You ever notice how many Christians are quick to attack others when it means keeping their ideological opinions “right”?

And sadly, with social media I believe this problem has taken a whole new level. It doesn’t take a leadership position to be able to speak into a crowd of people with various opinions anymore, it only takes a following on social media.

Last week Glenn Beck said something I totally disagree with and the backlash towards him from many in the Christian community was great.

Just a few months ago Pat Robertson also said something I totally disagree with and the backlash towards him from many Christians was huge.

And I could name plenty more examples of Christians or non-Christians that have been burned at the stake of public opinion by Christians.

So I ask you…what is the point of standing up against opinions you disagree with?

Honestly, I’m sick of all this. It makes me want to ignore social media completely. We’ve abandoned “the truth in love” for “the truth hurts.”

I fear that too many are willing to crucify these men instead of engaging a conversation. Christians can become so completely unChristlike when someone offends them.

And I get it, because (especially within social media) it is a lot easier to gain a following by being condescending, negative, and overtly opinionated, than it is to be uplifting, positive, and gracious.

I think Jesus speaks directly to us when it comes to dealing with those who disagree with us or offend us:

“I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.”

Your thoughts?

What is the one tangible thing you could most easily give up?

Blogging is a funny thing. Sometimes I write posts that I think a lot of people will resonate with and few do, and other times I write something that I don’t think is my best and people love it. This week was an example of the former, not the latter.

Blogs

1. “The Open Source Pastor” from Vince Marotte. Interesting concept.
2. Probably my favorite post of the week. This time from John Dyer as he weaves the subjects of coffee, theology, and technology in a perfect way.
3. I think Rhett Smith asks an important question: “Are we addicted to our smartphones?”
4. I am not this skin, I am the soul that lives within.
5. How do we honor aging gracefully?
6. Great discussion surrounding this post critiquing seminary online.

News

• Sad news of 6 World Vision workers killed in Pakistan this week.
• Article from Christianity Today on whether text messaging and/or Twitter can enhance or distraction during a church gathering.
• Time Magazine gave my favorite local coffee shop some national pub: “Is Stumptown the new Starbucks or better?”
• People actually miss Paula on Idol? Come on, give me a break.

Have a great weekend.

Let the Madness begin.

This is easily one of my favorite times of the year. The weather is finally getting better. Baseball season is close. I can begin thinking about golfing again. And March Madness is upon us.

Each of the last few years I’ve set up a Tournament Pick ‘Em league on Yahoo Sports. This year will be no different. This year however there will be a prize. I’ll take whoever wins out to coffee at Stumptown, my treat. It isn’t much, but better than nothing.

So I invite those of you who care about the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, and will be watching the games during March Madness, to come and join in the fun.

The brackets don’t come out until Sunday but you can join the league I set up right now and fill out your bracket after the Selection Show (you will need a Yahoo account to sign up).

To join the league, just go here.

Good luck.

And Go Duke!

During my undergrad studies I took numerous management classes and often our class discussions would be centered around the importance of being flexible and nimble in business. We would go through numerous case studies of businesses that were once at the top of their industry, and after 10 years of remaining stagnant (without change in structure or approach) they began struggling to compete with other businesses.

The connections to the local church on this topic are numerous. Granted, churches aren’t competing against other churches to retain the most people. But if eternity is at stake and businesses are constantly changing and adapting to stay at the forefront, why shouldn’t churches?

The goal with churches isn’t to be at the forefront of their industry, but it is to effectively step into people’s lives with the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Tony Morgan shared this on his blog yesterday:

“Leaders have to choose between control and innovation. You can’t have both. You can define the desired outcomes. You can create the boundaries, but you can’t expect your team to be creative, innovative or artistic if you try to control every element of the execution. If you must have full control, you just need to know that you are also choosing to shut down new ideas and innovations in your organization.

Unfortunately, the Church is notorious for religiously keeping things the way they’ve always been but hoping we’ll somehow achieve different results. Avoiding new approaches. Top-down, centralized leadership. Preserving the traditional ways of doing things. Sound familiar?” (full post here)

Churches are well known for being slow to change. After growing up as a PK (Pastor’s Kid), now attending seminary, and working at a church, I find myself accepting this about the local church.

But the reality is, when I am honest with myself, everything in me wants to fight the idea that it ok for churches to be stagnant and slow to change.

I can give you two principles that almost always hold true:

1. What used to work, does not work anymore.
2. If you aren’t changing, you’re falling behind.

Why is it that churches do a great job of ignoring those two principles?

“Growing a church the organic, one-convert-at-a-time way is tough and requires a well thought out (prayed out) plan. It’s much easier to change a logo than it is to change a life.”

Changing lives and walking with people through their journey of life is a slow process (definitely worthwhile though). It takes a two-way relationship, an open communication, and trust. None of which are built in any short-term length of time.

I don’t have a problem with big churches (heck I work at one). They are usually big because they have been effective at reaching people where they are at. But often big churches get sucked into a numbers game of always needing to grow.

Success is then often dictated not by the impact of relationships and individual life change, but how many people are coming, whether they have been impacted or not.

What do you think about Lisa’s comment?

Put yourself in a leadership position for an extended period and it won’t take long to figure out where your weaknesses are.

That is a lesson I have learned since going from part time to full time at my church and taking on a lot on more responsibility.

I’ve found that I struggle to be confrontational in difficult situations. And yet, I truly believe that all situations are better when an open dialogue can occur. This takes a person in the situation to confront the issue. I guess I get scared my being confrontational will be taken the wrong way; that somehow I’ll be perceived as mad when really I just simply care.

I’ll often sit back and have an internal fight with myself about whether to start the conversation and bring up the subject or not to. Whenever the “not to” side of me wins then fight with myself about why I wouldn’t confront the issue.

One of my bosses, Jay, often says, “if it feels funky, engage.” Meaning that if something doesn’t feel right, the best solution is to confront the issue or the person (in a Biblical way).

Believe me, no one likes to figure out where they are weak. It is most often a humbling rather, and not something that builds confidence. But, especially within leadership, how can you become a better person without learning the hard way?

This is what I’m learning.

How have you learned your weaknesses?

How have you overcome them?

Usually I enjoy watching the Oscars, but I honestly don’t think I can stomach famous and rich people giving praise to other famous and rich people this year. Beyond that, I don’t know why people spend time arguing about how people are dressed during the red carpet shows.

Blogs

1. One thing that churches can learn from Google and Apple.
2. How to get your bike ready for spring.
3. Eugene Cho has some great thoughts on defining success as a pastor and/or leader.
4. Chad and Sarah Markley are sharing their story in an interview form on Rhett Smith’s blog this week. All married couples should take some time to read it.
5. Enjoyed Mark Batterson’s thoughts on the importance of teaching people how to study the Bible.

News

• US Goalie Ryan Miller was given a louder ovation in Pittsburgh this week than Sidney Crosby. That’s what I’m talking about!
• While I understand why this principal would be fired, I have to say…what he did was pretty funny.
• There is no way this girl should be playing basketball for a long time. (Update: She was suspended 2 games…ridiculous it is that short.)
• Beginning with the top 24, American Idol set up each individual with various social media accounts. But this week they scrapped that plan and formulated it all into one feed. I think they missed the point of social media.
• Speaking of Idol…has Idol lost its luster? I’d say yes.

Spring is almost here (unless you live in Portland, because it is here already).

In many ways our “modern” form of worship is already becoming outdated.

What do I mean by modern worship? I mean Hillsong United, I mean Chris Tomlin, I mean moving lights and moving backgrounds with lyrics over the top, I mean 4 minute songs, I mean 5 song worship “sets” of music. Hopefully you get the picture.

Over the last week I’ve been listening to a band named Gungor non-stop (best Christian album I’ve heard in a long time). Gungor is led by Michael Gungor and they play music in order to bring about what they call “worship experiences” outside of the church.

Instead of going around and touring churches, they are planning a few “events” rather than a concert tour. They’ll be in music venues rather than churches and yet they will still be focused around praise and worship music, though it might be different than you’ve seen or heard before. With the infusion of art and music outside the church they hope to reach a whole different group of people than the local church might reach.

(Come here if you can’t see the video RSS readers)

I for one, love this. This whole idea. Today’s church has turned worship into a music-oriented time. Bands like Gungor are turning worship into a sensory experience of God.

And for those of you who loved their album titled song from the first video, here is an acoustic version of it. It goes from good to INCREDIBLE (plus the lyrics are profound) at about the 2 minute mark:

Gungor isn’t alone with this kind of idea. I hung out with a group named Revolver when they came to Portland’s Idea Camp last November. They are doing something very similar through their church in San Diego.

I see this expression in worship growing in popularity as time goes on. I say that because everyone I know who has been a part of something like this is always blown away afterward.

This is a new expression of worship. And we should embrace that.

Change is a good thing.

(Just to be clear, I wasn’t paid for this post, nor was I asked to write anything about Gungor or Revolver. I was worried some of you might have thought otherwise because of my raving remarks for their music. I paid for the mp3s of Gungor’s new album with my own money and fell in love. I know a lot of bloggers get free stuff and post about it, but that isn’t my gig.

Oh and if you didn’t listen the the acoustic version of “Beautiful Things” you missed out on a beautiful 5 minutes. I’m just sayin…)

I often wonder if we haven’t made mentoring something far too difficult for most people.

When most people think of mentoring I believe they think of finding someone younger than them, who needs guidance, meeting with them for serious conversations over a long period of time, until they grow up.

You might say that this picture of mentoring isn’t how most people view it, but it probably isn’t far off.

And this picture, if true, is an extremely intimidating one. How many people actually think they have a lot to offer others? Not many. How many people want to sit down and have serious conversations week after week with the same person? Not many.

So maybe we’ve made this whole mentoring thing a little bit too complicated.

I saw a great artice in Portland Monthly about mentoring for baristas (coffee is big in Portland if you didn’t know). Here is how this barista mentoring program is described (read the whole article here):

“For most of us, coffee is simply a tool for paddle-shocking our brains every morning, but for a few of Portland’s 1,000 or so homeless youth, it’s a way to jump-start a career…The arrangement is simple, explains Sarah Dougher, a veteran P:ear staffer: Caffé Vita donates the coffee, equipment, and instruction while P:ear provides the space…P:ear’s eight-week-long program begins with a survey of coffees from around the world. Then students learn the intricacies of brewing coffees and espressos in the school’s tricked-out coffee cart…After graduation, alumni intern at local hot spots like Broder Cafe on SE Clinton Street to garner real-world experience and work references. ‘Being a barista should not be these kids’ last job,’ Dougher says. ‘But it can be their first.‘” (emphasis mine)

I absolutely love this. Part of me loves it because it is changing lives. Part of me loves it because of how simple and practical it is.

Too often we become intimidated about mentoring always being serious conversations (especially guys), but this program is an example of how mentoring can be accessible for anyone.

Maybe we need a new way of mentoring.

(Image: Mattox)