"Have You Been Listening?"
By: Pastor Jack Schneider
“Seek first
His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as
well.” [Matt.6:33,NIV]
Next week we
will make important choices in a Call meeting as we look ahead to the next
shepherd God has in mind for us. My
final words of counsel for you are to remember that goals are where we’re
heading, but values determine why we want to get there.
In the
Church, where we have limited time, personnel and resources, it’s critical we
have our Apostolic values in Biblical order and learn to prioritize to higher
levels. In short, we grow up spiritually
and back off at a lower level because of the benefit to a higher level.
In practice,
this means Level One [personal preference] values are driven simply by our
likes and dislikes. You like organ accompaniment; your spouse prefers guitars.
You wear a sweater because it’s snuggly. He buys only Fords. I like the way you
wear your hair. Though these values are
the most shallow, they often control the everyday decisions of our lives and
churches.
Level Two
[institutional] values affect decisions we make to live or work more
effectively, do things decently and in order, and often deal with organization
or structure. They also usually include power or control issues. In the Church
this is where we hear “because we’ve always done it this way” or “it will wear
out the carpet,” or even “real Lutherans use a hymnal!”
Level Three
[identity] values frame us within the larger picture. “Lutheran” Christians
stand on the doctrine of justification by faith. Real Presence in communion is
more than a statement of what we do, it’s a confession of who we are.
Right-to-strike is an identity value for organized labor. What we decide on
this level must always be for the sake of Christ’s mission, otherwise our
“identity” collapses down to level two with its politics and control games, or
even lower to level one and “but I just want…”
And that
leaves us with Level Four [Lordship] values, which define and measure who and
what we are in Christ’s Great Commission [Mt.28]. What are we willing to die
for? If God needs to change us to touch others with his grace, will we let Him?
Will we back off on our personal preferences if this will benefit the body of
Christ or, better, the unsaved in our neighborhood and community? This is where we think, say and do everything
for Christ’s sake -- and for the sake of the Church [1 Cor.10:31].
For 13 years
I’ve taught you these Apostolic Values. Frankly, it would be a pity to discover
it went in one ear and out the other.
Have you been listening? I
believe so. Prove me right, brothers and
sisters, and God will bless our search!
- Jack
