There is an old saying that goes like this... "every problem has a solution and each solution creates new problems which have solutions which create new problems which have solutions..." The story of the 'Cats of Borneo' is an excellent example...
Or as Pogo once said, "we have met the enemy and he is us!". Old pal, St. Paul referred to this reality as "the old Adam" in each of us. And I've always liked the saying from recovery ministry... "if that thing you are doing is causing a problem, then that thing you are doing is a problem." Word!
It's Father's Day 2013 weekend! Hopefully, lots of dads will be in our churches this Sunday. Hopefully, they will be wanting to hear a word from God about their lives. Most men I know who are fathers would "lay down their lives" for their children...die for their children. I'm not sure if that is a problem or a solution but I think our best hope is for the fathers in our churches to "live" for their children. Will the men in our churches hear a word about "LIFE" this Sunday? According to Pat Morley, founder of Man in the Mirror ministry ( a para-church organization and linked to the ELCA's Lutheran Men in Mission http://www.maninthemirror.org/) church leaders face 2 key problems...
- The "men problem" has become a crisis that is virtually out of control. The collateral damage among families is staggering. Men under 40 are especially vulnerable to an alien worldview that is gutting the institutions of marriage and family. Our government agencies, social sector organizations, and businesses are overrun trying to cope with the downstream damage of an increasingly fatherless, angry, and dysfunctional generation.
- Unfortunately, we also have a "church problem." The mission of the church, of course, is to make disciples. We love the church. But the vast majority of churches we talk to are struggling to consistently make male disciples. As a result, they have not been able to cope with the changing climate among men. Their leadership resources are often depleted and most of them need fresh ideas. Churches know that there can be no meaningful solution to the problems our world faces unless men are equipped to be godly men, husbands, fathers, and citizens.
Now, granted, that's a lot to unpack and is really a description of the tip of the iceberg rather than the whole chuck of ice, but does offer a reality all pastors and leaders of men must address. For, if we do not... then I think we've conceded to 'be" the problem versus tackling it head on.
So, where do you start? It might be a different place than the next pastor or youth director or men's ministry point man... depending on where they are at present... And if that is the case then let me suggest... and some will find this unusual coming from me... that we use our 'liturgical' resources to tend to this... think words like... rhythm, diligence, persistence, authenticity and couple those with words like purpose, grace, renewal, reformation and molding just for starters... and it starts for me on Sunday... God at work... for the sake of my life and for the sake of your life and those around us.
Men of God... Fathers... dads... sons... brothers... can we do this on Sunday...?
- Gather in God's house with gratitude and hope for days past, today and tomorrow?
- Make a point to greet other men around you before the worship begins... to suggest...'hey, we're on this road together... no one walks alone...' Smile... shake a hand... say, "hey... I'm..... (add your name...) and make sure you do that with another man you don't know well... 2 is better!
- Then sit down and shut up for moment and invite God to 'speak' in a way that you will understand and know that this is the best place you could be on Sunday morning...
- Rhythm... confession... owning up... saying 'brokenness' is real and I'm Humpty Dumpty as each of us falls off the wall and somehow can't find a way to piece it all back together...
- Rhythm x 2 ... silence... sense and feel water pouring over your head... know that the Word of God connected to the water washes you clean... trace the cross of Christ on your forehead... it won't rub off, trust me...
- Rhythm x 3 ... the silence is broken when the words of forgiveness and grace are shared... "all my sins are forgiven" WoW! Burdens are lifted... the door is opened to a new life... renewed, refreshed, restored...
- Rhythm x 4 ... how does this happen? "The peace of the Lord be with you always!" is spoken... words to share with others around you... Jesus is God's peace... with each of us... in the center of all those smiles, hand shakes and hugs... Jesus in the middle of our life together... the peace that passes all human understanding... so don't try to figure out God... rejoice in the reality that God has figured YOU out!
- Rhythm x 5... even if you can't carry a tune in a bucket or whether you sing bass in the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJybtgsOYno) this is the moment of 'awe' and gives cause to sing and praise God and that's why we always sing after the peace is shared... the Reed Sea has split... Moses leads us to the other side of life and we sing our hearts out to the one who saves and provides...
And then we pray and are ready to hear the Word of God and be -reshaped for faithful living...
Isn't this really what we do on Sundays...
Now, when we do this... we will all appear like a bunch quietistic guys who aren't very certain about life or ourselves... Not so, though! We gather, admit, re-think, renew, make plans, act upon those plans, review and assess and then come back the next Sunday and repeat... Church is the place where we "practice our faith" so that when those moments arise outside the walls of the church we will have a faith to use... we all have code... for some our code causes problems... for others the code is the problem solver... but it's life-long work... for all of us... every day... 24-7-365... modeled after the God who neither sleeps nor slumbers...
Last piece of business... cause this IS our business... making disciples... helping fathers be faithful and do more than die for their children...
- Divorce rates have been dropping during the last few decades. Data indicates that marriages have lasted longer in the 21st century than they did in the 1990s.
- The other side of that statistic is many couples are just not marrying and choosing to live together instead...
- Which leads to Peggy Contos Hahn's comment earlier this year that in 2012 more children were born out of wedlock than those who are born of a married couple.
- So, problems have solutions and solutions cause new problems... Here's a list of info you might find helpful before and after Father's Day 2013! Enjoy... and pray... http://buildingbrothers.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Men_Statistics.pdf
Keep the conversations going... share this message with a friend or two...
One man at a time; no man left behind...
Brian
