Learning From the Little League Scandal

It has happened again.  A major scandal has hit Little League Baseball.  This time it is the Jackie Robinson West team from Chicago.  The team from the south side of the city captured our hearts last summer when we heard of the tough urban environment the players came from. It was also hailed as a victory for baseball, a sport that has taken a backseat to basketball in the city.  Less that 10% of the current major league players are blacks who were born in the U.S.  The Jackie Robinson West team made it all the way to the Little League Championship game before losing to a team from Seoul South Korea. The team was honored with a parade and even earned a trip to the White House to meet the President.  Now it turns out the coaches of the team bent the rules. Boundaries were adjusted to create a "super team."  The team was stripped of its title. The Illinois State Little League Championship was awarded to a team from the Tri-Cities Little League in Dundee,

I am familiar with The Tri-Cities organization.  I coached in that league for six years when we lived in Dundee.  I have fond memories of that experience.  I recall what a "tight ship" the league board ran.  Nobody bent the rules. The players and their welfare were a high priority. While competition was fierce, the coaches and players remained friends off the field.

I had a similar experience once we moved to the Dallas area.  I coached for a few years in the Farmers Branch Little League.  I always tried to keep things in perspective.  I recall one incident in particular.  A draft is always held prior to the season beginning.  The coaches select players based on their notes from the tryouts.  Obviously, the best players are off the board first and after the first couple of rounds there is not a great differential when it comes to skill.  In this case their were twin boys who had little to offer in on the field talent. Their situation was complicated by the fact that their parents had requested that both boys play on the same team.  When none of the other coaches wanted to draft the twins, I agreed to take them on.  In response, the other coaches agreed to let me finish off my roster before any another player was selected.  As it turned out, it did not make a lot of difference.  Over the course of the season the team only won one game, but the boys had a lot of fun and it was one of my favorite teams ever.

I recently read an article in Forbes that caused me to think that perhaps we needed to integrate some millennials into amateur sports,  The author reflected on some of the characteristics that millennials bring to the workplace.  It confronted some of the myths that surround today's young adults.  Some of the positive characteristics that millennials bring with them are: they value team work, they desire mentoring relationship and they do not like a competitive atmosphere in the workplace.  Translate those to amateur sports. Imagine an environment where the emphasis was on working together, learning from each other and gaining experience rather than just playing for trophies.

Fifty Shades of Grey

Okay, now that I have your attention I am not referring to the erotic works of fiction that consistently appear on the most read book list.  Nor is this a reaction to the fact that the first film adaptation will soon be released.  I do want to focus on a cultural trend.  There seem to be more and more grey areas when it comes to values and behavior.  It has created a dilemma for those of us to make our decision based on God's Word.  It causes me to ponder, what kind of world do we live in?

The gay/lesbian issue has to be near the top of the list.  As I interpret the scriptures, homosexuality is wrong.  It is a sin that goes against God's plan, but the reality is I am convinced some people have been created that way.  It has become a grey area.  We could add abortion to the list of grey areas.  Taking the life of the unborn is wrong.  I truly believe a life begin at inception, but what about those instances of rape or incest.  I face another grey area as I make more rounds as a hospital chaplain.  We are able to sustain life through machines, but what about cases where there is no brain activity or hope of recovery.  When do we pull the plug?  Some grey areas are not so dramatic.  I value honesty, but there are times when I have to avoid stating the full truth to protect myself or because have been entrusted with some one's confidence. 

Yes, life is full of grey areas.  I think God puts us in such situations to remind us that we do have free-will.  He wants us to make decision, choices that reflect who we are as God's people.  He wants us to be Jesus, unbound by the expectations of others.  It does not make life easy.  We make hundreds of decisions each day.  Some have long-lasting implication, others are short-term.  Decisions can be significant or insignificant.  Many of those decisions involve grey areas.  Should we watch an R rated movie that has sexual content, but has been touted as being an award winner?  

Come to think of it maybe this is about the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy.  Shades of grey... What would Jesus do?  Isn't free-will a wonderful gift.  Now we have the challenge of living out God's plan in a post-Christian culture.  The world, especially the millennial generation is watching us.

The Ugly Side of Christianity

A group of Christians made a statement at the Texas State Capital in Austin this week, and I am ashamed.  The Texas chapter of the Council on America-Islamic Relations annually sponsors a day when Muslims can visit the capital and learn about state politics.  About two hundred Muslims showed up, but so did two dozen demonstrators.  The protesters were Christians who carried signs objecting to the presence of the Muslims.  They also shouted, "We don't want you here" and "Go home," to the visitors.  One state legislator, Rep. Molly White, was part of the protest.  Earlier Rep. White had stated that Muslims who visited her office would be asked to renounce Islamic terrorist and pledge allegiance to the United States.  An editorial on the events in the Dallas Morning News was titled Ugliness Runs Rampant.

Do not get me wrong.  I am troubled by the decline of mainline Christianity and the rise of religious diversity, but I am offended at the tactics used.  I realize that some of the motivation for such actions are rooted in scripture.  When God's children entered the Promised Land they were warned about the pagans now occupying the area.  "Make no treaty with them and show them no mercy." (Deuteronomy 7:3)  Later they were instructed to, "break down their altars, smash their sacred stones, cut down their Asherah poles and burn their idols." (Deuteronomy 7:5)  Those instructions are found in the Old Testament, in other word Before Christ.  Jesus changed all that. Jesus was all about grace.  He made it clear that all were welcome in His Kingdom; "Make disciples of all nations."  Jesus disciples discovered the scope of that command at Pentecost when individuals from throughout the world heard the gospel message in their own language.

Jesus sought to touch the lives of all people.  He crossed the Jordan River and visited Decapolis.  He ventured north of the Sea of Galilee into Syria.  While a righteous Jew would have nothing to do with Samaritans, Jesus not only traveled through Samaria but invited the people to become part of his kingdom.  Now, I think Jesus calls us to visit the Samaria's of our day.  We are not to go to condemn but to offer peace and hope.  We are to go to build relationships.  Granted we are to share the Gospel message, but that can never happen if we do not go with an evangelical spirit.  One of the judgments millennials make concerning the church is that we are anti other cultures, belief systems and lifestyles.  That cannot be.  All people, even Muslims, are Children of God.   They need to be treated as such.  Only when they see Jesus in us will we have the opportunity to share the message of hope that we cherish.

The New Normal

It is finally happening.  Like the headlights coming out of the tunnel, the freight train has been bearing down on us.  2015 is the year that millennials (those born between 1980-2000) surpass baby boomers (those born post World War II) as the largest population group.  I am part of that later group.  Like my peers,  I have grown comfortable with the way things are.  I like normalcy.  There are certain restaurants that I enjoy because I can order without even looking at the menu.  I tend to take the same route over and over because it is comfortable.  I am also cautious.  I usually try to stay in the middle lane, rather than venture into the fast lane. I also hold to a familiar set of values, those I learned from my parents.  They were reinforced by school and church.  That was the old normal.

In the millennial world, values have shifted.  Behaviors once considered taboo have become acceptable.  The way we communicate has changed.  Established norms are no longer the expectation.  At one point single parent homes were the exception.  Today almost half of the children in our country live in such situations, and some live in home where the parents are of the same sex. In the old world, unmarried couples living together was looked down on.  Today it has become the accepted thing.  Probably 75% of couples who do marry have lived together before saying, "I do.  We can long for the "good old days," but they are not coming back.  We can complain to our peers about how the world has "gone to hell in a hang basket" but it is not going to change things.  The freight train that is the millennial culture has overwhelmed us.

While the world has changed, I do not think Jesus wants his disciples to compromise on who they are or what they believe.. Jesus did not do that.  He was very much out of step with the world that he lived in, but that did not keep him from interacting with that world.  He loved those who were different.  He embraced those who were lost and broken.  He also accepted people for who they were and not who he desired them to be. He frequented the place where the broken and lost hung out.  He sought those relationships, not to condemn them but rather to love them.  Now he calls for us to do the same.

The Church of the Future

In my last blog I wrote about the changing face of ministry.  My opinion is that in the future more ministry professionals will be bi-vocational, holding another job in addition to their church position. In this blog I want to reflect on the future of the church itself.  It is my prayer that in twenty years the church itself will look vastly different than it does today.

One of my favorite movies to watch with my grandsons in the Pixar film Cars.  The movie features a famous race car, Lighting McQueen.  While on his way to the championship race, Lighting finds himself marooned in the small town of Radiator Springs, Arizona.  The once thriving town is now deserted, inhabited only by a cast of eccentric characters. The voices of two of the characters are Cheech Marin and George Carlin; need I say more.  At one point in the story Lighting ask his new friend, Sally, how such a scenic spot could be overlooked by the rest of the world.  Sally point out that at one time Route 66 ran through Radiator Spring, but when the Interstate was build it by-passed the town.   

In some ways the church of today is like Radiator Springs.  The main road of culture once traveled right through the church.  Today, those who live life in the fast lane pass by the church and don't even give it a second thought.  We have been by-passed by culture.  The characters in Cars expected the travelers to come to them.  After all they had a beautiful spot, and were definitely blessed with the gift of hospitality.  We also expect some of the tried and true methods to attract people to come and visit us.  We might post billboards along the highway announcing our location and service times.  We drop off brochures highlighting our ministry at rest areas along the highway.  We have a great product with eternal implications, why doesn't anyone visit us anymore?  In my mind the solution is to move into the fast lane, and maybe even take up a spot on the interstate.  Go to where the people are at instead of expecting them to come to us.   

One of my good friends, Steve Sandfort, is pastor to The Edge Community.  Six days a week The Edge is a coffee house in Lake Worth, Texas.  People from the community gather there for food and fellowship.  The Edge hosts a college night, a recovery ministry, and even offers entertainment some night.  On Sunday morning the place becomes a worship community.  Pastor Steve is there for all of it, interacting with people, listening to their needs and discussing the issues of the day.  Many of those visiting The Edge have no idea it is a church.  Rather, they see it as a place where they are loved and accepted for who they are.  

I am not saying that every church should open a coffee house.  I do feel we need to continue to explore new ways to be God's people in a broken world.  Perhaps it mean operating a community center and offering after school programs for kids.  Maybe it's establishing a hub group in your neighborhood, inviting your neighbors in for regular food and fellowship.  

A while back I wrote blog that expressed my feelings that the church should invest less money in buildings and more money in people.  I think the future of the church lies in being God's people where the people are at.  That means loving them for who they are, not who we would like them to be.  

 

The Future of Ministry

I had the opportunity to attend Collaborate, the NADCE Conference, last week.  It was a reality check in terms of how times have changed.  While it was great to see some old friends, there were a lot of young faces.  In fact, I was led to believe I was the oldest DCE present.  I was honored to receive the award for Master DCE in 1995.  It is an award presented annually.  The tradition was initiated in 1988.  This time when the role call was made I was the first to stand.  Then came the realization that many of the winners who preceded me are in heaven. Two of those were my good friends and mentors Larry Brandt and Jack Giles.

DCE ministry has changed too.  I don't think any of my young colleagues depend on telephone trees to get the word out; today they use text or social media.  I doubt if any contemporary DCE's know what a filmstrip is, or how to thread a 16 mm movie projector.  Today's Directors of Christian Education are better trained and have many more resources.  But they are also, I fear, a dying breed. One of the mini-talk session at the conference was The Bi-Vocational Present-Future.  In this case, bi-vocational means church professionals who hold another job to subsidize their church salary.  One of the realities is that many professional church educators are finding their positions eliminated as churches face declining memberships and shrinking budgets.  Some of them cannot find another full-time position, so they are forced to seek other employment,  Hopefully, the desire to continue to serve the church is still there.  In such cases, Bi-Vocational ministry becomes an option.

It's not just happening to church educators and youth workers.  I mentioned the issue to a pastor friend of mine.  His response surprised me, "It's not just DCE's.  Twenty years from now most pastors will be bi-vocational."  The typical Lutheran Church has less than two hundred members and the numbers are declining.  At that rate in ten to twenty years many churches will not be able to afford even a sole pastor.  It does not mean the total end of the professional church worker.  There will always be mega-churches that can afford to employ a large and diverse staff, but there are only so many of those, and most are in large metropolitan areas.

My initial reaction to this possibility was sadness, then I got to thinking.  The Bible is full of example of bi-vocational ministers.  Some of the disciples were fisherman, Paul was a tent maker.  Bi-vocational ministry has been a reality for many smaller churches for years.  As I think this through, I can see some real upsides to bi-vocational ministry.  It takes pastors, DCE's and other professional church workers outside the walls of the church building and in the real world.  In some ways it is the reverse of what we have been asking our lay leaders and other church volunteers to do for years. Most of them hold full-time jobs and then spend time involved in church activities after hours. Sometimes there is a small stipend attached but most of the time their work is gratis.  And then... We are all called to be Christ in the world.

My Life in My Words

I am incredibly blessed.  The first day of a new year is a good time to remind myself of that.  When people ask me how I am I often respond by saying, "I am blessed.  I have a faithful and good looking wife, talented kids, great friends and an awesome God."  In actuality, my blessings extend far beyond that.  I am relatively healthy and have a comfortable lifestyle.  I honestly can't think of anything that I do not have and really need.  On top of that I am blessed with the gift of Jesus Christ, and the eternal hope that I have in Him.

I received a gift this Christmas that has helped reinforce how enriched my life has been.  I received a book from our daughter, Katie, and her husband. John.  I have gotten books for Christmas before but this one is different.  It is not a book to read, but rather a book that I have to write.  The title is A Grandfather's Legacy: Your Life in Your Words."  The book is full of probing questions designed help me reflect upon my memories and life experiences.  The intent is to journal my reflections so I can share them with my family in years to come.  The book has almost two hundred pages, so completing it is going to be a lengthy process.  My goal is to complete it before next Christmas.

It has already been an emotional experience.  The initial questions jogged my memory as I reflected on my birth family and early years.   Money was tight post-World War II.  My parents and I lived in my grandparent's home.  I was fortunate to grow up in a faith community.  The church and our relationship with Jesus was very much a part of the environment.  Even after our family moved into our own home, my grandparents and aunts and uncles still lived in the same neighborhood.  It was like having a committee of parents who not only loved and shaped me, but related their faith stories.  I guess that is why I value this new journal.  It provides a vehicle to share not just my life experiences, but my faith story.

You do not need a journal to do that, however.  I would encourage you to share your life experiences and faith stories with your children and grandchildren.  It is the way our legacy is passed on from one generation to the next.  Entering a new year is a great time to renew that commitment.  What a loving and awesome God we have.  What a great legacy of grace and faithfulness.