When Busyness is A Sign of Laziness

CJ Mahaney wrote a series of blogs on the sin of procrastination. There are many poignant points shown there for people like me who often think that I can cover myself from all kinds of troubles by becoming busy. I know there are techniques that people learn to appear busy, but that is not what I meant. What I refer to is being busy with tasks, actually doing stuff that need to be done. This busyness often is a nice, comfy escape route that hides the deep-seated, sinful habit. Here is what I thought is the highlight of his postings:

I forget now who first brought these points to my attention. But the realization that I could be simultaneously busy and lazy, that I could be a hectic sluggard, that my busyness was no immunity from laziness, became a life-altering and work-altering insight. What I learned is that:

Busyness does not mean I am diligent
Busyness does not mean I am faithful
Busyness does not mean I am fruitful

Recognizing the sin of procrastination, and broadening the definition to include busyness, has made a significant alteration in my life. The sluggard can be busy—busy neglecting the most important work, and busy knocking out a to-do list filled with tasks of secondary importance.

When considering our schedules, we have endless options. But there are a few clear priorities and projects, derived from my God-assigned roles, that should occupy the majority of my time during a given week. And there are a thousand tasks of secondary importance that tempt us to devote a disproportionate amount of time to completing an endless to-do list. And if we are lazy, we will neglect the important for the urgent.

Our Savior understood priorities. Although his public ministry was shorter than one presidential term, within that time he completed all the works give to him by the Father.

The Father evidently called him to heal a limited number of people from disease, raise a limited number of bodies from the dead, and preach a limited number of sermons. As Jesus stared into the cup of God’s wrath, he looked back on his life work as complete because he understood the calling of the Father. He was not called to heal everyone, raise everyone, preach copious sermons, or write volumes of books.

While we must always be extra careful when comparing our responsibilities with Christ’s messianic priorities, in the incarnation he entered into the limitations of human life on this earth.

So join me over the next few days as we discover the root and nature of laziness, so that we might devote ourselves to biblical priorities and join our Savior in one day praying to the Father, “I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do” (John 17:4, ESV).

Mohler on Two Ways to Question God

Are we allowed to question God? Albert Mohler's answer is "yes and no". He recently blogged about this age-old question when a caller to his radio program lamented the death of his young child. The caller is a believer, and wants to be an obedient follower of Christ. Then he asked Mohler "But, can we question God?"

Here are Mohler's answer, which I found practically useful:

It seems to me that the answer is both yes and no. Beginning with the biblical affirmation that God is omnipotent and omniscient, sovereign and ever-reigning, we start with the understanding that whatever comes to pass does so by the express command, ordination, or permission of the Father. Thus, the Creator is at all times responsible for his creation -- and for his creatures.

So, is it legitimate to question God?

Perhaps we should consider how God has revealed himself to us as Father. Considering a human father for a moment, we can recognize two different ways of questioning his ways. The first way would be to rest secure in his love and fatherly care, but to express confusion over his ways. Even the most faithful and trusting children wonder about their parents at times. What are they up to? Why did they make that decision rather than the other? What was the purpose of that action? As close as children are to parents, parents often perplex children by acting like adults. In this mode of questioning, the child never questions the father's love and faithful disposition, but does admit confusion -- and perhaps even disappointment.

The other way of questioning a human father is to question his character, his faithfulness, or the authenticity of his love. This is an altogether different mode of questioning. In this second pattern of questioning, the child questions the father's heart, not merely his actions and ways.

Now, move from considering these two different modes of questioning a human father to a parallel set of approaches to questioning our heavenly Father. It is not unfaithful to admit and to articulate a sense of perplexity and pain in observing the ways of God. There are times when we cannot offer an explanation of God's ways. At times, we cannot even detect any possibility of a purpose. We can admit this to ourselves, to our brothers and sisters in Christ, and to our heavenly Father.

The other mode of questioning God, on the other hand, constitutes sin and implies unbelief. We cannot remain faithful and question God's own faithfulness. His love for those who are in Christ is beyond question. His character is a constant and his love never fails. He is not loving and gracious toward believers at one moment, only to turn into a malevolent deity the next. He never changes.

In this light, it would be sin to question God in this second sense -- the sense in which we might question whether God really loves us, or if He is really faithful to his promises. This is not the questioning worthy of a believer, but of an unbeliever.

Personally I have lots of questions to ask God. Things within my family, issues at work, challenges in the church, and a myriad of problems in this evil-ridden world. Now I know however that it is legitimate to question God just like a child who is both confused and curious to understand his parents. It's like saying, "Heavenly Father, I know you are sovereign and loving, but I am dumbfounded at the fact that such and such occured. What are you up to really? Why did you that? Isn't there a better way to get your will done in and through my life?"

I think such questioning does not put God in the dock. Or in the interview room. It merely reflects our intimate conversation punctuated by a belief that no matter what, He reigns supreme and no matter how, He cannot love us more and will not love us less.

Back from the trip

I just got back from a business trip in Indonesia, and given the absence of a high-speed internet I didn't have the chance to blog (I did try but I figured I would age faster if I waited for the internet to upload and download stuff, so I gave up in the end).

Apart from having research meetings at a few universities, I had the privilege to address some of the key people at these universities and share about a topic that is close to my heart, servant leadership. These talks convince me even more that there is a deep-seated desire within most folks to be the kind of leaders who are authentic and holistic. The preoccupation with performance and growth is not quite a thing of the past, but people are tired of this fixation which in the end belittles and manipulates people, all in the name of growth. If the recent global financial meltdown is not considered as a powerful reminder of the inherent limitation of performance-oriented leadership, I don't know what will.

Servant leadership, on the other hand, done rightly, maintains its primacy on developing others to become what they are capable of becoming through serving and empowering them. In the biblical language, servant leaders serve others to be the very person God wants them to be. There are no 'mini-me' followers in the process. The emphasis is not even the organization's goals. It's the followers' though servant leaders are accountable not only to the followers but to other stakeholders.

All in all, it's encouraging to see the enthusiasm is out there to learn, practice, and implement servant leadership in organizations, no matter how counterintuitive it may sound to most people.

Sermon Schedule

This week has been a crazy week for me. Assignment and exam marking, research projects, grant applications, and other work stuff are overtaking my life routines (blogging, included). As the end of year is looming large, I have been taking stock of what I have gone through in my preaching this year. It turns out that I have been and will be doing 24 sermons from two chapters (Matt 5-6) as per the following schedule:

13 April Part 1 Beyond Common Sense
20 April Part 2 Blessed are the poor in spirit
27 April Part 3 Blessed are those who mourn
04 May Part 4 Blessed are the meek
11 May Part 5 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness
18 May Part 6 Blessed are the merciful
25 May Part 7 Blessed are the pure in heart
08 June Part 8 Blessed are the peacemakers
22 June Part 9 Blessed are the persecuted
27 July Part 10 The salt of the earth, the light of the world (5:13-16)
03 Aug Part 11 Christians and the law (5:17-20)
31 Aug Part 12 Words that hurt, acts that heal (5:21-26)
7 Sept Part 13 Adultery (5:27-30)
14 Sept Part 14 Divorce and remarriage (5:31-32)
21 Sept Part 15 Say what you mean, and mean what you say (5:33-37)
28 Sept Part 16 Christians, be perfect! (1) (5:38-42, 48)
5 Oct Part 17 Christians, be perfect! (2) (5:43-48)
12 Oct Part 18 Secret Spirituality (6:1-18)
19 Oct Part 19 Pray like Jesus (1) (6:5-14)
26 Oct Part 20 Pray like Jesus (2) (6:5-14)
2 Nov Part 21 Pray like Jesus (3) (6:5-14)
9 Nov Part 22 Pray like Jesus (4) (6:5-14)
23 Nov Part 23 What drives your life? (1) (6:19-24)
30 Nov Part 24 What drives your life?! (6:25-33)

That marks the end of Chapter 6, and by God's grace the series from Matthew 7 will resume in February 2009.

Reading various works of theologians and commentators on Matthew 5-6 has been a very rewarding activity for me. In fact, the experience is akin to drinking from a water hydrant. The depth and breadth of perspectives on this magnum opus of our Lord's teaching is remarkable to say the least. It truly is a great disturbance for me. Re-reading my sermon notes on the above texts make me feel incapable of achieving God's unreachable expectations, and that was the intention, as only when we rest in Jesus' finished work on the cross can we be living our Christian faith with joy and hope.

'We' vs 'Me' Leadership

Bill George, the famous author of Authentic Leadership (and True North) who became a professor of management practice at Harvard Business School after leaving his chairman and CEO post at Medtronic recently offered his take on Obama and his leadership in his Business Week column. He characterized it as "We" leadership as opposed to "Me" leadership.

The sweeping victory of Barack Obama ushers in a new era of leadership that will affect every aspect of American institutions and that sounds a death knell for the top-down, power-oriented leadership prevalent in the 20th century.

A new style of "bottom-up, empowering" leadership focusing on collaboration will sweep the country. A new wave of 21st century authentic leaders will take oversee U.S. institutions of every type: business, education, health care, religion, and nonprofits. These new leaders recognize that an organization of empowered leaders at every level will outperform "command-and-control" organizations every time.

The 20th century leaders focused on money, fame, and power, earning the title of the "me" generation. Their leadership destroyed many great institutions, as evidenced by the failures of Enron, WorldCom, and dozens of companies like them. The recent fiascos on Wall Street can be traced to the failure of "me" leaders who put themselves ahead of their institutions.

He contrasted Obama's 'we' leadership approach and Bush's top-down, I-am-the-decider leadership mentality which has rendered ineffective in this era. He then cited Google, IBM, Avon, and even Saddleback and Willowcreek churches as champions of the empowering, collaborative leadership approach. His conclusion is:

The most successful leaders will be those who can align people around common goals of serving people and empower them with a collaborative style. Their organizations will be the winners in restoring the U.S. to global greatness.

Jack Welch on McCain's Leadership Loss

The former world's best manager of the century, Jack Welch (and his partner), offered his insights on why Obama wins and McCain loses. First he said he believed that McCain's economic platform "made better sense for business, especially in terms of free trade, tax policy, and job creation", then went on to point out that McCain was deficient in three vital areas of leadership succcess: Vision, Execution, and Strategic Allies. Finally, some lessons for business leaders are drawn. Here are the key points:

Start with the granddad of leadership principles: a clear, consistent ­vision. . . McCain's health-care policy, for example, had real merit. But his presentation of it was always confoundingly complex... Meanwhile, Obama's message was simple and aspirational. He talked about the failings of George W. Bush. He talked about change and hope and health care for all. Over and over, he painted a picture of the future that excited people. He also set a perfect example for business leaders: Stick to a limited number of points, repeat them relentlessly, and turn people on.

The next leadership principle should sound familiar: execution... In nearly two years of steady blocking and tackling, Obama's team made few mistakes. From the outset, his advisers were best in class, and his players were always prepared, agile, and where they needed to be. McCain's team, hobbled by a less cohesive set of advisers and less money, couldn't compete.

Finally, this election reinforces the value of friends in high places...That's why you need to start any leadership initiative with your "high-level friends" firmly by your side, convinced of the merits of your character and policies. But that's not enough. If you want to keep your board as an ally, don't surprise them. Think about McCain's "gotcha" selection of Sarah Palin. Scrambling to catch up with the story, the media was not amused.

Read the whole thing here.

Prayer for Obama

Ligon Duncan offers a few important points of prayer for President Barack Obama:

We will pray that God would change President-Elect Obama's mind and heart on issues of crucial moral concern. May God change his heart and open his eyes to see abortion as the murder of the innocent unborn, to see marriage as an institution to be defended, and to see a host of issues in a new light. We must pray this from this day until the day he leaves office. God is sovereign, after all.

For those Christians who are more dismayed than overjoyed about the prospects of an Obama presidency, there should be a remembrance that as our President, Barack Obama will have God-given authority to govern us, and that we should view him as a servant of God (Rom. 13:1, 4) to whom we should be subject (Rom. 13:1, 5; 1 Pet. 2:13-14). Thus, again, we are to pray for Barack Obama (1 Tim. 2:1-2). We are to thank God for Barack Obama (1 Tim. 2:1-2). We are to respect Barack Obama (Rom. 13:7). We are to honor Barack Obama (Rom. 13:7; 1 Pet. 2:17).

The whole text can be found here.

Fasting, Porridge, and Homesickness

First thing first. I am a stranger to the spiritual discipline of fasting. When I read Richard Foster's classic Celebration of Discipline, which outlines different kinds of spiritual discipline, I deliberately skipped the chapter on Fasting. But in the last couple months when I was preparing for a series of sermons on the Lord's prayer, my mind always thought about fasting for some unknown reason. This nagging thought became stronger when I meditated on the verse "Give us this day our daily bread".

By way of observation, I noticed something interesting about the 'strategic' place the verse resides. It is somewhat sandwiched between Jesus' teaching on fasting (Matthew 6:16-18) and Jesus' fasting before being tempted by the devil (Matthew 4:1-4). Second, on the one hand, Jesus taught us to pray "Give us this day our daily bread" and on the other hand when tempted by the devil said "Men do not live on bread alone, but on every mouth that proceeds from the mouth of God." Now you see why I was intrigued by the connection between bread and fasting.

That sent me back to Foster's neglected chapter on fasting, which then led me to other things, and I found many enriching insights.

My first personal encounters with fasting took place when I was a new convert. A naive and restless teenager, I was dead curious why people in the church starve themselves then prayed like crazy as if armageddon was gonna happen that day. So I decided to jump on the fasting bandwagon. I can vividly remember that during those hours of skipping lunch, I fought very hard not to think about the legendary chicken porridge that the skillful ladies in the church prepared for those who participated in the day of fasting. Good things come to those who wait, and indeed... the porridge tasted like heaven.

That was basically my spiritual experience of fasting, which was more about the porridge than about God.

As I studied and read more about the subject, I began to learn the true meaning of fasting. The following are some memorable quotes I came across I thought are worth sharing here:

Fasting, if it be considered in itself, without relation to spiritual ends, is a duty nowhere enjoined or counselled. But Christianity hath to do with it as it may be made an instrument of the Spirit, by subduing the lusts of the flesh, or removing any hindrances of religion. And it hath been practised by all ages of the church, and advised in order to three ministries; 1. To prayer; 2. To mortification of bodily lusts; 3. To repentance.
Jeremy Taylor, Rules for Christian Fasting

More than any other single Discipline, fasting reveals the things that control us. This is a wonderful benefit to the true disciple who longs to be transformed into the image of Jesus Christ. We cover up what is inside us with food and other good things, but in fasting these things surface. If pride controls us, it will be revealed almost immediately. David said, "I humbled my soul with fasting" (Ps. 69:10). Anger, bitterness, jealousy, strife, fear—if they are within us, they will surface during fasting. At first we will rationalize that our anger is due to our hunger then we know that we are angry because the spirit of anger is within us. We can rejoice in this knowledge because we know that healing is available through the power of Christ.
Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline, p. 64.

Fasting is a laudable practice, and we have reason to lament it, that it is so generally neglected among Christians today
Matthew Henry

I wonder whether we have ever fasted. I wonder whether it has ever occurred to us that we ought to be considering the question of fasting. The fact is, is it not, that this whole subject seems to have fallen right out of our lives, right out of our whole Christian thinking
Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Of fasting I say this: It is right to fast frequently in order to subdue and control the body. For when the stomach is full, the body does not serve for preaching, for praying, or studying, or for doing anything else that is good. Under such circumstances God's Word cannot remain. But one should not fast with a view to meriting something by it as by a good work.
Martin Luther

Why do we fast? There are many excellent reasons for fasting. Here is what I can gather from the Scripture and books:
1. To expose the true conditions of our hearts (Matt 4:4)
2. To learn to hear the still, small voice of God (Acts 13:2)
3. To make a space for God to reorient ourselves (Matt 6:9-11)
4. To express our homesickness for the Lord; his name, his kingdom, his will be made perfect on earth (Matt 9:15)
5. To help our prayer life

I would recommend these two excellent resources for those who want to seriously consider engaging themselves with God through the discipline of fasting: A Hunger for God by John Piper and Your Personal Guide to Fasting and Prayer by Dr Bill Bright.

Day of Fasting

We had our corporate fasting-and-praying day last Tuesday. It was historic because in the short 3.5-year history of the church, it was our very first day of fasting as a congregation. It was timely because it was held on the famous Cup Day in Victoria when 'the race that stops the nation' is on. When the eyes of the nation are fixed on the strongest, fastest horses (and the bets that go with them), some two dozens people were fasting, worshipping, and praying for the nation, the church, and those we love deeply. I was reminded of the verses that the Psalmist wrote in Psalm 20:7-8:

Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.
They collapse and fall,
but we rise and stand upright.

Obviously the psalmist was not thinking of Melbourne Cup Day when he wrote 'horses'. No, his mind was transported back to a more telling example of the pride of men. He was thinking of the horses and chariots that the Pharaoh's mighty army were riding when they were fast approaching the Israelites who were exiting Egypt. It does not take a Sun Tzu or Douglas MacArthur to predict whether or not those mighty chariots and horses can take the Israelites captive. With children and elderly people in their midst, there is no way the two million exodus can move faster than a turtle. But something then happened.

The Lord showed mercy to his people, and demonstrated to everyone alive then and today that trusting and boasting in the things of the world will result in a total disaster. Only the name of the Lord is a trustworthy source. Only the Lord of the universe is worth our complete trust. The latest global financial meltdown is a case in point. The Cup Day in many ways is not dissimilar.

As a church, when we were worshipping and fasting and praying we were testifying that we do not share the world's preoccupation with the best and mightiest of the world. When we humbled ourselves before the Lord, we acknowledged that the things that look very tough and valuable in the world can collapse and fail overnight, and that only the name of the Lord is a strong tower to which the righteous runs.

Robinson on Sermon Check-Up

In a recent piece in Preaching Today, the master preacher, Haddon Robinson, gave a comprehensive checklist that makes up an effective sermon organized around (1) Organization; (2) Content; (3) Delivery; and (4) Audience adaptation. It's a tall order, but it's worth considering every Sunday.

I remember reading more than 10 years ago Earl Palmer's strategies for sermon effectiveness, that is a preacher must have three kinds of fluency: Textual fluency, people fluency, and schedule fluency. The three things correlate highly with each other. The hardest component I found is people fluency. Pastors are busy. Preachers are busy. Some days the last thing they wish to do is to meet people. But this proves to be detrimental to preaching. Because often when we approach a text or think about its application, we end up thinking about people whom we spend time with. If we spend time with only the committee members or the elders, obviously the sermon will be written/preached with them in mind, and leaves out the rest of the people in the congregation.

What I found valuable in Robinson's checklist is the nitty-gritty details in the delivery, including non-verbal languages like eye-contact, vocal variety, posture, pauses, grammar, pronounciation, etc. These things are often easily ignored, particularly if the preacher assumes that the audience won't be smart enough to notice that anyway, or couldn't care less.

Here is the complete checklist:

ORGANIZATION

Introduction
Does the message get attention?
Does it touch some need directly or indirectly?
Does it orient hearers to the subject? Or to the main idea? Or to the first point?
Is it the right length? Is there a specific purpose?

Structure
Is the development clear? Is the overall structure clear?
Does the sermon have a central idea? Can you state it?
Are the transitions clear? Do they review?
Is there a logical or psychological link between the points?
Do the main points relate back to the main idea?
Are the subpoints clearly related to their main points?

Conclusion
Does the sermon build to a climax?
Is there an adequate summary of ideas?
Are there effective closing appeals or suggestions?

CONTENT

Is this subject significant? Is it appropriate?
Is the sermon built on solid exegesis?
Does the speaker show where he or she is in the text?
Is the analysis of the subject thorough? Logical?
Does the speaker convince you that he or she is right?
Does the content show originality?

Supporting material
Is the supporting material logically related to its point?
Is it interesting? varied? specific? sufficient?

Style
Does the speaker use correct grammar?
Is the speaker's vocabulary concrete? Vivid? Varied?
Are words used correctly?
Does the choice of words add to the effectiveness of the sermon?

DELIVERY

Intellectual directness
Does the speaker want to be heard? Is the speaker alert?
Do you feel the speaker is talking to you?
Is the speaker friendly?
Does the delivery sound like lively conversation?
Are words pronounced correctly?

Oral presentation
Is the voice easy to listen to? Is there clear articulation?
Is there vocal variety? Does the pitch level change?
Is there a variety of force? Does the rate vary enough?
Does the speaker use pauses effectively?

Physical presentation
Is the speaker's entire body involved in the delivery?
Does the speaker gesture?
Are the gestures spontaneous? Wide? Definite? Are there distracting mannerisms?
Is the posture good? Does the speaker look alert?
Is there good facial expression?

AUDIENCE ADAPTATION

Is the sermon adapted to hearers' interests? Attitudes?
Is the message related to hearers' knowledge? Does it meet needs?
Does the speaker look hearers in the eye?
Do you feel the speaker is aware of audience response?