Life in a small town

Life is refreshingly different in a small town (pop. 6000).

• At the local DMV I took my number and was helped 10 minutes later.  Quite a contrast to the wait at the Concord DMV.
• People actually slow down to 20 mph in the 20 mph school zone signs.
• Most people are helpful and friendly. At the DMV my number came up before I had had time to finish filling up a form. The employee said to just bring up the form and he would help me to finish filling it out.
• We have a Costco and Staples about 20 minutes away, but for other stores such as Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s we need to go into Portland (a 1.5 hour drive). So we need to plan ahead for shopping.

It’s great to live in a place with a slower pace of life.

We’re not in Concord any more

Things are a lot different here:

• This is a tourist town, so things really slow down in the winter.  I saw one restaurant in the small downtown area that already has a sign saying “Sorry we missed you, see you in February.”
• It rains a lot here (76 inches per year vs. 20 in Concord).  That’s why everything is so green.
• The back yard of the house where we are staying ends at the forest, so we can literally start hiking from the back yard.  Very cool!
• The beach is only 2-3 miles away.  This is the Oregon coast, so it is often cold and windy.  Great for a walk, but not so good for sun bathing (I don’t enjoy sun bathing anyway).
• The house where we are staying is above the “tsunami line,” so we should be safe here in the unlikely event of a tsunami.

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• sermon outlines and teaching materials
• master copies of handouts for meetings and classes
• minutes of meetings
• notes on ideas that were discussed but never tried, and some that were tried and didn’t work out
• documents describing ideas that did work out well, some of which led to key turning points in the ministry

The teaching notes are worth keeping, but the meeting notes are on their way to recycle.  As I went through the files I reflected on the hundreds of hours that I have spent in meetings.  Topics that seemed vitally important at the time look pretty minor in hindsight.  I wonder if we really needed that much time spent in meetings.

The encouraging moments came when I saw the name of a person who had been a participant in a meeting or attended a class and reflected on what that person is doing now.  Obviously I cannot keep track of everyone who have been part of CFC over the past 17 years, but there are plenty who have grown deep in their faith and who are serving effectively somewhere.  In the final analysis, ministry is not about strategy, plans or policy.  Ministry is about people and their growth in Christ (Phil. 1:6-11; Col. 1:9-10).  Sometimes we lose sight of that.

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What do I look for in a good Bible study guide?  Here are some things that come to mind.

• Focus on one main passage so that it can be studied in context
• Questions that cause group members to dig into the text to look for answers rather than merely sharing their own opinion or experience
• Questions that go beyond “what” to uncover the “why” and “how”
• Include any background information essential to understanding the passage without becoming overly academic
• Uncovers the main point of the passage and makes that the focus of the study
• A focus on life application that is based on correct interpretation of the passage

I admit to being picky, but I think that it is important to learn how to “rightly handle the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15).  My solution has been to  set up a small team of people who love the Word to help me write the Bible study material for our small groups.  Usually each person writes one or two studies each term and sends a draft to the writing team.  We give each other feedback and make improvements.  Then we gather all the small group Bible study leaders for a monthly pre-study in which we run through the studies for that month.  After seeing how the pre-study goes, the writer can make further improvements.  Then we send out the final versions to all the study leaders.  It’s quite a bit of work, but it allows us to come up with some pretty good studies.

I want to share some thoughts about collaboration between churches in creating Bible study materials, but blog posts are supposed to be short so I will save that for next time.  In the meantime, what are your thoughts about looking for good Bible study material?

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I have been thinking and praying for several years about a possible change.  My passion and calling has always been in the area of teaching and leadership training.  I have had good opportunities to do that at CFC, but there are many other responsibilities to being a pastor.  I am seeking a ministry opportunity that will allow me to be more focused on what I believe God has called and gifted me to do.

Probably no one is able to serve in the area of their calling and gifting 100% of the time, but if you can reach 70-80% that is very good.  It is really a win-win situation.  Greater joy in ministry, a greater sense of fulfillment, greater effectiveness in ministry and greater impact for God’s kingdom.  I want to be in the right place, doing exactly what God has called me to do.

I’m not really sure what my new ministry will look like.  I am looking into doing some teaching at a seminary or Bible college as well as church based teaching and training opportunities.  I will be available to do training seminars and to advise church leadership teams.  I would like to do some more writing.  It is likely that I will end up doing a variety of things.  The main thing is to sense God’s leading and follow it.  I appreciate your prayers as I look for the way forward.

Later this year we are planning on moving up to the Portland area where both Joni and I have family.  She grew up in Portland and I am from Montana, so we both love the Pacific Northwest.  We will begin our time there with a sabbatical that we both feel is much needed.  We will spend some time resting and seeking God’s direction for the next phase of our lives.  After an initial break I plan to spend some time every day working on finishing my book on English ministry in ethnic immigrant churches. By the end of the year I expect to be moving on to new ministry opportunities, but at this point I don’t know what that will be.  It’s a little like hiking on a path in the woods.  I can see a little way ahead, but beyond that I don’t know where the trail will go.  But wherever the path leads, God is already there.  I’m looking forward to the adventure.

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Imagine a world without news

Throughout most of human history people had very little information about events outside their immediate vicinity.  Think about the situation only 200 years ago.  They had newspapers, but no Internet, TV or radio broadcasts.  The first radio news program was broadcast August 31, 1920 by station 8MK in Detroit, Michigan.  The transcontinental telegraph line was completed in 1861.  Without any means of electronic communication, messages had to be delivered by a human courier or not at all. The newspapers back then covered mostly local news.  Information from other parts of the world was sparse and out of date.  Before the printing press there were not any newspapers at all.

Try to imagine yourself in such a world.  How did people ever survive without up to the minute updates on world events over the Internet?  How would you?  We are all affected by the nearly universal belief that it is important to be well informed. To an extent I agree, because what happens in distant lands can impact our lives.  What happens in the current Middle East turmoil is affecting the price I pay at the pump.  They didn’t have this problem 200 years ago because they didn’t need oil (the world’s first oil refinery was built in 1854-46).  But the world is a lot more connected now, so we do need to stay informed.

Are we news junkies?

So the real question is, “How much news do you need?”  Is there a point at which we become news junkies whose habit eats up valuable time that should be spend doing something else?  Currently when I am at my computer I keep one browser tab open to my Google home page News tab.  I have widgets that show three headlines each from a variety of news sources from different perspectives: Google’s feed, CNN, Fox, Reuters and BBC.  I usually look at the news page several times a day to see if there is anything new.  I also look over the newspaper each day while I eat my breakfast, and listen to news radio while I am driving around.  So I get plenty of news.

In fact, it is really an illusion of being well informed.  I don’t know what determines which three news story are listed in each widget.  If there is any bias in the selection process, then I am receiving a distorted picture of what is happening in the world.  If I took more time and browsed the articles the web sites of each of those news organizations then I would be better informed, but still limited to what they choose to publish.  To be truly well informed would require several hours a day of news research.  Who has time for that?

But would I be seriously deprived if I checked the news on line only once or twice a day?  What if I looked for a summary of the situations in Egypt and Libya once a week instead of trying to keep up with events every day?  There are other things that I could be doing with the time I spend on the news.  What if I listened to worship music in my car instead of always turning on the news radio?  Maybe I could quickly scan the newspaper, and then read something more substantial.  The point is that every minute we spend consuming news is a minute that could have been spent doing something else.  Since we can’t possibly consume all the news that is available each day, we need to decide where to draw the line.

What do you think?  How much news do we need?

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I use Google calendar, which syncs with my Android phone.  Normally I check my calendar every day to see what I have scheduled for the day.  Since my parents are retired they move at a much slower pace of life than I normally do.  It is refreshing to slow down and just not do as much as I usually do each day.  When I looked at my calendar this past week it was a joy to see day after day with nothing listed.

It’s not that I haven’t been doing nothing at all.  Each day we had to make important decisions about things like which day was best for a short hike in Glacier National Park, or which sibling would host our family dinner that night (two of my siblings live in this area).  I had time to do some recreational reading, and have been exploring Toodledo and an Android app that syncs with it called Got To Do.  Of course there has been a lot of time to catch up with family members.

In a few hours i will leave for the airport to return home.  I suppose I should be eager to return to a full schedule, but truthfully I wouldn’t mind a few more weeks of a blank calendar.  Sometime we don’t notice how stressed out and burned out we are becoming.  It is good to slow down once in a while to recharge.  Maybe I should start to take my days off more seriously.

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I am not an economist, but wouldn’t that have the effect of significantly increasing the insurance premiums for all of us?  If insurance companies are required to accept a new group of people with serious medical problems then they will have to pay out a lot of money.  To get that money, they will need to raise rates.  Since they can’t charge sick people more (a good thing), they will have to raise the rates on everyone.  Is there anything wrong with my logic here?

The rhetoric is that the main problem is the “insane profits” of the insurance companies.  So I guess that the assumption is that the insurance companies can absorb the increased cost without raising rates.  But publicly traded companies are required to report their profits, and last year health insurers posted a 2.2% profit.  I’m not sure that 2.2%qualifies as an “insane” profit.  It’s always good to check the facts.

I read an article last week that stated that there were several states that already have established the above policy.  I wish I could find that article again, but I can’t.  As I recall, it said that for a 30 year old male non-smoker in one state the insurance premium would be something under $300.  For an identical man in a neighboring state with this policy the premium would be over $700!  That isn’t a projection, it is the fact right now.  Again, I’m sorry that I can’t find that article right now, but I thought that this is something that should be brought to our attention.

Someone needs to look into this.  If it is true that some states already have this policy, there should be a detailed comparison of health insurance rates in those states as compared to neighboring states.  It could give us a good idea of what might happen nationally.  Why isn’t anyone looking into this?

If the rates on private health insurance rise substantially, then the taxpayer subsidized government option will be too much of a bargain to pass up.  If larger companies are eventually allowed to offer the government insurance to their employees, why would they offer anything else?  In such an environment, how could the private insurance companies even survive?  Those who are on the suspicious side might see this as a deliberate plan to move us to a “single payer system” (i.e. government run health care).  What do you think?

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The Arguments

If you think that the answer to these questions is obvious then perhaps you need to think more deeply.  Either that, or perhaps you live in a very homogeneous community.  It seems that the reasoning runs in two main directions:

We should wear our best in order to honor God

While I was in seminary I attended a weekend OMF missions conference.  I wore my usual retreat attire: jeans and a tee shirt, with  a sweatshirt for cool weather.  The other attendees were also casually dressed.  But when we went to breakfast on Sunday morning, I was stunned to see the retired missionary men decked out in three piece suits and the women in nice dresses!  I suddenly felt very under dressed.  They wanted to honor God by wearing their best on the Lord’s Day, even at a retreat.  That experience had a big impact on me.  For years afterward I would often bring a dress shirt and tie (but not a suit) to retreats to wear on the Lord’s Day.  We should honor God by giving Him our best.  What does it say about our view of God  if we get dressed up for weddings but not for Sunday worship?

We should dress in a casual, up to date style in order to attract more people

Most people today prefer a casual style of dress.  Even in some large companies managers are no longer expected to wear suits (or equivalent formal attire for women), at least here in California.  The only time that many men wear a suit is to attend weddings or funerals, or perhaps for a job interview or a date at a fancy restaurant.  For them, seeing people in suits marks the event as a formal occasion.  If only the pastor or leaders are wearing suits, it can create a sense of distance between them and the rest of the people.  If our churches desire to be friendly, loving communities then our dress should reflect that.

Some Observations

The two positions above are in tension with each other.  How can we resolve this issue?  Here are some observations:

Culture changes

In the past it was normal for people to get dressed up to go to social events.  For rural families, even going into town to do the weekly shopping was an occasion that required them to wear something nice.  Look at a picture of college students pre-1900 and you will find them wearing suits. I think that it was the norm for them to wear suits to class.  In this context, it was normal for all the men to wear a suit to church as well. But now all that has changed.  People dress very casually most of the time.  Most men now wear suits only for a few very special occasions.

Pastors are not priests

If most men no longer wear suits to church, what about the pastor?  Should the pastor wear a suit because of his role as a “man of God”?  In the OT the priests had special clothing to wear that marked them as priests.  But in the NT we have the priesthood of all believers, so I’m not sure that the pastor should wear special “holy” clothing.  Jesus and Paul probably dressed pretty much like other men of their time.  The missionary principle (1 Cor. 9:19-23) requires that we adapt our outward customs to become more like those we are trying to reach.  I think that this should influence our clothing choices (within limits).

We still need to honor God

We honor God by applying the missionary principle and adapting our behavior to those we are trying to reach.  But we also honor God by demonstrating our respect for Him.  For our clothing, I think that this means that whatever we wear should be clean, in good repair and modest.  Sloppiness is not next to godliness.  But we have to be careful about what we mean by “sloppy.”  Some hair styles that appear sloppy to the older generation are carefully and deliberately crafted using lots of hair gel.  They are not the result of carelessness, although some may not like the style.

We should seek to honor God in all that we do.  What does it say about our view of God if we are more careful about our appearance the rest of the week, but decide that any old thing is good enough for church?  That could indicate that we really do not attach much importance to church.  Or it could indicate that the church is like our family, where we can let down our guard and be ourselves.  It’s not easy to know where to draw the line.

It depends on your context

I don’t think that there are any hard and fast rules in this area.  It would be ridiculous for a missionary to insist that the men in a jungle tribe wear suits to come to church.  But in a community in which formal dress is the norm for social occasions wearing jeans to church might not be appropriate.  They key is to apply the missionary principle in a spirit of humility and ask what sort of dress code will help further the Gospel in your particular setting.  Are you willing to wear a suit if that will open doors for the Gospel?  Are you willing to lose the suit if that will reach more people for Christ?

What do you think about this issue?  What would Jesus wear if He came to your church?

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