Right, Wrong, or Indifferent?

Back to Blogland after a very busy Advent season! The Magi came bearing gifts, I come bearing questions. I read Jeff Kahl's posts, some of which are political in nature (Poli-Sci undergrad, what else can I expect?) and I reflect on the commonalities between politics and religion. With politics, we have our parties: Republicans, Democrats, Independents. All hope to make positive changes and influence the world in positive ways, utlimately. They just have very fundamental disagreements on how to bring about such changes. Many democrats can't stand George Bush. Many republicans couldn't stand Bill Clinton. All are pretty much united against Hillary. Just kidding. But my point is, each party believes wholeheartedly that, in many areas, they are right and the other is wrong. Enter religion. Don't we see the same thing? Catholics believe they (and only they!) have the keys to the kingdom of heaven. In Methodism, the traditionalists believe they are right, the contemporary folks thing they have it right, the Conservatives believe they have the answers, the Liberals believe they do, and on and on and on. Without attempting to be divisive, I raise the question - who's right? Who's wrong? Who's indifferent? What really matters, and what doesn't?

Who Is The Customer?

I was asked this question on a recent blog posting, and needed to give it some thought before giving my answer. For those interested, here it is, from my perspective. Let’s start with answering that question in the reality of our world from a business perspective. Who is the customer? There are many different levels of ‘customer.’ To the manufacturers of the product (let’s stick with toothpaste as the product, as per last week’s blog), WalMart itself is the customer. Aquafresh markets to WalMart, not to the end user. For WalMart, the customer is the person who actually purchases the product. Mom comes along, and throws a few tubes of Aquafresh in the cart, takes them to the checkout, and buys them. In one sense, Mom is the customer. However, who is the end user, or consumer? Now the Aquafresh makes its way to the master bathroom, where Mom and Dad use it dutifully every morning. Another tube goes to the family bathroom, where the kids use it as well. And yet another tube goes to the guest bathroom, where it is only used occasionally. Mom is the customer, but so are the others: Dad, the kids, the guests, etc. One might call them residual customers, because although they didn’t actually make the purchase, they are using it and they are benefiting from it. So, in a spiritual sense, who is the customer in our churches? I believe the customer is the one who benefits. Let me be clear, we’re not hawking a product here. We’re sharing good news with people that can lead to a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ. If ‘good news’ is our ‘product,’ then, who benefits from us sharing it? God? One could say that our worship pleases God, but God is unchanging. God does not benefit from our worship of Him. He is, was, and is to come, regardless of what we do. Who benefits? I believe the people in the pews benefit from coming to church, praising God, hearing the Word, and being spiritually uplifted, challenged, encouraged, etc. They are, in that sense, ‘the customer.’ Who else? Those outside of the church who benefit because people in the church are sharing the love and mission of Christ. These are the residual customers; the end users. The husband who may not come to church regularly, but is blessed with a godly wife who influences him and the children. We may not see the results immediately, but there are residual benefits that are passed on to people outside of the church. I realize there are people who are thinking – IT’S NOT ABOUT WHO BENEFITS! IT’S NOT ABOUT WHAT’S IN IT FOR ME, WHAT I GAIN, ETC.! But isn’t it? I realize we are in worship for what we can give, and what we can offer to God in our praise and worship and submission of ourselves to Him. But the Bible is full of examples of Jesus teaching that coming to God results in benefits for those who come. Rest for the weary. Peace for the troubled. Eternal life for the lost. Relationship for the disconnected. Hope for the hurting. Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. If that isn’t a benefit, I don’t know what is. Sunday mornings, I come to give and offer what I have and who I am to God. But God gives me abundantly more than I could ever give to Him. I forget who said it, Spurgeon perhaps: “I am simply a beggar who is telling other beggars where to find bread.” I’m not going to send them there and say, “but don’t expect to get anything for yourself out of this! There’s bread there in abundance, but it’s not for you!” Of course it’s for us, that’s why God sent Jesus into the world.

Marketer Created Preference

In my business classes in college, we studied the concept of a "Marketer Created Preference." Basically, this is when advertisers set a standard, or create an expectation (preference) for their product in a way that is self-serving. Examples abound in the consumer goods industry. Look at your average toothpaste commercial. The ad shows a swirl of toothpaste in the shape of an "S" on the toothbrush - about 3 times as much toothpaste as is necessary. If you put that much toothpaste on your brush (and many people do), most of it falls in the sink before it ever hits your mouth. Cha-ching! The more you waste, the more often you have to buy another tube of toothpaste, which means more money for AquaFresh, Crest, etc. Over a life time, if you buy toothpaste twice as often as you need to, that doubles their sales. If everyone does this, the increase in sales is quite significant. Shaving cream is another great example. Barbasol shows a man with enough shaving cream on his face to pose as Santa at the local shopping mall. It's absolutely unnecessary to have that much. But, in showing these quantities in their ads, the marketers 'create' the preference, and people blindly follow along, using their products in like manner. It's quite an interesting concept, and it works for marketers. Very well. Think of the products you use, and think about why you use as much as you do. Is it really necessary, or do you just do it because that's what the commercial/the box/the actor says you should do? So, how does this relate to the church? What 'marketer created preferences' exist in your church? What standards and expectations have you set? These aren't always bad things. You can create good, positive preferences for people, and guide them when they aren't sure how to use a certain product, and you can use church created preferences, for lack of a better term, to teach people how to live a Christian life. How often should a person read their Bible? Pray? Evangelize? Serve others? Are you, and others in your church, modeling a good standard for others to follow? On the flipside, are you wasting people's time by modeling ineffective behaviors and patterns that ultimately don't accomplish much? Just as many people trust advertisers and follow their lead, so do many people trust you, and follow your lead as a Christian. Set the standard high, and make a positive impact in the lives of those you lead!

STRESSED? Line Up the Usual Suspects

What are the usual suspects when it comes to stress? I believe there are 4 that 'line' up readily for most of us - Headlines, Deadlines, Lifelines, and Bottom lines.

1. Headlines - Reading the morning paper or watching the evening news can trigger unbelievable levels of stress, as we consider the common newsroom phrase "If it bleeds, it leads!" Sadly, this is all too true. So much tragedy, death, and destruction abounds in our world, and simply reading the Headlines every day can depress and stress us.

2. Deadlines - Too much of life is a race against time, trying to squeeze in every activity, for ourselves or others. Church responsibilities, family responsibilities, unexpected situations, etc. can take away so much time, and leave us scrambling to get done with the things we feel we need to accomplish.

3. Lifelines - Here I think of health and wellness issues, and relationships. How does our lifeline look? That call from the doctor regarding your last checkup, that last meal you ate that gave you heartburn, that anxiety over the growing numbers on the scale, etc. Problems in relationships - with God, with spouses, family members, friends, that idiot that cut us off in traffic - can cause unbelievable amounts of stress and worry.

4. Bottom lines - Financial issues, folks. Debt continues to grow, expenses continue to rise, and income continues to, well, not quite keep up. This happens personally, and in the church. Financial issues are one of the top issues that couples fight about, and are a common factor in divorces.

Think about what stresses you out. Does it fit into one of these 4 categories? Most of the time, my stressors fall squarely in one of them. There are no simple answers, but I do think that identifying what stresses us out can help. I also think that when we categorize them like this, it shows us that it is very common for these things to cause stress, and we can know we're not alone in battling anxiety in these areas. While there are no easy answers, I do believe that perspective is important. Paul writes in Philippians 4 some very compelling and challenging words that relate to all of these things:

Philip. 4:10-13 "I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last
you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you
had no opportunity to show it. [11] I am not saying this because I am in need,
for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. [12] I know what it
is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the
secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry,
whether living in plenty or in want. [13] I can do everything through him who
gives me strength."

What an amazing outlook! I used need to take a page or two from Paul's book when I start to worry about the things going on in my life. And I thought I was an optimist!

A Priest and a Rabbi walk into a bar...

Alright, I don't really have a good joke here. But maybe I should come up with one! That's the teaching from a workshop in England that focuses on training clergy to use the presentational skills of a stand up comic. Intriguing! Read on:

British clergy are seeking preaching tips from stand-up comedians. Not that
there's anything wrong with that. (rimshot)
In February, the annual Leicester
Comedy Festival introduced a new workshop to help clergy preach better. Leader
and comedian Andy Kind wants to make Christianity more accessible to average
people. The course focused on improving body language, voice modulation, and
overall performance skills. Kind wants to build the preachers' confidence and
self-awareness, while encouraging them to be engaging and
relevant.
"Christianity can be seen as something terribly serious, but Jesus
must have been a great laugh to have had such a following," Kind says. "He used
humor and so can we."

I agree with this, and think we could all use a little extra humor in our lives, and in our preaching and ministry. Of course, I've had many people tell me my ministry is nothing but a joke.... Not that we want to come across overly light-hearted, but I think too many pastors come across way too heavy-hearted and serious. We have a variety of tools at our disposal to communicate the Gospel. Humor is certainly one of them, and at the appropiate time, can be a very effective one.

Memory Almost Full

This is the title of Paul McCartney's latest album (Not that I like the Beatles! I just happened upon this press release), and it got me thinkin'

Paul McCartney says the inspiration for the title of his latest album, “Memory
Almost Full,” came from a phrase he saw on his cell phone. “It seemed
symbolic of our lives today,” the 65-year-old ex-Beatle said Monday. “Your
messages are always full. And your mind is always full. And it
doesn’t matter if you’re my age or 20, I think that we all need to delete stuff
every so often.”

For the first time, I’ve been inspired by the Beatles! Not from listening to their music, but from reading this article on McCartney’s latest release. It inspired my sermon for this week, which is from Philippians 3. I’m still doing a sermon series on Philippians (thanks Brett!) and this week’s teaching is focused on vs. 13: “But one thing I do, forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,…” I think this resonates with McCartney’s statement that we need to delete stuff. We need to let go of certain things from our past – baggage we’ve been carrying, negative attitudes, old grudges, sinful behaviors, etc. – and free up some room for the exciting new things that God wants to fill our lives with. Ready with the delete key, everyone!

The Numbers Game

What a great month it has been! We welcomed 6 new members into our fellowship last week, all but one by profession or reaffirmation of faith. 3 of them had been out of any church fellowship for the past 12 years, 1 of them is a recent convert, and 2 just moved to the area. We celebrate their commitment and welcome them to our congregation. As I updated our membership records, I started looking at the numbers, and what I saw surprised me. This year, we've added 10 new members. Last year, we added 23. That's very exciting! But, our average attendance is down from 127 to 117 over the last 2 years. We've had some deaths and some folks moved away, but not enough to account for 33 new people and 10 less in attendance! What gives? I looked at a listing of our regular attenders (those who are here at least twice a month). 180 people. And yet, our average attendance is 117. That means that 1/3 of our regular attenders miss on any given Sunday! Discouraging. However, I am encouraged that we have 180 people who are committed members and who attend regularly. This isn't a Christmas and Easter crowd, me and our PPR looked over our attendance and together came to the conclusion that we do have an active congregation of 180, yet our attendance is closer to 120. A few years ago, our regular attenders numbered closer to 150, so we do have 30 more than we did. Are people just less committed to attending worship than they were before? I'm really struggling to figure out this trend. Anyone else run into things like this?