One of the fun things I have benefited from moving and living in Round Rock, Texas is the incredible diversity of this area's population. Part of the reason for that is Round Rock is in Texas and so many migrants/immigrants whether legal or not have always found their way to Texas. When I was growing up in Odessa, there were primarily three different cultures: Black, White, and Hispanic. Then Texas got adventuresome and progressive.

Where Texas had been known for oil, oil related work, dry land and irrigated farming, with associated up and downs following the fortunes of oil, now the Texas economy has a wider foot print. Manufacturing and technology have made our region a virtual United Nations which is good for all of us. Why, you ask?

For the Christian, the neighbor next door can be from anywhere in the world and if one wants the experience of overseas missions, get a block party together. No matter what you prepare and serve it won't match the cost of a round trip ticket to SE Asia. Sharing Jesus and being Jesus to an immigrant costs you nothing.

Or you could give the gift of hospitality. You can truly welcome the neighbor from across the street or from around the world. Last fall when I had my cataract surgery, we used "Uber" to get into Austin and I met men from around the world supplementing their income/making it their income. I received the gift of sight from my Doctor but the rides in and back were gifts of sight as well. The only unpleasant driver was a Caucasian know-it-all born and raised in Round Rock.

Courtesy, respect and openness to others costs us nothing. It steals nothing from us or diminishes us in any way. However, courtesy, respect, and openness enrich us in intangible ways. The Viking Cruise commercials on PBS suggest that such experiences outside of "our little world" can make us kinder.

I say all this because I am troubled by the toxicity injected into our recent national conversation. Such venom reminds and reveals the stretch marks of less tolerant times in the nation's history. A dark underbelly of intolerance has been a chronic feature of this nation formed and created to be that great beacon of light set on a hill. It is the founding fathers who dreamed of a different kind of governance  where all people were equal. However, even from the beginning, that dream was compromised by not addressing the issue of slavery. Since that time, waves of immigrants have been greeted with less than open arms but over time, we grew together. However, even with those detours, the hope of equality has not dimmed.

The troubling exclusive perspective of "like me--good!" "Not like me---bad!"  raises all kinds of issues. The very notion of "taking back" the country is uncharacteristically naive and very xenophobic in the extreme. The xenophobia actually sees people not structures as the problem and minimizes the real causes of the feeling "I" have been stolen from/deprived/got the short stick. Taking back is the rally cry of a person who feels something has been taken from them. Immigrants are a good target until you begin to step back and look at the real picture.

What is the real picture? I believe it is that as a country we have achieved the success we possess because of our capacity to mobilize immigrants who want to buy into our national promises and vision. They demonstrate that every day by showing up at diverse jobs which span the spectrum from manual labor to skills as physicians, scientists, and emerging technologies.

Perhaps no other person than Ronald Reagan has spoken more eloquently:
https://nowthisnews.com/videos/politics/ronald-reagans-final-presidential-speech-was-for-immigrants

Tonight was my “chair throwing and table rolling” evening with some men of Cityview. This group meets throughout the year before the Wednesday evening Marriage focused program called “Re Engage.” Because our new church home is a recently new church start in a new building, worship space was intentionally made to be flexible. That means (most recently) we meet to stack 660 padded chairs and replace them with 13 tables where 10 per table sit for Re Engage. Now, on Thursday morning at 6:00am our men meet at 14 tables to do a Bible study around the book “The Practice of Godliness.”After that, a team comes in to break down the tables and chairs and replace them with the 660 for both Sunday morning services. This will change on Easter when we shift to three morning services.

My pastoral/church experience finds these gatherings familiar. At every church I have served, there have been times when I got to scrub toilets, move tables and chairs and do the “grunt” work that goes on out of sight from most of the congregation. I doubt that many church members ever give consideration to “who” gets things ready, cleans up after services, cleans the toilets, etc. Cityview has a custodial service that comes in during the week, but on Sundays, one will see men of the church gathering trash from the preschool and children's area and getting it out to the trash bin in the corner of the parking lot because, nothing quite says it all like a dirty diaper fermenting over a couple of days in a trash can.

Cityview is a culture change for Anna and me. There is only a praise team but no choir. Music and singing are louder than in more established churches. The baptistery is wheeled out on the stage once a month for baptisms. There is no altar call but Elders and wives and the Ministers and wives are down front at the close of the service to respond to questions and prayer as indicated. The conversation can continue at the discipleship desk manned by the Discipleship pastor. The DNA of this congregation is small groups which meet throughout the week walking with each other through the trials of life.

Anna and I learned of Cityview through our oldest son and his wife Mandie. They found it was what they needed and wanted and now Tim serves as a elder. I was drawn to Cityview because well, the shoe was on the other foot. Tim and his brother Joseph had to settle for me as their pastor, but now Tim is helping to lead his church and frankly, I wanted to watch that unfold. Not to be critical, but to be overjoyed at who my son has become personally and in his walk with Christ. So Cityview has lived up to all my expectations. We have an awesome pastor who brings the Message with skill and power. His humility and transparency are sobering. Anna and I were introduced to the pastor's wife, Barie, with the comment from the pastor, “I will introduce Barie and she will come up and say something inappropriate.” It is a joke around the church. But it is said with love and well-- pride. It is the authenticity, simply people being who they are that is so disarming.

So, stacking chairs, rolling out tables, setting folding chairs around the tables is an exercise of friendship ending in Bible Study and prayer.

I am loving this time in our lives.