Sigmund Freud argued that each individual has a limited quantity of love. Consequently, the more a person loves someone else, the less love he has for himself.Rollo May took issue with that position. He observed that when a person falls in love he feels more valuable and treats himself with more care. He further suggested that this inner sense of worth comes whether or not the love is reciprocated. He agreed with those who say that we are able to love others to the extent that we are able to love ourselves.

For some time I have maintained that love is elicited. The more we are loved, the greater our potential for love. If such is the case Freud has given us a half-truth. We do have a limited capacity for love.And May has given us a half-truth. To love someone who loves us in return is scary (we are giving without any assurance that we will receive), but it is invigorating nonetheless. It renews us, giving us an even greater capacity for love. But to love someone who does not return our love can drain us.

Love is commanded in the Scripture. I’ve often been asked how that command squares with my position. Usually behind the question is the assumption that since love is commanded it must be controlled by the will.Not necessarily. I may be able to will to treat you in a loving way. But love is always greater than the sum of its parts. The difference between doing loving things for you and feeling love for you may be subtle but it is there. And at times that difference can register in a profound way. For instance, parents may determine to treat all their children alike, yet love one more than another. Teachers may consciously try to not allow favoritism even though they are attracted to some students and possibly even repelled by others. In each case I suggest that the individuals involved are able to see the difference between loving acts and love itself.

Some might maintain that we never express love to another person without meeting some need of our own. But if there is a love that approximates the love of Jesus, it must be possible to love someone who either cannot or will not acknowledge our love. And to love such a person is costly. Because our resource of love is not restored in the process.

Are we able to pay the price? We are if we are receiving love. The Christian experiences regularly the love of Jesus through friends, worship, instruction from His book, prayer and reflection on what He has told us and done for us, especially during the tough times.

Are we willing to pay the price? That is a question that must be answered within the context of specific relationships. Can I love the son who has broken my heart? Can I love the student who I can’t seem to reach? Can I love the church member who seems to have so little to give to me? Or the neighbor who irritates me?

We know God’s answer. He loved us while we were his enemies. And we know God’s desire. He tells us to love each other the way he loves us.Suppose that we belong to Jesus and we are willing to try to love someone we haven’t been able to love. If love is more than doing loving things, how do we go about it?

I suggest first, that we try to get to know the person. That knowledge might put our feelings in a different perspective. If we still have “problems” with the person try to think about why we consider those things to be problems. That also could give us a different perspective. Risk talking about our feelings with the person. That must be done with great care remembering that our objective is not alienation but to break through the barriers that keep us from loving. Ask for God’s wisdom as well as the ability to love that person.As we love we are renewing and enlarging the ability of others to love. And as representatives of Jesus Christ our love enables others to feel His love.

Recently several people have asked our staff to recommend good material on theodicy. These inquiries may have arisen as the result of the September 11 tragedy in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania. It is certainly natural and understandable that people would ask questions when events such as those occur.

We have been taught that God is wise, powerful, and good-that he rules his world completely. We have further been taught that God determines all things that come to pass. But the question surfaces: If God is good and all-powerful, why is there evil in his world? Is he really God? All-powerful? Good? Does he really rule his world? Where does he fit into the picture with all the bad things going on? And bottom line, we ask, How is it possible to reconcile the realities of life-sin, evil, and wickedness-with God’s all powerful and good rule? Theodicy is an attempt to justify and harmonize those things.

The problem is that we tend to approach this topic solely within the area of reason and logic. That is not all bad, but when we are talking about God, reason and logic have their limits because God transcends both. Even the notion of trying to justify God’s control puzzles us because if God is who he says he is, why do bad things continually happen to good people? And, we cannot cop out by saying there are no good people, true as that may be. It begs the real question that theodicy seeks to address. Historically people have tried to deal with this complex subject in many ways. The following four key explanations prevalent today will serve our purposes in this pr

By William J. Larkin. Postmodernism is the worldview of the dawning age, the environment forming for twenty-first century civilization. It is the mind-set embodied in the young, playful postmodern M.D. content to practice medicine a limited number of hours at a “Doc in a Box” instead of building up his own practice because he wants “time” to pursue his own interests, his “play.” It is the environment we live in, when, moving at the speed of light, we can experience, at a distance, events in “real time” in a place called “cyber-space,” which is actually nowhere.

This forms a worldview which impacts how we understand and receive the gospel. Indeed, how can we communicate a gospel that is truly “good news” to the postmodern person (or any cultural being for that matter)? We must “exegete” the culture from the inside out. We must interpret the Scriptures at a metacultural level. Then, we must bring the two together in effective gospel communication. After describing the shift to postmodernism, which is occurring all around us-exegeting our culture-and understanding the good news at its most fundamental level, we will illustrate how the two may be brought together.

Exegeting the Culture: Postmodernism

What is postmodernism? Originally, this label applied to a movement in western architecture which moved away from the boxy, modernist, glass and steel functionalism of the first half of the twentieth century to an eclectic, decorative, and more humane style. Since the 1980s, however, it has come to describe a broader cultural shift away from modernism, the worldview characterizing western civilization since the eighteenth century Enlightenment. Though some see postmodernism as modernism reaching its logical extreme, a hyper-modernism, most believe “post” points to a worldview distinct from modernism. Not only is it chronologically “post,” it is “post” in the sense of critique, for it claims to supersede and replace modernism.

So fundamental and comprehensive is the shift postmodernism brings, we must keep in mind certain basic worldview categories if we are to understand what is happening.The postmodern thinker has turned away from modernist views of the nature of the universe and reality and how we relate to them, and the nature of humans, language, and text.Postmodernism is not a passing fad but the dawning age of twenty-first century western civilization. A postmodern environment is not a cultural context of an isolated intellectual elite. It is the cultural context forming around us. Postmodern types of individuals are already walking onto the stage of history. We work and play with them. They may even sit across from us at the dinner table.

Postmodern: The Dawning Age

We know that the postmodern age is the dawning age, when we observe that under the weight of history and experience the “Modernist Project” is collapsing. Themes of the modernist “grand narrative”-this worldview’s explanatory myth of origin, power and destiny-have been discredited. Hence, there is an openness to viewing reality differently.

From Closed to Open. In science for example, postmodernism has demonstrated that we do not live in a self-contained, closed universe where all change is simply a rearrangement of eternally existent phenomena. Rather, we inhabit an open universe which began with a “Big Bang” and is continually expanding to an uncertain end. Will our universe know eternally emergent evolution? Or, is the universe headed for an evitable cold, empty, starless night in which proton decay means matter’s last gasp?

From Totalizing to Deconstruction. Modernism’s reductionistic and totalizing approach to explaining reality involved the penchant for declaring one of its features the basic building block which explained everything. For example, Marx’s materialistic economics of class struggle claimed to explain all events of human history. Yet, experience and history in the twentieth century have discredited one totalizing explanation after another, because when each was given full reign in society, it created the exact opposite of its ideal. Marxism was to bring about the progressive emancipation of labor. That ideal died in the streets of Budapest in 1956, if not before, in Stalin’s purges of the thirties. Indeed, the twentieth century totalitarian regimes of the left and the right, and their attendant atrocities, give evidence that the “Modern Project” has failed to find a basis for morality and society.

From Purpose to Play. Modernism believed in the inevitability of progress, the improvement of all humanity through the advances of capitalist techno-science. A trip to Disney World and the Epcot Center lets you experience this quintessential modern ideal-science and technology meeting all your needs and wants, titillating your senses and firing your imagination.

From Metaphysics to Irony. Sobered by the use of science in the creation of weapons of mass destruction and realizing the potential of scientific advances for evil, as well as good, postmoderns reject the modern belief in the inherent goodness of knowledge. They are not convinced that the progressive emancipation of reason and freedom is humankind’s destiny. This was the German ideal, the most erudite people in the modern western world. And where did that erudition and incarnation of the “inherent goodness of knowledge” reach its climax? In the experiments of Auschwitz. No wonder the postmodern turns from a pursuit of knowledge, which confidently constructs a metaphysic, to a quizzical, if not cynical, exercise in irony.

From Christianity to Spirituality. Though the “Modernist Project” with its closed, self-contained universe and its human-centered ideals of progress and improvement actually has no room for biblical Christianity, still the Christian faith was the dominant religion of modern Europe and North America. The postmodern historical critique casts its penetrating light on modern Christianity. Here is the indictment of Jean-Fran

The role of deacons is critical to the ministry of the local church. However, for some time it has suffered from a poor image. In reformed circles the office is rightly seen as one of service and helps. But with the growth of church buildings and property, deacons are often viewed more as caretakers of property and less as caretakers of people. I have talked with many deacons in recent years who have confirmed that most of their time is spent on property and repair issues. Alexander Strauch makes this significant comment in his book The New Testament Deacon, “Since the first Christians did not have buildings to maintain, the first deacons were preeminently people helpers and administrators of the church’s charity. They were ministers of mercy.” Which of these two descriptions does the Bible and the Book of Church Order (BCO) teach? Let’s briefly consider this question.

In Luke 22:27 Jesus describes himself as a deacon when He says, “But I am among you as one who serves.” He even demonstrated service in the upper room with the towel and washbasin. His miraculous works were to heal and show mercy to those suffering in body as well as soul. After the resurrection, on the road to Emmaus, His disciples described Jesus with these words, “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people.” He was the perfect example of a Prophet/Servant. His redemption included the whole person and all of creation. What better incentive could deacons have than to realize that the eternal Son of God saw Himself as a deacon in the service of His heavenly Father. Nothing could bring higher esteem to the office.

BCO 9-1 says that the office of deacon is one of sympathy and service. This obviously places the significance of the office in ministry to people. In the introduction to Tim Keller’s Resources for Deacons, George Fuller says, “The office of deacon is a high calling under Jesus Christ. It is not a training ground for elders, although some deacons later become elders. It is not a secondary office; it is not unimportant. It is absolutely critical to the life of the church, in spite of often being ignored.” The last phrase of BCO 9-1 describes the office in these words, “it expresses also the communion of saints, especially in their helping one another in time of need.” This description of the office is in line with the sentiments of The Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter XXVI, 1-2, on the Communion of the Saints. Deacons are called to lead the whole church in mercy ministry.

Within in the PCA, mercy ministry has taken on a rather high profile in the last several years. This has been partly due to several conferences organized by the Committee on Christian Education and Publications. The most recent conference in March 2001 was jointly sponsored by CE/P and Mission to North America. Almost six hundred people attended; only ninety-five were deacons. It seems there needs to be an awakening among pastors and deacons regarding the diaconal role in mercy ministry.

One clear wake-up call comes from BCO 9-2 where the duties of the office are described as follows:

1. Minister to those in need, sick, friendless, and any in distress.
2. Develop the grace of liberality in members.
3. Devise methods of collecting gifts and distribute these gifts among objects to which they were contributed.
4. Have care of property, and keep in proper repair.

This list of duties demonstrates again that the primary focus of deacons is ministry to people, and that property takes a secondary place. Whether you believe the seven in Acts 6 were actually the first deacons or were just the prototype of what was to follow, it is clear that they were chosen for ministry-to help the widows.

Finally, BCO 9-7 reads, “It is often expedient that the Session of a church should select and appoint godly men and women of the congregation to assist the deacons in caring for the sick, the widows, the orphans, the prisoners, and others who may be in any distress or need.” Deacons are to be out front, leading and overseeing the work of mercy ministry in the local church. It is a mistake to assign mercy ministry primarily to a team outside the diaconate. This will only reinforce the image of deacons as primarily groundkeepers and building maintenance workers.

James 1:27 says, “Religion that God the Father accepts as pure and faultless is this; to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” The words “to look after” are a good description of the importance of mercy ministry and the role of deacons. Many deacons may need to revisit their call and even be retrained to fulfill the role and responsibilities of that call. This review will help correct the way the congregation sees the office and will encourage the deacons in their ministry. Then they will be able to experience what Paul wrote in I Timothy 3:13, “Those who have served well gain an excellent standing and great assurance in their faith in Christ Jesus.”

It should not be unusual for Christians to be actively concerned and involved with those around us. Our Savior lived and taught the ministry of mercy throughout His life. But, though many of our people have been “moved with compassion” (Mt. 9:36), not all of our churches have focused their organization and resources on showing mercy. A church-based mercy ministry benefits not only those who receive help but also those who show mercy by blessing them with the heart of Christ for a needy world. At Chapelgate Presbyterian Church we have rebuilt our corporate mercy ministry to work more effectively throughout our whole congregation. We hope other churches will be encouraged to join us in the quest to discover a deeper passion for mercy and develop better methods and tools for managing mercy ministries.

How Growth Fragmented Ministry

Several years ago, there were all kinds of bright spots in the Caring Ministry at Chapelgate Presbyterian Church, but nothing connected these good efforts into an effective safety net. No matter how many persons’ needs were met, too many others were falling through the cracks. Chapelgate had had a long history of faithful servants extending the love of our Lord Jesus Christ to others. But as our membership grew larger, busier, and more spread out geographically, old communication and collaboration channels broke down. Even our deacons were being asked to focus on church maintenance concerns and the problems of accommodating our growing numbers, rather than their biblical calling to service and mercy.

As Chapelgate’s mercy ministry became less effective, a great number of independent para-church ministries sprang up among our members. These good-hearted but isolated ministries did not communicate well with each other. They duplicated each other’s efforts and sometimes stepped on each other’s toes. Often people in need of help did not know that these ministries even existed. Under these conditions, the task of overseeing the pastoral care, mercy, and service needs of our congregation of 1500 members was overwhelming. There seemed to be a huge black hole of never-ending needs into which enormous efforts by disassociated caregivers disappeared. Results were haphazard. After studying our situation, we decided we could coordinate our various caring and mercy ministries by addressing three issues: Communication, Cooperation/Collaboration, and Encouragement.

Communication

Problem. Whether a particular need was made known to a pastor, church member, or receptionist, there was no guarantee that the right people would get the information so that they could address the need in an appropriate, timely, and consistent fashion. Thus, though we were sometimes thorough, other times the people in charge of filling the needs were unaware of them until it was too late. For example, in one instance we might handle a death in the family of one of our members with great care and attention, but another grieving family might only receive acknowledgement in the bulletin.

Process Solution. It was necessary to change our procedures for receiving and processing information about needs. We established a full-time Caring Coordinator position so that one person receives all information about needs in the congregation and the community. No matter where the information originates, the congregation and staff know they must contact the Caring Coordinator immediately as a first step toward meeting the need. As simple as this sounds, having just one person (and one computer system) process all requests dramatically improves the consistency of our care giving.

It took time and constant reminders to re-train the congregation to call or email the Caring Office, but soon everyone began to notice the benefits of having a central clearing house where information can be obtained on any ministry in process. We call the organization of all our pastoral care and mercy ministries our Caring Umbrella. Our caring and mercy ministries form a big circle, like an umbrella with spokes radiating from a center point (the Caring Office) out to the edge of a big protective canopy that shelters the lives of those in our community. The ministries operate interdependently, through the network provided by the Caring Office, which is composed of the Caring Coordinator, a pastor, and the Pastoral Care Management System “ShepherdWorks.” Information about needs flows not only up and down the spokes, but also in a collaborative fashion between the different ministries that make up the fabric of the Caring Umbrella.

ShepherdWorks Solution. While appointing a Caring Coordinator helped untangle the inconsistencies in our care delivery, we still needed a computerized Pastoral Care Management System to facilitate caring coordination. We needed a central repository of information about the resources of all the different mercy ministries (the people who were providing care, their skills, the goods and services they had and the ones they needed, etc.) and the demands that were placed on these resources. After a few false starts with a simple home-grown database, we saw that it would take a more sophisticated system to manage the day-to-day operations of our network of mercy ministries.

After conducting an exhaustive search of available software programs for pastoral care management, we realized that we would have to design and develop our own application to provide our mercy ministries with the requisite functionality. ShepherdWorks, the result of several years of development, is designed for both small and large churches. It can augment the work of a full-time Caring Coordinator, but it can also empower other staff or volunteers to perform caring coordination.

Moreover, ShepherdWorks will support many concurrent ministry users. It will be accessible through the World-Wide Web over the Internet, making it possible for mercy ministry workers, church staff, pastors, deacons and elders to collect, organize and maintain mercy information from anywhere in the world through a standard Web browser on an ordinary computer with an Internet connection. Participating churches and mercy organizations create, modify, store and retrieve their data over the Internet in a completely secure environment without having to purchase any software or maintain an expensive and complicated computer network infrastructure. ShepherdWorks will bring to faith-based organizations tools that promote communication, collaboration and coordination hitherto only available to corporate enterprises, but at a fraction of the cost.

Cooperation/Collaboration (Networking)

Problem. We found that some of our ministries were trying to handle problems that were addressed more appropriately by some other ministry. For example, if a caregiver delivered a meal and discovered a transportation problem, he might try on his own to find someone to repair the car instead of referring the matter to the transportation ministry.Essentially, we were faced with the kinds of needs that represent the challenge of collaboration in many group efforts. How do we:

• find the right persons to perform a particular job?
• inform others about problems and potential solutions?
• monitor the current status of a problem-solving effort?
• determine who tackled a particular problem and what exactly was done?
• capture past experience in dealing with problems so we can apply the acquired knowledge to future cases?

Process Solution. The Caring Office has established and maintains a network among our various ministries to eliminate redundancy. The Coordinator has been able to foster cooperation between the various ministries so that each one works on the part of a problem that relates to its ministry, yet in concert with all those involved. Caregivers avoid frustration and the time they invest brings greater tangible results.

ShepherdWorks Solution. ShepherdWorks will offer a plethora of features that provide our ministries with the following collaborative functionality: shared content (ministry documents and discussions maintained in a central location, document revisions/versions tracked); shared sense of time (group calendars and Gantt charts capture task assignments, project milestones and meeting schedules; real-time, on-line awareness and chat facilities allow instant contact among ministry staff; automatic email notification); shared workflow (process management tools monitor status and control the orderly completion of tasks within a ministry project); shared knowledge (ad hoc processes may be captured and re-used in future projects).ShepherdWorks empowers mercy ministry staff to work together, exchange information, ask questions, find answers, and perform complex tasks with accountability as individuals and as members of teams.

Encouragement

Problem. Ministry leaders were often overwhelmed by the number of people under their personal care. Even when they felt equal to the needs they were serving, they felt they were working in a vacuum, unsupported and unacknowledged, without feedback from the church.

Solution. The Caring Team makes sure that our ministry leaders know they are not working alone, and that they are not required to meet all the needs of an individual or family. Our ministries provide great encouragement to one another as they work together to resolve a need. In particular, we support and encourage our shepherding elders and deacons by letting the congregation know that shepherding takes place when all the different ministries work together in concert with the oversight of an elder and deacon. No elder or his deacon counterpart can meet all the needs of those under his care. False expectations of shepherding can occur when the person being cared for assumes that one caregiver possesses all the gifts and resources to meet his need. The Caring Coordinator can explain that he must allow others to provide appropriate care for him in the name of Christ and His under shepherds. Now when a ministry is detailed to help a family, the elder is in continual communication, through the Caring Coordinator, concerning what is taking place in the life of those under his care. As the shepherding elders and deacons are kept abreast of a particular situation, they can come alongside their charge in appropriate and timely ways.

Blessings of a Well-Organized Mercy Ministry

In addition to all the benefits described above, the records of the Caring Coordinator and ShepherdWorks save us from having to reinvent the wheel. Good reporting and feedback provide the information needed to design a workflow path that can be used the next time a similar situation presents itself. Capturing the workflow and expertise of skilled caregivers enables us to maintain the same level of care even when we lose an expert caregiver for some reason.As we have organized our corporate mercy ministry, we have maximized the effectiveness. Enabling our members to more effectively express Christ’s love to our neighbors will be the true measure of a successful mercy ministry.