Respecting the Community

Some Sundays the scripture reading is as exciting as a Marvel Movie!  Can you imagine if Jesus was Doctor Strange and John the Baptist was Tony Stark, what an intense meeting it would have been?  Two powerful men with powerful missions coming together to do powerful work for the Glory of God.  This story is describing the same incident that we read last week, John and Jesus meeting at the banks of the Jordan River.  John is baptising people who are confessing their brokenness and looking for a new way to be in relationship with God.  It could have been a civil war between John and Jesus, maybe Captain America instead of Dr. Strange. it could have been a below-the-line power struggle between the two, it could have been a competition to see who was more right than the other, who was the angriest, who was the loudest person in the room.  Instead, it became a time to witness to the power of following Jesus.  John told his followers to join Team Jesus, and they did.  They even brought in new members, and pretty soon Jesus had gone from no followers to a dedicated team of twelve disciples eager to share their excitement with everyone they met.

Talking about our faith and trying to bring in new people is something many churches do.  They train their members in how to recruit people, they give them pamphlets and workshops and roll play exercises and demonstrations.  That’s not something the United Church is particularly comfortable with or used to. We didn’t do that because we were the biggest denomination other than the Roman Catholic Church.  We had at one time more churches across Canada than Tim Hortons.  We gave more to Haiti earthquake emergency relief than all the customers getting their double-doubles.  This was happening even though church attendance was already dropping.  This was happening even when it seemed like the mega churches were growing faster than Starbucks into Canada. This was happening when more and more independent bookstores were closing because they couldn’t compete with Amazon even before Covid made so many things go online.  We didn’t know how to invite our neighbors, but we had all experienced the knock on the door from missionaries in suits or gotten the pamphlet in the mail describing the joys of Heaven and the dangers of Hell.  We also were being bombarded with people wanting us to believe in crop circles or aliens building the pyramids or satanists running daycares in Saskatchewan towns.  Televangelists seemed to end up with private jets or universities, then get in the news for abuse.  That builds distrust for all Christian institutions. Religion gets a bad rap for wars, colonialism, you name it, but condemning all religion is like saying we won’t use fire because of the evacuation of Fort McMurray.  How do we heat our houses?  How do we cook if we have gas stoves?  Condemning all religion fails to remember that it inspires great art, great music, great social movements like civil rights, public education and affordable healthcare.  People who attend church regularly are less lonely, their anxiety levels drop, their sense of resilience is increased, and they feel empowered to work together towards positive social good. Women wouldn’t have gotten the vote in Canada without church ladies getting together in Alberta who cared about poverty and family violence.

There’s a right way and a wrong way to invite people to church.  We have to know our big Why. Bums in pews is honest but not healthy or trustworthy. It's not good news for our neighbors, it's based on our scarcity not God's abundance. It exploits newcomers' innocence.  Someone said, “bringing people to church so that they can be busier and poorer is not Christian, but often it’s really why we want newcomers.” Some call it vampire evangelism, bring them in and suck them dry.  On the flip side, when we remember how much we have been transformed by coming to church regularly, it’s rude not to tell people about it.  One minister in the US wrote this week that “When we lose religious and spiritual community, we lose a lot of our power to make collective change. Research suggests that religious behavior and belonging are associated with greater civic and political participation, financial giving, and volunteering. It also indicates that while solitary meditation is good for the soul, it is small group participation that correlates most strongly with social impact. Weekly worship attendance is also strongly associated with increased civic activity…” She added that service clubs and other organisations don’t offer transformation, resiliency and morals the way church does, and it’s part of why her country is in so much turmoil.

Our Northern Spirit Growth Animator, Jordan Cantwell told us to remember that it’s scary for people to come to church.  Every church says it welcomes all but often the reality is different.  Cantwell said, “We assume everyone knows who we are, what we do and that they are welcome. We are welcome to walk into a mosque but don't feel comfortable.” She said gentle humble openness, listening to their questions and concerns, sharing your story of transformation honestly and prayfully is key.  People won’t have a transformative experience if they are going to be told they should go to church, they should be ashamed if they don’t go to church or they are to blame for all the bad things in their lives if they don’t go to church.  Instead, try RESPECT:

R: Recognize - Acknowledge the worth of others.  We are all God’s Children

E: Empathize - Understand and care about the feelings of others.  Jesus came to listen and heal and we are called to do the same.

S: Support - Offer help and encouragement.  Our creed says that God works in us and others by the Spirit.  Support is a team sport and God is part of our team!

P: Promote - Advocate for the rights and dignity of others. The United Church calls this “Daring Justice” we are to seek justice and resist evil.

E: Engage - Involve others in meaningful ways.  We are to love and serve others as part of our healing journey.

C: Communicate - Share thoughts and feelings openly.  Proclaim Jesus crucified and risen, our judge and our hope.

T: Trust - Build and maintain trust in relationships.  This takes deep spirituality and more teamwork. 

Jesus and John trusted and respected each other like Tony Stark and the other Avengers eventually did.  John’s disciples trusted and respected John when he told them to follow Jesus.  Simon Peter trusted his brother when the brother shared his excitement about finding the Messiah.  When we build relationships based on trust and respect, relationships with each other, our neighbors and our God, the invitations will come naturally and from a place of inspiration, encouragement, resilience and healing.  Who wouldn’t want an invitation to that?