What's a Pastor (or Congregation) to Do?

First published in The Daily Sentinel, Friday, January 25, 2008

Have you heard of Pastor Jason Burrick? Until last week, neither had I. Pastor Burrick doesn’t have the name recognition enjoyed by Rick Warren, Joel Osteen, or Max Lucado. But that didn’t stop him from being featured in the Wall Street Journal.

For many people, the Wall Street Journal is all about business news: stocks, interest rates, mergers and layoffs. But did you know that the Journal also covers religion? These days, even religion can be about business – or maybe even business can be religious!

But back to Pastor Burrick. According to the Journal, he is pastor of a small Baptist church in rural western Michigan. And I mean small: twelve members when he arrived. But what makes his story remarkable enough for the Journal is what he did when one of those members showed up for worship one Sunday. He called 911. The member did not need an ambulance; the pastor needed a sheriff.

Actually, the need for a sheriff was quite questionable. The church member in question was 71-year-old Karolyn Caskey, a member for nearly 50 years who had taught Sunday school and faithfully donated 10% of her fixed pension to the church even though rising prices made that an increasingly difficult sacrifice. Mrs. Caskey was armed only with her well-worn Bible – and a critical tongue.

Mrs. Caskey and Pastor Burrick did not get along. They really did not seem to like one another very much. The pastor accused her of spreading a “spirit of cancer and discord” and expelled her from the congregation. She claimed the pastor refused to follow the church’s charter for administrative decision-making and distribution of power. The charter called for a Board of Deacons; Pastor Burrick claimed the church was too small for a Board and needed centralization of authority under his leadership.

Since Mrs. Caskey refused to drop her end of the argument, the pastor sent a letter to the entire congregation that said Mrs. Caskey and two other individuals were guilty of gossip, slander and idolatry, and they should be shunned. Because Mrs. Caskey did not see the error of her ways and repent, the pastor also refused to write a letter of transfer to another church for Mrs. Caskey.

So on the day that Pastor Burrick called 911, he charged her with trespassing. She was put in handcuffs and taken to the county jail. The county prosecutor refused to press charges. A month later, she was back. She sat in the front pew as Pastor Burrick preached about “infidels in the pews,” according to witness reports in the Journal article. A state trooper eventually arrived and took her to jail again. The prosecutor still refused to press charges and told law enforcement to not bring her back unless she created a disturbance.

So now they are at a stand-off, and it has split the church. During Pastor Burrick’s tenure, the church had grown to more than 50 people in worship. About 25 left in protest over the Caskey matter. Those who stayed support the pastor and continue to shun Mrs. Caskey. The only relief to the stand-off is when Mrs. Caskey travels to Florida for the winter. She’s there now, but promised to be back in the spring.

As I read that story, I had several emotional responses. In one way, this is funny – a “little old lady” squaring off against the “big, bad pastor.” In another way, this is tragic – there is no demonstration of love, charity or forgiveness by anyone.

Church controversies aren’t just “out yonder.” They are right here in our midst. And what’s a pastor or congregation to do when there is open sinfulness (or closet sinfulness, for that matter)? The Bible has several passages for how to deal with unrepentant people. Matthew 18:15-17 has the most famous process, directly from Jesus:

“If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.”

Jesus describes a four-step process: 1) talk one-on-one. If that doesn’t work, then 2) take a couple of church leaders with you as unbiased, reliable witnesses and try again. If that doesn’t work, then 3) bring the matter before the whole congregation. Finally, if all else fails, then 4) treat the person as if he (or she) no longer belongs. But about that last step, I have a question: how did Jesus act towards “pagans and tax collectors”? He acted without judgment, but with mercy. He LOVED them back into repentance! He didn’t ostracize, ignore, ridicule, or condemn!

The Wall Street Journal article doesn’t describe the process used by Pastor Burrick towards Mrs. Caskey. But even if he followed the process in Matthew 18, he goofed at step 4. And so did she.

Church discipline is a tough topic. Yes, we should encourage people to refrain from sinfulness. Pastors are expected to lead their congregations, following a high standard of ethics for themselves. Troubles occur whenever the pastor or the parishioner fails to live into Jesus’ ethic: “be perfect, for your Heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matt 5:48) But Jesus also says to “forgive seventy-seven times” (that is, without limit!) in Matt 18:22.

I do not have an easy solution, and I don’t think God even offers us one. The only solution I know is extremely difficult: to become so much like Jesus Christ that I am no longer a problem. Obedience is not driven by fear of punishment, but rather by such an overwhelming willingness to follow Christ that disobedience becomes unthinkable! I’m not there yet, but I keep on trying!! And I urge you to pursue holiness, as well. That’s what pastors (and congregations) are to do!

She Hasn't Got a Prayer

First published in The Daily Sentinel, Friday, January 18, 2008

In many ways, Dawn Sherman is your typical 14-year-old. She goes to school, sings in a church choir – and wants to make a difference in the world. But unlike most teenagers, she’s not waiting until she’s a “grown-up.” Dawn is making a difference – at least in her school district – right now. She is party to a lawsuit that’s tearing her school and community apart.

I read about her in a newspaper article from the Chicago Tribune (after it being highlighted at GetReligion.org). The Illinois state legislature passed a “Silent Reflection and Student Prayer Act” last year that allows schools to provide one minute of silence at the beginning of the school day. Dawn objects to the practice; she claims that it violates her rights because, “first of all, the teacher is being made to stop teaching, and I’m being [made] an audience to something that is heavily suggestive in the direction of prayer because of the title of the act. It’s called the student prayer and silent reflection act.”

Something else you should know about Dawn. She is the daughter of one of Illinois’ most prominent atheists, Rob Sherman. The elder Sherman has long been trying to eliminate any references to God from the public square. In the early 1980s, he filed suit on behalf of his son, then a first grader, to stop his school from making him include the “one nation under God” phrase in the daily recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. Sherman has also attempted to remove “In God We Trust” from US currency, had run-ins with members of the Bush Administration over public displays of religion, and once even accosted the president himself over atheists’ rights.

The Tribune article on Dawn Sherman includes an intriguing anecdote from her early years: “Dawn was exposed to her father’s beliefs at an early age. She jokes that when she was still a fetus, her father would whisper to her mother’s belly: ‘God is make-believe. God is make-believe and Daddy is perfect.’”

As US citizens, the Shermans are certainly entitled to think what they want to think, and to act the way they want to act. No one should force religious beliefs down their throats. But the counterpoint is that they should not be allowed to force their non-religious (some might say anti-religious) beliefs down any one else’s throat. And that’s the problem. In Dawn’s estimation, her rights are being violated; and the only way for her rights to be put “right” is for her rights to violate the rights of others. She gets her way, so no on else gets another way.

Quite frankly, if her case is based on what she said in the article, then I am surprised that a federal judge was willing to put a temporary injunction against the statute. Read again what she stated as her reason for objecting: “[it’s] heavily suggestive in the direction of prayer because of the title of the act. It’s called the student prayer and silent reflection act.”

She doesn’t like it because of its title? And she’s got it wrong! The title is actually “The Silent Reflection and Student Prayer Act.” Student prayer does not get top billing, even though she tried to make it so as part of her objection. Furthermore, how many kids in the classroom will have a clue what the act’s title is? Seems many of them have a hard time remembering the date when the colonies declared their independence from England. (July 4, 1776, in case you’re wondering.) Basing an objection on statute titles that will never be spoken in the classroom seems specious to me.

Eventually, this case (or another one like it) will reach the US Supreme Court. A similar law in Texas recently received the green light from the Fifth US Circuit Court of Appeals. A couple in one of Dallas’ suburbs filed suit in 2006 against the local school district and the Texas governor over the state’s minute of silence. On January 5, 2008, the court said that “the primary effect of the statute is to institute a moment of silence, not to advance or inhibit religion.” No decision has been made about whether or not the couple will appeal the ruling.

I find the whole situation sad. What has brought this country to the low point of somebody suing somebody else over everything? Maybe it’s just me, but I thought our courts were designed to deal with real issues of justice, not simply one person’s opinion becoming more important than another person’s opinion. Even as a pastor, I don’t think school prayer is an “Issue” with a capital “I.” Kids could gather together before and after school to pray. They can organize Bible studies, pass notes of encouragement to one another, and do other little things that reflect their faith without causing controversies.

And I pray that in some quiet, loving and non-controversial way, someone will show the Shermans just what God’s love really looks like. Remember, Dawn sings in a church choir. That’s one little step. Maybe others will follow.

As for prayer in schools, I think my grandmother had it right: “As long as there are tests in schools, you better believe there will be prayer in schools!”

Be a Pane in the Glass!

First published in The Daily Sentinel, Friday. January 11, 2008

The new pastor was nervous. This was his first Sunday in the new church, and he wanted to make a strong first impression. The church’s sanctuary had some magnificent stained glass windows, so the pastor decided to make use of them during his children’s message. He talked about how each of us is called of God to help make up the whole picture of life (the life of the community of the faithful). Like the pictures in the windows, it takes many little panels of glass to make the whole picture.

And then he said, "You see, each one of you is a little pane." And then pointing to each child, "You're a little pane. And you're a little pane. And you're a little pane. And..."

It took a few moments before he realize why everyone was laughing so hard. Strong first impression, indeed!

Actually, I borrowed that story. I do not know if it’s a true experience, or an illustration of truth experienced. When you cut through the humor, it is especially revealing truth: we are all “panes” who should be trying hard not to be “pains.”

And too often, we are ready to label another pane a major pain. That other person isn’t supposed to be in MY picture, we think. They’re the wrong size, shape, color; they’re cracked, scratched, dirty. They wear the wrong clothes, they smell bad. They work in the wrong place. They go to the wrong church, or they don’t’ go to church at all. Sorry, don’t fit my picture. Go away!

But do you realize what happens when we have that kind of attitude? WE become the PAIN in their glass! Instead of discovering the beauty of the different shapes that God made us, we present our sharpest edges and cut away anyone who gets too close to us. Or we collect those who look, think, smell and act just like us and end up with a boring monochrome slate of glass that no one cares to view.

Stained glass windows require lots of colors, shapes and sizes in order to form their beauty. Get too close to the glass, however, and you lose the overall picture. The green just looks green. The yellow, yellow, etc. And that’s how we often look at the glass God is creating. We fail to see the bigger picture.

What happens in Pomeroy matters in Racine. What happens in Mason matters to Portland. What happens in Salem Center matters to Tuppers Plains. But what happens in China, India, Africa … they also matter to us. Only God is big enough to see the WHOLE window! So that’s where faith enters the picture. We have faith that somehow, what we do and what others do becomes the means by which God completes this picture.

Stained glass only gets its color and shape through heat, stretching, stirring, and cutting. Of course, glass doesn’t feel; but we do. We feel the pain of heat and cold, stretching our resources when they thin, stirring in experiences of sorrow and joy, being cut from a job or the starting lineup on the team. God uses those experiences to shape our glass; God brings our lives into the focus God wants in order to create the perfect window.

But you have a choice. What color do you want to be? Want to be the ochre of bitterness, anger and envy? Or do you want to be the startling brilliance of golden patience, forgiveness, and self control? How many pieces of shattered dreams do you want God to put back together? And are you resisting His shaping, or participating?

Our lives are spent in the glass factory. And when our end comes, so does the glasswork. Whatever color you are, whatever shape you are, whatever size you are: when you’re dead, you’re done! And God will find some of the glass simply doesn’t fit into the window. He tried to shape it – sometimes for eight or nine decades – but it refused to cooperate. God loves that glass, blew His own breath into it. He tried to bless it with colors, lines and shapes that created beauty. But in the end, that life simply refused to become anything more than sand. When God throws the misshaped glass away, it’s because the glass made the choice to be trash. To be a pain rather than a pane.

The Apostle Paul tells it to us straight: “God ‘will give to each person according to what he has done.’ To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil; but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good.” (Romans 2:6-11)

But Paul also gives us hope for when the bad things happen to us in Romans 8:28: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

God is shaping each of us according to His purpose. When we give ourselves over to Him, even the bad stuff becomes good stuff. The dark times enrich the colors of our glass, make our glass more resilient, and bring our glass into just the right shape to fill the pane.

So I pray that each of us will work in cooperation with God to become less of a pain and more of a pane. The opportunities to do that are right in front of us. Our relationships – with family, co-workers, boss, friends, acquaintances, and even strangers – are God’s polishing clothes, buffers, mixers, and shapers. Make good choices by spending time with God so that you know what the good choices are. Gather together with people of faith to encourage one another towards good. Look for all the ways – big and little – that you can make a positive difference for someone else. And look forward to the time when God smiles and says, “Wow! What a beautiful stained glass window! Especially that pane called … (will your name be here?)”

Resolved:

First published in The Daily Sentinel, Friday, January 4, 2007.

I had to start a new calendar this week. I would guess that’s true for most everyone. It’s now 2008! Happy New Year!! One thing I have learned as I have gotten older is how much more quickly time goes by now. I’m still having a hard time remembering that the year no longer start with a “1,” much less getting it right that it now ends in an “8.” Is this one of the first signs of senility?

While all of us had to get new calendars started this week, many of us also probably made new commitments to improve ourselves. “New Year’s Resolutions” are almost as traditional as “Yankee” sauerkraut or “Southerner” black-eyed peas. (I say Yankee and Southerner because to me sauerkraut is a new thing that I never encountered in Texas.)

But another thing I’ve learned as I’ve gotten older is that New Year’s Resolutions are about as effective and long term as blowing soap bubbles during a thunderstorm. We will resolve to exercise more, to eat less sweets or fats, to eat more vegetables and fruits, to quit smoking, drinking or swearing. Or we may resolve to show more patience with our families, to read that book we keep putting off, or to finally fix the broken lamp in the spare bedroom. We want to do more, be better, or look better in the coming year than we did in the previous year.

It’s no accident that you’re seeing a lot of commercials on TV right now for Jenny Craig, Weightwatchers and NutriSystems. They’re right there in the middle of beer and car commercials during the bowl games and NFL playoffs. The weight-loss industry knows that we’re a bunch of couch potatoes who will attempt to change this time of year, and there’s lots of money to be made from those attempts.

I’ve certainly made my share of New Years Resolutions. I want to lose weight, pray more, study my Bible more, be a better husband, father, friend. I want to exercise patience, kindness, and self-control. I want better time management skills, a more organized home and office. In short, I’d like to be better at a lot of things than I am right now.

So with all of these resolutions, how come I’m still the same ol’ me?

We know the success stories. Bill Gates goes from geeky nerd to world’s wealthiest man. Michael Jordon, who was rejected from a junior high school basketball team, becomes the world’s most recognizable athlete (and a fabulous basketball player!) And there’s Jared Fogle – the Subway guy. He used to weigh more than 400 pounds, but two lowfat Subway sandwiches and a mile-and-a-half-long walk everyday helped him drop 245 pounds and shrink a 60-inch waist down to 34 inches. A national celebrity is born!

How come none of their stories are my story?

New Years Resolutions cannot bring me – or anyone – success. Most of the time they’re nothing more than wishful thinking. And they’re no better than a lottery ticket. Yeah, somebody’s going to win the jackpot, but it’s such a low probability that it’ll be me. Lightning is more likely to strike me twice while I’m wearing a pink flamingo suit – in Kenya.

So what should we do with New Years Resolutions? Resolve not to make them anymore? There’s quite a few folks who’ve done that. But I have a better idea in mind.

Our New Years Resolutions need to become our religious vocations. What I mean by that is that we need to give our resolutions for self-improvement to God and take back from God what our REAL goal should be. Jesus Christ gave us a lifestyle for improvement. But his improvements won’t make me rich, or the world’s greatest athlete, or the next great sandwich spokesman. The kind of improvements Jesus can make are the kind that will last long after the computer age, long after the basketball is out of air, way past lunchtime. His improvements are eternal and divine.

Jesus wants to make us brand-new – from the inside out. The Apostle Paul described this as a mysterious dying and living: “For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin — because anyone who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 6:6-11 NIV)

That’s not simple self-help, but life transformation! No New Years Resolution is capable of that kind of change. In fact, nothing we can do will make that kind of change. If we want to become the best people that we can be, we have to give up trying to do it ourselves and instead, cooperate with the work God is already doing!

This doesn’t mean, however, that we’re off the hook for life change. Just because we cannot do it alone, doesn’t mean we don’t do it at all. It’s truly a cooperative effort between me and God; between you and God. As one person put it: God provides the inspiration, we provide the perspiration. Then God creates the transformation.

I saw a transformation in 2007. A man about my age had lived a hard life: drug abuse, divorce, strained family relationships. Then he was diagnosed with cancer. It was bad stuff; inoperable. That man could have retreated into bitterness and self-pity. But he didn’t. He gave himself over to Jesus Christ. As he lost weight from the cancer, he gained peace. As he fought disease, he found joy. Not everything got better for him, but the priorities changed. What truly mattered did get better.

I saw him just before Christmas. He shared some deer jerky with me from his successful hunt after Thanksgiving. We talked about life, death; what happens next. He looked death in the face and found he wasn’t scared, anymore.

I learned this week that he died peacefully in his sleep. But he had given himself over to Jesus’ transforming change – and now he’s got more life than we can imagine.

If you only make one resolution this year, let it be this: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives within me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Therefore, I will live this year for Him, with Him, because He lives!”

The Christmas Tree

This Christmas weekend, I want to share a special story with you. It was written by my mother over thirty years ago, set in a time even longer ago than that. Much in our society has changed over the years, but one thing remains the same: Christmas is about finding God in the midst of the every-day-ness of life. This is a very special Christmas story for me, and I hope it will be for you, too. Merry Christmas!

They were young; they were poor; and it was almost Christmas. Joe and Mary had experienced more than their share of difficulties that year. Because of Mary’s illness, the doctor bills were eating into their small salary with precious little left over for the necessities — much less the luxuries like Christmas. But there was the child to consider: little Joey was only three, yet surely he deserved some sort of Christmas.

Mary scrimped on the grocery budget and managed to save a tiny sum. Together she and Joe went downtown to the variety store. It was filled to overflowing with dolls, games, trucks and cars. Little Joey’s eyes sparkled as they pushed him up and down the aisles. Then he saw it — the item that captured his heart. It was a small red cowboy hat.

Mary’s own heart leaped for joy! It only cost 98 cents. They could afford the hat, plus a set of toy guns, and still have two dollars left to buy a tree. After all, a little boy needs a tree even if he is only two.

Joe and Mary hurried over to the Christmas tree lot. Silently Mary prayed, “Please God, let us find a tree for only two dollars.” Even back then, that wasn’t very much money with which to buy a tree.

It was nearly Christmas Eve, so they knew the trees would be pretty well picked over. When the family arrived at the tree lot, they discovered only five trees were left. Still, when there are five trees — four must be eliminated.

Alone on the lot, they spent as much time picking out their tree as they would have if a dozen trees were under examination. Finally they chose one of the trees that everyone else had rejected.

Joe’s heart was in his throat as he approached the tent to pay for the tree. He had looked everywhere for a price tag, but found nothing. In fact, there wasn’t a sign anywhere on the Christmas tree lot telling the prices of the trees. Joe looked in the tent, but it was empty. Because it was such a cold day, he thought perhaps the salesman had gone to the drugstore across the street for a cup of coffee.

“Mary, you and Joey wait in the car while I run across the street and pay for the tree,” Joe said. And with those words he was off.

It’s hard not to be excited at Christmas when you’re young, even when you’re poor. So Mary and Joey sang Christmas carols and discussed Santa Claus while they waited.

It didn’t take long for Joe to return. He opened the trunk of the car and placed the scrawny little tree inside. He got into the car. Mary looked at him expectantly. “How much did the tree cost, Joe?”

Slowly a tear slid down Joe’s rough cheek. “Mary, it was free! The man who owns the lot leaves the last few trees each year for those who can’t afford to buy one. Our tree didn’t cost us anything!”

Suddenly they weren’t poor anymore. They had gifts for Joey. They had a Christmas tree. They had two dollars. And they had each other.

That night, after the tree was decorated with their small supply of hand-me-down ornaments, the family admired their handiwork. Joey’s eyes were nearly as bright as the star on top of the tree. The red, blue, green and yellow lights created a soft glow.

Joe and Mary thought their hearts would burst with joy. They reached to one another and gently touched hands. Before long, Joey — being a typical little boy — sat down in the middle between them. They knelt, held hands and bowed their heads while Joe said a prayer.

“Dear God, thank you for Mary and Joey. Thank you for our beautiful Christmas tree. Thank you that you love us and take care of this little family. Thank you for sending Jesus, whose birthday we are celebrating.”

* * *

Years have come and gone. Other children joined the family, and money was never quite so scarce. Joey grew just like a boy must; but somehow he always remembered that special Christmas — the Christmas he, his mama and his daddy knelt before the tree and prayed.

And on Christmas Eve, if you were to visit his home, you’d hear him say, “Let’s all bow our heads now.” Then you’d see three children and their mommy quietly listen as Joey, the man, prays.