Story Warren - Playing Favorites: The Napping House

"Not all of them are the same.  And as much as I try to hide it, I play favorites.

When my little one brings over a book to read at bedtime, I admit it, sometimes it’s hard to suppress the cringe.

Not all bedtime books are created equal.

Surely you feel the same way…right?  I mean, we all love you, Amelia Bedelia, but if I have to read about you more than twice in a week, it kinda makes me crazy.

There are a few books, though, that I don’t mind reading over and over again.  And my children can tell.

The Napping House by Audrey Wood is my favorite children’s book.  It is a joy to read.  The book’s artwork is rich and playfully detailed.  The text is lyrical and descriptive."

To read more, check out my Story Warren post, Playing Favorites: The Napping House.

Enjoy!

Grace and Peace,
Alan

more than a pipe

"Lord, please help me get out of the way of what you are trying to say here."

In the past, whenever I was getting ready to preach or teach, that's what I used to pray.  I had this impression that the best form of help would be for me to be an impersonal distributor of the living water found in Scripture to other people.  I thought that ideally I should be a pipe that served only to channel God's truths to others.  Like some sort of human PVC tube, I imagined that my primary task was to simply make sure not to inhibit the living water from flowing to those around me.  In that way I would be certain to deliver it untainted and altered.

I guess there is some merit to that way of thinking, but now I've come to realize that the "pipe approach" to preaching and teaching is off the mark.

At every step along the way, God has wanted human fingerprints on what he's doing.  Instead of using a heavenly megaphone or dropping pamphlets from the sky, God has wanted humanity to be deeply involved in his redeeming work.  From the job description given to us at creation, to the work of the prophets, to the incarnation of Jesus...all the way to his decision to use the church as his primary witness, this preference of God's for human involvement has been evident.  So, it seems clear that his desire is not only that we point to his word as the source of life, but that the living water welling up in us would participate in sustaining and serving those around us (John 4:1-42, 7:37-38 and 15:1-17).

God doesn't seem concerned that we'll dirty or smudge his plans.  He genuinely wants us (yes, our imperfect human selves!) in on his salvation and transformation initiative.

So, instead of seeing myself as a pipe, I'm trying to see my life and work more like a fruit bearing plant. 

Like a plant, I am nourished as I feed on God's word.  Therefore what I have to offer in terms of teaching and preaching are filtered through my experiences and interests.  And amazingly, somehow in the divine economy, when done correctly, that Word has the potential to become something else - something that further benefits the recipient.

A famished person who spots a fruit tree at a distance may also rightly expect to find a source of water near its roots. That water nourished a plant which provides him with a different or derivative source of sustenance.  And in the same way that the tree points to the source of water and additionally offers something of value to that person, a ministry of teaching and preaching at its core serves to take the living water and turn it into a further kind of blessing.  Our hungry and thirsty person really benefits from the plant's fruit as well as the water that allowed it to grow. 

So, what I'm realizing now is that my work of teaching and preaching is less about getting out of the way and more about using everything at my disposal - heart, soul, mind and strength to enrich and fortify those I serve.  That perspective honors our place as coworkers and co-creators in God's kingdom.  We are called to be more than pipes, simply shuttling God's word to others.  By God's grace, our lives and experiences, when rooted in good soil, adds to the gift and further blesses those we encounter.

May we know that we are more than simply pipes.  May we be fruit bearing plants, firmly connected to the vine and may we recognize the way we bear real, unique fruit that has the potential to bless those around us.

Grace and Peace,

Alan

Barefoot Christianity

Nipuhe almost never wears shoes.  I've often seen him walking barefoot down the dirt roads near his village or shoeless as he works in his farm.  
 

 

Our African friends spend huge portions of their lives barefoot.  While Mozambique's improving economy has made wearing shoes more common, it is still very normal to see people working, playing, walking and running barefoot.

Surprisingly, the benefits of being barefoot has received a lot of attention in the developing world.

Over the past ten years or so there has been an increasing interest in barefoot running.  Scientific studies have investigated how extra cushion found in most athletic shoes can cause problems and highlighted how going barefoot or wearing more minimalist footwear allows runners to move more naturally.  Our bodies were created to run barefoot, so it makes sense that having too much padding, or the wrong kind of padding, on our feet has the potential to change the way we run and cause stress and dysfunction in the rest of the body.  

The other day I was at a funeral and it hit me again how the lack of footwear made people more effective at digging and helping out at the graveside.

One fact that deeply effects our ministry here is that Christianity has only had a real presence in this region for less than 80 years or so.  And in many villages that influence has often been significantly less.  Now that back story creates all sorts of challenges - moral, ethical, and a serious lack of biblical literacy - to name just a few.

But I do sometimes find myself wondering... Are there some potential benefits from this history, as well?

To go back to our footwear metaphor, followers of Jesus in Western contexts grow up with certain Christendom "cushions" in place.  These longstanding cushions affect the way believers walk, think and live.  And just as a runner who spends his whole life wearing padded athletic shoes learns to run in a certain way, for many people Christendom's padding has reworked faith's physiology.  Like a runner we have naturally become dependent on our shoes. 

Symbiotic relationships occur in the natural world all the time.  There's the way that rhinos and birds work together - the bird benefits by eating tics and bugs and sounds the alarm if something dangerous is nearby.  Bees and flowers mutually benefit each other and certain bacteria are fed by and in turn help their host animals digest food. 

We shouldn't forget that symbiotic relationships exist in human structures as well.  Certain forms of Islam (and Christianity) fit comfortably alongside Animism.   And Western Christianity has, in many places, become enmeshed with Consumerism and Modernity.  Those symbiotic relationships are mutually beneficial, but they also come at a cost.  Each system surrenders something to participate in the exchange.  Western Christianity has accommodated itself in some ways in order to become an accepted member of that larger human "ecosystem."

The Christianity that is emerging here among the Makua-Metto is also affected by its environment.  It is struggling to separate itself from Animism.  It is impacted by neighboring people groups that are more predominantly Christian.  It needs to find way to faithfully express itself in this matrilineal context - as well as appropriately address additional factors like magic, hierarchical leadership structures and fear.

The emerging Makua-Metto Christianity is barefoot - it lacks the cushions of Christendom.  And that is both good and bad.  Being barefoot is causing them and will continue to cause them some pain.  Believers here will need to watch out for sharp objects in the path.

But while certainly recognizing the disadvantages that exist by not having the structures of Christendom, my hunch and my hope is that their Christianity has the potential to be a healthier expression of the faith because it is growing without the fusions of a symbiotic relationship caused by a history of Christendom.

Hopefully, Makua-Metto believers are learning to run in ways defined more by their feet and their terrain (context) than the inherited cushions found in "Western designed shoes."

May God raise up Mozambicans whose barefoot faith allow them to run in ways that are more healthy and reproducible expressions, ones well adapted to flourish in this context.

Grace and Peace,

Alan   

when anger fuels us

Rachel texted me yesterday.  She spent last night in the village of Nekwaya and should come home this afternoon.  Three of her best Mozambican friends went with her to continue teaching through the Sermon on the Mount with women in that cluster of churches. 

This was her text: "A neighbor here was just beating his wife bc she questioned why he took her cell phone and gave it to his mistress.  Another neighbor supposedly poisoned his mother last week.  Lots of sadness in the dark..."

Rachel and I texted back and forth about how the four of them can serve as lights in the dark and how Jesus himself had something to say about that in the Sermon on the Mount.

I have to be honest, sometimes my motivation for working in Mozambique wanes.  And it has been important for me, especially as we rounded the "10 years in Africa" mark, to identify ideas and emotions that can serve to fuel and sustain me. I've written elsewhere how the longing for home has tapped into a source of love and has become a surprising reason for me to stay.  And trying to wrap my head around the idea of calling has been helpful, too.  But sometimes the darkness is overwhelming.  Especially when those fuel tanks (love and calling) start flashing "E" for empty.

Lately I've been watching the Nooma video series and this morning I watched one called "Store."  In it Rob Bell is talking about anger.  He notes that while anger is often rightly seen as a destructive force, when harnessed it can fuel us for acts of healing and restoration.  He references this story from the life of Jesus:

Another time he went into the synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath. Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Stand up in front of everyone.” Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they remained silent. He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored.

Mark 3:1-5 (TNIV)

Bell says, “There is a response to anger that’s essentially all about us.  Our pride, our ego, all of the ways we work so hard to prop up  and protect and defend our selfish little kingdoms.  But that isn’t what’s going on here with Jesus.  Jesus has identified himself with an injustice larger than himself.  There is something divine about his anger because some things are worth getting angry about...When we’re talking about calling and mission and vocation and purpose,  what we’re going to give our lives to, one of the questions we often ask is,  ‘What do you love?’  But there’s another question that we can ask.  ‘What makes you angry?’”

Poverty can and should make me angry.

Hunger can and should make me angry.

Infidelity can and should make me angry. 

The fact that our friends in Mirate need a bridge should make me angry.

The five giants should make us angry.

Sin, death and Satan should make us angry.

The darkness makes me sad... and it should make me angry.  

There are times when the proper response to darkness is anger.

And sometimes, like Jesus, we need to tap into that fuel source, careful not to let anger become a seething, boiling, rage.  Instead we should use that anger to help us act in ways that are healing and restorative. Instead of being burned out on the inside by carrying around the "low-grade boiling rage" that so many people lug around with them, Jesus channeled his anger for kingdom purposes.   

His anger at injustice led him to act in righteousness.  The injustices we've seen here lead us to act, as well... and hopefully we're following Jesus' lead by acting in holy and productive ways.

May God provide all the fuel we need (be it love, calling and even anger) to ignite us and help us act in ways that bring truth and light to those in the dark.

Grace and Peace,

Alan

Let the Little Children Show Us

I have three daughters.

As father to these amazing girls, I’ve found that two stories in the Bible consistently bring out the strongest emotions in me.

The first is a story of a dad named Jairus. He’s a religious leader who pleads with Jesus to cure his daughter (Luke 8). Jesus agrees to go with him, but along the road they keep getting interrupted.

I find myself in Jairus’ sandals, screaming inside for everyone to just get out of the way. Before they make it to the house, though, they’re interrupted again. It turns out they’re too late. Jairus is told that his beloved daughter is dead.

Jesus simply looks at this dad and tells him to believe. So they continue on to the house. Jesus interrupts the funeral preparations to promptly raise the girl from the dead and present her back to mom and dad.

Yikes – I have a hard time even typing that without choking up. What do you say to the man who gives you back your daughter?

The other story that gets-me-every-time is about a servant girl (2 Kings 5). I don’t like to think of what she went through. Torn away from all that was familiar, she’s a victim of child-trafficking. She’s enslaved and taken to a foreign land. I imagine her crying at night, struggling to learn a new language, longing for home, desperate for a friend...

to read more, check out a post I wrote for Story Warren called Let the Little Children Show Us.

Grace and Peace,
Alan