A Very Present Help

A Very Present Help in Times of Trouble
Matthew 10:16-31

Where do we find help?
Trouble never seems far away when we live for Christ. We try to be faithful, to respond to the call into the harvest field (9:37), to leave behind the attractions of this world and to live as radical disciples of Christ. And we fool ourselves into thinking that, because we are obedient, the world will congratulate us. Of course it will not. We are not immunized against trouble. In fact, obeying Christ is a sure way to find trouble. The question is, how can we deal with it when it comes? How can we live victoriously?


Here are four sources of strength.

First: Remember the Promise Verses 16-20
But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of Your Father speaking through you. (10:19-20)

Sheep and wolves do not mix well, but we are not defenseless. We have a shepherd. And when it comes to defending ourselves it need not be all bleating and baa-ing. The promise is that the Spirit of the Father will, at that time, speak through us.

Some years ago I helped with a mission led by a Christian Union in a major university. A debate was held between a communist and a Christian. Five hundred people came to listen as the two sparred. The Christian was relaxed, funny and insightful. His opponent was like a coiled spring, so nervous he could not marshal his arguments. It was no contest. The Christian won hands-down. Afterwards, I asked him how he had done it. His response: He had prepared by re-reading some important books, such as several by Francis Schaeffer and C. S. Lewis. He had prayed, and had been supported during the debate by a group praying in another room. He had also claimed the promise of Matthew 10:20, that the Spirit of the Father would use his lips as instruments of truth. We can do no less today.

Second: Look to the Future Verses 21-23
Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. (10:21-22)

We must keep the end in sight. A teenage girl, dreaming of becoming a doctor, must not worry about all the years of study, the residency, and the temptations to quit; instead she must keep her eyes on the goal. A woman in labor, wondering if she can bear the pain, will conquer it if she remembers the reward, the child, struggling into the light of day, who will one day call her “mother.” Suffering does not endure forever. Salvation will come. We will have our reward (10:42).

Verse 22 does not mean that we risk losing our salvation if we do not stand firm, rather, it reminds us of the fruit of faithfulness. We show, by our standing firm, the work God has already done in us.

There will come an end. There will be a reckoning. The just will be vindicated. The faithful will enter in to their reward. Keep a heavenly perspective. To look to the future is to live in hope.

Third: Follow the Master Verses 24-27
A student is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for a student to be like his teacher, and a student like his master. (10:24-25)

How are we to be like our Teacher, our Master? By being obedient to the Father’s will. Our response to the call of God into the harvest fields is to discern our Father’s will, through study of the Scriptures, through ardent prayer, and through the counsel of Godly friends; and then it is to be obedient.

Our Master was “despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering.” (Isaiah 53:3) Some people thought He was from the devil. Some people may think that we are from the devil too! We may be called all manner of things. Count it as joy to be defamed and abused because of our obedience to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. What a privilege to follow the Master. He trod the path we must tread today. He suffered. So why shouldn’t we suffer too? Gain strength from the knowledge that, if you are truly faithful, your suffering is the result of your obedience.

Fourth: Trust the Father Verses 28-31

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. (10:29)

Why should you trust the Father? Two reasons:

First, He is the One whom we should really fear.
Do not be afraid of those who can kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. (10:28)

God is the One who has our eternal destiny in His hands. We should be so afraid of Him that we should fear no human agency. Ours should not be the fearful dread that makes us run from Him, but the holy awe that drives us to His feet.

Second, He is the One who really cares for us.
Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. (10:30)

If God, in His providence, can watch over the smallest of creatures, surely He can also watch over you. God did not send His Son to die for sparrows; He sent Him to die for you. He cares for you. You can trust Him.

Bearing faithful witness during troubled days can be a daunting task. It is easier to keep quiet; but silence is not always an option available to us. In this passage, Christ reminds us that even in difficult times, when we face opposition, God will not leave us without the help we need, the hope that will not let us go.

In Search of the Unchurched Part V

IN SEARCH OF THE UNCHURCHED

Chapter 10 The Changed Society: How It Affects the Church

Sixteen additional transitions that show how the change from a churched to an unchurched society directly impacts congregations.

Congregational Transitions

Struggling congregations resist change – they believe that their best days are in the past, and they try to recreate them.
Growing congregations have found ways to work with transitions – they believe that their best days are in the future.

Are our best days in the past or in the future?

Transition 8: Congregations focus beyond current membership

Churched context
- familiar stories, hymns, activities;
- long-term members;
- programs interest current members;
- newcomers expected to conform.
Unchurched context
- sensitivity to characteristics of unchurched;
- familiar expressions of faith practiced in ways that do not exclude newcomers;
- customs of long-term members supported, but new activities added;
- much wider advertising, intentional outreach.

In what ways do non-members actively participate in our congregation?

Transition 9: Congregations defend the faith by proclaiming the faith.

Churched context
- many time-honored ways of explaining beliefs;
- great care taken over individual words in liturgies etc.
- resistance to change in faith statements;
- distrust.
Unchurched context
- time-tested practices not valued as once they were;
- new members have new preferences;
- drive to express timeless faith in new, more accessible ways;
- more than one way used to proclaim truth;
- distinction between the truth and approaches to promoting the truth, that is, between what is sacred and unchanging and what is simply tradition.
How many hours do we spend proclaiming the faith to members?
How many hours do we spend proclaiming the faith to non-members in ways appropriate to their cultural expectations?

Transition 10: Unchurched people have faith.

Churched context:
- those with faith automatically participate in congregations;
- if people are not coming to faith, it is because the Holy Spirit is not working faith in their hearts;
- congregational activities do not play a major role in outreach.
Unchurched context:
- millions have separated faith from participation;
- millions have no communal memory of worship or tradition;
- but, about ¾ of the unchurched claim some level of faith;
- effective congregations must find effective ways to reach the unchurched, while accepting them as they are.
Does our congregation really desire to come into contact with unchurched people?

Transition 11: Joining a congregation is a 6 step process.

Churched context:
- build churches, and they will come;
- high levels of denominational loyalty;
- no special efforts to reach newcomers;
- rapid move into membership.
Unchurched context:
- lower denominational loyalty;
- fewer immigrants from European churches;
- much longer process for joining, involving awareness, relevance, interest, exploration, adoption, and reinforcement.
- Significantly more effort needed in reaching newcomers.
What do we do now, that we did not do ten years ago, to touch the lives of non-members?

Transition 12: Worship attendance and the number of people served, not membership, tells the story.

Churched context :
- membership was the most important statistic;
- denominational funding based on membership;
- most effective evangelism was by immigration, or the maternity ward.
Unchurched context:
- focus is on reaching those who are not members;
- weekly worship attendance a better indicator of congregational health;
- numbers served in mission are important in ministry planning;
- emphasis on making church relevant to newcomers.
What trends can you see in our worship attendance numbers?
Are we serving more people than we were ten years ago?
How many people in the congregation does it take to assist one person not in the congregation?

Transition 13: Congregations create multiple points of entry.

Churched context:
- programs designed to meet the needs of members;
- activities support the structure of the church;
- social activities provided or sponsored;
- few activities designed to reach others;
- worship, in one style, the main entry point.
Unchurched context:
- multiple points of contact designed;
- most programs include outreach;
- wide variety of activities to meet human need;
- share a meal, instead of just providing one;
- worship, in a variety of styles, is still the main entry point, but not the only entry point to the congregation.
Do we have many activities that specifically include non-members?

Transition 14: Congregations organize around mission, not maintenance.

Churched context:
- churches organized around operational needs of the congregation;
- programmatic emphasis with system of checks and balances;
- complex system of approval for all activities; often an authority figure with final say;
- no overlap of responsibilities;
- emphasis on filling committee slots.
Unchurched context:
- churches organized around mission;
- abandonment of committee structure in favor of action teams for short term commitments;
- governing body concentrates on coordination, not control.
How many times in the last ten years have we modified our structure in order to respond to changes in the people to be served?

Transition 15: Congregations view so-called mistakes as opportunities to learn.

Churched context:
- mistakes are to be avoided at all costs;
- past mistakes are archived, and remembered, to make sure they are not repeated;
- fear of failure, perpetrators are chastised;
- emphasis on why new ideas should not be tried;
- lack of trust; few individuals empowered to act.
Unchurched context:
- no such thing as a mistake;
- all events, whether or not they achieve their intended outcome, are celebrated as learning experiences;
- new ideas are encouraged;
- high level of trust; many people empowered to act.
Do we encourage new thinking, or prevent it?

Transition 16: Congregations make maximum use of the “priesthood of all believers.”

Churched context:
- dominated by clergy, or by long-serving elders;
- evangelism assigned to a specific committee or person;
- pastor expected to attend all meetings;
- pastor’s time totally consumed with ministry and meetings focused on existing members;
- growth limited by time available to key leader.
Unchurched context:
- activities require leadership by a wide variety of people;
- high levels of trust, and of delegation;
- evangelism is everyone’s responsibility;
- congregation understood as an outpost on a mission field.
How many people participate in the decision making process in our church? How many see evangelism as their responsibility?


Denominational Transitions

Growing out of the transitions already noted, these changes are harder to accept. Some denominational agencies need to completely re-engineer their structures and functions.

Transition 17: Congregations are unique.

Churched context:
- congregations are similar, programs that work in one will probably work in another;
- characteristics of congregations are stable over a long time;
- worship and social activities do not change much over several generations;
- clergy skills do not change, what is learned in seminary will suffice for a lifetime of ministry.
Unchurched context:
- each congregation is a unique mission field;
- unchanging truth is communicated in a wide variety of ways;
- specific activities need to be adapted to meet specific circumstances;
- keeping up with congregational realities is a major challenge for seminaries and judicatories.
If we compared our activities with those of a congregation that was being successful in reaching a large number of unchurched people, what differences might we find?

Transition 18: Congregations look beyond denominations, and especially to other congregations, for materials.

Churched context:
- denomination functioned as sole source of resources;
- relatively few resources were needed;
- experts wrote materials for worship, evangelism, Christian Education, stewardship, etc.
- brand loyalty was strong to denominational publishing houses;
- denominational publishers were trusted for doctrinal propriety and procedural integrity.
Unchurched context:
- total number of resources needed has grown tremendously;
- resources are changed regularly to meet changing context;
- ideas are taken from any available source;
- denominational publishers must compete;
- locally produced materials may be more professionally produced than those available nationally;
- congregation to congregation learning is valued above denominational events;
- some non-denominational resources are more reliable, doctrinally, than those produced by the denomination.
From how many different sources do we purchase resources? Where do we go for new ideas?

Transition 19: Regional denominational offices relate differently to congregations.

Churched context:
- centralization of regional staff people with program expertise;
- easy transfer of experience from one setting to another;
- financial support from congregations allowed regional bodies to have several program experts on staff.
Unchurched context:
- expertise requires local knowledge;
- networks of congregations replace hierarchical structure;
- declining financial support has led to fewer staff.
How much affinity with Presbytery do we really feel?
Is the Presbytery Office staffed by program experts or by network managers?

Transition 20: National denominational offices relate differently to congregations.

Churched context:
- denominational structures support many aspects of local church life, from educational institutions to government relations;
- national experts could direct national programs, used throughout the denomination;
- financial support from congregations allowed the growth of national bodies.
Unchurched context:
- congregations find that other congregations often have more helpful advice than the national body;
- a feeling of distance has developed between national bodies and local congregations;
- decreased funding for national bodies;
- demoralization of regional and local staff members;
- renewed emphasis on work “at the coal face” of the local congregation, and of the need to get help from wherever it is available.
Where are we most likely to get our good ideas?

Transitions Affecting Everyone

These transitions describe overarching concepts and provide a general framework for the other transitions.

Transition 21: Uniformity is being replaced by choices and paradoxes.

Churched context:
- search for the one, best program to meet a general need;
- publishers produced materials based on what was identified as the one, best answer;
- seminaries taught the one, best way to do the business of the church;
- the system worked.
Unchurched context:
- hundreds of programs and activities are produced to meet specific needs;
- there is no one, best way of doing anything any more;
- many choices are available for every function of the local church.
How could we go about finding help with specific local issues – for example, the timing of worship services?

Transition 22: Control is being replaced with trust.

Churched Context:
- control was assumed, uniformity expected to prevail;
- worship was expected to be standardized;
- participants were willing to accept opinions given by experts, and to be under denominational control.
Unchurched context:
- control is having to be replaced by trust, or relationships are broken;
- leaders concentrate on mission and ministry, not on administration;
- disagreement is seen as an opportunity to grow and learn;
- emphasis on goals, rather than methods.
What happens when trust is replaced by an attempt to regain control?

Which of the 22 transitions do you consider to be accurate?
What are the two or three transitions that have the strongest impact on your life? on the church?


Jesus said: “Go therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” Matthew 28:19

How well are we responding to our Lord’s Great Commission?

In Search of the Unchurched Part IV

IN SEARCH OF THE UNCHURCHED

Chapter 7 Worship Style: A Lightening-Rod Issue

Worship is an issue that generates heat (but often precious little light).
Disagreements result in “worship-wars.”
However, worship is important, because:
- it is the main entry-point into the congregation.
- it is a mirror of the congregation’s attitudes as a whole.

“Traditional Worship”
- Means forms are familiar within a denomination.
- Common hymnody.
- Becomes problematic when a particular form is regarded as the only proper way to communicate.
- Can lead to “pseudotheology” when a liturgical form is treated as an end in itself, a substitute for Scripture.

How do you respond when someone says ‘But that’s not the Presbyterian way’?

Changing Rules

Unique mission fields require unique methods of communication.
This concept offends some people, but the number is shrinking. Why?
1. Because there are fewer people with an attachment to or memory of a particular worship style.
2. Because some of those raised in a formal liturgical style are now attending less-formal worship – often for the sake of their children or grandchildren.
3. Because inter-denominational marriage has led to uncertainty about standardized forms of worship.

Adding a New Service

1. Focus on ministry, not music.
- Which group are we trying to reach?

2. Communicate effectively.
- Discover what people are looking for.

3. Empower a Team to do the job.
- Don’t get bogged down in structure.

4. Determine form.
- Include many representatives from the target group as you decide.

5. Add, don’t replace.
- Show respect for traditional forms.

6. Beware of trying to blend styles.
- Rotating styles can be very confusing.

The Language of the Unchurched

Congregations that are serious about reaching out should employ as many different worship languages as they can.
- e.g. traditional/spirited traditional/high-energy participative/rock and roll/alternative/country western.
- Sermons must be tailored to the situation.
- Different perspectives should be celebrated as different ways of reaching new people.

Typical Problems
- Clothing acceptable to some may offend others.
- Raised in an either/or world, both/and solutions may be unacceptable to those who want to win.
- Fear of splitting an already small congregation.

The Real Issue
Debate about worship style is often only a symptom of a wider issue.
The real issue is – Is the congregation serious about reaching people for Christ? Will our mission include those who are not members?

For Reflection and Discussion
Whom, in our neighborhood, are we not reaching?
How could we arrange to visit with several of these people?
If we empowered a mission team to create a new service, who would be on the team?
Are we open to reaching our neighbors if that means holding an additional worship service using a different style of worship?


Chapter 8 Ideas That Do Not Automatically Work

Some ideas seem good, but are not as helpful as is often thought. For example:
1. New Member Studies.
It’s helpful to know why people join (if they will tell you).
It’s more helpful to know why some don’t join (if they will tell you).
Best bet – find out where former visitors are worshipping now, and try to find out what is different about that church.

2. Parochial Schools as Outreach.
- Some congregations experience membership gains through the school and other sources. This is healthy.
- Some congregations experience membership gain only through the school. This is probably manipulative.
- Some congregations don’t experience any membership gain. This is probably terminal.
- Often schools get blamed for problems that originate in the congregation.
- Often schools become a financial drain on declining congregations and are closed to save money.

3. New Church Planting.
Statistically, new church developments (NCD’s) bring the largest number of new members into a denomination. However:
- Most NCD’s stay small.
- “Build it and they will come” doesn’t work anymore.
- NCD’s can be very expensive, especially if started on a top-down structure, with the denomination taking responsibility for land, property, and personnel.
- Don’t expect weak churches to plant healthy NCD’s.

Was there a time when our church was actively reaching out to new people?
What was happening at the time, in the congregation and the community?
Can that excitement be recovered?

Chapter 9 Seven Words Say It All.
Solutions lie in individual, motivated congregations, taken one at a time.

Individual
Denominational problems can only be solved at the local-church level, when individual congregations become stronger.

Motivated
Congregations that focus on members grow weaker.
Congregations that ignore their neighborhoods die.
Congregations that focus on non-members find ways to grow stronger.
Congregations that are motivated by the Great Commission grow.
We cannot expect the denomination to solve local problems.

Taken One At A Time
Three General classifications:
Group A Congregations: are organized to reach new people, intentionally include newcomers while serving existing members.
Group B1 Congregations: are interested in becoming type A, but they are still attached to some churched-society habits that are barriers to outsiders.
Group B2 Congregations: are not interested in change.
Solutions are local, but some general principles apply.

Principles for Congregational Change
1. Knowledge of need for change must precede attitude change.
2. Attitude Change must precede behavior change.
3. Individual Behavior Change must precede organizational change.
4. Organizational Behavioral Change is more complex than many people imagine.
5. Attempt a Limited Number of Changes
6. Different Perspectives must be recognized. Often, people talk past one another without really communicating.
7. Sequence of Change.
- Realize there is a problem.
- Accept the fact that the world has changed.
- See the difference between internal and external focus.
- Decide that Great Commission outreach is achievable.
8. Help is Available. Why not learn from others?
9. Patience is Necessary. New ideas take time.

How many people in our church:

- Recognize that there is a problem?

- Accept that the world has changed?

- Can see the difference between an internal and an external focus?

- Believe that Great Commission outreach is possible for us?

In Search of the Unchurched Part III

IN SEARCH OF THE UNCHURCHED

Chapter 5 Ministry beyond Members

How do effective congregations respond to the needs in their communities while still meeting those of their own members?
It’s all about:

Action, Attitudes and Activities
The responses of effective churches to their communities are as varied as those communities, yet they share common characteristics:

1. Outreach-oriented congregations are motivated to extend mission beyond current membership.
- intentional about being inviting.
- Programs and marketing without a change in attitude usually accomplish little.
Are we more inclined to use a ‘magic pill’ approach to evangelism than to seek to change attitudes?

2. Outreach-oriented congregations seek local, contextual answers.
- learn all they can about their communities.
- Always adapt resources for their context.
- Know the difference between renting space to outside groups, and being involved with people.
How can we convert presence evangelism opportunities into Great Commission outreach? How can we increase the number of first-person contacts?

3. Outreach-oriented congregations meet people’s needs, not needs of the organizational structure.
- focus on people, not on structure.
- Motivate members to support mission, not infrastructure.
When we recruit volunteers, do we emphasize what the church needs, or how we can help people?

4. Outreach-focused congregations organize around mission, not structure.
- remove structural barriers to ministry.
- More interested in ministry than in micro-management.
Are we more interested in structural control, or in letting the Spirit move us in new ways? Do we sometimes let operational problems interfere with ministry opportunities?

5. Outreach-focused congregations use members’ gifts in new ministries.
- make extensive use of spiritual gifts.
- Operate a ‘priesthood of all believers.’
How could we encourage the use of skills and gifts to meet needs in the community?

6. Outreach-focused congregations see clergy and laity as partners.
- see clergy and laity as partners.
- develop an atmosphere of trust.
Do we have hidden obstacles that prevent members from undertaking tasks traditionally reserved for clergy?

7. Outreach-focused congregations value ‘mistakes.’
- not afraid to attempt new things.
- Learn from their missteps.
Can you name any mistakes from which we have learned recently? Why not?

8. Outreach-focused congregations care for people.
- seek to provide places of healing and hope.
- love takes precedence over judgment.
Why would a person who gave up on organized religion years ago return to our congregation?


What Motivates Great Commission Congregations?
- not growth, but people.
- growth as by-product of focus on people.
What are we focused upon?

Expanding the Reach of Congregations
- actively establish a variety of programs as entry points.
- Social activities used as opportunities to build relationships with the unchurched.
How could we expand our reach?

Igniter Events
- most have experienced significant events that have changed the emphasis of ministry.
- igniter events, positive or negative, involve a large number of people.
- igniter events fundamentally alter how a congregation thinks about its ministry.
Have we experienced any kind of igniter event?

How many of the characteristics of Great Commission congregations apply to our church? How could we develop these characteristics?



Chapter Six The Unchurched: Who are They?
- not necessarily people without faith.
- not necessarily those who will be attracted by traditional forms of church communication.

The Effectively Unchurched
- 50% of population of the US.
- some are not members of any congregation.
- some are inactive members of churches in different States.
- Some are inactive or lapsed members of churches in communities in which they live.
- 70-80% of effectively unchurched people say that faith is important in their lives.
- 40-60% pray daily or weekly.
- 30-50% read the Bible regularly.
- May not be asking salvation questions, as much as wanting to know what they can do to make life work.
Are we answering questions that the unchurched are not asking?

Reasons for Leaving and Motivation to Return

Why do people leave the church?
- been hurt by insensitivity at time of trial.
- harsh treatment by members and clergy.
- hypocrisy
- theological belligerence
- sexual harassment
- bias
- bigotry.
What would make them want to return?
- Scripture-based teaching.
- Good music.
- Moving worship.
- Programs for children.
However, most of those who have been hurt have no intention of returning.
Only traumatic life events will drive them back to church.
The church must be ready to respond at these times.
Are we doing a good enough job at reaching out to those who return following a traumatic event in their lives?

Other Reasons for Leaving
- 50% of formerly churched people simply dropped out when they moved away.
- 50% of formerly churched people simply dropped out without moving.
- 30 million Boomers drifted away. They are now having grandchildren who have never been in a church.
- Retirement communities often contain large numbers of those who have retired from the church.

After They are in the Door
Effective congregations do more than offer old-fashioned new member classes. There must be an intentional attempt to integrate newcomers into the life of the congregation.
One possible pattern:
1. Discover the Congregation.
2. Discover Maturity in Faith.
3. Discover Ministry to Others.
4. Discover Mission in our Backyard.

How effective are our attempts at new member integration?
How could we listen to the hopes and dreams of the unchurched in our community?

Apologetics

Last Sunday I made mention of several helpful books in Christian apologetics. Here's a fuller list. It could have been a lot longer, but this should be enough to get you going!

There's a temptation among some Christians to shy away from criticisms of the faith, and to cede the intellectual battleground to the secularists. The result is often a kind of anti-intellectualism that does us no credit. Some Christians try to hide behind the ultimate mystery of God, and to say that, since we can't know anything we shouldn't even try. But God gave us m inds as well as hearts, and we have a responsibility to employ both in the service of our Savior.

Anyway, enjoy the list.





Orthodoxy: G.K. Chesterton

Chesterton was a great thinker who delivered his penetrating insights with flare and humor. An old book now, but well worth reading.




The Problem of Pain: C.S. Lewis

Thoughtful little book on the problem of evil for Christians. How can a loving God allow pain?





Jesus Among Other Gods: Ravi Zacharias

Contrasts the claims of Christ with those of the founders of other major religions.







Know Why You Believe: Paul E. Little

Popular with college students, a simple introduction to apologetics.







The Case for Christ: Lee Strobel

Part of a series. A former skeptic journalist examines the Christian faith.







When Skeptics Ask: Norman Geisler

Covers the major questions asked by those who have doubts about Christianity.








Defending Your Faith: R.C. Sproul

Basic and effective primer. Engaging style.







Mere Christianity: C.S. Lewis

Reduces Christianity to its essentials. A reasoned and reasonable defense.








The Twilight of Atheism: Alister McGrath

Intellectual book from a man with advanced degrees in both science and theology.






A Schaeffer Trilogy: Francis Schaeffer

A little dated now, but contains three of Schaeffer's most famous works of apologetics.

In Search of the Unchurched Part II

IN SEARCH OF THE UNCHURCHED

Chapter 3 The Source of Solutions: Congregations

Key findings from the Church Membership Initiative Study –

1. This is a Congregational issue.

2. Congregations that want to grow might grow.

3. Congregations that do not want to grow will not grow.

4. There are two different kinds of outreach
- Presence outreach
- Great Commission outreach

5. Size is not the issue.

6. Growth is not the issue
Congregations become larger by focusing on people, not on growth. Growth is a side effect.

7. The key is the attitude of congregational leaders and members.
When congregational leaders and members focus on themselves, the congregation has decided to die.

How do you react to these general conclusions? Do you find them to be too simplistic? How do they apply to us?


Chapter 4 Ministry to Members Only

Congregational attitude is the critical difference.

Closed congregations are very poor at welcoming newcomers.
How well have you been welcomed when you have visited another congregation? What was helpful/unhelpful?

Identifying Unhelpful Attitudes.

1. “Adding a second service will destroy our congregation”
- but not doing so will limit growth to the size of the sanctuary.

2. “Adding members will damage the relationship between the pastor and the people.”
- but must the size of the church be limited by the number of relationships the pastor can manage?

3. “Anyone is welcome to join us (as long as they are willing to become like us).”
- which means that we are not willing to consider the preferences of those who are not (yet) members.


4. “Our community is declining, so why expect growth?”
- usually an excuse given by those who are internally-focused. There are still a lot of unchurched people out there.

5. “We are interested in spiritual growth, not numerical growth.”
- the two are not mutually exclusive; a growing congregation need not compromise theology.

6. “We are a friendly congregation!”
- But to whom?
- Example of retired pastor ignored in churches he visits.
- Many churches are effectively closed to strangers.

Are we effectively closed to strangers?
How well do we welcome those we do not know?




Examining Entry Points

Declining churches usually have very few entry points into the life of the congregation, often, only the worship service. Is this enough?

Examine a typical calendar. There will be three main types of events.
a. Events and activities for members.
b. Events supporting congregational structure
c. Events intended to attract those who are not already members.

How many type ‘c’ events do we have in a typical month?
How can we encourage more?

Characteristics of Declining Congregations

1. Members have a ‘poor me’ attitude about their congregation.
- Low self-esteem.
- Concentration on financial problems.
- Board meetings focus on problems and complaints.
- Very little cooperation on shared goals.
- Planning meetings focus on listing problems.


2. Members are not aware of their congregation’s strengths.
- What are our strengths?


3. Members are not involved in their congregation’s neighborhood.
- Negative attitudes to the neighborhood: apprehension, fear.
- Development of ‘island’ congregations.
- Resignation to continued decline.
- Are we in danger of becoming an ‘island’ congregation?


4. The congregation is served by a few, long-term lay leaders.
- Burn out is common.
- Few young people take leadership roles.
- Negative reactions to new ideas.
- Concentration on existing activities reduces the pool of potential leaders.
- How many new activities have we begun in the last year?

5. The congregation’s community is declining.
- Economic and social decline.
- Typical responses: a feeling of helplessness in the face of community decline, together with the use of outdated strategies; envy of other congregations that are overcoming community decline.
- What can we learn from growing congregations?
- How could we go about learning?


6. The congregation sets up invisible barriers.
- Barriers are visible to outsiders, but invisible to current members.
- ShipofFools.com (Mystery Worshipper)
- What are our invisible barriers?
- How could we identify them?
- What can be done about them?


7. Members see themselves as family.
- How do people get to be members of a family? Birth/marriage/rarely, by adoption.
- Families are often closed systems. Difficult to enter.
- Without an external source of new blood, families eventually disappear.
- What is healthy about being a family church?
- What is unhealthy about being a family church?

In Search of the Unchurched Part I

We've got a small group in the church doing a book study of "In Search of the Unchurched" by Alan C. Klass. It's a deceptively simple little book, based on the findings of a major study by US Lutherans some years ago. I'm going to post my summary notes so that we can share the discussion more widely. If it's easier, just email me directly and I'll share your comments with the group.

IN SEARCH OF THE UNCHURCHED

Introduction

Two theses:
(i) The most important factor in declining membership is the change from a churched to an unchurched society.
(ii) The best hope for dealing with a changed society lies in the individual congregation.

Things have changed!
What were gas stations like thirty years ago?
What are they like now?
Same question for – grocery stores; hardware stores; transportation; communication; leisure time.

Is the church affected by similar changes?
Is the church a place of refuge from comfortable change?

Chapter 1 Things Were Going So Well

Seven Transitions
1. We have shifted from a churched to an unchurched society.
Which is the one most significant way your work with the church is affected by the transition from a churched society to an unchurched society?

2. People participate in congregations for different reasons.
People have separated the miracle of faith from the concept of congregational participation. What is the most powerful impact the separation has had on your current ministry activity?

3. People have less loyalty to denominations.
What is the most powerful implication this loss of denominational loyalty has for your current ministry activity?

4. Congregations have different purposes.
Is the focus of your ministry on current members, or on reaching out with a healing Jesus to broken and hurting people, especially to non-members?

5. The mission field has moved.
List two or three things you would do differently in your current ministry if that ministry were located in another country.

6. Different people do the mission work.
How would your work in your current ministry be different if the people saw themselves as personally involved in the mission of spreading the Gospel?

7. Different denominational communications systems are developing.
What has changed about the way people communicate with you now, compared with methods of getting your attention twenty to forty years ago?

Chapter 2 The Problem

Examples of the effect on organized religion of sociological change.

1. Of 500 Presbyterians confirmed 25 years ago, 48% are no longer members of any congregation; only 29% are still Presbyterians.
2. In 1990 there were 12 million Lutherans, but only 8 million were members of local congregations.
3. 15 congregational activities were ranked by Lutheran members and clergy. Evangelism was not selected as one of the top six purposes of the congregation by 99% of laity, and 94% of clergy.
4. One mainline denomination of 5 million has lost 200,000 people annually over the last ten years, through ‘the back door.’

Membership losses were not taken particularly seriously by denominational leadership, until those losses started having financial implications.

When did we start to see the effects of societal change?

A Landscape of the Mind

I've recently re-read A.E. Housman's "A Shropshire Lad," a slim volume of poems published in 1896. What a wonderful gift to English literature!

Loveliest of trees, the cherry now

is hung with bloom along the bough,

and stands about the woodland ride

wearing white for Eastertide.

Poem II.
Housman (1859-1936), the elder brother of Laurence Housman, the playwright and artist, wrote very little poetry. Then, in 1895, aged 36, he had a sudden burst of creative energy. This book is the result. It's full of the great themes of life and death, of war and peace. It appears to be very simple, almost like primitive poetry, but on closer inspection Housman's work weaves together Classical themes, archaic language, and metres taken from old country balladry. The poems have a slow, yet relentless rhythm; they touch on most of the major themes of life. Rustic and earthy, homespun yet elegant, they create a vista that is both wonderfully attractive and unutterably sad. Shropshire, for Housman, becomes a landscape of the mind, an idealised country haven far from the arid streets of London where
"...till they drop they needs must still
Look at you and wish you ill." (Poem XLI)
Housman was a native of Worcestershire, not of Shropshire. Nevertheless, in the poems he uses the place names and history of Shropshire to conjure up the hilarity of Ludlow Fair, the wind on Bredon Hill, the swift-flowing Teme and the stately Severn. The Shropshire of Housman's mind is a place where young lads fall in love, then go away to fight Victoria's wars. It's a place where lovers lie down together, but death soon steals them. In a profusion of narrative and evocative language, Housman creates a place that does not change, where the Wrekin hill still looks down, impassivly on the emotions of man, where the vane on Hughley steeple still stands bright against the sky.
It's hard to choose a favorite, but if I have to, I'll go for
Poem XIX - To An Artist Dying Young.
The time you won your town the race
We chaired you through the market-place;
Man and boy stood cheering by,
And home we brought you shoulder-high.

To-day, the road all runners come,
Shoulder-high we bring you home,
And set you at your threshold down,
Townsman of a stiller town.

Smart lad, to slip betimes away
From fields where glory does not stay
And early though the laurel grows
It withers quicker than the rose.

Eyes the shady night has shut
Cannot see the record cut,
And silence sounds no worse than cheers
After earth has stopped the ears:

Now you will not swell the rout
Of lads that wore their honours out,
Runners whom renown outran
And the name died before the man.

So set, before its echoes fade,
The fleet foot on the sill of shade,
And hold to the low lintel up
The still-defended challenge-cup.

And round that early-laurelled head
Will flock to gaze the strengthless dead,
And find unwithered on its curls
The garland briefer than a girl’s.

Housman’s imagery is stark in its intensity: once the hero was carried high in victory; now he is carried shoulder-high, in a coffin. Whereas once his achievements were lauded by the living, now he can only share his glory with the shades. But there’s still more to the poem. The warning to a man, not to let his name die before he does, and the image of the garland, briefer than a girl’s, remain after the narrative has ceased. Therein lies Housman's true genius. He is not just recreating an antique land of the imagination, he is populating it with people just like us, people for whom the themes of love and death are just as pertinent. We, too, know the pain of loss, the nostalgia for things past.
In one poem, XLVII 'The Carpenter's Son,' Housman speaks of Christ. In his words, I do not sense the devotion of one who has known the soul-satisfying embrace of saving faith. His words are respectful, yet a little cold. In the fifth verse, Christ speaks:
Here hang I, and right and left
Two poor fellows hang for theft:
All the same’s the luck we prove,
Though the midmost hangs for love.

Of course, Housman is right, Christ dies for love, yet in the poem it is a strangely ineffectual love. There is nothing of salvation. We feel sorry for the crucified One. Christ's only advice, repeated twice is merely "Live, lads, and I will die."

I think this could be the clue to the whole work. Housman longs for another country, a fairer land, so he invents Shropshire, a landscape of the mind. He is actually searching for heaven, for the place where he will enjoy peace with God, reconciled with his Maker through the atoning sacrifice of Christ.

Into my heart an air that kills
From yon far country blows:
What are those blue remembered hills,
What spires, what farms are those?

That is the land of lost content,
I see it shining plain,
The happy highways where I went
And cannot come again.
Poem XL

We wade through the melancholy and the nostalgia. We weep with him at the sight of a loved one leaving whom he shall meet no more. His loneliness and sense of loss are, at times painfully intense. He speaks for us, restless and homesick, until we find our rest in Him, until we come home to God.

Uniform Justice

Just finished reading "Uniform Justice" by Donna Leon. It's about a murder investigation in modern Venice, written by an American who has lived in that city for 25 years. The central character is an investigator called Commisario Guido Brunetti (why can't English names sound so good?) I'll not go into the details of the story, but a young man is found dead, in a shower. It looks like a suicide, but it's not. Gradually a web of corruption is uncovered. Of course, the bad guys are the pseudo-fascist military. The story ends with no clear resolution. You can almost hear the author laying down her manuscript with a sigh.

There's only one mention of the church in the book, near the beginning, where it is dismissed, contmptuously, in the same breath as the government. Elsewhere, Brunetti obseves, to himself, that there is more chance of a religious revival than of the eradication of corruption in Rome. In another place, his wife asks him if he can think of any redeeming features in the military. His feeble response is that the military encourages discipline in young people. This, she dismisses as fatuous nonsense. There is no sense of pride in the military, or of the concept of national defense.

Worst of all, there is no real hope for justice. Brunetti is sidelined from his main job in order to massage statistics that will make it look like crime in Venice is declining. He knows full well that this is not the case, but he needs to appease a stereotypical arrogant, ignorant, and politically motivated superior. As Brunetti spends time finding ways to call black white and white black, blind justice lies bleeding.

It's not a bad book. The prose is elegant; the setting is both nostalgic and beautiful. But the characters inhabit a world that is slowly sinking into the Venetian mud. They live lives of quiet despair. Without absolutes, there is no uniform justice. If you want evidence of societal decay, look no further. Venice is a fitting metaphor for a culture without foundations, a civilisation without hope.

Maison Dieu

A few months ago, a friend sent me a link to a rather strange website. www.28dayslater.co.uk/ It's run by a group of urban explorers in the UK, although there are occasional postings from elsewhere. These people are not interested in vandalism, but in recording history before it is lost. They have a slogan "Take nothing with you, leave only footprints." As a former archaeology student (many moons ago) I find it fascinating to see the stages of decay in various buildings. It makes you understand what some of the much older sites must have gone through before they became piles of rubble. Some of the photographs posted are incredibly beautiful.


Others are incredibly sad. Hospital wards which have witnessed so much human drama lie empty and forgotten. Schools, whose hallways once echoed with the cries of countless children, are abandonned to the elements. And churches, where generations of the faithful participated in worship and in the rites of passage, no longer resound with praise.

Maison Dieu Church, which, until the early 1980's housed a congregation of the (Presbyterian) Church of Scotland, is a landmark in Brechin, Scotland.
It was designed by George Washington Browne and built between 1890 and 1891. Browne designed many homes in Scotland, several churches, a few banks, and the operating theatres in the old Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. Many of his buildings have octagonal belfries.


According to those who recently investigated the church, the building is in poor condition. It has numerous leaks and is infested by pigeons. Apparently, when they gained access there was a huge clamor as hundreds of pigeons took flight and started circling inside the sanctuary. The floors are carpeted with feathers and droppings. The smell is almost unbearable. This is what the house of God looks like only 118 years after it was built.





We have the misfortune, or the opportunity (depending on how you look at it) to live in an era in which the tide of faith is ebbing. Abandonned churches, like Maison Dieu, bear silent testimony to the decline of the Gospel in Western Europe. The photographs are sobering, an affront to those of us who spend our lives seeking to advance the Kingdom, a slight on the name of God.





In Old Testament days, when the exiles returned from Babylon to Jerusalem, they lived for many years in sight of the ruined temple. They repaired their homes and workplaces, but the house of God remained as a haunt for wild foxes and birds of prey. It took a spiritual revival, under Ezra and Nehemiah, for the people to be galvanised into action. Perhaps it will take a revival before we rise up and rebuild the house of the Lord.





The Sea of Faith
Was once, too, at the full, and round earth's shore
Lay like the folds of a bright girdle furled.
But now I only hear
Its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar,
Retreating, to the breath
Of the night-wind, down the vast edges drear
And naked shingles of the world.

Matthew Arnold 1822-1888

Pope and Turk

Forgive the irreverent title, but I can't get a tune out of my head.

The older I get, (which isn't actually that antique, just yet) the more I delight in the hymns and songs I grew up with. I don't mean that I want to sing them in worship; it's just that I enjoy re-reading the theology of the hymnal. Some of the tunes are dire, and some of the words are a joke, at least, some of the metrical versions of the psalms ought to be buried forever. However, there are also words that are capable of speaking to me, and hopefully to others.

One such hymn was written by Russell Bowie in 1928, as a version of the 'Dies Irae' to be sung in Liverpool Cathedral. I remember it from the old Church of Scotland hymnal ("Church Hymnary. III Edition). The wonderful words speak about the coming of Christ in judgment, into our modern world. I suppose they came to mind because I've just taken a group of hardy souls in the church through a study of Revelation, for Lent. I'd never really taught on the central chapters before (shame on me). So, the theme of judgment was very fresh in my mind.

Before I share the words, just a brief comment on the title of today's musings. The tune, to which Bowie's words are usually set, is 'Wittenberg' adapted by Bach from the Christliche Lieder of 1524. In Klug's Gesangbuch of 1543 the hymn is headed, "A children's song, to be sung against the two arch-enemies of Christ and His holy Church, the Pope and the Turk." The tune came to be known as "Pope and Turk."

I hope we have moved beyond such nonsense. If these words are to be sung against anything, they should be sung against our continued hesitancy to embrace, unreservedly, the rule of Christ in our lives, to reject the works of evil, and to stand for the values of the Kingdom.

Enjoy the hymn as a fitting reflection upon Christ's passion, His resurrection in power, and the promise of His coming again.

Lord Christ, when first Thou cam'st to men,

Upon a cross they bound Thee,

And mocked Thy saving kingship then

By thorns with which they crowned Thee:

And still our wrongs may weave Thee now

New thorns to pierce that steady brow,

And robe of sorrow round Thee.

New advent of the love of Christ,

Shall we again refuse Thee,

Till in the night of hate and war

We perish as we lose Thee?

From old unfaith our souls release

To seek the kingdom of Thy peace,

By which alone we choose Thee.

O wounded hands of Jesus, build

In us Thy new creation;

Our pride is dust, our vaunt is stilled,

We wait Thy revelation:

O Love that triumphs over loss,

We bring our hearts before Thy cross,

To finish Thy salvation.

Walter Russell Bowie (1882-1969).

The Cement Garden

If I knew enough about psychoanalysis I could probably work out why I picked up The Cement Garden by Ian McEwan the other day. My subconscious self probably looked out the back window at the wilderness, realized that, before long I'll be cutting our half-acre at least once every seven days, and decided that green cement would be a much better option. At any rate, having heard of Ian McEwan from award winning books like Atonement, The Comfort of Strangers, and Black Dogs, I thought I'd give him a try. It's amazing how quickly I can get through a book in five minutes snatched here and there.
The Cement Garden is about a family of four children who live in a rambling old house in an area of half-demolished prefabs and new high-rise blocks. The story was published in 1978, and that fits with the urban renewal (so called) that was popular at the time. It's written from the perspective of a fifteen year old boy who is discovering his sexuality etc. etc. First his father dies (mixing concrete), then his mother dies and is buried in concrete in the cellar. McEwan chronicles how the children cope, in a home without adults. Basically, they don't cope. The story is pretty vile. The main character, Jack, is an ill-tempered brute. Eventually, as you can guess within a few pages, the story spirals down into incest. A younger brother experiments with transvestism. It's a thoroughly depressing story, filled with urban blight and the alienation of modern youth. Is it possible to wash your brain after reading a story? It's not just cement dust that pollutes these pages.
Now, as a study of adolescence, you might say that The Cement Garden is worthwhile. It certainly gives insight into how young males have extreme difficulty in communicating effectively. Jack manages to say and do almost the exact opposite of what he would like to do, in most situations, unnecessarily antagonising those he loves the most. Shy, riddled with acne, he lives a tormented life, trying and failing to be the man of the house. I know boys like that. If nothing else the story reminds me to be patient and to look beyond the behavior to the hurting heart. However, that's not what struck me most about the story.
Last month I read The Northern Light by A.J. Cronin, a bestseller from a previous generation. Strangely, that story could also have descended into a description of incest, but it did not. It's the story of the struggle for survival of a regional newspaper, against the inroads (and dirty tricks) of a national rag, trying to take its readership. In that story, the central character is a rather weak middle-aged man with a heart condition. As the pages progress, he becomes something of a hero, finding within himself reserves of strength he did not realize he had. Although it ends in a double suicide, it's a morally uplifting story. Curiously, the suicides are caused by the leaking of the news that the main character's daughter in law had had an illegal abortion before she married. No one would lift an eyebrow today.
I'm struck by the difference in the two stories. Both are well-written, but Cronin's work builds up the human spirit, McEwan's knocks it down. You would be right in thinking that the latter is really a re-working of themes explored elsewhere, for example in Golding's Lord of the Flies. It's a dark commentary on how quickly societal restraints and cultural mores can break down. In this respect it's Calvinist, in that it testifies to the total depravity of humanity. We are not naturally good. Without law to control our baser instincts we are all capable of the worst behavior imaginable. Of course, the difference between McEwan and Golding is that McEwan is unbearably graphic. He leaves nothing to the imagination. His book would not have been published a century ago, or if it had been, it would have been sold in brown paper covers in shady establishments. Golding's is the better book because of what it does not say. We don't need to have everything spelled out for us.
The most startling contrast between McEwan and Cronin, though, is in the society both authors describe. In the space of thirty years, society has changed almost beyond recognition. Themes like honor and thrift, which permeate Cronin's book, would be completely out of place in McEwan's. In the older work, there is room for faith, even though the relationship between the main character and the church is strained. There can be little doubt that, though he prefers a walk by the sea on a Sunday morning, he would describe himself as a Christian. At one point in the story he is saved from bancruptcy by the goodness and loyalty of ordinary people. Thirty years later, in McEwan's story, there is no room for faith. The church is totally irrelevant; it is never mentioned.
What is the third stage? If we can move from generally held public beliefs to a vague unease with incest in the space of thirty years, where do we go next? If there are no universally held standards any more, how can any behavior be regarded as illegitimate? Will my grandchildren be reading graphic novels in which the bad guys are those who impose their morality on others? Perhaps it will not take that long.
I shouldn't be surprised when the world behaves like the world, when those without any reference point in God behave like pagans, because that's exactly what they are. But I wonder whether future generations will be amazed at how blind we have been to the effects of creeping secularisation. I wonder whether they will also be appalled at how deeply the culture of despair has infiltrated the Church.

At the Team's Head-Brass

I went to a charity booksale today and was surprisingly self-restrained. I did emerge, however, (into the October rain), with a slim volume of poems by Edward Thomas, one of the most-celebrated nature poets of the early twentieth century. Whilst T.S.Eliot was busily adding one tortuous, esoteric phrase upon another, "making obscurity a creed" as someone once said, Thomas was following Hard's lead, using the language of the people to illuminate the beauty of the ordinary. We have Robert Frost to thank for turning Thomas, the hack writer, from prose to poetry. They met in London in 1913. Frost recognized the lyrcal quality of Thomas' best writing and encouraged him to follow the muse. Thomas went on to produce a third of his extant poetry within a mere six months.
One of Thomas' poems is called "At the Team's Head-Brass." A man sits on a fallen elm, watching a farmer plough a field with his team of horses. At every far turn the horse-brasses catch the sunlight; at every near turn the farmer and his watcher exchange a few words, mostly about the War, in France. As the poem begins, and as the team sets off to narrow the yellow square of the field, two lovers disappear into a distant wood. At the poem's end they reappear; the watcher realizes he will not watch that earth be turned again.
"The horses started and for the last time
I watched the clods crumble and topple over
After the ploughshare and the stumbling team."
It's a poem of contrasts: the fertility of the ancient earth is echoed in the embrace of lovers. The contrast is barely mentioned. In England the fields are ploughed, as they have been for centuries, ready for the seedtime and the harvest. But that world is passing away. Not many miles away, in France, the fields are soaked with blood. Europe's manhood collapses in the embrace of death.
Edward Thomas was killed by a shell during the Battle of Arras on April 9th, 1917.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

There is a chilling beauty in simple words, not to be found in the over-elaboration of the professionally pedantic. That's a lesson a preacher would do well to remember.

http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/ltg/projects/jtap/tutorials/intro/thomas/head_brass.html

Gathering X

I've been to several Gatherings, over the years. They are organised by the Presbyterian Coalition, an umbrella group designed to pull together the different Renewal groups within the Presbyterian Church. About ten years ago, when the ordination standards battles were really beginning to get under way, the Coalition was created in order to co-ordinate an orthodox response. Differences of emphasis or theology were set aside in order that conservative evangelicals, from five point Calvinists to charismatics, could come together to face a common threat. There has been a great deal accomplished over the years. Not only was the challenge to ordination standards defeated, but an increasing number of evangelicals have found themselves in positions of responsibility within the denomination. And, if some things have not gone as we would have wished, for example in the adoption of the PUP report, then we can at least argue that the outlook would have been very much worse without the Coalition. I'm grateful for all of the resources that have been produced over the years; for the tremendous amount of advocacy work that has been done; for the support given to churches and individuals that have fallen foul of the system; and, most of all, I'm grateful for the friends I have made across the denomination, with whom I share a commitment to the historic formulations of the Reformed faith. The Presbyterian Coalition has been a blessing in my life, and to many others.
Nevertheless, I have to say that I've been disappointed by the latest Gathering, which has just concluded, in Houston. First, I have to admit that I missed the last morning, initially because of an emergency hospital visit I had to make; then, because Tropical Storm Erin closed SH 288. With hundreds of other motorists, I found myself stranded by the flooding, then had the novel experience of driving the wrong way on a state highway! I hope not to have to do that again. So, my experience of the Gathering is incomplete. However, I don't imagine that there were more people there today than on the other two days. In fact, there were probably fewer. The Layman reported 97 in one session (www.layman.org/ article on Aug 16). In another, I counted less than 70. Is this really the best that the renewal partners can do? Why do we always need a cause to move us out of our indolence? Last year, in Atlanta, over 400 people showed up. Perhaps we could bribe one of the progressive groups to come out with something crazy every year, just to increase attendance at Coalition Gatherings?
More seriously, I was disappointed by the tone of the meeting. It was dominated by a few voices. They had good things to say, and the plan for the reformation of the church is a great piece of work, but there was no energy in the meeting. No fire. Listening to one plenary session, with a panel, I found myself thinking that this was more dreary than some of the debates I've listened to in Presbytery. That's saying something. The material was thoughtful, serious and well-presented, but it was also tired. Apart from a passionate plea for personal repentance, brought by Joshua Lee from the National Presbyterian Korean caucus (or whatever it's called), the event never seemed to get out of first gear. Is it time for a new thing? Do we need a new generation to begin to take ownership? Or are we simply all out of new wine?

Cultural Amnesia

A few evenings ago, I watched Bill Moyers interviewing Clive James, the Australian journalist, on PBS. James has written a book entitled 'Cultural Amnesia,' which they were discussing, (or marketing, depending on your point of view). Apparently, the main thesis of the book is that something of great value will be lost if the West forgets its cultural heritage. I agree. Like a fish that fails to appreciate the water in which it swims, Western Civilisation depends, to a large extent, upon the intellectual inheritance birthed, first by the Renaissance, then by the Enlightenment. Unless an appreciation for the liberal arts is taught to a new generation, their benefits may be lost. Unless the rights afforded by democracy are championed, they are likely to be taken for granted, before being sold for a mess of potage or a bag of magic beans. I didn't hear the entire interview, but I did wonder whether James would be as vocal in his defense of the benefits won by the Reformation.
I have always enjoyed Clive James' writing. He has a penchant for le bon mot, and seems able to express complicated subjects in terms which make them accessible to ordinary people. He's an old-fashioned Socialist at heart, with Old Labour's disdain for anything approaching elitism. His writing is clear, insightful, and thought-provoking. He also has a great sense of humor. If writers are to be judged on the basis of whether one would wish to spend time in their company, then Clive James is near the top of my list.
Towards the end of the interview, Bill Moyers asked James how he would have ordered the world differently, if he were God. It was a good question to ask a person thoroughly immersed in the secularism of modern Europe. James' reply was revealing. On the one hand, he had no idea how he would order the world differently. On the other hand, he was quite sure that he would make a better job of it than God. When asked why, James laughed and replied that, if there is some kind of divine force, it is "obvious" that this god does not interfere in the affairs of men.
The horrors of the Holocaust made a lasting impression upon Clive James as a young man. To this day, he cannot understand how such evil could have been perpetrated without divine intervention. Neither can he understand how his father could have survived internment in Japan, during the Second World War, only to be killed in a tragic accident while being repatriated to Australia by the Americans at war's end. He would not accept that a loving God could allow such seemingly senseless human suffering.
As an expression of the argument from evil, James' words are nothing new. I remember a debate I had with Alan Dutton, one of my old philosophy professors in Birmingham, which followed the same course almost exactly. Alan wanted to believe. He found Christ tremendously attractive. But he could not or would not believe. "Evil trumps love," he used to say. Nevertheless, he was open to being proved wrong. We talked about not blaming God for human evil, and the context of human freedom which stays God's hand. The arguments on both sides are well-known. For myself, I remain convinced that suffering has to be understood in light of the Cross - God's self-identification with the pain of a fallen world through the person of His Son. I also remain sure that God, in His mercy, only allows evil because He does not want to compel us to do good. Unless we are to be no more than mindless automata, obeying without the action of our wills, then we must be free to choose evil. Finally, I believe that human suffering must be understood within a teleological framework that acknowledges history's goal. If human history is purposive; if God has a desired end in sight, then we cannot judge the play until the curtain falls.
What surprised me about Clive James was the arrogance of his laughter. To be fair, Bill Moyer did not invite him to debate. James was never challenged. It was not put to him that his position is as much an act of faith as is that of the theist. The difference is, of course, that James has faith in his own mental faculties, not in God. He does not see that "the fallenness of humanity," one of the key ingredients of Christian anthropology, has warped him, just as it made a demon out of Adolf Hitler. James fails to grasp that Western Civilisation requires Augustine, not just Aristotle.
Culture, we are told, depends upon a humanist intellectual inheritance, derived from Enlightenment thinkers from Rousseau to Voltaire. In one sense, this is true. The seeds of optimistic modernism have blossomed, but they have become the poisoned plant of postmodernity. Instead of Diderot we are left with Derrida. Yet the culture that gave birth to Erasmus also produced Martin Luther. We cannot lament the loss of cultural icons without recognising the part played by the Christian faith. That's why James' laughter is dangerous. He, and many like him, already have selective cultural amnesia.

Peace Posts and all that jazz

I must confess to being bothered by the description of the erection and dedication of a peace pole at St. Helena's First Presbyterian Church (Presbyweb, July 12, 2007).
According to http://www.worldpeace.org/ "A Peace Pole is a hand-crafted monument that displays the message and prayer 'May Peace Prevail on Earth' on each of its four or six sides, usually in different languages. There are more than 200,000 Peace Poles in 180 countries all over the world dedicated as monuments to peace. They serve as constant reminders for us to visualize and pray for world peace."
Here's my question:
In what sense are the words a prayer?
The Larger Catechism tells us (Q.178) that "Prayer is an offering up of our desires unto God, in the name of Christ, by the help of His Spirit, with confession of our sins, and thankful acknowledgement of His mercies." Question 179 adds that prayer is to be made "to Him alone, and to none other." The Heidelberg Confession adds that prayer which pleases God is that which "calls upon the one true God, who has revealed Himself to us in His Word..." (Q.117). To whom is the peace prayer addressed? The answer is far from clear.
It wouldn't matter so much if the pole was not planted in a church yard. But, since it is on Presbyterian property, shouldn't there be some way to put the prayer, or at least the pole, in the context of a Christocentric faith? It bothers me even more to learn that the dedication of the pole included readings from non-Christian scriptures.
I wonder what message we give, intentionally or otherwise, when, even on church property, we fail to offer prayer in the name of Christ, who is our Peace (Ephesians 2:14).

In Life and in Death.

Time I got back on the old Blog... It's been too long.
I've been in the ministry for 24 years and, during that time, I've only had three funeral services for children. Of course, I'm glad that there have not been more, but I've been thinking, recently, that I've been blissfully unaware of a huge amount of pain in those I've been called to serve. (Maybe four funerals in two weeks has brought this to mind...).
I've just finished reading "Empty Arms" by Pam Vredevelt, which was recommended to me as a helpful resource for those who have suffered the loss of a child. I was horrified to learn that about 20% of pregnancies (not including abortions) don't come to term because of miscarriage or stillbirth (meaning death after 20 weeks). I had no idea the numbers were so high. For those who have special circumstances such as STD's the numbers are even higher. Which means that there must be a large number of women in the congregation I serve who have suffered in silence. Also, I had no idea how dangerous it can be for the mother to have an ectopic pregnancy (where the child develops in the fallopian tube).
Often, I'm not told about a miscarriage, which is not the end of the world if someone else is providing loving support, but it makes me wonder whether anyone is. I was particularly horrified by some of the stories of well-meaning people saying the most awful things while trying to support a grieving mother who has just lost a child.
Here in Lake Jackson we have a wonderful ministry, begun by church members, called "Johnathan's Ministry." Yes, you guessed it, Johnathan was one of the three. I conducted his funeral service just over four years ago. Lori, who runs the ministry, provides thoughtful, compassionate care for those who have lost children to neonatal death. She does a wonderful job. The problem is that, for months on end, no-one asks for help. And you know that there are needs just crying out to be met.
Two things occur to me. First, the need to provide circles of care within (and beyond) the congregation where women will feel comfortable opening up and then receiving help. It just reinforces for me that concept that the church needs to get smaller as well as larger. Larger, so that more will come to know Christ as Lord. Smaller, so that we can provide the compassionate care of Christ to those in need within the context of small, covenant groups. I suppose we also need to be far more intentional in learning, from books like "Empty Arms" about what those needs are, and how we can be the hands of Jesus.
Second, I need to thank God daily for the safe delivery of our children. Dan is 23 years old now, and I still remember the trauma of the delivery room at the Princess Mary Maternity Hospital, on the Great North Road in Newcastle upon Tyne, like it was yesterday. Looking back, I could have lost both Daniel and Lesley. I had no idea what was going on. That may have been a good thing (I'd have fainted, for sure); but it is not good to take the miracle of birth for granted, or the goodness of God.

FYI:
"Empty Arms" by Pam Vredevelt. Multnomah, Colorado Springs. Second Edition, 1994
I've also found helpful, from a Reformed Theological perspective:
"When a Baby Dies" by Ronald H. Nash. Zondervan, Grand Rapids, 1999.
This is more of a theological study of salvation as it applies to stillborn babies. It is not really something that I would put in the hands of a grieving parent.

Sadness in Lancaster County

Sad news today from Lancaster County, PA, where a gunman forced his way into an Amish one-room schoolhouse, tossed out the males and the older women, and, after barricading the doors, bound about a dozen young girls then began shooting them. Three died, including a 15 year old teacher's assistant, and then the perpetrator took his own life. Seven others are critically wounded. He was a local father of three who was, apparently, taking vengeance for something that happened to him 20 years ago. This is the third such attack in the last week.
Something is terribly wrong. I remember these kind, gentle people from when we lived in Pennsylvania, several years ago. This is one of the most horrifying things I have read in a very long time. What are we to say?
The news doesn't make it any more likely that I will end up as a pacifist, despite the obvious links between that belief and Christianity. On the other hand I'm not about to sign up with the NRA either. I suppose it's being brought up in Britain, where the police are, mostly, unarmed. (That, and the thought that there will always be somebody with a bigger gun!) It just seems to me that senseless, seemingly random acts like this are the greatest confirmation of the Christian doctrine of Man (to use its historic name). We are fallen people. We are not as we were intended to be. Our rebellion against God, and His purposes has led us into evil. We have rejected His ways. We have lost our fear of divine retribution. We are totally depraved. There is no good thing in us. The scariest thing about murder and mayhem is that, "there but for the grace of God, go I." Only when I am constrained by society, by reverence for God's Law, and by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, am I safe from the beast that dwells within.
The Christian estimate of humanity takes sin seriously, even when it is unpopular to do so. No manner of excuses, sociological, psychological or whatever, can take away our guilt. While popular theory emphasises the feelgood factor, and tells us how wonderful we are, the Gospel begins with the bad news that we are, indeed guilty, and that we shall have to answer to an almighty God.
Yet the Gospel is also Good News. It reminds us that forgiveness is possible, and that repentance and faith can lead to changed lives. I have seen it. I have known it in my own life.
But today, the God who weeps with the gentle people of Lancaster County, and who will one day return to judge the earth, is still able both to comfort the afflicted and to afflict those who have grown comfortable in their sin. May those who have lost loved ones, or fear their loss, know the blessing of His presence, and the assurance both of salvation and of judgement.
Presbuteros

Lessons from Revolutionary France

I've been reading Rodney Allen's fascinating book "Threshold of Terror." It's about the last hours of the Monarchy at the time of the French Revolution, specifically, the attack on the Tuileries on August 10, 1792.
To be perfectly honest, the search for the truth, behind the "he said...he said" supposedly eye witness accounts is not always rivetting, except in as much as it demonstrates a continuing belief in absolute reality which is unusual nowadays. (I grow tired of being told that history is always written from someone's perspective, and that truth is, therefore, always relative to one's point of view). One of the enduring questions about the fight that began on the grand staircase of the palace, for example, has always been "Who fired first?" Was it the insurgents, under the sans-coulotte General Santerre, or was it the Swiss Guards, sworn to protect the King? It's refreshing to hear Allen say that, although differing reports were given from all sides, SOMEONE must have fired first! Hallelujah! Absolute history exists.
This means, of course, that we are not necessarily dinosaurs when we say, "Christ has died. Christ is risen." We are also claiming that truth exists. It is not mere wishful thinking to proclaim the bodily resurrection of Christ, as if it was just "truefor us." Something happened in the Garden Tomb on the third day. It is not just a matter of perspective; that's why we are bold to proclaim - as history - an empty cross, an empty tomb, and a risen Savior.
One other point from this book bears mentioning. There is a lengthy discusssion of the overthrow of the legally elected Municipal General Council of Paris by the radicals under Huguenin, claiming to represent the People. It's clear that the slowness of the Council and its ponderous attention to procedure, allowed it to be outmanouevered and manipulated by the Jacobins. In the end, the moderate middle was far too timid to uphold the Constitution. They became mere marionettes, dancing to the beat of the revolutionary drum, until they became expendable. The radicals used legal language to dress up their illegal acts, and they did not stop until they got their way. They had another agenda, and they were singleminded in pursuing it, then in enforcing it with threats. Eventually, even the National Assembly was bullied into inactivity; those who opposed signed their own death warrants.
Now, I'm not suggesting that Madame Guillotine is lurking for those who oppose the radicalism so beloved of the extreme left in the PC(USA), but I believe the example does demonstrate that, unless the Constitution is defended vigorously, it will end up being abused by those with their own agenda. The radicals of revolutionary France had no intention of obeying the Constitution, they merely wanted to use it for their own ends. I fear that the extreme left of the Presbyterian Church has as little regard for our Constitution, and that they will not rest until they have bent it to their will.
Presbuteros