The ol’ college try

Two ways to wash clothes:

1. Throw everything in together and press 'Start' (like I did in college).

2. Carefully sort the clothing and use the most appropriate settings for each type.

Two ways to cook a meal:

1. Throw the ingredients you can find in a pot and apply heat (like I did in college).

2. Carefully select the best ingredients, add them at the appropriate times, monitor the heat and other conditions, and adjust the pace.

When discipling people, 'the old college try' comes up short. Getting Things Done (GTD) is too blunt. We need to know our people, choose the best materials, offer information and experiences at the right times, and pay attention to context and pace.

Do the right thing anyway

“Now Jesus turned to address his disciples, along with the crowd that had gathered with them. “The religion scholars and Pharisees are competent teachers in God’s Law. You won’t go wrong in following their teachings on Moses. But be careful about following them. They talk a good line, but they don’t live it. They don’t take it into their hearts and live it out in their behavior. It’s all spit-and-polish veneer.”

— Jesus, in Matthew 23:1-3 The Message

There are regions of the U.S. where governments are a little more 'hands on'. These areas tend to have lower speed limits and feel others should too. "Don't you care about the environment? What about safety?"

But a visitor to one of these places—who drives at the speed limit—will feel like she's riding a bicycle on the Autobahn.

We see this attitude often; sometimes in ourselves. The Christian's response is always to follow Jesus—even when religious people make it hard.

The edge of mayo

Many sciences study 'edge effects'—the nature of boundaries. In Ecology, for instance, activity and diversity are greatest where forests meet meadows, meadows meet ponds, and seas meet shipwrecks.

We're told oil and water don't mix. Stir them together and they separate. But the truth is, if we shake them vigorously enough we make mayonnaise or latex paint—millions of tiny oil droplets (let's call them bubbles) suspended in water—with lots and lots of edge.

Churches are called bubbles and we criticize those 'inside the bubble'. But it's what's inside that preserves the bubble's nature and character. The inside supports the life, activity, and diversity at the edge of the bubble—out there. The problem arises when churches haven't been shaken recently. And they coalesce and separate from the world. Far less edge.

Edges are life-giving. Workplaces, local and global missions, neighborhoods—all are places where believers touch others' lives in ways that can be healing and attractive. Like ecologists, we can increase activity and promote diversity just by adding 'edge' (Acts 1:8).

But often it's God who has to do the shaking to get us 'out there' and increase our edge. Consider a few examples: Babel in Genesis 11 (confusion), Christ's death in Mark 15:38 (new paradigm), the diaspora in Acts 8 (persecution). Also the flight of the Pilgrims to the New World, Martin Luther's Reformation, wars, famines, and refugee migrations.

As someone once said, "It's Acts 1:8 or it's Acts 8:1". Either way, it's about existing as healthy bubbles with plenty of edge.