Tag Archives: Storytelling

The ultimate moral value

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hat is God’s dream for this world? The Bible and Christian theology give no clear answer to that simple question, but there are glimpses. More than glimpses, perhaps. The Bible opens windows to see into the world as God desires it. If we know what God desires, if we know what God’s dream is, wouldn’t we give our lives to fulfill it? [The "dream of God," of course, is not a biblical term; but the idea is entirely biblical.]

Jesus’ invitation is this: “Seek first [God's] king-dom and [his] righteousness.” [Matthew 6:33] Seek the justice, the good works, the right ways, and the faithful-ness of God. Seek the path of God, the ways of God, the reign of God. Seek God’s presence, God’s embrace, God’s love. God’s kingdom encompasses all of that.

Among other things, when we seek the kingdom, we seek to know and to live according to the values, the moral values, of the reign of God. The question of God’s kingdom is what the world would be like if God were king, president, leader of the world, rather than those who are in charge. What are God’s values? What are the characteristics of the moral vision of God’s kingdom?  Read more ….

Foundations for my values

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What I know about moral values I learned growing up in Protestant churches and in a Christian home. We went to church on Sunday as a matter of choice, perhaps of habit. Whether out of choice or habit, we went both to Sunday School and to worship. And as a teen, I went to youth group and to choir. Some years it seemed we were at the church more evenings than not. After 40 years in ministry, my heart and mind still yearn for confidence that God is behind my convictions and moral commitments, that the Spirit guides my moral choices.

Given the  changes here and there in how I live out my fundamental values as a Christian, the moral values I hold and the choices I make still come out of the core of what I learned as a child growing up in church and in a Christian home. I learned early in life simple lessons like these:

  • Be kind to others.
  • Be patient.
  • Respect everyone.
  • Forgive people who hurt you.
  • Stand up to bullies without fighting.
  • Be honest without hurting people.
  • Let other people be who they are.
  • Be faithful to your friends.
  • Love God and other people.

These simple values form the concrete foundation for the life God calls me to live out in the church, as well as in the world. I am convinced that God calls the whole church to live by them as well. As I experience the church today, I see a large crack in the foundation.

Read the complete e-book here.

It’s about who you are

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When church leaders are faced with change, they often look around for some model for adapting to change that other churches have used successfully. In a time of declining congregations among mainline denominations, especially, pastors and other leaders wonder why some other church in town is growing and their congregations are not. A common reaction of leadership is to say, “We need a different style of worship” or “We need to add on to our building” or “We need to be a ‘missional’ church.”

The essential need, however, for responding appropriately to change – and the inevitable conflict – is for people who are personally and spiritually prepared for effective leadership. The 10 Life Practices we teach (see menu bar at the top) will prepare you for that kind of leadership.

When you are centered in God and within yourselves and aware of who you are and what you bring to this situation, you can be both empathetic toward other people and assertive in what you say to them. When you are emotionally mature – meaning that you respond rather than react under stress – and when you connect with the people and your surroundings in a holistic manner, you are able to lead people in a way they can trust. You can listen to their stories and tell your own and help everyone learn to reframe what’s happening and see things from a different perspective, and you can guide people in creatively imagining a new future together. And with an underlying commitment to nonviolent engagement – to actively engage other people in a way that will not harm anyone – you can successfully guide your church into the good future God wants for it.

Telling our story begins with listening

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Listening with empathy and attentiveness to other people tell their stories is hard, but it’s a necessary step toward gaining a hearing for our own story. If I want other people to listen to me, I must listen first to them. I want other people to know what has happened in my life and my own experiences that have led to the situation we’re in. If I will listen to them first and find out what their experiences have been, they will be more willing to listen to me.

No two people ever see the world the same way. We all have our own perspective of the “true” situation which is formed out of our stories, our experiences in life. As a Caucasian, heterosexual man with graduate degrees, my perspective will always be different than someone without that mix of experience with life. As someone who is over 60, I will now see things differently than someone who is 20. As someone who grew up in Los Angeles and loves city living, my perspective will differ from someone from a rural background who longs for that environment.

Our stories involve where and how we grew up, our ethnic and cultural background, our religious experience, our family background, education, career, and on and on. The factors affecting our perspective on some conflicted situation in our life or our church are complex, and only as we listen and tell our stories to each other will we be successful in resolving the conflict and transforming the situation.