Author: Wick

There seems to be a relation between a persons “need” (or perceived need) for C/church, and their connectedness/relationship to it.  (Or this may all simply be a rant based on being asked “What are we doing in Youth Group?” about 20 times a month by another teen trying to figure out which church is worth their time this week.  They’re only asking what the adults around them would love to.)

When I was growing up, we “needed” the church (and Church, in many ways).  Difficult life situations, financial challenges, and my single mom raising five kids on her own made being connected to a loving, safe, praying, Jesus-centered community not only helped – but may have actually been connected to how we all survived it overall.  Mom knew that whatever may come, we needed to stay connected to the church.  Thanks mom. 🙂

We can all probably think of someone we know who has drifted from previously being very involved in a local congregation.  Not someone who simply switched local parts of the “body”, but someone who actually has little to no regular involvement in a particular community seeking Christ together.  Usually, it seems these are not people who are suffering, or poor, or hungry…etc.

It is quite simply…a need that has faded.

Bills are paid, stomachs are fed, the kids are older, and for the most part, life continues just fine.  Still believing in Jesus and all that.  Still thankful that hell is not the destination.  But doing quite alright at this point.

So for those of us who find ourselves near that location on the map…why get up early Sunday morning?  Why commit yet another evening of my week to something I could quite easily not show up for and survive?

How do so many of us who follow Jesus today consider our home church that place we’re active with once a month….ish?  Obviously there could be many answers to that question.

But I believe at least one of them is connected to how much the experience of “church”, and even “salvation” (or the other way around) is sometimes very much “me” centered.  I believe we need a revival of participating in the Church, and churches…with what the Kingdom, the Church, and the church needs in mind.  Along with those who make it up, and need it.

May we move toward our involvement in local bodies asking ourselves “Where can we serve/add to/join Kingdom work here?” instead of “Will this experience fulfill us today, and be worth what we’ve given up for it?”.  May we seek God’s presence over an experience, ethnicity, musical style, social class, or comfort level.

It’s hard to write this, without feeling like it will be read as a plea for better church attendance…because I’m a pastor.  Being honest, there probably are some of those thoughts in there.  But not because I think ill of people who enjoy sleeping in, and not because I want anymore dollars in the plate this Sunday.

But because I think Church and our church is more than what I think.  Thankfully. 🙂

It may also be connected to thinking of the Church as a body, with no part being any greater than the others, but every part offering something incredibly important to what Jesus is accomplishing.  We are missing several body parts on a regular basis.  We are incomplete…sometimes even when that part is sitting in the pew, or standing in the pulpit.

May we each discover what that can mean…

Just an important announcement I felt I should make.  To anyone who is thinking to themselves “I love music.  I want my child to develop musical abilities.  I want my kids to grow up being able to express themselves making creatively audible noises.  I remember playing the recorder when I was young, and I want my little girl/boy, even at age 3, to begin enjoying such an experience.”

If you’ve had any of these thoughts, you may have looked at the Little First Act Discovery – My First Recorder.  Click the link.  See how cute the kid looks?  See how happy he is to be able to create music?  See the list of amazingly simple tunes your child will be able to perform before family and friends, proving once and for all that your kid is the cutest thing since sliced bread (the cute kind).

It’s a lie.

That kid was totally faking it.  He wasn’t happy.  Or at least, his parents weren’t.

Granted, the recorder definitely makes noise.  But even from a trained recorder playing professional (I played 2 years all-pro in my elementary days.), the notes available don’t allow for much of any actual music to be played.  I did learn that by covering the bottom hole, you can play notes a little more agreeable to the human ear, but still off by quite a bit from anything you could piece together into a song.

Giving this recorder to your child will do nothing but encourage bad pitch recognition, make your ear drums want to pack their bags, and teach your future musician that Mary Had a Little Lamb is best played with sharps and flats that aren’t anywhere near the Barney song they’ve heard before.

And you will want to break it.  But your kid may give you the fake “this musical instrument fulfills something within me” smile similar to the child in the link above.  Don’t buy it.  I have yet to gather the emotional strength it takes to shatter the thing….but when I do….I will rest easier. 

That is why I’m warning you, before you make the purchase.  Or open the present from a loving relative.  Quick…exchange it for something else before it’s too late!!!

ps.  Today, Ruby Anne turns ONE YEAR OLD!!!  We now officially have a 3 year old, a 2 year old, and a 1 year old.  Whew. 🙂

I’m beginning to read “After You Believe” by NT Write, which is a follow-up to his book “Surprised by Hope“.  I’m familiar with much of what he’ll be discussing, simply having listened to a great deal of his talks in the past year on themes such as “character”, and “virtue”, but I’m looking forward to hearing what he has to say when given more time and space to develop those areas, and take them a bit further.

For now, I thought I’d toss out a quote for anyone who might be wondering “Why would I want to read that book?”:

Maybe your heart echos the questions fo this man who’d recently become a Christian, and was looking for more than simply an eternal guarantee of destination…

“God loves me; yes.

He’s transformed my life so that I find I want to pray, to worship, to read the Bible, to abandon the old self-destructive ways I used to behave.  That’s great.

Clearly (the people at church kept saying this, too) God wants me to tell other people about this good nwes, so that they can find it for themselves.  Fine.  It feels a bit strange, and I’m not sure I’m very good at it, but I’m doing the best I can.

And obviously all this comes with the great promise that one day I’ll be with God forever.  I know I’ll die one day, but Jesus has guaranteed thatt everybody who trusts him will live with him in heaven.  That’s great too. 

But what am I here for now?  What happens after you believe? “

The book that follows is quite good…I promise.  Check it out. 🙂