I am troubled by what I feel is the emptiness of our passion over injustice.
We grieve over one woman shot by an ICE agent in Minnesota but are silent when 12,000 black men are killed annually in our cities.
We grieve when there is a budget cut of a favorite program at the Federal level, but remain silent at how little is spent in our congregations’ budgets on caring for the widow, the orphan, the former / current prisoner, the expectant mother, the homeless, the lonely, the hungry, and the child struggling to read.
We grieve over the Epstein list but are silent at the 17,000 victims of human trafficking found annually in the US. (No, a human trafficking button doesn’t count.)
We grieve over how the Federal Government spends its money but remain largely silent at the 65% of those in our congregations who do not live on a budget, the more than 50% who have credit card debt, and the more than 80% who live paycheck to paycheck. (No, a distant, impersonal sermon series doesn’t count.)
We esteem those recognized for their exercise of power and influence. We clamor to be found in their presence with the hope of gaining honor and influence ourselves. Meanwhile, Jesus is eating with Gentiles, tax collectors and sinners. How many people who don’t attend church have you invited into your home?
It takes $33,800 to get one person baptized in the USA/Canada but $194 in Africa. (Data from the annual report from the denomination with which I was formerly affiliated.)
We post and picket with a sense of holy righteousness but who is our disciple. Jesus expressly told us to make disciples. He did not tell us expressly to picket and post. The church is losing ground in America, not for our lack of passion, but for our misguided purpose.
I often see posts about challenges in the church. I occasionally see posts that reflect concern over what seems to be negative spiritual indicators in the church. Rarely do I hear of people who have the courage to count the cost and act for change. Rarely do I see people change their own lives, priorities and habits to sacrifice for others. People seem more interested in defending the status quo than dealing with the hard questions. Imagine if the words, “Houston, we have a problem.” were met with passive inaction.
Two things have caused this post to be written.
First, I finally watched The Chosen. I often found myself weeping bitterly, and with repentance, over how many times the religious life I participated in looked more like the Sadducees who opposed Jesus. I wept over the financial priorities of our local, district and global church budgets. I wept over the number of times I was found eating at the wrong table. I wept at the established financial priorities. I wept at the idolization of buildings and programs. I wept for my soul and begged for forgiveness.
Second, I saw a retired minister who had a prominent position in a denomination share a video from his enclosed pool deck in Florida. I juxtaposed that image with another pastor I know who works the night shift at a grocery store at nearly 70 years old then is expected to care for his congregation and is utterly exhausted because he can’t afford to quit either position. The former is venerated and respected. The latter is largely ignored.
Do I fault the retired minister standing on his pool deck? Absolutely not. He did what was expected of him. However, when will we expect, not more but something altogether different? When will we stop talking about what ails the church and act? When will we stop with our social media social justice posturing and actually eat with someone the church says is unclean?
When will we stop posting and actually love people? Now please excuse me as I get ready. Company is coming this weekend and I need to prepare for our guests. Those coming have no interest in attending your congregation. The realities of this post are the reasons why.