Tim Keller had a Q&A on Twitter yesterday in which he was asked this question: "What would be three adjectives you would use to describe your thoughts about the future of the church in N America?
He replied: "Fractured, Marginalized, Hopeful." For years, I've heard church leaders obsess about the first two. We have difficulty getting to the third. It is counter intuitive to believe that a fractured and marginalized people could be so hopeful. Some days, I wonder. What gives me hope is that there have been fractured and marginalized people before us. God has a way of doing hopeful things with a hapless people.
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I cringe at the evangelism models that literally scare the hell out of people. "If you were to die tonight, do you know where you would go?!!!" "Well, you make hell sound really bad. So I guess . . . heaven?"
My Irish friend Robert Millar has helped me process helpful ways to engage non-Christians. He's the director of Young Life College - St. Louis. We're writing a book . . . someday. Before that amorphous date, here are six general things I lift up for your consideration. For nearly 200 years an unbroken line of fathers and sons have devoted themselves to be guardians of the Word of God and agents of the gospel. I share this heritage with five generations of Cloeter men before me. As the sixth generation, I recognize that we are different men molded for different times. For instance, I hope I never look like my great, great, great grandfather (left). And I refuse to name my son Ottomar (his name and that of two other ancestors). My father Paul (5th generation) preached at the 150th anniversary of St. Peter's Lutheran Church in Afton, MN this past Sunday. Ottomar Cloeter was the second pastor in this congregation's history. He came to St. Peter's after 11 years in northern Minnesota as a missionary to the Ojibwe tribe. Here's an excerpt from Paul's sermon. And thanks, Dad, for not naming me Ottomar. For the first time in U.S. history, there were more recorded deaths than births among white Americans in 2012, according to a new analysis of Census Bureau data. The difference was tiny - 12,400 more deaths among non-Hispanic whites than births - but marked a demographic turning point, as the white population shrinks. A man once asked Jesus, "Who is my neighbor?" (Luke 10:29). For us Americans, the answer is a tapestry of color and culture. Our country is far from a monolithic demographic. On the one hand, there is great challenge to living out Jesus' Great Commandment in our diverse society. On the other hand it's simple, for love transcends color and culture.
One question is, "Who is my neighbor?" Another question is, "Who isn't?" It's really important for me to be regularly connected with young people in the church. Why? They bring a vibrant and vigorous perspective to the faith. And they voice things that you wouldn't normally hear in the church. They have an ardent desire to know what we believe, why it matters, and how we live it out.
The honesty and curiosity of a young person is a gift to the Christian community. A church without a youthful voice will stop asking questions and never be challenged. Things I typically hear in the church:
I have some college students/young adults at my house every Tuesday evening. Here are some topics of conversation from this past week:
Find some young people. Hold your tongue. Listen. What you hear might bless you. Vacations are good, and I hope you get to take one this summer. It doesn't have to be anything spectacular. In fact, it's better if it's not. I am recently off a vacation with my folks in Minnesota. What did I do?
Here's a great post on solitude. |
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