White Wave Manifest: Friends for the Journey

Will...and a couple of friends.

*          Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? (I Corinthians 6:15a)

*          It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you
and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples...(Deuteronomy 7:7)

As a parent, I admit, it is easy to get distracted by the accomplishments of other parents' children.  "My son just made first chair cello in high school...and the varsity swim team...and is fluent in ancient Aramaic. We always knew that he was gifted.  After all, he was potty-trained at ten months." Then, I think of my own child, who does an awesome "pencil" on the diving board, loves to bang on the drums with his friend David, and is fluent in Laffy Taffy jokes. Is that so bad?  And if it isn't, why do I feel so inadequate as a parent?

And as a pastor, I admit, it was easy for me to get distracted by the accomplishments of other pastor's churches. "We just broke ground on our new arena...and we baptized 300 last week...and we are sending three million dollars to international missions this year alone!" Then I think of my own church. We stripped-out our angel tree, one  year, by the third week in Advent!  And I remember making a hospital visit and found three other parishioners had already been there that morning. One year, our membership didn't decline by a single person. Is that so bad? And if it isn't, why do I feel so inadequate as a pastor?   

For parents and for pastors, in families and in churches, the problem is that we often put our emphasis on the wrong things.  As parents, we celebrate what our children do, not who they are. As churches, we celebrate the numbers and tally up our successes and pay no mind to what really counts.

I remember one fall, we took our children out of all fall activities. No more soccer. No more cub scouts. No more Aramaic. There was school and church and lots of fun climbing trees, and building awesome Lego creations.  Most importantly, our sons figured out again what it was like to have friends for the journey.

What if we did the same thing as a church?  What if we quit counting members?  What if we actually deleted the membership roles all together? Would things change? Could things get any worse?

* Only 10% of all Christians possess a biblical worldview that informs their thinking and behavior. (Barna, George, The Habits of Highly Effective Churches)

* Of the 38% of Americans that attend worship, only 22% of them engage in any additional  Christian education.(Willimon, William, The Theology and Practice of Ordained Ministry)

So, maybe it is a time to quit counting and discover, again, those things that are really important; things like visiting church members in the hospital, spreading a little light in dark places, and climbing trees.  Maybe we, as a church, can quit counting and figure out again what it is like to have good friends along for the journey.

Church Stopping. More being. Less doing.