What is our mole

My wife and I have radically different tastes in movies.  Most of the time we end up watching a period piece about the Tutor family in England, because that is what she likes, and I do not really care.  Every now and again, Estee will select a couple of movies she thinks that I will like and then she allows me to pick one.  It really is a great gesture and I am thankful.  The other day we use this process to "decide" to watch Robin Hood: Men in Tights.  Well, we both watch half of it and then remember how much funnier it was when we were younger.

Here is one of the scenes in the movie which I just love, and while the quality is bad, you get the point.




If you do not know, the king's mole moves around his face each scene.  It is classic.

It got me thinking about what is the mole on the church that is obvious to everyone else, but we do not have a clue about?

From a clergy position, I can give answers which I think are spot on, but I am sure that I am not even close to correct answers.  I say things like - poor theology or ineffective leaders.  But I just am not sure that is what others see as the mole in our churches.

So I ask, what is the mole of the UMC?  What do others see about the church that we do not know about?

Hello my name is Jason and I am addicted...

I believe that it would be a good thing for all Christians to admit to the world what Church really is.

We are, in part, a support group or people addicted to violence.

There are a number of responses to a situation, but for most people, a real response is a violent response.  We are caught up in scapegoating and sacrificing people for the "betterment of the whole" or even for the sake of "justice".  But really, it is all a facade.

Humanity is addicted to violence.  All of us.

Some of us are not great at controlling our addition.  Some of us are.

It has been shared in his autobiography that Gandhi  beat  his young wife.  Even the one whom we might most associate with non-violence, was addicted to violence.  He found ways to control his addiction, ans so must we.

This is why I attend church.  I identify that I have an addition to violence and am seeking ways to deal with and address my addition.

I do not beat my wife or child, but I do scapegoat people when I am caught up in the mob.  I am rather violent toward earth's resources by just the way I live my life.

It is seen as having a weakness if you need a support group or an accountability group here in the West.  It goes against the self-made person myth, but I do not care.  We all need help with this addiction.

Hello.  My name is Jason and I am addicted to violence.

A UMC commercial that made me throw up one time

There was a UMC commercial a few years ago that had a family at the table in a wonderful home.  The youngest daughter looked out the window and saw a man who was hungry.  She got up, grabbed a card table and took her plate overflowing food, outside and invited the man over to share in the food.  The family, still inside, saw their daughter and became moved by her charity and they then got up, took their plates, and sat around the outside table and invited people to share in their lawn.  The voice over said something to the effect, "what if the church had no walls?".  

Everyone at the conference this was shown loved it.  

I threw up.

I know this is a fictional situation and these days a daughter would not be allowed to do such a thing.  But the message is not about strangers and kids, but about a church without walls.  I get it and I think that is great.  However the message is not at all what the commercial is showing.  

If you you move the table outside and still expect people to come to the table, does not mean you have a church without walls, it just means you are not requiring people to walk through a door to have access to the table.  

Rather, if we want to be a church without walls, we need to be willing to scrap our tables and take the food to people rather than expect people to come to our table.  

Will we in the Church get it? It is not about just putting new spin on an old model, it is about hitting the restart button and finding new models for being the Church.  

Is the church leadership and laity willing to let brick and mortar close in order to open up new tables in the homes of the people?  Are we willing to let our pensions go in order to ensure a church can have a minister?  Are we willing to move to bi-vocational ministers?  

I do not know if we are up for the challenge but I am hopeful that we will be able to see that just setting up a table outside and expect people to come to us is not an innovative way to be Church.  

Church as a statue

Came across this video and I could not help but wonder if there was a connection between the statue and the church in a couple of ways.




Among many church leaders and members we still operate under the impression that we have arrived.  That is to say, we have created something that is great and people will come to it because we have "good news" and the church provides for people something they could not get anywhere else.  Like this statue, many in the church feel that if you just build it people will come and look at it and admire it and interact with it in "an appropriate " way.

But the thing is the world has and is changing so much that now people are much more like this playful dog than casual observers of the statue.

That is to say, people are interacting with the church differently than expected and the church is still expecting people to interact with it in ways that no longer are viable.  People are wondering if the church will move and interact with the world, or if it will just sit there and continue to look pretty.