Dan's Thoughts

Pastor Hardwick #4 - August 5th, 2005

Pastor Hardwick and Montelle once visited the church I pastored in Arizona. The following Monday morning, Trish and I took them to Sedona, then on to Oak Creek Canyon. (That drive from Sedona to Flagstaff on the old road surely passes through some of the world's most picturesque scenery.) Along the way, we got thirsty. So, we stopped at a grocery store to get something to drink. As we stood at the counter to pay, I remarked to Pastor Hardwick that the statue beside us of the flute-player was Kokapelli, a native America deity. Hearing my remarks, the Native American lady at the counter remarked, "Kokapelli is tricky. He sometimes seduces young shepherd girls in the fields." After a moment of awkward silence, she added, "of course, the children always look like the shepherd girl's neighbors!" At this, pastor Hardwick laughed and said, "Now, you are a smart young lady!"

We were laughing as we got back into the car and told our wives about the conversation inside the store. Then, as we were pulling out of the parking lot, Pastor Hardwick began reading aloud from the bottle of tea he had purchased in the store.

"The preparation of this tea was accompanied by the chants of a certified tea shaman!"

Well, that was too much. In a rather disgusted voice, Pastor said, "this tea would taste exactly the same if that silly man had just kept his mouth shut!" And with that, he took a gulp of his tea.

Trish and I started laughing because by this time we had been working in the Southwest for a number of years. We had witnessed first hand how European culture contrasts and collides with Mexican and Native American values and beliefs in that part of our country. It was refreshing to watch another Anglo-American becoming ill at ease with the different way of looking at the world by which many Southwestern peoples live.

The little culture clash we experienced that day outside Sedona was funny because it was harmless. Unfortunately, culture clashes are not always harmless and they are rarely funny. They are increasingly dangerous and divisive. They are also becoming unavoidable, wherever one happens to live.

For most of its existence, Christ Church has been dealing with cultural change. The church's gradual move away from its parent denomination was, for the most part, a cultural shift. Then, as the church began to grow dramatically, we had to learn how to weave people coming from different church backgrounds into one body. That provoked yet another cultural shift. Now, we face the changing linguistic and ethnic influences around us. We are also facing the changing culture of our own children and grandchildren who have grown up in a very different world than we older folk knew. We must help our children and our converts become a genuine part of our congregation and its leadership structure. That's not easy.

Of course, we are not alone. Most of the churches in America are facing the same issues.

A few years ago, Pastor Hardwick asked me to read Samuel Huntington's The Clash of Civilizations. I said that I would. I also suggested that he read Phillip Jenkins's The Next Christianity. So we each read the book suggested by the other. As we read these books, we spoke a number of times on the phone about the implications of what we were reading. These conversations, in turn, provoked me to write an essay, which went out over the Internet. As a result of that essay, Grand Canyon University asked me to teach a class on Geo-political theory and leadership in a global context. Every time I taught the class, I would hear pastor Hardwick's voice in my head, making comments, asking provocative questions and pushing us to flush out the implications of what was happening to our world.

It astounds me, as I look back, to realize just how many times our pastor provoked me to think at a deeper level about emerging trends. Through the years, he has often pushed me to consider the implications of global and national changes in economics, politics, industry and intellectual life for our church and the work of God in the nation. The books he has recommended and the discussions these books provoked, have often prodded me to expand. His mentorship has helped me prepare for the changes that were coming to our world.

I have often compared Pastor Hardwick's ability to push himself to face social crisis and cultural change to that of other church leaders I have known. For many leaders of local churches and denominations, reading is a chore and societal change is irrelevant. That means that meaningful conversation with them about how to prepare and adapt God's work to a changing world is impossible. For our pastor, purposeful engagement with a changing culture has been about spiritually discerning the times in order to form a prophetic response. He has never tried to mask ignorance as piety. He has kept a teachable spirit. He has been a continual learner.

In The World Is Flat, Thomas Friedman says that the end of the Cold War opened up the global economy to hundreds of millions of Russian, Chinese and Indian workers. Most are young, most speak English and most are becoming extremely well educated. Friedman says this "flattening" of the global economy is accelerating the globalization of the United States. Thus, young Indians in Bangalore answer the phone calls we make to local companies. Latin Americans build our houses. Chinese workers make our televisions by day and get their MBAs by night. The world is reshaping itself every moment of the day and as we sleep. Our country is no longer aloof from the process. We are right in the middle of it.

It's a bit overwhelming! How do we prepare our churches to minister to this world that is emerging and in which our grandchildren must live out their faith?

Through the years Pastor Hardwick has demonstrated that one does not have to avoid difficult issues to remain biblically rooted (or even culturally conservative, for that matter.) He has remained both committed to his values and to the need of staying informed and connected to the world around him.

I am old enough to know that attitudes and responses to change like he has demonstrated have not been automatic. Nor have they been easy for him. To face a changing world in order to offer relevant leadership has required discipline, self-control and a great deal of courage.

Not long ago, Steve Hardwick told me that he once jumped out of an airplane (talk about a midlife crisis!) His instructor told him that as soon as he got over the first few seconds of shock, he needed to set his eyes on some landmark down on the ground. That visual anchor would keep him oriented and steady enough to make important decisions (like when to pull the parachute cord and so forth.)

American churches are facing inevitable and unavoidable changes driven by the process of globalization. In the years ahead, our culture will shift, again and again. Many churches will retreat into fear. Their leaders will allow terror to choke evangelism and to stifle their personal intellectual and spiritual growth. Our pastor has given us an example of another way to face change: reading, honest discussion and gradual, cautious adaptation. If we will maintain the approach he has set for us, our church will thrive and expand in the cultural changes we are likely to experience the rest of our lives.

Pastor Hardwick's grasp of common sense and his deep loyalty to his past have molded his reaction to change. Like Steve, flying disoriented toward the ground, Pastor Hardwick has not kept his eyes closed, trying to pretend that the world was remaining the same. However, neither has he surrendered to vertigo, to losing himself in waves of fear and flux. He has kept his eyes on a few foundational principles. He has eaten good food. He has read good books. He has loved his God. He has stayed informed. He has conversed with friends to clarify his own thinking. Then he has had the courage to respond. These reactions are rare. They should be treasured, learned and adopted by all who wish to lead well in the days ahead.

Once the initial shock of seeing Kokapelli hit him, he decided to just talk to the nice lady behind the counter. Once he had voiced his disgust about the tea shaman, he just drank his tea. One can ride out a lot of storms living like that.

Dan