A place where the most desperate win

Where else in the world do the most desperate seem to win? It happens all the time in church ministry. Many departments compete for the same people to serve within their ministries. Sometimes it's a race: which ministry leader asked first? Sometimes it's a beauty contest: which ministry is most glamorous? But oftentimes it is a case of "the most desperate wins."

Today I received an e-mail from a parent I'd asked to serve as a small group leader. He declined because he was already serving two or three times a month (at both services) in another department. His perception of his role was that 'they have a really hard time finding people to do this.'

It's happened within our own kids ministries department too. This fall I had two talented individuals lined up to teach large group, but then they heard about the 'desperate situation' in early childhood and decided to serve there.

Maybe I need to be more desperate! Actually, I refuse to play the desperation card. We need to figure out a better way to work together as a church so that all volunteer needs are known. We need to lose the competitive mindset when it comes to staffing programs. We need to recognize that people serve best when they are in their areas of passion and giftedness.

The only place I want to be desperate is before God. He will supply all my needs!

God's Math is Different Than Ours

We live and do ministry in a culture where size is everything. Success is measured in terms of attendance, dollars and growth. This can be discouraging to those of us who serve in average sized congregations. Our church has actually seen a decline in attendance over the last two years due to some significant transition issues. We easily get hung up on this and feel like we are failing.

Should we continue running programs that only serve a small number of kids? This question inevitably comes up in our growth obsessed era. I visited one such small program this week and came away with fresh perspective.

No, there weren't hundreds of kids there. But the 20 kids that were present had a place at church to call their own. They had leaders who were building into their lives. They had a great spot to bring their unchurched friends. They were learning about following Jesus.

The leader of the program also gets discouraged by the number thing. I was trying to offer her some words of encouragement, telling her that I saw wonderful things happening for the kids who were there. I found myself saying, "God's math is different than ours!" And it's true! Just look at some of these examples from the Bible...

He created the world in just 6 days.
He populated the entire earth with just 1 man and 1 woman.
He destroyed the earth with a flood and started over with Noah, his family and an arkful of animals.
He promised Abraham a nation, but didn't give him an heir until he was 100 years old - then he asked him to give his son up at Moriah.
He offered to spare Sodom and Gomorrah is only 10 righteous people were found.
He allowed the Hebrews to multiply rapidly despite cruelty and oppression in Egypt.
He told Gideon that his army was too large to defeat the Midianites. Twice he reduced the size of the army for his own glory.
He used the tiny mustard seed to illustrate the kingdom of heaven.
He fed 5000 with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fishes.
He values the 1 lost sheep even he has 99 others.
He said the poor widow gave more than all the others..

Yes, God's math is different than ours. He doesn't see things the way we do. He doesn't value large attendance, big budgets, and growth the way our culture does. And thank goodness for that!

Let's keep our eyes on what's important - helping kids, whether there are 20 or 200 or 2000, choose to follow Jesus each day of their lives.

Concrete Much?

Last night I sat in on the teaching time at one of our club programs. I was acutely reminded of just how concrete kids are in their thinking.

The teacher was using a road trip as an analogy for one's spiritual life. He talked about maps, GPS systems, clues a la AMAZING RACE and road signs.

At one point he asked, "What are the road signs in our spiritual lives?"

SILENCE!

He went on to suggest to the answerless kids, "Maybe if you find that you aren't lying as much anymore, that could be a road sign that you are going in the right direction."

A little girl said, "What? Why would there be a road sign about lying?"

He clarified, "We're talking about the road of LIFE."

A lightbulb went on and she said excitedly, "Oh, LIFE! I love that game!"

Jean Piaget, a Swiss psychologist and learning theorist, suggested that kids aged seven through eleven are in the "concrete operational" stage of development. Kids in this stage need to have experience with the concrete before they can make sense of new concepts. And those concrete experiences need to tie more closely to a kid's reality than to that of an adult.

This was a great reminder to me. When it comes to communicating with the 7-11 set, I want to speak plainly, use concrete terms and examples, and evaluate my presentation by listening to their responses.

Jesus, Happy Meal Toys and Salvation

Last week I overheard an interesting conversation coming from the backseat of the minivan. My four year old asked her eight year old brother if he was following Jesus. My son said, "Well, that's sort of up to Jesus to decide. He will decide if I'm following Him good enough to get to heaven."

Uh oh - time for a little theological correction!

This kid of mine is a real thinker. In the past he's responded to the gospel with "I need to think about it. I need to read my Bible more to learn more about God." I always like hearing what's going on in his head!

So I inserted myself into the conversation for a review of sin, grace, atonement, and salvation. But it wasn't until the next day that the Happy Meal story came to mind - and I knew it would be the perfect way to clarify the concept of grace and the free gift of salvation. I found my boy and told him the story.

Remember that day a couple years back? You and I weren't getting along. You were being crabby and mean and disobedient. Nothing I did was making a difference in your behavior. Finally in desparation I said, "Okay buddy, no Happy Meal for you when we go to lunch. You'll just get a cheeseburger and a drink - no toy!"

When we got to McDonalds, your sisters got Happy Meals with toys while you very sadly ate your burger. I don't remember if you cried or fussed, but somehow one of the employees noticed your sadness. He brought a toy over to our table and gave it to you.

You didn't deserve the toy. But in his kind-heartedness he brought you one. All you had to do was take it and it would be yours.

That's kind of how it is with God. Even though we don't deserve to go to heaven, he makes the free gift available to us. All we have to do is take it!

He remembered the incident clearly and it helped him make sense of a big theological concept. The thing that made this incident so memorable was that the Hispanic employee's name was 'Jesus' - but to my very white, very suburban kids, his nametag read JESUS.