God's Grace and Church Growth and "Survival"

On January 25, 2013, an article was posted in The United Methodist Reporter by Dr. Stephen Rankin, chaplain of Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Tx.  The article was titled "SMU Chaplain: The United Methodist Church is Imploding."

Dr. Rankin is very careful to qualify his statement that this "implosion" is not a quick event as one normally pictures an implosion of a building, per se.  He is also very explicit that he writes this article in love for the Church, and does not want to be a "gloom and doom" person, and that there are "beautiful exceptions," as he quotes.

I do not want to discredit what Dr. Rankin has to say.  The statistics of the UMC show that numbers are down (the same can be said of many, if not all North American Churches, but I will focus on the UMC).  Dr. Rankin makes a very good point that the church needs leadership that MUST involve young people to overcome this decline.

I wish to offer an alternate perspective without denying the realities that Dr. Rankin discussed. We do not worship a God who pays much attention to statistics. Starting int he Hebrew Scriptures, there is no statistical reason that Israel should have survived to the Babylonian Exile, much less very far past it.  But, they did.  Even after their expulsion from Israel, the Jewish people, God's covenant people, maintained their nationhood in exile throughout the world, and though the modern state of Israel exists, There are millions of Jews still living throughout the world, some in areas of high persecution. But they survive.  This defies all statistical analysis.

Dr. Rankin uses a troublesome analogy to me.  He says, "what if we realized that God can, and might, and maybe has – at least for a time – removed the glory from us?"  To his credit, he does not wish to press this analogy very far.  I object to this possibility for several reasons.  First: God cannot be absent from any of his creation.  Second: The glory is not ours to have, the glory belongs to God and God alone.  Third: The solutions belong to God. Through human cooperation and following God's leading through the Holy Spirit, a church cannot "implode."

Continually beating down pastors and other church leaders as not "doing enough" does not inspire - it creates a sense of panic and worry.  That does not mean that I'm not in favor of accountability.  In fact, we need more.  But accountability is not through statistics alone. There are external variables (location, population, preceding factors before a pastor comes to a congregation, the spiritual state of the congregation, etc.) that the pastor alone cannot overcome.  The pastor needs God. Only God can overcome these barriers and the pastor can cooperate with God.    

The UMC can and should adapt, and maybe even change.  The UMC should take ownership of our own problems, but we cannot forget that the answers ONLY lie in God's leading.  We can ONLY cooperate in God's leading.  We cannot lead God.  We cannot be ruled by fear, but rather, we must be ruled by the hope made possible by Christ - the one we worship!

Reaction to the Fallout of the 2012 UMC General Conference

First of all, let me make it clear that I WAS NOT at General Conference.  I only nominally followed General Conference on the web (and I emphasize "nominally"). While General Conference was happening, I was at my home church ministering to my congregation.  I was finishing up Seminary coursework for the semester.  I was also busy working on a Human Rights project which had fallout of its own.  But all of that is not to brag, nor is it to offer excuses.  Point Blank - I knew what would happen from the rhetoric going into the conference, and I wanted no part of it!

Many have come away fearful about the fate of the United Methodist Church as a whole.  If we put our hopes in money and world-defined success, then yes, our fate is dire!  But, if we put our hope in the reality of God, the salvation of Jesus, and the presence of the Holy Spirit, we have nothing to fear.

Christians seem surprised when we are persecuted (either by worldly forces or by division amongst ourselves).  But, didn't Jesus say this would happen?  Hasn't it happened before?  And, if the past speaks to the future, it will happen again.  It will happen from outside forces as well as forces from within.  But, Christ is clear - We are not to fear! 1 John 4:18:  "There is no fear in love.  But perfect love casts out fear..."

While I was not at General Conference, I would guess that many people who were elected to be delegates came with personal agendas, and those agendas were not always in the best interest of the Body of Christ.  That is not to say there weren't good and faithful people as delegates.  I'm sure there were.

I can barely stand to open another news article about General Conference.  I'm ashamed by the way some people acted.  I'm even more ashamed that some people left more divided than when they arrived (See 1 Corinthians 1:10 about division in the church).

For the next General Conference in 2016, I think it's important to remember a few VERY IMPORTANT truths:
1. The Church does not belong to us...it belongs to Christ.
2. We are mere stewards of the Church, and we should NEVER overestimate our roles.
3. When we can't agree, we need to do so in love.  Even the worst sinner deserves Christian Love.  That is not saying we love the sin, but we love the sinner.  Why can't we love our fellow Christians?
4. The goals and legislative items need to be publicized in a way that is not based on fear, not based on humans taking over the role of God, and should be widely available and understandable to the average reader.
5. If as Methodists, we believe in "Holy Conversation," then we must act like it.  Name calling, blaming, finger pointing, gossiping and so forth is NOT Holy Conversation.  Holy Conversation takes the individual God-Given sanctity of each person and treats every person as a son or daughter of God.

We should expect dissent.  Disagreement is good because it can lead to compromise.  Some things should not be compromised - the basis of our Faith, Christ, the role of the Church in the world, and so forth, but other disagreements (how to structure the Church, how pastors are appointed, etc.) should have disagreement.  But this disagreement should not be mean spirited.  It should be done in Christian love.

Maybe we should take a lesson from our Quaker Brothers and Sisters.  Is voting the best option?  Or, should we rather allow the Holy Spirit to work and bring us to consensus?  Yes, this will take longer, but why are we in a rush?  All good things take time.  The Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Churches have existed since Apostolic times.  Change ins VERY SLOW in those Churches. But is that a bad thing?  Does God work on our time?  Is God our servant?

I refuse to look at General Conference as a success or failure.  I think we tested the waters, but did so in a spirit of fear and panic that things had to be changed NOW.  Can we approach 2016 in hope rather than fear?  Can we leave our personal agendas behind and work towards the common good?  Can we let the Holy Spirit lead us?

Review of Generation Rising, ed. by Andrew C. Thompson

Let me start off by saying that it is difficult, if not impossible, for me to be completely objective in this review.  I had the pleasure of having Andrew Thompson as one of my preceptors (Duke's term for Teacher Assistants in large lecture classes) during my first year of seminary.  Andrew may be one of the most modest people I've ever met.  All through the semester, I had no idea he was an author or a well-read blogger.  He was the Preceptor for Church History spanning from The Reformation to the Present.  He is not only very smart in this area, but he can communicate it well.  I have nothing but respect for him as an individual, so it is nearly impossible for me to find any fault with this book.

Generation Rising is a useful book for those of us who are part of "Generation X."  Though it is directed towards the United Methodist Church, I think any Christian Denomination can find useful information and practices.  

Generation X is roughly the generation born between 1961 and 1981.  The boundaries are not that neat, so this is really an approximation.  I came in the latter half of this generation.  Ours is a generation who saw an explosion of technology probably not seen since those born around the time of World War I.  We went from seeing basic 3 or 4 channel Television to the cable/satellite Television we have not.  We started with pinball machines, and now we have elaborate gaming systems.  We learned to write and we were graded on our handwriting, and now next to everything is typed, and not on the electronic typewriters we learned on, but on computers.  We saw the computer grow from a useful tool to a way of life.  We only got to meet people from other areas or nations if we were lucky enough to take a vacation or if our teachers assigned us pen pals.  Now, we can get on the internet and talk to people around the world.

Thompson and the others who wrote chapters for this book recognize the unique situation of Generation X, but they recognize our need for real, as opposed to virtual, community.  

We grew up in a society where God became pushed to the side for T-Ball practice or Gymnastics.  Youth group was skipped so we could play with our soccer league.  I doubt this was a deliberate attempt to push God aside, but none the less, that is what happened.  

Thompson and his crew of authors recognize this, and they also recognize the empty feeling held by many of Generation X that "there has to be more to life than this."  They address this through unique, though equally important issues:  Discipleship, Holy Communion, Preaching, Evangelism, Small Groups, Missions, Race, Ecology, Youth Ministry, Young Adults, Ordination, and Internet Ministry.

It would be very easy to blast today's culture as immoral or not God centered.  But, this is NOT what the authors do.  They take our hunger for "something deeper" and channel it into their areas of expertise.  Throughout the book, though problems are noted, hope is the main theme.  This is a breath of fresh air to the message Generation X has received over the years: we are lazy, feel entitled, have no work ethic, too materialistic, etc.  While there is an amount of truth to these criticisms, this book transcends these problems and provides hope that we can live a life pleasing to God.  A life where we grow to know God more and more each day.  

The changes proposed in this book are not major changes.  They are not changes to "cheapen" church.  In fact, it could be argued that they are not trying to change anything, but rather look at things from a different point of view.  

As a new pastor and seminary student, I see many of my generation who are not church-goers.  Many say they are "spiritual," but not "religious" (What exactly does that mean anyway??).  But, I also see my generation stepping up to take the places of our parents.  Many of us are trying to raise our children in a faith and family grounded life.  

This book is revolutionary in that it provides ways to meet Generation X and make disciples.  These ways are not against the traditional ways, but rather, they are an adaptation of tradition.  At one time, printing pamphlets was revolutionary.  Now, we can blog, text, and create websites to do the same thing.

Whether you are United Methodist or not, I highly recommend this book.  The best part is that it is not a "how to" book, but rather one to guide the reader.  It does not give solutions, but it gives paths to those solutions.  It recognizes no two situations are the same, and each situation requires unique approaches.  Every pastor and lay member should read this book to see that the future is not "gloom and doom," but rather, it is one of "hope and joy."