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Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
The Sky is Falling
I've been working my way through Alan Roxburgh's The Sky is Falling. Here are some salient quotes from the first half of the book.
"America's religious history has been deeply shaped by the nation's history and social formation. Beginning with the massive suburbanization of the nation in the mid twentieth century, a deep conviction has developed (particularly among white, Protestant congregations) that individualism and economic opportunity are the highest expressions of Christian life."
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Speaking of change:
"The need for control and predictability still assert themselves in powerful ways. Oddly enough, congregations and organizations that promise people a return to stability will thrive in this period, even though they can't truly provide it. Since everyone is looking for stability, when these churches say they can provide it, people flock to them like moths to a flame. Then, to make it worse, the promise seems validated because certain types of congregations do thrive (and they are generally homogeneous, middle-class, and suburban). Other leaders then see them as signs of hope and choose to copy their tactics, though doing so only pushes them even farther from embracing the transition around them and honestly addressing its demands."
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"At a recent conference focused on church growth and seeker-directed leadership, a Mennonite pastor walked into an elevator I was using. Bemused by the discrepancy between the theological and ecclesial imagination of Mennonites and the nature of the conference. I asked him, why a Mennonite was at such an event. His response was quick and direct: 'Because it works!' In the midst of massive discontinuity, disembedding, and transition, leaders desire to find something that 'works' rather than stopping long enough to understand what is actually happening...They seek external resources that promise ways of reinstating control without changing the substantive nature of the system. There is little thought put into the question of fundamentally reinventing the system itself."
"America's religious history has been deeply shaped by the nation's history and social formation. Beginning with the massive suburbanization of the nation in the mid twentieth century, a deep conviction has developed (particularly among white, Protestant congregations) that individualism and economic opportunity are the highest expressions of Christian life."
----------
Speaking of change:
"The need for control and predictability still assert themselves in powerful ways. Oddly enough, congregations and organizations that promise people a return to stability will thrive in this period, even though they can't truly provide it. Since everyone is looking for stability, when these churches say they can provide it, people flock to them like moths to a flame. Then, to make it worse, the promise seems validated because certain types of congregations do thrive (and they are generally homogeneous, middle-class, and suburban). Other leaders then see them as signs of hope and choose to copy their tactics, though doing so only pushes them even farther from embracing the transition around them and honestly addressing its demands."
----------
"At a recent conference focused on church growth and seeker-directed leadership, a Mennonite pastor walked into an elevator I was using. Bemused by the discrepancy between the theological and ecclesial imagination of Mennonites and the nature of the conference. I asked him, why a Mennonite was at such an event. His response was quick and direct: 'Because it works!' In the midst of massive discontinuity, disembedding, and transition, leaders desire to find something that 'works' rather than stopping long enough to understand what is actually happening...They seek external resources that promise ways of reinstating control without changing the substantive nature of the system. There is little thought put into the question of fundamentally reinventing the system itself."
Monday, May 21, 2007
Meet My Needs!
Truth be told, the church has never met my needs. That's odd to me since I've been in it my entire life and now serve her full-time. What's odd to me is that people in church keep telling me that we need to do things to "meet people's needs."
Really?
I mean, I suppose the church has met my deeper needs in some ways that I cannot articulate, but the meeting of needs I most frequently hear about have to do with externals: services that last no longer than an hour, 15 minutes sermon about kids and families, events that are fun and high-energy, leadership that doesn't challenge, etc....
I hardly ever hear anyone say, "I think our church should help me get over my selfishness and greed" or "I wish our church would teach me how to be humble person in a competitive workplace." No one ever says, "Goodness, I wish this church had a word to say about the fact that water is thicker than blood and that life is about baptized brothers and sisters in Christ and what they do together in the world, more than about my immediate family." Where are the voices saying, "This church could really be something if we learned to live peace-filled lives and love folks like Osama bin Laden and that crazy guy over in Iran."?
Here's my question: In the church's frenzy to "meet needs" by having active kids and youth ministries, clever preaching, entertaining worship complete with the style of music we like, the lack of prophetic voices, and all at a cut-rate prices, are churches failing to met anyone's true and deepest needs? It seems to me, that many of us in the church are lying to people. We imply that we can meet their needs, yet offer them something that satisfies their wants, but never get close to their needs.
What do you think?
Really?
I mean, I suppose the church has met my deeper needs in some ways that I cannot articulate, but the meeting of needs I most frequently hear about have to do with externals: services that last no longer than an hour, 15 minutes sermon about kids and families, events that are fun and high-energy, leadership that doesn't challenge, etc....
I hardly ever hear anyone say, "I think our church should help me get over my selfishness and greed" or "I wish our church would teach me how to be humble person in a competitive workplace." No one ever says, "Goodness, I wish this church had a word to say about the fact that water is thicker than blood and that life is about baptized brothers and sisters in Christ and what they do together in the world, more than about my immediate family." Where are the voices saying, "This church could really be something if we learned to live peace-filled lives and love folks like Osama bin Laden and that crazy guy over in Iran."?
Here's my question: In the church's frenzy to "meet needs" by having active kids and youth ministries, clever preaching, entertaining worship complete with the style of music we like, the lack of prophetic voices, and all at a cut-rate prices, are churches failing to met anyone's true and deepest needs? It seems to me, that many of us in the church are lying to people. We imply that we can meet their needs, yet offer them something that satisfies their wants, but never get close to their needs.
What do you think?
Sunday, May 20, 2007
The Cusp of Riches
My wife, Rochelle and I have been talking and thinking a lot about missional living and radical giving. The world is such that there are people in need no matter where you look and everywhere you turn, which means there are myriad ways to offer gifts to those in need.
Truthfully, I have always struggled with giving. Part of the reason for this has to do growing up poor and feeling as if you didn't keep as much as you could, then you would run out. Increasingly though, I'm learning that that kind of scarcity thinking is antithetical to the gospel of Christ.
I'm not the only one, though. Many of us have trouble giving, don't we?
Two weeks ago Rochelle was leading a Bible study from the book of James. The apostle James has a lot to say about taking care of the poor, orphans and the widows, showing favoritism, and pure religion. One of the women in class, who is very generous and very wealthy made a few defensive comments about the rich and giving. But, what Rochelle wanted to say was "Wait, don't get offended because you're rich. You're one of the good ones, you're one of the few people who are working to get this right."
And, in my experience with the wealthy folks at my church, that has been largely true. It's never the wealthy or the poor who have difficulty giving, and even giving to the point of sacrifice. It's most frequently those of us on the cusp of riches that are most resistant. It's those of us who aspire to more cash and comfort that always want to be stingy, who want to know where every dollar we give to someone or some organization is going, it's those of us whose chief sin is lacking trust in God to be faithful and to care for us that secretly hate to give and consider giving a kind of divine stick-up.
Many folks, I'm finding, resent giving. I can tell because they add all sorts of qualifiers to their giving. I've seen families in need have to undergo a full-on financial anal probe to get 200 bucks from the church, and I've seen people have to account for where every dollar given them by the church . Now, in our highly competitive, capitalists-driven America, we call these questions and qualifiers "accountability." But is it really?
Jesus says this curious thing in the Sermon on the Mount. He says, "Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you." He adds no qualifiers. He never says that we need to know where the gift goes or if the person is "worthy" or "needy" enough to receive it. I think the Lord is saying, "Your job is to give. Don't worry about what happens next."
Interestingly, the next topic Jesus tackles is loving our enemies. Perhaps the two are connected. Perhaps we sense that those who ask of us are somehow our enemy, as if they are taking something from us that we don't want to give away. Perhaps as we learn to give, we are also expanding our capacities for love--to the point of loving those who are stridently opposed to us.
How might this re-thinking of giving reignite the churches' vision and mission in the world? How might a church bent on giving without expectation or question help us reflect the Kingdom of God?
Truthfully, I have always struggled with giving. Part of the reason for this has to do growing up poor and feeling as if you didn't keep as much as you could, then you would run out. Increasingly though, I'm learning that that kind of scarcity thinking is antithetical to the gospel of Christ.
I'm not the only one, though. Many of us have trouble giving, don't we?
Two weeks ago Rochelle was leading a Bible study from the book of James. The apostle James has a lot to say about taking care of the poor, orphans and the widows, showing favoritism, and pure religion. One of the women in class, who is very generous and very wealthy made a few defensive comments about the rich and giving. But, what Rochelle wanted to say was "Wait, don't get offended because you're rich. You're one of the good ones, you're one of the few people who are working to get this right."
And, in my experience with the wealthy folks at my church, that has been largely true. It's never the wealthy or the poor who have difficulty giving, and even giving to the point of sacrifice. It's most frequently those of us on the cusp of riches that are most resistant. It's those of us who aspire to more cash and comfort that always want to be stingy, who want to know where every dollar we give to someone or some organization is going, it's those of us whose chief sin is lacking trust in God to be faithful and to care for us that secretly hate to give and consider giving a kind of divine stick-up.
Many folks, I'm finding, resent giving. I can tell because they add all sorts of qualifiers to their giving. I've seen families in need have to undergo a full-on financial anal probe to get 200 bucks from the church, and I've seen people have to account for where every dollar given them by the church . Now, in our highly competitive, capitalists-driven America, we call these questions and qualifiers "accountability." But is it really?
Jesus says this curious thing in the Sermon on the Mount. He says, "Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you." He adds no qualifiers. He never says that we need to know where the gift goes or if the person is "worthy" or "needy" enough to receive it. I think the Lord is saying, "Your job is to give. Don't worry about what happens next."
Interestingly, the next topic Jesus tackles is loving our enemies. Perhaps the two are connected. Perhaps we sense that those who ask of us are somehow our enemy, as if they are taking something from us that we don't want to give away. Perhaps as we learn to give, we are also expanding our capacities for love--to the point of loving those who are stridently opposed to us.
How might this re-thinking of giving reignite the churches' vision and mission in the world? How might a church bent on giving without expectation or question help us reflect the Kingdom of God?
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