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.