“To criticize a church for being big is to imply disbelief in Christ's commission.... A church gets big because its spirit is big.... Nobody ever started a business without hoping that someday, if he or she worked hard enough, it would be a big success. That is the American dream, isn't it?” – Pamphlet from Roswell Street Baptist Church in Atlanta
http://hirr.hartsem.edu/bookshelf/thumma_article2.html
Reading this quote while researching ‘megachurches,’ my brain was thrown into a frenzy, questions and thoughts bouncing around my head like lightening in a jar. The thought that stands out to me the most centers on the culturalization of religion in America, which leads to a church diminished.
From my experiences, culturalized 'megachurches' feel as though they’re impoverished of two crucial spritual elements: tradition and the sacred. Hence why many worship services now resemble rock concerts.
Another type of loss can be seen in the diminishing of the traditional mainline church and a fluctuation of people to such culturalized churches. I am reminded of this at least once a week when I pass by Shandon Baptist’s massive “worship center,” currently under construction. I’m reminded when I think of the faces that left the congregation I grew up in for the upstart Seacoast Church (where “less tradition, more gimmicks” should be the motto).
As a Presbyterian, I’m a spokesman for being the church, “always reforming.” Still, there’s a paradox out there lurking like a wolf under Grandma’s bedclothes. If we give in to it we’re next week’s breakfast, if we ignore it we’re eaten alive on the spot. There is no one answer as to how we approach this paradox. We’re still learning. The great challenge for the mainline church today is in how we respond to the needs of people in a postmodern ethos without compromising our traditions and without compromising our faithfulness to God.
Briefly back to Shandon’s new sanctuary. Their website notes that the “building fund” slogan is “God’s Purpose, On Purpose. Building for Eternity”. This raises another question. How do we really know what God’s purpose for anything is? Some might say we could head down to Lifeway and pick up Rick Warren's Purpose Driven Life for the answers. Tradition, on the other hand, teaches us that the answer comes through discernment: prayer, scripture, and engaging the community.
Is God’s purpose for the church to resemble the “American dream?" I sincerely hope not. Is God’s purpose for us to buy the fanciest sound equipment, build the largest building, tout the highest attendance, and wield a seven figure budget? I have my doubts, but it’s not entirely out of the question.
As a young, idealistic Presbyterian, God’s purpose as I see it is for God’s people to engage a hurting world with love. Admittedly how we do so is up for interpretation. Is our love for God and others shown through these materialistic needs of the church and her people? Or are we so wrapped up in the capitalist ideal of ‘bigger is better’ that we risk sacrificing our integrity to self-serving idols?
I include my own church in the mix of idolaters: my denomination, all three congregations for which I’ve worked, and every church I’ve step foot in or come into contact with. I also include myself. Any self-professing “Christian” who doesn’t needs to take a long look in the mirror.
In the end I’m willing to question the ideals of the Presbyterian Church alongside any other church. I don’t fear wondering whether or not we’re conforming too much to society or if we’re trying too hard to bury our heads (usually in the name of guess what… tradition). In the end we both succeed and fail to answer God’s call. In the end we’re both wrong and right.
The question the church, any church, must ask is if it’s trying to please people (not to mention itself) or if the church honestly desires to heal the suffering, strengthen the weak, free the oppressed, and, consequently, change the world. Once we can begin coming to terms with that ideal we’ll find ourselves on the narrow path Christ implores us to live.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
7 comments:
too true, chris. i find myself questioning the same thing, as an episcopalian ... let's thumb wrestle to see who's got it right. ;)
up here in the upstate, it's brookwood community church. a full-on concert. i went with my neighbors. disconcerting in a way, but then again i was glad that people were going.
but then again ... i was worried about what was becoming of it all.
in the end, i have no control. i can only have faith that god will work in mysterious ways. one thing i'm sure of is that jesus' message is one that will endure. no capitalistic ideology will change. otherwise, it won't survive.
yet, i can't see how it won't survive.
so ... i have faith that it will be ok.
lastly, i submit that, indeed, the american dream doesn't seem like it could be jesus' mandate to us. capitalism is a necessary evil, the best we humans can come up with.
it incorporates human greed, which it must.
remember, jesus held up the coin when tested by the pharisees. it had a likeness of ceasar. on the back, it said "pontifus maximus." high priest. in jewish times, handling such an idolatrous symbol was sinful.
jesus didn't mind. when they asked him whether to pay taxes, he let us know unequivocably that we can figure out how to incorporate our human greed however we want. but god plays by different rules.
so ... i don't worry about all that. it's all a game within the larger perspective.
and ... it's worth noting that jesus asked for a coin to make his point. he didn't have one in his pocket, but the crowd sure did have one handy.
e+
Good points.
Living in a post 9-11 world you could say the stakes are higher in how any religion is identified, particularly with its adherents. Not because of the threat of violence per say, but due to the ways in which communication has opened nearly every corner of the world.
There are ideological divides in every religion. Look at Islam. Over a billion followers and a mere fraction are neofundamentalists who resort to or support terrorism. Then again, ask most Evangelical Christians and they'll tell you they're all violent jihadists.
I agree that Christ's message won't change, but what can change is how that message is interpreted both from the pulpits and from the pews. There's a huge responsibility on the shoulders of all Christians.
In 'Being Disciples of Jesus in a Dot.Com World' the charge to Christians is to be eccentric, to go against the grain of society's expectations and accept those viewed as outcasts... as opposed to bombing or ignorning them. 54,000 people have died in Pakistan and how many Americans do you see lining up to help? It's all about perspective.
but how it's interpreted from the pulpits and pews has always been a challenge, all throughout the history of christianity.
crusades, salem witch hunt, colonization ...
there is something fundamental (not fundamentalist) about the simplicity of jesus' message that i have full confidence will prevail.
we always come back to that.
re: eccentricity ... i think the cliche fits here: if a lot of the people who called themselves christians met jesus today, they probably wouldn't talk to him.
e+
christianity is dying out here in britain. there are no new churches being built.
the population is increasing rapidly and there are no new churches. most churches are several hundred years old and small.
i've got a good choice in my town, but don't feel any need to affiliate myself with one particular church. i go to whichever one is convenient at the time and i see them all as part of a larger house rather than seperate units.
unfortunately, they aren't open 24 hours a day like they used to be because the amount of theft that goes on.
a lot of people ask why the churches need to be locked up if god is so powerful.
divisiveness isn't a good thing, IMO. then again I fall into it just as much as anyone else. just read my post.
we've had some discussions about safety at our church. they've started locking the downstairs doors during the early worship service so that there won't be direct access to the nursery. it's an issue that i wish wasn't an issue, but you have to be proactive and not reactive.
i've never seen any indication theologically that a church is immune from the ills of the world.
i think that's something we invent ourselves. church is a medium, just like anything else.
if god is so powerful ... that could apply to just about anything in the world.
e+
i forgot to mention that the big church in town often has notes pushed under the door.
the reverend michael pins these up on the board. they often contain profanities, people asking why god hates them so much and stuff like that.
i just wish they'd leave the doors unlocked all hours. sometimes i want to go in when it's quiet like in the 80's.
Post a Comment