What's the big deal about church?

Why do you go to

church?

For a moment, I'd like to talk to just the churched folks in my audience. I am well aware of those of you who aren't...and even though I'm a preacher type, have often felt more sympathy with you than the other brand. But for those of you who do go, assuming you are beyond the age where you are forced at gunpoint to go to church, with a combination of threats, bribes, pinches, stares, and the ubiquitous gum and candy gifts from your mother/grandmother; why in the wide, wide world of sports do you go to church?

Well-known Christian pollster George Barna claims there is a revolution going on right now in church attendance.

There is a new breed of Christ-follower in America today. These are people who are more interested in being the Church than in going to church. They are millions strong...

So with all these true believers dropping like flies, why are you still in the game? I'd like to hear from you,

whether your church background is among the grandest:

or the most pedestrian...

I'd like you to post your comments in one or two sentences:

Why I go to church?

or "What I like about my church..."

Thanks. I'll mention the best posts in University chapel on Wednesday.

Meet Mr. Weasel

This is a long-tailed weasel (mustela frenata). According to the most convenient online dictionary there are two definitions:

1. Any of various carnivorous mammals of the genus Mustela, having a long slender body, a long tail, short legs, and brownish fur that in many species turns white in winter.
2. A person regarded as sneaky or treacherous.

I'm no naturalist, but perhaps the weasel gets his well-known reputation for skullduggery from his habit of stealing and eating eggs of other animals. Their name "Mustela" means 'one who carries off mice,' and the weasel is known as a fierce fighter who will attack animals many times its size, fighting ferociously. But when we say to someone "you little weasel" we are not giving out a compliment. 

Which brings me to Jacob. (His story picks up in Genesis 25-35) Maybe you've heard of him by his more famous name "Israel." That's a great, godly name that means "one that prevails with God."  But Jacob was his given name, something that meant "supplanter," "one who grabs by the heel." Literally, it was a reference to his birth as a twin, grabbing on to his brother's leg for a boost out of the womb. But apparently this kid lived up to his name, managing to swindle his own (older) brother out of his birthright.  He disguises himself with a clever "arm wig" to fool his dad into blessing him, and with his mother's help executed to perfection his plan to steal the family "nest egg." Liar, cheat, manipulator, Weasel...That's our man Jacob.

See this is the thing I love about the Hebrew Bible. The characters there are wildly authentic. You can't make this stuff up--it feels too real. Too close for comfort, in fact, because when I watch Mr. Weasel closely, I confess I see myself. Take for instance this week. I am playing the game of LIFE with my kids, a Christmas present to the fam. My son (Lil' Weasel) has a recurring habit of cheating at games, which he sharpened to perfection through a series of bank "withdrawals" convenient "spins" of the dial that just happened to land him on "Collect $500,000" spaces. You know the drill. So in my best fatherly tones, I lectured him on the dangers and evils of cheating. Then about two thirds of the way through the game, I spin a "three" which should have landed me on a "Pay $20,000" spot, but noticing that my kids are distracted I stop at "two" which was a "Collect $200,000" spot. Isn't that convenient? I shocked myself by continuing on as if nothing had happened. 

A momentary lapse? A silly child's game? I think not. I'm no naturalist, but I can spot a long-tailed weasel when I see him. I have this distressing tendency to skulk through life looking for the eggs left lying in a convenient spot, and well trained in the artifices necessary to give those eggs a new home. All my religious devotion can't mask that weasel musk. And when I read more of Jacob's story, I recognize how Mr. Weasel relates to his creator. 

0 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear 21 so that I return safely to my father's house, then the LORD will be my God 22 and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God's house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth."

Jacob in the famous "Jacob's Ladder" scene realizes that the God of his father Abraham and Isaac is near him. He didn't realize it. He's a little spooked at first, but then he thinks, "Hey, maybe there's something in this for me." So he starts negotiations with Almighty God, to get him on Team Jacob. "Look, IF you will be with me, look after me, give me what I need, then I will cut you in on 10% of the action. Sign here, and here, and here."  Awfully nice of Jacob to cut God in on his life. 

I feel that way--immature faith, self centered deals with God for my aims, my goals, my "eggs." Mr. Weasel, signing God onto the journey as a guide and go-to guy. Immature faith, better than nothing, I suppose. But in need of growth for sure. 

How does your faith grow? Do you find yourself making deals with God? Cheating children? (ok, that's probably just me) Are you in touch with your inner weasel?

 

Look before you Leap! in 2009

Blink. Everybody is always complaining about a lack of time, but they never do anything about it! Finally, someone did something. Did you miss it? That's right, you news buffs know that the U.S. Naval Observatory, keeper of the Pentagon's master clock, added an extra second last Wednesday in coordination with the world's atomic clocks at 23 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds Coordinated Universal Time, or UTC. It is a phenomenon known as "The Leap Second."

If you blinked, you may have missed it. But have no fear--I have an idea for you to start 2009 on the right foot. You can redeem your Leap Second using a very simple exercise. Ready?

How to Redeem your Leap Second

1. Think about an area in your life that you KNOW needs work in 2009. If you are having trouble thinking of a topic, ask your wife, or your roommate. (If you both are having trouble, pinch yourself, you may still be hung over from New Year's)

2. Think about the last time you felt good about that problem area. If it is weight, when did you last feel good about your progress? If devotions, when was the last time you were on track? If it is chain saw juggling, when was the last time you can remember having all your limbs? You get the picture.

3. Determine WHAT you were doing at that time that made you feel like you were making progress. Were you keeping a certain schedule that helped? Did you sit in a certain chair to pray? Did you start eating a certain food, avoiding a certain person, etc.? There was something that made you feel that you were on the right track before.

4. Use your "LEAP SECOND" at the best time for you TODAY to perform that "on track" excercise. That way you can "LEAP" back on track to success in 2009.

Good luck, and let me know what you used your second for...

Way of the Manger

If ever there were a holiday that needed deconstructing, it is Christmas. I say this as one who celebrates Christmas as an observant Protestant Christian. And I don't mean that we should seek "the real meaning of Christmas" by eschewing the "consumer mentality" of Christmas. That's a given, and economic events have a way of giving correction to our excesses. (this year consumer spending is down for the first time in years...and it had nothing to do with pastor's making people feel guilty) Christians since the time of the Puritans have decried the various traditions of Christmas as "pagan" and improper. That's not what I'm saying at all.

American Christmas is a gloriously syncretistic affair. I realized this as I tried to explain Kwanzaa to my 10 year old. She had sung the requisite Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and Christmas songs at her concert. (For some reason the Kwanzaa song was painfully dreadful, no offense to the holiday. It seems to attract well-meaning white people who sing words in Swahili badly...listen to this for an example. Where is Isaac Hayes when you need him?) In any case, I found myself saying "well honey, Kwanzaa was kind of invented holiday, it is really a synthetic celebration, not properly belonging to one religious tradition. Then I realized that Christmas was exactly the same. Synthetic. like my Christmas tree. Like plastic poinsettias. Put together from so many different cultures, it's hard to find the core truth.

Christmas traditions have gotten so confused that secular folks protest the public display of Christmas trees because it is an imposition of religion. They argue for a name change to "holiday tree." This strikes me as summarily silly, akin to protesting to the eating of French Fries because it is anti-patriotic and Francophile. Sometimes cultures just chew up and digest practices from other countries and cultures and assimilate them into the body politic in a way unrelated to the original practice. Like pizza, or Chinese food (even Ricky Bobby thought Americans invented them) have morphed into their own uniquely American identity.

So I'd like to make my own contribution to the confusion. I'd like to nominate a new image as the iconic, neo-Rockwellian personification of the holiday.

The stone manger.

This may be a slightly more realistic version of little Jesus' first crib. And if "little Lord Jesus No crying He makes" were actually true in a rough hewn bed like this, then I have a Senate seat in Illinois that I'd like to sell you. So why is a baby crying in a stone feeding trough good news, worth celebrating these many years later?

8And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. 12This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

The manger was a sign. It was a sign to some poor working stiffs who pulled the night shift, possibly in the spring (not necessarily December 25--probably another cultural accretion from the Roman's winter solistice...). The last thing they were thinking about was spiritual reality...they were just trying to get some dumb sheep to follow them. (in other words, they were in management) Suddenly, the sky lit up with the aurora borealis of eternity. Raw, unfiltered spiritual reality is down right scary. No one has to tell us "Don't be afraid" when we look at the quaint creche scenes that seem to infuriate the ACLU. No one has to reassure us when we look at smiling Santa, or pat glowing Rudolph. But when the shiny dudes called angels burst in raw solar energy, radiating good news like a glowing furnace, the guys on the night shift needed a stiff drink and bolstered courage. So like sheep, they followed the heavenly directions.

And they found...a baby swaddled in birthing clothes, lain in a stone feeding trough. This is the germ from which all other Christmas pageantry springs. So unlikely, so shocking, that it is little wonder we have covered it up with saccharine traditions like mistletoe and stockings. Hey, I've got three kids and I have NEVER lain any of them in a feeding trough. They'd call social services on me, and they should. (whoever they are) Who would put their son there?

Well first of all Mary. So marginalized, so far from the center of society, that she had no other choice. Like an undocumented alien, on the run, in the back of a crowded pickup truck, she does the best she can. But beyond that, if you believe the story, God does it. God who's called a Father, lays His Son in a rock crib far from comfort. And somehow that's good news?

How could that be? Isn't it easier to sing "Away in a Manger" and feel good about ourselves by helping the "less fortunate" and going about our lives? Isn't this the easy way to celebrate Christmas?

Perhaps the "true meaning" of Christmas is that no matter where we are, laboring in a meaningless job, caring for children who seem to exalt their own wishes into imperatives, studying in school to enter an economy with no room for us, wherever this synthetic holiday finds us; we are the poor shepherds. We are the invited guests to God's mysterious entry into human history. We are the recipients of the joyful news that no station, no calling, no destiny in all the world is too mean, too humble, too meaningless, for God to pass it by at Christmas. Christmas is for the aliens, the factory workers, the out of work CEO's, the bankrupt, the parent's who regret not being able to afford the "perfect gift" and for the lonely and depressed at Christmas.

The Way of the Manger.

Christmas lies in a stone crib, barely clothed and squawling with full lungs; His every cry a "sign" from a transcendant God that this life can hold eternity. That raw, frightening spirituality can enter the grubby, mundane and often viscious world we all inhabit, and draw us to His side. Our Christmas is synthetic, processed, tame. The real Christmas is a mess...but it is a sign.

What do you think, stone manger earrings? Stone manger sweaters? Stone manger light displays for your yard? You make the call. Merry Christmas.

The Day I met Dr. Kevin Leman

Hey--who said it isn't fun to name drop? Dr. Kevin Leman came to visit the CBN campus, and I snagged him to come talk to some students about...dare I say it...SEX. Now some folks may think that's not appropriate on a Christian campus. One might imagine that Christian students are so moral, so together that they rarely if ever have trouble with such subjects. There might be people who believe that, AND think that Illinois politics is still dominated by folks with nicknames like "Honest Abe." Not too many, I think.

No, the truth is that Christians, who of all people should have a settled idea of what sex should be used for, the purposes for which it was intended, are just as confused as everyone else on the subject. Dr. Kevin Leman made a strong biblical and practical case that marriage between a man and a woman should be the only context for sexual intercourse.

Now (or as President-elect Obama would say, "Look") I could get into the whole argument of pre-marital sex, same-sex sex, post-marital sex (is there any?) but I think this is not the venue. Suffice it to say that Kevin Leman spoke squarely and frankly to the issue. He did not dodge any questions or pull any punches. Rather, he set the tone for an honest, biblically-informed discussion of a topic that has bedeviled Christian leaders for centuries. And he did it with humor.

Me Laughing at some "Leman Raw" Comments

So the question is: Where can you talk honestly and freely about sexuality and the many challenges it brings? Do you have friends where that is fair game? Classes? Professors? Small accountability groups? It seems that if you don't, we should provide some safe places to ask and have our questions answered. I would be interested in providing that kind of safe environment, but would be interested in what you think.

1. Is our campus an open place to discuss struggles/issues with sexuality?

2. Are we judgmental about struggles in this area?

3. Do we have sufficient resources available for folks who want to grow in their sexual sobriety?

Let me know!