Religion, Sex, and Politics

OK, I'll just be blunt and get to the point. I think most of the corporate praying we do in church falls far short of God's intention for our prayer life together. We squander the opportunity that prayer affords. Week after week, we remain "small minded" in our prayers, focusing on the "discomforts of the moment" in our lives or the lives of those we care about, while the great issues of God's saving work in the world go unaddressed. And, I believe, this habitual abuse of prayer trains our people to remain immature and small-minded in their own prayer lives.

On any given Sunday, what does most of our prayer time look like?
- Praying for people who are sick.
- Praying for people who are facing surgery.
- Praying for people who are injured (broken arm, bad knee).
- Praying for rain when it's too dry.
- Praying for people who are having a tough time (home fire, unemployed, etc.)

And what is the essence of our every prayer? "Lord, fix it. Make the discomfort go away. Make the illness go away. Remove the struggle from our existence. Give us what we think we need."

Shallow, selfish, short-sighted, small-minded... maybe you're catching on that I detest this abuse of congregational prayer.

In contrast, what did Jesus pray about?
- The choices that would shape his ministry (like choosing disciples).
- The spiritual strength of his followers.
- That others would see God's glory, hear God's truth.
- That we as God's people would be unified.
- The spiritual protection and growth of his followers.
- That the Father's will would be done.

Jesus clearly cared about sickness and suffering. Otherwise he would not have done so much healing. But shouldn't the salvation of the lost rank a little higher on our concern list? When I die, it's not going to be a tragedy but a victory. And when we pray for those who are suffering, do we ask God to mobilize US to help, or are we just trying to skirt any ministry and dump the responsibility on God?

And what did the Apostle Paul pray about?
- The spiritual insight and discernment of his Christian friends.
- The growth of God's people in love and ministry.
- Strength for his friends in times of trial.
- Praise for God's work in the lives of new believers.
- That God's will would be demonstrated in Christian's lives.
- That the gospel of Jesus Christ would spread.
- That God's people would bear spiritual fruit.

If I were an outsider, using the communication between God's people and their Heavenly Father to figure out what was most important to the church of Jesus Christ, what would I conclude? Wouldn't it seem that the mission Christ gave the church was to promote Christians living physically healthy and pain free for as long as possible? And wouldn't it seem that Christians don't think THEY bear responsibility for caring for the sick, but only for telling God what to do about it?

How long before I would hear a passionate prayer asking God to guide us in addressing...
- those who live without Christ and without hope,
- neglected children,
- sexual abuse,
- poverty,
- the exploitation of the weak,
- crumbling marriages,
- the needs that surround us in our community,
- our need to know God more deeply,
- our responsibility for the sick, imprisoned, hungry,
- our need to surrender ourselves to God's will...
...and in all of these, a clear emphasis on "God, what is it you want us to do - this group of people, in this place, on this day - to demonstrate your active love and concern for the needs around us" vs. a passive "God, you take care of it, because I'm too busy."

Let me invite you to respond by listing those things YOU see us neglecting that are most certainly on the heart of God. And, you Hillsboro folks, maybe you'd like to also write it down on that "prayer request" slip in the bulletin and drop it in the offering plate: "Please pray for Hillsboro to act against predatory lending."

I'll be checking the comments box and the notes in the offering!

When I served at Camp Alkulana, one of the counselors brought several hundred dollars worth of puppets to camp for us to use with the campers. The puppets were stored in a black trash bag. And, you know what happened when we cleaned up camp at the end of the summer. Somebody grabbed that bag and threw it away without ever looking inside. Because what's in a trash bag? Trash! The wrapper sends a message about the contents that guides people's reaction.

On January 12, 2007, an experiment took place in a Washington, D.C. subway station. (True story) A reporter had Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world, give a free concert on his $3.5 million Stradivarius violin right there in the subway station beginning just before 8:00 a.m. - during one of the busiest times at the station.

Dressed in a t-shirt and jeans, he played beautiful classical music - the same kinds of music that people sit for hours to hear, paying $100 per seat at the concert hall. But here, at the subway station, though more than a thousand passed by, only a few people even paused to listen, and then for only a few seconds. The most attention came from a 3-year-old boy, whose mother finally had to drag him away. Some tossed money in his violin case, for a total of $32.17 for his 45 minute world-class performance.

The lessons and revelations from this experiment are many. For one, people clearly take a cue on the value of an experience or opportunity or message or product from the context and packaging through which it comes to them.

Imagine with me that what is being offered is not a free world-class violin concert, but a free opportunity to hear about God’s available blessings for your life - everything from wisdom to eternal life. It seems clear that, if we put it in the wrong packaging or context, people will discount its value before they ever hear it.

Do people flock to the famous TV preacher’s church because he’s just that good, or because they assume he must be good because there are TV cameras everywhere and it’s hard to find a place to park? Does the beautiful building convince people, “This is important stuff” in a way that they don’t get when they drive by some other smaller facility?

If we have the most amazing children’s Sunday School teachers you can imagine, and the most talented Student Pastor in the state of Virginia, but we ignore the context and “packaging” with which we present these assets to our community, will they just drive by assuming there is little of value there? The Joshua Bell experiment seems to say, “Yes, they will.”

So what do we need to do about the context and setting of the amazing, life-enriching message of God’s grace that is ours to share... so that people in our community will say to themselves, “This must be worth hearing”? How can we improve the wrapper to reflect the value of the contents?

Beginning in early summer of 2009, we began having trouble with our satellite signal. I had changed the wiring a bit recently, so I figured it was my fault. So I jiggled wires, checked connections, pulled up the satellite set-up menu to check signal strength... and I couldn't find a problem. But our favorite shows (which is all we watch) were plagued with static and signal drop-outs. Then Bill and Rachel Murawski came to stay at our house. So now it wasn't just a problem, it was a real embarrassment. Our friends were having important parts of their shows drop out. "And that proves that the killer is..." [loss of signal]. "So now I'm ready to reveal to you all that I am..." [loss of signal] You are who? Batman? An alien from Mars? Their real father?

So, being a fix it guy, I even tried re-aligning the satellite dish. Turns out that it was aligned just right already. So finally I broke down and called the satellite provider. And they had me go through all the steps I had already gone through. "OK, unplug the box and wait 2 minutes. Now plug it back in. Now push and hold the power button for 30 seconds. Now put your left foot in and shake it all about." And after a 30 minute dance, he says, "Yep, you've got a KPI."

"What's a KPI?"

"Oh, that's a Known Product Issue. That model satellite box often has this problem. We'll need to call and get you a replacement box installed."

OK, so I endured months of less than satisfactory viewing (at the regular full price), spent hours trying to find the problem, blaming and second guessing myself, and being embarrassed over our poor signal as Bill and Rachel suffered through critical signal dropouts. "And the winner is..." [loss of signal].

...and the company knew all along that this might happen, just what it looked like, but didn't warn us and didn't fix it. They could have sent us a letter saying, "The box often works fine, but if you experience any of these problems, call us immediately." But no, they just let us experience problems without any warning. For that, I was extremely perturbed, and I demanded some extra short-term perks, which they did agree to, at the threat of losing a customer.

But here's my question: As a church, what do we do about KPIs? Do we fix them, or do we warn guests about them, or do we just let them suffer in silence and then vow to never come back again?

If we know that we have too few paved parking spaces, that people have to park on grass to find a space, that the grass areas aren't marked as "available parking," and that, when it rains, the people who park there have to walk through wet grass and soggy muck to get to their cars, what do we do about that KPI? If we know that a high heel shoe is going to sink in that mud, and shiny shoes will come away with a Plimsoll line of debris, will we correct our parking needs, or just let them suffer through without any warning. (I hope they don't hit a soft spot and drop a child!)

If we know we have too few seats, so that a day is coming soon when a new family walks in the door and doesn't have a place to sit together comfortably, do we correct it immediately out of a passion for reaching people? Do we at least warn them, "If you come late, seating may be a problem," or do we just sit back and let them suffer through one of our KPIs?

If we know we have an inadequacy in our ministries - not enough small groups, nothing left but inadequate meeting spaces, not enough trained group leaders or teachers - how do we respond? Do we take care of our KPI, or do we just expect people to get all of the depth, all of the personal connections they need as part of Christ's body from one worship time a week and a few conversations afterward?

We know we have some KPIs at Hillsboro. What we do about them is a test of the honesty of our claims about our love for others, our desire to reach and touch people's lives. If we do nothing, we'll send them away disappointed - maybe even angry. And maybe they'll become a customer of another church (best alternative), or maybe they'll give up on God's people altogether (worst alternative).

Do Jesus' words apply here when he says, "Whosoever shall cause one of these little ones that believe on me to stumble, it were better for him if a great millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea" (Mark 9:42).

And what about those words from James: "Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins" (James 4:17).

So who's with me on immediately addressing our KPIs?