My home state of Kentucky is ranked next to last among the states in “well-being,” according to a recent Gallup poll.  Based on responses to questions on work environment, emotional health, physical health, basic access, healthy behavior, and life-evaluation, Kentucky scored a “D minus,” 62.3%.  The Well-Being Index is calculated on a scale of 0 to 100, where a score of 100 would represent ideal well-being.

It’s the work of sociologists and economists to ask the “why” and the “how” questions about such data.  I want to ask, what is the impact on mission?  If God’s mission in Kentucky is to bring the kingdom here, just as it is in heaven, then what are his people to do?  If the realities of God’s reign, which include no more tears or pain (Revelation 21:4), is to become a reality in our state, what is the task of the church?

The church is to be an agent of “shalom” – a rich, multi-faceted, biblical concept of God’s best, wholeness, and wellness.  The message of Jesus we live out is not about minimal entrance requirements for heaven when we’re gone.  It is about “good news” now.  Shalom now.  Holistic well-being now.  Our whole selves – spiritual, physical, emotional – are to be affected by the gospel.

And that means the church in Kentucky has some work to do.

We must make a shift from a gospel limited to, “if you died tonight …” and encompass a more holistic, “if you live tomorrow” approach to faith.  The well-being of those in contact with a missional Jesus-community ought to be higher than a “D minus.”

So, what would it mean for the Jesus-message to take hold in the work-place?  What would it take for it to impact emotional health?  Physical health?  Basic access to necessities like clean water, medicine, food, shelter, and affordable fruits and vegetables?  How does the gospel affect healthy behavior choices?  And how might a follower of Jesus respond to a question of life-evaluation?

Whether you’re a Kentuckian or not, I’m interested to hear your response in thinking about “well-being” where you are.

Related posts:

1. Lesslie Newbigin: Power of a Believing Community
2. The “Jealousy” of God
3. The Lesson of Show & Tell

This morning, I had an interesting conversation, but it’s what I over-heard afterward that has stuck with me.

Over the past year or so, when I’ve come into a local restaurant for breakfast, I’ve had occasional conversations with a certain employee.  At some point I realized she knew that I was a pastor, though I’d never talked about it.  I realized I had met her dad in another circle.  We had some common background.  So, we talked.  A smile and a nod most mornings, because she was busy.  But other times, a brief exchange.

I’ve watched her duties change and she’s moved up – looks like she’s a manager now.  This morning, she came from the back to say hello.  Ahead of the blueberry bagel that was still in the toaster, she told me that someone had suggested our church to her.  They had told her that she and her boyfriend should come because we have a younger crowd.  I said this is probably right.  She asked where we were located … I told her she’d be welcome.  That was it.

As I filled my mug at the self-serve coffee counter, now facing away from the cash register, I smiled and thought, “I sure hope she comes; that would be great to see her connect!”  Then, I heard the girl who was working the register – the one who had taken my order – say to this co-worker, “I haven’t been to church in forever.”

And that’s what I’ve been thinking about ever since.

I know something about this person now.  She doesn’t go to church and hasn’t in “forever.”  She can’t be 25 years old, so “forever” must be a good bit of her life, maybe all of her adult life.  I also know something about the conversation between her manager and me got her attention, even if briefly.  So, what do I do about it?

She’s not unlike many young adults in our area of the country:  de-churched.  Something about her experience of “church” failed to captivate her or turned her away.  And I want her to find something different, life-changing.  It’s so hard to know what to do in these forced relational situations.  Yes, she and I have been “friendly” (though she’s new, I’ve seen her a couple of times and we’ve joked and said hi and bye) but it’s nothing more than a forced friendly.  She’s paid to be nice, and at this point I have an agenda …

How can I reach across the counter and tell her that she needs to meet the Jesus who shows up most weeks in the midst of our community?  He’s what she needs and wants in the deepest way.  But if I tried to tell her that, she’d likely be pushed further away, and I’d be perverting our still-forming friendship.

So, I guess it will take time.  Maybe over the next year, maybe longer.  There will be opportunities to get to know her.  If I’m listening, she may share something of what’s important to her.  My agenda will fade away, and I’ll learn to like her for who she is.  I may gain a modicum of trust with her.

I wonder if she’s like a lot of people her age, and I’ll have to “prove” I’m not that kind of pastor.  Because she knows something about me now, too!

For too long, evangelism and social activism have been separated. Followers of Jesus are given the false impression they must choose to be involved with one or the other at a time.

Jesus came with saving love for the whole world. He indwells the church, empowering us to be on mission with him, redeeming the world. He invites us to be a part of his missional community in order to experience his saving love and participate in it.

If that was our view of the larger process called “salvation,” then distinctions like “evangelism” and “social action” would fall away.  Both are integrated in our experience of God’s saving love for the world.  Those who want to know Jesus, whether through our proclamation or through our demonstration, we invite into community.  Those who don’t, we serve in love, fostering peace, joining God in seeking their wholeness.

Related posts:

1. Bonhoeffer on Church, Endowments, Clergy, and Social Life
2. The Saving Life of Christ
3. Prayer for Holy Rebels … [Do I Really Want to Do This?]

My 5 year old son is in pre-school and one of his favorite times comes when he gets to bring in a treasured item to “show and tell.” Next week is the extraordinarily anticipated day when he’ll be taking in our new Christmas puppy for his classmates to see!

Now, he has a lot to learn in life, but the lesson of “show and tell” is one I hope he hangs on to.

The apostle, Peter once wrote:

But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have, but do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.

- 1 Peter 3:15-16

Show … and then tell. Peter seems to take for granted that in the life that you live, there will be a pattern of “behavior” so different, so full of “hope,” that those around you will “ask.”  And it’s then, with the same gleam in our eye as my excited 5 year-old will have next week, that we get to tell all about the One we’re showing off!