A Confession

I have something to confess; I found the UnChristian book terribly boring.  Really.

I had to read it a second time to do this group and it got worse the second time around.  

While the topics are good to talk about, I think the answer to the question, "Are Christians judgmental, homophobic, too political, sheltered?"  is...

YES!  

And, there is not really a heck of a lot more to say after that except maybe, "WE REPENT, WE HAVE TOTALLY MADE A MESS OF ALL THIS!  WHAT WERE WE THINKING?"  

I think things got like this because we have no idea what it means to be the church or follow Jesus.  Oh, and when I say "like this" I don't just mean the UnChristian stuff, I also mean how we have made the church to be the most uninteresting, dull, navel gazing, totally unrelated to my life, kind of place.  Just my personal opinion.  Yeah, the UnChristian stuff is important but I don't think it is the real issue.  It is the fruit, not the root.

Today, I was thinking about all this as I sat in my minivan breathing in the fumes of the Rolling Hills United Methodist Church's parking lot while my son was in his trumpet lesson and I was feeling a certain amount of sadness BUT THEN I picked up the book I had with me--- "The Tangible Kingdom."  I have read this book a couple times but I read a lot and so had this good feeling but wasn't totally sure why.  So I read the first four chapters and thought, this is totally what the Cal-Pac book group needs!  I laughed, I cried and (here is the big thing), I wanted to keep reading.

So, give it another chance.  There are really get books out there that will challenge and inspire us.  Interested?  

Watch a video here

UnChristian?

So, what is next?  I have felt like this was just a start in looking at issues.  I have also had contact with folks who were reading along but did not respond due to the newness of this tool (figuring out how to sign in was new to many people).  I'd like to continue this discussion and have a couple suggestions:

1.  We could continue along on the same topic, but  (I think) a better approach with "The Like Jesus But Not The Church" by Dan Kimball.  Dan is a pastor and so he sees beyond the statistical approach of UnChristian.  Read more here.

2.  We could read another book today's church.  Here are some possibilities:

"The Tangible Kingdom" (Halter & Smay):  Funny, insightful and (I found it to be) helpful.  But these guys are not UM and so you'd have to do some translating. Read about it here.

"Dirty Words: The Vulgar, Offensive Language of the Kingdom of God” This is by a UM pastor and is very good.  Read about it here.

All three are worth reading.  I used the first one more than UnChristian when I did the sermon series; I have gone back to both Tangible Kingdom and Dirty Words even months after I read them.

So, let me know your thoughts about the next study and any closing thoughts on what your response to UnChristian is.

Judgmental?

In one of the churches I served we began a second worship gathering. It was to attract people to church who wouldn't be comfortable in our relaxed, but traditional, gathering (meaning, a choir and an organ). And, as God would have it, a whole new group of people showed up.

One week, a family from the 11AM (modern worship, the new worship), showed up at the traditional worship. The family sat with a look of shock on their faces the whole worship. Afterwards, the teenage daughter said to me, "This is not my church" - meaning, this looks so different than who comes to the 11AM, how are these people part of my church? While I loved her reaction, (it was so real) what I loved even more was that no one at that traditional worship did anything to communicate that this family with their tattoos, piercing and contemporary clothing (read, less clothing on the girls than many were used to) wasn’t part of their church. They embraced this family and anyone else who happened to show up, helping everyone find a welcome.

I wish more of our churches were like this.

We are known as a judgment people--which I think is a way of saying we are unfriendly to those "not like us.' How did this happen? Don't we follow a Savior who ate with everyone?

One of the strengths of the UMC is that we do not offer a black and white view of the world. We see the complexities of life and have an authentic word to offer our world. But are we doing this?

We could start this weekend to make clearer who we are by saying something as we begin worship like:

"This is a place for people who know that the world is a complex place and it seldom can be seen only in black and white terms--if you are searching for a community that is seeking to follow the way of Jesus in the midst of life's ambiguities, welcome!"

"Welcome to worship, we believe in diversity--we are all different and that is how God wanted it.  As different as we are we share two things: none of us are perfect and all of us have an inner hunger to know God.  So, if you are looking for a place to explore what it means to follow Jesus in complex time, welcome."

What do you say at your church that helps let people know that this is a place where they can be who they truly are and find a welcome?  

What might you say this Sunday?

Link to video

Hi All, Doug Nason at SMUMC created this for the series we did. Check it out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9dKk88ATPc

Political

How do we talk about politics as people of faith?  Most of my experience hasn't given me many (any?) good models.

I remember being a new pastor in the Conference and going to some big Cal-Pac meeting.  A DS type person stood up as part of the meeting and said some words about a ballot message that was in the news.  He proclaimed something like, "We all think this way..."  and "Anyone who really follows Christ sees this topic this way."  At the time I didn't have any idea how I felt about the issue but at that moment I knew that I was at the wrong meeting.

Another confession.  I have a terrible dislike of Annual Conference when it gets political.  I am especially bothered when someone who is very tradition/conservative/right leaning says something at the mic and everyone around me makes noises like, who thinks like that?


How do we bring our faith to our politics and do it in a way that is thoughtful and humble?  Any ideas?

Sheltered?

Don't you love this list?  When asked to describe Christianity, outsiders said:

+The Titanic--a ship about to sink but unaware of its fate.

+A powerful amplifier being undermined by poor wiring and week speakers.

+A pack of domesticated cats that look like they are thinking deep thoughts but are just waiting for their next meal.

+An ostrich with its head in the sand.

+A hobby that diverts people's attention.

Who wants to be part of that?  Fewer and fewer young people, that is for sure.

The world is a very different place than it was 25 or even 10 years ago.  

Have we kept up?  See if these normal parts of life are part of YOUR life...

+Are our friends from a variety of ethnic and social economic backgrounds?

+Do we understand the change in sexual ethics and substance abuse realities?

+Do we count among our friends the loners, the fatherless and those who self-injurer?

Being part of the kingdom of God begun in Jesus Christ should be anything but boring.  Do people think we are boring because we don't connect with real life, we water things down and don't challenge people, we are stuck in some parallel 1950's universe, or because we are bored with the faith and reflect that in our behavior?

"I set myself on fire and people come to watch me burn."  (John Wesley)  That inspires my passion, does it yours?

Today I want to offer a challenge.  Get out of your own world this week by:

+watching a TV show you'd never watch--watch, don't judge.

+having coffee or a meal with someone who looks interesting to you.

+watching this video and notice the passion of the young people: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-afZJ9_TIM

Get outside today and see the real world.

Week Three- Homosexuality

I have been in the local church preaching most Sundays for about 18 years and in all that time I never preached on homosexuality until this year. Why? Probably the same reason many of us don't talk about this. Certainly, it is a difficult topic to talk about and I think most pastors want to talk about it in a way that is faithful, compassionate, biblical and honest and wonder how to do that--at least I did. You can see what I eventually came to at smumc.com (video June 29, 2009)

What do you think? Have you talked about this in church? How did it go? Were young people part of the conversation?

Nicole

Week Two - Get Saved?

This chapter made me smile as we are not often known for wanting to "save" people. Our version of this may be something like...

"We need to get more young people in this church."
"We need new/young people to do the work around this church, we are tired."
"We need the young people to financially support the church more than they do."

Often lacking any reference to faith, our focus is often on the need for more bodies to do the work of running a church.

How did we get to this place? How do we talk about this issue in the local church? How do we turn our attention toward sharing the good news of God in Christ instead of this misplaced focus?

I think of Steve and his reflection on how we don't seem to know what the gospel is. When you share what the gospel is, what do you say?

Tom Bandy says something like, "What is it about your experience of Jesus Christ that the world can't live without?"

Got an answer? -Nicole

Week Two-September 1, 2009

Is being a Christian about “being good”? That is what many people think and so it is quick hop, skip and a jump to see that most Christians aren’t good.

Humanity is a mess. And Christians are part of that mess. If Christianity is mostly understood (and I think it is) as being good and nice, then anyone can see we are hypocrites.

But is that what Christianity is? Is it a faith of rules and regulations?

There is much to talk about in this chapter, but for me, it is a chapter that goes back to our core—what is following Jesus about? Rules and Regulations? Or surrendering to the God we meet in Jesus Christ and offering radical hospitality to everyone? These are very different ways to look at things—very different.

I have a family member who was pressuring another family member to be a Christian—his approach was the soft sell, “Christianity is just about being a nice person,” he said, “You want to be a nice person don’t you?”

Actually, I don’t think that is what it is about at all.

I recently skimmed a book (a bad habit with library books) that had this amazing line, it said that following Jesus was about “the end of striving.” I related to that very much. In Jesus, I find the one who says, “give up the perfectionism, give up trying to hold it all together, lean into me and let me remake you—I will change you and show you how to really love.”

Being real about who we are and what we are dealing with shows us to be regular people who need God. This is what we have to offer others—nothing more or less.

Week One - Thursday, August 27, 2009

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?

Video

Perception Introductions Video

Week One - Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Does Christianity have an image problem?

The answer of “UnChristian” by David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons is yes!

“UnChristian” explores many current areas where Christianity falls short, but my perception is that while fruitful conversation will come from looking at these issues, there are additional issues our culture has with Christianity not addressed by this book. Our culture has a critical eye and has noticed not only our treatment of homosexuals but women, and not only how we are judgmental but how we use the Bible as a weapon to control and manipulate. But, that is another book study! (smile)

Let’s start where they start…

The core of Christianity is Jesus. Who he is, how he taught us to live, and what living in the light of his resurrection means for how we live as his people. To live as the people of Jesus in the world is to live as the opening act for the Kingdom of God—a way that we live imperfectly, yes, but a way that we have committed our lives to.

The problem is, when the world looks at us it doesn’t see the people of Jesus, it sees a bunch of judgmental, hypocritical, political, homophobes—and that, as we all know, is not compelling to anyone, not even those still in our churches.

The book focuses on those ages 16-29. “UnChristain” seeks to ask the question, why are the majority of 16-to-29-year-olds not interested in Christianity? The desire is to hear their concerns and issues and to make the changes in our local context so that we might be faithful to the call of Jesus “to make disciples of all nations and teach them to obey all I have commanded you.” But be clear, asking why this age group is absent is asked not to move Christianity back to the center of culture. Those days are long gone. Instead “UnChristian” ask, as do many of us, how we can be “effective agents of spiritual transformation in people’s lives, whatever that may cost in time, comfort, or image.” (page 19)

Do you think Christianity has an image problem? How do you think we are doing in living as the people of Jesus in today’s world? What does it even mean to live in ‘the way of Jesus”? Any other thoughts on Chapter 1?

More tomorrow on Chapter 2.

-Rev. Nicole

Perception is Reality...

When I owned up to my faith in Christ in my mid-20ies I didn’t want to call myself a Christian. The word “Christian” left a bad taste in my mouth. And that wasn’t because I had one bad Christian experience--- I had a whole series of them. There were the Christians who told me to stop asking so many questions and just “believe,” then, there were the ones who had a need to pin-point the exact time I asked Jesus “into my heart.” Other Christians had said that the faith was just about “being nice,” – these were the same ones who then turned around and lied and gossiped. No, I didn’t want that label.

I did eventually find my way into calling myself a Christian-—it was in a small United Methodist church in Long Beach (Belmont Heights). The church was filled with senior citizens who loved me and shared their simple and real faith in the God they knew in Jesus Christ. Their witness led me to finish college (now as a religious studies major) and go to seminary. I am in my 18th year of serving the local church as a United Methodist pastor.

“UnChristian” is about the scores of 16-29 year olds who want nothing to do with Christianity. They find Christians to be hypocritical, anti-homosexual, too political & judgmental. David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons ---who come from a conservative, evangelical background—set to share not only what they have found, but also how Christians might respond.


When I read this book last year I thought, yeah, but ...
Yeah younger people might feel like this BUT they will come around….

The truth is that we are finding that this isn’t as true today as it was in earlier generations. Today’s 16-29 year olds are statistically less likely to return to church once they leave.

Yeah, its true about some Christian churches BUT we are United Methodists, we aren’t like that!

Well, here is the thing. To the average “regular person” (instead of non-Christian or seeker or whatever label people use these days), Christians are all the same. Who cares if you are a Baptist or a Presbyterian or a United Methodist—what difference does that make????

And… while in a church like the United Methodist church this could be less of an issue, I don’t really think it is. These issues are across Christianity and frankly, we have additional issues like we are so old school with much of our worship, we don’t have a sense of what we believe, etc.

At the end of the day, perception is reality. If people think this, there are reasons why and it moves us to explore, discover and understand.

People look at Christianity and have….

• Little trust in the faith --what is it, what do we believe?
• Little esteem for the lifestyle – do we live it?
• Emotional and intellectual barriers – how do we deal with controversial issues?
• Feel rejected by Christians – we are self involved

What might the Holy Spirit do in our churches as we read together and search our hearts? I am looking forward to our reading and discussion, meet back here to discuss chapters 1 & 2. -Nicole

Schedule

Here is our plan:
Schedule of readings: (beginning the week of...)

Mon. Aug. 24 - Chaps 1 & 2:
"The Back Story" & "Discovering unChristian Faith"

Mon. Aug. 31 - Chaps 3 & 4
"Hypocritical" & "Get Saved!"

Mon. Sept. 7 - Chaps 5 & 6
"Antihomosexual" & "Sheltered"

Mon. Sept. 14 - Chaps 7 & 8
"Too Political" & "Judgemental"

Mon. Sept. 21 - Chaps 9 & Afterward
"From unChristian to Christian"

To Begin August 24