It’s that time of the year… lists, reflections, and reviews are in order! So, here’s the Top 11 Posts of 2011 from my blog.
Thanks to the nearly 150,000 of you who have visited my blog this year. I’m grateful for the opportunity to use this space as a platform to share ideas that matter, and to help churches and church leaders communicate and lead more effectively. If you’re reading this, know I’m thankful for you and for the opportunity to share with you. Thank you. Seriously.
We live in a culture that rushes to label things.
We’re obsessed with labeling and categorizing.
Throughout the course of our lives, labels are used to define who we are and what we do.
There are labels of our heritage… our ethnicity, country of origin, or people groups our family members descended from.
There are labels that come from our family… we can be brothers, sisters, wives, husbands, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandmothers and grandfathers.
There are labels that define who we are as individuals… our gender, sexuality, where we end to college, the sports teams we love, the social circles we associate with, the products that we purchase, the causes we passionately support.
There are labels that define our work… our field of study, our profession, our job titles, our ministry roles.
And there are other labels that we don’t like so much… the dark, sometimes unnamed parts of our stories. Our painful pasts, struggles and addictions. Failures. Broken relationships. Those kinds of labels are sometimes the worst. Some of those labels were projected upon us by others, and some labels we chose to place upon ourselves.
I am Tim.
I’m also male. I’m a son. I’m adopted. My biological father is Mexican. My mother is of European descent. I usually check the box marked ‘Hispanic.’ I am a brother. I have been blessed to be called an uncle. I’m a Peorian. I’ve been the “chubby kid” from as far back as I can remember. I am a Christian, although I prefer to say “Christ-follower.” I am a church communications guy. I’m single. I’m a co-worker. Someone mistakenly called me “pastor” once. I’m a consultant. I’m a blogger. I’m an Apple fanatic. I’m a coffee snob. I’m also pretty selfish. I try earnestly to not be prideful.
There are many labels that could define me, and there are many labels that could define you, too.
Personally, I don’t like labels. Whether they are personal, professional, or even spiritual.
Sure, they make life a bit easier and make things easier to identify. But all too often we rush to label things. Worse yet, we label people, and many times the labels we project onto others can be inaccurate. They can cause us to miss seeing the person or hearing the story behind the label. Labels oftentimes cover up what they are stuck to and we can miss what’s really there.
Throughout the course of our lives there will be many labels that we will bear.
What we are labeled isn’t who we are, though.
Our identity isn’t in the labels.
I’m more than a son, friend, church communicator, sometimes prideful guy who happens to be a caffeine addict.
You are more than your past. You are more than what you do. You are more than the labels others have used to define you or even the labels that you’ve thrust upon yourself. Your identity doesn’t rest in what you’ve done, the titles you’ve earned, where you’ve come from, or where you are going.
Christ sees beyond the labels and sees us as who we truly are: children of God.
One of my favorite authors of all-time is Henri Nouwen. He wrote a lot about our identity as believers and once said:
“Your true identity is as a child of God. This is the identity you have to accept. Once you have claimed it and settled in it, you can live in a world that gives you much joy as well as pain. You can receive the praise as well as the blame that comes to you as an opportunity for strengthening your basic identity, because the identity that makes you free is anchored beyond all human praise and blame. You belong to God, and it is as a child of God that you are sent into the world.”
Once we choose to follow Christ, we are no longer living under the identity of our labels but live in the reality of who we truly are. While society and culture may try to label or define otherwise, who we are is nothing more than children of God.
So while there may be many labels that are used to define who I am or who you are, our true identity rests in the fact that we are all unworthy sinners who have received God’s amazing grace. We have the humbling privilege of being children of God.
Our identity isn’t in our labels but in Christ.
It’s an identity that can’t be stolen or taken away from us. It’s secure.
That’s good news… for all of us.
And, it’s a challenge as we go about life and ministry to not rush and to label others. Peel back the layers. Strip away the labels. Hear someone’s story. Share yours.
Rejoice in the fact that we are all in Christ. We’re His children. Who we are rests in who He is.
I’m Tim. I’m a child of God.
Who are you?
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I wrote this post prior to hearing about People of the Second Chance’s #LabelsLie Campaign. It’s fantastic and goes right along with what I’ve shared above. Check it out.
About a week ago I tweeted:
It’s pretty self-explanatory and I don’t want to belabor the point, but in the spirit of Thanksgiving I thought I’d take a minute to quickly encourage all of you who currently serve in ministry on a church staff to take a minute to pause and be thankful.
Ministry is tough work. After serving on church teams for over 10 years, I know that being in ministry is some of the most fulfilling and draining work at the same time. Serving on a church leadership team is both an incredible opportunity and sometimes a burden. You can witness all sides of church life: good, bad, and ugly. You can see the influence of “church politics” and wince at how leaders can be swayed by people’s opinions. And, at the same time, you can rejoice over life transformation. You can see the work of God, despite yourself and the behind-the-scenes things that go in church office life. You can see marriages and lives restored, can see hope instilled into hopeless situations and see the redeeming work of Christ at work in people’s lives.
Ministry is a roller-coaster and isn’t for the faint of heart.
I want to encourage you that wherever you may find yourself today… whether riding the highs and experiencing joy where you are serving, or if you are in a hard, low place…. to pause be thankful for the work you are doing. You get the incredible opportunity to be used by God to impact and shape the ministry that happens in your church. You, directly or indirectly, get to touch and impact people’s lives through the work you do. You get to partner with God in His work. What you are doing is an honor, a privilege, and something we all need to be reminded to be thankful for.
Although I’m no longer on a church staff team, I can say without reservation that the 10 years I was on staff at a church were some of the most fulfilling and wonderful seasons of my life. I’m thankful for the opportunity I continue to have to serve churches through my work with Church Solutions Group and the Center for Church Communication, and I’m thankful for the individuals and churches I have been able to serve this last year as I’ve transitioned into parachurch work.
So, to those who are still in the trenches, be encouraged. What you are doing matters. God has you where you are right now doing the work that you are doing for a reason. You are placed where God has you for a divine purpose. Whether you are thriving or barely making it, know that God has placed you where you.
God has great things He wants to do in and through you.
What you do matters.
Where you are matters.
Be thankful for the opportunity you have to be serving the church that you do.
Be thankful for the community of people that God has entrusted to your care.
Be thankful for what you’ve been given… for what you have [and for what you don't have].
Be thankful for the chance to spend your life in service to others and in service to God.
Be thankful for the grace God has afforded you to serve and do what you do… despite yourself, your brokenness and your past.
Be thankful that you can be a part of God’s redeeming work in the life of your community.
Be thankful and know that we are all so thankful for the work you do.
I recently shared a note to young leaders saying that we don’t know it all. I also highlighted the fact that we are in desperate need of ‘seasoned’ leaders to come alongside of us… so here’s my encouragement to leaders:
We [Millennials] Live in a New World
The landscape of our world, for better or worse, has changed dramatically in the time that Millennials have grown up.
Our world is not the same.
Many of the trusted institutions [government, religion and family] have failed us and young leaders have been left disillusioned and uncertain of the role they can play in creating a better world.
Relationships and connection matter deeply to us, and our relationships are both vital and sometimes virtual. We grew up in broken families and many of us have lacked a significant relationship with an adult who has taken the time to care for us. Our “friends” may be people we’ve known since childhood or people we’ve never even met in person who live on the other side of the globe.
Many of us love Jesus but have a so-so relationship with the Church. We value faith and relationship with Christ but there’s a disconnect from the church we read about in the pages of the Bible and the ones we see in our world today. We don’t like church as an organization or the systematized way it seems so many churches spew our disciples. We crave authentic, organic Christian community. Programs don’t work for us. Relationships do.
We are passionate and provoked. We want to be a part of something that is larger than ourselves. We want our lives and our work to matter. We want to do more than work a 9-5 and happily retire. We want to think up new ideas, create new things, and take advantage of the opportunities in front of us to make our world a better place. We take Jesus’ words seriously about loving God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength and to love our neighbor, whether they are next door or on the other side of the world, as ourselves.
We’ve already done some pretty remarkable things. We’ve put feet to our faith and gone into the world to create new things and do remarkable good… and most importantly, to advance the Kingdom of God. And, we know there’s much more inside of us that God wants to call out of us.
We have the right ingredients to do great things but sometimes may lack a solid foundation to build upon. The truth is…
…we need you.
We need your godly example and wisdom to help us navigate how to live for Christ in a world that is moving further away from Him. We need your counsel as we follow the journey Christ has set before us. We need your insight as we make crucial decisions that will shape our future. We need your correction need your input as we pursue our callings. We need you to speak into our lives. We need you to help us as we move forward. We need you to share the dark sides of your story and to speak to us from the painful parts of your past. We need you to embrace us. We need you to be spiritual mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters, in the family of God. We need you to model for us what faithfulness looks like in the context of your relationship with God and with others. We need you to show us what we can’t see and help us give words and meaning to the things we can’t express. We need you to be authentic and genuine, we value transparency. We need you to be graceful as we bump against the guard rails and sometimes let our unbridled passion to make a difference get in front of us. We need you to hold us accountable and to help us hold the course on commitments we’ve made. We need you to pray for us. We need you to share what you’ve learned the hard way so we don’t make the same mistakes. We need you to help us see a better picture of what we could become. We need you to help us make sense of what we don’t understand. We need you to listen as we ask hard questions. We need you help us wrestle with our doubt and uncertainty. We need your words of affirmation and encouragement. We need you to trust us. We need you to believe in us. We need you to be there for us. We need you to be our mentors, spiritual directors, guides, and sages. We need you to pour into us as we pour out our lives for others. We have a big job ahead of us and need all of the help that we can get.
We know we can be a bit of a challenge…
We know that it can be intimidating for you when young bucks like us show up on the scene. We know that it could be easy for you to get insecure or uncertain of having us around the table in conversations. We know that you could sometimes feel threatened about how quickly we can adapt and roll with the changing culture we live in. We understand that you care deeply about the work you’ve done and please know we have no intentions of undermining it or devaluing the important work you’ve done. We sometimes can get lost in our passion and cry out for change, but we care because we know that change matters. Don’t let the scare you. We just want to help build upon what you’ve already done and, together, do even greater things. We know you were ‘young like us’ once, and truthfully, we just want to rub shoulders with you so we can learn. We believe there’s more you have to offer and more you have to give. We recognize and honor the work you’ve done, even though we might not always clearly articulate it. The truth is…
…we need each other.
This whole thing is really a two-way street.
There’s a lot we know you have to give and there’s certainly a lot we have to learn. But, there’s also a lot we could teach you, too. Technology, the language of our culture, the speed of change… these are all things we understand because it’s the world we’ve always known. As you help us we can help you. Imagine what we could do together. There’s a lot we could learn from each other and I guarantee if you give us a chance you’ll see. We need you. You need us. The work we are doing matters too much for us to be separated and segregated. We need the wisdom of those who have gone before along with the passion of emerging leaders to collectively move the church and the work God has called us to do forward.
This isn’t “us vs you,” this is all of us in front of the great task God has called for each one of us to fulfill: to go into this world and make disciples.
We should start by investing in one another… imagine what God could do.
We need each other.
And speaking on behalf of all young leaders, let me say that we need you.
Tim Schraeder is passionately committed to helping churches communicate the timeless message of the Gospel in a way that's relevant to our ever-changing culture. Read More >>
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