Using our wounds to heal others

Several years ago I had a friend who, after years of attending the same church, stopped attending. He stopped attending because when he was sick for a month, no one from the church check in on him. No one called. No visits. So, my friend thought, to heck with those people. And he was done going to church. 

His story is not uncommon. I have come across many people in my short life telling me they do not attend church anymore because their church did not check in on them. And I can tell you as a church leader that hurts my heart when someone falls through the cracks of support when they needed the support from a community. It happens. It is never intentional, but it does happen. Humans, even humans in the church, make mistakes. We all fall short.

The story I wish I would hear, but have not heard before, is when someone feels like they fell through the cracks of support they would have such compassion that they would work to ensure the cracks would be filled. I would love to have someone come back and say, "I know how crappy it feels to think I am forgotten or left out. I never want anyone to feel that way and I am going to do something about it." 

For as common as the first story is, I have never heard the second story. 

What can we church leaders do to help change people's hearts so that when pain is felt we work to heal not just our own but others' as well? 

Is the Church outdated or just in a position to leap frog?

Join me on a variation of the Kevin Bacon game.  

Bo Sanders puts up a video  to prime the pump for his worshiping community.

Later puts this quote on his blog which is the overall point of the video: 

In technology, when you fall enough behind on your updates, you can actually trap yourself with the inability to update. This is the definition of irrelevant. The christian spirituality that is employed in much of the North American church may be in this kind of danger. I am nervous that we are looking to get resources (updates) from sources (servers) that don’t exist anymore.

My friend, also named Jason, reads Home brewed Christianity because both he and the site are way cooler than me. 

Jason shares the above quote and link with me via the outgoing means of internet communication in the next 15 years - email.  

With all that said, I hope you read the quote because it is a captivating metaphor. I only wish I could hear more of Bo Sanders'  thoughts on how this metaphor plays out right now. 

And while I try to put some flesh on Bo's metaphor I think about Africa and cell phones. Namely I think about how in Africa countries were so far behind the technology that they do not have phone lines. For a time, perhaps, it may have looked like Africa would be unable to upgrade to new technological advances because they were without the basic infrastructure of phone lines. 

However, these parts were able to leap frog phone line technology with the advent of cell phones. Now having phone lines is a thing of the past and parts of the world do not have to deal with this dated technological infrastructure. 

These two metaphors toss and turn in my head. Is the church in danger of being so outdated that we cannot even access tools from sources that do not exist any more? Or is the Church more in a position to leap frog over some things because the pace of change happened too fast for the Church to get build phone lines? 

Is the UMC mission statement part of the problem?

The UMC has a mission statement that we tout out all the default for anytime we are asked what our mission is.  

"To make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world" 

Not bad really. It is clear and concise. It tells people what we do.   

And that is the problem - it tells people what  we do. 

Simon Sinek gave a great TED Talk based on his book, Start With Why. Take 6 minutes and watch just a part of the whole TED Talk.   

If you watched this, you will recall Sinek stated that everyone on the plant knows what they do. Some know how they do it. Few know why they do what they do. 

"And by why I do not mean to make a profit. That is a result that is always a result." 

The UMC is an organization that is very clear on what  we do. We make disciples. Different churches may or may not know how  they make disciples. But as an organization the UMC is not conveying why we do what we do. 

You may be thinking, "Well isn't 'for the transformation of the world' the why of the UMC?" Perhaps. But this is too vague of a why to mean anything. Transform the world to be different in what ways? 

Our mission statement is one that expresses what we do. And that may be part of the problem. We are clear on the what but not on the why.  

So in an effort to be clear on my why, let me say:

Everything that I believe we all need to be the change we wish to see in the world. The way I do this is by sharing lessons that make people think, speak clearly and to not be afraid, and I love everyone I encounter. I just so happen to be a follower of Jesus Christ who taught me the way to be the change.

Would you like to join me.