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eggebrecht

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The Altitude of Attitude

For the past few days I’ve been watching people’s attitudes. And I’ve been watching how their attitudes impact my attitude. It’s been an interesting test. I started on Saturday when my wife, Tammy, and I had to run some errands:

  • Car wash: Outgoing and friendly cashier put me in a happy mood and led me to leave a generous tip for the guys drying the car.
  • Lunch at Five Guys Burgers and Fries: Gregarious and engaging cashier tried to save me some money and led me to leave a generous tip for the guys cooking our food.
  • Trader Joe’s: Cool dude with tattoos, funky glasses, and rolled up jeans checked us out and held a conversation that literally made me want to be his “friend.” If it was an acceptable practice at Trader Joe’s, I would have left him a generous tip. I left Trader Joe’s knowing that I would be back again soon. I always seem to get good customer service there.

The great Romantic poet, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, wrote:  “Nothing is so contagious as enthusiasm.”  I wholeheartedly agree.  But I would add:  “…except for a bad attitude and lack of enthusiasm.”

On Sunday I left Milwaukee to drive to Nashville so that our son could have a car for the summer. I flew back home on Monday, and stopped at the airport shop to pick up a newspaper. I felt a cloud move over my head as I entered the store. There was a long line of customers. The cashier was dour, down, taking her time, making it known that she would rather have been anywhere but there. My mood was immediately altered for the worse. I ended up going to another store to get my paper. It took me a while to recover. If I had been attempting to write at the time, there would have been no way.

My creativity flourishes when I am in an environment where people are outgoing, pleasant, and pleased to serve. I don’t care if you’re not in a good mood. At least fake a good mood. It might actually help put you into a good mood. Do you realize how much your down and dour attitude impacts me?

I realized the altitude of attitude when I flew home on Monday. I took Southwest Airlines for the first time in a long time. It seems to me that they hire a different “type” of person. I did quite a bit of flying on my sabbatical last fall. Never once was I impressed or had my mood altered for the better by a flight attendant from any of those airlines.

But the flight attendants and counter people for Southwest Airlines were pleasant, funny, making jokes, smiling at customers, making them feel comfortable, and doing anything they could to make the flying experience a good one…which is a rarity these days. Boy am I glad Southwest now flies out of Milwaukee. I’m going to be taking that airline more often.

While I’m at it, let me put in one more plug. I have recently been making it a habit to write my sermons at an Alterra coffee shop. The people who work there are quirky, funny, friendly, and seem like they actually enjoy being there. It makes for a creative environment. Their attitude inspires me; it creates energy in the place; it perpetuates my creative spirit. My sermons are much “easier” to write, and flow a whole lot better in that kind of space.

What is your story about the way in which the attitude of others impacts you?

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Holding Hands with God

Last night on Dateline NBC they spent an hour on the topic of “Social Conformity.” The program made the point that humans beings are “hard wired” to obey their parents. They said that humans have a childlike impulse to follow a group.  Doing so, they pointed out can lead to dangerous decisions.  One example they gave was the deadly Arizona sweat lodge incident from last year, where people remained in a dangerous situation just because everyone else was.

So Dateline trotted out some of their own social experiments. They showed how people in an elevator will turn toward the back if everyone else in the elevator does so first.  Then they showed how people undergoing a job interview stayed in a room filling with (harmless) smoke if everyone else did so.  Finally, they made up a new “reality” TV show where contestants were supposed to press a button to deliver an electric shock to someone in another room, if they couldn’t answer a question correctly.  Most of the contestants delivered far more severe “electric shocks” than they normally would have, because of the insistence of the “producer” who was sitting with them in the same room.

In the end, watching the episode made me say, “Duh.” Of course children are “hard wired” to obey their parents.  That response is as ancient as children.  St. Paul writes, “Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them” (Romans 2:14-15).  God has written his law upon human hearts.  Children are born that way, because that’s the way God created them.

But the episode reminded me of something even deeper than that. In his book Simply Christian, N.T. Wright says that the human need for relationships, for “social conformity,” is a reflection of the One who created relationships in the first place.  He argues that all people have a longing for human relationship because we hear in our minds and in our spirits the echo of a voice that desires relationship with us.

N.T. Wright:  “We can already tell enough about that voice that we would know its owner if we met it. Its owner would be one who was totally committed to relationships of every sort — with other human beings, with the Creator, with the natural world. And yet that owner would share the pain of the brokenness of each of these relationships. One of the central elements of the Christian story is the claim that the paradox of laughter and tears, woven as it is deep into the heart of all human experience, is woven also deep into the heart of God.”

The point is that we desire relationship because we are creations of a relational God. Part of human relationship is the desire for conformity.  And yet in order to restore relationship that had been destroyed by the sin of human beings, God sent His Son into the world to go against the norm, against “social conformity,” so much so that He would end up alone on a cross paying the price for the sins of the world.

Those who have been brought back into relationship with Him through forgiveness and faith, are also brought into “social conformity” with the Creator so that they desire more and more to obey not only their earthly parents, but even more so, their Heavenly Father.

What does “social conformity” look like to you?

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Corpus Electronici

I’ve been thinking a great deal lately about community. It started when Dr. John Oberdeck was a guest preacher for me a couple of weeks ago.  After the service, we both walked down the aisle, stood at the back, and greeted those who were filing out of church.  Suddenly there was a gap in the line.  We both looked back into the church and John said to me, “Now that’s community!”

We had to wait a while before we were able to greet the rest of the congregation. There they were, spread out all around the church in delightful small groups (not cliques!), talking to each other, hugging, laughing, listening, greeting, caring, and catching up.  We were happy to wait.

As I looked at that beautiful scene, I was proud of the way Mt. Calvary cares. I was thankful for the way Mt. Calvary welcomes.  I was awed by the way Mt. Calvary embraces diversity.  People have told me they feel welcome at our church.  I’m glad, because it’s something we intentionally build into our culture, and is something that no church ought to be without.

We’ve got a great start, but there’s still plenty of room to grow.

St. Paul compares the church with a body. In Latin, as you know, the word for body is corpus. We would love more people to enjoy the corpus at Mt. Calvary, so we are encouraging current members to use new and different ways to share the Word and draw people in.  I’m calling it Corpus Electronici.

I have been amazed at the way in which Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, and other electronic media have brought me back into community with some, into new community with others, and make me encouraged that the corpus of Christ will be built up by these tools that are literally changing the world.

Here’s how Electronci has helped me:

  • I have reconnected with people from my class in high school whom I literally haven’t seen since we walked the stage at graduation.
  • I have been brought back into close contact with my cousins and other distant and not-so-distant family members; and our respective kids are getting to know each other, as well.
  • I have been able to learn much more about the Facebooker’s in my congregation, enabling me to serve them better and be a more astute preacher.
  • I follow people on Twitter that inspire me, encourage me, make me think, enhance my creativity, give me ideas, and give me new insights into the Word.
  • I have learned about things going on in the classrooms of our day school which I would have otherwise never known.
  • I have discovered blogs that have strengthened my faith, made me laugh, and got me to do some things I may have never tried.

The best thing about all of this is that, contrary to popular belief, this isn’t only relating to people in front of a screen. All of these tools have led to face to face, in the flesh, connecting, re-connecting, lunches, dinners, and conferences that have shown me personally the way in which electronici often leads to true corpus.

Now…to encourage the people of Mt. Calvary, and other churches, that these really are incredible tools in which God’s Word and relationships with others lead to community in Christ.

Have you discovered ways in which the Corpus Electronici has brought you into new or better relationships with others?  Please let me know how.  I’d love to share your ideas.

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Happy Fifth Birthday Again!

The drawings of children appear in the midst of an actual cityscape of New York City. The cute little sketches creep around buildings and appear to be coming to life.  “Remember when you were five,” the voice says, “and anything was possible?  Happy fifth birthday again.”  It’s a message that immediately drew me in.  It resonated deep within me.

It’s just a commercial for AT&T that I saw while watching The Masters Golf Tournament, but it resonated with me, because we still find ourselves in the midst of the Easter season. Easter means talking about “eighth day,” “new creation,” “resurrection” kind of stuff, and the idea of new possibility is as “Easter” as it gets.  Believers ought to be living life as if “anything is possible,” because in all actuality, anything is possible in the newly born kingdom of God.  We may not completely experience it now, but at the resurrection, in the newly created heavens and earth, anything will be possible in our “life after life after death,” as Thomas Wright calls it.

For now, we get to practice living an “anything is possible” kind of life right here and right now.

But the “Happy Fifth Birthday” commercial resonated with me on another level, as well. I come from a creative family.  Both of my children are pursuing “creative” studies and careers.  And yet, I am a pastor in a church body that tends to stifle creativity.  We like to put both “theology” and “practice” in neat, tidy little boxes.  And there is much about that which is good.  It’s very easy to discern exactly where the Lutheran Church –Missouri Synod stands.  Our theology and practice are based on the clear teachings of Scripture.  You can’t go wrong with that.

But too many stifle creativity based on tradition, or taste, or preference. In terms of practice in the church, there is much that falls under the category of adiaphora (neither commanded nor forbidden by Scripture).  And yet people are strident about the way things are “supposed to be.”  I want it to be my fifth birthday again, but sometimes it scares me because of the negative ways in which people might react.

And yet I believe that I serve a God who is, in His very essence, creative. Because I was created by Him, He has given me the desire and the gifts to be creative.  Sure there are parameters in ministry and practice.  But I believe my God has given me the desire to live, and serve, and create like it’s my fifth birthday again.

Kudos to my congregation, Mt. Calvary Lutheran in Milwaukee, for bearing with me, and being open to expressions of creativity. I know it’s not easy for everyone, and we’ve got a ways to go, but I believe that creative proclamation of the Gospel has kept people interested, engaged, and responsive.

If it were your fifth birthday today, what would you dream, or create, or envision?

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Support Mrs. Rev.

Somebody found my blog today by searching Google with this phrase: “need ideas to make pastor wife feel appreciated.”   I don’t know how they got to my blog…but it’s a good request!

Now I’m not a pastor’s wife. But I know a pastor’s wife pretty well, and I think I can tell you some ways to make a pastor’s wife feel appreciated.

  1. Support Her Husband. Nothing makes the life of a pastor’s wife easier and more enjoyable than a happy, well-respected, super-supported husband.  When you support him, you are supporting her.
  2. Lower Expectations. Make it known to her in no uncertain terms that she is not expected to be chair of the ladies guild, an altar helper, or a Sunday School teacher.  If those are her gifts and she chooses to serve in one or more of those ways, thank her as you would anyone else.  But make certain that it is not an iron-clad expectation.
  3. Don’t Leave Her Out. It has become in vogue to dedicate the month of October as “Clergy Appreciation Month.”  How about recognizing his wife during that month, too.  You could also send her flowers, a card, or a gift certificate “just because” you appreciate all the many ways she supports both her husband and the church.
  4. Give Her the Gift of Time. See to it that the pastor’s wife gets time with her husband.  It could be on his regular “day off,” or even for a weekend getaway.  If the couple has children, volunteer to babysit on regular occasions.
  5. Let Her Be Her.  Please don’t try to fit her into your mold.  Allow her to show and to share her own personality, gifts, and talents, in the way that she feels best…not in the way the congregation feels she should.

Do you have any other ideas?  Let me know by way of “comment,” and I will pass them on.

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Bulldogs and Butterflies

The day after Easter 2010, Coach Brad Stevens and the Butler Bulldogs almost won it all. In the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, they fell just short of a National Championship as they lost to perennial powerhouse Duke University.

But like the old camp song, “Bullfrogs and Butterflies,” the Bulldogs have been “born again.” They can teach a thing or two to small organizations, young people, and even small churches.

Butler’s coach, Brad Stevens, was the butt of many jokes during the final four weekend. People said he would be going out after the game with Justin Bieber; they said that he looked like he was twelve-years-old; they said that if he lost, he’d go running home to his mommy.  In the end, Stevens got the last laugh.  He did what many older, and more experienced coaches have never done before.  He took a team to the national championship game.  In actuality, Stevens is 33.  But his relative youth is an example to many of those who are young, or “young at heart.”

1 Timothy 4:12 says, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.” Hard work, determination, goal-setting, and creativity will get you a long way, no matter your age.  Stevens left a successful career as a marketing guy for the Eli Lilly Corporation to pursue a career as a basketball coach.  A gamble?  You bet.  But with his goal in mind he rose through the ranks of assistant coaches to become a head coach, and ultimately the coach of a team playing for the national championship.

Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young. You set the example.  You set the goal.  You be the first to try the creative option.  You take the risk.  You do it with faith and character.  Young and old will look up to you.

Butler University is “born again” in the eyes of the nation because it is a small liberal arts school that has had a major impact. Butler University claims only about 4000 students.  It now has a basketball program that has defeated teams that come from schools double, triple, or quadruple that size.  You can bet that a great many basketball players and students will be taking a second look at Butler University because of the incredible run they had this March.

Butler is a school that has had an impact not only on the city of Indianapolis, or the state of Indiana, but on the entire United States through current students, alumni, family, friends, and those who root for the underdog. It just goes to show that it’s not the size of the organization (or church!) that matters.  When it seems as though the numbers put you up “against the odds,” relationships and heart matter.

Those who were related in some way, shape, or form to Butler showed their school pride. A small school did big things.  The Bulldogs used their underdog (pun intended) status to gain support.

How can you, or your organization, or your church use seeming weaknesses to garner renewal and support? At our church, Mt. Calvary Lutheran, Milwaukee, we encourage one another to be “pray-ers,” and “bring-ers,” and “tell-ers.”  Though we are a congregation of only 400 or so, we have an impact on an entire community through our school.  Though our Sunday School is made up of mostly very young children, they used their time to make cards that are distributed to members who are in the hospital.  Through a brand new program called “Mt. Calvary Home Makeover,” our small congregation will be having an impact on the lives of those who live in less than comfortable conditions.

This Easter, 2010, Bulldogs and Butterflies have both been “born again.”

What ideas do you have for small, young, or seemingly insignificant organizations to have a big impact in the community, the church, or society as a whole?