A tale of two universities

I live in Hillsborough, a little town just about equidistant between Durham, where Duke University calls home, and Chapel Hill, where UNC-Chapel Hill (aka “Carolina”) calls home. While these two schools have a national sports reputation, it’s their local influence I’d like to think about for a minute.

I’m just a casual observer, of course, but I find the communities around both schools very fascinating. Both schools have outstanding academic reputation, athletic reputations and prestigious alumni. But what are they doing for the areas right around them?

Well, you have Duke. It’s in Durham, NC, which has a tough reputation as a fairly violent and often poor city. To be fair, right around the university, home prices are pretty high and the neighborhoods are nice. I, for one, love to run the Al Buehler Cross Country course that goes around the golf course near the school. But as a larger community, it seems that the Duke influence has been minimal.

Even if you stretch out the influence beyond the immediate ZIP code, I’m always surprised when I run into a Duke alum outside of the great Raleigh-Durham area–partly because they are a pretty elite bunch and often because they are usually high paid or high profile people. In my experience, the Duke influence is strong, but focused.

Then, you have UNC-Chapel Hill. It’s in Chapel Hill, NC, which has the enviable position of having some of the highest property values in the entire state. While the city and it’s surrounding county (Orange) isn’t devoid of crime or poverty, its schools, city & county services and infrastructure, is top-notch (full disclosure: I live in Orange and enjoy many of these benefits … and pay the taxes that make them possible).

But what’s more, UNC-Chapel Hill also is something of “the people’s” school. I’ve met Carolina alum in all sorts of places and in all sorts of professions–teachers, executives, writers, athletes, politicians, homemakers, doctors, dentists, statisticians and more. While the school does a good job of remaining an elite institution of learning, it seems it also has somehow democratized higher learning too.

Plus, while both schools have incredible sports histories (particularly in basketball), you find Carolina fans all over the place, while a few Duke fans pop up from time-to-time. Full disclosure, I’m a Wake Forest fan (Go Deacs!) and also enjoy seeing Carolina lose.

So what?

Well I think our churches often take on the Duke role–serving some particular elite group that seems to serve our needs. Whether that’s the cultured set, a particular race of people or even the “hard core” true believers. Most churches will find enough of their target demographic to sustain themselves for some period of time. But it seems that we’re missing a huge opportunity to do what the church is supposed to do: make a real difference in the lives around us.

It seems that if we really do have the hope of the world (Jesus Christ) and we’re doing what He told us to do (tell people about Him, Matthew 28:18-20), then those places where churches pop up should be the most out-reaching and most life-altering places on the planet. You shouldn’t be able to live near a church and not be affected by it … even if you don’t go to their services.

Sadly, you can literally live next door to one (I live within walking distance of two!) and never feel their presence beyond the odd (it must be to those who don’t go) gathering that happens 1-3 times each week when the parking lots fill up with cars.

Shouldn’t  communities be improved around churches? Shouldn’t the sick, the poor, the afflicted, the hurting and the needy be helped by churches? Shouldn’t the wealthy, the poor, the liberal, the conservative, the saint, the sinner, the religions and the irreligious be sought out by the church?

I’m not saying that we have to bend the church to the standards of those around us–look at my example with Carolina, they certainly don’t lower academic standards (ok … there was the thing with the student athletes. But other than that!). But I am saying there ought to be real, lasting imprint that the church makes on everyone that comes close enough.

Unfortunately, too many churches are content being a Duke, super high standards, high cost of admission and completely comfortable having a minimal impact on those that live nearby.

Book Review: Why men hate going to church

Men hate going to church because church represents everything that natural men are against. Church–even at its worst–confronts the ugliness of sin. Unfortunately, some have the idea that if we just adjusted the church environment, people will flock to the church.

I recently read a book, called “Why men hate going to church,” that has that essential premise. Now, concede is that there is a harsh reality that this book attempts to address. But I fear that it tries to address it from an almost secular perspective. And that’s a fine thing if we’re marketing here. But this is a supernatural thing we’re talking about. God’s message coming to men can’t be seen as just another product to push, to be adjusted to the target market and spun to the audience’s approval.

What’s worse, with the spiritual realities of church, if you make it appealing to men (or any other sub-group for that matter), its possible that people will come, but what they’ll be coming may no longer be the church. Too many “churches” are religious-themed public gatherings or, worse, some sort of watered-down spiritualist exercise–all done in an attempt to attract some particular demographic.

We can’t allow that. We don’t want that. What’s more … God won’t allow it.

This is His church, He died for it and He will make it as He wants it.

With all of that said, the book (“Why men hate going to church”) was an interesting read that provides some provocative perspective worth considering. But since this book is on the topic of the church, I can’t give it a pass for pushing off the reasons for men’s disdain as biological or evolutionary. The author’s attempts to take the topic out of the spiritual realm unfortunately misses the very point: this is a spiritual problem. Where the book hits the mark is that it does touch on practical matters, but even then it does so in too broad and stereotypical terms.