Shane Ash

Ok, seriously, it’s almost goofy. Every day of this week I have been in a different conversation in which the other participate was completely unaware but God was using the conversation to get my attention.

First, it was interesting, then coincidence, then weird, then confirmation. God was speaking to me through his word…and through the words of others. It is refreshing…that God is doing new work in me once again. Not to say that he took time off…but this is a fresh wind of the Spirit blowing through the dusty chaff in my life. Praise be to God.

I find the Spirit speaking to me again in the words of Romans…specifically today from Romans 14-15. The theme: acceptance.

“Accept one another, just as Christ has accepted us.” Romans 15:7

Easy words to read with a cup of coffee in one hand and the Bible in the other, but wait, what does that say again? Accept one another just like Jesus accepts you?

Well now…that makes me need to step in front of the Jesus-mirror and examine the me who Jesus has accepted. The me who has trampled on grace more than a few times in my life. The me whose pride can easily jump into the judgement game at a moments notice. And yet, Jesus accepts me…and I am supposed to accept others in the same way?

But what about those who insist in their rightness…what about when people are showing off their spiritual arrogance and ignorance…oh, yea, Jesus has accepted my pride. But what about when people are spewing out hurtful and untrue words about us…um, yep, Jesus has accepted ours. But what about….um, yep.

Look at the context: Often we are tempted to read these scriptures through the lens of positioning ourselves in the place of the “strong” and others in the place of “weak faith.” We all tend to read scripture this way…it makes us feel better about ourselves. But what if we take away the jockeying for position…and just hear the Spirit speak these words, “accept others just as Christ accepts you.”

Today’s church is full of jews and gentiles (ok, I know I am stretching the context here a bit…wait, actually I’m not that much). We are a people labeled and divided by the have’s and have nots, insiders and the outsiders, republicans and democrats, upper-class and middle-class, conservative and liberal, cool and not-so-cool, the pre’s and the post’s, and the us and them.

Our divisive language does exactly what the evil one hopes it will do…it divides us. It separates the body, keeps us from discerning God’s leading and distracts us from fully participating in God’s mission in God’s world. We too are a people living inside temples but yet living outside the message of Jesus. We see ourselves as a circumcised people (part of the right family) who hold the rights to the Kingdom all to ourselves. But wait…aren’t we the gentiles? Of all people…shouldn’t we remember to hold loosely the “right” of being right?

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Do you get it? God is a God of hope…of hope. Hope that fills us with joy and peace….so that…we may be filled with the power of God.

Do you see it? Hope..hope that is from God…fills us with joy and peace…so that we may GO into the “not hope” and bring hope.

Lord Jesus, as you continue to mold us into your image, help us accept others as you accept us. Keep us from judgement. Mold our thinking and give us hope that enables us to accept others as you have accepted us.

I was conversing with some of our leadership team of nbc…and sharing the frustrations and fears I am discovering in local church leadership. Since I am so new at this gig…I try to create opportunities and safe places to confess and talk through the thoughts and emotions that distract from leadership. It took a while, but finally I had blabbered my way to the self-diagnosis of…”I guess I am just wanting to see immediate results.”

After listening to my ramble, one of our leaders paused and said something like, “We are not looking for deposits of change…we are looking for culture change. And culture change always takes time.”

My inner thoughts were scrambling, “But how do we create culture change. How do we move people to not only give sacrificially but to live sacrificially. What does it look like to reshape church-culture forms and religious habits that have become spiritual to people? What does it take to change not only a local church culture but the Church culture?”

The leaders spoke again…as if they had heard my thoughts, “Our responsibility…your responsibility…is to lead this change through clearly and commonly sharing the changed vision.”

I heard it…and it was dead-center right. To change church culture…the changed vision must be clearly defined and commonly shared.

Openness by the leader paves the way for ownership by the people. Without ownership, changes will be short term. Changing people’s habits and ways of thinking is like writing instructions in the snow during a snowstorm. Every twenty minutes the instructions must be rewritten, unless ownership is given along with instructions. – John Maxwell

Let me preface the next few paragraphs by saying; I don’t know what I am talking about…I am just thinking out loud (actually just typing randomly). But…maybe, perhaps, possibly there is some potential truth in these thoughts.

These days I find myself in a weird place. I am the lead pastor of a church; I am supposed to be a leader, visionary, teacher, evangelist, project manager, and servant to all. I often say my job is to lead the comfortable to a place of un-comfort and the uncomfortable to a place of comfort…yea, it’s often weird.

One of the weird principles that I am quickly learning in this new role is to think leaps, not tweaks (I stole this from someone, I just don’t know who). There is a terrible “rule” and unfortunate expectation for new pastors to lay low for the first few years. An equally disturbing trend is the thought by experienced pastors that they can tweak their churches into a better place (warning…remember, I have no idea what I am saying).  Tweaking (slow, gradual, and non-noticeable change) is the same as not doing anything at all. If the change is so gradual and subtle that people don’t notice…then what was it for in the first place? Why change if the outcome isn’t more people, more passionately joining in the vision of building the Kingdom? Why change if it doesn’t disturb the comfortable or comfort the disturbed?

Today I am part of a team of people that loves to think in leaps, not tweaks. If we need to shift our philosophy of ministry to accomplish a greater good for the Kingdom, then we don’t wait to work out every detail, we move quickly and if necessary, dramatically. Sometimes we need to do more than “think outside the box”…sometimes we need to recycle the box…grind it up, mold it, and turn it into something much more useful.   

What do you think…leaps or tweaks?

The art of Christ-like compromise….in relationships, ministry, leadership, and life.

Today I was reminded of a story my Grandpa told me a few weeks before I got married.

I remember one morning as we sat around the breakfast table in the kitchen of the farm house asking Grandpa, “So, do you have any advice for me before I get married?”

Grandpa paused for a while, stirring his half-cup of coffee and finally said, “You’re going to have to learn how to compromise.”

“What does that look like?” I asked.

Grandpa sipped his coffee and then said, “Well, one time Grandma wanted a new clothes line put up on the north side of the house. I wasn’t going to put it up on the north side because that is where I parked my truck. So I told her we were going to put the clothes line on the east side. She didn’t like that idea because she was afraid the wind would blow sand into the cloths. So, we comprised.”

I sat for awhile and when I finally figured out my directions I exclaimed, “Grandpa, the clothes line is on the north side. How is that a compromise?”

I absolutely love the vision God has planted into our church…to be about the life-change Jesus offers, the conversation with others and God, and to live out the ways of Jesus.

(BTW…we didn’t make this up ourselves…Jesus gave it to us in the form of the two GC’s, the Great Commandment (Matthew 22) and the Great Commission (Matthew 28).

Anyway, here is a glimpse of what we will be talking about tomorrow as we begin to shape everything we do around the vision of life-change, conversation, and living it out.

This is going to be awesome…

Our Sunday mornings are about to change here at New Beginnings Church, we are starting something new the week after Easter (April 19^th). It is going to look a little different and perhaps change your routine. But we’re “kicking it up a notch” because it’s time to take it to another level.

We are changing our service starting time to 10:00AM. Here’s why: We all need to grow in our faith, and everyone needs an equal chance to grow.

Sunday mornings will continue to offer us a great opportunity to sing, to celebrate, and to listen to life-changing truths from the Bible. And now, we will also enjoy a time to gather together. Beginning April 19th, we will include two environments following our normal Sunday morning hour:

Gathering for Conversation – the purpose is simple…to talk, share, hear and be heard. The topic of Sunday morning’s message can serve as a conversation starter and we hope you will continue to talk about it with your friends, or even make a new friend. Pull up to a table in the gym, or stay where you are in the sanctuary, enjoy your coffee, and join in the conversation. Then at 11:30 we will gather together in the gym and share 15 minutes together as a large group, sharing stories or questions with one another.

Grow Classes – a place where the conversation gets a little deeper. These classes will include gifted teachers and real-life, practical application truths from the Bible. No matter which class you choose, you’ll be challenged. The path is open: there’s no formula…no sequence of steps. Choose the class that interests you. You’ll get to know God and others more personally. Classes begin at 11:05 and last about 45 minutes. If you’re nervous, relax…each class is only a few weeks. It might involve a little effort on your part…but, hey, growing isn’t easy, is it?

We know it will take awhile for all of us to adjust….but together, we’ll begin to experience relationships (with each other) and relationship (with God) in a fresh, new way.