#FourFoolishRules

I can give you lots of angles that illustrate what I mean by #FoolishChurch. If you’ve been reading this blog for awhile, you know a lot of them. (Scroll, baby!) Many of you have read my book, Foolish Church where I make the case for a church that’s more messy, raw, and real than we have generally known.

Over time, though, I’ve sensed that we need some specific, simple rules that’ll help us implement this foolishness. Guidelines that will help us navigate specific, living situations, to guide our thinking and help us decide what to do next.

I’m getting ready to share these rules in the church I started serving on July 1 (Valley United Methodist Church in West Des Moines). At first I was going to call them the “Four Rules for a Foolish Church,” like I did last fall, the first time I rolled them out.

Then I thought that might be a little much, as new as I am. (Maybe they don’t want to be “foolish,” just yet!) So I thought, instead, I’d say, “Hey, I’m gonna share my ‘Four Rules for a Foolish Pastor,’ as our worship series throughout August. I figured it might feel less pushy if I didn’t say, “these are the rules for you,” but said instead, “these are the rules I will be following.”

But then it dawned on me, these rules are bigger than that. They aren’t just for me as a pastor. They’re for me as a parent, and as a partner, and friend. They’re for you as a student, or a board member, or a sibling. In whatever ways we find ourselves doing life together, there’s help here for you

So, that’s where I landed. “Four (Foolish) Rules for Life Together.” That’s what I’ll be sharing throughout August–here and in the worship services I’ll be leading at Valley. You want a preview? Here goes:

Stay tuned as we fill in the blanks, and see how these #FourFoolishRules help us.

Image by Arnold Leow on Unsplash.