Guidance to Guide
Francis X Maier wrote recently in The Catholic Thing (“The Revenge of Unintended Consequences”) about certain “family rules” which should be applied to life in the Church as the family of God. His assertion that they would greatly increase the chances of a healthy common life is something with which I whole-heartedly agree.
“One of them is preaching Christian truth clearly and confidently, with the goal of converting the world to Jesus Christ. Another is acknowledging the difference between good and evil. Another is naming sin for what it is. Another is welcoming and forgiving the repentant. Another is encouraging, rather than confusing and disparaging, people sincerely trying to be faithful to what the Church teaches, including those teachings that seem hard. Another is showing some patience and prudence in dealing with disagreement in the ranks.”
All of these fall under the encouragement of St. Paul when he wrote the Ephesians: 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. (4:15-16). As we LCMS pastors in Peoria begin teaching the 8th grade religion class at Concordia Lutheran School these are great guidelines. God bless all the faculty and staff to help these young minds and young faiths grow and flourish in the lives that are theirs through the suffering, death, and triumphant resurrection of Christ Jesus our Lord.
Do not be anxious...
I’m not going to lay it at the feet of the “being the first-born” excuse, even if that is indeed what I am. Still, I’m not sure why growing up I’ve always had an overarching desire to do things as they should be done. Doing homework, why wouldn’t I want to diagram the sentences correctly? In one quarter of high school the teacher was astonished when he let me know I hadn’t gotten one algebra question wrong. My naïve thought was “Wasn’t that what I was supposed to do?”
That one quarter is, of course, the stunning exception. I am unable to do things as they should be done. I am as fallible and error prone as anyone. Thankfully, I’ve come to be what Duane Mehl, a recovered perfectionist, entitled his book, “At Peace with Failure: how God Gives Grace to Live Beyond Your Shattered Dreams.”
I can still be anxious about things coming up on my schedule or calendar. When I confessed this to a colleague, his response was, in effect, “4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand;6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”(Philippians 4:4-7).
These are good words from the God Who loves us and saves us in Christ Jesus, our Lord. These are good words to keep in mind as we get back to the school.
Digital opportunities
A few of us on the staff have been taking part in a series of webinars about discipleship. This week’s preparation for the webinar had some startling statistics with respect to what was described as “Digital Disruption.”
From A.D. 2000 to A.D. 2020 Sunday newspaper circulation went from 50 million papers to 25 million. People are getting more and more of their information online. In that same time frame the sales from department stores declined the same percentage. We shop online.
With respect to churches in the United States, the percentage of people who belonged to a local congregation was 67% in 2000. In 2020 it was reduced to 47%. For the first time in America, church membership is in the minority. As for the average weekly attendance of a congregation, it fell from 137 people to 65 people – and that was before the pandemic. In our church body, the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod, we have lost more than 30% of our membership in that time. (Thank you, Rev. Zach Zehnder, for these numbers).
So, do we throw up our hands? Throw in the towel? No. Our loving Lord is still in control. We have work He has called us to do and that involves bringing His saving grace to a world deeply in need of the gift of forgiveness.
What then? It was suggested – and I believe that this is true – that we need to make much better use of our digital presence. I will always maintain that I would rather be face to face with people, dealing with cashiers and clerks in stores, for example. That is especially true when the body of Christ gathers for worship, witness, and service.
But might we do a better job of curating what we do when together and offering some things very much like them online? That will be a major consideration as we move into the days ahead. We will need to be wary of any artificial intelligence (AI) tomfoolery. But social media is here to stay and a tool to be used.
We read in 1 Chronicles 12:32 Of Issachar, men who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, 200 chiefs, and all their kinsmen under their command. Please keep us in your prayers as we seek to understand our times and how effectively to apply the Word of the Lord to them.