Posts

Tell Me Something Good

Each month, we post a series of blogs around a common topic. This month, Andrew Kukla is curating reflections on being evangelical in the church. Have we connected our congregations to resurrection life? Have we taught them how to talk about it?  How to live it? How to connect others to that life-giving, life-abundant power? We invite you to join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter!

by Louise Westfall

Tell me something good, tell me, tell me, tell me. . . . . The Stevie Wonder lyrics have always reminded me that sometimes you have to use words to express feelings, values, meaning to another person. In our commitment to demonstrate the transforming love of God, we Presbyterians often forget to use our words to tell others something so good it changes everything. We’ve resisted reducing the breathtaking power of the gospel into a formula or four-step process. But as one preacher put it, “There may be many routes to the train station, but would you please tell me one?!”

tsr_5683_webTelling the story has prompted us at Central Presbyterian Church in downtown Denver to develop the spiritual practice of “witness.” For now, it’s an element in our traditional Sunday morning worship service, but it’s served to broaden our vision as well as sharpen our skills.  

A witness is a short (4-5 minute) testimony by a member, mission partner, or visitor with one primary purpose: to describe what God is doing in their lives. We’ve long had “mission moments” that described some ministry or initiative, ending with an invitation to contribute, get involved, or learn more. The focus was on information and persuasion. Nothing wrong with that, except it mostly felt like an “advertisement” for something the church thought you should be doing. For visitors and newcomers in particular, these announcements were filled with insider jargon and church-speak. I once heard a mission moment that used the acronym OGHS throughout, never once sharing the powerful impact of the One Great Hour of Sharing offering!

Because witnessing is different, we developed a simple template to help tell the story around responses to three questions: What is God doing in your life? How is God’s love demonstrated in this ministry? How has this ministry made a difference to you? I thought people might be uncomfortable with this personal approach and truth be told, some claim it more readily than others. Yet people long to experience God in daily life, and these witnesses make those experiences accessible.  

In a witness during the annual stewardship campaign, a woman spoke frankly about her husband’s job loss and their financial difficulties and the intentional decision they made to pledge nonetheless. “God has been there for us through every hard time; we want to share so that others remember that God will be there for them too.” A couple told of their gratitude for prayers, visits, meals and child care when their youngest son was diagnosed with a rare blood cancer. Though their son is in remission, the force of their witness came from their experience of God’s presence amid the terrifying diagnosis and debilitating treatments.  

Occasionally, members hesitate because they’re afraid to show tears or vulnerability. Several times, we’ve videotaped their witness and shown it in the service. John, for example, had served a long prison sentence for theft before he came to us through our transitional housing ministry. He described how he found Christ while in prison and wanted to share his transformation with the congregation that had been a friend to him as he struggled to reintegrate into society. His video witness, shown during worship moved the congregation deeply, and spiked contributions to the housing ministry (even without asking!). Exposing human vulnerability isn’t easy for any of us, but we’re learning that we’re safe in the company of God’s people. People receive our tears, our brokenness, even our regrettable decisions, with acceptance and kindness. That itself becomes a powerful witness to members and visitors alike.

Tell me something good. . . . tell me that you love me. . . . A witness is a love song, a way of telling others that the very heart of the universe is love. Why would we keep that a secret?  

The beauty of witnessing is that it becomes an expression of the variety of ways and means God’s love comes to us.             


Louise head shotLouise Westfall is pastor/head of staff of Central Presbyterian Church (@centralpresden) in downtown Denver, Colorado, one of the top five destinations for millennials (though not her son.  Yet.). Even after three decades of ministry in diverse settings, she believes congregations are the very best communities of transformation. An ardent church choir member and whistler, Louise enjoys making a joyful noise unto the Lord.  

The Witness of the NEXT Church in an Election Year… and Every Year

By Chris Chakoian

Exactly fifty years ago, Karl Barth said “Take your Bible, and your newspaper, and read both” (in Time, 4/20/1962). My guess is today he’d tell us to look our screens – including the presidential debates. But it’s gotten so ugly, it’s hard to watch. (Women in a binder, anybody?)  At the vice presidential debate, Martha Raddatz nailed it:

“I recently spoke to a highly decorated soldier who said that this presidential campaign has left him dismayed. He told me, quote, ‘the ads are so negative and they are all tearing down each other rather than building up the country.’ What would you say to that American hero about this campaign? And at the end of the day, are you ever embarrassed by the tone?”

I don’t know about them, but I’m embarrassed. Worse, I know that I’m contributing to the vitriol. Yuck.

I’m not naïve. Conflict is part of life. We have different, sometimes mutually exclusive goals, priorities, values. But how do we handle conflict? For me, the answer is (often), badly. I know we’re hardwired to fight, to flee, or to freeze. But we’re also “made in the image and likeness of God” – and with a frontal cortex, we have the capacity to overrule our first reactions.

What would happen if we took Jesus seriously when he tells us to talk to our opponent directly instead of gossiping or slandering … to bring in a couple of others as referees if we need to … or, at worst, to treat the other person “as a Gentile or a tax collector”? If we think for a nanosecond about how Jesus treated Gentiles and tax collectors, maybe we can aspire to treat our opponents in the same way: not as stupid, unworthy, or lost causes, but as children of God deserving of grace, as ones who don’t yet understand, but who may yet grasp the power of God’s love, who are invited to come into the family of grace.

Last Thursday I heard Eboo Patel, founder of the Interfaith Youth Corps, speak at Chicago Ideas Week. (Eboo is Muslim, btw.) He talked about what we learn when we listen to each other. How Martin Luther King, Jr. learned his greatest lesson not from a Christian but from Mahatma Gandhi, a Hindu. Then Eboo talked about a young woman in the Interfaith Youth Corp – Balpreet Kaur.

balpreetOn September 22, someone unknown to Balpreet took this picture of her in line at the OSU bookstore and posted it on Reddit in the “funny” section.

The caption read, “I’m not sure what to conclude from this.” Soon a torrent of posts flowed in:  –”Beards on women are now in!!! yes!!!” “So is this a transgendered Sikh? Explains why they haven’t shaved and the Turban. One of those things has got to go.” One person said, “It’s Pat,” the SNL mystery man-woman.

This is how Balpreet responded on Reddit:

“Hey, guys. This is Balpreet Kaur, the girl from the picture. …I’m a baptized Sikh woman with facial hair. Yes, I realize that my gender is often confused and I look different than most women. However, baptized Sikhs believe in the sacredness of this body – it is a gift that has been given to us by the Divine Being …and, must keep it intact as a submission to the divine will.

“My attitude and thoughts and actions have more value in them than my body because I recognized that this body is just going to become ash in the end, so why fuss about it? No one is going to remember what I looked like. However, my impact and legacy will remain: and, by not focusing on the physical beauty, I have time to cultivate those inner virtues and hopefully, focus my life on creating chance and progress for this world in any way I can.

“To me, my face isn’t important but the smile and the happiness that lie behind the face are. So, if anyone sees me at OSU, please come up and say hello.”

Balpreet Kaur did what Jesus taught, maybe better than most Christians do. It gives me hope for the rest of us … even now.


christineChakoian_fullsizeThe Rev. Christine Chakoian has led the First Presbyterian Church of Lake Forest, Illinois since 2005; on her arrival it became the largest church in the denomination headed by a woman pastor. She serves on the advisory board of the NEXT Church as well as the board of trustees of McCormick Theological Seminary and the Lebanese American University, a Presbyterian-affiliated college in Beirut. A frequent contributor to 30 Good Minutes, a national public television program, Ms. Chakoian is also a columnist for The Presbyterian Outlook and The Christian Century.