Tuesday 26 January 2010

Success - It's relative!

I received one of those emails, you know the sort. They fill up your 'in box' and ask you to stop whatever you're doing to read  something you can live without (and usually have heard, seen or read before). This morning, whilst labouring over various bits of stuff I got one on success:

At age 4 success is . . . . Not piddling in your pants.

At age 12 success is . . . Having friends.

At age 17 success is . . . Having a driver's licence.

At age 35 success is . . . Having money.

At age 50 success is . . . Having money.

At age 70 success is . .. .Having a drivers licence.

At age 75 success is . . . Having friends.

At age 80 success is . . . Not piddling in your pants.

Seems to me that life is often a 'two visit' affair. A long, long time ago I can still remember (sorry - overactive Don McLean gene kicked in) how, when playing in a folk club for the first time another musician asked me about my music. I was young and enthusiastic and as we talked this really old bloke (he must have been at least forty-five) told me about clubs and audiences and how to work them. He finished the first of our (many) conversations with the sentence. "There are some clubs you visit twice, one on the way up and again on the way back down. It's nice to be back here!"

Since getting the CofE stats a few days back I have been impressed by the way that almost everyone is working hard to find something that speaks of 'success' from them. I have been told that we should see them as encouraging because:
  • We've done well with the children and young people
  • The decrease is less than [insert chosen year]
  • We've become a leaner and more efficient body
  • We can't get much lower - how many more can there actually be that can leave before we stabilise?
The reality is that we don't look like the world and this for me is great. Since the very beginning of our God's dealing with the world, His people have been called to be counter-cultural, why else do you think that we didn't do the piercings, tattoos and homosexuality thing back there in OT Land? The same is true for NT World - counter cultural rules O.K.?

Today is no different. We are called to be a people who live not as 'the world' but as people who are aliens in it and living in ways that are alien to it. It's great that we are outside the world but it's sad that we don't seem to be (generally) bring those in the 'outside' world inside. I use the word 'generally' because I don't think that the statistics show some realities that need to be keep close at hand lest we become doom-ridden and downcast in countenance and spirit. These realities are that the Church is alive and well and doing the stuff. It can be found in the places where the needs are and it can be found building meaningful relationships and taking the Gospel out there to a lost, damaged and hurting world.

Many years ago, in one of my earlier regenerations as an electronics nerd I was called out to a piece of equipment that was killing circuit board components and refusing to do what it was designed to do. I turned up and the techie who'd been leading the faulting team briefed me and at the end told me that there couldn't be a problem because, "Nothing showed up on the oscilloscope!" I looked at the diagrams and realised that the probes of the oscilloscope and the logic analysers were actually connected to the outputs of a board that was further up the chain and, although it was the same type of board as that which kept blowing, was on a completely different circuit and power supply. Five minutes later the 'other' power supply was changed and all was well. We left it a couple of hours so we could make us look good and so we could invent a reason that left our colleague with his dignity and outside of the need to write up a 'report' to those higher ups.

Some of us in Church of England are looking at the measuring equipment and failing to see exactly what is going on with what is before us. In many places there is growth and in many places the reality is that 'the world' is coming into relation ship with God's people and, step by step, with God Himself in that they are coming to faith in Him.

Seems to me that success here is perhaps the ability not to 'wet our pants' and celebrate that fact that we are still in the game - we are still being salt and light - we are still the last resort for many and should be grateful for those that this brings. The statistics just tell us that we're doing 'church' differently and that we need to avoid being hypnotised by numbers, management models, parish share and the like and look at what is before us - and rejoice.

Don't panic people - step back and use some perspective - People not coming in?

Perhaps we need to open our doors and welcome them in - differently.

Perhaps we need to walk out of our open doors and be Church where the people are to be found.

Perhaps we need to realise that 'Church' is made up of living stones and is more than a glorious piece of architecture and the call to be the curator of memories as well as having the 'cure of all souls'. (But being the curator is also important because it creates relationship with community).

So how are we going to move away from the Sunday mentality and see the wider picture - looks like it's time to get out there and pray, observe and do some MAP work!

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