Modest Proposal #2

I'm not sure what's going on here, but twice in just three days I learned of Pastors (both good men) who are regularly chowing down at the hog slop trough of Oprah, Dr. Phil and American Idol. This apparently desperate attempt to be "relevant" to the people in the pews is what James M. Harrison talks about in a recent Touchstone article:
"For the last thirty or forty years, the church has been chasing its own tail as it seeks to be relevant to the culture. The quote attributed to Benjamin Disraeli, 'I must follow my people, for I am their leader,' is never more apt than when applied to the behavior of the church in its pursuit of the world.
"The idea seems to be that if we can be more like the culture, or more like a specific subset of the culture, the people will be comfortable with us. If they are comfortable with us, we'll be able to convince them that not only are we just like them, but Jesus is just like them, too. And if they think Jesus is just like them, maybe they'll want to follow him. Why they would want to follow someone who is just like them, however, remains a mystery."
So here's my proposal--rather than watching TV, visit an Assisted Living facility twice a week for two months. (I'm serious about this.) There are one or more within ten minutes of your home; nearly all of the residents are very lonely (even those whose family visit regularly). Get to know the staff, especially front-line, underpaid caregivers--they need to be called by name and smiled at as well. Just hang out, listen, ask questions, and learn more about real people than Oprah will ever know.
Note to self--You don't become a better shepherd by acting like the sheep.

Outlandish Proverb of the Week #539

Love makes a good eye squint.
Collected by George Herbert, 1630s

Modest Proposal #1

For all of my nearly six decades, good churches have been bringing printed, audio, and, increasingly, video resources into the local church in attempts to be more productive for the kingdom. And, unfailingly, whether we're talking Here's Life, America, Promise Keepers, Purpose Driven Church, Treasure Principle or you name it, these "imported" resources generate controversy. Why is that? Really. Why is that?
Here is my proposal: A one year "fast" from inputs outside the congregation. For twelve months, the Bible will be our only source of content. No videos, no outside seminars, no fill in somebody else's blanks curriculum; no Wiersbe BE anything, no Christian karaoke (pre-recorded accompaniment), no Jesus is my Buddy children's programs. Just Scripture. If the Bible is sufficient, let it be so for one year.
By structuring this experience as a fast, we are suggesting that just as food is a good gift from a good God, but can be distracting from the essence of our faith, so all of these resources, although potentially useful, can also end up being a distraction.
So go for it; try this in your church for a year and let me know what you learn. Let me know what you plan to do with an empty church building; or let me know if the Spirit has broken through the cultural pollution that inevitably infects "universal" (we prefer the euphemism "transferrable") solutions to local needs.