As if We'd Never Been Here Before
For the past few weeks, Kathy, Jeff, Shannon, and I have been reading a very thought-provoking book titled "Why Men Hate Going to Church." It's been a very fascinating read for us, because the author (David Murrow) is challenging us to look at the life of the church (who we are and what we do) through some different lenses. Everything from architecture to music to preaching to study to Sunday School to youth group to administration - all of it seems to have some very common denominators running through it that, when looked at differently, point to very reasonable and, upon further reflection, obvious ways in how the church for several hundred year now has gone about its work in a way that is much more appealing to women than men. Much of it has its roots in the ways in which God in all forms (Father, Son, Spirit) has been portrayed.
The challenge has been having the courage and ability to bring another dialog partner, in this case, David Morrow, into our discussion and allowing ourselves to look at things in a way that may not come naturally to those of us who are so familiar with the church and its ways.
There's another group that has been hard at work over the last few months doing some similar work - our Long Range Planning Committee. Using as our guide Kennon Callahan's 12 Keys to an Effective Church, the LRPC (along with me and Kathy) have also had to look at our congregation's life in ways that are not necessarily natural for people who have been a part of this congregation or any congregation for whom 'churchese' is a native language.
In each of these cases, the joy has been that our conversation partners (the respective books) are not laying out a 'here's what you need to do and everything will be ok' M.O. for us to follow. Instead, they are giving us various things to think about and reflect upon as we move into the next phase of our congregation's life.
Where I think this is helpful for us as individuals is that it naturally leads us to ask of ourselves, "Where is it that I can improve? What is it about me or my life to which I am oblivious that is keeping me from being all that God desired for His will to be done in my life and the life of the world?"
And that, dear friends, is one reason why Christianity without the church is not as God intended. We are, as we will hear from Kathy this week, to 'provoke one another to love and good deeds.' Part of this is allowing conversation partners (our fellow Christians) to help us challenge basic assumptions about ourselves, not out of malice, but out of the concern that we have for one another.
After all, is there any among us who has everything figured out? Didn't think so.
See You Sunday!
Lamar