A Fair Share

The importance of sharing is one of the basic lessons we teach to children. I've never known a parent or teacher who told their child "You brought the candy - you should keep it all for yourself" or "Billy is lazy - don't give him any."
Why do we find this lesson so hard to apply to ourselves?

Give All You Can

"O that God would enable me once more, before I go hence and am no more seen, to lift up my voice like a trumpet to those who gain and save all they can, but do not give all they can! ...Many of your brethren, beloved of God, have not food to eat; they have not raiment to put on; they have not a place where to lay their head. And why are they thus distressed? Because you impiously, unjustly, and cruelly detain from them what your Master and theirs lodges in your hands on purpose to supply their wants! ...In the name of God, what are you doing?"

John Wesley, Sermon 116

Are We Refusing to Help?

"How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?"

1 John 3:17

The imperative to care for the poor is one of the most consistent requirements of Scripture.

How Then Shall We Live: Save All You Can

"Wise men and women are always learning, always listening for fresh insights."

Proverbs 18:15 (The Message)

A lack of monetary resources has been, and is likely to continue to be, a problem for the Conference. We have goals we would like to accomplish - goals that seem reasonable, goals that seem important, goals that seem Godly - that are beyond our means. What can we do?

Learning to Spend Less

"Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good,
and delight yourselves in rich food."

from Isaiah 55

When we created our first budget, we discovered that I spent a lot of money on food that did not satisfy.

Alternatives to Spending for Pleasure

"How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God."

Jesus of Nazareth

Wealthy Christians have been remarkably clever at finding non-obvious interpretations of this text throughout the ages. Doing so seems unnecessary; it is in all three Synoptics, it echoes ideas found throughout Jesus' teachings and the rest of the New Testament, and there have been witnesses in every age who have testified that voluntarily following Jesus' teachings on money has led them to joy.

Save All You Can

This is an ad in an official publication from the General Board of Pensions and Health Benefits.
I weep for our church.

Store Up Treasures in Heaven

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
“No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth."

Jesus of Nazareth (from Matthew 6)

How Then Shall We Live: Living Sacrifices

“...ordained ministers devote themselves wholly to the work of the Church and to the upbuilding of the ministry of all Christians. ... The ordained ministry is defined by its faithful commitment to servant leadership following the example of Jesus Christ... ."

The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church-2012, ¶139.

Clergy work for God, not for money.

Ignore your neighbor, as you would have your neighbor ignore you?

At the age of 28, I was teaching at Wright State University. I was living "the good life" as it had been presented to me by my church. I had a wife and two children who loved me,  and a solid job with a good future. My relationship with God through Jesus was warm and comforting. Prayer was a regular part of each day, we lived a simple life, and we had plenty of money to share with others. I was not the knock-down-drag-out evangelist that some of my Sunday School teachers would have liked, but I enjoyed discussing faith both in the church and with students at work. I loved teaching, and had as much leisure as I wanted.

I'm not quite sure when I realized how selfish I was, but it was sometime during that year.

Love All You Can

“You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

Jesus, quoting the Law.

Gain All You Can

"And it is our bounden duty to do this: We ought to gain all we can gain, without buying gold too dear, without paying more for it than it is worth. But this it is certain we ought not to do: we ought not to gain money at the expense of life, nor (which is in effect the same thing) at the expense of our health."

John Wesley, "The Use of Money"

Paul tells us to consider ourselves "a living sacrifice." Jesus calls us to "take up your cross daily" and follow him. Are these words intended to lead us to a short life expended for others, or are we allowed to care for ourselves as well?

A Living Sacrifice

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship."

The Apostle Paul, Romans 12:1

How Then Shall We Live: We Have Enough

I believe Conference leadership has been operating out of a model of scarcity for several years. One recent example is the sudden elimination of a District Superintendent position. Was there an alternative option? And, on the positive side, what might we do if we really believed that we had enough?

Happy Days

"I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have plenty. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in need."

The Apostle Paul (Philippians 4:12)

I know what it is to have plenty, and I think I've learned the secret of going hungry. But I've never seriously experienced the fear of being in need. This is primarily due to the family that raised me and my life experiences, and I see it as a gift - a gift I hope to be able to share with you.

We have plenty.

The minimum income of a beginning elder or deacon in the West Michigan Conference is greater than 96% of the world's population.* That's over 20 times the global median. When Jesus says "don't worry about food or clothing," his words apply to us, at least, in a straightforward and non-miraculous way. We have no need to worry, unless we really think that 96% of the world is in imminent danger of disaster.

Take no thought for your life...

"If I didn't think about money, I'd go broke."

a parishioner

How should we read Jesus' command to not care about food and clothing? Should we, as one of my parishioners suggested, ignore it as impossibly idealistic? Some scholars dismiss it as only appropriate within an apocalyptic world-view: Jesus expected the current world to end soon, and thus calls his disciples to ignore all physical cares and trust in God in the new world to come. The Jerusalem Church followed his instruction, and when the End did not come, Paul had the Asian churches bail out Jerusalem. Shouldn't we be a bit more practical about money?

Consider the lilies...

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?"

Jesus of Nazareth, Matthew 6:25-30

How Then Shall We Live: Reformation

Methodism began as a renewal movement within the Anglican church. John and Charles Wesley promoted ideas that were radically different from most of their peers, creating a new culture that combined aspects of different parts of English society along with key insights from the Gospels. Their movement swept through England and created a new denomination in the United States.
Today, the United Methodist Church appears to be an institution nearing the end of its life-cycle, not a lively movement of God.

WWJD?

"I'm not Jesus!"

a member of the Church Council

Once upon a time, in a galaxy not too far away, I needed to make a quick decision - one that required more authority than I had as pastor. The right thing to do was clear, but I needed the Church Council's blessing. A leader made phone calls to all of the Council members - some agreed right away, while others hemmed and hawed until she said "Well, do you think Jesus would vote yes?"
That question always got a quick "Of course." Hearing back, I went ahead with our planned course of action.
At the next Council meeting, one of the members asked to know what the vote was, and we reported that it was unanimous. He said "No it wasn't - I didn't vote for it." Upon recounting the conversation, he admitted "Just because Jesus would vote yes, doesn't mean that I did. I'm not Jesus."

Changing minds and changing behavior

"Faith has a limited effect on most people's behavior."

The Barna Group

The Barna Group studies the interaction of belief and behavior in America, focusing on differences between various Christian populations and the country at large. One of their most consistent findings over the years is disappointing, at least for Christian leaders: Christian beliefs have very little impact on how Americans live their lives. Statistically speaking, people with Christian beliefs tend to (a) attend a Christian church more often, and (b) volunteer at a Christian church more often, than non-Christians (surprise!). Otherwise, as groups our behavior isn't very different.

Reformation

Ecclesia Semper Reformanda (The Church is always to be reformed)

- Karl Barth

Conversion is a common theme throughout the history of the Church. We stand on one side of a great divide, lost and separate from God; God reaches out to us and we are fundamentally changed, forgiven, given eyes to see and ears to hear. 

Be transformed by the renewing of your mind...

"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect."

The Apostle Paul, Romans 12:2

"This world" is Paul's term for the cultural worldview in which we all live. This world is permeated through and through by "Sin" - not just the sins we commit, but a cosmic Actor, a force that is more powerful than humanity and opposed to God.
According to Paul, the baptized have the freedom to escape Sin's clutches and experience a life in Christ. We no longer have to live by the world's rules, following the world's values and evaluating our lives with the world's goals in mind. Instead, we can change from the inside out - experience metamorphosis - by having our minds renewed, by receiving a new worldview whose source is God.