An interesting post below...I can't think of a time when it has been more difficult as a Christ-follower to live out the Sermon of the Mount in our suburban world...
So I was watching this show on MTV last week, called Newport Harbor. Essentially it is Laguna Beach all over again, just 20 miles up the California coast in another ritzy Orange Country beach town. The cast of the show is made up of a handful of ditzy-but-beautiful blonde girls and a few token surfer dudes who each of the girls will date at one point during the season (which follows their senior year of “high school”). Everything on the show is pristine, nicely coifed, tanned, and very, very rich.
Most episodes of the show, like in Laguna, feature the kids shopping at designer stores, eating at Zagat-rated restaurants, or (in the case of the episode I saw) going on weekend trips to Palm Springs. Of course, no seventeen year old really has the money to live this way, but MTV wants us to think that yes, these kids (most kids in Orange Country, actually) do in fact spend their free time surfing, tanning, gossiping, and eating braised lamb while the rest of us do homework and eat Ramen noodles.
At one point in the Palm Springs episode of Newport, “Allie” asks her father (“Art”) whether his American Express card will work for her during the weekend. “But it’s the gold one and not the platinum!” she complains as she opens the door to her friend’s SUV. Art playfully reassures her that his gold AMEX will be more than enough for one weekend, and he smiles and waves as his daughter drives off with his money.
Such scenes, which deceptively portray a fantasy world where it is normal for parents and teenagers to behave like this, seem to be the bread and butter for MTV these days. On any given day there are at least two episodes of an atrocious—but sickeningly addictive—MTV show called My Super Sweet Sixteen. This show features the most outrageous flaunting of wealth I’ve ever seen. Fifteen year old “princesses” routinely spend upwards of $500,000 of their parents’ money to throw themselves a birthday party certain to be the illest the sophomore class has ever seen, or will ever see.
But it’s not just MTV. Everywhere you look on TV and in pop-culture these days, you see this strangely alluring thing that is a sort of a rich people minstrel show: wealth being exploited for the entertainment of the underclass. Shows like Bravo’s new reality offering, Welcome to the Parker (which is all about the Parker hotel in Palm Springs—the most ridiculously posh playground for celebrities in SoCal), emphasize how gloriously snobby rich people are, while shows like The Fabulous Life (VH1) and Cribs (MTV) keep tabs on which rich celebrity has managed to spend their money the most frivolously. Each of these shows contains the playful cha-ching graphic, which keeps tabs of the “bill” during the course of any episode, making light of the fact that some people manage to spend more money in a year than the entire country of Ethiopia has made in a decade.
And lest we forget the phenomenon of Paris Hilton, a “famous for being rich” celebrity who embodies all of the above. People are always asking, “why are we obsessed with Paris Hilton?” But this has a pretty obvious answer: it’s because we’re obsessed with being rich. It’s the same reason we watch Newport Harbor or buy something that Oprah likes. If we can associate ourselves with wealth (even if we’re really poor) by watching or imitating it, we feel more legitimate, desirable, and important.
The Paris Hilton culture is just the latest incarnation of what Thomas Veblen first coined “conspicuous consumption” in his 1899 book, The Theory of the Leisure Class. Essentially it is the idea that with the onset of expendable income, the new upper and middle classes took to flaunting their “wealth” as a way to demonstrate their social power or significance, whether real or perceived. In other words, people began to buy lots of fancy furniture and art (but chiefly so they could have dinner parties and show it off), and they began to buy expensive clothes and jewelry, mainly to present themselves as more important than they actually were.
Consumerism and the consequent drive to be conspicuous about it is certainly something we all deal with. Living in Los Angeles, a mile away from downtown Beverly Hills, I see it everywhere I look. One time when I was sitting at a bus stop near Rodeo Drive, I played a game in which I counted how many Range Rovers drove by me in the course of a minute (the Range Rover is the current “must-have accessory” in L.A.). I think I counted 6, or maybe 10. Either way, that’s a high volume of grossly over-waxed blingmobiles in the span of a minute. That’s like one every ten seconds.
I’m not sure how many people who drive Range Rovers actually can afford them; but that’s beside the point. Half of the wealth that is flashed in your eyes on any given day isn’t real wealth. It’s all about appearances. Sunglasses are the best way to feign wealth, especially in L.A. (where sunglasses are worn more than socks). Most really good, designer sunglasses are at least $300—which is not that much for the average stockbroker or real estate tycoon. But you can easily find knock-off sunglasses for like ten bucks that look exactly like the massive Prada pair you saw on J.Lo last week. It’s easy to look wealthy and important if you try hard enough.
Nowadays, the measure of someone’s “importance” is often seen in the technological accessory attached to their ear. Whether it’s an iPod, iPhone, or the latest fashion in Bluetooth earpieces (which scream “I’m white collar and too busy and important to use a hand phone!”), people are vying for status via The Sharper Image. It’s all an illusion, though, because no one is so important that “hands free” devices are necessary. Still, it’s the driving illusion of our time.
Christians find themselves in an interesting spot, living in a culture that measures a person’s value or relevance by what model of cell phone they carry. We are followers of a man who once told his disciples that anyone who wanted to follow him must “deny himself” and “take up his cross daily.” Jesus constantly dropped lines such as “what good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?” (Luke 9:23, 25). He also insisted that we not worry about things like food and clothes (Matthew 6: 25-34), and offered counterintuitive little quips about how blessed are the poor in spirit, the meek, and the persecuted. Can you imagine an MTV show about nerdy little Christian kids in Irvine who take all of this to heart?
The Christian life is so crazily counter to a life of conspicuous consumption. Ours should be a life of conspicuous rejection of all the bling money can buy. We should be conspicuously consumed with Christ, so much so that we become much more fascinating to watch than Paris Hilton. Instead of a culture that questions their obsession with Paris and Britney, what if the curious questions were about Christians—why are they so utterly, obviously uninterested in what everyone else is living for (self-aggrandizement)? Now that would be a story worthy of reality TV.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Friday, September 14, 2007
Falling in Love with Those in Need
When I think about why I'm still fired up every day to be a voice for the people of Zambia and do everything I can to educate, inspire, and move people to care about a continent on the other side of the world, I've decided that there is a pretty simple explanation...on some level, I've fallen in love with Zambia and its people...I find myself counting the days till my next visit and imagining playing soccer and baseball and singing and dancing with kids from Kakolo school...and this article from the Relevant website written by Hannah Lythe articulates what happens when God grabs your heart thru people and places you never even knew existed...
I never meant to fall in love when I went to South Africa last September. I left thinking I could make a difference in this world. I would be that difference. I find it amusing that despite our arrogance, the Lord will still use us and rip us apart to our core.
I recently returned home to my suburbia haven of New Jersey, spending almost a year in South Africa and Swaziland. I signed up to escape everything I knew, to play with orphans, do something real. I wanted to feel noble in my pursuits, to clothe myself in righteous works. Instead I came home naked, more aware of the injustices in this world than ever. I had escaped nothing. For my year in South Africa, I worked at a Children’s Home for HIV infected children. A government funded home for 34 children, some forgotten and others rejected.
I fell in love with every child at Mohau Children’s Home. Working at a children’s home for nine months, falling in love seems an easy task. But I am not speaking of affection, liking and sympathy. I refer to a broken love: limitless and unconditional. It was not me; it was never me. It was the love of the Father. I was worthless in that place. I was tired; I gave up; I ignored children; I turned a cheek to noses full of snot. I never gave enough of myself.
I worked alongside two dear friends of mine, Sam and Kyle. We spent our first three months confused, tired and hollow. We spent many days considering giving everything up, giving in to an easier option. HIV infected, institutionalized infants are poster-children for the marginalized. Abandoned by families with little hope for adoption. Finally we let go of controlling the situation. We gave in to the love of the Father and committed to being mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters to the 34 children.
We walked them to the clinic everyday. We sat alongside mothers and fathers for six hours at a time awaiting those precious minutes with the doctor. We held them during their blood work, impatiently longing for the removal of the syringe. We laid beside them as they napped, changed the impossible diapers. Above every humbling task were the beautiful moments of laughter and grace, which injected more humility than any soiled diaper.
The day before we were to leave, our boss, Tiekie, took us out for lunch. She gave us a brief history of each child that we had grown to love. Stories that we had longed for but never knew. With each word that came from her mouth our hearts broke piece by piece: abandonment, loneliness, abuse, disease and sickness. Then we came to Ernie. Ernie was the child that had held me the tightest. He was a 10-year-old who was HIV positive, autistic, epileptic and diagnosed with cerebral palsy. Suffering seems to be a gauge by which one cannot measure but Ernie was certainly one of the sickest children at Mohau.
Ernie knew this world better than I did. He knew love. He was a heartbreaker. I am sure Ernie had wooed many people before me with his charm, his rhythm and his love for people. I underestimated Ernie. I thought I was humoring him, singing his songs, clapping my hands. When all along he was humoring me. He knew I would leave. His life had been so temporary, why would I be any different? Every morning I walked into Mohau, I wondered if Ernie had remembered me from the day before. He remembered my songs, why wouldn’t he remember me? He used to scream scrambled versions of my name. The cynic in me thinks he was speaking in some mangled version of Sotho but my heart prays he knew my name, my face because I will never be able to forget his.
The day I heard Ernie’s story, of the choice that was to be made, I felt like everything in side of me had evaporated. I was this shell walking around, useless. Incapacitated, how could I help this child? That night my team had a time of prayer and worship. I wept for Ernie. Before that moment, I have never cried for anyone but myself. The LORD grabbed me by the heart and He wrecked me. He gave me a glimpse of His compassion; I knew I was crying His tears for His children.
I never meant to fall in love when I went to South Africa last September. I left thinking I could make a difference in this world. I would be that difference. I find it amusing that despite our arrogance, the Lord will still use us and rip us apart to our core.
I recently returned home to my suburbia haven of New Jersey, spending almost a year in South Africa and Swaziland. I signed up to escape everything I knew, to play with orphans, do something real. I wanted to feel noble in my pursuits, to clothe myself in righteous works. Instead I came home naked, more aware of the injustices in this world than ever. I had escaped nothing. For my year in South Africa, I worked at a Children’s Home for HIV infected children. A government funded home for 34 children, some forgotten and others rejected.
I fell in love with every child at Mohau Children’s Home. Working at a children’s home for nine months, falling in love seems an easy task. But I am not speaking of affection, liking and sympathy. I refer to a broken love: limitless and unconditional. It was not me; it was never me. It was the love of the Father. I was worthless in that place. I was tired; I gave up; I ignored children; I turned a cheek to noses full of snot. I never gave enough of myself.
I worked alongside two dear friends of mine, Sam and Kyle. We spent our first three months confused, tired and hollow. We spent many days considering giving everything up, giving in to an easier option. HIV infected, institutionalized infants are poster-children for the marginalized. Abandoned by families with little hope for adoption. Finally we let go of controlling the situation. We gave in to the love of the Father and committed to being mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters to the 34 children.
We walked them to the clinic everyday. We sat alongside mothers and fathers for six hours at a time awaiting those precious minutes with the doctor. We held them during their blood work, impatiently longing for the removal of the syringe. We laid beside them as they napped, changed the impossible diapers. Above every humbling task were the beautiful moments of laughter and grace, which injected more humility than any soiled diaper.
The day before we were to leave, our boss, Tiekie, took us out for lunch. She gave us a brief history of each child that we had grown to love. Stories that we had longed for but never knew. With each word that came from her mouth our hearts broke piece by piece: abandonment, loneliness, abuse, disease and sickness. Then we came to Ernie. Ernie was the child that had held me the tightest. He was a 10-year-old who was HIV positive, autistic, epileptic and diagnosed with cerebral palsy. Suffering seems to be a gauge by which one cannot measure but Ernie was certainly one of the sickest children at Mohau.
Ernie knew this world better than I did. He knew love. He was a heartbreaker. I am sure Ernie had wooed many people before me with his charm, his rhythm and his love for people. I underestimated Ernie. I thought I was humoring him, singing his songs, clapping my hands. When all along he was humoring me. He knew I would leave. His life had been so temporary, why would I be any different? Every morning I walked into Mohau, I wondered if Ernie had remembered me from the day before. He remembered my songs, why wouldn’t he remember me? He used to scream scrambled versions of my name. The cynic in me thinks he was speaking in some mangled version of Sotho but my heart prays he knew my name, my face because I will never be able to forget his.
The day I heard Ernie’s story, of the choice that was to be made, I felt like everything in side of me had evaporated. I was this shell walking around, useless. Incapacitated, how could I help this child? That night my team had a time of prayer and worship. I wept for Ernie. Before that moment, I have never cried for anyone but myself. The LORD grabbed me by the heart and He wrecked me. He gave me a glimpse of His compassion; I knew I was crying His tears for His children.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Charity Is Not Enough
Check out this article by Kate Stevens on relevantmagazine.com...it expresses the tension faced in responding to the needs of the poor in our world today...
Charity is my job these days. So is justice. The majority of my waking hours are spent at the non-profit humanitarian organization where I work as a representative for Northern Ontario. It’s been my home for almost six years now, and I am indebted to the global perspective that I’ve gained over those six years. I leave work each day with a sense that I am contributing to something more than my employer’s paycheck, my company’s growth or my culture’s consumerism.
I know that I’m contributing to charity and justice in a very tangible way, but I sometimes forget the difference and the importance of each in the midst of endless phone calls, meetings, computer problems and angry donors. It’s easy to be numbed to the real issues that are going on in the world and to lose the right perspective in exchange for paperwork.
Even so, as someone who has been concerned about justice since my brother was old enough to take my toys, the story Ronald Stanley tells about the difference between charity and justice is difficult for me to ignore.
Stanley describes a scene where two men are fishing in a river. They begin to enjoy the fish they’ve caught when cries for help get their attention. One by one, they see people being swept away by the river. They jump in, desperate for a chance to save the drowning and, each time, they succeed. Tired after having worked to save several, they hear the cry of another: this time, a child. One of the men rushes away, leaving the other to rescue the child alone. The first man is confused. The second man declares he’s heading upstream to find out why there are so many people being swept away by the river.
I can’t help but laugh a little at Stanley’s story, partly because I can almost imagine the desperation in the conversation between the two men and partly because I can’t believe how effectively it captures the difference between charity and justice: charity is helping on the surface, for the short term, while justice is attacking the source of the problem itself. The first man was doing a great thing by saving the people who were drowning, but the second man went a step further by attempting to figure out from where the problem was originating so that he could do something about it.
Neither charity nor justice can stand alone. On its own, charity has the potential of becoming a band-aid solution, never really getting to or treating the root of the problem. Justice on its own, on the other hand, can be harsh and can ignore the immediate needs of people. Had the first man in Stanley's story given up on his attempts at charity, people would have drowned. However, had the second man not worked just a little bit harder to get to the root of the problem, more people would have drowned. A balance is required.
A quick look at the media makes obvious that charity and justice are popular topics of discussion these days. We see celebrities adopting children from overseas and giving their time, money and endorsement to the charities of their choice. We see global campaigns like Make Poverty History. We see media endorsement for projects involving sending mosquito nets overseas to combat malaria. Numerous charities produce television spots. People give up their vacation time to volunteer overseas. It’s everywhere.
Ever since Dec. 31, 2004, when the undersea earthquake off the coast of Indonesia created tsunami waves that devastated coastal South Asia, Western culture has been inundated with opportunities to give its time and its money. And it’s all for good reason. We are aware that there is a world that needs the resources we are so blessed to have and are willing to invest our resources in something other than ourselves. Yet, despite how amazing this is, it's just charity. And we're not doing enough. Yes, charity’s positive impact is unmistakeable and, yes, charity encompasses elements of justice, but my fear is that while amazing things are being done in the world today because of our charity and generosity charity is just a trend. If our charity is just fashionable, is true justice really being done?
It takes sacrifice to develop a lifestyle that allows us to support charity. We need to watch how we spend our money and watch how we save. We need to respond when we feel any sense of compassion rather than changing the channel. It’s challenging, but even so, it’s still just charity.
Justice, on the other hand, is messy. Those of us who are aiming for fashionable don't usually give it much of a thought. It requires long-term commitment and investment in prayer. It requires blood and sweat and tears and hard work and a fight. It requires that we not only sacrifice things in our lives so that we can give, but that we change our lifestyles entirely or, in many cases, that we live counter-culturally, making choices about our lifestyle based on how we will impact what deserves justice: the environment, AIDS orphans in Uganda, farmers making pennies on coffee farms in South America, 10-year-old sweatshop workers in Asia, 14-year-old girls who have been forced into prostitution in Thailand, street kids in Toronto.
While we are making an incredibly positive difference with our charity and while the Bible is clear that charity is incredibly important, taking the next step to create truly lasting change for our world requires justice. I imagine that God was trying to let us in on that secret when He asked that we "act justly...love mercy...[and] walk humbly with [Him]" (Micah 6:8, TNIV).
Charity is my job these days. So is justice. The majority of my waking hours are spent at the non-profit humanitarian organization where I work as a representative for Northern Ontario. It’s been my home for almost six years now, and I am indebted to the global perspective that I’ve gained over those six years. I leave work each day with a sense that I am contributing to something more than my employer’s paycheck, my company’s growth or my culture’s consumerism.
I know that I’m contributing to charity and justice in a very tangible way, but I sometimes forget the difference and the importance of each in the midst of endless phone calls, meetings, computer problems and angry donors. It’s easy to be numbed to the real issues that are going on in the world and to lose the right perspective in exchange for paperwork.
Even so, as someone who has been concerned about justice since my brother was old enough to take my toys, the story Ronald Stanley tells about the difference between charity and justice is difficult for me to ignore.
Stanley describes a scene where two men are fishing in a river. They begin to enjoy the fish they’ve caught when cries for help get their attention. One by one, they see people being swept away by the river. They jump in, desperate for a chance to save the drowning and, each time, they succeed. Tired after having worked to save several, they hear the cry of another: this time, a child. One of the men rushes away, leaving the other to rescue the child alone. The first man is confused. The second man declares he’s heading upstream to find out why there are so many people being swept away by the river.
I can’t help but laugh a little at Stanley’s story, partly because I can almost imagine the desperation in the conversation between the two men and partly because I can’t believe how effectively it captures the difference between charity and justice: charity is helping on the surface, for the short term, while justice is attacking the source of the problem itself. The first man was doing a great thing by saving the people who were drowning, but the second man went a step further by attempting to figure out from where the problem was originating so that he could do something about it.
Neither charity nor justice can stand alone. On its own, charity has the potential of becoming a band-aid solution, never really getting to or treating the root of the problem. Justice on its own, on the other hand, can be harsh and can ignore the immediate needs of people. Had the first man in Stanley's story given up on his attempts at charity, people would have drowned. However, had the second man not worked just a little bit harder to get to the root of the problem, more people would have drowned. A balance is required.
A quick look at the media makes obvious that charity and justice are popular topics of discussion these days. We see celebrities adopting children from overseas and giving their time, money and endorsement to the charities of their choice. We see global campaigns like Make Poverty History. We see media endorsement for projects involving sending mosquito nets overseas to combat malaria. Numerous charities produce television spots. People give up their vacation time to volunteer overseas. It’s everywhere.
Ever since Dec. 31, 2004, when the undersea earthquake off the coast of Indonesia created tsunami waves that devastated coastal South Asia, Western culture has been inundated with opportunities to give its time and its money. And it’s all for good reason. We are aware that there is a world that needs the resources we are so blessed to have and are willing to invest our resources in something other than ourselves. Yet, despite how amazing this is, it's just charity. And we're not doing enough. Yes, charity’s positive impact is unmistakeable and, yes, charity encompasses elements of justice, but my fear is that while amazing things are being done in the world today because of our charity and generosity charity is just a trend. If our charity is just fashionable, is true justice really being done?
It takes sacrifice to develop a lifestyle that allows us to support charity. We need to watch how we spend our money and watch how we save. We need to respond when we feel any sense of compassion rather than changing the channel. It’s challenging, but even so, it’s still just charity.
Justice, on the other hand, is messy. Those of us who are aiming for fashionable don't usually give it much of a thought. It requires long-term commitment and investment in prayer. It requires blood and sweat and tears and hard work and a fight. It requires that we not only sacrifice things in our lives so that we can give, but that we change our lifestyles entirely or, in many cases, that we live counter-culturally, making choices about our lifestyle based on how we will impact what deserves justice: the environment, AIDS orphans in Uganda, farmers making pennies on coffee farms in South America, 10-year-old sweatshop workers in Asia, 14-year-old girls who have been forced into prostitution in Thailand, street kids in Toronto.
While we are making an incredibly positive difference with our charity and while the Bible is clear that charity is incredibly important, taking the next step to create truly lasting change for our world requires justice. I imagine that God was trying to let us in on that secret when He asked that we "act justly...love mercy...[and] walk humbly with [Him]" (Micah 6:8, TNIV).
Sunday, August 26, 2007
The Supremacy of Christ
Here's what I shared with my classes to start the school year...it is the reality that I teach and seek to develop leaders because the world is now broken, not as Christ created and intends it to be, that people's lives are broken without the cross and the salvation brought by Jesus, and that we are called and invited to be part of the restoration of both broken lives and the broken world God created and seeks to have renewed...
This incredible passage from Colossians 1 below is central to my own calling these days as I am overwhelmed and thrilled with what Christ has done and wants to use me to do along with so many others around His world...and N.T. Wright often states it more powerfully than I can as he reflects and unpacks Scripture...
Colossians 1:15-20 (New International Version)
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
“There is no sphere of existence over which Jesus is not sovereign, in virtue of his role both in creation (1:16-17) and in reconciliation (1:18-20). There can be no dualistic division between some areas which he rules and others which he does not. ‘There is no neutral ground in the universe: every square inch, every split second, is claimed by God and counterclaimed by Satan.’ The task of evangelism is therefore best understood as the proclamation that Jesus is already Lord, that in him God’s new creation has broken into history, and that all people are therefore summoned to submit to him in love, worship, and obedience. The logic of this message requires that those who announce it should be seeking to bring Christ’s Lordship to bear on every area of human and worldly existence. Christians must work to help create conditions in which human beings, and the whole created world, can live as God always intended.”
(N.T. Wright, Colossians and Philemon, Tyndale NT Commentaries, IVP, 1986, p.79-80)
This incredible passage from Colossians 1 below is central to my own calling these days as I am overwhelmed and thrilled with what Christ has done and wants to use me to do along with so many others around His world...and N.T. Wright often states it more powerfully than I can as he reflects and unpacks Scripture...
Colossians 1:15-20 (New International Version)
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
“There is no sphere of existence over which Jesus is not sovereign, in virtue of his role both in creation (1:16-17) and in reconciliation (1:18-20). There can be no dualistic division between some areas which he rules and others which he does not. ‘There is no neutral ground in the universe: every square inch, every split second, is claimed by God and counterclaimed by Satan.’ The task of evangelism is therefore best understood as the proclamation that Jesus is already Lord, that in him God’s new creation has broken into history, and that all people are therefore summoned to submit to him in love, worship, and obedience. The logic of this message requires that those who announce it should be seeking to bring Christ’s Lordship to bear on every area of human and worldly existence. Christians must work to help create conditions in which human beings, and the whole created world, can live as God always intended.”
(N.T. Wright, Colossians and Philemon, Tyndale NT Commentaries, IVP, 1986, p.79-80)
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Will You Still Be Part of the Church?
I ran across this article in USA Today...and it definitely reflects my own observations and conversations with my current and former high school students...and yet the church is the hope of the world...oh, that we would see churches be filled and be active in living out and communicating the Gospel in such ways that there would be no place more meaningful or engaging for the thinking and seeking 20 year olds...the future is uncertain, isn't it?? And yet we know God's heart and vision remains beautiful and powerful...
Young adults aren't sticking with church
By Cathy Lynn Grossman, USA TODAY
Protestant churches are losing young adults in "sobering" numbers, a survey finds.
Seven in 10 Protestants ages 18 to 30 — both evangelical and mainline — who went to church regularly in high school said they quit attending by age 23, according to the survey by LifeWay Research. And 34% of those said they had not returned, even sporadically, by age 30. That means about one in four Protestant young people have left the church.
"This is sobering news that the church needs to change the way it does ministry," says Ed Stetzer, director of Nashville-based LifeWay Research, which is affiliated with the publishing arm of the Southern Baptist Convention.
"It seems the teen years are like a free trial on a product. By 18, when it's their choice whether to buy in to church life, many don't feel engaged and welcome," says associate director Scott McConnell.
The statistics are based on a survey of 1,023 Protestants ages 18 to 30 who said they had attended church at least twice a month for at least one year during high school. LifeWay did the survey in April and May. Margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Few of those surveyed had kind words for fellow Christians when they reflected on how they saw church life in the four years after high school.
Just over half (51%) of Protestant young people surveyed (both the church dropouts and those who stayed on in church after age 22) saw church members as "caring" or had other positive descriptions, such as "welcoming" (48%) or "authentic" (42%).
Among dropouts, nearly all (97%) cited life changes, such as a move. Most (58%) were unhappy with the people or pastor at church. More than half (52%) had religious, ethical or political reasons for quitting.
Dropouts were more than twice as likely than those who continued attending church to describe church members as judgmental (51% for dropouts, 24% for those who stayed), hypocritical (44% vs. 20%) or insincere (41% vs. 19%)
The news was not all bad: 35% of dropouts said they had resumed attending church regularly by age 30. An additional 30% attended sporadically. Twenty-eight percent said "God was calling me to return to the church."
The survey found that those who stayed with or returned to church grew up with both parents committed to the church, pastors whose sermons were relevant and engaging, and church members who invested in their spiritual development.
"Too many youth groups are holding tanks with pizza. There's no life transformation taking place," Stetzer says. "People are looking for a faith that can change them and to be a part of changing the world."
These findings fit with findings by other experts.
"Unless religious leaders take younger adults more seriously, the future of American religion is in doubt," says Princeton sociologist Robert Wuthnow in After the Baby Boomers, due in stores in September.
The proportion of young adults identifying with mainline churches, he says, is "about half the size it was a generation ago. Evangelical Protestants have barely held their own."
In research for an upcoming book, unChristian, Barna Research Group director David Kinnaman found that Christians in their 20s are "significantly less likely to believe a person's faith in God is meant to be developed by involvement in a local church. This life stage of spiritual disengagement is not going to fade away."
About 52% of American adults identify themselves as Protestant or other non-Catholic Christian denominations, according to the 2001 American Religious Identification Survey. That's down from 60% in 1990.
Young adults aren't sticking with church
By Cathy Lynn Grossman, USA TODAY
Protestant churches are losing young adults in "sobering" numbers, a survey finds.
Seven in 10 Protestants ages 18 to 30 — both evangelical and mainline — who went to church regularly in high school said they quit attending by age 23, according to the survey by LifeWay Research. And 34% of those said they had not returned, even sporadically, by age 30. That means about one in four Protestant young people have left the church.
"This is sobering news that the church needs to change the way it does ministry," says Ed Stetzer, director of Nashville-based LifeWay Research, which is affiliated with the publishing arm of the Southern Baptist Convention.
"It seems the teen years are like a free trial on a product. By 18, when it's their choice whether to buy in to church life, many don't feel engaged and welcome," says associate director Scott McConnell.
The statistics are based on a survey of 1,023 Protestants ages 18 to 30 who said they had attended church at least twice a month for at least one year during high school. LifeWay did the survey in April and May. Margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Few of those surveyed had kind words for fellow Christians when they reflected on how they saw church life in the four years after high school.
Just over half (51%) of Protestant young people surveyed (both the church dropouts and those who stayed on in church after age 22) saw church members as "caring" or had other positive descriptions, such as "welcoming" (48%) or "authentic" (42%).
Among dropouts, nearly all (97%) cited life changes, such as a move. Most (58%) were unhappy with the people or pastor at church. More than half (52%) had religious, ethical or political reasons for quitting.
Dropouts were more than twice as likely than those who continued attending church to describe church members as judgmental (51% for dropouts, 24% for those who stayed), hypocritical (44% vs. 20%) or insincere (41% vs. 19%)
The news was not all bad: 35% of dropouts said they had resumed attending church regularly by age 30. An additional 30% attended sporadically. Twenty-eight percent said "God was calling me to return to the church."
The survey found that those who stayed with or returned to church grew up with both parents committed to the church, pastors whose sermons were relevant and engaging, and church members who invested in their spiritual development.
"Too many youth groups are holding tanks with pizza. There's no life transformation taking place," Stetzer says. "People are looking for a faith that can change them and to be a part of changing the world."
These findings fit with findings by other experts.
"Unless religious leaders take younger adults more seriously, the future of American religion is in doubt," says Princeton sociologist Robert Wuthnow in After the Baby Boomers, due in stores in September.
The proportion of young adults identifying with mainline churches, he says, is "about half the size it was a generation ago. Evangelical Protestants have barely held their own."
In research for an upcoming book, unChristian, Barna Research Group director David Kinnaman found that Christians in their 20s are "significantly less likely to believe a person's faith in God is meant to be developed by involvement in a local church. This life stage of spiritual disengagement is not going to fade away."
About 52% of American adults identify themselves as Protestant or other non-Catholic Christian denominations, according to the 2001 American Religious Identification Survey. That's down from 60% in 1990.
Monday, August 6, 2007
AIDS/Poverty/Global Issues Education Resource List
Here's a very informal list of resources that I've gathered to try and become more educated as a global Christ follower...they are worth checking out if you are interested in learning more about the needs of our world and the opportunity we have to change the future for millions, perhaps even billions in this generation...
BOOKS/PERIODICALS
Skeptics Guide to Global AIDS, Dale Hansen Bourke, Authentic Media, 2004
The Awake Project: Uniting Against the African AIDS Crisis, Second Edition, Various Contributions, W. Publishing Group, 2002
The Invisible People: How the U.S. has Slept Through the Global AIDS Pandemic, the Greatest Humanitarian Catastrophe of Our Time, Greg Behrman, Free Press, 2004
The Hope Factor: Engaging the Church in the HIV/AIDS Crisis, Testunao Yamamori, et al, Authentic Media, 2004
Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger, Ron Sider, W Publishing Group, 1997
The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time, Jeffery Sachs, Penguin Press, 2005
The Son of God is Dancing, Adrian and Bridget Plass, Authentic Media, 2005
Banker to the Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty, Muhammad Yunus, Public Affairs, 2003
When God Stood Up: A Christian Response to AIDS in Africa, James Cantelon, Wiley, 2007
On the Move, Bono, Thomas Nelson, 2007
Hope in Troubled Times: A New Vision for Confronting Global Crises, Bob Goudzwaard, Baker Academic, 2007
28: Stories of AIDS in Africa, Stephanie Nolen, Walker & Company, 2007
Vanity Fair, July 2007 Africa Issue
Hope in the Dark, Jena Lee (Contributor), Jeremy Cowart (Photographer), Relevant Books, 2006
The Revolution: A Field Manual for Changing Your World, Heather Zydek (editor), Relevant Books, 2006
Good News About Injustice: A Witness of Courage in a Hurting World, Gary Haugen, InterVarsity Press, 1999
Not for Sale: The Return of the Global Slave Trade--and How We Can Fight It, David Bastone, HarperSanFrancisco, 2007
Sojourners Magazine: Christians for Justice and Peace
GET UNCOMFORTABLE: Serve the Poor. Stop Injustice. Change the World…In Jesus’ Name, Todd Phillips, LifeWay Press, 2007
WEB SITES
Acting on AIDS
www.actingonaids.org
One Life Revolution
www.oneliferevolution.org
World Vision
www.worldvision.org
UNAIDS
www.unaids.org
Kaiser Network
www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_hiv.cfm
The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief
www.avert.org/pepfar.htm
Debt, Trade, AIDS in Africa (DATA)
www.data.org
The ONE Campaign
www.one.org/
Micah Challenge
http://www.micahchallenge.org/global/home/intro.html
Global Issues
http://www.globalissues.org/
International Justice Mission
http://www.globalissues.org/
GLOBAL FUTURE: A World Vision Journal of Human Development
http://www.globalfutureonline.org/
Hunger and World Poverty
http://www.poverty.com/index.html
(RED)
http://www.joinred.com/
TEARFUND
http://www.tearfund.org/
The Christian Vision Project
http://www.christianvisionproject.com/
DOCUMENTARIES /MOVIES
“Dear Francis”…Chronicle Project, 2005…http://www.chronicleproject.org/dearfrancis/film.html
“A Closer Walk”… Worldwide Documentaries, 2003…http://www.acloserwalk.org/
“Invisible Children”…Invisible Children, Inc., 2005…http://www.invisiblechildren.com/home.php
“The Age of AIDS”…PBS Frontline, 2006…http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/aids/
“The Girl in the Café”…HBO, 2005…http://www.hbo.com/events/girlinthecafe/index.html
“Yesterday”…HBO Films, 2004…http://www.hbo.com/films/yesterday/
BOOKS/PERIODICALS
Skeptics Guide to Global AIDS, Dale Hansen Bourke, Authentic Media, 2004
The Awake Project: Uniting Against the African AIDS Crisis, Second Edition, Various Contributions, W. Publishing Group, 2002
The Invisible People: How the U.S. has Slept Through the Global AIDS Pandemic, the Greatest Humanitarian Catastrophe of Our Time, Greg Behrman, Free Press, 2004
The Hope Factor: Engaging the Church in the HIV/AIDS Crisis, Testunao Yamamori, et al, Authentic Media, 2004
Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger, Ron Sider, W Publishing Group, 1997
The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time, Jeffery Sachs, Penguin Press, 2005
The Son of God is Dancing, Adrian and Bridget Plass, Authentic Media, 2005
Banker to the Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty, Muhammad Yunus, Public Affairs, 2003
When God Stood Up: A Christian Response to AIDS in Africa, James Cantelon, Wiley, 2007
On the Move, Bono, Thomas Nelson, 2007
Hope in Troubled Times: A New Vision for Confronting Global Crises, Bob Goudzwaard, Baker Academic, 2007
28: Stories of AIDS in Africa, Stephanie Nolen, Walker & Company, 2007
Vanity Fair, July 2007 Africa Issue
Hope in the Dark, Jena Lee (Contributor), Jeremy Cowart (Photographer), Relevant Books, 2006
The Revolution: A Field Manual for Changing Your World, Heather Zydek (editor), Relevant Books, 2006
Good News About Injustice: A Witness of Courage in a Hurting World, Gary Haugen, InterVarsity Press, 1999
Not for Sale: The Return of the Global Slave Trade--and How We Can Fight It, David Bastone, HarperSanFrancisco, 2007
Sojourners Magazine: Christians for Justice and Peace
GET UNCOMFORTABLE: Serve the Poor. Stop Injustice. Change the World…In Jesus’ Name, Todd Phillips, LifeWay Press, 2007
WEB SITES
Acting on AIDS
www.actingonaids.org
One Life Revolution
www.oneliferevolution.org
World Vision
www.worldvision.org
UNAIDS
www.unaids.org
Kaiser Network
www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_hiv.cfm
The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief
www.avert.org/pepfar.htm
Debt, Trade, AIDS in Africa (DATA)
www.data.org
The ONE Campaign
www.one.org/
Micah Challenge
http://www.micahchallenge.org/global/home/intro.html
Global Issues
http://www.globalissues.org/
International Justice Mission
http://www.globalissues.org/
GLOBAL FUTURE: A World Vision Journal of Human Development
http://www.globalfutureonline.org/
Hunger and World Poverty
http://www.poverty.com/index.html
(RED)
http://www.joinred.com/
TEARFUND
http://www.tearfund.org/
The Christian Vision Project
http://www.christianvisionproject.com/
DOCUMENTARIES /MOVIES
“Dear Francis”…Chronicle Project, 2005…http://www.chronicleproject.org/dearfrancis/film.html
“A Closer Walk”… Worldwide Documentaries, 2003…http://www.acloserwalk.org/
“Invisible Children”…Invisible Children, Inc., 2005…http://www.invisiblechildren.com/home.php
“The Age of AIDS”…PBS Frontline, 2006…http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/aids/
“The Girl in the Café”…HBO, 2005…http://www.hbo.com/events/girlinthecafe/index.html
“Yesterday”…HBO Films, 2004…http://www.hbo.com/films/yesterday/
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
The Cross and Suffering
As I have been struggling with Dr. Jim Taylor's death and seeking to care for and be present with his family, I ran across these words from John Stott, who acknowledged that suffering is "the greatest single challenge to the Christian faith..."
I could never myself believe in God if it were not for the cross...In the real world of pain, how could one worship a God who was immune to it? In my imagination I often turn to the lonely, twisted, tortured figure of Jesus on the cross, nails through hands and feet, back lacerated, limbs wrenched, brow bleeding from thorn-pricks, mouth dry and intolerably thirsty, plunged in God-forsaken darkness. That is the God for me! He laid aside His immunity to pain. He entered our world of flesh and blood, tears and death. He suffered for us. Our sufferings became more manageable in light of His. There is still a question mark against human suffering, but over it we boldly stamp another mark, the cross which symbolizes divine suffering. 'The cross of Christ...is God's only self-justification in such a world' as ours.
I could never myself believe in God if it were not for the cross...In the real world of pain, how could one worship a God who was immune to it? In my imagination I often turn to the lonely, twisted, tortured figure of Jesus on the cross, nails through hands and feet, back lacerated, limbs wrenched, brow bleeding from thorn-pricks, mouth dry and intolerably thirsty, plunged in God-forsaken darkness. That is the God for me! He laid aside His immunity to pain. He entered our world of flesh and blood, tears and death. He suffered for us. Our sufferings became more manageable in light of His. There is still a question mark against human suffering, but over it we boldly stamp another mark, the cross which symbolizes divine suffering. 'The cross of Christ...is God's only self-justification in such a world' as ours.
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