Tag: Hospitality

Day 6 :: Living Stone of EMPOWERMENT

Join us for the 12 Day YMCA Devotion Series – LIVING STONES: LEAD, CARE AND SERVE LIKE JESUS

How can we be ‘like Living Stones’ used by God to strengthen the presence of Christ where we lead?

Recently, 24 YMCA leaders with the OnPrinciple program visited 12 places throughout the Holy Land where Jesus taught about how to live and lead in God’s kingdom.

From this experience comes 12 spiritual leadership principles – or Living Stones – (inspired by 1Peter 2:4-5) that Christ-followers can embody as we are being built up to lead, care and serve everyone, like Jesus.

by Tim Hallman, Christian Emphasis Director with the YMCA of Greater Fort Wayne

Standing in Jericho near the base of the sycamore tree many believe Zacchaeus climbed to see Jesus, I looked up into its gnarled leafy branches.

I used my imagination to envision the crowds surging through the area, of Jesus making his way along the street, of Zacchaeus hefting himself up into the tree, and of Jesus stopping to look up.

What was Zacchaeus thinking? Why did he want to see Jesus so intently?

What was Jesus thinking? Why did he want to see Zacchaeus? What did he see in him? What did he have in mind for the wealthy chief tax collector?

We know from his own words that Jesus saw in Zacchaeus a son of Abraham, a sheep of Israel that he had come to find, rescue, heal and save (see Ezekiel 34:16).

When Jesus the highly respected and righteous rabbi looks up to Zacchaeus the corrupt tax collector and invites himself to dinner, Jesus uses his power of holy presence to transform Zacchaeus’ life.

Jesus helps us see how proximity can be empowering.

Despite the muttering and complaints of the crowd – as deserving as they were – Jesus empowered Zacchaeus with the courage to withstand judgment one last time to receive a new calling, to become a living stone and not a burdensome one in the community.

There can be an isolating and enslaving power in the names and situations we find ourselves with – roles and reputations, expectations of the future based on the past, of our habits, fears, and desires.

Through sharing in a meal together, Jesus put his healing power near the sinner Zacchaeus, he put his holy power in him, that he might be set free to lead like him, to love, care and serve as he does.

I’m sure Jesus smiled big when Zacchaeus pledged to make amends to his community through his financial generosity.

What an empowering and healing moment for his neighbors – getting their much-needed money back and sighing with relief at no more bribery, corruption, or greed from their chief tax collector.

In whatever leadership opportunities God calls you to, look up for ways to empower others, to be present to see in them what Jesus sees.

May the presence of Jesus draw close to your spirit, may his power in you compel generous compassion that brings healing to the wounded, strength to the weak, and God’s salvation to the lost.

“So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.

When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.”

So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.”

Gospel according to Luke, 19.4-6

This YMCA devotion series brought to you by onPrinciple – click here to learn more about it – a new leadership development program to strengthen the presence of Christ in the YMCA

Click here for the entire devotion series as a downloadable PDF booklet.

Click here to access entire devotion series on YouVersion

Bringing Religions Together at the YMCA

One of the long-standing gifts of the YMCA in a community is bringing people of different religions and faith traditions together – in the gym, in the sauna, in the locker room, in the board room, in the playground, in the hallways.

Let’s keep embracing this opportunity, this responsibility, this calling to strengthen our religiously diverse association, to be the welcoming heart and hands of Christ in this global community.

I applaud the efforts of Christians in the YMCA to study and collaborate and suggest ways we could deepen our interfaith work and enrich our religious inclusivity.

It is necessary and crucial to us living out our Christian principles, it’s a way to stay faithful to the Paris Basis, our Mission, and our Constitutional Purpose.

Here is a helpful document that YUSA published in 2017 regarding an overview of diverse faiths of members and ideas on inclusive practices:

But: it assumes that someone else is nurturing an inclusive Christian personality and an inclusive Christian society that is ready to do interfaith work in a welcoming, gracious, in imitation of Jesus.

As a Christian Emphasis Director, it seems to me that an obstacle to more Christians participating in interfaith dialogue and events is their neglect of interdenominational and interconfessional participation. 

If we are disregarding religious folks that believe some key things different than us, but still regard Jesus Christ as their God and Saviour, then it will be very difficult to take seriously the need to be understanding and empathetic to neighbors of other religions.

What can the YMCA do to encourage, nurture, even challenge its Christian members to embody the prayer of Jesus in John 17?

More Christians writing and working out practical ways we can embody The Beatitudes of Jesus, The Golden Rule, The Great Commandment, The Great Commission, with inclusive, gracious, hospitality will be helpful.

Jesus makes it clear in the Gospel According to Matthew that loving people that are like you, who can pay you back generously, is good – but doesn’t go far enough if you are going to love like God loves you; we must love our neighbors who won’t or can’t pay us back, we must love strangers, even our enemies – that is what God-like compassion, mercy and kindness looks like.

One of the long-standing gifts of the YMCA in a community is bringing people of different religions and faith traditions together – in the gym, in the sauna, in the locker room, in the board room, in the playground, in the hallways.

Let’s keep embracing this opportunity, this responsibility, this calling to strengthen our religiously diverse association, to be the welcoming heart and hands of Christ in this global community.

YMCA, Hospitality & Religious Diversity

For Christians in the YMCA, we are called to love one another, our neighbor, strangers and our enemies; they may be of the same faith or not – but we have a responsibility to respect and care in imitation of Christ. This is the heart of Jesus’ prayer in John 17:21, of inclusion and equity. “Welcome is the will of God” – to quote my college theology professor Dr. Paul Fetters.

John R. Mott, a legendary YMCA leader, inspiring evangelical Christian missionary, and father of the Christian ecumenical movement, was also an instigator of the multi-faith dialogue – an epitome (though not perfect) of diverse and inclusive Christian mission up until his death in 1955.

Since then the YMCA has sought to embody the Christian faith and loyalty to Jesus in its open membership, community-based programs, and leadership development amidst very tumultuous times – there was nothing easy about navigating the societal upheavals of the 60’s and 70’s, the political and economic swings of the 80’s and 90’s, and the stumbling striving for justice in the first two decades of this second millennium.

In all honesty, diversity and inclusion between different kinds of Christians is not easy, and requires gracious hospitality – this is the heart of Jesus’ prayer in John 17:21.

Those same skills are what make interfaith dialogue and mutual understanding possible.

It is obvious that the country has become more diverse in almost every way culturally and religiously.

The YMCA is in the middle of it: so, how do we graciously and generously move forward, especially regarding interfaith relationships, including those members who do not consider themselves religious?

Below is a document produced in 2015 that the Y crafted in seeking to understand it’s membership in this regard. 

Here is an excerpt that introduces it: 

The YMCA of the USA recognizes that in a diverse world, we are stronger when we are inclusive and our doors are open for all.

Interfaith engagement provides an opportunity for the Y to foster empathy, understanding, and awareness.

This document is a summary of a collaborative project on interfaith engagement conducted by the Aspen Institute Justice & Society Program (JSP) and the YMCA of the USA (Y-USA).

Religious Diversity of the Y

And: 

The YMCA of the USA, one of the nation’s leading youth development organizations, has participated in IAP (Inclusive America Project) from its inception.

Neil Nicoll, President and CEO of Y-USA, attended both panel meetings and contributed an essay to the Principled Pluralism report.

As an outgrowth of Mr. Nicoll’s involvement in the Inclusive America Project, the Aspen Institute and Y-USA worked together to examine how religious diversity affects Ys across the nation and explore potential strategies for further engagement.

2015, aspeninstitute.org/publications/religious-diversity-y/
Click here or on pic to access PDF document

I appreciate the practical spirit of this document, crafted by YMCA leaders seeking to put Christian principles into practice.

It seems to me that every generation of the YMCA has to do some contextual digging, discerning what are the forces that have been shaping the times they are living and leading in, and then discern how to be wise, creative, and just in moving forward.

For Christians in the YMCA, we are called to love one another, our neighbor, strangers and our enemies; they may be of the same faith or not – but we have a responsibility to respect and care in imitation of Christ.

That is the heart of John 17:21, of religious diversity and inclusion, of hospitality, of the kingdom of God.