Grasping the Newness

For Reflection Roundup each week, we gather news stories, notable pieces, and other important items for Christian leaders today. As always, listening broadly draws together differing perspectives from which we can learn but may not concur. Here are 10 things worth sharing this week.

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We can retain the spirit of newness as we face off against burdens and pains, choosing a fresh perspective of hope and promise.

1. On his own blog, Carey Nieuwhof hosts guest writer John Mark Comer, who writes “What Do You Do With Your Wounds, Pastor?” In this honest post, Comer names feelings difficult to articulate, soul-cries we pastors often don’t permit ourselves to express for fear that they might be true. In this piece, Comer serves the reader well by unpacking what’s really happening when a pastoral leader responds to an attack, often from the same folk who have shown support. Comer explores several possibilities for what’s likely going on within those who behave so dualistically, then offers suggestions for the pastor – suggestions that don’t involve further attempts to make sense of it all. Rather, Comer reminds us of practical ways we must permit ourselves to rely on Christian community and powers, such as prayer, that extend beyond our own strength. This one’s worth bookmarking or even tacking up near the bathroom mirror.

2. The Siburt Institute for Church Ministry is calling for responses to their 2022 Ministers’ Salary Survey. Please take fewer than 15 minutes to share information about your paid ministry position, knowing that individual responses contribute to the reported averages each year, and that identities are securely protected. While you’re there, take a minute to peruse the results from the last five years as well, knowing your contribution makes this baseline report possible.

3. Mark Hamilton generously shares “Preaching in the Dark Without Forgetting the Light,” the first in a four-part series published right here on Mosaic. Herein, Hamilton explores the roles of light and darkness in Pauline theology with a specific eye for ways in which individual preachers may share a clear and intentional message with their hearers.

4. “What kind of life would you lead if your view of God and His world were not the result of being defined by your circumstances or inadequacy, but centered in His sufficiency, His goodness, His abundance?” The Veritas Life Center poses this question in a post worth revisiting on the topic of God’s generosity exhibited in the coming and life of Christ. What if we truly embraced the truth of a “life without lack?” Throughout the links within this post, along with excerpts from Dallas Willard’s 2019 book of the same title, Willard reminds us that the fullness of God is available to all at all times. This post also contains a video from the good folks at The Bible Project on the same topic. If unfamiliar with their work, check out the complete offerings on their website.

5. Christianity Today offers “Why Latino Christians Treasure January 6,” a piece compiled by Morgan Lee, which includes seven Latino Christians’ reflections on el Día de los Reyes (Three Kings Day). Their words are meaningful to read, as they chronicle different life experiences yet prove equally reflective of the humility and servitude through which Christ brought a new perspective on kingship to the world. With the first anniversary of the capitol insurrection passing last week, ironically on the same date as the celebration of Christ’s upside-down presentation of power before the politics of his day, may we continue to remember and celebrate the power of harnessed strength and reliance on God’s faithfulness.

6. Taking the anniversary of the January 2021 insurrection further, Russell Moore writes, “If Jesus is the one who saves, then we must go his direction—and that’s toward mission, not resentment, toward gospel and not rage” for Christianity Today in “The Capitol Attack Signaled a Post-Christian Church, Not Merely a Post-Christian Culture.” Herein, Moore expounds unabashedly on what evangelical has come to mean politically and the harsh hits the Christian witness has taken as a result. Let this season of a fresh new year be a reminder that the gospel message is for all without regard to power or persons. The ground where it is received – the foot of the cross – is level.

7. For Religion News Service, Eboo Patel writes “The journey from the Jan. 6 insurrection to Martin Luther King Day.” Patel asserts, “Redeeming the nation is a sacred project. It was an ethic that found its highest expression in the words and example of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.” The plain fact of humanity is that each of us embodies the best and the worst of all of us, and sometimes the line dividing strength from shadow can be quite thin. Patel’s piece celebrates the contributions a marginalized group has chosen to make because of a higher commitment than that of democracy, from which we all continue to benefit and toward which we all must remain focused.

8. Who are the people in your church community who really know what’s happening in the larger sphere of the locality? In a pertinent piece for Faith & Leadership, Victoria Atkinson White offers “Your grant writing needs the expert next door.” White proposes that we can look around within our communities of connection and find we truly do have everything we need. It’s almost as if the Lord is testing us on this, proving God’s faithfulness over and over and over and over.

9. Joseph Gulfo describes “The Quintessential Qualities of an Expert: Judgment and Adaptability,” two attributes that might not immediately come to mind but make a lot of sense when considering scenarios as Gulfo does. Often, we persist in endeavors that really aren’t working. Alongside knowledge and experience, Gulfo encourages knowing when it’s time to make a judgment call and adapt accordingly. Knowing when it’s time to go off-script or, quoting Kenny Rogers, “when it’s time to hold ‘em, and when it’s time to fold ‘em.” This type of instinct can play on our fears and feel like failure, when wisdom is actually functioning to the long-term benefit of our circumstances.

10. Remember what it takes to be an expert.