Sunday, September 25, 2005
The Right Thing: 'nough said
Sometimes we are so busy making sure that our neighbor is doing the right thing that we miss what our neighbor is doing right.
Monday, September 12, 2005
old people, church and per capita fees
observation from the clerk:
old people give up on their home churches when they get sick, go to the hospital, then spend a lot of time recovering at home and
nobody comes to visit them, nobody calls, nobody sends a card, nobody lets them know that they are missed.
they look at the church down the block and think "i can get there. it's close." they visit. they try to plug in. it's very, very important that they plug in. they need this community, they need these congregants to like them, to know them, to miss them when they are not present.
it's more than just another old person wanting to be loved. it's a matter of survival: they need someone to take them to their doctor appointments, to bring them food when they can't cook, to shop when they can't shop.
they would gladly jump through the hoops, attend the required classes, sign the right papers, write the right letters of transfer, but hey, they've got other things on their minds. important things like finding a ride to the doctor and conserving enough energy to handle going to a worship service on sunday morning.
they would also gladly give money...if they could. but they can't: every penny goes to rent, food, prescription medicines, co-pays.
it's a tough call for a church which has to pay a per-capita fee on its membership. potential members are a liability if they don't cough up the dough.
old people give up on their home churches when they get sick, go to the hospital, then spend a lot of time recovering at home and
nobody comes to visit them, nobody calls, nobody sends a card, nobody lets them know that they are missed.
they look at the church down the block and think "i can get there. it's close." they visit. they try to plug in. it's very, very important that they plug in. they need this community, they need these congregants to like them, to know them, to miss them when they are not present.
it's more than just another old person wanting to be loved. it's a matter of survival: they need someone to take them to their doctor appointments, to bring them food when they can't cook, to shop when they can't shop.
they would gladly jump through the hoops, attend the required classes, sign the right papers, write the right letters of transfer, but hey, they've got other things on their minds. important things like finding a ride to the doctor and conserving enough energy to handle going to a worship service on sunday morning.
they would also gladly give money...if they could. but they can't: every penny goes to rent, food, prescription medicines, co-pays.
it's a tough call for a church which has to pay a per-capita fee on its membership. potential members are a liability if they don't cough up the dough.
Sunday, September 04, 2005
Christianity and culture
In response to requests to (1) simplify and (2) amplify previous post "Shaky Foundations Lead to Hyposcisy:"
I propose that the typical Christian leader would, if plopped into the middle of a typical first century church, immediately begin taking notes on what the first century men and women were doing wrong, then start setting them straight.
Not because they were doing things wrong, but because their actions would look so different that they wouldn't look like 'real' Christians to our typical Christian leader...or maybe even you and me, as enlightened as we try to be.
In my job I get to read reports from two couples (U.S citizens) working as Christian missionaries in three different nations (one pair has been re-assigned this past year).
The missionaries do not seem to be aware of how much of their time and energy is spent on forcing their host cultures to adapt to American church culture (Sunday school, church behavior, meeting times, special buildings, proper books and music, etc).
Instead of introducing church and all its infrastructure, why not assume that God's message of love and redemption is a multi-cultural message—that its validity is inherent in the message and is independent of the structure humankind builds around the transmission of that message?
I propose that the typical Christian leader would, if plopped into the middle of a typical first century church, immediately begin taking notes on what the first century men and women were doing wrong, then start setting them straight.
Not because they were doing things wrong, but because their actions would look so different that they wouldn't look like 'real' Christians to our typical Christian leader...or maybe even you and me, as enlightened as we try to be.
In my job I get to read reports from two couples (U.S citizens) working as Christian missionaries in three different nations (one pair has been re-assigned this past year).
The missionaries do not seem to be aware of how much of their time and energy is spent on forcing their host cultures to adapt to American church culture (Sunday school, church behavior, meeting times, special buildings, proper books and music, etc).
Instead of introducing church and all its infrastructure, why not assume that God's message of love and redemption is a multi-cultural message—that its validity is inherent in the message and is independent of the structure humankind builds around the transmission of that message?
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