Pastoral Training in Rwanda

In mid-July, we will be in Kigali, Rwanda with African Leadership and Reconciliation Ministries (ALARM). Approximately 100 pastors, representing 31 denominations and at least a half dozen countries, will gather for a week of training in the concepts of LifeSpace. Most of the men and women in this picture will be with us. Look at their faces. Pray for them.
Some of our teenagers (two of Bob's and both of Joni's) will join us on the trip, and they will engage in many kinds of ministry. We are thrilled for the opportunity! As we prepare, please pray for us, for the kids, and for those to whom we will minister.

Lousy Churches

Theologian Miroslav Volf said at a recent conference, "I would not be a Christian because of churches. I have seen too many lousy ones. I am a Christian because of the gospel." My first impulse is to agree. We could tell some stories about the churches we have seen! But I am a Christian, in part, because of lousy churches.

The first church I attended as a child was doctrinally shaky and filled with conflict. It was lousy, but that is where I was introduced to the biblical story of Jesus. We later moved to a church that was known for having better theology. Unfortunately some of the people were so mean-spirited in their purity that they repeatedly made my mother cry. That was definitely lousy. The next church was big enough to offer something for everyone. They ran tram shuttles from the parking lot. We heard lots of good teaching there, but our favorite pastor left in a scandal, and nobody seemed to notice when we found other things to do on Sunday morning. Again, lousy.

Every church experience, given time, will disappoint. So will every church member. I have been a member of lousy churches, and I have contributed to their lousiness. But that is one of the remarkable realities of grace. "We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves" (2 Cor. 4:7). God offers grace to imperfect people through imperfect people, and we gather together in imperfect--even lousy--churches. In our experience of life together, we recognize that forgiveness is necessary, gracious love is distinctive, and hope will not be satisfied this side of heaven. But we also share moments of glory, when the beauty of God is revealed most clearly in a human face.

I am a Christian because the Spirit of God has helped me to embrace the truth of the gospel, communicated faithfully through centuries of lousy churches. For all their failings--perhaps even because of them--they remain communities of grace, earthly expressions of the glory and goodness of God.

Bob

No Magic Pill

An Anglican priest recently resigned her pulpit. She could not continue to preach peace and reconciliation after the death of her daughter in the London subway bombings. The March 7th London Times wrote: "Mrs. Nicholson's loss is great and her faith troubled, but her integrity is intact. To extend forgiveness to the misguided, the mistaken, or the ignorant is significantly easier if they offer repentance. Suicide bombers do not linger to explain their actions."

Forgiveness is a gift we give those who love poorly...and the hard truth is that we all love poorly. Henri Nouwen

We will teach on forgiveness in our LifeSpace class this week. We keep several people very close to us on this topic. Our dear friends, Celestin and Bernadette Musekura, are Rwandan pastors who preach reconciliation across Africa. They stare in the face of the horrific genocide and call their fellow human beings to extend the God-given grace of forgiveness.

We also are informed by Miroslav Volf as we encounter him in his writings and when we see him periodically. In his book, Exclusion and Embrace, Miroslav explores his journey to forgiveness after the genocide in Eastern Europe. He speaks of embracing the "other" as a divine calling.

We sit at the feet of our friends and hear their stories. Stories of redemption in the midst of unfathomable pain. Stories of the Spirit moving to free humans from the constricting, suffocating bonds of anger and hate. We believe God transforms even that which we cannot yet see as worthy of redemption.

As we teach this week, our prayer will be lifted up for our sister across the ocean. We doubt that her integrity is much comfort as she reels from the loss of two great loves: her daughter and her work. There is no magic pill for forgiving. It is a long and arduous journey...or it can happen in a heartbeat. May our sister be open to the bright-winged presence of the Spirit in the fullness of time...and may God comfort her in the midst.

Joni and Bob

Opening Day

It is the weekend of the Final Four, the climax of March Madness, the Big Dance. But it is also the last weekend of spring training, and Monday is Opening Day.

Steve Spencer, our friend at Wheaton College, reaches for his Opening Day tie. Today he will teach theology through stories of the Cubs (longsuffering hope) and the White Sox (inexplicable grace). Down at the ballpark, box seats and bleachers buzz with people who realize for at least one day that the economy will survive without them. The familiar voice of John Fogerty carries over their happy conversation:

Well, beat the drum and hold the phone - the sun came out today!
We're born again, there's new grass on the field.
A-roundin' third, and headed for home, it's a brown-eyed handsome man;
Anyone can understand the way I feel.

Oh, put me in, Coach - I'm ready to play today;
Put me in, Coach - I'm ready to play today;
Look at me, I can be Centerfield

Hope abounds. The past is forgotten, and every team is tied for first. The new kid has a chance to bat 1.000. Both starters are thinking no-hitter. Even the vendors are giddy. Intensity can wait for the playoffs; today the atmosphere is simply buoyant.

I love this moment.

I ask myself, Why do church worship services not feel more like this? Why do they often feel more like a baseball game in late August, when the team is tired, the sun is hot, and the few faithful fans either revisit past glory or talk about next year? Do we need to sign some free agents and release those who have performed badly? Do we need to take a few months off and start over? Or is the problem my own expectation? Have we lost the pace of the liturgical year? Have I forgotten the excitement approaching with Easter?

But such thoughts travel the wrong direction. To paraphrase Buechner, I am Adam, and today is my birthday. It is Opening Day, minutes from the first pitch. It is a wonderful moment, a good gift from God who gives us all things to enjoy. Hope abounds.

Bob