Threads from Henry's Web

Tag: service

  • The Importance of Studying Together

    The Importance of Studying Together

    Church and Sunday School are two different activities. Both can be valuable in one’s Christian life, but they do not substitute for one another.

    Sunday School has generally been in decline over the last few years, but I think there’s something even more important. Sunday School has too often been a light review of scriptures, taught in a general way and not an education that helps people grow in both faith and action.

    I looked at some statistics for Sunday School attendance, but didn’t find anything that addresses this specific problem. There’s a general decline in Sunday School attendance as opposed to church attendance, but there are many variables.

    My primary question is this: What is Sunday School attendance doing to make you a better disciple and to help you fulfill the Gospel Commission?

    Here are some questions:

    1. How long has it been since you learned something new in Sunday School?
    2. How long has it been since your Sunday School lesson led you to further Bible or other study during the week?
    3. Have you been encouraged to learn something about your neighbors, especially those not like you?
    4. Have you been encouraged to take positive action by something you studied?
    5. Have your beliefs been connected to a way of living in the world?

    These are not difficult questions. But sometimes making your Sunday School and church programs help people accomplish these things might be quite difficult.

    I have frequently encountered someone in Sunday School who has heard the preacher say something about witnessing, or helping those in need, or building up and serving in the church and community. They almost always have the question: How do I do it?

    And that’s where Sunday School should shine. This is a time for people to learn how to put things into action.

    I’m not one who thinks this has to happen on Sunday. Small groups that meet at other times are also good. The problem is to get people involved in such groups and to keep the groups from becoming another “check the box” activity. Small groups of any kind are not to make God like you more. God already loves you. These are to help you thrive in the life you now live by faith.

    Is this your experience? If not, why not? How do we grow more?

  • Psalm 119:127 – Better than Gold

    Psalm 119:127 – Better than Gold

    Thus I love your commandments
    more than gold, than fine gold.

    I once told a group that if they wanted to find out if this is how people feel, leave some gold on the pew beside a Bible, and see which goes first.

    Of course, that misses the point in many ways. Just to start, I own a very large number of Bibles. They are in a variety of languages, including some I can’t read, and in various editions. I have study Bibles from different perspectives. I never have a problem laying hands on a Bible.

    But this doesn’t mean anything about my Bible knowledge or my commitment to my faith. Those Bibles sitting on my shelves may have a monetary value, but it’s not in comparing the book to some measure of currency that you can discover what is of value to me. The vast majority of these Bibles, in fact, represent something I accepted for some currency, a modern version of having some gold.

    And yet my paying for these books doesn’t tell you what value I place on God’s word. You may find God’s word in any of those volumes, but the question is whether, having access to it, and knowing what it is, you value it.

    For example, what amount of money would it take to persuade you, or persuade me, to violate one of the principles we would learn from one of those Bibles? Or, for that matter, one of the principles we might learn from God’s word manifested in the physical world around us.

    The question is rarely going to come in the form of some bars of gold, or a stack of printed currency with an instant choice. Rather, it’s going to come in day to day actions.

    What do you do, for example, if you have a choice of service versus wealth? Would it not be likely that you, or I, would choose the higher paying option and tell ourselves that we will contact the right people in that higher paying job? But supposing instead that the choice is between a higher paying and higher profile job that would let you serve, and because you, or I, don’t like the limelight we choose something a bit less?

    In each case the question is just what is driving us. Too often we take the simple path and assume that someone who is rich has sold out and someone who is not rich must be a true servant of God and others. Or we can take the simple path of assuming the rich person is the blessed person, and the one with less has missed God’s law.

    It is never that simple. The question we need to ask is where God’s commands will lead us. That might be to wealth, and it might be to poverty. On the other hand, wealth might be leading us to perdition, or on the other hand it might be leading us to a place of value in God’s kingdom.

    What values are driving you today?

    (Featured image generated by Jetpack AI and edited with Photoshop.)

  • If You’re Nice, Diversity Will Take Care of Itself

    If You’re Nice, Diversity Will Take Care of Itself

    Bad Ideas I Learned from Good Leaders #2

    I’ve heard this one from so many people that I would hardly know who to blame for it if I wanted to blame someone. I’ve been told that if you will just be nice and positive, you can ignore the differences in your congregation and everything will take care of itself.

    This is incorrect. If you ignore the diversity that is present in your congregation, you will likely encounter a number of problems.

    1. You will find that people will have differing definitions of the boundaries and thus create conflict in the church unnecessarily.
    2. Different people offer different gifts, and if you fail to discover these gifts, there will be missed opportunities.
    3. Problems in the surrounding society may cause division in the church unnecessarily.

    If you don’t believe me on any of this, read 1 Corinthians. Here we have a church with division, and Paul tells them that God has brought them together from differing backgrounds, with different talents, and made them into one body with different gifts. Read especially 1 Corinthians 12. As a follow-up, read Romans 14, or even better Romans 12-14. (I’m not a good proof-text person. Read a few chapters!)

    Note here that I’m not talking about some sort of quota system or diversity inclusion. I believe in inclusiveness, but in this case, I’m assuming what I’ve seen in most churches, and that’s a variety of people already present. The problem is that they are carrying out a one-day-a-week religious program because the church has failed to incorporate them into a single body, the Body of Christ, to have an impact on their world.

    To accomplish this, it is necessary to actively acknowledge the differences among the members of the congregation. These differences should be recognized not for the purpose of a select group of individuals asserting superiority over others, but rather to appreciate the diverse gifts that have been gathered, value those gifts, and collaborate effectively by utilizing all available resources.

    Diversity in any organization is valuable. It allows us to accomplish things that none of us could achieve on our own. The problem is that many of us are so focused on our own strengths and weaknesses that we fail to recognize how others operate and what they can achieve.

    This could be as simple as finding the nerdy young person who doesn’t seem to fit in socially, but who, unknown to you, has a talent with electrical systems and would be able to run your sound system better than anyone else. That young person, being socially uncomfortable, is vanishingly unlikely to volunteer. They probably assume they’ll be pushed aside or ignored for no better reason than that they have been pushed aside and ignored over and over.

    This “different” person doesn’t need you to change their personality. They need you to let them be who they are and do what they are gifted to do. To do this, you need to have a clear understanding of what is a moral difference that is a standard for the church and what is a difference of personality. Too often, we treat Christian discipleship as a personality change.

    Don’t figure that you have to make the Jock do lots of hours of detailed Bible study. God may well have called them to a straightforward understanding of their faith and to be a good, kind, fun loving, and active person. And don’t expect the Nerd to be ready to engage in all those physical and social activities that you think are so essential to life.

    Oh, and don’t expect everyone who gets involved to be ready to serve on a committee. They might be quite willing to take direction but not to spend seemingly endless time discussing.

    In addition, there is value in being clear about the core beliefs of your church (or any other organization for that matter). This is not so you can go hunting for heresy. I recommend a short list of essentials, the common beliefs that unite this specific group. The purpose of clarity is to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings.

    Let me recommend a couple of books to help learn about and deal with diversity, whether in the church or in the community. I commend both of these books for making diversity a value rather than a burden to be borne or a duty to be carried out diligently.

    The first I already mentioned in the first post in this series, Perfectly Square by Dolly Berthelot. This book is short, illustrated, easy-to-read, and fun. It’s not particularly directed at churches. That’s a good thing. Your church is not perfectly square either. Church people are people. There are thought questions and discussion topics listed in the book. It’s good for group reading and discussion.

    It is also not a prescription for programs, but rather it is aimed at changing attitudes and opening up new ways of thinking about the differences we find all over.

    The aim is to recognize these differences and profit from them as a community rather than making them a cause of discord and division.

    The second is a book explicitly for church groups. I Know We’re All Welcome at the Table, but Do I Have to Sit Next to You? Now there’s a long title! But this book provides ideas and courses of action that a community group can use to begin to deal with those people we don’t want to deal with. The focus is on people and groups we may already have identified, probably stereotyped in our minds, and determined that we dislike or worse. How can you get back together.

    My suggestion here is that to really lead we need to learn how to work together, and use all of the diverse gifts and resources we have in our congregations in order to impact our communities.

  • Ask Them to Implement Their Own Suggestion

    Ask Them to Implement Their Own Suggestion

    Bad Ideas I Learned from Good Leaders #1

    I’m never going to identify which leader I learned these things from, because I have deep respect for all of them. Many of them helped me ditch bad ideas of my own, though doubtless I still have a bunch!

    The bad thing I learned is this: When someone makes a suggestion for some project in the church, you immediately ask them to lead out in executing that idea.

    There is a very good point involved here. Actually two very good points. First, a person who goes to the trouble of suggesting someone is likely fairly passionate about it, and are likely to be diligent in getting it into action. Second, there are numerous people who will tell pastors and other church leaders all the various things they think “the church” should be doing. They have no intention of serving. They just want to complain. “Why don’t you take the lead on that?” will often either slow down the complaints, or in some cases even get someone moving.

    That’s the good side.

    The bad side is this. Your church is probably already an example of the 80/20 principle: 80% of the work is done by 20% of the people. (Well, you might be more like 90/10, but why be negative?) Most of the good ideas, the ones you should want implemented, are coming from that busy 20%. After all, the 80% don’t really want to go to the trouble of meeting with the pastor to present an idea.

    The 80/20 principle is self-sustaining. The 20% are the workers in the church because they’re the ones with initiative and creativity. Some people aren’t like that. Some people are willing to serve, but they don’t have the imagination, the initiative, or perhaps the knowledge of the church to locate a task and involve themselves with it.

    Since the 20% generally have those characteristics in various (but substantial) measure, they tend to imagine that the 80% aren’t serving because they’re lazy, apathetic, or don’t really care about their church. Some of them may have these problems. But more of them likely are waiting to be identified.

    In my book Identifying Your Gifts and Service (Small Group Edition), I suggest that church members and leaders need to observe one another to learn about gifts and help others find a place to serve that utilizes their individual gifts and also fulfills their needs. Yes, they are serving others, but that service is also of benefit to them, provided they are allowed to use their gifts in positive ways, rather than just being put to work.

    Here’s a summary of the points I make about this in that book:

    1. Listening: Group members identify each person’s gifts based on observations and what they believe the Holy Spirit has revealed. ​ This involves a group discussion where each person shares what they see as the gifts of others. ​
    2. Expressing: Each individual expresses their understanding of their own gifts. ​ This step involves self-reflection and sharing with the group. ​
    3. Examining: A survey is provided to help individuals think about their gifts and areas of service. ​ The survey is designed to stimulate thinking and challenge assumptions about one’s gifts. ​
    4. Fitting: Group members discuss and clarify God’s call on their lives and how their gifts fit into the church’s needs. ​ This step involves prayerful discussion and focus on how to use identified gifts effectively. ​
    5. Unifying: The group examines how individual gifts align with the church’s mission. ​ This step involves the participation of church leadership to help integrate members into appropriate areas of service. ​

    The book emphasizes the importance of listening to the Holy Spirit and to one another, and it provides practical exercises and discussions to help identify and utilize spiritual gifts within the church community.

    A Look Ahead

    One of the key elements in this process is recognizing church members as diverse individuals. They don’t all have the same gifts, goals, personalities, education, or general approaches to life. Learning to recognize these is important. Next week I plan to write about this as a bad idea I learned from otherwise good leaders: Don’t get stuck on expecting one personality type in members of a congregation.

    I will reference there the book PERFECTLY SQUARE. You can get a head start with this lovely little book that’s a quick read.

  • Hangout Tonight: Truly Serving the Homeless

    I’ll be hosting a Google Hangout on Air tonight discussing how we can truly serve and relate to the homeless in and around our communities. Authors Renee Crosby (Soup Kitchen for the Soul, The Fringe [forthcoming]) and Shauna Hyde (Victim No More, Fifty Shades of Grace, The Vicar of Tent Town [forthcoming]) will be giving practical answers. Both guests are people who believe in getting personally active. They will be answering questions such as: “What are the three stupidest things you can do/say about homelessness?”

    You can view this using the embedded viewer below or via the Energion Publications Google+ page.

  • Soup Kitchen for the Soul or How I Learn from Authors

    9781893729797I am frequently amazed by our authors at Energion Publications. I suppose that other editors and owners are likewise amazed, but I think we have a very special group. Just the other day I received notice from an author that he had signed his contract, but that he wanted to donate his royalties to our literature fund, a fund we use to send books overseas or to people who can’t afford them. I hadn’t asked. In fact, I don’t ask for funds to support that project. We’re not a non-profit. It’s just one of the ways we try to give back.

    The thing that impresses me most about our authors, however, is the way they live what they believe. I don’t know of any of our authors who doesn’t in some way embody the books they have written. When I hear what they are actually doing, it’s what I would expect based on what they wrote in their books. And that’s a great thing.

    Way back when … well, actually in 2010 … we were contacted by a potential new author who had a story to tell. I like books that tell a story, particularly when that story is a testimony. This was Renee Crosby and her life and vision had been changed by a seminary assignment. She had been asked to serve a certain number of hours in the community as part of an assignment. She spent that time in a soup kitchen. Now as the book will tell you, Renee had become extremely busy in church. She was an active Christian. But that activity was generally in church. When she reluctantly went out to complete her assignment, she encountered Jesus in a new way, right there in the soup kitchen.

    So she wrote her book Soup Kitchen for the Soul to invite other people to this same discovery. I was hooked immediately. I have frequently visited churches that are busy, filled with active members. But if you review their church bulletin or newsletter, the vast majority of what they do is designed to serve the members. It’s people in the church doing things for people in the church. Now there’s nothing wrong with that. People in the church should be doing things for one another, caring for one another, building one another up. But we should also be “provoking one another to love and good deeds” (Hebrews 10:24), and those good deeds should serve those outside the church as well.

    This is a book with a great message. It deserves to be read much more than it has. It deserves to be studied.

    But Renee is now experiencing the next phase of her testimony. As she explains in the video below, she is in treatment for breast cancer. But she’s not taking it lying down. Instead, she’s trying even more to provoke others to love and good deeds.

    We’re also going to donate 5% of our proceeds in addition to what Renee donates as our way of supporting her in this endeavor. In addition, the book is now 30% off with the use of the pink30 coupon. To use that coupon, you need to enter the coupon code on your shopping cart on checkout from Energion Direct. If you need some more help with the coupon, you’ll find it here.