The Golden Ratio

In the January, 2014 issue of The Lutheran, the thoughtful cover story, “Renew and renovate the work of the church: ‘It’s not a numbers game, it’s spiritual belief and passion.” by  Jane Oppermann argues in part that the involvement by parishioners in church based on their life stories and traditions are not appropriate reasons for people’s engagement in church; they should be at church because of their spiritual focus.

I argue that such an exclusive focus on the spirit while ignoring the flesh is short sighted.  As an older adult (Golden Ager, if you will) whose welfare depends more and more on positive relationships with family, friends and congregational acquaintances, I am diminished by those who would pay little heed to my health and well-being as they argue “my-way-is-the-true-way” understandings of Biblical messages.

To avoid lopsided discussions and arguments, I suggest Golden Ratio discussions (The Golden Ratio is the Golden Rule divided by Spirituality).

               The Golden Rule  

  --------------------------   =  the Golden Ratio

                 Spirituality                  

The numerator is the Golden Rule; stories of congregational life that identify people’s efforts to “Do unto others that which they wish others would do unto them.”   The denominator is the religious/spiritual orientation; the churches focus on Biblical stories.

Some churches will focus heavily on Biblical/Spiritual messages and pay scant attention to actual human relationships and people’s well-being.  They would have a small Golden Ratio.  

Other churches may focus especially on small groups and positive relationship activities and experiences for congregation members and say little about the stories from the Bible that address spiritual needs.  These churches would have a large Golden Ratio. 

Importantly, just by including the Golden Ratio as part of discussions about the missions of a church, neither the importance of human well-being and the health of parishioners, nor the important benefits of spiritual needs well-met, will be left off discussion agendas. That will be a huge gift – what we talk about and thus what we notice affects who we become as individuals and as a community.

Incidentally, some churches more or less already take the Golden Ratio into account with their youth ministries.  But I argue that churches need to make Golden Ratio assessments with Older Adult Ministries as well and probably explore the “Golden Rule” dimensions for all ages.

Each church will presumably choose different ratios – ratios that somebody (or some group of people) deems appropriate for their parishioners.  There is, however, an important caveat for the use of the Golden Ratio in church discussions.   Every-day ordinary people of the church, the poor, the handicapped, the lonely, the older adults with less energy, the depressed, and the shy people in the congregation must be a part those discussions.  Socially/spiritually active leaders in the congregation can be somewhat blind to real, every-day lives and needs of those in their congregation who they do not see, talk to or understand.

We in the church tend to be quite active in noticing and addressing needs abroad through our international mission efforts.   We in the church are often reasonably attentive to the more seriously needful members of our congregation;  those with cancer, the hospitalized, and the shut-ins.  But we in the church, as we measure needs against the functioning of our most active members, tend to be far less understanding of the needs of congregation members who feel they don’t fit or are too shy to join an activity, or who have difficulties that church leaders judge to be in the realm of professional help not church attention.  Missing in these cases is recognition of how the communities of a church can serve as positive resources for increasing the resilience of all.

I am not arguing for a particular Golden Ratio as being essential for the Christian integrity of a given church, though over time we may learn more about average ratios that seem more important to more people.  But I argue that just considering the Golden Ratio in church discussions, is likely to bring increased health and well-being to more congregational members than we ever thought possible.

Bruce

            [Incidentally, I borrowed the term golden ratio from mathematics; “Two quantities are considered to be in the golden ratio if their ratio is the same as the ratio of their sum to the larger of the two quantities.”]