Among

Have I mentioned recently how proud I am of my kids using their talents for worship?

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Jesus called them together and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave -- just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." (Matthew 20:25-28)

When Wendy & I taught last week at our Crossroads DTS, we used the above verses as part of our discussion on what it means to serve each other in mutual submission. I've always loved the fact that this brief passage makes it abundantly clear that Jesus rejects the world's way of "lording it over" others, which is definitely going against the flow of most CEO-driven church models, as well as aberrant understandings of "being under authority" or "under a covering".

I've noticed something peculiar over the years, however, which this passage also addresses. Jesus is calling people to be leaders who "lead among" rather than "lord it over". And the peculiar thing I've noticed is that (perhaps not surprisingly) this runs counter to the contemporary wisdom that puts gifted people into administrative positions that suck the life and vitality out of them.

Allow me to elucidate...

Say you have a gifted evangelist in your midst. In many instances, somebody in leadership notices how gifted this person is. They bring a recommendation to the governing board for the church/ministry. The governing board decides it's a brilliant idea to take this gifted evangelist and put him/her in oversight of all things to do with evangelism for the whole church/ministry. This is based at least partly on the idea that the five-fold gifts of Ephesians 4 are meant to function in a governmental oversight approach, for the equipping of the saints.

However, 99% of the time, the gifted evangelist just gets frustrated. People aren't responding to the initiatives or training that he/she is providing to get more people involved in evangelism. They are also now required to attend numerous staff, elder, board, and ad hoc meetings. Lots of meetings. Meetings that sometimes question the work ethic of the evangelistic overseer, since there aren't as many "results" as had been hoped.

Meanwhile, the poor evangelist has pretty much ZERO time to do what they're passionate about: evangelism. So, they become increasingly frustrated and lose their vitality, and eventually they get the "left foot of disfellowship" and the search is on for the next "anointed" person to fill the vacancy. Or sometimes (and this is preferable) the frustrated evangelist realizes that he/she is not functioning in their gifts and callings, and escapes the prison of "oversight", and gets back in the trenches doin' the stuff that brings them life and bears fruit in the lives of others. (And they find they don't miss all the extra meetings!)

Here's why I think leaders -- including (maybe especially) the five-fold ministries -- are meant to "lead among":

1. You steal the life and vitality out of them if you imprison them in a purely administrative oversight position, which
   
   
2. Doesn't allow them to lead by example -- "among" -- so that people can join with them and rediscover the maxim that "more is caught than taught";
   
   
3. A "rear echelon" approach, like that of a general directing his troops from the safety of a healthy distance away from the battle, isn't leadership, it's directorship.

   A European friend once told me that he was puzzled by our church-as-army metaphors; to him, a true "leader" was at the front lines, literally leading his troops into battle and sharing the danger. A general who directed from a safe distance would not be considered a trustworthy leader.

4. A frustrated overseer who'd rather be in the trenches, and in community rather than directing programs, is incapable of passing on the passion that he/she naturally holds for ministry. Let them "lead among", and we'll see more people released into ministry.

Maybe we should start a DTS based on the theme: "Among"...

Investigative Journalism

So, when he's not busy blogging up copious amounts of deep and applicable wisdom, THIS is how Brother Maynard spends his spare time! I am enlightened. My world now makes sense and I am at peace.

Wired For Death

Things that make me go "hmmm...":

Why are supermarket tabloids so successful? Why is gossip so predictably believed and spread? Why do we assume all politicians are corrupt?

Why are all church leaders assumed to be power-crazed?

Why does it take (according to some) 10 statements of affirmation to off-set a single statement of criticism/negativity?

It seems to me that, ever since Genesis Three and the Fall of Man, we're wired for death. We'd rather believe the worst of each other. We'd rather believe the worst of ourselves. Everyone craves words of encouragement, but on a scale of one to ten, words of death sink deeper into our souls than words of life.

"The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit." (Proverbs 18:21 NIV)

Wendy and I just finished a week of teaching at our YWAM base on Relationships & Community, and this verse from Proverbs was one of the key verses for the week (another was Jesus' warning about not "lording it over" each other in Matthew 20:24-28). The week of teaching went really well -- Wendy & I make a good tag-team -- and we were reminded yet again about the power of our words in the lives of those around us.

We seem, as a culture (even as Christians), to be wired for death. We speak death to each other more easily (if unintentionally), and we tend to put more weight on words of death spoken to us. Try this exercise:

1. List 10 words of affirmation that have stuck with you ever since you first heard them.
   
   
2. Now list 10 words of death that have stuck with you ever since you first heard them.
   
   
3. Which list was easier to recall?
   
   
4. Which list had more emotional triggers?

Maybe it's time for a revolution.

A revolution of words. Not just refraining from speaking death to others and believing it over ourselves. That's like what some have called "the gospel of sin management" or "the death side of the cross".

How about a revolution built on words that give life? Yes, guarding our tongues and plugging our ears against the words of death, but more than that -- pro-actively choosing to speak life to those around us, starting with our spouses, children, and neighbours. Most of us "get" the idea of the first half of Galatians 6:8 -- that we reap destruction by sowing to the flesh. Maybe choosing how we speak, in light of Proverbs 18:21, is part of what is meant by the second half of Galatians 6:8: "the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life."

Outeach Miracle #1

Wendy and I are teaching this week at YWAM, on the subject of "Relationships & Community"; it's a topic near and dear to our hearts, and it's been cool to team-teach together. In the past, one of us would teach while the other kept the kids occupied -- it's great to be in a season where we can teach together.

Last Friday was "Outreach Miracle #1" for our team. Allow me to explain:

We have a number of Korean students at our Crossroads DTS (and a whole Korean-language DTS happening simultaneously), and in recent years, it's become difficult-to-impossible for Koreans to get visa's for the United States. The Virginia Tech shooting a while back didn't help.

It's gotten to the point where the Korean staff at our base have thrown up their hands in frustration, and have ceased to even try to get American visas for their staff or students. When they heard that five of our Korean students were traveling to Vancouver (five hours away) to apply for transit visa's, the Korean staff told them "it's impossible -- don't waste your time".

Our Crossroads team felt quite the opposite, and so our Korean students went last Friday to an appointment at the American Embassy in Vancouver, while the rest of our school and staff (Canadian, American, Fijian, Japanese, German, and South African) spent most of the morning -- coinciding with the Korean's scheduled appointment -- praying like crazy.

We got word later that day:

With only a few general questions asked as a preamble, all five Koreans received transit visas for the United States!! WOO-HOO!!

We had our normal "all base worship" this morning, where all the schools come together for a time of worship, and it was a pretty excited bunch of people when they heard the story of the visas! I've noticed that worship seems to be a little more exuberant when people are responding in thanksgiving to what God is doing in their midst!

UPDATE: May 25

The visas arrived yesterday, and not only did the Koreans all receive them, they were all granted an unprecedented 10 YEARS on the visas. WOW!

Now we're on to Prayer Request #2: finances for the trip, particularly for the staff. All told, our team is praying for God to provide a total of about $65,000 before the end of June, with $30,000 of that total needed by the end of this month (so the airline tickets can be booked).

Any and all intercession on our behalf would be welcome! The Clan McAlpine is trusting God for somewhere around $17,000, with $10,000 of that due by the end of the month. Prayer would be appreciated!

What's The Deal With That?

A friend of mine once wrote a song with the recurring chorus tag of "What's the deal? What's the deal with that?"

The song was a collection of wry observations about life in general, such as "Why do drive-through ATM machines have BRAILLE on the buttons?"

So, let's start one of those "what's the deal with that?" brain-storming thingamajigs, all on the idea of pet peeves surrounding worship and worship leading (a subject near and dear to my heart). I'll start with a couple...

Since worship leading is supposed to be "leading", why do some demand that everyone dance when the worship leaders commands them to, as if they were leading worship with a cattle prod?

What's the deal with that?Here's another: Have you ever led a worship song/set, and had one of those God-moments when the Spirit is really "present" in a powerful way, and one of the leaders calls the band back up to do the "anointed" song all over again? (Anyone else notice that this rarely produces anything noteworthy?)

What's the deal with that?

Okay, your turn:

Update

Has it really been a week since my last post? Have I really joined the ranks of absentee blog-writers? Bad blogger! Negligent blogger! No biscuit!

A few items:

YWAM DTS

We're having an incredible time with our Crossroads DTS; I mentioned earlier that two students became followers of Jesus in the first couple of weeks, and in the time since, we've also seen some significant healing in peoples' lives in terms of past hurts and even marital tensions. We're halfway through the lecture phase, and our outreach is being planned to take place in Australia & Western Samoa.

Which, being translated, means Wendy & I would really appreciate any and all prayers for financial provision -- for our family of five, we're looking at around $15,000+ for the two months of outreach.

Book Reviews

I have requested my removal from the list of "50 select bloggers" doing book reviews for theOoze.com. Mike Morrell, the brains behind the idea for reviews, is a great guy who I consider a friend, and he has been gracious and understanding towards my reasons for excusing myself from the list. I was honoured that he invited me to participate, but it was somewhat awkward considering my usual "code of conduct" re: online book reviews.

Specifically (to avoid spurious speculations), I like to choose which books I review for this blog. When I get books carte blanche, so to speak, then I feel obligated to publish a review about them, even though my personal code of conduct has been that I simply don't publish negative reviews. Some books I have found both encouraging and infuriating at the same time, and I'll publish a review about them.

Also, in the past, I have turned down offers of free books (for the price of a review), because I knew what the author(s) stood for and I didn't want to be a platform for their agenda.

All that being said, Mike Morrell and I have agreed to revisit my participation when the next round of books is ready for distribution, and we'll see how things float at that time (did I mention Mike is a really gracious guy?).

I also mentioned that I would be blogging about Alan Hirch's Forgotten Ways, but I want to spend some time reading and listening to some teaching CD's on the Kingdom of God, as Jesus and His first-century hearers would have understood it. I'd like to revisit the whole foundation of the Kingdom of God before building on that with Hirch, and probably revisiting Frost's Exiles, as well.

Speaking of books...

Post-Charismatic has gone through the first edit completely, and is now in the hands of one of the senior editors. Believe it or not -- and I was, myself, completely shocked -- while I'm chomping at the bit to see it published, my book ISN'T the only one Kingsway Communications has on its plate, and these things just take time.

Contacting people to ask for them to read your work, and request an endorsement from them is a weird feeling. Not unexpectedly, some have declined for various reasons (one merely saw the title and refused to even look at the manuscript), but others have been gracious and encouraging in their responses & endorsements; it leaves you feeling encouraged and humbled all at the same time, which is good for my soul.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

22

Yesterday, May 4, was a celebration of one of the happiest days of my life. 22 years of marriage to a wonderful woman named Wendy. I am a happy man.

Two-Sided Berean Coin Discovered!

Hot off the press! Incredible discovery! Grocery store tabloids ain't got nothin' on us! Okay, it does look an awful lot like a Canadian two-dollar coin, but indulge me here, just a little?

"Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true." (Acts 17:11)

It is up to all of us, as discerning people, to evaluate what we’re being taught by others. But we need to remember that there are two sides to the Berean coin, although we often only focus on one:

1. They listened with great eagerness.
   
   This means that they were open to the possibility of expanding their theological understanding, and had a teachable spirit. We would do well to stay teachable, and not confuse discernment with a critical, nit-picking attitude.
   
   
2. They searched the Scriptures, just to be sure that what Paul was teaching lined up with Scripture.
   
   Yes, they had teachable attitudes, but that didn’t mean that they were gullible and naively swallowed whatever they heard. They were willing to expand their understanding, but not to go beyond the boundaries of Scripture.

I like these Bereans.