Barnabas File

My friend Mark Tidsworth recently shared this quote by Hans Kung in The Church as the People of God:   "A church which pitches its tents without constantly looking out for new horizons, which does not continually strike camp, is being untrue to its calling. ... [We must] play down our longing for certainty, accept what is risky, and live by improvisation and experiment." You will rarely hear this preached in a Sunday morning worship service.   Most of those who step into pulpits feel compelled to preach about certainty, stability, and safety.   Even those who do not proclaim a gospel of prosperity are reluctant to tell their congregants, “Don’t get too comfortable.   Not only are things going to change but, if we are the people of God, we should expect them to change.” When rightly lived, the message we proclaim of the Kingdom of God is about instability, change, and new challenges.   My pastor preached on Luke 13:18-19 yesterday.   In this pas...

I have had the opportunity to serve in ministry leadership roles in several situations.   I keep in touch with most of those ministries, and I am always interested to see how they have changed over the years.   This is a good thing.   If the ministry is still doing the same things it was doing when I was there, something is wrong. No matter how capable you may think you are as a leader, your time will pass.   You move on to another responsibility in the organization, respond to a new opportunity elsewhere, or retire.   You may have implemented important policy changes, developed sound programs, and designed creative processes, but these will change over time.   The only lasting investment you make in any situation is your investment in the people with whom you work. The primary goal of any leader is to develop other leaders.   This does not mean simply reproducing yourself in others but calling out and encouraging each person’s unique gi...

Over the weekend, I divided the students in my seminary class into two groups to debate this question:   “ Resolved: The most effective way to pursue the missio Dei in the 21st century is outside the institutional church.”   If you have ever been involved in a formal debate of this type, you know that debate topics tend to oversimplify issues and attempt to encourage the debaters to take an either/or stance with no ambiguity. The debate was interesting.   The teams spent two hours discussing the pros and cons, defining terms like “the missio Dei” (mission of God), “institutional church,” and “missional church.”   They reflected on Scripture, their assigned readings, and personal experiences and then they presented their cases. Of course, there was no clear cut winner in the debate; the goal was to get the students talking about the topic.   They provoked some good thinking on the topic.   As a result of this discussion, I came away with some o...

Last month I wrote of my search for an icon of Barnabas and of his example as the prototypical Christian coach.   A couple of things have happened since.   I found the icon on line (pictured here) and it is now hanging in my office.   I have also been teaching The Book of Acts on Sunday morning and have been immersed in texts on Barnabas’ role as a leader in the growth of the early church.   I still affirm his empowering role as a coach, but I have seen another aspect of Barnabas as well. Barnabas was a missional leader.   He was committed to the missio Dei—the mission of God.   The missional church concept is built on the nature of a missional God, One who sends.   God sent the prophets, God sent Jesus Christ, and God is now sending us.   This God has a people who are living out his mission in the world.   Barnabas was one of those people.   Although he was not officially an apostle, he was one of the “sent ones” who furthere...

Having grandchildren is a blessing.  Although sometimes care giving of grandchildren becomes a necessity, Rita and I are in a position to enjoy our grandchildren and then send them home to parents! The joy comes from watching them grow, learn, and come into their own as unique, gifted children of God.  They also teach me a lot. Earl Creps in Reverse Mentoring presents an argument for young adults in the church helping their elders learn how to be more effective in ministry.  I think this also applies to interactive grandparenting as my grandchildren help me to learn things that I need to know. First, they keep me informed about contemporary Christian music and the culture it reflects.  I don’t attend a contemporary worship service on a regular basis but through my grandchildren’s encouragement, I now have a couple of stations programmed into my car radio that play contemporary Christian music.  This makes them happy, but it also gives me an idea of t...