On the cutting edge to joy

As Liz and I were talking over dinner on a date night out, ideas were coaliscing in my mind.

We discussed being practical vs. thinking deeply. Can you be one without the other? Can you just choose to be one? When I write this I'm talking about the Church and leadership philosophy. Liz and I are on the cutting edge to joy.

I've been saving this post to talk about something new and exciting in our lives, but it turns out that a couple of other coalising ideas will be rolled into this as well. Here's the cool news: I've (we've) been asked to plant a church.

Entering the Chaplaincy it didn't occur to me that I would do some church planting, but here we are. As I interviewed with the Installation Chaplain about possible ministry slots around Ft. Bragg, the topic came up about an Army housing complex that is essentially an unreached people group and recently has been vying for some Chaplain attention.

Being a junior Captain Chaplain, business as usual for guys like me is, "Take a seat in Chapel next to several others of your rank," and the more senior leaders who have been waiting their turn run the show. And, that's o.k. Yet, this easily can slip into a "check the block" mentality when it comes to Garrison ministry. "O.K., I'll show up and do my task. I'm Justified for another week."

What I want to highlight about this is that it is joyless.

I'm currently reading 2 books by authors NOT originally from the United States: N.T. Wright, "Justification," and David Wells, "The Courage to be Protestant". When I get the time I'll be posting some book reviews.

Here's my subthesis to the post: Americans are pragmatic to a fault. The most interesting books on the Christian faith, (I believe) come to us from authors who write from a non-American angle. They are thinking more deeply, reflecting more critically. Of course it's cultural, but it's more than that. It takes time, effort, focus, and sacrifice. You have to give up comfort to get something else, a quality product. But the process produces joy! Joy doesn't come without sacrifice.

I get an email from Pastor James Emery White of Charlotte, NC. A great pastor who I consider a thinker, but made a big American mistake. Read this:

Why Don’t We Just Pick Up the Phone?

I saw him at a church conference. He lit up the stage. He was one of the most electric worship leaders I had ever seen. Young, handsome, talented…

I went after him. I had to be a bit discrete – it felt a bit like “stealing.”

In the end, I got him. I was elated. Buckle your seat-belts, church-growth world, we’re taking off. I had just nagged the up and coming worship leader at the one of the nation’s most prestigious megachurches.

In less than twenty-four months, he had been removed from ministry and placed under church discipline. He eventually left the ministry, and has never served in a church since.

Not long afterward, I interacted with the senior pastor of the church from which I had procured my wunderkind. He graciously asked how my new hire had worked out, and I had to sheepishly tell him that, well, he didn’t.

I told him the whole story.

He said, “I’m not surprised. We had been having issues with him for months. Just before he left, we had entered into some pretty serious conversations attempting to confront the very kinds of things you have had to deal with. I was deeply concerned that he simply fled to another church.”

And then he said words that have haunted me, and instructed me, ever since.

“Why didn’t you just pick up the phone and call me?”

Good question. Why didn’t I?

I didn’t like my answers: Because I thought I was pulling off a coup on another church and getting some top-notched talent and didn’t want my effort botched.

Because I had quietly bought into the idea of other churches being the competition, and this was just the blood and sweat of the contest.

Because I was blinded by the person’s talent and never bothered to explore their character. Because I wanted to bottle up that particular church’s success and add it to our own.

Pragmatism vs. theological reflection.

Who in the New Testament was on the cutting edge of joy? The Apostle Paul, both a deep thinker and pragmatic. Theologically and realistically, you can't have one without the other without compromise.

How does this all come together?

I am pumped to plant a church for God and Country. The obvious question, to self is, "Where am I going to get the time and resources from scratch?" The simple answer is God.

This was a painful week. I had to do a Memorial Ceremony for a Trooper in my Battaltion that accidently shot himself on New Years Day. (I'll spare the tragic details.) Yes, it really was an accident. He is dearly missed. It was a short week: only 4 days. But, the Ceremony was on Friday morning, meaning we only had 3 days to prepare for it, coming off Block Leave and assemblying all the key players and essential items. I could go on, how it was non-stop from other venues too. Though it was painful at times, I wouldn't trade it because it's also energizing because without sacrifice there is no joy.

My schedule is packed, and my margins are being pushed to the edge. But, it's so exciting ("the joy of the Lord is my strength") serving the Lord. The quintessential man of joy, the Apostle Paul was a thinker, and a man of ministry: an example of living life to it's fullest potential that God has given us. I pray to be like Jesus, and I hope to live like his most humble Apostle.