Is money our god?

So the other day I was in a conversation at my church over what some of the perceptions are over some new technology that was installed and we are in the process of implementing. The conversation was all over the map and at one point it was explained to me that the people that have the negative perceptions are the ones who give the most to the church and the reality of the situation is that those are the ones we have to listen to. Now in this case I know that "give the most" did not mean time or talent it meant money. It was at that moment that I had a feeling like I have had at no other time. It was as if Jesus was right there in the room telling me something different. He was telling me that reality is about him, not money. At the time I just bit my tongue and moved on.

After thinking about it for awhile it occurs to me that what they were really saying is that the god of this church is money and everything has to revolve around how we get more.

Why is it so hard for us to focus on Jesus? Why is it that when a church member lodges a complaint we jump write into customer service mode. Why don't we simply ask the person if they have prayed about the complaint and if so what was the response? Why don't we explain that when we are doing God's work it can be messy and we would love their help? Now I am not just making excuses. There were some things that could be improved, but there always will be. And the correct reaction would be to ask what is being done to correct the issues and is there anything I can do to help. But to just say, wow this person is complaining and they give a lot of money so they must be right, is nowhere near what it means to be living in the Kingdom.

Rob Bell on Church

The Wittenburg Door has an interview with Rob Bell on their website. As usual with Rob there are some great quotes, but here is one of the best I have seen in a while.

BELL: Seven years ago, a group of friends were just dreaming of something better. I guess the natural evolution of each generation is to explore what it means. How to live the way of Jesus here and now. So we started and it now feels like fifty years packed into seven. Mars Hill is an old mall. Our "architect"—I say that as a joke—says everything about the church should scream "Welcome to our church service! Now get the hell out of here." We say, "This isn't the church, this is a church service. It's just an hour where we have some teaching, some singing and you'll hear about things in the community." If there are 43 "one anothers" in the New Testament—serve one another, carry one another's burden's, confess to one another—you can only do a couple of those in a church service. Until you have a community that you are journeying with, please don't say you are a part of this church. You just come to a gathering. We are very intentional about that. The question is, "Who do you call when your brother ODs on cocaine? If your mom is in the hospital, who comes and sits in the waiting room with you? When you cannot pay your rent, who do you go to and say please help me out?" That's your church.

You can find the entire interview at The Wittenburg Door.

This paints a really clear picture for me of what church should be. This is the type of church that I want to be a part of. This is the type of church that I want to help build.

Survey of the Unchurched

USA Today has published a poll taken by Lifeway, the research arm of the Southern Baptist Convention, of US adults who do not attend church. This survey mimics many of those taken over the last few years that in essence say that most unchurched have a high view of Jesus and a low view of Christians and the church. Below are some of the highlights from this particular survey and here is a link to the USA Today Page.

Most of the unchurched (86%) say they believe they can have a "good relationship with God without belonging to a church." And 79% say "Christianity today is more about organized religion than loving God and loving people."

"These outsiders are making a clear comment that churches are not getting through on the two greatest commandments," to love God and love your neighbor, says Scott McConnell, associate director of LifeWay Research. "When they look at churches … they don't see people living out the faith."

But despite respondents' critical views of organized religion, Stetzer is optimistic. He cites the finding that 78% would "be willing to listen" to someone tell "what he or she believed about Christianity."

They already know believers — 89% of the unchurched have at least one close friend who is Christian, Stetzer noted.

And 71% agreed that "believing in Jesus makes a positive difference in a person's life."

Could this be because in most cases the people going to church are more worried about the process and not the relationships? Why do we spend so many hours in committees planning changes and discussing carpet color and who went to communion down the isle? Why don't we spend more time building our relationship with God and then our neighbors? I bet if we did, the results of this survey would be different.

Stuff

Here is a great website on the Story of Stuff. I have seen or read various versions of this story, but none are put together so well or go to this level of detail. This is a must see if you are a follower of Christ. We need to be much better stewards of our planet and each other.

More on Don Miller

The more I read from Don and the more I read about him, the more I like him. So here are several links to more information on him. Incidentally, I ran out today to buy one of his books and ended up getting three for the price of one all in a single hard cover. Be sure to check out his website below, he has several sample chapters from his books.

Don Miller
An Article about Don in Christianity Today magazine
The Belmont Foundation A foundation that Don started to help kids without a father.
Don Miller - Greatest Hits This is how to get three of his books for the price of one.

Enjoy!

What does Success look like?

As I said in an earlier post, I am big on goals. Over the last few days I have tried to figure our what is my goal for following Christ? Why do I or should I want this so bad? Why am I working so hard to figure out the path when I don't even really know what the goal is?

I was listening to a Mars Hill Podcast with guest speaker Don Miller who has a book out called Blue Like Jazz. He was describing his view that our lives are like movie scripts that God is writing. He said that screen writers like to start with the climatic scene in the movie (the goal) and then go back and write how the characters got their. So what we need to do is figure out what our climactic scene is and then write how we get there. He says that for some the scene is not one that God would appreciate, like getting a new Volvo. But for him, and he believes, for most of us the climactic scene in our lives should be when we meet God and he says to us "Job well Done, Good and Faithful Servant." I like that. I think that is what I want for my climatic scene. In other words this is what success looks like. Now I just have to figure out how to get there.

Extra-Curricular Activities

Here is a question for you - Would you take your son or daughter out of school for one week to go on a mission trip? Most peoples first reaction is, can't it be done on a weekend or during the summer? Most of us feel that school is very important and should not be messed with. But, how important is Jesus and should we be messing with him? Don't get me wrong I don't mean running off every other week to do mission work, but if an opportunity came up would you consider it or just say it can't be done.

What about if the coach of your son's baseball team tells you that he is moving practice to Sunday morning? Do you find a way to make it happen even if it means missing church or do you tell the coach he can't make because he has church?

I have to admit that this is an area where I have trouble. I would have a hard time pulling my son out of school. And I have on occasion missed church because of some extra-curricular activity.

I believe that God gives us opportunities and that we should take them even if it means missing church or school on occasion. Like everything else it should be all things in moderation. But I do think that our culture is such that Jesus is the extra-curricular activity and everything else is the important stuff. How do we change it, how do we make Jesus the most important thing? Because if we don't as parents, then our kids won't and we will just continue the culture as it is or it might even get worse..

New Year, New Start, and New Goals

Ok, I am not big on New Years Resolutions, but I am big on goals. I have a had a goal for a while to start a blog where I can discuss the thoughts I have as I attempt to find out what it means to Follow Jesus in our day and time. I have attempted to start several times and always stopped because something wasn't just right. I was hoping for perfection. I guess that I am realizing that if I keep waiting for perfection, I will never start. So, it is a new year and here in Wisconsin every thing is white and clean with fresh new snow cover. So I guess it is time for a new start. I can't, and won't, promise perfection, but hopefully you will find some interest in what I will write in this blog and hopefully we can provide each other some incite, inspiration, and encouragement on this journey. So here's to a New Year and a New Start, enjoy!

Marketing God

We just returned from our usual Christmas Trip home to Texas. This year we chose to drive the 1000 miles in two days. As we were driving through Kansas we noticed these home made billboards that said "Follow Jesus or REGRET IT FOREVER!". It made me wonder two things - First, how many people does this type of advertising bring closer to Jesus? My guess is not many. And Secondly, What would I put on a billboard to convince others to follow Jesus? Off the top of my head I can think of a couple that I might be tempted to use. How about - "God is still talking, be still and listen" or "Think, don't Conform! God is a thinker not a conformer."

What would you put on a billboard? What is the target audiance? Let me know in the comments section.