Mentoring Matters

This coming weekend, I will be preaching a sermon on investing in key relationships. Of course, this includes family. Anyone that knows me knows how important family is to me. But the main focus of the message will be about mentoring. I truly believe that mentoring relationships are of vital importance. I guess that's because I know this from personal experience. More on that in a moment.

When I talk about investing in a general sense, it means putting something in with an expectation of some kind of return. If you invest in the stock market, you put money into it in hopes that you will get more money out of it. When you invest in relationships, you put in money (especially with kids!), time, knowledge, and most of all love. What do you get in return? Hopefully love, companionship, encouragement, and more. But mentoring is different. Mentoring requires a great investment of time, knowledge, encouragement, and more. The return? This is where it is different. The return isn't primarily back to the mentor. The return is, in many ways, a pay it forward. The mentor invests to benefit others. Let me share a personal example.

Outside of my wife, there is no question about who has been the most influential person to me in ministry: the Rev. Geoff Posegate. Geoff came to our home church during a time of conflict and turmoil. Oh yeah, and a time I was wrestling with my call. Two weeks after Geoff I arrived, I walked into his office ready to share my news that I believed I was being called to ministry. I fully expected to catch him off guard and leave him stumbling for a way to respond. Only Geoff wasn't the one who ended stumbling for words. After sharing my news, Geoff looked at me with a little smile and said, "I wondered that about you." Really? How? I can say now, that was ( and still is) Geoff.

From that moment on, Geoff invested in me. He had me writing credo before I ever attended a class at seminary. He had me attending committee meetings with him (thanks a lot!). When attending those meetings, the chair would ask Geoff to open with a word of prayer. Geoff's response? No, but Chris will. As he explained, I needed to get used to it. I could go on and on. Geoff was my biggest cheerleader and teacher. Even more, he was, and continues to be, my friend. I learned more from Geoff about being a pastor than I could have ever imagined.

So what is the return? For Geoff, it wasn't about personal gain. It was about personal and corporate growth. My growth as a pastor and growth in the kingdom of God through the ministry he was preparing me for. It was a way for Geoff to invest with a pay it forward kind of return. I can never thank him enough for what he has meant to me. Correction, continues to mean to me. I can only aspire to be a fraction of the pastor Geoff is and I hope that I have the opportunity to mentor at least one person as Geoff mentored me.

I could ramble on and on, but I leave you with this: what relationships are you investing in? Are you mentoring anyone? Whether you realize it or not, it can make all the difference in the world to that person. Maybe, just maybe, it will make a difference to many more.

Chris

You Never Know

I say it all the time to my wife, "You never know." Do you know what I am talking about? I'm sure you do. You never know what is going to happen one day to the next. We go through life, day after day, not knowing when something will come along and change everything. That hit close to home this week.

Early Monday morning while I was still recovering from my Easter "Hallelujah Hangover,"  I received shocking news from my office manager: her husband had been shot and was in surgery in critical condition. They didn't know if he would pull through. He is a delivery driver for a large bakery. It appears a couple of men followed him in to his first stop of the day (at 4am) and shot him before going for the safe. He was rushed to the hospital barely clinging to his life. Senseless.

The good news is that he pulled through the surgery. It's nothing short of a miracle. Not only that, in just a couple of days he received to the point of moving him out of ICU and even making plans for his eventual return home. There is a long road ahead of him. Right now, he has no feeling in his legs. Its hoped that it will turn when the swelling goes down. Its just unknown right now. There is also the mental and emotional healing that will need to take place. All of that is secondary right now. What matters right now is he is alive and the family is so thankful that they are together yet another day. My prayers continue with them all.

This brings me back to where I began, "You never know." For the most part, we take life for granted. We take each day for granted. But each day, each moment truly is a gift to be treasured. It is a gift filled with opportunity. Don't waste it. I always say that we were created to love and be loved. So love more today. Count your blessings. Spend time with loved ones and friends. Make sure they know how much you love them. Spend time on the things that truly matter in life. because, well... you never know.

Chris

Being A Resurrection People

First of all, if you are planning to attend Easter worship services at Christ UMC, this is your spoiler alert. Why? Because what follows are some thoughts I've had as I have been working on my Easter message. By the way, if you missed what I wrote about a pastor's perspective to Easter, you can read about it here: http://revoutloud.blogspot.com/2015/03/easters-coming-ok.html.

There is no question that the resurrection of Jesus is THE critical event in the Christian faith. The resurrection makes the good news good. The resurrection proclaims to us that God has overcome the grave for us. Just as Jesus was raised, we too have the promise of resurrection. Because of this, we can live in hope. And let us not forget, the resurrection is not just about a future possibility, but also is a present reality. Consider what Paul wrote in Romans 6:4, "so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life" (NRSV). We are to walk in newness of life.

What does that mean? I'm sure it has several implications, but I believe that it indicates that there needs to be a distinctiveness to the Christian's life. There should be something different, something that is noticed by others. Think about it; this is how Christianity survived and grew in the beginning. There was something about the way Christians lived, how they treated one another, how they hoped and loved. It got people's attention. It made people think, "I want to live like that." 

Christianity never should have made it. Christians were few in number. They were disowned by their families. They were persecuted, tortured, and even killed. And yet, Christianity continued to grow. People went through great lengths join the faith. Was it because the early Christians were amazing evangelists? Maybe, but it had more to do with the way they walked in newness of life... distinctive... different.

Then everything changed. In 313, Emperor Constantine issued an edict decriminalizing Christianity. Then, in 380, Emperor Theodosius made Christianity the official religion of the Roman empire, decreeing that all citizens should be Christian. How great was that? Right? Maybe... maybe not. Sure, Christianity continued to grow, but now it was supposed to. The Roman empire was far reaching and it's citizen's were expected to be Christian. There didn't have to be anything distinctive about their lives. Christians went from distinctive to entitled. That's right, I said it... entitled. Everything was set apart for Christians, so Christians didn't have to be set apart. And so it went for years, for generations. Don't get me wrong, Christians did some wonderful things (and horrible) in the name of God. But it was almost handed to them. Entitled.

Fast forward to today. We are to believe that the sky is falling on the Christian faith, the Christian church to be more specific. Why? We've lost our sense of entitlement and we don't like it. The number of professing Christians are declining. Churches are closing. No longer are Sundays protected. Even "regular" church goers come less frequently. Open doors simply are not enough anymore. You know what? It's all true. You know what else? It's all entitlement talk. And we are all guilty, congregants and pastors alike (yes, including me).

Do you think all that stuff would matter to the early Christians who faced death and persecution for their faith? Let us not dishonor them be even entertaining the thought. No, they were true resurrection people who walked in newness of life. They were who we need to become again. We have to get real, get authentic. We have once again claim the resurrection of Jesus Christ as the grounds of our hope and faith. We need to lead lives that have a distinctiveness about them. My friend and colleague Jeremy Vickers speaks about the fragrance of faith and asks, "Do we pass the smell test?" 

I could keep going, but I have to save something for the sermon! But I know the time of entitlement is over and that is probably a good thing. It's time now to be resurrection people who walk in newness of life. It's time to live lives that compels others to say, no proclaim, "I want to live like that!"

Chris

Easter's Coming. Ok?

I am a pastor and follower of Jesus Christ and I need to make a confession: I haven't gotten excited about Easter for several years. Sometimes I even dread it. Horrible, right? This is THE high holy day for Christians. This is the celebration of the empty tomb, a time of hope and love and life. And... it's exhausting and even frustrating. And it can be disappointing.

How can Easter be disappointing you ask? Well for one, its hard to live up to the hype. It's like the next Star Wars movie coming out. The hype train is in full motion. The anticipation is already skyrocketing. It's going to be great! Right? Maybe, but it will be near impossible to live up to the hype and expectations.

Easter can be like this, especially for us that lead churches. There is an incredible amount of pressure for everything to be amazing. Think of all of the visitors?! The folks who ONLY come for Christmas and Easter?! We need to wow them. They need to feel the Holy Spirit move. We've got to present services that will COMPEL them to come back next week and the next and the next... Everything has to go perfectly. The pressure. The stress. The desperation.

Of course, all of that word and stress takes its toll. As my friend and colleague Buck Cueni Smith called it after seeing this picture of me:

"The Hallelujah Hangover"

This leads to disappointment number two.

Easter is a tease. Don't pretend that you don't know what I'm talking about. Every year churches are packed. Extra services are needed to accommodate everyone. Here in our annual conference there is usually an article about Easter attendance numbers from around the state. MIND BLOWING! Praise God for so many people being transformed by the resurrection story! Or are they? We all know what tends to happen the week after Easter...

"Bueller? Bueller?

Where is everyone? Where is the orchestra? Where is the pastor? Yes, I know several pastors who tend to take this Sunday off. It is understandable. We need to recover from the hallelujah hangover. And on one else will be there either...

I should apologize. I know I am sounding way too cynical right now. But let me confess something else..

I also love Easter.

More correctly, I LOVE the Easter message. I love what Easter is supposed to be, what Easter is supposed to mean. I believe the answer lies in once again becoming a people of the resurrection. I believe that is the answer, not only for Easter, but for the future of the church and the Christian faith.

So what does it mean to be a resurrection people? Check out my next blog coming soon...

Chris