Tag: Patience

Why It Takes Faith to See Christian Principles In the YMCA

So when does a life of faith with Christ matter, when does Christian principles matter in a Y, when do you “see” them, when does it become obvious of their presence and reality? When we go through hard times together, as friends and colleagues, members and in a community. So stop avoiding the suffering of others, let’s be healing hands and faith-full hearts in light of our mission.

If you go looking for trouble, you’re going to find it eventually.

An Hebrew rabbi put it this way: “seek and you will find.”

But if you go looking for success, victory, the power to overcome, the strengh to endure, while nothing is guaranteed, the odds will usually be in your favor.

An old Hebrew saint made a big deal about a common principle: “you reap what you sow.”

When it comes to the mission of the YMCA (Young Men’s Christian Association), here are a couple observations:

If it’s important to you to put Christian principles into practice in your YMCA, then do it, and don’t worry about those who you don’t think about doing it, just do it in your little corner of the Y: you will reap what you sow! (This includes your attitude: hope or resentment, joy or despair, love or indifference, etc.)

If you’re not sure what it means to put Christian principles into practice in your Y, and you’re a little tentative about it, you really want to do it the right way and not offend anyone in the process: “seek and you will find” what you are looking for. (This is shaped by your attitude: expectant or timid, energized or doubtful, expansive or stingy).

If you’re always worried about those who are worried about “Christian principles” in our mission, guess what: you’ll pretty much only notice and get fixated on that and their worries, which only creates more reasons to worry and self-fulfilling prophecies. And if you’re looking to do battle in the Y over the “C”,you’ll find it.

But let’s be honest about Christ’s Presence and Christian Principles in the YMCA: it takes faith to see it (obviously).

What do I mean? Well when Jesus walked the streets of Jerusalem, people first saw a man from Nazareth, very few in the crowd could also see he was the Christ. Why would that be different today?

The New Testament Gospels are explicit: Jesus ascended from our sight into the clouds – we literally cannot see the crucified and resurrected Jesus Christ in the world or the YMCA.

Apostle Paul explains, however, that those who trust Jesus mystically become part of the Body of Christ in the world. This reality only happens by faith, can only be experienced by faith, can only be seen with eyes of faith. Thus, obviously, it’s hard to see the “C” in the YMCA – it takes faith.

Hence without eyes and attitude of faith, all the actions and commitments of the YMCA can be explained away sociologically, economically, culturally, psychologically, etc.

Christian Principles can easily become “religious principles” which then become “common ethical principles” – but for Christians participating in the YMCA, how to see those same actions as embodied faith, hope and love in Christ?

That’s, frankly, what’s so daunting and divisive about living by God’s grace through faith in Christ: sometimes our everyday lives look like everyone else’s: get up in the morning, get family off to school or yourself to work, do chores at home, serve your community, enjoy a tasty dinner, try and get some good sleep and do it all again tomorrow, hoping for a little fun and relaxation on the weekend.

Apostles Peter and Paul advocate in different ways for this kind of quiet solid peaceful honest way of life for Christ’s little ones wherever they had homes across the Roman Empire.

So when does a life of faith with Christ matter, when does Christian principles matter in a Y, when do you “see” them, when does it become obvious of their presence and reality?

Maybe you won’t like my answer, maybe you’ll come up with a better suggestion, but here’s my take on it from my experience:

When we suffer.

When chaos breaks out.

When the pain crushes our soul.

When the sick and dying are abandoned by the healthy.

When the lonely and broken are overlooked by the strong.

When the violence and the tears seem unstoppable.

This might seem overly dramatic, but it’s how history has played itself out for those that trust Jesus enough to imitate him in life, in sufferings, amidst humanity as it really is.

This has also been the YMCA at its best.

It’s also the source of the YMCA, our foundation, our roots.

So if you’re not seeing Christ’s Presence in the Y, maybe you’re avoiding suffering and the pain of others too much.

If you’re not seeing Christian Principles put into practice in the Y, maybe you are playing it too safe in the Y.

Budgets matter, safety matters, cleanliness matters, but what’s the point of it if not to create a welcoming AND healing place for all – which means being with people in their brokenness, hurt, worries, confusion, sorrow, and despair.

Which is not easy. It can often require faith to see them with eyes of compassion and have a heart full of love to do whatever it takes for them when you are already worn out and a little broken yourself.

It’s easy to point out the many faults of a local Y, of ways they let members and staff down; those observations and experiences take no faith to see.

What does take faith though, if you’re a Christian in the Y, is how Christ is at work in every volunteer, member and staff bringing good out of every situation.

It takes faith to see God bringing about his will and desires through the individuals and organization, especially when there’s so many things going wrong.

If you want to see stronger Christian Principles put into practice in your Y, first use your eyes of faith to see how you are embodying them there. The temptation to focus on what others are doing (or not) can distract us from acting according to our conscience.

If you want to move beyond just your personal actions in your Y, ensure that what you are doing is with excellence and integrity, exemplary and inviting. If you’re going to be a role model for it, be a good one!

Depending on your role in the Y, you might feel a little helpless about making a difference. Ironically I know Y leaders at every level who feel hampered: a CEO who feels lack of support, a front desk staffer who feels isolated, coordinators and directors who feel on their own. Yet, if every single one of them just started to be a little more intentional, confident in Christ, and open-hearted to all around them, over time they’d see some amazing results.

Faith as small as a seed is still more than enough to start growing!

What are some tangible and productive actions you can take as a step of faith to personally put Christian principles into practice:

  • pray for one or two diffferent people at the Y everyday
  • have a key Scripture verse top of mind as you go about your work each day
  • keep an inspiring praise song/hymn in your heart as you encounter each task and responsibility
  • be prepared in your spirit to truly listen to each person that has something to say: a critique or complaint, a suggestion or improvement, a story or testimony
  • connect with a few Christians each week for encouragement and feedback
  • run your program / department / office / projects with loving excellence, wise competence and faithful consistency
  • see Jesus at work in you, helping you grow in grace and wisdom through hardship and difficulties in the Y and life
  • look for opportunities to give credit to God when sharing about success, overcoming, enduring, and making sacrifices.
  • keep digging deeper into the story of the YMCA, of George Williams and his Christian faith and how it built a foundation for our organization
  • enjoy talking about what “Christian principles” can mean in your Y experience – avoid a “right/wrong” approach; instead pursue an ongoing conversation that both includes a continuing grounding in the life and person of Christ Jesus while also becoming more inclusive and welcoming for all.
  • cultivate personal habits of abiding in Christ, of building awareness of the presence of God in the Y, of becoming attentive to the prompts of the Holy Spirit towards actions of service, caring and leadership.
  • don’t underestimate the powerful influence of one person acting under conviction and with compassion; over time this yields compelling outcomes as it draws in more individuals who together accomplish more good for all in the Spirit of Christ
  • be patient, be kind, don’t be envious of others success and avoid boasting about your achievements; putting Christian principles into practice requires faith, hope and love not coercion, haste or worry
  • have confidence that God will complete what is started in Christ through the Y – I know, I know, sometimes it’s hard to see it or believe it, like we’ve been saying, that’s why it requires faith, hand in hand, together!

Pray For Peace, Then Do It

For a person of faith, prayer is at the center of life. Sometimes though it’s hard to know what to pray for, how to pray, or why to keep praying. Am I just praying to get what I want? Am I praying to avoid consequences?

Is my praying making a difference, is it worth it?

I ask those questions, maybe you do to. There’s always more to learn about prayer. These words by the Apostle Paul are instructive to me, especially in light of these politically charged and religiously polarizing times:

I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. [1Timothy 2:1-4, NIV]

Here’s a couple of observations on the role prayer plays in living in peace and making a difference.

First, St. Paul urges Timothy and the Christians in Ephesus to pray “for all people.” No discrimination there! Ask God to bless, give thanks for, request help on behalf of everyone – friends, family, neighbors, coworkers, strangers and enemies.

Second, the apostle makes a special point to tell Christians to pray and give thanks “for kings and all those in authority.” This is a radical idea.

In Paul’s day, wicked Emperor Nero ruled the Roman world, and the city of Ephesus where Timothy pastored was the religious home to the influential Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Also, the church of Ephesus was being taken over by divisive, envious leaders.

Third: notice one of the reasons Paul gives for this instruction – “so that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.”

There is much to unpack here, but I’ll focus on this: in light of the grievances and anger we might have towards unjust or unholy authorities, we can be consumed by grief or also fill our hearts with gratitude.

If we want a godly peace to prevail in our spirit, when we pray it can’t just be for revenge, it also must be for blessing our enemies. That’s what God the Savior does.

All that God created is good, and is to be used for good. God wants to save people from their ungood sins, from their pride and greed, their anger and envy.

And God wants truth to prevail, for lies to be exposed, for communities to be attuned to ultimate reality and live with a courage that furthers the good flourishing for all.

When you live in a place where injustice seems to prevail, where violence is constant, where the powerful enslave or crush the weak and ill, and you try to resist it, to pray and make a difference, to not be consumed by the culture of death – what can you do?

This is what marked the struggles of the early church, as they strove to set themselves apart.

Like us, they had to keep their eyes on Christ Jesus, who grew up a day laborer in oppressed Galilee, who offered up his life as a ransom for sinners and was resurrected on the third day, commanding God’s people to proclaim forgiveness of sins for all people.

That’s a remarkable God and an inspiring calling.

When you pray for the kings of the world, presidents of countries and companies, senators and city mayors, and anyone else who wields power and influence in your community – pray for their salvation from sin and give thanks for their spirit.

Keep your eyes on the Lord who has immense patience with everyone, who wants all the world to be healed from violence more than we do.

Pray and give thanks for all, even for kings and authorities that further injustice.

Keep your eyes on the Lord who strives to make peace with all, who wants all to be saved and know the truth.

Don’t give up on peace, on living in godliness and holiness.

Pray for peace, then do it.

How’s Your Spirit Doing?

So what does a healthy spirit look like? What’s some language we could use to talk about how our spirit is doing?

Since the YMCA is about putting Christian principles into practice for a healthy spirit, mind and body, what are some Scriptures we could use to guide our search on words to use to figure out how our spirit is doing?

Check out these examples of how a healthy spirit is described and embodied in everyday life.

Ask someone how they are doing, and we have standard answers: Fine. Good! Not bad. Ok. Hanging in there.

It’s pretty easy to talk about how your body is doing – we can chat for quite a while on aches and pains, surgeries and sickness, weight and appearances.

Ask someone what they are thinking about, what their plans are, what’s on their mind, and an answer is not hard to provide.

But ask someone, “How is your spirit doing?” and you’ll likely create an awkward silence.

It’s just not a question that gets asked.

But in the YMCA, our mission is centered around building a healthy spirit, mind and body for all.

So what does a healthy spirit look like? What’s some language we could use to talk about how our spirit is doing?

Since the YMCA is about putting Christian principles into practice, here are some Scriptures we could use to guide our search on words to use to figure out how our spirit is doing:

  • Gospel According to Luke, 1:46-47 And Mary said: “My soul exalts the Lord, And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.”
  • Luke 23:46 And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.” Having said this, He breathed His last.
  • Second Letter to Timothy, 1:7 “For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power and love and discipline.” – Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus
  • Psalm 34:18 “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted And saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
  • Psalm 51:17 “My sacrifice is a humble spirit, O God; you will not reject a humble and repentant heart.”
  • Ecclesiastes 7:8 “The end of a matter is better than its beginning; Patience of spirit is better than a prideful spirit.”

Based on this small selection, here are some words we can use to answer the question of “How’s your spirit doing?”

You could say, I’m happy and full of joy.

You could talk about people or projects you are committed to.

You could be vulnerable and describe your lack of courage and confidence, or share about your strengths, your passions, and self-control.

You could describe the despair within you in response to the brokenness of the world around you, or of your own personal failings.

You could be courageous and talk about the wrongs you’ve committed and how you’ve tried to make amends.

Finally, you could let them know how easily you can wait for what you want.

Does that help?

It helps me give some language to how my spirit is doing. Am I easily irritable? That’s a spirit thing. Am I constantly disappointed and discouraged? That’s my spirit. Am I frustrated with others? That’s my spirit.

Pay attention to your spirit.

Give yourself time to breathe deeply and slowly.

Let your spirit rest by being alone to reflect on your blessings. Get some sleep. Build margins into your schedule to play and pray.

Laugh at yourself, encourage everyone around you more often.

Let go of grudges and slights quicker, stay focused on making amends more authentically.

As Christians, we are called to solidarity in our spirit with the Spirit of Christ. Paying attention to the spirit of Christ within us is also the way to build unity with other Christians.

It’s through the Spirit of Jesus Christ that we can humbly and patiently embody the power of God’s love and justice in our world together.

We want his strength to strengthen us, his love to empower our love for others, his healing to flow through our spirit, his courage to encourage us to love, serve and care for all – friends, family, and enemies.

How’s your spirit doing?

Patient or prideful?

Courageous or unconfident?

Humbly happy or angrily resentful?

Thankful or unforgiving?

Now, try asking yourself:

How’s my spirit doing?