Live Longer! Hope is in the Church
This morning an old Sunday School friend of mine sent a photo showing that his juror number was 111. What, I asked him, would he have done if his number was 666...the dreaded Mark of the Beast?
That Larry Norman tune, I Wish We’d All Been Ready came rushing back to me (kids, take a watch). Oh yes, the chorus rings in my ears, “you’ve been left behind.”
Lord, have mercy. Those deep-rooted evangelical-rapture-thief-in-the-night memories are the thing of nightmares.
Speaking of nightmares, are we living in end times? (Sigh) I guess that’s for you seminary-types to tell me. But something sure feels weird these days, amirite? But…
I’m here to share with you good news. It’s true.
I recently read these very words printed in a secular publication:
“Research shows that attending a faith-based service four times a month could add four to 14 years to your life expectancy.”
Going to church can help you live longer! Now that’s something to perk you up. This info comes from interviewing 263 people who were 100 years old or older. Of those 263, 258 belonged to a faith-based community.
How about this for a tag line –
Our Awesome Church: Come here and live 14 more years!
No? Well I maintain...it’s a winner.
And more encouragement: My spouse and I love watching David Brooks and Jonathan Capehart on Friday nights on the PBS NewsHour. That’s when Brooks (the resident conservative) and Capehart (the more left leaning of the two) have a conversation about the week’s events. More often than not, they find agreement on the topics – and when they don’t, they disagree civilly.
Brooks recently gave an interview on the Carey Nieuwhof podcast. Nieuwhof asked Brooks:
“If you wished one or two things for the capital ‘C’ Church…what do you wish we would do in this cultural moment? What’s your advice to us?”
Brooks answered (emphasis added):
…I would tell church leaders, as I tell Christian college leaders, you have what the world is longing for. You have a spiritual formula. You have a body of spiritual wisdom.
You have a focus on the health of the soul. And you also have an intentional way to live. And I can tell you that, as someone who teaches in secular schools, my students are desperate for that.
And they want moral formation. They want somebody to speak into the yearnings, the spiritual yearnings of their life. They want someone who will offer them a coherent moral order.
In the midst of all the doom and gloom, your church just might have “what the world is longing for.” That is the hopeful message you can give to a country and a culture that is flailing about.
Not only can people live longer because they are a part of a faith community, more importantly, they can live a life with meaning. People can find moral formation to help them navigate a world that increasingly feels chaotic.
That is what your church can do in this time. Your congregation can be a gift to the world.
And no one, thank goodness, gets left behind.
Photo credit: Andrea Piacquadio @ pexels.com
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Upcoming webinar! I’ll be leading Legacy Giving 101: Developing a Simple Program for your Congregation on August 12. It’ll be offered twice: 11am-12pm and from 7-8pm. You can register now.
Cesie Delve Scheuermann (pronounced “CC Delv Sherman,” yes, really) is a Stewardship Consultant for the OR-ID Annual Conference. She is also a Senior Ministry Strategist with Horizons Stewardship – helping with capital campaigns and encouraging more generosity. For 25 years, while working as a volunteer and part-time consultant, she has helped raise over three million dollars for numerous churches and non-profit organizations.
You can reach Cesie at inspiringgeneorsity@gmail.com, at CesieScheuermann.com, or at cesieds@horizons.net. Want to schedule a meeting? She’s got you covered. Click on the link below. Maybe some clergy should follow Steve Carrell’s example and have a mid-sermon dance break?
Schedule a meeting now.
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