Church Requel Blog - Writings of Mark Pierce

3 Regular Referee Return Day Reminders

Today is R³ Day - "Regular Referee Return" Day! This morning we all woke to the welcome news that the NFL and regular referees have settled their dispute and that the NFL refs will be back to work in tonight's game.  What a relief! We no longer will be able to complain about blown calls the replacement refs made. We can all get back to our age-old complaining about the blown calls the regular referees make. 

It's true, isn't it? We have built into us a basic desire for fairness. We want right to prevail. From an early moment in our childhood we've learned to perfectly pronounce: "That's not fair!" In our games, in our elections, in our workplaces and schools, in our courts, we cry for what's right. We only want justice. It's not something we have to learn. It's something that seems a part of our very DNA as human beings.

God's Word has much to say about this topic. Justice is talked about no less than 134 times in the Bible.  Today - on this Regular Referee Return day - I'd like to remind you of 3 important R³ reminders we learn from the Scriptures.

R³ Reminder #1 - Blown Calls Are The Norm, Not The Exception.  We'd like to think that we live in a fair world. In the real world the Seahawks get the touchdown and the win, despite the unseen foul and the Green Bay interception.  Amos 5:7 could easily be the Packers' theme verse of the week:

"There are those who turn justice into bitterness and cast righteousness to the ground."

And here's the real rub. Even when we try to make the right call, we often get it wrong.  In the tons of ink spilled over the blown call Monday night, hardly anyone is writing that the replacement ref blew it because he wanted to blow it. He blew it because he didn't know the rule. He blew it because he was inexperienced. He blew it because he wasn't ready for the NFL.  He didn't blow it because he intended to blow it.  

Lent: More Than Giving Up Orange Marmalade

Let's just talk straight for a minute.  You can tell a lot about a person's Christian background by this issue of Lent.  If you asked me about it as a kid, I would have made some reference to the trap in the dryer... or my belly button.  As an Evangelical, Lent wasn't something for us.  The whole concept of ashes on the forehead or giving up chocolate was foreign to us.

Now I'm the pastor of a new church - a non-denominational church, yet I find myself with the same biases of my childhood.  And yet...

Here's the thing.  Lent is actually a REALLY GOOD IDEA!  Let's think about it for a moment.  40 days to prepare for Resurrection Day.  A time of personal sacrifice to remember what Christ has sacrificed for us.  A period of reflection and refocus upon our faith.  Additional times of community with fellow believers.  The opportunity to practice our faith in a more public way - acknowleding our Christianity to the world around us.  What's there not to like?

As a pastor of a new congregation, I recognize that in many ways I set the pace for our church.  So I'm going to participate in Lent this year... even if it's mostly in my own private way.  I've added a new Bible Reading Plan to my daily routine, a daily devotion by N.T. Wright.  YouVersion.com has added 3 new plans just for the season.  I plan on fasting a meal or two per week - and during these times I plan on spending some extra time in prayer and focus. 

And just to make my wonderful (and Catholic) sister-in-law happy, I'm going to give up chocolate - though I'm not sure this really counts, since I've already been on a diet this year. 

Hmmm.  It occurs to me that an abstention for me would be more like giving up orange marmalade.  I eat it every morning... diet or not.  I LOVE orange marmalade.  Ok.  No orange marmalade until April 25th.  Each time the waitress - trained by years of experience - places the orange marmalade before me - I'm going to say a quick prayer of THANKS to Jesus - then push the marmalade away!

I'm also going to participate in our church's plan to give away 100 free meals the day before Easter!  Our version of almsgiving.  Each weekend our parishioners (and me) will be bringing in groceries to the weekend church service.  A fine Lenten tradition - as well as a Christian thing to do all 365 days of the year.

So that's my plan for Lent.  Additional Bible readings and devotionals.  Some fasting.  Some prayer.  Refocus.  Feed the hungry.  ...And no more orange marmalade.

The State of Christianity in America

What is the state of the church in America?  Recently, WKRN News 2 in Nashville ran an 11-minute story not only about the decline in church attendance in the U.S., but also included some hopeful indicators for the future of churches in America. What do these facts mean for those of us launching Church Requel in Mansfield?  Here is the video news clip, provided by Ed Stetzer on Vimeo.  For those who can't invest 11 minutes to watch, scroll down for my written highlights and conclusions.

Here are my written highlights from the video of the state of Christianity in America today:

• The church has lost its "home field advantage" in the United States.
• In 1948, 91% of Americans identified themselves as Christians.  In 2009, only 76% of Americans claimed Christianity as their faith.
• Of teenagers in high school who do attend church now, 2/3 will drop out when they move away from home.
• Not all churches are in decline, but the vast majority (70-80%) are either plateaued or are in decline.
• The number of "Nones" are growing fast.  Who are the Nones?  Those people who have no denominational affiliation.  When asked, "What is your religious identity?" 15% of people in America answered "None."  That's twice the number who answered "None" in 1990.  
• The "Nones" are the 3rd largest faith group in America!
• Last April, Newsweek asked: "Can faith answer all or most of the country's problems?"  Just 48% answered, "Yes."  That's lower than any other time the magazine asked the question in the past.
• Nondenominational, independent churches are growing fast.  In 1990, fewer than 195,000 people in American attended these nondenominational churches.  Today, it's 8 million!

So how do we apply this at Church Requel in Mansfield?  Click "Continue Reading" below to find out.

Repentance - Tiger Woods' Way

Much has been written already about the Tiger Woods' Apology on Friday.  A Google News search reveals more than 12,000 stories since Friday's press conference.  We are told that even Wall Street stopped trading to hear what Tiger had to say.  What has grabbed my attention this morning are the op-eds and the discussion about religious diversity, or lack thereof, in America.

The conversation has even made its way to Paul Revere Family Restaurant, where I like to hang out in the morning.  One of my eating buddies said, "Mark, you should read the op-ed in USA Today today."  So I did.  "A Buddhist Moment in America," is written by Stephen Prothero, a professor of religion at Boston University.  Prothero believes that there is room for more religious tolerance in America.  He writes:

One of the core civic challenges in the USA today is to find a way to reconcile our Christian supermajority with our many religious minorities — the Jews and Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists, Sikhs and non-believers in our midst.

While it is true that many more people in America claim as their faith Christianity than any other, it would be incorrect to believe there is anywhere close to the 250 million Christians in the USA that Prothero quotes.  I doubt there are even 250 million seats in Christian American churches.  One of the biggest challenges that Christian teachers like myself face, in fact, are the misconceptions of what Christianity is and what it isn't.  For example, Prothero writes that the concept of craving is best known as a Buddhist concept:  

The key moment in Woods' statement came at the end, when, in an effort to make sense of his behavior, he turned not to Christian theologies of sin but to Buddhist teachings about craving. Whereas Christianity seeks to solve the problem of sin, Buddhism seeks to solve the problem of suffering. Buddhists observe that suffering arises from a 12-fold chain of interlocking causes and effects. Among these causes is craving. We crave this woman or that car because we think that getting her or it will make us happy. But this craving only ties us into an unending cycle of misery, because even if we get what we want there is always something more to crave — another woman or another man, a faster car or a bigger house.

I will be the first person to admit that I am NOT an expert when it comes to Buddhist teachings.  But I do know something about Christian teachings.  I know, for example, that most Christ-followers affirm the Ten Commandments as basic to their faith.  The tenth and final commandment is "You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor."

Some rabbis have historically observed that this final commandment against coveting is different than the first nine in that it is the only one that cannot be outwardly observed by others.  Additionally these same rabbis have noted that if one observes the first nine commandments, then the tenth becomes a gift from God.  In other words, the way one does not fall to covetous behavior like the craving described by Tiger Woods is by observing the first nine commandments.  Prothero observes:

As Woods recognized, the money and fame that came with celebrity made it easy for him to fulfill his temptations. But we Americans who can only dream of such money and fame also possess an unparalleled ability to satisfy craving upon craving. Ours is the richest country in the history of the world, and our core values derive at least as much from consumer capitalism as from Christian faith.

Certainly Woods is not the first incredibly wealthy and famous man to discover that he could not satisfy his cravings through either his fortune or his fame.  The author of the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes begins his composition this way:  "Meaningless! Meaningless!" says the Teacher.  "Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless."  Many scholars believe that the author of this "meaningless" mea culpa is none other than King Solomon, the wealthiest man who ever lived. 

As an American I have great respect for my fellow citizens' (like Tiger Woods') different religious views.  As a Christ follower I wish Tiger Woods every best wish for a full recovery.  As a theology student I also appreciate Professor Prothero for bringing a fresh awareness of Woods' different religious background.  But I also want my readers to know that Christianity has much to say about the subject of craving.  Ultimately our craving will either lead us to meaningless emptiness or to Christ.

Church Stats Tell Why New Churches Are Important

This morning I'm reading Planting Missional Churches by Ed Stetzer.  Ed provides a list of statistics about churches in North America, which is startling.  If you've ever wondered why you should be a part of a new church plant, consider the following:

• Churches are closing at a phenomenal rate.  Eighty to 85% of American churches are on the downside of their life cycle.  3500 to 4000 churches close each year.
• The percentage of Christians in the U.S. population dropped 9 percent from 1990 to 2001.
• The number of unchurched people has almost doubled from 1991 to 2004.
• There are 120 million secular undiscipled people in the United States.  The U.S. is the largest mission field in the Western Hemisphere and the 5th largest mission field on earth!
• In 1900, there were 28 churches for every 10,000 Americans.  In 2004, there were 11 churches for every 10,000 Americans.
• Churches over 15 years of age win an average of 3 people to Christ per year for every hundred church members.  Churches under 3 years of age, on the other hand, win an average of 10 people to Christ per year for every hundred church members.

When I read these BIG PICTURE statistics, I'm reminded anew why it's important to be part of the church planting movement.