More Good Reasons Not to Join a Church

“More Good Reasons Not to Join a Church”

 

Matthew 25:14-21

 

September 28, 2014

 

Mark S. Bollwinkel

 

            Considering the reports of the decline in religious affiliation in the United States, especially in the Main-line Protestant churches and especially among those under 50 years old, we have to admit that there are a lot of reasons not to join a church. 

Last week we touched on one of them.   Most churches are full of a lot more sinners than saints.

            The public face of Christianity these days can be embarrassing.  Self-proclaimed Christians picket the funerals of our soldiers carrying signs suggesting their deaths are a punishment from God; irate “Christian” citizens angry over our nation’s immigration policy failures block buses full of undocumented children from temporary shelter at our borders.  Did you see the award winning movie “Twelve Years a Slave”?  I flinched when the slave masters preached their brand of Christianity to the captives.

Do you ever find yourself hesitant to tell your friends or co-workers out loud that “yes, I am a Christian…I go to church” because you fear they will assume all sorts of negative things about you?   From our non-church going friends and family members it’s common to hear the long list of historic atrocities done in Jesus’ name from the Inquisition to European Colonialism of the tropical world to the church’s blessing of slavery and racial segregation for so many years, or its marginalization of women.  Those were dark days in our Christian past when people lost their hold on the gospel of peace and embraced fear and power instead.

            Some still practice such hypocrisy today, it can’t be denied.

            The fair-minded will concede that along with our failures it was Christian missionaries who taught the colonial liberation leaders not just to read and write but that as children of God they deserved freedom.    As we have seen with the recent Ebola outbreak in West Africa, Christian doctors and nurses are on the front lines of fighting this disease.    Most can hear the Christian voice behind the end of legalized slavery and the struggle for women’s rights and the end of racial segregation in America.  In “Twelve Years a Slave” it’s a Quaker named “Bass” that starts the process for “Solomon Northup” to regain his freedom.

            We don’t have signs up over the door reading, “Only Saints Allowed!”  We let anybody in, even frail, fragile and failing human beings….like me.  There is no excuse when Christians refuse to live up to our ideals and yet the religious cynicism so popular today, in the words of Jim Wallis (founder of the Sojourner Community), can be merely a “buffer against commitment”.

            There are plenty of reasons not to join a church.

 

            Another one is that churches are always asking us to do something and our lives are too busy and hectic as it is.   How often do we hear from friends or family, “Oh, I can worship God best at the beach…or a hike in the mountains….or watching a sunset.”  Absolutely you can and should find God in the beauty of creation.    And let’s be honest, one of the attractions of the “God of beach, mountain and sunset” is that no one is there asking you to do anything as a result!

            When we think of those whose faith we most admire, they are the men and women who have practiced their religion, they do something with their faith and some have been doing so for a life time.  We have a number of such folk here with us this morning. 

Over the years I’ve identified at least six behaviors they have in common.  Last week I listed three….:

 

-Prayer; people of mature faith pray daily for the church, its leadership, the concerns of the people and the world as well as practice spiritual disciplines for themselves.   (Matthew 7:7-11)

 

-Attendance; people of mature faith attend Sunday worship if they are healthy and in town.  (Psalm 65:1-4)

 

-Study; people of mature faith participate in at least one class or workshop a year in order to grow in their faith, learn about the Bible and expand their spiritual understanding.  (Psalm 119:105-108)

 

            These actions aren’t religious rules or regulations.   They are not required in order to earn God’s favor.  In fact just the opposite.   Doing something with what you believe actually becomes a natural reaction for folk who find themselves loved by God. 

For those caught up in today’s multi-tasking culture such behavior might sound like “more to do” but for those who practice such they aren’t burdens rather they are “means of grace” (Wesley).          

            The most important sermon doesn’t come from a pulpit but the way a person lives their life.   If the world religions agree on anything it is that in acts of compassionate service we find out who we really are and what God is calling us to be.

 

-Service; at least once a year people of mature faith participate in a direct mission service to the local community, region or the world.  (James 2:8)

 

            Whether it’s volunteering in the church office, organizing the distribution of warm winter clothes to the homeless, or traveling to Mexico to build simple houses for those families living in cardboard shanties, how we treat each other is how we treat God.  

“I find it reasonable to believe, even though those beliefs are beyond reason” wrote the author Flannery O’Connor to a young man named Albert Corn (Flannery O’Connor: Spiritual Writings, 2003).  She encouraged Corn to satisfy his demand for reason but to “remember that charity is beyond reason, and that God can be known through charity.”  

Not sure if there is a God?  Do something good for somebody else.  Give something of yourself to somebody else.  Give your time and talent in service to someone in need and you will find the face of God. 

 

-Fellowship; people with mature faith participate in at least one small group a year, short or long term, in order to grow closer to others and God’s spirit available in fellowship.  (Acts 2:43-47)

 

John Wesley, founder of the Methodist movement, insisted that the heart of Christianity is social.   We are not in this life alone but we find its power and potential in relationship.  In his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, Al Gore quoted this African saying: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”

Our secular neighbors may have good reasons not to affiliate with religious institutions but if they are waiting to find ideal human community they will have a long and lonely wait.   The church offers something that can’t be found anywhere else; a community of kindred spirits gathered around a common hope and commitment to the future promises of God in Jesus Christ.   In spite of our failings we love each other along the way.

Have you seen these actual bloopers found in church newsletters floating around the internet:

 

Ladies, don't forget the rummage sale. It's a chance to get rid of
those things not worth keeping around the house. Don't forget your husbands.

Low Self Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday at 7 PM. Please use the back door.

At the evening service tonight, the sermon topic will be "What Is
Hell?" Come early and listen to our choir practice.

 The peacemaking meeting scheduled for today has been canceled due to a conflict.

For those of you who have children and don't know it, we have a
nursery downstairs.

Barbara remains in the hospital and needs blood donors for more
transfusions. She is also having trouble sleeping and requests tapes of Pastor Jack's sermons.
 
A bean supper will be held on Tuesday evening in the church hall.
Music will follow.

 

            The church is at its best when we laugh and cry and learn and worship and pray and serve together. 

 

-Generosity; as stewards of God’s gifts, people of mature faith donate their time and talent as they are able to the operation of the church and give financially to support its ministry by setting aside a portion of their wealth for God’s work.  (Matthew 25:21)

 

            Our scripture lesson this morning from the gospel of Matthew comes from the parable of the talents (25:14-30).  You’ll remember that Jesus uses the metaphor of three servants who are each entrusted with wealth to invest while their master is away.   The two who invest their “talents”(which was a unit of currency and wealth in the first century) and make a profit are given affirmation upon the Master’s return, “Well done good and trustworthy servant, you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.”

How many times have we heard churched and secular alike exclaim, “All the church does is ask for money!”?   The constant requests for financial support and special projects can be a good reason people don’t want to join a church; those who don’t have much feel guilty that they can’t do more, those with more than enough feel that’s all the church really wants from them. 

            In my 38 years of pastoral ministry I’ve always marveled at the committed church member who experiencing a difficult financial situation comes to their pastor to explain that they will not be able to continue their financial commitment to the church or will have to drastically cut it.  Some share this news with emotions of shame, embarrassment and disappointment.   Some have actually said they don’t feel like they can come to church if they don’t financially contribute.  

That is exactly when you should come to church and are most welcomed. 

It hurts committed givers not to be able to give as much as they can.  I often wonder how extraordinary such feelings must seem to those who resent being asked to give or those who withhold their giving because they are mad about something or at someone or for those who give unconsciously, without thought or commitment…like just dropping a $ 20 in the plate each week as if one were buying a movie ticket.

Those who really get it about church and money want to be “good and faithful servants”.    They come to know it’s not about the numbers at all.  Whether they can afford $ 1 a week, or 20 hours of volunteering a month, or serving on a committee, these are folk who want to be generous with all that they have, because in large part they’ve come to know in their hearts that all they have comes from God. They give with purpose and intention. 

 

            Joining a church is not for everybody.  In a United Methodist church all are welcome regardless of their level of commitment. We don’t think we are any better people than those who don’t join.   But when it seems right for the individual or family to join, we have a wonderful process that explains that church membership is so much more than joining a club or signing up for a spiritual gymnasium.  

            Join Bonnie and me for an informal and fun “membership class” on Sunday October 12^th at 12:30pm here in the church Library.  It will be a ‘brown bag’ lunch.  If you like to learn more about the United Methodist church or Wayfarer, come.  If you’ve ever thought of joining this church come.  Or if you just like to have a sack lunch with the new pastor and his wife come.

            The more we invest ourselves in prayer, worship, study, service, fellowship and generosity the closer we grow to God and to each other.   That may not be for everyone.  But it has made all the difference in my life.        Amen.