02-28-23

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
​February 28, 2023
Another year of statistics is being released with regard to ministers, and once again, nearly 50% of ministers in the United States considered leaving ministry in the last twelve months. Almost 25% of them did! There have always been clergy leaving the profession, and the reasons are numerous. But in the last few years, the numbers have ticked up, and it's mostly connected to ministerial frustration. Since Jesus ascended to heaven, the church has always found itself at a crossroads. There are many reasons, but I tend to think a lot of the struggle is centered on whether Jesus, who came to challenge a stuck religion, intended for a new one to be solidified and never change from that point forward—to become stuck again. Or, did Jesus launch humanity on a new trajectory of discovery where love, justice, mercy, and kindness were always being stretched into a new reality? You might guess that I tend to lean toward the second choice. Sadly, about every three months since Christianity first started, people have found themselves anxious as something new was thrust in front of them. The response in the last hundred years or so has been to make the sole purpose of Christianity very individualistic. Simply put, it is nothing more than having faith in Jesus so I can go to heaven. If that is your definition of Christianity, then you never need to ask the tough questions around life and human existence. Slavery, civil rights, women’s equality, war, greed, poverty, and hatred in all its manifestations never need to be discussed, even though there are parts of the Bible and many moments in Christian history where our faith seems to be on the wrong side. Fifty years ago, a majority of people who went to church expected to be challenged by their pastors, to feel uncomfortable, or even disagree. But in recent years, people have gone more and more to a church where they are never going to hear something that will make them truly uncomfortable—all in the name of a Jesus who comforted the afflicted and afflicted the comfortable. Our growth at Cypress Creek Christian Church over the last six months or so has almost entirely been people who see a need to be challenged, to think differently about faith, and to step outside of what they might describe as a religion that is stuck in all the wrong stuff. It’s exciting! It really is…

Gracious God, as you continue to beckon your church beyond what was and into what could be, we pray for love and kindness to be our guide. We know there will be moments of discomfort, where the questions will outnumber the answers, yet we trust you to be God even when the answers are not found. Amen.