Passing Out Condoms In Church

Someone sent me a link to a story from the United Church of Christ.  You can read the entire article here.

The article begins, “Highlighting the need for churches to be places of spiritual and physical wellness, UCAN, Inc. (United Church of Christ HIV and AIDS Network) has issued a statement encouraging condom distribution at places of worship.”

Now I grew up in a very conservative tradition, but I work very hard to be understanding of differing viewpoints.  I also think its a great idea for the church to care for the physical needs of people as well as spiritual.  But passing out condoms during church?  Is this a practical joke?  Am I missing the seriousness of the need to pass out condoms?  I understand the need to prevent disease.  I understand the desire for people to want to help.  But passing out condoms at places of Worship?

How can the church stand for bringing people into wholeness under the Shalom of God and at the same time support a practice that undermines the longterm health and stability of our culture?  I know its considered old- fashioned to support the idea that sex should be reserved only for a lifelong commited relationship.  But if the church never stands apart from the prevailing culture, then what’s the point of being Ekklesia in the first place?  What do you think?  Is this is a good way to support the community?  Do you agree/disagree?

On “Those Beautiful Church Buildings Downtown”

Recently, my family and I took a couple days off and invaded a hotel swimming pool and hot tub as is our household custom.  One of our favorite stopovers is a lodge in Geneva on the Lake, Ohio.  As we made our return trip we drove through East Cleveland into Little Italy to enjoy some fresh pastries (nothing beats a fresh cannoli).  Because it was a nice day and we weren’t in a hurry, I decided to get off the interstate and drive through town.  As we made our way through the neighborhoods my wife and I began discussing the innumerable houses and businesses that were either vacant or boarded up.  This is nothing new, as this is one of the most onerous signs of urban blight.  But what struck me as I drove from street to street, was the beautiful church buildings that anchored many of the street corners.  For the most part they were updated and in good repair.  But as I surveyed each one compared to the neighborhoods that surrounded them, I was struck by the fact that, from the outside looking in, they seemed to have almost no connection to the rest of the neighborhood that enveloped them.  They were sitting quiet- empty- as most church buildings do during the week.

This certainly isn’t the first time I have seen the depressed state of urban neighborhoods.  Though I do struggle to understand the conditions that contribute to this reality, I am not so naive as to think there are simple solutions to the problem.  But what made this day different was the way these church buildings seemed to stick out as memorials to a Christiandom that is just as faded as the glory days of the neighborhoods they inhabit.  I often hear the lament by those in the suburbs that our churches throughout the inner city are closing.  But this day, I remembered something that a man named John wrote in a letter to the church in the first century.  He said, “if anyone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need and refuses to help–how can God’s love be in that person?”

As someone charged with the task of starting communities of faith to connect with people who won’t ‘come to church,’ I can’t help thinking that God’s intention for the church was not to have a building serving as a monument for a life giving group of people who used to inhabit the neighborhood with the love of God.  And, sadly,  the lament from most suburban Christians is not for the neighborhoods that are in decay, but for the fact that the church buildings are no longer filled with people.  And our number one strategic priority for parishioners in the suburbs seems to be, “how can we improve our worship service so people will want to come to our church?”  Is that really supposed to be how we define success?

The organization given the primary charge for the care of the ‘poor’ is not the government, but the church.  Are we not a people charged with the task of physically showing others that God is alive and well by how we care for those around us?  How can we worship, in comfort, a God who chose to become homeless for our benefit, when the physical needs around these church buildings are so great?  I’m sure there are spiritual problems in these communities that need to be addressed.   But how can we seek to meet those needs when the neighborhood is physically falling down around the church buildings?

Some ideas…

We tend to prefer to throw money at the problem, much the same way the government does.  But we have decades of evidence that money alone doesn’t solve the problem.  It requires our personal investment.

Instead, what if suburban churches adopted neigborhoods as many churches do communities in other countries?  What if we sold or mortgaged the church properties and used the funds to bring in entrepreneurs who will start businesses and train those who need jobs.  First thing on the list… remodeling homes and businesses and restoring a sense of pride in the neighborhoods.  What if suburban churches came together and transformed vacant lots into gardens that provide fresh perishables to the segment of the population most in need of healthy food?  What if we provided job training, literacy classes, tutoring, and counseling, simple things the government is, frankly, not proficient or efficient at, free of charge.  Then, when the residents in the neighborhoods have their lives transformed, we can engage them in helping to carry on the blessing to others in need.  And what if we, the suburban Christians, drove by our suburban churches on our way to serve as pioneering members of urban congregations?  What if some people made the ultimate sacrifice and actually moved into one of those neighborhoods?

Just a few quick thoughts on the fly.  Maybe I am just naive, but I think that may be a more Biblical (to use a “churchy” word) model of Church to neighborhoods in need.

Your thoughts… other ideas?

On Dairy Farms and Sea Kittens

Once upon a time, my family was on the road and stopped into one of those massive fueling mega franchises complete with subway, Wendy’s and DQ. It was a very warm day and as we were filling up with fuel and snacks, a truck hauling dairy cows pulled in to refuel. My kids 6 and 3 at the time were so excited to see cows up close, and as their excitement grew, my wife and I agreed to walk them over to get a closer look. As the children stood there gazing at the mass of strong smelling bovines packed into the trailer, I started asking my kids questions. They began to challenge my conclusions as I described where milk and steak comes from. Their eyes grew as I described how cows are milked and that it ends up in our refrigerator and in our cereal, Mac and cheese, and tea.

Now having grown up on a farm, I was devastated that my own offspring had no connection whatsoever with the food on their table. I have vivid memories of collecting eggs, shearing sheep, and digging up potatoes. So since then, we have made it a point to visit working farms so they can understand where our food comes from.

So, fast-forward to last night. We were sitting down for dinner- my wife and I, and our now 5 children. I grilled steaks for the family. As we passed the A-1 and mashed potatoes, my five-yr-old daughter asked me, “Daddy,  which animal does steak come from?”  I went on to answer her question, and then another about where mashed potatoes and stuffing comes from. As we talked I realized that my kids have a very difficult time understanding the connection between their food and the resources that make it possible. My wife commented that she would be a vegetarian if she gave too much thought to the steak she was eating. So I guess my family is not alone in this.

In our culture, we have made the consumption of food so efficient that one can go to the grocery or McDonald’s without even thinking about how the food they eat comes from or even got to them. I’m sure this only contributes negatively to our nation wide obesity problem. We can get virtually any food item we want, even cooked to our particular taste, and not have to give one thought to where it came from or what’s in it. It is basically blind consumption. This idea is so far removed from how people interacted with their food throughout human history. Native Americans, for example, saw killing buffalo as a sacred and difficult thing, even asking forgiveness for the taking of the life.  They used every last piece for food, clothing, tools and shelter, considering it a sin to waste even the smallest part.

As people of faith, do we not have a great responsibility not just to recycle our trash, but to respect and steward the resources that make our dinner possible? Now, I am certainly not suggesting we, as followers of Jesus, begin throwing paint on people wearing fur coats, or renaming fish ‘sea kittens’ in an effort to stop potential abuses. But shouldn’t we re-personalize our food consumption and seek to rebuild our connection with where the food we eat comes from and how it reached our dinner plate?  And, should we not take a renewed interest in buying what is grown and raised locally in order to make this possible?

What are some practical ways we can accomplish this? Your thoughts?

On Instilling Missional Habits in a Congregation

I just read this article by David Fitch and I thought it would be a good for discussion.  You can follow his blog at reclaimingthemission.org

How do we lead a church community to engage mission as a way of life? How do we steer a congregation out of evangelism programs into everyday missional living? How do we train a congregation out of Christendom habits and instill post Christendom virtues (character for living faithfully in post Christendom)? I think leaders walk along and among their communities. Along the way, they lead by consistently (and kindly) rejecting some old habits and directing the imagination towards other possibilities. This is the never-ending work of cultivating missional habits of imagination among a people. Here’s my list of what to reject (slowly put to death in a congregation) and what to direct (nudge people forward) a congregation’s imagination toward. I’ve learned a lot of these things from missional thinkers/practitioners but have found all these things to be surprisingly simple and possible in my own life.

1.) Kindly Reject doing Outreach Events. Instead direct imagination towards ways of connecting with people where they are. Outreach events take up much time, planning and enormous “congregational capital” (if I may put it that way). In post Christendom outreach events rarely “work.” And you simply cannot compete with the local Park District or Megachurch event planning neutral site events. Instead, with little effort or cost, direct the people’s imagination towards seeing the ways you can connect with people in their everyday situations by going to the same place at the same time every week. Stoke imagination for the way ordinary life is the stage of God’s working. Visit the same places at the same time every week (this is easy for me because I am pathetically boring and love doing the same thing everyday). This has revolutionized my missional life with not a single ounce of extra-expended energy spent on my part. I believe the same could be true for every member of our church Body. Thanks to Alan Hirsch for teaching me about this.

2.) Kindly Reject evangelism as a one time hit on a target with a preconceived outcome. Kindle imagination toward seeing mission as part of regular daily, weekly and monthly life rhythms where out or regular life God works to use your life to impact people for the gospel in unforeseen ways. There is no precision strike technique, instead we need to train our eyes to pay attention to our life rhythms and be ready to minister out of everyday life, where God is already working to bring people to Christ.

3.) Kindly reject building multiple use buildings as if by building a gymnasium on the church campus we can bring people into the orbit of the church. Instead stoke imagination for what can happen when we go inhabit the gyms already in the neighborhoods. We should build less third spaces, and inhabit more the ones already there.

4.) Kindly reject one-on-one evangelism and the techniques associated with such apologetic persuasion. Instead direct imagination for inhabiting places in two’s or three’s or more. Hospitals, PADS Centers, the school systems, the park districts and places of hurt and pain too numerous to mention are all places where there are forces at work that can take under any one isolated saint. But two or three Christians together become an undeniable force for the kingdom under the Lordship of Christ.

5.) Kindly reject the Sunday morning gathering as an evangelistic event for it cannot be that in the new post Christendom cultures. Instead fire up imagination for the formation that comes from a communal encounter with the living God in Jesus Christ. As we hover around the altar, in silence, in prayers of submission, in affirmation, in confession, in healing prayers, in the hearing of the Word, and the Table, as we sing in praise and thanksgiving at what He has done, and then as we are sent out by God in the Benedictory challenge, we are shaped for His Life in Mission. It is simple, organic, takes a lot less planning than a mega show, and alot less money. And if any non-believers do happen to come, they won’t confuse this with a Tony Robbins event.

6.) Kindly reject coercive persuasion and argument in our witness. Instead stoke the imagination of your people for seeking “one person of peace” (Luke 10) among the lost of their neighborhoods. Look for that one who, though never having heard the gospel, is dispositionally ready (been readied by God) to receive. (Thanks to Mike Breen at the EcclesiaNet conference this past week for this idea).

7.) Kindly reject presumptuous postures of power as we live our lives among those who do not know Christ yet. Instead direct the imagination towards the way Christ always enters the human situation in humility. So don’t come to your neighbors as the one with the answer, but as the one searching for the answers that always point you towards Christ. Come to your neighbors humbly and in need. Instead of offering them a meal, find ways to participate in a meal with them. If you’re in the suburbs ask them if you can borrow their lawnmower.

8.) Kindly Reject Surveying the neighborhood – Direct the imagination toward exegeting the neighborhood. Surveying looks at the neighborhood as a place to market our church, find out what they are looking for and appeal to it so that they are attracted to the idea of coming to church. Exegeting a neighborhood requires inhabiting the neighborhood, seeing the neighborhood as a place for redemption, discovering where the hurting are and the unjust structures are. See the possibilities for ministering the gospel to those who are lost and through the gospel (over time) seeing that very culture transformed.

9.) Kindly Reject problem solving – instead direct the imagination towards “appreciative inquiry.” We often approach church through problem solving. What is wrong with our programs? What needs are we not meeting? What needs to be tweaked? What are we not doing right? This is negative, mechanical and lifeless. Instead, let’s direct our community’s imagination to noticing where God is working among us and around us, to recognize it, praise God for it and participate in it through the gifts we have been given. Thanks to Mark Lau Branson for this insight.
These are just a few of the ways we can lead our congregations to make our whole way of life a participation in God’s mission. There are many more I am sure.

Do you agree?  Disagree?  Your thoughts?

Coming Soon to A Future Near You

I am trying really hard to stay up with the pace of technology and how it relates and informs the values and culture of the emerging generations.  I want to pass on the ancient art of following Jesus and submitting one’s life for the Kingdom of God.  What strikes me is how far behind the institutional church is in preparing and discipling the emerging generations in the way of Jesus.  I consider myself to be pretty adept at bringing the timeless truths of scripture into the 21st century.  And yet, as someone in my mid 30’s, I struggle to comprehend how the generations coming after me process information and see their world.  Frankly, the way I teach should have been the status quo in the church for the past 30 years.  I think I understand my generation pretty well.  But, I fear we are falling further and further behind the curve.

So how does the church respond to the reality of where the world and our culture is heading?  What does this mean for the way we love others; the way we teach the succeeding generations; how we as a church impact our world?  What does this mean for our global mission? And what does this mean for me in my context?  Is the church, as we know it now, flexible enough to reach these generations as it is currently constructed?

Holiday Reflections

It has become increasingly obvious to me that the preparation for and the celebration of the event under the tree on Christmas morning has become the dominant focus of the advent celebration in the Western world over the last few years.  In our gatherings over the last few weeks, we have been challenging each other to restore the proper focus of the holidays as a part of our celebration and reflection.  And as part of that challenge we decided, as a group,  to post the result of our efforts over the past few weeks on this blog.

For our family, we took a week of vacation to visit my wife’s family in Chicago over Christmas.  This created a bit of havoc for our children as we were not in our own home.  Being shuffled back and forth between family members wishing to visit with us is not exactly refreshing or conducive to slowing down and reflecting on Christ’s birth.  But my wife and I managed to spent time in conversation about how we could help our children celebrate and reflect on the birth of Christ.  One of the ways we decided to do this was to watch the movie The Nativity Story on Christmas Eve following our family tradition of opening one present (which is always new pajamas- which the kids still haven’t figured out yet).  The movie is not exactly fast moving- which made it somewhat difficult for our 2 and 4 year olds to sit through it.  But the relaxed pace was nice, as it allowed us to focus on the central theme- the coming of the promised deliverer.  I also think it was by far the best time we have had as a family on Christmas Eve, compared to scurrying to get the family dressed up and keeping our kids from burning the church down during the Christmas Eve candlelight service.  I think the way we chose to spend Christmas Eve helped us to slow down enough to make the time together richer, and much more enjoyable.

So what’s your story?  Were you successful in bringing the season into greater focus?  Did you crash and burn?

Your thoughts…

Suburban Utopia

It has long been rumored that the suburbs are an attempt for upwardly mobile people to find a safe and convenient environment to raise children, live in nice, clean neighborhoods, and remain insulated from the difficulties of city life.  Then there’s Rancho Sahuarita.

This community is located just outside of Tucson Arizona.  I was channel surfing the other night during commercials and I saw a piece about it on Nightline.  It is basically a gated suburb complete with private water park, post office, rec center, market, etc… built by literally reclaiming the desert.  The houses are state of the art- equipped with wifi and access to the community’s own intranet as well.  In order to be part of the community, you just have to purchase a house.  As I looked over the website it seemed so idyllic- so small town America- like a re-creation of the fabricated town in the movie The Truman Show.

I found myself contemplating what it would be like to live in a place that had all the conveniences of modern life within walking distance- only cleaner and safer.  But as I think about it, it also seems a bit sad that people with means would opt out of communities in need and create their own world within a nice, neat, prepackaged bubble.  It seems so escapist and self centered.   I guess there’s nothing inherently wrong with seeking a stable place to live and raise your families.  But don’t we already have that in your average suburb outside of most every American metropolitan area?  Why go the extra mile and remove yourself from society at large?  Is it just an attempt to create a new reality?  Or is it even possible to escape the difficulties of “real” life?  it seems that people have been seeking a more convenient life for thousands of years.  I guess my struggle with this constant quest for a better life- for peace- for happiness- for more… by our own hand is, how much is enough?  And when will we finally be happy enough?

When I read the Bible I am struck by the fact that God is always chasing- engaging- seeking people.  His own son became a man and was present with people.  In fact, Jesus was always going into “forbidden” areas and rubbing elbows with people who were “unclean.”  Could the same be said of those who claim to follow him today?  Are we chasing- engaging- seeking those in our culture? Are we active in the lives of those even within our own neighborhoods?  Or are we busy chasing that same illusive “happiness” that the “pagans”chase?

Visual Generation

These are my kids.  We recently welcomed a fifth child, another girl, into our family.  Yesterday I burned a CD  of favorite tunes for our family to jam to when we’re on the road.  After it had cycled through once, my 2 yr old, Talia, asked me to play the “nut song” again.  I frankly had no idea what she was talking about.  One of the joys of having a toddler is not always understanding the dialect of toddler they speak in.  It wasn’t until it cycled through again that I realized what song she was requesting.  She was talking about David Crowder’s song Forever And Ever etc… You can find the video here, in case you haven’t seen it.

What struck me was that she first heard the song several months ago when I showed my kids the video.  And she had never heard it apart from the video. In fact, they liked it so much we replayed it around 300 times in a row, at least it seemed like it to me.  Anyway, when she heard it yesterday, she instantly recognized the song as the “nut song”.  As a proud parent I naturally think my kids are smarter and cuter than anyone else’s.   But I think for her, as with most people, the video committed the song to memory in a much stronger way than just hearing the song.

It’s almost impossible to estimate the impact that visual media has had on learning and comprehension for the emerging generations.   It is said that our culture today thinks and feels with their eyes.   It is a well known fact that learning styles vary from person to person.  But in the last 20 years the industrialized world has shifted from a “word based” culture to one that is visually based.  Now, I have worked to incorporate that reality in how faith is “learned” as well.  But the vast majority of faith learning that takes place in church is still word based.  And I think this contributes to the increasingly difficult task of passing on our faith to the next generation.  I learned as a child in Sunday School that Jesus loves me “for the Bible tells me so.”  But people today are simply not content to “read” about God.  They expect to “see Him.”

So what changes need to take place in order to make the transition?  And how can we “retool” to reform discipleship as a learned/experienced reality, rather than just classroom education?

Tis The Season…

With Black Friday now in the rear view mirror, I guess we should reflect on a wonderful, family friendly holiday founded on thankfulness.

Everybody says they are cutting back on spending this holiday season, but, apparently aided by additional discounts, sales were up 3 percent over last year. I gladly stayed and watched the kids so my wife could enter the fray and return with those overhyped, under stocked teaser items that we just can’t live without. Personally, I just don’t get the whole, get to the store at 5AM, thing. Isn’t a good night’s sleep over a holiday more valuable than an extra 20% off coupon? Watching families fight over a stack of X-boxes on sale is just not my idea of family friendly entertainment.

My most vivid Holiday memory is from 1983. My dad lost his job in October when his plant closed, and we were left without a home, steady employment, and, most importantly for us kids, a gift-filled Christmas. My siblings and I were very aware of the sense of loss that permeated the family. We rarely got along. In fact, we fought constantly. But as I reflect back on it, that season brought us together in a way that nothing else ever has. We were happy. And we were thankful for what we did have; each other.

I know it’s hard to accept suffering, but maybe an economic downturn would be healthy for our families and our communities in the long run. Maybe then we wouldn’t trample people to death in our haste to save a buck.

Kung Fu Panda

“To be what we are, and to become what we are capable of becoming,

is the only end of life.”- Baruch Spinoz

I have been more impressed with this movie each time I have watched it.  Having 5 kids at home, we tend to watch movies our kids like over and over again.  I just can’t escape the way the writers portray the hero of the film.  Po is the typical “lazy, goofy, Chris Farley type” who saves the village from the, seemingly unstoppable, bad guy intent on destroying the town and stealing its most prized possession, the dragon scroll.  It’s really fun to watch.  But its underlying message is profound.  Po is “chosen” by master Oogway as the dragon warrior,  to the great dismay of everyone else involved.  He is a fat, clumsy panda, prefers eating to working, and, though he admires his Kung Fu idols, is seemingly devoid of any ability to protect his village from its enemies.  And yet, Po saves his village, not by accident, but by realizing his unique gifts and abilities that were there all along.  Master Oogway believes Po is the dragon warrior. Po was chosen because of his potential. The definition of potential is, “capable of being or becoming.”  The rest of the film is dedicated to Po realizing his potential through training at the feet of his master and becoming the dragon warrior.

I think there are some powerful lessons here for followers of Jesus.  Potential students did not come to Jesus and ask to be his disciples.  He went to them and invited them.  He said things like, “Come, follow me,” and “You did not choose me, I chose you.”  So when he made the choice, it was not because they were the best of the best, but because he saw within them the potential to be just like the master.  We tend to see discipleship in the Western world as education, a science.  But Jesus lived and taught in the Eastern world.  In the East, discipleship is a learned art.  Think Kung Fu.  So When we commit ourselves to being His disciples, it’s as though he is saying, “I believe you can become just like me- the master.”  In Christ we already have all the tools and ability necessary to “be just like the master.”  The challenge for us, then, is will we submit ourselves to become just like him?