What is the sin against the Holy Spirit?

Q: I have a friend asking what it means to blaspheme against the Holy Spirit. Someone told her 'continuously deny that Jesus is the lord' and I'm wondering if there is more to it. Can you give me some insight?

I'm thinking that doing things 'in His name' that are really for your own glory would qualify, thinking of the 80's televangelists or the Westboro Baptists.

A: First answer: nobody really knows.

Q: Yeah, I want the second answer.

A: Ok, it's going to be paradoxical. Sinning against the Holy Spirit is sinning against the Holy Spirit. Now you're going to want the third answer.

Q: you really are a closet Catholic, aren't you? And yes, I want the third answer

A: I'm out of the closet

Q: First answer is 'nobody knows' second answer is a paradox if the third answer is 'offer it up' I might just give up and go back.

A: Third answer: Okay, in a way it is actually simple. The sin against the Holy Spirit is not trusting in the Holy Spirit. And the reason it is "unforgivable" or whatever is implicit to the case. If you don't trust the Holy Spirit, then the Holy Spirit isn't at work in you. So you are closed off (you have closed yourself off) from the source of forgiveness.

It's like, if you are the only person who can rescue me from a storm, but I won't accept your help, I'm screwed, because I have closed myself off from the one thing that can help me.

[adapted from a recent Facebook chat dialogue. Q: is a parishioner. A: is me. Pastors (or at least I) get asked this question often. It arises out of a reading of Mark 3.29, "But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin.” For more on this, the Wikipedia entry is quite good, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternal_sin]

If You Mean Money, Say Money!

Craig Satterlee's recent book Preaching and Stewardship: Proclaiming God's Invitation to Grow is refreshing for any number of reasons. It is well-written, gospel-centered, clear.

But it is refreshing above all for one simple reason: rather than using the word "stewardship" as a euphemism for any number of good things we might preach on, Satterlee limits his focus to preaching on money.

He learned this lesson from a parishioner, who once said, "If you mean money, say money!"

The truth is this. Although clergy are asked to preach on stewardship from a spiritual perspective, especially during the fall appeal, the reason for preaching on stewardship at that time is much more pragmatic than spiritual, and it really is focused on money.

Churches simply can't do the ministry they do without excellent financial support. So, by necessity, they find effective means to fund the ministry. In the North American context, this has (ever since freedom of religion and an end to forms of taxation that supported the work of the church and clergy) meant and means voluntary donations.

Satterlee notes early in the book that outside the church, stewardship means many things, "including 1) the responsibility for taking care of passengers' domestic needs on a cruise ship or train, 2) managint the service provided to diners in an exclusive restaurant, 3) a responsibility to take care of something owned by someone else, 4) an ethic that embodies cooperative planning and management of environmental resources to prevent loss of habitat and facilitate its recovery in the interest of long-term sustainability, and 5) a leadership philosophy of service over self-interest" (4).

But the definition of stewardship most often in use in congregations, the one that keeps pastors up at night with anxiety and fear as they write their sermons, is the one about money.

So Satterlee focuses his book with this definition of stewardship:

At its most basic--or perhaps its most base--stewardship is concerned with 'the necessary matter of meeting (and possibly exceeding) budgets and devising equitable ways for all congregations of a denomination to share in a total budget.

And Satterlee is spot on to focus on this, because the truth is this: although there are many other things that energize Christian ministry, like the sharing of time and talents and so much more, it is truly money that will make or break whether a congregation can move forward in mission in Spirit-filled ways. Budgets matter for the church of Jesus Christ to be in mission in God's world.

I love an early summary Satterlee offers in the book. He writes,

"My study of money and giving to the church, particularly its history in North America, reveals six characteristics of the stewardship of money and giving to the church that shape preaching stewardship in important ways. First, the church invented stewardship. Second, stewardship is more pragmatic than theological; it is a practice born of necessity in search of a theology. Third, at some level, ministers are anxious about preaching about money and giving because of the tension between needing to raise their own salaries and their sincere belief that God and humanity are served through giving to the church. Fourth, stewardship as a discipline was introduced in response to appeals from competing causes as a way of securing a larger portion of what people gave for the local church. Fifth, churchgoers have learned well that the church building is the most worthwhile cause of all [note, Satterlee mentions investment in building, though good on some levels because buildings are durable public goods, is also over-investment and likely also problematic in that it often re-defines church, which is the body of Christ, into a building]. Sixth, preaching about money and giving has been tethered with Christian formation and fund-raising techniques."

Indeed. And that quote alone illustrates what the book as a whole is like. It offers needed perspective, and helps frame reflection on preaching about money in really helpful ways.

Craig Satterlee believes stewardship is, at least primarily, giving money to the church in response to the gospel. So he offers some preliminary guidelines in his second chapter to ensure that when we preach on money, we preach the gospel.

He reminds readers that 1) preaching is not fund-raising, 2) God, not money, is the subject of the sermon, 3) preachers must name the good news in giving, 4) exhortation follows proclamation, 5) Jesus does the talking, 6) the gospel calls for invitation, and 7) the sermon appeals to the best in people, to their identity as God's beloved children.

Craig teaches preaching, and his expertise lies in discovering the continuing joy of living contemporary church life out of ancient church practices. So, for example, a crucial recommendation he makes in his chapter on preaching and the bible is to make use of the lectionary to make space for preaching on money year round rather than concentrated in one topical "stewardship" sermon.

Another key insight, for my money (see what I did there?) one of those most important insights for preaching, period, is when preaching prophetically, "preachers stand with their people under God's Word, rather than with God's Word against their people." "Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann observes that the opposite often happens. When most congregations struggle with biblical interpretation, three voices are operative: the voice of the biblical text, the voice of the preacher, and the voice of the congregation. Far too often, Brueggemann says, pastors team up with the texts to 'triangle' against their congregations in preaching, leaving the congregation 'a hostile, resistant outsider.' Brueggemann contends that it is better for the preacher to stand with the congregation against the text, letting God's Word offend them both" (51).

This quote illustrates to what extent Satterlee's book isn't just about preaching and stewardship, but about preaching, period.

Satterlee adopts a straightforward and helpful structure throughout the book. In each of the remaining chapters, he asks a crucial question, then offers a summary response he outlines in narrative and analytic sections. He warns of hazards in communicating each answer, and celebrates the aspects of each answer that are gospel centered and freeing.

So, why give money to the church? Satterlee suggests we do so a) as an act of worship, b) as a way of participating in God's reign, c) as an act of resistance, d) as a way of bearing witness, and e) to grow in grace. Perhaps also we give in order to receive.

How does the bible say we are to give?  a) Gratefully, b) freely, c) cheerfully, d) generously, e) obediently, and f) intentionally.

How much does the bible say we should give? a) Give God everything. b) give to God first according to a predetermined plan. c) give proportionally. d) give a tithe. e) grow in giving.

Then, Satterlee gets to the crux of the matter, at least for preachers. He says that when he sits down to write a stewardship sermon, it seems simple and safe. All he needs to do is 1) define stewardship, 2) preach the gospel, 3) connect money and giving as a faithful response to the gospel, 4) invite people to grow in giving, 5) give them a plan, and 6) use a tone appropriate to the gospel.

But in the actual preparation of an actual stewardship sermon, what gets in the way, and what makes preachers anxious, is that such sermons 1) messes with the power of mammon, 2) fusses with our own fiscal demons, 3) challenges congregational norms, and 4) stirs up possibilities.

Satterlee's analysis in this section is profoundly liberating for preachers. In fact, if readers are short on time, jump to this chapter and just read it. It is that good.

Satterlee concludes with a chapter that is something like a handbook for various stewardship practices in congregational life beyond the sermon (appeals, letters, classes, etc.). This rounds out the book and makes it an excellent resource not only for preachers but for stewardship committees or other congregational leaders.

Interspersed throughout the book are excellent actual sermons preachers close to Satterlee have preached in the course of their ministry.

Along with Giving to God: The Bible's Good News about Living a Generous Lifeby Mark Allan Powell, Satterlee's book now ranks as the best all around book on money and preaching I have ever read. I can't recommend it highly enough.

This is not your parents' church

Discovering Missional Communities

So, is there a structure that isn't a small group, and isn't a church, but lives somewhere in-between? And if so, what is it?

In my denomination, the ELCA, we have definitions for various levels of church organization. We talk about church in its three expressions:

Churchwide (a denomination)    --   Synods  --   Local Congregations

Some, though unfortunately not many, of our churches also have small groups as part of their DNA.

However, lately I've been thinking we miss quite a lot in terms of what church can be if we don't account for another level of organization somewhere between a small group and a church.

The 3DM movement calls these "missional communities." Mike Breen has made a brief but helpful video defining the term. I recommend you pause and watch it right now. He even mentions Arkansas in the middle of his talk!



Missional communities are small enough to care, big enough to dare. I like this definition. I often find that small groups, though great at caring for each other, studying together, and nurturing each other, don't necessarily feel equipped with the human resources to engage in mission.

On the other hand, many churches are actually so big that the care dimension drifts. They may have the resources to accomplish really amazing ministries, but not enough individual people from the mass of the congregation actually care enough to gather for a proposed all church event.

Missional communities are in between. 

I've been working my way slowly through a series of posts Mike Breen offers on his blog defining missional communities, and I recommend you take the time to read them, if you have the interest. 

A big part of what fascinates me about Mike Breen's proposal for missional communities has to do with its resonances with releasing missional networks I spoke about recently in a presentation for ELCA leaders. 

Almost all of the stories I tell at the end of that presentation about burgeoning ministries here in Northwest Arkansas have what I think are the markers of being potential missional communities. 3DM and Mike's work has been giving me language and concepts to articulate even better what we have seen God up to through our catechumenate, through some of our feeding programs and other ministries.

One participant in a missional community said this, "“It’s like finding something you knew you always needed and wanted, but never knew was actually missing.”

In my life as a Christian there have been just two times in my life where I have thought something similar to that. The first was when I realized that I needed to put a set of mentoring relationships around me, so I was always considering how to have someone in my life who was ahead of me, coaching me on where to go next, plus mentors who were alongside of me, fellow people on the journey, as well as someone I was mentoring and pouring my self into. This was something I always knew I needed and wanted, but didn't realize it was missing until it was brought to my attention.

The second time an epochal shift happened in my Christian walk was in our catechumenate last year. Being with a group of about 30 adults all forming each other in faith in preparation for baptism or affirmation of baptism was simply transformative. Nothing about the catechumenate was completely new. None of it was like finding buried treasure. Yet the combination of everything, it's flow, just felt very right, and God felt very close. 

Building a Discipling Culture

3DM folks talk a lot about discipling. They do it on the individual level, at the small group level (in what they call Huddles) and in missional communities. 3DM is 3DM because it is discipleship in three dimensions. They seek to be balanced in the way that Jesus’ life was balanced. He had three definitive dimensions to his life:

UP: time spent focusing on God

IN: time spent focusing on others in the body

OUT: time spent focusing on those who don’t know Jesus yet

Last year I spent the whole year being mentored by Paul Hoffman of Phinney Ridge, who helped our congregation launch a catechumenal process. We plan to repeat this again this year, and I look forward to working with our leadership team and being formed in faith again in the many ways that ancient process offers.

At the same time, I plan to pay very close attention to resources from 3DM, and seek to be in conversation with people who are forming missional communities, huddles, and building a discipling culture, because I really believe much of what I am learning from Mike Breen and other 3DM leaders is how to put into practice the release of missional networks. Learn and plan and do, and then wait for the Spirit. We will see.

Faith: Hitting the Wall, and Gaining Focus

I am forty. I turn forty-one next week. I am now old enough to have been through more than one "critical journey" in life and in faith. I know there are more to come.

In the meantime, increasing numbers of adults in my life share their own struggles with vocation and faith. Does their work matter? What are they supposed to be doing with their life? Do you they really believe? What do they believe? Do they believe in God?

If these are questions in your life, I hope this short post is helpful.

Sometimes, I think adults are caught by surprise by these kinds of questions. We regularly ask young people,

What do you want to do with your life?

With adults, especially parents and professionals and older adults, we assume,

They are already doing what they want with their life.

But are they? 

First, there is the wall


From my admittedly limited perspective, I think there are two parts of the vocation and faith journey with which adults especially struggle. The first one Janet Hagberg calls "the wall." I'll come back to this concept shortly, but if you look at the table of contents (to the right) from her wonderful little book The Critical Journey, Stages in the Life of Faith you'll notice that adults are most likely to hit a wall precisely in their middle life, after some early stages of discipleship and the beginning of a productive life, but before the really deep stages of faith grounded in love and rich spiritual formation.

Many adult faithfuls, having spent some years raising children, developing a marriage, establishing a career, are at the inward journey point, and they start asking, What am I called to do? What does all this mean? Who is God in all of this?

And all of these questions are, surprisingly, intertwined. What we want to do with our life is tied in to what we believe about God, and how to make meaning out of our daily lives and existence.

As a pastor, this is the faith journey that always catches me by surprise, even though it shouldn't. These are the people who were deeply involved in church leadership, serving on council, teaching bible studies, and more, and suddenly they drop out, fade away. They do so because they are on a different journey, a journey inward. They have questions. They feel stuck.

As churches, we are not always as equipped as we could be to minister to and with adults in this stage of the life of faith. And it is such a critical stage!

Then, precisely at this point, they/we hit the wall. Hagberg, in naming the wall, intends it just like the wall you hear marathoners talk about (I hit my first true wall at mile 22 of the Košice Marathon of Peace in Slovakia in the fall of 1999--I will never forget it... I had to run with leg cramps the last four miles, but I did it).

Having run along just fine for twenty miles, suddenly mile twenty-one seems impossible. Yet there are still five miles to go.

This wall is the dark night of the soul. One of the most interesting (and scary) parts of this stage is that it is actually quite a bit like the first stage of the journey of faith, discovering God in the first place. The 22nd mile feels like the first mile all over again.

It is interesting, but people experiencing a wall moment sometimes seem to be precisely in the stage of those adults who are discovering faith for the first time. These two stages share a lot in common.

Those new to the faith, especially adult converts, those who are baptized and come into a new faith community as adults, experience the very beginning of their faith journey kind of like the wall. Their feelings of being new, neophytes, makes them feel much like the place adults in mid-life feel when they suddenly don't know why they are doing what they are doing.

In this sense, those new to the faith and those in a kind of mid-life faith crisis have much to offer each other, or at least their comparable inward journeys can be reassuring to each other. Part of being in the mid-life crisis has to do with feeling young all over again, even when you are not. So the time feels shorter, but the urgency of the journey is renewed and heightened.

And it is reassuring, if not necessarily helpful, to know that most churches are much better equipped to deal with the needs of people at many other stages in the critical journey of faith than this stage.

So second, there is the question of focus

Adults in mid-life are ready to focus their living. They have tried out many different journeys. They have interned, studied, been mentored, gained a wide variety of experiences. They are now ready to discern more clearly God's unique and focused call on their lives. In mid-life, we start evaluating our past, looking to it, then evaluating our present resources, in order to clarify our future.

We think there may be clues to what God is calling us into, the new journeys ahead of us, but we don't always feel equipped to read the clues from the past, or evaluate present resources. We are also afraid of the change focus might bring, because by mid-life, many of us are stuck in a moment that seems difficult to get out of.

Periodically, I use a retreat resource for adults who desire to focus their living called, not unsurprisingly,   Focused Living. I probably will invite a group of adults in our congregation to attend a two weekend retreat on focused living in the spring of 2014. It's a spectacular time, charting past significant God-moments in our lives with post-it notes and posters, seeking to outline and develop a personal mission statement, values, mentoring structure, and more. In fact, it's not unlike what Bruce Feiler describes in his The Secrets of Happy Families: Improve Your Mornings, Rethink Family Dinner, Fight Smarter, Go Out and Play, and Much More, when he describes developing a family mission statement.

A lot of adults have been through strategic planning processes at their church or at work, but have not done this difficult and rewarding work in relation to their own life. Yet it may be one of the best ways to get the focus we need to help us journey through the wall and into the peak experiences of the later stages of faith. God's great hope for us is to take us in and through this journey to outward movement in mission and significance.

None of these are silver bullets. If anything, I am simply describing the truth of the adult journey of faith and vocation, in the hopes that maybe, just hearing that this is a shared journey and struggle by so many, you as a reader might be reassured, and have hope. You are not alone. And there are likely tools and people to go with you on this journey.