Thursday, May 26, 2016

Amateurs Welcome

“This life, therefore, is not godliness but the process of becoming godly, not health but getting well, not being but becoming, not rest but exercise. We are not now what we shall be, but we are on the way. The process is not yet finished, but it is actively going on. This is not the goal but it is the right road. At present, everything does not gleam and sparkle, but everything is being cleansed.” -Martin Luther

The quote above is one of my favorites by Martin Luther and lately I’ve been thinking it’s an important one for the church today. I attended a mini-conference in April on adult education and one of the key points we discussed is that church leaders have allowed a terrible lie to persist in our churches, a lie that is undermining the health of our congregations.

That lie is what I’ll call the non-curious adult expert. What I mean by it is this: somehow most of us seem to get the idea that as Christian adults we should already know everything about our faith and aren’t much interested in going deeper with it. It’s assumed that everyone knows the major themes and characters in the Bible, can give a thumbnail sketch of Luther’s theology, and have a solid understanding of who they are in relation to God.

That is true for some, but when we assume it’s true for all, then we design classes that never touch on some of these broader themes, we create environments where questions aren’t asked because people feel they should already know the answers, and we discourage people from participating because they feel learning at church is only for kids. The lie contributes to widespread imposter syndrome in churches, which is the belief that “I don’t belong here because everyone else is an expert/knows what they’re doing/gets it and I’m going to be found out as a fraud.” 

This is why this quote from Luther is so important for us today. It points to the fact that none of us are done learning or growing. Just as we would never think of a person as being fully matured or fully educated when they finish middle school, the same is true for our spiritual lives.

I have read the Bible front to back multiple times and spent four years getting a Master’s degree in this stuff and I am still surprised at the things that I learn and come to understand in new ways as I continue on the way to “what we shall be,” as Luther put it.  As we’ve read lessons from Acts in the season of Easter this year, I’ve been reminded that the disciples themselves continue to learn and grow through the book, coming to deeper understandings of God.

The church has never been a collection of experts, but a group of God’s people learning and growing together. It should be thought of like a YMCA or gym membership; I don’t go to the Y because I have perfect health, but so that my health may continue to improve and though there may be people more fit than I am, we are all striving toward the same goal of greater health. In the church, we are all striving towards the same goal of growing in our relationship to God and helping others to do the same. 

Our baptism is a life-long process, not a one-time event. So we need to strive to create a culture in which questions and curiosity are normal, where learning and growth is expected, and where we embrace our amateur status as we work out our faith for the long haul.

In God’s Amazing Grace,
Pastor Ari

(This article first appeared in my church's summer 2016 newsletter.)

“Don’t forget to bring encouragement. Yeah, we’re all just beginners.” -Bill Mallonee, “Bank”


Friday, May 20, 2016

Habits We Are Proud to Have

Over the years, I've made many pastoral visits with people who have advanced dementia or Alzheimers. Most of them are largely unaware of what's going on around them and many struggle to communicate at all. However, there have been several occasions when as soon as I start speaking the Lord's prayer, the person will begin speaking along with me. It's clear that the language is so familiar that they know it even if they can't communicate on a conscious level.

Their example makes me think about my own habitual actions. I can make coffee in the morning when I'm half-asleep (thank goodness). I buckle my seatbelt every time I get in a car without thinking about it. These habits start as conscious actions, but repeated often enough become muscle memory (literal or figurative).

Any action repeated often enough can become a mindless habit...good or bad. You see, I also drive pretty aggressively because years of driving in Philadelphia turned that into a habit. (Good thing I buckle that seatbelt.) I'm not sure that's a habit I want.

Are the actions I'm taking now going to build habits that reflect the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) or will they show impatience, frustration, or apathy?

What actions are you practicing repeatedly? Are they the kind you want to be habits? Are they the kind you want people to remember when are to old to remember yourself?

From the Gray,
Pastor Ari


"This is your life. Are you who you want to be?" -Switchfoot, "This is Your Life"