Even Jesus Could Not Convince Us

There is a story in the Bible of two disciples of Jesus walking to  town called Emmaus. These two disciples are talking about all that had happened in the following week in which their teacher was condemned and killed and apparently raised from the dead. While they were talking a third man came upon them and heard what they were talking about. This third man asked of whom they were talking about and the original disciples are floored that this stranger had not heard about what happened to Jesus over the past week. The disciples shared how they had hoped Jesus would have been a particular type of leader only to have their hopes dashed by Rome. 

This stranger then went on to talk about how the two disciples really do not understand the scriptures and how it was important for the messiah to be killed and raised from the dead. In fact the stranger goes through the entire story of the Hebrew scriptures trying to show them that in fact they have misguided expectations about the messiah. 

The two disciples are not convinced. They invite this stranger to share in a meal only to discover at the breaking of the bread that the stranger is no other than Jesus Christ himself!

There is much to talk about in this story but perhaps it is worth noting that even Jesus Christ could not convince two of his own disciples through arguments and sharing of ideas. 

If Jesus cannot convince his own disciples to change their hearts through arguments, how can any Christian expect to change the hearts of others through arguments? 

It is only in the breaking of the bread that the disciples' hearts are changed. It was only through relationship and meals and fellowship and being vulnerable that they could see Christ. 

Rational arguments are really only good to help you confirm what you already believe. Few people's minds (much less hearts) are changed from rational arguments. But the world was (and still is) changed through relationships. 

May we stop arguing and begin breaking bread. 

TEDRadio Hour + Spiritual Formation = From the Well

The Academy for Spiritual Formation is something that I highly recommend. I am not a graduate of the two-year academy, but I am honored to be a part of a leadership team for the North Texas 5 Day Academy for Spiritual Formation. 

It is a joy that the Academy has finally been in a position to catalogue years of lectures on spiritual formation and pull them together in a TEDRadio Hour like podcast. I have listened to all four of them so far. I hope you take time to listen to at least one of them. So far my favorite episodes are #2 and #1. You can find it on iTunes, Soundcloud, or Stitcher.

Beer exposes the growing or dying fallacy in the Church

From the laity to the largest church pastors I have heard this phrase, "you are either growing or you are dying." Like many dichotomies that set up an either/or scenario in order to categorize good and bad, this "growing or dying" dichotomy is not Gospel but Empire building. 

To begin with this grow or die idea puts out there that there is prefered option - growth. And because we tend to have an unhealthy relationship with death, church leaders will lie to ourselves in order to paint the picture that our church is growing (just to show we are not dying). This is part of the reason why it has taken the UMC decades to come to terms with the fact that we are in rapid decline. 

Because fundamentally this growing or dying question is in our minds and we all desire to grow, we forget that the Gospel is not about growth but about dying. It is about dying to self. It is about dying in order to be raised by God. As such, in our efforts to always grow, Churches never learn how to die - as a body or as individuals. We are so growth focused that we shun death and dying thus retarding a healthy developmental relationship with death. 

 It may be the influences of Empire that Christians began to read the story of Jesus and elevate Matthew 28's commission over the other commissions of Jesus. The "Great Commission" of Matthew 28 is not great because Jesus said it was great. Jesus gave many commissions - forgive, heal, reconcile, welcome, visit, feed, etc. But it is the "Go and make disciples" commission that also helps fuel the growing or dying dichotomy.

"Westvleteren-beer" Attribution below.

As an example of what is might look like to add an additional way to the grow or die mentality lets talk about beer. Specifically the beer that is brewed by the Westvieteren Brewery. This brewery is run by the Trappist Abbey of Saint Sixtus in Belgium. Their three beers have been talked about as some of the best beers in the world. With such high demand you might think this brewery is looking to expand, because we all know if they are not growing they are dying. 

However, the monks there make a set amount each year to meet the financial needs of the monastery and their mission. At that is all they will make until the next year when they make roughly the same amount of beer. 

When asked by commercial businesses why they do not make more beer to meet the demands of the market I imagine the monks might say something like, We do not make beer for the market, we make the beer for God who has put before us a specific mission and purpose. To be move too far away or become focused on growth we miss the mission God has set in our hearts." 

Of course it is exciting to hear about the visions growing churches have. It is equally humbling to hear of the dreams that dying churches hold on to to preserve the saintly work of the past. But it should also be admirable to the churches that seek to be who they are because that is what God is calling them to be.

These churches are not growing or dying perhaps they are, like the monks in Belgium, focused on meeting the call of God and not the demands of the market.