In God’s name

Apriest was walking along the road with a member of his church when they came across a beggar sitting in the gutter. The member said to the priest, “Why doesn’t God do something for that beggar?” The priest quickly came back with, “He has, by bringing your attention to the beggar,” replied the priest. 

God brought the attention of William Booth to the people outside the church he was attending. Booth had a choice to ignore them or do something, and of course he chose the latter. That was not a popular choice by all accounts, but it set William Booth on a journey which required courage and lots of faith. Along that journey the Salvation Army came into being, all because William paid attention to what God was showing him.

We have a lot to be thankful for in the SA, those officers and soldiers who have shown great courage and really put their faith to the test. They gave us a very good foundation on which to build on. They all had a choice to make - ignore it or do something. Thankfully they did something.

Have we become too comfortable? Is it a case that no one has shown us what to do? Maybe  we are involved in a game of Chinese whispers where the original message has become distorted and obscured? Or is it a case that God is bringing our attention to the people in our community but we are ignoring it? Have we forgotten to make it clear that we are a church first and that our charitable works are an extension of the church?

Bob Docter in his book A view from the corner asks the provocative question - “Do we really want to grow?” He points out that, “If people don’t know the Army is a place where someone can go to church, it’s because we’re not telling them.”

Today we are not bringing out some new religion; the early Christians did all the suffering to pave the way for us. William Booth and those pioneering officers and soldiers did the same. Our job today is to build on the work they started, is that too hard an ask?

Writer: Roy Stephens is a third generation Salvationist and still serving in the band at his corps in Auckland, New Zealand, a husband (to Bevalyn) and father to two girls Lynnore (in the USA) and Andrea and a son Garyth. Both girls are married and he is the proud grandparent of four girls and two boys. He served with a large international company for twenty-five years as an engineer, becoming the Industrial Engineer three years before retirement. In the early eighties a Production Management magazine found its way onto his desk with the article “Turning around God’s business”. It challenged him to not leave his skills in the office but use them to enhance God’s work.

A Call to Greatness

by Mark Braye

In the September 13, 2010 issue of Time magazine, former Prime Minister of Great Britain, Tony Blair, has an essay entitled “A Call to Greatness.” He adapted the essay from his new memoir A Journey: My Political Life exclusively for Time. He reflects and writes on the Presidents of the United States he has known and worked with. The essay is a great read and a wonderful preview of his book, published by Alfred A. Knopf.

One statement Blair made really spoke to me and sparked a lot of thought for ministry. He wrote:

“…the real test of leadership - amongst all the tests of policy, judgement, politics and ability - is whether, in the final analysis, you put the country first; that ultimately you are prepared to put what you perceive to be the common good of  the nation before your own political self. It is the supreme test. Very few leaders pass it.”

Blair goes on to write that Bill Clinton, W., and Barack Obama passed the test “and for a reason not connected simply to them.” (Time, September 13, 2010, “A Call to Greatness” by Tony Blair, page 45).

Applying the above notion to ministry in general and SA officership in particular is important. The real test of officership (and all ministry service) is whether we put the people we serve before TSA as an organization and ourselves. Are we prepared to put what we perceive to be the common good of people before our organization and selves?

The quote can be applied to SA leadership as well. Are SA department heads and Divisional, Territorial, and International leaders willing to put officers and the people we serve before the organization and themselves?

There are times and there have been officers who are too concerned about their careers in officership to truly serve and minister to people. There are times, I guess we can all go there, when we worry about climbing the ladder and getting that DHQ or THQ appointment. At times we put our “political self” before the people we serve and the Kingdom of God.

There’s a Hollywood expression I’ve paraphrased before in a post on theRubicon. It’s relevant again with the above thoughts: “There are no small appointments, only small officers.”

There is a call to greatness for all of us: service.

Martin Luther King, Jr. said “everyone can be great because everyone can serve.”

Writer: Mark and Nancy Braye are the pastors/officers of The Salvation Army Tri-Town Community Church in Temiskaming Shores, Ontario, Canada. They have two children, pictured above, Hannah and Micah. The four of them love to play and watch Sesame Street, Dora the Explorer, and The Wiggles.

Loyalty

Different generations express their loyalties in different ways and to different entities. Generations of the past were loyal to organizations and corporate entities. It is more common today to see people more loyal to people than to corporate structures. For example, decades ago, people were more likely to lift up the organization and insist that others do the same for the good of the organizations survival, which, in turn, will benefit the individuals. Today people are more likely to encourage an individual to leave an organization, if leaving will be more beneficial for the individual, even if the organization will lose a great employee or member.

For example, John Maxwell said that when he goes to many dying companies to help them grow, one of the focuses of his research is on how much the company invests in the education of its employees. Many who do not place an emphasis on education will respond, “We don’t want to invest in their education only to have them leave after they are educated.” To which John responds, “Would you prefer your employees not get educated and stay?”

Organizational loyalty also happens within denominations, where the members of a denomination prefer to lift up the denomination and preserve its traditions rather than place an emphasis on the benefits of people and their effective walk with Christ, even at the expense of denominational traditions and values. This is one reason why denominations are on a rapid decline all over the Western world.

Paul urged the believers in Philippi to stand firm together for their faith. They lived in a Roman city with citizens who were fiercely loyal to their citizenship and their emperor. In a city whose patriotism considered Jesus to be a traitor and Paul to be a threat worthy of imprisonment, the Philippian Christians were finding themselves in the midst of a horrifying reality-they may also be beaten, imprisoned, and even killed for their loyalty to another Lord, and another nation (see Philippians 3:20).

And what does Paul call them to do? Does he call them to stand up for their denomination? No. He calls them to stand together as citizens of heaven and for Christ.

It is not the “churches” that Paul left as a legacy to his faithfulness, but his devotion to building strong disciples. Whether they remained in Philippi or went off to become powerful teachers in Rome or Corinth, and whether they joined an existing congregation or began a brand new movement of faithful Christians, was not an interest of Paul. Paul was concerned with their faithfulness to Christ and to one another as believers, not as a denomination.

In order for believers to build strong and lasting Christian communities, the first order must be to invest in strong, lasting believers. If the organization is valued above the organizers, then the temptation will be to honor the structures and traditions above the believers. This will always end in confused loyalties and weakened values.

“Your exclusive concern should be to live as citizens worthy of the gospel of Christ” (Phi 1:27 MIT)

In His dust,
Johnny

Writer: Capt. Jonathan Gainey was born in Jacksonville, FL in June, 1969. He has been married to Staci, the daughter of retired Salvation Army officers, for twenty years and they have four children ages 18, 16, 12, and 4. Jonathan was commissioned as an officer in June of 2002, and is currently serving in his third appointment in New Bern, NC, USA. He is working on a Masters of Divinity from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and is the creator and manager of the Flocks Diner website, where his passion for learning and teaching is expressed and shared through writing and a weekly podcast.

© 2010 Jonathan P. Gainey and Flock’s Diner.

No Magic Bullet!

by Terry Camsey

If you took a group of people and persuaded them to become as fit as they could possibly be, the prescription would be different for each person, based on the personal challenges each faces…weight, state of health, will-power, attitude, importance each attaches to the challenge…

 …a “one size” solution would not fit all for a number of reasons. Sure, there are ways offered that will practically guarantee you lose weight but there is far more than weight that contributes to optimum health.

It is the same with churches of all denominations, a solution that works for one church will not necessarily work in another due to a number of variables…they may not have a leader with the same skills as a thriving church…the context and community in which they minister may be vastly different…they may not have the resources…

…plus, for those churches to try to emulate mega-churches, they can so easily mistakenly assume that it is the methods that produce the results, rather than principles behind the methods that mightbe applied in a zillion other ways.

It was Ralph Waldo Emerson who said:

 “As to methods, here may be a million and then some, but principles are few.

The man who grasps principles can successfully select his own methods.

The man who tries methods, ignoring principles, is sure to have trouble.” 

Let me illustrate in a context we understand. Open-air meetings are (were?) a highly effective method of making Booth’s principle of taking the Gospel to the people a reality. If open air meetings are not as effective today in some locations the question becomes “Can they be made effective in today’s context?” Maybe choosing a different location, at a different time, with different music and message couched in terms understood today by the unchurched target population might help.

But, if not, the question then becomes, “How can we apply that basic principle in a more effective way?” …seeking new ways of applying the principle rather than dropping the method and with it a key principle.

Yet still, many keep working at methods that have long since lost the effectiveness they once had, yet have become almost sacred in themselves.

It can be an exercise in futility try to duplicate what Saddleback or Willow Creek do. Their resources and context are very, very different to that of many other churches.  If only we would instead look at the underlying principles of the methods of those churches and see whether - in the context of our own local resources - we might have other effective ways to apply those same principles.

There is no magic bullet. The Lord knows many have sought such for years…attending seminars, buying new product or books, pulling in external consultants…etc.

Peter F. Drucker suggests that every three years an organization should put every activity on trial for its life asking (I paraphrase) whether it is still effective, or can be made so, and - if not - what can be substituted. If you were starting all over today, he suggests, would you be doing the same things in the same way?

Would you? Do you?

Who was it who said that insanity is doing the same things over and over again and expecting different results?

Writer: For thirty years Terry Camsey has been immersed in Church Growth and Health issues at local, middle and upper administrative levels. He is author of the book “Slightly Off-Center” (Crest Books) and is working on “Beyond the Cusp of The Curve..exploring the single most critical influence on the life, health, growth, vitality and decline of Christian denominations and the churches within them.”

He is founder of the new ChurchCatalystsInternational focusing on the role of interventionists as catalysts: shedding light, creating heat, inspiring energy and accomplishing transformation. More details are on his new website http://churchcatalystsinternational.org./ 

“Stop! Don’t Run!”

by Captain Jon Gainey

Some of us have run from bees. Others of us have run from bullies. And lots of us have run from a friend’s house when we heard the voice of mom calling us in the house for supper.

I distinctly remember the call of my mother who would yell, “Ronnie and Johnny and Pat-riiiiiiiiiik!” to get her three sons home from a few blocks away. The last part of Patrick’s name was always drawn out in a falsetto voice. We could hear mom from five blocks away, and we would immediately stop what we were doing and run home for supper. And, unlike most kids today, we actually played outside, so, by the time we got home, we were sweaty, filthy, stinky, and starving; we were a mess!

As a pastor, I have heard, more times than I can count, about those who have run from their calling from God. There’s a story in an Old Testament book of the Bible about a guy who ran from his calling from God. “But Jonah ran away from the LORD and headed for Tarshish” (Jon 1:3a NIV). It’s interesting how many Jonah’s there are out there in the pastoral world. Every seminary and Bible College hears their fair share of those who have “ran away from the Lord”.

The point of Jonah’s tale is to let us know that it is dangerous to run from God.

What about running to God?

My wife recently used a fairly simple and well known object lesson to bring home the point that we must all work together in order to do God’s will. In other words, no one person can do the entire ministry required to bring others to the Good News.

She used a tablespoon-full of coffee grounds to point out how only one part of a recipe is not very appealing to the palate. After all, it’s not until the grounds are added to water and heated on a stove that something edible is produced.

When she scooped up the coffee grounds into the spoon, she asked if anyone would like to eat the grounds. Of course, one young boy who wanted more attention than he should have desired raised his hand with great urgency and said with earnest enthusiasm, “I’ll eat it! I’ll eat it!” So, my wife obliged him with a quick dunk of a heaping mound of dry coffee grounds right into his mouth.

Immediately, the boy stood up and ran for the closest faucet. With a look of horror on his face, he ran as fast as he could to the kitchen sink, while his mouth oozed dark brown slobber that ran down his chin and onto his nice, white shirt.

Some Christians, who are called to some form of ministry leadership, run with great passion away from God. While others, like the little boy with a penchant for punishment, run with equal eagerness toward what they think they will enjoy.

Imagine their surprise when they learn that they have rushed into something they weren’t really expecting. In fact, they found that the ministry they ran to wasn’t really tasty to them at all.

Let’s not forget Paul’s warning in his first letter to Timothy: “[An overseer] must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil” (1Ti 3:6 NIV).

Sometimes, Christians are too eager to dive into their calling before their calling is ready to receive them. And when they rush to open their mouths and take it all in, they are horrified to discover that it tastes nothing like they imagined. Because of their impatience, they end up making a huge mess, when a few more ingredients and a little more cooking time could have given them a more palatable experience.

As Dr. Rod Cooper so wisely stated, “God is not in a rush to make you a leader. He is much more interested in what you look like when you do lead.”

So, whether I’m a Jonah 1:3 runner or a 1 Timothy 3:6 runner, the direction I’m going isn’t really the problem; sometimes it’s the running itself that makes the mess, no matter which way I am headed. 

Writer: Capt. Jonathan Gainey was born in Jacksonville, FL in June, 1969. He has been married to Staci, the daughter of retired Salvation Army officers, for twenty years and they have four children ages 18, 16, 12, and 4. Jonathan was commissioned as an officer in June of 2002, and is currently serving in his third appointment in New Bern, NC, USA. He is working on a Masters of Divinity from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and is the creator and manager of the Flocks Diner website, where his passion for learning and teaching is expressed and shared through writing and a weekly podcast.

Power of Prayer

Cymbala puts prayer as the centrepiece

On a recent visit to New York City some salvationist friends invited us to attend a midweek prayer meeting at the famous Brooklyn Tabernacle. Taking the subway down there offers some fascinating sights but they all paled into insignificance when we found what awaited us inside the “Tab”. The place was bursting at the seams - for a MIDWEEK prayer meeting!

To observe thousands of enthusiastic attendees on a Tuesday night whose one desire was to pray for their church, their families, their community, healing, salvation or an in-filling of the Holy Spirit, was stunning.

Senior Pastor Jim Cymbala and his wife Carol started at the Tab in 1971 with 30 people and felt the whole challenge was way beyond them.

 “

“Carol and I had frankly admitted to each other that unless God broke through, the Brooklyn Tabernacle was doomed. We couldn’t fitness it along. We couldn’t organize and market and program our way out. The embarrassing truth was that sometimes even I didn’t want to show up for a service - that’s how bad it was. We had to have a visitation of the Holy Spirit, or bust. ‘Lord, I have no idea how to be a successful pastor,’ I prayed softly … ‘I haven’t been trained. All I know is that Carol and I are working in the middle of New York City, with people dying on every side, overdosing from heroin, consumed by materialism, and all the rest. If the gospel is so powerful …’ I couldn’t finish the sentence. Tears choked me … Then quietly but forcefully, in words heard not with my ear but deep within my spirit, I sensed God speaking: ‘If you and your wife will lead my people to pray and call upon my name, you will never lack for something fresh to preach. I will supply all the money that’s needed, both for the church and for your family, and you will never have a building large enough to contain the crowds I will send in response’. (Jim Cymbala: Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire)

 So the Cymbalas and their crew made prayer their centrepiece, and the Tuesday Prayer Meeting became the “barometer” of the church.

“What happens on Tuesday night will be the gauge by which we judge success or failure because that will be the measure by which God blesses us.”

If we were to adopt a similar weather vane based on Sunday morning prayer meetings (for those Corps that still bother) what do you think it would indicate? 

If Cymbala is travelling out of town, he always attempts to get back for the Tuesday night meeting. It’s a major priority.

In order to sharpen the focus on prayer, they commenced a Prayer Band who pray around the clock, five nights a week. If a request for prayer is made to the church, the prayer band keep it on the books for thirty days. They are also the first ones up when public or private prayers are requested. Now that’s the sort of band I’d like to see in the SA!

As we left the magnificent auditorium via the staircase we encountered a “Heroes of the Faith” gallery. Amongst the portraits of Rev. Martin Luther King and many others I noticed a striking scene portrayed straight in front of us. It was of the first salvationist lasses who arrived in NY’s Battery Park with Commissioner Railton in 1880. What does the painting show was the first thing they did when they arrived at that unknown place? They knelt in fervent prayer.

I was deeply moved by this scene. Partly proud for our glorious heritage and partly saddened for the way our priorities seem to have changed since those simple, forthright times. It’s not too late to change and it’s people like Jim Cymbala who remind us of what we can be if we remember the power of prayer and get out of the weakness of flesh and into the strength of the Spirit.

Plug Officership!

 Morale matters most! says Joe Noland

James Pedlar, A Salvationist and Doctoral student in Canada has posted an excellent piece herein (http://therubicon.org/2010/09/officer-morale-whats-wrong/) on officer morale. It’s based on a two-year research project focusing on young adult attrition within TSA. Although originating in Canada, the issues he describes are not peculiar to that territory, nor are they to the Army alone; they are widespread within the Western world. And it has nothing to do with one person, be he/she the territorial commander or whomever. It has everything to do with structure and a kind of institutional cancer slowly and insidiously eating away at the system. And it’s been a long time in the making. They don’t come any better than Commissioners Bill and Marty Francis.

This is a must read for all present and future Army leaders because it has to do with this whole matter of institutional, hierarchical leadership. The thread that accompanies the post is equally important because it has obviously struck a nerve with many. The comments also tell me something important as to the authenticity of its content. The responses are very balanced, no ranting and raving, maturely expressed, well worth a listen. One commenter, I think, gets to the heart of this morale matter when he writes, “How have you been, and are you being, valued by your leaders?” Just a suggestion, but I would pass the link on to TEC members within your respective commands. Tell them that I recommended it, so as to get you off the hook.

I was TYS/Candidates Secretary during prehistoric times in the USA Western Territory (When the two positions were conjoined). Regarding candidate recruitment, our mantra was always, “The image of officership matters!” or “Morale Matters Most!” A positive image of officership is our best recruitment tool. Image and morale are intricately linked together. Has nothing to do with who the Candidates Secretary is or isn’t; it has everything to do with morale, which will translate into either a negative or positive view of officership.

I’ve witnessed it time and again. The number of candidates recruited is directly proportionate to the morale (high or low) in the territory (The only exception being maybe during economic downturns, but that’s a discussion for another day). It will ebb and flow depending upon the quality of leadership at all levels, how they value those under their command. Is it hierarchical or relational? Is it legalistic or compassionate? Is it maintenance minded or mission driven? By the way this is going to be covered thoroughly in a book we’re working on: “High Counsel: Jesus and John on Leadership,” the “John” referring to John Gowans. Stay tuned.

I was Candidates Secretary for 5 years and we averaged 60+ cadets per session during that time. I can’t take the credit; we just capitalized on savvy leadership, high morale and a positive image throughout the territory at all levels, which we exploited to the hilt (in the best sense of the term).

In fact, I had the attached poster created cartoon like (from a real photo taken on the Glenn Erie Christian Conference Center grounds). As you can see we artistically plopped a cap and bonnet on the top of each fireplug (no Photoshop in those days). “PLUG OFFICERSHIP!” was our inspired caption. The Scripture portion (unreadable here) is taken from John 14:4, “But whoever drinketh of the water that I shall give…”

Man, did we take some heat on this one, a particular corps council taking up a petition to ban the poster and sending it to the Chief Secretary. But the kids loved it. During Youth Councils, the TC being good-natured and forgiving autographed them with the suggestion that they hang the poster on their bedroom walls - all in good fun attempting to get the message across contemporaneously. Talk about feeling valued. Mine may be the only one left in captivity, want to start a bidding war?

To cap it off we decided that 80 was a poetic number representing the number of cadets to be commissioned in 1980, the Centennial year of TSA is the Western Territory. Doris wrote a chorus, “Lord, we want 80 for 1980″ (can’t remember the other words, just as well). General Arnold Brown was our Special for the Commissioning Weekend, the chorus to be introduced with my comments during the Cadets Farewell Banquet. Long story short, we had the words printed on cards and placed at each table setting. Alas the color of the cards didn’t fit in with the Training Principal’s decorative scheme and they were pulled forcing us to find another solution (No projection in those days). The chorus was introduced and sung, accompanied by a faint and scattered gaggle of giggles throughout the room. A few of the SFOT staff started singing, “Lord, we want twenty, we think that’s plenty,” their version of “Saturday Night Live!”

Suffice to say, they got rid of us soon thereafter, followed by an obligatory sojourn into proverbial Siberia. Not feeling so valued then. Souls saved were just as precious there by the way. Nor did they even come close to 80 in 1980. To this day, occasionally some old retired codger will sing a line of that chorus when passing me by, followed by a faint giggle! There can be no creativity without risk taking, win some, lose some. Ah, but the rewards are so much greater when you win. Not this time, though.

The point being, “Morale matters most!” not a song or poster or program or Candidate’s Secretary. If morale is high, the image of officership will be high and candidate recruitment numbers will increase exponentially. Attrition in our teen, young adult ranks will subside. In a chain of command structure, good morale and a positive image is a top down phenomenon, with every level of leadership being in sync together.

Or is it the other way around? As they say before offering a toast, in this case, to the future, “Bottom’s up!” Translated, “Revolution!” Whichever, I’ll let you make the call.

Writer: Commissioner Joe Noland’s ministry can be summed up in three words: chaos, creativity and controversy - three elements implicit in any successful innovative endeavor. Cecil B. DeMille, renowned producer of Biblical epics, once wrote, “Creativity is a drug I cannot live without.” Joe’s mantra reads, “Creativity is my drug of choice.”  Access Joe Noland’s complete bio, among other things, by clicking into his website.

An open & shut issue?

… asks Terry Camsey 

The front cover of a Christian magazine stunned me recently. It referred to a new outreach initiative called “Back To Church Sunday.”  It wasn’t the focus that caught my attention so much as the illustration behind it. It showed closed (and probably barred from the inside) ancient, shabby, and substantial church doors surrounded by worn and crumbling masonry. A very uninviting and forbidding entrance that suggested “Keep Out!” 

In the early days of the Army, doors of citadels and fortresses served, indeed, to protect Salvationists within, before they set out for open-air meetings through hostile crowds. If you have never read it, try to get a copy of “The Old Corps” (used by John Gowans as a template for his musical “Glory.”) The Salvationists of those days were lucky if they got out and back again without being injured, or having the flag or other trappings stolen. 

No wonder that we had so many citadels and fortresses. They were as much a defensive structure - to which the early day Salvationists could retreat after bravely going forth to share the Gospel - as a point of entry to the un-churched masses. 

The illustration got me thinking about doors…doors that can be open to let people in, or closed to keep people out.  

There are so many kinds of doors.  Revolving doors, for example where, if you are not careful, you can find yourself going around in circles - especially if pushed hard by other people trying to get in. In fact, if you are not careful, you might find yourself back out on the sidewalk again! 

There are swing doors which can be very dangerous if you don’t have your wits about you and the person entering before you lets it swing back in your face. Then, too, there are sliding doors that can trap your fingers if you are not careful… and screen doors to keep unwelcome bugs out. 

There are front doors that can let you in, and back doors that can, just as easily let you out…and side doors where you can sneak in surreptitiously. Doors can be entrances,  they can also be a portal where people can be rejected as well as ejected. By words, action or attitude,” shown the door!” 

For new people coming to a church, or corps for that matter, there can be many doors - barriers or entrances - which gradually lead them into the congregational family or not. There is a door into the building…a door into the congregation…a door into fellowship groups…a door into cliques within the congregation…a door into personal ministry…a door into leadership participation. 

Each door can be an entrance or an exit, openable only by those inside. 

Are those doors warm, open and welcoming in your corps? Or are they, like the picture on the magazine I mentioned, cold, shut and forbidding. 

I was very impressed, some years ago, when visiting a large church in Fresno with a friend. Everything about it said, “Welcome.” The parking lot was in front of the church and greeters were stationed there. The front doors were attractive, well lighted (I went to an evening service) and wide open, with other greeters outside to receive and welcome visitors. Inside were yet other volunteers to show us to our seats in the sanctuary. Everything about it said, “We’re glad to see you.” 

I have also been to corps where the parking lot was behind the building so that hardly any of the “regulars” used the front door, but entered by the back door…giving the appearance of a secret society! 

The most critical “doors” are those represented by the regular members of the congregation who can, by action or attitude, accept or reject visitors. 

Christmas will be here soon and we shall again relive the events immediately preceding the birth of Christ. We shall hear once again that there was no room at the inn for Mary and Joseph. 

It’s my prayer that such rejection will not be felt by visitors who choose to come to the Army. 

Do I hear an “Amen” to that?

Writer: For thirty years Terry Camsey has been immersed in Church Growth and Health issues at local, middle and upper administrative levels. He is author of the book “Slightly Off-Center” (Crest Books) and is working on “Beyond the Cusp of The Curve..exploring the single most critical influence on the life, health, growth, vitality and decline of Christian denominations and the churches within them.”

He is founder of the new ChurchCatalystsInternational focusing on the role of interventionists as catalysts: shedding light, creating heat, inspiring energy and accomplishing transformation. More details are on his new website http://churchcatalystsinternational.org./ 

God’s not Fit to Lead His Own Church?

Sometimes people say really stupid things in an effort to give a compliment. “Your hair looks really good today,” can actually be heard as, “Your hair did not look good yesterday!”

In other not-so-brilliant moments, in an effort to be helpful, a person will stick his foot into his mouth. For example, I once read of a woman who said to a child at the funeral of the child’s mother, “Don’t worry, Honey, your dad is still young and he’ll find you a new Mommy.” Wow!!!

I do not claim to have never said anything stupid. In fact, I say a lot of stupid things. None of us is immune to momentary lapses of common sense. Consider Paul the apostle’s advice to Timothy concerning those who seek leadership roles in the Church.

“He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?)” (1Ti 3:4-5 NIV).

If “managing” means that any would-be leader’s children must be “controlled,” then Paul’s advice would make God ill-equipped to lead His own Church. Even God cannot say that he has a perfect family, or that he is able to control His children. Most of His children are dysfunctional, and all of them are sinners.

As one of my own sons so brilliantly added, “I guess the children of pastors don’t have free will.”

Did Paul put his foot in his mouth? Did Paul implicate God as unable to lead the Church?

He did, if “manage” means “to have control over.”

It’s hard for us to say, hear, or even read the word “manage,” without imposing the idea of having control or preventing mishap. When an employer hires a manager, he or she is employing someone who will have the ability to minimize problems and maximize efficiency.

In an effort to better understand exactly what Paul was telling Timothy, we will have to hear the word “manage” from Paul’s perspective and language.

προΐστημι is the Greek word that is translated “manage” in many of the English translations used by most Christians. It is a word that has two meanings, according to BDAG: 1) “to exercise a position of leadership, rule, direct, be at the head (of).” This definition leads one to assume that to lead the Church a person must be “in control” of his family, house, and children. By this definition, even God has failed.

The second BDAG definition gives clarity to Paul’s words. I’ll give you that in just a minute. But first, Paul’s words have to be understood in their original context, based on his own culture and understanding of the words that are recorded in the original language of which Paul wrote. I would argue that the supervisory definition (BDAG’s first), often adopted by those who wish to criticize pastors of unruly children, is far from the intent of Paul’s instructions to Timothy.

It is the second meaning of the word that is most helpful in understanding Paul’s less-than-offensive criterion. That definition from BDAG is 2) “to have an interest in, show concern for, care for, give aid.”

This second definition is used in many Old Testament passages of the LXX, including the books of 2 Samuel, Proverbs, Amos, and Isaiah, along with other uses of Paul in Romans, 1st Thessalonians, 1st Timothy, and his letter to Titus.

The second definition, “to care for, take care of,” is also that of another Greek word, ἐπιμελέομαι, which is used in the story of the Good Samaritan. “The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him (ἐπιμελήθητι),‘ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have’”(Luke 10:35 NIV). In this story, the Samaritan is the care-giver of the one who was beaten, and he is asking the innkeeper to continue a service of “managing the needs” of the injured man.

It is true that the Church to which an individual is called and desires to lead includes the property and administrative duties, but the Church itself is the people or the children of God.

Paul’s instructions to Timothy concerning who should be allowed to lead God’s children is not to be heard as, “Anyone who has problems in his household can’t lead the Church.” What Paul is saying is “Anyone who doesn’t care about his or her own property, family, business, and children, will surely not care about God’s children.” There are many hurting, troublesome, and sick people who call themselves Christians, and if a person wants to lead God’s children, but cannot care for his own children in good times and bad, he is not fit to care for God’s children who will surely be far from perfect.

In His dust,
Johnny

BDAG: W. Bauer, et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (3d ed.; Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000).

Philip H. Towner The New International Commentary on the New Testament: The Letters to Timothy and Titus (Grand Rapids, Michigan / Cambridge, UK: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2006), p. 256.

Writer: Capt. Jonathan Gainey was born in Jacksonville, FL in June, 1969. He has been married to Staci, the daughter of retired Salvation Army officers, for twenty years and they have four children ages 18, 16, 12, and 4. Jonathan was commissioned as an officer in June of 2002, and is currently serving in his third appointment in New Bern, NC, USA. He is working on a Masters of Divinity from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and is the creator and manager of the Flocks Diner website, where his passion for learning and teaching is expressed and shared through writing and a weekly podcast.

© 2010 Jonathan P. Gainey and Flock’s Diner.  All Rights Reserved

What might have been

by Terry Camsey 

Some while ago retired General John Larsson wrote the following: 

“As I look back, how I wish we as an Army had been more positive in our response to the Holy Spirit renewal. Had we had prophets who taught us to welcome this movement of the Spirit whilst rejecting the wrong teaching that accompanied it, the story could have been so different. 

But, instead of hoisting our sails and setting them to catch the full force of this gale of the Spirit, we as a movement lowered them. Instead of fanning the fire of the Spirit we sometimes quenched it. And all because the explanation of an experience that was so right was so wrong. 

It is, of course, easy to have 20/20 vision with hindsight and none of this was clear at the time. It also has to be said that despite our hesitations as a Movement, the Holy Spirit renewal succeeded in bringing about climate change in the Army - in a positive sense. The temperature in our worship has risen markedly since those days, and we are still rejoicing in the new warmth…” 
 

I suspect that the Army has always had its prophets, since that is one of the spiritual gifts that are bestowed upon (some) members of the body of Christ…his church. Whether we were interested in what such prophets had to say is debatable. 
But recently, as I read those words again, they brought to mind an incident that occurred a few years ago at the end of a divisional music camp in Northern California. It was one of the first such camps opened to non-musicians who didn’t qualify for the music camp embracing them in what is now known as a Gospel Arts program. 

Unique to that camp was the production of a youth musical involving all campers.  Groups of non-musicians, coached by empathic and enthusiastic leaders, accepted the challenge of interpreting the story of Daniel in the lions’ den. Carefully studying Scripture, they worked out a script, did all the acting and (for want of a better word) choreography. They also had the task of rooting around the camp and getting together their own costumes, and props. The music students provided songs to illustrate each segment, and the whole production was called “FAITH, FANGS AND FIRE!” 

At the end of the presentation, on the last day and last event of camp, the participants swarmed spontaneously on to the floor of the hall and started dancing for pure joy to the music. 

When I reported to my next officer appointment a few days later, I was called in to the Territorial Commanders office, because one of the outside attendees had phoned THQ to complain about the dancing…which was “definitely not allowed.” In response, I produced a picture from a very old Army Periodical (the War Cry, as I recall) where Salvationists were depicted at a tent meeting dancing in the aisles in the Spirit and in full uniform! 

Some years later, while visiting a territory near the Land of Oz, I was made aware of sharp differences between younger officers who were into faith healing - and other visible evidences of the Holy Spirit at work -  and an older generation of Salvationists, very disturbed by this and labelling it “not real Army.” 

The old Army periodical I mentioned seems to contradict that claim.  

I recall doing some research on the subject of signs and wonders with (I believe, but its a few years ago and I’m not getting any younger!) the help of the International Heritage Center. In particular, I clearly remember a quote by General William Booth in which, talking about the supernatural gifts of the Spirit, he said he could not doubt that they were at work among the early Army. 

Another influential and highly placed early day commissioner indicated that his “delight” was the holiness and healing meetings. 

It is quite evident that signs and wonders, healing meetings and other such workings of the Spirit were not unusual in Booth’s young Army…a quite different interpretation of what “real Army” is. 

It has been my experience that, in using the phrase, “it’s not real Army,” many older people are talking about the Army in the era in which they were brought up…an Army that had (as the then, now deceased officer Charles Skinner wrote many years ago in an unpublished song warning against it) “become respectable!” 

Was Booth’s early Army the “real Army?” Of course! Is today’s Army the “real Army?” Of course! Are they the same?  

They may be to some extent, but in other respects not.  The big question is, “Are we allowing the Holy Spirit the freedom to do as He wills?” or are we quenching Him? 

General Larsson finishes the thoughts I have quoted above by saying: 

“…But it is what might have been that will always tantalize.” 

“Holy Spirit , come, O come,

Let Thy will in me (us) be done!

All that hinders shall be thrown aside,

Make me (us) fit to be thy dwelling.”

(Chorus of Song 188 in the SASB)

Writer: For thirty years Terry Camsey has been immersed in Church Growth and Health issues at local, middle and upper administrative levels. He is author of the book “Slightly Off-Center” (Crest Books) and is working on “Beyond the Cusp of The Curve..exploring the single most critical influence on the life, health, growth, vitality and decline of Christian denominations and the churches within them.”

He is founder of the new ChurchCatalystsInternational focusing on the role of interventionists as catalysts: shedding light, creating heat, inspiring energy and accomplishing transformation. More details are on his new website http://churchcatalystsinternational.org./ 

© Terry Camsey, August 2010 (Used with permission of the author)