Author: Anne Marie Miller

i hope you don’t mind, but i am using some of the comments from the “i like michael moore” post to make some parallels on this one. it is not my intent to misuse these quoted words, but to discover how michael moore and the church are similar.

Bobby says:

I think the question for Michael Moore is the real, underlying motivation for his passion. What change is he trying to initiate? What is he trying to accomplish?

Michael says:

like many pharisees or unbelievers, he brings an element of truth to what he says but you have to get through the propaganda to hear it. we just need to be wise in what we let in and wise in not disregarding what we don?t like.

good subject even though he distorts the truth for his causes.

Tony says:

I do have a tough time w/ the spin he puts on things. But, it?s politics, everyone spins – there?s no ?truth?.

And Leslie says:

dare I say that the American church has it?s own bit of propaganda and agenda in the public arena, too. But don?t take my word for it?I?m just a little jaded.

Leslie pretty much asks my next question. Yes, Michael Moore is biased, he spins the truth, embellishes, exaggerates and takes things out of context.

How often does the Church do the same thing? One of my favorite people wrote about Cheap Grace…I have seen my share of churhes preach that. And there are so many things that are easy for churches to sell but I think we all can agree the Bible is full of things that go against human nature, what comes naturally:

In order to live, we must die?
In order to be great, we must be least?
The meek will inherit the earth?
We must seek sorrow without despair?
We must love our enemies?

I am not being a killjoy. Through those things we learn joy. We find joy – A joy that is beyond our human nature. And I am not opposed to happy pastors and authors, but there are far too many of those pretty white teeth on our bookshelves. We are not fulfilling our purpose and calling by only telling one side of the story. In fact, I think as Michael Moore does a disservice to those who buy into his philosophies, we often do a disservice to everyone – Christ followers, or not – by not presenting all of the truth, or taking it out of context in order to meet everyone’s “felt needs.”

Some notes I had earlier written on Colson’s book, Being the Body:

Since when is the gospel of christ comfortable? Since when is confronting sin comfortable? Grace is all encompassing and forgiveness covers all sin, as well as the fact we serve and worship a loving God, but the truth is God cannot stand to look at us if it weren?t for the cross.

Has the Church put a spin on these essential truths because we’re afraid we’ll scare people away?

before the political comments start, let me go ahead and thwart them by saying i don’t necessarily agree with mikey’s views on a lot of things. i did see sicko, i did enjoy it, and actually do agree with most of which he conveys in that documentary.

anyway, i am not here to argue healthcare. i am here to restate my title: i like michael moore.

why do i like him?

because he is passionate. he is persistent. and he is intolerant. he stands up for what he believes in and doesn’t let people with other opinions stop him from pursuing change. yes, he lacks tact and grace, but we all have our flaws.

i think the church could learn from michael moore. too often, we sit back. we are passive. we give up. we tolerantly accept culture and in extreme cases, bow to it. we talk about the things we believe in, but we don’t act on it enough. oh, and often, we lack tact and grace. (i know i do).

people with unwavering passion challenge my contentedness. they move me to action. they stir my spirit. people like michael moore make me realize that i have been inactive for far too long.

if you’re reading this, you’ve been prayed for.

granted, i don’t know everyone who reads this blog by name. those of you i do, i’ve prayed for you. those of you i don’t, i’ve prayed for you, too.

every once in a while i have a really hard time sleeping so for the last hour or so, i really felt like i should lift you up in prayer.

some of you i know are going through really tough times – health stuff, church staff stuff, upcoming mission trips, already on mission trips, family problems, depression problems, money problems, loneliness, work stress, transitions in life, your kids, your friends…those are just a few specific things that have been lifted up.

insomnia’s not always a bad thing i guess. i hope you all have a splendid tuesday.

Main Entry: Summer
Part of Speech: Noun
Definition: Season
Synonyms: Watermelon. Cookouts. Camps. Fireworks. Plummeting Offerings. Low Attendance.
Source: American Church Innovative? Thesaurus, First Edition (v 1.0)

Growing up a PK, I remember my dad “saving up” for the summer months, knowing we’d have 1/2 to 2/3 of our normal attendance, and even a smaller percentage of those people giving. Bills still had to be paid. He still had to be paid. We still had to eat.

Fast forward to now. Four years in full time church-staff ministry. Like clockwork, attendance declines. Budgets are put on spending Red Alerts. And every year we try to develop a solution to break out of the logical and predictible facts of church life.

Last night, I had some time to drive around one of my favorite parts of Dallas while waiting to pick up a friend from the airport. The houses, artistically designed, beautifully landscaped. My old Pontiac, sandwiched by two new Mercedes as we crawled down the narrow but heavily traveled Mockingbird Lane at 20 mph.

I saw two ladies crossing the street, deeply involved in conversation. Did they go to church anywhere? Did they miss the music and the message on Sunday? Maybe they were the church, wearing work out clothes with messy hair. They were sharing life with each other, it was obvious.

A million different scenarios played out in my mind as I watched them while I was stopped at a red light. They could be the church right now. But they aren’t ending up on any attendance record.

I’m sure like many other churches out there, weekly – maybe monthly – those of you who are on staff get to hear the “numbers”…This year…Last year…What was the weather like? How come more people aren’t coming? Oh, holiday weekend. Or maybe everyone was on the lake.

7:30 pm rolls around, and I pick up my friend from the airport. We head out and meet up with my friend Andrew. We go into a local tattoo parlor, where she gets her nose pierced. We hang out with a big tattoo artist named Dutch and laugh with him as he’s made another tattoo artist scream in pain (evidently on purpose) while getting some coloring done. Then we go across the street to a greasy-but-so-delicious sports bar for some late night fat intake. We talk about roommates, Kansas, New York, Texas, corn allergies.

We were the church, but unless Snuffer’s takes a secret count for the different churches we attend, we didn’t end up on any attendance sheet.

I realize this has become quite a lengthy post, and that I am constantly breaking my own blogging rules of brevity. But this time, I do it unapologetically so.

As the events of last night blurred together when I feel asleep (far later than I should have) and as I reflect on them collectively now, I realize that although not a bad thing, measuring weekly church attendance isn’t really a fair representation of truth.

You can measure how many people breeze in and out of your doors at specfic times on the weekend. You can count up the tear-off cards and find out how many of them are “first time visitors” to your church. And sure, maybe it will help you see if you are being “successful” numerically.

But how can you really define that term “success?” When really what is more important than how many seats you have filled up on Sunday is what is going on OUTSIDE of your doors on a rainy Thursday night, much like last night.

Where is your church then? Working late? Fighting? Loving? Serving? Being Christ to the World?

Keeping track of your numbers on the weekend is a great tool for measuring. I guess I’m just not quite sure what we’re measuring.