Leadership

Where the canary sings. Canada & the Office of Religious Freedom

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When the canary quits singing, there’s trouble.  The phrase “canary in the coal-mine”  references a historical mining practice of taking canaries into a coal mine.  The canary  would show distress from carbon monoxide, methane, or carbon dioxide earlier than the miners working and breathing the same air.  The canary was their early warning system.

Religious liberty is our canary.  Where religious liberty falls, other freedoms will soon decline.

This week perhaps in recognition of the importance of religious liberty in our global conversation, Prime Ministry Stephen Harper announced the creation of Canada’s newest office:  The office of religious freedom.  Andrew Bennet a former professor and dean will be the director.

Religious liberty as a societal value is a complex set of beliefs and convictions.  Within Christian thought and practice, religious liberty for all is a philosophical position that evolved over many years after governments gave certain expressions of Christianity favoured-religion-status.  The network to which I belong points back to Roger Williams , founder of Rhode Island, as a leader that dramatically advanced the pursuit of liberty beyond “my group” to “for all.”  I am aware within my own tribe of baptists though, that our stated value for religious liberty is not often taught and is more often pragmatically neglected when confronted with our pluralistic and democratic society.  In those cases, the canary is under duress.

My hope for the Office of Religious Freedom is that it will take its small budget and multiply it by encouraging reflection, scholarship and praxis within Canada’s diverse cultures and religious communities to pursue a “for all” vision of religious liberty.  The global mix of Canada’s citizenry in our cities and our universities affords us the opportunity to create safe spaces for the intentional effort required.

Being the canary watcher is not enough.  It will not be enough for Canada to critique countries and governments that deny religious liberty.  We must learn to recognize the signs of duress and consider how to stimulate and support the hard work, thought, and sacrificial actions  required for liberty.

False Teachers and Fast Ferries

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Scripture:  2 Peter 2:1-3 (NLT)

1But there were also false prophets in Israel, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will cleverly teach destructive heresies and even deny the Master who bought them. In this way, they will bring sudden destruction on themselves. 2Many will follow their evil teaching and shameful immorality. And because of these teachers, the way of truth will be slandered. 3In their greed they will make up clever lies to get hold of your money. But God condemned them long ago, and their destruction will not be delayed.

Observations:

Peter warns the church to pay attention:  false teachers will show up.

They are cleaver teachers with “destructive heresies.”

They deny Jesus.

They will get a following.

The “way of truth” will be slandered because of the false teachers.

They will be greedy.

Application:

A few years ago BC introduced the “fast ferry” to our fleet of ships.  They didn’t last long on the water!  The wake created by these sleek and fast boats damaged the shore lines.  The boats were expensive to maintain.  Soon they were docked and ultimately sold at a great loss.

Every leader creates a wake.  All leaders and messages are not equal in the size of their wake.  Smooth talkers will abound.  Crowds may come.  But the character and heart of a false teachers is false even as they distort the Gospel message of Jesus Christ.  In the wake of such false teachers many other people are hurt and washed up on the shore.  Then the way of Jesus is slandered by those who see the devastation.

In this text, Peter would have us pay attention to two aspects of a leader’s life:  1.  The way they handle the Gospel.  2.  The way they handle people and their money.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, may your church become so familiar with your Word and the character of Christ that they recognize what is false and distance themselves from it.  Please bring healing to those who have been hurt by false teachers.  May both your tender mercy and your fierce love prevail so that Jesus is lifted up.  May your Kingdom come.  AMEN.

Leading in His Church

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Scripture:  1 Peter 5:1-4

1So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: 2shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; 3not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. 4And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.

Observations:

Peter speaks to the “elders” as an elder, as a witness to the sufferings of Jesus Christ, and as a participant in the glory that is going to be revealed.

Shepherd the flock of God

exercising oversight willingly;

not under compulsion.

not for shameful gain, but eagerly.

not domineering, but as an example.

When Jesus the chief Shepherd appears, you will be rewarded. 

Application:

I have had the joy of serving in leadership in Jesus’ church for the past 27 years.  As under-shepherds to Jesus, leaders of His church must be able to check their motives.  Leading out of neediness produces toxic leadership.  The church is not meant to bear the weight of my soul.  So I must keep going to Jesus with my heart and life and let him heal me.  His Spirit sources willing labour, circumspect contentment, and humble submission.  Persistent service for the advancement of His people requires the long-view and the willingness to let leading be about Jesus and not about me.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, Thank you for the grace to call Jesus, Lord, and for the grace to serve to your church.  Strengthen the men and women who are serving your church today here in Vancouver.  May your church be shaped by the Gospel of Jesus that they may pour their lives out for His glory.  AMEN.

Looking to the interests of Jesus

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You don’t have to look long through the pages of on-line media to discover that having the role of pastor or minister does not mean that a man or woman is actually “looking to the interests of Jesus.”  But I have also heard sincere followers of Jesus indicate that they cannot “look to the interests of Jesus” because they don’t have time be full-time.  That’s a problem of perception:  life with Jesus is full-time.  Life in His Kingdom is full-time.

So, what does it mean to look to the interests of Jesus?

Paul writes of Timothy, “I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be cheered by news of you.  For I have no one like him, who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare. They all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.”  Philippians 2:19-21

1.  Be with Jesus.  At the the heart of the Gospel is desire of God to be with His people.  Jesus called disciples that they might be “with” Him. (Mark 3:14)  So seek daily to be “with” Jesus.  Paul saw this experience of God’s love and grace in Christ as the source of the attitude required to look to the interests of others. (Philippians 1:1-4) In the practice of being mindful of Jesus’ presence with you and reflection on His words, you will learn to hear (sense) his voice in your daily life.  (John 10:3, John 14:15-21).

2.  Be transformed by Jesus.  The new creation work of God (2 Corinthians 5:14-17) in the life of a disciple translates into new affections, new attitudes, and new actions.  As we follow Him the transformation of our lives through the practices of repentance and faith will show His glory even in our weaknesses.  Even as He has occupied our lives by His Spirit, He is cleansing our lives from the inside out.  (Mark 7) To cooperate with His work we take hold of that for which He has taken hold of us–being like Jesus in His Kingdom.

3.  Be on mission with Jesus.  We must trust that as we submit our lives to Jesus the King He is going to take liberty to progressively call us and place us strategically in His mission of loving people and transferring them from the kingdom of darkness to the Kingdom of God.  For Origin, we are living this out in the UBC campus community and the city of Vancouver.

We trust that God will call out people like Timothy and Epaphroditus, and Euodia and Syntche, mean and women who are giving more and more of their time and energy to the ministry of the Gospel and the church.  But God will also continue to create disciples who remain anchored in the context of their work, their faculties, their dorms, their neighbourhoods, and their families to fulfill His mission.  In those settings, the call is the same, look to the interests of Jesus by contributing somehow to the disciple-life-journey of another person.

Now anyone in a friendship that matters, or married, or working, or responsible for children or parents, will discover that good relationships require that we temporarily suspend our own interests in order to look to the interests of others.  But this willingness and sacrificial attitude is also required at times of Gospel ministry .  To look to the interests of Jesus will sometimes require that we set aside our own interests, just as our Lord Jesus has done for us.  We may need to set aside our own interests in order to “witness” to the grace of Jesus in our lives or to “proclaim” the Gospel, or to meet regularly to share our life with another disciple, or to sacrificially serve another person or His church with the gifts His Spirit has give us.

Jesus said, “Come follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

Today, its full-time: look to the interests of Jesus.

How to talk about religion… at school.

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Teaching about the world religions made the news in Canada a few months ago as the Supreme Court upheld the Quebec public school system’s requirements for its students to take an ethics and world religion course.  I like the concept and idea and believe that we should continue to develop a curriculum that encourages public discourse in our schools of religious ideals and ethics.  The pluralistic nature of our urban communities and universities guarantees a growing need to equip students with skills for understanding another person’s worldview–even if its a religiously informed view.

My friend Mark Chancey posted Robert Kunzman’s article, “How to Talk About Religion.”  He calls for “civic multilingualism” to be nurtured within public schools:

In recent years, the call has increased for U.S. students to study foreign languages. In an interconnected, global society, the argument goes, Americans must be able to communicate effectively with a diversity of peoples and cultures, whether for purposes of commerce, research, or national security. But given the prevalence of religion talk in today’s world, another form of fluency is increasingly needed: Civic multilingualism is the ability to converse across different religious and ethical perspectives in search of understanding, compromise, and common ground. At home and abroad, this may represent the greatest social challenge of the 21st century.

To meet this challenge, public schools cannot sidestep the influence of religion in society. Nor should they cultivate a model of citizenship that avoids religion talk altogether.

My experience in Vancouver is that we have difficulty with this vision of civic responsibility in part because of our virtue of “tolerance” based on ignorance.  Kunzman believes that  “tolerance” without “knowledge” actually creates citizens who lack “respect.”  He writes,

Public schools often see their role as promoting tolerance of diversity, and this is certainly important. But tolerance can be entirely ignorant—students don’t have to know anything about other beliefs or ways of life to tolerate them. Respect, however, requires an appreciation for why religious adherents believe or live the way they do. Students who have this understanding of their fellow citizens’ religious commitments will be better equipped to thoughtfully discuss those commitments, especially when conflicts arise in the public square.