What's new with Burning Bush in 2019?

Well, it's halfway through January faithful readers, so I suppose it is finally time for a "New Year" update! (I know you were on pins and needles for this throughout your holiday season.)

Right now many exciting things are going on for BBC, but today I'm just going to give you a brief overview. I promise I will write more on each one as they continue to develop...

First off, WE ARE FINALLY IN OUR OFFICE SPACE! We passed inspections on January 2nd, and the move-in process is well underway. Last Sunday evening we hosted our first local missionary training event, and we are currently scheduling programs for our youth in Cultivate, a local re-entry ministry for offenders (more info on that to come), and other Burning Bush initiatives. We are truly grateful for the opportunity to use this small space to love our neighbors for Jesus, and we have high hopes that lives will be touched through it.

Where the magic happens...

We opted for the Merv Griffin color easy chairs...

Going for the eclectic sitting room currently...

One other cool note... all furnishings for the building have been paid for by supporters, the bulk of which has come from the Estero UMC Thrift Store. Thanks guys for your amazing support! It's a work in progress but we've come a long way already!

Our second big piece of news is that I have been invited to coach track and field at South Fort Myers High School this spring. A goal of mine has been to find a way to meaningfully serve in the places where our Cultivate students go to school, and South is where many of them go or will go to high school. We hit the track next week, and I look forward to meeting the athletes and serving them as best I can with the hopes of developing new ministry possibilities...

Finally, we have two new local missionaries/ministries that are looking to join Burning Bush! I'll save formal introductions for later; for now we're thrilled that God is connecting us with other disciples who have a heart for going and loving on neighbors who are hurting, and helping them learn about who Jesus is and what He's up to in our world.

What makes a good gift? Part II

In the our last post I argued that a "good gift" is one which invites the recipient to move into a closer relationship with the giver. This invitation to relationship demonstrates the value that the gift-giver has for the recipient, and that value is integral to the happiness that comes with receiving the gift.  These dynamics of "invitation" and "demonstration of value" are present in the smallest of gifts (a child's art project given to a parent) and the largest (an engagement ring).

From that starting place, our questions today are: How do the above principles of "invitation" and "demonstration of value" play out at Christmas and in the gospel? And what might they mean for us as gift-givers and disciples of Christ?

First, Christmas is the celebration of God's gift to us: Jesus Christ, the very embodiment of God. The gift of the infant Jesus was driven by God's desire to be in right relationship with us... In fact, the gift of God's presence itself created the means for the relationship to develop. Note here that the gift is obviously given in expectation of a return: God expects humans to respond to his initiation of relationship by giving themselves in return to know, follow and love Jesus.

Second, we often hear in descriptions of the gospel that the gift of God's grace is "free" or "unconditional." While it is true that God's grace (more concretely, the gift of Christ's death on our behalf) cannot be earned and is given without any prior conditions, it not "unconditional." The gift is given with an expectation of a return. Humans are to respond to the gift by moving closer to God relationally, namely, by surrendering their lives to Jesus and giving him their loyalty and obedience. The gift of God given through the death of Jesus is the ultimate gift, as it gives the highest possible value to the recipient- the value of the life of God's Son- in order to create the possibility of reconciliation in the relationship between God and humans.

If we understand God's gift-giving at Christmas and in the gospel of Jesus we can come to a few conclusions about our own gift-giving and discipleship:

1. The greatest gifts we can give require giving of ourselves. In other words, if our gifts are to be significant they will mean giving time, energy, empathy and attention to the recipient. We imitate Christ when we give of ourselves to another. Of course, this can be very inconvenient, messy and costly, which is why it is also uncommon. I challenge all of us to take time to consider how we will be open (or to pray for the grace to be open!) to deepen relationships with the people who will receive gifts from us. If we can't be open to deepening those relationships, both theoretically and logistically, then we might ask why we're giving them gifts...

2. A fitting celebration of Christmas is all about our acceptance of God's invitation to deepen our relationship with Him. We can go through all the trappings and churchy events of Christmas, but if we're to busy to actually take this invitation to move closer to God then our celebration is hollow. Can we put our surrender to Jesus' will (what would make for a good celebration in His eyes?) ahead of our expectations (demands!) and desires for our Christmas celebrations?

3. The task of a disciple is to imitate the master. The primary method that Jesus used for making disciples was giving of himself. Before any teaching, training or directing Jesus gave of himself to the people God sent Him to. The very foundation of His mission was His presence; Jesus was constantly sacrificing in order to be present and give His time, energy, attention and empathy to His people.

If we claim to be Jesus' disciples, then we too are called by God make disciples. I believe our first question in that process is, "Who am I sent to?" After we answer that- and before anything else- our task is follow Jesus' example and begin giving of ourselves to that group of people. It is our job to demonstrate their value, and invite them into relationship, through the gifts of our time, energy, empathy and attention. May all of us disciples of Jesus take this Christmas lesson, that God's work begins with sacrificial giving, and boldly give of ourselves to the people God has sent us to through this Christmas season and into the new year ahead.

What makes a good gift?

In case you hadn’t noticed, Christmas shopping is kind of a big deal. Small and mid-sized retailers make 20-40% of their annual profits during holiday season. Over 55% of all American consumers participate in holiday sales beginning on Black Friday alone. And, drum roll please, about 25% of Americans are still paying off their Christmas debts from last year (scary!). As I said, it’s a big deal.

There are many reasons for this annual binge in gift purchasing. There’s tradition: it’s just what we do for Christmas, right? And there’s obligation: we don’t want co-workers and extended family members thinking we’re stingy, right? And of course there’s a great amount sincere desire to bless others and mark the holiday as well.

Lost in this craze of finding and buying (and financing!) gifts is a rather important question: what makes a good gift?  There are as many different answers to this question as there are gift purchasers, but here are a few common answers to the above question…

Answer One: It’s helpful.
Utility is often our go-to for gift giving. What does this person need? Surely, if I can correctly identify the need and supply a gift-wrapped solution I will have blessed and served the gift recipient, right? There is much to commend in this strategy, as it seeks the betterment of the other and is not overtly driven by the tastes of the gift giver. However, this strategy of gift purchasing, for all of its pragmatic appeal, usually falls flat. Frankly, most people are not great at determining the needs of others and finding a good solution for them. Remember, nobody likes being fixed! And, the most pragmatic gifts (money and gift cards), do not always indicate a high degree of investment in the gift giving process. While they are always nice, they are not always thoughtful.

Answer Two: It’s what they say they want.
There’s a lot of overlap here with the first answer, the only difference being that this option avoids the “let me fix you” issue. The same issue arises with regard the problem of (potential) thoughtlessness, and, this answer sometimes boils down to a utilitarian agreement in families (“you get me what I want and I’ll do the same for you”). This strategy, while efficient, hardly exudes the Christmas spirit. (It should be noted, however, that if there are “interesting” family dynamics at play this is a safe place to land!)

Answer Three: It’s a surprise.
What this answer really points to is the truth that a good gift brings a sudden, and positive, emotional response. The surprise gift is all about the moment of discovery, and the happiness it creates. I believe all great gifts offer this “moment of discovery.” However, the element of surprise is not enough in and of itself, as we’ve all gotten surprise gifts that were not helpful, not wanted, thoughtless and not good gifts.

Answer Four: It required a sacrifice.
Okay, now we’re closing in on a good answer. If you receive a gift that you know required sacrifice to give you are almost always going to be touched by it. That’s true even if you don’t like the item given. The sacrifice made will make an emotional impact on you and you’ll recognize the significance of the gift. That being said, even sacrificial gifts can flounder, particularly when the actions and attitudes of the gift giver do not align with the sacrificial nature of the gift. When these two are out of line, the gift is met with cynicism and suspicion. If a sacrificial gift is given, therefore, it must be partnered with a relational commitment (more on this below).

Answer Five: It seeks nothing in return.
For many people this is the ultimate answer, and many people believe a true gift requires nothing in return. What is celebrated in this answer is the idea of gift giving as a wholly selfless act, designed only to bless the recipient. Much of philanthropy falls (or wants to be seen as falling) in this category, and the “anonymous gift giver” is often put forward as the ideal gift giver. BUT, there is a major problem with this answer. While this gift giving style avoids some of the obvious pitfalls of bad gift giving (forced reciprocity, exerting relational control, shaming, self-promotion, etc.) it ultimately prevents the gift giving process from arriving at the proper goal, which is explained below…

My Answer: A good gift invites the recipient into deeper relationship with the giver.
Our reaction to the great gifts that we’ve received reveals the answer to our question. What do we do when we get a meaningful or wonderful gift? We immediately go to the giver! We look at them, we smile at them, we hug them, we call them, we write them-  we move relationally toward them. A great gift invites us deeper into relationship with the giver. We feel this invitation given through many of the answers discussed above (sacrifice, helpfulness, no self-promotion, effort in making a surprise, etc.). Furthermore, it is this invitation to relationship which ultimately communicates our value in the eyes of the giver. Their valuing of us, demonstrated by a gift or giving process that invites relationship, is the most significant part of the gift giving dynamic.

If a gift is given without any relational invitation then it will probably not be meaningful to us, and can be potentially offensive. This dynamic is where so much charity, governmental and “mission” work fails, as it is devoid of relational invitation. On the other hand, all sorts of gifts- large and small, surprise or anticipated, helpful or purely sentimental- can be wonderful gifts if they demonstrate to us the desire of the giver to be grow closer to us.

In our next post I will discuss how this concept of gift giving lines up with the Christmas story, and indeed with the gospel as a whole, and how we might leverage it to better love our neighbors.

Until then, and as always, I invite your thoughts, concerns and rebuttals!

Update Time!

Well faithful readers, I know I owe you an apology... I have been seriously slacking on the blogs! But, it's never too late to turn it around, so here are a few tidbits about what's been going on with Burning Bush Communities...

CULTIVATE

November was a big month for Cultivate, our youth ministry in Pine Manor, as we had many new students from the neighborhood join us. While the kids are always ready for dinner and usually ready for some high-energy and messy games, they also continue to engage with us in discussing serious topics. Over the last six weeks we've had some meaningful discussions about relationships, the power of words (for good and bad), God's hopes for our lives, and the reality that we all have to deal with our selfishness.

Please continue to pray for our students and leaders. Our students face an enormous amount of conflict in their lives, particularly in their neighborhood, and our constant prayer is that they would be protected from those who would harm them and that they would make wise decisions. Please pray that our boys walk away from those who want to fight, and avoid the spaces where fights are inevitable. For our leaders, pray that we grow as team (everyone using their gifts) and that we are energized as we serve.

NEW MISSIONS

Welcome to the team, Lauren!

Over the last month we are thrilled that two of our local missionaries have kicked off their efforts! Carlos and the Sensible Outreach Solutions team are joining us to serve in Pine Manor, and are working to gain trust with an eye on establishing a community dedicated to walking with families through crisis situations.

And our south Lee County missionary, Lauren Salmon, is working diligently to establish her presence at Discovery Village at the Forum, where she is launching a choir for residents this month! Way to go Lauren! We love your heart for sharing Jesus with our overlooked neighbors!


ALMOST DONE!
At long last, our building renovation is almost complete! We are hoping to be inspected by the end of next week, and cannot wait to get in. We've had some great conversations recently with folks who have a dream to use the space to share Christ's love with their neighbors, and are excited to see what doors God opens once the space is fully available.

Slowly But Surely...

Well faithful readers, you must be feeling many different emotions right now: shocked, confused, possibly overjoyed, and with good reason, given the significance of the occasion. Come on, two blog posts in one week!?  It's hard to believe, but here we are.

In all seriousness though, I wanted to give you all a quick update on the space that Burning Bush is renting and renovating at 3594 Broadway. Many of you know that we applied for the permit the first week of July, and we were chomping at the bit to get started. So we chomped, and chomped, and chomped, until we learned that everything with renovating moves painfully slow!

We wound up getting the permit in early September, and since then have trudged through demolition and some water and electrical issues, and hopefully (fingers and toes crossed) we will be finishing a couple of walls early next week and then painting before inspections begin.

Below are a few pictures of the outside of the building (which was a medical building), and then you can see inside our suite some of the work in progress...

The front building is a pharmacy which faces Broadway. But if you keep coming back...

... you'll find our suite tucked into the first corner!

The main area as seen from the door.

Another angle of the main area.

A conference room to be.

Please Don't Touch My Idols!

What are your idols of choice?

Don’t have any? Are you sure of that?

Idolatry is, in biblical thought, the longest running, most damaging and most pervasive human problem. While it is generally seen in contemporary life as a relic of the ancient world (who worships a golden calf these days?), idolatry is just as potent and common today as it ever was. This is because idolatry is ultimately not driven by the object/item worshiped (i.e. a statue, a dollar bill, a chemical feeling of happiness), but is instead driven by the human condition, which is always in search of validation, vindication or escape… which are what the idols offer the worshiper.

A few months back I read a brilliant (and difficult) little book, Sharing Possessions, by a theologian named Luke Timothy Johnson. If you get the chance, read some of his stuff, it’s quality! In this book, Johnson offers a brilliant assessment of idolatry: what it is, why it exists, and how we can find it in our lives. Below, I am quoting my favorite part of this discussion, and encourage you to read it and reflect on your own life. But reader beware, because if you are honest here you might find some painful truths… I know I did!

From Sharing Possessions, pages 49-53…

Idolatry, in simple terms, is the choice of treating as ultimate and absolute that which is neither absolute nor ultimate. We treat something as ultimate by the worship we pay it, meaning here, of course, neither the worship of lips or of incense but of service. Worship is service. Functionally, then, my god is that which I serve by my freedom. Whatever I may claim as ultimate, the truth is that my god is that which rivets my attention, centers my activity, preoccupies my mind, and motivates my action. That in virtue of which I act is god; that for which I will give up anything else is my god. Diagnostically, I can tell what my god is by seeing what it is around around which the patterns of my life organize themselves.

Our lives, after all, do form patterns. Our freedom is not found in scattered outbursts of random activity, but in the shaping of a direction. There is in all our lives some sort of consistency in response to situations… The patterns in our lives form about the deep and usually unarticulated attitudes we hold towards ourselves, the world, and others. Within this fundamental orientation of our lives, our personal project of existence is being formed. The choices we make at this moment or that flow out of this orientation and either strengthen it or weaken it…

Phenomenologists of religion have been telling us for some time that the human creature is one that inevitably centers itself in this world, and does so by choice, The primordial sense of creatureliness, that is, our accurate perception that we are powerless and without self-generated worth, moves the human creature to seek power and worth in something outside the self. The human organism is instinctually impoverished and existentially threatened; meaning does not come to us automatically or easily. We do not have a place in the world given simply by birth and instinct as do cats and dogs. Somehow, it is in the centering activity of our freedom that we seek this place in the world and our significance. Where the center is located determines the pattern of human activity… It is from the center that the human person expects power, meaning, identity, worth- everything, in short, which should go with being.

We are lonely creatures, then, who find ourselves lacking worth and meaning (we are not the sufficient cause of our own being) and who feel impelled to seek them outside ourselves. Where we identify the source of our life and power (our being) and our worth is for us our center, and our center organizes the patterns of our perceptions from which our actions flow. Where the center is, there is our god.

Some questions like the following may help us get the point: What is it, really, that enables us to get up and face each day’s activity? What is it that we will make room for during the day, no matter how busy our schedule? By what measure do I look back over the day, or week, or year, and consider it a success or a failure? In the daily round, is the high point the end of work and the beginning of leisure? The first drink? Is that which I will fit into my schedule no matter what my three mile jog? When I lie awake in my bed with a feeling of discontent, is it because I did not get done all the work I intended to do that day, or did not get some time to myself, or did not spend time with my children and wife, or looked foolish in a conference, or dread facing a job interview tomorrow? When I look at others of my own generation, as I suspect we all do, and think about “where I am” in my life, what measurement do I use? Do I think of myself as a success or failure in relation to others, and on what basis- my health, my wealth, my work, my fame, my family, my power over others, my good looks? These are not complicated questions, but they are, for most of us, difficult ones, for they have a way of locating our center. And this brings us back to idolatry, For, if idolatry is a functional phenomenon, the real question comes when I ask, “Where is it that the meaning and power of my individual human life is sought? In what or where do I seek my sense of worth and identity? What is it, seen or unseen, which is the ‘bottom line’ for me, the source of my hope? What is it without which life would not be worth living? What is it for which I move and act, without which I stumble and fall? What gets me depressed? What is it, in my actual life, that functions as my god?”

Counterfeits are the more dangerous the closer they come to the genuine article. No one is much hurt by a wooden nicker, for no one is fooled by it. But people can be badly hurt by artfully printed thousand dollar bills… the important idolatries have always centered on those forces which have enough specious power to be truly counterfeit, and therefore truly dangerous: sexuality (fertility), riches, and power (or glory).

The attractiveness of idolatry lies in its claim to manipulate ultimate power; the folly of idolatry lies in the fact that any power which can be manipulated cannot be ultimate. The idolater says, “This which I can see and feel and handle and use, which is within my disposition, is the ultimate source of my worth, my identity, my security, my being. The power I have is the measurement of my value”… Idolaters are persons who, filled with the terror of nonbeing and worthlessness- the built-in threat of contingency- must construct their own worth (as the Scriptures have it), “with the works of their own hands.”

When we hand over the measurement of ourselves to forces which are just as much created as we are, then our gods are truly illusory… This illusion and folly is completely compatible, we should note, with a verbal confession of the “true god”; idolatry flourishes as much within orthodoxy as without. We can pledge allegiance to the most orthodox and theologically discriminating of creeds; it does not matter, Idolatry is found in the service of the heart, the way we concretely and existentially dispose of our freedom…

Cynicism, "Christian" Leadership Failure, and a Proposal

What are you most cynical about?

What group of people are you most cynical towards?

For me, that’s an easy question to answer: celebrity “Christian” leaders, and the less-popular Christian leaders who imitate them.

I understand that I need to work on this. I’m not proud of it, but it is the truth.

A primary source of discouragement in my faith is the behavior of “Christian” leaders period. From Willow Creek to the ongoing Catholic scandals to the “Court Evangelicals” and beyond there is a super-abundance of evidence that churches are hiring and supporting men (let’s call it what it is) whose character is not even up to snuff for our lowly cultural standards, much less the standards of Christ. 

All of this raises two questions for me:
One, what is it that churches are looking for in leaders that creates this problem?
Two, what should churches be looking for in leaders?

Much could be written in reply to these questions, but I’m just going to offer two brief opinions on them.

First, it seems churches are most concerned with hiring people who are “effective.” That is, they are people who can fill seats on Sunday morning and can get the church’s staff to competently run the supporting programs needed to keep the people in the seats happy (children’s ministry, parking, communication, etc.). What that means is that these leaders are, above all, highly skilled communicators. They can capture and hold the attention of an audience, and they can inspire a staff and volunteers to run solid supporting programs. So, it all boils down to hiring a communicator… that’s what they are looking for. 

Now, let me be clear, there is absolutely nothing wrong with hiring great communicators. It’s a wonderful thing to have a communicator on a leadership team who can do the items listed above. BUT, being a great communicator SHOULD NOT be the reason someone is hired to lead a church or is put in any position of spiritual authority. When it is the primary reason you entrust leadership to someone, you get the situation that we have now… abuse, lies, cover-ups, fraud and all the rest.

So, what should we be looking for in leaders?

To answer that question, I am going to enlist the help of Douglas Campbell, a New Testament scholar who just wrote a helpful book entitled Paul: An Apostle’s Journey. While I do not agree with all of Campbell’s theological claims in the book, his discussion of how the mission of the church should dictate the selection of Christian leaders is spot on. Below is an excerpt that I believe gets at the heart of this issue. While it might seem tangential at first, keep reading! You have to understand the part about how people learn (in this case, to imitate Christ) before you can understand Campbell’s assertions regarding leadership selection.

“As Aristotle said some time ago, the goal of ethics is also the means. What he meant was that the goal of our activity—here, right living—is approached through right living. This seems obvious at first glance, but actually it isn’t. What he is claiming—along with most of the ancient moral tradition that Paul stood within, but not our modern traditions—is that ethics has to be learned, and, further, that it is best learned in community. Putting things succinctly, communality is learned communally… To teach people to relate lovingly, then (which Campbell presents as a central goal of the church), we must construct a loving community and live in it, copying its most loving members.

When we consider this quickly, it seems incredibly obvious. When we press on it harder, however, it is anything but. Most of our pedagogies are not set up imitatively, and this might explain why most of them are so ineffective at transforming people’s actual relationality and relating. Protestants have long placed their faith in the transforming power of the preached word. They are frequently surprised at how little the communication of information about the Bible and from its texts—however eloquently and passionately done—changes the behavior of its churchgoing listeners. How unsurprising though. There is nothing to imitate here, or to copy. People cannot copy a preacher except by becoming a preacher, and that activity can leave a lot of other moral activity unaddressed. Writing a book will not change much either. It can help, but it can only be secondary to the main business of constructing healthy learning communities out of people that are influenced by people…

We have already noted that the basic relationship is imitative. People copy people. But who copies whom? We come face-to-face here with the irreducibly elite nature of a learning community, and we shouldn’t get too upset by this. Sociologists have long confirmed that all communities have elites. Every community has leaders and followers. There just aren’t any alternatives to this. The $64,000 question is not, should we should have elites? but what sort of elites should we have? The answer for Christian communities is that we should have Christian leaders who are characterized by the relational qualities that we want everyone else to copy.”

Campbell, Douglas A.. Paul: An Apostle's Journey (Kindle Locations 1302-1306). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.. Kindle Edition.

I can't help but think that if we took Campbell's suggestion here about how Christian leaders are selected seriously- and added to it some statements about demonstrating a vibrant and bold faith along with some ministry training and experience- we'd be on our way to a much better way to selecting leaders. And, as an added bonus, we might experience far less cynicism-inducing moral failure from the people who lead our churches.