Flashback Friday: Five Talent Player

Frank

***Originally posted February 17, 2010. Reposted in response to Glen Coffee’s decision to forgo an NFL career to pursue ministry, a decision similar to Grant Desme’s below.***

Growing up religious, I always found it curious a “plus” baseball player is called a “five-tool” player given the parable of the talents found in Matthew 25. It was the one with five talents that was given five more for putting his talents to use, pleasing his master. Of course we get the common usage for our talents from this parable even though a “talent” is a unit of currency.

Grant Desme is a five-tool, plus prospect for the Oakland A’s. Or at least, he was before he decided to give up the game to enter the priesthood. In his defense he said, “But I had to get down to the bottom of things, to what was good in my life, what I wanted to do with my life. Baseball is a good thing, but that felt selfish of me when I felt that God was calling me more. … I love the game, but I’m going to aspire to higher things.”

He didn’t catch much criticism even if his decision wasn’t understood by all. One who not only understands, but also relates is former Olympic speed skater Kirstin Holum. After competing in 1998, she hung up her skates and joined a convent. While you may picture a nun’s habit, you may not be able to picture a former Olympian in the inner city reaching out to gang-bangers.

While I admire the hands-on calling of a Religious Order, I don’t think you need to put on vestments to participate in ministry. Like the parable cited above, God gives us talents to be put to use for His glory. I think turning your back on a natural talent like athleticism is akin to burying your talents. (Recognizing that not all skills are talents, and we are all given as many or as few as our faith allows)

On the opposite end of the spectrum is last year’s National League Rookie of the Year, Chris Coghlan. “Everybody has different callings. Everybody has different blessings and different talents. For me, I believe my calling is to continue playing baseball. It’s a platform to reach out to other people.” Sounds very Tim Tebow. (Sorry, couldn’t resist) But he’s right. God gives us not only the talents, but the opportunities. One of my best friends always says, “there’s no such thing as luck in the Kingdom of God.” The traditional adage is that “luck is when preparation and opportunity meet.” The two are perfectly compatible. We should approach our jobs, our relationships, our families with the faith that each are platforms through which we should live and share our faith. The opportunity that meets our preparation.

Even Paul, who was far from being considered athletic, approached his ministry in this way.

“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.

Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.” (1 Corinthians 9:24-27)

This scripture is often applied to spiritual discipline and can be abused to justify a list of to-dos. But a better way of looking at it is from the perspective of the Christian athlete. Train (invest your talents) so that you may win (gain five more). We may not all be plus, but we can all be five-talent players.

Jesus-colored Glasses

Frank

This post joins the discussion being carried on at Bend the Page on Michael Spencer’s book, Mere Churchianity. The second chapter, titled the Jesus Disconnect, discusses how the Evangelical church has lost sight of Jesus among all the programs, seeker-sensitive trappings, and relevant topics. Glynn Young offers a perspective of “the worship wars” while Nancy Rosback reflects on how she personally loses sight of Jesus.

I want to approach this from yet another perspective, that of ministering to those thrown under the fast-moving, sold-out, evangelical bus. A quote I especially like from this chapter reads, “Evangelical Christians… believe their ship is listing to one side because it gives them a more interesting look at the iceberg.” This is the Jesus-colored glasses I refer to. Michael continues, “Evangelicals believe that people who distance themselves from the church are not disenchanted but ‘under conviction of the Holy Spirit.’ Christians are convinced that the generally low opinion people have of them… is because people can’t deal with the uncomfortable truth about Jesus.”

Ministering to addicts, I have learned that not everyone struggles because they aren’t committed enough, don’t pray enough, or don’t have deep enough convictions. Real people face real demons in their past, their character, and their habits that cannot be overcome just by showing up every Sunday with a smile on their face. We too easily forget that Jesus came for the sick, not the well. “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.” (Matthew 9:12)

Sadly, we are quick to abandon the slow-moving for the sake of moving the church “forward” full-steam. Sold-out was our buzzword, but was code for legalism. You didn’t have time to deal with your marriage, your addiction, or your purity. If you weren’t 100% committed to the “purpose” then you weren’t really a disciple of Jesus. This is a battle I continue to fight when our calendar gets filled with evangelistic activities with no room to insert any solid food (Hebrews 5:11-14). As a small-group leader, when I recently questioned the schedule I was challenged to choose between the addiction ministry I help lead and my small group. Well that was a no-brainer (and thank God it didn’t have to come to that).

We say we are being Christ-like by “seeking and saving the lost” (Luke 19:10). We justify sacrificing our own health, spiritual and physical, because we “take up our cross daily” (Luke 9:23). And instead of “not putting out the Spirit’s fire” (1 Thessalonians 5:19) we instead get burned out. And the bus keeps rolling on while we are left behind.

Now I don’t want to be a Debbie Downer. It’s not always like this, and it’s not everybody who feels this way. But this attitude is contagious. We believe the hype. We are more inspired by a rah-rah pep-rally sermon than the life of Jesus. We are human. And the most important point I’ve taken from this book so far is that so are my brothers and sisters in Christ. The church is not a machine, but a living, breathing, body of believers. Real people with real struggles.

Saturday Afternoon Evangelism

Frank

Last week, Brigham Young University, the flagship school of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, announced plans to go independent in football. With the BCS shell game that has gone on this summer, this isn’t necessarily earth-shattering news. There is a tangible financial benefit in being able to negotiate your own TV deal and schedule your own opponents to maximize viewership. And all evidence this summer has shown us that television revenue is more important that winning or losing.

But this isn’t about that. Based on comments made by BYU’s administration and coaches, eyes on the game don’t translate into dollars but into potential souls to be saved. Dan Wetzel at Yahoo sports seems to be the only one in the national media to take that angle on this story.

At the same time last week, Glen Coffee decided that the best way to reach souls is to NOT play football as he gave up his NFL career. Tim Tebow, college sensation and evangelical poster-boy, thinks differently. And of course I could list many more on both sides of the argument across different sports.

Idividuals aside, you could also look at this as fulfilling the stated mission of a church-affiliated university. Yet Notre Dame, Gonzaga, Baylor, or TCU don’t approach their mission the same way (and I could fill this entire space with a ‘did you know?’ list of religiously affiliated schools).

So my question this week is this,

Is football, or any other competitive event, an effective means if spreading the Gospel?

(and please refrain from debating the theology of the Mormon religion)

Weekend Reading, 21 August

Frank

Phew, I opened this window a couple of hours ago and just now getting to this. Normally I suggest pouring a cup of coffee, sitting back, and reading what I read last week. By now, that pot of coffee is probably empty (at least mine is). But I still encourage you to sit, enjoy, and reflect on blogs that hit home for me this week.

If you read my blog much, you know one of my passions is the current condition of the Church in America. It’s easy to criticize and make blanket statements. A point I stress when it comes to the interplay between Christians and politics is that not every evangelical, fundamentalist, social-gospel, and so-forth, church is the same. The lesson holds true when it comes to the health, spiritual growth, and appropriate focus of the same diversity of churches. But as a comment in the above link noted, the discussion needs to take place. Right now, I’m approaching this from two angles reading both Mere Churchianity and Transformational Church, because I think both points of view are valid. You’ll see that reflected in these links. Having said that, on with the show…

But “as for me and my household…” The best thing we can do as disciples of Jesus is to surrender our lives fully to him, regardless of what’s happening in our churches, our leadership, or even our homes.

  • Jezamama writes an awesome post on what it takes to surrender all and be stripped bare.
  • Similarly, Michael Perkins writes out what he’s giving up for God.
  • Jim Foreman takes a lesson from David that we need to choose the hard things to see what lesson God has in store for us.
  • A real-world example of all the above is found in Glen Coffee who just walked away from a promising NFL career to follow wherever God is going to lead him.

It’s that time of year when our children head back to school. This is a time of transition and transformation and of rites of passage.

  • Billy Coffey writes about the lessons learned while doing back-to-school shopping.
  • Ron Edmondson shares what he wrote to his son as he saw him off to college.
  • Jay Cookingham shares about the passage of his son into manhood and the lessons to be learned from the older brothers who have gone on ahead of him.

The end of summer is also a bit of a letdown. Sometimes we need to take a deep breath and find ourselves again while continuing to push on.

Flashback Friday: Trailblazer

Frank

***Originally posted April 7, 2010. Reposted this week as I’ve “joined” an online book club to discuss the book Mere Churchianity by Michael Spencer over at the blog Bend the Page. Discussion has spread over to Faith, Fiction, and Friends and Poems and Prayers. Even if you don’t join in the discussion, I strongly encourage you to pick up the book.***

What inspires you? I don’t mean encourages, or edifies, I mean honest to goodness “God breathed,” (2 Timothy 3:16) in-spirit moving of the Holy Spirit in you. Maybe it’s a psalm, hymn, or spiritual song (Ephesians 5:19), maybe it’s a favorite verse in the Bible, maybe it’s a friend, a book, or a movie. Maybe it’s the stories of those who came before, who blazed God fearing, Jesus-led trails.

Monday, April 5th, Michael Spencer, aka the Internet Monk, passed away after a long battle with cancer. A little more than a year ago, Father Richard John Neuhaus, author at the blog First Things passed away. I can honestly say that without the inspiration from these two men of God, I would not be blogging today. I was shocked to read that the imonk started blogging 10 years ago. These two saw the opportunities of the Internet to spread the Gospel and shaped the online Christian landscape. From Father Neuhaus, I was inspired as he tackled issues of interest to me. From Michael, he introduced a new way to reach the masses without preaching down to them using this new-fangled interweb thingy. I regret not following them as closely once I set out on my own blog.

The early Christian blogosphere, including Get Religion and Blogs4God soon grew to include the Thinklings and Boar’s Head Tavern, Stuff Christians Like, Purgatorio, and JesusNeedsNewPR. Most recently, Peter Pollock’s and Bridget Chumbley’s Blog Carnival has been a network of diverse Christian blogs that all aspire to encourage applying the Word of God through the Internet. Yesterday’s [April 6] topic, Gentleness, drew 39 posts. There are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of Christian blogs. I will never have time to find them all, but I am grateful for the inspiration the ones I do read bring to me.

Back to imonk for a moment. Another blogger commented a few years ago that America is due for another Great Awakening and that it would likely come through the power of the Internet. I couldn’t agree more and I believe the legacy that Michael Spencer leaves behind started the ball rolling that direction. I pray his legacy continues throughout the Christian blogosphere and through the hearts and souls of readers everywhere. Michael was too young. He didn’t live to see the next Great Awakening. But he lived to see it begun.

Man Without Fear

Frank
I’m jumping into the fray. I am fearlessly adding my post to the Pleasantly Disturbed Thursdays carnival at Duane Scott’s blog. Pray for me…

It was just announced that the comic book Daredevil will end in November. I’m a comic book nerd (more excited to see Scott Pilgrim than the Expendables believe it or not) and Daredevil has always been my favorite character. He’s my homie.

It was a Daredevil comic that I remember being the first I ever read (that, or some random issue of Superman, but I remember vividly the issue of Daredevil). I have a nearly continuous run of issues that spans twenty years. The last issue will be #512; I have roughly 350 of those. With a small family, tight budget, and a local comic shop (LCS) that I loathe, I’ve fallen back on my reading. I’m ashamed to admit that I’ve only purchased one issue over the past year.
As a kid I daydreamed about being Daredevil. He was a blind, Catholic red-head who always did what was right. That sounded a lot like me. Plus he fought ninjas and mobsters! As I grew older and I took notice of the more mature themes, I could relate even more. Yes, he always did what was right, but not always the right way. He had a bad tempter, was vengeful, and lustful. Hmm, still sounded a lot like me. I admired him because the fight he waged against his sinful nature to do the right thing was a central part of his character. Some writers sadly miss this point (see the movie as the most glaring example), but I kept on reading. Did I mention that he fought ninjas?
So what’s disturbing about this post? Maybe it’s the fact that I own more than a thousand comic books and live in my mom’s basement. (I’ll let you guess which one of those two statements are true).
Actually, what’s disturbing is the recent news that a child psychologist considers super heroes bad role models. Say what? I was reading The Punisher as a pre-teen and loved his unrestrained vengeance against crime as he racked up a body count in the hundreds. I also loved the movie Total Recall, which at the time was considered the most violent (mainstream) movie ever. This was also towards the end of the Cold War with movies like Red Dawn fresh in my memory. I would daydream during school about being either a super hero, a professional wrestler (now that’s disturbing!), or what my friends and I would do if our school was overrun by a bunch of commie terrorists. “Wolverines!”

I’d like to think I turned out all right. Sure, the line blurs for me sometimes between fantasy and reality, but I suspect that’s true for just about everyone. Yet despite the violence and misogyny present in comic books, I took away their most valuable lesson: we are all screwed up in some way, so we must decide if we should use our powers to be a good guy or a bad guy. We are all anti-heroes. And sometimes we get to fight ninjas.

(for a great summary of Daredevil’s on again/off again religion, check out this article.)

Summer Love

Frank

You’ve no doubt had one- the summer love. Maybe your intentions were pure, that “after the boys of summer have gone” that love would last longer than a single season. Chances are however, that your summer love was short lived. “Summer lovin’ happens so fast.”

Summer love aches, yet lingers in our memories. Whatever the summer activity may have been- swimming, boating, camping, laying on the beach, we all look back with sentimentality. It’s easy to forget the heartache when you can remember the sunshine. It’s easy to remember the night under the stars and forget the hangover. We can reflect fondly on the fishing trip. Whether or not we caught anything has long since been forgotten.

“Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you are good, O LORD.” (Ps 25:7)

Why do we always remember the ‘best of times’ and forget the ‘worst of times’?


What is it about summer that sticks in our memory?

While our memories deceive us, we are tricked into thinking about what might have been. It’s an easy trap to keep us from being grateful for what is. The memory of spending time on my friend’s boat only reminds me that I don’t have one of my own. The summer love has long since gone. “I try not to think about what might have been, ‘cause that was then, and we have taken different roads.”

“These things I remember
as I pour out my soul;
how I used to… “(Ps 42:4)

Do you ever long for the “good old days”? Why?

But what is it about those memories that hang on forever in our minds? The timing must be perfect. Not all summer loves are remembered with fondness. There’s something about a particular time, a particular place that hits during a transformation period in our lives. The journeys from childhood to adolescence and from adolescence to adulthood are special moments. Personally, the soundtrack of my life consists mainly of songs from those periods. Maybe we are most impressionable at those times, making us more vulnerable to the summer love.

I think the love story we have with our Creator is similar. Though “he is not far from each one of us” there are times and places where our hearts are more sensitive and receptive to Him.

“…he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.” (Acts 17:26-27)

How old were you when you reached out and found a relationship with God?


What transformational period was going on in your life at the time (college, marriage, etc)?

There is no greater love story than that between God and his people. So much so that marriage is used as an illustration (some would say a sacrament) of the relationship between God and his people and Jesus and his Church. In fact, the Bible begins with a marriage (Genesis 2) and ends with a marriage (Revelation 19-21). (thanks to John and Staci Eldredge’s Love and War for pointing that out!) But unlike the summer love, God’s love endures forever.

“Oh Lord, where is your former great love,
which in your faithfulness you swore to David?” (Psalm 89:49)

“The word of the LORD came to me…
‘I remember the devotion of your youth,
how as a bride you loved me
and followed me through the desert,
through a land not sown.’ “ (Jeremiah 2:1-2)

“Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands.“ (Deuteronomy 7:9)

Are you still madly in love with God? Were you ever?

Summer love is fleeting. So are our lives. “Show me, O LORD, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life.” (Psalm 39:4) So if you find yourself this season longing for a love that will last, look to God, for “God is love” (1 John 4:16) Seek Him and you will find Him.

“I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me.” (Proverbs 8:17)

Today continues this summer’s ‘virtual small group’ (VSG in the tags). I hope you come back as I take this season to reflect on the wonders of God’s creation, share vacation stories, etc, with the prayer that we come out of this season closer to God than how we came into it.

When Church Signs Lie

Frank

Normally, I’ve been reserving Tuesdays for my “virtual small group“. I haven’t been able to work out a post yet, so try again tomorrow. In the meantime, I strongly encourage you to stop over at the blog Bend the Page for a discussion on Michael Spencer’s book Mere Churchianity. Also check out the discussion at Faith, Fiction and Friends and Poems and Prayers.

My comment from the blog if you wish to discuss it here:

I think the trap of the church sign is that we, as individuals, are supposed to be the evidence of Christ’s presence. We gather as a community of believers in a “church” to worship together, to fellowship, to study, and support one another (all the “one anothers” in the NT). What I struggle with, and is evidenced by the lying church signs, is that the church too often is the end, not the means. The end should be a Christ-like life, not filled pews.

Are you investing your talents?

Frank

Yesterday I taught my last 3rd/4th grade Kid’s Kingdom (Sunday School) class. At least for a little while. Based on the curriculum, I’ve been teaching this class for four years and I know I was teaching for a while before we changed up our schedule. So I figure I’ve been at this for roughly five years with intermittent “rotations” before that. I’m ready for a break, though I am sad to give this up for a while.

This is just a season, like many others before, where either I don’t feel my needs being met or I don’t feel my spiritual gifts are being put to their best use. This time, it’s both. Between this class and my travel schedule due to work, I’ve been sorely missing out on fellowship and worship. I also don’t feel like my lessons are being received by the latest crop of kids like they have in the past.

Of course I’m not hanging it up for good, and I’m not going to go hide in a corner on Sundays and not be involved. One of my strongest convictions is based on Ephesians 4:1-16,

“But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it… It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” (Eph 4:7,11-13, emphasis added)

I strongly believe that the Body of Christ can only grow as “each part does its work” (v 16). I have the talent to bring lessons from the Bible to life in practical, applicable ways. I exercise this talent through this class, in my small group, and on this blog. I don’t say this to boast; I’m just one part of the body and this is what my part does. But as I step away from my kids’ class, I need to continue to apply this talent, or at least become more invested in the other ways I’m presently involved. I’m leaning toward the latter as I want to venture into some new territory with my small group and focus more on my writing. I felt as though I was being spread too thin, so my prayer is this move will make me more effective in these other areas.

But this decision, and my looking ahead, brings these questions to mind:

What are the talents God has given you?

How are you applying those talents to build the Body of Christ?

For reference, I think it is worth checking out the lesson Your Divine Design from Living on the Edge. That lesson has really helped me to focus my talents where I believe God has led me.

Weekend Reading, 14 August

Frank

Sometimes the look back on the week is a highlight of the many articles and blogs I read that hit me just right. Other times, there are themes that run between different posts, and it’s the theme that merits mention. This week (and stretching into last) is the latter.

First common topic, pastoring:

Meanwhile, living our faith in the public square is worth greater discussion.

Many thanks to my Twitter community, without whom I wouldn’t have found many of these posts. Hope you enjoy and that they challenge your faith and your status quo.