Fixing Things

Tonight was an interesting night! At church we discussed the book unChristian and its top six critiques of American Christianity.

1. Hypocritical: We give off a polished image but look no different than rest of the world.
   
2. Too Focused on Conversion: We target non-Christians and are more interested in conversions than we are discipleship and faith formation.
3. Anti-Homosexual: We are bigoted and focused on fixing their problem while ignoring ours.
4. Sheltered: We live in a naive bubble isolated from the world and suppress curiosity.
5. Too Political: We are assumed to be right-wing Republicans with a conservative agenda.
6. Judgmental: People doubt that we care about them and are more concerned with being right than loving them.

What was interesting was that the topic that carried the conversation was homosexuality. It seemed to trigger comments and touch people lives while none of the others did. A story came out about a teen in our church who struggles with homosexuality and has been told by his peers that their parents will not allow association with him. What a tragedy! How do we as the body of Christ love these people without associating with them? Huh!! Homophobia is rampant in our churches and this fear - this uncertainty about who we are - drives us to avoid homosexuals at all costs. It was such an enlightening discussion and hopefully a helpful one for the direction of the church. Time will tell...

Orthopedic Surgery?

I'm gonna be a surgeon!! Not what I planned or expected but orthopedic surgery is the reality set before me after the match. Never in a hundred years would I have anticipated the shift in careers that has occurred over the past 10 months - oncology to cardiology to family med to er back to cardiology back to family med & er until finally orthopedics. The journey has been long and hard but so worth it. As of last week I matched at Henry Ford Macomb Hospital in Orthopedic Surgery. The next five years of my life will be spent in Detroit, Michigan learning to do surgery and manage orthopedic issues. I love orthopedics but it is still so weird to think of myself as a surgeon. If I ever turn into a snob, you have my permission to slap me :) We are excited and scared and nervous about what lies ahead but that is okay. My wife is warming up to the idea (no pun intended) and we look forward to what God has in store in the days ahead.

Spirituality & Culture

On Sunday nights for the past three weeks, I have been facilitating a class on Spiritual Formation & Discipleship. We have done a spirituality type survey that revealed very interesting tidbits of information about the Sulphur Well Church. Perhaps the most interesting thing is that the majority of the people who took the survey (about 40-45) are feelers rather than thinkers; they relate to God through experience, contemplation, or social action rather than intellectual dialogue!! Hmmm. Well in my rational, intellectual relationship with God, I found that to be interesting because our tradition is one that does not lend itself to emotion - it has actively suppressed emotion in fact. Thus the notion that nearly 2/3 of the people relate to God on some level other than intellectual was a very intriguing tidbit of info for my intellectual mind to think about! Oh the implications...

Also, we discussed last week the issue of liminality and the ridiculous amount of change going on the in the culture around us. As our world changes at every level, churches are struggling to deal with the chaos in a manner that is healthy, honest, and helpful for the body as a whole. As we brought up the idea of our current liminal state - this in-between state of having left behind a world with a superficial coating of Christianity and looking forward at a world where we aren't sure where we are headed or what it will look like when we get there - the anxiety in the class was unnerving. Some wanted to return to a by-gone era and longed for the "good-ole-days." Others were excited about the possibilities that lie ahead. Others weren't sure what to think but one thing was evident...There is an undercurrent of unspoken and unaddressed anxiety, confusion, and fear within our churches that does not know what to do with the changes in our culture. They want a place to "vent" their frustrations and yet be brought back to the reality of God at work in our midst despite the uncertainties. I underestimated this need as the facilitator of this class and it jumped up and bit me unexpectedly. This next week should be equally as interesting. Until next time...

Blessings....