Video From Haiti Trip October 2010

This last October I traveled with a crew to Haiti for 10 days, here is a video to catch part of the experience.

Untitled from Aaron Bouwens on Vimeo.

The Pastor As Shepherd

There are many responsibilities of a pastor. Some are chosen by the individual, while others are placed upon. There is yet another category of responsibilities which is often over looked by pastor types and non-pastor types, the Scriptures. As I have been mining the scriptures lately I have been look at what it means to be a pastor in Christ's church. One of the things I keep coming back to is the idea of the pastor as shepherd. For those who know me and have been inflicted with my ministry as a pastor, know this is an image or role of the pastor that I am very uncomfortable with. Wanting to become the best pastor I can for Christ, and his church, I have determined to take a good look at the pastor as shepherd. So far two conclusions have emerged, first, I will need to allow God to transform somethings in me which I have held dear over the course of my ministry. Second, the way we think of the shepherd is often not consistent with the teachings of Scripture.

Upon further reflection I have learned me resistance to embrace the role of pastor as shepherd comes from my own misunderstanding of the role of a shepherd. What I have carried with me from experience is when a shepherd is talked about what is meant is a person who will be a passive person who merely responds to all the felt needs of the sheep. In my little mind this reduced the shepherd to the role of caretaker. While care taking is very important, I have always felt called to a different style in ministry. Whenever I have entertained the idea of becoming the pastor as shepherd a voice from with in would quickly sound a warning that I was designed and gifted to be more than a caretaker of a church. As I have poured through the scriptures on this issue I have found a very different view of the pastor as shepherd.

As my investigation continued I found that many in the church wanted the pastor as shepherd to be the person who was in fact a caretaker of the people. Based on the listening I have done the common description of pastor as shepherd is as follows. The pastor will always know what is happening in my life and respond appropriately, which is determined by the person in need not the pastor. The pastor as shepherd will keep conflict to a minimum, and solve conflict by finding the path which keeps everyone happy. When it comes to the preaching and teaching of the pastor as shepherd, quality communication is desired but no challenging of the status quo in the church or individual lives please.

So, what have I found as through exploring the pastor as shepherd through the scriptures, tradition, experience and reason? That I am in fact to be a shepherd to the people God gives me charge with, however, I need to be transformed in my person and understanding. This leads to the question, what then is the pastor as shepherd?

• Comforter and Confronter. The pastor as shepherd fulfills the role of offering comfort to those who are in need. This includes those who are in need physically, emotionally and spiritually. Further the shepherd also confronts those who are too comfortable. John Wesley is often quoted as saying we are to "Comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable." The shepherds crook is not for beating the sheep, it is to provide guidance and comfort.
• Guide. The shepherd was not necessarily a day-to-day part of the sheep's life. The flock was left to roam the open pasture, grazing and investigating the days away. When trouble was around the shepherd would collect in the flock and bring them into the fold until the danger had passed, then returned the flock to the pasture. It is the shepherd who keeps the sheep moving in the directions they need to go.
• Resource for the journey. Funny thing about sheep is they sometimes forget how to be sheep. The same thing happens to followers of Jesus, we forget what we are about and the shepherd provides resources for the journey so we can remember what it is we are about as followers.
• Vulnerable Heart. To be a good shepherd, our hearts must be available for and to the flock. In John 10, Jesus explains his willingness to sacrifice and lay down his life for the flock. This requires a vulnerable heart. More than offering technical service, a book list or a few websites, the shepherd offers a congregation their heart. There is great risk in this, yet the True Shepherd Jesus, offered his heart and life.

As I have written these words conviction has been strong, I have so much growth and transformation to go through. The greatest challenge is found in having a vulnerable heart. I can give a list of "reasons" why this would not be a good idea, in the end they are all excuses. Being the pastor as shepherd is not easy work, especially for those of us who have been pastor as technician, yet it is the call. This is not a call to be a preserver of the status quo and never challenge the flock. This is not a call to simply watch the days go by. The call to be a pastor as shepherd is the call to make our hearts available to the flock knowing some will treat it like common fodder and trample it. While others will join their hearts with yours as together we all follow the Great Shepherd who is leading us to the heart of the God, for the full, abundant and complete life which the shepherd has offered.

Dark Day For A Bright Future

The second most pivotal day in history, Good Friday. There is no small irony this Good Friday coincides with Earth Day. While many will be rightfully remembering the creation on this day, I wonder if they will remember the one who redeems all creation? When Jesus went to the cross on our behalf, it was not only humanity that was being brought back into relationship with God, all of creation was. The process God used to bring back the Eden-like relationship was one that was dark and painful. The journey from the table of the Last Supper to the reality of the cross was filled with betrayal, injustice, beating, mocking, and nailing.

History, not just Scriptural history, records the day when the sky turned dark in the middle of the day. When Jesus was doing battle with sin, all that would keep us from our created relationship with God, the whole earth was involved and the light turned dark. The theological world will talk about theories of atonement, and the various ideas of how Jesus death brings about our redemption. All those theories and discussion have their place, this is not it. What I have experienced is this, I was trapped in sin and death until I realized the grace offered to me through Christ. I do not need to explain all the pieces and parts to know the act of Jesus on the cross changed everything for me and for all of creation. This does not mean we are free from brokenness, or that all the world is perfect. What the work of Jesus means is that on the dark day all that would prevent the pursuit of the fullness was defeated. The victory was won when Christ felt forsaken. As Jesus breathed his last, the curtain was torn and all were invited into the Holy of Holies.

The cross is not the end of the story. In fact if it is the end of the story we are all still headed for a death separate from God. If the cross ends the story then Jesus was another moral teacher who had a very traumatic death but that was it. On the cross Jesus steps in and declares whatever is needed to repair the brokenness is being accomplished. Sin is canceled, injustice is addressed, and hope springs. Not until the tomb is found without Jesus do we know that new life is possible. Jesus told that he was only going to be in the tomb for three days, the proof was in the pudding, with no Jesus in the tomb the move from great moral teacher to Messiah was reinforced. The darkness of the cross is turned into a bright future for all who would follow after the One who made it possible.

The Day To Remember

Maundy Thursday. What the heck does that mean? It is the day Jesus commanded his followers to practice Holy Communion as an act of remembrance and connection with him. The primary setting of memory is the Upper Room and the Last Supper, however there is much more at the table than simply one night and one religious celebration.

The journey to Maundy Thursday began in the ancient times, a couple thousand years before Christ. The people of Israel were enslaved by the Egyptians for over 400 years. God had commanded Moses to lead the people to the promiseland. From captivity to freedom. The night before the journey is the Passover night, when God passed over the homes of the Israelites and struck the firstborn son of all the Egyptians. Once free from Egypt God commanded the people of Israel to have a Passover meal each year to remember the work of God in freeing them from slavery.

It was that very meal Jesus was sharing with the disciples in the Upper Room. The story would have been told of the journey from captivity. All the foods would have been shared along with the singing of all the songs. Yet Jesus, like with many things, put a twist to the long standing religious ritual. This was the night before he journeyed through death then back to life. Within Hours of this meal, Jesus would be going to the cross, so we could journey from captivity to freedom. The meal was a remembrance of years before, and a command for the years to come.

Today many people will let this day come and go with the thought that soon they will have a few days off from work, and we will dig into those little chocolate bunnies, or my favorite stale peeps. Even in the church we rush to the Cross of Good Friday, yet we do not spend time remembering. The ancient story and Jesus Story continue in us today. The gruesome reality of the cross is important only if we remember what the cross is about. We remember today the Body of Christ broken, and his blood shed so that we may move from captivity to sin and freedom in Christ.

Perhaps you will journey to a local church to remember with others at a service (Cortland UMC at 7pm), or maybe you will take time at the dinner table tonight with family. Possibly get together with a few others for dinner to remember and tell the stories of how God has moved you from captivity to freedom. Before we go to the cross we must remember the journey which has brought us to the cross.

The Tyranny of Someday

I am sure like me you have a list of somedays. You know the list I am talking about, those things that you will do someday. When all the factors come into place, and the time is right, then we will start the new venture, or make today that someday. The problem is that day never seems to come, there is always a reason that today cannot possibly be someday. Left to its own process, the someday hanging over our heads begins to invade every aspect of our lives. Before we know it we become trapped to someday thinking, and never move into a new reality.

Why do we do this? I am not sure why you do it, but I know my reason is security. I have a great place of ministry which provides enjoyment and financial security. The support of my family is a role which I take very serious and the somedays in my head would call into question my ability to provide that support. Now I know the religious answer is to simply trust God and step out. The validity of this response has not been able to overcome my fear. I, like you perhaps, have yielded to the tyranny of someday.

So what are we to do? Quite simply we must fight the fear and begin making today, someday. I cannot imagine the Peter and Andrew saying to Jesus, someday I will follow. Or Paul saying someday I will get these scales removed from my eyes. We do find people in the Gospels who give Jesus a someday answer when he calls. They have a valid list of things to do before they follow the call of Jesus, yet Jesus calls them to make today, someday. Starting today, those somedays will become todays. I believe there is something to which God is calling us, and we have been holding off. That is the key, we must be following God, not ourselves. The someday has to be rooted in the work of God in our lives, not our own hopes and dreams. The only true reason to hesitate is to make sure it is the call of God, not human will. Once we know what God wants or today to look like, we are to pursue it with reckless abandon.

I want to be clear, this is not safe. People will not understand. A change in lifestyle will be required. Personal luxury may have to be abandoned. Yet we will be the most free we have ever been. The tyranny of someday enslaves us more than we realize. In the process we become enslaved to the things which keep us from stepping into someday. Break the chains and step out. One of the many things causing the church in America to struggle is the drive to live safe and neat lives where everything works and everything is logical. The grace of God is not logical. The call of Christ is often not logical, when using the standards of the world. Still we are called to step out in illogical, and crazy ways. Let's make today, someday.

Beautiful Awakening

Last week I was talking with a used car salesman, not about cars rather about the state of this thing called the church in our world. Part of or conversation took us to talking about the passages in the Bible which all the people of God to wake up. Isaiah 50 to 52, Romans, Ephesians and Revelation 3. We then thought about the different ways of waking up. There is the harsh sound of the alarm clock. Not to be outdone by the wonderful screaming of a parent up the stairs or down the hall. Also included are the demanding tones of an angry parent waking their teen child. As the two of us thought about all the various ways we had been awakened none were as wonderfully remembered as the beautiful awakenings. The sweet voice calling to us, coupled with the gentle touch, or even a kiss. Being awakened in that fashion has greater appeal in my life.

Classically when I have read the Scriptures calling the people of God to wake up I have heard them as an angry demanding God. What if that is not at all the emotion of God? What if God is whispering in our ear with a sweet voice? What if God is taking our hand and gently enticing us to see what the morning is bringing? Make no mistake it is time for the church of God to wake up from its slumber and greet the day the Lord has given them. The questions remains if it will be a harsh and jarring awakening, or if it will be a beautiful awakening?

What would the beautiful awakening look like? Would it resemble the street corner preacher yelling at everyone to repent or go to hell, or would it be the work of the faithful as they provide food and clothing to those who are hungry and naked? Would it be the pastor showing the vengeful God, or offering the God of hope who longs to see us embrace all of creation? The beautiful awakening does not require a media campaign. No billboard space is needed. Leave the tracts in the box. There is not even a need for a building for the church. Simply put, the beautiful awakening is a group of anybodies who decide to follow God more than anything else.

When we know the day ahead holds promise and excitement, no alarm clock is needed. We simply rise and greet the day with great anticipation of what is coming. Often we live lives in a consistent defeat. The wages of the world weigh us down and we do not expect God to show up in the day ahead, only more of what we experienced the day before. Day after day we diminish our expectation of what God can do with us in that day. The beautiful awakening stirs our souls about the possibility of what God is going to do with that day. The beautiful awakening draws us from our slumber hearing the sweet voice of God telling us about all the amazing things the day will hold.

A beautiful awakening can quickly be sidetracked by focusing on the obstacles. Isaiah 51 reminds the people of God to focus not on the power of humanity, rather focus on the God who is about the possible. We must work to preserve our beautiful awakening or risk having the beauty and joy of this day taken from us.

The call of God to awaken could be a demand to get our butts out of bed and get about the work which is set aside for us. It could also be the sweet voice of God calling to us to arise and see the possibility of what God is going to do with the day. The time of slumber is over, the church must awaken, may it be a beautiful awakening.

Lowest Common Denominator

Nothing says fun like math. Think back for a moment to the fun world of fractions. I still try my best to avoid fractions to this day. But, when it comes to adding or subtracting fractions I remember that you had to first find the lowest common denominator before you could complete the process. This often meant reducing one or more numbers, so that everything could look the same, and be measured the same.

It seems this has become the practice in our world and not just with fractions. Everywhere I look I find standards are lowered so more people can clear the bar. In fact the standards are often lowered to the point that anyone can clear the bar. It appears as the education system is in this mode, along with sports. I have seen where they have stopped giving out trophies to the winning teams because they did not want the losing team to feel bad. While all of this is tragic, the real tragedy is when this happens in our relationship to God. It was not all that long ago listed among the essentials of the Church was the exclusivity of Christ. The essentials of the church are those things which are recognized no matter what theological cloth you happen to be cut from. The exclusivity of Christ is the understanding that Jesus Christ is the only way to God. It seems as the time has come when we no longer can have this in the area of consensus in the church. I realize this has always been in the air for some, however we have reached the point when we are engaged in the lowest common denominator practice with Jesus.

Let me be perfectly clear, this is not a mandate to disrespect other faith traditions, or the people who adhere to them. It is not a reason to go our and tell people they are destine for hell if they do not believe in Jesus. Further, I am not offering an excuse to act in hate and ignorance toward people who are different than ourselves. What I am saying is I have a deep concern that we have lowered the standard of Christ to the point where it seems anything goes as long as a person is spiritual. The greatest evidence of this, is the fact that the idea of all religions leading to the same God has found significant support in the church.

So you might ask, if a Hindu does not believe in Jesus, are they destine for hell? The simple answer, I have no idea. It is not my job to determine who gets in and who does not. I am not even sure that is the real question. What I am sure of is this. Whether, Hindu or Muslim, Buddhist or Shinto, Christian or Pagan, there will come a day when we will have to deal with Jesus. I think about Matthew 7 when Jesus talks about those coming to him claiming Lord, Lord, and Jesus says I never knew you. Religious people of all fabrics will come before God, and may recognize Jesus but having no relationship will find themselves missing the fullness of God. Outside of Jesus there is no salvation. Not simply a knowledge of who Jesus is, but a relationship with Jesus.

An important note. While there is no salvation outside of Jesus, we must remember the reach of Jesus to be beyond our comprehension and knowledge. That is to say, we are not in charge of anything in the kingdom, we are not in management. The role of a follower of Christ is obedience, faithfully following the lead of our Christ. Christ is the only way to God, yet we are not the only way to Christ, our understanding is not the only way to Christ.

We must stop lowering the bar. When we read the Gospels we find Jesus setting the standards pretty high. In fact so high I am unbelievably grateful for grace and mercy. When the rest of the religious world was lowering the standards, Jesus raised them. It seems once again we need to return to the high standard of Christ, not as a goal, rather as a way of living. It has become increasing politically incorrect to be exclusive with Jesus. Yet, Jesus has often been politically incorrect. There is much more room in the Kingdom of God than I often realize, and I am sure when the great reunion of Revelation 21 and 22 happens, I will be surprised to see some of the folks there, just as they will be surprised to see me. I do not make the determination of who reaches God, yet I know the one who does, he is the gate by which we enter, Jesus.