As Jim Sees It

I have been avoiding saying this for several weeks but I want to go ahead and let the cat out of the bag. So here it is, Hibben’s financial situation is much stronger than it was at this time last year. We have received more, done far more missionally, and we are current on our apportionments. That paints a pretty good picture.

There, I said it. Why have I avoided sharing that bit of good news?

For one thing, some folks think that if we let it out that we are doing pretty well, giving will go down. They are afraid that people in the congregation will back off on their commitments and wait until the church really needs it. I trust that’s not true. Surely everyone wants to keep the church strong, growing and able to do more for the cause of Christ.

My other reason for keeping quiet is less rational. I was afraid that if I said anything it would jinx the good momentum. I have come to realize that worrying about jinxing things is probably not very sound theology.

I now think it would be better for us to consider the reasons why we are on an upswing and make sure that we continue on this path, doing the same things. As I look back on the past twelve months I see at least seven solid reasons we are now where we are.

1) We have been consistently getting the message out that stewardship really doesn’t have a thing to do with the church’s budget. It is a lifestyle that boils down to following Jesus and loving God with our heart, soul, mind and strength. All that we have and all that we are is God’s. We seek our Lord’s leading as to how to use our resources in order to further the kingdom. Surely this concept has been strengthened for us all as we have sought to increase our commitment to Christ, what Natural Church Development calls, Passionate Spirituality.

2) Our church is blessed to have authentic leadership. Everywhere you look, you see people who are genuine, generous, and working to make disciples. This includes the Finance Committee, the Trustees, our ministry committees, the UMW and UMM. When these leaders talk about stewardship, we know they are doing their best to live it.

3) We are using the money that people give for the purposes for which they give it. I don’t mean that this time last year I was riding around in a sports car furnished by the church. I wasn’t. I am referring to an intentional sharpening of focus to ministry and mission. Along with that, we have cut where we can cut. This cutting includes everything from cutting off lights and easing up on the air conditioner, to refinancing our mortgage, to farming out our payroll. People rightly expect that their giving to the church will have an impact on the spreading the gospel.

4) There is a renewed commitment on the administrative committees to doing things the right way. We follow the United Methodist Discipline, we audit, we are accountable, and we are open.

5) Our leaders are willing to be involved and work together until there is a solution. Sometimes it is hard to be on the Finance Committee. Everybody doesn’t agree with their fellow members all the time. Occasionally, one has to ask hard questions and the ones being asked have to be willing to stay in the room and look for the answers. Our leaders are committed and are willing to work hard to find ways for our church to be its strongest.

6) There are some incredibly generous people in our church. In the past twelve months we have received one time gifts, for various projects and ministries of $30,000, $85,000, $25,000, $100,000, a pledge of $50,000, notification of being in a person’s will for $100,000, and a family sponsored the remodeling of our office, conference room and entrance hall. I have learned that I need to always have an answer for the person who says, “We are thinking about giving a pretty large gift to the church, do you have any ideas concerning how to use it?”

7) God answers prayer. Turns out praying, “God help us. Help us be good stewards of your resources, help us be a part of your work, help us live faithfully and generously” is a pretty good prayer.

Tomorrow is Election Day. I don’t know why but I look forward to presidential elections almost like the Super Bowl. The worst thing that could happen for me and my personal enjoyment would be for it to be a landslide and the winner projected before nine o’clock. 2000 was a little ridiculous but not knowing until the wee hours of Wednesday morning would be a great evening of suspense and entertainment for me.

Of course elections are slightly more important that the Super Bowl (unless the Panthers are playing) and they aren’t held for my personal enjoyment. It’s big stuff and no matter who it is, our next president will face some huge challenges. I don’t know about you but I certainly want my retirement fund to stop shrinking and bigger than that, we need our men and women in Iraq and Afghanistan home safely after establishing some hope for a safer and better world. How would you like to have those two things on your to do list when you start your new job?

Which leads me to my commitment (and you have permission to remind me if you catch me wandering off track).

I am going to support our new president, no matter who it is. By that I mean that I am going to respect him with my comments and I am going to pray for him daily. (I am using the masculine pronoun here, assuming that my daughter Erin will be unsuccessful in her efforts to organize a serious Hillary write in campaign) I am going to pray for his safety and health. I am going to pray that he leads with wisdom, courage, integrity and in a way promotes justice, peace, and freedom.

This doesn’t mean that I anticipate agreeing with everything our new president says and does. I won’t and when I don’t, I am going to write letters, send emails, and sign petitions. But, I am not going to participate in the mean spirited, email forwarding, slandering, hyper partisan stuff that has been masquerading as political dialogue for far too long.

This is my commitment and as I said, you have permission to hold me to it. It would be great if you joined me.

“I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity.” (I Timothy 2: 1-2)

What would you give your right pinkie finger for? Trevor Wikre gave his for the opportunity to play in a handful of, I guess in his case slightly more than a handful of, college football games. Maybe you heard about the lineman for Mesa State College who severely broke his little finger during practice. When the orthopedic surgeon told him that he was looking at six months recovery, effectively ending the senior’s football career, Wikre told him to cut it off.

When I first heard about that decision, I thought that was a poor trade for a twenty-one year old to make. But Chris Ballard’s column in this week’s Sports Illustrated has me reconsidering.

In my reading, I learned that from Pop Warner, through High School, to college, Wikre never missed a game. The young man, who will never play with the pros, talks about his passion for football, his love for his teammates, and the special season they are having. He says, “If I had left it on, I know I would’ve regretted that for the rest of my life.”

But back to the question, what would you give your right pinkie for? Of course all of us would for our children’s health, world peace, the end of AIDS, that kind of thing. Would you cut it off so you could play on a championship team? Ride on the Space Shuttle? A million dollars?

The problem with all that is there isn’t much of a market for used pinkie fingers. But shouldn’t there be something in our life that is so precious to us, something that we are so passionate about, that given the choice we would without hesitation say, “Cut it off.”

Maybe all this is simply fodder for a future sermon on Matthew 18:8, “If your hand or foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away.” Still the question haunts me.

Perhaps it is better phrased without an appendage. What would you give up a new car for? What would you swallow a hurtful word for? What would you give up a promotion for? What would you eat a little humble pie for? You get the picture.

I pray for all of us a calling so captivating that in that moment when it is threatened we quickly and without a smidgeon of regret say, “Cut it off, it’s just a pinkie.”

A couple folks have asked me why I haven’t posted anything for a few days. The answer would seem obvious; I have been actually living the humorous, yet profoundly spiritual life that is reflected in this blog and haven’t had time to record any of it.

Just teasing. The true reason has nothing to do with a full life or a busy schedule. I just haven’t felt as if I had anything interesting to say.

My focus for the last little while has been on Charge Conference forms and going to my physical therapist. Not much you can do with “Give us the names and addresses of all the members of the Staff Parish Relations Committee” and “Do twenty of these with a three pound weight.”

We have been spending a lot of time looking at the ultra sound pictures of our next two grandchildren. That is pretty cool, especially since they both look healthy. Our daughter, Cammie, did notice that both the babies presently look a lot alike. She wonders if they might be identical cousins. If they are, it makes me wonder which one will lose control when he or she is around a hot dog. (A Patty Duke Show reference for those of you younger than fifty)

Still on the ultra sound pictures, it seems as if Little Steed is a boy. After two daughters and a granddaughter, I am not sure what to think about a boy coming into the family. I guess we will muddle through. Muddling seems to have worked with the girls.

That’s about it. No Cyclops or sirens lately on this odyssey through life. Just sailing to the next adventure, making my way home.

This political season has had an unexpected effect on me. In the midst of all the calls for change, leadership, experience, hope, security, good times, and trust, I decided that I am through with partisan politics. I now declare myself a free agent, truly independent, unaffiliated. This is something new for me.

I have always been in a camp. I started my journey into political awareness solidly in the Kennedy camp. As a third grader the magic of Camelot captured me and “ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country” was tattooed on my soul. That sweaty lipped Nixon was no good and I remember the joy I felt when my mother showed me the headlines proclaiming the Kennedy victory. I was a Democrat, no doubt about it.

Ten short years later, I had totally reversed field. (I can do that. I am not running for president.) I am certain that I am the last person in America who acknowledged that that President Nixon may not have been totally forthcoming with us about that little break-in thing. I mean he was the president. He said he wasn’t lying, he said he wasn’t a crook. What’s not to believe?

Since then I have pretty much been in a camp. I sometimes told myself that I was independent but year after year, election after election; it was always pretty much the same party. There was a definite “us” and a definite “them.”

No more. I am done with it as far as being a party guy.

I’m not mad at anybody. It’s just that I am through lining up behind any party. As holy and cliché as it sounds, I am going to try to live as a citizen of a higher kingdom. I think that is more important than the cause of the right or the left.

Blogger David Waters was quoted in the September 23 Christian Century saying the essence of what I am getting at.
“Once a religious leader identifies with a particular political party or candidate (see Jesse Jackson and Pat Robertson), he loses all credibility as a religious leader. . . Maybe all religious leaders should be registered independents.”

This doesn’t mean that I am through voting. I certainly intend to vote on every thing I get a chance to. It doesn’t mean that I am through keeping up with the issues. And, it doesn’t mean that I won’t fire off an occasional letter to a senator or congressman.

Since politics and government actions have an effect on real life, I don’t see how we can ignore them and act as if all we are called to do is take care of “church business.” If John Wesley was on to something when he said “the world is my parish,” then things like war, famine, embargos, epidemics, genocide, freedom, and justice are fair topics for one called to preach the good news.

But, no more endorsing. I am a free agent, independent, unaffiliated.