God of This City

Yesterday on Facebook from Dr. David Fitch,

 "If there's a vacant tract of land in your area, one of its least desirable uses, as far as neighbors are concerned, is a church building. They aren't usually beautiful buildings. They are considered unusable by the general community. And they bring outsiders to the neighborhood every Sunday, clogging the streets and disturbing the amenity of the place. We're not saying larger congregations don't need appropriately large facilities to meet, but when the members of those congregations don't live in the neighborhood, their buildings are sadly designated LULU's (locally undesirable land use)." Michael Frost Christiana Rice (from forthcoming IVP book Altered).

I read this post from Fitch and the comments and it made me wonder.  Is it offensive to think of our church buildings as "locally undesirable land use"? More so, are they?

Here's the real question... What value does our church bring to the community? Do we do for our community enough good to validate our "undesirable" land and buildings? This isn't an easy question. My knee jerk response is, "of course we do good for the community". We are here to help people to know Jesus and to have a life transformed by Him. We are a place to worship and to grow in that relationship, which has a great impact on this life and on eternity. But much of that really mostly just impacts people within our church community. Do we really do good for the outside community? And does our massive building and land make a positive impact on the landscape of our town?

So, I started to think about taxes. Based on very minimal research, I understand churches to be exempt from property taxes due to two factors. One, it keeps a separation between church and state protecting religion from too much governmental interference. And two, it was determined at one time that the value to a community that a church offers is greater than the value of their taxes. Basically, if not for churches, the government would have to spend money to pick up their slack.

On Jan. 14, 1924, the US Supreme Court interpreted the reason for the exemption inTrinidad v. Sagrada Orden: "Evidently the exemption is made in recognition of the benefit which the public derives" from churches' "corporate activities." - http://churchesandtaxes.procon.org/#background

But do we still offer enough benefit to our communities to get this privilege? It's definitely debatable. 

I'm not advocating for churches losing our tax exempt status. I fear that it would be an insurmountable challenge for many churches which would have a negative impact on our society. 

But talking about tax exemption does bring up some thoughts. For instance, how would paying property tax affect the way that we buy, build, and take care of our churches' properties? Would our churches be better stewards of our lands if we actually had to pay for it? My church building is large and sits on what is nearly a city block of land and grass. We rarely use all of our grounds for our ministry, but we've owned it for 60 years. If we were responsible to pay taxes on our property, would we sit on land that could be used either by us or by someone else? Or would that result in our rethinking what we hold on to?

So I had this idea. What if churches would decide to be investors in our communities in ways that we never have before? What if we estimated what taxes on our properties would be and began to invest that money in our communities? What if we set aside that money - or at least some money - and then partnered with others in the community for important projects? We could work with our towns to better our parks, to support our schools, to build bike trails, to support housing initiatives, or to help those in poverty. 

Can you imagine the witness in our communities if churches would have this kind of investment? It would say to them that we are not just here for our own agendas. It would literally be putting our money where our mouths are when we say we care about our neighbors. 

“Build homes, and plan to stay. Plant gardens, and eat the food they produce. Marry and have children. Then find spouses for them so that you may have many grandchildren. Multiply! Do not dwindle away! And work for the peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, for its welfare will determine your welfare.” - Jeremiah 29:5-7

 What do you think? Are our church buildings really a LULU? Are we living up to our billing as agents of good in our communities? Could we do more?

What You Got

“Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
Till it's gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot”

- “Big Yellow Taxi” by Joni Mitchell

I know what’s coming. Spring will soon be here and I will be celebrating the warmer weather, greener landscapes, and longer days. We’ll be excited to get outside to play, or run, or bike around town. I’ll make comments about how much I hated winter and how great it feels to be over it.

And then, after a couple of weeks, I’ll start spending more time inside, watching TV or staying out of the heat. I’ll complain about sweating every time I leave the house and start telling the boys we’ve played enough baseball and that I need a break.

Isn’t it funny how quickly we take things for granted? I was reminded of this recently as we have a weekend of mid 60 degree weather and we spent every second we could outside. After the cold winter, it was an amazing weekend and we appreciated it.

I think I’m beginning to come to terms with the cycles of life and the ways that positive and negative situations affects us. I think that I truly need the winter every year to remind myself how wonderful the warmth of summer really is. I need the hard times in my life to remind me how to be grateful for the good.

This is especially true when I think about Easter. It’s easy to put our focus in the resurrection of Jesus and His victory over death and sin. And we’re reminded by Paul that “...if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless.” The resurrection is essential to our redemption and relationship with God. But the victory Jesus has over death could only come from His death first. The joy of the resurrection can only really be celebrated because Jesus first died. Even in sending His Son for us, there had to be suffering to fully experience grace.

So maybe all the things we don’t like in this life can give us some perspective.

With the right perspective we can work through a job we don’t like, and better appreciate our home life. We can suffer through a cold and snowy winter so that we can love the long warm days of summer. We can get through the awful cold and flu season to remember how great it feels to be healthy.

March is a great month! It’s the time that Spring begins to show itself, giving us a reprieve from the cold. We’ll get to set our clocks forward to lengthen our days and brighten our moods. And we get to remember the greatest thing that has ever happened in the history of the world: Jesus defeating death and sin so that we can be forgiven and accepted into God’s family.

There will still be some cold days ahead. There will be illness, challenges at work, struggles with finances, and frustrations at home.

But take heart, that Jesus is making all things new. It may feel like Friday… but Sunday is most definitely coming.

My blog post got picked up by the American Baptist Churches USA website.

Go here.

Sheep or Goats at Christmas

It’s that time of year. We begin to see lights on houses, trees decorated showing through windows, and seasonal ads and specials all over the television. It’s Christmas season; that time of year where we fight through crowds to buy gifts for our families, light a candle each week in church for Advent, and talk about a “season of giving”.

But does any of that change our lives; our hearts? Recent terrorist attacks in Beirut and Paris have reminded us the world is still a broken, scary place. How do we respond? As followers of Jesus, how do we live out a Spirit of Christmas in a world we fear?

I think back to the story of Christmas. Though His people were disobedient and the world full of sin, God decided to give His Son to us. So He chose a young, unmarried, middle-eastern woman and the man she was betrothed to. He knew that they didn’t have the right situation or status, and He watched as they traveled to Bethlehem and were turned away from any comfortable place to sleep. And there, in a stable, Jesus was born.

I think about the way Jesus treated people. I love the story of Jesus meeting the Samaritan woman and offering her living water. Though He shouldn’t have even been talking to her since He was a Jew and she a Samaritan, Jesus changed her life through their encounter. I remember how Jesus touched the lepers, though he could be contaminated. I think of how He dined with prostitutes and tax collectors; the outcasts of a righteousness-obsessed culture.

Then I think about the way Jesus died. Though He is the Son of God, the Creator of the universe, who is limitless in His power; He chose to allow His own creation to murder Him in the most humiliating and excruciating way possible. For the sake of His children, He allowed Himself to die, and He did so willingly.

Jesus tells of judgment in the book of Matthew. He says,

... ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’ “Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink?  Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing?  When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’

 “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’

 “Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons. For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink. I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’ ...‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’ “

This Christmas season, who do we choose to be? Will we be like the sheep, like Jesus Himself lived out His mission on earth? Or will we ignore the hurting, the poor, the refugees, the sick?

At the Mission Table

Photo thanks to Marie Onwubuariri

For the last few days, I have been in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania with about 100 pastors, region staff, and national staff to discuss and make a way forward for the denomination. It was an opportunity to look at the world we live in, the challenges we face, and to set priorities for our work going forward. It was a busy, tiring, but valuable experience with a hopeful end of helping our churches encounter these challenges too.

The time we had together began with some opportunities to break the ice, get to know some things about each other, and begin the process of working together for a goal. It was cheesy, and we learned a lot about how poor pastors are at geography, but it got us started. Also, out of the groups formed during ice breakers, we found our team for prioritization. The next step was choosing from a large list of priorities to establish 5-7 that would be most important for this season of ministry. It was clear that all the priorities matter, and many are continuing to be worked on, but we would have to choose the things that our efforts could be put into going forward. The list of priorities came out of table conversations at the 2015 Mission Summit this past summer.

The entire list was:

Our Leaders

101.  Discipleship – How can we develop mature and faithful followers of Jesus Christ in a world where so many of the traditional practices seem not to work?

102.  Living Out Our Cultural Reality - The ABC is already a multi-ethnic organization and the U.S. is fast moving to be so; what does that mean for our ministry as we move into the future?

103.  Next Generation of Leaders and Congregants – How can we work alongside the next generation of leaders to co-create a future ministry together that includes all generations?

104.  Pastoral Attrition - There is an increasing pattern of pastoral attrition—people leaving the ministry—especially after the first five years of ministry.  How can we curb this trend?

105.  Spirituality – How can I deepen my relationship with God, allow faith to play a more vital role in my life, and discern what God’s next steps are for my life?

106.  Volunteerism* – How can we partner in ministry with the increasing number of persons looking for meaningful work apart from their paid or pre-retirement positions?

107.  Women in Ministry - Women in ordained ministry continue to be under-represented in ABC ministry in terms of the proportion of ordained women who are available to serve, especially in significant leadership roles.  How can these barriers be overcome?

Our Witness

201.  Refugees from Burma* - How can we better understand and alleviate the plight of refugees who have fled from atrocities within Burma as they await resettlement and arrive in the United States?

202.  The Gospel in a Rapidly Changing Society* – How can we engage Christ’s presence in a rapidly changing world?

203.  Human Trafficking* – How can we build upon the strides already made in curbing human trafficking in prostitution, agriculture, labor, and other areas?

204.  Immigration* – How can we partner with what God is up to with respect to U.S. immigrants  and immigrant congregations?

205.  People with Disabilities* – What should ministry look like with respect to people with disabilities?

206.  Poverty* – The gap between the haves and have-nots continues to grow. How can we better understand and deal with the causes of poverty?

207.  Violence – Violence dominates the media headlines. What should the role of the church be in dealing with violence in today’s world?

Our Future

301.  Alternative Models of Pastoral Ministry - Many small congregations are unable to employ full-time, seminary trained pastors. How can we create, support, and encourage congregations to embrace new models of pastoral leadership?

302.  Community Networking* – This is now the “age of networking.” How can church leaders partner with community leaders in order to create the types of communities that God desires?

303.  Congregations of the Future* –How can traditional congregations experience the new forms of congregational life that are emerging?

304.  Congregations without Buildings* – Increasing percentages of church budgets are going toward the maintenance of a church building. What might a congregation look like with no physical building?

305.  Missional Church – Many ABC congregations have embraced a missional model of ministry. What have we learned and what are the next steps in this approach?

306.  Revitalizing Aging Congregations* – Many congregations include a significant number of older adults.  How can these congregations find new life and hope that extends beyond a survival mentality?

307.  Technology – Why do some congregations embrace new forms of technology while others strongly resist it?  How can technology be used as a tool for ministry?  

*Denotes a new conversation for 2015

As a group of 5-6, we would go to each theme, discuss it's importance to us, and mark it with up to 3 dot stickers according to our group's priorities. This process didn't seem like it would be very helpful, but it was surprisingly challenging and positive. The things I expected to care little about were made clear as priorities to many outside my realm of ministry, and vice versa. The process was great and we eventually, through the dot-sticking process, were able to set 7 main priorities.

Photo thanks to Erica Van Brakle

The next step was to choose a priority that each one of us was interested in to form a new group and write a case statement about it. These statements would be used to give a clear understanding to the priority, and to help our churches see the need to address them. (Again, this doesn't mean we stop doing ministry in other areas. In many cases, ABC/USA is already doing a lot of work on the other topics so they are not included in the top seven.)

I chose "Gospel in a Rapidly Changing Society" because I see a real need for our churches to learn to bring the Gospel into our context, which is definitely changing all around us. We had a large group, which broke into two in order to work in smaller teams.

Then we talked. We talked and talked and talked some more. Did you know that pastors like to hear their own voices? It's true. In fact, the biggest struggle of the week for me was that in these groups, we seemed to be trying to solve the problem rather than clarify it. But eventually, we made our way through the guided questions so that we could put a statement together. (Shout out to Deborah Jackson of Ministers' Council for taking all our comments and compiling them into something legible.)

Among all the work, thought, and conversations, we were led into worship by Zina Jacque; who challenged us, encouraged us, and told us to rest or die. :)

I'm grateful for the opportunity to be a part of this process. And I'm hopeful for the future of our denomination and our work for Christ. There are great challenges ahead; like learning to love, worship, and do ministry together even when we disagree; like replacing the humble leadership of Roy Medley, who I was blessed to have as a part of my group this week and is retiring. But in the midst of these challenges, I am praying that we can do great things together for the Kingdom.

Click here to read the ABC/USA article on the Mission Table.

Wives, Submit!

Alright, I have your attention.

I’ve been thinking a lot about submission lately. In a recent sermon on transformed relationships, submission came up as an important part of the way we treat each other in the Kingdom of God, and it’s been circling around my head ever since. It comes from the book of Ephesians, just before Paul tells wives to submit to their husbands and husbands to love their wives. In fact, I think it really informs the later command to wives by showing what true relationships are.

Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.  Ephesians 5:21

Submission is an interesting thing. I think that we automatically think of submission as a point of weakness where we are forced by a greater power to compromise our own freedom for theirs. It is in that sense that many see women submitting to their husbands, who can hold “authority” over them.

What I’m marinating on is the idea that we offer submission to one another radically as the body of Christ; not in weakness, but in strength. In the same way that when Jesus calls us to “turn the other cheek” to another, He is not asking us to become a victim; submission isn’t about authority at all, but about humility among brothers and sisters of the Kingdom.

The cool thing about mutual submission is that it takes hierarchy completely out of the ministry of the church. If two of us with opposing ideas can submit to each other humbly, there is no more power struggle. Instead, we have to find the good in each other’s perspective and seek consensus through the Holy Spirit together.

Now this may seem tough. It is. In fact, if we are be serious about submission, I think we first have to learn to submit to God in our everyday lives. This is a concept that we are losing today. While many are interested in spirituality, love, forgiveness, and service; the idea of submitting ourselves to the wisdom and will of God is not popular. We each seem to think we know better for our lives than the One who gave life to us to begin with.

But what if we took submission to Christ seriously? I’ve been wrestling with the call to submit to God’s will in all the areas of my life this past few weeks. That means that each day as I wake I have to say with conviction, “Jesus, this day is Yours and I’m open to what you want from me.”  It means that going into a meeting I don’t feel like going to, I submit not only my attitude but that meeting to God’s desire instead of mine.

Do you know what submission has done to me? It changes my perspective. It’s crazy that things I really don’t want to do can be made sacred by offering myself to Jesus for those things and the ways He intends to use me. I’m not there yet, but I’m seeking to be a person of submission; to God and to His people. Now, I submit this idea to you. What do you think?

Runners... Unite.

My first car was a 1968 VW Beetle. I bought it two months before my 16th birthday. It was a beautiful red bug and I learned quickly that owning a VW was liking joining a cult. I quickly started collecting VW and bug memorabilia. But the coolest part was that everytime I passed or saw another old bug, there was an excited wave or a fun conversation with those in our club. It was pretty amazing how quickly being a bug-owner led to automatic friendships with people I'd never met.

I feel like running should be that way. Since I starting taking running more seriously, I feel like I have a kinship with runners that I come across. It's like we're all a part of the same club and I feel like we should act like we know each other. I'm always excited for the people I see sharing my obsession. I'm proud of them for doing something to be healthier, and hopeful that they've found a love for it like I have. But I think I'm in the minority because as I cross paths with runners and try to offer a greeting, I'm often met with a simple, seemingly annoyed wave off. Do they not know we're both in the club? On the other hand, people out walking are often kind, smiling, and offering greetings of their own. Why can't we be like that?

So, a word to runners:

What's wrong? Why are you so grumpy when you come across other runners?

I figure it could be one of three things...

1. You take this way too seriously. You're trying to bust out a personal best, keep an incredible pace, or prepare for a big race. Okay cool, but settle down. We're engaged in a sport that involves simply putting one foot in front of another. It's not rocket science. Get over yourself.

2. You are self concious about running and feel like anyone who crosses your path is judging you. We're not. I don't care how fast you run or how silly you may look doing it. You're in the club. So don't worry so much and acknowledge your teammates.

3. You're judging me while I'm running. Understandable. I surely look like an idiot.

So, runners. Chill out. Smile, wave, and be an encourager of others. We're all in this together.