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Tag: discipleship (Page 12 of 23)

A Problem of Identity

June 23, 2023 / / 0 Comments

There is a huge discussion happening in our world these days about identity. Who determines your identity? Is this something we choose? Is it forced upon us? Is it a natural part of the human condition to have an inborn identity? Consider a couple of scenarios that aren’t too far from reality. A young man grows up in a family where the dad is abusive, and he decides that he doesn’t want to be like his dad. A girl is raised by a single mom who is powerful and strong and has it all together, so she decides she will be the strongest woman around and she doesn’t need anyone.

In both of these situations, the young people have determined that their upbringing was going to have an impact on their identity. One determined that their situation was going to make them buck the system while the other embraced the reality.

If we were to push this example just a little bit further, you can see the young man who’s been abused by his dad wanting nothing to do with men. Ultimately, he thinks he can change who he is and form a new identity all because he doesn’t like the example this man has been in his life.

I really believe this issue of identity is a major concern in our culture and we don’t really even realize it. Just 5-7 years ago, ones identity was all but assumed. Not imposed on us but gifted to us individually. There were things we simply did not even consider trying to change. Fast forward to our modern context and it seems as if nothing is consistent if I don’t want it to be consistent.

Where does my identity come from anyway? This is a fundamental question that is answered differently by different camps of people. There are really only two ways of answering this question however. Either our identity is given to us by something outside of ourselves or we are able to freely evolve into whatever identity we desire in the moment. Try as you might to make it more complex but in reality it’s that simple. And once we start individually evolving our identity, there is absolutely no stopping it.

For those of us who are in Christ, who call ourselves Christians, we believe that our identity is found not in our parents or our own self will but it’s in Christ. To call oneself a Christian and not be defined by the things that Christ is about is like having a diesel motor in your vehicle and choosing to put gasoline in it. It just won’t work. And actually you do more harm than you might realize. You can’t be a Christian and not allow the power and presence of Christ to gift you your identity.

Our society is fighting over some massive identity issues. This is the reason for the rise in talk about the LGBTQ movement, among other hot topics of the day. It’s a movement that at its core is about identity. Wanting to self identify as something that runs counter to the natural flow of humanity and nature. Please don’t misread this at all. The intent of this post is not the condone or condemn someone’s lifestyle choices. It’s simply my understanding of the culture in which we live. We are bent on being in charge of our identity.

We think our identity is found in our preferences, sexual, political or otherwise. We think our identity is determined by our position, posture, or possessions. We introduce ourselves by our marital status, job title, occupation, denominational affiliation, political party. You name it, we have imposed identities all around us. But some identities aren’t that easy to just sluff off. We can’t change our identity as a man or woman without some outside force allowing it to be a reality.

I know my thoughts aren’t going to be popular with everyone and that’s ok with me. I know my intent and it’s not to harm. It’s simply to help people see that their identity isn’t found in who they like or if they’re liked back the same way. You don’t need a spouse to be whole. You can be wildly successful in your own right without a PHD or cool title attached to the end of your email.

Your identity isn’t found in the color of your skin or preferred pronouns. Your identity is found in Christ and your perspective in relation to him. You can’t change that. Try as you might to have a more clear picture of yourself through a different title or a change in physical appearance. But deep on the inside you are still the same person with the same identity. You are still someone who God loves deeply. You are still someone for whom Jesus willingly and painfully died. You are someone to whom the gift of heaven was graciously extended.

The world will continue to have an identity crisis until it realizes that its true identity is found in a God who loves through a Son who gives and a Spirit who lives.

Can you help me?

June 22, 2023 / / 0 Comments

Getting volunteers to commit to something is getting more challenging in several parts of our society. I’m not sure why it is but it seems people are more apprehensive about serving while at the same time demanding more places to be able to serve. It’s kind of confusing to be honest.

The issue is however that we need volunteers. We need places and spaces to serve and lend a hand. It’s really the only thing that keeps us from being egotistical and arrogant turds. The more we focus on ourselves the less we focus on others and the more self centered we become. It’s a nasty cycle to say the least.

There is a problem however. In the last post I talked about two filters I use when I look at the volunteerism crisis in churches and non profits. You can read that here. In this post, I promised to give you a way that really seems to work amazingly well when it comes to asking for volunteers. And to make matters even better, it’s super easy! At least it should be easy.

It all starts with why.

When I go about asking for volunteers, I only use two sets of parameters. The first is why you and the second is what I’m asking you to do. It’s really that simple. But it all starts with why.

Before you go into what you want them to do, you have to know who they are. This means that you have to have relationships with the people around you. Know their likes and dislikes, passions and fears. You don’t have to know everything about them but just observe. Are they good with kids? Do they freak out when a child walks in the room? Are they color blind? Are they great with grammar? Or are they unable to spell? Can they sing or are they generous? What about hospitality or compassion?

These are the things we have to look for in the people around us. When we know what gifts people have, it becomes far easier to help them find a place to plug in. So the starting point is to answer a simple question. What do you see in this person that makes you think they’d be right for this job?

When you can answer that question with 3-5 concrete examples, then you’re in the right place. Be very careful however that this isn’t some stupid love fest just to butter someone up and then whack them with an if you really care about the church you’ll serve bunch of nonsense. We’re not talking bait and switch. This is a genuine, honest assessment of who they are from your perspective. So lead with those 3-5 concrete examples of what you see in them.

Would you be interested?

The second step is the ask. So after you’ve told them what you see in them and how they interact with others. After you’ve given them all the reasons that you feel they are a wonderful blessing to your organization, then you ask them if they’d prayerfully consider putting those wonderful gifts to use in this specific area.

You will never get them to plug in if you don’t just ask them. But the beauty here is that once you have gone the distance of really thinking through who they are, asking will be so much easier. It’s a natural fit if you’ve done the first step right.

Is no still an option? Absolutely! And you have to be ok with that reality. But the amazing part of this approach is that when you start by identifying what you see in the other person, even if they say no they’ve been blessed by your comments. Even a no is a work of blessing in their life as they leave the conversation filled by the words you shared.

There’s no golden ticket to getting people engaged in a next level manner. We just need to work diligently at building relationships with the people we serve, communicating what we see in them, and walking alongside them as they grow and deepen their commitment.

Now That’s Offensive

June 1, 2023 / / 0 Comments

The word offensive is one of my least favorite words these days. I don’t mean the offensive line in football either. I’m talking about using the word to describe how something that someone does has made us feel. It’s saying things like:

I’m offended…That’s offensive…

I believe our capacity for being offended has grown exponentially! It’s almost as if we live in a society that thrives on being offended. You stand up for what you think is right, someone is offended. You just voice your opinion, someone gets offended. You tell a friend that something isn’t quite right about their actions, yep someone gets offended!

The greater our capacity for offense becomes, the lower we value our relationships. I’ve lost more than one friend in recent years because they took offense by something they didn’t want to hear. This goes for churched people, not churched people, old people, young people, people on either side of the political aisle. We are living in a culture that is trying to thrive on being offended. But there’s a better way…a much better way.

We need a capacity to forgive that’s greater than our capacity for offense.

If you constantly find yourself getting all bent out of shape over the smallest things, then maybe you need to work on your capacity for forgiveness. Now I know that I’m a church guy and forgiveness is part of our vocabulary but everyone is capable of forgiving. But forgiving isn’t saying that everything is ok or it’s no big deal. Forgiveness is not giving the other person the control over your emotions or thoughts. It’s actually the exact opposite of being offended. When we’re offended, we’re letting someone else control our thoughts and emotional response.

As believers in Jesus, we need to really ask ourselves the hard question. Is our capacity for offense greater than our capacity for forgiveness? If the answer here is yes then we have a gigantic problem! The problem is that we’re not living in the sweet spot of our identity. As Christians our identity is found in the fact that we are forgiven people.

The more we understand our own forgiveness, the more we’ll be able to offer that same forgiveness to those around us. It’s ok to not like what someone else says, but you can’t let that change how you see them. It’s ok to get angry when someone does something that hurts you. But it’s not ok to just cancel them from your life because you’re not strong enough to handle a hard conversation.

If we don’t expand our capacity for forgiveness, we’ll live in a constant state of offense. And that is not a healthy or happy place to live.

Why are churches closing?

May 26, 2023 / / 0 Comments

I recently listened to a podcast by Issues Etc that peaked my interest. The title was increased church closings. The speaker was the director of witness and outreach for the church body to which I ascribe. The statistics shared weren’t really all that surprising and unfortunately neither was the proposed solution. The problem is, the solution doesn’t address the real issue.

So why are churches closing? And why does it seem like they are closing so much faster today than ever before?

Well, churches close all the time. It’s nothing new to have a church close its doors due to lack of funds, community shifts, membership decline, large business closes and people move away, any number of things can lead to a church closing. Some of those are out of our control, but others are fully within grasp. As for why they’re closing so fast now, well the short answer is the pandemic changed the way people see the world, spirituality and service. If a church isn’t living in the integrity of its confession, then it’s pretty obvious to this society and they’ll disengage. Also we’ve set the bar way too low for church membership which makes leaving that much easier.

The podcast speaker says “the importance of religion is declining at a very rapid rate” in the US, and this is one of the main causes of church closures. Is it really that religion and spirituality are on the decline, or is it that the institution of the local church is no longer viewed as important? I don’t think the two are the same thing.

I don’t see, in the pockets of the country I’ve visited or discussed, that people are less spiritual or religious. I see a lot of people saying why do I need to belong to a church to do the things they do? There’s a large and ever growing number of people that are simply disenfranchised by the church’s lack of loving the least of these or loving our neighbors as ourselves. The old accusation of the church being full of hypocrites is all too often true in the church today. We hold the banners of what sins we think are worst, and at the same time neglect to share the fellowship and friendship that the gospel commands.

The number one reason I see people disconnecting from the local church is because of poor discipleship. We’ve thrown all of the discipleship eggs into one basket – the Sunday morning worship service. But is that really biblical? Does the Bible really tell us that the primary mechanism for making stronger, more devoted followers of Jesus is to put them in a room on Sunday morning when they can’t talk or interact or serve and just listen? That’s what a lot of Sunday morning worship looks like to a person who’s unaware of what we do in worship.

Now before you go and get your panties in a bunch don’t fill in the blanks here with some nasty assumption. Worship is important to the life of the follower of Jesus. And worship is part of discipleship, but it’s only part of it. There is so much more to being a follower of Jesus than Sunday morning worship.

Jesus raised the bar for what it meant to be his follower. He didn’t lower it. Making discipleship solely about worship attendance and how much money we give cheapens the role of the Christian in the world today. Christianity is not a hobby we pursue when we’re bored, but if Sunday morning is the only or even main place discipleship happens it’s easy to view it as merely a hobby.

I’m honored to be part of a network of Jesus loving men and women who want to see the Body of Christ grow and thrive. We’re doing this by helping churches see more clearly who they are and who their community is. This allows them to align their efforts to better meet the needs in their community and infuse a gospel presence into local neighborhoods more effectively. And one of the coolest parts is that we walk alongside churches the whole time. We take phone calls and text messages, set up zoom calls, and even will be boots on the ground to help local churches break through the barriers they’re facing.

If you’re a church leader or part of a church that’s on the decline, I’d love to chat with you about how to raise the bar of discipleship and how we can work together with other Jesus followers to more effectively and efficiently reach our neighbors with the love of Jesus and connect them to deeper relationships as growing disciples. Hit me up here or on social and let’s find a time to chat!

Today In History

April 3, 2023 / / 0 Comments

This week is a week that Christians around the world celebrate as something we call Holy Week. It’s the week that we attribute to Jesus coming into Jerusalem where he is heralded as King. Then things turn drastically for the worse and by the end of the week he’s dead and buried. Pretty hard shift to say the least. But how did it all happen? And what happened between Sunday and Friday to bring this change in how people saw Jesus?

What exactly is Holy Monday anyway?

The Monday of Holy Week is called Holy Monday. Really not much holy about most Mondays so we’ll take it right! This day is called holy primarily because it falls during this week that in general is considered Jesus’ holy walk to the cross.

But did Jesus do anything special on this Monday to make it special?

The answer is a bit complicated. So we’ll give it a yes and a no. I get it that’s the cheater’s way out but stick with me here for a minute.

On the Monday of this Holy Week time period, Jesus entered the city and went straight to the temple. In the center of the town was a temple. And it was a lot like a small community of its own complete with worship center, tons of people and even the ability to buy and sell certain things.

Well, this particular day Jesus enters the temple area and is upset. He’s upset because the main thing in the temple was supposed to be worship and sacrifices to God. But that’s not the focus that day. The focus was on the buying and selling things.

Ok so Jesus didn’t really have a problem with the buying and selling either. From what many bible scholars and cultural history buffs tell us, you could buy and sell animals for sacrifice in certain parts of the extended temple complex. The issue Jesus had was essentially the currency conversion rate and the mark up placed on these goods.

You see in the temple you couldn’t just walk in with street money and expect to buy things. There was a temple currency of sorts that generally had to be obtained. So they had these currency conversion tables. The issue here however is the temple got to determine the conversion rate. So they could charge some people more for the conversion and others less depending on the person’s overall economic standing.

Then there is the mark up. The issue here is that when people came to buy an animal for the regular sacrifice, the temple sales people were marking up the cost of animals to make a little extra cash. It’s not really known if they were pocketing the money or storing at the temple or sending their families to Disney World. All that is known is that they were selling things are a far higher price than they should have. So Jesus enters the temple and tells them all to get lost until they can have the right heart.

Now when making money is your motivation for doing something. And when someone stops you from making money, you get a bit bent. This is what started to happen to some of the leaders when Jesus came in and turned over the tables and removed them from the temple.

So what we see on this Monday of Holy Week is the beginning of the end for Jesus. This is one reason why things turned so quickly for Jesus and shouts of praises on Palm Sunday turned to kill him by Friday.

Hope

March 15, 2023 / / 0 Comments

One definition of hope is the confident expectation of what is promised. I think this picture kind of sums that whole idea up with no words. Confident expectation of a promised blessing. What do you hope for today?

I think that all of us who are located in a region that has several seasons can sympathize with the idea of hoping for spring to arrive. When the cold and damp days of winter drone on forever, we are hopeful for the promise of sunshine and warmth that summer brings. Here in Ohio it seems as if we have all four seasons in one day! It’s easy to complain about the weather but we’d be better off hoping for the sunshine of tomorrow.

I took this picture this morning of a small flower starting to emerge from the snow covered ground. At first it seems as if it might be a bit confuse about the season or time of year. I mean things don’t bud, grow or bloom in the winter months. But then a quick reminder that it’s March will tell us that this flower is only doing what it is meant to do. It emerges from the ground in hope of the coming sunshine and warm weather.

I think some days it would be helpful if we acted more like these flowers. Instead of focusing on the cold, damp, snow covered ground look for chances to emerge and grow and eventually bloom into that thing we were created to be.

Ok so you’re not a flower. No matter how much you try you’re never going to be a flower. And you don’t have to emerge from the snow to thrive in this cold environment. But we were placed here in the circumstances in which we’re living for a specific purpose. To do something unique.

Just like the flower was planted for the purpose of growing and budding and blooming you were planted to grow and bloom in your own right. This reminds me of a story in the Bible. There was a woman named Esther in the Old Testament. She was a Jewish woman who ended up becoming queen of Persia. This was largely unusual but was made possible because no one really know her lineage. The king didn’t even know she was of Jewish origin.

After a lot of really awful things had happened, you can read those for yourself if you desire, the time comes for Esther to take a stand and reveal her identity as a Jewish woman. Esther is concerned to say the least! I mean if it doesn’t work out well, she would be killed without question.

A famous line comes out of that section. For such a time as this. The idea is that it is for this moment that you were placed here. It was for this purpose, this moment, this task that she was there. The same can be said for you and me. We’ve been put here for such a time as this, and if that means we have to hope against hope to move forward – then hope! Just like that flower pushing its way up through the snow, you and I were made for this moment. So we too must push up through the cold, darkness of our current circumstances. We have to do the only thing for which we were placed here. It is only then that we will emerge to bloom and thrive in the way we were created.

For now, before the bloom, before the flower can bud – hope. Move forward in the confident exception of what is promised. Live your life for such a time as this and leave the rest to the one who put you here.

Goodness of God

March 6, 2023 / / 0 Comments

This week we bring back another familiar song. It’s been around for a while but it’s a much needed song some days. We need to take time to just stop every once in a while to see how true this really is. Perhaps your day to pause is today.

Have you ever considered where God has shown up in your life? I don’t mean in the lottery winning, job promotion earning, kids always behaving, marriage filled with all five love languages kind of showing up. I mean in the nasty, dark, cold, lonely, depressing moments of life. This is when we really can see the goodness of God the best, if we only look.

For most of my life, I’ve been pretty blind to the goodness of God. If I’m being honest, it never really was a second thought for me. My life has been filled with many blessings and tons of wonderful memories that I reflect on frequently. This is largely why it is so easy to overlook the goodness of God. When things go well, we don’t really need to think about it. We just live in it to the point we don’t even see His hand moving all around us. Kind of like the whole can’t see the forest through the trees way of thinking.

This week I’d encourage you to just pause. Maybe it’s a few minutes at lunch time or sitting on the front porch or maybe a quick walk around the block. Just stop and listen. No AirPods. No mind filling worries. No stress can come with you in this moment. Just disconnect and listen. Hear the birds chirping. Listen to the wind blow through the trees. Or hear the busyness of the cars flying down the interstate. Just pause and hear the world move around you.

Then think about the goodness of God in that moment. Think about the time he sent that special friend when you were lonely to just check in on you. Think about the unexpected gift when you were stressed about your money. Think about the kind gesture from a neighbor when you just felt down. These are goodness of God moments.

Take a few minutes this week, and every week ideally, and ponder how great – how good – how amazing God’s goodness has been toward you.

Pass The Wine Please

February 16, 2023 / / 0 Comments

There are some things in life that carry many meanings. They remind us of a variety of things. I know that seeing certain images takes me back to another time and another place. The crystal cookie jar that’s on my shelf at home reminds me of summers spent with my grandparents at their pool. The smell of cinnamon rolls in the oven transports me to Christmas as a child. The loud rumble of a semi truck using its engine as a braking system going down a hill makes me feel the bouncing seat of my Grandpa’s semi truck.

Everything has the ability to remind us of something else. But those special things can have multiple memories attached.

In the life of the church for which I am a pastor, we celebrate something called communion on a weekly basis. Communion is the bread and wine that are linked to and remind us of the amazing gift we receive in Jesus. Our particular identity believes that miraculously and mysteriously the bread is the body and the wine is the blood.

I recently took some time to consider why these particular elements were used. I found something interesting when it came to the wine. I always thought the wine was used partially because it was there as part of the Passover meal that Jesus was eating with his disciples. I thought it was used because it was red and it would be a visual reminder of the blood of Jesus shed on the cross. And while these may be true, I think there’s more to it than just that. Wine has a much bigger, wider and deeper significance.

The use of wine weaves its way through the Old Testament. And throughout it has a wonderful array of overlapping meanings. Wine is more than just a harkening ack to Jesus’ blood on the cross. It was a symbol throughout the Old Testament of prosperity, life, vitality and celebration.

If we look at the uses of wine throughout the Bible, you’ll see that wine was indicative of wealth. It was a symbol of having plenty in life. Genesis reminds us that the blessing of Isaac on his son Jacob would be the blessing of abundant amounts of wine among other things.

But wine was also a marker of celebration. I think this one is most overlooked. Even in the context of the Passover meal, which Jesus was celebrating when he gave communion for the first time to his disciples, the tone wasn’t worship or contemplation. It was celebration. The passover meal was a meal of remembrance of all the God had done. It was the marker of when God saved the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. You better believe there was a party there. Wine was for celebrating!

Jesus’ first miracle is another time wine is used. I think there’s no accident here either. When Jesus first breaks onto the scene and does one of those cool God-things, it wasn’t healing someone or raising a dead person or even casting out a demon. His first miracle was all about wine. It was about provision, partying and participating in life with his people.

When Jesus turned water into wine, he did far more than just help the party manager save face. He elongated their celebration! He gave them a visible and edible reminder that he was able to provide for their needs in a variety of ways.

When we come to communion and take the bread in our hands and drink the wine, it’s far more than a memorial meal. It’s more than just a reminder of the death and resurrection of Jesus. It’s a reminder of the provision of God for his people. It’s a display of God’s blessing and the prosperity that he brings on his people. But it should also be a visible and edible reminder that he wants us to celebrate.

Even in the New Testament the idea of drinking too much wine is correlated to being overcome by the Holy Spirit. When a person has a couple drinks too many they have a tendency to lose themselves in the moment. The same should be true as we gather at the table for communion. We should lose ourselves, not in too much wine but in the abundant provision of God through his Spirit. We should leave joyful and excited, like we just were part of a great celebration!

Wine is a wonderful reminder of God’s provision, blessing, and joy. It’s definitely something worth celebrating! So this Sunday, if you’re one of those church going types, go up to the table for communion. Take the bread. Drink the wine. Then remember. Remember the sacrifice of Jesus. Remember the provision of your Heavenly Father. But remember also to celebrate the full cup of God’s Spirit that he pours out for you at this table.

He Gets Us

February 13, 2023 / / 0 Comments

Did you watch the Super Bowl? Did you watch it for the game? Or did you watch it trying to see what the best commercial would be this year? I always loved the creativity exhibited when these ad executives would throw everything they had to communicate the value of the product they were selling. Some were fantastic! Other’s really left me curious what they were thinking.

This year I had a houseful of youth and their families. We ate. We talked. We watched the game and some of the commercials. I didn’t pay a ton of attention to the whole thing as I was just enjoying being around these people.

But I did see something. There were two commercials on during the game from a relatively new campaign. They weren’t selling anything. No product was highlighted. And to be honest there wasn’t a creative gimmick they were using either. The commercials were black and white. Very quiet. And a simple phrase ended the commercial.

He gets us.

The commercials were about Jesus. They were trying to communicate something about God. He gets us. Simple and to the point. He’s not some aloof being that has no ability to know the pains and struggles of men and women. He gets us. Where many of us have been, he has been as well.

But there’s a problem. It’s not a problem with the commercials. It’s a problem with how they’re being received. Nope, not by the general population of the world either. By some people in the church.

Ok before someone goes off half cracked and tries to convince me that the commercials were lacking something – I know! That was the point! The point of the commercial was to give you and me as followers of Jesus an open door and a conversation starter. You’re welcome.

The average church in North America is dwindling in size. People are exiting the church because they don’t feel the church (and guilt by association Jesus) cares. Enter He Gets Us. The commercial demonstrates a different reality. Jesus not only cares but he gets it. He gets the feelings and the hurts and the distance and the loneliness and the hatred and division. He gets us. Not he gets it. He gets us.

If you want someone to tell the people in the world around you about the wonders of Jesus as savior who died and rose, then go for it! No one is stopping you. Engage in conversations at the coffee shop. Talk to the cashier at the grocery store. Be the hands and feet of Jesus to the widow across the street. But don’t blast an ad agency for sharing a sliver of who Jesus was.

The more that churchy people blast one another and even this campaign, the more we’re going to prove the world around us right. For the first time in who knows how long, the majority of Americans no longer identify as Christians. And here we are griping about a commercial that says in the midst of your pain Jesus gets you. How about we take that open door and answer the questions people are asking? How about instead of complaining because they missed something, we build on the 30 second ad and share the rest of the story?

Maybe you have a better idea for how to do the job? That’s great! Then do it. No one is stopping you. Go door to door. Talk to the people around you. Share the story of God’s love and forgiveness. Be creative or not. But let’s stop looking for the worst in a situation.

He gets us even those of us who make life hard on others. He gets us even those who can’t see an opportunity right in front of us. He gets us when we miss the opportunity to build on a movement right in front of us. He gets us but there’s so much more to the story! Wanna know? Just ask.

How Old Are You?

February 10, 2023 / / 0 Comments

There are a few things I know, some from experience and some from common sense. Never ask someone how old they are. Never guess someone’s age. And never, never, I repeat never ask a woman if she’s pregnant – yep even if you are 99.999% sure she is. You are signing your own death certificate in any of those situations.

Ok brevity aside there is a time when age is an important topic to consider. I recently came across a graphic that caught my eye. It was more of a graph than a picture but the details it contained were of some level of interest. What could this mean for me? I’m not a hugely studious person. I do however like to obtain some new information especially if it’s about a topic in which I take interest. This one did just that.

I’m a pastor so this information was pertinent to churches but not just for pastors. Actually I think it’s more intriguing to me as a member of a church than just as a pastor. The graphic contained age breakdowns of different church denominations. Basically it asks what the general age of your church tradition is based on some national study.

Have you ever looked around the church you attend (if you attend one) and evaluated what the general age of the population is? I do this for most places I go. I notice how old people are who eat at the restaurants I frequent. I check the age of the people at the gym during the times I attend. I notice what the average age of the church I serve is and how it fluctuates over time.

Ok so the church body of which I’m a part is listed first. That’s not exactly a good thing in this case. What it says in simple terms is that this Lutheran Church body is made up to a large extent by people who are over 65 years old. and that people 18-44 combined are barely half the percentage of those over 65. It means that this church tradition is getting old and it means we should be asking some serious questions.

Why are there more 65+ year olds than 18 year olds? Why are there so few young people in this church body? Does this reflect the local church that I attend?

These are just a few quick questions that I ask. Now the church I pastor does not fit this mold. As a matter of fact I would almost say our numbers are flipped from these numbers. But why is it that there are so few young people that gravitate toward some of the church traditions that are considered to be more historic mainline traditions?

I think part of it has to do with relevancy. Not the relevancy of Jesus or the Bible. Our job is not to make the Bible or even Jesus relevant. But the work we do as church can be seen as irrelevant by the culture around us if all we do is argue over who does something better, or we’re not using the right book or we don’t dress the right way.

I see a strong desire in the young men and women in the world to want to do more about what they are passionate than to just talk about it. I think this is an area we can learn as churches. We talk about loving Jesus and our neighbors but do we do it with actions? We talk about protecting certain groups of people, but when it comes to the inconvenience of actually lending a hand are we just words?

I think this is a large reason why so many churches are seeing a decline while others are exploding at the seams. Some churches do the hard job of living out what they talk about.

So don’t ask a woman if she’s pregnant or anyone what their age is, but it’s ok to notice the general age groups represented in any given scenario. It’s ok to ask hard questions about why those people are attracted to that type of gathering. And it’s ok to make a few adjustments to be more conscientious toward those groups not represented.

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