PHILADELPHIA and surrounding area. Located in suburban Wyndmoor, PA
PASTOR'S PAGE - THE WORD FROM KEVIN
July 2008
If someone would be to ask you today, “How have you matured in Christ in the past twelve months?” or if someone asked you this question, “What are you doing so that you may deepen or mature your relationship with the Father through Christ Jesus?” would you have a reasonable, honest answer to give them? We in the free church tradition often depend specifically on personal effort with little or no accountability to anyone concerning our own spiritual growth. We have few structures to support or check for growth in the church, and as a result many of us persist in a state of not hibernation, but rather in a condition of sameness. We are not spiritually dead, nor are we exuding vigor and vitality, but rather we continue to exist neither thriving nor withering.
Perhaps we would all be better served knowing that someone is going to be taking us to task for our lack of progress, lack of growth. Yet, it is not a task master that we are in need of, but rather someone who will walk with us and help us to mature. Each of us, regardless of how long we have been believers needs someone to be a spiritual friend, a person to hold us accountable, a person who has access to our lives and will ask us hard questions.
We often operate from a notion that faith and our spiritual lives are essentially a private affair, and that you and I are free to believe as we like. Yet scripture does not describe faith essentially as an individual venture, but rather as one of the body of Christ. We are baptized into a community, we partake of communion, the Love Feast, not as individuals but as a community of believers. We worship together, we pray together, we study scripture together, we work together. And yet, we persist in thinking that faith, life and following Jesus are essentially private matters. There is a disconnect in this assumption that will cause you and I to live in less than ideal conditions. It may be that this is where we fail to thrive, fail to put down deep roots and live the abundant life. When we separate faith from the community we are left like a branch severed from a tree, it withers and it dies.
When we attempt to do faith apart from the body of Christ it leaves both the body and the individual impoverished and lessened. Through the summer months it will be easy for us to allow our lives to drift from the body, to allow our patterns of worship, study and service to change and diminish. But, my prayer is this that you will use this as a new opportunity to reconnect with the body of Christ in significant ways. Invite people to your home for fellowship, call a person in the body you haven’t spoken to in a while, ask how you can pray for someone this week, take the initiate to know people more completely and more intimately. Deepen your bonds with fellow believers and see the way that your spiritual life is invigorated and stimulated, you will not be disappointed.
Blessings,
Kevin
June 2008
The Church faces increasingly difficult terrain in the near future. As we continue to move into a postmodern landscape we find that the tools of the modern world do not enable us to engage the world as we once did. The result is a church that seems to be outdated, irrelevant and archaic. There is little wonder that larger amounts of Americans find church attendance less and less compelling.
We could make the argument that our worship services are not formatted to engage as the contemporary media does; with animated graphics, news tickers, computer generated special effects and a well choreographed sound track. But is our lack of techno-savvy really the problem? Is it our lack of a wi-fi hotspot that keeps people from worship?
Perhaps there is something in our message that is less compelling than sleeping late on Sunday or spending some extra time with friends and family. Actually, what is the message that we are presenting to the community? What is it that we as a church communicate about ourselves, about our God, about our Lord and Savior?
Perhaps our lack of ability to easily identify our message is part of the problem. If we are unsure or unable to articulate what it is we want to say to the community about Jesus, about his church and about the community that we belong to, why would anyone listen? Let’s say we can manage to efficiently express our message to the culture. Will that compel people to be present with us for worship? In truth, I doubt it. It would be helpful, but just being able to articulate the message will not translate into effective communication of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Tim Conder writes, “The history of the church is filled with times of great concern about and intervention against social evils and injustices. Our Scriptures provide historical narrative, common-sense wisdom, and liberating theology that speaks to both personal and corporate ethics. If the church hopes to transition into the emerging culture with credibility, relevance, and authenticity, then a broadened interest and vision for social ethics is an absolute necessity (The Church in Transition, Zondervan 2006. P. 75). In this prescription for churches, there is not only an identified blind spot in the churches’ interaction with culture, but also an underlying realization that what the Apostle Paul said is so very accurate, then and now. We must love the people around us, not just those in the church, but also those outside the church. This, much like faith, is not just an intellectual or emotional affirmation, but one that involves us in direct action to work for the good of our neighbor. Now let’s be upfront about this. Our concern, ours for our neighbor, is not about filling pews, nor is it about creating a more just and harmonious world. We cannot create” heaven on earth”, because that, after all, is God’s role and his responsibility. Ours is to be obedient to the commands of our savior. Jesus said, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” That means that when do good for our neighbors, whoever they are, we ought to go to some of the same lengths that we would do for ourselves. This revolves around another command of Jesus to, “do unto others as you would have them do to you.” If you needed shoes and had none, would you rather receive your neighbor’s old pair or a new pair? Now, I realize that if you had no shoes, you would be grateful for even a used pair, but when was the last time that you replaced a worn out pair of shoes with a used pair of shoes? What does it mean to love our neighbor? To give them our cast off shoes, or to put a new pair on their feet?
Without love, our words are nothing but a clanging cymbal or a resounding gong. If we do not fill our actions with love, no, if our actions are not driven by our love for our neighbors, then they will be nothing but an empty gesture. Are we ready to love as Jesus loved, to love our neighbors as ourselves, to do unto others what we would want them to do to us?
Blessings,
Kevin
May 2008
At times we in the church forget that we are to be like Christ Jesus. Or should I say, we forget at times that we need to reflect the full image of Jesus, not just the portions we find comfortable. So there are points when we need to speak the truth, always in love. There are points when we need to be willing to be persecuted, even killed. There are also times that you and I need to reach out to those on the edges of our culture, those who are marginalized and left for dead, like the man that Good Samaritan helped. We need to move beyond the comfortable confines of our homes and church and be like Jesus.
Dick Staub writes in The Culturally Savvy Christian, “In today’s highly divisive culture war, Christians have become characterized as those who know or claim to know the “right answers,” or truth, rather than being known for our love. We cannot escape the Apostle Paul’s admonition, ‘If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing’ (1 Corinthians 13:1-3). If we are genuinely transformed by God’s love, our agape should drive us out of our cocoon and into the world, out of combat and into compassion, and out of conformity and into transformative truth, but above all, we will be known for our love” (118).
Yet, this is not what we are known for in our culture. The under 35 crowd often assumes that Christians are racists, sexist, greedy, and self-righteous. Christians in North America have an image problem and the disturbing part is that there may well be some truth in the culture’s criticism of the church and of Christians in general. The most segregated hour in North America is Sunday morning between 11:00 and 12:00. Much of the church does not accept women in roles of leadership, and when we do, women are often relegated to small and under resourced churches. Consider recent headlines about churches and denominations fighting over property. As if this were not enough, add on the sex scandals in the church over the past few years and add the occasional story where the treasurer runs off with the money or the pastor with the organist. It only makes the whole image of the church all the more degraded.
But it is not only the image of the church, it is also the image of Christ Jesus himself that is distorted and corrupted in the eyes of the world. It leaves us with no reasonable place to stand. We are arguing for righteousness, for holy behavior and all the time living in a fashion that negates our claim to truth and holiness. Perhaps part of the problem is that we become too focused on some very specific areas of life and forget the rest. Perhaps, we forget the most important tool we have to use, the love of God. What would happen if we just started loving people, just as they are, no conditions, no preconceived notions about what they have to do, and just cared for people. That does not mean we compromise ourselves, but rather we take the example of Jesus himself, and love people without condition, and allow the Holy Spirit to work in their lives.
Blessings, Kevin
April 2008
The weeks after that first Easter Sunday were weeks of fear of being arrested and killed and the uncertainty of what the empty tomb meant. It was also a time of exceedingly joy- filled moments when Jesus was powerful and wonderfully present with the disciples. The disciples knew Jesus had risen, but still didn’t understand what this would mean. It would become clearer on Pentecost, but that was still a few weeks away. It seems one of the most difficult places for us to live, in the place of uncertainty.
That is the place where the church is presently, at least in the western world, a place of uncertainty. As we continue to enter the postmodern world we will find that many of the standard answers and programmatic approaches offered by the last few generations will continue to miss the mark with the newer generations. It indeed may be nice to think that this is just another example of the generation gap, or the confusion between two generations. The reality of the postmodern world is much different.
Tim Conder writes, “This emerging culture is shaped by a philosophy known as postmodernism, which encourages the pursuit of truth along new avenues of inquiry. According to theologian John Franke, postmodernity interprets truth and reality with predispositions of “finitude” and “suspicion.” The postmodern mindset tends to reject global, one-size-fits-all-communities-and-contexts explanations of truth. Since the human ability to know truth is finite, postmodern thinkers tend to be wary of any person or institution that offers or demands a universal and infinite view, suspecting such perspectives are often rooted in a desire to control and manipulate, or even do violence to others” (2006. The Church in Transition: The Journey of Existing Churches into the Emerging Culture. Zondervan. Grand Rapids, Mi.)
The philosophical underpinnings of modernity rested heavily on a strong notion of universal truth, this is true in both the religious and the scientific communities, even though at times their goals seem to be in competition, their understanding of truth was rather similar. Postmodernity is much different in its assumptions of truth. For postmodern thinkers, truth is much less universal, and much more subjective. There seems to be an inherent distrust of authority and the institution, which ever one it may be, government, education, church or the like.
For the disciples of Jesus living in this uncertain time will be marked by a different set of troubles than the disciples knew between Easter and Pentecost. But, we can fully expect to encounter Jesus in these times, in the same fashion. At some point we will more fully comprehend the calling that we are receiving as followers of Jesus in these unsettled times. There are a few things we can hold onto in the present: Easter is always followed by Pentecost, and Jesus still leads his church. We may need to think more like cross-cultural missionaries, we may need to employ new language, we may need to think in some new ways, but as we hear the call of the risen Christ, we will find life and hope and joy.
Blessings, Kevin
March 2008
In 2008 we find that Easter Sunday is rather early. Often we find it later on the calendar, but not this year. Lent begins with Ash Wednesday on February 6, and as we have for the past several years, we will observe the beginning of the Lenten season with a service and a prayer vigil. If you have not signed up for a time slot, you may want to do so quickly, the spots are going fast.
You will be able to get a copy of the guide for praying the psalms. Last year was our first experience with praying the psalms for Lent, and this year we will again experience this ancient pattern of prayer in the life of the church. It is a disciplined approach to prayer, and hopefully it will yield a deeper experience of prayer and communion with the Living God. After all, this is the reason we practice the disciplines of the faith, to know the Holy Trinity, to experience the living God. There are many ways we can experience God and deepen our knowledge of the Trinity. Yet, the ancient practices of the church offer us a new path to employ, new only because the free church has often declined these disciplines, sometimes from ignorance and at times from a fear that it may lead to a cold and lifeless formality.
Lent is a time when you may want to consider some additional disciplines from the history of the universal church. One that has often been practiced in Lent is fasting. There are many ways one can fast in Lent. One is setting aside days for fasting, and in that time to refrain from eating anything while only drinking water. Another way fasts have been practiced is to remove a meal from your daily schedule and to use that time for prayer, devotions, study or service. While fasting is often associated with food, one could also fast from various forms of media in order to spend time in mediation, devotion or service. It is not about weight loss or habit modification, but it is about knowing God more deeply and more fully.
Regardless of the disciplines that you use, and I do encourage you to use them, set the goal of deepening your life in faith, deepening your connection with Christ Jesus and his body, the church.
Blessings,
Kevin
February 2008
In 2008 we find that Easter Sunday is rather early. Often we find it later on the calendar, but not this year. Lent begins with Ash Wednesday on February 6, and as we have for the past several years, we will observe the beginning of the Lenten season with a service and a prayer vigil. If you have not signed up for a time slot, you may want to do so quickly, the spots are going fast.
You will be able to get a copy of the guide for praying the psalms. Last year was our first experience with praying the psalms for Lent, and this year we will again experience this ancient pattern of prayer in the life of the church. It is a disciplined approach to prayer, and hopefully it will yield a deeper experience of prayer and communion with the Living God. After all, this is the reason we practice the disciplines of the faith, to know the Holy Trinity, to experience the living God. There are many ways we can experience God and deepen our knowledge of the Trinity. Yet, the ancient practices of the church offer us a new path to employ, new only because the free church has often declined these disciplines, sometimes from ignorance and at times from a fear that it may lead to a cold and lifeless formality.
Lent is a time when you may want to consider some additional disciplines from the history of the universal church. One that has often been practiced in Lent is fasting. There are many ways one can fast in Lent. One is setting aside days for fasting, and in that time to refrain from eating anything while only drinking water. Another way fasts have been practiced is to remove a meal from your daily schedule and to use that time for prayer, devotions, study or service. While fasting is often associated with food, one could also fast from various forms of media in order to spend time in mediation, devotion or service. It is not about weight loss or habit modification, but it is about knowing God more deeply and more fully.
Regardless of the disciplines that you use, and I do encourage you to use them, set the goal of deepening your life in faith, deepening your connection with Christ Jesus and his body, the church.
Blessings,
Kevin
January 2008
What role will the church play in the future of North America? That may sound like a question that is too big to be considered in a short while. This question may not be one that is best left to a committee in a national meeting of the religious folk of North America. In reality, it is a question that is more than not determined by the way that every day believers display Jesus in their day to day interactions with those who are not believers.
The role that the church will play is not determined by national advertising campaigns, slogans or tag lines. It has little to do with what translation of the bible we read or promote, and it has nothing to do with the architecture of our buildings. However, it has everything to do with the way that we portray Jesus in the difficult and comfortable situations of living.
Our tendency is to push this to a moral standards argument, or at least it has been this way for the past several decades. While living a moral life is clearly part of following after Jesus it is not ultimately what Christianity is about. If we are only a moral code, and if you follow the code you go to heaven, then none of us will ultimately make the cut. It is one reason we Christians, are often spoken of as hypocrites, because we don’t often practice what we preach. This is the logical outcome of defining Christianity by a moral code. Please do not misunderstand my point. I do believe that we, as followers of Jesus, should be living an exemplarily life before the world.
Here is the question that I do want us to consider in the New Year. Is it the grace of God, the forgiveness we receive because of Jesus’ actions that define us or is it a moral code? If we are defined by the grace of God and forgiveness, it will then be displayed in our behavior and our interactions with the world. If we define ourselves by a moral code, even one biblically constructed, it too will be displayed in our behavior and interaction. Being defined by grace and forgiveness would hopefully result in Christlike behavior, but if we are defined by a moral code, my fear is that it will result in a harsh moralism and a legalistic faith, centered not in following Jesus, but in following the rules.
In the recent book “Unchristian” many people who know Christians and are not Christians assume we are more concerned about the rules than about people. We are often perceived much like the Pharisees in the New Testament. My prayer for the coming year is this- that each of us would more fully represent Jesus to the world. Notice I said, Jesus, not the church, not faith, not religion, but Jesus. At the end of the day, it is not the church that saves, that gives life, it is Jesus. And our role is to point people to Jesus. Let’s be sure that we point people to Jesus and not drive them from Jesus.
Blessings,
Pastor Kevin
Here in North America we are awash in Christmas traditions. Some find their origin in the life of the church, and others seem to find their origin in the marketplace. While we may devote a great deal of time and money to this celebration, we are not alone in celebrating Christmas. Many around the world celebrate it in different and unique ways. In some we will see common reflections of our own traditions; in others we see new ways to honor Christ our King and Lord.
The website, www.thehistoryofchristmas.com speaks of the many different ways that people around the world celebrate Christmas. I want to share a few of these with you. These come from places where Christians are a distinct minority and in many cases a persecuted minority, and yet we find the celebration of Christmas. Perhaps as we move through the Advent season this year, we could remember our brothers and sisters who celebrate the birth of the Lord Jesus, in our prayers and in our thoughts.
Syria
In Syria on December 6, a special
mass is held in churches in honor of Saint Nicholas Thaumaturgus,
whose legend has said was a kind and generous man - not dissimilar
to Saint Nicholas after whom Santa Claus is modeled.
On Christmas Eve everyone in the family carries a lit candle and
stands around an unlit bonfire outside their house. The youngest
child, usually the son, of the family reads the Christmas story,
after which the bonfire is lit. The way the flames spread shows the
luck of the house in the coming year. When the fire burns, psalms
are sung, and when it sinks, everyone leaps over the embers making
wishes.
Early on Christmas morning everyone goes to mass. At this mass
another bonfire is lit in the middle of the floor. While the wood is
blazing, ancient hymns are sung and the celebrant carries a figure
of the Christ Child around the building. After this the celebrant
then touches the nearest person in a "touch of peace". This touch is
passed from one to another until everyone has received it.
Christmas dinner is chicken, oranges, nuts and pastries. But it is
on New Year's Day that children receive presents. They are brought
their gifts by the youngest of the camels that carried the Three
Wise Men to Bethlehem. The children leave water and hay outside the
house of the camel. In the morning the water and hay are gone,
replaced by presents.
Iran
Christmas in Iran is known as the Little Feast. For the first 25 days of December, a great fast is observed, during which no meat, eggs, milk, or cheese is eaten. It is a time of peace and meditation; a time for attending services at the church. When the fast is over, the feast is begun, and plenty of meat is prepared for the Christmas dinner.
Christmas Eve is the last day of the
fast. Almost before dawn on Christmas Day, the people attend mass to
receive communion and it is not until they have received this
communion that they are permitted to break fast.
The boys and girls of Iran have never heard of Santa Claus, so they
do not exchange gifts at Christmas. But they do receive new clothes,
which they proudly wear all during the happy Christmas week.
A dish eaten for Christmas Day is a kind of chicken stew called 'harasa'.
It is cooked in large quantities and lasts several days.
Iraq
On Christmas Eve, Iraqi Christian families gather together and one of the children reads about the birth of Jesus while other family members hold lighted candles. After the reading, a bonfire of thorn bushes is lit and everyone sings. If the thorns burn to ashes, good luck will be granted for the coming year. When the fire dies, each person jumps over the ashes three times and makes a wish. On Christmas Day another bonfire is lit in the churchyard. The bishop, carrying a figure of the Baby Jesus leads the service. Afterwards he blesses one person with a touch. That person touches the person next to him or her and the touch is passed around until all present have felt the "touch of peace."
Israel
Bethlehem, the little town where Jesus is said to have been born is the site of the Church of the Nativity, which is ablaze with flags and decorations every Christmas. On Christmas Eve natives and visitors alike crowd the church's doorways and stand on the roof to watch for the dramatic annual procession. Galloping horsemen and police mounted on Arabian horses lead the parade. They are followed by a solitary horseman carrying a cross and sitting astride a coal-black steed. Then come the churchmen and government officials. The procession solemnly enters the doors and places an ancient effigy of the Holy Child in the church. Deep winding stairs lead to a grotto where visitors find a silver star marking the site of the birth of Jesus.
Christian homes in Bethlehem are marked by a cross painted over the door and each home displays a homemade manger scene. A star is set up on a pole in the village square.
I hope you enjoy these windows into the lives of other believers. I would ask that you begin to include in your regular prayers, a concern for these believers who live in much different circumstances around the world. I know the Advent and Christmas seasons are filled with activity and many things that you need to attend. Yet, I would ask, that as you move through this season when you hear of these countries, Syria, Iran, Iraq, and Israel, that you would remember and pray for the believers who are living there. These are small communities, and from the reports I read they are becoming smaller. And while they may speak a different language, worship in another format and sing different songs, they are still our brothers and sisters in Christ. Their stories are often untold here in the west, but they are still part of the family to which we belong. Pray for them.
Blessings,
Pastor Kevin
October 2007 Newsletter
We live in a time and place where religion, especially organized religion is being increasingly marginalized and depicted as bad, evil or simply out of touch. Many people will say, “I’m not religious, but I’m spiritual.” It is an interesting idea, and what it often means is that I will take a little of this tradition, along with a bit of this and mix it together to make something that is tailored just for me. It will be very heavy on things that make the person feel comfortable or good. There will be very little that will challenge a person to grow, mature or ask hard questions about life and living.
Dick Staub writes, “Throughout history, humans have conducted their spiritual journeys within the context of ancient religions, which were rich with lessons from the past and offered disciplines useful for growth and for the progression to maturity. At their worst, religions have been used to abuse and manipulate their adherents. But at their best, these loving, intergenerational communities have been preservers of community, timeless truths, and practice. In Hollywood, spirituality is in and religion is out. Roma Downey, Star of the 1990’s TV series “Touched by an Angel,” observes, “We have always reminded people that there is a God, that it’s just the one God: the God of Love. We were more spiritual than religious.” In one episode of “The Simpsons” son Bart ask his father Homer, what his religious beliefs are. Homer replies, “You know, the one with all the well-meaning rules that don’t work in real life. Uh, Christianity[1].”
At one level we are fighting an uphill battle because, the simple fact is that we represent an organized form of Christianity; we must deal with a trust issue and bridge any credibility problems generated by the entire Christian world. This task becomes increasingly more difficult with younger generations. Those in their late teens and early twenties will be especially suspect of a person talking about church. In previous generations it was almost necessary to have a denominational affiliation to be taken seriously. Today simply removing a denominational tag from church signage typically results in a ten percent increase in worship attendance. This whole issue is raised to another level by the persistent scandals revolving around sexual misconduct by both Roman Catholics and Protestants.
All together the scandal issues with authority and the rapidly changing culture leave the church in North America in a difficult place. We can continue to do what we have done and found successful in the past, and that will work for a limited portion of the population. The majority of people here in North America will not find it helpful, interesting or different than anyone else wanting their attention, time and money. When you consider how we typically present the church, we often employ a model from Corporate America. We are organized with a board of directors with various divisions under them. Consider if you will that churches often employ the same practices as a successful fast-food restaurant chain. The church and the restaurant both employ logos and signs to make their brand quickly recognizable to the public. Both will work to have good parking. Both will offer special goods and services for children, youth and older adults. Both will ask you to give money in exchange for the goods and services you have received. One will give you a quick meal, the other a spiritual package.
If there were only one chain (denomination), perhaps it would do well in such an environment. We live in a world where there is fierce competition for the portion of the market that is interested in consuming spiritual goods. There are several chains, some more formal, and some more casual. We are no longer competing against other Christians, but against every religion that can offer spiritual goods in our market. I can’t help but ask if all this pleases God. My gut tells me that the answer is no.
Jesus did not set out to establish many churches, but to establish the Church, the Kingdom of God. At some point we must come to the realization that we are not in this for our church alone. We are not in this for the denomination alone. We are not in this for Protestants alone. We are in this for the Kingdom of God.
When we begin to comprehend the world from a kingdom perspective rather than a personal or “my church” perspective there will be a change in us. This can be a terrifying and difficult transition to make. What it is about is the beginning to put the pieces of the puzzle back together, to see the whole picture that is the body of Christ. And, yes, there will be parts of the big picture that are difficult for us. But, we know that in our families there are people we don’t get along well with, but that does not make them any less a part of the family. At the heart of this is not loyalty to a local church or a denomination but rather loyalty to Christ Jesus.
The next thing we must do is to ask how God intends for us to impact the current culture in North America. This is a radically different culture than it was just thirty years ago. Just the changes in communications are staggering alone. We are more mobile, more connected to information sources, less connected with each other and we are rapidly seeing regional distinctions disappear. As a culture we are increasingly distrustful of large organizations, authority and increasingly wanting our news, entertainment and recreation tailored specifically to our individual tastes.
Can the church impact this culture? Yes! I have no doubt that we can. However, I am also convinced that we must begin to think and interact with this culture in radically different ways. What those forms need to be is a good question, but I will say without hesitation that they will be different than anything we have done in the past. The time that we find ourselves in can either be the most terrifying time to be a part of the church in North America, or it will be the most exciting time to be a part of the church. I suppose it comes down to our attitudes and our willingness to follow Jesus into this new wilderness and see where he will take us.
Blessings,
Kevin Derr, Pastor
Staub, D. The Culturally Savy Christian. 2007. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. San Francisco.
SEPTEMBER 2007
Many experts will tell you that we are at a point of radical change in our culture and in our world. It is a time of discontinuous change, when the changes that are coming reflect little of the world that we knew before. A time when not only have the rules to the game changed, but the game itself has changed.
How are we in the church to survive in this turbulent storm of change and upheaval? How are we to speak of the good news in this time and place? How are we to share the message of Jesus with people who are culturally disconnected from us?
Alan J. Roxburgh and Fred Romanuk writing in The Missional Leader, state, “For more than a century, North American churches were at the center of culture; they were an essential part of most people’s belief and value systems. Therefore, leadership skills and capacities were developed around how to most effectively engage people when they came to church. It was about training men and women who would faithfully run effective branch plants of the denomination so that when people came they would be well served with a set of expected resources, experiences and programs” (8). Today the picture is different. The church is no longer at the center of culture, it is not essential to the belief and value systems of much of our culture.
We can no longer operate under the assumption that people will come to the church seeking answers, connections or faith. The church in North America often operates from a consumer model. We have a set of goods and services, spiritual and religious in nature, and so we market ourselves as a dispenser of such goods and services. In many ways local churches are seen and understood as franchises of a denomination, each with its own specific focus and specialization. Much like McDonalds or Burger King: we can see signs with logos and trademarks; we see specialized buildings with well lit parking lots and special accommodations for children; we see each employing staff, and even a cash transaction. Some churches use a cash register like we use an offering plate. It is easy to understand why people distrust the church, in many ways we look and feel like any corporate player in the modern world. We even employ some of the same language, a board of directors for example. The more professional we become, the more slick our presentation, the more we seem to be another commercial entity seeking to extract time and money from people.
Perhaps we have positioned ourselves in a very poor fashion. We cannot compete with the world. We do not have the skills, the money or the resources. But even if we did, should we? In reality do we want to present the church, the gospel, Jesus as another commercial interest competing for people’s time and money? Do we want to reduce following Jesus to a cash transaction conducted in our franchise?
So, what would we like to see the church doing? Perhaps a better question, what would Jesus like to see in his church? The question we need to be asking is how do you and I faithfully live out Jesus’ intent in the twenty-first Century. The answer to that question will not be centered in a building, in a franchise, but in relationships with people, those who are followers of Jesus and those who are not.
Jesus did not limit his interaction to those who were his disciples, but rather embraced not only irreligious Jews but gentiles and Samaritans as well. Jesus never allowed his followers to pursue their own agendas, but rather called them to radical obedience.
Yet, how do we translate all this into our cultural setting? How do we begin to talk to those beyond our circle of fellow followers of Jesus? How do we begin to speak the good news of Christ Jesus into the lives of those who have no idea who Jesus is?
My hope and prayer is this, that over the next few years we will work to answer these questions, not in the safe and comfortable ways of the past, but in ways that will make sense in the present, to an increasing unchurched and perhaps even hostile world.
In our time of uncharted change and new directions and developments, we can find answers. Remember Jesus said, “Seek and you will find.”
Blessings,
Kevin
8707 W. Cheltenham Ave. / Wyndmoor, PA 19038 / Phone: (215) 836-5083
