Saturday, August 18, 2007

Will Private Firms Pave Bridge to Infrastructure Future?

The collapse of the I35 bridge in Minnesota seems to have gotten Americans' paying attention to the country's infrastructure needs. But, according to this article on CNN money, tapped-out federal, state, and local governments face $495-billion price tage just to fix the country's bridges. To repair rail lines and ports, the same article suggests, may cost $1.6-trillion!

Given the need and the cash-strapped status of government agencies, some are suggesting contracting with private firms to do the repair work and run our highways:
America, the land of the free, has been more hostile to free-market infrastructure than the rest of the world. In Europe, Australia, Canada and emerging markets such as Brazil, the private sector has jumped in to build new roads, bridges, tunnels and airports.

Private groups usually make an upfront payment, manage the assets and get toll revenue under leases that span 75 years or more.

In the U.S., the federal government provides much funding for repairs and new projects. When Uncle Sam is tapped out, state and local governments turn to the bond market.

With government debt soaring, though, public interest groups have pushed another option -- gas-tax hikes. Critics charge privately run toll roads could gouge consumers.

Political battles lay ahead, but supporters of private funding say more deals will be struck.

Intriguing.

Back in the 1800s, Henry Clay's Whig Party advocated "internal improvements," by which they meant the construction of roads, canals, and railroad, what we call infrastructure. While Clay never became President and the Whigs died, only to morph into the Republican Party, the development and maintenance of infrastructure has been seen as a function of the government for the past two-plus centuries. (The young Illinois Whig politician, Abraham Lincoln, later the first Republican President, always ran on a platform that included "internal improvements" as a key plank.)

While Republicans, the party most closely associated with the market-driven economy, have sometimes resisted "big government" programs such as those initiated by Democratic Presidents like Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson, they have seldom objected to government outlays for infrastructure. It was a Republican President, Dwight Eisenhower, for example, who initiated the Interstate Highway System.

There's an argument to be made that in the initation of new services or technologies--from postal delivery to space exploration and infrastructure, the government has a unique responsibility. But, this argument continues, after establishing the feasibility of such projects, the government may be ill-suited to bring vast improvements or cost effectiveness to them.

Some form of private-public partnership may be the wave of the future when it comes to America's infrastructure. It is ironic that Europe, far more comfortable with big government policies, has gotten free enterprise so extensively involved in the construction and operation of highways, bridges, airports, and ports, while America's infrastructure is almost exclusively the purview of government entities.

As long as the memory of the I-35 tragedy remains in people's minds, the discussion of infrastructure needs and how to meet them will likely increase in the future. (So too will some of the widely-questioned strategies and decisions of the Army Corps of Engineers when it comes to New Orleans, the Gulf Coast, and the Mississippi River.)

Thursday, August 16, 2007

So Sad

Please pray for the comfort, encouragement, and well being of the survivors.

An Important Event Coming in the Cincinnati Area


[Click on image to enlarge]

Watch What God Does!

[For the past eleven years, I've written a column that appears in the Community Press newspapers in Clermont County. This piece is the column version of this blog post.]

Four months ago, the lay leadership of Friendship Lutheran Church and I, watched as a combination of alarming trends threatened not just our church's capacity to do ministry, but its very existence.

One factor was complacency. After a twelve year struggle to get into a building, it was only natural for us to take a deep breath when we finally moved into a new facility nearly four years ago. But we seemed to slip into relax mode.

The first result of our complacency was decreasing and sporadic worship attendance.

That, in turn, resulted in lowered and sporadic offerings.

That threatened our ability to do the ministries of community service for which Friendship is probably best known.

It also threatened to make it hard for us to keep up with our church mortgage payments.

It would have been easy for our leaders to wring their hands and do Chicken Little impressions.

But these are people of faith, people who believe that they belong to the God of all creation. They really believe that with God, all things are possible (Matthew 19:26). So, our leaders challenged us in four ways.

First, they asked that the congregation daily prayer for the well-being of the church.

They asked that our members make regular worship attendance a priority, cancelling the summer slump.

They challenged members to invite their non-churchgoing friends to activities of the congregation.

Finally, we were asked to increase our giving, considering the tithe, the Biblically-honored practice of giving the first 10% of one's income to God's causes in the world.

The result?

We've seen remarkable answers to our prayers. Ever since this focused praying began, we have seen first-time worship visitors every single Sunday, unprecedented in Friendship's history. Many of those folks have returned for second visits.

In addition, our attendance has increased, something churches rarely see in the summer months.

So too has our giving. Offerings in the months of May, June, and July wiped out the operating deficit that accrued in January through April. We still need to be diligent in our giving. But progress has been made.

Why has this happened? In 538 BC, the Babylonian king, Cyrus, allowed God’s people, the Jews, who had been slaves in Babylong for more than forty years, to return to Jerusalem and begin rebuilding the temple. It was an exciting time!

But the returnees soon became discouraged, intimidated by the enormity of the obstacles they faced.

They also were comfortable in their new homes in the Judean homeland.

Complacency and fear caused them to completely stop working on the temple.

This was unacceptable to the prophet Haggai. Prompted by God, he told the governor, the high priest, and the people to take heart, to rely on God, and to get to work rebuilding the temple (Haggai 2:1-9).

Soon, praying and working for God's cause, the temple was rebuilt.

The God Who helped ancient Israel is still in the business of helping those who trust in Him. We've seen that in our congregation.

And how about you in your personal life? Are you fearful or self-satisfied, afraid to tackle the next mountain God asks you to climb? Prayerfully rely on God and then work, knowing that God is with you. And as you pray and work, don't be afraid, knowing that God is with you.

Then, watch what God does!

[Mark Daniels is the pastor of Friendship Lutheran Church.]

Got a Mountain? Enlist God's Help and Climb!

Four months ago, the lay leadership of Friendship Lutheran Church and I, watched as a combination of alarming trends threatened not just our church's capacity to do ministry, but its very existence.

One factor was complacency. Complacency seemed to set in after we started worshiping in a new building nearly four years ago. After twelve-and-a-half years in an elementary school gymnasium and the prayer and struggle that had gone into getting into a building, it was only natural for us to take a deep breath. But we seemed to do more than that, slipping into relax mode. We took our building and one another for granted. We forgot that every church and every Christian is called to reach out to others with the Good News of life changed eternally good through Christ's death and resurrection.

The first result of our complacency was decreasing and sporadic worship attendance.

That, in turn, resulted in lowered and sporadic offerings.

That threatened our ability to do the ministries of community service for which Friendship is probably best known--our involvement with the Boys and Girls Clubs of Clermont County, CASA for Clermont Kids!, Habitat for Humanity, and so on.

It also threatened to make it impossible for us to keep up with our church mortgage payments.

It would have been easy for our leaders to wring their hands and do Chicken Little impressions.

But these are people of faith, people who believe that they belong to the God of all creation.

They also know well the history of our congregation. From the beginning, even officials of our own denomination thought it would be impossible for a Lutheran church to take off here in Clermont County. When, back in July, 1990, I asked a denominational official for his advice on whether I should take the call to start Friendship, he betrayed this pessimistic assessment when he said, "Well, even if it goes belly up, it won't hurt your career."

I didn't care about my career. I cared about letting people know how much God loved them.

That same passion motivated our leadership to challenge the people of Friendship in four ways.

They asked that, first, that the congregation daily prayer for the health and well-being of the church.

Second, they asked that our members make regular worship attendance a priority, even in the summer months when all Christians seem to want to "take a vacation from church."

They challenged members to invite their non-churchgoing friends to activities of the congregation.

And finally, members were asked to increase their giving, considering the tithe, the Biblically-honored practice of giving the first 10% of one's income to God's causes in the world.

The result?

We've seen remarkable answers to our prayers. (And not just our own. Starting in June, I enlisted prayer help from thousands of people, including the prayer team at our Evangelical Lutheran Church in America headquarters in Chicago; subscribers to ShoutLife, a sort of Christian MySpace; and the prayer groups of several other churches.) Ever since all this praying began, we have seen first-time worship visitors every single Sunday, unprecedented in Friendship's history. Many of those folks have returned for second visits.

In addition, our attendance has increased, something churches rarely see in the summer months.

So too has our giving. Offerings in the months of May, June, and July wiped out the operating deficit that accrued in January through April.

Why has this happened? In 586 BC, the Babylonian army swept into Israel, the homeland of God's chosen people, the ancient Jews, destroying the temple, God's house, in Jerusalem. Many Israelites were sent to Babylon, where they lived as slaves to their conquerors and where they wondered if their God was still Lord of the universe. In 538 BC, the Babylonian king, Cyrus, allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem and begin rebuilding the temple.

But the returnees soon became discouraged. They were also intimidated by the enormity of the obstacles they faced. They also were comfortable in their new homes in the Judean homeland. Complacency and fear caused them to completely stop working on the temple.

This was unacceptable to the prophet Haggai. Prompted by God, he asked the people, "Is it a time for you yourselves to live in your paneled houses, while this house [God's temple] lies in ruins?" (Haggai 1:4).

He also shared God's counsel for the governor, Zarubbabel, the high priest, Jehozadak, and all the people:
Yet now take courage, O Zerubbabel, says the Lord; take courage, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest; take courage, all you people of the land, says the Lord; work, for I am with you, says the Lord of hosts, according to the promise that I made you when you came out of Egypt. My spirit abides among you; do not fear." (Haggai 2:4-5)
Soon, praying and working for God's cause, the temple was rebuilt.

The God Who helped ancient Israel is still in the business of helping those who trust in Him. We've seen that in our congregation.

And how about you in your personal life? Are you fearful or self-satisfied, afraid to tackle the next mountain God asks you to climb? This happens to all of us.

But the cure is always the same: Prayerfully rely on God and then work, knowing that God is with you and as you pray and work, don't be afraid, knowing that God is with you.

Then, watch what God does!

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Preachers and Politics

[I write a column for the Community Press newspapers. This is the column version of this post.]

A new book recounts incidents from evangelist Billy Graham's experience as pastor to U.S. Presidents and their families.

The book reveals that Graham has done more than provide spiritual counsel to the eleven presidents he's known. He's offered political and policy counsel.

When the depths of Richard Nixon's unethical conduct came out, Graham was shocked into a new stance toward politics and politicians. Graham resolved to always provide pastoral counsel and care to those White House families who sought him out, but not to be a policy advisor or presidential cheerleader. "We [preachers] have to stand in the middle," Graham declared in 1981, "to preach to all the people, right and left."

Like Billy Graham, I'm a political junkie. Three years ago, in what I think was a mistake for me as a pastor, I ran for the State House of Representatives myself. I'm glad that I lost. Had I been elected, I might have forfeited my ability to reach out "to all the people, right and left..."

I encourage Christians to be involved in the political process. But it's almost never the job of a pastor or of the Church to express political opinions. I don't know what God thinks about the War in Iraq, immigration reform, or health care. I don't know any preacher who does.

A big part of my job as a preacher is to echo Jesus' call, recorded in the New Testament book of Mark, "Repent, and believe in the good news" (Mark 1:15). Jesus summarized that Good News in His famous words to Nicodemus, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life" (John 3:16).

If I mix my political preferences in with my proclamation about Jesus, it confuses people about the true content of God's message for us and, most dangerously, may unnecessarily alienate some people from Christ. Jesus' call for human beings to admit that God is bigger than them and to then surrender to God alienates some people anyway. The preacher who adds a political requirement to having a relationship with God changes the Good News and becomes no better than a peddler of cults.

Graham's example suggests that preachers should stick to preaching the Good News. It also suggests that preachers pastorally befriend politicians.

I try to do that. A few months ago, I had lunch with a Clermont County pol who has become a friend. Before we ate, I prayed. I thanked God for our food and our time together and then I asked God to bless and guide my friend in his important work. After we'd said, "Amen," I saw him dabbing his eyes. "I just can't get used to it," he said. "I'm always so moved and humbled when people pray for me. Thank you."

Praying for politicians of both parties is one of the best things anyone can do. After all, politicians are people too. Through prayer, preachers and others can ask God to offer leaders His counsel. And they need God's counsel far more than they need ours!

Preachers and Politics: Billy Graham as a Case Study

A recent issue of TIME magazine excerpts a book that looks at evangelist Billy Graham's relationships with eleven US Presidents--from Harry Truman to George W. Bush.

But it does more than recount incidents from Graham's experience as presidential pastor.

Senator and former First Lady Hillary Clinton, one of the collection of one-time White House occupants who Graham knows best, told the authors that Graham is also a "political junkie." "He loved elections because he knew that you had to tell a story, you had to connect with people--all the things we talk about in politics," she says.

The President to whom Graham, a lifelong registered Democrat, was personally closest was Lyndon Johnson. As Graham recounts in his autobiography, his counsel often went way beyond the spiritual. Graham offered LBJ advice on the President's War on Poverty program and in fact, seriously weighed an offer to leave his evangelistic ministry to become Johnson's anti-poverty czar.

Graham is probably most well-known for his relationship with Richard Nixon, to whom he imparted advice and to whom he sometimes gave a prominent place at his crusades.

"But," Gibbs and Duffy write, "on the heels of Graham's crushing experience with the Nixon Administration, the evangelist recalibrated his relationship with the White House and kept his distance."

As some evangelical Christians started what became known as the Moral Majority or the Religious Right, Graham said:
Evangelicals can't be closely identified with any particular party or person. We have to stand in the middle, to preach to all the people, right and left. I haven't been faithful to my own advice in the past. I will in the future.
I identify with Billy Graham. I'm a political junkie and I've likened the excitement I feel on election nights to what I felt as a kid on Christmas Eve. I was a Social Studies major and to this day, I love reading biographies and histories recounting the political leadership and maneuvering of pols. I keep up with current events. In a former life, I ran a congressional campaign and worked for the State House of Representatives in Columbus.

Three years ago, I made what I recently have described as one of my biggest mistakes as a pastor. Concerned about public school funding in Ohio, I ran for the State House of Representatives myself. The congregation I serve as pastor was okay with my making the bid. I'm sure that I could have juggled my schedule to have continued full time as a pastor and still served in the House.

But, in all honesty, I'm glad that I finished fourth in a five-way primary contest. Had I been elected, I might well have forfeited my ability to fulfill my call as a preacher of Jesus Christ's Gospel. As Graham puts it, we preachers are to reach out "to all the people, right and left." And everywhere else on the political spectrum.

I encourage Christians to be involved in the political process. To inform themselves about issues and candidates. To pray about what's right. To get involved in political campaigns. To vote.

But it's almost never the job of a pastor or of the Church as an institution to express a political preference.

What does God think about the War in Iraq? Or immigration reform? Or US terrorism policy? Or capital gains taxes? I don't know for sure and I don't know anyone else who does.

My job as a preacher is to invite people to turn from sin and follow Jesus. If I mix my political preferences in with my proclamation, it confuses people about the true content of God's message for us and, most dangerously, may unnecessarily alienate some people from Christ. Preachers who do politics make people feel excluded from Christ.

Some people will feel alienated from Christ and His Gospel anyway. The Gospel we preachers share isn't all happy talk. "When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die," Lutheran theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote. The "old Adam" and the "old Eve," our inborn sinful selves whose prime impulse is to look out for ourselves, others be damned, must die.

A big part of following Jesus thus entails living in what Martin Luther called "daily repentance and renewal," bringing the old self and our sins to God, asking for cleansing, and the power to live this day in love for God and love for others.

All of this entails surrender, something that any audience a preacher might address will find difficult to swallow anyway. The preacher who then adds things to her or his proclamation, things like, "Oh yeah, to be right with God, you also have to vote this way or support this candidate," is adding an unnecessary obstacle to people having a relationship with God. They're diluting and changing the Gospel message they were called to proclaim. In that sense, they become no better than your friendly neighborhood peddler of cults.

Preachers should not, except in the most extreme circumstances, express political preferences. We have bigger fish to catch. Our focus should be to act as mouthpieces for Jesus' call that we die to sin, so that we can rise to live with God forever.

But there will be times when, in the political realm, the conflict between complete evil and good is so clear that a preacher will have to speak out. That was what happened to Bonhoeffer in Nazi Germany. Adolf Hitler's hatred was so obvious, so contrary to Christ's Gospel of love, that it was clear that every Christian preacher and leader should oppose it.

Few found the courage to do so. Bonhoeffer did. He joined a plot to overthrow Hitler and in the waning days of World War Two, after an extensive period of imprisonment, was executed.

Only those of the most extreme politics would suggest that we have faced a Hitler in US politics in recent years. I remember hearing a "Christian preacher" during the 1996 election cycle, saying that if Bill Clinton were re-elected to the presidency, it would be the last free election we ever had in America. We've had several since.

And today, people concerned about the expansive interpretation of executive power followed by the Bush Administration, compare the current president to Hitler. But it appears that our elective process is continuing to unfold and that, if the polls are credible, the 2008 presidential election race is the Democrats to lose.

Christians in this country and people in the country at large don't need to hear about the political preferences of preachers. Inquiring minds could care less.

What they really need to know from us is..
that God is for them when life doesn't make sense,
that God wants to help them make the most of their lives,
that God can forgive the sins that cause them shame, and
that they can be made new.
They need to know that God wants to be with them now and forever.

Like Graham, I haven't always followed my own advice, although I've never expressed a political opinion from the pulpit. (Not that I know of, anyway.)

But that won't prevent me from befriending politicians, either. Whether the general public knows it or not, politicians are people too.

There's one local pol with whom I have regular contact. A few months ago, we had lunch together. I asked him if he'd like to pray before we dug into our Chipotle burritos. He said yes. I thanked God for our food and our time together and then I asked God to bless and guide my friend in his important work.

After we'd said, "Amen," I looked across the table and saw that his eyes glistened with tears. As he dabbed his eyes with his napkin he said, "I just can't get used to it. I'm always so moved and humbled when people pray for me. Thank you."

And when all is said and done, praying for politicians of both parties is one of the best things we can do for them, for our flocks, for our country, and for the world. Through prayer, we can ask God to go to leaders and counsel them. As the great Frank Laubach wrote years ago, "We can do more for the world with prayer than if we were to walk into Whitehall, London, or the Kremlin in Moscow, and tell those men [sic] what to do---far more! If they listened to our suggestions, we would probably be more or less wrong [emphasis mine]. But what God tells them, when they listen to Him, must be right. It is infinitely better for world leaders to listen to God than for them to listen to us."

Preachers would do well to emulate the course that has been Billy Graham's since the humiliation he experienced on learning that Richard Nixon, the President he most publicly embraced, had been so decidedly un-Christian in the conduct of his presidency. He's befriended pols and he's prayed for them. But he's decoded to act only as their pastor and preacher, not their counselor, confidante, or advocate.

Gibbs and Duffy conclude their TIME magazine excerpt:
Graham recalled these [presidential] friendships with the humility that comes with experience. "As I look back, I feel even more unqualified--to think I sat there and talked to the President of the United States," he said. "I can only explain that God was planning it in some ways, but I didn't understand it." He doesn't expect to make it back to the White House anytime soon, but he watches out for its occupant the best way he knows how. He does daily devotions, and whoever sits in the Oval Office will always have a place in his prayers.
[Also see here.]

[THANKS TO: Article 6 Blog for linking to this post. Written by John Schroeder, also of Blogotional, the piece also takes a prominent fundamentalist theologian to task for his views on these matters.]

Sunday, August 12, 2007

The Overlooked 'Only Love Remains'...

(a truly beautiful and interesting ballad...I love the bridge) and a short presentation of 'A Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On.'

'Lonely Road'

One of my all time favorite Macca rockers, Lonely Road, for your Sunday night entertainment.

Happy with Work (Christians and Work, Part 2)

[This message was shared during the worship celebration of Friendship Lutheran Church, Amelia, Ohio, on August 12, 2007. If you live in or are visiting the Cincinnati area, feel free to worship with us on an upcoming Sunday morning. Worship celebrations start at 10:00AM.]

Psalm 139:13-18
Titus 3:9-11
Recently, a man spoke enthusiastically with me about his work. “You love your job, don’t you?” I asked him. “I do,” he said. “And I’m good at it.” He blushed after he said that and began to stammer an embarrassed explanation.

I stopped him. I knew that he wasn't an egomaniac. Nor was he a workaholic, someone who derived all his identity and self-worth from the job. He’s healthy and balanced. And, like most people who do their jobs well, he’s someone who's happy with his work.

The Old Testament tells us that finding enjoyment in our work is a blessing from God. It’s a blessing I think that God wants all of us to enjoy, though the realities of this fallen world often get in the way of that happening in our daily paying gigs.

And sometimes, our jobs pay the bills, making it possible for us to pursue our most important work elsewhere. I think of a woman Ann and I know. She has an advanced professional degree. She’s competent in her field. But after her children were raised, she decided to take a part-time entry level job. It allows her to continue to contribute to the household income. More importantly though, it gives her the freedom to do what she feels is really her life’s work: serving as the volunteer minister to the elderly at her church.

That woman, every bit as much as the man who told me that he was good at his job is happy with her work.

What does it take for us to be happy with our work, whether it entails working sixty or more hours a week at a high-level position or forty to fifty at a minimum wage position?

There are no doubt many reasons. But I want to suggest four basic elements derived from the Bible that go into being happy with work. I’ll speak of three today.

The first element, I think, is obvious. People who enjoy their work usually have jobs composed of using their God-given talents.

In Psalm 139, David tells God, “it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made...My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes beheld my unformed substance...” God has made all of us according to specific blueprints and it's true what I've often told my Catechism students through the years, "God doesn't make junk!"

When we perform work that uses the unique design God imprints on us, it’s likely to make us happy!

And because our whole lives are meant to offer praise to God, finding and performing work that matches our personalities and passions is also one way we can offer our lives in worship to the God we know in Jesus Christ.

During our recent vacation to Virginia, in addition to visiting with family, we saw several important historical sites, among them Appomatox Court House, where Grant surrendered to Lee and the moving National D-Day Memorial in Bedford.

There were several helpful, informative staff and volunteers at Appomatox Court House. But we were a little disappointed by the less than informative people stationed in the home of Wilmer McLean, the actual site where Grant and Lee met in 1865.

What a contrast they were to the enthusiastic sixty-something man who took us around the D-Day Memorial! With detail and passion, he spoke of the significance of each part of the place, as well as of the plans for a theater there using money donated by Steven Spielberg.

The difference between those in the McLean home and the man at the D-Day Memorial? The first two people were just doing jobs. The man at the D-Day Memorial was doing something for which he was made! His passion shone through!

Not all of us have the luxury of finding work that matches our innermost beings. That’s a sad fact in our sinful, fallen world.
  • Single moms, for example, often simply have to take what work they can find in order to support their families.
  • Family obligations can force people to stay on jobs they dislike because of needed insurance benefits.
  • Some people are denied the work for which they’re made because of discrimination, be it based on race, gender, or age.
These are tragic facts and one of the things we need to do as Christians is encourage one another in the face of such realities. When we get together before and after worship each week, our discussions should be about more than the weather or the Reds. We should offer one another support. We should listen to one another and offer to pray for one another. The old Wesleyan Christian custom involved believers asking each other, "How is it with your soul?"

We Christians also need to be among the first to speak out against discrimination in society, against anything that prevents people from using their God-given gifts and abilities!

But, I also believe that since God takes such great care in designing each one of us, it’s very important that we pay attention to what our talents and passions are. They may lead us to our life’s work.

In the neighborhood in which I grew up was a little boy who often gathered all the spare chairs, stuffed animals, and little sisters he could round up at home and then play “church,” complete with a sermon. That should have taught me what my life’s work was to be, but it took years for me to find out that my God-given passion was also my vocation.

Element number one in job happiness is working at what you’re made for. But there’s a second element that helps us to be happy with our work.

A survey was once done among the supervisors of engineers. Engineering would be a total mystery to me. It involves numbers and intractable mathematics. It's quantifiable. You would think that being a successful engineer would only about getting the numbers right. But when these supervisors were asked to identify the reasons they'd dismissed engineers from their jobs in the preceding five years, something like 80% of the fired engineers weren't fired because they were incompetent. They were fired for an inability to work with others.

That doesn’t mean that engineers are a bad lot. It means that no matter what our fields, we have to work with people.

Good relationships with those with whom we work is another thing that makes us happy with our work.

Of course, everybody has some run-ins with the people with whom they work. The Bible seems to teach that conflict with others, even those we love--especially those we love--is an inevitable part of life. In the New Testament book of Ephesians, we're told, “Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger...” The Bible is telling us, “Be honest about your emotions. Work out your differences with others.”

In Matthew 18:15-20, Jesus discusses how Christians are to resolve difference. We’ve incorporated this process into the constitution of Friendship Church. But you can apply Jesus’ principles for conflict resolution to your families and to your places of work, too.

The process is simple:
  • When you have a problem with someone, go to them first.
  • Don’t gossip about it.
  • Explain how you feel to the person with whom you have a problem.
  • Listen to the other person.
  • Work together toward a common solution.
  • Most importantly, submit the whole situation to God in prayer. God should be the third member of every relationship we have. This is true even if the other person doesn't believe in God. You can invite God into any circumstance, a partner Who's with you all the time.
Usually, that will do the trick. You’ll achieve reconciliation that allows you to enjoy your job. But if not, the two of you need to go to your supervisor for adjudication and resolution.

Putting Jesus’ method for conflict resolution into effect isn’t always easy, though. It can be uncomfortable.

In my former parish, I made a stupid mistake--allowing a burn barrel fire to spill out of the barrel and onto the neighboring softball field. I was able to quickly put out the fire. But the softball field was black and I felt awful about it. I got word though that one of my church members was telling people that I had blamed the children of the congregation for the fire. I was upset. Especially because I’d had such good rapport with this man before. I was angry. So, I picked up my phone and called the man and asked him if he’d said this about the incident. “Yes.” “Why?” I asked him. “You know me better than that. You know I wouldn’t blame someone else for something I did.” “I know, Pastor,” he said. “Sometimes I’m a gossip. I’m sorry.” From that day forward, that man and I were good friends. The New Testament tells us, “If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.”

Of course, not all of our efforts to be on good terms with those with whom we work will be successful. Not everybody wants to live peaceably. In our second lesson for today, Paul writes to a young pastor Titus that if some folks are consistent troublemakers in the church, he needs to quit hanging out with them.

We may reach an analogous place in our work lives. Co-workers or supervisors may make our work lives unbearable. We may have to ask to be switched to a different department. We may have to quit our jobs and find other employment. I believe that if we’ve made efforts at reconciliation and accommodation, God will help us find new places of work where we can be happy.

Work at what you’re good at. Seek to maintain positive personal relationships on the job. There’s another element that the Bible mentions that relates to job happiness.

My best man’s father was forced to quit high school and enter the work force at age seventeen when his own father died under tragic circumstances. This could have led Stan to spend his work life as one of those resentful workers who wait for five o’clock each day so that they can wait for age sixty five so that they can spend retirement waiting for Golden Corral to open.

But that isn’t what happened. Instead, he rose to an important position in one of Columbus’ largest banks. He was always enthusiastic and in fact, loved his job and his co-workers so much, that he stayed beyond the usual retirement age. He’s seventy-eight years old now and recently had a cancer scare. But he can still bench press 250-pounds! The last time I saw him, he grabbed my friend by the scruff of the neck and said, “I love my boy!” Then, he grabbed me and added, “I love both my boys!”

The third element for job happiness is having the right attitude, a commitment to doing your best every day, and then doing it.

I love the wisdom from God that King Solomon put down in the Old Testament, “Go to the ant, you lazybones; consider its ways, and be wise. Without having any chief or officer or ruler, it prepares its food in summer, and gathers its sustenance in harvest.”

Want to be happy with your work?
  • Do what God built you to do.
  • Work on maintaining positive relations with others.
  • Work on maintaining positive relations with others. Throw yourself into your work with a good attitude.
Next week, we’ll talk about a fourth element of job happiness, when we tackle the subject of “Hope for the Workaholic.”