how the church gets it backwards

how the church gets it backwards

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Jesus was always on the move.

Foxes have holes, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lie down and rest.

Jesus was always on the move, going to the people, seeking out the people.

The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.

Jesus was always on the move, seeking out the people, and inviting them to follow.

Come with me, and I will teach you to catch people.

Any fisherman knows — you don’t even have to be a good fisherman — you don’t catch fish by waiting for them to jump in the boat! You catch fish by seeking them out, by knowing their haunts and their habits, by learning to think … like a fish!

It seems to me that much of the time the church gets it backwards. Much of the time, I get it backwards. We aren’t moving, seeking, catching. We are holed up in our sanctuaries wondering why the masses aren’t streaming in the doors asking to be saved. We build it and wonder why they don’t come.

Jesus tells us to follow, to go where he goes, to do what he does.

As the Father has sent me, so I send you.

Which means in the same way, in the same fashion. Instead of developing evangelism strategies designed to get people in the doors and grow the membership of our churches, we need to develop evangelism strategies designed — to evangelize! — to get the Good News to the people who most need to hear it. There are churches that do it well, but most of us need to stop doing it backwards, turn ourselves around, go out the doors, and follow Jesus.

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wise words from amnesty international on the saddam verdict

wise words from amnesty international on the saddam verdict

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From Malcolm Smart of Amnesty International:

Every accused has a right to a fair trial, whatever the magnitude of the charge against them. This plain fact was routinely ignored through the decades of Saddam Hussein’s tyranny. His overthrow opened the opportunity to restore this basic right and, at the same time, to ensure, fairly, accountability for the crimes of the past. It is an opportunity missed and made worse by the imposition of the death penalty.

Read the rest of the Amnesty International commentary on the Saddam trial.

Tony Blair also acknowledged Britain’s opposition to the death sentence: We are against the death penalty … whether it’s Saddam or anybody else.

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a breath of fresh air in the abortion debate

a breath of fresh air in the abortion debate

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From a Christian Century editorial, A third way:

The Pregnant Women Support Act, introduced by Lincoln Davis (D., Tenn.) and Chris Smith (R., N.J.), and the Reducing the Need for Abortion Act, sponsored by Tim Ryan (D., Ohio) and Rose DeLauro (D., Conn.), are the most comprehensive bills yet formulated to address the social issues that lie behind the decision to have an abortion. The Ryan-DeLauro bill is notable for bringing together a member of the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus (Ryan) and a member of the Congressional Pro-Choice Caucus (DeLauro). Ryan said the proposal is aimed at “broadening the stagnant debate that too often accompanies this issue.”

An organization calling itself, Third Way: A Strategy Center for Progressives, has published a summary of the bill on its website. Here is an excerpt:

Representatives Tim Ryan (D-OH) and Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), with the backing of both pro-life and pro-choice members, just introduced a new bill, The “Reducing the Need for Abortion and Supporting Parents Act.” The legislation is an initiative that will work to reduce the number of abortions in America by both preventing unintended pregnancies and supporting pregnant women and new parents. This bill enables pro-life and pro-choice advocates to find common ground to reduce the number of abortions in America while protecting personal liberties. To measure its success, the legislation both provides grants to states to encourage effective collection and reporting of abortion surveillance data to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with an explicit preclusion from reporting any individually identifiable information, and calls for the Institute of Medicine to study why women choose to have an abortion.

Read the rest of the summary here.

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tough talk on torture

tough talk on torture

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Listen to a Unitarian minister from New Haven debate Bill O’Reilly on the recently passed detainee bill: an intelligent, passionate, and disciplined defense of the implications of taking Jesus seriously when he says, “Love your enemy …”

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sharing the burden

sharing the burden

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Headline: Oil industry behemoth Exxon Mobil Corp. said Thursday its third-quarter earnings rose to $10.49 billion, the second-largest quarterly profit ever recorded by a publicly traded U.S. company.

I admit I know very little about the complex economic factors that produced such a record-breaking profit, and very little about the process and people that determine retail prices for oil products. I do understand that high profits are driven by high demand, that we pay more because we ask for more.

Nevertheless, I find the incongruity disturbing … that an oil company is making more money than ever, while its customers are struggling more than ever to find the money to pay the record-high prices for its products. Isn’t it true that in the end, that $10.49 billion comes out of our wallets? Exxon-Mobil makes more because it takes more … from us.

Energy is a common human need, and the increasing demand for energy coupled with a diminishing supply of non-renewable sources of energy is a common human problem. It seems to me that the burden of this problem should be shared, by consumer and producer alike.

So it would be interesting to know what Exxon-Mobil will do with its windfall profits. If the profits were to be invested in the research and production of new sources of energy, renewable sources of energy, that could be a way of sharing the burden …

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torture is a traditional value?

torture is a traditional value?

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The Rev. Louis Sheldon, chaiman of the Traditional Values Coalition, said this about Senator John McCain’s challenge to the Bush administration’s position on interrogation rules:

This very definitely is going to put a chilling effect on the tremendous strides he has made in the conservative evangelical community.

Because?

Because no true advocate of traditional values, no true evangelical Christian, no true follower of Jesus would ever oppose this administration?

Because no true advocate of traditional values, no true evangelical Christian, no true follower of Jesus would ever set arbitrary limits on the interrogation techniques used to protect this country from “bad” people?

Because no true advocate of traditional values, no true evangelical Christian, no true follower of Jesus has any qualms about discarding basic human rights when it comes to “real enemies?”

What Jesus do these folks claim to follow? What traditional values are undermined by the desire to protect human rights? I don’t understand ……

Read the quote in context in the Los Angeles Time article, McCain Stand Comes at a Price.

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the healing power of forgiveness

the healing power of forgiveness

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Marie Roberts is the widow of the man who entered the Amish school in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania, thirteen days ago, taking ten young girls hostage and eventually killing five before taking his own life. On Friday, she released an open letter to the Amish community through her pastor. The text of her letter follows …

To our Amish friends, neighbors, and local community:

Our family wants each of you to know that we are overwhelmed by the forgiveness, grace, and mercy that you’ve extended to us. Your love for our family has helped to provide the healing we so desperately need. The prayers, flowers, cards, and gifts you’ve given have touched our hearts in a way no words can describe. Your compassion has reached beyond our family, beyond our community, and is changing our world, and for this we sincerely thank you.

Please know that our hearts have been broken by all that has happened. We are filled with sorrow for all of our Amish neighbors whom we have loved and continue to love. We know that there are many hard days ahead for all the families who lost loved ones, and so we will continue to put our hope and trust in God of all comfort, as we all seek to rebuild our lives.

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