Many of you know that I live and work in Silicon Valley. Some years back, I had a co-worker who was in charge of assembling the smaller pieces of the design into the completed artwork (yes, computer chips are actually drawn). Due to the precision and accuracy involved, he would often not trust verbal communications about the pieces being handed to him. He was skeptical, because people frequently told him inaccurate information - not because they were lying, but because they simply didn’t report correct information. He would often say, “I’m from Missouri - show me.” (he is actually from New York, and has a noticeable accent, which made the statement mildly amusing).
He gave that reply because the unofficial nickname of the state of Missouri is the “Show Me” state (I’ll let you do the research, and come to your own conclusion of how and why it got that nickname). Because he didn’t trust the verbal information, people would have to bring up the data on-screen, so he could see it for himself. Only then, would he believe what people were telling him. Fortunately, the completed design was correct, and the products were very successful in the market.
We live in a skeptical world. I’m sure you’ve seen dozens of supposed miracle products, heard of conspiracy theories, and received emails saying that you’ve inherited a large sum of money from another country. Along side that, practically every time I see a church making national news, it doesn’t paint a picture of “the most loving place in town.” It’s no wonder that people are skeptical of churches and their beliefs.
Wouldn’t you like to demonstrate what CCUMC believes? The world may not believe what we say, and they may not even want to hear it in the first place. If I’m a non-Christian, do I want the church to “tell me” a set of beliefs? Maybe they would rather have the church “show me” what the church believes.
Many churches - even CCUMC - are hoping that the world will walk into the sanctuary on Sundays and find out what we believe. Is that an effective way to demonstrate what we believe? Our sanctuary only seats about 80 people, and on most Sundays it isn’t even close to full. The world is not breaking down our doors to get inside and see what’s going on.