A fan of fans

Fans (as in wind generating desktop fans) are interesting to me (as my readers you realize that many mundane things are interesting to me). Here's why: They have a very limited scope of responsibility, a very specific use, they can do it for a long time without a break and over a long calendar life. I have a $7.99 Walgreens desk fan blowing on me right now and it just keeps on churning without a lot of fan fare, but its purpose is very important to me (and the rest of the staff and family that would suffer the ramifications of me not constantly surrounded by a fan).

If I were to use my fan as a hammer, it wouldn't last as long. Even if I used it as a hammer once, its purpose as a fan would likely forever be hampered. Using it as a fork to eat waffles would likely have the same result. My point is that a fan is created for a specific purpose and when used for that purpose there is nothing else that can do its job as well; however, used for the wrong purpose it will not be as effective as the right tool and will likely hinder the purpose it was designed for.

I think people are like fans in that each of us have been designed with a specific purpose. If we allow ourselves to be used for something else, it just doesn't work. We may not even realize it's not working, but others see it. But when we operate where we were designed to operate, nothing is as effective. It is important for each of us to take the time to discover what we were designed to do (this requires self-assessment, mentors, counsellors, etc) and commit to operating in that space. Only then will we operate in our purpose day after day with seemingly little effort (like these mini fan blades on my desktop fan). I love my fan and I think my fan knows it....

Rock mountain humility

Yesterday (Sunday) was a great day of church, Grandmas, and swimming. We decided to cap it off as a family by hitting one of the area lakes for a little bull-head hunting (i.e. fishing). The last several times we have gone to Goose Lake so we decided to mix it up a bit and go to Little Horshoe (where we hadn't been for a few years). As we arrived at the public launch area, we found that they had re-done it; well, actually they dumped a bunch of rock where the landing area is. After considering briefly if we should try to conquer this landing with our front-wheel drive, low clearance mini-van (this is called foreshadowing), we decided to go for it. I backed the boat into the water and then got out to take a look.... the trailer was all the way in the water, but the boat was still above the surface (the lake stays quite shallow for a while near the shore). The van, however, was at quite the angle after conquering the rock mountain. So the conundrum was, do we keep backing in and put the van on the other side of the mountain or just decide to cut our losses and head out to Goose. We decided to cut our losses and the troops loaded back up to head out.

A front-wheel drive, low clearance mini-van trying to drive through loose rock with a trailer and boat behind and below it is akin to driving through deep snow in a Yugo. As I tried to drive, the tires dug in, rocks when flying, and we ended up buried. I disconnected the boat and started trying to get us out. I could go on and on about this joy as we kept digging out and trying again. The rocks were packed into the undercarriage. I had the entire family out digging (one of whom was instead trying to start a fire with two of these rocks instead of working, but this young person shall remain nameless). We got out the oars and were scraping rocks from underneath, digging out the tires, etc. This went on for about 30-40 minutes, sweat was just pouring off of me, my steel-plate & screws leg enjoyed floundering around on the rocks, and my rheumatoid-arthritis hands enjoyed digging out rocks. Finally, with the family watching from a distance, I was able to rock the beast back and forth and eventually get out. Phwew! There was great excitement... until I realized we now needed to get the boat & trailer out of the muck & mire and up rock mountain to where the van was.

OK, troops, fall in. I grabbed the toungue of the trailed to lift and pull while my family walked into the water and all pushed from the back of the boat. We made progress little by little as I counted off 1-2-3 and lifted while they pushed as best they could. After about 10 minutes of this, we were getting there but I started feeling light headed (no, I don't drink enough water even in this heat & humidity). Just then a couple strapping young lads showed up in the four-wheel drive SUV to do some fishing. They came over and asked if they could help; withouth hesitation I said, "Yeah, you could do my job" and I went and sat down to fight off the dizziness. With just about 10 feet to go, they helped my family get the trailer to the van and then my wife brought me water and my daughter gave me a backrub. I got up after about 5 minutes down, hooked up the trailer and we were on our way -- we "celebrated" our defeat and victory with Dairy Queen instead of fishing.

There is a lot in there that could preach (mountains in our life, hard rocks can still provide poor traction, making poor decisions, the power of family/teamwork, our roles in community struggles, etc), but the key take away from me after the fact was "laying down our pride." As a guy, to admit we need help (especially to other guys) and to accept someones offer seem to be signs of weakness. A few years ago, I would have shunned those guys offer to help ("no, we're fine") or at the very least just let them help under my leadership. However, yesterday, I just said, "Yeah, could you do my job." My weary body needed a break, there was someone offering to give it to me, and I took it. Is that weakness or intelligence? Independence or dependence? Going solo or community?

My wife and I were amazed and how quickly I took them up on their offer. I think without that five minute break, I may have passed out. It was quite the day - one never knows what will happen when we put ourselves in situations where something can happen. The adventure continues...

Group bloggin'

Our small group (all 4 of us!) met on Friday night and had some great relationship-building, honest discussion. We also chatted about what we should "do next" as a group and among those things we decided, we started a blog (this is not open to the public, but only the four of us have access). We thought this would be a great way to stay more connected throughout the course of the week and allow our thoughts to crystalize and be challenged prior to our weekly get togethers. We are only two days into this thing and I can already see that this will be a great thing. One of our small group members ended their blog entry with, "Love you guys" - this is cool because this person would likely not say this in person even though the love is evident. The blog also allows each of us to really think before we write; we're not so much "on the spot" as we reply or add new insight.

My point is not to share with you all the process by which we run our small group; but there is an interesting dynamic associated with blogging. For me personally, the blog you are now reading has been (as one of my readers suggested) therapeutic and a great creative outlet for me. What I'm finding already in our small group blog is different, but deeply valuable. In both cases there will be history to look back and see how perspectives have changed; in both cases there is more intentionality; in both cases I am often surprised at where things go once I start typing.

Until I started this blog a few weeks ago, no one in our small group (including me) had ever read or posted a blog... but yet we are all excited for the possibilities. Some might argue that it is not face time and therefore is not valuable; but I think it will definitely enhance our group and lead to even deeper relationships. I don't understand completely why it seems to work so well (maybe its just a fad), but I'm enjoying my personal sharing and now this group interaction.

Relationship Evangelism

I'm listening to a book on tape from a famous leader, pastor, and author. He is talking about evangelism and how important it is for us to reach out to people in a way that builds relationships; he is talking about how evangelism is not about beating people over the heads with Bibles or always having to talk of spiritual matters, but instead just getting to know them and their story. It's about finding common interests and building the relationship from those.

I agree that relationships are at the core of evangelism; that relationship is required in order to come alongside someone who is struggling or to be able to speak truth into their life. The piece I struggle with in all of evangelism is that it always feels like building relationship has to have an alterior motive. If I build relationships with my neighbors for the sake of one day evangelizing to them, am I "tricking" them into becoming my friends - because I have a hidden agenda? I'm not saying that relationship evangelsim is wrong, but it just sometimes feels like we are on this hidden mission trying to build relationships in a stealth way because under the surface some day we are going to lay it on them when they are least expecting it.

I desire to love people simply because they are people and Jesus taught me to love people. I desire to serve people for the same reason. I desire to build relationships with people because we all need relationships and in building a friendship I am unconditionally loving them, intentionally serving them, and being obedient to live the way of life Jesus calls me to.

Now, as with any other healthy relationship, if a need arises for that person that I can help with, I need to do what I can. If I feel there is some spiritual element to that assistance then I need to share that with this person and not shy away from it. Jesus also doesn't call us to hide the fact that we are following His way, so we don't need to pretend we don't love God or care about His church; we don't need to down-play our faith - instead we should let our light shine and pour salt all over this world. I believe God will give opportunity to sow seeds of our faith in His time.

The rub is that if we are followers of Christ and believe that His sacrifice was for our eternal salvation, then we get nervous for those people we know that haven't accepted the gift and will need to take the hit themselves. This develops a sense of urgency which makes building relationships and waiting for opportunities much harder to do; its hard to be patient when so much is on the line.

Evangelism is a dynamic animal that I've not yet fully reconciled; there are a few of the aspects that seem to be truth but yet contradict each other. Where I am at right now is here:

- I will build relationships because I love living in community
- I will enjoy relationships with and accept those who are not the same as me
- I will not shy away from my faith, but not make it relationship motive
- I will trust that God through the Holy Spirit will direct me into the right discussions at the right time and give me the strength to say what needs to be said when it needs to be said
- I'll keep wrestling with God for understanding as I travel along my journey

Delivery

I had the honor of speaking last Sunday at a church in Pine City; it allowed me to share my heart on some stuff but also give the lead pastor and friend a week off from preparation and delivery. I am happy with the way it went, but the feedback I received gave me some additional insight. People seemed to resonate with the message, but the bulk of the feedback I received was around delivery ("I was able to understand it", "It made sense", "I got it", "It was easy to understand", etc). Now, I don't know if this was the emphasis of the reaction because the content sucked or that the content was good, but what made it better was being able to say things in a way that met people where they were at.

This, like always, got me thinking about other areas of life. What we believe will never matter to anyone else if we can't express it in a way that makes sense to them; this is actually a tenant of marketing - who cares if the product is great if you can't communicate its greatness and why people should care in a way that hooks them and makes sense. Think about Jesus and his message (on how to live a better life and that He came to take the hit for us): he didn't teach in great theological forums with high-brow language - he spoke in parables & stories; he spoke in the culture of His day: analogies of farming (sowing seed, lost sheep, crops) and fishing. No matter what we feel or believe, the ability to communicate is critical.

Perhaps this is why great leaders are so, well, great -- they can get us to see their vision and align our lives to their passion because they have a way of putting words to their beliefs and mission that makes sense. Martin Luther King, Jr, desired integration and racial reconciliation - so did a lot of people before him. But he was able to deliver this message with such powerful imagery and passion and conviction that people were moved to action. What made King's messages so great (including the "I have a dream speech") is that he constantly delivered his vision and mission. That day on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, King started his speech using an anlogy around the blacks redeeming their check of freedom that was issued by the U.S. constitution - actually, great stuff, but no one remembers it. When King felt the speech wasn't grabbing the attention he had hoped, he moved away from his written comments and pulled on the vision and speech he'd given numerous times before: "... judged not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character...", "... from the Stone Mountain of George, let freedom ring...", and "... free at last, free at last, thank God almighty I'm free at last...". What made MLK, Jr, great was not his desire for integration, but in his ability to delivery it and unite people toward a common vision with purpose and passion.

May we as leaders have even a fraction of that ability so that people see what we believe and are compelled toward transformation.