Faith and Football

I recently read a post about why a pastor quit attending sporting events.  It was satire, and I suppose if you related to this you saw the humor in it.  It read:

12 Reasons Why a Pastor Quit Attending Sports Events

1. The coach never came to visit me.
2. Every time I went, they asked me for money.
3. The people sitting in my row didn’t seem very friendly.
4. The seats were very hard.
5. The referees made a decision I didn’t agree with.
6. I was sitting with hypocrites—they only came to see what others were wearing!
7. Some games went into overtime and I was late getting home.
8. The band played some songs I had never heard before.
9. The games are scheduled on my only day to sleep in and run errands.
10. My parents took me to too many games when I was growing up.
11. Since I read a book on sports, I feel that I know more than the coaches, anyway.
12. I don’t want to take my children because I want them to choose for themselves what sport they like best.

I would add, the people next to me were talking and I couldn't hear the announcer.  It was distracting.

In case you didn't get the irony, these are all reasons people give for not going to church.  I read this right before the hometown football game last Friday and as I sat in the stands cheering wildly for the Hornets to Go-Fight-Win, I realized I wasn't there because of the coach, or the songs, or band (okay a little for the band), I was there for two reasons:  1.) I was there for the kids in my youth group and 2.) (probably the most significant) I LOVE football.  I cheer when they win, I cheer when they lose, I just love the game.  In spite of the people next to me talking or the child on the lap behind me that kept kicking me in the back, I worked to pay attention, because I love the game.

Then I thought about how this applies to people and church.  It really doesn't matter if the pews are uncomfortable, or if the church leadership does things you don't always agree with.  It doesn't matter if the people there are just as lost as you are, it doesn't matter about the music or the pastor.  The distractions do not matter nor any of these things matter if you love to worship God.  Ultimately, that is the driving force that gets people to care about coming to worship.   That, and the people you love.  Love God.  Love People.  Easy, right?

With the mainline denominations in decline, I would say we have taught them that God loves them, in essence the world revolves around them, but have not taught them to love God.  They may believe in God or wish to belong to a church, but without love for God and others it doesn't amount to a thing.

If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have 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 all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

 Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

 Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians 13

A Future Filled with Hope

I know the plans I have in mind for you, declares the LORD; they are plans for peace, not disaster, to give you a future filled with hope.  Jeremiah 29:11  (CEB)

This passage of scripture was very important very early in discerning my call to ministry.  I was trying to figure out how on earth I could possibly follow God into ministry which in my denomination is itinerant.  I had three children, a husband who was employed in Oklahoma City, and a good job that paid more than the starting salary for newbie preachers.  How on earth could we possibly entertain such a notion?  I needed to go to seminary, but the closest United Methodist seminaries were in Dallas and Kansas City.  They required a significant period of time to be away from the family, something I was unwilling to do.  Maybe when my children were older and I had saved up some money I could follow this leading, but God was persistent.

I couldn't see the future and was uncertain how I could follow this calling with everything happening in my life.  Then I came across the above verse, completely out of context, with the kind of holy highlighting on it you cannot ignore.  It was to me at that time, and many times since, a promise from God that through the years of my ministry I have clung to time and again.  And God has never failed me.

In my most recent appointment it seemed as if the congregation needed to hear this promise.  They needed to know that God had not forgotten them and that they still had purpose and meaning for the Kingdom of God.  They wanted  to believe this, but as I began to preach to them about God's promise I realized that there was still some lingering doubt in their hearts.  The unspoken question was "can God still work through us?"  After being here for a couple of years, I can say that God is still significantly at work there.

I am moving from that congregation and to another.  There are people who are upset about my move because things have begun to go well and there are accomplishments happening beyond expectations.  They think it has something to do with me, but it doesn't.

In the Hebrew Scriptures the people cried out for a King, and through a prophet God told them that all they needed was God.  A King would only draw their attention away from God.  They would think that their success was because of the King.  A good King would continually point them to God, but as we read the scriptures, this was not necessarily the norm for the children of Israel.

I want the people of any congregation I have served to understand that any success I may have in that place is only if I can point them to God, not if they think I am God. Then I have failed.  Perhaps that is why two years is long enough in this place, that they may know that it isn't about me, it is about God at work in their midst, and with or without me God still has a future filled with hope for them.  They must be faithful to God's calling and continue on the ministry God has for them in that location.

To any congregation I have yet to serve, I want the same thing to be known.  I believe we are called to be a ministry team.  There is a division of duties to get the task completed, but no one in a team is more significant than another or the team cannot truly be successful.  In the secular world success is measured individually - what have I done, not what have we done.  This is not true for the body of Christ, we are united in the body of Christ.  It is not about I or we but about CHRIST without whom we are insignificant.

The next two verses in Jeremiah has even more promises from God.

When you call me and come and pray to me, I will listen to you.  When you search for me, yes, search for me with all your heart, you will find me.  Jeremiah 29:12-13 (CEB)

Let us call upon and search for the Lord with all our hearts and our ministry, together and apart, will further the Kingdom of God - which after all is the whole point.

Blessings!

New Ways of Communicating the Old, Old Story

I attended a gathering of friends today in which we discussed various social media.  Twitter, Facebook, blogging, etc.  There was a great deal of wonderful discussion about the best way churches can utilize social media to communicate with their members and reach those outside the church with the message of Christ. 

I was kind of surprised by some of the concerns that were raised.  It’s not that I haven’t heard these concerns before, specifically, “it’s so impersonal,” “people will substitute this for real relationships.”  I guess I am amazed that there are still people who think this way.  Social media is not a fad and is not going away.  In fact, businesses are finding out that if you do not communicate in some way through social media, you will be behind the curve.  See this VIDEO.  Churches have been behind the curve for a while, so what’s the big deal, right?  For the rest of the world; however, it isn’t like ways of communicating have not seen major changes over the course of human history.  I mean we no longer have messengers travel cross country on foot to deliver a message to another town – much. 

There are those who bemoan the lost art of letter writing.  From the advent of pen and paper people have communicated with those they love by letter.  But if we examine this beloved practice closely, we will recognize the similarities between letter writing and newfangled ways of communicating like email, IM, or Facebook.  One of the comments today mentioned the lack of the personal contact in that you cannot read a person’s facial expressions or body language.  You cannot read someone’s facial expressions or body language in a letter either, and yet there were romances that started, blossomed and developed through correspondence.  People can write their hearts, and share through the written word meaningful truths.  Poets through the centuries have expressed deep and powerful thoughts in the written word.  In fact, our sacred writings found in the Bible lack facial expressions, body language, and because the of the distance in time a thorough understanding of the culture by many who read these verses and find them to be meaningful in their lives.   While it may seem that you cannot compare Facebook with Shakespeare or the writings of Paul, I would say that much of what is written is no different than the typical “letter from home” that would share the trivialities of daily life with those who lived far away. 

Another concern expressed today was that people might perhaps substitute an online sermon for church attendance; therefore, never joining the community of faith.  Now, I understand that we are trying to encourage people to join a community of faith because this is the fullest expression of us living out our faith and belief.  However, I also feel that some of the consideration for this is that we cannot count them as being in our pews on Sunday and they do not give to the organization.  I think these are poor excuses at missing out on an opportunity to share the gospel message. 

I post my sermons online each week.  I will continue, as I am able, to post my sermons regardless of what apportionment or ministry setting I may be in.  While I post my sermons on my church’s web site, I also link them on my blog, on Facebook and on Twitter.  I know I have several people in the US who visit my blog, but there are also people in Canada, the Philippines, Indonesia, the UK, Australia, Slovakia, India, Ireland and Romania which round out the top ten countries who visit.  Of course, I will probably never have contact with the many people who visit the blog or listen to a sermon.  I will not be able to count them in my average worship attendance and they will probably never give to the church’s general budget, but I do believe that this is one way I can carry out my commission to “go into the world and make disciples” and continue in the thinking of Wesley that “the world is my parish.” I believe that if God can inspire someone through the feeble, but faithful work that I do to bring the message, God can certainly connect them with a community of faith to baptize, to nurture, and to disciple them in the faith. 

As for those who choose to participate in a virtual community such as the various churches found on sites such as Second Life, while I may not think this is the ideal way of developing community, nor do I think that it would feed my soul, I am unwilling to put God in a box and believe that even in this people cannot be reached for God’s Kingdom.  There are those with debilitating phobias, who would never leave their homes, so are they unworthy to receive the gospel message because they are unable or unwilling to do so on my terms?  This is what I feel we are saying if we scoff at the ministry provided on virtual sites. 

The church (all denominations) in the United States is in decline.  For too long Christians have been saying, “You must meet us where we are, you must do things the way we do in order to belong.”  I am thankful Jesus didn’t sit in the synagogue and say, “all you marginalized folks out there that the temple has rejected, clean up your act and come to me.”  For all you Methodist folks out there, I am thankful that John Wesley did believe the world was his parish and left the cathedrals for the fields and coal mines.  Jesus did not say, “stay here on this mountain and I will send ready-made disciples to you.”  Jesus said, “go in to all the world and make disciples.” 

Long Time No Post

Have you ever had one of those weeks? You know the ones, when you finally get to Sunday, you feel like last Sunday was three weeks ago. I had one of those. Since the last Sunday there was a death and a funeral, my computer had issues (which are now resolved thankfully), and we had a busy day on Friday and Saturday. Whew, I am so glad its Sunday.

Today I desperately needed Sunday. Even if Sundays are tiring and it feels like I have so much to do, I find there are times I really need Sunday. I need the fellowship, I need to feel the Spirit moving in ways that is only found in a community of faith. Do you ever feel that way? What happens when we miss that opportunity?

I read once about a man sitting before the fire with a friend who did not regularly attend church. When the man talked to him about coming to church, the friend said he didn't need to attend church to believe in God, to which the man agreed. Then he took an ember from the fire. In the fire it was brightly blazing and even being removed it glowed brightly with the fire it contained. However, as they sat together in silence, the ember now separated from the rest of the fire began to grow cold and pretty soon it was merely a cold, black lump. There were no other words needed to illustrate what happens to a Christian separated from their community of faith.

Recognition of Hard Work

Occasionally, you just have to scream out "yea us!" and "yea God!" I know we are not to be about the elevation of ourselves or whether or not our work for the kingdom is recognized in anyway, but if it is, is it really wrong to get excited about it? Maybe, but I would like to share anyway. The Contact printed an article entitled 3 Churches Rated Outstanding and guess what? You got it, one was ours!

Of course, we knew about this in May when we received the award, but it was still kind of exciting to see in the paper, and I thought I would share.