church issues

This morning during the church service (I don't think I can call it worship) the pastor did his standard introductory sermon to his regular sermon. He shared two lists which I found sort of interesting. He talked about hearing college age students talk about issues they are concerned with. He apparently asked them what issues their churches discuss and talk about. I don't know who these young people were, but this was the first list he shared. He titled it "Issues churches deal with according to young people." These were free will v predestination, which version of the Bible to use, style of music, length of the church service and sermon, and how often to have communion.

The next list was titled "Life issues of College Age Students." These included racism, the environment, energy conservation, war and gun violence, world hunger and population, alcohol and drug use, parent's divorce, finding and job and paying for college, finding a sense of community and the impacts of the latest technology.

As you can see there aren't many similarities between the two lists which leads to questions about if the church should be addressing these issues and if so, how should they be addressed. Unfortunately, one of the problems is that if the issues above are mentioned, you will generally get tagged with the "liberal" label, which here in the cornfields, isn't generally seen as a good thing. Trust me on that. The other problem is that at least one of the issues above can not be talked about honestly and that is the use of alcohol. The "official" line is that alcohol is bad and shouldn't be touched. There is an old joke that if you don't want a Mennonite to drink all your beer, make sure you invite at least two, then you will have it all to yourself.

The other interesting observation is to note what issues did not make the second list. Notably absent are issues of sexuality (including homosexuality) and abortion, issues which older people assume younger ones should care about but apparently don't.

From this introduction the pastor went into his main sermon based on Jesus calling the disciples. The focus was on the "call" and "making a decision to respond to the call." Yesterday was a long day, and I have to admit I think I dozed off a bit.

As I thought about church, I have to say I don't hear much discussion about issues on the first list which I suppose is a good thing. Still I think there is "an understanding" that good Christians read from the NIV, listen to Christian radio, have read the Left Behind series, and are content to sit through long sermons.

Sadly, I don't hear much discussion at church about the second list either, though at least once a month we hear something about the evils of alcohol. Issues I have heard discussed to some degree are - evolution (bad), six-day creation, 6,000 year old earth (good), dinosaurs on the ark (just plain sad), gun control (ain't nobody gonna take my shotgun away), taxes (bad), ethanol (good if you raise corn, not so good if you don't), Cubs or Cardinals (there is a real divide in the congregation), Hawkeye sports (Ferentz- good, Licklitter-give him another year) and the weather. In reality there don't seem to be good places at church where issues on the second list can be discussed. There seems to be a tendency to avoid bringing up issues which may cause conflict so it is easier to assume everyone agrees and the issue doesn't need to be mentioned. Or if someone does bring something up people won't respond directly to the person involved.
For example, there were those who didn't appreciate the trip I took to the West Bank with a Christian Peacemaker Team, but I didn't find this out till later, and then only indirectly. They apparently didn't want to hurt my feelings.

So why do I keep going back? I have to admit that it isn't for the Sunday morning service. If anything it is because of the people in the Sunday School class I attend, along with some of the other people at church. The class is a place where lots of issues are discussed and to use a phrase from the second list, I "find a sense of community."

To bring this to an end, it may be one reason some students are eager to discuss these issues at school. It just gets tricky when after a discussion, a student asks me directly, "what do you think?" Sometimes I'm saved by the bell, sometimes I respond with more questions for them, orsometimes a story. Occasionally I say what I think and then wonder how many calls or emails I will receive.