“A new pastor in a small Midwestern town spent the first four days making personal visits to each of the members, inviting them to come to his first service. The following Sunday, the church was all but empty. Accordingly, the pastor placed a notice in the local newspapers, stating that because the church was dead, it is everyone’s duty to give it a decent Christian burial. The funeral would be held the following Sunday afternoon, the notice stated.
Morbidly curious, a large crowd turned out for the “funeral.” In front of the pulpit, they saw a closed coffin, smothered with flowers. After the pastor delivered the eulogy, he opened the coffin and invited his congregation to come forward and pay their final respects to their dead church.
Filled with curiosity as to what would represent the corpse of a “dead church,” all the people lined up to look into the coffin. Each “mourner” peeped into the coffin then quickly turned away with a guilty, sheepish look. In the coffin, tilted at the correct angle, was a large mirror!”
I read the above story on Facebook recently and thought, while it was clearly apocryphal, found it both humorous and insightful. It was an obvious “over the top” story to me but still had merit. One of my Facebook friends saw my repost of the story on my Facebook page and commented that her brother had been a pastor in Kansas City and had actually done that. She said her brother was known for doing lots of unusual things and made the newspapers with some of his “doings.” I replied that I would have liked her brother because I like “characters,” being one myself. She replied back that attendance at his church was down one Sunday, so the next Sunday he called every member of the congregation, simply saying, “This is your conscience—tomorrow is Sunday.” The sanctuary was full the next day. I loved it. I wish I had known her brother. I’ve done some “crazy” or “over the top things” myself but nothing that glorious. I may send out an email with the “This is your conscience” thing. The devil is whispering in my ears right now.
Aside from these clever and clearly over the top kinds of actions, the fundamental truth is still there. It is each of us who determines whether our church is full, half full, or half dead. It is the members and friends of every congregation that determine whether the church thrives or struggles. It is the members and friends of every congregation that determine whether that congregation is growing or dying, sharing the Good News, and bringing new disciples or becoming a museum.
Where do you fit in with all of this? Is being in church a regular priority in your life or are you an “occasional, I’ll stop by now and then” or even “long gone” kind of person? The truth is each of us makes those decisions on our own and collectively determines the future of our church. I’ve noticed over a lifetime that most people want the church to be there for them when they need it, but all too often don’t get that the church can only be here for us if we help make it so.
So, bottom line we all have to look in the mirror.