Blog

This week the Most Valuable Players in Major League Baseball were announced and it reminded me of a former baseball MVP. I have written a lot about how people in the church do considerable damage with actions and words that do not reflect Jesus. I have been frustrated by Christians who receive grace willingly and deny it to others. I see division in the body of Christ where we should see unity. It occurred to me that the church does not understand a few key principles that winning baseball teams understand. The first thing that winning teams understand is that every teammate brings strengths and weaknesses to the team. A great team celebrates the strengths of each player and works together to offset the weaknesses. I pondered this as I was reading about the career of Joe Gordon. In 1942 Gordon led the American League in strikeouts. He made more errors that year than any other second baseman. He hit into more double plays than anyone in the league. By dwelling on those stats we could surmise that the New York Yankees were looking for a new second baseman for the following year. But there was one mitigating factor.

Gordon won the American League Most Valuable Player for that season.

In spite of the flaws mentioned above Joe Gordon had a great season. He batted .322, fourth in the AL, with 18 homers and 103 runs batted in. Gordon teamed with Phil Rizzuto to lead the league in double plays turned defensively. In 1942 Joe Gordon was deemed to be the MVP of the league despite some obvious weaknesses in his game. Great managers and good teammates know that every player has strengths and every player has weaknesses.

And that is the lesson I was thinking about for the church. Too often we dwell on the weakness and not the gifts that God has given others. Or we acknowledge the gifts but make sure to note the weaknesses. All of us are a mix of gifts and flaws. The first mention of spiritual gifts is in Paul’s letter to the Roman church.

I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong— that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.

Commentators note that the translation here might be a bit confusing. The text might sound as if Paul’s giving away spiritual gifts to the first ten callers. A better translation might be that Paul wants to use his spiritual gifts to strengthen and encourage others. I believe that every single Christian is given spiritual gifts. We are given those gifts for many reasons but two of the primary ones are to glorify God and strengthen one another. But I wonder if we sometimes look at our spiritual gifts as something that we have the right to exercise for our personal fulfillment and glory? I am sure Joe Gordon often struck out when his team needed a hit. I suspect he sometimes made an error when the pitcher threw a good pitch and should have gotten an out. But his teammates (and the rest of the league) saw his gifts. Base runners batted in and key home runs hit. A vital double play turned and great range at his position. That is what made him valuable to a winning team. His strengths were vital to the team winning. His flaws were compensated by the team working in unity toward the goal of the World Series.

Do we do that in the church? Or do we choose to focus on the flaws of others? The World Series is a wonderful goal but it pales in comparison to the goal that Jesus challenged us to pursue.  Do we understand what it means to be unified for the common goal expressed so succinctly in the Gospel of Matthew?

Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

That is the game plan. Each of us has been given gifts to contribute. Each of us has flaws. Can we pray that we will be mature enough to focus on Who unites us instead of what divides us? Even the MVP of the American League had shortcomings. So will the pastor, elder, committee member, and volunteer chairman as we pursue the Great Commission of Christ. Another thing that winning teams understand. You don’t have to be best friends with everyone on the team but you do have to be united for the common goal of the team. Jesus prayed for unity for those who follow Him.

May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me. (John 17:23, NLT)

My prayer is simple.

God give us the grace to be unified as a team for your glory. Teach us to use our gifts to strengthen one another and glorify you. Give us the strength to be a good teammate  and the humility to believe that it cannot be about me for the team to succeed. Give me the desire to be a good teammate in the body of Christ. Teach me to see and exalt the gifts of my brothers and sisters even if they compete with my own talents. And especially teach me to be graceful with the flaws of others. We are all gifted and we are all flawed. A team understands that truth. Help us to do the same for the sake of the body of Christ.

Amen.

Parts of this blog were excerpted from Stay: Lessons My Dogs Taught Me about Life, Loss, and Grace

My lovely wife loves pottery, so one of my “sacrificial” ways to love Joni is to accompany her to pottery shops. Guys refer to that as “hitting behind the runner” or “taking the charge.” Once we visited a shop where the artisans were making vases and pots right before our eyes, surrounded by shelves of the colorful, beautiful, and functional finished products.

While Joni looked around, I watched a potter take a nondescript lump of clay and skillfully make a unique creation. This verse from Isaiah came to mind.

O Lord, you are our Father.
We are the clay, and you are the potter.
We all are formed by your hand.  (Isaiah 64:8)

I was fascinated by the complexity of the process. The potter must make sure that no dirt or impurities are in the clay. These unwanted materials will make the pot weak and unusable for its intended purpose. God desires to do the same with us. Impurities (sin) weaken us and keep us from our intended purpose.

The potter kneads the clay to ensure that there are no air bubbles, otherwise the pot might crack when fired in the kiln. In my life, my “air bubbles” are pockets of resistance when I decide I must control my destiny instead of trusting God. I can appear to be molded and conformed to God’s image, but I have unseen “bubbles” of pride and anger and control. These self-generated bubbles can cause me to crack under the heat of adversity.

The metaphors that Scripture uses are so powerful when we take the time to understand context and culture. The newly formed pottery, called “greenware,” is carefully placed on a shelf to air-dry before the next step. It is brittle and easily broken. Something else needs to happen to permanently set the object’s shape and make it strong and usable. The clay must endure the fire of the kiln.

Trials by fire can have that same effect on us as followers of Jesus. Trials can make us stronger and set our shape as His followers. Or, if we are unprepared, the fire of life’s trials can cause us to crack and make us useless for His plan.

I can choose to be content in my “greenware” state, brittle and useless for service. But God knows that it is in the trials of fire that we are strengthened and most effective. It is nearly always in that uncomfortable adversity that the true beauty of our creative process is revealed. I cannot think of an instance of significant growth in my life that has happened without the refining heat of trials.

There are a couple of huge differences between the earthly potter and God as the Potter. When the earthly potter finds a bad piece of clay, he discards it. Our heavenly Potter patiently works with us even when we seem misshapen and worthless. A shattered piece of pottery is often thrown out or repurposed in some way. Only our heavenly Father can take the shards of our brokenness and reshape us into something beautiful and effective for Him.

The words of the apostle James make more sense in the context of the Potter’s process.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. (James 1:2-3, NIV)

There is no joy in the trial, but there is joy in the knowledge of how God uses such events in our lives. If you are in the midst of a trial or about to face a trial, take comfort that God desires for you to emerge strengthened and beautiful and useful. One potter said that the greatest thing about making pots is that each lump of clay has near-infinite potential. The lump of clay that is me and the lump of clay that is you have infinite potential because we have an infinite God who is patient and good. We should not fear or run from the dark moments. What happens when we walk through them is worth the cost.

An excerpt from Stay: Lessons My Dogs Taught Me about Life, Loss, and Grace. Check it out here.

Bob Dylan wrote some powerful songs about his faith journey in the late 70’s. One song he composed popped up on the music feed recently. “Gotta Serve Somebody” simply says that no matter how independent, self-sufficient or in control we might try to be we still serve something or somebody.

But you’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You’re gonna have to serve somebody
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody

That lyric struck a spiritual chord because it reminded me of some seriously head and heart messing stuff I have been reading from Tim Keller. Keller wrote a thought provoking definition of idolatry and how we can substitute even good things for God.

“Sin is building your life and meaning on anything, even a very good thing, more than on God. Whatever we build our life on will drive us and enslave us. Sin is primarily idolatry.” (Tim Keller, “Talking About Idolatry in a Postmodern Age,” www.thegospelcoalition.org)

That is disturbing for a guy who was taught from childhood that sin is simply a list to check off to validate my righteousness. That list contained but was not limited to movies, liquor, cigarettes, dancing, shacking up, long hair and rock and roll. I thought I was doing pretty well on the idolatry commandment.

Tim Keller’s definition of sin takes all of the fun out of self-righteous comparison and judging.

Here is another toe-stomper from Tim Keller. “If our identity is in our work, rather than Christ, success will go to our heads, and failure will go to our hearts.”

My worth is not in always being right or being the smartest guy in the room. My worth is defined by being a child of God and a friend of Jesus. When I keep my eyes on Jesus, I maintain a better perspective on every area of my life.

Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like Him. In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and He lives in all of us. (Colossians 3:10-11, NLT)

Your assignment is to take a moment to read verses 12-17 to see what the results of this action might look like. There will not be a quiz.

Another key is to remember a campfire song from the Jesus movement that was, to borrow the approach of Law and Order, “ripped” from the Gospel of Matthew. (Matthew 6:33)

Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness;
and all these things shall be added unto you.
Allelu, alleluia

Everybody is going to serve somebody or something. Who (or what) are you centering your life on today? I choose today to serve Jesus. I can’t do this by myself.

I used to get nervous around Biblical scholars. They would start talking about the text in the original languages and I realized the only Greek I understood was yogurt. To be honest, some of the theologians I encountered did not seem like anyone I would want to be around on purpose. It seemed like some theologians were to joy in Christ what nutritionists were to enjoying cheesecake. They both took something full of delight and made you feel mostly bad about it.

Yet something has changed in my life. I saw the need for a solid theological basis for what I believe.

All of this came to mind when Sam Cooke’s classic Wonderful World popped up in my iTunes. You know the one where Sam builds a strong case for academic slacking actually being a strength.

Don’t know much about history
Don’t know much biology
Don’t know much about a science book
Don’t know much about the french I took

But I do know that I love you
And I know that if you love me too
What a wonderful world this would be

I wrote an ode (cross off “Bucket List” Item Number 87 –  use Ode in a sentence) using that classic tune to describe our lack of theological depth. This classic rewrite appears in my book  When Bad Christians Happen to Good People.

For the music director. A psalm of parody sung to Sam Cooke’s Wonderful World. All rise.

Don’t know much about theology,
Don’t know much Christology.
Don’t know much about Leviticus,
Don’t know why they had the Exodus.
But I do know that God loves you,
And I’m trying hard to be good too.
What a wonderful faith this would be.

Well, I don’t claim to be a good Christian,
But I’m trying to be.
For maybe by bein’ a good person, brother,
I can gain eternity.

(Everyone now…)

Don’t know much about the Pharisees,
Can’t explain the Trinity.
Don’t know much ecclesiology
Don’t know what a good tithe should be.
But I think that God forgives my quirks,
And I figure if I do good works,
What a wonderful faith this would be.

Humorous? I hope so. But the problem is not so funny. What do we believe? And why? I think one of the fundamental problems in many churches is that we do not effectively connect the theological dots of justification, imputed righteousness, identity in Christ, sanctification, and other assorted church words. Remember the connect the dots books you had as a kid? When you connect the theological dots the picture revealed is Jesus.

Now I find myself desiring to learn more and more about the Gospel of Jesus. I want to understand church history and doctrine. I want to understand grace and I want to live it. I have a long, long, long way to go but someday I hope that the scouting report on me will reflect this summary of Jesus. Jesus was beautifully described in John’s Gospel as being “full of grace and truth”. That would be a dramatic shift from what I have been described as being full of at other points in my journey. I am excited about continuing to refine my theological base but I want to always be mindful that truth preached without grace is not received nearly as well as the reverse approach.

Connect the dots. The picture is beautiful. And I think the picture will begin to look something like this.

Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.

Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.  Colossians 3, NLT

Waterbrook and Multnomah are offering an incredible eBook special for When Bad Christians Happen to Good People. You can buy the eBook version for $1.99 until November 4th. That is less than a Grande drip coffee at Starbucks! Check it out at your favorite retailer by clicking on a link below.

Amazon.com

Barnes and Noble

Christianbook.com

As I was finishing my first book the editor at Waterbrook Publishing asked me to submit some potential titles. I sent ten suggestions but, in keeping with my character, three of them were jokes. Imagine my surprise when one of my “smart aleck” ideas was chosen as the official title. That is how the book became “When Bad Christians Happen to Good People”. I had no idea how much that book would resonate with people who had been wounded by the church. I started the book with a rather unusual disclaimer.

I must begin with some words of disclosure. I am a hypocrite. I can be arrogant and selfish. I have been known to stretch, conceal, or slightly massage the truth. I am sometimes inconsiderate and insecure. I struggle with lust and impure thoughts. My ego often rages out of control, and I battle foolish pride. I can be lazy and foolhardy with my time. I get angry, petty, and ill tempered. I am sarcastic and cynical.

I am a Christian.

That is how I started this book when it was first published and ten years later I got to do a revised version.

As I look back over those words years later I have a sad confession to make. I have made some progress yet all of the disclaimers I wrote about then are still in play today. A lot has changed in my life since that first edition went to press. One of the dangers of writing is that your words go into your permanent record. If you write something that you regret you cannot seek deferred adjudication or buy up all of the copies in existence. Actually I might be able to do that with my incredibly modest selling second book but that is another story.

When I wrote the first edition of this book I was a little angry. Okay, at times I was a lot angry. I had seen and experienced the damage that is done by those claiming the name of Christ while demonstrating virtually none of His teachings. I wrote with passion and honesty. In retrospect perhaps a little too much honesty came out of my passion. God has taught me a lot since the original version of this book arrived in book stores. This revision will reflect some of that journey. My wife’s trial with breast cancer and more pain from the church further defined my walk with Christ. But one significant event has changed my very relationship with Jesus and forms the basis of a brand new chapter (no peeking for repeat readers…you will know which one).

So I get the rare author mulligan. A blessed do over. A chance to put at least a clarifying note into my permanent record. And I am grateful to my friends at WaterBrook Press for the chance. This book started with an honest declaration of my brokenness and shortcomings. That I can be a bit of a jerk and I am a Christian.That surprised a lot of you. It shouldn’t have. If there is one theme about our faith that should be communicated it is that we all fall short of the mark.  That is why we need a Savior and not a self-salvation checklist.  Author Max Lucado has a wonderful line. He says that God loves you just the way you are, but He refuses to leave you that way. So all of us believers are somewhere on that continuum of where we started and where God wants us to be. But that realization seems to penetrate our thinking only sporadically. In fact, there are those among us who will call me a counterfeit since I admit to such unflattering traits. They will write and tell me that if I had their brand of faith, I would be above any of these sins all of the time. I believe they would be wrong.

In the revised version I got the chance to detail my grace epiphany that changed everything. You will read the remarkable story of our precious daughter Katie. I show how I learned that God is more concerned about my heart than He is about me getting upset with others. I can control how I respond to people. I can decide who I turn to in times of frustration, anger and trial.

My original working title was “Don’t Reject Christ Because of Christians”. That is still my fear today that I will not reflect the amazing grace of Jesus. Since my eye (and heart opening) change I have lived this truth from the Gospel of John.

From His abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another.

I hope you will be encouraged by my journey through trials inflicted by the church and my own lack of understanding about where my identity should be found.

Waterbrook and Multnomah are offering an incredible eBook special for When Bad Christians Happen to Good People. You can buy the eBook version for $1.99 until November 4th. That is less than a Grande drip coffee at Starbucks! Check it out at your favorite retailer by clicking on a link below.

Amazon.com

Barnes and Noble

Christianbook.com

This was an interesting week. The lovely Mrs. Burchett acquired a brand new knee on Monday (so I was nursing and not musing last week). She is doing great and will be chasing grand kids in short order. The day before surgery a brief but violent storm took down multiple power poles in our neighborhood leaving us without power. We hoped it would be quickly resolved but the reports said we would likely be without power until Friday.

Now I had a conundrum dealing with a convalescing wife in a home without power. Do I curse the darkness (literally) or do I address the problem with determination and good cheer? That is a choice. I would venture that any energy wasted on complaining and assigning blame is wasted energy. I put out a call to friends and family for a generator. We found one and had the generator up and running by Monday night. We were able to power the refrigerator, a lamp, a coffee pot (surprise) and a couple of fans. From that modest base we were able to do everything we needed to do to take care of my beautiful patient. Urban camping actually became kind of a fun challenge as the days went by. I turned on the light switch every single time I walked into a dark room proving how much I am a creature of habit. Flashlights were my constant companion. The unexpected blessing was not watching any television news.

After we figured out how to navigate this inconvenience I thought about the timing of this event. It was not the best time for a power outage but we made it work. I thought about how blessed we are to have power, internet, appliances and all of the things we take for granted 99 percent of the time. My inconvenience is the everyday existence for much of the world and often a hundred times worse. My cold shower reminded me of the blessing of hot water that I rarely am thankful for. I did learn that cold showers could be a tremendous water saving feature.

I spent a lot of time last week being grateful for what I have and generally take for granted. Gratitude is the stabilizer for my spiritual walk. I think I can make a pretty good case that growing a grateful heart is the foundational attitude of the fruit of the Spirit—love,joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. It is that important. Gratitude keeps me from envy, if I can mentally pivot to the many things I am blessed to enjoy. Gratitude keeps me from anger, if I can be grateful for how patient God is with my myriad of shortcomings. Gratitude keeps me from frustration, when it reminds me how much worse things could be. I have programmed a trigger into my gratitude response. When I start getting cranky about my back pain, I think of my friend Mike (and others) who live in constant pain. I become grateful that my pain is not constant, and I am reminded to pray for them. A simple mind-set change can take me from self-pity to prayer for others.

I am also asking God to give me a heart to pray for anyone who makes me angry with his or her thoughtlessness or rudeness. What is hurting that person’s heart so much that the response is filled with such venom? Full disclosure . . . I am not there by any means. But when I can respond with an attitude of gratitude, it is the most freeing feeling. Maybe that is the best way to be grateful consistently. When I get outside my little world and see the suffering and sadness around me, I fall to my knees in thanksgiving for how fortunate I am.

Would you join me in meditation on these two verses this week? We can’t control our circumstances but we can control our response. Gratitude is a great foundation to build from.

 Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

When I need “comfort” music I often go country. Tracy Lawrence has a simple yet thought provoking song called “As Easy As Our Blessings.” Here is the opening stanza:

Lately I’ve been having more nights that I can’t sleep
Storms of life keep blowing in sometimes it gets so heavy
It drives me to my knees and it’s coming down again
Then a voice inside reminds me of the roof over my head
And my wife and kids are tucked away warmly in their beds

I have written often about Satan’s strategy to rob us of our joy. When we spend our time regretting the past or living in fear of the future we cannot live in peace in the moment. Paul addressed the syndrome in his letter to the church at Philippi.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Philippians 4 NIV

Perhaps the most insidious tactic of the enemy is to suggest that troubles demonstrate that God is not there or that He has abandoned us. I think one of the dangerous and maybe even deceitful things that Christians communicate is that coming to faith in Jesus will make your life trouble free. Perhaps we should have a warning label with every presentation of the gospel.

  Caution – “In this world you will have trouble”.  (Read the small print in Mark and John, this truth IS in the brochure)

Coming to faith does not remove the trouble from our lives. Jesus is not a money back guarantee for perfect health, unlimited prosperity, and non-stop giddiness. Trouble is a part of life. Problems refine or ruin us. That is where Jesus comes in.

I’ve told you all this so that trusting me, you will be unshakable and assured, deeply at peace. In this godless world you will continue  to experience difficulties. But take heart! I’ve conquered the world.  The Message  John 16

That is what I have discovered in my journey with Jesus. When life delivers the inevitable I can be assured, deeply at peace, and even unshakable. NBA star Alonzo Manning faced a career ending illness but his response was interesting. “Adversity introduces a man to himself.” I would suggest that adversity introduces a person to their faith. Does it stand up to the hard times? Jesus came to give us life and to help us get through the risks that living life brings.

Part of that strategy is always taking a step back and remembering all of the blessings that we have in our lives. Tracy Lawrence asks a question that my not be theologically correct but it is thought provoking.

Up in heaven sometimes I wonder if God sits there and listens
To all his children thinking it’d be nice if we’d forget our troubles as easy as our blessings

I doubt that God sits there and thinks how nice it would be if we’d forget our troubles. I suspect He is saddened by our lack of trust in Him. Paul has a prayer about how we can experience the joy and peace that we long to feel.

I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in Him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.  (Romans 15, NLT)

Recognize that God is the source of hope and then trust in Him to meet your need. The second stanza of Tracy Lawrence’s song suggests that keeping an up to date accounting of our blessings is another key to joy.

Suddenly I don’t feel like counting what I need
So I start counting what I have when times are at their toughest
My wife still stands by me and my children make me laugh
Then I crawl back in bed and start to think as I lay there
Could it be that he’s already heard and answered all my prayers

The chorus sums it up.

It’d be nice if we’d forget our troubles as easy as our blessings.

Human nature likely makes that impossible. But it is possible to remember the source of our blessings and to remember that God will fill us completely with joy and peace if we trust Him.