Tag Archives: Good News

Cutting Evangelism

06 Friday Oct 2017

Posted by in Church Life, Pop

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A couple of days ago, we got word that my denomination, the United Church of Christ, was going to engage in additional cuts to jobs as they were restructuring departments.  It broke our hearts that many of our colleagues with whom we’ve worked closely would be no longer be partners in our journey together.

Word has been released that many of the positions cut focused on communications and publishing.  I had worked with some of these amazing staff members on various projects, and it saddened me to know that they would no longer sharing their talents with the denomination.

Now, I understand that there isn’t as much money flowing upward to the denomination.  With each of our churches growing smaller, individual congregation are not able to send as much money to the denomination, and the current structure is not sustainable.  I can imagine that these choices were extremely distressing to the decision-makers who are faithful people yearning to always make the best decisions possible for the denomination.

But I also know this: with less people attending church, the materials published by the denomination is a primary way for us to communicate and spread the good news of God’s love, grace, and acceptance.  I know cuts needed to come from somewhere, but I am saddened that this is the department that is receiving drastic cuts.

I started out as a PR person in my younger days.  I worked for non-profit organizations, sending out press releases, crafting newsletters, finding additional ways to spread the word about our message and mission.  This year, I was working a few hours per week for a local non-profit.  When restructuring was done for that organization earlier in the summer, my position was cut as well.  (I still work full-time as a local church pastor but last year was offered an additional part time job utilizing my PR skills.)

So with marketing and communications cuts by all types of non-profits, we are slashing efforts to send out any good news into our world.

Evangelism (or PR and communications for God) is one of our calls as people of faith.  Evangelism isn’t our efforts to convince people to believe what we believe but to simply spread the word about God’s unconditional love and grace.

Mark 16:15 notes that Jesus said to his followers “‘Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation.”  We too are given this directive – whether by our preaching, our teaching, our mission and justice work, or our writing.

I know that the people who remain in the department are remarkable, and they will use their gifts to their full potential.  But recognizing that 21st century Church is mostly being done beyond each of our local church walls, I still need to ask: are one or two or three people in our organization enough to share this radical message of love and justice?

So progressive Christian writer friends – this is a call for us to find new mediums or create new avenues to share the good news.  With marketing, communications, and church continuously evolving, let’s ensure that we are continuously sharing our gifts in these areas as a primary goal instead of burying these talents outside of our shrinking congregations.

The Good News Is Missing

02 Thursday Jan 2014

Posted by in Church Life, Life, Pop, Pop Culture, Religion, Television

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Recently, I’ve been thinking once again about Christianity and grace.

When I attended a church years ago, one or two of the members CONTINUOUSLY criticized the pastor. Each and every time I was in their presence, some comment would be made.

Years ago I’ve seen how a member of the clergy wouldn’t bother to be in dialogue with others because they had all of the right answers and everyone else who disagreed was “wrong.”

Hail church… full of hate…

I see Christians noting in online forums that people who are out of work or disabled should be denied assistance.

I see Christians who refuse to have conversations with others who think differently.

I see Christians who constantly make little judging comments about pastors, their fellow congregants and others they know.

We judge those who get pregnant before they’re married, who are single parents or have abortions. We judge those who are atheists or some other religious minority because they don’t have the “truth.”

I’m not just speaking about the Westboro Baptists or other fundamentalist Christians. We liberal and Mainline Protestants can be just as critical and grace-less as those on the right.

Why do we think our churches and Christianity will grow if we’ve left out grace from the equation?

Christianity was founded on the principles of grace. Some believed Jesus died for their salvation. Other Christians believe that Jesus lived as God’s unconditional love incarnate. Jesus touched the unclean, defended the poor and hung out with outcasts. No matter what your view of salvation, abundant grace is a part of our story as Christians. Except, we’ve forgotten that.

Dear Christians: we lack grace. We ALL lack grace.

Christianity has completely and totally lost it’s core principle. Judgment of non-Christians and other Christians has pushed aside any unconditional love.

Instead of standing up for the unprivileged, Christians defend the words of a duck guy who denigrates gay people and laughs off racism. And the rest of us Christians who didn’t defend the guy get upset when he gets a second chance to return to a television show. (Granted, he didn’t apologize for his insensitive remarks. Maybe I would warm up to the idea of a second chance if he had been slightly more sensitive and grace-filled. But like ALL of you, I judge too.)

I laugh when I hear Christians who say it’s more important to make sure they judge people because it’s “loving” rather than showing them grace through their roughest moments.

And no one really knows the crud that we all go through in life. No one knows how our embedded theology and life experiences influence our choices. We forget that someone else’s shoes fit so very differently. But we’re not willing to try them on. We’re not willing to consider how they feel on someone else’s feet. We just don’t care – because Jesus died for “me.” Jesus cares about “me” and that’s all that matters, right?

It’s attitudes like this that make people turn their backs on God, Jesus and the church. How many people will Christianity lose this year because grace, mercy and unconditional love wasn’t extended to our neighbors? We are engaging in anti-evangelism as we suck the world dry of the good news of grace, mercy and unconditional love.

Friends: it’s time we embrace grace, love and second chances. Very rarely does a mistake cause us to have such a deep riff between ourselves and others or ourselves and God. Yet we want to find every opportunity to make sure grace is never, ever a part of Christianity. Maybe we believe we’re the only ones who deserve grace. Maybe we think people will get used to having it easy.

And by the way – whether you are a Christian or not, you will mess up. We’re all going to make mistakes. We’re all going to live in ways that will make someone else greatly dislike us. So deal with it. Life, health issues, time restraints often push us off of our paths and cause us to make mistakes. That is life. As Christians, it’s our job to try and find ways to relocate people back on the paved road instead of making them struggle in the weeds and ditches off the path.

So next time you’re about to judge, ask these questions: “Why did they act this way? Is there anything I can do to help? If not, how can I better understand them?”

That’s sharing the good news.

An appeal to Christians in 2013

01 Tuesday Jan 2013

Posted by in Pop

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Dear Fellow Christians,

After giving it much thought, I think the message of the Good News is being threatened.

Many people are leaving churches and turning their backs on Christianity.  Why?  Because people who speak on behalf of Jesus the Christ are dismissing the most important part of Christ’s message: Love.

About twenty years ago, I was rejecting Christianity myself.  When I was in college, I had experiences that led me to believe that Christianity was the religion of hypocrisy.  In the name of Christ, some were misusing their power to control and manipulate others.  When visiting churches, people were more concerned about their dress or hobnobbing with friends than greeting others with Christ’s love.

I could not see the presence of God in church or surrounding many Christians.

Fortunately, by my mid-twenties, I began to find the light in the Body of Christ.  I found my way back to church and began to see the presence of God in new and exciting ways.  There were times I still found doubt in the goodness of Christianity, especially when my beliefs weren’t “good enough” for people.  But I knew that spreading the message of Christ’s radical love was more important for me to focus on than negative remarks heading my way.

But not everyone is there.

Many people think that Christianity is the religion of rules and perfect morality.  People think we care more about getting into heaven instead of making heaven here on earth.  The message of Christ’s radical, enduring love has fallen short because Christians misuse the name of Jesus the Christ to correct and control other people.

And why not?  Mahatma Gandhi once stated “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians.  Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”  This is a perfect example of the reputation Christianity now has in the world.

Thinking back to 2012, I remember stories like the exclusion of my friend’s church from a softball league because he identified as bisexual.  Rev. James Darnell Semmelroth was the pastor of the church but did not participate in the games.  Even though the pastor wasn’t playing, some churches didn’t want to associate with the church in any capacity.

While I am a straight ally, I understand that not everyone is at the place where they agree with gay marriage, ordination, etc.  But for the love of LOVE, can’t we put aside our theological differences and eat together, laugh together, even play softball together?  Love means crossing boundaries to embrace a person as a child of God, whether or not you agree with them.  Jesus ate and associated with all people.  He set “rules” aside as he healed people on the Sabbath.  To Jesus, love and relationships trump dogmas and fears.  By associating with people unlike ourselves, we hear personal narratives and learn to understand each other deeply.

We hear how Westboro Baptist Church wants to protest all sorts of funerals because we’re such a sin-ridden country.  In 2012, we heard various clergy blaming LGBT persons/allies for Hurricane Sandy and atheists for the shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.  Do they realize how their hateful words ripples into our world?  Do they realize their loud voices are drowning so many voices of love and compassion?  Do they really think this is the message of the all-inclusive Christ?

Yes, maybe I’m being judgmental.  But I’ll be honest… stories like these may be why many people are turning their back on Christianity.  Many of the messages linked to Christianity are not ones of love.  The Good News can not be heard.  Because of this, many people find no use for Christianity anymore.  And I can understand why they’ve reached that conclusion.

So for 2013, I challenge all of us Christians to break the boundaries of love.  Let us love radically.  If there is someone who you feel like judging, try to talk with them and understand their story.  If there is someone who you fear, pray and understand why you may fear them.  You do not have to agree with them.  But in your love and escaping your comfort zone, you are being a witness to the greatest love of all time: the unconditional love of God that we Christians see in Christ.  Let our voices be louder than those of judgment and hate.

I realize that no matter how hard I try, this doesn’t mean I’m not going to mess up or misrepresent Christ now and again.  I wouldn’t try to misrepresent Christ’s love on purpose, but I think as humans we all tend to make errors now and again.  Sometimes these errors come out of misunderstanding or fear.  As a person of the Christian faith, my goal is to continuously find ways to focus on the radical love of Christ.  Allowing this steadfast love to trample any fears and to clear misunderstandings will bring us closer as humans.

All I can do as a Christian is keep on trying.

If Jesus, the one who knew God greater than any of us, was able to love outside of the box, then maybe we should give it a try.  Because if we call ourselves Christians and do not love, what kind of witness are we to our faith?

Instead of hearing messages of judgment and hate, what if people saw Christians feeding the hungry, visiting the sick, advocating for the voiceless?  What if we told people who have been discriminated against, bullied, beaten, blamed and shamed that God loves you just as you are?  What if we started a campaign to bring the louder voice of loving Christianity to the world?  What if people realized that this is the true Good News of Christianity worth sharing?  The worst that can happen is that by January 1, 2014, people will see Christianity being the religion of Christ’s radical love more clearly.  If you have any ideas, post below.  Let’s go for it!