I have been pondering this idea of “start with why” for my own ministries then it had me wondering. Does our church even know the ‘why’ of its existence? Sure there are some mission statements, but those are things that the church says it wants to be. Not really why it is there. Maybe I am thinking to hard on this, but companies who live to do their why have captured mass appeal. Maybe the church doesn’t need mass appeal.. The leaders of my faith expression sure seem to want ‘vital’ mass appeal.
mission
Feel Bad for the God who Wasn’t There
In my ongoing documentary watching courtesy of my newfound Netflix subscription I watched “The God Who Wasn’t There.” I remember when this was hitting the release date and it had its natural pub and buzz as denying God can be a real sassy topic. It never interested me as I’ve seen the “Religulous” or “The Root of All Evil” (aka. God Delusion) and could pretty much script the whole documentary.
Well, if I’m already paying for my subscription and it is available, why not? So I watched the documentary and it was as predicted. It took on more so the modern theology of focusing on the resurrection as the only real part of the story. Took a whole bunch of Christian pop culture of the time (the Passion of the Christ gets a good reflection). This is all circles back around as the director/narrator shares that he grew up in a fundamental educational environment. He even takes on his private school principal/dean on some of these theological teachings.
As the movie went on and on I was less impressed by the case against a “God who wasn’t there” but felt bad for him because the God who he had been taught about actually wasn’t there. God wasn’t there because he had been taught a shallow part of the story of God’s workings with his people. There wasn’t anything of grace, dreams, loving others, caring for the poor & less fortunate, and more. There is a God who is there, in my belief, and I’m saddened by this case the many replicating cases out there where people were taught short of the full spectrum of a God who loves them.
Does the UMC really want us to disengage? #umclead
In pondering the whole “Call to Action” and my thoughts yesterday on “Poking the Church” it had me wondering. Why don’t more people get involved and take on their communities and their faith.. What is the one thing? Are we all just to lazy? or maybe we claim to be to ‘busy?’
Maybe, as Dave Meslin puts in this short talk, its more a web of things that compound. He’s talking up a civic cultural apathy. But this in many ways translates into our church cultures. Especially found his framework of intentional exclusion very insightful.
50 First Dates of the Church
My wife loves the movie “50 First Dates” & I enjoy it quite a bit as well. It is one of the few movies we actually own & will still watch on television when it comes on.
So if you want a cute love story comedy then this is our family suggestion.
The premise of the movie is that Drew Barrymore’s character has a rare amnesia that keeps her from remembering anything past a date when she had a car accident. So every day for her is relived the same over and over again. Adam Sandler’s character falls in love with her and when coming to understand her condition continues to try and woo her. As well, he also tries to help her live with her condition. This sets up some really funny and cute scenarios.
One of the scenes in the movie the couple are having a beach campfire, hanging out with many of friends of Barrymore’s character. One of the ‘friends’ played by Maya Rudolph, asks in puzzled amazement, ‘So you work everyday to get her to fall in love with you, and then do it again the next day?’ This questioning is met with a nodding “Yeah.”
What if the church were to work so hard and so passionately to the goal that it’s community were to fall in love with, not the church, but the God & Christ that church represents.
What would that look like? What would the church be doing if it did that?
Why isn’t Youth Ministry a Mission?
I was just thinking…
Why isn’t Youth Ministry a Mission of the church?
That might sound trite, or stupid question, but think about it. If you go to any church website I will, 99% of the time, guarantee you that ‘youth ministry’ or ‘student ministry’ will be under a heading of ‘programs’ of the church.
Does putting it under a ‘program’ heading fundamentally change the expectations of the ministry? So some thoughts on Program & Mission…
Program
- ongoing
- works for those within organization
- routine
- safe
Mission
- evolving – reshaping to needs
- outreach – taking message outside organization
- challenging
- sacrificing
Now, there is nothing wrong with program, as long as those are the expectations and goals behind a program. However, if we really want our churches to reach out, introduce teenagers to a radical Christ, and take on the passion of our Lord.. then wouldn’t our youth ministries be more of a mission category?