It's been a difficult week. My frustration levels on some days grow like kudzu...even in one day they can overwhelm. And most of the frustration revolves around money...money...money.... Money seems to wrap itself in a thick, sticky, impenetrable coat of fear, with a candy coating of anxiety just for good measure. (And you thought M & M actually stood for something else!)
I know things aren't great. 10% unemployment is nothing to sneeze at. But doesn't that also mean that 90% of us are employed? Every church I know is panicked about budget. Even those whose budgets are running ahead are not gratefully giving thanks, they are worrying that it won't hold. Our collection of churches which constitute Salem Presbytery face the same issues.
So what can we cut...oh here's a good one--campus ministry. In the midst of angst and depression about losing members...some half of our members in the last 20 years, we consider cutting campus ministry. Is that really where we want to go? Shouldn't we be raising those budgets? Do we want to help our young adults stay connected with their faith journey? Or do we mistakenly assume that we can ignore them in middle school because they are too hard and prickly to deal with, ignore them in high school because culture tells us they don't want to be involved with us, and then ignore them as they create their adult identities in college because we can't afford it?
Mission. Hispanic ministry really doesn't pay off. They don't support the budget. Never mind that Salem Presbytery's is the second fastest growing ministry in the country and a model for programs all over the country. Never mind that we are called to minister to people and not profit from them. Never mind that God has placed this ministry and the resources to serve in our midst. Is our call to ministry or to fear, anxiety, and a bottom line?
New church development? Not a chance. We know that is not going to balance the budget and our last one didn't work, and we can't afford to risk anything right now.
Luke 17:33 challenges this stance we have taken, this choice we have made:
Those who try to make their life secure will lose it, but those who lose their life will keep it.
Things are difficult. We are certainly not used to living in this kind of economic climate...this kind of fearful environment. We are used to living the American dream of bigger, better, and more. And as I see us frantically clutching anything to save our own lives, I see us also dying. The harder we try, the worse it gets. And so, I wonder...what if we lived as God asked.
So, here's where a wise man from Arkansas would say I'm moving from talking to meddling, but this vision is so under my skin that I need to say it. If we were a tithing people, the PC(USA) could support mission to the poor and the weak and have money left over. If we let go of our fear and let go of our money, God could do with us more than we can ever imagine. The giving units just in my church, if they tithed on the median salary in this county (which most of us are well above), would be giving 3/4 of a million dollars a year to God's work through the church...triple what we pledge now.
People everywhere would give up everything to "suffer" as we here in the US are "suffering." At our worst, we are better off than most of the world. If I had a magic wand, which, of course, I don't...or if I could be elected dictator of the world, which, of course I'm not...or if I had any control at all, I would change things...
But, God is in charge, and God doesn't coerce like I might. God asks--laying before us this vision...this vision of a church doing as God asks so we can do as God asks. Are we willing to let go of what we consider "life?" I would argue that, fundamentally, in our culture, life = money...are we willing to risk that life to let God work?
What kind of witness would that be to the world? A tithing people would communicate a different message. We are not afraid. We depend on God for our life, not our money or our things or our individualism. We eagerly await and support the Kingdom in whatever form God brings. We embrace our call to sacrifice--and God does not call us to sacrifice everything, but 10%...one dime out of 10, not very much, really. Is that really even sacrifice?
It may not be much, but the way we think about life and money, it is risky. It does require moving beyond fear and clutching and assuming if we don't hold tight, we won't live. The question God continues to ask is are we willing to risk our lives for our faith. The promise God makes is that risking death brings life.
I want the PC(USA) to be the institution that leaves behind all conventional wisdom about church. I want people to look at us and see God at work. I want to be part of a people who risk their lives for their faith and I want to see God at work in the trust we exhibit.
We don't need a marketing campaign to get "members." We need to be the people of God--risking our lives for our faith.
Anyone want to take a risk?
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