End of 2016 Reflections

2016 is almost done and it's been a seminal year in some ways. Our student loans are gone and we're excited to head into a very different budget in 2017 - Having spent so many years paying off past debt, it'll be a relief and a joy to start saving for the future. I turned 35 this year and I've started to feel it: sore knee & ankle from a cycling fall and a useless right shoulder after severely aggravating it.

This year marks an important turning point spiritually too. It's the year I started saying no to more church involvement. As a PK (pastor's kid), church has always been my primary social structure and avenue for my effort, time and talent in "bettering the world." But before explaining why I've become less involved in church, it'll be helpful to explore what God has put on my heart the past couple of years & the convictions that have crystallized as I've read, meditated, prayed and discussed these things with close friends. (Thanks in particular to authors Brian Zahnd, Greg Boyd, Shane Claiborne, Brian McLaren & Walter Brueggemann).

• Following Jesus is not convenient. Following Jesus is not easy. Following Jesus requires imagination and not surrendering to the status quo. In fact, it means challenging the status quo, which will inevitably rub the majority of people the wrong way. Following Jesus means going against the grain and making decisions the world probably won't easily comprehend. But following Jesus is beautiful and joyful and truly changes the world. I can think of nothing more important to pass on to our kids.

• One cannot follow Jesus without following the way of Jesus. As Brian Zahnd discusses in his book "Farewell to Mars," a good number of Christians today dismiss many of Jesus' ideas as being unrealistic for today's world. It's easy to "reduce Jesus to being the Savior who guarantees our reservation in heaven" while ignoring his radical, revolutionary ideas about this-world issues: peace, enemy-love, how we arrange ourselves as a society (politics!), etc. We can't divorce Jesus from his ideas. 

• Following Jesus means being in solidarity with those who are suffering, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with them and making their struggles our struggles, taking a (costly) stand and seeping into the cracks and crevices of society. 

As Walter Brueggemann states, one of the tasks of the local church "is to nurture, nourish, and evoke a consciousness and perception alternative to the consciousness and perception of the dominant culture around us." I'd contend our churches are only as good as they propel us outward into the Monday through Friday to live out the Gospel. I applaud my church's missional direction and embracement of the importance of racial reconciliation in our community. I love our involvement with RAIHN and the Ugandan Water Project.

But isn't there a limit to what pastors and leadership teams can do? Programs and signup clipboards can only go so far (no fault of church leadership). I'm becoming increasingly convinced that the biggest issues of our time in Rochester, what has been called the unholy trinity of poverty, racism and violence, can't be solved with extracurricular sign-up programs at church. It requires something more costly: taking a stand Monday through Friday. As a parent wanting to see a better Rochester, I am thoroughly convinced that to follow Jesus in our time in our place means to remain in the Rochester City School District (RCSD). I can't stomach the idea of leaving the City and our kids' wonderful classmates so Aidan and Kenzie can attend a vastly white, prosperous school in the suburbs. I know in my gut that's not the Jesus way.

If you haven't seen John Oliver's segment on School Segregation, please watch it.

This issue is the issue of our time in our place. I know it's stark and offensive, but it seems families in Rochester are either an active part of the solution or an indifferent part of the problem. We vote with our feet for the world we want. To follow Jesus, I know we can't in good conscience follow the dominant script. Fortunately we've got a network of friends and neighbors who are committed to remaining in the City and the RCSD.

So instead of serving on more committees at church, I'm content to play the drums & teach the children's class once a month while getting involved in my community outside the walls of the church. This has been the thrust of our movement as a church community anyway; God has been nudging us in this direction for a while now. It's time to "do the stuff," take a stand and act. It's time to acknowledge where we live, where our kids go to school, how racially and economically diverse their classrooms are, how we get around our city, how we interact with our neighbors - all these are spiritual issues.

To make a better City, we're deliberately making relationships with our kids' classmates and their families. Sarah is very involved with the kids' school, meeting with administrators regularly. I'm coaching Little League Baseball and getting involved with the Rochester Cycling Alliance. (This could be another blog by itself. The issues of poverty, transportation, and sustainability are intertwined). I'm becoming increasingly passionate about cycling in regard to social justice as it is empowering, green, and financially-freeing. I want to advocate for better cycling infrastructure so local families won't have to spend a third of their income on car ownership. A better way is possible.

In sum, the older I get, the more I'm fascinated by Jesus and the more I want to follow him into the trenches. I can't in good conscience blend seamlessly into society, ignore the big issues of our time and place, be a nice person and go to church, and occassionally sign up for a shift at a soup kitchen. I feel Jesus calling us to something more challenging, beautiful and impacting. As an idealist, I'm often accused of overshooting as I dream of "changing the world." But I don't dream of changing the world. I think about our wonderful City of Rochester and pray our neighborhoods and connections can be a microcosm of God's Kingdom.

Footnote regarding Trump & the 2016 election: I have been drifting away from the primarily white, suburban, contemporary evangelical church for a while. In my opinion the white evangelical church jumped the shark when 81% of it voted for Trump last month. This only confirmed I don't fit in it. I'm committed to my local church which in so many ways doesn't typify evangelicalism. But I can't help but feel it's only a matter of time before I say goodbye to evangelicalism completely and join the Episcopal Church. Regardless, living against the grain, standing in solidarity with those who are suffering and standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the fearful is going to become more important than ever under the Trump administration.