11:40 p.m. it didn’t matter what had led to the unthinkable. It had happened and it was the single reality that had to shape everything from that moment on. The only question was: in the light of this single truth what will be our response? It was no longer possible to live on the assumption of what could never happen; it was now time to live on the basis of what had happened. Churches often find themselves in deep denial about the reality of their situation and the degree of anxiety and conflict present in the congregation. They resemble the frequently quoted, “All hope is gone. Let us pray!” When the church cries “Help!” to some outside resource, it is usually when things have reached crisis proportions. The time to seek help is when the news comes that there are icebergs in the water. When conflict reaches its highest level, it often means that the church has struck the iceberg.Illusions Are Comforting But Not RealisticAny person on the Titanic that fateful night eventually knew one important fact: the one necessary thing was to get off the ship as quickly as possible. Nothing else mattered. Making certain your attire was color coordinated, being certain you hadn’t left any valuables in your stateroom, making certain you were in the lifeboat with people “of the right kind,” getting an outside seat with a better view of the ship going down – none of these were up for consideration once the obvious issue was literally a matter of life and death.If an auto mechanic told us, “We can’t repair your brakes right now, so we just made the horn louder,” would we reply, “That’s fine. I’ll come back next month for the brake repair”? As a piece of humor it might bring a smile, but such a suggestion is no laughing matter in the real world of motoring. It is living in the “real” world that is so problematic; we too often find ourselves residing in one that is highly illusionary. Words from our friends: “Get real!” “Hello!” “Did you just get off the boat?” “What are you thinking?” “Who gave you that advice?” “Have you checked that out with anyone?” “What makes you think that will work?” are wake-up calls.When Stephen asks, “Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute?” (Acts 7:52), he was asking a question for every generation. Contrary to popular belief, biblical prophets did not major on predicting the future. The primary role of the prophet was to announce the purpose and will of God for the present moment in history. The message was simple: “This is what God is doing in our midst right now and this is what you ought to be doing.” The message was both revelation and judgment. It was usually unpopular because it called for repentance – a change of direction, a change of mind, a change of attitude – on the part of the people. Prophets made people uncomfortable.When King Ahab greeted the prophet Elijah with the words, “Is it you, you troubler of Israel?” (I Kings 18:17), in a sense, he was right on target. That was the prophet’s role – to challenge and confront those in power. The prophet stood over against the monarchy as God’s corrective. Even those who don’t know much of the story are aware that the name of Ahab’s wife, Jezebel, represents everything you don’t want to see in a ruler (or in another human being). Prophets shattered the illusions by which rulers and people lived. They often used shocking and provocative words to get the attention of those living in a dream world. When Amos addressed the wealthy women of Samaria as “You cows of Bashan who are on Mount Samaria, who oppress the poor and crush the needy, who say to their husbands, ‘Bring me something to drink!’” (Amos 4:1), the response was not, “Let’s invite this man to be our next Women’s Club speaker.” Amos was ordered out of town.The preceding examples appear extreme because we can’t imagine ourselves being like “those” people. I often say that the only time Bible study is truly effective is when we can picture ourselves in the stories, not as the heroes, but as the “villains.” Our situations and our actions may not be quite as flagrant, but the prophets’ message for our time is the challenge to make as honest an appraisal of our situation as we can and ask if we are responding in healthy and redemptive ways. Or, to return to the analogy, are we content to simply keep rearranging the deck chairs? Are we insistent on doing only those things that are within our comfort zones? Do we believe that things will get better without our having to do anything? Does time really heal all wounds or is it what we do in and with that time that facilitates healing? If we keep doing church business as usual will anything be different?The time to discuss the characteristics of a healthy church, the ways and means of good communication, the best methods for dealing with conflict (in its beginning stages), et cetera, is before impending catastrophe. After a lengthy pastorate, some churches will say, “Things have gone well for thirty years. We really don’t have any problems. We’re ready to call another pastor.” This is never the case. The time to grieve the pastor’s leaving, the time to assess what has occurred during the past thirty years, the time to look at changes in the make-up of the church and the community, the time to look at the way decisions are made and leadership is exercised, the time to begin to think about this is who we are, these are the gifts we have, and this is where we think we would like to go – is before a new pastor is on the scene. The worst thing I have ever heard a search committee say to a candidate was, “Tell us what your program for our church would be?” That is the recipe for an iceberg strike early on!
3 It’s too cold and too dark and too late.Of course, this was not the time of night or the balmy conditions for a pleasant ocean trip in a small boat. But this was not a matter of convenience or comfort; this was a matter of survival. Would anything else be a matter for consideration? The challenge Choose life! (Deuteronomy 30:19) seems unnecessary. Would anyone deliberately choose anything that would mean less than life? The answer is all around us and that answer is “Yes.”The Hebrew slaves appear quickly to have forgotten their bitter bondage and harsh treatment in Egypt. After what for us would have been unbelievable acts of Divine intervention, they find themselves facing a literal sea of difficulty and Pharaoh’s advancing army over the horizon. The command to go forward was probably the most challenging one Moses ever gave to the people. It remains our basic challenge. “Back to the future” is still the dream for many. If only it were possible! But it’s not. Period. The fifties are not coming back and the fastest growing group (the SBNR – the Spiritual but Not Religious) will continue to grow. In its June 5, 2012 edition, the Louisville Courier Journal featured a front page story titled “A Break from Tradition.” The subtitle is “More Funerals Focusing on Memories, Rather Than Religion.” A couple of quotes from that article:According to the American Religious Identification Survey, conducted by researchers at Trinity College of Hartford, Conn., the proportion of Americans with no religious affiliation nearly doubled to 15 percent between 1990 and 2008, and more than a quarter of U.S. adults expect a non-religious funeral.“I always invite people to go to the God of their understanding,” and if God isn’t part of their belief, then “the place where they connect with the love that binds us all.” (Diana Walker, an interfaith minister).This is the world in which the church now finds itself. In the same issue of the newspaper, one of letters in the Reader’s Forum was titled “Advocating Atheism.” It contains this sentence: “Religious institutions and the people therein are the best evidence for atheism to date.” The writer, no doubt, has his focus on the worst examples of faith but, alas, in this information age, you don’t have to wait long or look far to find fodder for his accusation. It’s time for those of us who are church and believe in church to prove the writer wrong. We need to be better examples and healthier demonstrations of what being the people of God is all about. My prayer is that this book will aid us in doing just that.If we are facing forward, we are facing in the right direction. There is no other optional direction. Facing what lies immediately in front of us often means we, too, are confronting a literal sea of difficulty. We see no possibility for getting to the other side and yet there is no reverse in life’s transmission gears. Just when we think things cannot get worse, they do. The wicked witch in the Wizard of Oz movie speaks for too many of us when, as she melts away, she laments, “What a world! What a world! What a world!” She assumed she could have the world on her terms at the expense of nearly everyone else. The witch’s cry parallels the laments the Hebrew people poured out while keeping one eye on Moses and the other on Pharaoh’s troops.The cliché, “It is what it is,” cannot be sounded often enough. Whatever our situation, it IS our situation. Whatever shape our world is in, it IS our world. For us, it may seem just as cold, appear just as dark, and seem logically the time for retiring rather than action, just as it did for those on the Titanic. But things were not going to remain as they were. Remaining on board was no longer a safe possibility. A first-time lifeboat journey was the only option. The issues were no longer comfort, convenience, the familiar, and the reassuring.
