Across Church Street
A freemium service?
Today's world is full of freemium services. We've gotten pretty good at finding apps that deliver basic services for free. And we've gotten really good at resisting those invitations to pay for extra features.
Friendships, families, and churches don't operate this way. If we approach relationships as apps—testing the limits of how much we can take before we have to 'pay'—they cease to be relationships.
Thankfully, some give as much as they receive. And some give more, as an investment in others.
The sillage of Christ
“But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.”
Someone sits down next me on the plane and my only thought is how can I get away? What is that cologne? Was a whole bottle used? I can't breathe!
It's not at all like Miss Benson, my third grade teacher. Every time she walked by, my only thought was how nice her perfume smelled. I hoped she would pass by again!
Let our lives be a pleasant fragrance rather than an obnoxious odor. Chances are we'll be invited to come by time and time again.
Incidentally, the word sillage relates to how a smell lingers. It's a property of perfumes and colognes.
There will be trouble
“In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
“Every problem in the world is a relationship problem.”
Relationships between people are hard enough. Competitiveness, greed, insecurity, and zero-sum thinking make relating a minefield.
But in an organization, so much friction is caused by competing systems. Align the systems and relationships quickly improve; wasted energy is put to productive use.
- love
- Holy Spirit
- humility
- church
- poverty & mercy
- politics & society
- mission & witness
- holiness
- parable & metaphor
- identity
- eternal life
- doubt & deconstruction
- leadership
- grace
- justice
- scripture
- spiritual life
- advent & christmas
- imagination & creativity
- technology & AI
- knowing God
- human dignity
- faith & trust
- incarnation & cross
- kingdom of God
- community
- reconciliation
- spiritual formation
- epistemology
- prayer
- gratitude
- culture
- creation & nature
- discipleship
I practice the spiritual discipline of rescuing earthworms on paved surfaces. It's a reminder to me that I can pause what I'm doing, get a little dirty, and help. Also, that I've been given the responsibility to care.