People are failing to recognize, value holiness
Here is a sad tale from Minnesota, where the people have elected a former professional wrestler, Jesse Ventura, as their governor. Some people are so mesmerized by this huge politician that they hang on his every word as if each utterance were a morsel from the gods. When Jesse Ventura told Playboy magazine that religion was for weak-minded people who needed a crutch, probably half the state nodded in agreement. And when Ventura said he wanted to be reincarnated as a 38DD brassiere, probably 50 percent of the electorate spent the day guffawing. What a funny fellow -- even his humor is coarse. But now we have a situation here in the heartland that really has me stirred up. There is a small town in central Minnesota named St. Augusta. And some of the town fathers want to change the name of the community to Ventura. They've asked the governor if he would approve, and he gave permission. This is a lesson in how lightly we regard holy servants. The truth about St. Augusta is both inspiring and shocking. St. Augusta was a young woman, probably a teen-ager, living in 5th century Italy. She was most likely a pagan, and her entire family was pagan. But Augusta met some Christians, and they told her about their faith. Augusta pondered these things and decided to give herself to Jesus Christ. When her father found out she was worshiping with Christians, he killed her. That's the shocking truth, the father killed his daughter when she would not give up her Christian faith. And centuries later some pious people in Minnesota named their town after Augusta, a victim of religious bigotry. This has all been researched by Michael Silhavy, the associate director of the worship office at the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Now some hooligans want to rename their town after a man who has little regard for religion. He has said religion is for people who like to stick their noses in other people's business. If I lived in St. Augusta, I would be outraged by any attempt to rename the town Ventura. That's the way things are going in this world. The other day here in Minnesota, a professional wrestler by the name of The Rock came to the Mall of America for an event, and 15,000 people were there to scream approval. But I wonder how many people would show up to greet an honest-to-God hero such as Nelson Mandela. We are not only lazy about holiness, we outright reject holiness and push it aside so our children don't even have to regard holiness as a possibility. I suppose for some of you, that sounds like the carping of a crabby man who has forgotten how to have fun. But look around. Doesn't it seem that people do not appreciate substance as much as they once did? For instance, a couple of weeks ago I had a conversation with a pastor who had given himself to the same congregation for many years. We were talking about the day-to-day operation of congregations, and this earnest man was enumerating all the things the people expected him to do. And then he said, "In 17 years, at all those annual meetings, they have never thanked me.'' I sort of chuckled, but then I saw that he was genuinely hurt by this lack of appreciation. And I said, "Surely, they thank you at other times?'' And he shook his head. Of course, he may have forgotten the times he has been thanked. But I would guess many clergy and staff members do labor year after year with no formal note of appreciation. What would it cost to have a member of the congregation give the preacher a little speech of appreciation? These annual meetings coming up during the month of January are sometimes the straw that breaks the camel's back. And the preacher is the camel. The straw is two hours of criticism and talk about an eroding membership and a diminishing treasury with no hope for recovery. Of course, every day the pastor wonders frantically how the decline can be turned around. In some cases, it can't. The truth is, many congregations are slowly dying. In most instances, the decline is not the pastor's fault. It is the result of years of neglect by the constituency. Neglect of evangelism, stewardship, education and the worship life of the people. So I'm hoping St. Augusta will salvage her name. And I'm praying that all preachers get thanked for something, even if it's just for being there. Clark D. Morphew January 15, 2000