Father's Day

The church I attend hosted a rather unusual Father's Day service last week. A young lady shared a very personal story about her rocky relationship with her father. It was clear that she had been harmed and wronged in this relationship, but she felt God's call to pursue health in that relationship and so she did. In the end, her father died at a relatively young age due to cancer, but because she heeded God's call to work towards reconciliation she was able to have peace that her father and her were truly on good terms before his death. It was a truly moving service leaving dozens of men and women in tears.

It was a good message that was delivered extremely well in my opinion, but it brought me back to what is the purpose of the local church? On one hand, what she shared was highly relevant and practical. It encouraged us to do what we could to be the type of parents we all desire to be. It encouraged us to be willing to put in the hard work necessary to work through those family relationships that may be tough. It encouraged us to make wrongs right, before it is too late, and finally it made some of us so incredibly thankful for what we have had as far as family. However, it was very experiential, it was for lack of a better term "pop psychologyish" and it had one verse of scripture to it. Does that matter? I truly do not know. I hear the Barna crowd shouting for a relevant church and this is it, but for some reason it also leaves me uncomfortably wondering if this isn't a risky, subjective path to begin going down. Am I too steeped in modern thought? This really does go to one of the core differences between the emergent and modern church. The modern church places an emphasis on Truth as a set of facts to be learned, and the emergent church focuses on the fact that you can't experience Truth apart from relationship. I value both in theory, but am not sure how I would expect them to play out walking side by side.

I am definitely not picking on my church. I appreciated the message and am challenged to take a deeper look at what the purpose of the local church is and ask what does that look like? If we want relevant, are we willing to use the pulpit to address issues like this, in a manner like this? I know God's Word is plenty relevant on it's own, but I also know people learn through stories and through genuineness such as what we saw on display. I am challenged to keep thinking about how we approach Truth. Propositional vs. relational/experiential, or a synthesis of the two?

AffirmationsP2

Now that you know what it is you would go after if you believed in the practice of affirmations let's ask the second question, "Given the 'promised' results would you be willing to put in the effort to repeat to yourself the daily affirmations in the three ways suggested, verbally, auditorily, as well as tactily." It takes time to write something ten times a day, to repeat something ten times a day and to read something ten times a day. It is not an overwhelming commitment of time, but neither is taking our vitamins but many of us still struggle with making that a part of our daily routines. Again, this is a question that would need to be answered at the raw, honest level, because most people would say sure I’ll do that, but most people also truly intend to keep their New Year’s resolutions beyond the 17 days most New Year's resolutions last.

For those of us who are followers of Christ, this hits a little deeper. I submit that I would be willing to choose two affirmations to consistently reinforce to my mind if I believed this practice truly would work. I’d be willing to think through which two goals would be most worthwhile to me, and then I would be willing to do the pre-work of getting them posted around me, and then I’d commit to the faithful practicing of repeating the affirmations. However, I think there is enough information out there about spiritual formation to know clearly, if not rigidly, what practices we could participate in on a regular basis to grow us into transformed Christ followers. Richard Foster, Dallas Willard, Mark Buchanan, Keith Drury, John Ortberg, Ken Boa and many others have written books on the subjects, and the experiences of our church fathers show us examples of people who have chosen to commit to engage in spiritual disciplines such as solitude, prayer, fasting, etc. to mold themselves into people who mirror their savior. We have a choice, if we truly want to get where we say we want to be, then we have the option of choosing to participate in the spiritual disciplines. Is our motivation strong enough to commit to the practices? Is our motivation to walk in the way of Christ stronger than our desire to “Have financial freedom” (not to say that the two are mutually exclusive)? Practicing spiritual disciplines does not necessarily require a great time commitment. We can cultivate the ability to pray in all things without taking time away from other things. We can certainly practice simplicity in a way that does not involve a huge time commitment, etc. Choosing to practice the disciplines is doable, but it involves a discipline of the mind and heart, and a desire to truly go after some things that are counter cultural to our very way of living and being.

In relating affirmations to spiritual disciplines, I like the reminder to factor in human bandwidth for self- improvement of any sort (not to discredit the role of the Holy Spirit). The first time I read, “The Celebration of Discipline” I felt like a loser for not practicing more, if any of those disciplines, but I also felt so overwhelmed by all of them that I had no desire to even try. I like the idea of choosing two to try and incorporate into my real world life. From the spiritual formation side, I am happy to take my reminder that the goal of becoming Christ-like is extremely worthwhile, but also of great importance is the journey. The speaker on the sales call named her lecture “Journey of Abundance” so as to intentionally say the process itself is part of the abundance mindset versus Journey to Abundance which would have implied a starting point of scarcity. No Machiavellianism here, choose to value the means.

Affirmations

In a sales oriented coaching call which I participated in yesterday, I was taught the practice of affirmations. Affirmations in the sense it was being taught were positive statements of where you want your life to be. The idea is that if you choose one or two statements and put them before your mind in a variety of ways repeatedly, then you will find yourself tangibly moving towards achieving those goals. For example, if I choose “I am a beautiful model” as my affirmation then I will write that down and post it in places where I will see it, I will choose to write it down ten times a day, and I will verbally repeat it out loud ten times a day, and in so doing I will create a sort of self fulfilling prophecy. I know it sounds a bit iffy, but the logic behind it is that we are creating a file for our unconscious mind, and the unconscious mind does not know truth from untruth, it just stores the info as reality, and more importantly having the affirmation in the forefront on ones mind constantly increases ones awareness of where you want to go and how the little decisions we all make constantly are playing into achieving that affirmation. If I am filling my mind with the concept that I am a beautiful model then how likely am I to run out to the store in my sweats and a t-shirt with no make up on, or to eat three krispy crèmes for my midnight snack? I may still make those choices, but if have been faithfully putting into my mind that I am a beautiful model then my mind will evaluate my choices differently, and in this way my internal can drive my external.

I do not pretend to know enough to fight for the credibility of this practice, nor enough to automatically reject it. . Not coming from a sales back ground, it was a new idea to me and one I am still evaluating. However, for discussion sake, let’s assume the practice valid and think about how we would apply it in our lives.

1) If you could only choose two things to put into your life and help make them a reality what would they be? It is similar to asking what your top values are, but I think often we list our values as what we believe they should be rather than what they are at the gut level. Would you choose to repeat “I am financially free” ten times a day? Would you choose to record and play back to yourself “I am a perfect size two?” Would you choose to write down “I am a follower of Christ” or how about any number of options such as:
“I am happily married to the man/woman of my dreams (think about that, if we told ourselves that often enough can’t you imagine our marriages would improve?
“I am a great closer”
“I am a loving and involved father”
“I provide a product that can add health and happiness to people’s lives”
“I consistently choose to put others needs before my own”
“I am a student with a 3.5 or higher”
“I am a force to be reckoned with on the world poker circuit”

All of these things may be valid and laudable goals, but if it comes down to only having the bandwidth to be able to reinforce two of them what type of affirmations would you choose and is that consistent with what you would say your values are?

Catalyst

At work, our big project for the fall is an event called Catalyst. It is an awesome event that I enjoy getting to have a small part in. Below are the elements put forth as a Catalyst leader, and the mission and vision are included for context sake. I am curious as to anyones thoughts on these, do they resonate with what you want in a leader? Or are they traits you aspire to in your own leadership? What would you have included or deleted? Does anything jump out at you? I am just curious.

CATALYST MISSION & VALUES
VISION Revolutionize Next Generation Leaders
PURPOSE
Catalyst exists to ignite passion for Christ and develop the leadership potential of the next generation, equipping them to engage and impact their world.

MISSION
To provide relevant solutions through training and resources that connect and develop next generation leaders.

THE ELEMENTS OF A CATALYST LEADER

CHARACTER (How do I make decisions about how I live my life)
Integrity, courage, discipline and private, personal decisions – these all comprise the inner character and integrity of a Catalyst leader. They understand that their character and integrity is the guard to their soul and ultimately their life. This can’t be let go, can’t be delegated, it’s the foundation of who they are as a person and as a leader. It’s the basis from which their moral authority is grounded. It must be nurtured, guarded and found true under testing. Conviction.

COMMUNITY (With whom have I surrounded myself to walk through life?)
People are in my life. It’s the relational quality that God designed that provides encouragement, accountability, and reality. It questions my deepest motives when needed and helps me stay true to the vision God has imprinted on my heart. Mentoring is the relationship where I learn from others, while at the same time others can learn through my experience. Living and working together complete me as a leader because I need others and desire them in my life and they need me.

WORSHIP/INTIMACY WITH GOD (Who God has called me to be)
I must have awareness of my small role in God’s big, developing story. This is critical to my humility, faith and trust in Him as the definer of how He will use me and my calling. To have this constant awareness, I must connect with God without ceasing through my life, study, music, art, film, vocation and relationships. My passion for God to receive Glory must be bigger than my desire for Glory.

PURPOSE/CALLING (Do I have the courage to act on what God has called me to do)
God has a unique purpose that he desires to carry out in me. To know this purpose I must first know Him. To fulfill this purpose, I must trust Him and have the courage to act on it, which may feel like a risk. My talents and heart converge to create my calling and purpose. My foundational understanding of how God is working during our times, determines the specific way I apply this calling vocationally.

CULTURAL ENGAGEMENT (What is the cultural context we are living in?)
As a leader, I must understand the context God has placed me in. I must know the audience I am connecting with to have any opportunity of connection and relevance. Because God desires that Christ-followers engage and influence their surroundings, I will be a source of hope, redemption, justice and peace in my community, demonstrating a piece of the Kingdom of God in a fallen world.

INFLUENCE (How do I lead others?)
I’m not a leader if others aren’t following. Why they are following is the key. If I’m clear on the first five elements, leadership is natural, compelling and attractive. If not, it will be challenged by others and ineffective. Influence can’t be forced; it can only be won over time.

Catalyst Blog for anyone interested: http://catalystblog.typepad.com/catalyst_blog/