Will You Help to Rescue a Generation?

I want to ask for your help.

    I have been thinking about an idea for ten years but, particularly with the death of my father, I just can’t put it off any more.

My parents grew up during the Great Depression.

    As I grew up, I heard a lot of stories from them, and from my grandparents, about how they survived.  Both Patti and I learned how to save for a rainy day, and how to get by when you don’t have much. Those lessons helped us to get through two years of unemployment and the first few years in ministry when our budget was stretched beyond the breaking point.

    Because many of you have learned those same lessons, during the Great Depression, during your own lives, or by surviving your own struggles, I would like to assemble your tips, advice, and stories into something that, together, we can share with our children, our grandchildren, our friends from Perry Helping Perry, and anybody else that could use some help and wisdom to get them through the lean times.

    To provide you with some ideas and provide a little organization, here are some basic categories of that you might think about: 

·         Saving for a rainy day

·         Kitchen tips (cheap meals, money saving tips, or whatever)

·         Cars (buying, selling, repairs, etc.)

·         In the Laundry Room

·         Clothes (children and adults)

·         Sewing and mending

·         Gardening/canning/freezing

·         Personal care (shampoo, shaving, haircuts, or whatever you think of)

·         In the Garage: Tools, Repairs, etc.

·         Vacation

·         Date nights or dinner out (how to save a buck)

·         Gift giving, Christmas, Birthdays, etc.

·         Needs/Wants/Necessities

·         Personal Stories

    I know that I am certainly missing a few things, but this is just to get you thinking.  I hope that you will write down some of the lessons that you learned from your parents, lessons that you learned from the “school of hard knocks,” and any tips, or pieces of wisdom, that you would like to pass along to your children or anyone else who is struggling to get by.

    Patti and I were able to get through that difficult period of our lives because of the lessons that our parents taught and modeled for us.  But many young people today did not have the advantage of having such good teachers.  

That wisdom lives in people like you.

    I hope that you will share your tips, tricks, tidbits of wisdom, and even your stories about how you survived those lean times and the times when there was more month than money. 

Your wisdom could make a huge difference in someone’s life.

Won’t you please help?

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Taxing Churches Might Be Good

    There is much talk about removing the tax-exemption for churches and that might be a good thing. 

    Please understand, I am convinced that taxing churches would probably be bad for our communities.  While they would see a modest increase in property taxes, they would also find themselves with a number of large, empty buildings that are notoriously difficult to resell or re-purpose.  At the same time, they would lose meeting places for a host of civic groups (from Rotary Clubs to Cub Scouts) as well as Election Day polling places.  For these, and other reasons that I explained in my blog (Taxes: Should the Church Pay?), taxing churches would cost our communities more than they would gain. 

So what good could come from taxing churches?

Quite simply, it would be good for the church.

    Under the present system, other than the cost of construction and maintenance (which are considerable), there is no cost, no penalty, to the church for overbuilding new space or for under-utilizing existing space.  Too often, the church suffers from an edifice complex, in which they feel better about themselves if their building is bigger than the church down the street. 

    New churches build bigger than they need and old churches stay in buildings long after they can no longer afford them.  Older congregations that are losing membership typically occupy a building that they own.  The mortgage, if any, was paid off decades ago.  Those shrinking congregations inhabit buildings that would hold three to five times their number but they remain for reasons of sentimentality and tradition and because, other than maintenance, there is no cost to staying.  While the church remains in the community and may allow others to use some of their space, the majority of the church budget is dedicated to maintaining the building and not to the mission of the church.

    But we NEED the room!  Do you really need that much room?  O sure it’s nice to be able to fit your entire congregation into the sanctuary all at once, but how much extra does it cost to have three (or even five) worship service each week instead of one compared to how much it costs to maintain a building big enough to house everyone all at once?  In my last appointment, there was a Baptist church across town that only seated fifty and so they had to have tow or three series to accommodate everyone.  They longed for a building as big as ours, which seated two or three hundred, but we knew that the cost of maintaining ours was a nightmare.  Maybe it makes sense to have a big building if you use it all week long and have multiple worship services during the week, but how is it good stewardship to have a building that sits empty six days every week?

    For larger churches, paying property taxes may cause them to rethink how they use their buildings and encourage them use their space more efficiently.  And if some churches can pay their taxes and still maintain colossal edifices (and their members are willing to contribute to that), then so be it.

    For small churches it is entirely possible, in fact likely, that the imposition of property taxes would cause many of them to walk away from their buildings and become house churches.  I don’t think that’s a bad thing.  As a house church, freed from the burden of paying to maintain and heat a building they couldn’t really afford, they could now use those funds to accomplish the mission of the church.  To feed the poor, clothe the naked, heal the sick, and carry the gospel to the four corners of the earth. 

    For a church to spend its wealth maintaining a building for the sake of pride or tradition at the expense of the mission is sin.

And if paying taxes can drive the church back to its mission…

…that would be good.

Don't Be Insane - Do Something

What will make this year different from last year?

You.

It has often been said that the definition of insanity is continually doing the same thing and hoping that we will get different results.  Corporations make things that they’ve always sold but fewer people are buying and just hope that it will come back in style.  Our government does it when they spend more money on programs that didn't work the first four times.  Churches do it when attendance is shrinking and all that anyone wants to do is remember the good old days and hope that things will change without actually changing anything.

And as individuals, we it too.  We hope that we will make more money this year, or will be more productive this year, or lose weight, or be more spiritual, or spend more time with people we care about, or a million other things, but our “plan” is to do the same things we did last year and hope that we get a different result.

This is insanity.

In a few months, many of us will complain that this year is too much like last year.  And it will be entirely our fault.  If we want a different result, we must do something different.

We can change the world, but we must first change ourselves.  This is my challenge: Spread your wings.  Try something you haven't tried before. Do things you haven't done before.  Be bold. Take risks (even small ones).

Choose one thing.

What is it that makes you angry?

Hunger?  Poverty?  Children without families?  Human trafficking? Politicians?

Pick one.

And then DO something about it.

If hunger and poverty bother you, volunteer at a food pantry or buy five bucks worth of extra groceries when you go shopping.  I once took a group of Cub Scouts to the grocery store for a program called “Scouting for food.”  We stood in front of the store (with permission) and asked patrons to buy one extra can of something to feed the hungry. 

One – extra – can. 

In three hours we packed a minivan full of food.

If politics bothers you, do something about it.  How often have you written (or called, or emailed, or faxed) your Congressman?  Shared your feelings with your city council representative?  Protested?  Voted?  Heck, if you have the time, why not run for office?  Get out and do something you haven’t done.  

If children without families, or children in foster care, or abused children make you angry, then do something about it.  Why not be trained as a foster parent?  Even if you don’t want to be a full time parent, there is always a need for licensed foster parents to provide respite (which could be as little as a day or as long as a few weeks, but it’s up to you) for others who need a break.  You could take in college-aged, former foster kids on holidays when they get kicked out of their university dorm-rooms.  If you are retired and past the age or parenting why not volunteer as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA)?  With a little bit of training, you would meet children involved in the legal system and speak for them in legal proceedings.  Instead of complaining, do something.

If you wanted to be more spiritual or grow closer to God, did you think that's going to happen all by itself?  The Bible won’t soak into your head if you leave it under your pillow any more than your history book did when you tried it in High School.  Join a Bible Study.  Commit to praying or reading the Bible more than you did last year.  Commit to pray, or read, or listen to an audio Bible, for five minutes a day.  

Doing the same things you did last year and hoping this year will be different is insane.

Don’t be insane.

Do something.

You can change the world.

You can make the world a better place.

Maybe not for everyone, but for someone.

The distance Between "Cannot" and "Will not"

   On Sunday I made reference to an excellent blog by Scott Linscott who argues that the lack of a deep spiritual life in our children has a lot to do with the choices that we made (and are making) as we raised them.  (see the original blog here http://scottlinscott.wordpress.com/2010/03/10/your-kids-an-all-star-wow-someday-hell-be-average-like-the-rest-of-us/  and my sermon here http://www.scribd.com/doc/38170459/Love-Misplaced-2010-09-26)  I left a comment on Linscott’s blog and let him know that I had borrowed from him (and yes, I gave him credit).  Since then I have been following the conversation that he is having with other readers who are leaving their comments.  One focus has been the way in which busy professionals find balance between a demanding and time-consuming career and time spent in their church and with their families.  I completely understand.  I faced that same challenge both in a secular career and now in ministry.  What intrigues me is how often, as human beings, we are able to rationalize the difference between “Cannot” and “Will Not.”  “Cannot” means we have no choice, “Will not” implies that we have chosen. 

   Several busy people argued that their jobs demand 60 hour work weeks and since God has given them these careers then their dedication was a measure of their devotion.  An example given was the medical resident who is working 100 hours a week.  In order to pursue a career as a doctor they have given up time for a social life, dating, family, church and nearly everything else.  Others pointed out friends and church members that were medical professionals.  They noted how these folk made time to spend in church, to volunteer and to go on mission trips.  What I see is a difference between “Cannot” and “Will not.”  Residents and Interns don’t really get a choice.  Their schools, hospitals and others decide what is required in order to, eventually, gain the title of Doctor.  If they don’t do what is required they will not ever attain the goal that they are pursuing but the sacrifice is intended to be temporary.  Regardless of how much a career paid, I doubt that many would choose it if celibacy and 100 hour work weeks were expected for life.  

   At some point, how we spend our time becomes a choice.  It is at that point that we all must choose whether we want to choose long hours at work or to use those hours for recreation or family or church.  This is point at which everyone will eventually arrive.  When we arrive at this moment, whether we are aware of it or not, we must make a choice.  Some choose to spend more time at work and others choose to spend it elsewhere. For each choice there is a cost.  If we work more, we may advance more quickly, get more raises, perks and bonuses.  Working less may mean that we sacrifice these things.  Working less may also mean that we are able to spend more time with friends and family and have more time to volunteer, attend church and other spiritual activities.  Each choice comes at a price.

   As I have watched friends, colleagues and church members make these choices I have often seen the line between “Cannot” and “Will not” get pretty blurry.  I have had farmers tell me that they had to be in the fields on Sunday because of a recent stretch of bad weather.  I have heard other farmers, in the same community, insist that it wasn’t necessary.  There are two differences: priorities and trust.  While some saw a break in the weather as a gift from God, others saw it as a test of faith.  One group went into the fields to work and the others trusted that God was in control and would balance the scales at harvest time if they made God a priority.

However we want to rationalize it, for each of us there is a gap between “Cannot” and “Will not” but, however we choose, God wants us to make him our first priority.  In Matthew 22:37 Jesus teaches that the greatest commandment of the law is to 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'  We find a very similar verse in Proverbs 3:5 with a very important twist.  

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart…  

…and lean not on your own understanding.”  

   I know that doctors and funeral home directors (and many others) need to work when they are called.  My point is that each of us needs to be aware of when our priorities are shifting.  We need to be aware of when we begin to trust money, power or our own ability more than we trust God.  God asks that we put him first and not to ‘lean on our own understanding.’  

   Putting God first can be expensive and it can be painful but God asks that we trust him to span the distance between “Cannot” and “Will not.”