“Are you better off today than you were four years ago?” “Who will make you better off in the next four years?” These seem to be the litmus test questions that the candidates want us to consider as we prepare to vote. Surely our well-being is important to each one of us, and we will spend time considering which philosophy of government is more likely to help us be successful. But there is another question for us, and I hear neither candidate even acknowledging its relevance. It is a question that I believe Jesus would ask if he were in the audience at one of the debates, and it has import for our entire nation. It is this: “Who will help my neighbor in the next four years?” How would the candidates answer such a question? Which answer would make more sense to you? As followers of Jesus, we are called, in Paul’s words, to “look each of us not only to our own interests, but also to the interests of others” (Philippians 2:4). Increasingly, those at the margins of our society are being left farther and farther behind those of us who are more or less in the mainstream. We see the elderly, the poor and children at risk, and many are still discounted because of gender, ethnicity or social status. These people at the margins are precisely who Jesus calls us to serve. It is not, nor will it ever be, enough simply to throw a few dollars in a bucket or a collection plate and belief that we have answered Jesus’ command to serve. We are called to work to make a difference in the lives of those on the margins. Now, don’t misunderstand me…this is not a discussion of parties or politics. Politics will ask about the role of government and the role of the private sector in addressing the concern, and that is an important discussion. As followers of Jesus, we must ask the prior question: are we willing to do as Jesus commands us to do—to love our neighbors as ourselves? And we must remember Jesus teaching on the question “Who is my neighbor?” Once we have answered that question we can begin to discuss how we can do what we know we must do. I’m sure that neither candidate has a plank in his platform called “care for the neighbor,” but our country would be a better place if every candidate, and every public servant, took such an idea seriously. As you prepare to cast your vote, look not only to your own interest but also to the interest of your neighbor.

In her recent book, Almost Christian, author Kenda Creasy Dean describes an African’s understanding of Christianity. She quotes: “You American think of Christianity as a farm with a fence. Your question is ‘Are you inside the fence or outside it?’ We think of Christianity as a farm with no fence. Our question is ‘Are you heading towards the farm or away from it?’” The African’s concept of the Church is an important challenge for us, for many Christians seem to spend most of their energy judging the spiritual fitness of others, rather than looking at their own journey “toward the farm.” Our understanding of discipleship should move us away from a focus on the fence itself, concentrating us instead on our journey with and toward Jesus. Dean makes an important distinction about our faith; she says “The Church’s identity is not defined primarily by its edges, but by its center: focused on Christ, the sole source of our identity…” Because our identity is found in Christ and not in the color, shape, or location of the fence, we are free to focus on our relationship with Jesus and with the world. Although the “border” may be fuzzy without a fence, it means that God sets the dimensions of the “farm,” not us. This distinction means that all those who seek Jesus, disciples or not, will move back and forth, toward the “farm” and away from it, during the course of their lives. We engage the world, and the world engages us, without either of us being impeded at a fence. The freedom of no fences can be both life-giving and dangerous at the same time. As disciples mature, we learn where we choose not to go, even though we are free to go there. As disciples grow their identity in Christ, we learn how to work and play without a fence. With Christ as the center of faith, and without worry about putting up fences to keep others out, disciples of Jesus become less “guardians” and more “ambassadors.” Without fences, we invite others to journey toward the farm, that is, toward Jesus, rather than hoping they’ll figure out how to hop the fence. As Dean says, “Disciples are people who participate in God’s movement toward the world and are empowered by the Holy Spirit to represent Christ in the process.” Does a fence surround your Christianity? Are you more concerned about the fence or the farm? How might you move from guardian to ambassador?

Ministry is All About Connections

There is a temptation today to simply blast out electronic ideas to anyone who might read it. The most significant thing that disciples have, however, is not technology, rather is authentic community. Sometimes authentic community comes thru social media, but is the most complete when we gather face to face. Disciples need to be together!

Sunny G, a communications manager,
says: “I think the world is plagued with enough negative people. We need more positive people, people who like to zero in on what is right with the world. Negative people just make me feel heavy.” --Now Discover Your Strengths, p. 109
I can relate to what Sunny has to say. Negativity is so…well…negative! I have to wonder about attitude. Why do some people face adversity with such courage, while others mope like Eeyore about this tiniest of inconveniences?
Is attitude hard-wired? Are some people just born negative? Perhaps, but I am convinced that we have quite a bit of control of how we choose to see the world. A SOTH member said to me recently that at a point in his life he “decided to be happy.” His decision was to view his life from the most healthy, positive perspective he could—not to sugarcoat or fool himself or anyone else, for that matter—but to see his glass half full.
An office manager in a previous congregation was not the jolliest of people.
However, she found a way to poke a bit of fun at herself. She found a poster of a bald eagle, looking stern and serious. The caption read: “I am smiling.” She put in on the wall in the church office and for those of us who knew her it captured her attempt to be a positive person, even though she could never be, as she described it “a grinning idiot.”
Neither of these people said so to me, but I believe they could see that part of
becoming more positive about life comes from acknowledging that you and I ultimately are not the ones in charge, but that God is. I suppose that we are hard-wired in some ways, but I also believe that as God’s children when we learn to trust that God is present in our lives and when we expect God to see us through the difficulties we face that we can move through them with a grateful, positive viewpoint. This attitude of Discipleship is far from some kind of pie-in-the-sky naiveté—it is grounded in our hope in Christ.
As you begin this new year, Disciples, may you be grounded in that hope, and may you trust that God will make your paths straight in 2012.
Proverbs 3.5-8
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not rely on your own insight.
6 In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.
7 Do not be wise in your own eyes;
fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.
8 It will be a healing for your flesh
and a refreshment for your body.