WARNING! THE CONTENTS OF THIS POST MAY BE HAZARDOUS!

I will always remember my major professor during my doctoral studies at the University of Oklahoma in Norman – Dr. B. R. “Bev” Henson. He was a world-class musician – a world-class teacher – a loyal friend – and a master of one-line quips.

Examples:

Being right and wrong in music is a lot like being pregnant – you either are or your not.

The right note at the wrong time is the wrong note.

Sopranos (for some reason it was usually sopranos) I know you are all singing the correct pitch but there clearly is considerable disagreement about which pitch.

And the one that is most pertinent to this post –

Chances are that if everyone agrees with everything you say – what you are saying is not worth saying.

Another situation forever etched in my memory.

Beginning my sixth grade year I lived in a town in south central Kansas that had a superb school system – seemingly very progressive for the time. We were a basketball school and if my memory is serving me correctly during those years the basketball coaches also were our math teachers.

I was fortunate to take Algebra I during my eighth grade year which meant that I was able to take Geometry during my ninth grade year. That, unfortunately, was the year when our school district decided to “embrace” the new math. As a result I thought I just did not have what it took to be a Geometry student – happily, later I discovered that the “new” math was the problem rather than the Geometry. Fortunately, it was not long before the school district – at least the math teachers – came to the same conclusion. In the “new” math it seemed to me that I should find a way for 2 plus 2 to equal 5. It just did not add up for me.

It’s no secret – mainline churches are in a decline and I have been part of numerous communities of faith who have struggled to figure out the problem in order to follow a more successful path. During these same years I have worked with numerous people on the path to recovery from substance abuse, I have been a parent and a grandparent, I have led several successful youth choir adventures, I have worked with a large number of young adults in the world of musical theatre, and I have enjoyed very successful relationships with a number of youth and young adults.

Discussions have often centered around why is active participation in church declining – and – for the most part – the answers have been consistent – the world is changing – the church must continue to hold to standards that are supported by Scripture, various creeds, and other forms of tradition. My own study of Scripture has led me down a different path of understanding than many of my colleagues and friends. Recently I started referring to how people “cherry pick the apple tree” when they study Scripture – selecting bits and pieces that support their particular point of view while ignoring other portions – and/or the whole of Scripture. I have often been accused of “changing the sacred text” when during my teaching I have discussed how different translations lead in different directions, or how particular translations seem not to capture the spirit of the original language of the text, or pointing to some of the seeming contradictions within the text, and numerous other examples.

Some have observed, “That’s what you get for going to seminary.” On occasions when I have had the opportunity to discuss this opinion with the people who made that statement I have helped some of them understand that what they believe happens at seminary bears little relation to what actually is part of the teaching and learning environment that I so very much valued.

It is my feeling that many who currently are not interested in church are just not able to sign-on for narrow interpretation, lack of genuine hospitality, hypocritical differences between what is said and what is done, and a lack of willingness to embrace the idea that science and faith are not the opposite ends of a continuum of learning and living. I believe that many congregations are acting in fear through a lens of scarcity – a sort of hope for survival mode.

I encourage you to look back at my recent posts where I have passed along the writing of Robert Shaw, Michael L. Lindvall, and Thomas L. Are – all of whom embrace the arts as an important or primary tool for transformation of contemporary communities of faith. None of these highly respected people are anti entertainment, therapy, or education – but – in various ways they advocate the need for the worship of God to point away from these desires of humanity and back toward God who is infinite in love and is still creating.

Jesus offers a radical manner of living and invites us to follow. The time has come to leave the comfort of “the way we have always done things” and the safety net of the familiar and follow in ways that are unknown to us – yes, the unknown may seem like the wilderness – the unknown may lead to a wilderness – but – we embark confident in the promise that we are not alone – LOVE is with us every step of the journey!

I opened this post with a WARNING – I hope that you will feel free to offer your own thoughts – including those that are totally in opposition to what I have stated. However, our community discussion must include respect for one another with words offered in love with genuine hospitality.

THIS journey is our home!!