The one time seminary professor of Christian ethics at Duke University, Stanley Hauerwas had a novel idea about how churches should receive new members. He has written about the church's need for honesty and has called us to tell the truth as a "community of character."
To this end, he has a modest proposal. Whenever people join the church, Hauerwas thinks they should stand and answer four questions:
- Who is your Lord and Savior? The response: "Jesus Christ."
- Do you trust in him and seek to be his disciple? "I do."
- Will you be a faithful member of this congregation? The answer: "I will."
- Finally, one last question: What is your annual income?
You heard me correctly. When people join the church, Dr. Hauerwas thinks they ought to name their Lord and Savior and tell fellow church members how much money they make. It is obvious why Hauerwas was a professor and a pastor. His idea just wouldn't work, especially in the American church. Most church members believe salary figures are more sacred than prayer, and would quickly tell an inquisitive minister to snoop around somewhere else. What's more, parish experience tempers the questions a minister asks of church members. Most pastors quickly learn how to dance around the issue of money without ever naming it.