I live in that region of the United States that has been
dubbed the Bible belt; that southern part of the country where religion is as
American as apple pie or as southern as fried chicken. Indeed, I live in a very religious community
where there are a plethora of churches, prayers before meals even at
non-religious settings, and where you can even go into a local fast food
restaurant where they have Bible verses on their receipts, and every to-go bag
gets a pamphlet on how to avoid hell and get into heaven.
In the county in which I live, there are over 100 churches
of various denominations and various sizes.
Although all of them are part of the wider Christian tradition, which is
unfortunate for it makes us somewhat monolithic in our religious understanding,
this variety of places of Christian worship offers the seeker a selection of
Christian theological beliefs, church polity, types of worship, and choices of
dress. You really can’t go wrong in
finding a house of worship that fits what you want, unless of course you are
not Christian. I know there are towns like this all over America.
Yet, despite the plethora of houses of worship in towns
across this country, it seems to be that the church is becoming less relevant
to the lives of people both within and outside the church. While many stay away from church for various
reasons, many do cite the fact that the church is out of touch with their
needs, that the church is too dogmatic and strict in its beliefs, and that for
the most part it has sided with a particular political agenda. It is probably accurate to say that many
folks stay away from church because they just don’t find it worthwhile, and
thus they do find excuses to stay away.
But the fact of the matter is that these accusations against the church,
as well as plenty of others, are often valid.
Moreover, among the folks who faithfully attend church
Sunday after Sunday hoping to hear a word from God, are those who leave the
place of worship with a great measure of dissatisfaction. Part of this dissatisfaction has to do with
the person who comes to worship, whose life is filled with distractions that
draw their attention and energy from focusing on God in worship. But much of this disappointment happens
because the church has waned in its relevancy to touch people’s lives and to
translate the gospel for the needs of today’s world. It is these people that find the church very
ineffectual in its proclamation, hiding behind a spiritualism that is based on worship
as entertainment and preaching as superficial.
At church we are encouraged to allow our emotions to soak in the shallow
songs that appear on the screen and the sermons that reinforce our beliefs, but
we become uncomfortable when these challenge our status quo existence as people
who choose comfort over vulnerability and prosperity over sacrifice.
But more tragically, we are discouraged from asking serious
questions about faith and about the issues we face in our world, or we are
given pat answers to these questions. In
fact, we are encouraged to shut down our minds in church, which leads me to
believe that church can often be one of the most intellectually dishonest
institutions we can find. As I noted in
the previous chapter, church is, as one of my kids said, “The place where you
can get an easy “A”.
We cannot equate relevancy with emotional manipulation and
easy “A” theology. Folks don’t want to
come to church to have their emotions manipulated or to hear rehearsed answers
to their questions. People who come to
church come there to find meaning for their lives and relationships that are
welcoming and embracing, not condescending.
And while many churches may claim to be welcoming, the reality is that
they are not welcoming those they judge as sinful.
Furthermore, people who come to church don’t seek sermons
that are mundane repetitions of outdated theology or unsophisticated
platitudes. They want to be challenged
by the gospel and how to follow Jesus in faithful discipleship. They want to deal honestly with deep
questions about God, humanity, and the issues we face in our world. They want to hear that the gospel can change
the world, but not simply through getting people saved, which is far removed
from the central message of Jesus.
People want to hear, indeed they need to hear, that Jesus’ message is
not about heaven or hell, but about living justly and faithfully here in this
life.
That being said, there is no doubt that there are faithful
and relevant churches all across this nation and this world. Faithfulness and relevance, however, cannot
be equated with size. How many members a
church has or how many baptisms a church performs is not the measure of
faithfulness. In fact, there are many
small churches that are probably more faithful to the call of Jesus than those
mega-churches who have gone into tremendous debt to build elaborate places of
worship and family life centers, but only present a false sense of relevancy.
Is it possible to reframe our understanding of Christian
community that is more faithful to the Jesus of the Gospels? I am hopeful that
it is. But any move in this direction must call for deep soul searching that
deals seriously with the mission to which Jesus called his followers.
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