Here Are My Thoughts

Today, I forgot to go to my haircut appointment. It completely slipped my mind, despite the automated text reminder yesterday. Luckily, the woman who cuts my hair is awesome and got me in later today. But still-I forgot. Isn’t it annoying to forget things? We do it a lot. Thankfully, the things we forget often aren’t all that important. But sometimes, they are. Sometimes, what we forget is crucial. And that’s when our forgetfulness has major consequences.

I don’t know how familiar you are with the state of the christian church in America today, but whether you’re aware or not, here’s the truth: it doesn’t look good. Pew Research Center’s current data tells us that almost 1 in 4 Americans is identified as a “none”, meaning they have no religious affiliation whatsoever. Additionally, 72% of that group falls between the ages of 18-49. (You can read the report for yourself here.)

The reason I wrote the paragraph above is not to bash the church. I love the church. I grew up in it, met almost everyone I love through it, believe in it, and have chosen to serve it-so don’t misread my motives. However, loving and believing in something doesn’t mean giving it a free pass when things need to change. See, when I read statistics like the ones referenced here, when I see literally millions of people becoming disengaged and disinterested in Christianity, I can’t help but ask some questions: How did this outlook get so bleak? Why don’t people want to be a part of this? What are we doing wrong?

And I won’t even pretend to know how to answer those questions. There are a lot of people who are a lot smarter and more educated than I am, and they’ve written extensively on this subject. But today, I just want to offer what I think is one possible reason. One thing that we, as the Body of Christ, haven’t done particularly well. And it’s boiled down into three words: We. Don’t. Remember. 

Here’s what I mean. As I reflect on my experience as a Christian, as I think about the people I’ve met and the conversations I’ve had, one of the common behaviors that makes me cringe the most is simply how forgetful we are. No, I’m not talking about an inability to recall moments, dates, lessons or verses. I’m talking about our inability to remember our own stories. Our journeys to faith. Our lives, before we met Jesus. Our struggles in the midst of attempting to follow him.

Yes, we in the church sometimes have an issue with forgetfulness-we’re quick to judge others for their baggage, and slow to remind ourselves of our own. We vigorously oppose those who don’t follow the ways of Jesus, but casually let ourselves off the hook when we do the same. We withhold mercy, forgetting that we need it too. In short, we don’t remember. We don’t remember where we’ve been, what we’ve done, and what was needed to redeem us from it. And it’s driving people away from our churches in droves.

See, when we forget grace, and how much we’ve needed it, when with live with an attitude of self-righteousness, we are just like the spoiled rich kid we all knew in grade school. Just like him, we’ve been afforded a great privilege, but we’ve forgotten that we didn’t earn it. And as we know, no one likes to be around someone like that.

Which is why it’s so important that we stop it. That we stop being forgetful. Because we have much to remember, and remembering will only help us. Help us live better as followers of Jesus, and help us reach and build relationships with those who don’t know Jesus.

So what do we need to remember? Let’s use Ephesians 2:1-10 as a guide:

-We have to remember our hopelessness without Christ (vs. 1-3)

-We have to remember the grace and mercy God showed to us, and the life he gave us in Christ (vs. 4-7)

-We have to remember that we had nothing to do with it (vs. 8-9)

-We have to remember the mission that God has called us to after he saved us (vs. 10)

When we remember these four things-what we did, what God has done, what we haven’t done, and what we are now to do-we move closer to being the church Jesus Christ died for and built in the first place. We live richer, more God-honoring lives. We treat people the way Jesus did in his time on earth. And maybe, just maybe, we become more appealing to those who in that “none” category.

So let’s stop forgetting. Let’s remember the brokenness we live with (if you don’t remember any brokenness, you’ve misremembered) and the grace that saves us from it. And in turn, let’s extend that same grace to others. Let’s love those around you with the same love you’ve been shown. Let’s accept people as they are, build relationships with them, introduce them to Jesus, and together grow to follow him closely.

-Brett