A Culture of Truth

“The truth is…”

SO how do you finish that sentence? What is the truth of your life right now? Maybe it’s something really great. Maybe the truth is that right now you’re better than you have been for a long time. You’re sober, your marriage is good, your kid is an honor student, you got a promotion at work, you’re in school and have your life plan securely in place. If that the case, we celebrate, we rejoice with you. I hope you all have some great truths in your life right now. Or maybe the truth is that you’re in a tough spot. You fell off the wagon, your marriage is on the rocks, your kid beat up the honor student, you lost your job, you have this opportunity to get an education and you have no idea what to do with it. If that’s the case, we still want to celebrate God and worship with you! But we also want to mourn with you, and pray for you. But whatever comes to the surface from the depths of your being, the point this morning is this- we want CCC to be a place where people can experience and know truth. We want to cultivate a culture where the truth isn’t covered up, but rather, the lies are cast aside, the masks are taken off, and we get real, we get honest, with get truthful.

We are three steps into our series on “Cultivating a Connecting Culture.” We want to put some necessary nutrients into the soil of our church. This means being on guard to weed out any thing that isn’t going to be helpful. More so, it means intentionally infusing our church with the kind of values God desires. We’ve talked about TRUST- cultivating a place where people who have been burned can start to trust others again, where people who are still good with trust can go deeper with God and with others, growing in faith. We talked about ACCEPTANCE- cultivating a “come as you are” culture here at CCC. Come as you are- with your hopes and fears, your joys and pains, your failures and successes. Come as you are, because we can’t come before God any other way- he see through the façade and masks we put on. So just meet us as you are.

But now we want to take the culture a little deeper. We want to take it to the TRUTH. We have to build the church on truth.

If you’re a “Churchy,” you know that Christians like to talk about the truth, We believe Christianity is true, that Jesus really lived and died and rose and that he is coming again. We believe that the bible is a source of truth to guide and direct our lives, individually and corporately. We know the Spirit’s first title given by Jesus is the “Spirit of Truth,” and he will guide into all truth. But most of all, we’re into truth because Jesus claimed to be the truth- In John 14:6 he claimed

“I am the way the truth and the life.”

Theologians have often reflected on this claim, noting that it is either absolutely false or absolutely true. If false, all of this Jesus stuff should be cast out into the pile of numerous other charlatans, false doctrines, and lies. But if what Jesus said is the truth, then there is really nothing greater than considering his claims, and calling upon Him as God.

So we could talk about relative truth verses absolute truth, practical truth and propositional truth. We could talk about the truth of Jesus subjectively experienced in our lives, and the truth of Jesus as an objective truth for all humanity. But I don’t want to go there today. Instead, I want to talk about what it looks like for us to encounter the truth of Jesus as the emobiment of truth, in our lives. To cultivate this culture here where we can seek truth- the truth of Jesus, the truth of our lives, the truth of our world.

One of the most famous encounters in the Bible is an exchange between Jesus and Pilate, the man who holds Jesus’ life in his hands. Now you can imagine the truth of this moment. Jesus can play this several ways. Pilate is getting pressure to have Jesus executed by one group of people, his own wife is saying Jesus is innocent, he has admitted he doesn’t find Jesus guilty of the charges laid before him. I believe the man is genuinely torn.

Pilate decides to ask Jesus, for himself, what he has done. Jesus says, “In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” And all Pilate can say is

“What is truth?” John 18:37-38

Have you ever gotten to that place in your life where you are in so deep, so dark, that you’re not even sure of what is true anymore? It might be standing right in front of you- but your don’t have the eyes to see it, the ears to hear it, the heart to believe it? Sometimes, maybe most times, it’s hard to face up to the truth.

Experiential education is all about creating teachable moments. The way you create teachable moments is often by just letting things happen, then examining it closer. I used to take students on camping trips every Fall Break. One trip I’ll never forget. We got ready the night before, woke up before sunrise, and drove to the trail. Everyone was all excited, ready to hit the trail ready to go. They didn’t want instruction- they wanted to make time! So I handed them the map, pointed out where we were, where we were going, and off we went. We were making great time. We were cruising. These students were motivated.

We stopped for lunch and decided to figure out where we were and how much farther we had to go. So they start going over the map, looking back up and down the trail, thinking about markers they encountered. Then they started to put things together. The truth started to reveal itself.

We walked in the wrong direction. I’m telling you that we immediately went though the five stages of grieving-

denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance.

One guy was adamant, no, we didn’t, we did not go in the wrong direction for the whole morning! This can’t be! One girl was furious, this is unacceptable, who was supposed to check the compass, did anyone check the compass, who is responsible for this, because there are lots of trees out here, I have rope in my backpack, and I intend to use it. She lost all trust in me as the leader. Another person was ready to make a deal, ok, we can change our plans and head in this direction if we get to this point and then… One guy just started crying, why me , why us, this is the worst thing that could ever happen, he crawled in the fetal position and was ready to die (OK, maybe not that bad). But eventually, they decided to deal with the truth of their situation, and decided to move forward. And in the big picture, it really wasn’t so bad. So we had to turn around, change our plans, change our pace, retool how the trip was going to happen. The truth was we walked in the wrong direct, and that had to be dealt with.

But the more I’ve thought about it, the truth can hit us like the grieving process. We want to deny it. I am not longer surprised by the human capacity for self deception. You know what they say, “Denial- it ain’t just a river in Egypt.” Denial is reality for many- denial of the truth of our situation in life. “I don’t have a problem, everyone else has the problem.” “I’m gonna have faith and he’s coming back to me, she coming home.” “Not my kids, never, they would never steal, they would never cheat, they would never lie, my little girl isn’t sexually active so she can’t have an STD, she can’t be pregnant.”

The truth can make us angry- angry with ourselves, with others, with the world. We might want ot bargain with the truth, try and manipulate it a bit to fit our life, our circumstances, our preferred outcome. The truth can be depressing- to face our powerlessness to change much of our life situation, to change other people, to change our world.

If it’s the truth, even if it’s painful, even if it’s inconvenient, is going to have to be dealt with. You’ve seen or heard of Al Gore’s film- what a great title. “An Inconvenient Truth.” The truth is maybe most often inconvenient to the status quo and comfort of our life.

Do you remember the story of the Emperor’s New Clothes? Many years ago, there lived an emperor who cared much about his clothes. Two swindlers named Guido and Luigi said that they could make the finest suit of clothes from the most beautiful cloth. This cloth, they said, also had the special capability that it was invisible to anyone who was either stupid or not fit for his position.

Being a bit nervous about whether he himself would be able to see the cloth, the emperor first sent two of his trusted men to see it. Of course, neither would admit that they could not see the cloth and so praised it. The emperor then allowed himself to be dressed in the clothes for a procession through town, never admitting that he saw nothing. He was afraid that the other people would think that he was stupid. Of course, all the townspeople wildly praised the magnificent clothes of the emperor, afraid to admit that they could not see them, until a small child said: "But he has nothing on!"

This was whispered from person to person until everyone in the crowd was shouting that the emperor had no clothes on. The emperor heard it and felt that they were correct, but held his head high and finished the procession.

This morning I want us to make a giant leap in the cultivation of our Connections culture. Let’s not be afraid to say hey, the emperor has no clothes, and guess what, I’m the emperor! Let’s let the truth strip us naked before God and one another (Now I’m totally speaking metaphorically here people- I can just imagine some guy’s getting all excited and ready to rip of his shirt in the name of truth).

Here are Connections we want to create a culture where we can help one another accept the truth- the truth of our lives, the truth of our situations, the truth of our world.

Jesus said to a group of religious people, “If you hold to my teaching you are really my disciples.” OK, true enough. Then he goes a step further,

“Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:36

The truth will set you free. I propose that we want to be free to be truthful in three areas of our life.

First, free to be truthful with ourselves. A culture where we are free to examine our lives and be honest with ourselves. The thing about Jesus is that he gave people time and again the opportunity, and the courage, to be truthful with themselves. Jesus was walking form town to town and a big crowd was following him like an entourage. Two blind beggars along the road ask what happening and they are told that Jesus is walking by. They start yelling “Jesus, son of David, have mercy on us!” The crowd told them to shut and not bother Jesus. But, and I love this, they start yelling all the louder, making even more of a seen. SO Jesus asks, what do you want me to do for you? And they say hey, we’d really like a new cane a cup, maybe a cool pair of sunglasses. NO! They say Jesus we want to see. Jesus more than anything else, opened people’s eyes. He opened their eyes to the truth. But he first asks these guys, what do you want, what do you need? They had to face and name the truth of their lives, of their need. And when they do, Jesus responds.

What did Jesus teach his followers? Deal with the plank in your own eye before you go around pointing out the splinter in someone else’s. Jesus is saying if someone’s got a splinter in his or her eye, they know it, they know they need help. But you can’t help them if you haven’t dealt with the truth, the giant plank of denial in your own eye. So let the truth start with you. I’m blind, crippled, I feel like an outcast, I’m in a dead end situation in life- Jesus, set me free.

Second, we want a culture here where we are free to be truthful with others. A culture where we can, in love, be real with each other. The bible says (Ephesian’s 4:15) speak the truth in love to one another. That’s awesome… I just wish we could do it. If you’ve grown up in the church you’ve been in this situation. Someone comes up to you, and they say, really smoothly, I just want to speak truth into your life. Then they let it rip. I can’t think of any time where somebody said they wanted to speak truth into my life, and actually did. I always got the impression they wanted to take me down a few pegs, they had an ax to grind and I was the stone.

You now, if you want to help someone confront the truth in his or her life, and I hope you do, just do it in love. Just talk to them about it. Now this is not like a rule, but generally speaking, if you have to say, I want to speak the truth in love into your life right now, you have yet to find the right words to actually speak truth in love into someone’s life. But the point is that we want to have a culture here where we can be truthful with each other, and help each other deal with the truth of our lives.

Third, we want a culture where we will be free to be truthful with God. A culture where we can ask the hard questions, wrestle with difficult answers, and get real with God. There’s this great passage in Romans 1 where the writer says, “They (all people really) exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshipped and served created things rather than the Creator- who is praised forever. Amen.” (Rm. 1:25)

We live in a time and place where people are more willing to talk about God, to talk about spirituality, to quest for the truth, than ever before. Never has spirituality been more on the minds and lips of people. Never has Spirituality been so prominent in our culture. The world is seeking truth. We are all seeking truth. But so many are in so deep, in so dark, that they can’t see it. They still haven’t found it….

I have climbed highest mountain
I have run through the fields
Only to be with you
Only to be with you

I have run
I have crawled
I have scaled these city walls
These city walls
Only to be with you

But I still haven't found what I'm looking for…

I have kissed honey lips
Felt the healing in her fingertips
It burned like fire
This burning desire

I have spoke with the tongue of angels
I have held the hand of a devil
It was warm in the night
I was cold as a stone

But I still haven't found what I'm looking for…

I believe in the kingdom come
Then all the colors will bleed into one
Bleed into one
Well yes I'm still running

You broke the bonds and you
Loosed the chains
Carried the cross
Of my shame
Of my shame
You know I believed it

But I still haven't found what I'm looking for...
“I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” by U2

The world around is looking. They are looking for the real deal, they are looking for the truth, they are looking for the one that will make sense of their life, that will give purpose and meaning to their existence, strength for the moment, that will give them hope for the future, that will heal their wounds and love their souls. They are tired of the bad exchange- of worshiping their own creation, and they are looking for the truth.

I also know that some of you still haven’t found what you’re looking for. You have chased after the false hopes and dreams of this world. Maybe some of you here have achieved wealth and success, you made partner, you opened your practice, you got your cottage, you’re on track for freedom 55, but the closer to get to reaching all these goals for yourself only brings you closer to the fact that it is not satisfying your greatest needs, your deepest needs, your longing for truth. SO you simply up the stakes, you raise the bar, a little more money, a little more success, a little more acclaim and I’ll have found what I’m looking for.

Maybe some of you have looked for pure please, totally hedonism. You have numbed yourself with drink and drug, trying to find a moment of pleasure, or at least a break from the pain. Yet drink after drink, pill after pill, you are still left empty. The numbness wears off and your left feeling the pain all the more acutely, because yet again you still haven’t found what you’re for.

You have succumbed to the embrace of a stranger, hoping that for maybe one moment you can feel that you are one flesh with another human being, so that you don’t feel so alone, so empty. Only to find that as you pull yourself away from that other person, you’ve not gained anything, but lost one more part of yourself. You still haven’t found the one you’re looking for.

Some of you have chased after truth in the most noble of efforts. You have given yourself tirelessly. You have volunteered hours upon hours to the best of causes. You have shown love and mercy and compassion. You have worked for justice and peace. But in all your efforts you still have not found the peace you are looking for. All your work has only shown you how small a difference you make, how insurmountable the problems of the world are.

Friends, the truth has been revealed to us. The truth has come to us. Jesus Christ offers himself to you this day. He is the one who won’t numb your pain, but will heal it. The one who will join himself to you and will never leave you or forsake you. He is the one who will lead you in paths of righteousness, will lead you in his work, in his mission, giving you strength and hope to persevere. He is the one we are all looking for. And I believe with all my heart and with all my mind and with all my strength and with all my soul that the Church is a culture of truth because Jesus us the most truthful person that ever lived on earth.

A Culture of Acceptance

If you’ve heard this before- great! We’re glad to have you back. If you haven’t heard this before- great, we’re glad to have you here! We’re only three services into this, so I have to run through the basics: we are meeting every other week this fall, building up to our launch at Christmas. We want to be very intentional about trying to improve each service and follow up with the people that join us. And our assumption is that most of you were invited because we haven’t really advertised. But now that we are three weeks into this, I’m realizing there is another crowd- and you are some very motivated folks who are taking ownership of your desire to find a church community- you are the folks that have found us on the website, or even just saw someone wearing one of our t-shirts! There are already some amazing stories of God bringing folks into our fellowship.

And because we are largely a friendly or self-motivated audience I’m finding that you are very responsive to what we are trying to do here, which is really two fold. First is to recruit more workers. In the ministry of Jesus, in Luke chapter 10, he got to this point where he had 72 followers who were apparently very committed to him and the ministry. Jesus had plans to go out into a whole bunch of towns and preach the good news, which was basically himself. So he tells his followers,

go and find more workers, for the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.

Now the interesting thing about that is the emphasis that is so often missed- it’s not the harvest time just yet, it’s time to find more workers.

When we look out at London I believe we can see that the harvest is quite obviously plentiful. And in regard to our mission, this means that there are literally hundreds of thousands who, by all apparent signs, have no faith community, no church they are a part of, no small groups they connect with, no active participation in any service or outreach projects, and who, if I may make a bit of a leap, but what I think is a safe leap, feel and live far from God, outside of an active and dynamic relationship with Jesus. If the stats are right less than 10% of Canadians are in church any given Sunday, which for us means more than 300,000 Londoners.

Folks, it’s not the harvest in London that concerns me- it’s finding enough workers that are willing enough, that are selfless enough, that are open enough to share the love of God and start actively loving their neighbors. Workers willing to help us reach out to the city to build up this church. Workers willing to get into the messiness and beauty of actually getting involved in people’s lives that are far from God, estranged from people, isolated from our community and the world. They are hard to find, they are hard to get to know, they are not the people that are already involved in churches. And here I am speaking most directly to those here that would openly say you are followers of Jesus- there’s really only one reason for you to be here and be a part of our church- God is calling you. So if you’re being called to this church, you’re being called to be a worker. You’re being called because you have some gifts, some time, some resources, and some connections that will strategically serve and grow this mission. You have people in your life that you are ready to invite to church, and this is the kind of church you can bring them to.

In other words, if you are following Christ, we invite to join us as a worker. To get involved, to volunteer, to give to our mission, to bring your friends and family and neighbors to meet Jesus here.

The other thing we are doing in these preview services is laying the foundation for our church culture. We are calling it

“Cultivating a Connecting Culture.“

We are discussing the values that are essential to our mission and development:
trust- acceptance- truth- healing- connection.

The bible, we talked about, is the story of God creating an interconnected world- where people were connected vitally to God, to one another, to the creation itself, and thus they knew themselves, their purpose and place in the world in a way beyond our experience. And while we’ve broken the connections, God began the work of re-connecting, reestablishing what was meant to be. The first layer we talked about was trust- how the bible is filled with stories of men and women who decided to trust God. Acceptance is the next logical nutrient we want to put into the soil of our culture.

Last time I tried to ask you what is a very profound question when we truly hear it in the depths of our being- what will it take to trust? To trust yourself, to trust others, to trust God? Today I don’t want to ask you a question, I want to offer you and invitation. But I believe it is a very profound invitation -

come as you are.

No, really, come as you are. Most of us have spent the better part our lives, and the better part of ourselves, trying to be someone or something we really aren’t. We try to come as the people that we think the world wants us to be. We try to present ourselves as the girls we think the boys want us to be, as the boys the girls want us to be, as the children we think our parents want us to be, as the workers our bosses want us to be, as the neighbors the Jones’ want us to be. We spend so much of our day, so much of our lives, being someone else, that when I invite you to come as you are, you might not even know whom you are anymore. You’re so far down the road of appearances that you have no idea how to start to finding your way out. We try to put on this Sunday face, this Sunday façade. We put on this mask in the one place where we should be most free to come as we really are.

Come as you- not as you think we want you to be, not as your mom wanted you to be, not as you want to be. Come as you are. Because we are never going to become the people we want to be, we are never going to be the accepting people and church we want to be if we start with masks on. Come as you are. Come with your hopes and your dreams, your glorious successes to celebrate, your awful defeats to find support, your joys and your pains, your gifts and your needs. Come as you are.

On Thanksgiving this past Monday my little philosopher Karis started asking my wife some questions while driving in our minivan. She asked if grown ups ever did anything bad? Don’t you love it that such questions are actually asked! Robin decided to protect her and said no, no grown up has ever done a bad thing in their life. Actually, she took it as an opportunity to talk about what we’re talking about- she said yes Karis, all this time. Robin said how every time she messes up she says a prayer in her heart to ask for forgiveness and ask for the strength, wisdom, and love she needs to try and not make the same sins and mistakes again. And because God loves her, she is forgiven. All was quiet. Karis was pondering these things in her heart.

Then Robin hears Karis whispering, “Eden, what if God doesn’t like us?” Eden replies, “Why are you whispering Karis?” “I don’t want him to hear me,” she says. “God can hear everything- even what you say in your head,” says Eden. “Well I can’t hear what I say in my own head.”

When we say, “Come as you are,” we are saying that we know you have done some bad things, even you adults. We’ve all done some bad things, we’ve all made some mistakes, none of us are perfect. We are also saying come as you are because God still likes us. More, God still loves us. And we’re saying come as you are because really, in the eyes of God, there’s no other way that we can come. God isn’t fooled by our whispers, our fronts and facades. God looks to the heart. And so we say come without the pretense, come without the lies, come as you are because that’s the only way that God sees us anyways.

But I think many of us are still wrestling with the question that starts as early as 5 years of age-

“What if God doesn’t like me? What if God doesn’t accept me? What if God doesn’t like me as I am?”

It’s a question that haunts many of us. More here than you might suspect. A nagging feeling, a heavy feeling that slips upon us in the quiet of the night, or even in the laughter of a party, that we are just not good enough. That we don’t measure up, even though we’re not sure what we’re being measured against. Feelings of guilt, which aren’t always bad feelings if we’ve done something we should feel guilty about. But for many of us it does deeper, it goes in our being, it goes into shame. This sense not that we’ve done some bad things, cause we’ve all done bad things, but this sense that we are bad people- bad, unlovable, unworthy, unacceptable.

Early in Jesus ministry he meet up with a two brothers named Simon and Andrew. Andrew was actually the first to meet up with Jesus, and he was so impressed with Jesus he immediately goes to his brother Simon, takes him to Jesus. Jesus says, “You’re Simon, son of John. You will be called Rock.” Yes, he actually said you will be called the Rock. Well Simon was so impressed, he went back to his boat and continued fishing.

Because some time later, we read in Luke 5:1-11…
Picture the scene- the boat just off shore, Simon and the gang cleaning their nets, Jesus teaching, and a huge crowd gathered. And after a bit Jesus says to Simon, put out to the deep water and throw your nets.

There are a few different options that Simon has here. Option one, he tells Jesus to shove off. They’ve worked all night long and caught nothing. They are tired, hungry and frustrated. And you now what, the last thing they are going to do is take fishing lessons from a traveling Rabbi. Jesus you stick to the preaching, we’ll stick to the fishing. And the result- nothing changes for Simon. He goes home, gets some rest, and goes at it again the next day.

Option two, he plays it a little more tactfully- you know Jesus, we’ve worked all night and didn’t catch a thing, and you know, as fun as that sounds right now, let’s just reschedule, Even later today. I’ll just run home, get some food, a little rest, put on a change of clothes, and then we’ll go out, I promise. The result- the same, nothing happens, nothing changes. Opportunity given, opportunity passed.

How often do we respond to the call of Jesus in the same way? Option one- we blow it off. Jesus, your demands are too hard, too unrealistic, too demanding. So forget it. Let’s just keep our relationship the way it is. You can stay on the boat with me, but I’m going about my business. I’m going to stick close to shore. Jesus, you can get onboard with my marriage, but I’m going to about things my way. You can get on board with my work, but I’m not changing the way I do business. Get on board with my parenting, but I’m not going to change the way I raise my kids. I’m going to stay close to the shore. The result- nothing changes, or at least not anything that takes us deeper into the waters of faith.

Option two- Jesus, I hear what your saying, and I think I understand what you’re saying, but you know, right now is not good for me. I’m tired. I’ve got other things on my plate. Now I want to obey, but let me get some things in order first. Let me get through school, or get this first year of work under my belt, or this second home paid for. Then I’ll push off into the deep. If Simon said, hey, let’s wait and hour, I believe he would have missed the moment. He would have missed the opportunity to leap, and he would have missed the opportunity to be part of a miracle. The result- nothing changes, and Jesus goes on to a different boat.

But there’s a third option, and it’s one the Simon ventures. I love how Simon puts this- Jesus, I want to be very clear about this, we’ve worked all night. We’ve caught nothing. You’re a preacher, we’re fishermen, we do this for a living. But out of respect, if I hear you right, we’re going to do this thing. And what he’s really saying, which in a moment becomes very significant, is that you Jesus, you will get all the responsibility, or the credit.

That’s perfect. I don’t think Jesus really asks anything more of us. It’s really rather unremarkable. Throw out your nets. But do it now. He’s done it a thousand times before. It’s not like the actual act of obedience was anything new. It was simply the context and the timing. Out of faith, out of obedience, listen to what I tell you to do now, and see what happens. And that’s how Jesus works with all his followers. He really asks nothing spectacular out of us. He asks for trust. Then he tells us to leave the results up to him.

A teacher named Ray VanderLaan helped me understand this. At this point in Jesus life and ministry he has achieve the status of a Master, of a Rabbi. In the Jewish culture there was not great position of honor and respect. In a crazy way it’s sort of like celebrity status today. People were fascinated by Rabbi’s, they revered them, they followed them, they wanted to be like them.

But very few were ever called to be Rabbi’s. Only the best of the best of the best. The ones that could memorize the first five books of the OT by age 10, the rest of the OT by age 14. These were the mutant kids going to professor Xavier’s school for gifted kids- they were awesome, but they were kind of outcasts.

So they would go and present themselves to a Rabbi. The Rabbi’s would ask them questions and get to know them. They’d assess these kids to see if they really had what it took, if they could really be like the Rabbi- to know what he knew, to do what he did, and then, to take it to the next level. And if they were good enough, worthy enough, acceptable in the sight of the Rabbi, they would invite them- follow me. But that was the best of the best of the best. The rest went on to the family trade. The rest did things like become fishermen because they didn’t have the right stuff.

Jesus is a rabbi. Jesus has crowds of people following him. Jesus actually has crowds of people hoping to be called by him. Jesus tells Simon to set sail and throw out the nets. So they set out, they throw down their nets, and you heard the story, you know what happened, they have a miraculous catch of fish- so many fish it becomes clear to everyone that this is not normal, this is not even natural. Something is happening here, it has some real significance and some real importance.

And what does Simon say?

“Jesus, go away from me, for I am a sinful man!”

Go away from me Jesus, I’m not worthy. Simon sees two things very clearly I this moment- two things with absolute crystal clarity. First, he sees that Jesus is no ordinary man. He sees that Jesus is Lord, Jesus is in fact the messiah, the one they’ve longed for. And that is very exciting.

But he sees something else in a way that perhaps he had never seen so clearly before. He sees his sin. He sees in the presence of Jesus’ miracle, in the presence of Jesus’ glory, that he has missed the mark, that he has fallen short, that he is a sinner. And in the presence of Jesus now, he is overcome with this most basic of human feelings, the most fundamental of human fears- what if God doesn’t like me?

It’s the most absurd thing he could have possibly said- it’s the most human response a person could have. I’m not worthy. I’m a sinner. Please leave me Jesus, because if you really get to know, if you really spend some time with me, you know what, I’m not the guy who will throw out his nets whenever you ask. I’m the guy who going screw up, and mess us, and fail you. I am not acceptable.

Jesus knows this, and he says the most amazing thing- don’t be afraid, follow me. He says Peter, come with me and I will make you a fisher of men. He is telling Peter, you are acceptable, you can follow me. You are worthy to follow a Rabbi- you are the best of the best of the best. But more, if you follow me, you are going to do what I do, you are going to become a fisher of men. You are going to go out into the world, you are going to call people, and you are going to catch them. They are going to follow. But they aren’t going to follow you, they are going to follow me. They are going to join you in following me.

Today, right now, some of us are hearing the call of Jesus for the first time. Some of us are hearing God speak into our hearts and we are hearing for the first time- you are acceptable. Follow me. And we whisper back, but what if you don’t like me? And Jesus is saying I know you, I know you inside and out, I was there when you were born, I’ve been there every step of the way, I’ve seen everything you done, I know every thought you’ve ever had, I know everything about you, and I know that terrifies you, and you want me to go away, but I’m telling you- follow me, follow me and I will make you fishers of men. Follow me, because I love you, and I want you to be with me.

Some of us have heard this call from Jesus long ago, but we are still whispering in our heart, I don’t think God likes me, but today you are going to hear the Rabbi calling you to follow him, and you too will become a fisher of men. You are going to follow Jesus and he is going to do amazing things through you, and through this church. Because if there is anything this church believes, if there is anything we want to have grounded into the very fiber of our being, the DNA that comprises who we are and we are about it is this- you are accepted in Jesus. You are accepted and known by Jesus. You are accepted and loved by Jesus. You are accepted, and called, and will be used by Jesus.

The band is coming up…we are going to pray…some of us need to hear the call for the first time…some of us need to finally that that leap of faith, the leap of trust, embrace the acceptance of Jesus, and follow him, because we are accepted in the arms of our beloved.

Cultivating a Connecting Culture: A Culture of Trust

Cultivating a Connecting Culture: A Culture of Trust
September 30, 2007
Rev. George J. Saylor

During the next five services we want to be very intentional about the kind of culture that we are going to cultivate here at Connections in worship, in our home groups, and in our service to the community. We only have one chance to launch this thing for the first time- and we want to do it well. We want to do it with creativity, with authenticity, and with excellence.

And we get one shot at trying to create the DNA of this organism. One shot at infusing into the soil of this church the kinds of nutrients we think are essential. There are many many good things good nutrients, quantities, values, hopes, dreams that we can talk about. There are also many bad things, bad nutrients, attitudes and agendas that we believe could derail our vision. But we’ve narrowed it town to five major nutrients to cultivate a connecting culture; trust- acceptance- truth- healing- connection. I want to break that down for us this morning.

Cultivating- there are certain things we are powerless to do. In fact, when you really think about it, we are powerless to do or change a lot of things in life and this world. Our church has this vision, this mission, and this paradigm for doing ministry here- to see people connect with God, with people and with the world. But we are powerless to actually make you connect with God- I can’t force you into the relationship; I don’t even want to force you into the relationship. We are powerless to make you connect with people in the groups we want to keep growing. We are powerless to make you connect with the world- you might choose to stay neatly tucked in a little bubble of your own existence- we can’t make any of these connections happen- but we can, and we will cultivate the type of environment where this might happen.

The bible uses a lot of agricultural analogies. In one passage a man named Paul wanted to set straight how the church really worked- he said it wasn’t about him and what he did- he may have planted a seed, another guy might have watered it still another might actually harvest it, but none one them made it grow- only God did that. The church, this church, can only cultivate- cultivate an environment where God can do His thing- where God can make connections and make things grow.

What are we trying to cultivate- a connecting culture- that is an environment, an ecosystem, a soil where this happens- a culture where it is natural for people to find God, meet others, find purpose and meaning and direct in the world. A culture when the norm is to be growing and developing.

So we want to cultivate trust- acceptance- truth- healing- and connection. But it starts with trust. It always starts with trust. Trust is so foundational, so vital, so essential, that it is actually rather difficult to examine it. For years I was involved in campus ministry and higher education, and I taught courses on group dynamics and building community, and the way that we did this was with what we called initiative or ropes courses.

The first thing anybody ever does with the group in this kind of experiential education experiences- we talk about trust. We do this because the whole flow of the initiatives course, of the experiential education, depends on trust- cultivating an environment where the participants can trust the instructor, trust the equipment, and trust the team. If the team cannot cultivate and establish a trust, then they become stuck- they can’t move on. They can go on to the low ropes course, let alone the high elements. But if they can establish trust, then they can go on to try some amazing things. It takes work, it takes communication, it takes being intentional, it takes personal and group effort.

(Demonstrate trust fall with Andrew)

Trust is a very precious, and quite delicate thing, isn’t it? The thing sabout trust is that I could catch Andrew a thousand times, but all that trust would be gone the instant I dropped him. If one time I started to day dream, not pay attention, and let him crash to the floor and smash his head, the bond of trust would be broken. That’s the difficult nature of trust- hard to build up, easy to break. I could tell story after story of the trust issues that came out with classes that I taught and groups that I lead. Groups that never made it to the high ropes course elements because they couldn’t establish trust. People reduced to tears, people taken to the breaking point because we were trying to create a culture where trust could be established, and sometimes it would never happen.

Three areas of trust had to be established for the group to move forward. First, they had to trust the instructor. They had to have a level of confidence that the instructor knew what he or she was doing and had the group’s best interest at heart. What was consistently amazing to me was how hard it was for so many to make that simple first step- to trust the instructor.

Second, they had to trust the equipment. For some this was the most difficult area- to believe that ropes could hold them, the platforms, planks, high wires and ladders were reliable. They had an deep rooted inability to trust the actually physical structure of the ropes course.

Third, they had to trust the group. And here is where the learning and cultivating really came in. Here is where we always had the most difficulty. Here was where the real issues came out. The idea of trusting ones body, of trusting ones thoughts or feeling with the group.

I remember the first time I heard the question. And I want to ask the question to you this morning. And you’ve heard it before, but I’m hoping you’re at a place this morning that you’ll hear it the way I remember hearing it. That you’ll HEAR the question wash over you so that you might really begin to examine the answer. Are you ready, remember now, you’ve heard the words before, but I’m asking you to hear the question now, “What would it really take for you to trust?”

Proverbs 3:5-6 gives us this bit of wisdom. Proverbs is this collection of all these pithy, wonderful sayings in the bible. It’s the “Things that make you go hummm” section of the bible. 3:5-6 tell us, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”

So let me pose that question in a little different light now, what would it look like to trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding? Acknowledging, or putting God first in all things, in all areas of life- work, play, your family, your future, everything- trust that God will clear, make straight, a path for you? What does this kind of trust look like?

The bible tells story after story of what trusting God looks like. Last time we gathered I explained how the bible could be seen as a book telling the story of how God was re-connecting people with himself, with others, with the world. In that process of reconnecting we can also see the role that trust plays. Time and again, story after story, in fact with nearly every story, every person, is confronted with a choice- to trust God, or go their own way. To trust God and to fall into his arms, trusting he is there, trusting he will catch, trusting in his plan. Or don’t trust, don’t take the fall, walk away and play it safe.

Noah trusted that a flood was going to come, and so he built this gigantic ark to save humanity. Moses trusted God and confronted pharaoh, saying it’s time to abolish the slavery of my people even though your entire economy depends on it. Joshua trusted God and marched around a city seven times blowing a trumpet, a rather unconventional battle strategy to say the least. David trusted God and confronted a giant with only a slingshot. The kids this morning are learning how a man named Elijah trusted Go to provide for his needs, and was fed by bunch of crows and a widow and her son.

(Pick up water bottle) You know, one of the things I love the most about being a parent is the trust. Seeing how each of my kids is born trusting. They can’t help it, they have no other choice- they trust that they will be taken care of, fed and clothed, held and loved, protected and provided for. It’s like all of us are born with the well full of trust. It’s just there, it’s just full, and it’s just the way the world is supposed to be.

But then we start to grow and we start to get a taste of the world. And things start to happen, and the well of trust starts to get drained. And for most of us it happens a little bit at a time. You know, we trust our parents for something, and they let us down, and it’s like a little knife is jabbed into our trust. We tell a friend, then they go and tell someone else, and another jab in our trust. And we open our heart to someone, and then they start to take advantage of it, and another jab. And something horrible happens, maybe we’re violated in someway someone…or we lose our job…or we lose our health…or we lose a loved one…and all the while we keep taking these jabs and the trust just keeps draining out of our lives and before we know we are empty.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding- but George, you don’t understand, my heart’s been hurt, my heart’s been broken, my heart’s been burned, and I vowed, I pledged that never again would I be such a fool- never again would a trust my parents- never again would I trust man- never again would I trust a woman- never gain would I trust my spouse- never gain would I trust myself- never again would I trust God because I just don’t know if my heart can take it. Trust in God with all my heart, and lean not on my understanding- but my understanding is all I have. My understanding is the only thing that gets me through this world, my understanding is the only thing I can trust, my understanding is the only way I know how to survive.

I will tell you this today- I understand. I so understand. And I think others here understand as well. I think others here this morning have every reason in the world to legitimately say I will never trust again- I will not trust another person with my body, with my feelings, with my soul, and I will not trust God. We could call for open mic time and person after person, each and every one of you, could come up here and tell you story, and tell how your trust has been burned.

Some of you here today have every reason to never trust another person again. Some of you have every reason to never trust the world again. Some of you here believe you have every reason to never trust God again. But this morning I want try and give us some reason to trust again.

On the night that Jesus was betrayed, on the night that Jesus’ trust in his followers was going to be broken, on the very night when one on his best friends would set Jesus up to be captured and killed, on that night Jesus told that man, that group of friends, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God. Trust also in me.” John 14:1

Jesus then took some jabs in his trust, in his hands, and his feet. The story of our God is that of a God who trusted his son to us, and had that trust hung on a cross. Jesus trusted us with his love, and we drove nails through it. God knows how it feels to take hit on trust. He knows what it’s like to have that well punctured and run dry. God is not a God who stands callously by us as the trust is drained from our lives, but stands with us, ready to fill us up again. The bible tells us that by his wounds, by the wounds of Jesus, we are healed. By his wounds our trust can be restored.

What would it look like for you to begin putting your trust in Jesus? What would you try to do with your life? What would you do with your education? What would you do in your job? What great things would you go for? What goals would you set? What heights would you try to climb? Or conversely, how would you change the way to do business, write reports, practice law, medicine, whatever else?

What would it look like to trust Jesus with your relationships? To trust that God has someone special for you, and that you can wait for him or her? To trust that you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do to find a meaningful relationship? To trust that God’s design for men and women and our relationships really is for our best interest and blessing?

What would it look like to trust your spouse again? To start the long road of reconciliation, to take small steps of trust? What would it look like to trust God for a fresh start? If the bottom has fallen out, if the relationship has ended, if you don’t know what or who is in your future? What would it look like to start trusting God?

What would it look like to trust God with our children? To trust that He loves them more than we ever could, that he does not want to see them sacrificed on the altars of this world- to greed and money and materialism and promiscuity and addition and abuse? To trust that God will make not just our paths straight, but the paths of our children? That if we cultivate the right kind of environment for them that they will thrive? What would it look like to be in a relationship with our kids where they knew they could trust us, and we knew we could trust them?

To cultivate this culture of trust in a ropes course you need three things- you need to trust the instructor, you need to trust the equipment, you need to trust the group.

Friends, for this culture to work, to try and do what we want to do here, we need three things as well. What would it look like for you to trust the instructor, to trust God? What would it look like for you to trust him with all your heart, and lean no on you own understanding?

We also need to trust our equipment, and by that I mean, ourselves, and how we are equipped. What would it look like to trust that God has equipped you with all the gifts and the talents that you need to fulfill his plans for your life? To trust that God made you they way you are for a reason- whether you’re a detail person or a visionary, a romantic or a realist, an introvert or an extrovert, however God equipped you, can you trust that that’s exactly what God needs in you to fulfill your purpose in this world?

And finally, what would it look like to trust the team, to trust this group, to trust the church? To trust that together we can accomplish more than we could ever dream as individuals. That together we can experience more joy and meaning than we ever could alone. To trust that the church is worthy of our time, of our efforts, of our giving, of bringing our friends?

To make this happen, we have to take the fall. We have to turn out back, fold our arms, and fall into the arms of God and into the arms of other people. We won’t be foolish about it. If I’m going to fall into your arms I’m gonna check, are you ready, I might even ask again, I may even turn around just to be sure, but then I want to fall, I want to trust- because it is a rush.

Friends, there’s nothing like it. There’s nothing quite like believing in a group of people so much you’ll fall backwards off a 6 foot deck. There’s nothing like climbing 50ft over the ground and leaping from a pole, knowing that your belay is gonna catch you, your team is gonna cheer you on.

And there’s nothing like trusting God- trusting him for our eternity, trusting him for our here and now. Trusting him to lead and guide and make our paths straight.

A year ago my family heard the call of God. He used a lot of people, a lot of doors opening, a lot of doors closing, a lot of things coming together to show us a clear path. And when we felt confident that we hadn’t conjured up this dream in our minds, we took the trust fall. The bible says that Abram left his country, his land, his people, and he went where God called him to go. He believed a promise that through this action, this trust, that a nation would be born, and that the world would be blessed. He really didn’t know much anything else.

I don’t know where this is going folks, but we left our country, our land, our church, our people, and our friends. We came to London to start Connections Community Church because we wanted to listen to where God was calling, and maybe, maybe through this trust, we might be a blessing. Maybe even a blessing for the whole world. We’ll trust God, and see what happens.