Deacons' Room

Comment

Comment by Karl Westerhof on November 24, 2009 at 4:11pm

Oh my aching comfort zone! This morning my file folder ripped and a bunch of stuff filed out onto the floor. there was an article by Plantinga on how do we know if we are REALLY -- I mean REALLY -- real followers of Jesus. What it comes down to is whether I'm willing to pay the COST. Do my "good deeds" COST me something? Am I willing to accept the pain of being newly alive in Jesus and growing to be more like him? Is Christ being formed in me, as Paul puts it.... (Gal 4:19)
Well, see, I hate to be repetitious here, but....God's at work on me, banging away at my comfort zone, chipping away at the edges, forcing me to keep putting my book down, and getting out of my easy chair. What if the path of discipleship runs through the garden of inconvenience and annoyance instead of the garden of earthly delights? OK, I knew that. "Flowery beds of ease" I used to sing about when I was growing up and learning to love the bass lines of the hymns. I know that we are supposed to take up our cross; I know that life is nothing but a constant death (as the old Communion form used to say).
And I know that duty and responsibility should mark the Christian's life. I'm as dutiful as the next Calvinist, and by cracky, I'm responsible too. As llong as it doesn't push me TOO far out of my comfort zone! Big dramatic obedience? You bet. I'm all over it.
Daily acts of sacrifice that clearly communicate patience, kindness, goodness? Well, OK, but only up to the point where obedience doesn't get in the way of my time and my space and my pleasure.
I need the deacons in my church to help me think a little tougher about about what it means to be a neighbor. I need the deacons in my church to keep the the poor in our community up front for me. I need the deacons in my church to keep taking me by the hand to walk the streets and get to know folks, and pray with them, and hurt with them when they hurt. I need the deacons in my church to hold my toe to the match when what I really really want to do is curl up with my book and say, "I did enough today." Why do I get to decide that all by myself?
I'm worried. I'm worried about the vitality of my own faith which, lacking works, might begin to decay. I'm worried about my church - we are GREAT caregivers to each other, but we are only beginners at knowing how to care for the complexities of the needs of our urban neighbors. I"m worried about the CRC. For generations we've sent missionaries, built institutions, trained our youth, led vibrant theological discussions, and celebrated the Lordship of Jesus Christ over every square inch..... but when our neighbors are hungry for community, for acceptance, for meaning and for belonging, we might not have just the right set of values and commitments..... but then I hear about the family that has their Muslim neighbors over for a meal regularly. And I hear about food pantries that expand to be places of relationship building and family mentoring. And I hear about churches who are able to welcome and become home for peope who are not "like us".... and I feel hope..... and I smile.... and I think the deaconal DNA in the CRC is still there. And I feel excitement, because I know that I want to be part of that!

Comment by Pam DeWilde on November 10, 2009 at 11:53am

Just want to leave a note in memory of Joe Lamigo - a man with an enormous deacon's heart. He was generous, creative, funny, loving and a man of faith. Those of us who knew him, who were blessed by his work, will miss him dearly. Please pray for Joe's family during this time of loss.

Comment by Tracy Young on September 21, 2009 at 11:01am

Just saw this on crcna.org: The Deacon's Handbook http://www.faithaliveresources.org/The-Deacons-Handbook

Comment by Crystle Numan on September 15, 2009 at 9:02am

Another book I have on my wish list (which means I haven't read it yet - and I've added this one too!) is "sub-merge: Living Deep in a Shallow World: Service, Justice and Contemplation Among the World's Poor"

Comment by Jeff Brower on September 14, 2009 at 3:40pm

Ran across a good book a little while ago that I'd recommend to anyone about the overlap between spiritual formation and diaconal witness: Tony Campolo and Mary Albert Darling's The God of Intimacy and Action: Reconnecting Ancient Spiritual Practices, Evangelism, and Justice (2008). A good and relatively short read.

Comment by Karl Westerhof on September 2, 2009 at 3:52pm

You've touched on something special to me! Perkins studied I John 1 with us, and really got us into exploring the life that is eternal and that starts NOW in Jesus. THAT's LIFE! Being alive to that (to him) is what it's all about, and I'm with you - still sleepy sometimes, or still hitting those knots. But I'm so thankful that it's no longer I who live.... That's where the Kingdom passion is! And yes, isn't the journey so very round-about - I keep feeling like I've come this way before. Same old junk inside, just deeper and knottier than I thought. But then, grace! Mercy new every morning! I love waking up to that growing reality in my life.

Comment by Jeff Brower on September 2, 2009 at 3:15pm

Amen, Karl.

Speaking as a pastor, I feel that in the last two years I've woken up from a deep slumber about these things. I'm on a slow, sometimes circiutious journey, where I keep finding stubborn knots of carelessness within. Lord have mercy!

It really is like waking up. And that's because I've started to realize that the opposite of neighbor love is apathy, which is a deadly sin...something to be fought against with everything we have. Something that must be countered with a kingdom passion. As a pastor, I need people...deacons...who will urge me towards this, encourage me in this, and sometimes push harder than I would like.

Because it's not just about what we "should" do. It's about being truly alive.

Comment by Crystle Numan on September 2, 2009 at 8:29am

Karl, you've said out loud what I've often thought myself. I'm like you in this.

I also just finished a term of being a deacon, and I found there are those in the church willing to get involved in people's lives, but there are a lot more people like you and I.

We'd rather give money (and many do) but not our time or ourselves. And yet, we know that money isn't really what most people in need want.

I don't think I pushed people enough, partially because I couldn't do it myself. And those I did push, often didn't respond well.

Being honest like you just were is definitely a step forward in the right direction. Thanks for saying it out loud!

Comment by Karl Westerhof on September 1, 2009 at 5:11pm

"We are always on the road..." John Calvin.
That's a Calvin quote from the Christianity Today of 9,09. When I read Meehan's book on Calvin, I was surprised to discover that Calvin had lived a chunk of his life on the run, fearing persecution, worshipping in caves sometimes.
A couple of weeks ago I went to Jackson MS with some students from Grace Chruch; our purpose was to spend a week studying and working at the John Perkins Ministry Center. John is still a compelling Bible teacher, a man of passion and compassion, though marked by his suffering during the civil rights era.
Living on the run, living in fear, living after enduring much.... my life is pretty comfortable. In fact, I've really insulated myself very well against inconvenience, much less suffering! I've got a boundary around my comfort zone that is almost impenetrable. Almost. sometimes I think the Holy Spirit might be taking it apart brick by brick. But if a deacon talked to me with some urgency about getting more involved - in anything! -- if s/he pushed me a bit, well, I know the irritation and impatience that would well up inside. I've got a list of reasons as long as my lanyard for why I don't need to do any more than I'm doing. I confessed to a good friend lately - I love my orderly predictable life. I love life in my comfort zone. I want to decide all by myself just how I will help others, and when, and how much, and how often. I do NOT like to be "available". I do NOT like to be vulnerable to interruptions. Especially when the unpredictable is so, umm, unpredictable.
I NEED a little deacon in my life. I don't WANT one, mind you, but I NEED one. Deacons are "spiritual transformation" agents. I pretty much want my spiritual formation to move at the pace I prefer, and to involve only those areas of my life that won't disrupt my comfort Zone. Is there a deacon out there who dares to push me? I might not be nice. When I confessed to my friend, he said, What do you think Jesus wants you to do? I gave him a nice answer. I couldn't snark at him - he's my good friend. But I hate that question. I especially hate it when it means I can't relax and enjoy my "cave time". I will gladly stop and rescue the man who fell among thieves, and I'll take him to the med center, but please don't expect me to get involved with whether he has a home to go to, or has insurance, or heaven forbid, wants to be my friend. Really. In my heart of hearts, I don't want to have to give up any single minute of 'my time'. and if I do, I want to control exactly when my "sacrifice" ends. No open ended helping for me!
Now, where's one of those change-agent deacons when you really really need one?

Comment by Karl Westerhof on August 3, 2009 at 12:08pm

Could this be the moment?
I get a little uneasy when I hear people talking so glibly about "kairos moments". So I hesitate to even suggest one may be upon us, BUT....
Consider this cluster of stuff that has sort of congealed in my consciousness recently:
there's the employment and foreclosure crisis as background to remind us of the urgency of the task.
there's the denomination's priority on congregations that are TRANSFORMATIONAL in their communities
There's Calvin's 500th birthday with its reminders of his community wide concerns
there's this rising tide of interest in Calvinism, as evidenced for example in YOUNG RESTLESS AND REFORMED, and in the August '09 Banner.
there's the Belhar confession and its high profile now in the CRC
There's the CRCNA NETWORK to assist congregattions in their work
There's Home Missions church planters' passion for their neighborhoods
There's the newly created Communities First Assn designed to ramp up CRWRC's ability to help congregations be transformational
There's a new deacons' handbook coming our from Faith Alive in mid-August.
There's more as well, but the list is too long already.
What's the point? What's the KAIROS moment?
What if our denomination is poised for a leadership position as the world church rediscovers its community responsibilities?
What if our understanding of the role of the DEACON, is just now coming into its own as the "cutting edge" in the NA scene?
What if CRC deacons are on the verge of becoming the "point" for the revitalization of congregations and their communities - changed lives and communities?
Am I silly? Naive? We've got the theological, organizational, ecclesiastical underpinnings in place. We've got deacons ordained in every single CRC congregation in NA. Every single one of them has been charged to be prophetic critics of injustice and sensitive counselors to the victims. Every single one of them has been charged to " prompt us to seize new opportunities to worship God" with our resources.
Let's hear from CRC congregations where deacons are on the move. Let's learn from them.
I hate to say it, but in my own experience, the "leadership" of the church has always been assumed to be pretty much the pastors, and maybe sort of the elders too. What if we are at a moment when what we need most urgently is forceful, prophetic, sensitive leadership from the deacons? What if ?
What if the revitalization of the CRC depends like never before on deacons to show us how to answer the urgent needs in our communities? What if now is the moment to mobilize the denomination to do the deeds which will provoke the questions to which the Gospel is the answer? Is this the time for pastors, elders and deacons to SHARE leadership together, gathering the specific gifts and callings, and shaping the leadership team to respond to opportunities. Deacons would have a high profile in this mix these days I think. I'd go so far as to say it might be a kairos moment for deacons.

• First
• Previous
• Next
• Last