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BY MELISSA LAUBER
UMCONNECTION STAFF

The church is standing at a threshold, confronting hope and challenge, open to the possibility of remembering who we are and what God is really calling us to be, self-described "ordinary radical" Shane Claiborne told the people of the Annapolis Southern Region March 17.

"The more I have read the Bible and studied the life of Jesus, the more I have become convinced that Christianity spreads best not through force but through fascination," Claiborne said. "But over the past few decades our Christianity, at least here in the United States, has become less and less fascinating. We have given the atheists less and less to disbelieve. And the sort of Christianity some of us practice or see in our churches looks less and less like Jesus."

Meaningful discipleship is becoming an endangered art, Claiborne told the more than 330 people who gathered at the regional Leadership Day, sponsored by the Baltimore-Washington Conference's Discipleship Academy.

He challenged those present to remember that discipleship is not a doctrinal test, but a way of living in the world.

Several people present asked Claiborne about difficulties they were having attracting young adults and the unchurched in their faith communities.

He responded by citing the Barna Research study, published in the book "UnChristian," which found that the majority of young people today view the church as first, anti-gay; second, judgmental; and third, hypocritical. "The list doesn't get much better after that," Claiborne said.

"We're exclusive. But we need to remember it's not about who we exclude, but who we embrace. How do we rediscover the heart of discipleship and formation?"

Claiborne grew up United Methodist and suggested the church might wish to more deeply explore its Wesleyan and Gospel roots to discover a new imagination.

"We need to creatively think about what it would look like to live out the Gospel of Jesus in light of the world we live in," he said. John Wesley did this by giving away almost all he earned to the poor and preaching a message of social holiness. Jesus preached the scandalous story of the Good Samaritan and suggested that loving God is less about right thinking and more about right living.

"If you want to find yourself, give yourself away. That's the kind of living that is creative and catches the world's attention," Claiborne said. "It's not just our beliefs. How do our life patterns, economics, politics, and social interaction align with who Jesus is? People aren't looking for a church that's perfect. They're looking for a church that's honest."

In addition to worship, and hearing from Claiborne, those at Leadership Days attended workshops on a variety of topics that lead to church growth and deeper discipleship. This is the third regional session held in the conference this year.

Additional workshop-based events will be held next January and more in depth courses on a variety of topics are offered through the Discipleship Academy's regional schools of church leadership. For more information, visit www.bwcumc.org/academy.

In closing the Annapolis session, Claiborne challenged those present to stay connected to broken people, broken streets and broken places. "Our wounds are no liabilities. They're our credentials," he said.

He also told those present about ranchers, who have two ways of keeping watch over their cattle – by building extensive gates and fences or offering a good food supply. "The church, too, could focus on gates and the ways we make sure people stay in and stay out. But I'd rather we create places where people can be fed, where we can love and be loved and find Jesus."

Leadership Days are about learning how to provide that excellent spiritual food supply.

"Jesus is the lens through which we read the world," Claiborne concluded. "We're about bringing God's dream down."