"Grace in the Good Times" by Emily Laney @EmilyLaney

photocredit: postscapes.com (creative commons)

Life is certainly full of ups and downs, isn't it?  One day we can feel like we’re on the mountaintop of success, and the next day we may drop into a pit of depression and despair.  We run to God in the hard times.  We pour out our hearts to our friends and ask people to pray for us when we are struggling, but what about those times on the mountaintop?  What should we do when we enter into seasons of success?  How do we navigate a relationship with God that is reflective of His grace, and how do we interact with friends during those seasons, especially friends who may be struggling.  I find that during seasons of joy I am more prone to be lax in my relationship with God than in seasons of difficulty.  Anyone with me on that?

"Grace in success" is a topic that I’ve actually been thinking about a lot lately, because I’m living in it.  This time last year I was struggling.  I had just finished up a year long contract at a great job, and the contract wasn’t going to be renewed.  I was looking at our savings, constantly obsessing over how long we could survive.  I was applying for just about every nonprofit job I could find.  I learned a lot about myself during that time, and I had to lean into the Lord for every penny.  In September, when I landed a job that was exceedingly more than I could ask or imagine, I knew the reason why God had me wait during that season.

Well, fast forward to this month.  As of Friday I was named interim director at my job while my supervisor is on family leave.  After 8 months, I have suddenly had senior leadership handed to me, and part of me is scared out of my mind.  The other part of me feels pretty good.  After only 8 months, I was trusted to lead our team.  I’ve worked really hard in my career, and I’m so grateful to be given a new challenge, a new opportunity.

However, I am realizing that humility and grace are needed as much in this season as they were in the tough times last year.  I don’t want to forget about what God has brought me through, and I don’t want to forget about the people He has used in that process.  Here are three things I’m going to focus on during this “season of accomplishment”.

Humility: “Humble yourself before the Lord, and He will lift you up.” James 4:10. I want to start with humility. A humble person is a person who knows that God gives blessings. I plan to put God at the head of my life, and put others’ needs before my own.

Praise:  “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise- the fruit of lips who openly praise His name.” – Hebrews 13:15.  I know that praising God for the blessings he’s given me and my family is paramount in staying focused on His grace.  I also think about praise in the context of praising others as well - good leaders shower their people with honest praise.  I hope to practice both of these in this season.

Discipline:  “In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly” Psalm 5:3.  Discipline to spend time in prayer and reflection before God before I start each day will keep me focused on who I am serving and why I do what I do.  I know without these spiritual disciplines I will take my eyes away from the Lord.

So there you have it - three words that I hope I can focus on in this season.  How do you stay focused on the Lord during seasons of accomplishment and success?

Emily Laney is a social worker, educator, and justice seeker.  She has worked with vulnerable populations in the United States and abroad and loves to help startup nonprofits reach their goals.  She is a Passion City Church door holder and leads a team of abolitionists at Not for Sale Georgia.   She loves her husband Brent and their rescue pup Biscuit. Sunsets and Sushi make her happy.  

You can connect with Emily on twitter @emilylaney or on her blog www.emilylaney.com

Super Heroes ~ A Guest post from @Truefaced 's John Lynch

Photo property of Open Door Fellowship, Phoenix, AZ

Super Heroes 

by John Lynch 

I have donned the cape of Middle Aged Man for the last time. Last Sunday ended my run with the “Lesser Known Super Heroes”. I will no longer fight crime next to Poultry Man, Accordion Man and Sopapilla Woman. It’s not likely I’ll be that missed. I think this crime-fighting band has come out of the shadows of secrecy only five times over the last ten years, and that was only to publicize church picnics.

None of them really have any “super powers”, although Sopapilla Woman, wearing a protective oven mitt, does throw really hot cinnamon and sugar encrusted sopapillas at criminals with pretty uncanny accuracy.

I didn’t really want this to end; but, a friend, after our most recent performance mentioned that 55 is pushing the boundaries of middle age. I realized in that moment that my season in the sun was over and that someone younger would need to take my place.

I’ve been thinking about why we’ve done this bit all these years. It gets more embarrassing each time, as the tiny super hero tee-shirts reveal more and more…well middle-agedness. We frighten both newcomers and children alike.

But I have come to understand we never existed just to publicize picnics but maybe to promote a way of life with each other. We are each leaders in our church. And so we are teaching a whole bunch of convictions every time we stumble out in front of our family. Here are just three of probably six-hundred-some:

*Dignity does not come from dressing up in formal clothing.  We look silly and undignified. But we were never supposed to pretend to be any different than the people we serve. There is no clergy-laity separation in our convictions. Over the years I have discovered that I have received incredible respect, dignity, honor, permission and trust, mostly by never pretending I was someone above or apart from them. Influence is never achieved by a title or position, but only through being authentic, faithful and genuine enough to be trusted. Any time we can take off the robe of religious superiority with our own vulnerability, self-directed humor, and commonness, people flock to open their hearts and give permission.

*Church can be the most winsomely fun and enjoyable place in town. We are convinced God absolutely delights in laughter and playful joy. Joy has to be given expression. I really believe God probably gathers His angels around on occasion and says, “You gotta watch this. These guys are funny.” Reverence is not a pious voice or a solemnly quiet room. Reverence is when God is lifted up in all of who He is. We can teach a false and stupid dichotomy. We laugh and enjoy all week long and then we come to church and suddenly we can stage something melodramatically serious, piously trite or manipulatively condemning. It really is possible for there to be tears, repentance, communion, worship…andraucous laughter in the same morning. It’s all who God has made us to be. Cool God.

*An environment of health and grace celebrates. As I looked out at my friends last Sunday, it was so beautiful. We are all hurting, grieving over something. We’re afraid and concerned about twenty things. But for five minutes a family got to celebrate that love wins, that grace wins, that Jesus wins. That His life in us transcends and trumps the cynicism and despair of our culture. Everyone in that audience last Sunday was hooting and hollering and laughing in joy, shouting to us spontaneous blurts of mock offense. Even the most pious, stoic newcomer was compelled to smile, and drink in the infectious joy. The moment wonderfully models and teaches an environment of grace. Such who come under its delight, learn to no longer live a double life: one of pretend moral togetherness on Sunday and mortal inconsistencies and guilt the rest of the week.

I donned the cape for the last time Sunday. But I pray that, like the Dread Pirate Roberts of Princess Bride, anotherMiddle Aged Man is waiting in the wings. I pray that one Sunday morning, a few years from now, sitting in the audience, I will be surprised by the sudden loudness of the theme from Batman as the Super Heroes emerge from the crowd and another Middle Aged Man begins delivering lines. That’s when I’ll know my work here is done.

John Lynch

As a great communicator and writer, John Lynch is a vital staff member of the Truefaced team and co-writer of The Cure and TrueFaced the book. In addition to speaking nationally with the Truefaced team since 1997, John has co-authored a number of books and resources with Truefaced, including the bestseller The Cure and the popular TrueFaced Two Roads audio-video message.

John served for 27 years as teaching pastor at Open Door Fellowship in Phoenix, Arizona, a position that he held since 1985. He recently stepped out of that role to begin working full time at Truefaced. The authenticity, longevity, and playfulness of these two flawed communities, Open Door and the Truefaced group, brings real-world reality and potency to this Truefaced message.

John used his love for writing and performing as the co-founder and playwright for Sharkey Productions, a theater troupe focused on Gospel-anchored theater productions for those still seeking Jesus. John and his wife Stacey are passionate parents to their three children Caleb, Amy and Carly. They are grandparents to Maci and Payton.

***

Originally posted on www.TrueFaced.com Nov. 9, 2008. Used with permission. Original post can be found here.

The Successful Person's Worst Day ~ Guest Post by John Lynch @TrueFaced

The Successful Person's Worst Day

by John Lynch

Those who are of high capacity can have a harder time getting in touch with the pain God allows to free you from a greater pain. In truth, you often don’t struggle with life the way many others do. So, it is tempting to surround yourself with others who appear on their game; operating in a higher gear than others. You can be deluded into thinking you are uniquely and largely impervious to need; like you can override need with resolve, skill, resource, ministry and mission. This is where great danger lives. There is a worst day that the high capacity person is vulnerable to, maybe more than anyone else. I imagine that I can make something meaningful, that I can create goodness or do this Christian life without actually needing Christ, in this moment. Subtle, it goes like this: “Jesus, I’m deeply grateful for the Cross. I know there are things wrong with me. I don’t do the big sins, but I’m aware for those who have been given much, more is expected. I get that. So, I’ll keep helping those others who seem to struggle so much. I don’t know why they can’t just figure it out and get on with their lives.”

It all carries the illusion that great capacity, intelligence and direction equate to a better life. It does not, necessarily. I can carry a delusion that my sins are of a lesser nature than those of others. Again, I play the fool.

You can come to actually live like you don’t need to trust God for every good thing accomplished. Your worst is day is the day you become seduced into thinking you’re able to pull off anything, without trusting Him in everything. You won’t see it right away. That’s why it’s so devious. It might seem like your best day. After all, you were on your game, you pulled off some pretty incredible stuff. But at the root, there is a self-made pride that gives God a tip for capacity and talents. But eventually fruit will be born. It will be rotten and useless. And you will wonder why others don’t let you lead them the way you think they should. Then you will look around and discover you have been paying God with your efforts, instead of allowing His effort in you to shine in great love.

The goal of this life is not having less issues than others, or even being able, through natural gifting and talent, to do more things for mankind. The goal is always letting Christ be great by our trusting dependence upon His ability in us. As my friend Bill Thrall often says to leaders; “He doesn’t need our excellence. He wants us to trust Him, so His excellence can be lived out in us.”

The greatest gift you with high capacity, success and strength can give yourself would be a number of safe others who can tell you what they see. A place where you are loved enough to be able to ask, “How am I affecting you?” They will eventually tell you if you let them. And you may discover you’ve been living many, many worst days, in the midst of your apparent lack of need.

It will take a humility which allows another in, another who is able to tell you, “You’ve forgotten the only thing that matters, trust working itself out in love.” For you who dare risk such a thing, you are about to experience influence over “success”, being trusted over being accommodated, receiving love, over only giving out of appearances of love.

We deeply need you, wonderfully gifted leader. We just first need you to stop believing we need you more than you need him, more than you need us…

Connect with John Lynch and the Rest of the Leaders of this growing Tribe of Grace HERE