HYPHENATED CHRISTIANITY

Without question there are many issues that tear at the fabric of our culture.  However, I think I might have stumbled upon what may very well be at the heart of what troubles America today.   I suspect the beginnings of the current manifestations of this idea can be traced to the societal turmoil of the 1960’s and 70’s.  

These were troubled times.  The assassinations of Political and Cultural leaders shocked the nation.   The damage of the war in Southeast Asia was not confined to just Vietnam, Cambodia, or Laos.  I do not want to mitigate the seriousness of the horrible bloodshed of a war zone, but a less obvious damage nonetheless was inflicted upon the lives of a generation of young Americans that experienced both the bloodshed of a war on foreign soil, and the political corruption at home.  Additionally, one cannot ignore the dramatic changes that were taking place to what might be called the “moral” standard that loosely defined a previous generation.

It was during this time that a phenomenon that was referred to nearly 100 yrs. ago by Teddy Roosevelt as the “hyphenation of America” established itself in our society.  (Please read the text of a speech that Roosevelt gave in 1915, which I have included at the end.)

During the racial upheavals of the 60’s, particularly among black Americans, and the response of the politicians to this particular struggle, a new terminology came into use; African-Americans.   By the 1980's the term was the politically correct word to identify an entire race of Americans.  In just a few short years, this ethnic group rapidly went from being negro, to black, to colored (note: NAACP), to African-American. The long term effects of this change continue to impact our culture even today.  Just ask Paula Deen.

What followed was a rapid grab by group after group for a piece of this new hyphenated American identity.  What Roosevelt rejected, we now embraced.  Native indigenous people gave up the National identities such as Cherokee or Sioux.  They all suddenly became the homogeny that we today call Native-Americans.  Other national heritages followed suit.

Diversity became the goal.  Laws were implemented that would enshrine ethnic and religious diversity as the highest ideal our society should pursue.  However, diversity could not be confined to ethnicity or religion.  If the perceived supreme good that it was believed could be achieved through ethnic / cultural diversity was to be gained, then it should be opened up to include moral diversity as well.  We are now reaping the results of the acceptance of moral standards that are parents and grandparents would have considered as unthinkable perversions.

American is locked today in a struggle to include Undocumented-Americans.  These individuals were previously known as Illegals.  However, for reasons that appear to be far more driven by politics than any other reason, millions of individuals have now joined the realm of hyphenated Americans.

This pervasive hyphenation in so ingrained in the cultural psyche… it’s perceived benefits so generally accepted… that few question it.  It has become an element of every component of our way of life.  Even those who are opponents of “cultural diversity” may not even be aware of the manner in which they unknowingly participate.  IMHO, nowhere is this societal reality more apparent than within the walls of the American Church.  The Church… the collective body of those who call themselves Christian, has become a segregated, separated, hyphenated, society of individual groups each one identified not by a solitary gospel, or by doctrinal distinctives, but by the tastes and preferences enjoyed by each one.

The Church is no longer a body, but a pile of splintered, stylistic factions.   Groups are identified by style, not substance.  Manners of dress defines Churches.  Musical style preferences contribute greatly to hyphenated Christianity.  We no longer are separated by the historic macro-language barriers once marked by national identities.  Language differences today reflect the micro-languages, techno-slang, and emoticons (read: feelings) that are still being developed and change very rapidly in comparison to traditional languages.  Groups are identified by little more than personal preference.   When it comes to deciding where to attend Church, these individual preferences can be as simple as: I like the coffee here rather than there. 

I would like to edit Roosevelt’s words just a bit, and shout to the Church, “There is no room in this Church for hyphenated Christianity…  Men who do not become Christians and nothing else are hyphenated Christians; and there ought to be no room for them in this Church.” 

I would like to add that there should be two groups in the Church: Un-hyphenated Christians, and sinners.  God save us from becoming Starbucks-Christians, or (private label) HeBrews-Christians.  God save us from becoming Contemporary-Christians, or Traditional-Christians… or Casual Attire-Christians, or Jacket-n-Tie-Christians.  We must bring an end to hyphenated Christianity… to a hyphenated Church.
 

There is no room in this country for hyphenated Americanism. When I refer to hyphenated Americans, I do not refer to naturalized Americans. Some of the very best Americans I have ever known were naturalized Americans, Americans born abroad. But a hyphenated American is not an American at all.”

“This is just as true of the man who puts “native” before the hyphen as of the man who puts German or Irish or English or French before the hyphen. Americanism is a matter of the spirit and of the soul. Our allegiance must be purely to the United States. We must unsparingly condemn any man who holds any other allegiance.”

“But if he is heartily and singly loyal to this Republic, then no matter where he was born, he is just as good an American as any one else.”

“The one absolutely certain way of bringing this nation to ruin, of preventing all possibility of its continuing to be a nation at all, would be to permit it to become a tangle of squabbling nationalities, an intricate knot of German-Americans, Irish-Americans, English- Americans, French-Americans, Scandinavian- Americans, or Italian-Americans, each preserving its separate nationality, each at heart feeling more sympathy with Europeans of that nationality than with the other citizens of the American Republic.”

“The men who do not become Americans and nothing else are hyphenated Americans; and there ought to be no room for them in this country. The man who calls himself an American citizen and who yet shows by his actions that he is primarily the citizen of a foreign land, plays a thoroughly mischievous part in the life of our body politic. He has no place here; and the sooner he returns to the land to which he feels his real heart-allegiance, the better it will be for every good American.”

Theodore Roosevelt 
Address to the Knights of Columbus 
New York City- October 12th, 1915

SOD HOUSES

 

I have a question...  My Grandma Daisy Richey, as a little girl living in Nebraska, lived in a Sod House.  Here's the ??  Did women living in houses made of dirt "dust"?  How would you know the difference between dusting and rubbing a whole in the wall?

I believe that much of what we do in the Church today is synonymous with dusting a sod house.  Much of what we do is pointless and illogical.  We spend our days attempting to clean the uncleanable.  In the end, our well intended efforts at cleaning the house can prove to be very counterproductive.

We live in a dirty world.  So… We spend our days trying to clean away a spot of dust.  But what we thought to be a spot soon becomes something much bigger.  And then, because we are so invested in the process, we are incapable of stopping.   We don’t know when to stop… and before you know it, we have put a hole in the wall of the house and passersby look in the window we have made and mock our futility.

3 THINGS PREACHERS SHOULD NEVER DO

Never… never… count people.

People count, but you should never count people.  Your denominational affiliation may insist that you count and report your attendance / membership.  But you should never… I repeat never count people.  This is a miserable truth.  It is one that must be wrestled to the ground and defeated.

Many centuries ago a phrase was used by mariners that is still in use today.  When referring to passengers on a ship, the term that is used is “souls on board”.   When radioing for help in a maritime disaster situation, the question will be asked, “How many souls on board?”   You will argue that I am simply playing words games, but I am not.  Souls matter, people do not.

If we are merely concerned about paying the bills… if we are only concerned with the “tally” that is reported to our denominational overseers, then “butts in the pews” is our goal.  And if butts in the pews is our goal, we can use just about any method to achieve it.  We don’t have to give a tiddly about souls.  

But… if you are pastoring a small congregation you are faced with a huge task.   A horrible temptation hangs over your head each and every day.  Do I count people or do I count souls.  The knowledge that people translates into paychecks can be ghost that haunts our every action; our every decision.

I once had a deacon that came to me with this: “Pastor, we need to advertise in the local paper for a drummer.”  You see, we had a very nice drum set that wasn’t being used.  The drummer that had played for years had moved on to another Church and thus we had no one in our congregation to play.  This issue can be one frequently experience in a smaller sized Church.  Musicians are a luxury.   I suggested that my preferred method for finding a drummer would be that we should pray about it.   We should ask the Lord to bring a qualified person to us.  

Apparently my expression betrayed my skepticism; for she went on to say… “Drums move people.  It doesn’t matter if the drummer is a Christian; any drummer will do.”

Really…!!!!  This deacon had lost sight of the truth that if the Spirit doesn’t move people then do we, should we, really care about the “moving”.  This deacon had lost sight of “souls”, and instead was only concerned with “people”.

Bottom line is that you must make up your mind which way you will play the game: souls or people.  Once your mind is made up in this matter, this decision will provide guidance for all subsequent decisions.

Never… never… count paychecks (yours or others). 

This is huge: if you cannot handle knowing the size of the paychecks of other ministers, then it is better to remain ignorant of this truth.  

I once sat in a meeting with a pulpit committee that was considering me as their next pastor.  We had talked for a very long time about several different matters.  They asked questions of me, and I asked questions of them.  Back and forth it went for I suppose maybe 2 hours or longer.  It became obvious that the Q and A was beginning to wind down, when one of the deacons looked at me and asked, “Do you have any more questions?”  I thought for a moment and said, “No.  I don’t think so.  I think we’ve pretty much covered everything.”  To which he responded, “You haven’t asked about the salary.  You haven’t asked about how much you will be paid.”  With a quiet confidence I said, “It doesn’t matter.  If I am supposed to be the pastor of this congregation, I expect that you will pay me enough to meet my needs.  And if you can’t or don’t, well then… I expect the Lord will make up the difference.  So… I would prefer that we don’t even discuss it.  If it ends up that I am chosen to be your pastor, I will find out how much my salary will be when I get my first paycheck, and that will be soon enough.”

Live free from the worry about the size of your paycheck, and be careful to guard yourself from the knowledge of what others are paid.  Generally, this information does you no good.

Never… never… count how people value your ministry.

What do you do when your ministry is so small that everyone believes that you are insignificant in the Kingdom of God?   What do you do when your ministry is so large that everyone believes that the Kingdom of God can’t exist without you.

To both questions, the answer is the same.  Don’t believe what everyone believes.  Keep doing what God has called you to do, and never count the value placed by others upon your ministry.  There is only one that can determine the value of your ministry and that is the Lord.  And trust me… He will certainly judge it.  However, we must forever remain vigilant in the battle against believing the worth (or lack of worth) placed upon our ministry by men.

Never believe your own résumé.  Never believe your own press.

The poor man believes that God is obligated to help him because of his poverty.  The rich man believes that God is obligated to help him because he (the Lord) dares not “bite the hand that feeds him”.  The wise man knows that God is obligated to do neither.  If you believe what others say about your ministry, whether great or small, you will fail to live in the abundance of God’s grace.

ADAM AND STEVE

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"CRAFT" CHRISTIANITY

The growth of “Craft” producers is an amazing phenomenon that has taken place over the past decade or so.  It has taken place quietly and without recognition by the vast majority of consumers.   But for the choice few that know about it, they are reaping enormous gastronomic benefits.  As the owner of my own “Hot Sauce” business, I have an up close and personal perspective of this exciting trend in how consumers are using and appreciating products being produced in small batches.  Not only that, but they are willing to pay a small premium to enjoy those benefits.  It should be noted that this rapidly growing trend not only is being experienced in the beer / spirits market, but in everything from jams and jellies, to granola, to teas and coffees… even hot sauces.

However, the thing that can be learned from this might best be seen from an experience that happened to me just a few months ago.  A meeting had been arranged by a broker from Chicago for me to meet with one of the largest wholesale food distributors in the Detroit market.  As we all met together one morning, I sat in a small conference room cluttered with boxes of various food products from many different producers.  Nothing had prepared me for what I was about to experience.

After a few minutes one of the “decision makers” entered the room.  He grabbed a bottle of our Hot Sauce, glanced at the bottle, then… placing it hard back on the table, half sliding it back toward me… he then pointed his finger at me and said… “I don’t care what it tastes like…”  What????  You are one of the biggest players in the food game, and you don’t care what it tastes like..???!!!   That’s like a pastor saying that he doesn’t care if anyone gets saved!

Has not the Church always been a “Craft” industry?  The church has always featured “local” flavors.  It has historically been “sold” best by people who were deeply invested and intensely passionate about their “product”.   It has only been in last several decades that we have had the notion that “mega-whatever” is better.  But is “mega” really better?  It doesn’t matter what the industry is; whether it is producing beer, or hot sauce, or converts to Christianity… sometimes people get hungry for something better than a mass produced bottle of “Franks”!

DENOMINATIONS: ANOTHER PERSPECTIVE

A friend of mine recently recommended a Blog article entitled: “In Praise of Denominations”.  I was interested in reading it for three reasons.  First, I really respect my friend, and thus his recommendations.  Secondly, I am old enough to have survived the “denominations are of devil” era of the 1970’s, and so have a bit of experience in this matter.  And thirdly, there is a large local independent congregation in our area that is openly antagonistic toward “organized religion”.  After reading the article, I thought I would pen some of my own thoughts on this matter.

The article cataloged 10 reasons why denominations should be praised; everything from a mechanism for accountability to support of missions.  All of the reasons listed were fair and appropriate.  However, this issue is most certainly not one sided.  While there is much for which denominations can and should be praised, there can be a very, very dark underbelly which cannot be ignored.  In fact, all of the good of which denominations can accomplish can be completely negated by the evil which can lurk within. 

The most serious evil which can so easily infect the health of formalized Christian organizations is corruption within the leadership.  And the specific corruption to which I refer is the same danger spoken of in the Scripture; the lust of the eyes, the pride of life, and the boasting of what one has or has done.  Because there is such an inordinate trust typically placed in denominational leaders, this evil can be exponentially greater than normal.

The most telling symptom of this corruption is “non-transparency”.   Any denominational leadership that is unwilling to be absolutely and completely transparent about the issues of finance, as well as ministry schedules and activities should be suspect.  Any denominational leadership office that is unwilling to maintain a website which makes accessible to the members an open ledger of every dime received and spent should be suspect.  Any denominational leadership that lives a lifestyle that is drastically in contrast to the rank and file membership should be suspect.

Some might recoil at my last comment; however, give me a moment to explain.  I have no problem whatsoever with any person being stinkin’ rich.  Christian or not… I don’t care.  As long as it is made honestly, and as long as the tithe is paid, make as much as you desire.  However, there is an exception.  Please note that in the sphere of “business” this exception disappears, but in the sphere of Christian ministry it cannot be ignored.

One that desires to serve in a capacity of Christian leadership must be sensitive to the body to which he is called to serve.  A leader loses credibility when they become too far removed from the reality of the people they lead.  And a leader MUST have credibility.  His lifestyle should be a reflection of those whom he serves.  I Corinthians 9:20-22

It is for this reason, among several, that I am an advocate of “term limits” for denominational leaders.  If a denominational leader wants to be wealthy, that wealth should not come during his term of leadership.  Let him make his wealth, as much as he wants, before or after; and if before, then it should be placed in a managed trust prior to his term of office.   He can return to a more affluent lifestyle once he leaves his post of leadership if he so chooses.   

Sadly, this is not the normal pattern for denominational leadership.  The normal pattern is that men who began with hearts of gratitude and humility begin to slowly change as they acquire power and wealth.  Then, one day, they wake up and realize how disparate their lives have become from those who trusted them with the ministry in the beginning. It then becomes necessary for them to conceal their life and wealth.  Ultimately… one day… the truth becomes known.  And then… denominations loose their luster.

That’s the bad news.  However, the good news about Christian organizations is that they have the ability to reboot.  They can start fresh.  They can be redeemed.  And it is then that the polish can be restored to the denominational vessel, and lives can be won for the Kingdom.