6 Ways to Destroy a Movement, Part 3

Throw Out Insiders Who Are Trying To Help

Not only would Diotrephes avoid positive influences around him, he actually took steps to get rid of them. This would be the equivalent of a CEO, department head or manager firing subordinates who brought different ideas to the table. A good leader ultimately makes a decision. Sometimes it's a difficult one. Sometimes it's an unpopular one. Sometimes it plays out to be the right move, other times the wrong one. But before making that decision, a great leader will hear the various points of view, explore opposing perspectives, and try to look at the issue from all the angles.

Diotrephes wasn't interested in that at all. He was closed minded. And he was so convinced that his way was the only way to do things that he expelled others in the church who had different ideas. They were willing to 'welcome the brothers', so Diotrophes put them out of the church.

Really, if you think about it, this is the height of arrogance. It's bad enough that he wouldn't listen to them, but to have them removed...expelled...kicked out...Wow. It's just hard to articulate how terrible this is.

Certainly, people in an organization need to be able to get behind the leader's decision, whether that organization is a department, company, charity or church. Few people really get how hard leadership is. In other places where I am not the senior leader (I'm a part of several of these - the Powhatan Rotary Club, my kids' schools, the outside groups with which our church associates, etc.) I always support the decisions of that leader. If I cannot do that, it's time for me to get out. I mean it. And I've done that once or twice.

But provided that I can ultimately support the decision, I need to be welcomed to bring my perspective and ideas, for the good of the group. A leader who was unwilling to listen to my perspective would be a leaders I couldn't follow. He or she does not have to agree with me, but she does need to hear me. I can support most leaders like that.

Diotrophes wasn't like that. And he would have thrown me out of his church.

Tomorrow, I will finish this little series with Demetrius, John's alternative to Diotrephes.

6 Ways to Destroy a Movement, Part 2

Avoid Positive Influences

Diotrephes refused to 'welcome the brothers'. He didn't know them. They were new to him. He was anti-new, anti-change. Some people are like that. I get it. Frankly, though I have a high tolerance for change, there is a lot of change I don't particularly like. But I've learned to roll with the punches, because change is a part of life. Still, if I had my way, we would find the perfect sweet spot of life and just live there all the time.

Diotrephes didn't just resist change and new ideas and new people, he also resisted everyone inside his church who did. In other words, there were others in the church who did welcome newcomers and their ideas. Seeing that as a threat to his leadership, Diotrephes took some kind of action that prevented people in his church from welcoming 'the brothers'. In other words, Diotrephes resisted the positive influences around him.

Do you ever get grumpy? I do. When I feel good and things are going well, I tend to tell everyone around me. And when I am down, I let everyone know that, too. What's odd to me is that I have a tendency to 'want' to stay down when I'm down. Maybe I realize how much energy it takes to get out of a funk. I don't know. But when I'm grumpy, the last person in the world I want near me is a 'the sun will come out tomorrow' 'somewhere over the rainbow' positive-thinker. Just let me wallow in my misery.

I think Diotrephes was like that. There were people in his church who loved him, cared about him, wanted to help him see things differently...see the world differently. But like Ebenezer Scrooge, he didn't want these positive influences around him.

Think about the people you have surrounded yourself with. Are they positive influences? Do they bring you up or drag you down? When you are with them, do you find that you feel better about yourself, or do you have to go home and recover after a visit?

Don't be like Diotrephes. Choose good influences.

Final Note: I have a resource I would highly recommend to you on this subject. It's a book I've read many times that I consider to be a cornerstone of my own personal growth. It's called How Full Is Your Bucket.

6 Ways to Destroy a Movement, Part 1

As promised, this is the first part of a series of posts here about 3 John.

First of all, if you would like to go a little further with 3 John, Bob and Jeannie Pino wrote an excellent, short, reflective study guide. Click here to see it.

Here is a summary of the indictment against Diotrephes:

1. Maintain a 'Me-First' Mindset.
2. Avoid Conflict Resolution.
3. Spread 'Malicious Nonsense' (Gossip).
4. Don't welcome new people into the movement.
5. Avoid Positive Influences.
6. Throw out insiders who are trying to help.

We get these 6 things from 3 John verses 9-10(NIV): "I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will have nothing to do with us. So if I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, gossiping maliciously about us. Not satisfied with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers. He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church."

I fleshed out the first 3 in today's message, which you can listen to by clicking here. I only had time to get to the first 3 things. In three posts on this blog, I'll spend a little time fleshing out the last 3.

Don't welcome new people into the movement

We see it again and again in all kinds of organizations. It's truly amazing how remarkably intelligent humans can be, yet how we repeat the same obvious mistakes over and over again. We could name hundreds of examples. Radio Shack had an opportunity to be the premier leader in the personal computer retail market. Woolworth's and KMart had a real shot at fending off the threat that Wal Mart posed to them. Circuit City could have remained in business and competed head-to-head with Best Buy. A seemingly endless list of companies that refused to welcome the 'new people' of the current or modern culture. They refused to see the world that existed, and instead chose to live in a day that had passed them by. And what did consumers do? Felling unwelcomed by dated atmospheres, they went elsewhere for their needs.

Unfortunately, it happens all too often in the church. Diotrephes was interested in circling the wagons and not allowing any new people - especially leader types - into his group. John says that Diotrephes "refuses to welcome the brothers." John had sent some church leaders to see how things were going, learn about what was working, and perhaps give some outside advice. Diotrephes would have none of it. Why? I suspect he felt threatened by such voices. But he needn't have felt that way if he was interested in the good of the church...because that's all the 'brothers' were interested in. If they were all focused on the same goal; if they agreed on the same mission; if they had the same purpose - then they could freely share new ideas without feeling threatened.

Everything is constantly in motion. My family is very different than it was even 5 years ago. So is the culture in which we live. So is our community. So is our church. If you're department, club, team, business or home is not different today than it was not-so-long-ago, it might be worth asking why? I'm not talking about a compromise on a core value. I'm talking about changing our methods, not our message.

Successful organizations stay true to their core values and their mission, etc. But they are constantly changing how they execute and live out the principles that make them them, because the culture and world changes. They hear, learn, listen and respond in different ways today than they did just a few years ago.

PCC will always welcome new people, new voices, new leaders, new ideas. We will never change our mission or our message but we will constantly adjust our method. It's what Diotrephes refused to do, but it's exactly what Jesus did do.

Where are you open to change? Where are you resistant to it?

PCC Family Camping Trip!

We still have some slots for our camping outing at Bear Creek Lake next weekend. If you've never been there, it's a great campground, very family friendly. Click here to see some info on the campground. There is a cool beach-style sandy swimming area at the lake!

Here's the scoop:

Family Campout-Bear Creek Lake

Friday July 30-Saturday July 31 (We're only camping Friday night)
$5 per person
Register in advance at PCC
Contact Jessica Gray for details
jessicagray2@verizon.net

We have a limited number of spaces, so sign up today!

A few prayer requests

Would you consider joining me in prayer for a few folks? This is not intended to be an all-inclusive list. Just a few folks that are really on my heart today.

• Tony Tomandl. Tony leads an incredible ministry called CERI (www.cerikids.org) which seeks to help kids in Moldova, a very poor former-Soviet country in eastern Europe. It is the number 1 source for human trafficking in the Europe (forced prostitution, forced labor, etc.). Susan and I sponsor one of these kids. Tony is traveling in Moldova for the next 2 weeks. Pray for him, for his ministry, and for Cheryl who, I'm sure, is already awaiting his return home!
• Bob Pino. He's a dear friend of mind and a great friend of PCC. His work both on the stage and behind the scenes has made a major difference. His friendship means the world. He's the kind of guy who just fills the room - he has a life and an energy about him that is electrifying. And he's really sick. Please pray for him and Jeannie today.
• Kathy Ivins. Kathy is also really sick. Her husband, John, and their boys are hurting. They are good friends with incredible gifts and talents and presence. We're all still kind of in shock that Kathy is as sick as she is. Please pray for this family.
• Allie Dulio. This little girl really needs our prayers. You can see more at http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/alliedulio. It's never easy to know that someone you love is suffering, but it's particularly difficult when it's a child. Please pray for this special patient.

Thanks for being faithful in prayer. It matters. In a way we don't fully grasp and won't really comprehend this side of heaven, prayer somehow moves the heart of God. It matters, even when we don't always see the results we want. Scripture tells us to pray continually, ask for what we want and need, and trust in God.

Thanks again,

Brian

2 John Study Guide

Here's this week's devotional for 2 John. We hope it's helpful!

Jeanne and Bob in December, 2009

By the way, this series of devotional writings were written by Bob and Jeanne Pino. It's timely to request your prayers, as Bob will be undergoing gamma knife surgery Tuesday morning (July 20) for a brain tumor. Please pray for both of them, and thank God for the work he's done in their lives and the ministry they have done through these study guides.


2 John
This very short book in the Bible packs a huge punch telling us how we should live each day for Christ. This book has three distinct messages, the first two of which are most popular to those who preach or teach from this text:
-Love one another.
-Beware of false teachers/deceivers.
-How to experience the fullness of God’s joy.

For the next few minutes let’s take the time to read and think about the messages John was trying to convey as they relate to us today.

Can You Unplug?
Loving one another and the message to do so has been around for centuries, and is brought to our attention in the Old Testament book of Leviticus. It is then hammered home in the book of John when Jesus takes it from something we should do and makes it a command, that we are to love one another. This is very clear-cut, direct, and to the point.

John cautions us about false teachers/deceivers, whose main objective is to distract and separate us from loving and obeying Christ first, and then each other. John makes this point very clear in verses 9, 10, and 11. At this point, you may want to re-read those verses. As you look at these verses, realize that in John’s day, the only ways to communicate were face to face or by letter.

As you approach the third point, realize that the intention is to make you stop, think about, and take account for how this fits into your everyday life. What is shared may cause you to question, be offended, or maybe even be provoked to anger. If so, mission accomplished! (Proceed with caution…and prayer!)

Verse 12 presents us with the importance of how God’s word is communicated and how we communicate with each other. John tells his readers, “I have much more to say to you, but I don’t want to do it with paper and ink. For I hope to visit you soon and talk with you face to face. Then our joy will be complete.” NLT

Did you catch it? The words that John had to share were so important that he did not want to put them in writing, but wanted to share them “face to face” so that the joy of the message would be experienced by him and those who heard it.

Ask yourself the following questions:

-Are you so plugged in to your cell phone, IPad, Facebook, Twitter, email, etc., that your face to face communication with those you love and others around you has diminished?
-Have you sat down in a restaurant with your spouse, children, or a friend to have a meal together and have had to stop to answer a cell phone or text a message to someone else?
-Have you sat in that same situation, trying to discuss something important that’s going on in your life, and had to wait while the person you were with was screening calls or texts during the conversation?

Recently, while in a small neighborhood restaurant, I noticed a couple with a teenage daughter and a younger son, maybe 4 or 5 years old. The father and mother were both on their cell phones; the daughter was texting; and the young boy was stuffing ketchup-covered French fries up his nose! These people, if asked, would probably respond that they have several meals a week together as a family, and they are satisfied with the fact that they are physically together. Should we truly be satisfied with this level of communication? John’s intent was to help us realize the importance of what goes into face to face communication that cannot be duplicated in any other way. If I’m talking to you and I stop the conversation to take a phone call or receive/send a text, I am saying that you are not as important to me as the person that’s attempting to communicate with me. Those who live this way would tell you they are multi-tasking. That’s another devotional for another time!

Well, there you have it! Are you offended? Angry? Ready to track down the devotional writer and hit him upside the head with your laptop? Don’t misunderstand the message here: Technology today is mind-blowing. Our ability to use the internet and all the associated peripherals to get the Word of God out to the masses is amazing. But please, let’s not forget to sit down as often as possible with those we love to give God glory and build each other up in our faith.

Plugged or unplugged? Where are you today?

Here’s a challenge for you:
Over the next 24 hours, make a notation every time you receive or send a text message; you receive or send an email; you receive or make a cell phone call. Look over your list and decide which ones were absolutely necessary and important, and which ones were merely distractions from face to face communication with family, friends, loved ones, or time with God. Then determine whether or not changes need to be made, and seek God’s direction in making those changes.

PCC Fall Marriage Retreat

It has been a few years since we did a Marriage Retreat...and several folks have been asking me about doing one. So, here are the details:

NOTE: THIS RETREAT IS LIMITED TO 22 COUPLES, and we already have some people signed up, so there is very limited space. If you would like to go, I recommend that you reserve your spot quickly.

• Date: Friday, October 29 to Saturday, October 30.
• Time: Begins with dinner on Friday and will end at approximately 3:30pm on Saturday.
• Price includes: Hotel room, dinner Friday and breakfast & lunch on Saturday, a book and conference materials, snacks, etc.
• Cost: $199 per couple.
• Deposit: A non-refundable deposit of $50 per couple is required when you sign up. The remainder is due on September 4.*
• Where: Crossroads Conference Center in Lowesville (about 1.5 hours from Powhatan). We'll be staying in the Ukrop Conference Center.
• Topics: Communication, family systems, help for frantic families, and we'll have a lot of fun.

THIS RETREAT IS LIMITED TO 22 COUPLES, so you will want to book your room asap. Make the deposit check out to PCC and put "Marriage Retreat" in the memo line. You can give it to me, Lori Wheeler, or just put it in the offering plate.

You will really like this facility. Susan and I have done marriage retreats at this place many times, it is the perfect place for one. Very private, very quiet, very nice. This will be the peak of the leaf season, too.

For those of you who have never been on a marriage retreat and wonder if it is 'weird', let me assure you that it is not. Sure, we want couples to stretch a little, learn and grow in their marriage and toward God, but there is nothing weird or freaky. It's a very positive experience and non-threatening.

Let me know if you want to reserve a spot.

Brian

*if you want to go, but need a little more time to pay than is provided here, we may be able to work something out. Email me at brianchughes@gmail.com