My Take on Charge Conference

Charge Conference had one central message this year: Our relationships with unchurched people matter.

So this blog is all about that first part: Relationships.

Christianity, from its inception. No…before Christ…back to the Adam and Eve…has been about relationships. The primary relationship it is concerned with is our relationship with God. The secondary relationship it is concerned with is from person to person.

Yet somewhere along the line in America, we have forgotten. The Body of Christ, the church, whose main role is to promote right relationship with God and right relationship with others, somehow got swallowed up. Church has become about performance in worship, knowledge in small groups, doing for strangers we never intend to meet in missions, and organizing events and programs in nurture. Somewhere along the line, we have made church a business where we all have our assignments to keep the business running. Insiders have become employees and outsiders have become projects and customers. And it’s not working.

It is time to try something new (or old?). It is time to start talking about church, about measuring church by our relationships and their health. That means that our number one priority as a congregation, as individuals is to start building relationships.

So what does it take to build relationships? The most important relationships in my life had these three things in common:

1.       I had to spend time FOR that person. There was something I sacrificed for that person, whether it was my time or some kind of gift at some point. I had to put my interests and resources to the side and make that person a priority. It may have been something as small as the money and time to send a card or something, but I had to do something for them, without any expectation they would do something to return the favor.

2.       I had to spend time WITH that person. This, I would argue, is the main thing that creates relationships. I can give things and time to people and never have a relationship with them. I may know about them and want to help, but I don’t really know them. But, when I spend time with someone, things all the sudden get real. And the more time I spend with them, the more I care about them. The more of Christ I have to show them.

3.       I didn’t give up ON that person. If I spend enough time with them, eventually I am going to do something to tick them off. And then I will have to show them what it means to repent, because that’s what I will need to do. Eventually they will do something that really ticks me off. And then I will have to show them what it means to forgive someone. That is when what Jesus does gets real.

If we are serious about sharing Jesus with the unchurched, all the real work is here. We should all have people outside of a community of faith that we are building relationships with. So, who are those people in your life?

Where Have We All Gone?

Since I finished college 8 years ago, I have had the opportunity to be a part of 6 congregations. No, I’m not a church-hopper. I’m a pastor. At one point a church plant pastor. At another, an unemployed pastor. At another, the pastor of two churches at once. I am 31 year old. 

                One of the saddest realizations for me, is that I am keenly aware that at all of those places I could count the people my age who came regularly on one hand. And many of those people came in connection with a family in that congregation. And it breaks my heart. Now let be clear, it does not break my heart because they are the church’s future. I know many generations older than mine are concerned about this. I am not. It breaks my heart because they are my people.

                Some of the reasons it breaks my heart our pretty selfish. There are not enough people to have a serious small group for intentional faith development. There is not a majority to advocate for the things that make worship meaningful for our generation. Even more, there are not enough voices setting the priorities and values for reaching this generation. So my voice and my generation’s voice becomes a whisper among the enduring faith of the “Great Generation” and drowned out by the drums of the “Baby Boomers” contemporary worship. There is no one to share similar life stage issues with like the balance of family life and the two careers in our household. There is no voice that can say, “I know what you mean, that just happened to me last week.” It is incredibly lonely.

                But even more than that, my heart breaks for God’s kingdom. I grieve for the families, for my friends who don’t know Christ, who don’t have the support of his Body on earth. I grieve that they have to rely on the government when times get tough, which is only concerned with their survival and has stigmatized Capitalism’s losers. I grieve that they don’t have people to hug them, to come to their house and teach them how make laundry detergent for a cheaper price, or take them bargain hunting. I grieve that in those times, they are told they are worthless, instead of being told they have gifts to share with others.  I grieve when I see how lonely, how tired, and hoe empty they are.

                I have been told consistently by baby boomers about my generation and what they need in a church. But I have yet to be asked. When I have shared things, they have told me I am wrong. So I go on, serving the generations before me, who tell me there are no people my age in this community. And I wonder, where have we all gone?

Pastor Jorge's Visit

It was a day of praise as we welcomed Pastor Jorge into our midst on Saturday morning. We heard about the new disciples being made among the Lenca people and how God is using the church to find short term and long term solutions to the poverty they face. We talked about a potential visit to Honduras in the spring as well and what we may be doing there. I even got to become “friends” with Pastor Jorge on Facebook. 

The most moving part of our visit was to hear Pastor Jorge share how our Honduras brothers and sisters have been praying for La Fontaine UMC through its rough times and are praising God for our renewed sense of mission and hope. The reason this was so powerful is because it points to our partnership with the church in Honduras. The giving and receiving is not in only one direction. When they are in need, we reach out them and when we are in need, they reach out to us. There is something deeply powerful and humbling in knowing that God’s church across borders has been praying for US. Perhaps that is why we are still here.

World Communion Sunday

It’s been a wild week, but I didn’t want to miss the chance to talk about Honduras. This last Sunday we celebrated World Communion Sunday not just by remembering all those Christians around the world that took of The Lord’s Supper with us, but also by hearing about how disciples are being made in Honduras. Greg Dawes shared about our history with Honduras. He shared about the 2 mission trips those from our congregation went on 7 or so years ago. Mike Hodupp then shared with us about how the work we partnered in then has continued to grow.

For me, the most powerful thing he shared was about two Lenca men who were only children when we started investing in a meal program in their area. These two men recently made a commitment to Jesus and being his disciple! Praise God! It is amazing how something as simple as a meal almost a decade ago has changed God’s kingdom for eternity.

Mike also shared with us the need for volunteers to serve this spring in mission in Honduras and we are just at the beginning steps of planning a team. I can’t help but wonder: What will God do with this team? Will he produce disciples...maybe not this spring…maybe years from now from the ministry that will happen? I want to encourage you to continue to pray for Honduras. Continue to pray for those God has called to step out in mission.

We have a special opportunity on October 18^th at 10 am to meet with Pastor Jorge from Honduras. He will be meeting with us at our church here in La Fontaine, and I encourage you to come and hear more about what God is doing in Honduras.