mattmehaffey

The World is Flat

“Sometimes it falls upon a generation to be great. You can be that great generation.” - Nelson Mandela

"...and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."  - Jesus from Acts 1:8

There has never been a time with more opportunity and potential for global change than the time in which we live.

Globalization is nothing new for the city of Miami.  The latest study by the U.S. Census Bureau shows that over half of the city's residents were born in another country.  Miami is a gateway to the corners of the earth. 

The Pursuit Christian Church wants to storm that gate!

That's why our next series has been dubbed, The World Is Flat.  In his book, with the same title, Thomas Friedman, foreign affairs columnist for the New York Times, looks at how globalization gives people all over the world greater opportunities economically and socially than ever before. Friedman says that the world has “shrunk and flattened” in a way that empowers individuals like never before. 

In this series, we will be challenged by the life of Jesus to see our opportunities and responsibilities to change the world in three key areas:

• Sunday, November 2 - Lonely World: "Responding to God's call to reduce loneliness in the world."
• Sunday, November 9 - Impoverished World: "Responding to God's call to reduce poverty in the world."
• Sunday, November 16 - Lost World: "Responding to God's call to help people find their way back to Him."

Sunday Blend :: August 24, 2008

Yesterday we kicked off our Retro series at The Pursuit.  We took a trip back in time and looked at the 60s.  Like no other time in US history, the 60s was the decade of rebellion.  "Question Authority" was the mantra of the day.  It was widely taught that freedom could only truly be found through rejecting all authority.  Today in 2008, we are still widely influenced from this mindset.

The Big Idea: The world says, "Be your own authority." But Jesus says, "Make Me your authority."
Text: Matthew 8:5-13 - Jesus and the Roman Centurion

I had an absolute blast preaching this message.  I'll link to the podcast when it's up later this week. 

Highlights of the day:

• Several people came dressed up in 60s attire!  Ashley Cross gets the prize though.
• God brought several new people to The Pursuit.  One family just moved to Miami from North Carolina (usually it's the other way around).  How did they find us?  They were visiting family in Orlando this past July and attended Journey Christian Church one of the weeks I was preaching there!  I love watching God work.
• I took a cheap shot at Brett Favre.  C'mon, he deserves it for the constant media coverage he's put us through!
• Alex's rendition of The Beatles classic, "Blackbird."
• The laughter that came as a result from Yearbook Yourself.  If we did not get you this week, do not think you are safe! 
• We had a great group at Pursuit 1.0 last night.  My friend and new member of The Pursuit, Frank Fernandez, is a police officer in Miami and because of his job he gets to go to every home game for the Dolphins, Marlins and Hurricanes.  When Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 600th home run, Frank was the guy who pulled the guy who caught it out of the scrum. Last night he gave me a game used baseball from a Marlins game.  Cool!

Party People

Friday night, Janie and I, threw a party at our house and invited several families we've met in the year's time we've been in South Florida. Some were from The Pursuit and others we met in other social circles. Our friend Sheri Dupuy, from Indianapolis was staying with us for the weekend too. Good thing, cause we put her to work! But, that's what she gets for being a Red Sux fan.

Janie themed the party based on our multicultural makeup and everyone brought food from whatever part of the world they were from. As you can tell from the map, we had food from places like Cuba, Malta, Peru, Spain, and Kentucky (yes, there was chicken).

We also borrowed Alex and Erin Diaz's Wii which turned some party-goers into fierce competitors (cough, Janie, cough). Check the picture out below and see my record setting score, as I dramatically came back after starting off rather poorly against Janie. By the way, those are Alex and Erin's virtual versions of themselves (I played as Erin and Janie played as Alex). Victory!

Here are some other pictures from the party through my flickr account.

The Melting Pot is Heating Up

USA Today just reported a study many of its readers will be alarmed by. Basically, the report details in the United States by the year 2050 (when I am 73 and wearing my pants way too high) we may not recognize the country as we know it today. That is not a bad thing (I'll get to that later).

Here are some of the most interesting stats:

- The Hispanic in the U.S. will triple in size and count for 29% of the population.
- Whites in the U.S. will for the first time be a minority dropping from 66% today to 47% in 2050. By comparison, whites made up 85% of the population in 1960.
- In 2030, the fast growing demographic in the U.S. will be those 65+.

Here's the million dollar question: Is the Church in the U.S. paying attention?

We are quick to talk about being missional and contextualizing the good news of Jesus into our local community and culture. Well, what happens when our local community changes and doesn't look like it does in 2008? What happens when Indianapolis, Louisville, and Cincinnati all start looking like Miami? It appears we are going to be tested by putting our money where our mouths are as the expression goes.

Some people reading this post and seeing this study will be upset by it. They are used to the way things are now and would like it to always be that way. They'll want tougher immigration laws and border security to try and stop this from happening. I would remind them if they don't like it now you probably aren't going to like it in Heaven. All nations, all languages forever. It's like the United Nations except with Jesus and a clue.

Even in South Florida (where whites have become used to being a minority), I am amazed at how segregated the Church is. We are in one of the most diverse cities in the world and I constantly see churches having English services at one time, Spanish services at another time, Haitian services at another. The Pursuit Christian Church has decided we are going to reflect the creative character of God by celebrating together in the same room at the same time. Does it make some uncomfortable? Yes. Does it take more time and effort to plan. Sí. Is it worth it. Oh, yeah. I am not saying we are doing things better. It's just what we felt called to do.

I see this as a great opportunity for the Church to regain its voice in society. The Church should be leading the way in bringing unity to diversity because our common ground is Jesus. But we can't wait until 2050 and be leading the way!

Read the article for yourself.

The Disabled Gospel

I am sure many great ideas occur when time is spent in the bathroom. I wonder how many take place when walking into the bathroom?

The church that I used to work at rented office space in an industrial park during it's relocation process. The church offices were on the second floor.

While I had always noticed before that the bathroom was handicap accessible, it struck me one day for the first time how inaccessible the church offices were to people with disabilities. Really. There was no elevator or ramp that led to the second story of the office building. The closest thing to it was a lift that was used to carry heavy objects like copiers and office furniture up the staircase through the service entrance. Not exactly the most welcoming sight for someone who uses a wheelchair.

Seriously, how ironic is this? We had a bathroom for the disabled but there's no way for them to get there. The designers had made access next to impossible.

Obviously, this is wrong. Fortunately, the church staff is now in their snazzy new offices (all on the first floor).

But this got me thinking...

Often times, I get more than a little annoyed by Christians. (By Christians I mean people who love and try to follow Jesus, not those who think saying they are Christian is the equivalent of saying, "I'm American.") To be fair, my annoyance is also pointed at myself, as I am one of those who loves Jesus and tries to be more like him.

The root of the annoyance? We have Jesus. Others need Jesus. We've made Jesus nearly inaccesible to them.

Let me prove my point...

Jesus ordered us to go into the world and tell others how much he loves them (Matt 28:19). Instead of going into the world, we've created our own. We've got our own music. Our own bookstores filled with our own books. Our own Yellow Pages but ours are blue! Our own movies (Left Behind, End of the Spear). Our own nightclubs. Our own schools/home schools. Our own video games. Our own myspace. Our own clothing. Our own Halloween, er, I mean Fall Festival parties.

Is this what Jesus meant when he sent us to be his witnesses to all people groups? It seems to me all of these things are more for Christians than for those who don't know Jesus. Some how I doubt he is pleased with the way we have run from the world so we could be content with our second rate entertainment and safe environments. We create our little Christian culture and expect non-Christians to see it as relevant instead of taking Jesus, WHO IS RELEVANT, into culture.

I have become more and more impressed with artists like C.S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, Bono, and Johnny Cash. They understand (or understood for those who are no longer with us) that Jesus is indeed relevant here and now in this age. They have gone into popular culture and point others to the way of Jesus. How many millions of people have seen and heard clear portrayls of the love of Christ because of their works?

We have a God who is the same yesterday, today and forever. He is always relevant. We have been called to "contend for the faith that has been entrusted to us (jude 3)." The word contend sounds to me like a call to get into culture, mix it up, take risks and show the relevance of Jesus to a culture that needs him and his followers more than ever.