This post is the second in a series of essays examining how the #Four Foolish Rules we’ve considered over the last several weeks would apply to specific situations. You may want to go back and read this series, including the introduction, before you consider this post. The Scenario Pat has been coming to your church for several months. He attends worship most weeks, and often joins in the fellowship and adult learning time that follows. He doesn't share a lot about himself, but you've heard him mention that he has a rough past. From context you can guess that includes things like … [Read more...] about Working the Rules: The Beggar Who’s One of Us
relationship
Rule #4: Clean Up Our Messes
True or false: "Conflict is a good thing in marriage." It's a question I almost always discuss with a couple before I'll perform their wedding. How would you answer it? How we answer a question like this says something important about whether we'll avoid conflict or address it. You could ask the same question about your workplace, or your church. True or false: "Conflict is a good thing." What's your answer? How we answer this question will prove to have a profound impact on how we manage the Life Together that has been the focus of all these weeks of our #FourFoolishRules series. … [Read more...] about Rule #4: Clean Up Our Messes
Rule #2: Relationship First
You'd think we wouldn't even need to say this. Of course, everything starts with relationship. The most important things in our lives are the people, right? Our families. Our friends. So many people are so dear to us. But as we continue this conversation about the Four (Foolish) Rules for Life Together, it feels oddly necessary to put this one into words. Why is that? In Foolish Church, I said, "The first and best thing we do...is enter into real relationships with real human beings" (p. 27). I spent a whole chapter on this subject (chapter 2). Why? Well, on a good day, we don't need the … [Read more...] about Rule #2: Relationship First
The Community More Real Than the Church
My friend Deborah Coble posted a picture of a recently-completed knitting project last week. It was colorful and intriguing, but what grabbed me was her reflection about it. She described her Facebook post with this picture in a knitters' group, which generated hundreds of clicks ("likes" and "hearts" and nearly 100 comments, all with affirmations. This even though, as she described it, "My project is a beginner level compared to the work of most in the group." (I must say, it doesn't look very beginner-ish to me!) Where I saw Deborah's post was in a clergy group that she observed has … [Read more...] about The Community More Real Than the Church
Loving One Another
It's Holy Week and so Jesus says, again, during his last supper with his disciples: "love one another" (John 13.34). I think he's saying it to us, too, looking us straight in the eye: "Love one another, now. I mean it." We might say, "But Jesus, have you ever been locked in with your family for weeks at a time, with nowhere to go, with spotty Wifi, with no new Saturday Night Live, with people dying and jobs ending and no end in sight?" Jesus doesn't say "Love one another when they're not on your last nerve." He tells us to love "as I have loved you," Drat. It's like those … [Read more...] about Loving One Another
Becoming an Advocate, Changing the World: Rooted in Relationship (Part 2)
This is Part 2 of a post that will span a few weeks. How do we make a difference in the world? How do we participate in the political process? What does that question have to do with Foolish Church? Stay tuned as we consider these questions. What I needed to know about becoming an advocate for people beyond my immediate family, I began to learn from my friend Bill Mefford. He taught me the core truth behind the best, most important, most effective, least destructive advocacy: it is rooted in relationship. Always, always, always. Sometimes there’s a disconnect. It’s not unusual … [Read more...] about Becoming an Advocate, Changing the World: Rooted in Relationship (Part 2)