Ball of Confusion

Some years ago there was a popular song entitled, "Ball of Confusion." This song was performed, aptly enough, by a group called the Temptations. The song was topical, dealing with social and moral crises faced by America in the late 1960s: war, poverty, race relations, political strife. Strangely, everything the Temptations sang about in the song plague America today. Today, sadly, the title "Ball of Confusion" talks to everything our Church has experienced with the Healthy Church Initiative.

If you doubt that, let's take a moment and examine with word "confusion." Confusion could be defined as the state of being confused. Disorder. Upheaval. Disorientation. Bewilderment. Confusion can also be defined as a lack of clearness or distinctness. So if we agree, that these are definitions of "confusion," then let do the analysis.

In the case of Takoma Park, we were told that we needed to vote in favor of Paul Borden's Staff Lead Church, "so we can win people from the neighborhood." Yet there was never a plan to do this. Sounds like confusion to me. But let's put it to the test. How many people who actually live, or work in the greater Takoma Park neighborhood have actually joined the Takoma Park Church? To date, none.

In fact let's talk about church growth in light of the Growing Healthy Church Initiative. We've seen the usual baptisms, i.e., kids graduating from John Nevins Andrews School and capping off the experience with a baptism. Dedicating one's life to Christ is important at any age. I, for one, am always glad to see anyone baptized. But where are these kids, or anyone else, once they've been baptized? It's like once they've been baptized, they disappear.

This brings to mind the idea of "Net Baptisms." Do the math. Look at the people that have come in versus the people that are leaving, or who have left. The net growth is in negative numbers. It's become so bad, Takoma Park won't even print transfers in and out in the church bulletin. Yet the pastors at the Takoma Park say the church is growing.

Sounds like confusion.

But all this raises another question. God is not the author of confusion. If this not-so-new change in structure, that was supposed to grow the church, isn't, then who or what is really behind it?

Like I said, God is not the author of confusion...