I have been doing some Internet reading recently, and it seems that not all in the world of evangelicalism is bright and sunny. Storm clouds are on the horizon - an ominous change of sorts. Massive climatic change in the happy world of American evangelicals might be underway. Good bye Dr. Dobson, southern mega-churches, and blue-haired people on cable TV. Hello ambiguity.
Everything might be falling apart, and it feels somewhat scary, but at the same time exciting and hopeful. This change could all be very good.
My thinking began to get started after reading this, followed by this, and then this. Seems, if we believe only half of what Michael is writing about, there is some serious change on the horizon. And then, if you want to be further depressed by the future, take a look at this one.
Seems a bleak outlook. I am hopeful. This might drive us Jesus Believers to a much better place, in the long run. Here is something to think about:
Recently, I began some thoughts about our the alone-ness of our culture, and how we in the church seem to do only marginally less poorly than the rest of society at forming meaningful relationships.
This is all quite bothering to me. Really.
My observation, after more than 25 years in the Christian culture (Southern California - which may be more liberal than other parts of the country), is that once a person comes to a saving knowledge of Christ, they tend to unintentionally cloister themselves from the rest of society. They also isolate themselves somewhat from relationships, both with the greater non-believing world around them, and even within the church, to some extent. Being with unbelieving people is seen as somehow, well, slightly sinful; and sharing too much of yourself with those inside the church, can be, well, embarrassing.
This is why I would not at all be surprised to find the the statistics of the GSS to be even more skewed toward isolation, if a separate measurement were taken within the church. (If you know of any such studies, will you please let me know?!). I hope I am wrong, but I doubt it.
The Need Unmet It seems to me there is a vast, gaping, unmet need in the world around us. Quite simple, it is the need for friends. Friends. Who will sit with us when we hurt, listen when we have deep questions, laugh with us when we are joyous, weep with us when we mourn, and wait for us when we are distant and difficult.
Will those in the church do this? I wonder.
The Visualization Recent, I came upon a stunning choral arrangement of Samuel Barber's "Agnus Dei". I am not sure why I am sharing it here, other than to offer that this piece offers both a glimpse of the suffering and need for redemption of us all, and also the beauty that can emerge from many offering their gifts as one - one choir.
Church people, do we have this in us? The gift of friendship; of working together to create something truly Beautiful? Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccáta mundi, miserére nobis. Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world: have mercy on us. Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccáta mundi, miserére nobis. Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world: have mercy on us. Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccáta mundi, dona nobis pacem. Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world: grant us peace.
The lovely lady on the right of this photo with our President is Megan Handley, a Fuller Seminary student, and great friend of ours. She knew Obama before he was famous. We did not.
During Advent, Megan delivered a wonderful homily at our Wednesday night Advent Service at our church.
You can listen to her homily by clicking on the post headline above, or here. This will take you to the file location.
One warning - due to some kind of technological sound recording boo-boo-thingie, the homily does not begin until 2:24 seconds into the sound track. If you like, you can enjoy those moments as silent reflection. Enjoy!
We think we have lots of friends. We have Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, blogs, email, text messages galore.
But not really.
In reality we are....alone, disconnected, disjointed, and often bereft of friends. We Americans are pretty much lonely, and in many cases essentially alone. Solitary souls, often living our lives without meaningful relationships. It is getting worse, not better, as time marches on.
As support for this depressing concept, recently I came upon an article that is almost three years old in the Washington Post, and then found the original study upon which it is based here.
In 1985, the General Social Survey (GSS) collected the first nationally representative data on the confidants with whom Americans discuss important matters. In the 2004 GSS the authors replicated those questions to assess social change in core network structures. The number of people sayingthere is no one with whom they discuss important matters nearly tripled. The meannetwork size decreases by about a third (one confidant), from 2.94 in 1985 to 2.08 in2004. The modal respondent now reports having no confidant; the modal respondent in1985 had three confidants. Both kin and non-kin confidants were lost in the past twodecades, but the greater decrease of non-kin ties leads to more confidant networkscentered on spouses and parents, with fewer contacts through voluntary associations and neighborhoods. Most people have densely interconnected confidants similar to them.
I really wonder if we church folk understand this. It has been my experience over the past 20 years or so that we in the church are, at our best, only marginally better than everyone else at staying connected, at having relationships that really matter.
This idea has recently come to me, in thinking about the way that we "do church" in our own church home, that we are ill connected, and our relationships suffer as a result.
And yet, we Believing People advertise ourselves as those who have seen a Great Light, and posssess, and can offer a better way to live life. Is this really true?
How do we get this right? Can we lead Kingdom inspired lives?
"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."
I have been doing some Internet reading recently, and it seems that not all in the world of evangelicalism is bright and sunny. Storm clouds are on the horizon - an ominous change of sorts. Massive climatic change in the happy world of American evangelicals might be underway. Good bye Dr. Dobson, southern mega-churches, and blue-haired people on cable TV. Hello ambiguity.
