John Stanko

Last week, I discussed innovation and creativity, pointing out that the pandemic caused churches to be creative in their use of technology. I used the example of the synagogue as an example of an innovation that was creatively used in Jewish history, and was wondering what innovations will emerge from this season—or if in our rush to reopen our churches we will abandon ongoing creative use of technology that could lead to something fresh and new in the way churches deliver their "services."

If you have ever heard one of my purpose presentations, you probably heard me start at Acts 6:1-7, where the apostles chose men to carry the burden of the work among the widows:

In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables.Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.” This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them. So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.

The people elected these men to serve or minister to the widows in the church, and the Greek word for service here is diakonia, from which we derive our modern church office of or word deacon.

Many churches have taken this passage in Acts 6 and turned it into a model for church governement and service. In some churches, the deacons are the ultimate governing position; in others they are people who serve by doing practical things in the church like building care, women's ministry and the like. The goal of this essay is not to debate which approach to or interpretation of deacons is correct; the goal is to show that any approach to deacons as a church institution misses the point altogether.

The original deacons were not about church government or tradition; they were simply an innovative solution to a new problem.

THE BACKGROUND    

As best we can tell, there was no biblical concept upon which the apostles drew to elect and commission the deacons. Jesus had instructed them to care for the poor. Most widows were poor in the early church if they had no other family to care for them. As the church grew, the number of widows increased from those outside the ranks of the Hebrew residents in Jerusalem. The apostles were being called upon to address this problem that had never before been faced. it is interesting that Luke is careful to point out that the problem was between two ethnic groups, the Hebraic and the Hellenistic believers, which shows us that ethnic tensions are nothing new to the modern church

The apostles addressed this problem creatively and used wisdom to come up with an innovative solution. I don't believe they were instituting a church office in Acts 6, but rather an approach the church should take to problems and challenges that are sure to come up in every generation, whether in or outside the church. The were setting a precedent, not establishing a tradition.

THE IMPLICATIONS

When I reflect on creativity and innovation, I think of the verses in Proverbs 8:22-31 where we learn that wisdom was at God's side when He created the universe:

“The Lord brought me forth as the first of his works, before his deeds of old; I was formed long ages ago, at the very beginning, when the world came to be. When there were no watery depths, I was given birth, when there were no springs overflowing with water; before the mountains were settled in place, before the hills, I was given birth,  before he made the world or its fields or any of the dust of the earth. I was there when he set the heavens in place, when he marked out the horizon on the face of the deep, when he established the clouds above and fixed securely the fountains of the deep, when he gave the sea its boundary so the waters would not overstep his command, and when he marked out the foundations of the earth. Then I was constantly at his side. I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in his presence, rejoicing in his whole world and delighting in mankind."

Wisdom is closely related to creativity, which leads to my definition of creativity: the wise application of knowledge to existing problems or opportunities in such a way that something new and innovative emerges.

In Acts 6, the problem was the widow care. The biblical precedent that existed was the instance when Moses selected helpers (or something akin to deacons) because he was overwhelmed; later, elections were also common in Israel to elect synagogue leaders. So the apostles applied existing knowledge (getting leaders help and holding elections for those helpers) in a new way—a wise way—to address a current problem and the result was creativity: a group of men who we label deacons today.

What's my point? The church should be the bastion and vanguard of creativity. We have the Creative Spirit of God in our midst. We should not be looking to solve new problems with the solutions of the past. We are bound to our traditions when we don't see creativity as a function of the church and believers, or when fear causes us to retreat to the tried-and-true procedures rather than experiment with new applications of tried-and-true wisdom principles that can lead to innovation.

I urge you not to settle for what's been done, but take what's been done and pioneer something that has never been done. The world is not waiting for us to debate the role of deacons, but to find 21st century solutions to modern challenges that are the equal of what the apostles did in Acts 6. When we do, we will be working with the wisdom of Proverbs 8 that was present when God created and structured the world. And when we do, one thing is certain: There is no greater creativity with which you and I can work.

There are many byproducts and interesting trends emerging from the pandemic. One of them is the struggle for economies to re-open. Part of the problem is that we have learned to live with so much less that many are hesitant to spend cash on what they can live without. It has also caused us to step back and see where our economy has gone over the last decade. In my estimation, much of our creativity has gone into making what already exists a little better or a little different. For example, the first microbrewery was innovative, but do we need hundreds of them? Probably not. The same is true for yoghurt shops, health spas, and retail stores selling cheap junk from China.

My main focus, however, has not been the economy but the church during this season. Tomorrow, many churches will reopen, having done a "deep cleaning" with seats spaced for appropriate social distancing. During the pandemic, I saw a lot of creativity from the church but I did not see a lot of innovation—the creative use of something that changes culture and not just the expression of cultural values or norms. Let me give you an example of what I consider innovation and you will understand what I mean.

THE SYNAGOGUE

Did you ever give any thought to where the synagogue came from, or how or why it emerged? There is no mention of a synagogue in the Old Testament. The first mention is in the gospels and by then, it was an important part of Jewish life and worship. How did it become so popular and prominent? 

It seems that the Jews had a pandemic of their own in 586 BC when Nebuchadnezzar ransacked Jerusalem and the Temple along with it. The entire focus of Jewish life had revolved around the Temple and and the sacrificial system. Then suddenly, just like we experienced in the last few months, their worship focus was gone.

Some of the Jews stayed behind in Jerusalem but most who survived were carried off to Babylon, home to many temples devoted to idols that were off limits to Jews. What did the Jews do? They innovated. They adjusted from the Temple system with animal sacrifice to the synagogue with a reading and study of the Word as the main emphasis. When they returned to Judea 70 years later, they did eventually rebuild the Temple, but by then the synagogue was firmly established as an important part of their worship culture.

SO WHAT?

Where am I going with all this? Churches flocked to use social media during this pandemic, some who had been vocal opponents of its use prior to the lockdown. They had the attitude "social media and technology are an abomination to the Lord . . . and an ever-present help in time of trouble," but made it clear that this was only a concession to the unusual times. Many saw their "numbers" go up and their finances hold steady (those who still refused to engage it cannot wait to reopen for their lifeline to the people had been cut off). Some gave testimony that people were "watching" them from foreign lands and some had people surrender their lives to the Lord through the use of technology.

We saw churches conduct drive-in church services using their car radios in church parking lots. We had drive through prayer and hearing lines. There were many other examples of creativity, but now that the "pressure" is off, can we still be creative? We were creative in our deployment of technology but can we now also be innovative?

• Can we take questions during our live services using Facebook or Twitter and use the last 10 minutes of our message time to answer some of those questions to ensure that the people "got" what we were preaching? Can we then answer the other questions after the service throughout the week?
• Can we designate an online church team to monitor who is watching or listening via social media, to pray with any who have needs, or to "welcome" them as we would during a live service?
• Can we not finish a Sunday message and direct people to "tune in" on Sunday evening to hear the conclusion?
• How about we develop online devotions for parents to use with their children during the summer and even throughout the school year?
• Would it be possible to continue our online Zoom Bible studies and small groups?

These are only a few of the ideas I can come up with that I consider both creative and innovative that will help us make the transition from Jerusalem to Babylon as the Jews had to do. I would suggest that social media should be our synagogue-like response to current events. As we rush back to church, and well we should if we can and it is safe, let us not forget the pandemic lesson that technology is the next best thing to being there and has shown us the possibilities for a whole new concept of the church's mission. 

Last week, I wrote an entry titled No More More that discussed our cultural obsession with more—more things, more variety, more experiences, more of just about everything. God has hit the pause button on all that and is about to reboot the world's economies, and the shake out and shake up will be significant. Yet there is a more that God does want and I thought I would discuss that this week under the title "More More." My thoughts on this began when I read 1 Thessalonians 4:9-10 this morning:

Now about your love for one another we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. And in fact, you do love all of God’s family throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more . . .

There is a more that God is interested in but it isn't the abundance of possessions; it is more love practically expressed first to the household of God and then to the world. In our pursuit of the wrong more, we suddenly did not have much time for the more more that God desired and that more is service to others in the power of our purpose and with the flare of our creativity.

My study of more didn't stop there, for then I did a search of the word more in the gospels and I came across a promise that Jesus made: "Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them" (Matthew 13:12). This more is in the area of knowledge concerning the things of God, and it is interesting that this concept is mentioned in the three synoptic gospels—but is not limited to knowledge. Not to be left out, John describes his concept of more in John 15:1-2: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful." Define fruit however you wish, but however you do, be sure that God wants more of it.

I have counseled and talked with many people who are quite satisfied with no more. They are content with where they are, and are diligent to protect their privacy and way of life. God would have to break into their world with a spiritual crowbar before they would consider doing more for missions, being more creative, or being more involved. Yet notice the promises in Matthew and John. Jesus promised that those who have will get more; they have no choice in the matter. If they are fruitful, God will prune them so they will produce more fruit. You get the idea that God wants more more from you, for you, and through you, and there is no discussion about it. That's His will and plan.

When I have taught on the concept of organization, I have taught that we must organize our lives to handle more more. That isn't about stuff, for if anything we need to have less of that kind of more. Yet how can you organize your life and world to produce the more more that God intends for you? I have organized my life, my office, my schedule, my connections, and my entire world to produce more: more books, more insight, more service. When I had mastered the art of writing books, I started a publishing company. Why? To make more money? Hardly! It was to structure my life so I could produce more. I had a say in that, but my only say was yes or no. When I said yes, then I had to invest my finances, and position my life to receive and support the more more. 

What are your thoughts on more more? Do you think it's God's will for you? Do you think this season may have come to help you have less of the wrong more focus and more on the more more? I was so taken with this topic today that I decided that my next book after Proverbs 31 Men is done is going to be titled The Gospel of More, and it won't be about possessions. It will be about the right kind of more more. The sooner we can settle in our minds and hearts that God wants more and that more more is not an option, the sooner we can get about preparing and then realizing more. And if that is the result of this pandemic, it will have a redemptive harvest that was fertilized by the pain and suffering of people the world over as they embrace no more more and accept the fact that God wants more of the right kind of more.

When I first came to the Lord in 1973. I was on fire as I discovered many spiritual things I had never known before. One of those areas I discovered was the joy of giving. I was earning $600 per month (which is about $3600 in today's terms) and the day I got paid, I would pay my rent, my car, buy some food, support a few orphans overseas, and gave the rest of the money away—the day I got paid. Then I would live by faith for two weeks until I got paid again. I was happy and I learned so much about myself and the Lord.

Now fast forward 50 years later and I am still learning many spiritual things but I am not so much on fire any longer. While I am at home reflecting on pandemic lessons, I have two cars in the garage (we only need one right now) with full gas tanks, and a closet full of clothes—but I have no place to go. And I am reflecting on how I used to live and how I live now.

Then someone called me the other day and said, "I have some money in the bank and it's' not doing me any good there. I want to give it to you for your work in Kenya." It is not a small amount and I was blessed and exhilarated for what the money will do, but then again, I thought of my current lifestyle and how I used to live. When I apply that to our culture at large, it made me think of something I read in Fast Company Magazine the other day in an article titled "For Weaving The Clothing Industry into the Circular Economy":

For decades, Americans have had an insatiable appetite for new clothing's spurred on by the fast-fashion industry, which cranked out cheap, disposable garments that helped global clothing production double from 50 billion items a year in 2000 to more than 100 billion today (There are only 7.8 billion humans on the planet) (March/April 2020 edition).

The article went on to describe the environmental impact to the production of that much clothing and it is staggering, but can you imagine one hundred billion pieces of clothing in just one year? Is there any doubt that part of the message of this latest crisis is that more is not better, is not sustainable, and is an enemy of the words of Jesus that warned us about the addiction to more?

Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’ “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God" (Luke 12:13-21).

In this context, Jesus equated more with the concept of greed, but more sounds better than greed. In this season of less, God is reminding us that more, or faster, or cheaper, or new is not always better. I  for one know I have had an attitude adjustment while sheltering at home that will carry into the new normal.

Yesterday, we went to a store and had to stand in a long line after some of the things we wanted were out of stock. It seems that there will be much more of that (waiting and doing without) to come but that's a good thing, if it will help us get back to what I knew in 1973. There is more joy in giving and more comfort in trusting the Lord than more in our bank accounts, wealth, or retirement funds. The article and the person who called to donate the money have reinforced in my mind the idea that this season can be of great benefit to us as the people of God if we realize how deeply we got sucked into more and how much freedom there is to establish that there is no more more.

    Feel free to leave your comments on the site where this is posted. 

In case you haven't noticed, the world is full of trouble—big trouble. We now have a global health crisis, the ongoing threat of terrorism, random acts of violence, political distress and upheaval, and a lot of mistrust, hatred even, between people groups. I am in Colombia as I write and I have had more people than usual write to say they are praying for my safety, which I certainly appreciate. How can we navigate and negotiate these troubled times without being overwhelmed with trepidation? Should we stay cooped up on our houses? Hire body guards?

This post is not to prescribe anything like that, but I do want to share what I learned to do when I was in Afghanistan in 2002 right after the war against terrorism started there. I was with a group of believers from all over the world and we met every morning at 7 a.m. for prayer. When we ended our time, we all recited aloud Psalm 91 and it had a soothing effect that framed our day as we left to go out into a society where every building was riddled with bullet holes or pock marks from explosives. Perhaps you want to adopt this habit during these times of trouble. In case you do, here is Psalm 91 in its entirety:

Today America celebrates a man who challenged the nation to live up to its stated value that all men are created equal. We can acknowledge today how far we have come or how far we have yet to go, but regardless of which perspective you choose, today is a day we recognize the efforts of a man and his followers who caused dramatic change in America.

I was 18 years old when Dr. King was assassinated. I was about as racially sensitive or aware as any typical white teenager, so the events around his murder puzzled me, but I was absorbed in other things, like graduating from high school. Then six years later, I had my conversion experience and was almost immediately thrust into a world where I was working and worshiping with folks who were both black and white. I was still clueless, but I realized in those early days that if there was any hope for people to get along, the gospel of Christ was the only answer. More on that later.

In 1989, I moved to Alabama, the heart of Dixie, to work with an African American pastor as his assistant. To say that was unusual would be the understatement of the decade, for most people expected it to be the other way around, as evidenced by places of business that would always ask me first if they could help me, even if my black pastor entered ahead of me.

The white population in Alabama was mostly lukewarm to our relationship, but I thought the black churches would be more intrigued and interested. They were not. White churches were white and black churches were black and "never the twain shall meet" was the rule of the day, and often still is. It was sometime during my 11 years in Alabama that I read Dr. King's Letter from a Birmingham Jail and I was captivated by the excellence of the writing but also, more importantly, by the rightness of the message. That letter caused me to ask myself two questions: If I had been older and more "in touch" in 1968, would I have walked, marched or stood with Dr. King? The answer I came to was probably not.

The second question was a more important one: What could I do now that I was aware? I determined that, by God's grace, I would be an agent of healing and reconciliation wherever I lived or worked. Since that time, that value has guided my decisions of where I lived, worshiped, worked, and traveled in ministry. Only God can answer if I have been successful. As Mother Teresa said, God did not call us to be successful, just obedient. Time will tell if I responded to that second question properly or followed through with my conclusion.

Today, I am not interested in diversity. I have no time for tolerance. I want to see people of all races and cultures come together and not be concerned about who is right, but concerned about how to be reconciled. Toward that end, I continue to do what I can to bring about reconciliation. I have concluded that if it is almost impossible for those in the church to be reconciled, and we have the power of the Spirit and the word of God as allies, then there is no hope for any other entity to accomplish that goal - not government, legislation, meetings, training, or wishful thinking.

Reconciliation will require people to be transformed and then to walk out the terms and behaviors of reconciliation, even when it is not in their best interests economically or socially to do so. The Christian faith has the only answer to the problem that causes racism and oppression, which is sin caused by the Fall of man, and therefore the Church is the only one that can offer the remedy. So far, we have not done a very good job.

On this important occasion, I pay tribute to Dr. King, but really, my tribute contributes very little to his legacy that achieved so much and is still producing results. The best honor I can give is to recommit myself to be a source of reconciliation wherever God assigns me. By doing that, I will be making a small contribution to a very big problem, but perhaps God will multiply my efforts to touch people who need healed from the pain of the past and the hopelessness of the future. Today is a day to remember and celebrate what Dr. King taught and gave his life for; tomorrow is a day to get back to work to make it happen.

TOPIC: Organization and Productivity

"With this in mind, since I myself have carefully
investigated everything from the beginning, I
too decided to write an orderly account for you,
most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know
the certainty of the things you have been taught" - Luke 1:3-4.

Luke was a scientist of sorts, so he was accustomed to being meticulous in his work. So when he went to write a gospel, he organized his work carefully. First, he investigated thoroughly; then he decided to write his findings in an orderly, chronological format. Finally, he had so much material that he ended up writing his gospel and what we know to be the book of Acts. All throughout his work, Luke evidenced a profound ability to organize his work and thoughts. What about you? Do you invest the same attention to organizational detail in your work? What can you do to improve in the coming year?

Lord, I see that even when you use someone, there is no substitute for clear thought and organization. Success is never haphazard or an accident, but rather You work with and promote those who can keep Your call and work from being buried in confusion and disorder. Help me handle the details well.

The following is from my colleague Karen Dillaman. When she read this in our staff meeting last week, I knew I had to share it as a Thanksgiving post for your reading enjoyment.  Happy Thanksgiving to all my American readers and may God use this testimony to encourage you toward thankfulness this holiday.

*****************

From Karen:

The past year at Alliance Council, I had the opportunity to go to a seminar in which Gracia Burnham was speaking. I actually thought she was someone else, so I was there purely by accident. The message she gave over the next hour was incredible. She and her husband Martin were New Tribes missionaries in the Philippines. On their anniversary they took a holiday to a resort area. At the resort, they were taken captive by terrorists, the Abu Sayyaf. They thought their release would be imminent, but they spent more than a year in captivity. Read the following excerpts from In the Presence of My Enemies by Gracia Burnham about their holidays spent in the jungle.

I went back to where Martin was just being unchained from the tree after a night of sleep.  “Martin, a box came in for us last night. They’re going through it right now. Maybe you’d better go over there and claim it, or there is going to be nothing left!” 

He immediately headed that way.  When he got close, Sabaya said, “Oh, don’t come over here; we’ll bring the box to you.” 

“I just want to make sure that we get it,” Martin said, standing his ground.  Sure enough, he saw items starting to be removed from the box. One of the guys was already holding a package of Snickers bars.

In time, Sabaya finally brought us the box.  “I had to take out the Cheez Whiz, because I really like that stuff,” he said with a smile. “But the bulk of everything is still here for you.”

…We began making piles of all the wonderful things. But at the same time, we couldn’t stop thinking about those Snickers bars.  The bounty we had wasn’t quite enough somehow. And then we looked at each other and said, “You know, this box has arrived from our mission out of nowhere—and we’re complaining about what the Abu Sayyaf took?  We should be rejoicing in the Lord’s goodness.”

We decided we needed to share.  Martin began going from group to group, giving out spices, soup mixes, and cookies. I gave one of the two deodorants to Ediborah (another prisoner), plus some peanuts. She was very happy, and so were the others.

All of a sudden, Martin and I looked at each other again, and realized something incredible:  It was Thursday, November 22—Thanksgiving Day! We had asked the Lord earlier that month to send us something nice for Thanksgiving, and he had done it.

Of course, I had asked for things before—a gift for Martin on his birthday—and been disappointed.  So I hadn’t really expected God to do anything this time. But here was a whole box of food, and it was so humbling.  The Lord showed us he could bless us even when we didn’t have any faith. How we enjoyed that package!

As you know, last week was a terrifying week in Kenya when terrorists seized a shopping mall to protest Keny's presence in Somalia. Before it was all over, scores were killed and injured and the mall imploded when the soldiers used grenade launchers to kill the terrorists. I have heard from my closest friends and family there, but wanted to share with you some of their responses so you have an idea how devastating this was to them.

Pauline, my travel agent, wrote:

Hi Dr. J,

Thanks a lot for caring it feels good to know that someone cares.

Yes we are all fine and doing well. We were not in the Mall that Saturday but we had passed there like half hour before then we heard about 'thieves in West gate' while we were having lunch in town only to realize when we got back home that they were not actually thieves but terrorists.

We were shocked to watch on TV and we did not sleep that night, we had to pray.Though wounded, confused and having so many unanswered questions, we know that everything happens with a reason, we thank God.

Looking forward to seeing you in a few days.

Thanks
Pauline

Then Pastor Peter first wrote:

Dear Dr. John,

The last three days have been sad and terrible for the nation due to terrorist attack at Westgate Mall. So far 69 people have been confirmed dead and we pray for all our friend to stand with us at this moment. May almighty God watch over and protect Kenya.

Pastor Peter

A few days later he wrote:

Dear Dr. John,

Today we have woken up in a peaceful day after the terrorist were killed by our forces. We thank God for the peace that we have and we wish to thank all the people who stood with us at that horrific period. May God bless you all and may He answer all in your time of need.

Pastor Peter

People have asked me if I know where this mall is, and of course I do. But I seldom frequented it for a number of reasons. Then I am asked if I am still going over next week and of course my answer is a resounding 'Yes!' I mourn with the Kenyans for the loss of life and property and want to be present at this time to bring encouragement and continue the work God has called us to do there. As Peter wrote above, may God watch over and protect Kenya! Amen.