Sunday, March 23, 2014

Lot, Sodom and Gomorrah and Millennials

I recently heard a sermon on the story of Sodom and Gomorrah.  The pastor, my friend Ken Holdorf, focused on the mercy that God showed to Lot and his family, rescuing them from the destruction of the evil cities.  It got thinking about another lesson that could be taken from the story.  That's a danger that comes having preached a few sermons in my life.  I often process the message in terms of what would I have done with the text?  In this case, I got to thinking about how it might relate to our ministry to millennials. 

To understand why Lot and his family were in danger we need to go back to a decision that he had made years earlier.  In Genesis 13 Abraham and Lot separate.  Lot, Abraham's nephew, had relocated to Israel with the rest of the family but a problem had developed.  As Lot's family grew, there was not enough property to accommodate them all.  Abraham proposed that they separate and gave Lot the option of staying or moving elsewhere.  Lot looked around and saw that there were greener pastures on plains near the Jordan River.  "It's looks good.  I will live there," he stated.  There was one problem with Lot's decision; he put he and his family at risk.  Lot and his family settled near the city of Sodom.  Genesis 13:13 specifically states, "the people of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the Lord.  Not the place you want to raise a family.

I have seen the same thing countless times during my years in youth ministry.  Young people often make decisions that put themselves at risk.  They make decisions based on what looks good, or what is fashionable at the time.  When that happens they can end up going down a dangerous road.  In the process they could get hurt, and/or cause grief to those who love them.  The lesson we can learn from Lot's story is that we have a God who loves those who have made poor choices.  He longs to be reunited with those who have wandered astray.  Our God loves the broken and lost. 

We are messengers who need to deliver God's mercy and grace.  We are called to pray for those who have made poor choices and gone astray.  It can be difficult when we are the ones who have been hurt.  Sometime their poor choices have cost us money, in addition to the sleepless nights. The mistakes might even be obvious to us.  As a result we feel a need to blame or offer advice, when what we really need to be doing is loving them, accepting them and helping them move on. 






Monday, March 17, 2014

What's After The Millennials?

What are we going to call the generation that follows the millennials?  That was the question that host of The Daily Show, Jon Stewart, asked Paul Taylor of Pew Research.  While it's too early to put a label children born since 2000, the two jokingly came up with a few suggestions: digital natives, the selfie generation and the rainbow generation, a reference to their tolerance.  I could think of a couple more: centurions and generation like. 

Sociologist and others have been labeling generations for decade: baby boomers and generation x preceded the millennials.  Along with the labels come characteristics.  In the case of millennials they are viewed as being self absorbed and morally adrift.  They are also seen as being spiritual, but usually outside mainline Christianity.  I realize that there is some value in describing a particular generation.  For instance, it helps those who are marketing products, or in the case of churches understand who they are trying to reach.  But there is a danger in that we tend to view all members of that generation that way. 

I am part of a worship community that is a great example.  Our son, Mark, who according to "the experts" is a millennial, serves as our pastor.  Most of the paid staff, including the worship leader and director of media also were born between 1980 - 2000.  One of our elders is a millennial and on a typical Sunday morning probably half of the congregation would fall into that category.  I don't view any of them as fitting the millennial mold.  I could add our daughter, Katie Seale, to list of those outside the millennial box. Katie is director of music at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Carrollton, Texas. 

I am not tooting the horn for our kids, rather I want to make a point.  The environment children grow up in does make a difference.  Barb and I tried to Pass the Torch of faith to our kids, including our generation X son, Peter.  We also realized we could not do it alone.  We tried to put them in communities where there were other adults who mentored them.  They also were surrounded by peers who shared their faith and values.  We were blessed in that they followed that pattern during their college years, when faith was shaped within all three of them." 

As parents we cannot allow "supposed social experts" to determine our children's identity.  Millennial is a label that is put on a generation, not individuals within that age group.  It will be the same for the generation that follows.  As parents we need to not only set the rules, but the standards.  Values are established at home, and parents need to be the primary role models.  Lastly, we need to make sure they are in a community that reinforces what they have been taught.


Sunday, March 9, 2014

A Heart of Peace

Our daughter, Katie, and I teach a group of middle school students at a local public school every other Friday.  It is part of the Student Advancement Leadership Initiative (SALI) sponsored by LINC North Texas.  We teach values and leadership skills to over a hundred 7th and 8th graders.  Yesterday our lesson was on the need to not treat other people as objects.  The theme was having a heart of peace, rather than a heart of war when it comes to how we relate to others.

It started me thinking about way I treat the random people I have contact with on a daily basis.  It might be the cashier in the grocery store or the person taking my order at the fast-food restaurant; they deserve to be treated with respect.  I guess that is why I like it when employees where name tags.  It allows me to address them as a person, rather than a nameless face.  "How is your day going Angie."   Thanks for taking my order Jose."  A smile and friendly comment might make a difference in their life.

I am glad I had that lesson yesterday, because I had to put it to use in damage control today.  I had to make a Home Depot run.  I had a couple of project that I needed to tend to and they also had bags of mulch and tomato plants on sale.  My cart was full, but the woman ahead of me was pushing an empty cart.  She had discovered the same thing I had; the store had sold out of tomato plants.  When she got up to the clerk she pointed to her empty cart and said, "I came for the tomato plants.  What a waste of time.  How can you run out of tomato plants?'  She continued her tirade as she waved the newspaper ad advertising the weekend sale.  The clerk was a young Hispanic girl.  She stood speechless as the abuse continued.  The girl did not deserve that.  She had nothing to do with ordering the plants.  She was just an object to this angry woman who very much had a "heart of war."

In this case I was able to reassure Maria, the young clerk.  "You did not deserve that," I told her.  "Some people can be cruel," I continued.  She smiled as she unloaded my cart and scanned the items.  "I hope the rest of your day goes better, Maria.," I told her as she handed me my receipt.  Lesson learned.  I can always go back for the tomato plants later. 

Sunday, March 2, 2014

The Pre-Election Blues

Tuesday is a primary election day in Texas.  I really am looking forward going to the polls, but not just because I enjoy exercising my right to vote.  It has to do with all the campaign ads.  With the election over I will get a reprieve, at least until it's time for the runoffs.   I am tired of politicians telling me they deserve my vote because they will: stand up to Washington and "Obama." They obviously did not read my blog from a few weeks back.  They all claim to be "true conservatives" who belong to the NRA and want to protect our borders.  While all of the above bothers me, what really irritates me is the negative commercials.  Some of the ads do not even tell me who has sponsored them.  They are just attacks questioning the honesty and integrity of one of the candidates.

I have had two personal encounters that only reinforce my feelings.  I was working in the yard one Saturday when a young man wearing jeans and cowboy hat approached me.  He was carrying an I-pad, which I suppose informed him of my name, party affiliation and who knows what else.  Turns out he is the son of one of the candidates running for state office.  I was already familiar with his dad because he is running a very negative campaign against our long-standing State Senator.  In this case I have personally met our current senator on two occasions.   Both times he listened to me and seemed to be more interested in what I stood for than in telling me about what he had done for me.  I only had minutes of one on one time, but I sensed I had his attention.   I told the young man up-front that my decision had already been made, since he was running against a politician I liked and respected  That did not stop him from telling me lots of negative things about the incumbent.  He even dropped the term "liberal," which knowing the candidates record I had to chuckle at.  I finally excused myself and returned to my yard work.  The next weekend another candidate stop by to introduce himself and ask for my vote.  This gentleman is an incumbent who I also respect.  He said nothing about his opponent, but instead talked about what he had accomplished in the capital during this term and what he hoped to do in the future.  I told him he had my support.  He thanked me and shook my hand. 

I guess what troubles me most is that many of these same politician claim to be church-going conservative.  If they are indeed Christians, I have to wonder if in their religious training they ever got down to the commandment that deals with giving "false testimony against your neighbor," or in this case your political opponent. 

I never heard my daddy speak an evil word about any candidate, but it's funny I always knew how he voted.  That's a lesson we need to keep in mind.  Focus on what you stand for and love those who hold opinions or political stances that are opposite.  By the way, it might only be a primary election but I sure hope you vote on Tuesday.