MAC Blog

What is the best church in Missoula?

Many of us picture the church with the best music, preaching, programs for kids, youth events, ministry opportunities and coffee.  The best church would be the church with the best facilities . . . but not too big.  You want to be known by name, but you also want the freedom to miss the occasional Sunday without feeling everyone is dependent on you.  Anyone reading this latest blog post could probably add a dozen more features of the best church.

But the best church in Missoula is actually the best church for Missoula.  It’s not just one church.  It’s any church that patterns itself after Jesus who was highly present in His middle-east community.  He reached out (not down) to people.  He had conversations with people who would never be found in a church because of their shame.  Amazed, they walked away from Him and then ran to their friends to speak of the most amazing man they had ever met.  This was good for the community and God was put on display.

The goal for every Christ follower in Missoula is not to be amazing, not just to be present in local church services, but to be in pursuit of Jesus, becoming more and more like Him and authentically present in the community for the community.

That’s the best church . . . the church that is not here for itself but for Christ and for others.

How is it possible that an infinitely glorious God could go unnoticed in a community? There are many followers of Jesus in our community. I asked a college student what it would take for the population of Missoula to take note of the God of the universe. The response? “Followers of Jesus would have to do something that is the exact opposite of what the community expects . . . and that something would have to be consistent with the character of Jesus.” I thought that was a profound answer.

Jesus followers don’t visibly look different than other people. They just make decisions consistent with the character of Jesus.

They love their enemies.
They forgive when retaliation is expected.
They sacrifice when self-interest is the norm.
They love their neighbor as themselves.
They value relationship over possessions.
They reach out not down.

They are becoming like Jesus and that is not only reflective but attractive.

Are angels for real? Have I encountered an angel unknowingly? Hebrews 13:1-2 say, “Keep on loving each other as brothers. Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.” If angels are real and really do interact with people, what is it that they actually do?

Recently I read Hebrews 1:14 – “Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?” In what way and for what reason would an angel serve me? Is it because I am particularly discouraged? Is it because I am in imminent danger?

Once when I was quite a young pastor we had just completed a church building project. As if that wasn’t enough to come through, only months later my wife was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer. We had a six week old baby girl and one morning I dragged myself into my church office and just placed my elbows on the desk and my face in my hands. I was exhausted and discouraged. Alone in the church, I heard a sound and looked up. There in front of me was a man who looked like a street person. He was out of place not only for being so early in the morning, but for being in this upper middle class neighborhood where the new church was now located. He humbly but confidently stepped toward me and said, “Pastor, do you mind if I pray for you?” Even though I did not know him, I said, “Sure.” I still remember him reaching across the front of my desk with his dark weathered hands to clasp mine. He offered a simple prayer asking God to strengthen me and encourage me. I do not remember all the words of his prayer, but I was struck by how genuine it was. He finished his prayer and said goodbye and walked out. It was one of those moments where you wonder to yourself if what you just experienced really happened. I was no more than 10 seconds behind him when I decided to go and engage him in further conversation as he exited the building. But when I got to the front door of the church and went outside, he was gone . . . no where to be seen.

Even though that was 20 years ago and even though there is no way to know for sure, to this day I ask myself, “Was that man an angel of God sent to serve me for God’s purposes?” I don’t know the answer, but I know that Scripture says angels are ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation. Since then there have been two or three occasions when I have wondered if I just encountered another angel or the work of an angel.

I’m trying to be open enough to believe that God loves me enough to send angelic beings to serve me since I am one of His children. He loves you. He will do the same for you.

Our Annual Christmas Eve Offering is a treasured tradition at MAC. It is the one offering each year that is dedicated 100% to blessing Missoula in a non-traditional way.

A few weeks ago the principal of Chief Charlo Elementary School, David Rott, attended our Sunday services and was asked to tell us the state of the school which is only a couple hundred yards from the church. David reported that there are 400+ students in the school, 200 of which are on “free or reduced lunches” and 17 of which are homeless. You could have heard a pin drop in the room as it hit us that within a stones throw from the church there are 17 homeless children attending school. On top of those sobering facts is the current economical reality of the school budget. Some of the teachers are having to buy certain supplies out of their own pocket.

Several years ago we received a Christmas Eve Offering for Franklin Elementary School. Literally hundreds of children have benefited from that offering, receiving anywhere from clothing items to dental care to subsidized field trips. Visiting with the principal there this week I learned that those funds continue to help many students at Franklin.

This year, in similar fashion to our offering for Franklin School, we will receive an offering for Chief Charlo Elementary School. I am very pleased that MAC generously gives each Christmas Eve to help Missoula see “how great God actually is.” Stay tuned for all the details of the offering in the coming weeks at MAC.

I used to think that to put God on display in our city, all the Christ followers in Missoula needed to get together in a large stadium. To sit together in a large venue would speak of our unity and our love for one another. No doubt, there is some benefit in that. But even to see these words in print looks incredibly underwhelming.

It seems, rather, that God is put on display when we actually live what we profess to believe. As we move through the day interacting with others on an individual basis, God either looks great in our lives . . . or not.

Yesterday I was impressed with the verse in Colossians 3:17. “And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.” In everything I do or say, am I recognized as a representative of Jesus? When I interacted with someone who was pleasant or irritable, would that person perceive me to be a representative of Jesus?

Let’s not worry about the stadium events that are supposed to make a big splash for God. Let’s just put Him on display one person at a time.

This week I introduced myself to a new Public School principal in Missoula. My thought in going to the school was to get to know this new leader and then explore if there were any needs the school may have that perhaps the church family could help to meet.

As is always the case when I meet with principals in Missoula, I was once again amazed at how much these leaders care.

Introducing myself and then visiting together for a few minutes, I discovered that this is not just a job for this principal. This person really cares. A student was without socks. He did not have the means to buy socks and he also didn’t want just any pair of socks. He wanted a particular kind of sock. To my surprise, I learned that the principal went to Target one evening and bought him the socks he wanted. Presenting the socks to him . . . he was very pleased and smiled and . . . I am confident that principal has a new fan.

So much ground is gained in leadership when it begins with kindness and then relationship and moves toward friendship.

I don’t know what came to your mind when you read the title of this blog post. You might have read it and thought, “Jesus is OK with Missoula.” But I was intentional to say it the other way around. Missoula is OK with Jesus.

The fact about citizens of Missoula is that while most do not identify with a particular local church, it is not because they have a problem with Jesus. Missoula is OK with Jesus. Usually it is the people who attend local churches and the position they take on various issues that the people of Missoula don’t like.

At MAC we are working to change that. We want GOD to be made famous in the eyes of Missoula. We want to be a relevant, engaging, sacrificing people who are known by their love for God and their love for all others.

What is such good news about Missoula is that people like Jesus. Why do people like Jesus? My study focus this summer found me spending most of my time looking carefully at the words of Jesus in what is called His “Sermon on the Mount.” This sermon is what He would say to people who like Him, who think He is OK, people who want to honor the values He represents. While I have read the sermon (Matthew 5-7) many times over the years, I had never studied it until this summer. I guess I always thought it was sort of a collection of the wise sayings of Jesus that He communicated on the side of the mountain in kind of a stream of consciousness. Little did I realize that Jesus’ sermon rolls out like a Swiss watch. Each part depends on the previous part and is precisely what Jesus wants to say to people who are OK with Him. If we can grasp what He is saying it will transform our lives and our community.

Whether you are part of the MAC family or just checking us out, I invite you to come to one of our weekend services each week this fall to discover how great God is and what it means to be OK with Jesus. My dream is that everyone in Missoula will not only be OK with Jesus but will follow Jesus as their King.

I’m really excited about the Listening Tour our Elders and Staff will be conducting this summer. We believe we have a lot to learn about the people we are leading. So we plan to meet with hopefully about 25% of our church family to listen to what they have to say in response to a few questions related to their own story, spiritual journey, and hopes for the future.

How did this tour come about? I am blessed to have a mentor in my life by the name of Eric Swanson. Eric is a national leader of leaders, an author, and the first speaker of our annual leadership summit two years ago. I asked Eric if he would be willing to mentor me in the area of strategic leadership and the development of a comprehensive 5-year strategic leadership plan for MAC. He agreed and we are off and running in that direction.

Eric asked me how well I know the people of MAC. I answered that I thought I knew the people fairly well. But then Eric probed and I realized that I don’t know the uniqueness of the MAC family as well as I thought. He proposed that the leadership base of MAC conduct a summer-long “Listening Tour” meant to discover more about the people who call MAC their home church. What if the sum total of these interviews results in a new understanding of how MAC is suited to further live for Christ in the Missoula community?

Someone who heard about the Listening Tour this past week made the comment: “This sounds like something leaders would do just before beginning a capital fund-raising campaign.” I laughed. We have no hidden motive in doing this Listening Tour. Our objective, straight up, is to listen and discover the unique make-up and perspective of those who have identified with MAC.

I encourage you to go to the home page on this web site and register for a 20-30 minute interaction with one of our leaders on one of the Sundays this summer . . . hopefully I will get to see you there.

Last week I started attending a once-a-month meeting of savvy stock investors. Mark Bradford invited me to come. I love to keep learning and I imagined there would be a lot to learn in this uncertain economy.

For me, stock investing has always seemed to be something that requires a “gut feeling.” You have to have an intuition about the right stocks to buy and when to buy them. What surprised me was that operating on “intuition” is about the riskiest thing you could possibly do. You may as well just throw your money away. The group I met with last week reviewed the “system” for evaluating a given stock. At least seven indicators reveal whether or not to even consider a stock. Each of the seven is a critical factor in the stock’s likelihood of growing in value.

While I tried to look like I knew what they were talking about, I remembered that most of the people in the room were probably sitting in my chair just a year or so ago. They had learned a ton just from meeting together on a regular basis. How much more skilled at life would I be if I took this same approach on any number of other life skills? The idea of finding a group of people who have a common interest and planting myself in the middle of them can only help me.

And, I might suggest the same is true in our walk with God. Do you want to be a godly man or woman, a god honoring and dynamic student? Plant yourself in the middle of several others who are pursuing God and just watch what happens.