jxgomez.com

Questions and… Questions?

August 7, 2009 — Leave a comment

Image from Xurble

—

When Sarah and I first moved from Maine to Pennsylvania, we drove down in a U-Haul moving truck with our car towed behind. To this day, I’m still surprised we made it here unscathed, especially when you consider that the biggest thing I’d driven before that trip was a fifteen passenger van. If you’ve never traveled in a fully loaded U-Haul towing a car, then you’ve missed out on a unique experience. Picture Sarah and myself in the cab of the truck. Don’t forget to imagine the familiar sound of road noise inherently present in a truck. Multiply that road noise by, say, four times. Now, add the noise of a big engine working overtime to keep the truck up to speed on the highway. What do you get? A lot of noise, and no ease of conversation. Talking to each other required a lot of effort. If we hadn’t been in a moving truck, it would have sounded like we were doing a lot of yell-fighting–it probably looked that way to anyone in the passing lane.

I was focused on keeping the truck in its lane and finding an exit every twelve minutes so we could put gas in the vehicle (why they didn’t give us a diesel-powered truck I’ll never know). So, when it came time to make a decision, I’d trust Sarah to help make some of the decisions. Something you need to know about Sarah: her favorite pastime isn’t spent being ‘the decider’ of anything–she’s much more a ‘go with the flow’ kind of person . That meant our conversations, over the roar/noise/annoyance of the U-Haul experience, would go something like this:

Jeremiah: When would you like to eat?
Sarah: Well, when will we need to get gas?

Jeremiah: What kind of food do you want?
Sarah: Well, what do you think will be at the next travel center?

Jeremiah: What are you thinking for supper?
Sarah: Do you think they’ll have something at the hotel?

Most of the time, for whatever reason, our discussions ended up being questions answered with questions. And I learned something important that day: I really don’t like it when people answer a question with another question whether it’s a major decision or a small issue like what the next food-stop will be like. There are times, though, that answering a question with a question can help us think through some of those bigger things with a new perspective in hand… and make a better decision as a result.

As we’ve been walking through the book of Joshua here, a lot of our discussion has been focused on ‘faith’—in the form of being reminded of how to have strength and courage when facing the impossible, and also in our brief case study of some of Rahab’s story. But just how can we tell when it’s the right time to move—to actually take that step of faith? How do we know when to take a risk? When it comes down to executing that risky step of faith, how do we know if it’s God who is leading us or some kind of internal desire or other voice driving our next step?

As the story in the book of Joshua continues, the main character will be leading the Israelites across the Jordan River at flood stage—and ‘dangerous’ doesn’t begin to describe the situation there. In the lead-up to crossing the river, we discover some important questions that help us to answer the bigger question of when to take those risks. Over the next few days, we’ll be looking at those questions and unpacking them a bit–I hope they help you a bit when it comes to your own faith journey.

They are:

Have I put ‘first things’ first?
Have I waited?
Have I counted the cost?

In Joshua Joshua

Is That Enough?

August 5, 2009 — Leave a comment

As the story of Rahab and the spies in Joshua 2 continues, we get a deeper look at what faith is… perhaps gaining a perspective that isn’t celebrated as much as it should be.

The story continues and indicates that faith is obedience. In a world where belief and obedience can be two very separate entities, the Scriptures indicated belief without obedience is simply folly. We see faith play out as obedience for the spies and Rahab both.

For the spies:
Going into the land would have been a pointedly obedient act—they would have had knowledge of the last time an expedition had been made into the land and would recall the resulting report—

Num 13 (TNIV)

³¹ But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.” ³² And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. ³³ We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”

Entering into the land was an act of obedience—allowing their belief that the land was theirs from God and He was indeed leading them to play out in action, even though that meant life might get messy.

Most of us will only believe/obey someone or something if we have a well-rounded understanding of who is directing us or what it is that we will be obeying in. The spies had that—they had been travelling in the desert where they had been recipients of supernatural food, of leadership in the form of fire pillars and clouds, and had been directed by the very prominent human leader of their people.

But Rahab didn’t have any of this well-rounded understanding of what it meant to obey. Her obedience comes from an incomplete picture… and this, I believe, is part of why she is seen as a woman of great faith:

Josh 2

⁸ Before the spies lay down for the night, she went up on the roof ⁹ and said to them, “I know that the LORD has given this land to you and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. ¹⁰ We have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. ¹¹ When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the LORD your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.

¹² “Now then, please swear to me by the LORD that you will show kindness to my family, because I have shown kindness to you. Give me a sure sign ¹³ that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them—and that you will save us from death.”

There’s no indication here that Rahab has ‘converted’ (for more on this, see The IVP Bible Background Commentary, which is one of my very favorite resources). Simply put, she has found someone stronger than her deities, someone that she knows she should be afraid of… and she asks for help.

In the passage, note how she asks the spies to swear by the LORD. “LORD” in capitals means the Hebrew word there is YHWH; the sacred name of God. Get this: all Rahab knew was God’s name and that he is strong. Rahab risks her life for the lives of the spies… and would be obedient in what they later instruct her to do even though she only knows a little part of what is going on.

There are times when we can relate very well to Rahab: we find our heart ‘melting in fear’ because of what we’re facing. And in those situations we think, ‘I don’t have faith enough.’ In those times, it is especially important to remember that all we really need to know is his name (he invites us to call him ‘Father’) and to recognize his strength, allowing this knowledge to fuel our belief and obedience.

But here’s something even more incredible: Rahab’s great faith points to Jesus by pointing us to his redemptive activity. We do not celebrate Rahab because of Rahab or because of her obedience, but because of the testimony her life is of God’s activity and hope. In the same way, our ‘great faith’ isn’t about us but about the Giver of faith—the one to whom all obedience is due.

Great faith is seen in obedience even when we don’t understand. It’s seen in obedience even when ‘obedience’ means doing something messy. But I am comforted to know ‘great faith’ can mean calling out for help even as my heart melts in fear. My prayer is that I would be a man of great faith both when I understand and when I don’t; that I would be a man of great faith when I am facing the impossible; that I would be obedient in the ‘big’ things and in those that seem insignificant.

Today, I am facing the impossible. Today, my heart wants to melt in fear. Today, it seems that tomorrow will never come. Today, I don’t know what my obedience will mean.

But I know His Name and that He is strong. And, today, that is enough.

In Joshua Encouragement, faith, history, Joshua

Mall Fail

August 3, 2009 — 1 Comment

Image: violator3

—

A few days ago I posted ‘That’s okay…’ about some positive learning experiences I had with some friends at the mall last week.

Let me share a few things that were ‘teachable moments’ because of what they teach us to avoid. Don’t worry, names have been changed to protect the innocent and avoid some kind of libel charge:

—

Understanding your environment is incredibly important:

I haven’t been able to find Bottle Caps anywhere. You know: those sweet-tart kind of candies that have a little fizz in them? We can’t get them where I live, so while we were at the mall, the four of us dropped into Childhood Obesity R Us (a candy shack). But right next to the candy shack (which, by the way, did have Bottle Caps… at an incredible premium) was Carcinogen Crossing (a tobacco shop). That may not have been a problem… except that the smell of the tobacco shop was incredibly overwhelming… it morphed with the sweets smell of the candy shack and created some kind of nasty, hanging malodorous funk that wasn’t at all pleasant. The candy shack wasn’t doing very much business, and I can’t help but wonder if it had something to do with its neighbor. Who are the candy people trying to reach? Tobacco smokers? Or would vying for a spot near the Lego store have been a better bet?

What does that have to do with churchy stuff? Oftentimes it’s tempting to do something that worked very well elsewhere… in some other environment. But ‘plugging’ that program/idea/method into where we live just won’t be effective because of where we’re situated. We’re trying to reach lego-store kind of people next to a tobacco shop… maybe we should try to do something to meet the needs of the people around us in their own context.

A few months ago, a friend of mine posted this link–it’s a good example of the need to understand your environment in a ministry setting.

Know your environment.

—

Simplify:

There was a certain item we were hoping to get. An item so in demand many people want one, but not so currently ‘have to have it’ that anyone should be sold out. Checking was done about which stores should have this item in stock. One didn’t. Another of the same chain didn’t. A third store did, but was unable to provide the right kind of service… so a purchase was made to get the item all the others were supposed to have and a walk commenced to one of those other stores to get the rest of the process taken care of. (I’m being purposefully ambiguous, sorry for how awkward that paragraph was).

It was a lot of work and frustration for something pretty easy—especially when you understand the money was going to be spent on this item… and it was going to bolster the sales of one store or another. If people would have just done what they said they would, a very happy customer would have been had. Instead, they were left with a customer who wasn’t so much ‘happy’ as ‘finally taken care of’.

I wonder what we do that could use some simplifying; what we do that is overly frustrating and inconvenient for a reason that made sense on paper or in theory but has no practical benefit…

—

Just Be Who You Are:

One of the stores we stepped into was kind of like the Apple Store’s socially awkward distant cousin. In fact, it was meant to compete with an ‘Apple Store’ kind of draw. But something happened: the culture of the parent company and the culture of this particular store didn’t match. Somehow in the push to ‘be like the other guys’ this brand, in my own uneducated opinion, was suffering. The people were only focused on selling a product, not representing company, brand, or offering experience.

There’s nothing wrong with competing. There’s not anything wrong with seeing how your competition is doing something and besting them at it. But trouble comes when we sacrifice who we are in order to compete with some other ‘growing concern.’ It’s very doubtful the ‘growing concern’ grew by laying identity on the altar of success.

—

So, who wants to go to the mall with me this weekend?

In church church, church planting, Leadership

What a Mess!

August 1, 2009 — 7 Comments

Image from iboy_daniel

–

I’ve been walking through the book of Joshua here on the ol’ blog and at this point we’re looking at chapter two as a bit of a case study on ‘faith’ (since Rahab, a central character in this passage is heralded later as an example of great faith and this is part of God’s story of keeping his promise to his people).

Taking that ball and running with it, we don’t have to go very far in the Scripture (or in life!) to discover that faith is messy/uncomfortable. I think we see that in a couple of aspects within this story:

First:

¹ Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim. “Go, look over the land,” he said, “especially Jericho.” So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there.

² The king of Jericho was told, “Look! Some of the Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land.” ³ So the king of Jericho sent this message to Rahab: “Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, because they have come to spy out the whole land.” ⁴ But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. She said, “Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they had come from. ⁵ At dusk, when it was time to close the city gate, they left. I don’t know which way they went. Go after them quickly. You may catch up with them. (Joshua 2:1-5, TNIV)

Later in the story, Rahab indicates she has heard of the power of the God of Israel and is showing favor to the two spies because of her own fear of this powerful God. In doing so, she commits a treasonous act against the city-state government of Jericho. I don’t think she would have described this situation in any way as ‘comfortable’ or even all that enjoyable. She lies to the authorities in order to hide the two men spying for Joshua and misdirects those same authorities’ search efforts. Don’t think this is a small thing: if found out, Rahab would have been confronted with the business end of a rock or some other ancient tool of execution. Faith is messy.

Now, this next part isn’t exegetically sound—but I believe much of this passage is seeing God active in redemption & faith. Understanding this passage as an exercise in faith helps us to view the messiness of faith from a different perspective: the spies’.

The spies are two men who have been wandering the desert for years with their fellow Israelites. In the forty years God has been leading these people, there is one major theme that’s been retold, reiterated, and reinforced: God is holy and sin cannot be tolerated in his camp.

First order of business: approaching a prostitute at night. The ‘why’ seems obvious—it’s nighttime and you need a place to stay. Who is up at night and conducting business? Members of the world’s Oldest Profession, that’s who… and I’m not talking about bakers. Two men, likely chosen for their integrity and passion for the things of God & Israel (there had been a problem with sending spies into the land before, resulting in a forty-day journey lasting forty years… Joshua wasn’t going to risk the same problems again), have to spend the night in the home of a prostitute. If you don’t think that might be a little uncomfortable, you’ve never faced a decision where necessity and integrity seem to exist in tension.

These spies are an interesting hiding spot as the authorities search them out:

(But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them under the stalks of flax she had laid out on the roof.) (Joshua 1:6, TNIV)

Stalks of flax are laid out on the roof to dry after they have been soaking for awhile (sometimes the better part of a month) in water so the different fibers can be separated and woven together to make different kinds of things like linen and rope. That may not sound so bad, but imagine hiding underneath a pile of wet nastiness that has been soaking for weeks in water full of putrescence and reek. Imagine trying to ‘hide’ in a pile of pig slop and you can imagine the ‘yuck’ factor involved here.

Faith is messy.

Rahab’s desperate request to the spies for help and rescue. Messy.

The spies hiding in rank dampness. Messy.

Sacrificing home and future. Messy.

Somehow we’ve gotten this idea that faith is ‘easy’ and that our lives should immediately find a pain free, straightforward existence when faith is involved. But that isn’t the case. The fact is, faith is uncomfortable and at times can be very hard.

Is it possible that the very uncomfortable, seemingly ‘desperate’ thing you’re facing is God’s opportunity for you to become more of a person of faith? I don’t know what that is for you–maybe you’re being drawn to really follow Jesus; maybe it’s stepping into a major change, move, or job transition; perhaps it’s ending an inappropriate relationship; or it could be something not so huge but just as difficult, like asking for help.

God has already equipped you to endure the uncomfortable, and even tells us faith is a gift from him. You can do this—just recognize it won’t be easy… and it might be a little messy. But it’ll be worth it.

In Joshua Encouragement, faith, history, Joshua

That's Okay…

July 30, 2009 — 1 Comment

The other day Sarah and Iwent along with our next-door neighbors on a road trip toward Philadelphia. We didn’t have any particular agenda other than to enjoy the King of Prussia mall and celebrate with Dan (our neighbor) when he finally procured a new iPhone 3Gs—a special reward for kicking the nicotine habit. But while we were there participating in North American consumerism, I was struck by the way a few places did business and how some of the principles which seemed to drive positive experience (and those that brought about a negative experience) have a great deal of value to those of us pursuing relevant and engaging ministry. Yes, I know some of you will have a problem with using consumer-based observations to talk about effective ministry… that’s okay: don’t read this post.

So, here are four more positive principles I caught on our little journey (I’ll post a couple of ‘no no’s’ after the next ‘Joshua’ post…):

Accept that People May Come with no Intention to ‘Buy [In]’ to Anything: Let them browse.

One of the first in-mall stops we made was at Tiffany’s.

I am an unemployed minister and my wife is a part time administrative assistant. Let’s just say we’re not rolling in the dough.

Dough is something you need to buy most of the stuff at Tiffany’s. It was obvious that Sarah and I aren’t really ‘Tiffany’s’ kind of people. Something that struck me was the level of comfort the staff had with a group of four people who came in just to look around. They understood that people would come and go having not bought anything. There were no high-pressure sales techniques, but there also wasn’t any sense that we were some kind of nuisance. We were welcome even though no one was going to close a sale off of us.

I would guess they were okay with us taking up space because the good folks at Tiffany’s know that if we’re going to buy something, it may not be on the first or second or third visit. I would also guess they know that what they offer isn’t for everyone. There will always be those who come in and leave without making any kind of commitment.

There are times we’re driven to ‘make people buy’ what we’re selling—our vision for the future or some little project. Accept that people may come to see you burn with passion, they may enjoy what you say, they may even like what you have to offer… but that doesn’t mean they’re going to buy. And that’s okay.

Understand that Different People Have Different Expectations: Not everybody will like/approve of/applaud what you’re doing.

I really enjoy Apple products. In fact, I’m a huge fan. I like seeing other people who use a MacBook while at a coffee shop and talking about their ‘Mac experience;’ I enjoy discussing the latest and greatest innovation headed our way… and I especially enjoy spending time in an Apple Store. When we finally made it to the Apple Store, the place was packed. I had to squeeze in past people and was struck at the kind of noise a bunch of people can make in a small area. AND I LOVED IT. It was part of the experience. Getting hands-on with products, asking questions, considering options… in a place where each aspect of the shopping experience is designed to be exactly the way it is (it didn’t seem anything was ‘accidental’ about layout, service, or care). Again, I loved it.

But it was a little too much for my wife and our neighbor friends. For people who are unfamiliar with ‘the brand’ it likely seems chaotic and overwhelming. For people who prefer to browse quietly or anonymously, the Apple Store would be a little scary. Those people may not buy from an Apple Store… and as of yet, I don’t see Apple changing their stores to try to reach them—they have other points-of-sale which will allow more private people to engage the brand in another way: online, over the phone, or through retail partnerships. Not everybody enjoys an Apple Store, and Apple’s okay with that.

When it comes to churches, not everyone will enjoy your environments (too big, too small, too noisy, too quiet…)—but hopefully they will help you reach your focus group; are you okay with that?

Do One Thing and Do it Well: We don’t have to major in every experience.

Next to the Apple Store was the Bose store.

Know what Bose does? Sound.

That’s it.

The only thing you can buy at Bose is sound stuff. Sound components for home theater systems, speakers for computers, audio hookups for mp3 players, even whole-house systems. But it’s all sound related.

They believe quality sound enhances just about everything—and that the enhancement is worth a premium for quality of workmanship and technology. For entertainment, they promote the premise a high-quality TV needs high-quality sound. And you can’t buy the TV from them.

Sound is what they do.

It seems they feel if they can just get you to experience what they do best, you’ll be convinced of the value of it. (This works, by the way… my wife could care less about sound components, but after experiencing the Bose demonstration, she told me she secretly would enjoy the system we experienced—hefty price tag and all (of course, this is assuming my whole ‘unemployed’ situation were to be rectified)).

We can’t possibly do everything well, and that’s okay… but are we doing something very, very well?

It’s Okay to Focus on Experience More than Expediency: Faster isn’t always better.

Our last stop before leaving town for the day was IKEA. Those Swedes know a thing or two about enjoyable, affordable design. They also set up their store on the premise that people need to experience the product before they buy it—so, the unsuspecting shopper is confronted with a seemingly endless supply of showroom displays with each component noting where it’s found for pickup and how much it costs. The veteran IKEAphile isn’t so much ‘confronted’ with the style of the store as much as they have come to savor it.

While we were there, I didn’t notice anybody in a hurry. They walked, browsed, and enjoyed. Now, if someone HAD been in a hurry, I’m sure they could have rushed through without too much difficulty… but much of the experience is wrapped up in not being a slave to the clock. There’s nothing wrong with getting things done in a hurry or maintaining focus, but I think it’s important to make sure we’re not pursuing expediency at the cost of experience. It’s okay to slow down.

Now, of course, these observations only go so far before they break down; not to mention the obvious fact that they’re my observations… so, they come from my [flawed/geeky/strange] perspective. It’s also really important to note that all of this comes with the mindset that these are principles for helping to impact our world with the truth, power, love and presence of Jesus… not for the benefit of institution, bottom line, or brand… which is definitely something we can’t just learn from the mall. And I’m okay with that.

Any thoughts?

In Uncategorized church, Leadership