Natural Church Assimilation

When new people start attending church it seems to add suspense for the regulars as we wait to see if they are going to stick around or not. Many churches have assimilation programs that are designed to increase the rate at which these folks stay. But as you probably have guessed I cringe a bit at the thought of that even though I know of no alternative.

The problem is people are different. Throw my brother and I in a crowded room at a party and he will quickly leave his mark. He will have met a good percentage of the people, be cracking jokes and seemingly assimilate rather quickly. I will take much longer. I will do a lot more observing, get to know a few people and look to hang out with someone I know. I think the same is true for people who start attending church.

I have a pastor friend who has experienced the devastating effects of not letting assimilation be natural enough. He had someone attending church every week who would slip out the back quickly after the service. A regular took it upon themselves to assimilate this person and began a campaign to get them to come to a Sunday School class. The person finally relented and attended once...and hasn't been back to church since.

So how do you assimilate people in a natural way, taking into account the personality of the church and the personality of the new attender? It is not just personality either. Some new attenders come out of situations that are extremely difficult. They want to be in church but circumstances beyond their control make full assimilation (or at least what we think of it as) impossible. Again it comes to truly loving relationships that honor the process of becoming a part of a community. If not it becomes just as disingenuous as building a friendship solely for the purpose of winning someone to Christ and then dumping them once they have made a decision.

Transformed By?

"Dave has named what the real issue is in evangelicalism - power. Evangelicals are enamoured with power and control. That's why numbers and measures are so important to evangelicals, and why compliance is next to godliness. What's important to evangelicals is freeing you from the world that squeezes you into its mold so evangelicalism can, in turn, squeeze you into its mold. Evangelicals resist and declare as enemy anything they can't control - including God, by the way. A post-evangelical is not a one time evangelical who's given up on truth, she's an evangelical who's given up on control."
- Mike Yaconelli commenting on Dave Tomlinson's work, The Post-Evangelical.

This is especially interesting in view of the last election and the seemingly increasing political activism from evangelical leaders. But it is often true in denominations, churches and people too. My question for my own denomination is, "Is there a place for me even if I don't agree with you on a lot of non-essentials?" The pat answer is, "Of course." The reality is we haven't figured out the answer to that yet. It seems that if I don't agree on a lot of the non-essentials then I am not united but divisive. We haven't found a place where we can disagree comfortably yet. Maybe it is about power.

Watching Your Back

In many communitites innovation and experimentation can only take place when there is someone from the mainstream willing to watch your back. Being mainstream this person has credibility with most members of the community. He/she must also have the respect and confidence of the mainstream. This allows the person to vouch for the innovator/experimentor and thereby allow the experiment to continue.

This back watcher intercedes for the innovator when the mainstream questions their legitimacy. "I don't quite understand it myself but I know the intention is right and I think we should let it continue," would be a typical back watcher response. They create an environment that allows the innovator to look completely different than the rest of the community yet still be a part of it. Does Barnabas come to mind?

I think denominations need back watchers too. Unfortunately the emphasis is all too often on getting people and churches to look the same rather than encouraging them to be true innovators. Innovators can be scary because ther innovations are often failures and that looks bad. Who wants to be the one who condones a failure? But that is what it takes to be innovative.

Most back watchers are old, I think. They have been around the block long enough to know that innovation can be life giving. They are often close to retirement or already retired and they are tired of seeing the same old things tried over and over in new wrappings. I think they may even secretly regret not being more innovative themselves when they were younger. They are dying to give "permission" to younger folks to be innovative.

I want to be a back watcher when I'm old. I've worked in situations where I needed one badly and didn't have one. I think they are important. Does that mean I have to become more mainstream to build up my cred though?

Critical Thinking on Christian Campuses

A friend of mine has a kid looking at colleges right now. He wants to find one where critical thinking is not only defended but actually encouraged. Those are two entirely different things.

It is ironic that critical thinking is vigorously defended and championed by most academic types yet they are the very ones who discourage its practice by their students. A mantra I hear from the players on my soccer team is "give the professors what they want to hear and you will be okay." Some of my seniors moan about the loss of the critical thinking skills they had when they came out of high school. These aren't dumb students either. I hear this from some of the brightest.

Perhaps the academic world breeds a level of insecurity that resists critical thinking. Are professors afraid of being challenged, or worse, being found wrong? Are their conclusions so far out on a limb that they feel a strong need to defend their arguments not by debate but by control? I suppose if your life's work is tied to a specific belief you do have a tendency to protect it at all costs.

This is not just my university either. It seems to be widespread in the academic world, at elast in Christian circles. So just where is the Christian college that encourages critical thinking? I'd like to know.