I-HOP to the World

Duke was my college buddy. He was a South Philly guy and committed to faith despite a lot of "rough edges." Since I was a kind of "compliant, follow the rules kind of guy," Duke served well as an alter-ego. He was adventurous, risked, rules were there to warn you to stay safe while breaking them. He taught be to drink "shots." Ok, I wrote it in public - I was a kid, once!

Our college Christian fellowship group had gone to a church event on a Sunday night. On the way back to Center City Philly, our three car loads of students stopped at the I-HOP Pancake House to get something to eat. There were fourteen of us and we filled the place. I think we reveled in the attention of the other diners. In the spirit of college years shananigans, one of us asked, "hey, who is going to say grace for us?"

When we heard the call for prayer we all pretended we didn't hear the question and pretended like we weren't there. Except for Duke. For Duke, that comment was a dare! Duke grabbed his chair and hauled his lanky, 6'4" frame up on the seat, and standing above the entire restaurant, raised his arms to heaven and intoned a long drawn out prayer for us and the other patrons! This is totally true.

Part joke and part deep sincerity, Duke wasn't afraid to be different. Today he is a chaplain in some of New Jersey's toughest prisons. We knew we wanted to keep custom with a grace before a meal. After all, we were the Christian Fellowship group on campus. We wanted the custom as long as it didn't make us different or distinct. Duke called our bluff by testifying to our faith in a very public manner.

I believe one of the keys to the renewal of our churches is going to be found in the renewal of our willingness to be different, to stand out in bold relief as God's people. I spoke with a minister once who came to serve American congregations after a life time of missionary work in Africa. He was suffering "church culture shock." He said, "in American churches, one can't tell the difference between a Christian disciple and any person on the street. In Africa, the Christians stand out, the live under threat of death, yet live a prophetic life. Counter-cultural?


To live a prophetic life is to speak volumes against the "pharoahs" of our worlds who seek to imprison us against the threat of God's reign breaking through. We don't speak of it often, but I've had my share of drunken Clerks of Session calling me in the middle of the night to "tell me off." I've confronted well known Elders in the midst of marital affairs. I sought to bringing healing to the congregation whose treasurer traveled the world on the money he skimmed off the books for 10 years. Confroning the pastor who was sexually abusing church members was emotional travail.

The big problem for me is that in many of these cases I would hear, "oh, these things happen, don't make a big deal of it". They are human, after all. We are human. And that's why God calls us to be unique and distinct, shining as lights in the darkness as the Apostle Paul wrote to the Philippians.

In one of my interim congregations, we completed most of our church mission study in preparation for a new pastor search process. These were all people in their 30s. One of them, reflecting on our description of the congregation's mission, declared, "our church sounds like a description of my Rotary Club! What makes us unique as Christians?"

Duke stood out in the crowd by standing up. How do we stand out? What do people think of when they hear the word, Presbyterian (other than, "how do you spell that?). Are we simply a Faith based Rotary or Lion's Club? Next time you go to I-HOP, here's what you can do.....

Bob Anderson
www.phgpresbytery.org