A little bit of Bob can go a long way.
While serving as Youth Minister at Rosewood Christian Church in Compton, CA from 1964-1965 I was asked to write a one paragraph article for the church’s weekly newsletter. That small article became “Bob’s Bit”.
“Bit” traveled with me to Eastside Christian Church in Fullerton, CA and then joined me during our first full-time ministry at the Donovan Church of Christ in Donovan, IL from 1966-1970. He recorded my weekly thoughts in Greenville, IL before traveling west to begin the new church in Kingman, AZ. After three years of in NW Arizona “Bit” moved with us for the seventeen years at Glendale Christian Church in Glendale, AZ. He took a rest from his weekly ministry when we transitioned from the First Christian Church in Anaheim, CA to our current ministry with New Mission Systems International on January 16, 1999.
Like his author, “Bit” finds no desire for retirement and has asked to return to circulation. Therefore, with the launching of our new Kuest Ministries website, “Bit” is joining us once again. I cannot promise that he will make weekly appearances, however, check back from time to time to find out what going through this gray head (oh, that’s the first time I ever admitted it).
Bob’s Bit - September 15, 2006:
Some friends recently told me about a church they visited that had a reputation for being authentic. I asked them what made it that way. Their response was that the full-bearded preacher came in late dressed in a flannel shirt and overalls that had one strap hanging down and he preached without a pulpit. On another occasion, when I was the minister in Anaheim we had a group of young people who wanted to have an evening worship that met around candlelit tables. This was to produce authentic worship. I will say that I enjoyed the atmosphere the times that I went. These events were brought to mind this week in our Home Bible Fellowship. Our discussion about The Good Samaritan came to a point where we wanted to describe a real Christian as one who does what the Samaritan did.
There is a common problem that runs through these three situations, and a thousand more through history. It is mankind’s quest for pragmatic formulas. In my mind there is absolutely nothing wrong with a man preaching God’s Word dressed in overalls. Candlelight worship is refreshing once in a while. And, Christians are told to care for the needs of others. The problem is that we experience someone’s success and we want to bottle it and market the new formula. If you want your church to grow – preach in overalls. If you want to reach young adults – worship by candlelight. If you want to be a real Christian – work where people get beat up and left for dead. The emphasis is on the formula and we begin to judge others by whether or not they follow our ideal.
A preacher standing at his closet to choose a flannel shirt is no more authentic than the preacher who wonders which shirt and tie to wear. A man dressed in a tux can be authentic. A young person who chooses to worship sitting at a table is no more authentic than the grandmother who sits in a pew singing hymns. A Maasai Christian can be authentic chanting and jumping his praise under a tree. What makes the person who feeds the homeless more authentic than the woman who cares for babies on Sunday morning?
Our discussion Wednesday night caused me to remember one of the leadership classes I had a Fuller Theological Seminary. The professor focused the class on the heart of the leader and his/her relationship with God. By the middle of the class many of the students were angry and openly confronted the teacher. One man stood up and said, “I have come to this class to learn the ABC’s of leadership and all you have done is talk about a leader’s character.” I don’t think he ever realized what he had just said.
We can trace all through the scripture the fact that God looks at a person’s heart. Success has nothing to do with dress, environment or actions. It has everything to do with a person’s heart. The overalls did not make the preacher authentic; it was his love for the Lord that was passed on to people. Candles don’t make worship authentic, but an atmosphere of grace and acceptance does – even in a cathedral. The volunteer at the food kitchen can be serving every spoonful with a holier-than-thou attitude while the woman who fills communion cups on Sunday morning pours each one with a prayer for the person who will take it that day. There are no formulas that make a person a successful leader, but every man and woman chosen by God has first had a heart for God.
Formulas for being authentic or successful will always betray us because they take the emphasis off the marker that God uses for evaluation. There will always be new formulas. Formulas can lead to pride and judging. However, God has never changed His criteria to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all you mind and with all your soul. And, love your neighbor as yourself” (Deuteronomy 6:5, Matthew 22:37-39). Let’s not be caught looking for the latest formula for being authentic or gaining success, let us concentrate on loving God and His people and see where that leads.
Bob’s Bit - September 4, 2006:
Yesterday in church, the preacher (our son) asked the congregation to respond to why people fail to see value in Christianity. All of the answers were familiar, but one hit me in a totally different way. It was the standard question, “If God is so loving, why does He allow all the killing?” I found myself saying, “Because He is so loving.”
I have not always been a strong believer in capital punishment. However, I do believe that there is one crime that should be elevated to such punishment – those who sell drugs to children. These people have destroyed more lives than most inmates on death row. I always wondered what I would do if I ever witnessed a person selling drugs to a child. And then I thought, “What would I do if I met a person selling drugs to my child or grandchild?” I am not a violent person, but I have a very jealous love for my kids. I believe if there was ever something that would drive me to ferocity, this would be it. If I had the power, I would seriously hurt the person attempting to destroy my child.
God loved Israel beyond our ability to comprehend. He calls it a jealous love (Zech 1:14). They were His chosen people. He referred to them as the apple of his eye (Zech 2:8), his treasured possession (Dt 7:6), his holy people (Dt 28:9) and his bride (Jer 2:2). God looked at the people in the land which he had promised to his children four hundred years earlier and he saw idolatry, witchcraft (by the way, the Greek word for sorcery means “the misuse of drugs’), homosexuality and child sacrifices and he said, “You are not going to bring that upon my children whom I love and I have rescued.” God had the power and ability to do something about it. He protected the children he loved. We might not understand the magnitude of it, but we can understand the motive; and, God has not changed.