Serious Business

I was reminded recently of quotes by two of my favorite writers:

"Man cannot exist without having the capacity for laughter." - St. Thomas Aquinas

"Joy is the serious business of heaven." - C. S. Lewis

For some people, having a sense of humor is as easy as choosing a presidential candidate. OK, bad example. Let's try that again. For some people, having a sense of humor is as easy as 1, 2, 3.

Now for the record, I do derive much enjoyment from my wife, from working with youth, from reading for pleasure. But if you've read any of my blogs, you know that I sometimes view life with a degree of seriousness that would make the prophet Jeremiah look like Jerry Seinfeld (not that there's anything wrong with that...).

My tendency to dwell on the negative in certain situations, or to over-analyze, is well-documented by my friends and family. Part of it is undoubtedly the result of my status as the oldest-child with the over-achiever syndrome. Perhaps some of it is that Catholic guilt of my upbringing, which I learned while kneeling in the confessional booth or looking up at Jesus' accusing eyes from the crucifix. I'm sure a professional psychologist could unearth tons of unconcious motivations as well.

So what's my point?

I've come to realize that a crucial spiritual discipline in my Christian walk is the discipline of having a sense of humor. I don't think you'll find that anywhere in the writings of Richard Foster or Henri Nouwen...certainly not a systematized discipline advocated by any theological tradition. But that doesn't negate the fact that it is spiritually necessary for me to simply sit back and have a good laugh, to acknowledge that there is nothing on this earth so important that it should fully take away the joy of living as a child of God.

Thomas Aquinas actually argued that the sense of humor is one dimension of the Image of God in human beings; it allows us to rise above the struggles of life and see all of this world with a sense of levity and hope. Likewise, Chesterton once wrote that "laughter has something in it in common with the ancient winds of faith and inspiration...it makes people forget themselves in the presence of something greater than themselves; something that they cannot resist."

How do I attempt (with varying degrees of success) to integrate this discipline into my life?

First, I try to watch some TV just for the sake of the humor. Shows like The Office, Seinfeld reruns, and Mad TV are at the top of the list.

Second, in my journaling I try intentionally to recall the lighter moments of the day: a humorous observation, a sarcastic comment from our incredible church secretary, or my own stupid mistakes that I'm able to laugh about now.

Finally, I try to surround myself with friends who breathe real joy into my spirit, who allow me to take my focus off of my burdens and just be Jeff.

What are some practices that bring joy and laughter into your heart and life?

May God keep us all in the serious business of joy and laughter, so our spirits never become so heavy that they fail to rise in worship of Him.

Feeling God's Pain

During this season of Lent, I am focusing my devotional reading of Scripture on the minor prophets. It's a section of Scripture I haven't read in a while, and so I decided to delve into the words of individuals who may not have written as much as guys like Isaiah and Jeremiah, but whose message to us is just as important.

So I started reading through the first chapter of Hosea. Right at the beginning, God does the unthinkable: He orders His prophet Hosea to marry an adulterous wife and to conceive unfaithful children. The reason? "Because the land is guilty of the vilest adultery in departing from the Lord." Apparently God wanted Hosea to feel the kind of gut-wrenching emotions that God Himself must feel when His people abandon Him, prostitute themselves before the lifeless pagan gods around them, and ultimately beget children who are faithless.

If I were Hosea, I don't know what my resonse would have been.

You see, I have a couple close friends of mine who experienced this firsthand. They married women, they loved them, but over the course of the marriage, the women's hearts changed and they engaged in adulterous relationships.

In both cases, my friends expressed a willingness to reconcile, to go to counseling, to try and rebuild the trust and intimacy and start fresh. But their wives would have none of it. They had made up their minds ahead of time and chose to sever the relationship rather than work things out. In one case, my friend's wife walked away with half of the financial assets in the marriage, even though she contributed very little financially.

I saw what that situation did to my friends. I saw grown men crying like babies, heart-broken, shocked, angry, filled with both love and hatred. My one friend has three boys, and despite the counseling they have received, I'm sure the scars of that experience will always be with them.

All because one party in the marriage chose narcissism, self-gratification, deceptiveness and unfaithfulness over commitment, truthfulness, communication, and reconciliation.

I reflect on this, and then I think... Is this what I do to God every time I sin? Does God's heart ache like my friends' did when I make my self-interest, rather than God's glory and righteousness, the motivating factor in my decisions? And on a more corporate level: how does God truly feel about the church's relationship with the pagan gods of our culture today, or the church's sometimes selfish agenda? Does He view us as adulterous?

Biblical scholar Walter Brueggemann argues that pathos is absolutely crucial to prophetic ministry: the ability to feel, and to energize others to feel, the heart of God that cries out against apathy, numbness, and unfaithfulness. The people of God must be exposed to a candid expression of the way in which their individual and corporate sin has betrayed God on the very deepest levels. This requires more than theological savvy or administrative gifts: it requires a discerning heart driven by a life of rich prayer and disciplined spirituality, as well as a courage to speak deeply and truthfully about unpleasant things. (See Brueggemann, The Prophetic Imagination)

If the experiences of my friends (and of Hosea) are any indication of God's reaction to His people today, I believe that this season of Lent offers us a unique opportunity. I pray that through my reading of the minor prophets and through my prayer life, God may invite me into a deeper understanding of His heart, and also a courage to know how most effectively to use that understanding in a way that is productive and energizing.

May our Lenten journey give us a fresh understanding of the lengths to which God will go, and has gone, to restore us adulterous people to our rightful place as His Bride, the Church.

Sobering Facts, Real Opportunities

Recently, Dr. Scott Sunquist (evangelism/mission prof at Pittsburgh Seminary) challenged me to read a book as a part of an independent study I am doing with him. He intends to use the text in his regular Evangelism course next year, and I think he's using me as a sort of "guinea pig." The book is entitled Unbinding the Gospel: Real Life Evangelism by Martha Grace Reese. Meant as a study for church leaders, the book is a result of a four-year study which focused on developing effective evangelism in mainline churches. With endorsements from the likes of George G. Hunter III, Brian McLaren, and Richard Peace, it is definitely a text that commands attention.

For this particular posting, I am choosing deliberately not to comment on the theological implications of Dr. Reese's study, other than to make one observation. Reese notes that theologically conservative Christians have a natural motivation to evangelize, because they still believe in a literal heaven and hell, and therefore are concerned about the eternal state of people's souls. Theologically liberal Christians, according to Reese, must find some other motivation for sharing the Christian message with others, and that can begin only when liberal Christians are able to answer truthfully the following question: "What difference does it make in my own life that I am a Christian?"

This is a question that many mainline Christians (indeed, many mainline denominations) have been incapable of answering of late. Unless (or until) mainline Christians can make a strong case for why belonging to their denomination is any different than belonging to the local Kiwanis or Rotary Club, their evangelism will always fall short.

Here are some of the sobering facts that Reese shares about mainline denominations:

• From 1960-2000, mainline churches as a whole have lost almost 20% of their members. However, looked at as a percentage of the American population, mainline church membership has dropped almost 50% in 40 years.
• From 1972-1993, the percentage of Protestants in the U.S. remained fairly stable at 63%. However, by 2002 the number had dropped to 52%.
• Only 3% of adults born between 1910-1919 were raised without any religion in their lives. 14% of adults born between 1980-1984 were reared with no religion, and 27% of adults born in those years say they have no religious preference. America is clearly becoming a less "religious" country.
• Mainline churches are failing at helping new people become Christians. While new Christians are joining the faith in mainline churches, the vast majority are our own children or new spouses.
• Very few adult baptisms and affirmations of faith are made in the six major mainline denominations.

I know you're probably sick of reading about the ills of the mainline churches. You're probably also thinking (and I agree with you) that "numbers" are not necessarily an indicator of anything. That said, though, I think it's important to recognize that evangelism is something that many Christian leaders (myself included) are simply not well-equipped to deal with. Either because of time limitations or other priorities, we simply do not give significant attention to spreading the Gospel beyond the walls of our church.

I think it is great that evangelism is now a required course of all candidates for ordination in the United Methodist Church (hence my independent study with Dr. Sunquist). I also think it's great that creative new churches in are springing up in our conference with a distinctively evangelistic and missional focus: think Hot Metal Bridge, Radiant Life (at Pittsburgh Mills) and Eighth Avenue Place which Keith McIlwain describes in his latest post. Hopefully these are signs that the winds are changing and that God is challenging mainliners to make the Kingdom, rather than the Church, priority #1.

My prayer for today is that God will make me more intentional about sharing Christ with others, and in communicating to the congregation of Bakerstown UMC a simple but significant strategy to be more about spreading the good news of Christ beyond our community. Will you join me in praying for that kind of renewal?