My Part of the Conversation

A few weeks ago, I learned a new word that greatly challenged how I view ministry.  I was sitting in a class on “Bridging the Suburban-Urban Gap”, when Chris Brooks, the presenter, made a reference to “gentrification“.  Everyone in the class looked at each other like “was I supposed to know what that means? “  One brave soul asked for an explanation, and the immediate ministry implications overwhelmed me.

In a nutshell,  gentrification is a conscious effort by a city to replace low-income inner city areas with more expensive real estate.   In large areas, since many people work in downtown city centers and drive from the suburbs to work, the idea is to create more “desirable” housing closer to the downtown area.  When rent goes up in the area, many people are displaced.  Government housing projects are “relocated” to suburban areas.  (Consequently, Chris Brooks says that many view the first sign of gentrification is when a Starbucks moves into the neighborhood).

Both of these scenarios creates a situation where different church cultures are suddenly thrust together.  This is particularly a challenge in suburban communities where they didn’t have to interact much with urban families.  Urban families change the face of the congregation, from the socio-economic differences to increased racial diversity.  Many churches are just ignoring it, either hoping it will go away, or everyone will adapt to”the way things have always been”.  Either way, many spiritual needs are not being met.  And virtually no one is talking about it.

Recently, I’ve been asking the question of how to better “bridge that gap” my youth ministry.  It’s a challenge when several very different cultures are called into one room.  Notice, I mention “cultures” not races.   This issue is not necessarily white/black/hispanic.  It is more related to education, income, and family structure.

In my assessment, here are some challenges churches need to be prepared to handle when faced with the effects of gentrification:

1.  Are we prepared to offer transportation to ALL our events or activities?  People with low-income often do not have vehicles or regular access to vehicles (because of long or difficult work hours and the price of gas).

2.  How expensive is it to be part of our community?  The church ski trip has to go.  But, are we excluding people because they don’t have money?

3.  Are we prepared to meet people where they are at, whatever baggage they are bringing?  Crime, drugs, parental abandonment, teen pregnancy are very common problems the church needs to be prepared to walk people through, on top of communicating the theological truths of Scripture.

4.  Will our church be accepting of new people different than themselves?  Or did they move to this part of town to get away from “those” people?

5.  What kind of language do we use?  Are we so bogged down by our college educations and church lingo that we fail to communicate the truths we hold so dear?

6.  Are we prepared to take an increased role in social justice?

The scary thing about this issue is nobody is really talking about it.  I’m sure some churches out there are doing a good job integrating their communities, but they are not openly sharing their journeys.

Just a few of the things as I see it now.  Are there other questions churches need to ask that you see?

From high school through a Bible degree in college, I’ve had multiple classes where I was taught how to share the gospel with someone. There were a few different approaches, but they almost all of them involved some path that worked it’s way through the Bible, asking pointed questions about each passage and how it relates to the person’s life.

They all made so much sense. Sometimes moving from uncertainty about the fate of one’s soul, to the fact we’ve all sinned, to the need for a savior, to how to accept such an incredible gift. A usually clear and perfect stream of thought. Other times just reading about Jesus and God’s love and calling the reader to follow Him.

I’ve heard stories about each method, and how different people had converted hundreds with each one. I remember after learning a new one, how I was excited about the prospect of trying it out.

But, they rarely seem to work.

I had some scattered opportunities before college, but most of my experience came while working in Italy. I worked with a program called Avanti Italia where we would teach English using them Bible. I averaged around 10 studies a week, so I got the opportunity to use many different approaches.

The outcome was never what was promised.

I had several instances where we finished studies, I asked questions to verify that they understood what we learned. All people are lost without Jesus. All have sinned. We need to be baptized as our act of unifying ourselves with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. We need to walk with Him and live pure lives. It was all clear, and I heard so many people say it right back to me.

Yet, when I would follow the logical questions with personal questions, the responses left the realm of logic and went… someplace else. I had one student say he understood it, and even believed it, he just didn’t want to do anything about it. Others simply stated they had been their background taught something different, so that’s where they were going to stay. Others said it’s a question for the old. And many said they just didn’t want to think about it. Almost all walked away without ever getting to know Jesus beyond those few times we read together.

Now don’t get me wrong, I am very conservative when it comes the the Bible.  I believe it is God’s inspired Word, and that as we read it, we are reading a message directly from Him.  We are called to follow His Word without question or prejudice.  In fact, the times I have been criticized for my belief or teaching (never to my face, of course), it was because I refused to teach and practice traditions churches have created and tried to make equal to Scripture.

But, Scripture is not God.  It is a pathway, a beacon, a light to lead us to God.  It helps us get there and know Him.  I believe it is a crucial piece, but I’ve found there must be something else- something that takes place beyond logic or reason.  People believe all kinds of things that aren’t logical or reasonable, yet hold firmly to them.

I think our commercial culture has made us all defensive.  We’re bombarded with millions of messages every day to break into our minds and get us to buy into an idea or concept that might not even make sense.  Today I ate breakfast at McDonald’s and was trying to figure out why I had a green straw until I saw all the Shrek 3 ads all over the place.  My plastic straw was telling me to go see a movie.  If my head is trying to sort out messages from my straw, no telling what else my subconscious is fighting off.

If a telemarketer were to call me with the deal of a lifetime, I’d miss it.  I just don’t trust them.  If I got a coupon for a free house in my inbox, I’d probably delete it without reading.  There are just too many messages out there.  I think our message about Christ’s salvation somehow gets mixed in with everything else.

There’s a connection beyond logic and reason to the human heart.  There are barriers brainpower can’t cross.   There are paths that good arguments and excellent points are not able to complete.

What are they?  How do we get there?

I finally broke down and bought a new Bible yesterday.

Why is that a big deal, you ask?

I have many Bibles, of differing versions and sizes.  But, this one is not just another Bible.  This one replaces 2 versions I’ve already had of the same type.

About 15 years ago, my mom bought me my first NIV Study Bible (compact size).  It was my first Bible to have my name on it and everything.  Nice blue leather cover.

To say I’m hard on Bibles would be an understatement.  I wish I could say it’s mainly from my rigorous study habits, but it’s not.  It’s mainly from carrying it around, bringing it to church, accidentally dropping it, and occasionally leaving it on top of the car as we started to pull away.  In college, as a Bible major, I had to carry it around in my backpack for classes.  Needless to say, the binding was in shambles within a few years.

After my first year as an intern at Heritage Church of Christ, the church gave me a hardback version of the same Bible.  It lasted through the second half of college and my 2.5 years in Italy, but the binding fell apart in it beyond repair.

When the second Bible gave out, I pulled out the original, and discovered I could repair it enough to carry around.  But recently, it gave out as well.  I was starting to lose pages, and a minister with missing pages in his Bible is a bad idea…

So, the other day, I bought a new one.  It’ll take a little while to break in, but it’s like catching up with a new old friend.

Well, I don’t need them, really. I definitely don’t want them. But, I need what they seem to often represent.

I imagine you’re thinking I’m crazy right now. Maybe sadistic at worst and delusional at least. Just hear me out.

I see a pattern over my few years in ministry. Any time I believe I’m getting on track and momentum starts going towards meaningful ministry, stuff happens. People get mad. Cars break down. Stuff breaks. Family gets sick. Computer hard drives magically erase. Some are minor distractions, others are painful.

But in youth ministry, typically parents just get mad.

Don’t get me wrong, sometimes parents should get mad. There is even a time and place to call for the head of the youth minister. But, it’s not nearly as often as it happens.

I’m usually very surprised at how “church people” behave when they’re upset at ministers. Suddenly, normal rules don’t apply. I’ve had a fair share of people upset at me, and there are times it’s warranted. However, getting verbally abused by someone with a sharp tongue is usually an unjust punishment.  Somehow, it’s okay because I’m a minister. Apparently, it also doesn’t count as gossip or slander when you badmouth a minister behind his back. (I’ve been extremely fortunate and not dealt with a lot of this… at least, it hasn’t gotten back to me…). People want grace and forgiveness but are often ungraceful and unforgiving.

That stuff can be so discouraging and frustrating. Makes me want to quit, to give up, to let them screw up their kids on their own…

When I start thinking like that, I’m reminded that a spiritual battle is waging all around us. Satan cannot- and will not- stand for people to turn their hearts over to God. He’s going to fight back to hurt us as much as possible, so who’s he going to use? Is he going to use skinheads or terrorists? We’d see it coming. He uses those close to us- those we expect to be transformed- and exploits their weaknesses to discourage those around them.

It’s when everything seems to be fine that somethings wrong. Satan has decided he has nothing to worry about. A subtle reminder every so often will keep people in check.

I was talking to a friend the other day who was really searching for some guidance from God on some things. He told me about all these things that had recently gone wrong, so much that he wasn’t able to spend some time with God and get the answers he needs. I reminded him that God must really have something important to say if Satan would go to that much trouble to keep him from listening.

It’s so hard to remember the big picture and the war that’s waging when we’re in the middle of it. But, we have to keep trying. We have to keep trusting.

And we have to thank God we have angry parents.

Before Christmas I was given the honor of sitting on the Eagle Scout Review Board for one of the teens in my youth group (Congratulations, Mark!). For those of you not familiar with scouts, the rank of Eagle must be achieved before a scout turns 18, and requires years of merit badges and involvement, culminating to one large Eagle project which helps the community and uses your skills as a scout. There are national and state boards that oversee who becomes an Eagle, because it truly is a very prestigious honor. As part of the application process once the project is completed, a scout must have an interview with a board, which consists of troop and state representatives, as well as up to 2 people from the community (that’s where I came in). This interview is a very mature conversation with the scout about live, politics, what he thinks, believes, and what he intends to do with his life. The board makes a decision after about 1-2 hours of interview time.

Some of the questions were very hard, but one in particular caught even me off guard. His answer left me speechless.

Mark was asked that if one thing was taken off the Boy Scout Law and replaced by something else, what would it be? (here it is, for those of you who don’t know)

A Scout is:

• Trustworthy,
• Loyal,
• Helpful,
• Friendly,
• Courteous,
• Kind,
• Obedient,
• Cheerful,
• Thrifty,
• Brave,
• Clean,
• and Reverent.

Mark thought about it a minute and responded, “I would replace reverent with faithful.” He went on to explain that being reverent was just what you felt about something, and faithful is what you do with it.

I’ve thought a lot about this over the last few weeks, and I think it describes what bothers me about the current state of Christianity. It’s too reverent! Too much worry and concern over what happens from 10:00-11:30 AM each Sunday, and not enough on the rest of the week. Too much talk about God’s love, holiness, purity, grace, and jealousy, and not enough practice of walking faithfully with him.

One of the hardest (and most shocking) things about going to Italy for mission work (and for going into ministry in general) was the way people responded to me. People often would ask me why I was going. When I told them that was where I believed God was leading me, many were very unsatisfied with that answer. Some very good Christian people looked and even responded skeptically at that response. They were comfortable being reverent, but being faithful and responding to God’s leading in more than morality choices was completely foreign to them.

The world is full of people who believe God should be worshiped, honored, feared, loved and respected. But very few truly believe he should be followed.

God, please give me the wisdom and courage to choose faithfulness over reverence.

Blaine