Why We Do What We Do

I have been plowing through Timothy L. Smith's Revivalism and Social Reform this summer. (Smith was a great historian, but his writing style is awfully dry.) Smith's book covers the history of American Protestantism in the middle of the nineteenth century. He argues that holiness (perfectionism) was widespread in urban centers of the northeast United States and that ultimately led to social reforms from slavery to child labor to women's issues.

One thing has grabbed me continuously throughout the book. It really has nothing to do with his arguments, although they are fascinating in their own right. (Perhaps I will write more about that later.) It has more to do with the way that church is done.

First, I need to define something. When I used the term "Evangelical Church," I am referring to churches that are Protestant, outreach oriented (in theory), and generally conservative in theology. I would consider them to be broadly in the following groups: Wesleyan-Holiness churches (Church of the Nazarene, Wesleyan, etc.); Pentecostal/Charismatic churches; and most churches in the Baptist family.

There are numerous sacred cows in the Evangelical Community. I wish to focus on three: Sunday school, the altar, and hymns.

In the form most of us would recognize Sunday school has only existed since the 1780s. (I did a research paper on the early history of Sunday school in college. It is a fascinating study.) Despite what we may think, St. Paul did not attend Sunday school. Martin Luther did not attend it. John Wesley heartily endorsed it, however this was quite late in his life.

In most Evangelical churches, the altar is a centerpiece of the sanctuary. What most evangelicals think of as the "altar" has only existed for about two centuries. Originally, it was called the "mourner's bench." It was used primarily as an easy way for the saints to help seekers. In most "high churches" (Episcopal, Catholic, etc.) the altar is what evangelicals call the communion table. St. Paul never prayed at an altar in the way we think of an altar. John Wesley never did. John Wesley never gave an invitation to come and pray at an altar.

The revered hymns of the church were once contemporary songs. Most of the hymns we sing in the church were written over a period from about the mid-18th century to the early 20th century. St. Paul did not sing "Amazing Grace."

What the point? The point is quite simply that the things we hold dear in the Evangelical church are relatively young in scope of Church history. These things--Sunday school, the altar and hymns--were used to communicate the timeless gospel to a certain group of people at a certain point in time. They are not transcendent tools given by God. Now, I am not anti-Sunday school or anti-altar or anti-hymn. We just need to keep things in perspective. These things are only tools. Some tools were better at some times, but not others. (A chainsaw is great for cutting down a tree, but it will not work for engraving a plaque.)

They've Got It "SDRAWKCAB"

Yes, that is correct. They have it "sdrawkcab"! For those that cannot read in reverse, that is, "They have it backwards." Who does? The Church.

I could spend hours, days or even weeks on many things wrong with the functioning of the Church. Specifically today, I want to discuss church planting. It appears to me that most church leaders (denominational officials, primarily) have not changed their theory of church planting since Lewis and Clark embarked on their transcontinental expedition.

The theory behind church planting was to send a young pastor into a frontier town and say, "Brother, go start a church. God be with you." Then the guy was dropped into this town to fend for himself. It may have worked at one time, perhaps even as late as half a century ago.

This is still in play in many leaders' thinking. Here is the current philosophy: send some poor sap to a faraway place, demand that he find a permanent building and grow a church.

The reality of life today is that it simply does not work. Where the permanent building used to be one of the most important pieces of the puzzle, it is now one of the last things a church planter should worry about. One hundred years ago, building a church building was relatively inexpensive. All one needed was a few walls and pews. Now, one has to contend with building permits, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements, fire codes, plumbing codes, electrical codes, building codes, environmental land use laws, etc.

Years ago, church staff was not important. In fact most churches did not have a staff. What staff that existed was voluntary. Unfortunately, that no longer works. Churches need to be staffed from the beginning. The way I see it, a church needs a minimum of four full-time (or nearly full-time) ministers: lead pastor, worship pastor, youth pastor and children's pastor. One would do well to hire a reliable nursery worker on a part-time basis.

The result of this "sdrawkcab" approach to church planting is that churches are doomed from the outset. To put it in business jargon, they are under capitalized. They have great buildings with no ministry. People may show up to see what a new building looks like, but they will not stay with effective ministry. We need to make sure every church has effective plans for ministry before we worry about anything else.

I call all church leaders to reevaluate priorities when seeking to plant churches.

Reaganomics Worked

Ronald Reagan has been called many things by his detractors. His economic policies have been called: voo-doo economics, trickle down economics and Reaganomics. The 1980s have been called the "decade of greed" when the "rich got richer and the poor got poorer." I am here to tell you, first hand, that those characterizations of the 1980s are complete bunk.

My family has never been rich. My mother had an eighth grade education (she has since earned here GED), and my dad has a two-year degree. They have worked hard all their lives, and still do to this day. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, our family was in financial trouble. I really do not remember it too much, but in looking back, it was pretty bad. I was in early elementary school at the time, so my parents did not exactly include me in financial discussions.

At one point, when my dad was out of work, we were nearly homeless. We had to sell our house fast, and we moved an old house. I remember walking around town collecting aluminum Coke cans so we could sell them. My mom and I did this while my dad was at the unemployment office. Couple that with the stagflation that is Jimmy Carter's real legacy, and we were in dire straits.

Everyone seems to forget that lovable old Habitat for Humanity codger, namely James Earl "Jimmy" Carter hurt numerous families with his failure in the White House. Thanks to President Carter, my family was nearly on the streets.

Enter President Ronald Wilson Reagan. His brilliant policies, allegedly to benefit the rich, benefited all Americans. By the end of the 1980s, my family was much better off. We were not wealthy, but we had more wealth. We were in a better position financially.

Reaganomics worked. Anyone who tells you anything else is out of their mind.

This nation owes a great debt of gratitude to our fortieth President. He cleaned up a huge mess. I just wish we had a candidate like him to vote for this year.

The End of the Season

My son played his last baseball game of the season last night. My daughter's softball season ended last week. (I am not sure what we are going to do with our evenings now.)

When the kids play sports, it always turns my thoughts toward teamwork. In many cases, teamwork is a lost art. One can see it all the time. There is always that one kid on the team that is is so much better than the other kids. He fields the ball at third and runs down the batter on his way to first, rather than throwing the ball to the first baseman. It happens to adults as well, which is one reason I cannot stand to watch the NBA.

Anything that is worthwhile, is a team effort. It took an army of scientists for us to reach the moon. It took an army of men to bring about the American Revolution. We had George Washington on the military side. We had Thomas Jefferson on the philosophical side. Even great "individuals" in history had help. Martin Luther had his Philipp Melanchthon. John Clavin had his Theodore Beza.

This is what Paul talked about in First Corinthians 12. None of us can accomplish anything of significance on our own. Even something as mundane as tying our shoes was once terribly difficult without the assistance of a loving parent.

I guess I just waxing philosophical after the conclusion of another sports season.

The President and Judicial Appointments

Conservatives are told that we have to vote for McCain even though his convictions are more in line with Barrack Obama than Ronald Reagan. The one area that seems to be a huge argument is in the arena of judicial appointments, especially on the Supreme Court.

Let's examine the record of Republican Presidents and Supreme Court appointments:

• Dwight Eisenhower gave us Earl Warren, who wound up being very far to the left. (Roe v. Wade.)
• Gerald Ford gave us John Paul Stevens, who was not as far left as Warren, but just the same votes liberal.
• George H. W. Bush gave us David Souter. He did give us Clarence Thomas.
  
• Even the great Ronald Reagan gave us Anthony Kennedy and Sandra Day O'Connor. Sure he gave us Antonin Scalia (who should be Chief Justice).

A President McCain is not guarantee that justices will be conservative. In fact, he is one of the Gang of 14 that sold George W. Bush's conservative nominees down the river.

Father's Day

Yesterday was Father's Day. Normally, I am not a huge fan of these Hallmark holidays. Father's Day takes on a new meaning every year, as I try, imperfectly, to raise my children. I am also reminded about my dad's influence on me and my kids.

My dad has been declining in recent years, but I have a wealth of memories and lessons that he taught me, imperfectly. My dad is a man of integrity. He is a man of upstanding character. He is a man of silent strength. My dad is a man of even temperament.

Fathers, even mine, are imperfect. They fail us from time to time. As a father, I have failed my kids. The important thing is love. In all we do, we must love our children.

What Can You Afford?

In a time of inflation, such as we have now with rising gas and food prices, the media often trot out sympathetic folk who complain about the fact that they cannot afford food, gas, etc. While I empathize those who suffer financial burdens (we all do, to one extent or another), I am a bit dubious about some the claims made by these people. Call me skeptical.

About ten years ago, while my beautiful bride and I were youth leaders, this point came home to me. The issue came up at the church related to babysitting. The church was planning an adults only function, and said that youth of the church volunteer their services to babysit. We offered the suggestion that families could pay a nominal fee (something like a buck or two per child) to help fund the youth group trip we were planning. Someone spoke up that many of the families could not afford the pittance. Many of these families had no trouble supplying their children with money for movies and snacks, and other recreational activities.

We came to this conclusion: People can afford what they want. In America, people can pretty much afford anything they want. (Sure, most people cannot afford a private jet or something wildly extravagant.) Most households have at least one car (often two or more), a couple TVs (often hooked up to DVD players, VCRs and cable TV), and so on.

I am tired of everyone being a victim. I am not a victim. I pay the same (rising) prices for gas and food as everyone else. Our family has made adjustments to deal with it. We do not drive nearly as much as we used to. We do not eat out as much. We do not have cable/satellite TV. Sometimes we just have to make due with what we have.

What Does Education Mean?

Over the last few months, I have been contemplating what education means. A few things prompted this thinking:

• My daughter is going enter middle school next year (YIKES!);
• I have started my master's degree;
• My wife is an educator (department head of Pre-Curriculum at a nearby community college);
  
• I teach in the Developmental Studies Department, at a different community college.
  

All of this has made me ask, "What is the value of an education?"or, "What is the value of a good education?"

I deal with students who are not ready for regular college-level classes, at least mathematically. (Some are completely unprepared.) I have students who are right out of high school up through students who complete high school before I was born. Some have been in college, some only have a GED. I am always fascinated to observe how students spend their education. Some show up when it is convenient for them and do the absolute minimum. Others go all out, taking notes, doing extra homework, asking for help, etc. Most are somewhere in between. (My wife deals with the same range of students.)

As my daughter prepares for middle school, thoughts turn toward he college education. (She does not have a choice. She will go to college.) In looking toward that goal, I want to prepare her to be a student who is not a minimalist ("What do I need to get by?")

I am approaching my master's studies with the question, "What can I do to get the most out of this?" I will admit that I was not always the best student in college, although my grades were very good (3.83, not to brag or anything). I am taking this much more seriously. Perhaps it is a function of my age. I have been in the real world.

That is one thing I notice about my students. The so-called non-traditional students (i.e. those who have been in the real world, as opposed to those jumping in from high school) are much more serious and motivated.

If we value our education--if we ask, "What can I get out of this?"--we are more likely to receive a better education.

Vocabulary

Last summer, while I was preparing for the GRE, I signed up to receive a daily e-mail from Merriam-Webster with their Word for the Day. Today, their word was "umpteen," which I had thought was one of those made-up words. It is kind of funny how some words become a functioning part of our language.

Food for Thought

Thomas Sowell's recent column gives us something to think about in the upcoming election.

The NBA Finals

Normally, I would not even bother to mention the upcoming NBA Finals (yawn!). This year, we are told that it is a "special" finals because the Lakers are playing the Celtics. We are treated to grainy images of the smooth Magic Johnson and the raggy-headed Larry Bird wearing their short shorts while facing each other in any of the numerous Finals in which they played in the 1980s. (I grew wondering why they even bothered to play the the regular season because it was always the Lakers and Celtics.)

Now, we are faced with the marketing blitz that it's the 1980s again. There are two things that will get me excited about this series:

1. If Larry Bird and Magic Johnson--along with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Robert Parrish, Kevin McHale and James Worthy--show up to play.

2. If they started at time that I could watch the whole game without subsequent sleep deprivation.

As far as I am concerned, the NBA is irrelevant.

This says that I is smart

You paid attention during 97% of high school!

85-100% You must be an autodidact, because American high schools don't get scores that high! Good show, old chap!

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