I live in Iowa. Iowa is blindingly white. Caucasian. European American. Almost 95% white, in fact.

I never felt more white than I did today at Mister Car Wash. You see, I rolled up to get the $6 wash (best in town, in my opinion) and quickly took note of my surroundings: White soccer mom with a cell phone attached to her ear, a white middle-aged woman in the lobby talking on a cell phone wearing a mink coat (not joking), a white businessman in a Beamer, and a white 28-year-old pastor with a bulbous head talking on his cell phone (that would be me.)

As I rolled through the line, I noticed that a large majority of the people working on my car were Hispanic or Black. I noticed that most of them did not make eye contact with me. I also noticed that most of the people who went through the wash paid no attention to the workers outside their car. Not even once. All of us were too busy talking on our cell phones to notice the human being literally 12 inches away from us on the other side of the glass.

I’m not saying we need to be best friends with the person who washes our car, but what struck me so hard was the distance that I perceived. The distance between human beings. The distance between Black and White and Brown. A distance that’s dangerous.

As I rolled off the assembly line, I said out loud, “Lord, that did not feel right.” I don’t know why. I can’t tell you for sure, other than I know (I hope) it was something more than the phenomenon known as “White Guilt.”

Am I the only one who’s experiences this? Any of you been there? Black, White, Hispanic or otherwise? Anyone have name for what I experienced?

“We need a degree of critical realism in theology.” Mark Batterson.

I’ve been on a Craig Groeschel kick lately.

Maybe it’s due to the fact that we have similar backgrounds (out-of-control frat guys, partying our brains out any chance we got who were radically changed by the Spirit of Christ). Or maybe it’s the fact that he has a knack for saying semi-inappropriate things that most people think pastors should not be saying (besides incredibly profound insight in his book, “It”, he’s also generous with “poo” and “pee” stories from his children). Either way, I think Craig has some really good stuff to say.

Below is a list he compiled for Outreach Magazine, a list of advice containing bits of wisdom he wishes someone would have given him 20 years ago (he’s now 40). Here are a few of my favorites from “Advice For Young Pastors”:

Don’t take yourself too seriously.

Ministry is a marathon, not a sprint.

Jesus cares more about the church than you do.

You can’t please everyone…so why try?

People will criticize you. Quit whining. Get used to it.

You can’t do it all. Stop trying.

If you blame yourself for the bad results in ministry, you’ll likely also take credit for the good results.

Become close friends with other pastors in your town (as many as you can).

Your kids will be grown before you know it. Don’t sacrifice them on the altar of ministry.

Your ministry isn’t your god. God is your God.

You know how to give and how to minister to others. If you don’t learn how to receive, you’ll burn out and/or die.

Believe in people that others overlook.

Your integrity matters more than you can imagine.

Take care of yourself. Eat right. Rest. Exercise. Take time off. No one else can do that for you.

If you don’t take much time off, it’s because you’re proud, and you think you’re more necessary than you really are.

Talk about Jesus every time you preach.

Love your wife more than you love the church. The church is Jesus’ bride, not yours.

Compliment, encourage, and build up your staff and volunteers.

Hand write thank you notes.

Any older pastors out there have anything to add to the list? Let us know in the comments.

The following is an excerpt from a Rob Bell interview I found on Neue Ministry’s website. You can find the full interview here, but take a read of this snippet when Rob talks about the difference between “going to” church and “being” the church:

“On Sundays at Mars Hill, we would simply say this is just a gathering of the church, or churches. We gather throughout all the days of the week as communities, but we actually journey together in smaller networks of people. So, if you come here on Sunday, you come for an hour and a half for whatever teaching and singing, and get some information, but please don’t say you’re a part of this church. You went to a service this church put on. So to me, God can use all these different ways. The issue is whether we’re honest about what things are, and we call them what they are, and we don’t place expectations on things that can’t deliver.”

This is something that I try and breathe into reality at Immersion, the ministry that I help lead. We make a mistake in the church when we say, “I’ve gone to church today” without realizing that that identity as the church follows us into our everyday lives – whether we like it or not.

Have you noticed this? This awareness of a few pockets of people that what we have classified as “church” for so long has been sorely misguided.

Is this just a generational thing? Is this understanding just for a younger generation? What do you think? Let us know in the comments.

The following comes from LifeChurch.tv’s Craig Groeschel:

“For some reason, when someone schedules an appointment with a pastor, they generally assume it will be a one hour appointment. Most one hour appointments could be handled in much less time. Years ago, I shortened my appointments to 45 minutes. We’d explain ahead of time that I have 45 minutes allotted for the meeting. No one complained. We got to the important stuff a lot faster. After some time, I shortened most meetings to 30 minutes and some to 10 or 15. It is amazing how much important ground you can cover when both parties understand how much time you have to work with and you get right to the important issues.”

Can anyone relate? Seems as though those of us in ministry (and even those not in ministry: Anyone ever had a corporate staff meeting that went forever? Yeah, you feel my pain.) like to have meetings about meetings, meetings to schedule meetings, and meetings to meet about when we last met about meeting! Can I get an “Amen”?

Point being, very few things any more require more than 30-45 minutes of my time. I am really not that important.

What about you? What strategies do you have for cutting down your “non-productive” time? One tip I’ve implemented lately is the “Always-On Away Message”. I keep my away message on and tell people when I’m answering emails that day. For instance:

That way, people know when they are going to get a reply from me. And not a second sooner. (And if I get an incessant emailer, for every one email they send me, they get one back!) What about you? Let’s hear it in the comments.