IT TAKES A COMMUNITY…3/25/08
by SteveOne of our college students sent me an email yesterday with a term paper attached. He asked if I would read it, maybe do some minor editing, and offer my opinion on it. Of course, I felt honored to be asked, and yesterday afternoon (Easter Monday) I sat down to read it. It was a paper about Christianity, and how differently people perceive it. Some, according to the paper, view it in a highly negative light, seeing it as the source of much division and strife, if not murder and mayhem. Others see it, again according to the paper, as one of the most positive influences in the history of the world.
The author of the paper had his own ideas. “I hate religion,” he said, because it is so divisive, building barriers between people instead of tearing them down. The problem, he went on to say, is lack of tolerance for differing views, and that maybe we’ve lost sight of what really matters: if following the precepts of one’s religion leads to the living of a better life, a caring life, a compassionate life filled with love of God and neighbor, what is there to criticize?
This young college student continued by saying that the best definition he had ever heard of a Christian came from me, his pastor, who once said, “To be a Christian is to be a “little Christ.” “It is,” he said, “that simple.”
Ah, I thought. This one has been listening! And I thought of all the young people at UGUMC who have literally grown up under my preaching and teaching, and I wondered how many of them have listened, and thought, and struggled with what it really means to be a Christian. The answer is that I know that many of them have, and continue to do so. In fact, I got an email from another college student this week, this one a female, who said, “Just wanted to let you know how influential your teaching about Christianity has been in my life.”
Needless to say, we pastors live for comments like that. To know that people are listening, and that what they are hearing is making a real difference in the way they live their lives…that makes everything worthwhile. Receiving an occasional comment like that keeps me going…kinda like hitting a golf ball 300 yards right down the middle of the fairway, even though it happens only once every eighteen holes, it keeps you coming back, hoping to do it one more time. Young people like these are not created by accident. And don’t think I take all the credit! They are the product of a community of faith which has learned what is really important…loving God and loving each other, and that the two cannot be separated. Didn’t Jesus say that?
Such young people are not the exception here, but the rule, and I am honored to be their pastor.
RSS
I remember seeing a survey which stated, the top reason people go to church is, “For the children”, and it’s been my experience this is true. Working in public education, I see a myriad collection of things conceived “for the children”. Unfortunately, what I – and most of ‘the children’ – ultimately see is a great deal of hypocrisy. It’s frightening the number of parents who *demand* of others, that which they are unwilling to give themselves, “for the children”. I have known people who, as adults, were certain they were taken to church on Sunday morning for the primary purpose of ‘being out of the way’ for a couple of hours. Just like many television evangelists, so many parents display a ‘do-what-I-say-not-what-I-do’ ethic, and then wonder why their children don’t live up to expectations! One of my favorite movie quotes is, “Mother is the word for God on the lips and hearts of children” (The Crow). It speaks directly to the majority of parents who can’t seem to understand it’s their actions which will influence, far above those of church or school. Now that I’ve painted this perfectly dismal picture of parenting in the US, let’s brighten the scenery. UGUMC *does not* fit this stereotype! One of the refreshing elements of being a member of this church is it’s active members lending the example, not just the lip service, to practical, progressive Christianity. It’s not just a Sunday morning ritual here, so it’s no wonder our youth ‘are listening’, they’ve had good teachers. In school, in church, and at home. The highest honor they will bestow on any of us is continuing that example to the next generation, to those who will look up to them. Through this, Jesus does indeed live on, here and now, touching souls, allowing each of us to proclaim on Easter, “He Is Risen!” with a sense of comfortable certainty it is so. As long as we do not become complacent, so long as we all accept responsibility for the nurture of our community, if we continue to lend our hands, heart, feet, and voice to the perpetuation of Christian ideals, we will always be honored by our youth.
Bj
I love the way you and Berry bounce ideas off each other.
I hope you both keep it up.
I’ll tell you the truth…I think as many people tune in to read Berry’s comments as to read mine! Berry’s insights get right to the heart of the matter, and his input is one of the things that make this effort worthwhile. Keep it up, my friend…we make a great team! sk
I completely agree with both the blog and berry’s comment. Union Grove is an excellent church to attend and all of us are lucky to have such amazing role models. I can still barely remember when instead of going to church each sunday mom and dad would take brad and I to the pool on sunday mornings, and while i probably didnt like the idea at the time, becoming a member of Union Grove United Methodist Church has to be one of the best things that has ever happened to me.
thanks again Steve.
Nick S.
Nick,
You have become a role model yourself for all ages!
June
I WOULD HAVE TO AGREE WITH BOTH BERRY AND NICK. UGUMC IS A VERY OUT REACHING CHURCH IN MANY DIFFERENT WAYS.