The Expulsive Power of a New Affection - Thomas Chalmers Quote

Thomas Chalmers quote from one of his sermons entitled "The Expulsive Power of a New Affection" (Chalmers was a 19th century Scottish theologian) has me thinking about modern idols

"It is seldom that any of our bad habits or flaws disappear by a mere process of natural extinction at least it is very seldom that this is done by the instrumentality of reasoning, or by the force of mental determination, but what cannot be destroyed may be dispossessed, and one taste may be made to give way to another and to lose its power entirely as the reigning affection of the mind. The boy, who ceases at length to be a slave to his appetite does so because a more mature taste has brought it into subordination. The young man may cease to idolize sensual pleasure, but it is because the idol of wealth has gotten the ascendancy, so the love of money can cast out the love of sloth. However, even the love of money can cease to have mastery over the heart if it is drawn into the world of ideology and politics and he is now lorded over by a love of power and moral superiority. But there is not one of these transformations in which the heart is left without an object. The heart's desire for an ultimate object may be conquered, but it's desire to have SOME object is unconquerable. The only way to dispossess the heart of an old affection is through the expulsive power of a new one. It is therefore only when admitted into the number of God's children through faith in Jesus Christ that the spirit of adoption is poured out on us -- it is then that the heart, brought under the mastery of one great, predominate, and supreme affection is delivered from the tyranny of all its former desires and the only way that deliverance is possible. Therefore, it is not enough to hold out to your people the mirror of their own imperfections. It is not enough to come forth with a demonstration of the effanecent character of their enjoyments, or to speak to their consciences of their follies. Rather, make every legitimate method of finding access to their hearts for the love of him who is greater than the world."

Trying To Make Church Safe

Have you ever heard of someone being hurt by a church or church leader? Most, if not all of you that read this will probably answer yes.

We hear news stories about how church leaders have violated their parishioners and how churches respond to the allegations.  I feel sick to my stomach when I hear these stories.  Churches are made of God's people and our mission is to bring healing and renewal to people and this earth.  We pray about this, we teach about this, we apply it to our lives - but every once in a while the mission goes sideways.

People hurt each other.  Sometimes its hurt feelings, people get slighted and offended.  Sometimes people have expectations of the church and they aren't met "the pastor didn't call me when I had this ______  was going on in my life."  Other times during intense times of conflict people say things that hurt deeply.  In my 17 years of church leadership I have been on the giving and the receiving end of this type of church hurt.  Not the type that makes the news, but the type that makes me aware enough to not discount the reality that some churches and or church leaders are not safe.

Then there are the more violent ways people abuse each other.  Abuse of power, abuse of position, abuse of trust that results in someone being violated.  The types of abuse that scar people deeply and ruin lives.  The types of abuse that makes the news.  And this does occur occasionally within the family of God.  More stories come to the surface as it becomes safer to come out.

Dr. Seuss wrote a book called "Yertle The Turtle" that shows in epic Seuss fashion, how power can corrupt and lead to abuse of others.

Within the circle of churches that Heartland is a part of (Classis BCSE - Christian Reformed Church) there have been cases of this type of abuse.   A friend of mine, John Stellingwerff is the Safe Church co-ordinator for the churches in our province.   We interviewed John at Heartland a few weeks ago during our Dangerous Lives series as he talked about abuse and abuse prevention. He trains churches in abuse awareness and prevention and is on the front lines when there are allegations of abuse. He recently was part of an intensive restorative justice process for a local church.  It was powerful and led to the promotion of healing in the lives of people who were abused by a church leader years ago - scores of people were affected - some still coming forward.

One of the important initiatives that Heartland has taken on in the past year is becoming a Safe Church.  That means we receive training and have policies and practices in place that promote safety (police checks, moral codes of conduct contracts etc.)  We are at the front end of this process.  The amount of work needed is dizzying.  We have a new Safe Church advocate within Heartland that is going to guide us through the process. Our council went to a training session over a month ago on the issue of leaders and boundaries and we need more training.

One of the questions is where to start?  Each church has to answer that question themselves, but for Heartland where this is hitting the pavement first is our youth ministry.  We are creating safe church practices for our youth ministry which includes moral code of conduct, police checks among other things.  And it is taking much longer to get this started and to make progress than we originally thought.  Our youth ministry isn't even up and running yet because we are still working on safe church practices for our volunteers.

It's not only a long process but a difficult one too.   A few years ago everyone knew everyone at Heartland, but now with new people and more volunteers for ministries we need to be intentional in who we invite to be leaders and mentors of our youth.  We need to be intentional in what we ask of volunteers. This means we need to write out in detail what we are looking for in the conduct of volunteer leaders and what practices we are asking them to be a part of.  All of us are in process and sometimes it feels like trying to train patients in the ER room to also be doctors.

We feel it's all worth it because we want Heartland to be a safe place of healing, restoration and renewal.

Surfing By An Island

Sunset Beach - North Shore Oahu

Picture a 7 year old in northern BC during winter sitting in the living room and watching slide after slide of his parents recent get away trip to Hawaii.  "Here is a palm tree, here is some coral, here is diamond head - it's really nice and oh the pineapple there is really good ..." 

What goes through his head?  "It's looks really cool there.  Will I ever see that myself?"

Now picture a 40 something watching surf documentaries from the North Shore of the island of Oahu - the birthplace of surfing, the mecca, the proving grounds for any surfer wanting to enter the upper echelon of the surfing pecking order.  

What goes through his head watching warm water surfers paddling out in board shorts and a rash guard?  No wetsuit, no booties, just sun screen and melting into the laid back surf culture?  "What would that be like?" 

Last week I was there.  A week of exploring the island of Oahu and surfing everyday.  We snorkeled, hiked, and played in the warm tropical fish filled water.  I think I sat in a beach chair once for 5 minutes just to catch my breath.  We staying away mostly from the overly crowed vacation destinations and went to the next look-out, the next beach, and the next road side eateries. 

About 4 months ago a friend and I started throwing the idea of a trip around.  He said he had air miles so we could fly pretty cheap.  I said I have a friend who lived in Oahu and we could probably stay at his place.  Situation = cheap trip.  Heartland Church council gave me vacation time and Patti was more than supportive.  Then the tickets were purchased.  And soon enough we were airborne and heading south over the pacific. 

The vacation pictures of my parents and the surf documentaries all came to real life.  There were many times when I was just standing somewhere in awe or in the water thinking is this really happening?  I didn't deserve such a trip.  I wondered aloud at a recent elders meeting what the trip would mean and if there was some purpose in me going so far away.  One elder responded with, "Have fun, enjoy yourself."

At times I was overwhelmed with the reality that I was there, in Oahu - the north shore and paddling out in the same waters over the same coral as some of the surfing legends.  It felt like lacing up the skates and playing a game of pickup in Rogers Arena, the home of the Vancouver Canucks.  Same ice surface where so much drama, passion has played out.  Same place as some of the worlds best talent have been.  Surfing in Oahu was like stepping into a historical stream that has influenced me for many years. 

I'm home now, back to reality and some of the mystique of the north shore has somewhat been drained for me.  I've been there, came, saw, and experienced.  All the build up is over, just pictures, memories and some dings from the coral reef are left. It's just a place with roads and water and people.  Nice place yes, but just a place. 

This morning I returned to the question of what is the purpose or meaning of the trip?  And yes I did have a lot of fun.  But as I thought of the build up I began to ask myself the question, what will it be like when our hope in this life is fully realized?  When we see our Saviour face to face?  This life is the build up for the time when there is no more suffering, no more tears and we are standing in awe of our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ.  That will be a time that we all long for when our dreams and desires of the Kingdom of God will be real.  We will be there.  We will experience it. 

Know what I find is cool? There is no return ticket then, no back to reality.  It will be the new reality.