Living with sin of the past

In the Bible there are a number of times when God tells the people that they will live with the sin of their ancestors up to several generations. 

It was once described to me in ecological terms. We are still living with the consequences of burning fossil fuels at massive rates. We are living with the sins of the past.

Being a church leader it is clear that the current crop of church leaders are living with the sin of the past church leaders. 

Today's leaders have to navigate the past hate toward the LBGT community. We have to build trust that was lost from scandals in the church. We have to build integrity that was lost when previous generations acted with less than noble actions. 

Of course I have  concern that the sin of the past is too much to overcome in one generation.

However, my greater concern is that the next generation will have to overcome my sin.

Observer effect and church metrics

The last post I mentioned the UMC is measuring a number of stats for a local church (which is not new) and it is unclear how the UMC desires to use this data just yet. I also mentioned that I was interested in knowing less about the current position of the church and am much more interested in the momentum of the church.

The problem is that, according to Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, it does not seem possible to measure the position and the momentum of something at the same time.

Complicating the matter even more, there is something in physics called the "observer effect".

The observer effect says that just by observing something you change what is being observed.

We know this on some level already because many of us would like to have the super power of invisibility to see what others would do/say if they were not being watched. The rise of voyeurism in the culture is an example of the fact that we act differently if we know we are being watched. 

Makes sense for people, but what about non-animate objects? Do non-animate objects change when being observed?

Apparently, yes.

The common example is observing tire pressure. To know the pressure you have to let some pressure out - thus changing the pressure and never knowing the true pressure. 

The UMC has made an effort to being to observe several numbers. So the question becomes, by observing, say worship attendance, change the nature of worship attendance? 

I might suggest yes it does.

When you observe worship attendance then it becomes something that people "do". Like going to the store each week for food. When worship is something that is 'done' then we describe ourselves as people who "attend" worship. 

But let me be clear. Worship is not something that Christians do. Worship is something that is a part of the being Christian. We do not "attend" worship as though it happens in a single time and space. Worship is a constant in the world. When we gather on Sunday we are not "doing" worship but rather joining in the worship that predates our time.

When we measure/observe worship attendance, we change the nature of worship from something that we are to something that we do. We change Christianity from a lifestyle with a set of values to a social club with a set of activities. 

Heisenberg and church metrics

The UMC is getting on the bandwagon of big data. The church has always collected data such as number of people in worship and the number of people who transfer out of a congregation, but these numbers have always been kept on paper. Recently the UMC has shifted to keeping track of these and other numbers through computer programs. But it has only been the past couple of years that the UMC is beginning to make big data a conversation point.

Each week every United Methodist local church is to log into a system and upload a series of numbers. Some of these numbers are easy to track, such as worship attendance or dollars given to mission. Other numbers, such as mission outreach and small group participation are a little harder to report. In the beginning there were about 5 numbers, now there are 8.

Once that data is loaded up, we are then given visual representations of the data. (You can see SUMC's data here)

Great.

While the debate rages on about how these numbers and data will be used, I wonder about Heisenberg's principle of uncertainty. 

This quantum physics concept says that you can either know the position or the speed of an object, but you cannot know both at the same time.

And so I wonder, while we are measuring the current position of the church, we are not able to see the direction the church is headed. 

It is easier to measure the current position of the church, I am much more interested in measuring the momentum the church is moving in and if/how that can be changed if needed. 

It is like in a basketball game. You can look at the scoreboard and see it is 85-95 and know the current position of the game. But you cannot know which team has the momentum. It only takes a three shots for the team down by 10 to be right back in the game, but the scoreboard cannot tell you who has the momentum of the game. 

The UMC has built a nice scoreboard, but frankly that is not the part of the game that gets me motivated to watch the game.