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Congregational Self-Evaluation
CHRISTIANS IN THE U.S. SPENT $5,700,000,000 ON CHURCH CONSTRUCTION ALONE IN TH SIX YEARS FROM 1967-1972. (from No More Plastic Jesus)
THE WHOLE BUSINESS OF LAYING UP MONEY IN THE MIDST OF HUMAN NEED CORRUPTS THE SOUL.
LAST YEAR AMERICANS SPENT 275 TIMES AS MUCH ON FOOD PACKAGING AND THE DISPOSAL OF THE PACKAGING AS THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OFFERED TO SEND IN AID TO THE STARVING CAMBODIANS. (from The Other Side)
Assets of U.S. churches are estimated to be $134,000,000 000. (No More Plastic Jesus)
Three hundred families in the Sagemont Baptist Church of Houston, Texas gave their income for forty days to a building fund. They came up with $1,077,000. (The Other Side)
"Let us stop trying to keep up with the ecclesiastical Jones in expensive apparatus and techniques and go for simplicity of means and mission." (from Enough Is Enough)
21 million people in this country do not have incomes sufficient to provide nutritionally adequate diets for themselves. (U.S. Department of Agriculture)
"The first thing I would advise all bishops to do is to get rid of their worldly advisors. This whole business of investing in usury. It's condemned in the catechism, the same class as the seven deadly sins. Don't invest money except to the poor, there you might expect a return...." (Dorothy Day)
In many ways it is more acceptable to call into question the lifestyles of individuals or families than it is to question the corporate lifestyles of our institutions. One role of the 'Old Testament prophet was to call on the people of God to evaluate their corporate lives in response to the call from God for them to be distinctly God's people. Today this prophetic role is a call to be constantly contrasting where we are and where we could be in light of the wooing of Jesus to servanthood.
The following material is designed for use in small groups where a free exchange of ideas can be a reality. Out of this group process. It is hoped that a clearer understanding of who we are and who we can become will emerge. It is desirable for each group to come to some concrete recommendations that can be communicated to the appropriate church body.
Before you begin this process the members of these groups should work with chapters 5 and 6 of the Gospel of Matthew. To many these chapters serve as a summary of the teachings of Jesus. Pray that God's spirit will work along beside each of you.
Each group member should have a copy of the following. Privately consider each of the following statements and think about your own agreement or disagreement. Place a 1 before any statement with which you strongly agree, a 2 before any with which you mildly agree, a 3 before any with which you mildly disagree, and a 4 before any with which you strongly disagree.
___ Christian beliefs and practices today largely reflect middle class values that are not useful to poor and oppressed people.
___ The stewardship of our congregational resources (buildings, program, grounds, time, people, etc.) clearly reflects our concern for the poor.
___ Christian beliefs are universal truths and do not represent the biases of any class or group.
___ Christian beliefs and practices are deeply influenced by the social and economic condition of those who hold them, but there are elements in the Gospel that transcend selfish interests.
___Congregational programs largely represent middle class values and interest and are not useful to the "least of these."
___The poor and oppressed need to develop a Christian theology of their own, independent of traditional ideas that are especially the possession of those who are not poor.
___Christian beliefs and practices have been partly perverted to the selfish interests of wealth and power, and, therefore, for the good of all, we need to reinterpret ideas like freedom and justice in ways that enhance the struggle of those who are striving for liberation.
Quietly ponder your responses and your reasons. What biases, if any? After all have had time to respond, have each member share their numerical response and their reason for such.
You may want to have someone keep a record of the responses and compute an average for the group. (adapted from Solomon's Sword: Clarifying Values in the Church, Robert Meyners & Claire Wooster, Abingdon, Nashville, TN, 1977.
Luke 16:19-31 (paraphrased)
Once there was a wealthy church which had over a thousand members. They had an excellent church school, a $1.5 million building complex and all the equipment needed. All around town people talked of the great success of this church.
Also there was another church with only 20 members. They had no special buildings but met in their homes. In fact they did not have any land nor paid ministers. They lived in what the wealthy called a developing country.
These poor Christians were weak and sickly from years of malnutrition. They suffered from open sores which were the results of the exploitation of their human and natural resources by others who insisted on maintaining their own high standard of living. The poor longed for the handouts from the rich - even what the wealthy wasted would have been a blessing to these in so great need.
Well it happened, the poor died and were carried to be with God. The rich also died and were buried. From among the dead they looked up and saw God a long way off with the poor sitting at God's feet. "God, O God! Please have mercy on us. Send one of those at your feet to give us just a taste of water to cool our tongues."
God answered, "Remember, my children, that you once had all the comforts of the 'good life' while these, the least of my children suffered. Now they are being comforted here, while you are in agony. Besides there is a great chasm between you and us and you cannot move from one side to the other.
Then the ones in isolation cried out, "Please send someone to warn our families so that they may avoid this pit."
God with compassion replied. "They have the WORD. Even my Son, Jesus, has warned them. They also have today's prophets."
"Please God!" was the cry from the pit, "If only someone were to go from the dead, they would change their ways of doing life."
God then reminded them that Jesus had come from the dead to bring them the 'good news' of life, yet even then they refused to listen as they continued on the path of selfish consumption that led to their pit.
"CONSEQUENTLY, TODAY WHENEVER ONE MOVES FROM ONE COMMUNITY TO ANOTHER, HE IS APT TO DISCOVER: (1) THE CHURCH IS IN THE MIDST OF A MAJOR CAPITAL FUND DRIVE; (2) IT HAS JUST COMPLETED ONE; (3) IT IS ABOUT TO EMBARK ON ONE. AND THIS DRIVE IS LIKELY TO BE FOR THE PURPOSE OF: (1) BUILDING AN ENTIRELY "NEW, MODERN, AND ADEQUATE CHURCH PLANT AT A RECENTLY ACQUIRED SITE; (2) EXTENSIVELY RENOVATING THE EXISTING PLANT, INCLUDING PERHAPS A NEW ORGAN, CENTRAL AIR CONDITIONING, NEW YOUTH ROOMS, A CHAPEL, AND SIZEABLE OFF STREET PARKING FACILITIES; OR (3) RAISING THE MONEY NEEDED TO COMPLETE SUCH PROJECTS." (No More Plastic Jesus)
How should our church be expending its energy in program, time, and money? On a separate sheet of paper draw a circle and divide it into pie slices representing your own personal priorities for the use of your congregational resources. The above should be done without consulting with the actual church budget. Now take another piece of paper and draw another circle. This time divide into pie slices the actual congregational budget. Compare your two circles and have the group discuss their reactions.
Some areas of concern as you divide your pie might be: domestic hunger programs, world health improvements, food aid, homes for the aged, agricultural technology, evangelistic missions, educational programs for migrate workers, aid for the development of solar energy...
Would you go into a building program if members of your local congregation were starving? Do we not flatly contradict the Gospel if we live as if African or Latin American members of the body of Christ are less a part of us than the members of our home congregations? (Read II Corinthians 8)
You are the salt of the earth. But if salt becomes tasteless, what can make it salty again? It is good for nothing, and can only be thrown out to be trampled underfoot by men. Matt.5:13.
What evidence, if any, can we give that we may have been seduced by our culture to the point that we are not distinguishable from those who do not go by God's name? Is it possible that we may have become tasteless?
Then Jesus said to his host, "when you give a lunch or a dinner do not invite your friends, or your brothers, or your relatives, or your rich neighbors - because they will invite you back and in this way you will be paid for what you did. When you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind, and you will be blessed -- because they are not able to pay you back. You will be paid by God when the good people rise from death." Luke 14:12-14
In reference to Luke 14:12 14, what might we do to change the physical environment of our buildings which might be more inviting to "the least of these"? Do our dress practices discourage the poor from sharing their lives with us?
To oppress the poor is to insult their Creator; to be kind to the needy is to honor God. Prov. 14:6
In view of Prov. 14:6, is there any way our congregation might be called into question as being part of an economic system that is oppressive?
WHEN SOMEONE ASKS YOU FOR SOMETHING, GIVE IT TO HIM OR HER; WHEN SOMEONE WANTS TO BORROW SOMETHING, LEND IT TO THEM. Matt. 5:42
TO YAHWEH BELONG EARTH AND ALL IT HOLDS, THE WORLD AND ALL WHO LIVE IN IT. Psalm 24:1
Taking Matthew 5:42 and Psalms 24:1 into consideration, how might we better use our congregational property? Could we begin a food bank? a day care for working parents? a senior citizen lunch program? a night hospitality for the homeless? a farmer's market in our parking area?
Don't let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold, but let God remold your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all God's demands and moves toward the goal to true maturity. Romans 12:2
How can we as a local congregation offer strength and support to resist the "squeeze"?
So then, if we have food and clothes, that should be enough for us. But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and are caught in the trap of many foolish and harmful desires, which pull men down to ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a source of all kinds of evil. Some have been so eager to have it that they have wandered away from the faith and have broken their hearts with many sorrows. I Tim. 6:8 10
What evidence can we see that we may be trapped? Do we need liberation from our "foolish desires"? (see I Tim. 6:8 10)
Surely you know that the wicked will not receive God's kingdom. Do not fool yourselves; people who are immoral, or worship idols, or are adulterers, or who rob or are greedy, or drunkards, or who slander others, are thieves none of these will receive God's kingdom. I Corinthians 6:9,10
By looking at I Corinthians 6:9,10, could we as a congregation be accused of being greedy? Remember to look beyond money. Take into account our corporate lifestyles. Can the way we live be a slander to the poor?
"DO NOT BE AFRAID, LITTLE FLOCK; BECAUSE YOUR FATHER IS PLEASED TO GIVE THE KINGDOM. SELL ALL YOUR BELONGINGS AND GIVE THE MONEY TO THE POOR. PROVIDE FOR YOURSELVES PURSES THAT DON'T WEAR OUT, AND SAVE RICHES IN HEAVEN, WHERE THEY WILL NEVER DECREASE, BECAUSE NO THIEF CAN GET THEM, NO MOTH CAN DESTROY THEM. FOR YOUR HEART WILL ALWAYS BE WHERE YOUR RICHES ARE." Luke 12:32 34
In light of Luke 12:32 34, what would happen if we really sold our church property and gave to the poor? Would we all be subject to hospitalization? Does the Gospel appear logical or do we insist on a logical interpretation? What's logical about the incarnation? the Cross?
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