Ministry in the Middle

The world is broken. This seems obvious these days.  We are experiencing a global pandemic, complete with ever-changing guidance on the best ways to protect ourselves and our communities.  As part of that response, there is massive unemployment and broad job insecurity.  In the past weeks, there have been national examples of suspected murders of African-American men highlighting the ongoing white supremacy in this country. This week there have been massive protests and demonstrations, ostensibly in response to a recent police shooting of an unarmed man, but likely a response to all of this.  Some have used these demonstrations as an excuse for looting, arson, and violence. The world is broken. I imagine there is almost universal agreement on these four words.  Almost no one is walking around smiling and thinking to themselves, "I am so glad these things are happening."  The disagreements arise when we start talking about how to fix the brokenness. In ...

repent  - 1. to feel sorry for (an error, sin, etc.) 2. to feel such regret over (an action, intention, etc.) as to change one's mind Webster's New World Dictionary The Modern Desk Edition of Webster's New World Dictionary sits on my desk, next to hymnals and other worship resources.  My name is written on the inside cover in my mother's neat handwriting. I think one of my elementary school teachers required each student to have a dictionary, and this was the one my parents found for me.  It's been on or in my desk ever since, and I've used it quite a bit over the years, as evidenced by the well-worn cover. Preparing for Lent this year, I pulled it out again to check the proper spelling of repentance.  In doing so, I discovered the definition written above. At first glance, it seemed like a straightforward definition of both the common religious and secular uses of the word repent.  However, something about it nags at me. Perhaps it is the initial def...

Like many, I was both shocked and unsurprised by the recent revelation of a lucrative effort by wealthy parents to buy their children admissions spots in prominent colleges and universities .  I was stunned by the amount of money involved, and by the payoffs that many college coaches took, in order to facilitate the efforts.  On the other hand, it has long been an open secret that wealthy people -- particularly alumni -- have enormous influence to help their children gain college admission, regardless of their academic records. Even so, this scandal has dramatically caught the public's attention.  Early on, it even pushed the ongoing political soap opera as the top story in the country.  Some of this awareness is likely due to the involvement of a couple of recognizable actresses.  Even more, the scandal points to the conventional wisdom that the rich in this country play by completely different rules. Many people have debated the injustices highlighted by t...

Like many Americans, I paid close attention to the public Senate hearings regarding allegations of sexual assault against Supreme Court justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh.  While I could not watch the hearings in their entirety, I watched or listened to roughly half of the proceedings. That was more than enough to find the entire conversation demoralizing.  While many of those involved paid lip service to seeking truth, mostly it was an exercise in political warfare, pitting one side against another.  Both Republicans and Democrats railed against the questionable tactics of the other side related to hiding or revealing evidence and rushing or slowing the process. Others have written extensively about the increasing tribalism in our culture, in politics and beyond.  Without question, this tribalism stretches into the church as well.  We join our teams and we stick by them.  We circle the wagons when others threaten or challenge someone in our own tribe....