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Chosen or Choosey? My reading habits of late have become more and more piecemeal. Seldom anymore do I read from beginning to end before starting something else. Rather, it’s more like putting a number of tasty morsels on a plate at the same time and sampling a little of each. Sometimes the conjunction can be quite jarring.
By coincidence, I was reading at the same time Bethlehem Besieged by Rev. Mitri Raheb, the Palestinian Lutheran pastor of Christmas Lutheran Church in Bethlehem on the West Bank. Parking is not an issue for his members. For one thing, the church doesn’t have a parking lot. In addition, even if parishioners lived further away than walking distance, they would not be allowed to drive a car. Pastor Raheb got his driver’s license in 1989. Shortly afterward, he drove his aunt and her son, visiting from the U.S., on a trip to Nazareth. He had no idea at the time it would be his last auto trip. Today, Israeli checkpoints confine his driving opportunities to a two mile square area. Thirdly, parking isn’t an issue for this church because, worship is a need not an option for his parishioners. Palestinian Christians living in the West Bank daily endure massive inconvenience and occasional threats of death. For them, going to church is a calling. It’s an opportunity to provide a witness. They have, at times, defied curfew restrictions and faced personal danger in order to attend.
I’m not sure, however, that is entirely fair. Since in the United States Christians are not living under occupation nor facing the tribulations that those in other parts of the world currently face, we have the freedom to be fully focused on the needs of others and making a congregation a welcoming place. Giving attention to parking issues as well as worship times, music styles, child care facilities, sound systems, handicap accessibility, and even allergenic issues, all have relevance to the question of how to remove obstacles that may impede a congregation’s outreach. Whatever you may think of Herb Miller’s theory, there is a certain real-world practicality to it. Statistics can be marshaled to demonstrate its truth. It could even be argued that his theory applies in the extreme circumstances of Christmas Lutheran Church in Bethlehem. They have, after all, lost many members in recent years. Discouraged by the difficulties of living under the Israeli occupation---of which lack of parking is one of the least---many have chosen to emigrate elsewhere. However, that being said, the comparison to the church in Bethlehem calls to our attention that there is a whole other set of questions that a congregation should be asking of itself. This set of questions relates to challenges. “What is God calling us to do?” “How can our lives make a difference?” “What must we give up in order to serve?” “How can we overcome our fears?” “What witness can we give?” The two sets of questions represent concerns which in many respects lie in opposition to each other. Is the task of a congregation to be welcoming, widely embracing, and sensitive to needs or is it to be challenging, empowering, and counter-cultural? Because these concerns are in some ways polar opposites, one is tempted to resolve the tension between them by abandoning one or the other---often with disastrous results. A solely comfort-focused Christianity has often resulted in transforming God’s chosen people into God’s choosey people.
The laziness may be on our end. When individuals are provided with the training and the opportunity to be a mentor to new parents, or to do the work of an evangelist, or to make hospital calls, calls, or to go on a disaster recovery mission to the Gulf Coast, or to volunteer in a mission field, many will hear the call of God. With a world filled with choices, many individuals long not so much just for the easiest way to fulfill one more duty as the opportunity to make their lives truly meaningful. If you provide it, they will come. Appointments I will be at the LCMS Fall Pastors Conference in Norfolk on October 16-17 and at the ELCA Theological Conference in Kearney on October 23-24. If you would like to set up a time in advance to see me during one of those conferences, please call me (402 978-5670). Christianity-lite It is easy (and probably needed) to poke fun from time to time at Christianity-lite. LarkNews recently ran an fabricated article about congregations that were now outsourcing to India their prayer request hotlines (You can view it at http://larknews.com/may_2006/secondary.php?page=1). The following article is from http:hornswoggled.blogspot.com: New Worship Center to Include "Luxury Boxes"
"It's getting harder and harder to compete in this denomination," said Pastor Fred Lakin. "The churches in the big markets like Houston can negotiate their own national TV deals. That brings in a lot of revenue. But in a market like Memphis, we've got to be a little more creative in our financing." Lakin's Finance Minister, Royce Rawlings, hatched the plan to tax members and put the revenue toward special boxes for those who prefer a more spiritually luxurious worship experience. "It takes all kinds of people," noted Rawlings, whose family has already reserved one of the boxes for a celebration on the Sunday before his 60th birthday. "Who are we to say that people can't be especially comfortable while they're praising the Lord?" Like luxury boxes in many of the nation's baseball parks, the special accommodations will come with perks for those who shell out additional money. "Of course we won't serve unlimited beer in these boxes," said Pastor Lakin. "But we will be offering seat-side service on crackers and grape juice, up through the seventh round of praise songs." In Christ's Service, Roger Kruger (402) 978-5670 (direct line and confidential voice mail) This e-mail newsletter is an endeavor of Partners in Caring, Lutheran Family Services of Nebraska, Inc. I envision it as a way to share ideas, resources, and conversation about the joys and struggles of ministry. I welcome your input. Feel free to pass it on to friends. If you wish no longer to receive copies of this newsletter, please reply with “unsubscribe.”
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Reading the most recent issue of Herb Miller’s “The Parish Paper”, I was reminded of the importance of providing adequate church parking. While acknowledging that insufficient parking may not be the only reason for a decline in worship attendance, he posits the theory that today’s worshipers will generally not walk more than 100 yards from where they park. Even though they may like the church and the pastor, if the parking too far away, or unpaved, or not within sight of the church, they will shop for another church. He provides statistics for the number of accessible parking spots you need before your worship attendance peaks.
It would be easy to draw the conclusion that if in America sufficient parking has become a major determinate whether or not individuals choose to attend worship, then surely the church in this country has become effete, no longer concerned with ultimate values and content to contend with the likes of Kiwanis and the Country Club for market share. Having to walk more than 100 yards hardly seems like what Jesus had in mind when he said “If any would come after me, he must take up his cross and follow.”
That the challenges of following Christ do not appear as obvious here as in Bethlehem may have more to do with lack of imagination than lack or opportunity. All too often, the only challenge parishioners are presented is the opportunity to volunteer at a task that further promotes the survivability of the institution. It may be correct to assume that most parishioners are already overworked and overwhelmed and therefore hesitant to commit to anything, but it is not accurate to draw from that the conclusion that the primary task of congregations to make discipleship as easy as possible. There is a hunger, a deep longing of the soul, especially in this consumer driven culture, for an opportunity to make a choice that makes a difference. A life that consists solely of choosing the store with the most accessible parking lot so that one can get in and out as quickly as possible after selecting between the great variety of toothpastes and other products, so that one might have more time to fit in additional occasions to make more meaningless choices, in the end amounts to little at all.
Following the lead of nearby professional sports teams, a church in suburban Memphis will levy a tax on members to pay for renovations to its worship arena. Pondside Baptist Church will use the money to install revenue-generating luxury boxes along the perimeter of its 9,000-seat auditorium.