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Cal's Pastoral Epistles
"You Know More Than You Think"
June 26, 2008
Have you ever had one of those moments when you were doing something
and it suddenly dawned on you that you were in way over your head? Well
that was me last Tuesday morning. As I sat at the head table and did a
quick survey of the room, I realized that this group of business leaders and
community professionals were waiting to hear some great pearls of
wisdom. A panel had been assembled by the Chamber of Commerce to
give insight on the ways to do business in a community that is rapidly
becoming more and more culturally diverse.
One panelist was a University professor with extensive experience in
international trade with China. A second panelist had done ground breaking
work developing small business partnerships in the Hispanic community.
The third member of our panel was from educational community. He was
the diversity officer and he came with statistics and stories on how the
influx of so many people from different cultures was affecting our
schools. The fourth panelist was a Chinese immigrant and successful
businessman who had bridged the gap and found success in our
community. Then there was me. MY big claim to fame was that I had been
the pastor of a church in the city for twenty three years.
I immediately thought of Ellen DeGeneres. In Epcot Center’s Universe of
Energy exhibit there is a short film. In it Ellen falls asleep. She wakes up
and finds herself playing Jeopardy with Albert Einstein and a know it all
who happens to be an old high school rival. As the categories are unveiled
every one of them has to do with energy and Ellen looks at her competition
and knows she is in trouble. It was humorous when it was happening to
Ellen. It is not so fun when it became real life for me. I was in over my
head.
A funny thing happened though. As the discussion began, I found that I did
have things to add to the conversation. My experiences living and serving
in the community for over two decades helped punctuate some of the
statistics offered by the others. My interaction as a leader in the faith
community with the Hispanic, Korean, Chinese, Haitian, Polish, Portuguese
and African American communities allowed me to share some insights into
how me might interact and learn from each other. Like Ellen in that short
video, by the end of our time together, I found that I did have something to
contribute.
It got me thinking about the way many of us shrink back from sharing our
faith with others. We often hesitate because we haven’t been trained in
theology. We’d rather leave the faith talk to our clergy. We try to bring our
friends to church or synagogue so they can meet our priest, minister or
rabbi. That is okay but there is a better way. The truth is that most people
who come to know God, meet him through the love and witness of a
friend.
You can have all kinds of statistics, information, analysis and theory but it
will never be as effective as the personal testimony of what God has done
in your life. You have more to share than you know because you have been
living the faith. Don’t sell yourself short. You have what people need to
hear when someone you know comes looking for God. You don’t need to
be Einstein to figure that out. Your friends already know that.
God bless. See you in church. Cal
June 26, 2008
Have you ever had one of those moments when you were doing something
and it suddenly dawned on you that you were in way over your head? Well
that was me last Tuesday morning. As I sat at the head table and did a
quick survey of the room, I realized that this group of business leaders and
community professionals were waiting to hear some great pearls of
wisdom. A panel had been assembled by the Chamber of Commerce to
give insight on the ways to do business in a community that is rapidly
becoming more and more culturally diverse.
One panelist was a University professor with extensive experience in
international trade with China. A second panelist had done ground breaking
work developing small business partnerships in the Hispanic community.
The third member of our panel was from educational community. He was
the diversity officer and he came with statistics and stories on how the
influx of so many people from different cultures was affecting our
schools. The fourth panelist was a Chinese immigrant and successful
businessman who had bridged the gap and found success in our
community. Then there was me. MY big claim to fame was that I had been
the pastor of a church in the city for twenty three years.
I immediately thought of Ellen DeGeneres. In Epcot Center’s Universe of
Energy exhibit there is a short film. In it Ellen falls asleep. She wakes up
and finds herself playing Jeopardy with Albert Einstein and a know it all
who happens to be an old high school rival. As the categories are unveiled
every one of them has to do with energy and Ellen looks at her competition
and knows she is in trouble. It was humorous when it was happening to
Ellen. It is not so fun when it became real life for me. I was in over my
head.
A funny thing happened though. As the discussion began, I found that I did
have things to add to the conversation. My experiences living and serving
in the community for over two decades helped punctuate some of the
statistics offered by the others. My interaction as a leader in the faith
community with the Hispanic, Korean, Chinese, Haitian, Polish, Portuguese
and African American communities allowed me to share some insights into
how me might interact and learn from each other. Like Ellen in that short
video, by the end of our time together, I found that I did have something to
contribute.
It got me thinking about the way many of us shrink back from sharing our
faith with others. We often hesitate because we haven’t been trained in
theology. We’d rather leave the faith talk to our clergy. We try to bring our
friends to church or synagogue so they can meet our priest, minister or
rabbi. That is okay but there is a better way. The truth is that most people
who come to know God, meet him through the love and witness of a
friend.
You can have all kinds of statistics, information, analysis and theory but it
will never be as effective as the personal testimony of what God has done
in your life. You have more to share than you know because you have been
living the faith. Don’t sell yourself short. You have what people need to
hear when someone you know comes looking for God. You don’t need to
be Einstein to figure that out. Your friends already know that.
God bless. See you in church. Cal
Pastor Cal Lord writes these weekly epistles to
help us see God in every day things.
help us see God in every day things.
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