We’re doing the three sport thing with the kids right now. Three of our kids are each playing one sport: Haleigh and Abby are playing volleyball, while Timothy is playing UPWARDS football. (Each child is allowed to pick one sport a season; Annie opted out for the fall.)

In spite of the one sport rule, the kids are keeping us busy. (I know some of you have been here before.) Last night, Haleigh had a volleyball game in Longview, Abby had a game in Van, and Timothy had his weekly football practice.

I have seen parents run themselves ragged trying to attend every child’s game, even if it is a pick-up tiddley-winks game. Probably, this is a reaction to their parents not ever attending their games, they overcompensate.

Judy and I are determined not to stress out over this. We are going to do the best we can, but obviously there are only two of us and four of them.

All of these activities may be affecting our little kids. The other afternoon, I was taking Timothy and Annie to the umpteenth volleyball match of the fall, and Annie said, “When I grow up, I am only going to have two kids.”

I started laughing and said, “Annie, you want to miss all of this fun?”

She said, “Fun? All we do is go to games.”

Of course, about this time, the parrot, Timothy, says, “Yeah, I’m only going to have two kids too.”

Great, now I’ve got a seven-year-old and a six-year-old contemplating joining PLANNED PARENTHOOD!

I held off saying, “If we had decided that, we would have never welcomed you and Timothy into the family!” Hopefully, they will figure that one out. However, I can sympathize with their cause. I remember my mother talking about how they drug my little sister, Lissa, who was almost eight years younger than me, to a bunch of my games in junior high and high school.

I guess childhood is hazardous to your health—specifically, to your stress level.

HOOKING UP

HOOKING UP, by Tom Wolfe, is a marvelous book. The title is tricky. Bestowed by the publishing company to increase sales, the title refers to a part of the book addressing the sexual revolution.

In postmodern America, an extraordinary number of teenagers and college students gather at social functions, pair up, and engage in random sex. Typically, they don’t even know the names of their partners. The sexual acts are for pleasure only, and they are void of any humanity or relationship. Young people call this process “hooking up.”

Wolfe’s book, however, represents so much more. Wolfe, for decades now a well-known journalist, writes a series of essays chronicling the profound changes in North American science and culture during the 20th century.

My favorite part is where he addresses the works of Friedrich Nietzsche and explain how they foreshadowed the 20th century. In 1882, Nietzsche announced the death of God. We all have heard versions of that announcement. What I did not know was that Nietzsche went on to write of the implications for a civilization when it believes that God is dead.

Nietzsche wrote that in the 20th century there would be "wars such as have never happened on earth," which would bring catastrophes beyond the scope of anyone's imagination. The reason would be because human beings, having turned away from God, would not be able to deal with their guilt. This guilt would turn inward and cause humans to hate themselves, consequently others.

Nietzsche wrote that the Western world in the 20th century would lose its moral fiber bit by bit since morality had been based upon God and the Bible. Other moral codes would replace these (political correctness, etc.) but they would fail because no deity would back them.

Of course, all of this is happening before our eyes. The void created by the absence of a religious system to deal with humanity's guilt is now being filled with neuroscience, some of which claims that people are not responsible for their actions, since all behavior has been coded in their DNA. Indeed, Wolfe tracks (I loved writing that!) the work of some neuroscientists, who are avidly advocating that human beings have no soul.

I consider Wolfe’s writings to be amazing, since he wrote this book in 2000, virtually a decade ago. He has been “spot-on.”

One final thought here. Wolfe has a graphic warning to those who eliminate the spiritual. Here is his word picture:

I suddenly had a picture of the entire astonishing edifice [civilization] collapsing and modern man plunging headlong back into the primordial ooze. He's floundering, sloshing about, gulping for air, frantically treading ooze, when he feels something huge and smooth swim beneath him and boost him up, like some almighty dolphin. You can't see it, he's much impressed. He names it God.

Can you tell we’re going through an elder selection process?

Last week I discussed the tension churches can feel in an elder selection process. I symbolized that tension in a triangle:




At one point of the triangle, you have the high need for elders. At another point, you have the high calling that elders have in terms of life and example. The third point, lies in tension between the other two. There you have the humanity of an Elder. No Elder is perfect, all elders are fallen and redeemed.

So how do you sort through the tension of the need for elders, the high calling that elders have, and the fault that is inevitable in the humanity of each elder? Two thoughts to answer this question.

1. Remember, Christ is more fully expressed in the eldership than in the individual Elder.

As I wrote a few weeks ago, Jesus is the great Shepherd and the great administrator. One elder cannot be both. The eldership is to embody Christ. Collectively, that represents the qualities of Jesus.

2. Take confidence in God's work in the community of faith.

Sometimes people think that in Scripture, whenever God was selecting an individual for service, He shined a spotlight from the sky on the person. Actually, many times in Scripture, the people of God found discovering His will to be just as mysterious as we do.

For example, in the book of Acts, the disciples chose Matthias to replace Judas. Here they consulted Scripture, they consulted godly people, they prayed… and they cast lots.

I conclude by reminding us the Holy Spirit does not work in mathematical formulas. He works through the body of Christ. We look for men with godly qualities. We look for men, who, because of these qualities, have flocks. Together as a church, we must submit to God, trusting that He will work through us in selecting these men. This is a mysterious process requiring Bible study, prayer, fasting, relational conversation, and the life of Christ lived in community, in order to produce communal discernment.

I think our easiest evaluation, and the place to begin, is with this question: who are the men already shepherding people? We identify them. Then, we contemplate their qualities asking, are these men ready to pastor the entire flock.

Let’s put it this way:

Where to Start: Team up with God.

Our assumption is God is at work fulfilling His mission for His kingdom. Let’s seek to identify that work, specifically when it applies to selecting our leaders.

This is not as hard as you might think. Most people look for men with qualifications. That is backwards. You look at men who are leading. Here are three questions we can ask to guide us:

1. Who is pastoring me?

Do I have a man within the congregation who is mentoring and in a way, shepherding me?

2. Who is pastoring others?

As I look around the congregation, do I see a man or men who are shepherding others? Can I identify men who are mentoring others?

3. Who is administrating for the glory of God?

Can I observe men who are organized by temperament, and they have learned how to use their gifts for the glory of God. They use their gifts according to a higher calling than UT Business School, they are modeling their lives after the Christ of Hebrews 3:1-6—Christ the great Steward in the Household of God.

After identifying these men, then ask the question: what kind of qualities do they have? This is where the godly discernment really comes into play. Perhaps, they are ready. Maybe they need some seasoning.

No selection process is full-proof, mathematical, or statistical. This is by design. No matter who we select, no matter if we do a good job or poor one, we can grow from the process. God understands this, and the information Scripture offers reflects this reality. The joy is in the journey.

Journey well.

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

1. Kanye West: crass.
Beyonce: class.

2. I was saddened to see the death of Patrick Swayze. Never saw DIRTY DANCING, but I did enjoy NORTH AND SOUTH. To me, Swayze will always be Orry Main.

3. Thanks Chris Smith for a job well-done over the weekend. Good crowd. Great seminar. Great Sunday.

4. Finished Jostein Gaarder SOPHIE'S WORLD this week. A good read, its vehicle is a novel used to communicate the history of philosophy. Very effective.

5. We’re off to see the Texas Rangers open their series against California tonight. Hope their hitting improves. So far this week, the Rangers have collectively scored one run. That is one more than I have scored.

Have a great weekend!