The Ecclesia Network

a missional church network

Archives for February 2020

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A Thought at the Beginning of Lent: She, Out of Her Poverty, Gave

“Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, ‘Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.'”


I was remembering recently a time when, years ago, during a group lectio divina meditation on this Scripture, the line the Holy Spirit highlighted for me was this: “She, out of her poverty…”

As we sat with this passage, the question that came up for me was “Where is MY poverty?… And what would it look like to give out of it?”

I suspect that too often, in our context, we are overly-focused on giftedness. We want people to know their gifts (and ours) and, in a sense, to operate out of their “riches.” When it becomes clear that someone is good at something, or has resources in a particular area, we want them to begin serving, giving, worshiping God with that. And so the musician who plays well is encouraged to play for God. When it becomes clear someone can speak and communicate well, we encourage her to use that gift for God and for us. The good graphic designer is pressed into using that gift for the community, the natural leader to lead, the one with the gift of hospitality to be hospitable. And there’s nothing wrong with that. God has given those gifts to us for a reason.

But giving out of our gifts, out of the riches of what we do well and willingly is easy. Maybe too easy, in many ways.

In sitting with the question of where my poverty lies, I realized- we all have areas within ourselves of relative riches and relative poverty. And God wants it all. He created us, bought us at great cost to Himself, and desires that we give to Him our whole selves- that our worship of, devotion to, service of Him be wholistic.

But I wonder if, like us, God tends to smile at certain gifts more than others- not that He doesn’t take delight in all service, all worship honestly given, but…
In the same way we value the hand-made gift, the hand-written note, the thing that shows effort and thought, I wonder if God sees gifts given out of our riches a little differently than gifts given out of our poverty? The easy gift of operating out of our strength vs the harder gift of having to dig deep into our less-comfortable and less competent places.

For me I know I am very comfortable in certain areas of ministry and less so in others.

And as I sat, meditating on this, I became convinced that God wants me to worship Him not simply out of my surplus- to give to Him what costs me little because I have so much of it, or am good at it. He does want those things- but perhaps what is more worshipful of Him, more forming for me, and ultimately maybe even better for others is when I take stock of the areas where I am poor and decide to give God everything I have there- to step out, and as an act of worship, do what is less comfortable, less likely to end with the positive ego-enhancing feedback we all so love.

God, this Lenten season, may I learn to value my poverty more than my giftedness- my weakness more than my strength. Because it is in my weakness that Your strength and grace are shown and bring me to maturity.

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Leader Profile: Dustin Bagby

Dustin Bagby co-pastors the Evergreen Community in Portland, OR (with Luisa Gallagher). He has an M.Div from Western Seminary in Portland, and a B.A. in Preaching and Bible from Lincoln Christian University in Lincoln, Illinois. Dustin is married to Kelli, and they have two boys; Gram and Owen, and daughter Rose.

How would you describe the area your church is in?

Hipster. 🙂

How would you describe the journey of pastoring Evergreen? What have been some of the milestones/different seasons?

I’ve been at Evergreen for 13 years so there have been a lot of different seasons. It’s been exciting to be a part of a church that has been a healing place for so many people in the “formerly Christian” camp as well as people experiencing Jesus for the first time.

Looking back, what do you know now you wish you had known when you first started at Evergreen?

I’m not sure it’s as much about what I wish I would have known as much as who I wish I would have been. Certainly, we can’t become that person without a lot of experience and difficulties getting there, but to have been introduced to some works like Edwin Friedman’s A Failure of Nerve and the concepts that come with it earlier would have been VERY helpful.

As you think about what you’ve been able to do so far in ministry there what are some things you have done/tried that have worked well?

I think one of the key things we’ve tried that has worked well and has always been appreciated is leaving space for dialogue on Sundays as well as other environments where people can share honestly. It’s in that sharing where people realize that we’re not encouraging people to fake life or pretend everything is okay all the time. That honesty and authenticity have gone a long way in people realizing their need for Jesus and being able to encourage one another and care for each other.

What hasn’t worked so well? What have you had to rethink/reimagine/rework? What is one failure you experienced and what did you learn from it?

Just one? 🙂 I think one of the big failures from the last three years was the lack of thought we as leaders put into how we processed and dialogued about the LGBTQ conversation as a community. There was pressure from numerous people that the elders be explicit about our position and give them some kind of “statement.” We’ve always been a community where people have been allowed to “disagree without disengaging” and it just wasn’t something that was our number 1 priority. I think as we studied and processed as elders and then brought it before the community we didn’t do it as thoughtfully or thoroughly as we could have. Given the fact that our community is so split on their opinion on this, I’m not surprised that it was difficult and painful. But I think there are ways we could have alleviated that. I wish we would have come to a greater consensus on our elder team with more time as well as had a more open community forum where people could express their thoughts in a larger setting.

What is something you’ve been hearing from or learning from God in this last season of leading?

It seems like God has revealed lately a root of some of the challenges we’re experiencing right now. In an increasingly polarized and divisive time, it is very hard to continue to try to bridge the middle and be a church where conservatives and progressives are worshipping together as family. We’re encouraged to “take sides.” At Evergreen we are encouraging people to take Jesus’ side- who critiques both conservatives and progressives in deep ways. In Portland, sadly even amongst those who would call themselves Christ-followers, that is not a popular option.

What do you dream/hope/pray Evergreen looks like in five years?

In five years, I pray that Evergreen is a church community that has realized its potential for inviting and welcoming more people into the life of the family of God. I think a lot more formerly churched and unchurched people could meet Jesus, heal, and really thrive in our community if we continue to invite friends and neighbors into relationship with God and Evergreen.