the SIGNIFICANCE of insignificance

“Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life.” -Philippians 2:12-18 (NIV)

This is a portion of my sermon text for Sunday.  My focus is sanctification and the road to perfection and I’m feeling a soapbox moment coming on…

I know I rant about alot of things on this blog, but one of the things that pisses me off the most in ministry has to do with this verse.  I am sick (almost physically) over the number of people that don’t “shine like stars in the universe as [they] hold out the word of life.”  I’ve determined that the biggest enemy of the Gospel isn’t another religion, or someone’s politics, or even direct attacks on Christianity.  Our faith is bigger than all of those things and cannot be weakened by those things. 

Our biggest enemy is apathetic “Christians”.  I believe that the one thing that damages our faith and our evangelistic efforts more than anything else is the proportion of professed Christians that show no marked difference in their lives. 
Too many people come through our churches and join up like they’re joining a gym or a country club.  They find the people they like to be around and, for one hour a week, they give the appearance of someone that knows who Jesus really is. 

I had a conversation with a non-believer this week and realized just how much my work and words are discredited by artificial Christians every day.  Over the course of our discussion in the local coffeehouse, this gentleman began to ask questions about why I’m so committed to a faith that doesn’t seem to make any difference.  I was blown away by this man’s perception of what it means to be Christian!  I feel like this must be the view of many non-Christians and the real reason that our churches continue to shrink and do less for the Kingdom of God.

Why are we really in this?  Why do we attend church and give to the church and tell others that we are Christian?  Why bother when we could have a social club that can be whatever we want it to be for the moment?

I’ll tell you why:  We bother to become true Christians because the Good News of Christ DOES make a difference in our lives.  When we commit to life with Christ, we “work out [our] salvation with fear and trembling” and “God works in [us] to will and to act according to his good purpose.”  The Truth is that when we accept Christ and we do this work, our lives are transformed and we WILL show evidence of that transformation.

But so many get sidetracked…

Just last week, there was a staff member at a local church that was let go due  to a “difference of  opinions.”  That single firing has caused fallout in that church and TWO OTHERS in the area.  What non-believer, seeing that, would want to become a Christian?

There was another church in our conference that stole staff members from a neighboring church, causing uneasiness between churches.  What non-believer, seeing that, would want to become a Christian?

Four pastors last year lost their credentials in North Georgia due to extramarital affairs. What non-believer, seeing that, would want to become a Christian?

A member of my own church, just yesterday, forwarded an email out to a mass of people that contained many racist and sexist remarks.  What non-believer, seeing that, would want to become a Christian?

Last week, countless homeless and hurting people found help in secular agencies after being turned away by churches.  What non-believer, seeing that, would want to become a Christian?

What we do is a reflection of Christ.  If we profess Christ and are not Paul’s “shining stars” that stand out from a depraved and corrupt generation, we actually harm the Gospel and the work of many diligent Christians.  It is the seemingly insignificant times in our lives that non-believers (and our children) pay the most attention to and have the most significance for our witness.

How are you treating others?  What are you like at home, at work, at school, or on the road?  How is your life, even in the insignificant parts, witnessing the Good News?  This is why Christ wants nothing to do with luke warm Christians and I’d have to echo his sentiments:  If you aren’t for real about it, don’t waste my time.  The church would be much better off and the message of Christ would be much stronger in our world if it wasn’t for people like you!

“If they ever put those words up on a screen, I’ll just have to leave!  People should know the words to songs like ‘Amazing Grace’ and some things about worship should never change.”

These were the words of a woman, not a member of my church, but a member of a traditional UM church in the area that is  trying to address the younger population that is moving in.  My response:  “Maybe you should go.  I would hate for your personal preference to deter others from coming to worship or actually getting something out of worship.” 

Of course, I didn’t say those words, but it took great restraint to keep me from it.  We had a tense (I felt), yet pleasant conversation about how worship is changing in alot of churches, even if it stays traditional.  I calmly pointed out that once upon a time, hymnals were a new thing that probably met some resistance and even hymns like “Amazing Grace” was new.  Besides, how are non-Christians and children ever going to “know the words to songs” unless you have a way to teach them?

As some of you know, I have become a student in the New Church Leadership Academy this year and yesterday was a day for one of our monthly classes.  Tommy Willingham, the founding pastor of Hope UMC and current pastor of Sugarloaf UMC, is our instructor and had something profound to say yesterday.  He believes, and I tend to agree with him, that we are in the midst of a “reformation” period in the Protestant church.  Perhaps not as radical as THE Reformation, but radical nonetheless.  With the Emergent Church and other movements moving through our churches, my generation of pastors could perhaps see major changes in how the majority of the Christian community worships.

As we sat in the “sanctuary” of the Orchard UMC yesterday and I looked around at the stage, a/v system, instruments, attire, and other surroundings, I began to wonder what ministry will look like toward the end of my career as a pastor.  What uphill battles will we need to fight to help the church move into post-modernity and into the right century? 

Now, don’t think that I’m saying that there will be no place for traditional worship.  I believe that there will always be a place for more structured and liturgical services, provided that they continue to have meaning.  In order to have meaning, they have to be linguistically relevant and to some degree, culturally relevant.  My question becomes, “If we still have traditional worship, what will it look like?”

I’m excited by the possibilities and frustrated and saddened that we may have to wait for the majority of the “greatest generation” to die off to find out.  I’ve encountered more older people that have formed defensive positions in their churches for fear that worship may lose its meaning.  I’ve had several threaten, without any provocation, to discontinue their financial giving if certain changes take place.  Fortunately, I don’t believe that the will of God and the vision of the church can be bought. 

I am left curious about one other thing though.  Long ago, when Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses on the church doors and kicked off a revolution in the Church, what opposition did he face at the grassroots?  We read in our history books about the challenges he faced with the Catholic church and the threats he recieved from those in authority over him, and we read about the spread and acceptance of Protestantism, but we never hear about the little, old ladies that made progress difficult.  Is this a new phenomenon?  Did he and other leaders have to weather a similar storm?

Some days I’d like to plant a new church just so I wouldn’t have to fight the fight of moving past some (now) meaningless traditions.  Other days I remember that the majority of the churches in North America are still traditional and both need to be retrofitted for the coming age and allowed to die off.  (That’s not an either/or, it’s a both/and)  What’s a 27 year old pastor at the beginning of his career to do?

Is it like John Mayer says?

“Me and all my friends
We’re all misunderstood
They say we stand for nothing and
There’s no way we ever could

Now we see everything that’s going wrong
With the world and those who lead it
We just feel like we don’t have the means
To rise above and beat it

So we keep waiting
Waiting on the world to change…”  (John Mayer, “Waiting On the World to Change”, Continuum, Sony 2006)

Spread the good news!  Faith Carolyn Stroud was born yesterday around 5:30pm.  She weighs in at 6lbs. 15oz. and is 18″ long.  Mom and Baby are both doing well. As soon as I get pictures downloaded,  I’ll post them.

Have you ever slept in the hospital as a visitor?  The “pullout” couch that I slept on last  night was like sleeping across the top of some monkeybars.