I would just like to thank Viagra for ruining, for the rest of my existence, such a beloved Elvis song. Seriously, your creative department couldn’t come up with a NEW jingle that would bring awareness to the great and powerful little, blue pill? It has been seared into my brain like a rancher’s brand on the back side of his prized heifer. It is driving me crazy!
Ahhh…the Cheerio! It really is one of the seven wonders of the food world. Multi-grain, tiny little o’s…the perfect size for little fingers to pick up. Also good for many craft projects, it glues to practically anything. But, these little wonders seem to always find themselves in random places. Those of you who have children are already nodding your head in agreement, those of you who have not yet experienced the joy of a child with their cheerios…well, you have something to look forward to. It is like a rite of baby passage, a blue ribbon day, a day of celebration. However, that quickly turns into the endless discovery of cheerio treasures throughout any of your family’s living spaces.
My daughter leaves them everywhere! In the seat of her car seat, in the floor board of the car, behind the couch, on the bookcase, in any stacking cup or block available, on the computer desk, in a laundry basket….well, you get the idea. And what I always get a kick out of is the joy of discovery. As though that one tan, sticky, stale cheerio has been the only cheerio she has had or seen all day. She reaches for it, saying “pease, pease”, she grabs it and relishes it like there are no more like it in the world. The welcoming of the lost cheerio is just so sweet and a bit gross all at the same time (I’ve become very good at the ‘fake’ chew…one can only eat so many ‘found’ cheerios). I wonder where one will be found tomorrow? Can’t wait to find out!
So…Sunday, I go to the grocery store, pick up a paper, so that I can begin the insane clipping of the coupons, and on the bottom of the front page I read….
“Churches blame empty pews on fewer babies”.
As I am reading that there are just too many old people and not enough babies, baby boomers are dying off, the boomers didn’t have as many children as previous generations, members children grew up and moved away, following the trend of more progressive and liberal denominations conservative christian women are now having fewer babies, and that while the denominations have “begun intensive outreach efforts to reverse the decline…those efforts will help, but not as much as having more babies”, my head begins to swoon. I could feel the blood rushing to my head as each heartbeat echoed in my eardrums and my vacant stare began to burn holes right through page 8A.
Sure, it would be easy (i have given birth to 3 children, so I do not say that lightly) to “go forth and multiply” as a way to pad church membership. Making our congregations look healthy and full from the outside…everyone holding hands and smiling, and singing Kumbaya for good measure and celebrating the physical birth of another 10 members. But the truth of it is, the inside would still be the same…a self-serving, ingrown, “what can you do for me?” church.
Our congregations aren’t growing because we aren’t giving people the reason to live with hope. To live with purpose or passion, to live with authenticity, whether that be good or bad. We do not live in such a way that it causes inspiration in others, to ask what it is that gives us such hope. We are lacking in our love for others and character within ourselves, and in our hypocrisy we find that we have kept others from knowing the One who has rescued us and given us a life that is worth living.
The article ended with this…
“The fact is that one of the most reliable predictors of growth is fertility”
The births of my children are perhaps the most beautiful events that I have ever experienced. They were painful, messy, emotional, difficult, awkward and exhausting…but as the moment came, when they actually entered the world, there was joy, hope, peace and love…OH, the love!!! It is overwhelming! There are not enough words to adequately describe it. Spiritual birth is the same, isn’t it?Painful, messy, emotional, difficult, awkward and exhausting, but the moment comes, when someone enters into a loving relationship with Jesus, that there is joy, hope, peace and the overwhelming and endless love of our God.
So…if one of the most reliable predictors of growth is fertility, then how are we reproducing? Physically, in order to pad our member roster or spiritually, in order to add to the kingdom, giving people hope. Go, reproduce! Have a brood, a whole team, basketball, football…whatever team suits you, but ask God to help you reproduce and bring others to Him and live the life you were called to live!
