Book Review: Hungry For Life

Blundell's book is no mere theological treatise or a biblical meditation on social problems. Hungry For Life is a manifesto. A call to arms for affluent North American Christians to live more faithfully and generously; using our resources to confront the horrible poverty most of the world lives in.

Blundell begins by showing us the problem of poverty, and the devastating effects it has on people in the developing world. And, he, boldly maintains, that affluent North American Christians are spiritually impoverished by their (our) lack of response to the needless suffering of our sisters and brothers around the world. The mark of faithful living, he says, is not how we worship or pray, but how we care for the poor.

He then moves on to the biblical foundations of his argument, expertly outlining how the core message of the bible is care for the poor as a faithful response to what God has graciously given us - life and salvation. He takes us through the hard words of the prophets, Jesus' commands, the Letter of James, and other passages to show that his basis for the Christian mission to alleviate the needless suffering poor has a deep biblical foundation.

He doesn't mince words. He's angry at the North American church for its spiritual complacency and calls for its radical renovation. He calls the church to repentence and transformation, not mere "behaviour modification" as he puts it. Nothing short of wholesale change will lift us from our spiritual impoverishment and a slavery to the sin of idolatry - "worshiping the God of money" as he puts it. He calls Christians to greater generosity as a response to the North American affluence that is keeping us spiritually malnourished. He calls us to a simpler lifestyle to confront our consumerist culture and free up resources for international development. He calls us to a greater prayer life where we lift up to God the concerns of the poor, and so we can connect to the source of all life. Blundell's vision is holistic.

But unlike most prophetic voices, he has a plan. He has crunched the numbers. He has formed an organization. He models what he preaches. He provides a framework for moving churches to action.

His book is a challenge. But his intent is to inspire Christians to action rather than make them feel guilty. His organization, Hungry For Life, from which the book drew its title works to connect congregations with communities in developing countries so churches can help where they're needed most, and develop life-changing relationships along the way.

Each chapter has a series of questions that help the reader dig more deeply into the material, which I found quite useful. And the final chapter and Appendices provide the answer to the "Now What?" question that people often ask after reading these types of books.

What surprised me about this book was that Blundell comes from an evangelical background. He's an ordained Christian & Missionary Alliance pastor and got his MA in International Non-Profit Leadership at Trinity-Western University. His evangelical credentials are solid.

But he spends little or no time talking about sharing the gospel with the poor. Which I found refreshing. Too often we think that the sole job of Christians is to lead people to Christ. We say that we need to spend more time preparing people for eternity rather than responding to bodily needs.

Blundell doesn't cover this disconnect. And his biblical exegesis might tacitly say why: there are a lot more passages about caring for those in need than about saving people for heaven.

What I would have liked more of was a broader discussion about what people in developing countries can teach us affluent North American Christians. I worry about the insidious paternalism that marks many development efforts, where the "poor" become objects, recipients of our generosity, rather than partners in creating a more sustainable world for all people. While Blundell doesn't give off this vibe, I was looking for more stories and examples about how those in developing countries develop mutual relationships with the churches with whom they connect.

For Blundell, North American church transformation can only occur when, with God's help, we re-orient ourselves away from our materialist culture and learn to live generously and sacrificially, responding to the cries of the poor, and learning from them along the way. This book should be read by every thoughtful Christian who longs for a church that connects more deeply to God and the world.

(NB: Book has been provided courtesy of the author and Graf-Martin Communications Inc. Available now at your favourite bookseller)

Tour My New Apartment

Can we please talk about numbers?

I was once asked:

If your church was given a million dollars with the stipulation that it was to be used for "missional outreach" how would your church spend it? Or a similar question: If God had suddenly sent 500 new members to your church, would you have the ministry infrastructure to integrate them into the life of the congregation?

Both of these questions were asked under the heading: "Be careful what you pray for."

Indeed.

For all my sound and fury about the need for more missional thinking and acting in the church, these questions made me realize that they signify nothing. I would have no idea what to do with a million dollars. 500 new members walking through the doors on one Sunday would be a ministry nightmare. 

But if you read the Book of Acts, you'll see that it's not as if such an event is without precedent.

It makes me wonder if our churches are designed NOT to grow. That they're designed for efficiency rather than growth. It's a truism in organizational theory that organizations are perfectly designed to achieve the results they're getting. And if churches are fighting off decline and losing, then maybe it's time to think about how we organize ourselves. We are declining, but we're very efficient about it.

I know, I know, we shouldn't even be talking about growing churches. I know the arguments: It's a surrender to the culture's consumerist ideology. Growth turns people into pawns. Ministry into a business. Pastors into CEOs. We follow Christ crucified, not corporate titans. Our job is to run the race, not to win it. We don't count noses, we bear fruit. We don't take attendance, we care for others. We are a prophetic people. A disciple community. A royal priesthood. A holy nation. We are in this world, but not of this world.

That true. As far as it goes.

And while numbers don't tell us everything, they do tell us something. Numbers tell us who is contributing to Christ's church. They tell us who God is calling into community. They tell us that all these unique, gifted, children of God have encountered the gospel, and that God is doing something in their lives, and using them for the growth of God's kingdom of justice, mercy, forgiveness, and peace.

Numbers = people. 

People = God's beloved children. Fellow workers in God's vineyard.

If churches are growing simply to build a "successful" ministry, then I want no part of it. But if churches are growing because they are making devoted followers of Jesus, fellow kingdom builders, co-workers with God in the New Creation, then count me in. And I say, the more the merrier.

Sermon: Easter 2C

"The door was locked for fear of the Jews," the text says.

Maybe. But I’m sure there was more to it than that.

Yes, Jesus' disciples were probably afraid that their fellow Jews might have wanted to see them end on the business end of a cross. But that's probably not the only reason the door was locked. They might have been afraid of something - or someone - else. And they wanted to keep that person as far away as possible from them.

The announcement of Jesus' resurrection might not have been good news for the disciples. They knew what they had done. They knew that they scattered like scared rats when Jesus was arrested. Peter knew that he denied knowing Jesus while Jesus was being questioned and tortured by the police.

They knew that, while Jesus was hanging in torment waiting for death to take him, the only comforting eyes he saw were the women - and John.

Everyone else had disappeared when things started getting real.

They probably knew that their abandonment was just as painful to Jesus as the nails in his hands and feet. John says that the door was locked for fear of the Jews. But I wonder if the door was locked because it was one specific Jewish rabbi they were trying to keep out out.

They had heard that Jesus was back. And now they...(whole thing here)

Sermon: Easter Sunday

While much of the bible is, in fact, literary. I tend to believe the gospel writers were both reporting fact and telling a story. While it's not my intention to somehow "prove" the historical accuracy of the gospel stories, because I don't think that's their point. The point of the gospels is to bear witness to what God has done in their lives. And we can go back and forth, arguing over the evidence, offering solid proof for the resurrection's truthyness. But Luke doesn't do that. Luke just proclaims what has been reported to him. And he was probably convinced of the resurrection, not through rational argument, but through the changed behaviour of the disciples. Their lives bore witness to what they had seen. They had gone from grief to joy, from a crowd of scattered cowards to a courageous community. For among them, Christ has risen indeed. 

We hear that Easter is NOT just about a dead man opening his eyes. Easter is NOT just about our sins being forgiven. Easter is NOT just about the miracle of victory in the midst of defeat. 

Easter is about...(whole thing here)

Bishop Susan's Easter Message

Re-defining Success

We need to re-define what is "success" in online ministry. Churches often see it as a marketing tool to enlarge their congregation. Church growth for the internet age. A new medium for old ministry goals. 

But we're given an opportunity to re-think our ministry. Using social media is an excellent way to minister to folks - people we wouldn't otherwise connect with -without any other agenda other than to share God's love.

For example, a few years ago a self-described atheist nominated my humble offerings for "Best Religious Blog" at the Canadian Blog Awards. She did so because we had been emailing back and forth, and developed a good rapport. She asked me some questions. Shared some concerns. And I did the same. It was a two-way conversation. I really valued her insights. But if I spent that time "preaching" in the classic sense of the word, she would have stopped emailing and reading my blog. I unashamedly bore witness to the the God I know in Jesus. And her professed atheism remained intact. 

Will she attend a church in her town? Confess Jesus as saviour? Probably not. But that's not the point. The point is that she felt valued as someone loved - maybe even by a God she said she didn't believe in. Church folks were no longer the enemy. I call that a win.

The best way to kill an online relationship is to ascend the pulpit, preaching at people. (while I post some of my sermons, I leave the comments open). Like everwhere else online and in life, people have options. And the internet offers a myriad of possibilities for people to explore faith/religion/spirituality, etc. The internet obviously didn't create these alternatives. It merely gave them a voice. An easily accessible forum. And people will toddle off elsewhere or "de-friend" someone when they're not being meaningfully engaged. And rightly so.

For example, on facebook, a friend had written a status update that a evangelical preacher took issue with, and, in the comments hurled epithets at my friend - all in the name of proclaiming Truth (capital "T"). His language was so over the top and abusive that even confessing Christians like myself felt injured. Was this behaviour going to be effective in evangelizing my friend? Obviously not. But I see this sort of activity happening all time from Christians who don't understand social media, much less the gospel. Angry Christians have been doing this since Paul had to put out the fires in Corinth. But it seems, given the relative anonymity of the internet, they're more rampant.

21st century Christians will soon realize that social media doesn't necessarily translate into full churches, but it will provide never-before opportunities to have a broader, discussion. Despite what you hear from some pulpits, no one is asking us Christians to compromise our beliefs. We're simply inserting ourselves into an endless, on-going conversation, where the loudest yelling doesn't necessarily get the biggest audience.

Our proclamation will be a still, small, voice, boldly, yet lovingly offered. And we let God do the rest. Just like we do in every other area of ministry.

Diana is Blogging!

Diana Macintyre, accomplice to Mick, has started a new blog. Check it out. Read it. Enjoy it. Live it.

"Would You Like to Know the Truth?"

(NB: Part One Here)

That was asked of me in tract form this morning. The pamphlet was tossed in the front door of the church this morning. No kidding. A guy pulled up in a mini-van, opened the church's front door (why was it unlocked? But that's for another time), threw the paper on the floor, ran back to his vehicle, and sped off, tires squealing.

It looks like the Jehovah's Witnesses are worried about Lutheran salvation. But don't want to tell us that to our faces. All we have to do is read this little tract, and we'll know The Truth, which, it is assumed, is different from The Truth that we confess as Lutherans.

But this isn't any different than what we want social media to do. We want to tell people The Truth but not to their faces. We want a social barrier to protect us from possible conflict from people who might not welcome our message. We post our message (i.e., throw our pamphlet on the ground and run) and assume that we've done our evangelistic job. If people don't read it, that's their problem. We've put it out there. So, we can't be accused of sleeping at the proclamatory switch.

At least, that's what I see a lot of. Hit and run evangelism, 21st century, internet style. Some Christians don't want to personally engage. They want tools and gadgets to do their jobs for them.

But that misses the point of social media. Too much emphasis on "media" and not enough on "social." The best use, I think, of social media, is creating online relationships, dialoguing, debating, sharing ideas, offering concerns, even praying.

What we SHOULDN'T be doing is using social media as a pulpit, assuming that it is a one-way conversation. Social media is one great big conversation. With everyone talking at the same time.

Sermon: Lent 5C

I think I'm with Judas on this one. He was the only one thinking straight. He had the practical sense no one else had. He was trying to use their money wisely.

Pouring expensive perfume on someone's feet? Is that REALLY how God wanted them to use their money?

Commentators call Judas a "bean counter" and a "thief." They accuse him of not getting what Jesus was all about. Sure he'd been following Jesus for a couple of years, listening to him, dutifully taking worship notes, but he didn't fully understand what Jesus was saying. They say that Judas was trying to look pious in front of everyone else. That he wanted to shame his fellow followers. They wanted him to leave Mary alone.

I think Judas was...(whole thing here)

Hypocrisy, thy name is...

This post is going to make me a first-class hypocrite.

Those who know me know that I have a fetish for new technology and social media. I recently upgraded my cell phone to an iPhone, which sent me into a spinning lather of orgasmic proportions. I love my MacBook with an inappropriate amount of affection. I've twittered since 2007. I'm Linkedin. I've been blogging since 2004. Before that I was heavily involved with newsgroups (remember those?). I set up my first email address in 1992. I LOVE social media. It's been a long term love affair. And the bloom has not left the rose.

(side note: I prefer Twitter to Facebook. Twitter does more with less. It's nimble and quick. And it feeds my adult on-set ADD)

HOWEVER, when it comes to ministry, I worry that churches miss the point of social media. Churches tend to view it as either a) a marketing tool designed to get flesh-and-blood human beings through their front doors, or b) showing the world that they are relevant, because they speak the culture's language and use its tools; if they're hip and cool, then by extension, so is God. The point isn't necessarily to use social media, the point is merely to have it in the tool box. It's the whole "medium is the message" thing.

And while, yes Facebook is one of the best ministry tools ever, I also know it's limitations. Facebook helps me see what's going on in peoples' lives on a day-to-day basis that I wouldn't otherwise get to experience. And while I can send notes, make comments, advertise church events, post status updates, I realize that Facebook relationships supplement my ministry relationships, not replace them. Facebook enhances my ministry, but doesn't supplant the daily human -incarnational - interactions that is the heart of ministry.

And yes, I've ministered to non-believers through social media. I've debated with others. I've engaged people who I normally wouldn't had I not "met" them online. Spirituality is replacing porn as the biggest internet presence. So, there is opportunity here.

BUT, too often, we as churches hope that technology will do the hard work of ministry for us. We're looking for a magic bullet that will help turn our churches from declining to thriving. A talisman that will draw crowds into our empty pews. Were we can sit in splendid isolation typing away on a website or blog and will have an impact in peoples' lives and not actually have to talk to people. 

Social media MAY do that. If we're lucky. But we shouldn't bet our futures on it.

But what it will do is change the way we relate to non-believers. Which will be the subject of my next post. Stay tuned.

An Exciting Time!? Really?

“This is an exciting time to be the church!” Every church leader has said that as a way of spinning bad news. I should know. I'm guilty of saying that myself when talking to anxious churchfolks. It's not that I don't believe it to be true. I think it's only half the story.

But it's not just an exciting time to be the church. It's a terrifying time. Especially when ministry gets harder and harder every year. 

There's nothing exciting about having more ideas than resources. Nor is working harder for fewer results. Neither is worrying about the church's future. That's not my idea of a good time.

Some days, I feel like Sisyphus pushing that stupid boulder up that damned hill.

But it's clear to me that God is doing something with the church, but it's hard to say what that is. Declining numbers, diminishing resources, and waning cultural influence. Not to mention intra-ecclesial squabbles over sexuality and tensions between clergy. We're in the middle of something, and it's difficult to see where we're going to end up. It's hard to determine exactly what God is doing with us as a church.

Maybe God is wiping the smug smirk off of our Christendom faces. Forcing a collective time-out. Calling a four minute major for conduct unbecoming.

It could be that God is telling us that the 1500 year love affair with Caesar made us larger numerically, but smaller spiritually. We'd gotten complacent. Lazy, even. Expecting the culture to do the job of making Christians for us. Instead of churches teaching people to pray, we expected schools to do that for us. Instead of voicing our own particular moral and ethical stands, we wanted the media to adopt our worldview.

And in return, the culture wanted our blessing for any and every endeavour it launched. And we church folks willing obliged. We love it when we're flattered by worldly power.

And, perhaps, God wants us to do our jobs as churches. God wants us to remember that it's the Spirit of Jesus crucified and risen that gives us power. That God's reign of mercy, forgiveness, love, justice, and peace often means we will be unpopular. And that's okay. God never promised being a Christian would be easy. In fact, the opposite is true. Maybe God wants us to reclaim the core of what it means to be Christian.

So, it could be that church decline is a gift. Just like my weight-loss scheme, God is shedding the extra pounds, cutting the fat, making us leaner and healthier. Instead of trying to create bloated church corporations, God is making us focus on the essentials, re-prioritizing our mission, creating smaller, but stronger churches.

Clergy shortages could mean a more empowered laity. Diminishing resources could mean that we're forced to think about the best ministries to invest our money. Declining membership could mean that the spiritual tourism shop is being closed, and that those who are still in our churches after the purge are those most committed to Jesus and his mission. Intra-church fights put theology back on the front burner. We're being compelled to articulate our respective theological positions. Our bibles, are once again, open.

Sound exciting to you? It does to me. Sort of. Because it also means a lot of work. But it is God's work.

NB: Updated for spelling, grammar, and style.