Enjoying the Journey...

Do you like taking long trips? I love them. We have often taken two or three weeks at a time and headed out west to places of grandeur. We have visited the Rocky Mountains, Yellowstone Park, the Black Hills, Badlands, Glacier National Park, the Grand Canyon, the Canadian Rockies, Mount Saint Helens, Redwood National Park, and many others.

While many people might just fly to their destination, Dee and I enjoy taking our van or RV so that we can enjoy the scenery and make “accidental” discoveries along the way. Some of our most cherished memories are of these spontaneous “side-trips” along the way to our main destination.

When we return to one of our favorite places, we will often take an alternate path just to see what else we can enjoy along the way, and to discover more of the beautiful country with which God has blessed us. The new discoveries along the way enrich the journey and often become the jumping off point of future trips.

On one of our side trips we visited a site along the old Oregon Trail. So many covered wagons had traversed the trail that in some places the wagon wheels had carved ruts in the limestone that were 6 feet deep!

Life in the church is often like that. We are all on a journey to spiritual maturity and faithful service of God’s Kingdom. Some people have traveled by the same path for so long that they can’t even see the scenery any more. Their lives are in a “rut.” They repeatedly do the same thing in the same way, whether it is their method of Bible Study, the way they pray or sing, the way they talk to others about God, or the things they think a church should or should not do in order to reach the people in their community for Christ.

Some people grew up traveling the same trail that their parents did, never having seen the scenery outside of their ruts. They have no idea that there are other vistas, other side-loops, new routes to take. They have no frame of reference, other than their own experience, from which to see new possibilities. In other words…they don’t even know they are in a rut. They just keep plodding along thinking “this is the way it is supposed to be.”

It is time to explore the trail …

This year, I will be joining eight of our lay leaders on a spiritual journey called the Fruitful Congregation Journey.  It is a 9 month process of lay and clergy leadership development during which the group will study 8 strategic books on spiritual growth, congregational health, faith sharing, strategic planning, effective communication, and missional focus for the church. The group will also meet with leaders from 5 other congregations in our District who are also taking the “journey.”

The process is designed to help us all look beyond our own “ruts” and learn from the experiences of our sisters and brothers in Christ who are leading effective, faithful, fruitful congregations.  It has been said, “It is hard to think ‘outside the box’ if you don’t even know you are in a box.”

My prayer, and I hope you will join me in this prayer, is that we will be able to better understand the lives and needs of the people in our community whom God has called us to love and serve. And that we will discover more effective ways to reach them for Christ. 

That is the destination. But this isn’t a quick trip. It is going to be a long, but enjoyable journey. You will hear stories along the way from the members of the team.

So far, Mark Haase, Delbert Frazier, Jody Willis, Rick Dawson, Bill Sponsler, and Tony Ortman have joined the team. I have two others who are giving it prayerful consideration. 

I invite you to pray for them: Pray that God will open our eyes and ears so that we can see and hear what God wants us to learn and communicate it effectively to the rest of the church.

I’ll see you in church!

Pastor Ken Wells

Negotiation Fever...?

As I write this, it seems the whole nation is infected with “negotiation fever.” 

The NFL Team Owners and the NFL Players Association have been negotiating for 18 weeks, as millionaires and billionaires argue about how to split up the pot of gold raked in by high ticket prices and lucrative television contracts.

They finally agreed to a deal on Monday that promises that the fans won’t have to endure this drama for ten more years. Let’s hope so. We can continue to plan for the Super Bowl in Indianapolis. Maybe the Colts will be there?

Colts Quarterback, Peyton Manning, and team owner, Jim Irsay, are negotiating a deal that will make Peyton the highest paid player in the NFL.  Rumors are this will amount to $20 Million a year, in addition to endorsements and appearance fees.

Some say that is an obscene amount of money. But at least the Manning’s make good use of their earnings. Peyton and his father, Archie, recently gave $50 Million to build the Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital at St. Vincent on 86^th Street. It is a wonderful children’s hospital.

Meanwhile, President Obama and members of congress, primarily Speaker of the House John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, are playing a political game of chicken to determine how this nation is going to settle the debt crisis without further damaging the economy, and who is going to pay for it.

The stakes are high and the risks are very real. But most Americans don’t really understand the positions of each politician, or the divergent economic theories behind them.  So most people are stuck in the role of “cheerleader,” rooting for their favorite politician or party, hoping that their “side” wins, denigrating the other “side” as being either “incompetent leaders,” or members of the “Party of NO.”

Unfortunately, this is how much negotiation happens these days. Rather than seeking a position that satisfies both sides, we tend to “go for the throat” and seek to destroy our opponent and win at all costs, often sacrificing our own integrity in the process. The cost to our nation, or to our relationships with others in our families, our workplaces, our neighborhoods, or our church are often unacceptably high.

When we seek to win the fight rather than solve the problem we usually create additional problems. When we seek to destroy our opponent rather than help them save face, or find a solution that both sides can live with, we usually end up building up walls of resentment and hostility that make negotiation more difficult the next time.

So how can we do a better job in our own discussions with others?  Here are a few simple rules.  (simple to state, but difficult to follow.)

1) Remember in all things, to “speak the truth in love,” and respect each other. Treat the other person as YOU wish to be treated.

2) Seek first to listen and understand the other person’s position. Don’t just listen enough to find a weakness in their argument. Seek to understand the principles behind their position. Don’t assume that you know their reasons or motivations. When we assume, we are usually sadly mistaken.

3) Ask yourself if there is anything in their request to which you can agree. Let them know this up front. 

4) State and explain your own position clearly and calmly. Ask them if there is anything in your position to which they are willing to agree.

5) Negotiate the more difficult points after you have agreed on some common ground.

6) If things start getting too heated, or too personal, call “time out” and cool down. Remember why you are negotiating. Remember that you must attack the problem, not the person. Name calling, blaming, put-downs, intimidation and all the rest have no place in a Christ-like negotiation.  Let love rule!

Good luck . . . And may we always agree to disagree agreeably!

I’ll see you in church!

Pastor Ken