Topical Tuesday: Through the Mud

Today we begin a several-week series called Topical Tuesdays, where you pick the topic and I make up answers.  You can add your topic / question to the list by commenting on this post.  Today’s question is submitted by Jeremy B:

What is a good response when someone (or group), who is affiliated with the Baptist orientation makes national news for allegedly trying to smuggle Haitian children?  More generally, what is a good response when other Christians (or sometimes we ourselves) embarrass The Name?

I still remember one of my youth pastor’s famous one liners whenever we went somewhere as a group: Whatever you do, don’t drag the name of Jesus through the mud. Bob knew something that we hadn’t quite learned, and that is that it’s very easy to draw attention away from the holy, grace-filled name of Jesus and towards our own stupid / ignorant / sinful behavior.  Sometimes we behaved that way because we meant to (church buses are simply a sin pit on wheels, just so you know), other times because we simply didn’t know any better (“What? I shouldn’t have yelled ‘Shine your head for a quarter, sir?’ to that bald guy?”).

Still, it seems that Christians are continuously doing dumb stuff.  I haven’t followed the situation in Haiti closely enough to know the full story, but I’d guess that this church group was trying to do a good thing with either (a) false information (“But what they told me was…”), (b) incomplete information (“Let’s just trust God for the details.”), or (c) just plain stupidity (“What? I can’t take kids that aren’t mine into another country?  But they’re so cute!“).

But back to Jeremy’s question, how do we as fellow believers respond?  I think four points are in order.  (I’ll use the Haiti situation as a springboard, but try to keep this as general as possible for other scenarios):

1. Pray fervently. True, untrue, or somewhere in between, the fact is that we are dealing with fellow believers in crisis.  Pray for their safety, for justice, and for mercy in the case where honest mistakes were made.
2. Listen discerningly. In nearly every situation where a church group or individual Christian makes headlines for nefarious purposes, I typically don’t jump to conclusions until I’ve heard from the church or the individual.  Proverbs 18:17 says, “The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him.”  In 17 years of ministry, I’ve heard hundreds of accusations against churches or church members.  Sadly, my thick skull has only recently learned that until I hear both sides of the story, I’m probably not getting the accurate version.
3. Argue (or defend) honestly. When a non-believer asks your opinion, be gracious, be humble, but be truthful.  If you don’t know, don’t comment.  Don’t spout your opinion.  And by all means, don’t play the persecution card.  (“You just hate us because we’re Christians!”   “No.  I hate you because you’re obnoxious.”)  Where Christians mess up, we should own up.  But there’s a difference between honestly assessing a situation and crossing the line into gossip.  Be careful.
4. Re-direct accordingly. In my experience, these stories do little more than give people another barrier to the gospel.  That’s why we must perpetually re-direct people to the truth.  Christians are not perfect.  Jesus is.  Churches are going to fail us.  Jesus won’t.  It’s important that people understand that we are very imperfect representatives of a perfect savior.

Great question, Jeremy.  Anyone else want to take this on?

Next week: Should covenant members be the only ones that serve on ministry teams?

 

Who’s New?

When training our newbies on the First Impressions Team, I always tell them that their primary commitment on the weekend is to new friends, not old ones.  That’s why we’re a church that’s gathered and scattered…we gather weekly to worship, hear the word proclaimed, and welcome new guests.  We scatter to get with our friends that we “do life with” in small groups.

It’s in the scattering that the “Hey how are ya what’s new in life” conversations should take place.

But on the weekends – especially for those working in First Impressions – it’s all about the guests.  My wife has flat ignored me many Sunday mornings as she’s greeting new people.  I’ve had team leaders drop me like a hot potato when a new face was close by.  And all that is just fine with me.

The point?  Friendships matter.  But new friendships matter more when we’re talking about the corporate gathering on the weekend.  Use your small group to go deep, to get into each other’s lives.  Use the weekend to explore new relationships and to make a stranger a friend.

*******

The “Topical Tuesdays” comments are going strong!  Enter the conversation and set the tone for the weeks to come by commenting here.

 

My Pleasure

Chick-Fil-A is the undisputed customer-experience king in the fast food world.  Any Chick-Fil-A.  Any employee.  Any day…you’re going to get a high-quality experience.

“Um, yeah.  I have this coupon for a free chicken sandwich, but it’s for another Chick-Fil-A across town.  Is it okay if I use it here?”

Absolutely.  It’s my pleasure.

“And I should probably mention that it expired in 2004.  Still okay?”

My pleasure.

“And instead of a chicken sandwich I want a Quarter Pounder with Cheese.”

My pleasure.

Chick-Fil-A wants me to have it my way.  (You hear that, creepy plastic-headed King?  I’m talkin’ to you.)  And they’ll do whatever it takes for me to have it my way.  Accept another coupon that’s “exclusive” to another CFA unit?  Not a problem.  Change the actual item the coupon is for?  Sure thing.  And they do it with a smile on their face every time.  Every.  Single.  Time.

We have some Chick-Fil-A managers at the Summit, and I’ve asked them, “What’s the secret?”  Their answer:

Mind control and hallucinogenic drugs administered by Truett Cathy.

Actually, that’s not true at all.  What is true is that the “My pleasure” culture is ingrained from the first days at the chicken kingdom.  The customer’s experience is key.  The employee is there to serve, not to be served.  In his 1989 book It’s Easier to Succeed Than to Fail, Cathy recounts an interview that his son Dan granted to Business Atlanta. Dan said that “The pure and simple bottom line…is a commitment to people…The restaurants are simply the vehicles by which we serve that purpose.”

If you’re a pastor, people are – in a way – your business.  While Jesus is the one we serve, people are the ones we connect back to Jesus.  If we dismiss people as necessary evils of our kingdom work, we betray our motivations as being something other than the gospel to which we’re called.

Is serving people your pleasure?  Is your church, your ministries, your programming and end to themselves, or do they serve as vehicles to introduce people to Jesus?

 

Topical Tuesdays

No, I didn’t say tropical Tuesdays, although in this frigid climate that would be nice too.

And I also don’t mean topical Tuesdays, as in, “Apply liberally three times daily until rash subsides.”  Although if that’s what you’re looking for, I’ll pray for you.  But no laying on of hands.

I said Topical Tuesdays.  For the next few weeks, you’re going to pick the topic.

Editor’s Note: Hold on, isn’t this a shameless ripoff of your boss’s “Ask Anything Fridays”?

Not exactly, because I’m pretty sure that I introduced this idea a few months ago…November 11, 2009, in fact.  And he didn’t intro the Ask Anything on his blog until SIX DAYS later (November 17, 2009).  So, who’s the ripoff now, huh?

Editor’s Note: Fair enough.  But it seems to me that I never actually saw you answer any of the questions you were asked.

Details, details.  And yes, I’ll include those questions in our new Topical Tuesdays forum.  But good grief, let’s stay on target.  Tell me what you want to know about or talk about in the realm of…

• First impressions
• Covenant church membership
• Pastoral ministry
• Anything else

Ready?  Go.  Comment below and tune in next Tuesday for Topic #1.

Too chicken to comment?  E-mail me.

 

Adventures in Babysitting

Most of you who stalk…um…follow Summit staff know that Small Groups Guy Spence Shelton is single-handedly sending the family doctor to Aruba in February.  So far this month, every family member but Spence has spent time in either the doctor’s office, ER, or a full-blown hospital visit.  This week, it was his oldest son’s turn.  And yesterday, the Babysitter Fairy wasn’t too kind to ‘em when it came time for Kid #2 to be taken care of.

Which is why – for some reason that I still do not nor ever will know – Spence’s wife Courtney called me just before lunch and asked if I’d be available to hang out with Ben (not quite four months old) later that afternoon.

For some reason, I forgot that it’s been almost eight years since there’s been a baby in my presence.  I like babies, don’t get me wrong, I just don’t necessarily like spending time with them socially.  Neither would you if your dinner partner pooped themself.

But I digress.  Here’s the breakdown of the afternoon:

2:00 PM: Arrive at Chez Shelton, get the rundown from Babysitter #1, who is our staff counselor whose heart language is Spanish and I’m pretty sure that’s what she was speaking when she gave me the to do list.  She sounded like Ricky Ricardo when Lucy flooded the apartment with Cheez Whiz.

2:00:15 PM: Suddenly alone with the kid.  Begin to get suspicious that Cynthia left so fast.  What had he done wrong?

2:00:22 PM: Realize that Ben is sleeping pretty well.  Also realize that this could be an answered prayer and a time to get some work done.  But first: get the lay of the land.  Where are the diapers, the food, and what’s on TV?

2:01 – 2:28 PM: Try to figure out Spence’s stupid remote.

2:29 PM: Ben stirs.  And by “stir” I mean, “Make that cute sound that babies make when they’re waking up, followed by high pitched wailing that caused the neighbors dogs to run just a few minutes later.”

2:30 PM: Realize I should have paid more attention to Cynthia’s feeding instructions.  And heated up the bottle instead of fiddling with the remote.

2:32 PM: Juggle Ben.  Work Courtney’s elaborate bottle warming system.  Pray that I’m not radiating Ben by holding him directly in front of the microwave.

2:33 PM: Realize that I will never ever ever be able to hear out of my left ear again.

2:34 PM: Try the “test the milk on the wrist trick.”  Realize I have no idea what I’m doing and just stick the bottle in the wail trap.

2:35 PM: Bottle time.  Benny boy is finally happy.  I’m happy.  I figure out the remote and settle on A Baby Story on TLC.

2:38 PM: Realize that I have become a woman.  Switch to Fox Business Channel.

2:44 PM: Remember that babies should burp, just after Ben appears to have a blue tint.

2:45 PM: Think about how cool it would be if I could teach him to burp his ABC’s.

2:50 PM: Last of the bottle is finished.  Ben is embarrassed about something, because he’s red faced.

2:51 PM: Realize that’s not embarrassment.

2:52 PM: Repeat to myself over and over: “You can do this.  You’ve had three kids.  This is not a big deal.  There’s a big bottle of hand sanitizer waiting on you.”

3:00 PM: Ben makes it to the bouncy seat.  I make it to the couch and proceed to rest my hands in a Clorox bath.

3:02 PM: Pull out the laptop because dang it, I’m going to get some work done now.  Attempt to hack into Spence’s wireless signal.

3:04 PM: Disappointed (but not surprised) that his password is MyCampusPastorSux.

3:21 PM: I contemplate how odd it is that I’m babysitting at 37 years old.  Consider calling up some friends and asking them to bring over their Chubby Checker records so we can push back the living room furniture and do the mashed potato.

3:30 PM: Ben decides that he despises the creator of the bouncy seat.  I realize the same.

3:31 PM: Begin the Put The Baby To Sleep Waltz, including swaying around the living room, making silly noises, and attempting to hum.  Pray like crazy that there is no Nanny Cam.

3:40 PM: Ben goes to sleep.  I go back to e-mail.

4:10 PM: My wife calls.  I whisper so as not to wake up the man child.  I wonder if I’ll get in trouble with the Shelton’s for being on the phone when I should be babysitting.  Also wonder if that will affect my pay.

4:15 PM: Raid the pantry.  Realize that everything is probably infected with whatever Zeke has.  Decide to take my chances with starvation.

4:20 PM: More e-mails.

5:00 PM: Ben stirs (see above).

5:05 PM: Help arrives in the form of Lori, my administrative assistant / frequent Shelton babysitter.  I channel the spirit of Cynthia channelling the spirit of Ricky Ricardo and by

5:05:19 PM: I’m outta there.

8:22 PM: Review my Campus Pastor job description and realize I didn’t sign up for this.

Proof that the kid likes me.

 

The Kid’s Got Guts

In case you missed it, one of our covenant members hit the big time on ESPN last week.

Jon Lunn is one of our First Impressions Team leaders.  He’s also a NC State University student.

And a rabid Duke fan.

So it was pretty awesome when Jon showed up at the Duke / NCSU game and sat in the NCSU student section wearing his Duke jersey.

Incredibly stupid, but pretty awesome.

Even better was when his mug went on national TV…at the end of the game…as Duke was getting spanked.  The picture says it all:

Moral to this story.  Jon is fearless.  So if he tells you you’re gonna scoot in this Sunday to make room for guests, you’d better do what he says.

(Disregard those instructions if you happen to be wearing this.)

 

The Group That Serves Together…

A couple of weeks ago we launched a new venue in the Bay at our Brier Creek Campus, which will allow us to add over 250 seats at the 10:45 hour.

Anytime we launch a new venue, I have a combo bag of feelings which include extreme elation (“This is a great opportunity for people to serve!”) and extreme apprehension (“If we can’t get enough people to fill up a brand new First Impressions Team I’m going to have to get a fake beard and go into hiding and lose my job and make a living by selling gum wads I scrape off the bottom of tables at Panera Bread.”).

Roughly ten days before the Bay launched, I was squarely in feeling #2.  And then came the e-mail from one of our rock star small group leaders.  After a few exchanges, their group made the decision to adopt the Bay as their very own, and thus filled more than half of the needs on the First Impressions Team.

Back up.  Read that again.  They made the Bay theirs.  The entire group.  They ALL stepped up to serve…together.

I don’t care who you are, that’s downright cool.  This multi-generational group already does life together.  They meet weekly to pray for each other, learn from each other, and study scripture with each other.  And now…now they are serving with each other.

That’s very cool.

I want you to see these people for yourself.  This is about half the group (hey…the other half were busy serving).  Sorry about the blurry photography…we were in a rush.

Meanwhile, if you’re a part of the Summit and are looking for a group to join or a place to serve, we’d love to help you do that.  Check out Starting Point, the connection event designed for you.  Next one happens at Brier Creek AM on February 7 after every service!

 

Southern Baptist = Bluegrass

The scene: our Chevy Trailblazer, hauling the entire Franks crew.

The setup: a back seat convo between Austin (12) and Jacob (13).

Austin: So this kid in my class says, “Which religion are you?”  And I said, “I’m a Christian.”

Jacob: Christianity isn’t your religion!  That’s like a relationship.  Southern Baptist is your religion.

Austin:  Uh-uh! Southern Baptist ain’t my religion!  It’s my genre.

Pray for me.  Please.  That kid’s gonna live in my house for another six years.

 

Why You Should Wake Up Tomorrow

First things first: tomorrow is Saturday.  You know, Saturday: that day that many Americans view as their very own God-given right to sleep in late, have brunch at a little bistro-style restaurant with a name like Crepe Diem (literally, “Day of the Thin Pancake”), and fold your socks.

But for this Saturday, let me encourage you to put the socks on hold and get the crepes to go.  Because this Saturday is Frontline at the Brier Creek Campus.

This Saturday is for every current and potential volunteer in the Summit Kids and First Impressions teams, and for potential vols on the Production team.  If you are serving – or are interested in serving – at the Brier Creek AM or PM or Cole Mill campuses, we need you there.

Here’s reality: last Sunday we had nearly 2700 people at the Brier Creek AM Campus (a 41% increase from the same Sunday last year).  Statistics say that this coming Sunday will be much bigger than that, and the numbers will stay at the 2700 range from now until Easter.

So we need you.  We need you to greet guests.  We need you to love on kids.  We need you to run cameras, flip switches, and wear cool headsets.

Summit, this is your time to shine.  If you’re not serving, you may just be squandering the gifts God has given you.  Please – come to Frontline.  You can find more information here.

 

Weakly Posting

Forgive me, blogworld, for I haven’t penned.  It has been seven days since my last post.

Where have you been?

Um, you know, around.

Whatcha been doing?

Oh, stuff.

You’re going to need to be more specific.  Your readers need to know.  Well, they don’t need to know, but they’re nosy like that.

Um, yeah.  So we launched that new venue in the Bay last Sunday, so that took some time.  Then I had the first big info meeting on that Dubai trip, so bam – some more time.  Then the office was shut down on Monday.  Tuesday the WonderIntern was in the office and we had computer troubles.  Wednesday…

Hold on.  Your intern’s name is “Tuesday.”?

Huh?

You said, “Tuesday the WonderIntern.”  That’s weird.  I’ve heard of “my man Friday,” but Tu…

No, no, no.  Tuesday was the day that we had computer trouble.  As in, “ON Tuesday, the WonderIntern”…

Okay I get it.  Move along.

Then Wednesday was just busy.

So you don’t care enough to take time to blog?

Oh baby, do I ever care.  I care like a big dog.  But you know, the creativity.  Sometimes it’s not there.

You mean like this post right now?

Something like that, yeah.

So what about tomorrow?  Will you have stuff for us tomorrow?

Probably.

Okay.  We’ll check back.  Or maybe not.  Because dude…you might have just jumped the shark.

I don’t know what that means, but I’ll have Tuesday look into it.