MIM Ezine, July 22, 2009

-- In the Huddle - Discipleship Through Intentional Community- Spiritual Nutrition, by Tim Burns.

These are challenging times in our world and everywhere communities are feeling the pinch of the troubled economy. Churches are not exempt from this situation. Most churches depend upon the faithful giving of their members. When members lose jobs, lose benefits, or face significant increases in expenses; churches face tighter budgets, too.

The temptation is to “hunker down” as though we are hiding from a tornado. We hope it will blow over; and when the danger has passed, we can go back to life as usual.

That may lead to survival, which is no small task in today’s environment. But it may miss out on some other benefits that effective leadership can produce. Here are three areas in which effective leaders should focus.

In troubled times ministry leadership can use the sense of urgency and crisis many people feel to renew the focus on priorities. Generally, in good times ministry expands as people sense a call to new, emerging needs. When finances are not strained, new ministries are added while existing ministries are continued. This can lead to sustaining programs that are no longer effective or fruitful. Without the pressure of limited finances or limited leadership, these no longer fruitful programs can last forever.

During the troubled times when people are feeling the pinch of limited resources is an excellent time to review and renew focus on the basics. Instead of putting a moratorium on new ministries, rigorously apply the standards of the priorities against existing programs. There may be some activities that no longer warrant the support of the resources of finances, staff support, or leadership.

One church had been collecting funds for a new steeple for 20 years. As the years passed, the cost of a new steeple increased faster than the contributions to the fund. As long as finances were adequate, no decision was necessary on the continuation of the fund, but when a roof repair was required and there were no other funds to tap, the church was able to discontinue the new steeple fund and reposition the monies to a more important and critical need.

If your ministry has not worked through a process of identifying priorities in the last 3-5 years, your ministry leaders may be due for a renewal of your vision priorities anyway. Even if your process does not lead you in radically different directions, it can increase ownership and buy in as your key leaders participate in renewing the focus on priorities.

The most difficult aspect to recapture is momentum and energy. “Hunkering down” and doing nothing allows energy to dissipate. Your best leaders will look for something or somewhere else to invest their creative energies. An effective ministry leader will want to tap that hopeful excitement about the possibilities in the future and point it towards the ministries that can emerge when the crisis passes.

Ministry is all about relationships. Programs are merely the tools or the means by which people can come together to build those relationships. High powered programs can attract attention and create significant visibility, but they are not the only way to design an environment for nurturing relationships. When economic factors limit the finances or the staff support for a program, simplify the approach without sacrificing the quality experiences of relationship.

We wanted to have a congregational meeting to highlight some of the exciting ministries that were emerging plus give the congregation an accurate picture of where we were on our finances, especially our progress on retiring a significant mortgage.

In the past we have sometimes catered the meal, but that would have been a budget buster. Instead, we held a potluck. (In the Midwest that means everyone bring a dish or two to share.) The church picked up some chicken and some beverages. And we had a great turnout. The important thing was that the message was delivered. Energy was multiplied as people with similar passions connected with each other. And everyone appreciated that the church was practicing wise stewardship with their offering dollars.

Instead of high profile programs, use the time to develop the network of relationships among the people in your ministries. With many people facing needs they have not experienced before, support groups and resource networking can be more important than ever.

In one ministry setting I used to joke that we believed in prayer, because we didn’t have any money. Developing the spiritual depth and capacity of your congregation does not cost money. It costs time and teaching.

These moments may be a great time to create opportunities and experiences for your people to mature their spiritual disciplines. Obviously, a group exploring prayer and fasting does not need a catered meal. A new group learning how to study the Bible may need only a pot of coffee. A Saturday morning group doing service projects for the elderly or needy in your community meets important needs for the ones doing the service as well as the ones receiving it.

During troubled times many people turn towards their faith for a sense of hope and assurance that God cares. Helping people experience a new depth in their spiritual journey will be rewarding for them and produce fruit for years to come.

Most importantly, ministry leadership continues at a high level of effectiveness with a focus on what God can and will do, even in troubled times. This energy generates hope, and with hope, the ministry can flourish and grow… even in troubled times.

Tom Hanover is Advertising and Promo Director of MIM ezine. He has served in a variety of pastoral leadership roles for more than 30 years, including seven as a District Superintendent supervising the ministries of more than 100 pastors and churches in southern Ohio. He is currently Senior Pastor of Sulphur Grove UMC, a multisite ministry in Dayton. He has a BA (cum laude) from Taylor University, and the MDIV and DMIN degrees from United Theological Seminary in Dayton. You can contact Tom at hanover@dbmim.net.

Do you remember One-a-Day vitamins? All the nutrition a growing boy needed wrapped up in a small chewable pill. At first they were animals, I think the lion was my favorite. Then consumerism and cross-branding got involved, and soon Flintstones, Looney Toons, and an entire parade of Saturday morning cartoon characters promoted nutritional wellness.

Somewhere in my teens, I left the One-a-Day's behind to arrive in my mid-thirties 5 children later feeling exhausted and needing a serious energy boost. StressTab vitamins were the rage, and the picture on the box said it all. A candle burned with a flame on each end. One pill a day was marketed as the solution to my fast paced, high stress life. Without falling too far down the marketing rabbit hole, I learned an important lesson. A one-a-day approach isn't enough to provide the nutritional balance and fuel for an active life. Today I religiously take numerous organic and nutrient dense supplements each contributing to digestion, nutrition, vitamin content, and the health of my skin and bones. Someday I will be one of those people you see with a plastic case filled with different colored pills. Each little compartment has the days of the week embossed on the lid. For now, at 48 years old, the 5 or 6 bottles I raid each morning are the only thing preventing my slow descent toward exhaustion.

One-a-day, Stress-Tabs, Centrum and all the rest are still on the shelf at my local grocer, but I have learned to maintain a different and better level of nutritional wellness. I suppose these products are better than nothing. I just want more, more energy, more healthy living, more than yellow water in my toilet. I remember the health and energy I had in my earlier years. My kids might call this a midlife crisis; I call it wanting more out of life.

In my Christian walk, I also want more. The one-a-day, or more accurately once-a-week approach to spiritual nutrition has never produced in me the level of spiritual well being that I read about in the 5^th book of the New Testament. Where is the fire in my faith? Where is the courage to engage the public marketplace, testifying for Christ and making an impact on the church and the world in a way that gives direct, and intentional glory to our God. Where are the miracles that Jesus' disciples performed when they walked with him, (Luke 9.1-6) and afterwards (Acts 2-5), the same that Jesus promised would follow “those who believe” (Mark 16.15-20). If I am a biblical Christian, I have to wrestle with these questions. And I am called to, especially given opportunity and resources to live a supernatural, world changing Christian life. Yet my experience is different.

If you feel spiritually like an anemic, overweight child, or an over-stressed bedraggled executive, it's time to check out the spiritual nutrition you take in. To a great extent, our cultural expectation of Christian life is to participate in a dynamic, satisfying worship and teaching service one day a week. We then go our own way, and expect to live up to the encouragement and instruction we received. We read in Acts that the early church met once on the first day of the week, and then went out to change the world. We should do the same, right?

America's Christian church is filled with great teaching, wonderful worship, and incredible acts of service. I collect and digest sermons weekly via pod casts from half a dozen successful pastors from across the globe. Yet the level of spiritual fervor hasn't risen measurably in America since the widespread use of these tools. If recent polling data from the Barna Group (http://www.barna.org/) are accurate, spiritual fervor has been diminishing in America during the past 20 years.

I don't claim to have all the answers, and few know more than me how easy it is to sit on the sidelines and tell the team how they should be playing the game. Nonetheless, each time I open the scriptures, I am increasingly struck with evidence that an important part of God's plan for his church is open, accountable relationships, community, and the personal transparency which is required in order to engage in both. God's people formed their corporate identity as a community, and as a people isolated and dependant on each other as slaves in Egypt. They spent 40 years alone and separated from the world, yet they were together with each other and their God as they wandered the desert. After moving into the Promised Land, Israel continued to be alone, separate from the world, yet engaged in intimate community with each other.

The American culture, and hence the American Christian church, has accepted an idea of individuality and personal faith which is much more Greek than Hebrew. God's people were a community people, not a collection of individuals who hung out together and did great things. The list of men and women who by faith achieved great things is a list of men and women who were engaged in community, personally connected, and accountable. (i.e. Daniel, the apostle Paul, Barnabas, Abraham, Esther) Similarly, most of the list of those who started well yet finished poorly is a list of those who attempted to live life alone, separated from counsel, accountability, community (i.e. Sampson, Lot, King Saul, King Hezekiah, Judas).

The greatest of Israel's kings, King David's solitary blemish on his faith-filled, faithful life occurred when he separated himself from community. The chapter that describes his fateful fall with Bathsheba starts with these words. “In the spring of the year, when kings go forth to battle, David sent Joab . . .” (2 Sam 11.1ff) David's responsibility was to lead his troops to battle. He had the right to stay behind. He had a successful and well trained army and commanders who did just fine without him. Yet in the absence of the relational boundaries and responsibilities, with too much time on his hands, David's heart wandered.

Spiritual health is like nutritional health. We want to operate at high levels, yet what we experience often fails to reach our expectations. If you want to raise your level of spiritual health, intentional Christian community is one element which creates the accountable relationships and intrinsic encouragement to live the faith we cherish in the face of the world’s opposition. Intentional Christian community is a spiritual building block in the life of a healthy Christian.

Are there people in your life whom you could call at any hour in the event of a personal emergency? Are there people who have you on a similar short list? Who can you go to with a deep, personal struggle? Who can you count on, no matter what?

If your answers to the questions above are blank, it's time to break the silence, and intentionally look for others on a spiritual journey with you with whom you can build transparent, accountable relationships. Make a list of two or three people who you would consider peers,. who want to grow in their faith. Make the time. Take the initiative. Get together over coffee, and see what you and God can build together.

Timothy Burns lives in West Michigan, and has written professionally for six years. Timothy’s writing reflects a deep connection to cultural influences, Christ centered living, and how often unwritten patterns can influence our behaviors and beliefs, because while people differ by continent and decade, human nature does not. The ability to identify the human element or organizational culture sets Timothy’s work apart from what can be otherwise commonplace copy. His writing spans topics of Christian living, apologetics, and the hidden benefits that often surface through personal trials.

NOTE TO OUR READERS: Published author and MIM ezine columnist, Teena Stewart is currently working on a book on Women’s Ministry. She would love to hear from our readers on the following regarding: special women’s events you have planned, how your women’s ministry works, insights into women’s ministry, felt needs of women, tips on women’s ministry, success stories and failures pertaining to women’s ministry, suggestions on ministering to women. No pay, but if selected, your name or the name of your ministry may appear in her book. Email Teena at smartwords@embarqmail.com.

My family just celebrated Independence Day as we do every year, and for the first time in my life, it strikes me what a strange thing our celebration is.

First, we go over to my Uncle Harold’s house and stuff ourselves almost to the point of hospitalization. Then at some point in the afternoon, somebody comes out of the house and announces “We’ve got watermelon!” An almost tangible glee grips all those in attendance. Wonder of wonders! We’ve got watermelon! Can life get any better?

Personally, I’ve never understood this excitement about watermelon. But Charles, you say, aren’t you southern? Aren’t all southerners supposed to like watermelon? Maybe so, but just because it’s southern doesn’t mean I have to embrace it. You don’t see me cutting off my shirt sleeves and calling myself Charles the Cable Guy do you?

So, what’s the big deal with watermelon anyway? I don’t get it. It’s hard to get excited about a treat that tastes like water. I mean, think about it. It’s the only fruit that tastes so much like water that the word "water" is actually part of its name.

I could see how it might have been popular in the olden days, back before they invented refined sugar, but now we have candy bars for crying out loud. So, your choices are to stand around in the sun eating watery fruit or head inside and raid Uncle Harold’s cookie jar. I think it’s a pretty easy decision to make, when you think about it in those terms.

Next, at our little celebration, someone from the kitchen announces that Aunt Cassie is making real homemade ice cream! Yippee! Hooray! Huzzah! Real homemade ice cream!

I’ve found this process usually takes about three hours. After three hours, demand for Aunt Cassie’s ice cream has grown so strong that, under great duress and threats of physical violence, Aunt Cassie reluctantly ladles out soupy spoonfuls of her real homemade ice cream. Yummy.

I don’t mean to disrespect my relatives or anything, but you have to wonder if any of them have ever wandered into the frozen food section at the grocery store. They’ve got mounds and mounds of ice cream over there and, if truth be told, it’s about a trillion times better than homemade ice cream.

“Homemade” may have been a good thing back in the Great Depression, but these days we generally look down on it. It’s just not an expression you hear bandied about with much enthusiasm these days. “Did you see Frank’s cool new dentures? Yeah, I understand they’re homemade!”

Finally, after a long day of feasting, either one of two things happen. Either we all pile into the cars and suffer through a couple hours of traffic to see The Big Fireworks Show at the Mall or we create The Big Show in Uncle Harold’s back yard with firecrackers, bottle rockets, and sparklers. And every year without fail, some cousin of mine narrowly escapes dismemberment or an early death. And that’s just from playing with the sparklers.

And why do we do all of these things? Tradition? Maybe. Fun? You bet. But the real reason we do this is to celebrate a concept that is hard to wrap our heads around: freedom. I believe within the heart of every human is the knowledge that we were created to be free. But I also believe we humans have the proclivity to sell ourselves into slavery of every sort — physical, mental, moral, and spiritual.

I have come to the conclusion that the only way we can truly know freedom is to surrender ourselves to the loving embrace of our heavenly father and allow him to direct our lives. It is a divine paradox that we will only know freedom when we give our lives to Christ.

And speaking of freedom, I just realized I have a little extra free time and some leftover bottle rockets. If you never hear from me again, you’ll know I should’ve stuck to the sparklers.

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DBMIM July 22, 2009