A Good Judge, or Too Quick to Judge?

First Impressions Not Final Conclusions

As I was walking over to the office this morning two disparate thoughts sat down side-by-side in my mind. I was thinking about something somebody said to me yesterday. I think he meant it as a compliment. I took it as such, even thought I'm not completely sure he is right. He told me that I'm good at reading people--making judgments as to whether someone is dependable, has good motives, that sort of thing.  The thought that began my cogitation had to do with an arm-full of stuff I was carrying, laptop, power cord, a really thick book, a couple of smaller ones, and a check that I wanted to be sure not to lose. Since my days as a freshman at Bremen Township High School, close to fifty-five years ago (back when only soldiers and boy scouts used backpacks), I have had the clear idea that guys carry stuff, like my collection this morning, one way, and girls another. Guys put the biggest flattest--in this case my laptop--thing on the bottom, and arrange the rest on top. Then they grab that big, flat thing by one edge, and carry it vertically at their side. their forearm will clamp the rest down. This leaves the other hand free for back-slapping, scratching, and other manly things.  Girls on the other hand hug their pile of books--assuming they can't get a guy to carry them (You independent women cut me some slack. I'm old-school.)--like a Teddy Bear. As is often the case, the female method has many advantages. Both arms share the load and books are much more secure. To this day, though, if I see a woman carrying a load "like a man," or a man carrying a stack of stuff "like a woman," my first impulse is, "That's odd." or, "I wonder if Bob has a sore arm?" or, "I don't want to mess with her today." I know that my barely adolescent first impression makes no sense, and my sixty-seven year-old self talks me out of it, but the reaction, like a preference for chocolate over vanilla, persists. Then I looked at the other thought, my friend's comment from yesterday. You can see where this is going, can't you? In our fast-paced world where first impressions are often the only impressions we have to work with, being able to size somebody up quickly is a great asset. BUT, But, but, we have to be careful and humble. Even if we are good at it--and in spite of my friend's compliment, I'm not all that sure I am--we need to not be overly quick to make that first impression our lasting conclusion. As I think back, I remember two preachers who made a very bad first impression on me. One I came to respect as one of the greatest preachers I ever heard. He inspired to be better at my craft. The other was my pastor for two years, and had a profound impact on my life. I'm glad those first impressions weren't my final conclusions. It's STTA (Something To Think About).

Truth Matters

Taking a Stand

I receive an email every day from Christianity Today Magazine. It gives three notable events in church history that happened on the day's date. One could make a case that July 6 was a pretty rough day in Christian History. On this day in 1535, Thomas More was beheaded. He had been sentenced to die by hanging, but Henry the VIII commuted his sentence to the swifter death of beheading. No such mercy was bestowed on Jan Hus, in 1415 he was burned at the stake for heresy. No one died, at least not immediately, but on July 6, 1054, the emissaries of the Pope placed an official document on the altar of the church in Constantinople, excommunicating the Patriarch of Constantinople, Michael Celularius. The division between Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy continues to today and was so complete that for most of that time the two sides couldn't even agree on what day it was. A millennium of division in the body of Christ. Two men, who did nothing worthy of death, executed. That's hardly a banner day. It's a day you remember, not celebrate. But, there is a common thread in these stories that is worth upholding. Likely you know very little about these three stories. All involved politics, church and/or secular, so, no doubt, the narratives are complicated. One thing is clear, though, right on the surface. All three of these events are driven by a desire to act on the truth. I'm not saying I agree with what was done. Clearly, in each case somebody was wrong. Just as clearly, though, and as plain as the nose on your face, in each account, there is a dedication to the proposition that truth matters. Some truths are so valuable and indispensable that they are worth dying for. I fear that in my day, the 21st Century Hus would have rationalized a way to avoid the flames, modern More would have made a decision shaped by the latest public opinion poll, and new millennium West and East would have swapped flowery, meaningless declarations and met for coffee, followed by a joint press conference. As I look at this listing of three days in history that should have been just ordinary, I am reminded that truth matters. That's extraordinary. Truth, let's labor to get it right and let's hold it as precious, sometimes more precious than life itself. It's STTA (Something To Think About).

Losing In The End

Losing at the end

Years ago a world class bicycle race used some of the beautiful roads in the Alleghany Highlands as part of its course. I got up early and road out to where I could sit on the side of the road and watch the real riders go by. It was impressive, all the escort vehicles, the police, the officials on motorcycles, the camera crews, but most of all the incredible athletes on their state of the art bikes. I remember watching the lead rider go by. There was such an incredible gap between him and the peloton that I knew he was going to win. With a lead like that, I could have finished the race and won. After the peloton, the chase vehicles and rear police escort went by, I mounted my machine and pedaled home, wondering what it would be like for the guy I saw go by to be on the winner's stand. I turned on the TV in time to see the end of the race, and the guy with the insurmountable lead was caught in last couple of hundred yards and didn't even finish in the top 10. It reminds me of the Rich Fool. Actually, the one in the Bible is just one of many I have known. Before it really mattered it looked like he was winning, big time, but when the reckoning came . . . well, that's how he earned his name. David and Asaph knew a lot of rich fools, only like my sure winner in the bike race, they don't look foolish at all when you look at them early on. In Psalm 37, David, and in Psalm 73, Asaph, watched these guys fly by seemingly unstoppable. It's enough to make you wonder*. Turns out that the lead rider I saw go by was not only competing against the best cyclists in the world but against physics--cold, unrelenting, the-way-things-are science. One study I read said that riding in the peloton allows a rider to expend 40% less energy and still maintain the same speed. Maybe it's only 20 or 10%, still, that guy out in front just couldn't overcome that difference. In the end, he lost. There are spiritual realities that are every bit as solid--more so even--than the laws of resistance, momentum, aerodynamics, and inertia. Psalm 14 says "The fool says in his heart there is no God." One doesn't need to be a formal atheist to be guilty of that foolishness. Living as if God were not on His throne is sufficient. No matter how big their lead out on the course, that kind of fool will lose in the end. Jesus summarized it in a sober question,  “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?” (Mark 8:36, NASB95) It's STTA (Something To Think About).  *Read David and Asaph's ponderings here.

THE ILLUSION OF CONTROL

Again and again lately, both personally and vicariously, I have been reminded that those things that really matter are not in my control. If I sit down and think about it, I see that really nothing is. I recently got on an airplane. Well-wishers told me to travel safely. I know what they mean. It is a wish that flows from kindness, but the farewell wish always strikes me as strange. What can I do to be safe? I suppose the fact that I don't try to open a hatch and jump midflight is something. In reality, though, I sit down, buckle up and the whole thing's out of my hands. My health? I try, I'm going to go exercise in a bit, but I know lots of really fit folk who die in all sorts of ways. My wealth? I have cash in my wallet that is just paper, money in the bank that is no more than code on a computer, and house and investments that could vanish in a puff. I could go on, but let me tell you what tipped off this line of thinking. An email subject--maybe some of my fellow pastors received it as well--"77 Ready to Use Graphics to Increase Giving." Really? Do I print them on paper, project them on a screen, or subliminally inject them into rich people's minds? I didn't even open the email. I'm sure they are very nice pieces of art. No doubt they have been market tested and there are numbers to back up the claim. I guess I was just struck by the Svengali-ness of the subject line, when taken at face value. "You see all those people out there in church? I can make them do whatever I want them to do. If I show them these pictures they'll give more money." My mind goes in several directions on this one. Is this how we ought to help people decide about their investment in God's work? Is this what we have really come to? Preachers used to teach about what God's Word says about stewardship; now we show pictures. I know these thoughts are tinged with cynicism. My main thought though is all about realizing my weakness. The actions of others are one of the classes of things that are beyond my control. Not onlyare they, in a reality sense, they should be, in an ethical sense. Unless you are my child or employee or student, or some other relationship like that, I don't have a right to tell you what to do. Even when I am in charge, my authority has limits. I'm not in control. On my better days, that compels me to trust the Lord more fervently. It's a good thing when I realize that I'm out of control. It's STTA (Something To Think About).

Friends, Worth the Trouble

Friends are worth the trouble

For all of the criticism of Facebook, many of us find it to be a tool that is genuinely useful in maintaining friendships. The social-media program helps me maintain contact with "real world" friends, and has even enhanced some relationships I have that, as of yet, have not ventured out of the cyber world. Like many of you, though, I’ve almost quit accepting friend requests. It's not that I've become unfriendly or grown adverse to meeting new people. My reluctance to clicking "accept" has to do with the rash of Facebook hacking. My account and many of my friend's Facebook personas have been seized by people with nothing better to do. One way the viral activity spreads is through sending friend requests. So if I get a request from Nozzle Ditrim, before I accept it, the responsible thing for me to do is to check my friend list to see if Nozzle is already on my list of friends. If Mr. Ditrim is already my friend, that's a pretty good indication that someone has gotten hold of old Nozzle's account, and intends to use it to spread something nefarious. Since I don't always have time to check, I often don't respond. I don't figure that Ditrim much cares. He's got a tough hide. But when Sweet Polly, new account and all, sends me a request I ignore it can be bothersome. It's sad that bad people are messing with a good--at least for some--medium. It's far worse, however, when out in the real world we go into protective mode and fail to make new friends, or maintain old ones, because it might lead to pain. I've got news for you. Friendship is always painful. Sooner or later it will hurt, but it's worth it. It's STTA (Something To Think About).

Working at TEAMWORK

TEAMWORK TAKES WORK But it's worth it

Lately my concept of working with, on, for, and through a team has been stretched. My collaborative skills needed expanding. I've never been anti-teamwork. It's just that: I come from an individualistic culture. Back in high school, while I enjoyed being on a team, the wrestling team is really a collection of individual achievers. Most of my life was spent in a career when I was the only full-time worker at the church where I served. In other words, I've had a lot more experience with go-it-alone, than I have with go-team. Now, I find myself in a situation where a lot of what I need to get done is stuff that I can't do. I am surrounded by people both way more capable than I am, and yet people who need something I can contribute to make their work more effective. Sometimes it is collaboration; They bring A, I contribute B, and the resulting C is far bigger than either A or B. On other occasions I am a catalyst; very little of what I have done is seen in the final product, but something from me has made that end-result possible. I'm impressed with the power of cheering, or encouragement. I'd say I'm the recipient of more of that team-spirit than I give out. It's not as much fun--on either end--but challenge is a powerful part of working together. Others around me will get in my face. "I don't think that's right," or, "I don't think that's your best." When you combine all of that with the fact that I'm surrounded by folk who live and breath a lifestyle much more community oriented than the one I'm familiar with, you can see why the concept of team is growing in me. I'd suggest that working as a team is a paradigm you should give more attention to. If you do think about it, it'll be the result of one more element of teamwork in action. Teammates help one another consider . . . . It's STTA (Something To Think About).  Here is a different presentation of the Good News in Christ.  You can find several ways to explore the Message of Grace here.

Maintaining the balance between expecting a miracle and walking in the mundane:

A LITTLE AT A TIME

I appreciate taking giant leaps. I totally believe in the God of miracles. Even in the ordinary realm of getting from one place to another, as much as I dislike standing in line, being X-rayed, and asking myself a million times if I have my passport, I really like getting in a plane and getting out thousands of miles away a few hours later. Right now, my prayer list contains requests for a couple of things that fall in the shock and awe category. Yet, while I pray for, wait for, even expect--on my more faith-full days--the amazing, I need to not despise the mundane. Again, "Blessed are the Balanced."I (OK, the point could be made that people who have enough sense to not stand on beach balls, especially if they weigh a couple of tons are truly blessed, but cut me some slack.) I look at one of the times in Bible history that was weighted down with miracles, the months surrounding God's deliverance of his people from Egypt, yet in the midst of Divine plagues, paths through the sea, pillars of fire and bread from heaven there was the totally ordinary exercise of walking. How did the people of Israel get from Egypt to Canaan? On the one hand, the answer is, "It was through a series of miracles." In another way, though, it is entirely accurate to say, "They walked." I'm working to balance on those two realities, and I'm not doing it with nearly as much grace as a large pachyderm doing a circus trick. Here are some of the realities, as I see reality that I'm seeking to hold in the right tension. I can't turn loose of either end:   God expects me to do my very best today < > My best is insufficient. God generally uses human instruments < > All those human instruments, including me are terribly inadequate. The miraculous is not miraculous to God, and the mundane is full of God's hidden (to me) hand of providence. I ought to be properly concerned, but I should not worry. If you see me wobbling, you are seeing correctly. I identify with the man who proclaimed, "I do believe!" but before he drew another breath asked, "Help my unbelief" (Mark 9:24). I don't know, but I figure some of you have the same struggles. It's not only something to think about; it's something to pray about. Let's work on it together. It's STTA (Something To Think About).  Here is a different presentation of the Good News in Christ. You can find several ways to explore the Message of Grace here.