Bobby McGee

Some time ago I was listening to Janis Joplin's song, Me And Bobby McGee. There is one line in the song that I remember always being a bit confused about: Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose. It almost sounds as if freedom is not important or that it is something casual. I decided to look up the lyrics to the song and see if I could figure out what the song was referring to.

I think that I was thrown off by thinking out of context. When I think of freedom, my first thought is political. We live in a free country and talk a lot about freedom. That is a high value for Americans and our country was founded upon that ideal.

But, this song isn't about that at all. In the song, Janis and Bobby are footloose and fancy free, hitchhiking and wandering aimlessly around the country. She's talking about another kind of freedom that was such a topic in the 60's in the US, and almost sounds romantic in some way. It's great not being tied down, free to do whatever you want, to roam wherever you want. What a life they were having! No cares, no worries, no entanglements.

But, at some point, Bobby decided that this wasn't what he wanted. Probably he tried to convince Janis to settle down and make a home. But, she wouldn't consider that and he decided to get off and settle down. As the song says, "...I let him slip away. He was looking for that home, and I hope he found it." But, the result was not what she thought because she goes on to say, "...But I would trade all my tomorrows for a single yesterday." And that's the context for the line, "Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose."

By hanging on to and striving for freedom, she lost all that was truly valuable. Life was meant to be lived in community, from the larger community down to the family and to that one person to whom we are to be joined for life. And yet, we often continue to chafe at the restrictions that we face when were are tied to and committed to another. The teen can't wait to get away from home some day and as time goes on, the list of things or people that tie us down gets ever longer, but none of those are as binding as marriage. There are times that any of us consider--even if it's only for a fleeting moment--just giving up and running away, and the high divorce rate points this out so clearly.

The writer of this song was actually pretty smart. How sad to think of the pain here. She kept her freedom, but in doing so, she lost it all. And now, in retrospect, she'd be willing to die to get back just one of those yesterdays with Bobby McGee.


We were not created to be alone. All of us, whether married or not, need the company of others, and more than just company, we need to be bound by commitments. We need the chance to make some sacrifices, some adjustments in our lives. We need to be in community with others.

In some ways this applies to the church as well. Christianity admits that life was never meant to be just an individual striving for God, for heaven, or for nirvana. We are meant to be in community, and it's not good to walk away from that community just because problems or tensions arise. We lose more than we gain when we are not willing to make the sacrifices needed to stay together.

Obviously it's not always possible to preserve a relationship, but what do others think of this? Do we not tend toward giving up too soon?

A Picture of Ministry

Today, in a meeting, I saw again the “Team Hoyt” video . You may not recognize that name, but many of you have probably seen the video of the man with the handicapped adult son competing together in a triathlon (if you haven't, here is one version ). For the running part, the father is pushing a special wheelchair with the son strapped in, for the swimming part, the father is swimming and pulling the son along in a rubber raft, and they have a specially made bike with the son strapped in above the front wheel and the father pedaling behind.

It’s pretty hard to watch this without some tears appearing in your eyes. The father is so committed to the son, and so obviously loves the son. He certainly has had to work on it and train well, and is in the kind of shape that I wish I could be in (well, sort of, since if I wished for that enough, I’d probably put out a little more effort to that end). But, what also strikes me is that, even though the son is not pedaling, not swimming, not running, he seems to be just as excited or more than the father. Even though he is just sitting there while his father does all the work, the look on his face and the uplifted arms seem to be an expression of victory.

It hit me that this is a good picture of ministry, but I’m probably not going in the direction you think I’m going in. I’m not talking about the servant attitude of the father, even though that is a beautiful picture of a heart of service and ministry to others. I’m talking about the son.

The longer I minister, the more I’m convinced that the only way that ministry is effective is as the spirit works in people’s hearts. It’s not because of my great skills or a great process, or a great plan. It’s because God is at work. The picture I am trying to draw is of God who works and lets us be along for the ride. He gives us the joy and satisfaction of being able to participate in his vision for the world. We get some of the honor when we have actually done almost nothing, but the Spirit has been at work and used us.

What a wonderful thing and what freedom that gives. That’s how much God loves me. He gives me the privilege of service, even when I can do nothing, and even when I think I’ve accomplished something special, in reality it was Him, and I get just to enjoy accomplishment. We need not fear failure, inadequacy, lack of talent, etc. He’s back there pedaling, doing all the work.

Isn't that a true picture of what it means to serve as a Christian?

This Could Be the Last Time

Last week I preached at a small church in Hualien on Taiwan's east coast. During the musical part of the worship service, the man controlling the PowerPoint for the songs stood at the side with his daughter in his arms (as you can see in the picture). He held this position throughout the entire musical part of the service, using the remote in his hand to control the slides but continuing to hold his daughter. I remember wishing that I could do that again with my own children.

I kept thinking about how tiring this must be. It's one thing to hold an infant, but this little girl is long past the "infant" stage. She must have been at least 5 years old and pretty heavy to hold for such a long time, but she also stayed still, content in his arms. I wondered if he could hold her for the whole worship service, and from there began to wonder how much longer before she got so big he couldn't do it anymore. It couldn't be much longer, as fast as kids grow. In fact, could this be the last time.

I remember holding my own children and how enjoyable that was, but I can't do that any more. They're as big as I am or bigger. I wondered when was the last time I held mine that way. There was certainly a "last time." However I don't remember when that happened. What would have changed if I had known then that it would be the last time to hold my son or daughter? If I had known, would I have held them tighter? Would I have determined that I could surely do it again? Would I have looked at them differently? Would I have cried?


But, I didn't know. It just ended at some point and neither of us knew that something had happened which was final and would never be repeated. It just ended. Maybe I didn't even think about it. Maybe they didn't want it anymore as they wanted to express their "grownup status." I don't know.


That is life. Sometimes we can realize that it might be the last time. When I was with my dad last fall, I knew that it could well be the last time I saw him alive. I hoped that I would be wrong, and we made plans to live with him when we returned this summer, but I knew that there was at least a great chance that he would not live that long. I did try to savor the moment, but yet afraid to do so fully because I didn't want it to be the last time.

But, more often, we just don't think in terms of last times or only times. We don't have any real idea except for some kind of theoretical possibility way back in the far recesses of our mind. So many things happen that are precious, but we never realize that they are unique, that they will not happen again, and that they should be savored and cherished. We just live and go on oblivious to the wonder around us. Life is common and routine when it should not be. It is a wonder and it is fragile.


I know that I will never hold my daughter like that again. She's grown far to big. My two sons are even further from that possibility. I can still enjoy the wonder of their presence again every time I see them. They are wonderful creations of God and I'm honored and blessed to be their father. I must cherish them and any time I can have with them.


And yet, the same is true for everyone I meet. We have been commissioned by Christ to make disciples. That commission was not given just to a few who would be preachers, pastors, or missionaries. It was given to all who are disciples--believers of Christ. We think there will always be that chance to be a witness. There is no rush is there? So, we go on with life and leave behind the urgency that there should be.

What if this is the only time we'll meet? If I meet someone on the train or bus, I probably know that this will be my only chance to at least give them a good testimony of what God can do and to tell them about the gospel of grace. But, of those that I do know--family or friends--I seldom think that way. I don't wonder when that "last time" might be. They could be hit by a gravel truck tomorrow, but it doesn't have to be that macabre. It could just be that they will move away, or that our relationship will grow further apart.


Can I recognize the urgency of the gospel--to tell people that there is hope in life after all, that there is a God out there (and right here as well) who is all-powerful and yet knows us intimately, who is thoroughly and fully righteous and yet is gracious to us. There is a God who saves people--not just from hell, but to give them life more abundantly in the here and now. There is a God who wants us to walk with him and how will always be with us until the end of this world. I have to admit, I don't think of that as urgent.


Maybe I should be thinking more like that. Could this be the only time. Could this be the last time? If it were, and if I knew that it would be, what would or should I do differently?

Afraid to Die?

Yes, I'm still alive. I'm back in Taiwan now, and with all the missed time while away for my Dad's funeral, I had a lot to catch up on. That shouldn't be an excuse since anyone can spare a few minutes a day to write, but I didn't. But, I hope to be back to writing regularly now.

A few months ago, an old friend asked to meet with me. He is facing a crisis in his life and that has caused him to think more about the meaning and reality of his faith. We talked a bit about what he is feeling and thinking and then he turned to me and said, "You know, I've been a Christian more than 20 years, but I've suddenly realized that I really don't know much about what I believe. Once I was baptized, I sort of stopped trying to read my Bible or learn more. I had made my decision to accept Christianity, but once I did, it seems like that was enough. I don't know God any better now than I did then and I'm finding it hard to deal with this crisis." He is now reading his Bible regularly and praying about entering seminary because he wants to know more and wants to be able to encourage others to continue to grow in their faith.

The following morning, in our devotional time at the office, a coworker shared about a lady who had given a testimony at his church the day before. She has cancer and said that she realized that everyone was trying to comfort her, but they didn’t have much to say that meant anything. Was God really in control, and did he really care as her Christian friends said? She realized that the Bible that the church had given her at her baptism many years ago had not yet been opened. She began reading it and now is giving testimony to others to continue to pursue a greater knowledge of God.

Then, I read something written by a young person after a former classmate had died suddenly. One thing that struck me was her statement that suddenly she was afraid to die. However, her fear of death was not because she wasn’t sure of God’s salvation and that she would be with him in heaven. Her fear was that she felt that she had not yet done anything except satisfy her own desires. She hadn’t led anyone to Christ and hadn’t really served Him.

Why is the church so focused on getting people baptized, but satisfied to leave them there. I remember a Taiwanese pastor telling me proudly how many people his church had baptized in the previous year, and I asked him how many of those were active in the church still and were growing in their faith. He looked puzzled and just asked why I had asked that question. “Because the Great Comission didn’t say that we were to baptize all nations. It said that we are to make disciples of all nations, and baptism was just one of the steps along with going and teaching them to observe all that I have commanded. That’s not just teaching, but teaching them to obey. It’s not just knowledge; it’s obedience. If we aren’t making disciples, we have failed in our mission.”

He thought for a few minutes and said, “I never thought about that. I just wanted to get them to heaven. Actually, I think only one is even coming to church regularly. I need to think about that”

Why is it that we stop so soon? Is our focus on just getting them a ticket to heaven a sign of our continued human-centric value system? We are so focused on saving people from hell, that we forget that God’s priority is something far more valuable, and that is a restored relationship with Him. God created man to know Him, to serve Him. We belong to God, but we have left him. He is not looking for believers; for the baptized. He wants disciples and we are cheating Him, ourselves, and others if we forget the rest.

So, why do we stop so soon? What should the church be doing differently? What should I be doing differently?  How much of a disciple am I?

On Behalf of the President of the United States of America

My father was in the Navy steaming towards the Pacific battle zone for his first term of duty when the Atomic Bombs were dropped over Hiroshima and Nagasaki which precipitated the end of World War II. He never saw combat, but he had signed up voluntarily as a 17 year old to go and serve his country. He was willing to lay his life on the line for it.

Last week at his burial a representative handed us a flag neatly folded into a triangle. As he presented it to us he said that he did so "on behalf of the President of the United States of America." It struck me at the time how that sounded. It was touching and full of meaning, but at the same time, I'm quite sure that President Obama had no idea that my father had died and that someone was speaking and giving out a flag on his behalf except to the extent that he knew that it happened regularly at funerals for veterans. He's the President of the United States, still the most powerful nation in the World and with lots of business on his plate every day. There is no way he could possibly handle all the affairs of the Executive branch of government alone and he relies on a lot of people with delegated authority to act in his name. That is just the way it has to be. I would not expect him to know about my father who served a short stint in the Navy long before the President was born and who never saw any combat.

Which makes it all the more amazing that God knew William Jasper Franklin completely and intimately, even better than my dad knew himself and, according to the Bible, is presenting him with a Crown of Glory. It's mind boggling to think that the God of the universe knows him as well as everyone else on this globe, not just as a name, but personally, intimately. Of course, anything less and he would not be omniscient, he wouldn't be God. Still it's something so wonderful that I can't imagine what it means.

For God so loved the world.... That's easy to say when the world is just an abstract collective noun. But, when you know every single individual and can still say that you love so much that you give your son to die for each one of those people, that puts things in a new light. He knows me. He knows all that I think and do. He knows about things that I hope no one else knows about. He knew about them even before there was me. Yet, he still loves me and he put his life where his mouth is. And he knows every other person on this globe in the same way--everyone I have ever met, will meet, or never will meet. He knows them intimately.

What does that have to do with the church and with missions? You tell me. I think I know, but I'd like to hear more. I know that it speaks to where my heart should be. And, when I speak of the Gospel, the good news of God's love, I am offering a gift on behalf of the God of the Universe--not a flag but the possibility of crown of glory. Everyone that I meet, including those who I would rather not have met, has the potential of becoming a creature glorious in God's sight.

A Hero's Welcome (updated)

Probably just about every 5 year old thinks that their father is a hero. You don't even have to be a really great father for them to think you're wonderful at that age. Later that begins to change as the boy grows and discovers his father's weaknesses and as he begins to develop his own identity.

Just a couple of days ago, my father passed away, and I still thought he was a hero. I've been a part of a men's breakfast study group for the past year, and a couple of recent studies focused on fatherhood. As other men described their fathers, I realized again just how blessed I have been. There were very many times when I disagreed with him, when I didn't want to hear what he thought, and when I thought that he was old fashioned and even a bit naive, but I always thought of him as a hero to me. And, as time when on, I even found that he was right most of those times when I had gone my own way. But, I'm talking about heroes, not being right. What was it that made him a hero?

One was that he truly, unconditionally, unashamedly, relentlessly loved his wife--my mother. Note that I didn't just say that he was "in love." He loved her. There is a difference. It was active, not just a feeling. As my brother said yesterday, there were many people who thought that he was so wonderful because of how he took care of my mother the last 2 years of her life when she because so difficult and demanding due to her deteriorating health. In reality, he didn't just take care of her for 2 years; it was 58 years." She was 16 years old when they married and had already had a very difficult life--life threatening bouts with scarlet fever twice, abandoned by her father before she turned 6 and forced to live with relatives (along with her mother and brother), and with a very low self esteem. He made her finish high school, taught her to do all kinds of things, and told her every day how beautiful she was and how wonderful she was, and how much he loved her. And, he lived it daily, too. I have never had to wonder at the meaning when Paul tells husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the church. I only had to wonder why it seemed so easy to him.

He was a gracious man. He was a man, a man's man, a hard worker, a fisherman, a hunter, a mechanic, an electrician, a carpenter--in fact he could do almost anything and I said that not only when I was 5 years old, but again as a 16 year old, a 25 year old, all the way down to today. But, he was also the most forgiving many I have ever known--and that includes not just offenses against himself as we usually think of when we think of forgiveness, but also stupid mistakes made by people like his oldest son (I only have one brother, younger than me), like when I forgot that the bolts that hold the brake drums on were reverse threaded. I was checking the brakes and kept trying to break that "stubborn" bolt free until I finally twisted the head off, leaving the bolt still in there. That happened just as he walked out the door. I stood up and tried to keep him from seeing what I had done, to buy a little time. I thought I was so stupid and that he would surely have to remind me of that. I thought there was no solution now that I'd twisted it off. He said, "You do remember that those bolts are reversed threaded?--you have to turn them the other direction from normal bolts.". "Yes, sir, I remember." He paused just a moment and then said, "Did you remember in time?" "Uh, uhh, No, sir. (How did he know?)" He just smiled and said, "Well, that's easy to forget. It's not a problem. We'll just drill out the center with a bit that's barely smaller than the bolt, and then we can twist out the remaining thin pieces. Let's go ahead and go to the parts store and buy a replacement bolt and a drill bit." What a simple solution? How was he so smart? But, more than that, why didn't he take the chance to remind me of how stupid a mistake I had made? I knew my Daddy loved me.

He was shafted on a number of occasions by numerous people, and turned the other cheek. He didn't do it in a sissy way. He did it as a man who had nothing to prove, but even more, a man who knew that Jesus required it. I learned that this was not just an idealistic saying of Jesus. There were men (at least one man--my dad) who took it seriously and lived it. So, why was it so hard for me to do so? I'm still asking myself that question.

And, yes, he loved me and was not afraid to say it or act on it. I didn't find out until after high school that that was not the norm, that every Dad didn't do that. He told me every morning at breakfast and as he left for work, and every day when he came home and every night as we went to bed. He hugged me anytime one of us was leaving, any time something good happened, and often for no reason at all. He told me he was proud of me, even when I dropped out of Little League because I still couldn't hit that ball and got so bored in right field that I would start counting the bugs at my feet so that I'd miss the ball going by (and he was an avid baseball fan, especially the Tigers, so that was a big deal). Once I brought I guy home from college for the weekend and to my great embarrassment when I drove up to the carport, he came to the car and gave me a big bear hug when I got out. Right in front of my friend! I know I turned red and I don't think I hugged him back. And, on Sunday evening when we left to go back, he did it again and even said that he loved me. It did make me feel good, but I didn't want to admit that I was glad because I wondered what my friend would think, but as we were driving back to Auburn, my friend said, "You know, you are a lucky guy to have parents like that. They love each other and they love you. I don't remember my dad ever giving me a hug or saying he loves me. I'd give anything for that." And, I started feeling really lucky as I thought of what that must be like for this friend. I learned a lot from that, not just about love, but about being willing to do what is good without being afraid of what others might think.

As a teen, I began to be very disillusioned with the church and thought that once I got to be able to make my own decisions, I'd just quit going. It bothered me that in church, the "sinners" were all outside--drunkards, adulterers, etc., but those inside were the "righteous." But, "inside" I didn't see the kind of person that Jesus described and felt that no one was truly seeking that. They came to church and said that they believed, but at school on Monday, they were just like everyone else. I had decided that it was all tradition, or just a social network, and that no one really believed it. Well, except for my parents, but if they were the only ones, then they (in my mind) must be pretty naive. Fortunately, I met another guy, just a little older than me, who also believed, and I discovered that there were others. But, it came back to my parents because I got to see them 24 hours, and I knew it wasn't a front. That's when I decided to really go for it and make a commitment to Christianity.

I said he was a hunter, but though he sometimes brought home squirrels or birds, he never brought home a deer, even though he sometimes went deer hunting. I thought he was a bad shot (it never occurred to me that squirrels and birds were even smaller).eHe took me squirrel hunting a few times, but I couldn't sit still long enough to let the squirrels come close enough for us. He didn't take me deer hunting until I was in high school, but on that first hunt, we came upon a beautiful buck with a large rack. He motioned me to be still and quiet as he raised the gun, pointed it at the deer, took aim, and then...nothing. He just stayed there for a few minutes looking through the scope until the deer walked away. He put the gun down, looked at me and said, "Well, we got one. Wasn't he beautiful? And such a rack?" I looked a bit puzzled. "What do you mean by saying we 'got' one?" "We did. I got him in my sights, I kept him there. He walked away on his own, not because we scared him away. That's good enough for now. We aren't hungry. We have plenty to eat. A deer is too beautiful to shoot when you don't need the food. We hunted him and we won, beating out his animal instincts and survival skills. But, that doesn't mean we have to kill." I had a hard time with that one, but it stuck with me. You can "win" without taking the trophy, because you don't have to "prove" that you won. Such self-confidence. He didn't need a rack of antlers on the wall to make him feel good about himself. He was content in just himself knowing that he was competent and successful. So, why do I so often need to prove myself before others, go for the kill, seek the praise of others? I'm still working on that one also.

When we were leaving for Taiwan, he told me that he loved me and that he hated to see me go because he was going to miss me and he knew that if I went, I'd stay there. He knew what he was giving up, but he told me also that he was proud that we were going and that he wouldn't want to see us doing anything else in the world. He tried to be calm because my mom was a basket case the day we left, but he was crying when he hugged me goodbye. When our children were born, I know he and mom were both torn and they wanted desperately to have the grandkids near them like everyone else. As their health deteriorated, it got harder. We thought of coming back. The last time I left, he was crying more than I've seen him before and for the first time he said to me, "Billy, I don't want you to go. It's been so good to have you here with me again, and I'm so lonely." I looked at him, not sure what to say, but he quickly added, "But, I know without any doubt that you are exactly where God wants you, and with that, I don't want you to stay either. But, I'll miss you."

He was a believer, not just a proclaimer. He didn't just talk, he acted. but He was and is my hero. He is, other than Christ himself, what I wish I could be. I so badly wanted to get here before he died, not to tell him this. You see, I've already told him before, although his response was something like, "Of course you think I'm great. I'm your father. But, I'm no better than anyone else. You're just prejudiced toward me." He really thought that he was just "normal" and I couldn't convince him otherwise, but I know. And, the more I see of the world around me--and even more importantly, the more I know of myself--the more I know that he was not normal. He was my hero and always will be.

People keep saying that he is happy now that he is back with his beloved wife Auvlene, and that is certainly true. This last year was very difficult for him. But, I think we think that way because we are limited by our human thinking and feelings. I believe that even more joy to him is that he is with his Lord and he is rejoicing in that, while glad to have Auvlene by his side. You see, I think that on Sunday morning, he received a hero's welcome into the presence of God. I'd like to say that he deserved it, but again, that's just in comparison to most people. What he got was grace, but that was what he practice with others. When will I learn to be like that?

Why is Good Friday good?

We don't usually think about it very much, but I suspect that, to a person who knows nothing about Christianity, it would seem more than a little strange that we call the day Jesus was killed "good." Jesus is our God, the founder of our religion (trying to describe it from their point of view, not mine), the good man that we follow. Why would we celebrate his death, and more than that, why would we call it good?

One perspective would be that it is "good" for us, because his death paid the price for our salvation, and that is true from a believer's perspective, but that is far too self-centered to be the whole picture. I don't think that salvation is nearly as human-centric as we sometimes think. Certainly it is true that God loved/loves us and that means that we have worth as an individual. But, I don't think that salvation is fundamentally just saving us from damnation. It's not a "get out of hell" pass. It's not a ticket to heaven. Those things are included, but not the center.

Salvation is a restoration of a relationship that should never have been broken in the first place. Adam sinned as he rebelled against God. He didn't believe God, didn't trust God, and even to the extent that he did believe, he still decided to go his own way. We are born alienated from God. Our true "damnation" is not just to hell, but to an alienation from God--and by extension, alienation from each other. In fact, C.S. Lewis described hell that way--as the place where man finally gets his wish to be independent and to get his own way. It is for people who, instead of saying as Christ did, "nevertheless, thy will be done," say, "my will be done." Hell is taking our current state of alienation, and making it eternal and more stark. God, in his extreme mercy, gives us a chance to return to the relationship that we were created to have, primarily with God, but also with others by extension.

And, that is the gospel that turns everything that seems real to us upside down. We like the concrete, but God offers us hope. We like it now, but God offers us only a little bit now, with the promise of glory to come. We like things that we can understand, can picture, and can see examples of in nature around us. But Christ offered a gospel that turned it all upside down and backwards. Those who are called "blessed" in the Beatitudes don't sound very blessed in normal human thinking. Christ said to turn the other cheek, to offer a man your cloak, to love your enemies, and much more. He said that, if we want to lead, we have to serve and take the lowest place of a slave or a child. He said that if we want to really, really live, we have to die.

That doesn't make much sense to us most of the time. I know that we can describe it in ways that do make sense and even to say that it doesn't make much sense will probably provoke a strong reaction among a lot of Christians. But, it's easy to tell people what this means and rejoice in this grace in church. It's a lot harder to live it outside (or even in church, for that matter). So, we don't turn the other cheek and don't teach our kids to do so either. We value strength, independence, freedom, honor, glory, position, power. We preach the walk, but seldom really walk the walk. We don't really believe that what Christ tells us to do can really be good. It doesn't make sense.

And, maybe that's what makes Good Friday "good." It's a reminder to us that God doesn't do it the way we would expect. It reminds us that things don't often go the way we want them to go, or in the way that makes sense to us. It reminds us that disaster can be victory, that death really does bring life, that turning the other cheek is not just an ideal or a platitude. It's the way God did it. It tells us that God is the ruler of the universe and that nothing escapes his control. It tells us that, even when he seems to lose control (Can God be killed? Crucified by man?), that is the moment when he exhibits the most power. It's not the kind of power that makes a showy display. It's the kind that gets the job done without anyone noticing that it's working.

Remember when Joseph's father Jacob dies and Joseph's brothers begin to again fear for their lives. How could Joseph not punish them? He had been holding back because he didn't want to hurt his aging father, but now with the father gone, he could do with them as he wished. With that fear in their hearts, they come to him to manipulate him based on the memory of the father and to beg him to forgive them. He responds almost with incredulity, telling them that he couldn't possibly usurp the place of God, but then adds to that a statement that is so simple, but so fraught with meaning. He doesn't at all belittle their sin or overlook their guilt, but he paints a picture of a God who is in completely control, even as they followed their own free will. He says (my paraphrase), "What you did was evil, as you schemed against God, but God had his own plans and He made your plans result in accomplishing His." God is so sovereign that his "rule" is almost incomprehensible to us. He can accomplish his will without pulling strings to make us do anything. The brothers followed their own wicked plans, but in doing so, the put Joseph in the place so that his dreams were fulfilled. They bowed down to him of their own free will.

Tolkien said, "All that is gold does not glitter, not all those that wander are lost." Things are not as they seem. There is a player in the background, and he always gets his way. we don't have to understand; we don't have to see how this is going to work. Good Friday is "good" because it tells us that God's will will be done, on earth as in heaven. There is nothing at all--even what seems to be abject weakness, passivity, and failure--that can stop him from accomplishing his will. That is what is "good" about it.

And so, we can celebrate Good Friday just as much as we can celebrate Easter and resurrection. We can be thankful (which is what the ancient word for the Lord's Supper, the Eucharist, means) for his death. Our thankfulness is not selfish or self-centered because it is not based on what we got out of it. It is because we get to see a glimpse of the power and glory of God even when He does not look at all powerful. And, that is the gospel, that is our faith. It is foolishness to the world because it is completely backwards from our thinking. But, it is that which gives us the power to live as Christ commanded, because we can know that there is nothing at all that Satan or anyone else can possibly do to impede the will of God. No one can harm us as we trust in Him. Nothing can separate us from the love of God and nothing is outside his realm of authority.

And, that is truly good.

My mission?

I don’t know when I heard the term Great Commission for the first time, but I’m sure it was early on in my Christian experience. What I do know is that it seemed to always be expressed as a directive to some individuals and that's what I assumed. It was normally a challenge to missions. Does God want you to be a missionary, or not? Does God want you to fulfill the great commission, or not? Should you go or should you stay?

I realize that I’m exaggerating a little, and making it a little more black and white than it usually is. Still, the  impression was, and often is, that this great commission is something that is given to individuals to carry out; and it’s a challenge for some of them to go, but of course not everyone. It's expanded sometimes to say that if you're not called to go, then you're called to give.

However, the more I have looked at it, the more I have come to realize that it is not individualistic at all. Those last few days before Christ ascended were spent not just with the 12 apostles, but with all of the key disciples who were committed to Him. This was the climax just as Jesus was about to ascend to heaven. The emphasis was not on the individual, but on this new body that was being called out. Jesus' focus was corporate.


My experience as a missionary has only emphasized this even more. I believe that we need to look at the great commission less in terms of the individual. It shouldn't be passive, waiting on whether God might be leading someone to become a missionary. Rather, we need to look at the Great Commission in terms of the church. In a sense, this is the founding purpose of the church. If the apostles were writing a constitution for the church as an organization, this probably would have been in the preamble as its purpose clause. The church exists to carry all this out. The church should see this as their number one responsibility–making disciples of all peoples.

Instead, the Missions program has been something that is extra, peripheral to the main ministry of the church. In many churches, the Missions budget is separate. It is set through extra pledges (faith promises) and extra giving. You can give to the missions budget as long as that comes after your tithe to the church. It's not a part of the church budget.

Some of that is changing. There already is less emphasis on waiting to see who God may call into missions, and then leaving that person to run around getting support from churches and individuals. But, we haven't gone far enough at all.

I think that the church should put more effort into thinking about what their role could be in making disciples of all nations, and then coming up with a strategy for how to do so. Of course, that is not just the overseas component that we often call "missions." It’s an overall plan that includes our neighbors, the people on the other side of the town, other nations and cultures across the sea. It's comprehensive. The key point is that the responsibility belongs to the church, and not just individuals. Missions and evangelism are certainly individual in that it is individuals who are the ones who are on the contact edge between the church and the unbelieving world. However, the individuals are part of a strategy, a vision and a mission of the church. We need to be less inward thinking and more outward thinking.

Missionaries can fall into a similar rut. One problem (issue) in missions is that missionaries are often independent and individualistic in spirit. It's easy for us to just drop into the mold of thinking about  "my mission" or "but, God called me here to..." Sometimes we can forget that we are all part of a team with our sending churches and our coworkers in the plan to make disciples of all nations starting in the part of the world where we have been sent.

But, the mission is far greater than any individual and it is far greater than any mission organization. Missionaries are sent and are part of the "mission" of the church.

Why am I Doing This?

Last Sunday morning, I was a guest speaker at the Syi-le Church near us. I know most of that congregation, but there's always a few that I don't know. As I was getting to the climax a man in the back raised his hand. It's not very often that you get someone wanting to make a comment during a sermon on Sunday morning worship. It happened when I was speaking at a retreat in central China, but in that case it was a young girl who had never been to any kind of religious service before and didn't know what was "proper."

I paused and acknowledged him and he made a comment that supported what I was saying, so that was pretty cool. I went on from there. A couple of minutes later, during a short pause, this man stood up again to make a comment, and this time he didn't bother with raising his hand. This one caught me a little off guard, but again it wasn't anything that was a problem, and it did follow with what I was saying. Probably less than a minute later, it happened again, but it was more than just a sentence this time. This continued at least another 5 -7 times, each time getting longer, and closer together. And, none was against what I was saying, but each time it made it harder and harder to bring it back to the point that I was trying to make as I concluded, and made it harder to come to the conclusion.

As you might imagine, I was not completely enjoying this anymore. It was making it really hard to concentrate and hard to conclude. I wasn't sure if he was a church member, or just someone who happened to walk in, so I wasn't sure what to do, but I can tell you one thought that started running through my mind and coming back when I had already dismissed it. I wanted to say, "OK, do you want to preach this, or should I?"

At that point, I had lost focus, and by that I don't mean just that I could not focus on my sermon. I had lost focus on what I was supposed to be doing. What bothered me was that I had lost control and didn't know how to get it back. But, what made me think I should be in control? The man came up to talk with me afterward, and it was obvious that he knew a lot about Christianity (unusual here in Taiwan) but it was just as obvious that he was not a Christian.

What does this have to do with the topic of the Great Commission, Mission, and the Church? Well maybe it seems like a stretch, but it shows how easy it is to forget the goal in order to just keep on doing what you think you should be doing. Preaching is for the purpose of influencing people. So, I am invited to speak in a church. when I speak. How is that I can so quickly get distracted from the goal--of influencing people, moving people--to start focusing on the sermon itself, the tool.

And, I think that's the case with many churches in relation to their mission's program. We go through the motions, but forget the goal. And, the church is judged on how many people came through their program rather than what influence they are having on the world that doesn't know God and on their fellow believers who want to know Him better. And, when we forget the real goal and substitute a program or a plan, we betray our cause and find that we have often done more harm than good.

The church needs to evaluate itself in terms, not of what they are doing, but why they are doing it.  It's people, not a program or a plan.

A New Start

Well, so much for promises. I started this in January, intending to write something every few days, but then things got pretty wild in my schedule and it was easier to drop something that I hadn't really started than to drop all the things that were demanding my attention. And, some of those things were pretty important and too urgent to drop. So,...

Here I go again, and this time, I hope that I can really commit the time to do it. I'm the type who needs to write to really get my thoughts together, so I need this for my own thinking process.

Here's to the journey!

Here we go

I suppose I should have said "Here I go," instead of "we," since there are no readers yet and my purpose is more for me than anyone else, but I'm not going to change it because that's what I kind of want this blog to be for me. I want to be able to write without feeling that I have to go back and make it all perfect.

I've had people encouraging me to write for decades, but especially lately. I keep thinking of things to write about, but never get around to do it because my tendency is to keep putting it off until I can make sure it is right. Last summer, as I was talking to Darrell Bock, he made the point that if you wait till you get it all right, then you'll never write anything or at least not very much.

I want to see this as not a final treatise on the subject, but as a part of a conversation--building on all that I've seen, heard, and read and that as brought me to where I am, and providing a start to a continuing and ongoing discussion.

So, I'm starting a blog. I've never written to a blog before. I don't know the protocols and don't know if anyone beyond myself and a few other friends will ever read it. But, it will be good for me. It's amazing what the process of writing does to help a person think and put his thoughts together. I'm writing mostly for myself, but at the same time, I do hope that at least someone else will get something out of this. Maybe it will help someone else to think about the topic and maybe they'll go on to develop it far beyond anything I could do myself.

So, here I go. I'm going to try to add to this regularly and keep on thinking about the greatness of the gospel of Christ. May this be used for his glory!

Bill