The Color of Money

What is it about money that is so hard to talk about?

As I mentioned a few hours ago in a previous post, our church is having a congregational meeting this Sunday to talk about the serious budget shortfall we are facing as a church going into 2006. To be honest, I think we as a church are going to look back someday on this meeting and see it as one of those defining moments that every family has. Why? Because facing reality has that effect on faithful people. And Crossroads is a place that seeks to be faithful to God's call. So I am very hopeful -- not just that we will come up with the right answers to our shortfalls, but that we will grow in faith together.

As I began thinking and praying about this issue, I got to thinking that lots of us might be asking, "So what DOES God think about our money? And what does it mean for us to be faithful to God's call on our lives with our finances?" I realize I am wading into uncomfortable territory for most of us. But to be honest, it is necessary for us to get a handle on money and what it means for our spiritual lives (yes, money has everything to do with our spiritual lives), especially as middle/upper class Americans. I might even argue that money and stuff is the #1 challenge our segment of society (and our church) faces, and if we don't have a proper theology of wealth, we will atrophy in our spiritual growth.

With that teaser, here it goes.


What does God say about our money?

First, money is not bad or good. It just is. Money, when it comes right down to it, is just paper (or metal) that has been assigned a value by society. In and of itself, money isn't bad or good. It has no inherant power, it isn't magic, it doesn't walk around when we aren't looking (and as we know, it doesn't grow on trees!). That is to say, money is neutral on the good/evil scale.

Secondly, that must mean that how we view money is very important, because as we know, money has a great affect on our lives. I Timothy 6:10 is a piercing verse; "For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains." It seems that when we are devoted to money (and the things that money can buy), we are pursuing a path away from God, and ultimately, we will be hurt. That is a holy warning of God.

Third, what is the answer to our dilemma? How do we keep ourselves from falling into the trap that I Timothy warns about? We practice a radical act of discipleship: We give it away. I Corinthians 6:19:20 reminds us that "you are not your own. You were bought with a price." In other words, our lives and everything about them do not belong to us to use as we see fit. Everything we are and have belongs to Christ -- our souls, our bodies, our time, our talents, and even our money. None of it is ours. As Christians we believe all of it (even if we "earned it" by working hard) is God's.

Now, God allows us to keep some of what he has given us to live and rejoice in life. He is not a God of sour faces, nor is he a God who wants to keep us from enjoying our lives and the fruits of our labor. Even Jesus enjoyed a good party now and then.

But the center of our lives is not in the keeping but in the giving. In fact, we are told that Jesus said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." This does NOT mean "You will get more goodies if you give stuff to people." What it means is that the act of giving lets you experience God's blessing in a powerful way. Therefore, our life as givers has everything to do with our lives of faith. Giving keeps us from the strangle hold money can have on us (as I Timothy warns). Giving is born out of the fact that all of what we have and are is God's anyway because of his loving sacrifice for us. And in giving, we actually experience God's blessings in our lives. We know his love in a very real way when we risk giving, as he gave to us.

So...what does that mean? It means that before I do anything else in my life, I give back to God and God's work in the world. Before I pay my bills, before I pay my taxes, before I go out to coffee with my friends -- the first thing I do is give to God. I do this as a recognition that my life itself is a gift from God, and that the love God has for me in Jesus Christ is the cornerstone of my existance. This is the posture of faith and the way we give reflects that. We give to God in gratitude, faith and trust that he has and will continue to take care of us. Giving of our treasures is a response of faith.

Now the question arises, how much should we give? The Bible tells us that each of us is to give as we have made up in our mind to give (II Cor.7:7). In other words, God doesn't want us to be coerced into giving any particular amount, as if it were a tax we have to pay. In that respect, it really is between us and God.

But that doesn't mean that God has not set up standards that he expects from us out of the bounty he has lent to us. The tithe (which means "tenth") or 10% of one's income was set up in the Old Testament as the standard for God's people to give for the work of the temple, as well as for their own spiritual discipline. Some argue that, now that we are in New Testament times, the tithe has been abolished as a practice.

In some ways, that is absolutely true. No longer is the tithe a requirement for the people of God, as those who live under the grace of Jesus Christ.

But that does not mean that we can hold ourselves to a lesser standard. In fact, in Jesus Christ, our giving expectation is raised and not lowered. In many respects, 10% is now the bottom of God's expectations, not the top. Every story in the New Testament where we see Jesus commenting on the positive giving of money (and people's usage of it), they are pictured giving well over 10% in response to God's grace to them (Zaccheus gives half of all his wealth to the poor -- Luke 19:8, the widow gave her last two pennies -- Luke 21:1-4). The only people he rails on are the Pharisees, and they are the ones only giving 10% and thinking they are so special doing it! They think they are doing God a favor, but he sees right through them -- they have not experienced the redeeming love and grace of God for them, otherwise they would recognize that their entire life is Gods to be used as a gift for him. Therefore, while the law of the tithe might no longer be obligatory, our call to be generous and live a life of gracious giving has not. If anything, we are now in Jesus Christ called to an even higher standard.

And here is why this is such a hard issue for us as middle/upper class Americans. We have a lot of other things that take first priority in our lives. Mortgages, car payments, retirement accounts, business ventures, college savings, sports fees for our kids, club memberships, vacations, and on and on and on. Chances are 90% of these obligations are on auto-deduction with the bank and we never see them in our accounts. Then after we buy groceries and gas, we have nothing (or very little) left to give to God's work in the church and the world.

Let me humbly suggest that that is not the way God designed for us to live. This very common pattern is a symptom of spiritual sickness that God wants to heal in us.

The cure? We put God first in our life (even our financial life), even above retirement accounts, college savings, and car payments. It might even call us to live as counter-culturally as Jesus lived, according to the "law of downward mobility" (which is the lifestyle Jesus calls us to -- living below our means). To live within (or below) our means does not mean that we just do what we can in our giving to God, but that we reorganize our lives to make our giving to God the first priority and not the last. It means literally, placing God first in our lives.

When we put God last with our money, theologically we are saying that we place ourselves first, and give God the rest.

When we prioritize God with our money, we put God first and ourselves last. That is the proper color of money in our lives as Christians.

For many of you reading this, you will say, "That is totally crazy. I could never do that." But I challenge you to seriously, and prayerfully consider taking this leap of faith -- of letting God control your money.

And I guarantee that if you do this, you will find that God will grow faith in you in amazing ways. You might not have everything you want, but you will ALWAYS have exactly what you need. You will never ever regret it.

What would it look like for you and your family to put God first with your finances? What would it look like to risk giving 10% (or more) of your treasures to God?

Think about it.

Blessings on your journey.

jeff

Black Clouds or Bright Days?

Greetings from Portland!

For those of you from Crossroads, you know that this is a big week in the life of our church. This Sunday we are having a congregational meeting to talk about a significant budget shortfall we have as a church going into 2006. It is absolutely NO FUN to talk about, but it is really good that we are. I hope all of us plan on attending one of these important meetings being held after each of the morning worship services.

Now, we could look at this as a huge black cloud come to rain on our parade. Or...we could look at it as a bright day God has given us for growth, nurture, and challenge in our lives of faith.

Guess which one I would choose?

Let's be in prayer for our church and session as we seek God's guidance and wisdom.

j

What are you learning?

As we speak, I am in Portland, Oregon with the rain pelting down outside the window of my very luxurious Homestead Suites chalet (ok, it's not luxurious, and it's not a chalet, but...). I am here because I am enrolled in a Doctor of Ministry degree program at George Fox Evangelical Seminary here in Portland, and this is my 3rd of 4 on-campus cohorts, which runs until the 26th.

For those of you who have never heard of a Doctor of Ministry degree before, I would liken it to an Ed.d degree for teachers. It is an academic program open to practicing clergy and church leaders after they have received their Master of Divinity degree (which is the standard for most denominational clergy), but who want to keep learning and growing without leaving their professional life and moving on campus (the Ph.D route). It is a 3 year program, with two years of academic coursework and (at least) one year of research and writing of a dissertation. I am 1 1/2 years into it and am having so much fun I can't stand it! It is a lot of work, but I am learning a ton that impacts my own life of faith, as well as my life as a pastor. I am grateful to Kristi and my girls, the church, and God for allowing me to do this.

OK that just sounded like a Golden Globes acceptance speech from last week, but you get the picture.

Anyways, I was Instant Messaging with a friend from church a few days ago and he asked me what I was learning at school. As I am about half way through my time on campus for this session, I thought it would be good for me to think about the "ahas" of my time here, and then I thought (maybe stupidly) that you might like to know as well. There have been many, but here are two of the things I've been thinking about.

1. The body's terror alert system. As you know, the US (since 9/11) has come up with a color coded terror alert system to warn the public of the level of terror threat in our country. Well, did you know that our bodies have the same sort of thing built right in? It's called anxiety. Anxiety and its bodily repurcussions are our alert network that something is not right. Individuals have it, but groups (and churches) have them too. When we get anxious, our bodies do all sorts of funky things, like our heart pounds, we can't think straight, and I'm sure each of us could add our list of symptoms to the list. We also react to our anxiety in wierd ways with others. We might be compliant, but inwardly be frustrated (and thus act passive-agressively). We might rebel, or blame, or disengage emotionally from the one that we are in conflict with (the one who is causing us the anxiety). We might even turn to addictions to supress or anxiousness (I would have to say food and biting my nails are my preferred modes).

Now, it would be HORRIBLE to live an anxious life for too long. In fact, God doesn't want us to -- he has given us the chance to live in the freedom of his love for us (perfect love casts out fear, he says).

But the fact is the places where we are anxious are the places that we can be transformed.

Our anxiety comes from disharmony, in one way shape or form. As followers of Jesus, those are the places we should not avoid -- but steer into, to get underneath, to examine, to lift up to Jesus, because those are the places God can transform us and make us whole.

What are you anxious about? How are you presently dealing with it? God wants to heal our anxieties, and he will, if we allow him to.

This was powerful for me.

2. Searching for Jesus. For a lot of people in the church, the world "Evangelism" is a scary thing. First, it is scary to think about actually talking to people about Jesus, when most of the world today could care less (it seems) or you don't feel like you "know" enough to share. It is also a big burden to think about the fact that Jesus is counting on me to introduce them to Christ. That is a big responsiblity, and one that most of us feel unprepared (or unworthy) to do.

But that understanding of evangelism is incomplete, and even misinformed. The fact of the matter is that it is not our job to bring Jesus Christ to people, or even bring people to Jesus Christ. The fact is that Jesus is already there with them. He knows them by name and is walking with each of us, whether we know it or not. We don't bring Jesus to anybody. We as Christians believe that when Jesus rose from the dead, he is now speaking to us in the eternal present (remember he claimed God's name I AM for himself), and he is already there, whether people know it or not.

Therefore, my primary job in evangelism is not to say, "Do you know Jesus?" but to say "What is going on in your life?" For we can guarantee that Jesus is already there, somewhere. Our adventure is getting to look for Jesus in that person's life, and then finding ways to help them listen to their life and help them recognize His presence.

That requires that I listen to them, befriend them, get into their culture, and pray that Jesus will show himself in the situation. Evangelism then is like the game "Where's Waldo?" -- we get to try and find Jesus in the picture of people's lives. Because he is already there, whether they know it or not.

Those are just a couple of things I have been noodling on from Portland. What do you think?Agree? Disagree? Let me know!

Prayers from Portland,

jeff

And the winner of the Lincy is...

OK I recognize that most everyone will NOT CARE who gets my awards for best music of the year but...it's my blog so I get to post it! My version of the Grammys are called "The Lincys" (my nickname from home), and I am going to hand out my top five nominees for best album and best song of the year. Unfortunately, we couldn't get Billy Crystal or Ellen to host the show this year. Just me...

Actually though in all seriousness, this year has been a year where music has made a huge impact on my life of faith. I especially love looking for music that is called "non-Christian" but actually has roots that run deep in faithfulness to Christ. Some of these artists aren't even TRYING to be Christian, but they hold messages we hear from God. Ain't it amazing?! Anyways, most of these are new songs in 2005, but some are very old and (re)introduced to me this year. I would recommend all of these songs and albums.

Here we go!

TOP FIVE SONGS OF THE YEAR

5.The Queen of Iowa-Andrew Peterson (off the Far Country): Andrew Peterson is called the heir apparent to Rich Mullins (my favorite Christian label artist). He has been to Crossroads a few times, and is a masterful songwriter and singer. This song says that sometimes those who are dying are living more than those of us who live.

4.Chicago-Sufjan Stevens (off the Illinois album): Sufjan Stevens is (currently) my favorite artist. He is a Christian, but makes the most interesting music I have heard in a long time. And the well runs deep. This song is about seeking to find yourself and finding out that it is you who have been found.

3.Forgiveness Waltz-Jonathan Rundman (off the Sound Theology album): This album is a number of years old but pretty new to me! Rundman made this concept album with 52 songs on it, each one corresponding to a different week in the church year. Conceivably, you could listen to one song per week and discuss the questions for that week in the church year in the liner notes. It is great! This song is so powerful -- Forgiveness is more like a dance than a deal, he says. Anyone who has gone through the process of forgivness knows what he means.

2.All Because of You--U2 (off of How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb): The answer to the album question by the way is Love. But this song epitomizes the depth of Christian thought and theology in U2's music, and preaches a sermon better than I ever could. "All because of you, I AM."

And the Lincy goes too...(drumroll)
1.Mercy Now -- by Mary Gauthier (off of her CD Mercy Now). I heard this artist interview and play on NPR's the World Cafe coming home from work late one night. She is a powerful musician and folk singer, with a world of experience. She is Brennan Manning (my favorite author) if Brennan was a female folk singer. Mary is from New Orleans which also makes this cry for mercy even more powerful. This song has haunted me all year (in a good way). Mercy is what we need.


TOP ALBUMS OF 2005
5. Okemah and the Melody of Riot by Son Volt -- Son Volt is an indi band that sprouted out of the band Uncle Tupelo in the mid 90's and this is their first album since 1998. I love it first and foremost because it is super fun to listen to, but also because it gets me thinking about a world that likes to place blame on everyone else instead of ourselves. Good words for me to hear.
But first and foremost, it is just a great listen!

4.The Far Country by Andrew Peterson -- This album is really, really good. It has a pseudo Narnia theme (for all of your Narnia buffs out there), but even if you detested all things Aslan, you would still love this album. It is an album about heaven. I needed it.

3.Drunkards Prayer by Over the Rhine -- If you've never heard Over the Rhine, you've got to dive in! This is a husband/wife from Cincinatti who are singers/songwriters who write as Christians but sing in bars (and a few college campuses as well). This album was written after a period in their marriage that was extremely trying, and after they made it through, found their love and experience of God was deeper than ever before. It is a love story album -- love for Christ and love for each other. It is easy to listen to and takes a lifetime to learn.

2.How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb by U2 -- of course I'm partial to the lads from Dublin, but seriously -- this album is incredible. Every song is full of meaning, purpose, and faith. U2 never ceases to inspire me and to get me to think about my faith and the world in a fresh way.

And the Lincy for best album of 2005 goes to...

1.Illinois by Sufjan Stevens. I cannot stop listening and thinking about this album. And it seems neither can people like Rolling Stone magazine, who place it #9 on their albums of the year (quite remarkable wouldn't you say for a Christian singer?). This is at the same time the wierdest AND the most compelling album I've heard for a long time. It has marching band tracks, banjo, folk, and rock based rhythms all rolled into one. That is to say, it is an entirely unique and so creative that I can't get over it.

But that is not the only thing. Stevens started an ambitious project to write an album for each of the 50 states (Illinois is is 2nd -- his first being Michigan, for his home state. In fact, he went to Hope College I hear!). So the state of Illinois and events that have happened there become the backdrop for him to talk about issues pertaining to God, faith and culture. He questions God in Casmir Pulaski Day, the day his girlfriend died of cancer. He writes about the dangers of consumer culture in Come On Feel the Illinois. He even writes a haunting song (John Wayne Gacy, Jr.) about a serial killer who murders young boys, but at the end of the song he writes confessionally, "But in my best behavior, I am really just like him. Look beneath the floorboards for the secrets I have hid." If only more Christian music were this honest, this raw, and this interesting. It is my favorite of 2005.

Anyways, let me know what you think!

Blessings in Christ,

Jeff

ipod faith

OK I have to admit it, I love my ipod. Over the past 9 months that I've been a "user" it has been responsible for making me love and respect music for its power and beauty in a fresh, new, life-giving way. I love everything about it. I love making playlists, finding new stuff on itunes, listening to podcasts, even seeing what celebrities are listening to (on itunes, they post celebrity playlists. And I always thought Jennifer Garner was so hip -- but Justin Timberlake is on her playlist!? I'm so depressed). Anyways, I haven't yet posted my own playlist, but you might see that in the near future.

But my ipod has also got me thinking a lot about Christianity in the 21st Century. My generation (Generation X) and those generations younger than me are engaging in Christian faith in a new, different, and sometimes confusing way. Even current discussions and court battles like "intelligent design" theory and whether it should be taught in the classroom represents a modernist theological construct that puts things together logically, cognitively, and orderly.

To be honest, I think most of that sort of logical theological reasoning is lost on my generation. My generation is more interested in experience over cognition, relationships over rationalities, gray over black and white. Words and thought processes like "justification by grace through faith", although theologically accurate, don't carry the same punch and effectiveness with the next generation as they do with boomers and older. That is not because my generation doesn't care about things pertaining to faith (on the contrary, this next generation seems more concerned and interested in spiritual things than the previous ones), but because they operate in a different mindset and worldview than previously experienced. When teens say "I just don't get my parents", they aren't kidding! But maybe now moreso than other generations, cultural norms are shifting and ways of gathering and processing information are evolving into something completely different.

As the church, it seems we have two options. First, we can force the next generation to learn, process, and digest the Christian faith just like we did (or do). We can use the same words and explanations that worked for us in our upbringing and expect those we are teaching to learn like we want them to learn.

I don't think is a good idea on two levels. First, it doesn't work well. How many of us were driven from the church at an early age because we thought it was "boring, old fashioned, not relevant for me."? The truth underneath that statement was probably that it wasn't the message itself that was boring, but that the communication of the message (the style of the delivery) wasn't on the same wavelength as we were. It was trying to speak relevant words in irrelevant ways (irrelevant for the person listening). When we try to force people to learn like we do instead of like they do, we will fail at some level.

Secondly, it's not a good idea because it is not what Jesus did. Instead of speaking in the theological language of the day all the time, Jesus was notorious for creating earthy parables, easy for his listener to grasp hold of. He argued law with the lawyers, and spoke of crops with the farmers. He met people where they were at, in their own language, in their own context, in their own learning style. Jesus was as relevant as they come, and for us to do otherwise goes against his grain.

And so instead of forcing them to think and learn the way we do, we --like Jesus did -- need to proclaim the Good News in new and fresh ways.

That brings me back to the ipod.

I think we as Christians need to come to grips with an ipod kind of faith when we seek to proclaim good news to the next generation. The way it operates and its subsequent popularity can teach us a lot about how this generation wants to be ministered to.

First let me say -- What I DON'T mean by that is that to minister to the next generation, we need to get all high-tech, flashy, and just jump on the next technological breakthrough. Too many churches have done this to try and reach out to the next generation, and have remained just as irrelevant as before.

Instead, we need to hear from the culture how it wants (and needs) to receive the Good News that we the church have to offer. And the ipod is the cultural symbol (I believe) of our world today.

The beauty of ipods is that you have versatility, flexibility, portability, choice, and beauty wrapped up in a tiny, sleek little package. At the click of your computer mouse and the spin of the flywheel you can download individual songs off the internet (instead of buying the whole album), you can make your own lists of songs to fit your moods, you can avoid songs you dislike, you can experiment with new music that you might never try if you had to spend 17 bucks for the whole album. The packaging itself is a beautiful work of art -- the ipod feels good to hold, to work with, to look at. It isn't clunky or hard to understand. It is personal, sleek and intuitive. In some weird way, it makes you feel good listening to it. It is more than just a high-tech music box. It has a personality that adds to your life -- I would bet anyone that if someone from Apple read this, they would agree with me (at least that is the kind of product they are trying to create).

What does that say to me about what is important and effective for this generation of potential followers of Jesus Christ? First, we need to present a Christianity that is both grounded but contextual. All ipods (as far as I know) run off of the same operating system and are hooked into itunes as the platform for use. That is what unites us as an ipod community. Yet, every single person’s ipod is going to include slightly different components (i.e. music, podcasts, photos, videos) that identify and speak to its personal user. I would guess no two ipods have exactly the same information in them, just like no two humans have the same information in them. Each of us/them is entirely unique.

We need to see the church and Christian faith in this way if we seek to reach this next generation. Our common "operating system" is not the church, service style, or denomination, but Jesus Christ himself. He is the only operating system we need. He is what defines us, unites us, powers us, and personalizes us. Nothing else. Now, there are certainly common avenues through which we encounter Jesus (worship, Scripture, sacraments to name a few of the biggies). But this generation is less concerned about how we connect than that we connect with the spirit that unites us.

What does that mean for us? It means we need to let people be introduced into that relationship with Jesus on their own terms, the way they need to enter it. We need to offer a variety of avenues to allow people to enter personally, to try him out, and to not have to put all the same things in their religious system as we have in ours (things like music or worship styles, the same spiritual disciplines, or maybe even some of the same sidebar doctrines). We need to show them the power of Jesus (the operating system) by being relaxed and letting them experiment with him, and then let them personalize their experience of him for themselves. And even if they come up with a slightly different "usage", a different understanding, we need to let them be there in that place. Much like ipod users can learn from each other on how to get the most out of their pods, we might gain new insight into Jesus from those who are seeing him in a slightly different way than we are. When we take this less-dogmatic, more accepting posture, we free up the next generation to explore the faith, and we might even learn and grow ourselves through the process.

Now, some might accuse me here of setting up a sort of "supermarket" type of theology and Christianity, where you can just pick and choose what you want to believe and throw the rest away. That is not what I am saying at all. Certainly, many of the teachings of Jesus are tough words that create a cost to my life that I would rather live without. Some of them I would just as soon throw out -- but I can't because it is Jesus who has authority in my life, and not me.
The same is true in our ipod analogy. While there is much flexibility, the unit can only do what the unit is created to do. It plays music -- it can't drive my car or mow my lawn (unfortunately). And it plays music in one certain way (you use the flywheel, it's not voice operated, it doesn't read your thoughts, etc.) Like Jesus, it has its own self-defined parameters of what it is and what it is called to be. We can't just write those out of our personalized experience of Jesus any more than we can make an ipod do something it wasn't created to do.

But while we can't pick and choose what to believe, we can personalize our faith. Whether we like it our not, every one of us does it. In fact, I would argue that that is exactly how Jesus created us to experience him, in a personalized way. No one else in the world has the relationship with Jesus that I do (because of my background, personality, experiences, etc.). Jesus speaks to me in ways different than he will speak to you. He works on things in me that are different than what he is working on in you. Certain parts of faith that come easy for me might be hard for you, and vice versa. Faith is personal.

Yet, why is it so hard for us to let the next generation mess around with our worship services? Our understandings of Scripture? Our experience of spiritual disciplines? We need to ease up on each other and instead recognize that life and faith today are much more interconnected, complex, and experiential than the way we went through it before. What was once a fairly black and white path (you were born, went to the church your ancestors went to, experienced worship like we always have done it, were taught the catechism, etc.) is now very grey. People enter faith at all levels, with different mindsets, with different driving beliefs. I believe we need to be less concerned about those grey areas, and more concerned with fostering an environment that lets people experiment with Jesus in our midst. We need to move from asking "Do you believe the truth?" sort of questions, and towards "What is Jesus saying to you in your life?" sort of questions -- believing that the Truth of Jesus will become clear through the Holy Spirit to each individual. Certainly, we cannot make Christ do anything or say anything that he hasn't really done or said, but we give people the beauty of Jesus exploration, on their own terms and in their own personal way.

That is what I love best about my ipod. I feel like I am exploring beauty in my own personalized way. I feel like my world has grown a bit in these past 9 months and I have taken a big shift in the way I listen to music. It might sound silly, but it’s true.

I pray that Christianity today might be able to do the same.

AMEN