[Moses reminded the Israelites of his reaction to seeing the golden calf they had demanded by saying,] “So I took the two tablets and threw them out of my hands, breaking them to pieces before your eyes.” —Deuteronomy 9:17
Grease was my favorite musical when I was in middle school. I must’ve watched that movie a dozen times, knew every lyric to every song, and could recite the lines by heart. In that day, music was still on records, and my favorite record was the Grease movie soundtrack. I would listen to that record over and over again in the corner of the living room where the turntable was located in our house. I distinctly remember one day, however, that things went badly for me, and deservedly so. I was listening to Grease and was asked to do something by my dad. He was usually very patient and always loving, but when tested by a 12 year old, the most saintly among us have a tendency to get frustrated. Needless to say, when I refused to respond to the simple and repeated request (I can’t even remember what it was), my listening days of that fragile vinyl album were temporarily ended without much fanfare. As a father of two grown kids, I now fully understand his response, and it taught me some valuable lessons about respecting authority and being part of a family. It also taught me that leadership is difficult, especially when times are tough and people do their own thing without responding to leadership.
Tomorrow, the Convening Conference of the Global Methodist Church will begin with worship and praise in San José, Costa Rica. I encourage everyone to stop by the livestream (www.sotheworldwillknow.org) whenever you can to join the delegates and leaders who have been working faithfully and prayerfully to solidify our new Methodist denomination for the future, with God’s guiding Spirit at work in us. Leadership, especially during disaffiliations and alignment with a brand new expression of Methodism across the globe, has been challenging in this season. There have been times over the past 4-5 years when I’ve so wanted to smash the tablets because of the trials and tribulations, misinformation, unfair characterizations, and feeling like we were in the ‘wild, wild, west.’ We made more decisions than I can remember, and some of them were the right ones. However, we also know that some decisions led to frustration and even a temptation for mistrust. We even were lured into thinking that things were better when we were in Egypt, if you will. Yet, here we are on the verge of our Convening Conference and we couldn’t be more excited for what God has done, is doing, and will do if we humble ourselves, pray, and worship the King of Kings together.
It continues to be the joy of my life to serve the Northeast Conference and all of you. Some days are challenging and when we create something new from the ground up it always means that there are things we didn’t know that we didn’t know. Yet, patience and grace, love and trust, discipleship, prayer and worship will be the foundation we lay upon the bedrock of Jesus Christ. Pray for the leaders who will gather in Costa Rica. Pray for Rev. Mike Schaefer, our incoming Connectional Officer. Pray for our bishops and Conference Superintendents. Pray for the Global Methodist Church, so the world will know that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior. And when, as a leader, you’re tempted to throw the tablets down and walk away, remember that Jesus paid it all so that every day we can be filled with the presence and power of the Holy Spirit to be on mission so the world will know!
P.S. Oh, and about that Grease album. My dad went to the store the next day and bought a new one to give to me. Typing that brings tears to my eyes because it was in that moment that I knew what kind of leader I wanted to be when I grew up: one who is humble enough to lead from the heart, assured of forgiveness enough to forgive others, and courageous enough to own mistakes, even when caused by a stubborn pre-teen. Thanks, Dad. I love you and miss you. I wish you were here today to see this moment in history come to life.
~Steve
