Is it safe to challenge the status quo? No. It’s not. Post completed.

Challenge is an aggressive word. It suggests victory … or loss. It implies a struggle and change, possibly forced change. Change creates uncertainty for people. And uncertainty breeds worry and fear.

Asking people questions about what they believe and why they believe it is challenging. It’s often deemed unacceptable. People feel threatened and get defensive. It’s uncomfortable. Should we do it? Yes.

Critical thinking strengthens convictions and reveals the weakness in purely emotional responses. Emotion is not bad. It is also powerful. But it varies in intensity and can waver altogether. Conviction is a rock.

Should we challenge the status quo? Should we challenge the established way of thinking or doing things? Absolutely.

Jesus did. He challenged people’s idea of the Messiah. And He continues to challenge us to change our normal.

But what happens when I run into the rock of someone else’s conviction? Good things happen. Bad things happen. Anything is possible. I could affect change or I could get hurt — emotionally, financially, even physically.

When it comes to poverty, the established way of thinking for children in poverty — “I don’t matter” — is filled with hopelessness. The established way of thinking in poverty is a lie.

But Compassion’s work challenges this. Our sponsorship challenges this. With our sponsorship we’re telling our children to “think differently.” Believe. Hope.

Changing how I think changes how I act. And changing how I think is difficult. It’s not usually quick. It requires perseverance and commitment, which often seem in short supply when habit and convenience are present.

I value safety and comfort a great deal. They’re warm and cozy. But it wasn’t warm and cozy on the cross.

Challenging our status quo is required if we’re to grow.

“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?” — Isaiah 58:6 (NIV)

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

One of the speakers was David Kinnaman, president of The Barna Group. At the end of his presentation David bluntly told everyone assembled that Compassion’s business model is out of date.

He didn’t suggest it. He declared it. As fact. “Your business model is out of date.”

He didn’t say it might happen in the future. He said it’s here.

He didn’t position it as his opinion to consider. He delivered this “truth” directly, firmly and respectfully. It was refreshing.

A month later, Jon Dale, of Dale Interactive Group, told me the same thing over lunch.

In our highly connected digital world the technology exists for you to speak directly to your sponsored children, via Skype, Facebook, Twitter, etc.. So the idea of developing a meaningful, one-to-one, cross-cultural relationship via handwritten letters that can take up to three months to travel in one direction and another few months to travel back is outdated.

There are reasons we don’t yet offer you the ability to communicate directly with your sponsored children via social media. And there are reasons we ask that you don’t accept or initiate friend requests with your sponsored children via social media.

But we know that we must replace our antiquated communication process with one that offers you compelling ways to communicate with your sponsored children. We know that we can’t wait any longer to do this.

However, it’s not just the communication process we need to address. We also have to carefully consider what one-to-one child sponsorship should look like in the digital world. How can we use the tools of technology to make your participation in the development of these children more than just financial support and writing letters?

Although we’re not a sponsor-focused organization – we’re child focused – or a sponsor development organization, we know that “we” don’t exist without “you.” We can’t succeed without God’s blessing and your support.

What do you think about what I’ve said? Do you agree with David and Jon … and me? What do you think Compassion needs to do or consider when redefining what child sponsorship delivers to you?

Now is the time to share your opinions, particularly if you don’t normally comment. As our leadership team begins to answer these questions, it’s better that they know what you think rather than make assumptions about what you think.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

Like I said, I really, really like this time of year.

But, for all of its constants and familiarities, this time of year also brings about change. I’m getting better at accepting it . . . but I still don’t like it. 

Change means that things that you have always known to be, things that are comfortable because of their consistency, suddenly become different. As in, they are no longer the same. Big and small, professional or personal, things evolve. 

For example, my job.

As of December 1, 2008 (*insert Jaws theme music*) I am under the directional supervision of Curtis Fletcher. This means a number of different things. 

For starters, I will no longer be “on the web team.” Tragic. I will be a part of the “donor services team” helping with tactical assignments as needed (I don’t really even know what that means, but it’s what I have been told). 

More importantly, I will be working more closely with Curtis as we start to shape “the program” for its launch. Most of my time and energy will be placed here as details get clarified and we are able to move forward. 

Now, I know what you’re thinking: “What is this program about? And when is it launching?” 

I’m sorry to tell you, but I’m still not at liberty to say. The web team, though, during a highly critical and important meeting, code named it “The Twinkie Project.” 

I can’t tell you why we named it that. No really. I have no idea. It has zero relevance.      

What I can tell you though is this: Curtis has written a job description specifically detailing my role, responsibilities and the minimum amount of time that I will continue to be needed as a temporary employee for this position. 

I have six months, at least. I’m going to be here (securely) for the next six months. 

*big-wide-eyed-stare*

Allow me to clarify why this is such a BIG deal. As you may recall, while I was on the web team, my contract was renewed, based on current necessity, at the end of every month. That is to say, I had no guarantee of employment beyond the 30 days I was given at a time. But God, in His infinite sovereignty and providence, continued to reopen the door every month. 

As I was recovering from my intense relief and celebration after receiving the six-month-security-news, it dawned on me: Perhaps the Lord finally got tired of the same ‘ol prayer and decided that if He gave me a six-month stint, I’d shut up. 

It worked. Sort of.

Currently, instead of praying for a job, I’m praying for other things; things that perhaps have a heavier eternal weight, things like my heart. 

During Thanksgiving (which I spent at home in hot and humid Texas), I had the opportunity to spend some one-on-one time with one of my many precious cousins. Her name is Katrina, and she is a teacher in Austin. I met her long before she ever became a part of the family (by marriage) and she has long been a hero of mine.

She is beautiful. I mean really, really good-looking. But more captivating than her emerald green eyes is her passion and fervency for the Lord. I don’t use those words lightly. I have met few people who, in spending a measly five minutes with them, share just how much they are learning, being challenged, and are asking the Lord to continue to refine and change them.

I don’t know what your experience is with “refinement.” Mine is that, despite the fact that it is necessary and always better on the back-end, you have to be either really stupid or really holy to go asking for it. 

But that’s Katrina. Really holy.

As she shared with me the ways in which the Lord has been shaping her and showing her who He is and who He wants her to be, I became convicted. And I really hate that. 

“I want to go there in my walk,” I thought to myself. “I want to be stretched to new limits and shown new truths about who I am in Christ.” 

The only thing is . . . it could get messy. It will probably be hard. It will undoubtedly be uncomfortable. I will most likely have to confess and accept things about myself that I don’t like, that I don’t want to deal with. I will assuredly have to unpack baggage that I have been toting with me, partially out of habit, partially out of a need for security. And by security, I actually mean insecurity. Just to clarify.

As I wrestled with myself on the flight back to Denver, I decided that, difficult or not, it would be worth it. I’m ready to “lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before . . .” me (Hebrews 12:1b, ESV). 

Run with me this Christmas. As we welcome the New Year, welcome the change that the Lord has in store.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates