Out the Door

Membership Accountability

Greg Hazelrig often poses thought provoking questions.  His question for the day for Friday deserves more than a brief comment, so I'm posting my answer here.

Should church members be held accountable for both personal spiritual growth and commitment to the Church in some way on a yearly basis?

Absolutely.  What other organization requires nothing of its members?  I've been a member of a number of different service groups, Rotary, Jaycees, Kiwanis.  If I never showed up for a meeting and didn't pay my dues, my membership would have been revoked.  This won't mean that I couldn't rejoin sometime in the future.  It simply recognized that if one was wanted to be considered a member of the group certain minimum requirements had to be met.

The Church is the most important organization in the world.  Sadly, few United Methodist congregations expect anything from their members.  As a result membership has become meaningless.  An individual who hasn't set foot inside the church building nor contributed a penny for decades (I have such people on my membership roles) has the same rights and can claim membership in the congregation equally with the individual who contributes of their time, talent and treasure sacrificially. 

I once did a funeral for a woman who had moved away and lived her entire life in another community.  When she died, she was brought back to her hometown for burial.  Unbeknownst to me, her obituary listed her as a member of my congregation.  She literally hadn't been back in 50 years.  But because she was once a member of the congregation, her family felt comfortable listing her as a member.  Part of the reason this was necessary was that in all her years away, she never became involved in another church.

This may be an extreme case, but it demonstrates what happens when there are no standards for membership.  While it is difficult to measure personal spiritual growth, the Bible does say that you may know a tree by the fruit it bears.  Our membership vows set the standard by which one's fruit is judged.  Is an individual upholding the church with their prayers, presence, gifts, and service?  Those are concrete actions that can be seen.

If so, should membership be taken away if they are not taking both seriously?

Again, absolutely.  The only way that membership within in the UMC will regain its meaningfulness is if individuals are held accountable for the fulfillment of their vows.  If a pattern of unwillingness to do these things develops, that person should expect that their membership will be removed.  Of course, there are exceptions to this rule; college students and others in transitional periods in life, military personnel stationed away from home, elderly who are physically unable to take an active role in the church.

John Wesley didn't hesitate to remove an inactive member from the roles of his societies, why should we?

And finally, how would this be done?

With love.  Sometimes love must be tough.  The Church has taken on a very unbiblical understanding of love.  Love is seen exclusively from a feminine, nurturing point of view.  The masculine, harder side of love has been watered down or completely tossed out.  Any time I have visited with people about holding people accountable for their membership vows, the response is "We don't want to offend anyone."  Jesus, the epitome of love, was very offensive at times.

Specifically, each inactive member should be visited by other members of the congregation to find out if possible why the person became inactive and to invite him/her back into the fellowship.  If that doesn't have any effect, then the person should be notified in writing, that the church will be removing the person from membership if he/she continues to be inactive.  Finally, the inactive should be removed from the roles, though not completely cut off from the church.  The person should be treated with respect and kindness by members in hopes that they might repent and return.  Perhaps if these individuals knew they were no longer a member of a congregation, they would pause to consider their relationship with Christ, rather than simply assuming that because they're church members they're covered.

Though this kind of accountability has long been a dream of mine, I don't foresee it happening any time in the near future.  At least in the congregations I have served, keeping everyone happy is more important than helping them to grow spiritually.

Why I believe in hell

If God is just (He is) then there must be a hell.  Otherwise how can anyone reconcile yesterday's tragic events in Bailey, Co.  If there's no hell, how can the family of Emily Keyes have any hope for justice?  Any chance for human justice was removed when this unnamed madman killed himself. 

I believe in a God of grace and mercy, but I can't reconcile all the evil in this world unless some kind of divine justice is done. 

Last winter when my neighbor was murdered, a niece said at the funeral, "I hope whoever did this rots in hell."  That took me back, especially since I know those who were suspected in the crime.  In fact, the man that was eventually arrested had visited me in my office on several occasions.  I hope and pray that he will confess his sin and find forgiveness in Christ.  While the trial hasn't taken place yet, the family will be able to experience on sense of justice when and if he is convicted.

I have no such hope for this Colorado killer.  When he turn his gun on himself, he removed any chance for justice or forgiveness.  And if God doesn't hold him accountable, then we need to forget all about talking about justice, because it's just a pipe dream that has no connection to reality.

How can those who don't believe that there is a place of divine retribution live with this kind of injustice?

Happy Birthday, Jason

Today Jason turns 23.  I still remember buying him his first basketball.  He was all of 6 hours old.  Today's he's traded in his tennes for a chef's hat.  Next week he will be taking a class and an exam to be a level one sommelier.  Don't tell the bishop my son's going to be a professional wine expert. 

Having a chef in the family certainly has it's benefits.  Jason has inspired me to add a little "bam" to my cooking. 

Anyway, happy birthday, Jas.  I'm proud of you.

I World Traveler I am Not

The last couple of days I've been looking for airline tickets on-line.  Not for myself, I can't stand flying.  It's really not the flying that bothers me, it's that I don't like crowds of people in confined spaces.  And few places are more confining than an airplane.  It's not like I can get up and leave if the anxiety gets to me too much.  But I digress.

I've been looking for tickets for Jason.  What has amazed me is how fast the prices change.  In a matter of minutes they can go up or down a couple of hundred bucks for the same flight.  In particular I was looking a one flight that took off 3 hours later than another and it was $500+ more.  How can this be?  The planes are going to the same place.  Does one airline serve a better quality snack?  It ought to be mighty fine for the extra money.

Maybe some of you experience travelers can explain this one to me?

If I Were a Rich Man

In Dr. Evil's original diabolical plan he threatened to unleash disaster on the world unless he was paid "One million dollars!!"  His subordinates looked at him like he was crazy.  A million dollars was next to nothing in their minds.

Since the discussion on pastor's salaries got Dana singing, I started thinking about what it means to be rich.  I don't normally consider myself to be wealthy.  But it depends who I'm comparing myself to.  Like almost all Americans, compared to the majority of the world's population, I am fabulously rich. 

I have running water in my air conditioned house.  My family owns four cars and a boat.  I haven't missed a meal anytime during my life because I couldn't afford to buy food.  We are purchasing a house of our own, besides the parsonage we call home.  Both my wife & I have a Master's degree and our sons are both in post scholastic programs.  Each of us has a cell phone and high speed internet connection.  The list could go on and on.  I better start singing!

Even in comparison to Americans, the Battern's are wealthy.  Our combined income is twice what the median household income is in Sumner.  According to a 2003 Gallup those who earn less than $30,000 believe that $74,000 is rich, that's us.  For those earning between $30,000 and $50,000, it takes $100,000 to qualify as rich.  And for those earning >$50,000, $200,000 is the magic number.  By that standard, I am a long ways from being rich.

But of course, I don't usually look at things from the perspective of my wealth.  I'm more likely to bemoan the fact that even after the raise the SPR voted to give me, I'm still getting paid less than the average United Methodist pastor.  God forgive me.

Maybe I need to spend a little more time doing what the old gospel hymn says, "Count your blessings, name them one by one.  Count your many blessings and see what God has done."

Pastor's Salary

Tomorrow evening my Staff/Parish Relationship Team meets.  On the agenda is recommending my salary for next year.  After all my years in full time ministry, I still feel very uncomfortable when it comes to salary issues.  I'd do what I do for free.  There is no greater honor than being called by God to lead His people.  Thus I always feel a bit guilty receiving a salary.  And honestly, I wonder if I'm really worth what I'm being paid.  How can you put a dollar figure on the intangible things of the Spirit?

On the other hand, the Bible instructs the church to honor their leaders and to compensate them for their labors.  And I do have bills to pay.  I am impacted by rising prices like everyone else.  Thus is it wrong to expect that my congregation will give me at least a cost of living raise each year?

On the other hand, I know the financial condition of the congregation.  We haven't paid our apportionments in full in a number of year, and not because the congregation is against apportionments, there just haven't been the funds available to do it.  So how can I ask or expect a raise when the church isn't meeting its other obligations?

On the other hand, I won't be here forever and if the salary doesn't keep pace with other congregations what kind of impact will that have on the church when a new pastor is appointed?  When I arrived, the congregation was paying their pastor several thousands more than the denominational average.  Over the years, the salary had slipped well below the average and only last year did I receive my first real raise in net pay and the church became more in line with other congregations our size.

I'd like to hear what you think and how you handle this issue.

Sermon: Solving the Puzzle of Wholly Living: Care for Your Health

The Bible instructs us to honor God with our bodies.  "Solving the Puzzle of Wholly Living: Care for Your Health" talks about five things which impact our health.

Listen to or Download "Solving the Puzzle of Wholly Living: Care for Your Health
To listen on-line, double click on link.
To download and save, right click on link, then "Save Target As," choose the folder where you want to save the file, then click "Save."   Double click on saved file to listen.

Jesus is the Only Way

Dwight on his "A Religious Liberal Blog" recently denied the bodily resurrection of Christ, the uniqueness of Christ and the sanctity of marriage.  It's these kind of ideas that affirm that liberal theology is at the heart of the decline of mainline denominations.

I for one am fed up with those who ascribe to beliefs that are in direct conflict with what we as United Methodist claim to believe bringing their polluted thinking into the church.  In response to Dwight I responded on his blog with the following which I reiterate here:

If you "modernists" want to be universalists why don't you be people of integrity and join a  universalist congregation? 

How can you affirm the ordination vows, "In covenant with other elders, will you be loyal to The United Methodist Church, accepting its order, liturgy, doctrine, and discipline, defending it against all doctrines contrary to God's Holy Word, and accepting the authority of those who are appointed to supervise your ministry?" when you don't accept its doctrine?

United Methodist believe, emphasis mine:

"Christ did truly rise again from the dead, and took again his body, with all things appertaining to the perfection of man's nature, wherewith he ascended into heaven and there sitteth until he return to judge all men at the day day." (Article III The Articles of Religion)

"The offering of Christ, once made, is that perfect redemption, propitiation, and satisfaction for all sins of the whole world, both original and actual; and there is none other satisfaction for sin but that alone.  Wherefore the sacrifice of the masses, in the which it is commonly said that the priest doth offer Christ for the quick and the dead, to have remission of pain or guilt, is a blasphemous fable and dangerous deceit."  (Article XX The Articles of Religion)

You have every right to believe whatever you want to believe, but not within the United Methodist Church.

Before people start calling me all kinds of nasty names, let me say again, that I as an American and as a Christian affirm that Dwight is free to hold to whatever doctrine and theology that he thinks is best.  (I'm very tolerant.) However those who would claim to be United Methodists cannot.

Women of Faith Tickets Available

Looking for Women of Faith tickets for the October 20-21 gathering in Minneapolis.  Due to some cancelations, we have a number available.  These are great seats on the floor and include the box lunch.

Email me and I'm get back to you with specifics.

Happy Birthday, Josh

Our son Josh turns 20 today.  He was home yesterday because he's helping to direct the community theater play that I'm in.  He and I got in a round of golf before rehearsal.  It's an incredible thing watching your child become an adult. 

Yet he still seems so young.  On the other hand, on Julie's 20th birthday we were holding our wedding rehearsal.  I can't imagine Josh being married.  I wonder what our parents thought.  Did they think we were too young to be getting married?  Of course, we thought we were very mature.  We were naive.  Time does have a way of changing one's perspective on things. 

Anyway, here's to you Josh!  I love you and I'm so proud of you.