An I-GOOGLE Church?

 Jeff Jarvis’s book, What Would Google Do?  is one from which local church leaders would benefit.     The enormously successful and omnipresent Google internet platform has become so by going where its customers are.  Google embeds itself in our computer life.  Open the browser, and there is the Google button.   When I need help with websites I visit, Google’s handy logo  is already there.   Directions to a restaurant?  A Google map is embedded at the business’s site. Wither can I go from thee, O Google?  Google finds a way to be present and helpful in my world while requiring nothing much of me.

On the other hand, Yahoo is a destination.   The internet traveler is lured to the Yahoo site to sort through all that Yahoo has to offer.   By comparison, Google’s home page is spare, devoid of ads and extra frills.   There is only the welcoming and familiar search box ready to meet the user’s need.

90% of local churches are in decline mode and continue to operate out of a come-to-us Yahoo  mentality that seeks first to provide for those who are already comfortable with the  program and know how to negotiate churchly culture.  21st century folks, rightly or wrongly, begin with themselves and add on those “apps” that work for them, kind of like an I-Google page. 

Is your church doing whatever it takes to be where people are?  The grocery store?  The workplace?  The gym?   The soccer field?  As folks assemble their lives’ “me-pages,”would they know to include your congregation  as a community that offers meaning and purpose in life? Food for body and soul? Light in dark places?  Small groups that can become family?

Interestingly, Google does not advertise itself.  It depends on being viral; its happy customers are its evangelists, and they are everywhere!  What a concept!

Black History Month–Do we need it?

In the wake of the inauguration of the first Black president of the United States, Black History Month has taken on new vitality.   In the February swirl of Presidents’ Day, Valentines, and the 200^th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth, higher than average attention is tuned in this year to the Black History Month offerings  of newspaper vignettes, TV programs and significant movies.   Having personally become more intentional in the past year at learning about the histories of both Black and Native Americans, I was pleased to be able to answer the newspaper ‘s  Black History quizzes more accurately than in earlier years.  I still have a lot of reading and listening  to do.

There is so much  history that was not part of the curriculum when I was in school.  The Trail of Tears?   Never heard it mentioned.   There were Black slave owners?   It’s new information for me.  Penn State football  had one of the first athletic departments to insist that Black players travel with the team to “away” games?   I just learned that.   (This is the origin of the famous cheer:   WE ARE…PENN STATE!)  I’m happy that my children had a more complete view of the struggles and contributions of the diverse peoples that are part and parcel of life in the U.S.A.

In the past month, many have closed the door on our nation’s struggle against racism.   After all, we now have a Black President, son of parents from two continents, raised by white grandparents in Hawaii, the most culturally diverse state.   How much more inclusive can we be?

Sadly, the fight to eradicate racism is far from over.  In our commonwealth, one of the newly axed budget items is funding for inner city school and minority teachers.   The visible leadership in our conference is still overwhelmingly white.  “ Jesus Christ Superstar”   tours the country for its Lenten run.   Jesus is played by a fair-skinned blonde.  (The only fair-haired one in all of Israel?)   The only dark-skinned character is, of course, Judas.

Racism is so much a part of the way things are, that we do not even notice. 

Yes, Black History Month is the least we can do.   It provides remedial education for those who are my age and older.   It keeps the issue in front of us.   What bothers me is that we tend to see inclusiveness as a seasonal special interest, not a way of life in the Body of Christ.

Let’s take bolder steps and keep the diverse and global nature of the church visible ALL THE TIME.  There are some great suggestions provided by the General Commission on Religion and Race.   Find them online.   Most of these ideas can be carried out anytime. 

For sure, February is almost over.   Hooray!   We hope winter is soon “past and gone”   (Song of Solomon 2:11)  The journey toward inclusiveness shows great promise, but there are yet miles to go.

White as Snow?

I always wonder about this phrase:  White as snow.  Is it appropriate to sing about being washed white as snow?   Is it an unintentionally racist expression?     I guess I would rather stay away from images that seem to equate white with goodness and dark or black with evil or wrong.  

How about that old hymn that refers to Jesus as “Lily of the Valley?”   It was written by the white director of an African-American choir.   Does this imply that Jesus was the one blue-eyed blonde in all of Israel?

The Blood of Jesus or Tide Stain Remover?

The worship service I attended this morning concluded with Holy Communion.   Despite the winter weather and the rampant germs, the method was “intinction.”   One is given a broken off piece of bread from a server who presumably has clean hands (and a pure heart?) and then one dips it in the cup, hoping that the fingers of others have not previously entered the juice.    While it is the form of communion that is most symbolic of our unity in Christ, many people balk at this kind of intimate sharing, especially during flu season.   I will take my chances.    We have, after all, just passed the peace.   Every trace of active bacteria in the village already belongs to every one of us!

As the odds would have it, I was wearing a white fleece vest.   My piece of bread was somewhat ragged, and the blood of Christ did indeed drip down my front, not such that anyone else would notice.    Not to worry, I believe the vest is scotchgarded, and it wiped off quickly before I reached my seat.   Nevertheless, in the quiet of the meditative moment, the kind woman in front of me pivoted around in her pew.   I thought she was speaking to people-in-general, but it was to me.   DID YOU GET SOMETHING ON YOUR CLOTHES?   In her hand was a trusty orange Tide stain remover pen which she extended toward me.   I gestured that all was well.  I was fine.   Clothes spotless.   Soul, body, and garments washed in the blood.

Overheard

                                                                              

Two long-time church members watch the praise team take their places in the front of the sanctuary.

She asks, ”Do you think, before I die, they’ll put things back the way they was?”

LONG PAUSE.   He shrugs.    “It’s change.   It’s everywhere.”

She says, with an air of entitlement,”I’ve been here all my life, and now I don’t know anybody here.”

He says,  “It’s probably a good thing.”

To the Ends of the Earth

 

For those of us who are most blessed, there are people for whom we would go to the ends of the earth without a second thought.   On the list would be our children, at least.   Some of us would name our lifetime’s 2 or 3 closest friends.   Spouses might be on the list, but I sense that most marriages are more conditional than we admit!    Occasionally, we learn of a promising young person whose life is compromised by tragedy or illness.    We would, we say, give our lives in exchange for theirs, if it were possible.  (But would we say this if it were possible? )  This ultimate self-giving is acted out on some level by living organ donors.  

This week during a family experience of disappointment and loss, I knew that I would do anything to reverse negative outcomes for either of my children, at any time, if I could.    I thought of a few others in this category.   Rather than feeling noble, I realized how pathetically short my “would give my life for” list is despite the fact that these are the very persons whose lives make my heart sing! 

My short list is shamed by the limitless love of God who gave life and love in ways small and great for friends and enemies equally.

And those who lose their lives will find it…

Remembering Where God has Been

 

Psalm 22 begins, “Lord, why have you abandoned me?”    Jesus cried these words from the cross, at the depth of his experience of forsakenness. 

Did he also remember these words that come later in the Psalm?

“Yet it was you who brought me out of the womb;
       you made me trust in you
       even at my mother’s breast.

 From birth I was cast upon you;
       from my mother’s womb you have been my God.”

So many places you have been, Lord, your presence the warp and woof of life’s fabric.   In the midst of despair, memory anchors hope,  “Yet it was you…”

The Family Table

At our family table we find a vegetarian, a couple Weight Watchers point counters, organic gardeners, locivores, a meat-and-potatoes man or two, and one lactose intolerant diner.   What’s a mother to do?

Creation began in a perfect garden.   Weekend conversation about Genesis revealed that Adam and Eve began as frugivores.  (Look it up.)   It was only after the flood that God permitted people to partake of animal life.   I guess you could make the case that meat-eating is a mark of the fallen world.

The Story ends a future perfect garden.  Though the millenials that I know might not frame it theologically, this is The Issue of today’s generation, the restoration of the Garden.   Redemption of creation is God’s work, and we can only be grateful that this generation is choosing to be involved in that work (whether or not they recognize God’s investment in the process).

Walking

Would Jesus have left a carbon footprint?

Occam’s Razor for Trying Times

Occam’s razor is the principle that simple explanations and theories are preferable to the more complex.   

 

 

In the life of faith when daily realities overwhelm and questions abound,  an Occam’s razor approach would be to face the unknown with that which we know.    In times of tragedy, in walks through the valley of the shadow, when questions are unanswerable, this is what I know:

Many things happen that are neither good nor intended by God.   Evil abounds.   The consequences of our wrong choices continue the legacy of brokenness that began with Adam and Eve.   God will work good through the most terrible situations for those who love God.   There are no limits to God’s ability to redeem.  The spiritual journey through difficult times can take on the character of an adventure as we anticipate the amazing work of God against all odds!   In the midst of trying times, the important question is not, “Why?” but “What for?”

I know the character of God.   God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounds in rich love.  This verse appears in scripture at least 4 times.   It seems to be a significant indication of the nature of God.  Consistently, God is more merciful than people wish God to be!   Note the full paycheck awarded to the workers who arrived at quitting time!   Note the party thrown for the son who wasted his inheritance on loose living!   Note the woman caught in adultery and released from the death penalty which was her due, according to the law of the day.     God’s goodness is consistently offensive!

I know that we are part of Christ’s body.  The operative word is part.  There are times when there is not enough light to see by, we feel distant from God, we cannot pray.   It is OK.   Other parts of the body pray for us when we cannot pray for ourselves.