be. Rather I am suggesting that I allow God to be the one who defines that. For me that has meant taking a longer look at some of the less visible people in Scripture: one of the unnamed 300 men that went with Gideon, the unnamed servant girl who told Naaman's wife about Elisha, the unnamed prophet who anointed Jehu (see 2 Kings 9), and yes even Rufus! It has also meant giving myself permission to learn from great men and women without pressuring myself to measure up to the huge calling they had. And finally, it has meant "reading between the lines" to discern the wonder of the uniqueness of every person's role in God's unfolding story. That helps me be more comfortable in my skin, yes, but even more importantly it helps me honor each person I meet as an equally important part of the journey, whether or not they are visible or seemingly"important."

Just thinking...

Tom, aka "Rufus" one of God's less visible children

Where Our Confidence Lies

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. Selah (Psalm 46:1-3)

I didn't want to go there, back 5 months in my journal where Papa was leading me, because I knew that was right at the start of the terrible/wonderful journey into healing that Jettie has been on. I knew I would read there many reminders of just how weak and how much pain my beloved was in at that time. But Father was gently insistent, so I found the entry for August 21, 2009, and I was riveted by what I saw there, especially the reference to Psalm 46.

You see I have been pondering for several days now the undeniable fact that true wholeness and rest can only be found when we learn to place our confidence in God alone, and I mean in God alone (not what He does, not what He gives, etc.). Others have said this along the way, of course (starting with the Psalmist!). A.W. Tozer, in his towering work, The Knowledge of the Holy, talking about Abraham's faith in receiving the promise of a son, says: "so do we base our hope in God alone and hope against hope till the day breaks. We rest in what God is" And Graham Cooke can often be heard telling us that our confidence must lie only in "Who God is, not what He does; in His nature and character, not His actions."

This is not to say, of course, that faith is blind. As I have written earlier, God very much shows up in tangible ways to reveal Himself when the Gospel is properly presented. But because biblical faith is the trust that grows out of our deepening intimacy with God, it by definition can only rest on God Himself (a person) and His character, not on our perception of His "behavior." I am convinced, as you probably are, that what God is doing is always good, very good, but the fact is, my understanding is so limited that I am likely to misinterpret what He is doing even when it "looks good" from my perspective. And when things don't look good from my perspective, I find myself blind to His work and prone to despair if my confidence rests anywhere besides in Him, who He has revealed Himself to be.

Now the challenge with this, of course, is that circumstances are so much easier to experience and see than the intangible goodness of God. And this material world with its experiences good and bad seems so very real! How then am I to trust in an invisible God? Yes, I can look at His acts in the past to see a pattern of His faithfulness, and I can read about his faithfulness and goodness in Scripture, but at some point I am face to face with a decision to cling simply to Him, not my understanding of these things.

So how do you do this? Perhaps it's different for everyone, but I am learning to give expression to my fears to Him (even when it feels like He is not there). And I am learning to collapse into Him even when I cannot sense His presence. I simply choose as best I can (which is often a pretty shaky choice) to come, rest, collapse, lean on, wait. And then He comes...often not as I expect but He always comes... And I find myself again quoting Psalm 94:17-19 (see my entry for September 17, 2009).

But it can't be that simple, can it? Ah, but it is. It has to be simple because God wants to be accessible to the simplest and most childlike of us. "When I said, 'My foot is slipping!' your love, O LORD, supported me." (Psalm 94:18). "You came near when I called you, and you said, 'Do not fear.'" (Lamentations 3:57).

How does this apply to you? Part of that only you can answer. But I am also convinced that God is giving western Christians a huge gift in the shaking of everything unreliable that we have typically placed our confidence in (money, political process, knowledge, etc.). And whenever everything is shaken He stands ready to receive us and personally be our refuge.

Note that you can sort of tell where your confidence really lies by what keeps coming up as your recurring fear! (Think about it). You can also determine where your confidence really lies by where you run to first in times of trouble. I mention this not to condemn you but to invite you to examine your fears, taking them into Papa's presence and allowing Him to shift your confidence to Him. :-)

Just "thinking out loud" this time, I guess. I hope you hear Father's invitation to examine where your confidence lies so that you can rest in Him.

Finally, just so you know, Jettie's symptoms are gone and we live in the expectancy that the doctors will soon certify her healing. We thank you for and welcome your continuing prayers.

Learning to place my confidence in Him alone.

Tom, one of Abba's children

Compelled by Love to Follow Him

"So they pulled their boats to shore, left everything and followed him." (Luke 5:11).

What was it about Jesus that caused Andrew, Simon (Peter), James and John to walk away from everything and follow Him? It was, I believe, the compelling love and undeniable power they experienced in Jesus' presence.

I used to believe that Jesus just walked up to these fishermen, called to them to follow HIm and they just up and left without any discernible reason. Now, of course, I know that long before Jesus called him by Sea of Galilee, Andrew had, along with John (we think), spent an entire day with Jesus, and that day in His presence convinced both Andrew and John that Jesus was Messiah. So spending a day in Jesus’ presence led to an openness to “discipleship” for Andrew and John and probably Simon and James as well. And during that first encounter with Jesus, Simon experienced powerfully experienced Jesus’ love because it was in that first encounter that Jesus “rocked” Simon’s world by giving him a new name, “Rock”! (see John 1:35-42 for the whole story). So all four of these men who were later invited by Jesus to leave everything and become "fishers of men" were men who had first been touched by Jesus' love in some life-altering way.

Secondly, when Jesus gave the invitation to these men to leave all and follow Him, it was in the context of miraculous power. Before He gave the invitation to follow Him, He demonstrated His power by the miraculous catch of fishes that Simon experienced and led to his acute awareness of his sinfulness! (See Luke 5:1-11 for the whole story).

So what compelled these men to become His disciples? It was, in my opinion, the compelling love they (and most others) felt when in His presence, plus the unmistakable demonstration of His power.

So what you say? What if that is still the case? What if the reason “following Jesus” is so hard for most Christians is that they are doing so without a tangible encounter of His compelling love and an undeniable experience of His power that He brings when He comes? What if the the intended "method" for making disciples is to begin with an experience of Jesus' presence that oozes love and power? It is sad to me that so many people “try harder” to be followers of Jesus in a vacuum where He mostly an idea rather than an experienced, supernatural Presence. And I wonder if it would see more disciples (Dallas Willard calls them "apprentices") if the encounter we owe people with Jesus' love and power were our first means of invitation.

Just wondering...

Tom, one of Abba's children