Red Clay Creek Presbyterian Church: Wilmington, DE

Have you ever found yourself enthralled in a conversation you were not supposed to be listening to?

Neighbors talking loudly on the lawn. Seatmates on the plane musing about where they are coming from and where they are going. Parents scolding their children in the grocery store. Eavesdropping is irresistible.

On one summer day at noontime, I enjoyed a burger with my family on a picnic table. Another family shared their lunch at a table alongside ours, they seemed benign enough. Then one of them said “church.” I couldn’t help but listen in.

It didn’t take any effort to pick up the conversation, this man was very passionate about the church and his volume almost dared me to attend. Actually, most of his passion was targeted toward the “unchurched.” He used his lunch company to unveil strategies for them and revel in past victories over the “unchurched” heathen. He seemed very proud of himself.

If you are not familiar with the word, “unchurched”, you should know that this is, at worst, a derogatory term and, at best, a paternalistic one. In other words, if you are referred to as “unchurched” it means someone is probably 1) ashamed of you, 2) concerned for you, and 3) about to try to convince you to come to church.

This aggressive recruitment operation should not surprise us, especially under current conditions. Our beloved church institutions are shrinking to the point of death. A Barna survey reports that, since 1991, the adult population in the United States has grown by 15%. During that same period, the number of adults who do not attend church has nearly doubled, rising from 39 million to 75 million - a 92% increase! To make matters worse, this survey was administered in 2004 - my hunch is that the numbers have not improved.

It's a serious issue. It deserves attention. For some, it is so serious that it leads to using family picnic time to contrive the finest strategies to “church” people.

But...

     Did Jesus call us to ‘church’ one another?
     Did he say, “As I have ‘churched’ you, so you must ‘church’ one another?
     Did he announce, “I came to that they might have ‘church’ and have it abundantly?
     Did he command, “‘Church’ your enemies and pray for those who persecute you?
     Was it, “‘Church’ your neighbor as yourself?”

Or was it something else?

Is it me - or did Jesus care a whole lot more about life and love than he did (does) about church?

These questions provide a helpful starting point as we set our sights on a new year of ministry. They encourage us to replace our obsession with “churching” with an obsession for loving people. They remind us to understand Red Clay programs like “Second Serving” (January) and “Nurture Groups” (February) not as opportunities to “church” another human being, or even enlist new members in our church, but as opportunities to make room for another to join our stories and our lives.

Peace and grace,
Nate