Are you skeptical? I am.
Ever notice how everything on TV is “new” “improved” and going to change your life for the better. That is why I am skeptical.
Yet, I want to believe, because I want to be better and so I try the thing only to find it doesn’t impress at all. And thus, the cycle begins again.
Mosaics and Busters (those 16-29 years old) are skeptical. But I think they too are searching for what will satisfy.
In UnChristian, chapter 2, we hear how 16-29-year-olds are both skeptical and ambivalent, especially around Christianity. This isn’t because of what they see on the news but their experience with everyday Christians. And, a big part of their concern comes from how far away Christianity is from what Jesus intended.
So let’s ask the questions the chapter asks:
1. What are we known for?
What do you think? What are United Methodists known for?
A young adult I know told me that her friends think our church sign (we recently replaced our church sign for one that lights up in RED and says, United Methodist Church) looks like it is an emergency room sign (which I think I like…).
Sandie brought up (response to first entry) that we would do well to focus on what we are doing that is good in the world, like “Nothing But Nets” and Hurricane Katrina Relief. A good idea, how might we (or are) we doing this locally?
So, let me ask you, if your ministry or your local church had to be known for one thing, what would you want it to be?
2. What place does grace play in your living the way of Jesus?
Yesterday I came home from work after ending the day reviewing finances and I was in a pretty bad mood (go figure), and I just went off to my husband, Jeff and son, Jacob. At one point I said, “Let me tell you what I think,” and they looked at me and laughed and said, “Yeah, because we can’t already tell!”
There was no grace in what I was doing. Not one little bit. It was a terrible witness. I repent.
On good days, grace abounds, but sometimes….not so much. I miss the mark.
I was struck by what the books said (page 35), “One thirty-five-year-old believer from California put it this way: ‘Christians have become political, judgmental, intolerant, weak, religious, angry, and without balance. Christianity has become a nice Sunday drive. Where is the living God, the Holy Spirit, an amazing Jesus, the love, the compassion, the holiness? This type of life, how I yearn for that.”
Don’t you just breathe more deeply reading those words?
Let me end with another quote I loved:
“Young outsiders and Christians alike do not want a cheap, ordinary, or insignificant life, but their vision of present-day Christianity is just that superficial, antagonistic, depressing….Mosaics and Busters deserve better than the unchristian faith, and they won’t put up with anything less. And, unlike any previous generation, they will not give us time to get our act together.” (page 40)
We can deny or ignore the hostility or we can address it.
When you look at your local church where do you feel you are in this process?
What one thing do you need to do next?
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Some quick thoughts...
ReplyDelete1. What are we known for? What am I known for?
In this age of skepticism, merchandizing and consumer mentality, I hope I (and we) can be known for being "real" people, willing to talk honestly but loveingly (see next Q) in ways that allow us to live out our convictions but at the same time be humble enough to admit mistakes and courageous enough to change.
2. What place does grace play in your living the way of Jesus?
For a long time "Grace" has been a centering word for me in the practice of Contemplative Prayer, so it has become a foundational rock I come back to time and time again.
It reminds me to step back, remember my place before an unbelievable, deeply loving God, and let the emotions and physical desires become replaced by the deeper commitment to follow Christ in a more loving way.
Grace reminds me to continually consider what it means to be in a close relationship with God who created everything!
(BTW: The use of the word "play" leads me to lots of images.... but that's another post.)
(page 35), “One thirty-five-year-old believer from California put it this way: ‘Christians have become political, judgmental, intolerant, weak, religious, angry, and without balance. Christianity has become a nice Sunday drive. Where is the living God, the Holy Spirit, an amazing Jesus, the love, the compassion, the holiness? This type of life, how I yearn for that.”
ReplyDeleteMy question is why? Why have Christians become this way? For sure we have made bad choices to the changes our culture has gone through. The culture has embraced the idea that personal & social ills are best handled legislatively rather than redemptively. This has caused the "politicization" of whole areas of social life. The moral quality of social and personal acts & thoughts are now primarily seen through a political lens of conservative & progressive. Both sides of this political spectrum see themselves as "good" and the other side as "bad"
The Church has made the mistake of buying into this mindset. Many Christians have forgotten their first love, Jesus and now believe that there is one name given under heaven by which people can be saved, and that is Uncle Sam. Take helping the poor. In the late 1800's when poverty in this country meant a live of unimagined squalor and misery it was the Church and it's parachurch institutions that assisted millions out of poverty. Today the church believes that it is the government's responsibility to bear the burden of helping the poor. That explains why our efforts as a church are so disorganized and incomplete, we are only the sideshow.
When people ask me who is to blame for rising crime/ganglife, or the inadequate treatment of the poor, or uneven medical care I say it is the Church that is to blame. What would happen if church members adopted the view that the Church has a primary responsibility in these areas, that it is the institution that is empowered by God to make things better?
I agree with Gerry that the Church is to blame for the communities that surround it falling further into moral decline. The Church is the only body charged with the spiritual transformation of the world. When churches are not intentional about making disciples, undiscipled believers continue to live from a secular worldview and behave in (un)Christian ways. However, when churches (1) identify what a fully committed follower of Jesus looks like and (2) put in place an intentional discipleship process that moves people toward that goal, they position themselves to help people exchange their secular worldview for a Christian worldview. The result is those churches begin to fill with spiritually transformed men and women who no long behave in (un)Christian ways but demonstrate Christlike behaviors. As we begin to exemplify Christ, the world begins to be drawn to the Church (the people, not necessarily the building)and lives are transformed. Sounds simple, doesn't it? It is simple but it's not easy. We have to be willing to give up our own agendas and take on the agenda of Christ. We have to be willing to sacrifice and submit everything to fulfill the mission of the Church. Are we too afraid of losing what is familiar and comfortable to give it all up for Jesus?
ReplyDeleteI think Christianity has an image problem but it also has a reality problem. Somewhere along the way we became lazy; at some point, we decided being comfortable was more important than fully living our faith. As a DS I think it is safe to say that I am often thrown into situations that are the "darker side" of church life. (I have a new appreciation for Paul's Epistles.) But when a church is caught in a more "dark side" situation, and digs deep, I've seen how transformation can happen as well. While I think we will always struggle with relevance with younger people, I think our image issue would be greatly minimized if we just worked at digging deeper into becoming and being who Christ calls us to be. It's not just reading the Gospel but trying to be the Gospel where our spiritual maturity comes. I appreciate this book, because it is helping me think in new ways, and that becomes the Gospel!
ReplyDeleteAsking what we are known for assumes that we are known. When I ask people around my new community of Ramona what they think of our United Methodist Church in town they mostly give me a blank look. They usually don't even know we are here. Once in a while someone will say, "I visited there once. They were very nice people." Yikes!
ReplyDeleteScratch the surface of most UMC’s and you will find a lot of good works going on, but not in the name of Jesus Christ. Every church I have had the chance to know, even the most dysfunctional, has a lot of good works credits, but little or no understanding of where the divine purpose comes from, or if they do, they don't share it with anyone. It seems to me there are three elements needed for the church to be a disciple making organism. It needs to practice the Gospel, which we usually do either individually or collectively. But we also need to learn the teaching of Christ and we need to teach the teachings of Christ in order to make disciples. These are too often ignored or underestimated by our communities. If we haven't learned the Gospel, we can't share it. We can't tell people where our faith comes from or where it’s going. Nor can we declare where we see Prevenient Grace at work in the world.
Perhaps another way of saying it is that too many of our members and too many of our congregations are running on Prevenient Grace and not enough on Justifying or Sanctifying Grace.
The image we have comes from letting others define us. Our strongest need, it seems to me, is to begin defining ourselves, both individually and collectively. We cannot simply be doers of the word, but we must also identify it, claim it, and proclaim it wherever we see it.
Great comments--everyone. I love hearing what you have to say--so helpful to me as I process all of this.
ReplyDeleteBut, I just have to call you out Steve--OK Steve--so what are you going to do about folks not knowing the gospel--what is plan?
Great challenge, Nicole! Just the issue that I was wanting to bring up!
ReplyDeleteWhat do we do about getting people to proclaim the Gospel who do not really know how to proclaim the Gospel and who do not really know that they are really living God’s desire in this world?
It seems to me that we are talking about both education and conversion within the congregation. We have often, as a community, assumed that those in the pews and pulpit are truly convicted of the Gospel. Is that really true? My experience is that the pews, and often the pulpit, are made up of many people who are gifted by God to do God’s work. Yet, they do not know from whence it came. Prevenient Grace?
It seems to me that we have, as a community called the church, inherited a notion of normalcy that does not truly engage the radical notion of the Gospel. What does it mean and what does it require visa vie the prevailing dominate cultural meta-narrative?
I am looking for direction as to what we should do with the people we have, laity and clergy. They are good, but they (we) often do not know how to fully proclaim the Gospel. They cannot be faulted. It is not something we have effectively done in a long, long time.
How do we as leaders facilitate the required transformation from where we are to where we need to be? I want help in this endeavor and hope the group will give some offerings.
What I have been saying to my people is that we have not been here in a long, long, time and we need to learn from each other how to proceed in our time. Standing on the street corners with sandwich boards and handing out tracts is not the answer to the questions people have. Having a great sign on the street outside the church doesn’t answer people’s questions. Having the best praise band does not answer people’s questions. Having the biggest congregation of affluent tithers is not the answer. It doesn’t even answer the questions our congregations have. To extrapolate from the Barnna book insights, people do not get up Sunday mornings asking themselves, “Where can I find a meaningful worship experience this morning?” It is not on their radar! Yet these are the very people we need to reach.
What I am looking for is the language I can give to my congregation that will help them explain why they do the good they do. What is the liberating power behind their good works? Can they find a way to say it in language that is relevant for those who have not been in church recently?
Do I have the answers? If I did I would be getting the speaker fee that Jim Griffin gets.
How do I proceed from here? I want to know. What are the experiences of the rest of you? Have you had success in getting your community to go beyond just good works? Are they able to effectively proclaim where their faith comes from and how it guides them in the good they do? Do they make disciples of others? Because I am still new in this community, I have not figured out how to proceed from here. I am looking for ideas.
Steve, Making this change in local churches is doable.
ReplyDeleteSome of what it seems to take is:
1. clergy who get on their knees each day and pray and reflect on scripture (like our good friend J Wesley did so an hour plus)
2. clergy whose #1 role is to stay close to God and listen and obey what God tells us to do.
I personally find this hard to do! I would much rather be busy doing things.
I think it is all about leadership and so it starts with us. Nicole
I would like to jump in here instead of being a "lurker" of these conversations. As I read "UnChristian", one of the problems Christians have is a message problem...i.e. we are not on the same page. The authors believe that the message should be: "Believe that Jesus Christ died for your sins and then you will go to heaven". Is that really the message of Jesus or the Church?
ReplyDeleteAs United Methodists, I believe our emphasis on grace and making disciples for the "opening act Kingdom of God" (I like that) is the true message of Christ as opposed to the 'get your heavenly ticket punched on the train to glory'.
Again, with all of the different messages coming from Christians(especially Protestants) of course 'UnChristians' are confused and just blow us off as "nut jobs". At the same time, our UM message has gotten muddled and confusing with the different factions...we've got to get our house in order and present the gospel effectively again.
Glen, thanks for your words. I do think one of the big difference is that this book isn't a UMC book and where they go with it is pretty different than I do (and maybe many of us do). Our UM message is muddled but it can be cleared up. How are you doing that in your local setting? I know I find myself working on this a lot in the local church--being able to say who we are and what we are about in a weekly, consistent and engaging way is making a difference for us.
ReplyDelete