Depression

In recent weeks there has been a lot of discussion about depression. Three NHL players have died this past summer and it appears that all of them had been struggling with depression. The solution was overdosing on medication and for at least one of them, suicide. On Global TV a couple of months ago, there was a piece on the evening news that discussed the growing problem of depression in the workplace. One of the concerns was something I believe chaplaincy might be able to help with.

There is a stigma connected to mental health issues such as depression and because of that, most people don't want management to know if there is an issue affecting their work performance. Wade Belak, one of the NHL players, confided in only one or two people about his depression and yet the majority of people, including his new employers at a Nashville TV station were totally unaware. Perhaps it was Belak's tough persona as a former NHL tough guy that he didn't want tarnished. Whatever the reason, it did not appear that he was being helped with his depression issues.

As a Christian chaplain in the workplace today, I know that there is an answer to those struggling with depression and His name is Jesus. As a chaplain much of my time involves building trust with employees so that when there are problems in their lives, they can come to me for help and advice. I can not approach them and preach to them but I can be Jesus to them during those difficult times. Eventually people ask why I am a chaplain and why I am cheery when others are always grumpy. When they start asking I can start sharing about my faith. It can be a long process but it is one that I gladly accept because I know this is where God wants me in this season of my life.

This past week I spoke to 2 public health nurses and their involvement in Workplace Wellness. They had heard about me and corporate chaplaincy and were intrigued by it. They are now considering how they might present chaplaincy as a viable piece of the wellness program they teach on at companies in the Toronto area. The topic of depression came up and the aspect of confidentiality was not lost on them. It is an exciting door that God may be opening in the months ahead. 

Honoring

One of the most difficult aspects of living is watching close friends die, some much too early. Those moments also cause us to pause and consider the impact they may have had in our lives. In this blog I want to honor those that have helped me become the person I am today and also to scold those that for many years told me I "shouldn't live in my past". My past is the reason I am who I am. I don't live there but neither do I diminish the importance of it. The religious response to honoring these folks is always the same: "we should never put our trust in men but only God".

Let me explain the fallacy in the above statement that ignores one important element. When an individual has for years demonstrated their faithfulness in loving the Lord and serving Him with all their heart, they are people I can trust. When these people have my back and when they have prayed for me and shared the heart of God with me, I will honor them. Unfortunately there are those that have plenty of charisma and even God-given talent that I wouldn't trust with my pet cat.

I looked at the Royal wedding yesterday and was reminded again of the men and women that have gone before us. History surrounded the events of the day, including the venue called Westminster Abbey. I have walked in that church and just touched the white walls inside, imagining the things those walls would tell me if they could talk. As I write this blog I also wonder what will be said of me 100 years from now. Will I have made a difference in anyone's life? Will I be remembered as a good man or one that used others to get what he wanted? Will people have seen Jesus in me or will they have seen my flesh so many times that Jesus was just a faint memory?

Kaljo Raid (KR) was my pastor for the first 16 years of my Christian walk. He was a talented musician and a pastor that taught me what it means to be a peacemaker.

Fred Peipman was my mentor in those early years. He was a missionary in Papua New Guinea that quickly realized that Baptist doctrine and theology wouldn't be enough to deal with witch doctors and demon-possessed people. He taught me how to hear the Spirit of God.

Allan Laur was my mom's pastor, my dentist and my friend. He more than anyone else encouraged me to prepare for ministry when no ministry was in sight. He was an example of someone that laid aside his own comfort to make a difference in Estonia. He became the voice of the evangelicals in Estonia and he died much too early.

Robert Mearns was a prophetic voice in my life when I most needed it. He has ministered with and to some of the most influential Christians of our time and yet most have never heard of him. And God brought him into my life and the life of our church when nobody else would. He remains a good friend and a real role model to me when it comes to Marketplace Christianity.

There are a few that lived what they preached and because of it, impacted my life with their friendship. Hennie Keyter, who has led thousands to the Lord in the most remote areas of Africa, often putting his own life on the line. Ian McKellar, who is one of the most intelligent Christians I know and someone that makes scripture come to life. He also lives what he preaches, now in Singapore. Then there are my peers that I love and trust, not because they are perfect but because they are sold out to the Lord. Ken Kaasik, who has led a church in Estonia since 1990 after arriving from Canada. Paul Westerink, my Dutch friend that has led a church in Germany, planted churches in various nations and run businesses with his Type AAA personality. Then there is the other Type AAA personality, Tom Rudmik. He has taught me that being a visionary is not always easy but never boring. And finally my wife of 35 years. Anne is one of the strongest believers I have known in my 39 years as a Christian. That she loves me is incredible!

Needless to say there are many that I would include as good friends. Some are in full-time ministry and others are not and probably never will be. There is also Erika, Luule, Kaarin and Maire, who have prayed for Anne and me for the past 20 years. They are precious.

Christian Ethics

Some of you reading this blog might automatically think that these two words go hand in hand. Perhaps it is just my cynical side but as I enter my 39th year as a born-again believer I find the two words do not always fit. They should but sadly they do not.

As I become increasingly involved with those that have no real faith community, I fully appreciate the privilege of walking in the Christian communities I have been involved with. Some as a member and some as a leader. So this is not an indictment against a majority or even many but it is sad none the less. I think most of us would agree that we expect more from our Christian brothers and sisters and rightfully give non-believers much more room to blow it. For me the issue of honesty is a big one. If our words are empty then we lose credibility and eventually friendships.

Many of you know that I helped facilitate Ethics and Anti-Corruption training for the Estonian Police. As my friends from Scotland Yard taught about leadership and what it meant to be a cop, it was interesting to see how these senior officers responded. They were surprised that cops should be honest, humble and men and women of integrity. Having lived and worked for years in an atheist country it was only mildly surprising to hear their take on things. Basic human behaviour, let alone that of a police officer, was something they had never really thought about.

As Christians we have something called the Fruits of the Spirit. I have talked about this before and how such things as kindness, honesty and self-control grow in us as we mature as Christians. I recently saw a Christian leader take advantage of someone I love and to be honest it angered me. It was a business matter and hopefully it had to do more with ignorance than anything else but it showed a total lack of caring and consideration for the other person. If this is the way we do business in the world the world will never want what we supposedly have.

I want to encourage all of us to consider for a moment where we have perhaps been selfish in our dealings with other believers. Have we actually thought through how our actions or words might affect someone else? Do we even care? Are we bringing any of this attitude into the marketplace and if so, are we willing to change?

Corporate Chaplain

How do you become a "pastor" to people that have very little understanding of who God is? How do you accomplish this when  you can't preach to them and you can't initiate any kind of conversation with them about faith while in the workplace? This then is Corporate Chaplaincy.

There is a term that comes from football which I feel is appropriate for many Christians after this past week. The term is "piling on". After this self-proclaimed (false) prophet predicted "Doomsday", every media outlet in North America has had a field day attacking evangelical Christians. They have conveniently painted us all with one brush and openly called us a bunch of loonies. I often write comments on the Toronto Star website, mainly to give a point of view that differs with the mainly liberal-minded left-leaning editorials and articles. On this occasion the overwhelming posts by visitors to the site, labeled all Christians everything from brainwashed to murders. The fact the Star allows these comments to be posted is outrageous but unfortunately predictable. People, mostly atheists, were almost giddy in their mocking. Did you know that we are all pedophiles?

So three weeks into this new job as Corporate Chaplain, as I try to build trust with the employees, a potential obstacle is presented. Or maybe not. Something that the world often insists on, is that religion should never be discussed. What happens however when the "world" initiates that discussion?

This is how it might go down, starting with a comment by a friend:

"Can you believe this religious kook? That's why I would never go to church, they're all crazy lunatics that are brainwashed."

"Actually I'm one of those kooks"

How the conversation proceeds from there is totally up to us. Some, unfortunately would say nothing. Hope that's not you. The first question we need to ask ourselves is this: would this person have any reason at all to think I am a kook? If they don't (hopefully they don't), you have a starting point, by asking a simple question: "do you think I'm a kook"?

As a believer, do they see the fruit of the Spirit in you? Do they see kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control, patience, joy? Do they see you loving your wife, children and parents? Are you honest and punctual? Are you trustworthy?

Marketplace Christianity does not require you to give your opinion on homosexuality, abortion and same-sex marriage. It doesn't give you a soapbox to preach fire and brimstone. Neither does it give you license to live and act as the world does and talk like the world talks. In fact, if the fruit of the Spirit is not evident in us what makes us think we have anything worthwhile to say? It is Christ in us that the world needs to see. Hopefully that is who is seen in this chaplain.

David Wilkerson

Last night I got news that David Wilkerson had been killed in an auto accident in Texas. When we speak of Marketplace Christianity, we need not look much further than this man of God. In many ways he influenced my life much the way Keith Green did in my early days of walking with the Lord. He was a prophetic voice that often ruffled feathers in religious circles and yet he was a man that walked the talk. He was far from perfect but he was a straight shooter.

In 1986 while we were attending Christ For The Nations, I was invited to lead a ministry to a place called Street Church. The pastors were Demi and Cookie Rodriguez. They were also two of the first people David led to the Lord. The Cross and the Switchblade is a well-known book and movie based on the early ministry of David. Demi & Cookie were two young people involved in gangs in New York City and they actually got married after getting counseling from David. In Dallas, this couple ministered to at-risk youth; youth that were all heading to prison or worse. I saw first hand how many came to know Jesus and turn their lives around. David Wilkerson had influenced the lives of this couple to where they too wanted to serve the Lord in the messy places.

I met David a few months after graduating because I needed to ask him about Demi & Cookie and their offer to me. They had wanted me to run their ACE school and help in the ministry to these youth. David's advice was not what I had expected. He said, "don't do it, because they can't afford you". We had a good discussion and realized I needed to pray a bit more about the job offer. As you know, we decided not to move to Dallas. Cookie & Demi's son, who ended up with the job I had been offered, was shot and killed a year later by gang members that didn't like the fact that their guys were leaving the streets. There is a cost to serving the Lord.

The last time I saw David in person was when he and his son ministered in Estonia while we lived there. I was actually just as impressed with his son as I was with David.

The fruit of his labour is unmistakable, in Texas and in New York and around the world. He was a prophetic voice that was as flawed as any of us and yet he allowed God to use him in places most of us would never venture.

Inside out

For much of my life I believed that "ministry" meant one of two things: you were either a pastor or you were a missionary. My resume includes both and although I am thankful to God for these opportunities, I realize that I have limited God. Church as we have known it for the past 50 years, is changing and I believe, so is the emphasis on bringing the lost to church. That in no way diminishes the importance of preaching the gospel to those who don't know Jesus. The question has become: who is coming to listen to that gospel?

There will always be the mega-churches here in North America that draw people simply because of charismatic preachers. Remove those preachers and the interest dwindles dramatically in most cases. When Bible scholars have examined the New Testament, the conclusion has often been that Jesus and His disciples went to various regions to establish church communities. So the concept of missionaries and more recently, church planting, became the normal way to spread the Good News around the world. The emphasis was and is on getting the lost, and the saved, to join these church plants, thus creating the impression of church growth.

My struggle after returning from Estonia in 2005 was centered on the question of what ministry looked like when I wasn't leading a church. Was I suddenly disqualified from impacting the world simply because I didn't have a title and a church to lead? I quickly realized that this was a question most Christians had probably asked for centuries. Again, I looked at the Word of God and saw that the key ministry of the apostles and even Jesus occurred outside the four walls of what we would today call, "Church". For some reason we have been led to believe that it is all about Sunday services, Bible Studies and choir practices. Notice that these are all activities that take place among believers within the confines of a church building or home. The Book of Acts certainly encourages the gathering together of Christians but what we often leave out in our teaching, is the influence Christians are to have outside those walls. In fact those walls are often seen as barriers to those outside.

Recently I have looked into the possibility of becoming a Corporate Chaplain. In Toronto we already have something called the King/Bay Chaplaincy downtown. A Corporate Chaplain however, would actually have access to the employees of a business. The purpose is not to proselytize but rather to give spiritual counsel and services to individuals who might request it. Having firsthand experience as a Police Chaplain, I know the influence chaplains can have in a workplace when done properly. Within the workplace there are always individuals struggling with things like stress, abuse, addiction and marital problems. The HR department of most companies do not have the resources or even the mandate to help employees with such issues. A Chaplain would come along side the HR folks and become part of what some like to call a "wellness program". In the U.S. Corporate Chaplaincy seems to have taken root but here in Canada it is in it's infancy. Only a handful of companies, mostly in Western Canada, have chaplains.

It is exciting to be involved in something new but there is still a lot of work to be done convincing businesses that this is something that would benefit not only their employees but also their companies. It has been shown that productivity increases in companies that hire chaplains. I'm sure more studies will need to be made to use this as a selling tool.

This is a job and yet it can be an opportunity to share the love of Jesus with people that would normally never hear about Christ. Going where the need is greatest can't be a bad thing and I believe Jesus and the apostles would be right there with me if they were living here today. A key for me is the ability to build relationships and with it trust. I will be blogging in the coming weeks, letting you know how things are developing. The challenge is big but the opportunities are endless.