Anxiety is one of the number one diseases that plague the wealthiest people on the planet. It’s irony at its best. The people with basics of life taken care of with all but certainty are the people who find their lives filled with life ending anxiety. We hoard up fears and worries in the same way we hoard up debt, money and material goods. In other areas of the world people live day by day, gathering water and food, wondering about shelter and medical diseases. Although I’m thankful I don’t live like that, I also think our individualistic and materialistic way of life has prevented us from a perspective that day to day living can give.
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One of my favorite little tunes that I learned in Bible class as a kid is the Apostle’s Song. You know the one to help you remember the names of the apostles, right?
(To the tune of Jesus Loves Me)
Jesus called them one by one
Peter, Andrew, James and John
Next came Philip, Thomas too
Matthew and Bartholomew
James the one they called the less
Simon, also Thaddeus
The twelfth apostle Judas made
Jesus was by him betrayed
Yes, Jesus called them
Yes, Jesus called them
Yes, Jesus called them
And they all followed him
Now as an adult, I have a lot of new thoughts about that song and its implications on church life. Singing Oaks, like all healthy churches, reinvents its methods every so often to help keep itself on mission. We are a church that is all about seeking and saving the lost. That hasn’t changed. But the culture around us has changed rapidly, and our mission methods aren’t as fruitful as they once were.
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Uber’s CEO was in the news this week. It seems apparent from the video and his apology for his treatment of one of his company’s employees that even in the hospitality/service industry there are times when the guys running the business lose sight of the vision. Uber is a company based on people’s perceptions of hospitality. If you are a diver, you rate the rider on how hospitable they were and vice versa. During peak hours drivers may not take a passenger request and will wait for a better passenger request. Having a clean comfortable car and a kind and courteous passenger/driver can make all the difference in the world when getting from point A to point B as well as determining if you will use the system again.
Most of you reading this blog can remember a time before the internet rated everything from restaurants, hotels, websites, doctors etc., and now “taxis”. Before, it was word of mouth and good old fashion memory to help inform your decisions on where you ate, slept, or went while traveling or for entertainment. Many times you would stumble across a “diamond in the rough”. However, we have all been the victim of guessing where to stay or eat on our travels only to be woefully disappointed, disgusted or afraid for our safety.
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Have you ever heard the old saying “the squeaky wheel gets the grease/oil?” It is an American idiom that conveys the idea that the most noticeable problems are the ones we pay attention too. According to Wikipedia, Josh Billings popularized the saying in his poem the “The Kicker.”
I hate to be a kicker,
I always long for peace,
But the wheel that does the squeaking,
Is the one that gets the grease.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_squeaky_wheel_gets_the_grease#cite_ref-2)
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Most people don’t like change. But change happens. Take our church’s building for example. For years people have been saying that we need to update the outside of our “dated” church building. While we were updating the color of our building, our safety lighting, and the dated landscaping, it was also decided that the sign on the southern side of our building should be removed and replaced. The sign originally read “Family Life Center” and to many it came up short in communicating our commitment and love for our Savior Jesus Christ. People who lived in the Rosemont apartments and many who have only ever driven up and down McKinney Street assumed that this building was nothing more than a non-profit center for helping families and that no church meets here. So what should the sign say? What do we want it to communicate?
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