One of my childhood memories was for loud TV ads about monster truck rallies and dirt track races. We knew when the events were, "SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY" being screamed at top volume. Since I don't watch much broadcast TV these days I don't know if those ads are still around, but I'm sure there is something still like it.
I don't know if I ever remember Sundays being thought of as a Sabbath. Likely not...as a family many Sundays we would go out to dinner at Lady Classen cafeteria in Oklahoma City almost every Sunday; it was one of those old time, old people places, much like the one my friend Derek once mentioned in which 'You know, most of these people will be dead in 5 years.' Lots of fried chicken, plain jello, and overcooked vegetables; my dad loved it because there he could get rhubarb pie. Later on we would go to Wyatt's cafeteria in Edmond which was newer and bigger but the food was basically the same. At least there some of my friends were also dragged after church and we would mock the food while my parents sat elsewhere knowing that at a cafeteria '...at least everybody can find something that they like to eat!'
Sundays involved church, but so much more. As teenagers in our youth group we would often have activies, such as going to a pizza place or having a devotional or a game night. And so worship time, at 10am and 6pm, was only part of what Sunday was supposed to be about. Yes, we were there to worship God...but we are also there to get ready for our busy activities, scout out members of the opposite sex, and get out of the houses in which 3 TV channels was all there was.
Today there is a lot of hand-wringing about how internet-addicted kids are, and that's a very real thing in my home and in many others. Sundays are no more immune from this struggle than any other day...but let's not kid ourselves into thinking that 'back in my day, everything was swell!' It wasn't. There will always be this problem for us worldly people in that we have distractions that distance us from God. And it's not even so much a Sunday problem...shouldn't every day be holy to the Lord? Yes, we set aside time to come to church on Sunday (and, if we are really pious, for Sunday school!), but having Sundays simply being representative of a portion of our life is never enough.
I'm not sure I know the answer to this. Maybe this is why returning to some concept of the Sabbath is not such a bad idea in 2019. We need to have time dedicated to God...but don't let that fool us into thinking that dividing our lives into particular sections is enough. All needs to find a purpose in our devotion to the Lord.
Showing posts with label church. Show all posts
Showing posts with label church. Show all posts
Sunday, March 10, 2019
Sunday, February 24, 2019
Walls
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. [Ephesians 2:13-17 ESV]
I know some good, Godly people who believe in Donald Trump's wall. They believe it will save us from drugs, from bad people, from evil pouring over the southern border. I disagree. While I believe that border security is important, it's interesting that most of the criminals that come through and the contraband that slips over comes through ports of entry, not the wide-open desert. Surely we can take those billions that would be spent on a pointless wall (have they not heard of ladders and tunnels and airplanes?) and figure out ways to stop the problems where they really exist?
But more than anything, I believe that Christians need to be thinking about this question (and every question) theologically...what does the gospel say about this? Some point to the walls being built up in the new Jerusalem (cf. Rev. 21:9-27) and say that, see, even heaven has walls. Yet a. I'm not so sure that this is heaven...I have come to believe that this is more likely a description of the kingdom of God within the church and b. The gates of that city are never shut, but the nations will continually enter and bring glory and honor (21:25-26).
We would do so much better to think about this question from the perspective of seeing the nations come as an opportunity to give glory to God. Somebody who comes to America illegally will likely not stay forever...are we looking at them as potentially great evangelists for Jesus Christ? How will they know unless they have heard? It is great to think we can go there and teach, but if they come here, should we not look at this as an opportunity to teach as well?
The gospel is about tearing down walls that Satan has built up. We do ourselves no good when we think that building walls on earth is a good idea.
I know some good, Godly people who believe in Donald Trump's wall. They believe it will save us from drugs, from bad people, from evil pouring over the southern border. I disagree. While I believe that border security is important, it's interesting that most of the criminals that come through and the contraband that slips over comes through ports of entry, not the wide-open desert. Surely we can take those billions that would be spent on a pointless wall (have they not heard of ladders and tunnels and airplanes?) and figure out ways to stop the problems where they really exist?
But more than anything, I believe that Christians need to be thinking about this question (and every question) theologically...what does the gospel say about this? Some point to the walls being built up in the new Jerusalem (cf. Rev. 21:9-27) and say that, see, even heaven has walls. Yet a. I'm not so sure that this is heaven...I have come to believe that this is more likely a description of the kingdom of God within the church and b. The gates of that city are never shut, but the nations will continually enter and bring glory and honor (21:25-26).
We would do so much better to think about this question from the perspective of seeing the nations come as an opportunity to give glory to God. Somebody who comes to America illegally will likely not stay forever...are we looking at them as potentially great evangelists for Jesus Christ? How will they know unless they have heard? It is great to think we can go there and teach, but if they come here, should we not look at this as an opportunity to teach as well?
The gospel is about tearing down walls that Satan has built up. We do ourselves no good when we think that building walls on earth is a good idea.
Saturday, February 9, 2019
When a Church is Dying
When I was working on a degree in congregational ministry a few years ago I did a paper about the life and death of churches and compared the process of a church dying to a patient in palliative care. It was an incredibly moving process for me; for something so beautiful as a church to finally die does not have to be something that happens with fear and loathing, but as something where death can be treated as a necessary part of existence.
I got to thinking about that today. I had to drive a wrestling trip to a community not far from somewhere that I used to live. I knew a number of people at the Church of Christ in that community, but they have all moved away now or died, so I decided to walk a few blocks over to the church building. What I found was quite depressing...the paint on the front is all peeling off; where there is siding it is becoming all moldy, the porch looks like it could collapse at any moment, and it looks like an abandoned building. There was a flyar hanging from the door that looked there for weeks, and I wondered if that church has stopped meeting altogether.
It makes me sad to think about a church that is in its final death stages like this one. Maybe I'm completely wrong...maybe it is vibrant and full of life and they are so busy doing good works that the members don't have time for a building. But likely it's a goner, and the next time I go and visit that community the building will have been raised and Starbucks will be sitting there.
Once upon a time somebody had built that building for a group of people with the great expectation that God would do something great there. And perhaps he did; yet now it's a place that only brings about sadness when we look at it. In so many places the same thing has happened and will continue to happen until the Lord returns. But yet new life is also springing...new churches are being established...new Christians are outnumbering the old that die or fall away. A building may fall down, but God's creativity to bring about something new will never fail.
Friday, January 4, 2019
Church As Experience
One of the things I have noticed in recent years is the trend that churches have to not call their gathering times 'worship' or 'services' but rather 'experiences'. Awhile back I noticed in a nearby town how a church sign promised 'a new experience every week!'
I think that's a lot to ask of the church or its leadership, to be honest. We come together 52 weeks a year, more if a church still has Sunday night or Wednesday night gatherings, and for us to think that we have it within us to create something magical and overpowering each time is foolish, if not arrogant. We gather together as God's people and bring not just our passions and our talents, but our brokenness and our sin. Sometimes this means that memorable things may happen...but often it leads to heartache and confusion.
The church as described in the book of Acts was often timid and uncertain as to what it ought to do, until the Holy Spirit would come and send preachers out or prompt a season of giving. Even under the guidance of the apostles, they were often no better off than we are today, until God came and his Kingdom became manifest among them.
I'd love it if every week we had church and something dynamic happens (there is another church near here whose name is 'Dunamis' and has a giant fist on their sign). But rather than promise something that is not our power to give, we do better to simply be open to waiting for God's mighty power to come instead. That, then, will be the 'experience' that will convict the world and change our churches forever.
I think that's a lot to ask of the church or its leadership, to be honest. We come together 52 weeks a year, more if a church still has Sunday night or Wednesday night gatherings, and for us to think that we have it within us to create something magical and overpowering each time is foolish, if not arrogant. We gather together as God's people and bring not just our passions and our talents, but our brokenness and our sin. Sometimes this means that memorable things may happen...but often it leads to heartache and confusion.
The church as described in the book of Acts was often timid and uncertain as to what it ought to do, until the Holy Spirit would come and send preachers out or prompt a season of giving. Even under the guidance of the apostles, they were often no better off than we are today, until God came and his Kingdom became manifest among them.
I'd love it if every week we had church and something dynamic happens (there is another church near here whose name is 'Dunamis' and has a giant fist on their sign). But rather than promise something that is not our power to give, we do better to simply be open to waiting for God's mighty power to come instead. That, then, will be the 'experience' that will convict the world and change our churches forever.
Wednesday, September 10, 2014
Wednesday morning phone call
I’m lousy at
remembering the details of conversations with people, but this is what I
remember as closely as possible about a conversation I had this morning.
I received a phone call this morning from what sounded like
an elderly woman. ‘Are you the
traditional Church of Christ’? Uh oh.
I wanted to flesh this out, so I asked her what she meant. ‘I mean, the one that doesn’t have
music.’ ‘Well, we have music. We sing.’
‘That’s what I meant. I was just
wanting to make sure that you didn’t use instruments.’
After she mentioned that she had thought we had two Churches
of Christ in our town, we then proceeded to talk about why this was so. Historically we can see this division being about
personality and ‘issues’, but to me, it’s a shameful mark about the disunity of
the body of Christ. Eventually she
asked, ‘Was this the church that was
identified with J__ ______’? ‘Yes
ma’am, I knew J__, but he passed away a few years ago.’ ‘Oh, OK, J__ was the man who baptized my
husband and me, and I think it was at the church in your town.’
Side note that will
become increasingly important: I didn't know J__ when he lived here, but I have heard stories of his baptizing people, and I'm grateful for that. But from what I gather he was something of a legalist. I do know that J__ was a
contentious old guy when I knew him, who preached in a small town near here after
leaving this church. The few
conversations I had with him gave me the impression that he believed his own
church was the only right one, and that there weren’t any faithful, ‘sound’
churches anymore, except his own, including the one at which I preach. When he died, his little church was only a
handful of people who were likely as legalistic as he was. I’m not sure if it even exists anymore.
After a bit more talk about the two churches, she got to her
point. ‘I was wondering if you were
available to baptize somebody today. My
husband wants to be re-baptized because he doesn’t feel that his first one was
for the right reasons.’ Oh boy. ‘We can, but I’d like to meet with him
first. Can I talk to your husband?’
Eventually she put him on.
I could tell he was very hesitant.
‘So, why do you want to be baptized again?’ ‘When I first started attending church with
my wife, she would take the Lord’s Supper and I did not feel as if I was able
to do so. So, eventually I decided to be
baptized. After all these years I don’t
feel I got baptized for all the right reasons.’
Right reasons. What is this, an episode of the
Bachelor?
‘Can I ask you something?
Are you a believer?’ ‘Yes, I
am.’ ‘Do you believe in God’? ‘Yes, I do, and in things like that.’ Things
like that? ‘Do you believe that
Jesus Christ died for your sins?’ ‘Yes,
I do.’ ‘Do you believe you are saved
now?’ ‘Yes.’ There were a few other questions I asked
along this line, but again, I stink when it comes to remembering this word-for
word.
‘Can I ask you one more question? Do you and your wife attend church
anywhere?’ I was starting to get the
impression that he had not attended church in awhile, because I’ve met more
than a few folks who justify not going because in their minds no church is truly
faithful anymore. ‘Yes, we attend in
W_______, but we live in B_______.’ ‘Maybe
you need to talk to the elders or the minister of the church there about
this.’ ‘I’m a private man. I don’t want the show that they have when
they baptize somebody, with cameras and all that.’
The beginning of the end of the conversation likely came
from my response. ‘One of the truths I
have learned about baptism is that it is a very public act. If you aren’t doing this publicly, then would
this really be an acceptable baptism?’ Really,
would he keep from his church family that he did this?
He started pulling away for good at this point and was
working to get off the phone. But as he
did I tried pulling this train wreck of a conversation back onto some tracks.
‘Sir, let me be honest with you. It
sounds like you don’t need to be baptized again. It seems pretty obvious to me that you need
to talk to somebody at your church in W_______ about this, the elders or a
minister or somebody. Baptism is not your problem. Trusting in God’s salvation through Jesus is. In the end baptism is not showing off your
own goodness. It is trusting in Christ,
allowing him to save you.’
Somewhere in the conversation I mentioned my own ‘imperfect’
baptism at the age of 11, and how I have in the last 30 years grown in my
understanding of baptism and the grace of God.
We’re not saved, I told him, because we have perfect understanding. We’re saved by God’s grace; if I got
re-baptized every time I learned something new (and wonderful!) about baptism,
I’d have been baptized a dozen times.
At this point he said goodbye and hung up. My suspicion is that he (or actually his
wife, who likely is the one reminding him of his unworthy baptism and calling
into doubt his faith) will be calling other Churches of Christ in the area, a
traditional one (we’re all traditional around here, mind you, but that’s a
post for another time) that will re-baptize him with no questions asked. By the time I finish writing this, they’ll
probably already be in their car on the way to a traditional, faithful church
for him to get dunked for all the ‘right reasons’.
Over the course of this 10-minute phone call I confess that
I never got their names. I already
feel bad about how I handled this, and I am thinking about all the things I
should have said, how I should have quoted Scripture about the grace and mercy
of God and how only Jesus is our hope, not our goodness.
Hindsight makes us replay these conversations in our mind and makes us
feel guilty for not getting it all right.
But more than anything I feel especially bad, because this
man, likely because of his wife’s ‘concerns’, lives his life in a constant
fear. Some go to one extreme in their
thinking of ‘Once saved, always saved’…but far too many Christians I have come
across over the years think ‘Once saved, barely saved.’ In a way, I can understand why they think
like this…they’ve probably heard too many guys like J__ ________ talk about how
everybody else is wrong, and you had better be certain you get it all
right. How can you ever be sure of your salvation? More than anything, though, many never take
time to understand even the very basics of God, and ‘things like that’. Many have taught that faith is not about a relationship
with God…it’s simply a list of propositions to believe and actions to prove
their worthiness. They’re so focused on
what they think they have to do that they forget what it is that God does.
I’m not sure what I’m more upset about, though…is it the
legalism that brought him to this crisis (which is not entirely his fault), or
the fact that he has to keep what he is doing a secret from his home
congregation? Legalism can be cured over
time…but to think that faith is only a private matter, how sad is that? How has he become so suspicious of the family of God that he wants nothing to do with the church when he is being baptized?
Maybe I'm completely wrong about this. Maybe I should have just dunked him and made him feel better and gone on. He doesn't live here, so I'd never see him again likely. But regardless, I need to pray for this man:
not because he is not saved, but because he doesn’t feel he is
saved. There’s probably been little joy
in his Christian life to this point, and even less genuine Christian community
with whom he can share his concerns. And
even after he gets re-baptized, probably later today, he still won’t know any of
those things.
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
Preacher Shortage
A fellow preacher I know casually called me up the other day for some information which is not really relevant for this space, except that he's thinking of leaving preaching after being in a town different than the one he had been at when I knew him. I had not known he had left the previous town, and he proceeded to tell me the story that I've heard so many times before from other preachers. He'd been there a few years, been with them through some trials, and the moment he even thinks about looking for another job (due to some family concerns) he comes in the next week to his elders' meeting and is given a thirty-day notice of termination, though it's not really thirty days because they pay him for the month he's about to preach and that month was just about over. From there he went to another church, not the one he had thought about going to previously because they dragged their feet for three months before finally saying no to him. Ultimately the church at which he landed really had no desire to do anything more than what they are now (and probably don't even want to do what they are doing), so he's thinking of moving, and probably already quit by the time you read this.
Another preacher friend of mine have kicked around the idea for a few years of writing a book for churches, "How NOT to Hire Your Next Preacher", basically a collection of horror stories about things that churches do when it comes to hire churches. While there are many good and responsible churches out there (and I am eternally blessed to be at one who treats me and my family wonderfully), there are many more that look at their preacher as a hireling, ready to jettison him the moment the shine wears off. It shows in the interview processes: churches that do not consider that he is picking up and moving a family to a new place, shuffle their feet (aka looking for a whiter knight) and leave somebody hanging for months, or totally lose communication courtesy with somebody they had brought in to interview. That book will one day be written, even if I'm not the one to write it.
I speak of all this because regularly I hear this statement that "there aren't enough preachers to go around". Men (always men in my fellowship, but that's another column) aren't being trained to preach, and many churches can't get anybody to hire, so the lament goes. So our church schools establish scholarships for preaching, 'preaching schools' (with little to no accreditation and no responsibility except to a particular ideology) pop up everywhere, and we wonder why things are the way they are. Indeed, I can name in just the area a number of churches that do not have a regular preacher and are quickly withering away; it's not that they wither because of no preacher, but because they are just dying...having a preacher only seems to delay this happening.
But it's not that there are not enough preachers; it's that there aren't enough preachers for the many tiny congregations we have. A friend of mine is a youth minister in a large (for that area) church of about 275 people, and they are looking for a preacher. Last time I talked to him they had somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 applications. I am not looking for a new job, but I scan the ads once in awhile see how many tiny churches can't afford to pay anybody; a run-down parsonage and $300/month won't support a family, sorry to say. Certainly, there are a few semi-retired ministers out there willing to do that, and God bless them, but many more churches go wanting. I can't say that I really blame these churches; they really can't afford to hire somebody on what is given, and just asking people to give more is not always the answer. Sometimes the money just isn't there.
Still, many preachers are getting out and doing something else. Two main issues I see: 1)We burn out preachers out to where they don't want to preach; many are the stories of preachers who keep getting burned by churches and need somewhere to recuperate. In another area congregation I know of at least 4 men who used to preach regularly who no longer do; they need nurturing instead after years of giving so much that they have nothing else to given, all the while being dragged through the mud by churches who have never learned to understand that preachers need love too. Why did it get that bad? Some churches are guilty of malpractice. 2)We have too many men wanting a nice job in the Bible belt. It's easier there; on the edge of it there are many more opportunities than for somebody away from it. It frustrates me when I see missionaries return back from foreign fields and they use that experience of church planting and evangelism to settle into a plateaued congregation that simply wants a preacher. 3)Many of our preachers, when they retire, move to a church where nothing is asked of them. In my parents' congregation in the heart of the Bible belt, they have dozens of retired preachers among them; a few still get out and preach occasionally, but most of them let their knowledge and wisdom go to waste. I can't imagine NOT wanting to preach at all; maybe not every week, but I'd like to think I'm starting to figure this out after a certain time.
So where are we going with this? Some suggestions. 1)Stop focusing on preachers being what churches need. Most churches don't need somebody to give two sermons and preach two classes a week. They need evangelists, those whose primary job is to make new disciples and strengthen old ones, and that happens more in the other hours of the week besides the assembly. But wait, you say...what happens when there is nobody to preach? 2)Thanks to technology, most churches don't need a regular preacher anymore. Many churches (my own included) provide audio podcasts, and some of the more high-tech churches provide live-streaming; it's now possible to watch preachers all around the world, good preachers who don't need a parsonage and $300/month from a congregation that can't afford it. 3)As most churches won't do the first two, here's a third and more realistic one: stop thinking that your preacher will be a star. Far too many of our people today compare their preacher (for example) to the fluffy nothingness that is Joel Osteen. We can't compete (except with more truth and better messages, but who wants that?). Few of us are made for TV; we plod along week after week, looking for the truth of Scripture and applying it as best we can. Far too many churches have far too high of expectations for their preachers, especially considering the fact that they can't afford to pay them a living wage. Time for that to change. 4)Recognize that going forward most of us will start having to serve part-time. Again, this is not all the home church's fault. Sometimes the money simply is not there. But we have to be realistic and find ways to help families stay afloat when the church itself cannot be the sole financial source. It's one thing to say 'we need more tentmakers', it's another thing to help these men find places to practice their tentmaking. I don't know of any church in which a business-owning member thinks about hiring dedicated Christian men whose first job isn't to work for him, but for the Lord.
I don't have all the answers, but things have to change. It's a strange new world, and many of our churches and our preachers have no idea how to face it.
Another preacher friend of mine have kicked around the idea for a few years of writing a book for churches, "How NOT to Hire Your Next Preacher", basically a collection of horror stories about things that churches do when it comes to hire churches. While there are many good and responsible churches out there (and I am eternally blessed to be at one who treats me and my family wonderfully), there are many more that look at their preacher as a hireling, ready to jettison him the moment the shine wears off. It shows in the interview processes: churches that do not consider that he is picking up and moving a family to a new place, shuffle their feet (aka looking for a whiter knight) and leave somebody hanging for months, or totally lose communication courtesy with somebody they had brought in to interview. That book will one day be written, even if I'm not the one to write it.
I speak of all this because regularly I hear this statement that "there aren't enough preachers to go around". Men (always men in my fellowship, but that's another column) aren't being trained to preach, and many churches can't get anybody to hire, so the lament goes. So our church schools establish scholarships for preaching, 'preaching schools' (with little to no accreditation and no responsibility except to a particular ideology) pop up everywhere, and we wonder why things are the way they are. Indeed, I can name in just the area a number of churches that do not have a regular preacher and are quickly withering away; it's not that they wither because of no preacher, but because they are just dying...having a preacher only seems to delay this happening.
But it's not that there are not enough preachers; it's that there aren't enough preachers for the many tiny congregations we have. A friend of mine is a youth minister in a large (for that area) church of about 275 people, and they are looking for a preacher. Last time I talked to him they had somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 applications. I am not looking for a new job, but I scan the ads once in awhile see how many tiny churches can't afford to pay anybody; a run-down parsonage and $300/month won't support a family, sorry to say. Certainly, there are a few semi-retired ministers out there willing to do that, and God bless them, but many more churches go wanting. I can't say that I really blame these churches; they really can't afford to hire somebody on what is given, and just asking people to give more is not always the answer. Sometimes the money just isn't there.
Still, many preachers are getting out and doing something else. Two main issues I see: 1)We burn out preachers out to where they don't want to preach; many are the stories of preachers who keep getting burned by churches and need somewhere to recuperate. In another area congregation I know of at least 4 men who used to preach regularly who no longer do; they need nurturing instead after years of giving so much that they have nothing else to given, all the while being dragged through the mud by churches who have never learned to understand that preachers need love too. Why did it get that bad? Some churches are guilty of malpractice. 2)We have too many men wanting a nice job in the Bible belt. It's easier there; on the edge of it there are many more opportunities than for somebody away from it. It frustrates me when I see missionaries return back from foreign fields and they use that experience of church planting and evangelism to settle into a plateaued congregation that simply wants a preacher. 3)Many of our preachers, when they retire, move to a church where nothing is asked of them. In my parents' congregation in the heart of the Bible belt, they have dozens of retired preachers among them; a few still get out and preach occasionally, but most of them let their knowledge and wisdom go to waste. I can't imagine NOT wanting to preach at all; maybe not every week, but I'd like to think I'm starting to figure this out after a certain time.
So where are we going with this? Some suggestions. 1)Stop focusing on preachers being what churches need. Most churches don't need somebody to give two sermons and preach two classes a week. They need evangelists, those whose primary job is to make new disciples and strengthen old ones, and that happens more in the other hours of the week besides the assembly. But wait, you say...what happens when there is nobody to preach? 2)Thanks to technology, most churches don't need a regular preacher anymore. Many churches (my own included) provide audio podcasts, and some of the more high-tech churches provide live-streaming; it's now possible to watch preachers all around the world, good preachers who don't need a parsonage and $300/month from a congregation that can't afford it. 3)As most churches won't do the first two, here's a third and more realistic one: stop thinking that your preacher will be a star. Far too many of our people today compare their preacher (for example) to the fluffy nothingness that is Joel Osteen. We can't compete (except with more truth and better messages, but who wants that?). Few of us are made for TV; we plod along week after week, looking for the truth of Scripture and applying it as best we can. Far too many churches have far too high of expectations for their preachers, especially considering the fact that they can't afford to pay them a living wage. Time for that to change. 4)Recognize that going forward most of us will start having to serve part-time. Again, this is not all the home church's fault. Sometimes the money simply is not there. But we have to be realistic and find ways to help families stay afloat when the church itself cannot be the sole financial source. It's one thing to say 'we need more tentmakers', it's another thing to help these men find places to practice their tentmaking. I don't know of any church in which a business-owning member thinks about hiring dedicated Christian men whose first job isn't to work for him, but for the Lord.
I don't have all the answers, but things have to change. It's a strange new world, and many of our churches and our preachers have no idea how to face it.
Thursday, January 23, 2014
Fear and Loathing in Church Gender Wars
A second article this week about self-righteous conversations that go on in my head...guess I need to do some mind cleansing.
One of my ongoing interests through these years in ministry is seeing how gender roles are played out in churches. After all my years of study, I'm not convinced by either 'side' that they are really right. While I believe that the egalitarian crowd is a bit presumptuous with what they think Jesus was all about, I also think that the non-egalitarians have mishandled the so-called Scriptural prohibitions about female leadership. It's not an easy question by any means, and finding the right balance seems very much elusive.
But today I was thinking way back, maybe twenty years, to a conversation I heard about this topic. I think I was in grad school at the time, and some of my fellow students were fixing the church world by their heated discussion. One of them was arguing for a more expanded role for women in church leadership when the other piped up with a response I have heard several times since: "If we open doors to women in this, they'll come in and take over and there won't be any men left!" Maybe not the exact words, but the exact sentiment by my recollection.
Possibly the most troublesome arguments in these discussions come when people let their emotional fears take over, and this was one of those times. In essence, somebody who was 'in charge' of church could not handle the thought of no longer being in charge. Whether it is race relations in South Africa in my lifetime or in the U.S. during reconstruction or the 60s, or whether it is issues of finance and power in the American economy, the question of who gets to be the Big Dog always comes up. Those who are out of power want to be in, and while those in power are wholly suspicious of those who would usurp their authority.
It has always struck me as curious that even in our churches in which women do much of the unseen work that enables the church to operate that they do not speak up more about the inequality when it comes to who stands up in front of the church. Maybe they agree with the detente that exists in the current church...maybe they just don't care that much. But when we effectively curtail the ability of people to do what God may (again, that is questionable) have called them to do, the question of why those most impacted don't speak up has always troubled me. Is it that they don't want to be in charge (and thus have responsibility)? Or maybe it's just that they realize that it's a lot better to simply DO rather than fight about unanswerable questions? My experience is that many women do great things without seeking permission from the men supposedly in charge...and because those in leadership positions weren't even anticipating that this work might get done it goes completely under their radar.
I do fear, though, that the day is coming when the women that are left (and many have left already, no longer willing to wait around for that day) decide to speak up in Churches of Christ; it's not that they will wrongly speak up, but that those defending their territory won't handle it very well. There's nothing as dangerous as a desperate power class who cannot accept that their time is over.
One of my ongoing interests through these years in ministry is seeing how gender roles are played out in churches. After all my years of study, I'm not convinced by either 'side' that they are really right. While I believe that the egalitarian crowd is a bit presumptuous with what they think Jesus was all about, I also think that the non-egalitarians have mishandled the so-called Scriptural prohibitions about female leadership. It's not an easy question by any means, and finding the right balance seems very much elusive.
But today I was thinking way back, maybe twenty years, to a conversation I heard about this topic. I think I was in grad school at the time, and some of my fellow students were fixing the church world by their heated discussion. One of them was arguing for a more expanded role for women in church leadership when the other piped up with a response I have heard several times since: "If we open doors to women in this, they'll come in and take over and there won't be any men left!" Maybe not the exact words, but the exact sentiment by my recollection.
Possibly the most troublesome arguments in these discussions come when people let their emotional fears take over, and this was one of those times. In essence, somebody who was 'in charge' of church could not handle the thought of no longer being in charge. Whether it is race relations in South Africa in my lifetime or in the U.S. during reconstruction or the 60s, or whether it is issues of finance and power in the American economy, the question of who gets to be the Big Dog always comes up. Those who are out of power want to be in, and while those in power are wholly suspicious of those who would usurp their authority.
It has always struck me as curious that even in our churches in which women do much of the unseen work that enables the church to operate that they do not speak up more about the inequality when it comes to who stands up in front of the church. Maybe they agree with the detente that exists in the current church...maybe they just don't care that much. But when we effectively curtail the ability of people to do what God may (again, that is questionable) have called them to do, the question of why those most impacted don't speak up has always troubled me. Is it that they don't want to be in charge (and thus have responsibility)? Or maybe it's just that they realize that it's a lot better to simply DO rather than fight about unanswerable questions? My experience is that many women do great things without seeking permission from the men supposedly in charge...and because those in leadership positions weren't even anticipating that this work might get done it goes completely under their radar.
I do fear, though, that the day is coming when the women that are left (and many have left already, no longer willing to wait around for that day) decide to speak up in Churches of Christ; it's not that they will wrongly speak up, but that those defending their territory won't handle it very well. There's nothing as dangerous as a desperate power class who cannot accept that their time is over.
Monday, August 19, 2013
The Failure of 'Evangelism'
This past weekend our church attempted one of our bigger evangelism pushes we have tried in the past few years. Every year our town hosts an event like many other small towns do...crafts, carnivals, street dances, parades. It's a really big deal for people in small towns to have events like this. If you grow up with these traditions, they are important...if not, then they just mean more traffic.
Anyway, we plunked down our $50 and reserved a space and then tried figuring out what to do with it. We wanted to promote the church, but more importantly, to tell about Christ. The idea we settled on was to try and get people to take a simple 10-question 'test' about basic bible knowledge. If they were to take the test, they would get a Bible. The idea was that if we could get them to think about these things then they would be willing to talk about the Lord. We also had plenty of promotional pens, magnets, and fans to pass out as well to people walking by. Then, on Sunday, we had a cookout at the church building and were to spend time inviting people to come and worship and eat with us.
We quickly discovered several things. 1)Most people have no interest in stopping and taking a test, nor do they really want to talk to you. They might be interested in the incense seller on one side of us, or the spice seller on the other, or the candle sellers or the horseshoe art guy across from us, but only for what they could buy. 2)The ones who might be interested in talking already believed they knew everything there was to know about the Bible, even if they took the test and missed quite a few (IMHO) easy questions. If they did not have a church background, taking a Bible test was intimidating to them. And not much fun, either, especially when there was so much other fun to be had elsewhere. 3)In the end, because most people were walking quickly we resorted to passing out stuff. Almost 2000 pieces of material. Many invitations to the cookout. We were friendly and non-threatening...it's true!
And guess what? Not a single visitor, even those whom we talked to and seemed genuinely interested in coming, came to church on Sunday and ate lunch with us. Not a single one. We tell ourselves that we've planted some seeds. Six months from now, somebody will see that magnet or that pen and walk through our door. But deep down I think we know the truth...it didn't really work.
It's hard not to feel like a failure in this job when it seems like nothing we do works. Depressing failure means that most churches give up and stop trying to reach out at some point...some studies show that evangelism stops being a primary focus of a church within a decade after it is founded, and by the time 25 years passes outreach is rarely attempted. I'll give credit to our church (or at least a few people in it)...we don't stop trying. 'Think souls' remains the motto for at least a few of our hearty souls. But yet we continue to lose people more quickly than we gain them. Indeed, even many of those churches gaining in number don't grow anymore, they swell, picking off healthy members from older, dying congregations. Lord knows we've lost enough people that way. Those of us left in smaller, dying churches feel like a shrinking pack of cheetahs waiting for another attack by the lions and the hyenas and the praise bands down the street.
More and more I realize the truth that mass evangelism simply does not work. A number of years ago in another town we knocked on every single door and did not get a single favorable response. Maybe our technique was bad. Maybe (as I've later learned was the case) this church had a not-so-favorable reputation amongst its neighbors. Or maybe then and now we're just not doing what we ought to be doing...we're shooting for the random stranger rather than really doing evangelism. On a larger scale we keep throwing money into mailers (tried it), TV shows (seen it done), pens and magnets and fans (yep), and who knows how many other plans. It makes us feel good, at least for a moment, until nobody new walks through our door. Maybe another technique will try. What's Outreach magazine talking about this month?
Maybe, just maybe, we've missed the point. Maybe evangelism was never meant to be massive. Instead, it is to be as simple as getting to know the neighbor next door, being a friend who continually intercedes before the Lord on their behalf. It is to be as simple as sharing with that cousin who has gone through three marriages and countless bad relationships about what is really missing in her life. It is to be as simple as being an example, but eventually a faithful witness, to the co-worker who spends far too much time worrying about all the money he doesn't have. Maybe evangelism is about just knowing who is the ONE that we can reach for Jesus.
It might even be easy to blame the Bible for our failures. Matthew 28 tells us to go and preach to all nations, and Acts shows Paul as the dynamo who did it. We're inspired by the Billy Grahams and the heroes of faith and the shiny sparkly televangelists who seem to be able to reach millions. And so we think, hey, we can do that too...we have fans and pens and magnets, don't we? We have a great correspondence course that teaches important Bible facts, right? Good for us.
But somehow I think we long ago missed the point. If we're going to reach the world, we need to start one person at a time.
Who's my ONE going to be?
Anyway, we plunked down our $50 and reserved a space and then tried figuring out what to do with it. We wanted to promote the church, but more importantly, to tell about Christ. The idea we settled on was to try and get people to take a simple 10-question 'test' about basic bible knowledge. If they were to take the test, they would get a Bible. The idea was that if we could get them to think about these things then they would be willing to talk about the Lord. We also had plenty of promotional pens, magnets, and fans to pass out as well to people walking by. Then, on Sunday, we had a cookout at the church building and were to spend time inviting people to come and worship and eat with us.
We quickly discovered several things. 1)Most people have no interest in stopping and taking a test, nor do they really want to talk to you. They might be interested in the incense seller on one side of us, or the spice seller on the other, or the candle sellers or the horseshoe art guy across from us, but only for what they could buy. 2)The ones who might be interested in talking already believed they knew everything there was to know about the Bible, even if they took the test and missed quite a few (IMHO) easy questions. If they did not have a church background, taking a Bible test was intimidating to them. And not much fun, either, especially when there was so much other fun to be had elsewhere. 3)In the end, because most people were walking quickly we resorted to passing out stuff. Almost 2000 pieces of material. Many invitations to the cookout. We were friendly and non-threatening...it's true!
And guess what? Not a single visitor, even those whom we talked to and seemed genuinely interested in coming, came to church on Sunday and ate lunch with us. Not a single one. We tell ourselves that we've planted some seeds. Six months from now, somebody will see that magnet or that pen and walk through our door. But deep down I think we know the truth...it didn't really work.
It's hard not to feel like a failure in this job when it seems like nothing we do works. Depressing failure means that most churches give up and stop trying to reach out at some point...some studies show that evangelism stops being a primary focus of a church within a decade after it is founded, and by the time 25 years passes outreach is rarely attempted. I'll give credit to our church (or at least a few people in it)...we don't stop trying. 'Think souls' remains the motto for at least a few of our hearty souls. But yet we continue to lose people more quickly than we gain them. Indeed, even many of those churches gaining in number don't grow anymore, they swell, picking off healthy members from older, dying congregations. Lord knows we've lost enough people that way. Those of us left in smaller, dying churches feel like a shrinking pack of cheetahs waiting for another attack by the lions and the hyenas and the praise bands down the street.
More and more I realize the truth that mass evangelism simply does not work. A number of years ago in another town we knocked on every single door and did not get a single favorable response. Maybe our technique was bad. Maybe (as I've later learned was the case) this church had a not-so-favorable reputation amongst its neighbors. Or maybe then and now we're just not doing what we ought to be doing...we're shooting for the random stranger rather than really doing evangelism. On a larger scale we keep throwing money into mailers (tried it), TV shows (seen it done), pens and magnets and fans (yep), and who knows how many other plans. It makes us feel good, at least for a moment, until nobody new walks through our door. Maybe another technique will try. What's Outreach magazine talking about this month?
Maybe, just maybe, we've missed the point. Maybe evangelism was never meant to be massive. Instead, it is to be as simple as getting to know the neighbor next door, being a friend who continually intercedes before the Lord on their behalf. It is to be as simple as sharing with that cousin who has gone through three marriages and countless bad relationships about what is really missing in her life. It is to be as simple as being an example, but eventually a faithful witness, to the co-worker who spends far too much time worrying about all the money he doesn't have. Maybe evangelism is about just knowing who is the ONE that we can reach for Jesus.
It might even be easy to blame the Bible for our failures. Matthew 28 tells us to go and preach to all nations, and Acts shows Paul as the dynamo who did it. We're inspired by the Billy Grahams and the heroes of faith and the shiny sparkly televangelists who seem to be able to reach millions. And so we think, hey, we can do that too...we have fans and pens and magnets, don't we? We have a great correspondence course that teaches important Bible facts, right? Good for us.
But somehow I think we long ago missed the point. If we're going to reach the world, we need to start one person at a time.
Who's my ONE going to be?
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
Outreach Magazine
Several years ago, encouraged by a fellow minister, I subscribed to Outreach Magazine. Basically it seeks to be what the title says: it wants to help churches figure out ways to reach their communities for Christ. For that it should be commended.
Eventually, though, I let me subscription drop, but they continue to send it to me. I just don't get a lot out of it. Over time I've figure out that they have two target audiences: 1)the large church which can afford the time, money, and staff to try many different things and 2)the hipster church plant targeted towards 30-somethings that has nothing to lose (sidenote...every person they picture looks like he just stepped out of a Aeropostale ad, even though some run into their 50s). For churches like the one I work with, older churches that have been in decline for a number of years (that is, most churches in the United States), it has very little to say. Yes, once in awhile it will have an interesting idea or an example of what another church did, but even most of their ideas run gimmicky. This month gave snippets about a guy who came back to church because the church next door had a fireworks display, back-to-school giveaways for teachers and kids in poor communities, and a church that formed a running club. Oh, and of course there were the numerous advertisements for seminary educations for the real world, books that would Change Your Ministry Forever, software programs to get your administration running smoothly, God's word coming alive through the Action Bible, and Inspiring and Powerful Guest Speakers who will entertain your audience. Not exactly the same stuff as members sharing the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ or about the powerful Holy Spirit of God.
This month is also their Small Church annual (?) issue, in which they give words of advice from their expert writers (most of whom work at megachurches) that comfort us poor benighted souls stuck with small churches. "Do we measure ourselves as healthy?" "Are our metrics beyond a numbers obsessions?" "Do we celebrate our creativity and involvement and innovation?" Blah blah blah. Heard it before, probably in last years' issue. Basically they don't have anything to say beyond just "hang in there, God loves you too!" I guess they need something to contrast with their annual Megachurch issue where they (no, really) list the largest and fastest growing congregations in the country and profile many of the hipster pastors who lead them. But in this month's issue what was most telling was their section giving small church profiles. Quickly I noticed a trend: in the nine churches profiled, EIGHT were planted within the last five years. The ninth has been around since 1943, has grown to five different sites in San Diego, and runs 225 people...far more than the national church average, and probably placing it in the top 20% of churches...not exactly small by most church standards.
If there is a real benefit to this magazine, it's that it makes me realize how much I love little churches like the one I am blessed to work with. We may not be hip, and we certainly do have our problems, but we do have an existence that is a little bit longer than last week. I desperately want it to grow, but I'd better look elsewhere for ideas on how to do this. I'm sure there are a lot of people who get a lot out of Outreach. But for me, I'd wish they'd change their name to Megachurch Gimmicks and Church Planting Catalogue. Might not get quite the publication numbers, but at least the title would be a bit more honest.
Eventually, though, I let me subscription drop, but they continue to send it to me. I just don't get a lot out of it. Over time I've figure out that they have two target audiences: 1)the large church which can afford the time, money, and staff to try many different things and 2)the hipster church plant targeted towards 30-somethings that has nothing to lose (sidenote...every person they picture looks like he just stepped out of a Aeropostale ad, even though some run into their 50s). For churches like the one I work with, older churches that have been in decline for a number of years (that is, most churches in the United States), it has very little to say. Yes, once in awhile it will have an interesting idea or an example of what another church did, but even most of their ideas run gimmicky. This month gave snippets about a guy who came back to church because the church next door had a fireworks display, back-to-school giveaways for teachers and kids in poor communities, and a church that formed a running club. Oh, and of course there were the numerous advertisements for seminary educations for the real world, books that would Change Your Ministry Forever, software programs to get your administration running smoothly, God's word coming alive through the Action Bible, and Inspiring and Powerful Guest Speakers who will entertain your audience. Not exactly the same stuff as members sharing the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ or about the powerful Holy Spirit of God.
This month is also their Small Church annual (?) issue, in which they give words of advice from their expert writers (most of whom work at megachurches) that comfort us poor benighted souls stuck with small churches. "Do we measure ourselves as healthy?" "Are our metrics beyond a numbers obsessions?" "Do we celebrate our creativity and involvement and innovation?" Blah blah blah. Heard it before, probably in last years' issue. Basically they don't have anything to say beyond just "hang in there, God loves you too!" I guess they need something to contrast with their annual Megachurch issue where they (no, really) list the largest and fastest growing congregations in the country and profile many of the hipster pastors who lead them. But in this month's issue what was most telling was their section giving small church profiles. Quickly I noticed a trend: in the nine churches profiled, EIGHT were planted within the last five years. The ninth has been around since 1943, has grown to five different sites in San Diego, and runs 225 people...far more than the national church average, and probably placing it in the top 20% of churches...not exactly small by most church standards.
If there is a real benefit to this magazine, it's that it makes me realize how much I love little churches like the one I am blessed to work with. We may not be hip, and we certainly do have our problems, but we do have an existence that is a little bit longer than last week. I desperately want it to grow, but I'd better look elsewhere for ideas on how to do this. I'm sure there are a lot of people who get a lot out of Outreach. But for me, I'd wish they'd change their name to Megachurch Gimmicks and Church Planting Catalogue. Might not get quite the publication numbers, but at least the title would be a bit more honest.
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Grace is messy
A dear sister in the church contacted me recently to let me know she did not like my sermon on Tamar from Genesis 38. It really is a rough story, 'R-rated' almost. I can understand her difficulty with it, and before I preached it I thought long and hard whether or not to do so. I've had some self-doubt after her comments, and it may well be that it wasn't well put together, or made the right applications, or was just poorly presented. That could well be the case...sometimes I realize how unworthy I am to preach.
But this was not her point...she's always been positive and encouraging to me; her problem was with the story itself. Maybe a general Sunday morning crowd is not the place for a story like that. Maybe it belongs in a small group of older, mature adults. Maybe.
Or maybe not. As I've thought about this today I've thought about all the stories from the Bible that we would have to not preach about if we were nervous about the 'mature' content, and the list continues to grow. Much of Abraham's story, out. How do you preach about a guy who is so nervous about his own security he sends his wife to another man twice? Later on he then tries to kill his son! Most of the Judges (and Samuel and Kings...) is out...too much bloodshed. David and Bathsheba is certainly out, as it involves the triad of lust, immorality, and murder. The story about the other Tamar and Amnon and Absalom likewise is a story of rape and murder. Hosea buys his wife back after she spends time as a prostitute.
And then what do we do with Jesus? He's accused of being a drunk and a glutton. He hangs out with whores, tax collectors (the mafia of the day), and various sinners. He argues with people and causes a riot in the temple and is followed by scandal wherever he goes. He dies a bloody, gruesome death.
I'm sure that some would be content with a bunch of homilies about being a good person. James is a nice book, we might think...not a lot of stuff in there could make us nervous. And Proverbs, that's nice too...until you see foolishness described as an alluring, wayward woman.
But when we take it as a whole there are a lot more stories in the Bible that are objectionable than we would care to admit. Maybe we're just too squeamish today, but I think it has more to do with the fact that we think that grace is clean and sterile. God comes in, lysols our tiny little mistake, and we move happily on.
The more I preach, though, I see how foolish that vision is. Grace is messy. God doesn't just have to make a minor course correction to our lives, he spends time cleaning up after us like we are an infant with a bad case of diarrhea. It's nasty, and we don't want to talk about it, but it's real, and that messiness is reflected in all these stories. As much as we want to explain these stories away, we can't, because then we have to ignore our own stories of sin. There's nothing in the lives of people I have served with that isn't reflected by the Bible.
More importantly, though, there's no mess in our lives that can't be saved by grace. Most of these stories ultimately are about redemption of one sort or another. As messed up as people are, God comes in and makes things right, even when it seems impossible to us. We may not like to admit it, but we need to read these messy stories to remind us of God's great blessing.
But this was not her point...she's always been positive and encouraging to me; her problem was with the story itself. Maybe a general Sunday morning crowd is not the place for a story like that. Maybe it belongs in a small group of older, mature adults. Maybe.
Or maybe not. As I've thought about this today I've thought about all the stories from the Bible that we would have to not preach about if we were nervous about the 'mature' content, and the list continues to grow. Much of Abraham's story, out. How do you preach about a guy who is so nervous about his own security he sends his wife to another man twice? Later on he then tries to kill his son! Most of the Judges (and Samuel and Kings...) is out...too much bloodshed. David and Bathsheba is certainly out, as it involves the triad of lust, immorality, and murder. The story about the other Tamar and Amnon and Absalom likewise is a story of rape and murder. Hosea buys his wife back after she spends time as a prostitute.
And then what do we do with Jesus? He's accused of being a drunk and a glutton. He hangs out with whores, tax collectors (the mafia of the day), and various sinners. He argues with people and causes a riot in the temple and is followed by scandal wherever he goes. He dies a bloody, gruesome death.
I'm sure that some would be content with a bunch of homilies about being a good person. James is a nice book, we might think...not a lot of stuff in there could make us nervous. And Proverbs, that's nice too...until you see foolishness described as an alluring, wayward woman.
But when we take it as a whole there are a lot more stories in the Bible that are objectionable than we would care to admit. Maybe we're just too squeamish today, but I think it has more to do with the fact that we think that grace is clean and sterile. God comes in, lysols our tiny little mistake, and we move happily on.
The more I preach, though, I see how foolish that vision is. Grace is messy. God doesn't just have to make a minor course correction to our lives, he spends time cleaning up after us like we are an infant with a bad case of diarrhea. It's nasty, and we don't want to talk about it, but it's real, and that messiness is reflected in all these stories. As much as we want to explain these stories away, we can't, because then we have to ignore our own stories of sin. There's nothing in the lives of people I have served with that isn't reflected by the Bible.
More importantly, though, there's no mess in our lives that can't be saved by grace. Most of these stories ultimately are about redemption of one sort or another. As messed up as people are, God comes in and makes things right, even when it seems impossible to us. We may not like to admit it, but we need to read these messy stories to remind us of God's great blessing.
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
The diverse Body of Christ, or Unfaithfulness?
One of the things I have noticed in American Christianity in recent years is the tendency of many people to now have affiliations with more than one church. I've not always been sure about this, since of course I believe in my tribe and would like people to know who it is they belong to.
But it's hit home to me in the last 24 hours that I, too, am part of this as well. Last night my daughter had basketball practice at the Christian church gymnasium as part of her Upward program. Today I had lunch with my son at the Baptist church where he goes to pre-school (and my wife has worked for many years). And tonight I will as I usually do be teaching Bible class at the church that employs me, the Church of Christ.
When we first moved here and my wife started working at the daycare located at the Baptist church, I wondered if there would be any negative fallout from our church, since by my experience most members of Churches of Christ are rather tribalistic in their mindset. Indeed, one of the churches I used to preach for now regularly has its Wednesday class on the subject of 'denominational doctrines' (not something I did, but still reflecting their conservativism). The basic attitude I was raised with was that other groups could come and be a part of us and our activities (but don't try to lead or make us believe what you do, and most importantly leave your pianos at home), but we could not be a part of them. Young people who went to activities at other youth groups were looked at with suspicion.
Maybe this was because I was raised in the Bible belt where churches were so competitive. Maybe it was because this was also a time in which churches (and Christian mindsets/morals) were still a dominant social force. Because we could dominate, why did we need other churches?
Today, of course, things are much different. Most churches are on the decline. We've realized that we have more in common with other churches than we once did. We realize that individual small churches cannot do everything that its members now want. And so maybe we're OK with more cooperation now. We don't see it as a sign of unfaithfulness, or of lax feelings about denominationalism. Maybe we aren't going to be having worship services together anytime soon and maybe we don't always agree about points of doctrine, but maybe inching ever closer together in activities of fellowship is part of what it means to be the body of Christ.
"Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone." (1 Corinthians 12:4-6 ESV)
But it's hit home to me in the last 24 hours that I, too, am part of this as well. Last night my daughter had basketball practice at the Christian church gymnasium as part of her Upward program. Today I had lunch with my son at the Baptist church where he goes to pre-school (and my wife has worked for many years). And tonight I will as I usually do be teaching Bible class at the church that employs me, the Church of Christ.
When we first moved here and my wife started working at the daycare located at the Baptist church, I wondered if there would be any negative fallout from our church, since by my experience most members of Churches of Christ are rather tribalistic in their mindset. Indeed, one of the churches I used to preach for now regularly has its Wednesday class on the subject of 'denominational doctrines' (not something I did, but still reflecting their conservativism). The basic attitude I was raised with was that other groups could come and be a part of us and our activities (but don't try to lead or make us believe what you do, and most importantly leave your pianos at home), but we could not be a part of them. Young people who went to activities at other youth groups were looked at with suspicion.
Maybe this was because I was raised in the Bible belt where churches were so competitive. Maybe it was because this was also a time in which churches (and Christian mindsets/morals) were still a dominant social force. Because we could dominate, why did we need other churches?
Today, of course, things are much different. Most churches are on the decline. We've realized that we have more in common with other churches than we once did. We realize that individual small churches cannot do everything that its members now want. And so maybe we're OK with more cooperation now. We don't see it as a sign of unfaithfulness, or of lax feelings about denominationalism. Maybe we aren't going to be having worship services together anytime soon and maybe we don't always agree about points of doctrine, but maybe inching ever closer together in activities of fellowship is part of what it means to be the body of Christ.
"Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone." (1 Corinthians 12:4-6 ESV)
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