June Newsletter Article

This is the article that I wrote for the June edition of the Church newsletter.


Dear Friends in Christ,

It’s said there are two kinds of people in this world, those who split groups in two and those who don’t. Well, I’m about to split this relatively complicated issue into two: Problem solving.

Last Fall, Harriette, Lisa and I attended the training for Elders at the First Church in Tyler. The presenter at the program was the Rev. Dr. N. Graham Standish, the Head f Staff at Calvin Presbyterian Church in Zelienople, Pennsylvania. To cut to the chase, he says that there are two kinds of solutions to problems in this life, functional and formational.

The easy way to describe functional solutions is “band-aid.” If you have a problem, just fix it. The windows are rotting, use sealer and filler and make them look new again. Formational fixes are more complicated. Formational fixes begin by looking at why the windows are rotting. Is it water damage? Termites? Neither? Both? More? Have the windows just finally reached the end of their life expectancy?

As you can see, the functional fix will make everything fine again… until the water, termites, age, or whatever runs roughshod over the caulk and it’s shot too. But the formational fix takes longer and involves much more.

So which is better, I say it’s better to do the right things the right way the first time. Quick fixes lead to quick failures. Band-aids aren’t meant to stop bleeding forever, and depending on the size of the wound can be completely useless. They can even cause more harm than good if the band-aid causes you lose sight of the wound.

I say this because we are in the midst of a growth spurt here at First-Marshall. Praise be to God! But with any growth little issues arise, some are little issues and some are indicators of things to come. When ignored they get worse. When covered with a band-aid they get hidden. It is only when we seek the issues at the heart that we make foundational changes.

The only problem with that is often foundational changes lead to more change. There’s a reason for this, it’s the Holy Spirit at work. Yes, that Holy Spirit. By the power of the Spirit, God created the world and all that is in it. By the power of the Spirit, God continues to create the world and all that is in it. Hear the words of the Prophet Isaiah:

Do not remember the former things,
or consider the things of old.
I am about to do a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert.

God continues to create, to do a new thing. We are responsible for seeking to follow God even as God continues to do new things. God makes fertile valleys out of dry wilderness riverbeds. As is often the case, new creation causes some of the old to disappear. This is difficult. This is unsettling.

What is important is the one thing that will never disappear, that is the wonder and the glory of the eternal Triune God. God who doesn’t change changes everything else. God leaves it up to us to decide whether to put a band-aid on it, or seek the glory too.

We’ve seen the beginnings of it not being easy. The question is “What comes next?”

May God’s peace be with us all, Paul