Numb3rs.

Yea, there is a TV show by that name. I have to admit I've never seen it. My understanding is that it is a crime mystery show that uses math and numbers to solve whatever the crime is on that show. I'm not really sure how one makes a show about that, but actuaries around the country are probably really excited.

Numbers can say a lot and I think that, when used correctly, they can help to at least identify problems that need to be worked on. This is true, even in the church. I ran across this interesting article from the Gallup organization (http://www.gallup.com/poll/117382/Church-Going-Among-Catholics-Slides-Tie-Protestants.aspx). In the article, it discusses how individuals who consider themselves "Christian" regularly attend church. The fascinating statistic is not that Catholics are now on par with Protestant Christians in their weekly church attendance, but rather, how on average, only 45% of all Christians say they attended church within the last week.

Now, statistics can say a lot of different things, and these numbers may be variable based on the time of year, area of the country (http://www.gallup.com/poll/122075/Religious-Identity-States-Differ-Widely.aspx), and age (only 38% of Protestant and 30% of Catholics in their 20's have attended church in the past week) of the sample, but I don't believe any of these variables hit the root of the issue. Church is losing its draw and attendance because we, as the Church, have lost sight of what Church is. For many of us, church is something we go to on Sunday's to hear a message, sing some songs, give our money, and maybe get some coffee. For others, church is the place that makes us get up early on the weekend, or miss the big game. It's something that we do on one or maybe two days of the week. We can check it off our list, put it on our schedule, and if we can't make it for a while, that's OK because our faith is personal. This idea is also unbiblical.

When we look at idea of the Church in the New Testament, it is vibrant and alive. It is a community of individuals where life is shared and individuals are urged on in the faith. Jesus did not say, "go into all the world and put on good shows and give good speeches about me." He said that we are to "go and make disciples", to help bring people into relationship with Him. This idea of community runs rampant throughout the Bible. Paul even says, "don't give up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing." Church then turns into something we are, as a collective group. Really, without a community of other believers, our faith is lacking at best, and non-existent at worst.

Now the Church has not always been all that it should be, and some people have very good reasons as to why they don't go to Church. Abuse, scandals, bad doctrine, hypocrisy; there is no such thing as the perfect church. But truly living in a community of faith means that we don't go into it thinking about "what can this church do for me?" but rather, we enter into a partnership to help others seek and honor God according to the scriptures and to be helped in that process. We come together to fight against our spiritual enemies, for our world, our marriages, our faith, our communities. Our culture has lost a vital ally when the Church becomes something we do rather than something we are.

This is the great part of being involved in a new church start up. We don't have to work through the years of tradition and bad habits that have brought many churches to the point of irrelevance. Instead, we can focus our efforts on being a community where Jesus is exalted above all else and we can partner with one another to live out God's passions in the Lehigh Valley and around the world. You can check out how we are (trying) to do this at www.riverbendonline.org

in death reflects life.

The circumstances surrounding the shooting in Pittsburgh at an LA Fitness are incredibly sad. The scary part is that I don't think the scenario leading up to the shooting is all that uncommon. I took some time to read the shooters online diary. I don't know what made me do that, perhaps it is my psych/counseling background but it can be found here: http://georgesodini.com/20090804.htm

A couple things stood out to me in his writings. Psychologists would say he had major depression (which is probably true) and that he had an obsession with women (also true). However, the aspects that are more common than we like to admit in this scenario are a wounding (by family and church) and a lack of authentic community/friendships. These build off each other in most cases. I know too many people who have been hurt/wounded by family members (especially fathers) and by churches they have been a part of. The saddest part is, they still need and seek community, but refuse to find it because of how they have been hurt.

We, as a church, need to be a part of the restoration process God is doing on this Earth. "We need to be conduits of God's Grace" I once heard someone say. Our culture wants nothing more than to be connected, to be a part of something; but they have the wrong idea of God and the Church (many for good reasons) so they do not seek either. We need to enter into their world, enter into the messiness that is the unredeemed life, and expose the Truth of the Gospel for what it is. We all need it. Forgiveness. Grace. Passion. Life. Seeking God.

The Gospel is hard to accept. It's a life change that causes us to recognize our inefficiencies, and rely on One we cannot see. But people are looking for that truth to be told to them. They are not looking for us to dance around the subject and make it sound as nice as we can make it. We need to present the Gospel as it is, allow people to decide, and love them no matter what. I am not sure if this is what that shooter was looking for, but I hear that in his diary. I see that in those around me.