To Hell In A Handbasket?

Hello Emmanuel,

In a conversation with a church member yesterday, it was noted how heavy the world seems today--just a lot of stuff… serious stuff… ugly stuff…. the kind of stuff that affects the human spirit.

Combine the violence of shootings and beatings and floods with the cultural battles over same-sex marriage.  Then combine that with tensions around gender identity and flags with the international disgust over ISIS and jihadists.  The world just gets ‘ugly’.  I can’t think of any better word to use.  There are moments when I find myself thinking like my grandparent’s generation:  ‘The world is going to hell in a handbasket.’

And then there is the conversation I had with my brother yesterday.  It didn’t have to do with the ugliness of the world, but with the smallness of the world.  With communication opportunities at an all-time high (social media like facebook, twitter, instagram and endless numbers of blogs and on-line ‘newspapers’ and numerous tv stations), nothing can get past the media today.  And if the media misses it, someone with a camera on their phone will catch it.  Oh, who are we kidding?   Everyone with a smart phone IS the media.  Everything can and will be known.  And most of the time, everything that gets told about, gets told about with a bias… sometimes a heavy bias…. Sometimes an unfair bias?  Who knows?

So here is the question:  is the world an uglier place?  Or are our endless communication techniques just better at uncovering the ugliness that has always been there?  How would our spirits be affected differently if there had been such social media in the 1940’s?  Could you imagine a German officer’s video clip taken at a concentration camp going viral?  Or someone in the 1800’s taking a selfie with their chained-up slaves who had just been taken from their African village and boarded onto the ships to take to the colonies… and then posting the selfie on facebook?  How about the burning witch trials in Massachusetts going on Instagram?  Or CNN with a reporter in Kentucky when brother was shooting at brother during the Civil War?  Or the invasion of Native American tribes because the white man wanted more land?  I could go on and on…..

And what if there was Twitter or Instagram when Israel invaded or got invaded by a foreign country?  What about in the 1^st century when Jesus walked the walk to Calvary?  Could you imagine that on YouTube?  How would our spirits be affected?

My thoughts are this:  the sins of the world have always been present—even the really ugly, heavy sins that disgust us.  We are just better at seeing them and hearing them.  We have little choice but to take it all in and contemplate the results.  It is much more difficult to ignore them or hide from them or claim ignorance.

And with the increased knowledge of the sins of the world hopefully comes the increased knowledge of our need for God’s redeeming grace.  It is more difficult than ever to claim that the world is an okay place.  Maybe there was a simpler day when someone (perhaps on Walton’s mountain?) could possibly think the world was okay, if not perfect.

We have always needed God’s redemption.  We are just more aware of our need than ever. 

So if your heart is heavy with all of the world’s ugliness, consider this:  perhaps the world hasn’t changed nearly as much as your awareness of the world. 

And may your awareness for your need of God’s grace change just as much.

God is Good,

Pastor Joe

A Different Approach

Hello Emmanuel,

July 18^th is Vacation Bible School.  July 17^th at 5:30 is the set-up for VBS.  We need help.

I’ve received a few questions regarding the move to have a 1-day VBS.  Many of us are used to the week-long VBS.  There are not really any strong reasons to go one direction or the other.  Beth and I felt it worth it to try the 1-day to see if there is any difference in response, both from the community as well as from the church.

July 18^th is going to be a family-oriented VBS.  Parents, grandparents, etc; are encouraged to participate with their child for the one day.  One-day VBS’s are becoming a small trend among churches as it also decreases the commitment and resources needed to pull it off while still creating an outreach ministry that invites community participation.

As some of you know, I’m not afraid to experiment.  Beth isn’t afraid either.  It’s what makes us a dangerous duo.  I feel it important to tweak things every now and then to see if we aren’t missing important opportunities.  Sometimes we find out that we are.  Sometimes not.  Either way we can evaluate and plan for next year accordingly.

Set-up for VBS is Friday at 5:30.  If you can’t help on Saturday, consider showing up on Friday to see how you might be able to lend a hand.  Or if you have more questions, you can call Beth Pollitt at 404-9360 or you can call me at 833-5219 (though Beth probably has more answers).

Help us continue to show the community that our doors are open and they are welcome to come in and be a part of what we do:  sharing Good News of God.

God is Good,

Pastor Joe

Pastor Joe and Same-Sex Marriage

Hello Emmanuel,

Ok, so here it is.  I’m finally angry, frustrated and somewhat irritated enough by this whole issue.  This edition of the MMP is about same-sex marriage.  It is the current hot topic in the United Methodist Church as well as other denominations.  It is an issue that is very divisive and threatens the unity of the UM Church.  However, I have come to the conclusion that the church should know how the pastor views the issue.  This is a longer edition than normal.  I simply invite you not to anticipate what you think I’m going to say here.  If you do, you’ll be disappointed.  If you don’t, you might still be disappointed, but at least you’ll hear what I have to say.

First, I fully admit that I’m not as passionate about this issue as a few of you are.  I try to be, but I just can’t.  I see too many other issues in the church that touch my heart in more significant ways:  addiction, family dysfunction, bitter friendships, abuse, neglect, people shooting other people, financial hardships, cancer, tragic loss of life, etc;  I just can’t find time to spend on whether or not this certain expression of love is condemning or praiseworthy.  I realize I put myself in a tough spot.  The liberals will say I’m not standing up for the oppressed like Jesus would.  The conservatives will say I’m not standing up for God’s laws as a pastor should.  I’m not trying to sit on the fence, but it is where I find myself.  Which leads to more frustration and to finding the reason why I don’t care as much as I should………

And here is why I think I lack passion on this issue…….

Second, the core of the issue in the church isn’t about gay marriage.  It is about how we treat Scripture.  Let’s be clear.  Churches can’t even agree on how to approach homosexuality.  The reason?  Churches can’t agree on what is a sin and what isn’t a sin.  There are 600+ laws in Scripture, all of them originating in the Old Testament.  I don’t follow all of them and don’t think I need to follow all of them.  And, by the way, regardless how conservative or liberal you think you are, none of you follow all of them either and, if you familiarize yourself with all of them, you will also believe you shouldn’t have to follow all of them (read Leviticus and Deuteronomy if you dare).  I could beat the drum on gluttony, make-up, tattoos, long hair, tithing 10%, keeping the Sabbath Holy, envying your neighbor’s new car and boiling baby goats.  Somehow I don’t think even the most conservative of us would take up the cause on all of it.  Each of us would pick and choose as we have done since Paul debated whether or not it was okay to eat pork in the Church and whether or not it was okay to be uncircumcised.  (sorry for the imagery, but hey, it’s in the Bible).

The Church simply doesn’t know what to do with those verses that don’t feel as significant today.  And the Church can’t agree on what which verses those are.  Is homosexuality on that list?  Boiling baby goats is on that list.  For many people, tithing 10% is on that list.  I would even submit that, in large part, we’ve pretty much passed on making issues like divorce and drinking alcohol such hot topics.  Why?  What happened?  What made divorce and alcohol suddenly not a big deal?  And what is making homosexuality a big deal today?  What will be the big deal 25 years from now?  It isn’t because it’s in the Bible.  It’s ALL in the Bible.  So why are we being so wishy washy about what we choose to detest and what we choose to give a pass on?  (are you picking up on my frustration yet?)

And because the Church doesn’t know how to treat Scripture, we come away looking terribly hypocritical and selectively hateful.  We give free passes to some for certain behavior, but not to others for other behavior.  This inconsistency makes me irritable.  It is also frustrating because, as a pastor, I don’t always know how to respond to the non-churched who claims we are hypocrites.  There are times when I have to nod my head and agree.

Third, I’m not going to let this issue define my ministry, nor the ministry of Emmanuel.  At the core of my Call is to help broken people know that there is hope.  That hope is found in Jesus Christ.  Over the years I have witnessed hundreds (thousands?) of people walk into the church as broken souls.  I could give a list as to the reasons for the brokenness (likely related to at least one of the 600+ Laws… though we can’t seem to agree on which ones really matter), but I don’t have enough room here.  Additionally, there were people who came relatively healthy who I thought were broken.  And there were people who came who I thought were pretty healthy who were, in fact, terribly broken.  I am not a good judge of who is broken and how badly.  Soooooo…..

I’m going to minister to others with the assumption that all of us are broken (regardless of the reason) and show them Jesus as the Hope for New Life.  Jesus came to help the sick, not the healthy.  My ministry will be defined by how I connect with Jesus, how I connect people to Jesus and how I help others connect people to Jesus.  It will be defined by how Jesus has treated me, how I treat people and how I teach others to treat people.  And in the end, God will read my heart and, by His grace, it will be a good read.

It goes back to the basic teachings of Jesus:  The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.  Love God, Love your neighbor as yourself and try not to be a hypocrite.

Fourth (and the reason you read this article), there is a lot I don’t know or understand around the issue of homosexuality.  Many of you likely want to know my stance on same-sex marriage.  I honestly don’t know.  I do know that I will not preside over same-sex marriages.  Before any of you applaud or boo, know that my reason is a selfish one.  I like my job.  And my lack of passion in this area doesn’t lead me to want to risk my employment.  Don’t get me wrong.  I have gone against the grain of UM stances before, but only when my conscience gave me little choice. 

I do hope you understand that this fourth point is miniscule in my mind, compared to all the other points in this article.  The Church is in trouble.  We need to figure out how we are going to treat Scripture or the Church will slowly become irrelevant to the community that seeks guidance amidst brokenness.

Fifth and finally, we need to pray for the United Methodist Church.  Next Spring is General Conference.  Many petitions around this issue of same-sex marriage will be debated and voted on.  Regardless of the outcome, the UM Church is as close to splitting as it ever has been and the UM Church will continue to decline until we start making the hot topic the topic that matters to people who are broken (which is all of us).  I love the UM Church.  It introduced me to Jesus and showed me how my brokenness could be forgiven and healed.  I, in turn, will continue to introduce others to Jesus and show others how forgiveness is prevalent and healing is always a possibility.

God is Good,

Pastor Joe