Bridge Builders

The South Carolina Baptist Convention sponsors a great day of equipping and encouraging pastors and lay leaders in the church every year called Impact.  One of the things I love best about this time is being able to see fellow pastors I love, respect, and admire from around our state. 

It is a great time of encouragement and catching up with what is going on with them in their churches and in their families. However, I discovered a disturbing trend in several of my pastor friends that has me concerned.

I know the pastor and his family are in a fishbowl and everything that is said, posted on social media, and even everything their kids do is under heavy scrutiny.  1 Timothy 3:2 declares that, “…an overseer (pastor) must be above reproach…” but what does that mean?  “Above reproach does not mean without sin. No Christian lives an entirely sinless life, nor will we until we reach the glorified state in heaven. Above reproach means that the overseer’s life is free from sinful habits or behaviors that would impede his setting the highest Christian standard and model for the church to emulate.” However, this does not give license to others to assume the absolute worst in their pastors based on gossip, hearsay, or even a simple picture posted online.

One pastor friend told me last week that he knew of a fellow pastor who made some of his congregants upset when he posted a picture of himself playing golf. A few responded that he should be “saving souls” instead of playing golf. My friend said this pastor does not get to golf often, and he often plays golfs with people whom he is trying to share his faith with.  But obviously those who were criticizing him did not know that because he said none of those criticizing him ever attempted to talk to him about their concerns.  

Even our own Southern Baptist Convention President, J.D. Greear, has had outlandish accusations made about him just because he wants to have a dialogue about racism. There have been unfounded and false “rumors that he had received funding from progressive philanthropist George Soros and that he flew around the country in a private plane paid for with Southern Baptist donations.”

Matthew 18:15 states, “If your brother sins against you, go tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have won your brother.” Although this passage doesn’t apply perfectly to the unfounded and false accusations of the examples I mentioned above, loving someone enough to talk directly to them regarding questions you may have about them is still the best policy.  However, having these uncomfortable conversations are not easy. But thinking the worst about people and not having a dialogue with them is a far more damaging approach. I remember a song from my childhood that sums up my thoughts perfectly.  It was a simple song but had very profound lyrics. The song was simply, “You can build a wall, or you can build a bridge, it all depends upon the love YOU give. If you build a wall, then your world is very small, but a bridge of love will conquer all.”  Church, lets be bridge builders.

Walk Out or Walk Up: Does It Have To Be A Choice?

Some people thought I was trying to subvert the voices of those who “walked out” yesterday due to a picture I posted on Facebook.  Just to be clear that was not my agenda. I agree, given the picture I posted I should have provided more of an explanation. I personally have no problem with those who walked out yesterday. My motive was to share a more complete answer to the issues that students and faculty face everyday. I was a youth pastor for over 20 years and I have experienced what happens when students reach out to the marginalized and love those the world throws away. I understood why those who walked out did so. I applaud them in standing up for what they believe in. However, if that is the extent of their action, not much will change. I remember when people were putting a red “X” in magic marker on their hand to bring awareness to human trafficking. Again, this is a great way to bring an often forbidden and controversial topic to the surface. However, most people’s action died when they washed away their Red “X” that night. Protest? Sure. Bring awareness? Absolutely! Even writing congress and trying to pass laws that may aid in helping with a problem is great!  But there is much more we can do in our communities, workplaces, and schools.

My oldest son is an introvert. We moved from Greer SC to Lexington, SC in 2016 due to God taking me to another place to serve as pastor. It was hardest on him because we moved in his 11^th grade year. Reflecting on the walk out yesterday he said he saw all these people walking out and none of them have ever reached out to him. My son bears some of the responsibility as well. He has not made himself available, he has not gotten involved in his new school, and he keeps to himself.  He shared the reason he did not make much of an effort is that he would be going to college in a few years and he would have to say goodbye again. It hurt too much the first time and he didn’t want to go through that again. This is not the route I would have chosen, but I am an extrovert and I think differently than him. Nevertheless, no one has really approached him to hang out. Even in what River Bluff High School calls “Crew” which is supposed to lend itself to making connections with fellow students.

My point in this post is to couple REAL action with your protest. Start in your community, workplace, and school. Reach out to those who are alone. Love everyone, even and especially those who may be hard to love.  Paul puts it best when he says, “Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality” Romans 12:9-13.

The College Football Playoff and the Competitive Spirit

 

I was born and bred a Gamecock fan. My dad grew up in Olympia and we could see Williams Brice Stadium from my grandma’s front porch. Being a Gamecock has been a humbling experience most of my life. As a matter of fact I tease my Clemson Tiger pastor friends that Gamecocks make better pastors, because we understand what humility and long-suffering are all about.

Not only am I a Gamecock fan, but I also very competitive.  Competition is not bad if it helps motivate you to do your best in achieving a goal. But a competitive spirit really does nothing in terms of being a fan. My competitive spirit is not going to help the Gamecocks win more games. As a matter of fact, applying a competitive spirit to things you can’t control, like college athletics, is not only fruitless it can bring major frustration that bleeds in to other areas of your life.

Another fact to consider is that college athletics are never going to fully satisfy. When the Gamecocks win, it feels good…for a little bit. And when the Gamecocks lose it feels bad… again just for a little bit. The feelings associated with a win or the loss never has any longevity. So why should I invest so much emotional energy in something that does not ultimately satisfy? I am not saying don’t be a fan and enjoy college athletics. Just don’t let being a fan have a position of influence that compromises your relationship with Jesus.

Matt Chandler in his book “Creature of the Word” explains how nothing in this temporal world is going to ultimately satisfy the deepest yearnings of the soul. Chandler says, "We sit here in our modern-day world demanding that the activities of the moment satisfy us and give us meaning. We order them to meet the yearning lack of significance and purpose that aches in our hearts..."

Nothing in this temporal world can satisfy our heart that longs for the eternal.  Solomon even goes as far as to say, “Everything is meaningless” in Ecclesiastes 1:2.  Solomon, the wisest man ever, besides Jesus, goes on to expound in the next two chapters how wisdom, folly, pleasure, and work in and of itself does not satisfy our soul that craves the eternal.

Jesus, on the other hand says, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” John 10:10. The thief tempts us with the temporal. However, investing in the temporal steals joy, kills relationships and can destroy real meaning in life. Jesus comes that we may have full life in Him. Only Jesus can make your life make sense. Only Jesus can bring abundance in life. Only Jesus can provide the only way to enjoy a real and vibrant relationship with God. Jesus also said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me” John 14:6.

We can still enjoy the things of this world, like college athletics, just as long as we understand that these things can’t fulfill the deepest longest of our heart. I am looking forward to the final College Football Playoff game tonight. I am sure it will be a fun and entertaining game. And maybe it is easy for me to say that since my team won’t be playing and I am not emotionally invested. But even if my Gamecocks were playing for the championship and by some miracle they won (Don’t laugh, it could happen one year, ha!), it would not fulfill me like Jesus does.