College Is On My Mind

I have a daughter heading off to Taylor University in August, so college is on my mind. I’m thinking about all kind of college-things that don’t normally cross my mind, like campus safety, tuition, financial aid, programs and degrees, athletics, and college boys.

Every now and then, someone asks me why I didn’t choose to go to college. When I graduated high school in 1985, I was convinced God was calling me to full-time ministry but was unsure where that would lead me. I couldn’t figure out my long-term future—but knew without doubt what I was supposed to do for the next year. And that was to join an organization called Life Action Ministries. Even though I was barely 18 when I left home and arrived at their training camp, God launched me into a practical educational and spiritual journey that hasn’t stopped. Within a few months, I was moved into a leadership position, then another and another. By the end of my second year with that organization, I felt I needed to make a decision: Am I going to pursue a degree? Or am I going to continue to grow in my leadership at this organization? I sought counsel from many people who knew me well—and over and over I got the same advice: “Tim, you are a self-starter and a voracious learner. You don’t need the structure of a formal education to learn or accomplish your life goals.”

And so I made that decision, as a 20-year old, to not pursue formal education. I stayed with Life Action for nine years—and then joined the staff at Granger Community Church in 1994 when around 300 people were attending. At the time, Mark Beeson was working on his doctoral degree, yet he never questioned my decision to go without a college education. He just asked me to come along beside him and help lead the church into the future.

Now we have more than 70 on our staff team, many with undergraduate, masters’ and even doctoral degrees. The books I’ve written have been used as textbooks in at least eight different colleges or seminaries, and I’ve had several opportunities to speak on college campuses (I’ll be at Central Methodist University next month, and at Bethel College in July).

I don’t say that to brag–but to make a point that it is more important to follow what God tells you to do than the prescribed path of culture or religious tradition. I’ve never regretted my decision to skip college. It is exactly what I was supposed to do. I’ve been asked whether I tell my kids they have to go to college. I think most kids today graduate high school and would benefit from the structure, learning, and social environments of college. But I will not make any of my kids go to college. I will encourage them to follow God. And that might not lead to college.

I Agree With Brian McLaren

I’ve never read a Brian McLaren book, but I do read articles by and about him on occasion. Sometimes I agree, sometimes I don’t. But when I read his answer to this question, I could not have answered any better than he did. His experience, in some ways, parallels mine.

Brian was asked: “You get a lot of criticism from evangelicals, yet you seem to always maintain a very winsome and open spirit. What keeps you in such a positive and calm frame of mind when just about everybody else seems agitated for one reason or another?”

His answer:

I grew up in an extremely conservative and contentious fundamentalist movement or sect. It was filled with wonderful people who loved God, but the sociology of the group depended on exclusion and exclusiveness. When I “emerged” from that exclusive fundamentalism into a broader evangelicalism, I was hoping to find less contention. And I think I did. But in recent years, I think a contentious form of fundamentalism has been making a comeback and is in the process of a takeover attempt in evangelicalism. (I think similar movements are afoot in Catholicism and Mainline Protestantism too.) When I see this, I am not impressed by it, because I grew up with it and saw what it does to people.

I’ve learned in my own experience that it’s way easier to think oneself right than to be loving. So Paul had it dead right when he said that knowledge puffs up, but love builds up, and that without love, no matter how right you are, you gain nothing but produce a lot of noise.

So really, I’m grateful for my religious heritage in fundamentalism. It taught me many things including that if you live by contention – theological swordplay, if you will – you will die by it. If you seek to argue and fight against an argumentative and combative spirit, you become what you are against. (Paul said that if you bite and devour each other, you’ll consume each other, which describes our situation pretty well.) So my background forced me to seek a better way—what Paul calls the most excellent way, the way of love, the way of the Sermon on the Mount that transcends the way of the scribes and Pharisees.

Of course, I often trip up and slip back into things I am trying to grow beyond, but even that experience of failure humbles a person and makes it harder to try to put oneself in the position of an equal, much less a superior, in relation to one’s fellow Christians. I guess so much comes back to Paul’s words in Philippians 2, where he urges us to consider others as better than ourselves and to follow Jesus downward into servanthood.

What do you think of Brian’s response?

It’s a Project, Not a Campaign

The New Normal Project is our seventh stewardship campaign at Granger. For those of you saying, “What the heck is a stewardship campaign?” — it’s a concentrated time when we talk about the vision of the church and ask people to invest financially to make a difference. I’ve led six of these campaigns (1995, 1998, 2001, 2004, 2007 and 2011). In some ways there were similarities between all of them. But this year more changed than ever. I think it’s an indication of changing times.

Here are some of the things that were different this year…

• We didn’t call it a “campaign.” That’s a churchy word that isn’t helpful in the real world. When most people hear the word “campaign” they think of politics or war. Neither are images we want in people’s mind when we are asking them to buy into the vision.
• We spent an entire year ahead of time working on a new five-year vision. The New Normal Project became the “face” for accomplishing the first part of the vision. By the time we made the “ask,” people had been hearing about the vision for months.
• We had very few extra events (i.e. banquets, home meetings) and focused everything we could around the weekend services. People are very busy with very good things–and most of them can only give us one shot a week. That doesn’t mean they are unspiritual or don’t love Jesus or the church. It just means they are living their lives, investing in their families, and contributing to society.
• Instead of asking people to make a three-year pledge, we asked for a two-year pledge. These are uncertain economic times, and we know most people can’t predict their financial condition very far down the road with any confidence.
• We took 24 businessmen on a vision retreat to California. It gave us a chance to talk vision and hear their questions.
• This was our first project that focuses squarely on the AND of ministry. No longer are we investing solely in reaching people through an attractional model of weekend services. We are pouring millions into a missional model to reach people through a variety of ways and places.
• The level of transparency was increased significantly. We had multiple Q&A venues to let people ask anything they wanted–and we didn’t dodge any question.
• We developed a website and are posting pledges and stories in real time. Rather than waiting for a big “unveiling” of the total amount pledged–we are letting people watch from their homes and offices as the commitments are made.
• We put together a two-year strategy for keeping The New Normal Project in the front of peoples’ minds. We have plans, about every three months, to celebrate a win and connect it to the project.
• The first phase of the project focused on the members and attendees at our physical campuses. The second phase will begin soon and will focus on those around the world who have felt the impact of Granger’s ministry.

It may be a bit early to say this, but I am very happy with the results.

P.S. We are grateful for the help we’ve had from RSI Church Stewardship (thanks to Bill, Joel, and Dan)–once again they stretched and supported us.

Polygamy, Fornication and Other Such Mysteries

Here’s a random conundrum for a Sunday afternoon…

Do you ever get confused by the Bible? I am. Consider this…

• Abraham was a polygamist (more than one wife) and had several concubines (women who lived in his house for sexual purposes). No where in Scripture is he condemned for this behavior.
• Isaac was also a polygamist and had concubines. Also not condemned in Scripture.
• Then there is Jacob. In addition to having more than one wife, and having other women in his house for sexual favors, he also went in to a prostitute and was not condemned for doing so.
• Gideon and Samson were also both polygamists and had concubines. No where in the Bible (that I can find) were either of them condemned for this activity.
• David had several wives and also concubines. We know him as “a man after God’s own heart.” Of course, he messed up by taking another man’s wife and then killing her husband. That was condemned. But God is silent about his multiple wives and concubines.

And yet, the writer of Hebrews talks about each of these men who had more than one wife, and had several women living in their home for the purpose of sex. Does the writer say they are evil? No, quite the contrary. In chapter 11, he designates them as  history’s great examples of faithfulness to God. They are the mighty men of faith we are to imitate. Isn’t that a mystery?

Even more interesting–in the same passage after praising these men of faith, he says “do not be fornicators” (12:16). And later he says “fornicators and adulterers God will judge” (13:4). Remember, this is right after he praised these men for their faith. He makes no connection between his condemnation on fornication or adultery and these men. It’s almost as though the writer of Hebrews does not consider multiple wives, or having women in your house for the purpose of sexual favors, as fornication or adultery. Huh?

That’s what I’m thinking about on this sunny Sunday afternoon.

Chapter 3 Comes to an End

Let me tell you a little story about my friend Brian Davis. This story has four short chapters.

Chapter 1 (1987-88): I worked with Brian for a couple years beginning in 1987 as we traveled the country with Life Action Ministries in a 1970′s Silver Eagle tour bus. We worked in some of the largest churches in the country at that time, and saw some amazing things happen. I didn’t know we were forging a life-long friendship–but looking back I’m not surprised. We always had a great connection.

Our paths went different directions for awhile as Brian went off to college and I continued my work with Life Action–until I joined the Granger staff in 1994.

Chapter 2 (1997-2002): Toward the end of 1997, we had a children’s ministry bursting at the seams with over 300 kids every week and no staff. We didn’t know who to hire. My friend Brian was also in transition, so I asked him to come up (from Missouri) and join us for an interim 6-month position until we could find the right person. He came, and at the end of the 6 months our church had fallen in love with him. He was definitely the right person and we hired him in a permanent role as our Children’s Ministry Director. Brian became very close to my family. He came over to the house about once  a week to hang and watch LeFemme Nikita, our favorite show in the mid-90′s. (If you missed it, I’m truly sorry).

Brian stayed on the team until around 2002 when God (or was it Mike?) called him to sunny Florida.

Chapter 3 (2006-2011): By 2006, the ministry had grown to more than 1000 kids weekly. Georgia, our children’s director (who Brian had hired as a nursery leader a few years earlier), came to me and asked if she could hire Brian Davis back (he now lived in sunny southern California) to be our Elementary Director. Frankly, I was shocked that Brian would even consider living in the north again (he is a Mississippi boy with thin blood), but was delighted when he agreed to join the team once again.

Brian has served us well these past 5 years. And especially the past few months as we have been in a state of transition. I wrote the book (yes, literally) on “long hellos and short goodbyes” — so when Brian decided a couple months ago to move back to southern California, I was reluctant to have him hang around much longer. But he stayed for a couple months to help us through a tough season of transition and has been amazing. Brian’s last day in Granger is today. Rarely have I seen a church staff member leave so well with high integrity and a great attitude.

Chapter 4 (?): I’m not sure what the future holds, but I won’t be surprised if there is another chapter ahead for me and Brian. He’s been a great friend for the past 23 years. He’s one in a small circle of people who I know has my back and would do anything for me. And I feel the same about him.

Brian, you will be missed.

Hey Pastor: Sometimes People Are Better Off When You Stay Home

I was talking to a friend this morning about this tension that we sometimes carry in ministry. You know, you work full-time for a church, maybe you are even a pastor, and there are times when you know that going to church is not going to help you or anyone else. Here’s what I think…

• God does not live at your church. (I hear gasps of disbelief). It’s true.
• Some of the most unspiritual people I’ve met are those who spend the largest amounts of time at church. They attend every Bible study, every prayer gathering, and sign up for every event and team. But if you had to choose between cutting off your leg and spending time with that person–it would take a few minutes to decide.
• You have to know what fills your spiritual and emotional tanks. Sometimes, that might be singing worship songs with hundreds of people. Other times, it might be riding a motorcycle or reading a book or killing large numbers of bad guys on a video game.
• Sometimes sleep is the most spiritual thing you can do.
• Our job as pastors is not to create automatons who come every time the church doors are open. We are helping people grow in their love for God and their love for others. Many times, that happens best away from the church property.
• I can tell when I’m feeling “toasty.” If I keep going at the same pace, I’m going to lose my love for my job (aka my church) and will begin to lose effectiveness. When that happens, I need to get away.
• Don’t worry about what people will think of you if you skip a service. Use it as an opportunity to let people know you are focused on your spiritual health and that’s why you stayed home from church.
• Church attendance and involvement is a poor substitute for genuine spiritual health.
• When we as church leaders begin to see our people become less involved in the activity of the church, it doesn’t necessarily mean they are backsliding or falling away from God. No, it might mean they actually get it now, and they are practicing the Jesus-life where it matters–in their relationships and community.

I love my church. I can’t imagine a more effective place for followers of Christ to grow or for the unconvinced to explore their questions. I don’t know of a place that has better artistic elements that soften my heart and open my mind. I’ve never been to a church that has a more dynamic teaching team to communicate the gospel. I’ve given my life for more than 16 years to this place. And yet, every now and then, the most spiritual thing I can do is stay away.

This is a slightly-tweaked LeadingSmart.com re-post from August 2006.

Are You Ever Jealous of “That Big Church”?

You know that big church? The one that makes things look so easy, that seems like they have everything together, that comes up with the greatest ideas, and always presents everything flawlessly. You look at that church with a mixture of celebration and jealousy. Okay, let’s be honest, there is a lot more jealousy than celebration in your heart. You wonder how they always get the good staff, the best musicians, the coolest equipment, and the nicest facilities. You work just as hard and only move an inch while they move a mile. Doesn’t seem right.

Here is what I know about that big church that seems to have it all together:

• People leave their church too. And they are just as loud and cruel when they leave.
• Sometimes their leaders cry themselves to sleep.
• Just like you, they have gone through the pain of firing a friend from the staff or telling a volunteer they can no longer serve. In fact, due to their size, they face this a lot.
• There are days when the pastors at that church feel very lonely.
• Every week they get letters from people telling them the stuff they are doing wrong.
• They sometimes have services when everything falls apart technically.
• There are times when the pastor is done teaching and he isn’t sure anyone connected with his message.
• Their leadership team has had very passionate and animated conversations about their vision, style, music and methods.
• They sometimes go for weeks, even months, without receiving enough offerings to cover the budgeted expenses.

Leadership is tough, whether in a small church or a big one. It may look easy from a distance, but it’s not. Next time you think about that church, whisper a prayer for their success.

This is a LeadingSmart.com re-post from July 2006.