Monthly Archive for December, 2007

Lessons from ‘07 - Part 3

I could write daily about the lessons of ‘07, but let me wrap it up today with what is for me a simple yet profound principle.

When I was in high school I played football. I have a natural love for the game. I remember my junior year. A close friend of mine who was a year older had given me his gloves to wear. I played “rover,” or nose guard, so these came in handy shooting off the line and hitting the center. They were the only gloves like them - nobody else had a pair even close. I remember the first time I wore them… I felt like I had a great performance that day. So every game, or practice, after that I put them on the same way, standing in the same spot in the locker room. I hate to admit it, but I was a bit superstitious when it came to my game. Now, I was no great athlete, and I had no explanation for the games that didn’t go so well, but because of what I had experienced once, I kept trying to attain that over and over again.

There’s something about sports that brings out the superstition in many. For example, Wade Boggs of major league baseball played for the Boston Red Sox. He was known for being highly superstitious. In fact, he became known as the “Chicken Man” because he would eat chicken before every game and was “obsessively compulsive” about the details of his routine. He would take exactly 150 ground balls during infield practice. He would only enter the batting cage at exactly 5:17 pm and only ran sprints at exactly 7:17 pm. Before each at-bat he wrote the Hebrew word “Chai” (meaning “life”) in the dirt. We could go on, but you get the picture. He was highly superstitious.

There’s just something about sports… or maybe it’s just life. Perhaps we all have a tendency toward the superstitious. ‘07 taught me that many Christians can be extremely superstitious when it comes to their faith.

If you grew up in church you understand. Years ago, when you began a relationship with Christ it happened on a certain day and in a certain way. That day, the choir was wearing robes, you heard organ music, at the end of the service you “walked forward” to talk with the pastor. He was wearing a coat and tie, and there was such a formality to the service, but you were taught it was “reverence.” Through all of that, you experienced God in a fresh way that day - and it has set the tone for what you believe is spiritual. To do anything less, or different, would be unthinkable.

…Is it spiritual or superstitious? Do you now believe that the only way to come to Christ is the way you did? Do all those ingredients have to be the same for your “game” or church experience? Are you constantly trying to create what you once felt?

I believe one of our greatest hindrances is the pursuit of our superstitions instead of the spiritual. For years I was in that trap. I thought pastors had to look a certain way, act a certain way, and function in a certain flow. It was called “spiritual” but in reality it was a frustrating bondage. At C3, we determined to let go of our past so we could embrace our future. We’ve learned some huge lessons. Our pursuit is Christ, loving him and loving others. We are not trying to re-live an experience, we are chasing and creating a future. Letting go of superstitions is hard. We know them. They’re comfortable. Superstitions bring us comfort because they give us a sense of control. “If I just do these things, then God will be happy with me, and I’ll be a ‘good Christian’. To do anything less or different, well, that’s just not spiritual!” How wrong we’ve been. We can’t control what’s not ours, and the true church has never been ours, it belongs to the one who died for it. What if we stopped chasing an experience and simply were real… honest… authentic?

What if we stopped pretending and started… living? Why is it that how we dress, what we sing, how we talk, and how we think is so different on Sundays than the rest of our week? I don’t think pretending attracts anyone. People with real needs and real hurts don’t have time to come “play house” with us on the weekend. They need answers and hope, and so often we teach them, by example, to superstitiously pretend.

What if we stopped being so superstitious and started living spirit-filled lives?

It’s been a learning year - and now we’re at the door of ‘08 - I can’t wait!!! C3 - Invest and Invite…

Published
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Byron Bledsoe
on December 31, 2007
in Church, Faith, Family, Future, Leadership, Life, Life Lessons, Past, Random, Sunday, Thankful, Thoughts and Vision
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Lessons From ‘07 - Part 2

I’ll wrap this up tomorrow (although I could take much longer…). I’m exhausted - we just got back from Daytona Beach (we love the Plaza Resort). It was great to get away for a few days. I love the ocean… I find peacefulness even in the crash of waves. Here are a few more things I’ve learned in ‘07:

  • There are very few people who will love you enough to overlook your weaknesses. When you’re a pastor, many people love their idea of you, but not the real you. So, when you bust that idea, love goes musty…
  • When you relentlessly pursue God’s purpose for your life, there will be great opposition and pain. It will get worse before it gets better. If you have the courage to walk through it, you will journey into a new place.
  • I don’t know much. With every year that passes, I have more questions than answers. But, here’s the deal. I love questions!!! They are the one tool that can lead you to some solutions. They also cause you to face reality, and how to get from what is to what if.
  • When Jesus said that to follow him meant to take up a cross, he meant it.
  • Seeing God change lives is worth every single thing you have to give up.
  • To embrace the future, you have to let go of the past.
  • If we are building a church who’s future is to reach lost people, if we don’t reach them, we have no future.
  • You really can sense the greatest peace in the midst of the greatest turmoil.
  • If something burns inside you, that knowing of what you are born to do - to chase it brings life, to run from it brings living death.
  • You can influence people who “disagree” with you in a positive way. In our focus to transition to make a greater impact, many who’ve bolted have had to think through and face the reality that they really weren’t reaching people. Some have now become more intentional in thinking of “others” - this is a win for the kingdom.

I’ll finish tomorrow… man, I’m tired. BUT, I’m pumped about …21 days…

Published
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Byron Bledsoe
on December 30, 2007
in Church, Faith, Family, Friends, Future, Leadership, Life Lessons, Past, Random, Sunday, Thankful, Thoughts and Vision
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Lessons From ‘07 - Part 1

As we wrap up they year, there are a number of things I’ve learned. I remember being thrilled that ‘06 was over, thinking how much better ‘07 would be. The challenges of ‘06 carried over to ‘07 for a while before things got jacked and better. This year has been a year of tremendous growth for me, personally. I’ve tried to learn from my mistakes, as well as from all that life brought me. Over the next coupe days I’ll share some of those lessons.

One of the main things I’ve learned is that life is really very simple, but even in that simplicity I don’t have all the answers. I’m really striving to live a life of loving God and loving others. That sounds so good, but it brings honkin’ challenges. The loving others part is not something that comes natural to me. I’ve had to ask God continually to give me a greater love for others. As the year went by and God and others became more of my focus, I learned the following:

  • While here on earth, we really do love God BY loving others.
  • When you focus on others, the “brothers” often get jealous. This isn’t new, i.e. the prodigal son’s brother… I really used to believe that if you reached more people “Christians” would be overwhelmed with joy. Huge lesson - I was never more wrong!!! They will often use any means to discredit what you’re doing. It’s really not a big deal because those kinds of people rally around negativity and lies, which always eventually comes back to bite them. You can’t rally people around creating a culture of vultures with spiritual talk and innuendo, griping and complaining (murmuring…) and it last. Once your “issue” is over, many of these people will eventually turn on you and do the same thing. Create a culture of criticism and it’s what you’ll live with. Because of this, I pray harder for several pastors in Central Florida. They’re only one decision away from their biggest fans becoming their greatest critics (I know because many of their biggest fans used to be some of my biggest fans who became my loudest critics… now they’re somebody else’s fans, soon to be…). The fastest way to bring these people out is to focus more and more on “others”… it won’t take long.
  • If the laser focus that is given by some to trying to destroy and discredit churches that are reaching people were transitioned to simply reaching people, it wouldn’t take long to change the world. Have you read these verses?
  • God has continually confirmed in my heart, often through fire, that I’m doing what I was born to do - what a life!!!
  • I’ve learned you can be both scared and confident at the same time. Not knowing what tomorrow holds and how it will look can be frightening, but knowing who holds tomorrow and how you’re chasing him brings overwhelming confidence. We have one life to give, how will you invest it? Check this out!
  • Insecure people can often see your confidence in Christ as personal arrogance.
  • There is something I can learn and grow from in any situation, regardless of the motives of the one who brings it to me.
  • Those who want you to fail, will do anything they can to distract you from God’s purposes. The more you stay focused, the angrier they get.
  • Most “Christians” I’ve known think verses like this one are optional (and they always have excuses for why it doesn’t apply to them - kind of a dangerous pattern with Scripture!) - but Christ-followers understand it and live it.

C3 - I hope you’re ready to rock! It’s coming… Invest and Invite

…22 days…

Published
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Byron Bledsoe
on December 29, 2007
in Church, Faith, Family, Friends, Future, Leadership, Life, Life Lessons, Past, Random, Thankful and Thoughts
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Women of C3

Angie recently started a new blog about, for, and to the women of C3. Check it out at HERE!

She will be sharing stories and posts of some of the graceful barbarians of C3 and updating a calendar of events to keep the women of C3 connected.

…24 days…

Published
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Byron Bledsoe
on December 27, 2007
in Church, Faith, Friends and Random
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What happened to Christmas?

I read something this morning. I’ve not been able to get it off my mind. Much of it resonated with me. Here it is:

“Along about now, pulpits and church newsletters bristle with whining about the culture’s theft of Christmas.

There’s the so-called “commercialization of Christmas.” The manic retail spending but hesitant church pledging. Bustling malls but empty pews. Spotlights on Santa Claus but not on Jesus. The “taking Christ out of Christmas.”

Need I go on?

We’ll even gripe about the people who finally do show up en masse on Christmas Eve and then scorn them for not being there every Sunday. Never mind that these paradoxes are precisely the same as the cultural context into which Jesus was born. Never mind the teachable moment, the opportunity for compassion. Never mind that the religious holiday called Christmas has been a political and cultural icon from its inception.

This annual whining is a perfect expression of why many churches dwindle to irrelevance. This is “provider-driven” religion. We are blaming people for not wanting what we provide. It would be far better for us to ask ourselves: Why don’t we provide what they want? If people are hungry for food, why give them ritual? If people are hungry for meaning, why give them traditions inherited from former days? If people want to connect their lives with a living God, why condemn them for digging deep to buy gifts for their children or yearning for lost love? If people want to sing Christmas carols because this is the best music we sing all year long, why would we force them to drone through Advent hymns just because the church calendar says it’s technically not “Christmas” yet? Is there some virtue in denying people their legitimate needs?

Forget the patronizing attitudes. Our members aren’t children who need to be taught the value of eating spinach. They are grown-ups who yearn for love, meaning, joy and community. They are smart enough not to bring those needs to congregations where the preaching is dull, the air is filled with year-end anxiety about money or children aren’t invited to sit on laps and express their dreams.

The mall meets people where they are, whereas we blister people for not being what we want them to be. Who needs such abuse? Meeting people where they are doesn’t mean being slavish to their self-destructive ways. But it does mean comprehending those self-destructive ways — not as mindless appetite, but as yearning and hunger. Plodding through a dour Advent hymn is no response, especially when Macy’s is playing “Joy to the World.”

Of all the possible roles to play, we seem to have chosen the least savory. We play the uncaring innkeeper: There’s no room for you here as you actually are. We play the Roman census-taker: Do it our way, or else. We play the shepherds’ employer: Stay out there in the cold, even though light is shining not far away.

I say stop the whining, and rev up the preaching. Let’s touch their hearts, not tickle their ears with clever Advent homilies about John the Baptist. Let’s love people, not berate them for spurning our treasured offerings. If they ache to sing “Silent Night” in early December, let’s do it. Why not do the Christmas pageant first, so that children connect Christ with Christmas? It doesn’t matter that we are expert in dressing up stale bread in purple vestments and well-vetted liturgy. Stale is still stale.”

While I don’t know the author, Tom Ehrich, I believe he’s hit something here. I’ve heard it many times this Christmas Season, “What happened to Christmas?” We did. Organized religion happened to Christmas. In all of our “pomp and circumstance” we are throwing a fit at the world. “They don’t realize…, they don’t celebrate right…, we’ve lost the real meaning of Christmas in America…”

Why do we expect those who don’t know Christ to act like they do? It’s not up to us to make them conform to an acceptable behavior. It’s our responsibility and joy to love them, and introduce them to the Christ who’s birth we celebrate. What if instead of coming across as mad, we showed love? We can’t expect people who don’t do life with Christ to act like they do… why not see the incredible opportunity God has given us to make a difference in their lives?

Published
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Byron Bledsoe
on December 26, 2007
in Christmas, Church, Faith, Future, Leadership, Past, Random and Thoughts
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