GULF COAST MEN IN MISSION

"One man at a time; no man left behind!"

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

"The Church as SHIP"


Men...        ...'it's time to go to work!"

St. Paul once wrote, "transformation comes via the renewal of your mind..." We all need that from time to time… and as Lent approaches… here’s a hope-filled transforming thought…

We all know the CHURCH is people...but we also refer to the ‘building’ as church… but whether it be people or structure… what if we considered church as ship?

One of the first images of the Jesus’ church is the "sailing ship". The Armenians adopted this image early on as they claimed themselves to be the first “Christian nation.” They sailed to the Holy Land to see where Jesus lived, taught, died and came back to life! Even today, they are the caretakers of the Chapel of St. Helen, Constantine’s mother, inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

Having the sailing ship as a Christian symbol points to the idea that the church is in "mission" and when we read the writings of St. Paul, we recall that the fulfillment of the "mission" often required a vessel… From the earliest days to spread the message of Jesus to Corinth, Ephesus, Galatia, the British Isles, the New World of the Americas, the south Pacific islands and even back to the continent of Africa the sailing ship was an essential tool. Without a ship the message would have been passed on much more slowly…

Now, some church sociologists liken the modern 21st Century church to a ship... remaining ‘in mission' but some have suggested that there are now 2 kinds of churches...the Aircraft Carrier church and the Cruise Ship church… similar but not the same… How do you know?  Which is which?? What makes them different? What kind of ship is your congregation?

The Aircraft Carrier is prepared for battle. It goes to where the needs are greatest. The carrier is prepared to engage in battle and has provided "training" so that each person is equipped to enter the battle with confidence. The aircraft carrier is a 'launching' station for those who are ready for flight and now wanting to take on the battle face to face. Sacrifice is the theme of the day. It makes a noticeable difference. Right away. This is the kind of image of church that Martin Luther wrote of as he shared his thoughts about the "priesthood of all believers..."

The other kind of church is the Cruise Ship church. It's fun. It's easy. People just pay the fee and take a ride. It only makes fun stops and doesn't require anything except to pay for the ticket and show up! Everybody who rides the cruise ship church expects to be served...not to serve... Everybody who rides the cruise ship church is wanting to dock quickly when the waters get rough...Everyone who rides the cruise ship takes the journey that is equipped to meet their personal needs…

I could go on here about lights and glitter and sumptuous meals vs. blood, sweat, darkness and toil, etc...but by now you already see the difference. You get the point. You're smart people.

But, which one is your church? Are the members of your congregation on the Aircraft Carrier? Or are some of the members of your congregation wanting the church to be the Cruise ship? And what about Captain Pastor?  Where does he or she lean?  It all points to what Dietrich Bonheoffer (the German Lutheran pastor who plotted to kill Hitler) wrote about in his book, The Cost of Discipleship when he addressed "costly grace" vs. "cheap grace." Costly grace is just that. There is a price to discipleship--the total of one's own life. "Cheap grace" is the trust that God will bail me out of all my messes because that's God's job... God works... I cruise...

Taking stock of these distinctions can really be at the heart of the matter  where your mission is headed and as you look ahead to the season of Lent looming before us.... you may find value in having this kind of conversation with your ministy leaders and partners....

So, as you prepare yourself for worship each week and as you ponder what Lent might be for you… take a moment to look in the mirror and consider that...

  • The time of the Lent is about knowing oneself, the renewing of spiritual disciplines and sacrifice;
  • A life that does not take time for confession… is already dead… some suggest;
  • There are men in your life… in your family, congregation, workplace and neighborhood are ‘wounded’ and are looking for an invitation to get things right with God and themselves;
  • Getting on the ship and taking part in the battle DOES save lives;
  • Your getting on the right ship reflects YOUR life!
Take comfort in the wisdom of St. Paul...as he wrote to his friends in Corinth...

"17 God didn't send me out to collect a following for myself, but to preach the Message of what he has done, collecting a following for him. And he didn't send me to do it with a lot of fancy rhetoric of my own, lest the powerful action at the center - Christ on the Cross - be trivialized into mere words. 18 The Message that points to Christ on the Cross seems like sheer silliness to those hell bent on destruction, but for those on the way of salvation it makes perfect sense." -Corinthians 1:17-18

Ok, it's time to load up the Aircraft Carrier...or would you prefer this Lent to take a cruise...????

One man at a time; no man left behind,

     Brian



NOTE We had a great time in Brenham for our Tri-synod Lutheran Men in Mission gathering last weekend... thanks to our Tri-Synod LMM Leader team for all the planning, Ps. Phil Fenton and the men of St. Paul's LC, Brenham for hosting and to all who attended...

Friday, February 4, 2011

"Vince Lombardi
Could Have Been a Lutheran"

2.2.11

So, you liked the movie 'Groundhog Day?'  Bill Murry? Repetition?  Redundancy?  Deja Vu?  Well, whether we like it or not...there are some things we just must do over and over... and to be specific about the Christian faith...there are some things that we find ourselves doing over and over and when we do we call that "practicing our faith" so that when the occasion arise when we need to USE our faith... we have a faith to use! 

And if we go to the coaching world, we will find the value of repetition in some the great quotes of the great Green Bay Packer coach, Vince Lombardi.  Look carefully, coach could have been a Lutheran... that is if your geography teacher will allow you to stretch northern Italy all the way to southern Bavaria...or that there might have been plenty of Wisconsin Lutherans in VL's neighborhood!

Consider the wisdom of "Coach" ... 


ON TEAMWORK
  • “The achievements of an organization are the results of the combined effort of each individual.”
  • “People who work together will win, whether it be against complex football defenses, or the problems of modern society.” or
  • “Individual commitment to a group effort – that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.”
ON COMMITMENT
  • “Once a man has made a commitment to a way of life, he puts the greatest strength in the world behind him. It’s something we call heart power. Once a man has made this commitment, nothing will stop him short of success.”
  • “The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor.”
DISCIPLINE
  • “I’ve never known a man worth his salt who, in the long run, deep down in his heart, didn’t appreciate the grind, the discipline."
  • “There is something good in men that really yearn for discipline.”
  • “The good Lord gave you a body that can stand most anything. It’s your mind you have to convince.”
LEADERSHIP 
  • “Leaders are made, they are not born. They are made by hard effort, which is the price which all of us must pay to achieve any goal that is worthwhile.”
  • “It is essential to understand that battles are primarily won in the hearts of men. Men respond to leadership in a most remarkable way and once you have won his heart, he will follow you anywhere.”
  • “Leadership is based on a spiritual quality --- the power to inspire, the power to inspire others to follow.”
FAITH
  • “I believe in God.”
  • “I derived my strength from daily mass and communion.”
Did you catch that last quote... deriving his strength from daily mass and Eucharist-- the power of God that comes to him not from inside...but outside!  Most Lutheran churches I know don't hold daily Eucharist services...but it's obvious to guys like me that VL knew the value of living in the rhythm of confession and forgiveness and reaching his hands out to the passion of God in order to use such an extraordinary power to lead others... aka 'the means of grace' which changes the world...

If we take the 'football' life quotes and translate them into Lutheran Church and Christian journey mantras we see quickly how our church and how our Lutheran Men in Mission can be strengthened and focused in ways we have yet to discover... so take advantage of those great faith behaviors we share...

 + PRAY + WORSHIP + STUDY + INVITE + + ENCOURAGE  GIVE + SERVE +

When I read between the lines, I see in VL the understanding that every man has been given all the gifts necessary to do well in life and that these gifts are given to us in BAPTISM...remember in the Nicene Creed we call the Holy Spirit..."the Lord and Giver of Life"... and the good news for people like us is that we get to spend a lifetime discovering what those gifts are... perhaps it's part of the gift of Jesus when he said, "I have come to give you life... and life of abundance..."

So here's to Groundhog Day!  Here's doing good things over and over that in that repetition of good things we find ourselves at our best being strong and serving the world in Jesus' name...

We're down to less than 2 weeks to get our men signed up to attend the gathering in Brenham...

Here's the link to register on line and the listing the agenda...

      http://txlamen.org/

Housing for Friday night is at the Coach Light Inn...     http://www.coachlightinnbrenham.com/

 One man at a time; no man left behind,
 
    Brian