Church Member? Great! So, what?

So, you belong to a church, huh? Made a profession of faith perhaps, said some kind of vows in front of the church--something like, "I promise support this church though my prayers, presence, gifts, service and witness." That is an awesome first step, but now what? Does merely belonging to a church make you a Christian--or a "better" Christian?

Since living in Columbia, I've been a member at several gyms. I joined Gold's gym when I first moved to Columbia because they had a bunch of great, free-at-no-additional-charge classes. They had great parking, an indoor track, an indoor pool, a smoothie bar, lunch time yoga, a hot tub and descent showers. Programs and things I thought made a good gym, and things I  thought I had to have. But all those awesome things about Gold's Gym did not motivate me to go every day, or every week, and I really didn't take full advantage of all the flashy this and that they had to offer. So, once my membership ended, I looked for something new--somewhere that would provide more accountability than just simply all the bells and whistles. I went to the opposite extreme--Carolina CrossFit. If you want some in-your-face workout accountability, well, CrossFit is the place. But I found it also kind of cliquish. I never felt at home; it was hard to connect. Sure, I appreciated the group WODs; they challenged me physically, but other personal and relational connections were missing. So, I went back to gym shopping. Now, I am a member at Brickhouse which is a great mix of Gold's and CrossFit--great accountability, hospitality and opportunities.

But even though I have found my gym "home," and even though I have my little key ring card, that doesn't suddenly mean I am going to start looking like some of the studs who workout at Brickhouse. Simply having a membership does nothing for me physically. Fit-by-association is not a reality; I will not get stronger simply by  showing up or having my membership card on my key ring. It doesn't matter if I am a member at Gold's, CrossFit or Brickhouse, if I don't put in the work--the sometimes hard, painful work even on days I don't feel like it--at the gym then chances are that I am never going to really get in shape.

Unfortunately I think too many people today treat finding a home church very much the same way I went about finding a gym. Testing, trying, staying awhile, moving on, getting disgruntled over something, leaving, coming, and going until finally a connection is made. And it is not uncommon for such a process to be repeated over and over in our very mobile lives. And too often when we finally feel at home and our church shopping is over, we settle in to a comfortableness, a sleeping stupor not meant to characterize the end of such a journey. Because really the end of "church shopping" is the beginning. The problem is that the goal of finding a church becomes an end-goal in and of itself. The goal was to find a church. Period. Done. Found. Accomplished. When really the actual goal of finding a church should be to find a place and people where we can grow and be nurtured as disciples--a place that not only welcomes, but challenges us to grow more and more into the image of God.

Even with just as few as 3 years in ministry, I have witnessed this church home-finding process on a rather frequent basis. I have seen people come and go from our church for various reasons. Recently one former member came back after finding a home at a much larger church than ours. He said to a group of us with a huge, satisfied smile on his face, "It is just so nice to not really have to do anything at church except show up." My heart ached not only because of his statement but I know that such a sentiment is all too widely shared among church people today. Membership at a church has become more important than the reason we gather in community.

It doesn't matter where you are a church member. It really doesn't matter if you have perfect church attendance--unless church is starting to change you, how you live, how you engage others, how you work, and so on and so on; unless church is starting to live in and through you beyond buildings, a church membership is like having a gym membership and never working out. Whether the church is big or small, God gathered us into community for the sake of growing in discipleship so that we can make and nurture more disciples, transforming our world for the glory of God. That does not and cannot happen by just showing up. What did God say to the church in Sardis in Revelation 3:15? "I know you inside and out, and find little to my liking. You’re not cold, you’re not hot—far better to be either cold or hot! You’re stale. You’re stagnant. You make me want to vomit." Just being a member seems to me to be synonymous with being lukewarm, and well you see how God feels about that! 

The reality is that we cognitively know all this as church people, but the message and importance of being church together hasn't seeped into our hearts in such a way that activates change in how we are church beyond the geographical brick and mortar of the place we gather to participate in works of piety. We easily forget that church membership is just another word for discipleship, and well discipleship is a lifelong process that requires responsible grace which means work and participating with God in all God is presently doing in this world. Such a life is going to be filled with ups, downs, good, bad and everything in between. Such a life is not a lukewarm, stagnant life. It is as Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 12 being the body--the hands and feet--of Christ in our world, and if you know the ministry and life of Christ, Jesus never sat still for very long except to pray and commune.

Just the way being a member at some gym does not make you automatically physically fit---sure that would be nice--in this same way simply being a member of a church will not make you a disciple who is growing more and more into the image of God, nor will the church have any relevance if we are not making disciples for the transformation of our world. Just like there are no short cuts or easy, quick, convenient ways to get in shape without putting in the work, the same is true of discipleship. Our culture is obsessed with the quick and easy and convenient. Such values have slipped into our church culture. The fact is that discipleship does take work; it does take long-term commitment and discipline.  We, the church, exist to worship God by growing in discipleship, so that our lives reflect God's glory more and more and through us our world will be changed. There is a greater purpose for being a church member than simply a member in name only.  So, you're a member at a church? Great! Now, what?

"A Church is the People, a Church is not a Building"

St. Paul Lutheran church in Pomaria, SC was a beautiful gray granite-walled church with beautiful imported stained glass windows said to be the pride of their church. The church building went up in flames this month, January 2013. In the aftermath of the horrific church fire (no one was hurt) that burnt St. Paul Lutheran church to a condemned crisp, Rev. Brent Nichols said, "A church is the people, a church is not a building." In other words just because our building is destroyed does not mean we, the church, are destroyed. Our building doesn't make us who we are. What a great take away and reminder in the midst of a horrible incident that the body of Christ is not walls of a building, but the body of Christ is you and me who simply gather in one common place to worship, and then from there are sent into a world in desperate need of hearing the Good News of Christ.

Unfortunately many of our identities as church people are wrapped up in a church building; a church building does make many who they are, or so it seems. Wouldn't it be great if we referred to the greatest pride of our church as our people instead of stained glass windows or ornate pews or an organ or a fountain or any other fixture, brick or mortar. Sometimes I wish we still just worshipped in homes because too much time and way too much money are spent on building issues. Whether it is something that is broken that needs fixed or replaced, or something that was moved that has members agitated, it is easy to feel consumed, as a pastor, by the brick and mortar; it demands almost more time than homebound or hospitalized members, preys on the sensitivities of people, brings out the worst in people and creates more conflict than it should. Our buildings, though they are inanimate, somehow, have great power over us. They have become places we worship rather than places we simply gather to worship.

We recently refloored our education wing of our church building. We had an asbestos problem that had to be attended to because of the potential harm to people--especially our preschoolers who spend a lot of time on the floor. I never would have imagined that such a simple renovation could have brought out the worst in people. I wish people got as passionate about bible study curriculum or planning worship as they did about floor choices. I wish as many people showed up for Sunday School and Bible Study as they did for church council and trustee meetings about the new floors. And even though the floors have been redone and laid, the problems--mainly relationship problems persist. People are still not talking because so-and-so said or did such-and-such, and of course we have people non-stop complaining, more passionate and consumed with their dissatisfaction and disapproval of the new floors than other spiritual matters going on within our church--like the fact that we have yet to have a profession of faith in the last two years, or that one of our teenagers gave birth at 6 months and is struggling to make life and death decisions for her twin premies, or that our church has 18 homebound or hospitalized people who are hardly visited by their church family, or one of our pillars of the church is deciding to move away to be closer to her children, or we have members in our church who can barely pay rent, utilities or buy groceries. But such concerns are on the periphery because look at those floors!! If such time, energy and financial resources could only be used for those other problems.

The whole process disheartened me greatly. I know why the church has trouble keeping young clergy--or people at all. I used to chide people who complained of being "churched-out" but now I understand. Our priorities our skewed and the object of our worship is no more than things that wither and fade as Isaiah 40 talks about. When our focus and passion and centerpiece of our gathering is on a building, then yes, such a gathering is exhausting and draining. The church was never meant to be a place that depletes. Jesus said, "Come to the fountain of living waters and I will give you water that will quench your thirst..." And yet, so often church--when focused on such withering, trivial things--is often hopeless work that doesn't seem like any real change is happening in the lives of people so real change is not coming to our world by the very people God has called, empowered and equipped to transform the world for his glory because we are too occupied with floors and such. Our church buildings, our places of worship, have become obstacles--the Golden Calf of our day, if you will.

Yes, today, we need reminding of what really matters. "Church is not a building, church is a people." Not only a people, but people of God, made in God's image. Remember in John 2 and Matthew 26 Jesus talked about tearing down temples--tearing down buildings and raising up a new temple? Jesus was talking about his body as the temple of God--what does that mean for us today? We, God's people, Jesus followers, are the church. Maybe we ought to start focusing a little more on the inside and outside of our selves--God's temple, the church--so that through us we can truly begin to change to world, making God's presence in the world known in all corners of this world.

Sacred Community

Becoming a sacred community is not easy. Yet, it is what we are called to be as the body of Christ, the church. The Greek word for church is “ekklesia” which literally translates “called out.” There is something sacred about being called out by God; all who call themselves "Christian" are to be called-out people not only when gathered as a community of faith, but in the daily ups and downs of life. But far too many people today settle for just being a part of a church rather than a sacred community being called out by God to do God’s work together in the world. At the core of being a sacred community is knowing and being known by other people in the community, and this is not just simply knowing names—though that is a very good place to start when getting to know someone. The foundation of a sacred community is relationships. Jesus taught us this by the way he lived, taught, traveled, worshiped, prayed, and even ate. 

I can’t tell you how many stories I've heard about people who have gone to church for 10, 20, or 30 plus years and do not know the people of their church community because either they sit on the opposite side of the sanctuary, or they are not in their Sunday School Class or Men’s Group or UMW.  True sacred community is being more than just a group of loosely connected acquaintances who happen to gather in the same place at the same time every week to worship. Sacred community is really knowing and caring for each other’s hopes and fears, success and failures, strengths and struggles.  However this is what makes true sacred community both so worthwhile and yet so difficult. True community requires us to be vulnerable, exposing our true selves and sharing our thoughts and feelings. Rather than presenting the side of ourselves who we want and choose people to know. Not only was this at the core of Jesus' ministry, but John Wesley established bands and classes for this very reason. One of the first questions asked at each band meeting was, "How is it with your soul?" That's not simply a "Good morning, how are you?" That's a question that asks and expects the respondent to be vulnerable, transparent, open.  Opening yourself up like that is a huge risk, and yet without such a risk—without being vulnerable and honest with one another—true sacred community can never be reached.

So on a scale of 1-10, how well do you rate your church as a sacred community? Be honest.

1              2              3               4               5               6               7               8               9               10

When we are honest with ourselves about where we are—both in strengths and weaknesses—we can begin to learn and grow into the sacred community—the ekklesia—that God is calling us to be as God’s body, the church. It should be the goal of every church to grow more and more as a sacred community. I, the pastor, cannot do it alone because, remember, at the core of a sacred community is open and honest relationships. “I am the church; you are the church; we are the church together.” May it be so. 

(This blog is much in debt to a book I am reading right now by Jamie Roach called Sacred Community; it is a part of the Ancient Faith Series put out by Barefoot Ministries. I highly recommend this 8-week study. It is geared for youth groups, but anywhere you read "youth group" or "students" you can substitute "church" and "people" and glean lots of really good, in-your-face, reality-check lessons for the church as a whole.)

Change

This coming Sunday, January 13, I am preaching on Genesis 12:1-9. This afternoon as I sit reading commentaries, journal articles and such, I am continuously drawn back to these words in the pericope: "Abraham was 75-years old when he departed Haran." That might seem like a strange verse to be drawn to, but not so strange when you really think about Abraham, his age and what God was asking Abraham to do--especially in the context of what we--an aging church--might be called to do as God's people in the here and now. 

God was calling Abraham to leave his country, his kindred, his father's house, or in other words to leave familiarity, comfort, long-held traditions for the unknown, the uncomfortable, the new. God did not initially tell Abraham where God was leading him, nor did he say how long it would take to get to wherever God was leading Abraham and his family. God simply said, "Go and I will show you the way to the land where I want you to go." And it seems that without too many questions or even a hint of hesitation, Abraham went. Quite a leap of faith, I would say--especially at his age!!

As a pastor of an aging church, I know that while change is not easy for anyone, change is especially not easy or welcomed by people near and around Abraham's age. But just as God sought to bring about change in the world through Abraham, so too is God seeking to bring about change through the people sitting in our pews today--many, if not the majority, of whom are Abraham's age and older. And so, as I read this verse about Abraham's age and his willingness to walk by faith and not by sight into God's mysterious unknown, I am both encouraged and discouraged. 

I am encouraged because these verses give me hope that God can and does so often work miracles to bring about the impossible through impossible beings--such as Abraham and Sarah who were aging and barren and yet, God used them to be the parents of generations as numerous as there are stars in the sky. There is hope in these verses for our aging church that has been steadily declining for over a decade. We are the seed of Abraham, and so we--the collective "we" both young and old--inherit Abraham's bold faith to follow God into the unknown, uncomfortable and new, knowing that we are partnering with God to bring about God's promises and glory in this world. This is something both young and the more seasoned in life need reminding of for fear of becoming too rigid and stuck in our ways. Our purpose is God's purpose--God's way, not our own; this is true of God's people regardless of age. But we need the Abraham's and Sarah's of our church--the chronologically gifted--to be willing to lead us through these changing times; the young look to the Abrahams and Sarahs who boldly lead and embrace where God is leading today's people. 

But these verses also bring me angst, discouragement and fear because I know the majority of Abraham's fellow 75ers in our churches today, and I do not believe they are so welcoming of change--even if that change is truly being led and guided by God. There are some very loud-voiced aging congregants among us, in very non-Abraham fashion, who are resistant to change, to leaving the familiar, comfort, long-held traditions even though we watch as our tower of Babel--our Christendom church--crumbles and declines before our very eyes. Even such awareness of the state of our church today has not motivated some aging congregants to embrace change, allowing God's promise of his presence to guide and comfort them through the unknown, the uncomfortable, the new with the promise that such a journey will bring glory to God. 

No, instead any attempt or the mere mention of change leads to toddler-style temper tantrums, the digging in of heels and threats to leave the church. Nothing could be further from the example Abraham and hundreds of others in the great cloud of witnesses has set for us as people of faith--people who are called to walk by faith and not by sight. Of course this is a broad-brush generalization because not all of Abraham's peers in the church today are resistant to change in the church; there are several Abrahams among us, but this post is largely informed by past experience. No matter our age, we all need reminding that faith is the assurance of things hoped for and certain of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1). And such a faith does not fear change, but recognizes that even in the midst of change--however uncomfortable, inconvenient, and unwanted it may be--God is present, guiding, leading, loving us through the difficulties and adjustments that accompany change. 

My DS posted an article by Rev. Gary Brinn titled, "Secrets Your Pastor Can't Share in a Sermon." Number 8 on Gary's list was this: "When you insist on 'the way we do things in this church,' I'm wondering when you stopped worshiping a living God and started worshiping a building and its resident bureaucracy. Give me half a chance, and I'll help you drop the average age of worshipers and give this church a future. Many thousands of churches close every year. This doesn't have to be one of them. But it's your choice. When you are ready to look forward instead of backward, I'll be there to lead the way. That is, after all, what you keep telling me I'm supposed to do." 

At the heart of Abraham's no-hestiation leap of faith into the unknown must have been the heart of God. All we do--including church--is not for ourselves, but for God. Gary's words resonate all too deeply in me and my context and present experience of church, and such words are connected to this story of Abraham. Too often many of us--both young and old--double speak, saying one thing while really meaning something else. We say we want to grow the church and make disciples for Jesus, but what we really mean and want is to grow the church and go about making disciples our way, at our own pace, within our comfort zone and where and when it is convenient for us. 

Abraham had to let go of control to bring about God's vision, promise and blessing. Abraham had to submit to change God's way, not his own way, and guess what that meant for Abraham?!? Leaving EVERYTHING known, familiar, comfortable, easy, convenient behind. How, we might ask, did he do this? Paul says it so perfectly in Hebrews 11:8, "By faith, Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going." All Abraham carried with him into the unknown were the promises of God.

What will the church of post-Christiandom, of today, of the future look like? I do not know. What I do know is that God is calling me to lead the church into the unknown, the unfamiliar, the new while leaving the "way we've always done church" behind. It would be nice to have a few Abrahams on my side because without the aging congregants leading and ushering the church into a new era as Abraham did in Genesis, we will not make it very far. 

I daily pray that God will raise up Abrahams in my congregation because we are one step away from shutting our doors, and frankly, I am depleted as a pastor and preacher, hanging on to hope and burdened with dead weight that refuses to admit and submit to the radical changes that are needed in our churches today. God's call for Abraham to leave everything was extremely radical, and I imagine not easy on Abraham, Sarah or any of their household. The only thing certain about the future was God's presence, and that was enough for them to give up their comfort, their home, their traditions, the known, the familiar and take a leap of faith. May it also be enough for us, as we decide to walk in the footsteps of Abraham rather than to continue to live according to our own wills. Because like Abraham, we are God's hope for God's people to be as numerous as the stars in the sky. It is up to you, to us, church, to participate with God in bringing about his glory in this world. May we not be so short-sighted or limited in our vision of the future that God's glory days are behind us.  

Why?

A picture is worth a thousand words, they say. The picture to the left says it all. Shock. Pain. Grief. Disbelief. Why?

Following the tragedy of such evil and senseless brutality as the massacre in the Connecticut elementary school that killed 20 children under 10-years old and 6 innocent teachers, leaves many of us--people of faith or not--asking, "Why?" Many of us at church Sunday morning came asking, "Why God?" and "Where were you God?" and "How could you let this happen?" It makes one wonder during this season we celebrate Emmanuel, God with us, if God is really with us at all. Such evil provokes one to question faith in a God who has promised to never leave or forsake us. If that is so, then Lord, why? Why were so many innocent people killed? If God is all powerful, why does God not stop such evil from happening? I am sure for many this feels like a forsaken time. The old theodicy questions surface in the aftermath of such events as the world witnessed in Newton, Connecticut.

There seems to be more questions than answers, and that is hard to deal with for a species that likes concrete answers. I don't think there is ever "an" answer or at least ever an easy answer that will satisfy our longing to make sense of such heinous acts. It is especially hard when the one responsible for so much violence and pain is dead; his explanation--however twisted it may have been--is gone forever. And so, the families and friends of the victims are left in silence to deal with the backlash of unanswerable questions.

As a pastor, I want to have the answers when such things happen, but the truth is that this is an I-don't-know kind of time, where I too am asking, "Why?". I do not have answers to your why. All I can do is delve into the questions with you as together we pray and wrestle with the shock, pain, grief and disbelief of all of it, trying to find hope in the midst of such a seemingly hopeless situation. Where is God in all this pain? But isn't that the promise, the gift that came down to us at Christmas? God incarnate took on human flesh to dwell with us in a world that does not always use freewill for good, in a world where evil still rules, in a world that does not always want to know the Good News of our Savior's birth? God taking on flesh tells us that God understands us--all the good, bad and ugly of this world, and so I honestly believe that God weeps with us at such tragedies.

I had a man at church yesterday tell me that he always thought earth was hell. I can see why he would think that. It is times like this that make this whole life experience certainly feel like hell. Can hell be worse than the slaying of 26 innocent people?! But our hope, if we can even manage to utter that word at such a time, as God's people is that God's presence in our world today means there is also heaven right among us. God is Emmanuel; God is with us. Do we really "anticipate our heaven below" as Charles Wesley encourages us to do in his hymn O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing?

It's difficult to hold onto such promises; it's difficult to anticipate our heaven below in the middle suffering, pain, affliction, and grief--especially when it all seems unnecessary, undeserving, & unfair. Though it may not immediately make us feel better or make such loss as those in Newton, Connecticut have experienced any easier, these are moments we must cling to our faith, hanging on to that promise that God has promised to never forsake us. We are not alone. God is with us, but we also have one another to muddle through the mess and madness of a nightmare that we all wish we could wake up from. We have each other to help one another find hope and faith to see and feel God's presence, who at this very moment is working to heal, comfort and bring peace. Evil certainly seems to win in moments like these, but as Triune-God believers we cannot keep silent, or turn from God in these moments of great trial because evil will not and does not win. That score was settled the moment Jesus was born, took on human flesh, walked this earth, lived a perfect life all the way to being nailed on the cross and raised from the dead. "Death, where is your victory? O, death, where is your sting?...But thanks be to God who has given us the victory through Jesus Christ."

May we cling to God and one another, so that by faith we can believe and embody these words of truth even as we ask Why?.

Faith Like Mary

On Sunday I preached on Luke 1:26-38, Mary's calling by the Angel Gabriel to bear God's son (see sermon page for full sermon). Mary asked Gabriel, "How can this be?" Mary was only 12 or 13. She was an unwed virgin, so Gabriel's message sounded impossible. When I read Mary's "How can this be?", I hear "Why me?" Not only did the task of bearing and delivering our incarnated God sound impossible, but it also sounded like a lot of shame, isolation and sacrifice. Mary knew if she agreed to God's plans, she had to sacrifice her whole life--her own dreams, hopes and expectations. She would have to endure discomfort, embarrassment, and humiliation. She would have to commit to the inconvenience and difficult life that such a calling would surely entail. Surely Mary knew all this when Gabriel told her what God was calling her to do. She was young, but she wasn't naive, stupid or removed from her culture and context enough to know that a "yes" to God would disgrace her in the eyes of the world. Our bibles say that Mary was perplexed and pondered Gabriel's words. She knew that a "yes" would affect the rest of her life--a life in those moments during Gabriel's visit was filled with uncertainty, mystery and confusion. I don't know if I could have agreed to such a whole-being sacrifice.

But perhaps Mary clung to these words of Gabriel, "The Lord is with you" and "Nothing will be impossible with God." Those words of hope can be the only explanation behind Mary's "yes;" because such a calling to sacrifice everything you are for the sake of the kingdom of God can only be done with the help of the Lord. So, Mary took a leap of faith, not knowing where that leap would take her, but trusting and having faith that God was with her and through her God could and would do the impossible.

I readily admit that if the angel Gabriel had visited me, I don't know if I could have had the kind of faith Mary had--a faith that would take her far out of her comfort zone and into the unknown. I don't know if I could sacrifice my life--my dreams, hopes and desires for this life. That would mean everything would be out of my control, and as a perfectionist, I just don't know how or if I could do it! I don't know if I could, but I would hope that Gabriel's assurance of God's presence and power would cause me to also say yes to God. The truth is that we have these opportunities almost daily to sacrifice ourselves--our wants, wishes, dreams, hopes, desires, expectations--for the kingdom of God in the here and now. I asked my church if they still believe God works through ordinary people like God did through Mary. I believe God is alive and active in our world, and yes, God wants to work in and through us, but we must be willing to have faith like Mary. We must be willing to sacrifice all we are and all we have for the kingdom of God. To "let go and let God" as I've heard some say.

One of the Webster dictionary definitions of "sacrifice" is "surrender something prized or desirable for the sake for the sake of something considered as having a higher or more pressing claim." Mary had to surrender everything to God in order that God might do the greatest thing this world has ever seen--the birth of the Savior of this world. Do we really buy into all that surrender-to-God language today? Remember Jesus' teaching in the Parable of the Rich Young Ruler. Go back and read that story in Matthew 19. Do we really believe Jesus wants us to give up everything to follow him? If he asked us to do so, would we? Be honest. This call to radical commitment to Jesus is reiterated again in Philippians 2. Paul writes to us about imitating the humility of Christ through a life of sacrifice--a life we are called to embody--not just profess with our lips or read with our eyes--if Jesus' love has truly made a difference in our lives, if it is in Christ where we find our ultimate identity. A synonym for sacrifice is "risk." There are a lot of risks when you give up yourself for the sake of another. There are a lot of risks in loving another--God or human--in love there are risks. There were a lot of risks for Mary, and if you are a well-read New Testament reader then you know that as followers of Jesus we are called into a life of sacrifice and risk--sacrificing or risking ourselves for the sake of Christ. Sacrifice is not easy. But then Gabriel did not promise Mary a life of comfort, ease and convenience. He did say God is with you, and he reminded her that through God the miraculous is possible. But we must make the choice to step out in faith, to leap out in faith into the unknown the way Mary did.

This I preached on Sunday, and yet, on Monday I feel my words have fallen on deaf ears. The state of the church I pastor is in crisis. While we are an outreaching and spiritually-grounded congregation, we have lived under the threat of church closure for over 20 years. The church has seen pastor come and go, but growth has not happened in the way it needs to for this church to sustain itself, its ministries and facilities. I feel we are in a much better place than when I first came to this church. We have a lot more hope as a congregation. We've moved from merely focusing on "getting butts in pews" (words of my first SPRC chair) to focusing on making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world--a huge shift in attitude and focus that has strengthened the connection and spiritual lives of our people. We have a solid foundation upon which many of us are ready to build, but building means some things will have to change. And change means sacrifice and risk; change and risks are not welcomed by some, and yet these some want to see the church grow. It's a conundrum common in our churches and to our pastors.

If you've read Phyllis Tickle's book, The Great Emergence, then you know the church is caught in a liminal state, a state of flux, a state of uncertainly, a state of trying to figure out how to be and do church in a post-modern world. Even if you haven't read her book, but you are an average church-goer then your observations are probably in agreement. The waning of today's church is no secret. As United Methodists, we have been told over and over that our denomination is dying, and if we don't reach the younger generations then within the next decade we will experience a membership tsunami, leaving our denomination in dust and ash. Thousands of trees have died so that book after book on this subject of church decline--the stats, the opinions, the suggestions, the laments--could be written. All that may be well and good; I've certainly been shaped by many of these writings, but merely reading these books, observing decline and wishing for the glory days of our denomination to return is not really actively participating in being a part of God's solution for our increasingly unchurched, biblical illiterate, and God-apathy world.

I'm a thinker, but I'm also a doer. One of my greatest pet peeves is people who complain without agreeing to be part of the solution. Complainers often become part of the problem. Being a part of the solution to our church-growth dilemma means sacrifices and risks will have to be made. We stand at a leap-of-faith kind of time where we must jump into the unknown, sacrificing in part our known traditions, expectations, and comforts--all for the sake of the kingdom of God, all for the sake of making disciples of Jesus Christ. If we continue to do and be church the same old way; if we continue to work harder at what we've always done then, I believe, we will continue down the path of decline--but more importantly more and more will continue to not know Jesus Christ upon who our church is built and for who the church exists. I do not believe the universal church will ever die. But church as we know it might just have to, and if it doesn't we might begin to see the doors of several of our oldest churches close. What use are closed doors in the making of disciples and building of the kingdom of God?

Change is hard. Sacrifice is not easy. Risk is something I think many of us are naturally adverse to, but in this time of change, uncertainty, discomfort, we must remember Gabriel's words to Mary, "The Lord is with you," and "Nothing will be impossible with God." Church, I plead with you, take the leap of faith; have faith like Mary so that God can work the impossible in and through us!

Spiritual Gift Giving

Do you recognize that woman?

Tis the season of giving and receiving, right? I just heard that a church around the block from my church is hosting an alternative Christmas gift market where people can give to local non-profits in the honor of family and/or friends. What an awesome idea! This is the kind of giving I am sure Jesus wants for his birthday. What better way to celebrate the Savior of the world who came into our broken world full of promise, hope, healing and peace than to give to those organizations who daily reach out in the same way to the least, lost and poor among us.

This kind of alternative gift giving got me thinking of a different kinds of gifts we often talk about at church--"spiritual gifts." As in 1 Corinthians 12, or a personal example:"My spiritual gift is preaching and passion for justice for the voiceless." Or another way to think about it--that innate calling, or God-given gift that we know we have been uniquely given to use in our world somehow. I like how theologian Howard Thurman said it, "Don't ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs are people who have come alive." Spiritual gifts--those God-given gifts that make us come alive; gifts that we've been given to transform our world. Gifts that if we don't use, will go wasted because they are the unique gifts God has beautifully and wonderfully knit us together with to use for his glory while we walk this earth.

Unfortunately during this consumer-driven time of year, we tend to forget the gifts we've been given, and so easily get distracted and focus on what others have to the point that we have to have what our friends have, we see in magazines, we touch as we shop in crowded malls...this is the season of coveting, and thus the season of routinely and all too easily breaking God's 10th commandment, and we might as well say the 1st, 2nd and 4th commandments as well.

It's easy to lose ourselves in all the advertisements, paper, ribbon, glamor and glitz of our over-sanitized and consumer-driven season Christmas has become today. A far cry from the first Christmas that happened in a manger. Christmas today has become a season of keeping up with the Joneses where for every $1.00 earned, the average American spends $1.50. I can't help but notice--especially during this time of year--that we try to be someone we are not; we try to live beyond our means so that we can give and receive  the perfect gift, so that we can appear to have everything together. Christmas often brings out a person in us that is not so Christ-like and does not bring honor to God's name and does not do good for his kingdom in this world. Such a season of pretending, keeping-up-with, buying and giving leaves many exhausted. What was it that the angels announced when they appeared to the shepherds--wasn't it something about joy and peace? And yet many of our expectations of a good Christmas is wrapped up in the gifts under our tree. Can joy and peace be found in such gifts?

Like my neighbor church's alternative Christmas market, I think if we just offer ourselves as we are with the gifts we've been given, such a gift would honor Jesus more than the priciest gift we can go in debt to afford. Such a gift would bring true joy and peace into our world, not leaving us exhausted and over-spent--literally and figuratively--at the end of the Christmas season. How are you giving of your spiritual gifts this season and every season of your life for the glory of God? Do you believe that through these gifts we've all been given, God can work in and through us to bring about change in our world that would usher in true joy and peace the way the shepherds and all those who witnessed Jesus' birth experienced? Before you buy your next present, think about how you can use what God has already given you as a gift to your family and friends.