Servanthood sacrifices self.

Spoke this morning at our monthly men's breakfast. Good atmosphere, good group of guys and good food. Nice way to start a Saturday -- even if it requires me to awaken much, much earlier than I'd like on a Saturday!

The struggle to pursue servanthood begins with our decision to sacrifice self. We all struggle with selfishness. I'm most selfish in the morning, around Round Table Pizza and in Best Buy. I'm sure you have your own place where the ME-FIRST attitude kicks in strongly. God's plan is for us to live lives that benefit and serve the people around us. That doesn't mean we have low self-esteem or ignore our needs. But it means we make a choice to live less of a life that is focused on just us. If we try to be #1 in all areas of life, then we're missing the boat when it comes to servanthood.

Pursuing that lifestyle requires sacrifice, just like it requires sacrifice for a lot of us to get to the gym. It reminds me of the people I've been watching on "Everest: Beyond the Limit" on Discovery Channel. These folks make huge sacrifices just to get an attempt at climbing Mt Everest. Pursuing a lifestyle of servanthood requires sacrifice, just like Jesus Himself made the ultimate sacrifices for us. Philippians 2 reminds us that He demonstrated ultimate humility by taking on human form and then dying on the cross. We must sacrifice self to become servants.

Jesus should be the greatest role model for anyone wearing the label of Christian, of Christ-follower. He told us in Mark 10 that He came to serve others, not to be served. Let's face it: If anyone should have been served, it was Jesus! He deserved it because He's God! But He chose a different path. He chose to serve others, and that should be our goal. Servanthood is a lifestyle and an attitude. If we want servanthood, we must choose to sacrifice self.

Away for some days.

So, after getting back in the swing of multiple posts for days...I'm leaving for the mountains. I will have NO computer access until either Thursday or Friday. This is a good thing. Need a break. Need some days unplugged. Need some hardcore me-and-God time in the mounts. Phone will be off. Voicemail can be left. Emails can be sent. But ya probably won't hear from me until the end of the week.

Hope yours goes as well as I hope mine goes.

The way of wisdom.

We've been spending a lot of time lately in our youth ministry focusing on wisdom and choices and decisions. Our church and our youth program have been going through some tough times, but the Sunday and Wednesday series aren't a response. In fact, they've both been on the schedule for months! (Yea, I decided a while back that I should plan further than 72 hours ahead; it's been a life-saving change.)

For two straight Wednesday nights, we talked about The Way of Wisdom: finding it and following it. Sometimes it's through the junk of life, the difficult times, the painful experiences that we realize how much we need God's wisdom. That's what James says in James 1:2-4; it's what Solomon realized as he was about to step into David's shoes and God promised to answer any prayer. We find that way of wisdom when we admit that we don't have all the answers on our own.

But it's not just enough to find that way; we have to follow it, too. Solomon spent much of his kingly tenure on track, but eventually he got sidetracked by stuff and wealth and women and power; he had found the way of wisdom but he chose to walk away from it. In James 3, we read that selfish ambition and bitter jealousy lead to disorder and all kinds of evil. That's the result of NOT following the way of wisdom.

The good news is that when we find the way of wisdom and then follow it, we open our lives to a "harvest of goodness," is the way the New Living phrases it, I believe. That's what I want in my life. That's what most of our students want, even if they don't quite know how to express that desire. Who wants destruction when goodness and blessing are available?

Some recent reads

OK, folks, here are some books I've recently read -- or recently FINISHED reading. Some were from last week's trip back to Iowa. Others were finished earlier this month.

The Starbucks Experience, by Joseph A. Michelli

Offered some interesting perspectives on how Starbucks' corporate values could be translated into other organizations. Author is definitely a Starbucks fan, perhaps to a fault. But still had good ideas about why Starbucks is a valued "third place" in our culture. Lotta ideas that could be applied in church settings, especially for front-line ministries like greeters, ushers, grounds, etc.



The Gospel According to Starbucks, by Leonard Sweet

Takes the idea of Starbucks' popularity and appeal, and finds some spiritual application. Sweet focuses around the EPIC concept: that Starbucks is experiential, participatory, image-rich and connecting. Sweet isn't a gushy fan of S'bucks in the way Michelli is, but he recognizes the social and cultural impact the corporation has, and he makes a good argument for how Christians can live EPIC lives. Seems like a great book for small groups, or for front-line ministries.



Second-Guessing God, by Brian Jones

Wasn't sure how good this would be when I bought it, but I read it in a span of just about 3 days. Jones tackles some intense topics that Christians face. He doesn't shy away from addressing the challenges -- things like feeling distant from God and wonder where He is and what He's doing -- but he also doesn't offer cheap, simple, easy answers. Wrestling with these issues is part of the Christian experience.



The Rock That is Higher, by Madeleine L'Engle

Great book. Not sure if I agree on every theological tenet L'Engle holds, but she's a superb writer with mature spiritual insight. The book follows her path as she recovers from a car crash back in the 1990s, and she offers her unique brand of wisdom along the way. No easy answers about what comes our way in life, but she's a good companion for the journey.



Preaching Re-Imagined, by Doug Pagitt

Wow, this book has challenged me more than almost any book I've read in the last year. Pagitt makes a rather strong case that our approach to preaching isn't really consistent with how the earliest Christian circles understood or practiced it. He makes the case for "progressional preaching," which uses the experiences, insights and understandings of the WHOLE congregational community -- not just the pastor/preacher -- to create and present sermons that are more than just memorable or cute or funny. He talks about finding ways to interact with the body of believers and battling the image that a pastor/preacher has all the answers to people's challenges. I found myself doing a LOT of thinking in recent days. Not sure if I have any real, solid, strong answers yet, but I'm thinking and praying and wondering how this whole notion could apply to our youth ministry here, and our whole church ministry.



The Three Hardest Words (in the World to Get Right), by Leonard Sweet
We're doing a Love/Relationship/Sex/Dating series all month with our youth, so I've spent time reading through love-focused books. Sweet's book proved a fast read for me: two airplane flights on Saturday. He breaks down the words "I" "love" and "you" to discover how Christ-followers need to receive a new identity, new integrity and new intimacy. Good February read!