The Clothers...

Just Tell Me the Truth

My friend Wade and I were talking about how one of our love languages is truth telling. We love it when people shoot straight with us, and let us know when we're off course.

Often times people reserve that truth telling position in their life to an authority figure, such as a pastor or leader, neither of which are usually readily accessible for day to day living, and may not be close enough to you to understand.

I'll gratefully hear out the opinions of just about anybody that cares about me, and first assume they are right, even when it's hard to hear. I stop and take an inventory of who God wants me to be and how their wisdom nudges me towards it.

The Bible teaches us "Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety." (Ps. 11:14)

I gravitate towards people who love Jesus and have an opinion. 

Some of my favorite counselors, or "truth tellers" are youngsters. My daughter has been speaking truth into my life since she was 10. She would tell me her opinion regarding church decisions when I was an Elder and Executive Pastor. She even spoke into situations with employees she heard me complain about too much. She asks me questions, sometimes tough questions, because she cares.

I count on my wife constantly to straighten me out when my "filters" of how I look at something are off. I encourage my staff to tell me when I'm not making sense, or seeing something I should take care of. An old friend taught me "when you are in the movie, it's hard to see things clearly. Get out of the movie for a moment." And I learned that when I need advice, I talk to someone that's not in my "movie scene."

Who do you respect enough to let them ask you tough questions? To speak into your "movie?" How many people can tell you straight up what they see that can help you course correct to be the person you want to be? A person who looks more like Jesus?

Relational and Community Tension

My daughter says I can blog about anything, so here goes....Bike wheels are amazing. They stay round and true for a smooth ride, thanks typically to 36 spokes all in perfect tension.

Loosen one spoke and they go out of whack. Push on a wheel hard enough sideways and Wham! It turns into a taco shape. The higher the spoke tension, the less likely either of these will happen.

My friend Wade brought me his taco'd wheel. I figured, hey fixing it's worth a try. The spokes had gotten loose over time, which is why it had bent so easy.

I straightened it all up, knowing that sometimes they just won't stay true after a bad bend. I spent a couple of hours getting each spoke tensioned just right. Nice and true. And then I gave it a little test, and Wham! Taco shaped again...

The weakness that had previously been revealed was now more easily manifested. The wheel is less stable, and dangerous to ride on. We'll need to start anew.

Relationships and communities are like this. The tighter the community is, the stronger it is, and the harder it is to fail under pressure. But some times relationships or communities fail under pressure that comes at them sideways.

Perhaps under pressure, sin rears its ugly head, or slight value differences become huge. And the relationship or community tacos. And trying to fix it just doesn't work. Things go sideways easier and easier.

And it's best to start over.

Isn't it wonderful that God allows us to start over? With Him? with each other? Sometimes things are just so screwed up, you have to start from scratch. God let's us do that with Him, and calls us to do that with each other.

 What relationships in your life keep "taco'ing?" What does starting anew look like? Forgiving? Being more honest? Seeking first to understand, then to be understood? Maybe it's allowing iron to sharpen iron with a brother or sister, even though it hurts a bit?

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Assignment

We live in a beautiful, beat up, delightful place.

We live close to downtown Oxnard in the old neighborhood on a busy street. The neighbors are mostly Latino, with multiple families and generations packed into many of the houses where English is a second language, if at all.

The ambulance, police, and fire department use our street frequently, so sirens are common.

We are close to the little airport and train tracks, so we hear planes, trains, and automobiles as white noise. All around us are the sounds of life. And we love it. 

We live well here as a part of our community, and love on people as we cross paths. That's the blessing of living where a lot of people are; you don't have to look far to be on assignment. The assignment God gave us to love people in His name.

Saturday night a helicopter was circling non-stop a few blocks away over Colonia, a barrio known for its trouble. A chaotic gun battle between cops and two young men broke out as they ran from a traffic stop. One was killed, the other wounded. A third young man shot and killed was apparently an innocent by stander out for a jog,

Sunday, in the dead of night, we awoke to someone pounding on our door downstairs over and over again screaming for "Bobby." I found a little old man at my door with a walker and an oxygen tank looking for his caregiver's house because he couldn't find his pills. I sent away two squad cars responding to the screaming, and connected with my neighbor at 3AM, the caregiver.

A crazy weekend for sure, and not very typical. As I told my weekend stories in the office, I preambled with"first of all, know that we love living right in the middle of Oxnard..." And we do.

In spite of all the activity around us, our house is quiet and peaceful. Perhaps its just that we are quiet and peaceful in knowing we are here in the busyness, on assignment to bring some more of God's love to the community. And at times, like Saturday night, you can see it needs some love.

Where does God have you on assignment? Who do you get to love on in Jesus name?