Saturday, June 28, 2008

Coming Up Sunday, June 29

We will resume our study of the beginnings of the Jewish monarchy, this time focusing on 1 Samuel 13. In this story, Saul prepares for another battle with the Philistines, and he awaits Samuel, the priest, to perform a sacrifice. When Samuel does not arrive in a specified time, Saul performs the sacrifice himself, seeking God's assistance and favor during the battle.

Shortly thereafter, Samuel arrives and chastises Saul for his action. Further, he suggests that God is so displeased with Saul that He has chosen another to replace Saul (and his household) as the next king of Israel.

Clearly Saul had overstepped the boundary between politics and religion. What may be less clear to our eyes -- given that the separation of church and state has been pretty well acculturated in us -- is that this was a notable shift in the history of Israel. Previous leaders, especially great ones, had been both political and religious leaders: men like Abraham, Jacob, Moses, and Joshua, and even tribal leaders like Gideon saw no great distinction between those roles, even as the priesthood was developing under the tribe of Levi.

Thus was birthed a division of labor that has greatly influenced modern society. The cost was fairly small -- one king overstepped his bounds and eventually lost his crown because he didn't realize that times were changing. But it also dramatically shaped the expectations of the future kings of Israel, especially David. And these expectations reverberate through the centuries.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Religion Surveys in the News

Two reputable polls related to religion in the United States have been released in the past week, one by Gallup and one by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. Perhaps you heard mention of them, either on the evening news or elsewhere. For example, here's a little coverage in The Gray Lady by the Times current religion reporter Neela Banerjee.

The Gallup poll is an annual survey measuring American confidence in various institutions. Per usual, Congress enjoys the least confidence among the main institutions -- only 12% of respondents expressed "a great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence. And the military enjoys the most confidence -- 71% of responses are significantly confident.

Of interest to me was the confidence in "The Church or organized religion": 26% expressed "a great deal" of confidence and 22% expressed "quite a lot" of confidence in organized religion. According to Gallup's reporting (see their release here) confidence in religion has dropped by roughly 25% in 25 years. Also -- and this is more significant -- the church is no longer anywhere close to being the top rated institution in the poll, as it was from 1973 to 1985. It places fourth this year, behind the military, small business, and the police.

Certainly, there have been some significant challenges to our confidence in organized religion in the past quarter century -- prominent religious figures have been embroiled in criminal and ethical scandals; sexual abuse has been a prominent issue in the Roman Catholic Church; some religious leaders are frequently seen or heard on the media saying offensive things. When these things happen -- either on a large or a small scale -- all Christians pay a price. Our community is seen more cynically, especially by outsiders, who anticipate that we may make terrible headlines in the newspaper one day.

This is the challenge for all congregations and for the church as a whole. 48% of Americans have significant confidence in organized religion; 52% do not have confidence. Put bluntly, more than half of Americans have doubts about us -- yes, even about our specific congregation. They don't know whether they can trust us or not. They don't know if they can trust the pastor or not. They don't know if they can trust the members or not. This is a hard reality for every religious congregation in the United States. To be sure, many of these doubters only have vague doubts about churches, or doubts about specific religious groups. But the survey also reveals that roughly 20% of respondents had strong mistrust of organized religion -- 1 of every 5 people.

The Gallup numbers are probably pretty simple, though, especially when viewed in conjunction with the other survey released this week, part two of the Pew Forum's extensive U.S. Religious Landscape Survey. This survey, at least the two parts released thus far (with one more to come later this year, I believe), demonstrates the common personal religious belief and practice in the United States. While people distrust the organized church, they still overwhelmingly believe in God.

The most surprising result in the survey (at least the one that has grabbed most of the attention, and the one I'm going to comment on given that I haven't had the time to pore over this report) is that Americans are surprisingly open-minded toward various different religious beliefs. At the very least, most Americans (70%) believe that many different religions (or denominations) can lead to eternal life, and 68% believe that "there is more than one true way to interpret the teachings of my religion." In fact, the percentages on these issues are pretty surprising across denominational/religious groupings. With the exception of Jehovah's Witnesses, who have a low percentage of agreement with those statements, and Mormons (around 40% agree on those issues), strong majorities of other groups demonstrate this religious tolerance/open-mindedness.

To see the Pew report for yourself, click here (or to go to a page with several graphic resources about the report, click here).

The significance of polls such as these for the church is important. If we are truly called to represent our faith, these polls remind us to ask ourselves what we actually think about our faith practices and beliefs -- and to be honest with ourselves about our answers, including our doubts, our frustrations and disappointments, and our questions. More than this, though, it reminds us that our neighborhoods are changing before our eyes -- if we don't pay attention to what we might learn from these surveys (such as the high level of distrust in organized churches), we aren't going to understand the spiritual needs and questions of our neighbors. And Jesus calls us to try to understand those needs and questions and to reach out to others in his name.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Reflections on Worship, June 22

I really enjoyed worship on Sunday, mostly because our young people shared with us. Maybe it's my experience as a youth minister, but I just love the experience of worshiping -- really worshiping -- with young people. Certainly it is a challenge to try to shape a service that is (hopefully) meaningful for wide age groups.

But I don't think it's the challenge that I really love; I just love to watch our young people experience God right in front of our eyes. In fact, I get excited by the prospect; I probably work a little harder even. And I'm not alone: I remember watching Billy Graham give a sermon directed at teenagers once; he had a different energy level. And others over the years have suggested something similar of Pope John Paul II, especially at the World Youth events he frequently attended.

Don't get me wrong -- I enjoy working with people of all ages. But there's something special about working with young people (roughly anyone under the age of 25), especially in the church. And I thought we did well at that on Sunday. Listening to the sermon, I was surprised by how long it was; then again, I've never led a service in which bake time was a significant issue. I hope that the lesson of the brownies was clear for everybody; for the possible cynics, I was not attempting to bribe our young ones with chocolate (there will be other more appropriate times for that). The cooking idea came to me like most of my sermon ideas, after some reading and prayer, after some brain-storming, and while I was in the shower.

In fact, I kind of liked the cooking angle. I think we'll try it again if an opportunity arises -- perhaps fresh bread on World Communion Sunday. Too often when Protestants look down their noses at Orthodox Christians, with all their smelly incense, we forget that we learn and experience things by smell, including God sometimes.

And I enjoyed the music of the service. I received several positive comments about the little Elvis riff on "How Great Thou Art"; I do hope nobody was terribly offended by it. It just felt right to me at that moment -- perhaps I was wrong, but I don't think so. Occasionally I call an audible -- or in more religious language, I let the Holy Spirit move me. And I enjoyed the duet Leigh Anne and I sang -- I hope many others did too; I'd never sung it before, but I've wanted to for several years. Getting to work with Leigh Anne and Brooks made it worth the wait though; and then some, probably.

As the sermon should have made clear on Sunday, the music that fills our sanctuary on Sunday mornings, from the organ Prelude to the choir's anthem to the hymns to vocal duets to anything else we can imagine is a miracle. Together we share the gifts that God has blessed us with (all of us, each in our special way), and it is beautiful, and often moving. A glimpse of the hand of God moving through our midst -- and moving us in the process -- each time we meet.

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Reflections on Worship, June 15

Worship on Sunday was incredibly powerful, filled with sincere emotion. Even now, a few days later, I still find that I am moved when I think about it. And, to be honest, I'm having trouble finding the words to describe it (which is probably the reason why I've been delaying this post, of course using busyness as an excuse).

What can I say about our celebration of our graduates? As I mentioned Sunday, we are a church family, and we have a shared pride in the achievements of our young people. It is a great privilege for a congregation our size to be able to celebrate six graduations in one year (that's quite a few). Even more, it is a reminder of the great transition that many of our members are undergoing, both our young people, as they move forward in their education and careers, and their families, as they get used to the idea of their children moving out or starting their careers.

And what can I say about the sermon given by Brooks, Leigh Anne, and Jenny? First, I won't be shy about calling it a sermon, even if they cringe at the term, because that's what it was -- an application of God's teaching to our lives. I thought that Brooks' personal testimony was powerful and moving, and I also thought that Leigh Anne's and Jenny's roleplaying was accurate and effective in highlighting some key ways that faith develops (or is hindered) in our college experience.

And I thought, especially, that Brooks' observation/recognition that we will sometimes be called upon to share our faith, by someone desperately in need, is an appropriate lesson for Christians of all ages. Sometimes people will seek out the pastor or an elder with their questions in times of anxiety and need; sometimes, they will seek out the closest person to them, which might be you. And you better be able to say something honest about your faith -- if not, they'll probably back away thinking that this Christianity stuff is just a load of nonsense. That doesn't mean you have to have all the answers, or even the perfect answer -- you just need to be willing to listen, to love and care for that person at that moment, and to be open and honest about your own relationship with God.

Of course, sometimes you will have the answer, even if you don't know it or you don't quite trust yourself. This is why it is important for us to nurture everybody in our congregation and to give several people opportunities to share their faith with us during worship. I believe I am gifted in leading worship, teaching, and preaching, and I am thrilled to be able to share those gifts. But I fervently believe -- no, I don't just believe, I KNOW -- that there are others in our midst who have those gifts. We need to teach each other and learn from each other, which is why I hope to slowly increase the number of leaders participating in our worship. God has touched all of us, and continues to work in our lives; and we all react to God in different ways. And we can benefit in our faith from hearing first person accounts of God's love, and God's faith, and God's action in our lives. Whether he believes it or not, Brooks has a standing invitation to preach at Central Christian if he's moved; and I think he will do that sometime in the coming months. But more than that, whether you believe it or not, you have a standing invitation too: to preach, to meditate, to testify, to teach, to pray.

And when we share together, when we learn together, we will be moved. That's what happened on Sunday, I think. After we had people come forward to take the next step in their faith journeys, to publicly join our congregation. As we know, this family has long been active in our congregation, participating and serving in numerous ways; this was just the next step. But we know it was a big step, and we celebrated. And we cried together, tears of joy and recognition, to see again the hand of God at work in our midst, to see again that our faith matters -- it matters to us and to others. Alberta, Zach, Shawn, and Shannon were a testimony of that on Sunday.

Several people have talked to me since the service to tell me how moved they were, and to tell me that I had done a good job. But practically speaking, I did not do much on Sunday, which I suppose is a reminder of other things for us. If we have a good service, then we've done a good job; if we have a good service, then God has been present and praised. And we definitely had a good service on Sunday.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Throwing Stones in the River on Saturday Night

I have several blog entries waiting to be written, including a reflection on Sunday's worship. They are forthcoming. In the meantime, enjoy how I spent my evening on Tuesday, reacting to the new AFI 100 films list for my movie blog.

Here's the link.

Yes, this is how I spend some of my free time, indulging my increasingly less secret desire to be a movie critic.