Sacramental Living

If I was still living in Nashville, ministering in Nashville, pressed by the crazy schedule I worked on staff at the megachurch, with that corporate mentality, with the agenda generated by other paradigms, I would never have witnessed what I just experienced.

I was walking from the kitchen to my study in the Grace Community training site, when I saw one of our older parishioners out for her morning walk.  She lives about a mile from here.

My to do list is long today, the pressure is mounting to get stuff done before leaving town on a family holiday, I need to do some planning … etc.  But I decided to get off my timeframe and just go say “Hi” to her, coffee cup in hand.

She is approaching 90, has a husband she cares for.  She’s an amazing woman with a tender heart.  She has weathered the difficulties in re-birthing this local congregation.

I was able to just listen, and learn, and give a hug.  I stood there for about 30 minutes in the coastal Georgia heat (sipping my cup off Starbucks brew, which added to the sweat factor).  All she wanted and needed from me was to be present and listen.  I learned so much about her life story, her extended family, her outlook on life.

I wonder if I was blessed more than her by our conversation.

It’s an art, you know … being patient enough to put aside mental pressures and just focus on someone talking to you.  It’s an art I’ve been trying to practice more these days.  I find myself changed somehow each time I practice it: a bit more humble, a bit more patient, a bit more about others, a bit less about me.

What a great part of my day … seeing Jesus in the presence and words and history of this woman.

SO TELL ME SOMETHING:
In what ways are you practicing the art of presence?

——

Brian Niece
www.brianniece.com
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It seems I always learn more from my mistakes than my successes. Isn’t that an oddly frustrating reality?

In my dealings with people over the last month of my busy life, I’ve relied on three things I’ve learned about Christian leadership to keep me focused on God’s calling, my priorities, and the need for Jesus in my community.

#1 — Just because I used to think a certain way doesn’t mean it’s true.

There are often times I take a retrospective look at my life and wish I could go back and get a second take on some situations and events. I shake my head as I remember how I used to passionately and unreservedly push my opinion through at meetings and encounters. It didn’t matter if I was right (and I’m wise enough to now realize about half the time I wasn’t right). What matters is how I handled the situation.

I used to think that if something was the right action then everyone else had better get on board or get out of the way. I still think there are rare occasions where this tact is appropriate, but it is seldom necessary. It’s far better to gain consensus. These days when I think I’m right about something, I sort of float the idea out and let others run with it. I figure if several others find it to be right, then we might be onto something. If not, then I eat my humble pie and move on.

This approach allows for a real sense of community. I think it pleases God.

#2 — Just because someone with more experience than me thinks something is right doesn’t mean it is.

I’ve never been one to blindly follow authority. I tended to be a skeptic of authority and try to find ways to “be better” than those over me. It was a fruitless exercise that caused me much grief … not to mention the headaches I gave to those over me!

These days I’m more apt to try to discover how an authority figure is trying to help me. Instead of focusing on our points of contention, I try to remember that the odds are this person is trying to help me but something is getting lost in translation.

Instead of making sure they fully understand my point at all costs, I try to retain a relationship that is open and honest. I may still disagree with the person in authority … I may still take a different course than what they want me to … But I do so letting them know I deeply appreciate their insight and good intentions. I ask them to pray for me as I take the next step.

#3 — When all else fails, look at what Jesus did and try to emulate that.

Several years ago during the WWJD craze, I never was a fan of the phrase. The more important question to me is “What DID Jesus do?” Granted, Jesus never sat in a church board meeting, or negotiated terms with a bank, nor hired staff, nor many of the other myriad things a Christian leader does that sometimes feels so unrelated to what he or she is called to do. But Jesus did have dealings with small groups of people: some for him and some against him. Jesus did try to deal with material matters in a way that pleased his Holy Father. Jesus did invite people to “come and see” and, despite hundreds of them turning away, a handful did become his disciples.

So when the logic of this world just isn’t making sense, and people who call themselves Christians aren’t acting like Christ-followers, and I seem to be surrounded by a lack of faith, and I’m unnecessarily challenged, I ask myself “What did Jesus do?”

Not only does that help me maneuver many situations I’d rather not deal with, it almost always opens me up to a surprise about this Jesus I serve. I learn a little more about who God is and what this life is about. That’s always worth the exercise.

SO TELL ME SOMETHING:
If you’re in leadership, what’s something you’ve learned?

——

Brian Niece
www.brianniece.com
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In Part 1 of this post, I discussed this question from the perspective of the religious person. In Part 2, I discussed this question from the perspective of “the world.”

Now I’ll finally spell out my perspective … a perspective that has been honed that last few months (and will likely change with time as perspectives are want to do).

I’m reminded that Paul often wrote, “This is from me and not the Lord.” So be warned, this is of Brian and not necessarily the Lord (but it certainly doesn’t run counter to what I understand of Christian history and Jesus’ own ministry.)

A minister should have two primary purposes:

• to preach the gospel;
• to equip others to be ministers;

Let me flesh these two purposes out a bit. Preaching the gospel is much more than what happens in a Sunday worship gathering. At present, the faith community where I serve holds two Sunday worship gatherings … each addresses a different learning and participatory style. Consequently, the two sermons or teachings I give each Sunday are often delivered quite differently with different emphases (although the theme is always the same).

When I am done with the Sunday sermons, teachings, dialogues, experiences, I know full well I’m not done preaching for the week. Yes, one aspect of preaching is being God’s mouthpiece. But an equally important part of preaching is the way I live my life. I must strive for Christ to shape me into a walking example of Paul’s admonition: “Follow my example as I follow Christ’s.”

I don’t say what Paul says, but rather I try to live in such a way that my example can be followed. That means I am a servant, a giver, an encourager, a God-bearer.

Now, I’ve been preaching this way long enough to know that I will have both good soil and bad soil in my sphere of influence.

What is good soil? Those persons who desire to be and experience Jesus above all else.

What is bad soil? Everyone else.

Can bad soil become good soil? Absolutely … but the outcome is not my responsibility. I simply spread the seed and leave the rest to the Spirit of God. When I find good soil, I focus the majority of my energy, time, and resource in that good soil.

This will inevitably mean that I can’t spend much time with those not hungering to be disciples. I hear the groans now: “Isn’t a pastor supposed to treat all parishioners the same, after all?: In a word: No! A pastor who operates through this fruitless exercise may be more spiritual than even Jesus. Because Jesus invested his time and energy and resource in the good soil; not the bad. The greatest waste of my life would be investing in bad soil.

Now about equipping others to be ministers. This is exactly what Jesus did. He gathered twelve around him, invested his life in them, equipped them, and sent them out to ministry. Sure, one proved faithless. But through the rest of that rag-tag bunch, the world was turned upside down.

What if I invest in equipping just twelve other people? What if I disciple them to grow in grace? What if I enable them to be ministers who preach the gospel by the way they live their lives and, in turn, they equip others to be ministers? I think at least Coastal Georgia might be turned upside down!

So that’s what I believe my calling is: preaching and equippping. I’m not called to:

• steady a sinking ship;
• mediate petty, un-Christlike arguments;
• be a quivering mass of availability;
• lay down God’s call and vision for the selfish desires and wrong thinking of others;
• marry and bury people;
• run programs;
• be the only dispenser of grace in a faith community;
• etc., etc., etc. …

Oh, I may do some of that … only in as much as it serves the core calling. And in that calling, I am fearless for I trust a God who consistently and without fail weaves beauty out of brokenness.

SO TELL ME:
Are you preaching and equipping? If so, how?

——

Brian Niece
www.brianniece.com

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Tags: perspective, preach, gospel, equip others, ministers, community, Jesus, ministry, disciple