Missio Dei - Following Jesus into the world

Called to Witness, not to Judge

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Beckstrom) — Tue, 21 May 2013 21:01:00 +0000

I have a new piece about whether people of other faiths can be saved on Living Lutheran. It's entitled "Called to Witness, not to Judge".

The Future of Seminary

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Beckstrom) — Wed, 08 May 2013 03:55:00 +0000

I was supposed to start my Doctor of Ministry degree at Luther Seminary this summer. But a couple of weeks ago I received a letter saying that my particular program was going to be put on hold for the year due to low enrollment numbers.

Needless to say I was disappointed but I also understand that the Seminary is going through a really challenging time financially. According to a study posted on the blog of one of our ELCA Bishops, my Seminary is not alone in facing these challenges.

There are many sobering realities in the report. Clearly Seminary education is not going to look the same in the future as it has in the recent past. The Seminary system has changed very little over the last one hundred years while Church participation has been declining. Obviously something had to give and it seems the Seminary system has blinked first.

In truth the American College and University system has also changed very little over this time period and a potential showdown looms for them as the number of High School graduates has now plateaued. Colleges have been able to expand their course offerings to attract more students however. Seminaries typically don't have that flexibility because like most graduate schools they have a narrowed focus.

What does the future hold? Well, recently several ELCA seminaries have merged (or are merging) with ELCA Colleges, a trend that is likely to continue. Such arrangements allow for sharing of costs and other administrative advantages. The proliferation of online Seminary courses will also likely continue.

I have mixed feelings about all of this. On the one hand there is something really significant about being part of a residential Seminary community. According to the report many young people see value in this experience as well. Recent College graduates are the only group that is increasing on Seminary campuses. I still don't think this will be enough to "save" the current form of Seminary education. Although that is sad it might also be necessary. Times have changed and so must we.

The Church's Perfect Storm

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Beckstrom) — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 14:30:00 +0000

Just came across an article by Thom Rainer called "Autopsy of a Deceased Church: 11 Things I learned". Essentially it's the story of a recently closed Church that Thom consulted for and some observations about why it may have died.

There are some really good insights in the article about the correlation between the Church's decline and its increasingly inward focus. Here are the findings from the autopsy...

The church refused to look like the community. The community began a transition toward a lower socioeconomic class thirty years ago, but the church members had no desire to reach the new residents. The congregation thus became an island of middle-class members in a sea of lower-class residents.
The church had no community-focused ministries. This part of the autopsy may seem to be stating the obvious, but I wanted to be certain. My friend affirmed my suspicions. There was no attempt to reach the community.
Members became more focused on memorials. Do not hear my statement as a criticism of memorials. Indeed, I recently funded a memorial in memory of my late grandson. The memorials at the church were chairs, tables, rooms, and other places where a neat plaque could be placed. The point is that the memorials became an obsession at the church. More and more emphasis was placed on the past.
The percentage of the budget for members’ needs kept increasing. At the church’s death, the percentage was over 98 percent.
There were no evangelistic emphases. When a church loses its passion to reach the lost, the congregation begins to die.
The members had more and more arguments about what they wanted. As the church continued to decline toward death, the inward focus of the members turned caustic. Arguments were more frequent; business meetings became more acrimonious.
With few exceptions, pastoral tenure grew shorter and shorter. The church had seven pastors in its final ten years. The last three pastors were bi-vocational. All of the seven pastors left discouraged.
The church rarely prayed together. In its last eight years, the only time of corporate prayer was a three-minute period in the Sunday worship service. Prayers were always limited to members, their friends and families, and their physical needs.
The church had no clarity as to why it existed. There was no vision, no mission, and no purpose.
The members idolized another era. All of the active members were over the age of 67 the last six years of the church. And they all remembered fondly, to the point of idolatry, was the era of the 1970s. They saw their future to be returning to the past.
The facilities continued to deteriorate. It wasn’t really a financial issue. Instead, the members failed to see the continuous deterioration of the church building. Simple stated, they no longer had “outsider eyes.”

When a congregation becomes inwardly focused it almost always means death. Thom's article encouraged me to evaluate our ministries according to this standard and think about where we've become inwardly focused.

Although there is some great stuff in the article I think it fails to take into account an important factor...the context for ministry has changed greatly since the congregation's glory days in the 1970's. It isn't merely the inward focus of many congregations that are leading to their demise. Any good Doctor would tell you that disease is caused by a host of both personal and contextual factors. Our changing culture along with the inward focus of many congregations has created a "perfect storm" and many will not survive.

On the same day that Thom Rainer's article was posted Diana Butler Bass posted a piece called "The Future of Faith" which acknowledges these complexities. Acknowledging the changing cultural landscape, particularly the rise of the religiously unaffiliated, she gives this advice to congregations.

I suggest that those who care about that their churches survive to the future try something new: Listen to the new voices, hear what is being said about conventional religiosity and church life, and change thoughtfully and wisely. Right now, the church does not need to convert the world. Rather, the world needs to convert the church. The unaffiliated, I suspect, would like to see a more humble form of faith from churches and denominations, an active, authentic way of life in line with biblical practices of hospitality, forgiveness, friendship, service and generosity.

The challenges facing the contemporary Church are not technical problems that merely require a recalibration of current congregational operating practices. This is an adaptive challenge that requires us to take into account not only our own actions but what is going on around us. Ironically a Church can be "outwardly focused" without actually listening to its community and its changing realities.

One of the things I think the Church needs to do is stop referring to those who don't belong (as Thom's article does) as "the lost". This pejorative term is demeaning and reinforces the idea that the Church has all the answers and anyone who isn't part of it is to be pitied.

We also need to get away from this preoccupation with our own survival. This just reinforces the idea that Churches see people as commodities to be used to keep the doors open. One could argue that such behavior is just another example of the inwardness that Thom is critiquing.

Jesus once said that in order to save your life you must be willing to lose it. Maybe that is true for the contemporary Church as well?

Sermon: Why Go To Church?

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Beckstrom) — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 19:24:00 +0000

This sermon was preached on Sunday, April 14th 2013 at the Wartburg Chapel. We were celebrating the completion of our catechumenal process "The Way of Jesus". Seventeen students and one faculty member affirmed their Baptism and we baptized one of our Seniors. It was a good day.

Text: "The Walk to Emmaus" Luke 24:13-35

Sometimes being a Pastor feels kind of like being a rare or exotic animal…people know Pastors exist but they don't expect to encounter one outside of the their natural habitat, a Church building...

This is less true in the Upper Midwest than it was in my first call in Phoenix Arizona…In Phoenix many people were so disconnected from the Church that they had never met a Pastor before...so when they they met one they just acted like themselves which was actually kind of refreshing...

Many people in the Midwest are also disconnected from the Church...they may only occasionally attend but they were probably raised in some sort of faith community...So when they encounter a Pastor they often get a rather guilty look on their faces…and they proceed to confess that they don't actually go to Church much, as if somehow I will know this, followed by a list of the reasons why...These reasons range from sad and painful stories about being hurt by the Church…to somewhat trivial things like “I don’t like the new carpet in the sanctuary”…but most often they admit that going to Church doesn’t do much for them…they feel as if they can just as easily worship God on their own…that they encounter God in the beauty of a sunrise or a good conversation with a friend…Which is true, you can encounter God anywhere, but there still are compelling reasons to be part of a Church community...

It’s no secret that more and more people are dropping out of Church…usually for the reasons mentioned above…In fact there are now as many “none’s” in the US, people not affiliated with any religious tradition, as there are mainline Protestants…a group which includes older denominations like the Lutheran. Methodist, Episcopal, and Presbyterian Churches to name a few…and it isn’t just these older denominations that are losing members, every single denomination in the US is now in decline…

And contrary to popular belief these individuals have not lost their faith…in fact most report that they still believe most of what they learned growing up…what they’ve lost is a desire to be part of a Church community…

Today’s Gospel story supports the notion that God can be found anywhere…two of Jesus’ disciples are returning home from Jerusalem where they have just witnessed the public execution of their leader…understandably they are a bit dispirited but when they encounter a stranger on the road they invite him to join their group…as they walk along they are astonished to discover that this stranger seems to know nothing about what has been going on in Jerusalem…he doesn’t know about the trial and execution of Jesus…and certainly hasn’t heard the rumor that Jesus has been raised from the dead…

But then the conversation gets a little weird…because when they tell the stranger all about these things he scolds them…saying…don’t you get it…this is what the prophets and Jesus himself said would happen…and he begins to proclaim to them the story about how the messiah must suffer and die, then be raised on the third day…

Eventually they get to their destination and the stranger looks to continue onward but they prevail upon him to stay with them and have dinner…and it is there, during dinner, when the stranger blesses and breaks the bread, that they realize that they are having dinner with Jesus…who then disappears…and as they think about what they experienced on the road and at the table with him they say to themselves…were not our hearts burning within us when he opened the scriptures to us…

This encounter with Jesus doesn’t happen in a temple or other sort of Church building…but there is no doubt that these two disciples of Jesus have been to worship…they encountered the risen Christ in an unlikely place…and no doubt it changed their lives forever…

But strangely enough…although this encounter didn’t take place in a Church building…it is a powerful an example of why the Church is still relevant for us today…You see we gather together for worship for three things…

The first is because we need to be in the company of other disciples…Like in today's story you rarely saw the disciples of Jesus by themselves...They almost always were with other disciples...they interacted often with people who were not believers but they spent a lot of time together as well...there seems to be something important about being part of a community of disciples…

Secondly we gather to remember who we are by hearing God’s word proclaimed…Jesus did this on the road to Emmaus...he opened the scriptures to the two disciples and explained many things about why he had to suffer and die...he used the scriptures to proclaim the good news of the Gospel...Hearing the word is important because it creates in us a sense of identity and belonging...just as a family tells stories to develop its sense of identity…we tell stories to one another through scripture…stories that shape and mold us…connecting us with those who have gone before us and giving us guidance for the future…

And finally, we gather together to receive God’s grace through the sacraments…It was in the breaking of the bread that the disciples in today's story recognized Jesus...so too we gather together weekly because we know that Jesus promises to show up in the breaking of the bread, the sharing of the cup…and in the waters of baptism…You can find God in lots of places...but it makes sense to show up in places we know Jesus is to be found...namely in the sacraments...

Over the past year Pastor Ramona and I have had the privilege of walking with a group of students who have been exploring their call to live as disciples of Jesus…learning his way of loving god, loving self, and loving others…

They did this by committing to gather together weekly to be formed as disciples of Jesus through community, word, and sacrament...

If someone had looked in our weekly meetings probably wouldn’t have said…oh, they’re having Church…but over the course of this process we have become Church…a community of disciples committed to God’s work in the world…shaped by God’s story and nourished through the sacraments...

The Baptism and affirmation of Baptism that they participate in today is both an end and a beginning…it’s an end to this part of their journey, but also a new beginning for them as leaders of Christ’s Church…

We are so proud of each of you...it has been a privilege to walk with you as you have grown and matured int he faith…We look forward to seeing what God does through you in the future...both here on this campus and in the world that God loves...Amen.

Lent: Fitting our lives into God

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Beckstrom) — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 08:28:00 +0000

Sorry for my lack of posts recently. We're int he process of moving to a home we bought in Waverly and have been a bit busy!

Speaking of busy, I do have a new post up at Living Lutheran about the challenges of keeping a holy Lent in the midst of our culture of busyness. Check it out if you have a chance.

Pluralism and public witness

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Beckstrom) — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 23:34:00 +0000

After he participated in an interfaith memorial service for the Sandy Hook Elementary students a Lutheran Church Missouri Synod Pastor was asked to apologize to the LCMS for worshipping with non Christians. The request came from the LCMS President and elicited the requested apology from the Newtown Connecticut Pastor. He apologized not for participating in the service but for causing offense to others in the Church. A minor but important distinction.

I honestly am confused about the reason for this apology and fear it may further antagonize those who judge the Church to be unwelcoming. Perhaps its hard for me to understand the concern because of my location outside the tradition.

From my perspective I don't see interfaith worship services as expressions of theological agreement. I think its possible to worship together without minimizing differences. In fact I think it is imperative to do so. It seems to me that this was a pastoral act intended to help a community heal rather than a statement of theological agreement.

If the Pastor had held a service in his Church just for those who were members to help them heal, wouldn't that send the message that the Church exists only for those who are already part of the club?
The real threat to the Gospel in this situation isn't theological compromise but rather the inability to live out the Good News.

I know that there are many LCMS members and Pastors that are also frustrated by this. There are also legitimate questions about whether this is merely an internal matter for the lcms. The bigger question however is whether there can be a distinction between internal and external issues for the church? I'm not sure there is... But that question requires some more thought.

(This is an edited version of my original post. I'm grateful to a colleague who rightly pointed out that some of the original language and conclusions were rather harsh. I apologize for allowing my frustration get the better of me.)

Colleges And Consumerism

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Beckstrom) — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 20:44:00 +0000

I was really surprised to see an article recently from Mark Cuban, flamboyant owner of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks, about the future of higher education. Usually Cuban is known for getting fined by the league for his post game comments rather than offering social analysis.

In the article Cuban makes some interesting observations about Higher Education from his perspective as a business person. He begins by arguing that College is still a good idea for students. He writes,

I've been getting a lot of questions from high school kids asking whether or not they should go to college. The answer is Yes.

College is where you find out about yourself. It's where you learn how to learn. It's where you get exposure to new ideas. For those into business, it's where you learn the languages of business, accounting, finance, marketing and sales.

He goes on from there to question the financial model of American Higher education, arguing that schools are taking on too much debt to improve their campuses resulting in perpetual tuition hikes.

I couldn't agree with him more on that point. Colleges are investing way too much money in new and updated facilities in order to attract students. Cuban fails to see the connection between these two factors however. The truth is that Colleges and Universities are mostly tuition driven, meaning their endowments are not large enough to meet their budgets. They depend on tuition revenue for almost everything, so when enrollment drops trouble is on the horizon.

The issue is that to attract students Colleges need to offer competitive financial aid packages and facilities. When one College builds a beautiful new building it creates a ripple effect, all its competitors feel they too need a new building on order to compete.

And this pressure is exacerbated by the skyrocketing expectations of prospective students and families. The relationship between the rising costs of higher education and student's expectations is rarely recognized. It's not at all unusual to hear a student complain about the quality of their residence hall and in the next breath complain that tuition is too high.

Strangely Cuban goes on to suggest that students need to become better consumers in order to get the best education for the least amount of money. He advocates taking classes as cheaply as possible from a variety of sources and transferring when there is a better deal to be had.

This mindset may work at the grocery store. But if the College experience is about "finding yourself" and "learning how to learn" as Cuban argues, it's hard to believe that jumping around to different institutions for every class is really going to fulfill its purpose.

Now I realize that to some extent this is already happening. Students often take introductory courses at cheaper Colleges over the summer, or enroll in online courses. And there is no doubt that Colleges need to find ways to curb rising tuition.

But it seems to me that consumerism is the problem rather than the solution to higher education's woes. Until Colleges can get themselves out of the construction arms race things are not likely to improve. But tit's going to take sacrifices from both students and Colleges.

Making Disciples

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Beckstrom) — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 02:37:00 +0000

I just returned from the ELCA Youth Ministry Network's annual Extravaganza in California. The ELCA College Chaplains and Campus Pastors met concurrently with the Extravaganza which provided some great opportunities for building bridges between our two groups.

The theme for this year was "Faith Formation in a Missional Age", essentially talking about how we help young people become the disciples that God has created them to be. In light of recent research that has revealed the propensity of Mainline Protestant young people to leave the faith this topic was indeed timely.

Progressive Mainline Churches are really bad at making disciples. Our Evangelical brothers and sisters talk about discipleship all the time but we seldom do so. Instead we tend to bemoan the many challenges we have in keeping our young people (technology, busyness, sports, etc) without acknowledging the elephant in the room...we aren't intentional about discipleship.

Elizabeth Drescher points this out in a post entitled "The Internet is not Killing Organized Religion". We can make all the excuses we want about the challenges we face but we need to face the fact that most mainline Churches have no plan for how to disciple young people.

This has got to change.

Why do Churches die?

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Beckstrom) — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 14:38:00 +0000

Why do some Churches die?

Demographic shifts: Many Churches were built to serve populations that simply no longer exist.
Inward focus: As Churches age they tend to become focused on institutional preservation rather than mission. Maintaining aging buildings and trying to keep the membership happy leads to stagnation. The alternative is missional engagement.
Contextual irrelevance: This is really another way of talking about changing demographics. As neighborhoods and populations change many Churches are unable to adapt to these new realities.

Why do some Churches thrive?

Really it all comes back to adaptability and missional vitality. Churches that can adapt to changing demographics and find new ways to be relevant tend to survive. They may never be as big as they were in their glory years but they can find new ways to do mission and ministry.

Sometimes Churches need to die. That's the hard truth in all of this. Death is a part of life and individual congregations are not immortal. Fortunately the broader Church continues to persevere even when everything else is changing.

This video explains many of these ideas through the lens of the Canadian Church. The speaker rightly points out that the news is not all grim. Each Sunday there are more people worshipping in Churches than see an NHL game in an entire year. In Canada that is indeed saying something.

The Grace of Teaching

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Beckstrom) — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 22:54:00 +0000

One of my colleagues shared this wonderful piece "The Lesson of Grace in Teaching" on Facebook today. I have no idea what the author's religious beliefs might be, but there is no doubt that his words are a glimpse of what the Kingdom of God looks like.

Sermon: Leading a Life that Matters (Luke 2:41-50)

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Beckstrom) — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 04:48:00 +0000

The Wartburg Chapel
1/13/13 (Scholarship Day)
Luke 2:41-50

Introduction: Home Alone
Mary, the Mother of Jesus, is a major figure in the Christmas story…but shortly thereafter we tend to forget about her until Jesus is dying on the cross…then as the grief stricken Mother she again assumes an important role before once again fading into oblivion…

Today’s story is one of the few exceptions to this reality…we get a glimpse of both Jesus and his parents when he is about 12 years old…The family has traveled to Jerusalem for the annual Passover festival…and when I say family I don’t just mean the nuclear family that we usually think of…in those times one’s family was much more broadly defined…Jesus, Mary, and Joseph would have been traveling with a whole contingent of family members…Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, etc…which puts the seemingly neglectful behavior of his parents, who leave him in Jerusalem and don’t realize he isn’t gone until they’ve journeyed a whole day toward home a bit more understandable…

When I picture this scene in my mind I can’t help but think of the movie home alone which my kids make me watch every Christmas…I’d imagine that the confusion of traveling with a large extended family was for Mary and Joseph like the family in the movie…waking up late on the morning of their departure for France they frantically rush around trying to get out the door…there are people and luggage everywhere…I don’t know if Mary and Joseph put someone in charge of counting all the kids to make sure that they were accounted for, but if I’ve learned anything from Home Alone it’s that even the best parents in such circumstances can make mistakes…

Whatever the case…like the young boy in the movie Jesus is left “Home Alone”…although instead of being left in a palatial home in suburban Chicago he ends up “Home Alone” in his Father’s house, the temple in Jerusalem…

When Mary and Joseph realize that Jesus is missing they rush back to Jerusalem…Luke provides scant details about their frantic searching for their Son…but you can imagine their terror…They begin looking for him everywhere except the one place he is…in the Temple….Their search goes on for several more days before they think to look in the Temple…And when they find Jesus in the temple he is calmly sitting with the priests and worshippers…engaging in a little question and answer…Luke tells us that everyone in the Temple was amazed at his understanding and wisdom…

But Mary isn’t amazed…she’s irritated…and showing a remarkable amount of restraint she simply says to him…” “Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety.”

Losing a Child
Like any parent I have a great deal of sympathy for Mary…when you lose a child the anxiety is almost unbearable…and when you find them you feel a strange mixture of relief and anger…after all they’ve just put you through hell…

I have lost my daughter Linnea several times over the years…She is a bit of a free spirit and will wander off at a moment’s notice when she sees something interesting…I will never forget one particular time that I lost her…

She was about 4 years old at the time…and I had quickly learned that whenever we were in a public place I needed to keep a hold of her hand…Nonetheless one day I took her and her brother to the mall…we walked in through one of the department store entrances and as usual I had a firm grasp on her hand…But almost as soon as we walked into the store she wrenched her hand free while my head was turned…and when I turned to see what was going on I saw her plunging into an area of the store filled with winter coats…her little four year old legs carrying her as fast as they could…

I wasn’t happy…but I figured that at least I knew where she had gone and could catch up with her…but unfortunately the coat racks were packed so tightly together and she was so short that I couldn’t see where she had gone…my Son and I immediately plunged in after her calling her name…but she was nowhere to be found…it was as if she had simply vanished into a forest of down coats and furry hoods…frantically we searched…my anxiety growing as each minute passed…

Finally we had searched the whole section and still hadn’t found her…and I started to panic…what had happened to her? What if she had been abducted…or realized she was lost and was just as frantic as I was…

At this point almost 20 minutes had passed and I realized we weren’t going to find her…My Son and I frantically accosted one of the store employees who joined us in looking for her…she also called the store’s security team…and soon a code yellow had been called…and the entire store was on lock down…sales associates were positioned at every exit to make sure no one left…

After about 10 minutes of this the employee that was helping us got a call that Linnea had been found…she was up in the store security office…Relief flooded through me…quickly followed by another emotion…anger…did she realize what she had just put us through?

My Son and I made our way up the stairs to the office not sure if we would find her just as frantic as us…but when we walked into the office we found her calmly sitting on a chair in the lobby, looking relaxed with her legs crossed and a drink in her hand…Hi Daddy…she said nonchalantly with a smile…completely unaware that she had just put me through the 30 scariest minutes of my life…

Mary’s Reaction
The mixture of anger and relief that I experienced when we found Linnea is probably pretty similar to what Mary felt when she found Jesus in the temple…Like my daughter Jesus seems oblivious to the distress he has caused his parents…In fact he’s confused that they didn’t know where he was…”Didn’t you know that I must be in my Father’s house?” he asks innocently…

His parents don’t seem to understand what he means by this…but it doesn’t appear that they punish him either…Luke simply tells us that he returned home to Nazareth with his parents and was obedient to them…and as Mary reflects on the image of her Son so at ease talking to the Rabbi’s and leaders of the temple…we’re told that she “treasured all these things in her heart”…

Mary’s reaction is pretty amazing…She is able to put aside her fear and anger about her Son’s disappearance…and even treasure his actions in her heart…let me tell you it was a long time before I treasured anything about my Daughter’s disappearance in my heart…

But truthfully this scene between Jesus and his mother may not be as extraordinary as we might think…what Jesus is doing in this text is something that all kids do…establishing his identity…distinguishing who he is from his family…Psychologists call this process differentiation…and in fact kids need to differentiate themselves from their families in order to be healthy…maybe Jesus could have done it in a better way…but he is clearly announcing to his family…this is who I am…this is what I’m about…this is my vocation…my reason for existence…

That becomes even more apparent when we look at his words…which by the way are the first words that Jesus speaks in the Gospel…The original Greek of the text is hard to translate into English…and the word “house” doesn’t actually appear in the Greek…scholars have simply tried to do their best with the passage…another acceptable translation would be…”Don’t you know that I must be about my Father’s business”…In other words…the purpose of my life is to do my Father’s work…

Leading a Life that Matters
Now I probably don’t need to tell you students, or parents, how difficult and painful the process of differentiation can be…It’s hard to step out on your own and say “this is who I think I am”…and it’s every bit as hard for parents to let the children they love do that…But there is something important we can take away from this text in terms of doing that…

Mary is able to treasure Jesus’ identity in her heart, nto because she wholly approves of it…in fact I think that if there was anyway she could have talked Jesus out of dying on a cross she would have done it…She may not want to accept his calling to be about his Father’s business…but she does respect it…she respects it because He has chosen a life that matters…

So, how about you students? How will you be about your Father’s business? How is your life going to matter?

And Parents, what do you want for your kids? Can you accept their choices as long as they are leading a life that matters?

Amen.

New Year's Resolutions

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Beckstrom) — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 23:42:00 +0000

It's that time of year again. Time to make promises that sound great, but most likely won't be kept :)

Ever wonder why it's so hard to make and keep New Year's resolutions? I think it has something to do with the way we make them.

If you'd like to read more, check out my latest blog posting on Living Lutheran, "Resolve to live a better story in 2013".

Then go check out this great free web site from "Blue Like Jazz" author Don Miller. It will help you get started on some resolutions that you might actually keep!

New Blog about young adults

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Beckstrom) — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 16:14:00 +0000

I've started a new blog focused on "Helping the Church understand young adults and young adults understand the Church". However I will continue to blog at Missio Dei about theology, Church, and life.

I started this new blog (which will feature posts from other writers as well) to focus more intentionally on young adult ministries. It's a subject that is near to my heart and one that I am well positioned to talk about because of my work on a college campus.

I hope you'll continue to read Missio Dei and join the new conversation at "Sitting here in Limbo"! Thanks for your readership.

Links for 2012-12-16 [del.icio.us]

Mon, 17 Dec 2012 00:00:00 PST

The Decline of Evangelical America - NYTimes.com

Links for 2012-12-15 [del.icio.us]

Sun, 16 Dec 2012 00:00:00 PST

Should I Go or Stay? Three Questions and Resources for Discerning a New Call - Pastor Keith Anderson, A Lutheran Pastor Blogging about Digital Ministry, Social Media, and Church Leadership

Links for 2012-12-07 [del.icio.us]

Sat, 08 Dec 2012 00:00:00 PST

The Disciplined Pursuit of Less - Greg McKeown - Harvard Business Review

The Power of Language

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Beckstrom) — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 21:04:00 +0000

The language we use to describe our faith is incredibly important, but it's not as straightforward as we might think. Language has a way of shaping our beliefs and practices in profound ways. It also can be either welcoming or unwelcoming depending on our cultural background and social location.

I'm currently in the process of reading Kendra Creasy-Dean's excellent book "Almost Christian". It's based on a massive research project that examined the faith of teenagers. Creasy-Dean has a whole section on the importance of language for faith development. In order for young people to have a consequential faith they need language to express it. The research about the faith of teenagers indicates that most young people (and the majority of adults) lack such a theological vocabulary.

What often ends up happening is that popular religious language (which is usually the language of conservative Protestantism) ends up filling this void. It's somewhat amazing to hear the theological jargon of conservative Protestantism coming from the mouths of students from Catholic and Mainline Protestant traditions, but we hear that quite often among our students.

The problem with theological language is that it begins to seep into our consciousness without our realizing it. For example much of the popular worship music that one hears in a contemporary worship service expresses a generic evangelical theology that is either outdated or overly individualistic. (See this excellent clip from NT Wright about worship music).

Oftentimes students will use this theological language because they have no other way to communicate. But when they think about the theological implications of such concepts (the atonement is a big one) they are usually horrified by the concepts they've been using.

By no means am I innocent of casually using language without thinking what it communicates. Just today a colleague identified some language that I often use that tends to draw distinctions between insiders and outsiders. We're never going to be perfect when it comes to our usage of language, but it's an incredibly important thing to be aware of.

Saint Nick and Santa Claus

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Beckstrom) — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 16:21:00 +0000

I have a new article about Santa Claus and Saint Nick over at the Living Lutheran blog. Today, December 6th, is the festival of Saint Nicholas.

Pause for Peace - An Advent Chapel Sermon (12/5/12)

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Beckstrom) — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 21:10:00 +0000

Isaiah 2:2-4

In days to come the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; all the nations shall stream to it. Many peoples shall come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

When I was serving as a Pastor in Phoenix before coming to Wartburg I often found myself introducing people to concepts from the Church Year like Advent…Many of the people I worked with had little to no experience with Church…their sense of time had been shaped almost exclusively by the secular calendar…they were accustomed to thinking of that time merely as pre Christmas…

But the idea that Advent is something besides Pre Christmas is remarkably countercultural even for Christians…We too are shaped by the rhythms of secular culture…a culture which measures the time after Thanksgiving in terms of the number of shopping days left until Christmas…

Sometimes I will admit that I wonder if Advent is really still relevant for people’s lives…but whenever I start feeling that way some event comes along to remind me that having a season dedicated to going slower and embracing peace is just as relevant as it’s ever been…

I had one of those moments this past Sunday…I had just returned from worship where we celebrated the First Sunday of Advent and turned on the Packers game…The words murder suicide in the news feed at the bottom of the screen caught my attention…and it was then that I learned that last Saturday a Kansas City Chiefs player had killed his girlfriend and then himself at the team’s practice complex…That news was stunning in and of itself…what was even more stunning was the fact that the Chiefs game was being played as I read those words…and I wasn’t actually surprised…

Now when I say I wasn't surprised, it's not because I was on some sort of moral high horse...What I mean is that it didn't even occur to me to question why the game was being played... one would think that if there was ever a reason for a game to be postponed…for us to take a step back and reflect…an NFL player murdering his girlfriend, then killing himself at the teams headquarters, while his coach tried to talk him out of it…would be it…but that never even occurred to me.

It was only later when I read an article about the incident that I actually stopped long enough to consider that maybe it shouldn’t have been played…I want to read to you an excerpt from that excellent article by Kansas City Sports Columnist Jason Whitlock…He writes,

You may argue that we all grieve differently. You may argue that playing the game is the best way to move on and heal. You may argue that canceling or delaying the game would serve no purpose and would be unfair to the fans who traveled to Kansas City to see Cam Newton and the Panthers play the Chiefs.

I would argue that your rationalizations speak to how numb we are in this society to gun violence and murder. We’ve come to accept our insanity. We’d prefer to avoid seriously reflecting upon the absurdity of the prevailing notion that the second amendment somehow enhances our liberty rather than threatens it.

How many young people have to die senselessly? How many lives have to be ruined before we realize the right to bear arms doesn’t protect us from a government equipped with stealth bombers, predator drones, tanks and nuclear weapons?

Our current gun culture simply ensures that more and more domestic disputes will end in the ultimate tragedy, and that more convenience-store confrontations over loud music coming from a car will leave more teenage boys bloodied and dead.

After reading those words I was reminded of just how culturally relevant Advent truly is…How could it not be?

As Whitlock notes…we are a people, living in a culture of violence…too busy, or too numb, to do anything about it…and yet here we have Advent…a time to slow down…to examine our lives…to embrace countercultural concepts like peace…and yes…even to repent…

It may seem a bit melodramatic to say this…but after I read Whitlock's article I realized that I had heard a prophet speak…because after all…what is a prophet…but someone who speaks the truth to us so plainly that it stops us in our tracks and causes us to rethink our lives…

Today with the words of Jason Whitlock and the Prophet Isaiah ringing in our ears…we are reminded that Advent isn’t just a quaint vestige of the past…we pause during Advent for a very important reason…because we so desperately need it…

We pause to marvel at the wonder of God coming to earth as an infant…
We pause to be reminded that clocks and calendars, and even the game of football, aren’t our God’s…We pause to remember how good it is to actually experience life…

And most of all today, in the wake of violence and tragedy…we pause to pray for peace…peace in Kansas City, peace in Waverly, IA, Peace in Palestine…Peace for all the world…

After all that’s what Advent is all about, isn't it?…Amen.

Religionless Christianity

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Beckstrom) — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 22:22:00 +0000

Our wonderful Bonhoeffer scholar Dr. Jenny McBride preached in Chapel this morning. It's always a treat to hear Jenny and today was no exception. She's kind of a big fan of the German Pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer so it's no surprise that she referenced his work...connecting the Magnificat with Bonhoeffer's call for "religionless Christianity".

Religionless Christianity is a Bonhoeffer concept that has always eluded me so I spent some time looking at it more this afternoon. It's found in Bonhoeffer's "Letters and Papers from Prison" in which he is grappling with a German Church that has been essentially co opted by the Nazi regime. Bonhoeffer wonders how a Church full of people familiar with the teachings of Jesus could allow the Nazi's to gain power and do so little to oppose them?

After reflecting on the situation in Germany Bonhoeffer began to argue that "religion" has become a set of beliefs disembodied from practice and action. He finally wonders whether "religion" can or even should be saved. In fact he anticipates a future without religion.

We are moving towards a completely religionless time; people as they are now simply cannot be religious anymore. Even those who honestly describe themselves as 'religious' do not in the least act up to it, and so they presumably mean something quite different by 'religious'...

But this isn't the kind of simplistic critique of religion that we so often hear today. Bonhoeffer isn't saying that we ought to abandon religion because it's the cause of every human conflict. I think Bonhoeffer would say that superficial religion is often used as an excuse for human sinfulness, which is quite different from dismissing every supernatural belief. If anything Bonhoeffer is calling for a more radically transcendent way of life that actually strives to see God's will be done "on earth as it is in heaven" (thanks Jenny for that phrase).

This talk of religionless Christianity is challenging and exciting. It's exciting because it casts off anything that would seek to domesticate Jesus and the Gospel. It's scary because it seems to give up any hope the Church will claim and fulfill its calling in the world.

The one flaw I see with Bonhoeffer's concept of religionless Christianity is that it tears down an admittedly imperfect institution (the Church) but offers nothing in its place. While I agree with Bonhoeffer's call for radical discipleship I can see how easily it might devolve into mere individualism. Without common language, stories, ritual, and traditions what holds people together? What inspires accountability?

One could argue that the Church doesn't do the greatest job at these things either, but there has to be some alternative. And once an alternative is offered, how long will it be before it too becomes just as institutionalized and unresponsive?

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Sat, 01 Dec 2012 00:00:00 PST

Out of Ur: Ur Video: N.T. Wright on Worship Music

"Organized" Religion

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Beckstrom) — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 05:27:00 +0000

I came across this news story today via a friend's Facebook feed. Apparently not many people like "organized religion" which is surprisingly still shocking to some in the Church, but in my humble opinion is almost not newsworthy (which is probably why I didn't come across this article until four months after it was published).

Saying you don't believe in organized religion has become almost cliche. It's like saying you don't believe in clubbing baby seals or kicking puppies...you don't need to voice your disapproval because it kind of goes without saying. I don't know anyone who is out there claiming that religion needs more organizing. Whatever that means.

Typically I find that there are two types of reactions to reports like this one. There are those who say that the Church is doomed because organized religion has fallen from favor, and those who argue that things aren't really as dire as the data seems to suggest. But as this article demonstrates neither of these reactions is actually based in reality.

Anyone who has been involved with the Church that says we don't have a problem is delusional. The decline in Church participation is indisputable and well documented across the theological spectrum (See Diana Butler Bass' book "Christianity after Religion" in particular).

But what often follows such a reality check is an assertion that the massive wave of secularization that was first predicted in the 1960's has finally come to pass. Underlying this argument is the assumption that the Church is in decline because people have finally become too rational to buy all that supernatural stuff.

But again the data is very clear. Although people's confidence in the Church as an institution has decreased, the importance of faith in people's lives remains quite strong. The authors of the article note,

While various sex abuse scandals involving U.S. clerics have likely played a role in Americans' growing skepticism about the church and organized religion, the decline in confidence does not necessarily indicate a decline in Americans' personal attachment to religion. The percentage of Americans saying religion is very important in their lives has held fairly steady since the mid-1970s, after dropping sharply from 1952 levels.

Furthermore when one digs deeper into the research we discover that it isn't just the Church that has a problem, Americans have lost faith in almost all their cultural institutions, "The same poll found Americans' confidence in public schools, banks, and television news at their all-time lowest, perhaps reflecting a broader souring of Americans' confidence in societal institutions in 2012."

I certainly have seen this on campus. Although we're fortunate to have fairly good attendance at worship there are still plenty of empty seats in the Chapel. This causes quite a bit of consternation but the fact is that participation in nearly all "organized" campus events has declined. Recently our student newspaper did a story on the precipitous drop in student attendance at our annual "Big Event" which usually features a well known entertainer. The same is true at athletic events and really anything in which participation is optional.

So it seems to me that the real question here is why are so many people turned off by "organized" events? This challenge is bigger than just the Church, it affects nearly every social institution imaginable. I can't say that I have any clear idea what the root causes are. But I will say this. I think every "organization" and institution needs to be thinking creatively about this new reality. And while our first reaction may be to berate the apathy of our fellow citizens that really isn't productive. We need to think more creatively than that.

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Sat, 03 Nov 2012 00:00:00 PDT

Acts 29 and Matt Chandler (Part 2 of 3) | Till He Comes

Can I preach the sermon next time?

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Beckstrom) — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 21:34:00 +0000

One of our students posted on Facebook about an experience in class this morning. During a lecture one of his classmates asked the Professor, "Can I teach the next class? Your lectures make me feel really uninvolved".

No, I'm not kidding. This actually happened.

I've never heard about anything like this. It doesn't surprise me that students sometimes think that they could do a better job teaching the class than their Professor is doing, but it's rare to hear someone actually voice that sentiment to a Professor.

There's no doubt that this statement was unhelpful and probably really hurtful to the Professor. Our faculty work incredibly hard to educate our students. We might even say that the student demonstrated quite a bit of hubris in making such a claim. Most of us old people could never imagine making such a statement to a Professor because we were actually kind of scared of our College Professors.

But if we can get past our initial reactions toward the incident we can see that it also reveals some interesting insights about doing ministry with young adults. Here are a couple of things that I have noticed in working with today's College students...

#1) Some students greatly overestimate their abilities.

It's no secret that young people are often impatient with their elders, and sometimes for good reason. Their ideas are often ignored or dismissed simply because of their age. But there are an increasing number of students who really don't believe that they have anything to learn. Students are often in a hurry to get out into the "real world" and use their gifts. What they often don't realize is that maturity and self awareness are just as important as great ideas.

#2) Some students greatly underestimate their abilities.
Okay, I know this contradicts my first point, but it's true. There are plenty of students who don't believe in themselves even though they have so much to share. They doubt whether they can really make a difference when it comes to the needs of the world, usually because they look at things from a macro perspective. While it's true that they may not be capable of single handedly solving world hunger that doesn't mean that they can't make a difference in their own community.

In the Leadership Institute at Wartburg we use this definition for leadership... “Taking responsibility for our communities, and making them better through public action.” I love that definition because it helps students see that we are called to use our gifts wherever God has planted us. You don't have to win the Nobel prize to make a difference.

#3) Students want to be participants.
I consider myself to be a pretty good preacher, but it didn't take me long to realize that I can't preach the same way to College students that I do to older people. Generally speaking College students want to be participants in worship rather than spectators. I've had to check my ego a bit and realize that no matter how good a sermon might be, I still need to find ways to involve students in my preaching. That means time for reflection, discussion, and other active and creative ways to get them engaged. ( I should mention that knowing the Professor involved in this exchange I actually think the student was the one who was off base. This Professor is very good and doesn't just talk at people).

The current generation of College students have grown up being told that they are exceptional. Ironically this leads to both the over and underestimation of their abilities. Because they're often not given constructive criticism they can develop a certain arrogance about knowing it all. Correspondingly when they do struggle they begin to feel like impostors, as if somehow they are not living up to the greatness they've been told to expect.

Those of us who have the privilege of working with these students have to find opportunities for them to learn by doing. This will involve both triumph and failure but also valuable learning experiences.

I am blessed to work with these students even when they think that they could probably do my job better than I do. The truth is that I hope that one day they are able to do my job better than I do it. That requires a certain humility on my part but also an obligation to provide them with constructive criticism and encouragement that will help them get there.

The New Normal

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Beckstrom) — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 22:43:00 +0000

I kept running into the prophet Jeremiah yesterday. The first appearance came during our Sunday morning worship planning meeting. Because we're doing the narrative lectionary our primary texts for the service we were planning came from the book of Jeremiah. We ended up getting into a discussion about how most of us are familiar with the hopeful parts of Jeremiah's message but are usually unfamiliar with the context of those passages.

For instance nearly everyone loves Jeremiah 29:11 "For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope." But as Pastor Ramona pointed out we rarely acknowledge that these comforting words are spoken to a people in exile. These are certainly hopeful words but as we see in the ensuing years of exile they don't mean that everything is just going to be okay. In fact the people of Israel will spend a long time in exile and even when they do return to their homeland things will never really be the same.

The second appearance came last night during a meeting for students considering careers in ministry. Our guest speaker shared a recent sermon she had heard based on another section of Jeremiah 29. "Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare."

This text is basically God's way of saying "Get comfortable, you're going to be here awhile". Or as the preacher put it, "this (exile) is your new normal".

I of course immediately related these texts to the lives of our students for whom change has become "the new normal". At this point in the semester students have survived the first wave of changes and begin hoping that things will get back to normal. And although the changes may not be as seismic now that they've adjusted to their new normal it doesn't mean it will be smooth sailing.

The Church also is struggling to adjust to the new normal of the present age. No longer granted privileged status we often find ourselves longing for "the good old days" when the pews were full and the terrain familiar. It's tempting in such times to go for the quick fix. We cast about for any alternative to the hard work of making a new home in the places where God has planted us. Whether that means telling ourselves that we're going to be okay now that we have figured out our major; or thinking that if we just made our churches more attractive people would come again. These quick fixes are much more attractive than accepting the fact that exile is our "new normal", but what they end up doing is enabling us to avoid reality.

That's what God was worried about with the Israelites living in exile. And so God's solution was to essentially "burn the ships", not giving the people the option of thinking that the tough work could be avoided. God's words of comfort were not meant to help the people avoid pain, but a promise to be with them as they struggled to adjust to "the new normal".

Do we have to hate Non Christians in order to be Christians?

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Beckstrom) — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 01:16:00 +0000

I'm reading Brian McLaren's new book "Why Did Jesus, Moses, the Buddha, and Mohammed Cross the Road?: Christian Identity in a Multi-Faith World". As usual McLaren tackles a tough issue (interfaith relationships) with good insights and sensible recommendations.

One of the things that I've really enjoyed so far about the book is his discussion of religious identity. In typical fashion McLaren lays out the two most extreme positions and then tries to navigate between them...somehow I think Aristotle would be proud :)

According to McLaren our attitudes towards those of other faiths typically fall into one of two categories.

The first is a strong-hostile posture in which a firm rootedness in one's own faith tradition leads to hostility toward those of other traditions. He argues that such a position is becoming increasingly problematic and dangerous in the world in which we live. Not only that, but having a hostility based identity seems rather contradictory for a follower of Jesus.

The second option is a weak-benign identity which creates openness to the other at the expense of one's own religious identity. This would be the argument that all religious traditions are different paths up the same mountain, in other words they are the same thing. But not only does such a position fail to acknowledge the uniqueness of other traditions, by denying Christian uniqueness we end up with nothing to sustain and give us life.

I've never been comfortable with either of these alternatives. Although it might sound blasphemous I actually believe that God is at work in other faiths as well as with those of no faith. After all, how can we claim God is the creator of the world and people are made in God's image without affirming this truth?

When I was in College I tended toward a weak-benign identity because quite frankly it was easier than dealing with the actual issue of interfaith relationships. After some time though I began to find this alternative unsatisfactory as well. It was like choosing a bland chain restaurant over a local favorite. It provided a certain degree of comfort but it lacked the kind of uniqueness that is exciting.

I'm not sure exactly where McLaren will go with this book but I find the categories helpful. I fully agree with him that neither alternative is tenable.

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Thu, 11 Oct 2012 00:00:00 PDT

More Americans claim no religion, new study shows | The Des Moines Register | desmoinesregister.com

Links for 2012-10-09 [del.icio.us]

Wed, 10 Oct 2012 00:00:00 PDT

http://wartburgcircuit.org/way-of-jesus-study-group-allows-students-to-talk-about-faith/

Exiles longing for home

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Beckstrom) — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 19:56:00 +0000

I have a new reflection published on the Living Lutheran blog about the start of the new academic year. It's entitled "Exiles Longing for Home" http://www.livinglutheran.com/blog/2012/09/exiles-longing-for-home.html.

Singing a new song

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Beckstrom) — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 04:43:00 +0000

O sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth.
Sing to the Lord, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day.

Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples.
For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; he is to be revered above all gods.

For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the Lord made the heavens.
Honor and majesty are before him; strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.

Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering, and come into his courts.

Worship the Lord in holy splendor; tremble before him, all the earth.
Say among the nations, “The Lord is king! The world is firmly established; it shall never be moved. He will judge the peoples with equity.”

Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
let the field exult, and everything in it. Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy
before the Lord; for he is coming, for he is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with his truth.

When were you moved to praise God today? What prompted you to praise God today?

On my run as I was looking out over the corn fields. Dusk was approaching and I praised God for the feeling of a good workout, the beauty of my surroundings, and my place in God's creation.

What hindered you from praising God today?

Being busy, feeling like I really need a day off. When school is in session I feel like I'm in a long sprint. My muscles are fatigued, lungs are burning, and I yearn for rest. It's usually a good feeling to be exerting myself but I have a hard time knowing when to rest and when to push on. There are so many good things to do and I know rest will come, but I maybe need to actually take a full day off every week.

What did you purpose to carry with you today?

I'm trying to remember that I can't protect students from the painful moments that they experience. I can stand in the midst of their pain with them and point to what God is doing, but I can't take it away. Nor can I make everyone happy. That isn't my job.

How successful were you in calling this to mind from time to time?

A lot more successful now that I've taken the time to reflect!

A Neglected Masterpiece

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Beckstrom) — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 13:55:00 +0000

Ephesians 2:10

For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.

Spend some time reflecting on being God's workmanship made in Christ Jesus, but instead of "what he has made us" use the word "masterpiece". As you think of yourself as God's one of a kind masterpiece what kind of feelings arise within you? Why?

There is something deep within me that resists the idea that I am a "masterpiece". Maybe it's my knowledge of my frailties and imperfections. Maybe I'm afraid of being prideful, of thinking too much of myself. Whatever it is this feeling is deeply ingrained and I found this exercise really difficult.

But I started thinking that maybe this humility is itself an affront? Not to me, I certainly am imperfect, but rather to my creator. Who am I to argue with God? To insist that my imperfections are absolute, that there is no good within me. Am I not passing judgement on God's workmanship by clinging to this belief? Is it possible there is still a vestige of the image of God in which I've been created deep within me?

Pascal once said (and I'm paraphrasing" "It is dangerous for humankind to think of themselves as either angels or brutes". In other words we ought to guard against the temptation to think that we are unaffected by sin and brokenness, but it's just as dangerous to believe that we are incapable of anything but sin. When we think only of our imperfection we let ourselves off the hook when it comes to doing good. When we think only of our capacity for goodness we delude ourselves.

So what kind of masterpiece am I? Probably the type that has languished in the back room at some museum until a perceptive curator recognizes my value. But in order to reveal the masterpiece the curator first has to peel back layers of accumulated dirt and grime. Maybe like many masterpieces someone has even painted over the original. It's only with painstaking care and concern that that outer layer is stripped away, revealing the value underneath. Despite everything that has covered up this masterpiece the essence of the original scene still remains.

Yeah, I could be that kind of masterpiece.

Getting off the Merry Go Round

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Beckstrom) — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 17:42:00 +0000

For some time now I've been intrigued by the ideas of Ignatius of Loyola, Catholic Priest and founder of the Jesuit order. We've used some of his spiritual exercises, especially the Examen, in our faith formation events at Wartburg. Recently I began reading a book called "Journey with Jesus: Discovering the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius" and have decided to post my journal reflections here. I do this in hopes that others may discover the depth of Ignatius' exercises and also as a way to hold myself accountable in my own devotional life.

So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Spend time reflecting on being a new creation in Christ. What do these words mean to you? Why?

Being a new creation in Christ is like...

Seeing open doors ahead of you when where there used to be a brick wall...
Discovering a new hobby or activity that makes you feel alive...
Realizing that you have options when you thought you only had one choice...
Hope that things can be different, wounds can be healed, and new beginnings really are possible.

I often feel like I'm stuck in a rut. That things are happening around me that I'm unhappy with and I have no way to change the way things are. This can be especially true at the beginning of the school year when it can feel like I'm on a merry go round of activity and there is no way to get off.

Being a new creation in Christ reminds me that I have choices. That it is possible to find space for life, that I don't have to succumb to the relentless swirl of activity.

Don't get me wrong. I love the activity. But I've also come to realize that I need to get off the merry go round from time to time and regain my equilibrium. That's hard to do because there is a part of me that thinks I'm too important to do so. That if I do step back things won't happen.

Then I remember that God is making all things new. Not just me, but all of creation. So even when I step back in order to be renewed new things will continue to happen.