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In 1967 a scientist by the name of G. R. Stephenson conducted a study on some rhesus monkeys that revealed a very human-like pattern of behaviour. What exactly the experiment was is lost to time but the popularized version goes like this. He put five monkeys in a cage, suspended a banana from the ceiling, and put some stairs under it. Every time one of the monkeys tried to climb the stairs to get the banana all the monkeys were sprayed with very cold water. The monkeys soon learned to leave the banana alone. He then replaced one of the monkeys with one that hadn’t been sprayed. It, of course, went for the banana and as soon as it attempted to climb the stairs the other monkeys attacked it. It learned not to go for the banana…but not why. They then replaced a second monkey. The same thing happened. Surprisingly, the first “new guy” also joined in on the attack…but not knowing why. Stephenson did this until all five monkeys were replaced. They all repeated the attack behaviour…without knowing why. Then, they introduced more new monkeys to the same result. Without knowing why, the monkeys continued to prevent each other from taking the banana.
A young girl was helping her mother cook the Christmas ham. They unpackaged the ham and the mother cut the ends off of it before putting it in the pan. The young girl asked why she did that. Her mother said, “That’s how my mother taught me to do it.” When her grandmother arrived, the young girl asked her why they needed to trim the ends off the ham. Her Grandmother said, “That’s the way my mother showed me to do it.” Great-Grandmother arrives for Christmas dinner and the young girl, wanting to get to the root of the matter, asked her why she trimmed the ends off the ham. Great-Grandmother says, “Oh, the pan I used was too small for a full size ham so I had to trim it down a bit.
Well, these two stories are popular among that group of people known as congregational redevelopment experts. They are examples of that dreaded pattern of behaviour that congregations get into called, “The way we always done it.” The experts seem to believe that the reason congregations haven’t been growing the last four decades is that they have gotten out of step with the culture around them and need to change. So, they go to congregations and tell such stories. Then, predictably, they dish out the timeless definition of insanity: Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again each time expecting a different result. Then, predictably, the consultants make the threat that if a congregation doesn’t change, it will die. Then, predictably, the congregations do nothing.
The redevelopment experts seem to think that calling a congregation insane and then threatening them with death will spark a congregation to make some changes to adapt to the world around them and thrive. Oddly, I have noticed that it’s the congregational redevelopment experts who might be insane. They seem to keep expecting different results as they continue to do and say the same things over and over to congregations who in the end just continue to do the things they’ve always done. The most disillusioning field of ministry to be in today has to be congregational redevelopment.
Personally, I have been in the ministry now for 27 years toying around in the field of congregational redevelopment for roughly 24 years with a doctorate and a couple of other pieces of paper that say “Certified In” to back me up. But, I guess in an effort to preserve my sanity, I have come to the conclusion that “doing things the way we’ve always done them” isn’t really a bad thing just so long as no one gets hurt. If like monkeys we pound on people, especially new people, every time they want to try something new, then there is a problem. But, if there are things we do and ways of doing things that have become part of who we are, then that’s who we are. They are part of what makes us to be us.
What’s more, I think most new people, what very few there are, who come into a congregation come expecting to learn that congregation’s traditions and ways of doing things. One doesn’t marry into a family expecting them to do things in a way suitable to me. It’s best to learn the way they do things. It’s part of who they are.
The problem with people not coming to church anymore isn’t that congregations keep doing the same things the same way they’ve always done them not understanding why. The problem is that an institutional expression of faith is not something the culture we live in has any desire for and there’s nothing we can really do about that. For the most part, congregations and the individual Christians who make them up by doing the things they’ve always done actually continue to do a lot of good in their surrounding communities.
For example, you folks…Three years ago when Williamsford flooded this congregation put over $15,000 towards the cause of helping people rebuild and that’s not even counting how you as individuals helped your neighbours. You pray for each other. You check in on each other. You’re there for each other through the good and the bad. If there’s a death, you’re there with arms wide open to comfort. The dinners you put on give the community an opportunity to come together that wouldn’t be available if you weren’t here. This congregation and each of you are assets in this community in the name of Jesus. If this is just doing what you’ve always done, then keep doing it. Indeed, well done!
Paul wrote to Timothy here saying, “Continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it.” Timothy apparently had a pretty good knowledge of the Old Testament and how it pointed to Jesus and his kingdom and particularly the way of unconditional, sacrificial love that Jesus commanded of his disciples. Timothy had learned a lot in that respect. Yet, book learning isn’t exactly the type of learning Paul is talking about here. Rather, it’s the type of learning where someone takes you under their wing so you can learn what you need to learn by seeing it embodied in your mentor…and Scripture is helpful for that. If I were to offer a translation of what Paul said here, it would say, “Continue on in the things that you learned through discipleship and to which you are observantly loyal, keeping in mind the character of the person who discipled you.”
What Timothy learned is the Way of Jesus. He didn’t learn this by studying the Bible. He learned it from his mother and some other Christian role models in the congregation he grew up in, and from Paul. And so, Paul tells him to keep those people in mind meaning that by reflecting on their character and the Jesus way of life they modeled he would continue to grow in Christ himself and be able to teach and lead others in the Jesus way, equipping them for ministry…and of course Scripture (back then it was only the Old Testament) was helpful in that task.
We live in a day when people “have turned from the truth and wander away to myths”. This day and time people more than ever need us to continue being and doing the things we’ve always done. So, continue to be not just role models but Jesus models to your families and neighbours, always ready to give an account for the love that’s in you. Don’t be afraid to say “My mother taught me to be like Jesus, so did my Sunday School teacher sixty years ago, so that’s why I do what I do.” Moreover, don’t be afraid to invite people to church assuming that they won’t want to come.
Churchgrowth.org conducted a poll as to why people start attending a church. 2% said it was advertising. 6% said a minister invited them. Another 6% said it was because of an organized visitation program (They must have been JW’s). The rest, a whopping 86%, said it was because a friend invited them. A personal invitation from a respected friend goes a long way.
So, continue on in doing the things you’ve always done. Continue being disciples of Jesus in front of your families and your friends. Keep inviting them to come. We don’t know when the Spirit of God is going to again begin to get people to hunger for Jesus and Christian community. But the day will come. So, keep the light on. Amen.
