Sometimes my wife and I discuss the challenges faced by teachers in the classroom and conclude that certain children are “parentally challenged.”  IOW, Mom and/or Dad are not holding up their end of the bargain.
The term “under-parented” has also been used in some circles.  Maybe you’ve used it.  Maybe you feel like YOU have been under-parented.  Or maybe you’ve had to deal with people who were clearly “under-parented.”

But this is not a blog to heap guilt on parents or to point fingers.  This is about another kind of parenting.  It’s about the parenting of our Heavenly Father.

For those who claim to follow Jesus, we understand that we are “children of God.” (John 1:12)  We address God as “Our Father…” (Matthew 6:13)  We proclaim we are his “sons and daughters.”  Then we venture into the world (real or cyber) and live our lives.

• We carry on business and commerce
• We engage in conversations and debates
• We talk about other people, in real life and online
• We make decisions about our bodies, and the bodies of others
• We make assumptions about the motives and value and intellect of others
• We choose how to behave toward those who are different from us

We do all these things and more, often unaware that the world is watching.  They’re watching the children of our Heavenly Father.

And they’re drawing conclusions about what kind of parent God is based on the behavior of his children.

Sometimes their conclusion is that God’s children are under-parented.  That they’re “parentally challenged.”  Nothing could be further from the truth, of course.  It’s not the parent that’s the problem.  Our Heavenly Father has been kind, loving, clear, firm, gracious, honest, sacrificial, and more.  He has provided encouragement and opportunities and boundaries and consequences.

The question for us, his children, is this: Are we reflecting the nature of our Heavenly Father in our lives?  Will his name be “hallowed” thru our decisions?  Jesus put it this way:

But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. (Luke 6:35)

If there’s a parenting problem, it’s that the children are too often unwilling to listen to their Father.  May it not be said of us.

-Pastor Mark

I traffic in words, but there are many who speak better than I do.  Here’s an excellent statement regarding the churches in the DC region and the conversation about race, racism, and bigotry that has embroiled our nation.  Couldn’t have said it better.[Note: this was intended for pastors to read and affirm, but I think it’s useful for all of us.]

WE AFFIRM that every human being is created in the image of God, and therefore carries the inherent value and dignity of God’s design. We affirm that the variety of human cultures on earth is a beautiful expression of God’s love for diversity. We affirm that Jesus Christ was crucified and resurrected not only to offer humankind the gift of eternal life, but also to shatter every division—social, political, economic, or racial—which would separate us. We affirm that God’s consummated Kingdom will be a place of rich diversity and cultural expression.  We affirm that the church is called to be a community that reflects that present and future Kingdom.

WE REJECT the ideology of white supremacy, including antisemitism, as an unqualified evil, a denunciation of the gospel, and a heresy which wars against God’s design for human culture and creation. We reject the notion that white people, or any collection of humans of any culture, are superior to any other. We reject any ideology that seeks to erect or maintain divisions that God has torn down through Jesus Christ. We reject the efforts to place the good of one race or one nation above the good of all, for God desires all people to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth.

WE REPENT because the church has been complicit in the sins of racism, either through the defense of slavery, segregation, and discrimination, or through passive silence and inactivity. We repent because Christians have played a major role in helping create the segregation and racial injustice that we see in our city and nation today.  We repent of our own racism, fear, and hatred, both conscious and unconscious. We repent of our reluctance to be agents of healing and reconciliation in our churches, in our city and in our nation.

WE RESOLVE to preach, teach, and advocate against the sins of racism. We resolve to lead in the way of love, and to seek ways to heal the divisions that separate races and cultures in our city. We resolve to listen to those who have been wounded and dehumanized by racism. We resolve to pray fervently for God’s healing and reconciliation. We resolve to help our churches become more hospitable and welcoming communities to diverse people.

Finally, WE RESOLVE to pursue Jesus Christ’s perfect standard of equality, justice, and love in our churches, region, and country.

(more details and a Spanish version available here.)

Couldn’t have said it better.  Let’s continue to pray and work for the kind of community that Jesus envisioned.

-Pastor Mark

This is an age of unprecedented information. What’s more, this has led to very helpful understanding about why life is sometimes so difficult. The challenges and obstacles in your life might have little or nothing to do with you!

As we’ve grown in our understanding of history, social systems and injustices, we’ve come to understand that our individual struggle might be the result of the (sometimes immoral, unethical, or even illegal) actions and policies of others.  And while we might not know or interact with those others, they can influence our lives in profound ways.  One example is the legacy of slavery in this country and its impact on race relations today.  Another example might be the ways in which global trade and commerce affect local job markets, employment opportunities, future earnings, and pockets of poverty in different neighborhoods.

I think it’s a good thing that we have more and deeper understanding of how all these events, decisions and powerful leaders (past and current) are connected to our everyday lives.

But there’s a dark side to it as well.  As it becomes more logical and natural to hold others responsible for the ways in which their decisions have led to our difficult circumstances, it also becomes tempting to let ourselves off the hook for our own decisions and actions.  IOW, we can get so caught up in identifying how others have made a mess out of things that we start to think that we have no responsibility whatsoever.  It’s the unintended casualty of being better informed.

As an individual, you or I CANNOT:

• Dictate economic forces
• Undo the injustices of others
• Set national policy
• Change social systems
• Choose a better family in which to be born

But as an individual you or I CAN:

• Determine to grow in Christlike character
• Choose to forgive
• Decide to ask for help
• Act in loving ways toward others (even the “unlovable”)
• Admit when we’ve messed up
• Spend our time and money on things that matter
• Use our voice to speak truth to power
• Change our daily routines in order live out our beliefs
• Choose friends who will encourage us to become healthy

The challenge we all face is in accepting and embracing responsibility for our own growth and change.  But that’s precisely what Jesus calls us to do.  Paul the apostle put it like this:

You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.  (Ephesians 4:22-24)

You and I CAN put off the old self, and we CAN put on the new self.  If you want more specific details, Paul offers some powerful and practical steps on how to do that in the following verses.  Check them out here.

By all means let’s be better informed.  But hopefully we can avoid becoming a casualty in the process.  Feel free to add your comments in the section below.

-Pastor Mark

That was Jesus’ question.  It’s a strange request in our culture.  Well into the awkward range (although that doesn’t stop some from practicing this tradition today).  What’s really going on here?

In this well-known account of Jesus, (in John 13) he provides the ultimate example of what has been named “servant leadership.”  Servant leadership has found a place in our cultural vocabulary.  But it’s easier to find a book about it than to find a practitioner of it.  Why is that?  I suspect it’s because we’ve missed out on what this remarkable incident is really about.

As we explored last Sunday, it’s more than simply an object lesson in humility.  (Ironically humility was hardly considered a virtue at all until Jesus MADE it one.)  This scene is really about a deeper truth or truths being practiced and proclaimed.  When Jesus stooped to wash the dirty feet of his prestige-seeking disciples, he drove home three critical truths:

1. They had much more value than anyone else had imagined. They were valuable enough in the eyes of their Heavenly Father that he would commission his son to mount a rescue mission for them, even while they continued to bicker about which of them was the greatest.
2. They had a much deeper need of rescue than they could imagine. The footwashing ceremony was a prequel to the ultimate cleansing which Jesus would accomplish only hours later as he went to the cross on their behalf.  (Hebrews 10:14)
3. They had a much grander calling than they could have imagined. Jesus footwashing was concluded with this instruction, “Now you go do for others what you’ve seen me do for you.”  (paraphrase of John 13:15)

Who would have thought that a simple act of service would have such profound implications?  Well, Jesus would.  That’s why he washed their feet.  And that’s why he “washed” yours, too.

• Do you believe you have that much value?
• Do you believe you have that much need for God’s rescue and restoration?
• Do you believe you have that grand a calling on your life?

If you didn’t answer “yes” to all three of these, then practicing servant leadership is going to be very, very challenging.  Because I promise you that the people God brings into your life and asks you to “lead as a servant” are going to bother you, challenge you, annoy you, and sometimes resist you.

But if you can understand and embrace these truths, you’re on your way to a magnificent calling and life.  If you can believe that you have THAT much value to God (regardless of what others say).  If you can believe that you have THAT much need for God to rescue you (which by the way puts you in good company with those God asks you to serve).  If you can believe that you have THAT grand of a calling, then you’re able to “wash one another’s feet.”  You’re on your way to igniting the H.O.P.E of Christ.  Starting right now.

-Pastor Mark

Once upon a time there was a portable church.  Or to borrow and mangle a line from Tolkien, “In a dark auditorium in an aging high school there met a church.”  So begins a TBT story.

(Note: TBT is short for throwback Thursday, a chance to reflect on your past and hopefully gain from that reflection.)

It was the fall of 2007.  Average weekly attendance at Seneca Creek had dropped by over 500 people (almost 45%) per week in less than three years.  Finances were taking a beating.  And the leadership stood up and announced an ambitious plan to purchase and renovate a building that would ultimately serve as the hub of ministry activity at 13 Firstfield Rd in Gaithersburg.

It seemed impossible.  It really was impossible.  The numbers were going in the wrong direction.  And the bankers weren’t able to make it work.  And then God stepped in and did what we could never imagine.  The building owner worked with us and provided additional financing and more to enable the project to move forward.  Our campaign to raise the necessary funds for Phase 1 of construction got underway.  Hundreds of people responded by faith to God’s call, and sacrificed so the dream could become a reality.

Why am I retelling this story?  Because it all started with a risky, faith-filled first step.  It seems that’s the way God typically works.  A risky step of faith, then God begins to work.  Our preoccupation with safety sometimes gets in the way of the things God is calling us to do.

The famous missionary to China, Hudson Taylor, once commented:

“Unless there is an element of risk in our exploits for God, there is no need for faith.”

So as you consider your summer plans, and your daily routines, and your opportunities, let me challenge you with this thought: What risk is God asking you to take?  And what’s stopping you from stepping out in faith?

One day in the future you could have a TBT and look back to this moment, when you took a faith-filled risky step toward God’s future for you.  What story will you tell?

-Pastor Mark

There’s an epic battle being waged across Europe right now, and most of you didn’t even know it.

I’m talking about the most celebrated, most-watched, most talked about cycling race in the world: the Tour de France.  It barely registers on the news wires in this country for reason I will not explain here.  And if you’ve ever attempted to watch one of the 20 stages of a tour (most of which take around 5 hours), you probably fell asleep or switched the channel.

But here’s what’s really going on.  Each of the 22 teams (consisting of 9 riders each) are attempting to get their best rider on the podium.  And they work throughout the tour to accomplish that by using their strengths and strategy.  Often they toil in obscurity, riding in front of their leader to help him conserve energy, or trading bikes if his breaks down.  They serve as couriers bringing food and water from the team car up to the leader.  Most of them will never get much recognition.

So why do they do it?  They do it so their leader can stand atop the podium at the end of the day or the end of the tour.

As followers of Jesus we, too, have a “team leader.”  And at the end of the day we want him to be standing atop the podium.  We want him to be in first place, to get the glory and fame.  The way we make sure that happens is by doing the things we’re on the team to do.  For some it’s serving in obscurity.  For some it’s giving sacrificially.  For some it’s opening their homes and lives in hospitality.  For some it’s leading diligently.  For some it’s praying passionately.  For some it’s encouraging consistently.

We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.  Romans 12:6-8

Everyone on Jesus’ team is on the team for a reason.  And that reason is not for us.  It’s for the leader.

So how are you “riding” this season?  Who are you riding for?  It’s easy to think the race is about us.  It’s easy to plot our own strategy for climbing the podium.  Are you riding for the team leader?  Are you waking up in the morning and using your life and gifts to ensure that what people see is your leader, Jesus?

-Pastor Mark