Nomadic or static

My good friend Kyle and I had coffee the other day. In our conversation which ranges from books to movies to theology to being fathers, he disclosed to me an interpretation of the Biblical narrative which he experienced (which he reminded me is in part the foundation of the book “Jesus Wants to Save Christians”).

In it he said there is this constant tension of our desire to be stationary and God’s calling us to be nomadic. We build cities in Babel, God disperses us. We build tents on at the transfiguration, God tells us that would be inappropriate. We want to bury our dead, Jesus calls us to follow. Cain (a worker of the land) kills Abel (a nomadic herder) because God liked Abel’s offering more. We want to build a temple, God asks why; I have been with you in the wilderness. Adam and Eve give up foraging for food in Eden for a life bound to working the land for food.

This can go on and on and on and on…

Which all begs the question, is the church setting down roots, build our own empires and walls or are we moving out, being nomadic and living on the move?

Either way, I can guarantee I will be at my church building on Sunday.

Feeling VERY churchy for two days

I went with a few people (Darrel Carver, Raul, Nancy and Jim Allen) from the church to "Unity Park" yesterday as part of a pilot program of the TACC (Tarrant Area Community of Churches). The program is designed to break down stereotypes of what a "homeless person" is. So we were invited to talk with and listen to the homeless at Unity Park and then we all walked the three or so blocks of East Lancaster to see what agencies are there to help and what is needed.

Today the youth went to church on the Slab, which is a church for the homeless by the homeless on a literal "slab" of concrete under I35. Not as much conversation happens at the Slab as I would like, but there is a great amount of food and clothing distributed, so it 'feels' like you make a tangible difference right away. It is a good thing, although it is only a band-aid to the deep wounds of the community at the slab.

Walking over 8,000 steps yesterday (I know this thanks to a fancy new pedometer the central Texas conference health insurance has "give" to me to use this year) and then working one on one at the slab makes me feel not only closer to Jesus and God but closer to my own call. I know that as of now I cannot move to East Lancaster and walk the streets doing church with the homeless of Fort Worth (I cannot do this for a number of reasons most of which are self imposed thus proving that I am the rich man walking away from Jesus because I am very wealthy). However, I can find opportunities which I can camouflage as "paid work" but really is relationship building with the pushed out, the homeless and the hopeless.

Today is a good day... I want more of it.

Am I betraying my call?

Every now and again I feel I like the Disciples when Jesus says, "you have been with me this long and you still do not know me?" And it makes me sad, frustrated and immobile. Today is one of those times.

As I sit in my office, making decent money, driving my own car (which my family has three in our possession right now), working on my own laptop, wearing a J. Crew shirt, GAP pants and Sketchers; I reflect on my day thus far and wonder, am I betraying my call as a Christian?

The church I work at has a lot of money and people yet we seem to be an establishment of the status quo. We do not have relationships with the poor (except we send some money and used clothes every now and again), we do not work for social justice in any way, we have worship which speaks to a specific type of person and we have a huge endowment which sits there.

I do not want to bash the church, we do a lot of good, however I wonder if we are focused on maintaining the building, upholding the status quo and reinforcing our own empire rather than transforming our community, building relationships with the poor, and rivaling the Empire.

Here I sit, immobilized wondering if in fact if being a minister at this church and NOT doing these latter things if I am betraying my call?

Conversation with Andrew C. Thompson

December 12, 2008
The United Methodist Reporter, section B
"New Stats offer hope for young UM clergy"
by Andrew C. Thompson

In this article Andrew sites a new study which shows an increase of young clergy entering the church the past couple of years. The following is section of an email I sent to Andrew Thompson and then his subsequent response:

Jason:
"In light of these numbers coming in about the rise of younger clergy, your article makes it sound as though the church is doing a better job at addressing the issue of an aging clergy pool. I do not have reports to back this, but could it be the church is not doing a better job but the current generation is more inclined to seek out jobs and careers of service to others? The rise of volunteerism in the younger generation could give evidence that the church may not be doing much at all to buck the older clergy trend (the three year residency requirement after completion of seminary is not an effective way to streamline the ordination process). Do you know of specific things which the Church is doing to encourage younger people to seek ordination in the UMC?"

Andrew:
Lovett Weems reported to me that he is hearing about individual annual conferences taking this issue head-on, in the way they deal with their candidates in such arenas as the Board of Ordained Ministry. I can report one positive development in my own annual conference in Arkansas. The bishop there, Charles Crutchfield, is breaking with tradition and instructing his district superintendents to make appointments for returning seminary students first in the appointment process. That change is designed to place the new pastors in appointments that will be conducive to their growth and ministry as they move through the probationary period. In other words - keep them out of rural 3-point charges! In light of the old school idea that pastors had to start out in the least-desirable appointments and work their way up, I think that is a significant move for a bishop to make. For what it is worth, Lovett also mentioned to me that he sees a lot of younger clergy themselves doing things to help bring their brothers and sisters along. Again, in my own conference there is a new movement afoot to gather young clergy at different points in the year for fellowship and retreat, and it is (significantly) a movement that originated with the young clergy themselves.