Missional Living

I ordered it a month ago from Amazon. It came (woo-hoo!) but the demands of ministry have been such that I just now have the time to devote to it. I could speed-read it through and move on…but I’m trying hard at slowing down these days.

Len Sweet’s latest book titled “11: Indispensible Relationships You Can’t Live Without” is something I (you?) shouldn’t speed-read. He describes 11 characters from Scripture as people we can’t successfully live our lives without. And first up is Nathan: King David’s friend, counselor and advisor who loved him enough to wag his bony finger in the king’s face about his sexual relationship with Bathsheba. Without Nathan, King Dave would have continued his alduterous and murderous behavior and corrupted the Davidic line.

Don’t, for a second, confuse this with accountability. Len makes clear something I’ve tried to say for a long time: to quote Joe Meyers, we don’t need accountability, we need ‘edit-ability’.

In the world of accounting, it’s all too easy to keep double books: one for for accountability partners and one for your secret self. Plus, the whole ‘accountability mentality’ has grown up a generation of religious pharisees who seem to love sniffing out failure like a drug dog in east Austin. Monitoring the sins of others comes easy enough: racism, sexism, ageism, liberalism, homophobism, conservatism, war, abortion, stem-cell research and condoms.

The real issue is not accountability, but editability. Do you mind your life being overhauled by someone else’s thumbs? By another’s red pen? Do you mind being sculpted by another artisan? Everyone needs an editor. Or three.

At the time of his rendevouz with Bathsheba, Nathan had already built up a good account with David. He wasn’t just a nuisiance. He had access to the king because he had already given him good advice and, as a result, had a standing invitation to drop by and ‘carpe momentum’ when the script desperately needed a rewite.

Nathan is someone who cares and wants the best for you…even when they show up on your doorstep with a sword. As best as I can see, however, he usually shows up with a scalpel.

I have a few Nathans. Some live hours away while some live within walking distance. They get under my skin at just the right time. They ask hard questions. They remind me it is very possible, in my life, to accomplish much but never amount to much. They challenge, convict, and comfort me. My Nathans help me see the truth about myself: I’m not as good as I imagine, but I’m not as bad as I fear I am either. Truth is, I’m probably worse, but that’s for another blog..

So, today, thank you, Jesus, for someone like Nathan. Keep me editable.

I’ve been kicking this post around in my head for a while. The hard thing is that blogs have inherently short posts, and this is not something I can express in 200 words or less. Nevertheless…

As I posted not too long ago, a very dear ministry friend of mine emerged from rehab a while back and recommended Nate Larkin’s Samson and the Pirate Monks to me. As a book that recounts Larkin’s own struggles with addictions, from sexual issues to pride and ego issues, it’s absolutely great. He paints the portrait that we are sinner-saints: beautiful monsters that are at once theiving and pillaging Pirates as well as God-chasing Monks. It’s about him finding God in the midst of struggle, addiction, and destruction of his personal world. To be honest, I was expecting someing along the lines of Elderedge’s Wild at Heart. But what I found was incredibly more honest. Vulnerable. Refreshing. Dare I say… ‘balanced’?

Just like Fight Club, I have to add, the I-Ching-search-for-God flick of our generation. I can imagine meeting Larkin on the street at night, downing a couple dozen glazed Crispy Cremes (ala ‘Bob’). When I ask him why he hasn’t been at our local men’s retreat lately, he replies, "Oh…I’ve found something so much better. But the first rule is…I’m not supposed to talk about it. And the second rule is…I’m not supposed to talk about it. And the third rule is…"

So, to Nate: I’m a member. I’ve joined the Samson Society. No, it’ s not a secret underground boxing club. It’s an online group of men who are looking for authentic brotherhood, encouragement, friendship and accountability.

Some are alcoholics.

Some are porn addicts.

Some are cancer survivors.

Some divorced.

Some sexually abused or verbally abusive.

Some are struggling musicians and artists.

Some are just tired of the macho, chest-thumping that poses for manhood and want a group of friends they can count on to share their hopes and fears and dreams. A group they can count on to walk their rocky and uncertain journey with.

Check out the book, Samson and the Pirate Monks, as well as the Samson Society online.

“We are a company of Christian men. We are also natural loners, who have recognized the dangers of isolation and are determined to escape them, natural wanderers who are finding spiritual peace and prosperity at home, natural liars who are now finding freedom in the truth, natural judges who are learning how to judge ourselves aright, and natural strongmen who are experiencing God’s strength as we admit our weaknesses.”

-Nate Larkin, Samson and the Pirate Monks

Brotherhood is a beautiful thing.

Over my vacation, I re-read Richard Foster’s Celebration of Discipline for the umpteenth time. In fact, my particular copy was given to me by a buddy from Crosby, TX, on the night before my wedding. It was his copy. And he bought it used. It’s well worn, dependable, and soft around the edges, like any good friend. I re-read it every year as a centering process in my life to remind me what I’ve learned, what I’ve forgotten, and how much we are all beginners in this journey. Thomas Merton once said, “Let us be convinced that we will never be anything else but beginners all our life.” As I read through it last week, several things jarred my memory. And several jumped out at me for the first time. 

 For instance, I am sure the title alone is a joke to many around us. Superficiality and instant gratification are the curses of our age. IMO, we have a desperate need, not for a greater number of intelligent or gifted people, but for deep people. Thus, we see the need for (and the current groundswelling return to) the classical disciplines of the Christian life. Disciplines like meditation. Prayer. Fasting. Simplicity. Solitude. Submission. Service. Confession. Worship. And Celebration.

 So what’s the point? The disciplines free us from the ingrained habits of sin. We have the tendency to think of sin as individual acts of disobedience to God. While this is true enough, Scripture goes much further. Romans 3:9-18 refers to sin as a condition that plagues the human race. It works its way out through the ‘bodily members’—the ingrained habits we drag around in our bodies (Romans 7:5 ff). Talk about slavery…!

And what’s our normal way of dealing with sin? Probably relying on our willpower and determination to overcome it. Whatever the issue is—pride, lust, gluttony, anger, selfishness—we resolve never to do it again. We pray against it. Fight against it. Set our will against it. But we struggle in vain and find ourselves once again failing. (Or worse, so proud of our external righteousness that ‘whitewashed tombs’ is a mild description of our rotting spiritual state and exalted willpower. As Heini Arnold says, “As long as we think we can save ourselves by our own power, we will only make the evil in us stronger.”

Righteousness is a gift of God. (Paul, in Romans, goes to great lengths to show us this, though it’s found throughout scripture…) The disciplines allow us to place ourselves in the position of receiving his transforming grace (Gal.6:8). We become like the farmer, trying to provide the right conditions for the crop to grow, but depending on God for the harvest. The disciplines, says Foster, are God’s way of getting us into the ground. They don’t do anything in particular; they only get us to the place where something can be done. Inner righteousness is not something that is poured on your head

 Over the next few weeks, I’ll be nailing my thoughts and experiences to the door of tomcottar(dot)org with one plea and one caution. The plea: please share your experiences and thoughts with us. I am a beginner in this and would love your input, no matter how trivial it may seem. Subscribe to my blog and join the conversation.

 Our world is hungry for genuinely changed people. As Leo Tolstoy says, “Everybody thinks of changing humanity but no one thinks of changing himself.”

May we be among the truly changed.

Ahhhh….the smell of Monday. 

Triple espresso-laden venti mild java in my bloodstream.

  Some Eric Johnson on the iPod to remind me to practice more.

      And a little Fyodor Dostoyevsky to ease the brain back into gear:

"Beauty is not only a terrible thing, it is also a mysterious thing. There God and the Devil strive for mastery, and the battleground is the heart of men."

"What is hell? I maintain that it is the suffering of being unable to love."

"Man has such a predilection for systems and abstract deductions that he is ready to distort the truth intentionally, he is ready to deny the evidence of his senses only to justify his logic."

"If the devil does not exist, and man has therefore created him, he has created him in his own image and likeness."

Talk about random… 

 (Thanks, Jamie!)

Yup. My pre-ordered copy of Len Sweet's newest book, The Gospel According to Starbucks, arrived today from Amazon. Sweet, indeed. I'm excited to get into it tomorrow…

Also, Dazzle, our local mom-and-pop coffee shop, has a new thing called a Six-Shooter: a 20oz cup of coffee, six shots of espresso, and a shot of mocha.

Sweet Lord. Tomorrow is going to be a great day.  

I've just about finished Boyd's God At War …finally. It's been an awesome book. And, although I've already blogged about it here and here , things are seeming to come to a head.

The focus of our mid-week small group last Wednesday was the proverbial question of 'if God is all-powerful and all-loving,why do bad things happen?' And, although mankind has wrestled with that question (perhaps since the fall), I think there is one vitally important fact we didn't fully touch on in our groups: We are at war.

Granted, I know that the topic war is about as popular as a Carmen concert these days. Nevertheless, Boyd makes a pretty compelling argument that Jesus' ministry on earth was foremost an act of war. Jesus came to overthrow Satan and his kingdom/dominion/rule over this earth, and set up a new Kingdom/dominion/rule over this earth. Everything He did was an act of mutiny. An act of overthrowing the current ruler of this world (Satan) and establishing a new Ruler. From casting out demons, to healing the sick, to eating and drinking with outcasts…all of which was a revolutionary bucking of the system, upsetting the current rule.

Of course, this battle cry is not what you'd expect. It's not 'gear up with your carbine gas-powered, semi-automatic AK47 and take the palace' kind of marching order. It is 'take up your cross and follow me'. 'Feed my sheep.' 'Love God and love your enemy.' It's establishing a rule of Kingdom living. It's a war in which love and peace reigns and, as Don Miller says, we are called to hold our hands agains the wounds of a broken world and stop the bleeding.

But it is still war. A war in which Satan and all of Hell are fighting against the armies of Heaven. A war which we have simultaneously 'already won' and 'not yet won'. It's a war of rescuing those that have been wounded by the Enemy, loading them in the MediVac, and LifeFlight-ing them to the Great Physician. It is a war in which we are called to put on the armor the God Himself wears…which sounds like pretty serious business.

So, why do bad things happen? Unfortunately, there will be casualties in every war. And we are still in jihad over the Kingdom (yes, every war is about what someone believes about God). Divorce? Rape? Abuse? Neglect? Pain? Hunger? Murder? Guilt? Shame? All part of the war we are in. Sometimes, we are even shot by 'friendly fire' from our own 'soldiers'.

But the good new is this: the King is coming… 

Finally, I've given in to the loving proddings (nagging?) to friends and family and begun writing a book on student ministry. 

More specifically, how to survive student ministry for the long haul.

The struggle is I'm not conviced I have anything to add to the conversation that hasn't already been said. Student ministry is long past the days of entertaining students and calling it ministry. Student pastors (veteran and green) need to approach their ministry as a long-term investment.

A marathon not a 50-yard dash.

A focus on health, not numbers.

A focus on making Jesus-loving disciples, not a herd of electric chihuahas that can chug a gallon of milk and not puke. (Although, it IS pretty impressive…).

A focus on guarding your heart, your family, and your passion, while training students and adults to do ministry without you.

In an era when nearly 80% of seminary grads drop out of the ministry within 5 years of service,  we've got issues. When there's little statistical difference between the online porn-viewing habits of Ozzfest bands and pastors…something's messed up. But so much has already been said about that.

Perhaps the struggles and mistakes I've learned from can benefit someone? Who knows? I'll be speaking to a group of youth ministers this January about some of those very things and it will be a wonderful time of loving and ministering to them. Most of us are in a constant struggle: we need a bigger budget, more adult volunteers, parents who will get involved and take responsibility, and students who will catch the vision of the dangerous gospel of Jesus. 

It's time to Run For Your Life. God's work is too important not to.

Alrighty then. 

I've been completely snowed for the last week and am just now getting around to nailing some thoughts down about this  not-so-easy-to-deal-with book. Yes, I know Boyd is an openness proponent. But rather than listen to others dissect and condone/condemn this book, I wanted to deal with it myself. So there. 

Boyd goes to lengthy detail to establish a 'warfare worldview', in which God has enlisted us as believers to engage in the conflict. He gives a great historical and cultural background of many world cultures (from Eastern Ecuador to Babylonian and Mesopotamian). Those of you familiar with Gilgamesh and the like, will appreciate the connections he makes. However, don't think this is a demons-under-every-bush book, either. It's not. 

The perennial question has to be dealt with in concrete terms : Why do evil things happen to good people? After all, if the world is truly caught up in the middle of a real war between good and evil forces, evil is to be expected–including evil that serves no higher end. For instance, when evil happens (murder, rape, abuse, …televangelism), it may not be 'in order to bring glory to God by your testimony years down the road.' Evil just happens. In any state of war, evil for the sake of evil is just part of the equation. "Only when we assume that the world is meticulously controlled by an all-loving God does each particular evil event need a higher, all-loving explanation." [p.21]

Hmmm..

Now before I get a slew of nasty emails: He's NOT saying God is not all-loving, or that God cannot/does not/will not bring good/blessing/healing from evil suffering. He IS, however, saying that just maybe, when Jon Benet Ramsey was murdered, it wasn't for a higher cause of fulfilling His will. If we are in a real, spiritual war, maybe she was murdered as a casualty of that war.

Chew on this: why do we pray? Out of duty? Or out of a sense of 'warfare'?

Why study the Word? What difference does it make if we know what our role in The Church is supposed to be? If 'everything that happens is according to God's plan'…why bother? Won't it work out anyway?  

Why share our faith? Why bother with the rejection and ridicule? Why not spend the day at the lake rather than in worship on Sunday? When someone drowns in Lake Travis this upcoming Labor Day weekend…why be concerned? If it's ALL according to plan, that is….

Within a warfare worldview, particular evils are their own explanation. When we ask the question 'Why do bad things happen to good people?' we are assuming that bad things are supposed to happen to bad people. That's how God gets even with sinners and they learn their lesson, right? Somewhere along the way (Augustine, I think), we've picked up the idea that people suffer because they deserve it. (To the theologs who visit here, think of a more pre-Augustinian, biblical understanding of the world as involved in a cosmic war.)

Part One of the book (the first 160+ pages) deals with OT references, beginning with the genesis of creation and Yahweh's conflict with the raging sea, and dealing with humanity's role as 'restorative viceroy over the earth.' (I like that.)

Part Two (which I'm beginning as soon as I hit the 'post' button) deals with the NT and the Kingdom of God as a warfare concept, the Christus Victor concept of Jesus' death/resurrection, and spiritual warfare in the life of a believer. Again, not about exorcisms and holy water, but about prayer, service and mercy as acts of engaging the conflict. 

I'll post more thoughts as they brew. Right now, I need to top off my Halle Berry coffee and get back to work…

Thoughts?