On Wednesday, I posted my retirement from competitive softball on Facebook. Since then, I have heard many cries of “no, don’t do it” and repeated pleas for me to continue to play—virtually of these occurring in my own mind. So far, I am holding steady to my decision.

I must admit that I felt quite emotional during last Tuesday night’s game—our last game of the season. I think it is every player’s dream to appear at his last at-bat and having the crowd, aware of the moment, rising to give him a standing ovation. You can imagine the lump in my throat as I approached my last at-bat and I saw a lady in the bleachers stand up to give me an ovation. Then she headed toward the bathroom and I realized I had misread her body language.

I batted three times. The first time, I lined out to right field. The second at bat, I popped up to center. My final at bat, I hit a long fly ball to the left fielder and flied out. I knew then it was time to retire. I always wanted to go out on top.

Not that I have any grandiose delusions, but I have already thought about my speech, if I should be honored with a special “day” at the ballpark. (You always need a plan for any contingency.) First, I will demand a microphone that has a recurring echo. Then, with a posture of humble spirit—hands in back pocket and head bowed---I will say to the crowd a speech short and sweet:
“You have probably read in the past few weeks about some bad breaks that have come my way. But today (ay, ay, ay), I consider myself (self, self, self), to be the luckiest man on the face of the earth (earth, earth, earth).”

Thirty Elders by 2013

Disclaimer: this treatment of leadership may be boring to anyone outside of the Shiloh road family.

Judging from congregational response, if someone were to write a headline after last Sunday morning’s sermon, it would probably read like this:

Edge Sees 30 Elders for Shiloh by 2013

That was not the main focus of my sermon, but that is what provided the most feedback. I was very concerned about making that statement. My concern stemmed in the fact, I am a preaching minister and not an elder of our church. I did not want to step outside of my place. On the other hand, I want to be faithful to God and my calling. And so, if this was an application of what I was learning in scripture, I felt that I had to say something.

I spent the week pondering whether or not to express my dream for Shiloh’s future. I did not seek the input of the elders or staff because I really wanted to keep my mouth shut. However, I could not get the thought off my mind. I told Judy on Saturday night what I was struggling with. We laughed about how to evaluate whether or not I should say it: 1) Is God calling me to express this thought? 2) How much money do I have saved up? As always, Judy said, “Trust God, the rest will work itself out.”

Shiloh has approximately 600 members and six elders; this adds up to one Elder for every 100 members. Our elders do a marvelous job, but I am concern that it is wearing them out.

At the two previous churches where I was serving, I and my fellow members were blessed to have a much lower elder to member ratio. For example, at my previous congregation, we had six elders for approximately 120 members. That was one elder for every 20 members. (Incidentally, that church is about to have nine elders and an even lower elder -- member ratio.)

What I tried to convey to Shiloh last Sunday morning was this, I have experienced this ratio of one elder for every 20 members. I want Shiloh to experience the same. I realize that we're in a new elder selection process now, the first in 10 years, and so there will be natural adjustments. However, my dream is that in 2013, when we have our next elder selection process, we will have 30 Elders.

According to our current membership, that would be one elder for every 20 members. Of course, it would be nice to have a new problem. It would be nice if Shiloh has borne such fruit by 2013 that 30 Elders would no longer be a 1 to 20 ratio. If that is the case, we will face a nice challenge.

Ever since I served as a de facto elder in Argentina along with my other male teammates, I have been sensitive to the need for churches to have elders providing strong leadership. I knew with that mission situation, what was happening was not healthy for our church. I also knew the struggles, as I have written here in this blog before, of the high calling that elders have. Hence, the amount of qualities that Scripture seems to expect elders to have.

A Quiz

Let me offer you a quiz I presented to my church a few weeks ago. Place an “x” beside the “qualification” if it appears in Paul’s letter to Timothy, Paul’s letter toTitus, or in both.

QUALIFICATION OF ELDERS

                              I Tim. 3.2-7      Tit. 1.6-9
                           (Ephesus)         (Crete)

Self-Control
Hospitable
Not violent
Husband of but one wife
Not given to much wine
Sees that his children obey him
Does not pursue dishonest gain
Not overbearing
Not quick-tempered
Loves what is good
Upright
Holy
Disciplined
Holds firmly to the trustworthy message
Blameless
A man whose children believe
Not quarrelsome
Not a lover of money
Not a recent convert
Has a good reputation with outsiders
Respectable
Manages his own family well
Able to teach
Above reproach
Temperate
Gentle

I will supply the answers next week. Of course, if you want to look them up for yourself, you may.

Five things I think I think (a tip of the hat to Peter King for this idea)

1. From my earliest memories, Ted Kennedy always represented the sum of all fears when it came to American politics because of his liberalism. Then of course there was his personal life. He had a host of problems including alcohol and the infamous Chappaquiddick (so well known that the word appears in my spell checker.)

I imagine that if I were a member of the Mary Jo Kopechne family, I would have been struggling with bitterness over the past forty years. However, I am not a family member. I believe that Ted Kennedy lost the presidency at Chappaquiddick. For Ted Kennedy, there may not have been a more severe penalty.

It is easy to judge Kennedy for his foils. Yet I can’t get out of my mind something that Cal Thomas asked. Knowing two different individuals gunned down two of my brothers, knowing that odds are someone is gunning for me, and living my entire adult life in the public eye with no hope of ever escaping that eye, how would I behave? I have enough challenge dealing with the stress of having someone cut me off at a red light. I don’t know how well I would have done in Kennedy’s shoes.

Apparently, the man had a gift that few have. Rather than demonize his foes, Kennedy not only worked with them when they held common goals, he even became good friends with many. I wish I could convince more people in my church to do this.

I’m certainly not a New England liberal, but through the years Edward Kennedy earned my respect. My prayers go out on behalf of his family.

2. Finished Ken Burns’ opus BASEBALL this week. The public library has a copy. Every summer I watch all 20 hours or so of Burns’ marvelous work, which depicts the history of baseball, up through the year 1994. I always watch it while I'm working out, because it always seems to inspire me, and I never get tired of the subject matter.

3. Tragic to observe two Christian converts, arrested in March by Iranian security forces, remain in the infamous Evin Prison in Iran. The women are Marzieh Amirizadeh Esmaeilabad, 30, and Maryam Rustampoor, 27. Tehran's Revolutionary Court has threatened charges of apostasy unless the two women renounce their faith. They responded to the prosecutor, "We will not deny our faith." They certainly merit our prayers.

4. Nice to see the ACU Wildcats win on TV last night.

5. Looking forward to Labor Day Weekend, even though my oldest has a volleyball tournament. That will mean some travel.

Have a great weekend!