Easy Like a Sunday Morning

     There are a lot of people who do not "go to church" on Sunday mornings. I know, because I was one of them last Sunday.
     About four or five times a year, I take the Sunday off. Sometimes our family visits other churches in the area, just for a change of pace. But sometimes, I must confess, our family simply sleeps in.
     Last Sunday -- after a long flight home from Baltimore the night before -- was a sleep-in Sunday. At 10:30 AM, we left the house to drive my daughter to a 1 o'clock swim meet that was about an hour away. Along the way, we stopped at the local Wal-Mart to load up on snacks and drinks for the pool deck, and lo-and-behold, Wal-Mart was packed! People were strolling the aisles in flip-flops and shorts, enjoying a little value shopping on Sunday morning. As we drove away from Wal-Mart, I noticed other parking lots and storefronts were packed! Roads were busy! A dozen or so pick-up trucks toted ski boats and Jet Skis, as families made their way to the lake.
     My conclusion? It's not rocket science. A lot of people do not worship on Sunday mornings. Some of the people we observed, to be fair, would worship later that evening, if their church home offers a Sunday night service. Others, perhaps, had worshiped the night before. And maybe a few of them were pastors like me playing hooky. But there is no denying that many people choose not to worship on Sunday mornings!
     There are several potential reasons for his. The first is that a large number of people in McKinney, Texas, are not Christians. If this is the case, it seems logical that such people would not attend worship services on Sunday mornings. A second reason is that it was Pastor Sunday at Wal-Mart, and thousands of other pastors were also taking the day off. A more likely explanation is that these are Christians who have chosen to do other things on Sunday mornings. When considering the question, "What should I do with my Sunday morning?" many people consistently choose to stay away from worshiping communities of believers in the local church.
     This realization t is not shocking to me. I am not offended by it. I do not stand in judgment of these people. It simply shows that we have a lot of work to accomplish in the Church today, even in the so-called Bible Belt.
    Granted this was just one small sample of, "Sunday Mornings at Wal-Mart in McKinney, Texas," but I think I would find the same pattern, next week, and the week after that, whether it be springtime, summer, or fall.
    I offer no solutions or recommendations. I'm just calling it like I see it, and hopefully my exposure to ground zero can motivate me (and other church leaders) to be more invitational. Perhaps it is showing us the hard truth that our culture is becoming more secular by the moment, and that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is still needed in our own backyard.

Mission Accomplished

     My son recently returned from a week-long mission trip to Staten Island. He and three others helped out a guy named George, whose house was submerged during Hurricane Sandy. It was hot. It was sticky. It was hard work. And yet, from all accounts, he and another youth on the trip did a great job and worked hard.
     I could not me more proud of these boys for responding to God's call to the mission field.
     In the evenings, they slept on cots at Olivet Presbyterian Church and showered across the street at the YMCA. They also had a chance to meet some interesting people in the congregation and neighborhood. On one particular evening, they were invited to a barbecue with many people who are homeless and/or battling HIV/AIDS. This is one of those invitations to the mission field that could cause many otherwise faithful Christians to hesitate. It is a ministry that many congregations might not embrace, but not this 80-member congregation in Staten Island.
     As I reflect upon this my son's experience at this barbecue (and the mission trip as a whole), I give thanks that he was exposed to ministry to a group of people often overlooked or even exiled. I am thankful to hear there are congregations who reach out to groups of people the rest of the world has cast aside. I am also compelled to inventory how we witness to Christ's love to different groups of people in our own community.
    Mission (in Scripture) is understood in concentric circles. Jesus says, "...You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." (Acts 1:8)  In other words, we serve the people of our neighborhoods and communities (Jerusalem), in our region/state/nation (Judea), and even overseas (to the ends of the earth). We also go to places -- like barbecues with AIDS/HIV patients -- that the world says don't matter (Samaria).
     Thank you to Pastor Bryan and another adult church member for leading these two boys in mission and enabling them to be witnesses of Christ's love.

Lessons from Little League

My son's 11-13 year-old baseball team recently won the championship for a 10-day Little League All-Star tournament in north/northeast Dallas, and we couldn’t have asked for a better coach.

            The coach emphasized how he was not concerned with the boys striking out or making errors in the field. As he told the boys, errors will happen; ballplayers strike out. More important is how they conduct themselves while playing the game. For example, he expected his players to run back to the dugout after a bad, third-strike call, and not argue with the umpires. He expected his players to run onto the field when it was their turn to play defense. He instructed the players not to get down on themselves when they made errors, because the next play would be coming.

            In other words, for my son's coach, it’s how you play the game that is most important, and it is not about perfection. And who can argue with the man; we won the whole tournament playing baseball this way!

            The same thing applies to life. We will get bad calls and bad breaks. We will make mistakes. We will not succeed in every endeavor. What truly defines our success in life and faith is our attitude. It is so easy to get down on our selves or others, or complain that things aren’t fair. It is easy to give up and mope. Every day is a new opportunity to run onto the field, ready to play the game, because our next chance may be just around the corner!

July 4th Reflections

     Our friend Sherif in Cairo sends us regular Facebook updates on the coup in Egypt. If you have not heard the news, democratically elected president Morsi is out and the army is now in charge. Millions who claim Morsi was inept at best and a power-hungry thug at worst are rejoicing in the streets. But there are hundreds of thousands of others (perhaps a few million?), including our friend Sherif and his family, who think this is a devastating development. They have lost all hope in any form of democracy taking hold in Egypt, and of course there is the immediate threat of riots and perhaps civil war. The country seems that divided.
     I do not pretend to know the ins and outs of the situation. For all I know, Morsi is inept or perhaps a real scumbag. The primary connection I have to the situation is our friend Sharif, and our hope that he and his family remain safe. I also am of course concerned for our brothers and sisters in the Coptic Christian Church, who make up about 10 percent of the 90 million people in this country. And I am just concerned for a nation of people who are so bitterly divided, and about to (potentially) abandon their year-long experiment with democracy.
     I offer no solutions to the situation in Egypt; I am ill-equipped to choose sides. But I pray for my friends Sherif and his family. I pray that the Church in Egypt can embody the personhood of Christ and become effective peace-makers. And I pray there is no power grab by the army as they prepare for another democratic process to begin.
     And of course on this July 4 holiday, I give thanks for our nation. We greatly misuse our freedoms in this nation. We treat our freedoms as an amusement park rather than as a responsibility. And yet, we are free. We have peaceful transfers of power. We do not tolerate attempts and schemes to overthrow our government. We can preach and teach the Word of God in our sanctuaries and small groups. I could go on and on.
     Today, the invitation is to stop to read about the situation in Egypt, or some other politically troubled nation, and realize just how good we have it.

Moving Forward as the Church

     Last Wednesday was a watershed moment in the gay rights movement. The U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling that essentially tossed out the gay marriage ban (Proposition 8) in California. It also struck down a part of the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which means legally married, same-gendered couples can now receive the same federal benefits as married, opposite-sex couples.
     Since that ruling, I have gone through all types of emotions, from anger and frustration to confusion and fear. I have found myself asking many questions. How did our society ever get to the point of affirming that it is an OK thing for a man to marry (and have sexual union with) another man, or a woman with another woman? What is the basis for our affirmation of this practice, and on what authority did we reach this conclusion? If we continue on this trajectory, and gay marriage (and homosexual practice) become firmly entrenched in our culture, what will be the next sexually defined "equal rights" movement? Will a brother seek the right to marry his sister (or brother)? Will a high school teacher pursue her right to have a sexual union with a 14-year-old junior high school student?
     Judging from the way courts make decisions -- almost exclusively on the basis of what is constitutionally permissible, and not what is morally acceptable or unacceptable -- these scenarios do not seem so far-fetched.
     This was how I processed the news last week, and I am simply being transparent about my emotions and thought processes.
     Today is a new day. I have returned from a family vacation -- which was also a vacation from news and digital media (for the most part) -- and I am now ready to get back to work. I realize that, moving forward, I (we) cannot be driven by emotions like anger and fear. These are natural human emotions, and I feel no shame for asking these questions, but they must be immersed in prayer, reflection, and the Spirit of God.
     So far, after several days of prayer and reflection, here is where I am.
     God does have a plan for this nation. More importantly, God has a purpose for the Church, as we seek to communicate the Gospel message to a good but broken world. The content of the Gospel message is a good-news message that absolutely includes love of all people.
    The question is this, What does it mean to truly love other people? Does love mean that we accept and affirm every action that other people take? Does it mean that every lifestyle is OK? When I love another person, does it mean I refuse to speak up when their lives run contrary to the Word of God?
     If this is love, then please, do not love me. I want to be surrounded by people who love me gently, patiently, and kindly. But I also count on people in my life to confront me (hopefully, but not necessarily in a gentle way) when I am on the wrong path. This is true love, and the kind of love that God exhibits to his children when necessary (See Hebrews 12:3-17). The message of Christ is not merely a message of acceptance and tolerance, but forgiveness linked to repentance (See John 8:1-11).
     This is the nature of the Gospel and love of Jesus Christ.
     Moving forward, what should be the response of the Church to the decisions last Wednesday (which really are the culmination of years of struggle with this issue)? It seems we can take several important steps as the Church. Firstly, we can pray that, in our discourse and interactions with others, we remember that we, like all other people, are sinners in need of the ongoing grace and mercy of Jesus Christ. If we forget this simple message, then our testimony will be lost to others and we will be held to account by God's perfect and righteous Judgment (Romans 2:1-4).
     Secondly, pray for the courage to speak more boldly for the truth of God, as revealed in Scripture. It is time to get off the fence and speak the truth in love.
     Thirdly, pray that you will cling, and the Church will cling, to the Word of God that is revealed in the pages of Scripture. We are not our own authority!
     Lastly, give thanks that the eternal Word of God remains steadfast, no matter how an earthly court may rule or what a cultural movement may say is truth.
     There are more steps to take moving forward, but these are some logical steps that are before us as the Church, if we seek to move beyond emotions toward faithful witness.