Mere Churchianity

Label Me, I’ll Label You

Frank

This post continues the conversation Glynn Young, Nancy Rosback and I are having over the book Mere Churchianity. They always have a head start on me, so be sure check out their thoughts on Chapter 11, “It’s a Bad Idea to be a Good Christian” over at Faith, Fiction, Friends and Bend the Page.

Soren Kierkegaard said “once you label me, you negate me.” The idea was that labels strip us of our humanity, reduces us to nothing more than that label, and denies what makes each of us unique. If you label everything, then nothing has meaning. Michael Spencer observed this in our churches and came to the same conclusion: these labels have no meaning. “Dynamic” worship. “Seeker Sensitive” church. “Good Christian”. My favorites are “missional” and “purpose driven” as if the church leaders just read a book and suddenly they’re a new church.

This should come as no surprise. Our consumer-driven culture requires everything to be marketed, even churches. And because of this, churches are constantly on the lookout for a niche, a buzzword, a marketing strategy that makes them stand out above the rest. I was on a business trip in Utah where I saw a billboard advertising a church. Their motto was, “church. caffeinated.” (To get the in-joke, you have to understand that Utah is 90-ish percent Mormon and they do not drink coffee.) Sadly, we seldom see churches advertised as God-centered, Jesus-focused, or Christ-like. If you didn’t know the label, you wouldn’t know these churches are even Christian.

When Alexander Campbell and Barton Stone began the Restoration Movement during the Second Great Awakening, they wanted to strip all the labels that described people more than their beliefs. One of my favorite movies is A River Runs Through It. The patriarch of the family is a preacher and the movie has this line, “My family is Presbyterian, which my dad likes to say is like Methodists who can read.” Ask a stranger on the street if they are Christian and they are just as likely to answer their specific tradition as to just simply answer “yes”. Stone and Campbell desired a church free from from labels so these churches adopted the simple name “churches of Christ.” Of course, a hundred-plus years later many might as well be called churches of Tradition, churches of Legalism, or a capella churches. (Oh wait, some already call themselves by the last one. Sigh.)

If there is to be a movement back towards Jesus-shaped Churches, preaching and living Jesus-shaped spirituality (which even Michael admits is just another label), we need to strip ourselves of the labels that divide and instead embrace Christ alone as the “author and perfecter of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2). This is his premise of what so many who have left the Church are looking for. It is sad they have been unable to find it. I believe these churches are out there (see some of my previous posts from this book). I pray that we find these churches more and more out in the religious marketplace.

An Army Without Swords

Frank

“Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” (Ephesians 6:17)

“For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12)

Describing Jesus, “In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword… These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword” (Revelation 1:16, 2:12)

Michael Spencer was a radical. If he was a member of your church, your leadership might consider him a trouble-maker. He had unconventional thoughts and did unexpected things. Like giving a young disciple of Christ a Bible to read on her own.

This is the context Michael uses in Chapter 10 of Mere Churchianity, “Jesus, the Bible, and the Free-Range Believer” to describe the Biblical illiteracy that is present in the American Church (TM). This is a subject I am passionate about and have written on before. I’m going to try and restrain myself from going off on another rant. Instead I want to try and dig at the heart of the problem.

Why don’t we read our Bibles? I forget the survey numbers, but something like 90% of households own a Bible but only 10% (I’m guessing on that one) actually read it. You see the traditional, large, “family” Bibles on coffee tables with baptisms, confirmations, and weddings scribbled in the front. But those occasions are the only times those Bibles are ever opened.

Michael notes that Bible reading is actually discouraged in many congregations. I wouldn’t go that far, just that it’s not explicitly encouraged. But why?

“Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” (Acts 17:11)
In the Middle Ages, reading the Bible yourself, or even owning one after the printing press was invented, was considered in many places a crime that could cost you your life. Then, the church operated much like any dictatorship- control the information and keep the populace ignorant. A lay-person reading the Bible could lead to them having their own convictions. Let that spread and you lose your grip on power.

I don’t think that’s the case today. At least in terms of consolidating power. However, I do think churches do not encourage personal Bible study to protect their long-standing traditions. You’d be surprised all the things your church does that isn’t in the Bible. Transubstantiation? Not in the Bible. The Sinner’s Prayer? Not in the Bible. Infant Baptism? Not in the Bible. Of course you could take this too far. The Churches of Christ split in the early 20th Century over whether worship music should be a capella or with instruments. Why the debate? Worship with instruments isn’t explicit in the New Testament. (But then again, neither are church buildings, Sunday School, parachurch organizations, and on and on) And you’ll find things in the Bible that are missing in our churches today such as Love Feasts and evangelism that is more than just handing out tracts or knocking on doors. But there’s a danger in making the Bible your standard instead of Jesus.

We’re not going to find the perfect church that does everything right according to the Bible. But I do believe that personal Bible Study will lead you to what’s close. It did me. It did Glynn Young. This is how I approach my evangelism, in fact. I sincerely believe that if a person is truly obeying the Greatest Commandment, even if they are in another church, they will come around to seeing errors shortcomings in their church’s traditions and structure. They will then be on a quest for what Michael describes as Jesus Shaped Spirituality. I know I cannot make anyone come to my church and I know I cannot make anyone think my church isn’t just as wacky with our ways of doing things than another church down the street. But I do know that my church encourages each of us to study the Bible and come to our own convictions. We are encouraged to follow Christ, not traditions. (Though I will admit that historically we have had “leadership shaped spirituality”, cults of personality if you will. I want to believe that has changed. I know it hasn’t everywhere, but it has where I worship.) I believe we encourage Jesus Shaped Spirituality.

I’ll never forget reading in a book this take on the following scripture: we need to come to our own convictions on who Christ is; we cannot rely on anyone else’s conclusion to reach our own. That was radical to me in just the same way as Michael handing the newly converted a Bible to read. It changed my walk with Christ and still challenges me today.

“Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, ‘Are you the king of the Jews?’


‘Is that your own idea,‘ Jesus asked, ‘or did others talk to you about me?’“ (John 18:33-34, emphasis added)

Nancy Rosback, Glynn Young and I are discussing Mere Churchianity by Michael Spencer. Check out Nancy’s blog, Bend the Page, for links to other discussions.

The Perfect Church?

Frank

(I warn you in advance, this one is long. There’s a reason I didn’t finish it last night like I planned or earlier this morning as I hoped…)

***

I’ve been on board with Michael Spencer through eight chapters of Mere Churchianity and I’ve enjoyed every part of the ride. But I had to get off the train at chapter 9 (though I’m going to jump right back on at 10). In chapter 8, Accepting the Real Jesus, Michael drew a line in the sand delineating the Church consisting of disciples of Jesus and the institutional, religious church filled with Christians. But it seems as though in this chapter he forgot the line was there.

I agree with Michael that you cannot keep “church shopping” hoping to find the perfect church because you never will. I also agree that many people’s spiritual journey to be Jesus Shaped will lead them “out of the church as they have known and experienced it.” (pp 109) I can personally testify that this can be the case. In fact, I do believe there is a perfect church worth going after. But I do not believe everyone Michael describes in this chapter has found it.

Let’s begin with the perfect church. What does it look like? Michael listed several flavors of church he experienced trying to find it. Someone commented yesterday that it would be great if we could combine each of these into one. I’ve always felt that the perfect church would have the reverence of the Catholic/Orthodox church, the worship of an AME church, the emphasis on Biblical survey of the Calvary Chapel, the outreach of a foreign mission, and the doctrine (personal bias) of the Restoration Movement. But I haven’t found that yet, and I don’t think I ever will. But that does not mean I cannot create it.

You can browse the titles of Christian books, search the themes of Christian bloggers, and find the most followed Christian tweeters and it won’t take long to notice that many are on the same quest to find the elusive perfect church. There was a push not long ago to “restore the First Century Church” even though that is not described in the Bible. The best we have to go on are the sparse writings of the Early Church Fathers and the Didache. Right now we see the “Acts 29 Church“, or as I like to say “the next chapter”. Catchy name. I pray they are successful in creating authentic community and a Jesus Shaped church. I’ve also seen “the Acts 2:42 Church”, but there is very little written in the New Testament, and even less in the book of Acts, for “what” this perfect church should look like outside of a few anecdotal examples.

But there is plenty written on “how” this perfect church should function. For the sake of our discussion, I’m going to stick with Ephesians 4. Here Paul gives an outline of how Christ’s church should grow up in unity. (And remember that Jesus prayed for unity amongst His believers the night before he was betrayed.) First, the perfect church is up to us. “[L]ive a life worthy… be completely humble and gentle…bearing with one another… make every effort to keep the unity…” (v 1-3) And later, “to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it… It was he who gave some to be… to prepare God’s people for works of service so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” (v 7, 11-13) In other words, the perfect church is up to us, doing our part, “From [Christ] the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.” (v 16, emphasis added)

Of course, we are all human. Our pride and selfish ambitions will get in the way of what Paul describes above. Over time religiosity, legalism, and false-doctrine will set in. And the church we thought we were a part of will become unrecognizable. But, “All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever.” (1 Peter 1:24-25) We can always turn back to the Word and return to what is right. I do believe that in this sense, the Church is undergoing constant revival as each generation comes to it seeking to be Jesus Shaped.

But the description above isn’t the approach Michael Spencer takes. Instead he takes an ecumenical broad-brush and (practically) declares that everyone who is doing good work in Jesus’ name is part of this true church. Yet Jesus himself said, “not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.” And it continues, “only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 7:21) This is consistent with what Michael wrote in chapter 8, but appears to abandon here. It is also interesting that when Michael declares “There are thousands of Christians where I live. They express their faith through how they serve…” (pp 111), he then lists off several brand-names of churches as if they are all equal. But he does not mention the Mormon Church. I would expect that many Christians, and most Evangelicals, would not consider the Mormon Church to be Christians, yet I challenge you to find any group as focused on their communities and on their families as this church. According to Michael’s description of the “true church” in this chapter, they have to be included in the discussion. Unless he applies an unwritten doctrinal line.

There is a written line in Ephesians 4. “There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called— one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” (v 4-6) Which brings us to the “One Church”.

This is a dangerous doctrine. Not because it is unbiblical, but because of our human nature to corrupt everything we are a part of. The Restoration Movement began when a Reformed Baptist and a Presbyterian got together, examined their doctrines in light of Scripture, and chose to go another way. They strived for One Church, unifying the divisive denominationalism that still exists today. Because of the emphasis on One True Church being defined solely on Scripture, the church they founded, the Churches of Christ, have been turbulent with division ever since. I think the Scripture says this, you think that, therefore we cannot agree and you are no longer part of “my” One True Church. Yet Paul said he doesn’t care  so long as the Gospel is being preached and Jesus said no one can do a miracle in his name one minute and curse his name the next. You see the slippery slope?

So what does that mean for you and me and our quest for a Jesus Shaped church? First, we have to look to the Word of God to measure the state of our church, not our feelings, not the latest bestseller on church growth, and absolutely not traditions. Next, we have to examine ourselves by the same standard. Are we “doing are part” as Ephesians 4 instructs? Finally, and this goes back to the thrust of Mere Churchianity, we need to keep Jesus as our focus.

Is there a perfect church out there? With our sinful nature, sadly not until Jesus returns to claim His Kingdom. Is there a Jesus Shaped church out there? There are likely many and as Michael describes, there is no shortage of people striving towards it. Is there One True Church? Yes there is, and it is defined by God’s own Word, not by the walls we construct. I pray one day we can worship there together.

Be sure to also check out Nancy Rosback’s thoughts on Chapter 9 over at her blog, Bend the Page.

Where has your journey taken you?

Frank

In Chapter 9 of Mere Churchianity, Michael Spencer describes the point where he became disillusioned with the church. He then went out to search for the perfect church and lists the places where he looked. These stops are likely familiar to you, they are to me:

  • Church Renewal where you try to create perfection from within via methods.
  • Church Revival where you try to create perfection through worship and prayer (worship and prayer are not  bad ideas, but note who’s trying to create perfection here).
  • Small Groups where you hope for perfection amongst a subset of relationships.
  • Charismatic Movement where you effectively do nothing and expect the Holy Spirit to do it all (is that too harsh?).
  • The true church where you are convinced yours is right (in doctrine, method, or both) and everyone else is either wrong or should be just like you.
  • The Catholic and Orthodox churches where tradition reigns.
  • The emerging church where just about everything is thrown against the wall to see what sticks.
  • The house church where the institutional church is abandoned and like-minded Christians meet together in homes hoping to recreate the First Century Church.
  • The media church (now this would be called the multi-site online church) where there is a virtual fellowship via the Internet and the church has multiple sites all streaming the Word of God from some centralized locale.

My journey took me from the Catholic church to a combination of the true church, small groups, and the multi-site church. I’m happy with the decision and wouldn’t change it despite some pretty messed up things along the way. Since becoming active online, I’ve hung out with traditional Protestants who were migrating over to Orthodoxy, traditional restorationists who were exploring small groups, house churches, and renewal and now an eclectic mix of emergents, traditionalists, Catholics and Charismatics.

So my question this week is: where has your journey taken you in search of Jesus Shaped Spirituality?

Glenn Young shares his journey over at Faith, Fiction, Friends as he, Nancy Rosback and myself discuss Michael Spencer’s book. Please come back this evening for more thoughts from me on Chapter 9: What Jesus is Doing in the World.

Jesus Works

Frank

Up until now, Michael Spencer has been pointing out where the American evangelical church falls short of “Jesus shaped spirituality” by picking and choosing doctrine to make themselves most comfortable and incomplete pictures of Jesus to support their religious culture. In Chapter 7 of Mere Churchianity, Michael lays out a complete picture of Jesus. Glynn Young, over at Faith, Fiction and Friends, lists out each of the bullet-points Michael gives that we too easily ignore or neglect today.

I want us to look at a specific example from Jesus’ life: the blind man in John 9. Jesus meets him and the cultural, religious, response was that he must have sinned to be that way. Jesus rebukes the notion and instead states that he is in his condition so that God may be glorified. (How often do we honestly look at the things our churches “do” as having the goal to glorify God versus pointing fingers at someone else’s sin?) This man is healed and is quickly questioned by the religious establishment. He gives one reply that relates directly to our discussion on this book. In verse 25 he says, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”

Do we need a complete picture of Jesus to have Jesus-shaped spirituality? Do we need to be theological experts on the life of Jesus? Or do we need to simply look in the mirror to see what our relationship with Christ has done in our lives and conclude that the true Jesus, not some cultural facsimile, is at work? I believe in an effort to “brand” our particular church, we focus on this part of Jesus or that, this miracle or that, this statement or that, and forget the Living Christ at work in our lives to transform us into His likeness.

Jesus prayed for unity amongst his believers in John 17. The early disciples in Acts 2 “had everything in common.” (v 44) The encouragement Paul gave to the church in Philippi was to “contend as one man for the faith of the gospel.”(v 27) And Paul further points to the unity of the Gospel in Ephesians 4. So what did these early Christians do? In Acts 4 we read they couldn’t help “speaking about what [they] have seen and heard.” (v 20) What did they see? Jesus at work.

The hundreds of different denominations are divided over every little nit-picked detail, and Jesus at work has been lost. All the people Michael describes who have left the little-c church in search of Jesus? The sad thing is, they already found him, but the church failed to remind them of that. At some point in their lives, the real Jesus did something or they would have never walked through those doors. It is tragic that we get so caught up in our petty differences that we no longer see Jesus still working in His Church today.

***Addendum: I also wanted to point out the irony of Michael’s example of Anne Rice. How could he have known that she too would be duped by the “cultural Christianity” and turn her back on the Church? For more discussion on that particular instance, check out the discussion on “Spiritual but not religious” over at the Washington Post’s forum, OnFaith.***

Flashback Friday: R12, what is authentic community anyway?

Frank

***Originally posted May 11, as I was going through the book Living on the Edge: dare to experience true spirituality, by Chip Ingram. This book takes a verse by verse look at Romans 12 and breaks the chapter into five fundamental relationships. The fourth, covered in Romans 12:9-13, is authentic community, ie our relationships with others in the context of Church. As we’ve been reading and discussing Michael Spencer’s Mere Churchianity, I’ve found many who have walked away from little-c church looking for big-C Church. Regardless of their search, they lack authentic community- the purpose of the institutional church to begin with. So I’m reposting my thoughts on Chapter 16, which introduces us to this relationship. If this strikes a chord, I encourage you to click on the R12 tag on the sidebar, pick up this book, and go through each chapter and each relationship with me.***

Famous last words. The cliche of leaving that last impression, something that will survive history, long after you are gone. Often times, they’re not famous though. They’re honest, open, and heart-melting with an awareness that the end is near. The last thing I said to my grandfather before he died of a heart attack was “see you tomorrow.” Neither he nor I had any idea what the next day would bring. I remember the last words of my father vividly. He, on the other hand, knew that his time left on this earth was short. His last words were filled with a sense of foreknowledge, “you win some and you lose some, but you gotta keep playing.” Even though we were talking about football, I knew what he meant. And he succumbed to cancer two days later.

Jesus, on the last night he spent with his disciples (prior to the resurrection, but they did not see that coming), gave his disciples a command. These last words, which could be expected to resonate throughout religious history, were not about politics (though many of his disciples, especially Judas, expected him to be a political or military leader), were not about the current state of the synagogue/temple or Pharisees/Sadducees, nor were they about church polity. Instead, they were focused on the disciple’s relationship with each other. “A new command I give to you: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35) His disciples had no idea a new church, a new religion, would be established following Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. If they did, they may have expected some “how to’s” for this new movement. Ironically Jesus gave them just that- instructions on how to establish this new church- by loving one another.

This weighed so heavily on Jesus’ heart, it was even the focus of his prayer in John 17. Love. Unity. These were important to Jesus. More than politics, religion, or even a list of pious do-nots. Now look around the religious landscape today. Do you see Jesus’ prayer answered? Do you see his “new command” followed? This was Jesus’ intent for the Church. This is his prayer for our relationships.

This love, this unity, is not only for inside our walls, but should also extend outside our walls. It should exist beyond Sunday mornings. It should be vulnerable and honest. It should show the world that we really are his disciples. As Chip Ingram puts it, “the credibility of Christianity would rise or fall on the basis of Jesus’ followers’ relationships with one another.”

By Chip’s definition: Authentic community occurs when the real you shows up and meets real needs for the right reason in the right way. The next few chapters will show us how.

Think: What did Jesus command and pray for His disciples?
Reflect: Why do you think Jesus made such a point of focusing on our relationships with one another?
Understand: What gets in the way of experiencing authentic community in your life? Too busy? Too religious? Disconnected from like-minded believers?
Surrender: Are you in a meaningful, growing, Christ-centered relationship with a handful of people? If not, will you ask God to show you what you need to do in order to move in that direction… or deepen what He has already provided you?
Take Action: Declare war on isolation and superficial relationships in your life! Write out John 13:34-35 on a 3×5 card and commit to living it out as God leads you this week.
Motivation: Consider watching the fourteen-minute video message “How to Experience Authentic Community” at r12 online [r12 button on the left, Serving tab, under “free resources”].
Encourage Someone: Make the first move this week. Initiate coffee, dinner, or dessert with someone(s) and talk about your common need/desire for authentic community.

When is it ok to walk away?

Frank

Last week Pope Benedict XVI visited Great Britain for the first time in centuries and in the face of the ongoing child abuse scandal. Some demonstrators were so bold as to say that the Catholic Church “murdered” their souls. Despite this, they still identified themselves as Catholic: “I am a Catholic, but my faith is in God, not in those church officials who have covered this up,” one of the demonstrators said. Valid point, but why stay committed to that church?

At the same time, we have the audience Michael Spencer is writing to in Mere Churchianity; those who have left their churches and in some cases Christianity altogether because of abuse, hypocrisy, luke-warmness, and countless other reasons. Last week, I listed some specific examples. Each of these had valid reasons to leave, but I think just as importantly, each have a valid reason to return: the church is not Christ and Michael continues to hammer this point as we continue through his book.

Let us consider these “sins” of the church: abuse, hypocrisy, luke-warmness. You could add neglecting its mission, being polluted by the world’s values or even other religions. If this sounds familiar and you find yourself shouting, “preach it brother!” recognize that this isn’t anything new. In fact, these are the same claims Jesus himself brought against the church in Revelation. In other words, the Church has been screwing up since it was founded. Not that that makes it ok. In fact, Jesus had some very harsh words to those churches. So today we continue to re-vector our programs, our polity, our preaching to make sure our eyes are “fix[ed] on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith.” (Hebrews 12:2)

This is in fact the point Nancy Rosback makes in response to my query “But I wonder, how much responsibility should be on us, Joe six-pack Christians and our failure to recognize that little-c church is made up of people who make mistakes and is different from the big-c Church?” Her reply:

I was wondering when this topic would come up for discussion.

I actually think that Michael, as a pastor, was truly concerned for the people that have left Church, and wanted to reach out to them.

I also think that Michael was wanting to get a message to Church groups, that they must not lose sight of Jesus as the reason for being.

The thing is, if one really looks at any church from the beginning, we can see that human groups have not been able to keep there eyes on the source.

Yet, i think that God continues to renew His Church (capital C).

And that is why we see the changes in the small c Church over the centuries. There are always people that start new groups, thinking they have the answer to make it right. But, even if they are on the right path at first, many people lose sight of the reason for being.
and on it goes.

renewal happening in hearts, but, not all hearts, we are all growing in the same field until the harvest.

it IS a battle, a spiritual battle. the Word says this.

and i truly believe that God is going to continue to renew His Church, big C, no matter what anyone does.

As believers, we must allow ourself to be renewed, so that we do not become blind.

Now how this plays out in each individual life is up to God and that individual.

I do not BELONG to a little c- Church, even though i may gather with people that do. I choose to go with my eyes open to Jesus, or to not go with my eyes open to Jesus, and pray that i always will have my eyes open to Jesus.

We need to seek out others to encourage in Jesus… and in this we will be encouraged in Jesus.

How this is done, is in the Love of God. That is the ONLY way.

Where this is done, is anywhere that God leads each person to do it.

It can be done anywhere.

Here are some basics that i don’t ever want to leave, ever:

God is in charge of His Church,

Love God with my heart,

Love others,

and keep my mind on the fact that my Lord, Jesus Christ, is actually with me every second. (in many ways)

Can’t argue with much of that, but I will anyway. Keeping in mind, there are 51 “one another” instructions (some are more strongly worded as commands) to the Church found in the New Testament. Many of these cannot be followed outside of an authentic church community. One specifically, “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:25) Yes, you could argue that you can still have an authentic Christian community and not call it “church”. But then I’d just turn around and call you a “house church”. I guess whatever form it takes, we need each other for encouragement, for sharpening, for instruction, and for worship.

And this still doesn’t address the countless numbers who have walked away from the Church for any and every reason.

Keeping in mind Jesus’ own words to forgive not seven times, but “seven times seventy” times (Matthew 18:22) and to leave any offering to the Lord and first “be reconciled to your brother” (Matthew 5:23-24) yet “It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin.” (Luke 17:2) Add to that Paul’s instructions to “submit to every authority” (Romans 13:1 and also Hebrews 13:17) and to “not put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way” (Romans 14:13, but really the whole chapter applies). And finally going back to Hebrews 10:25 above and the example of abused Catholics at the beginning of this post, my question this week is:

At what point is it ok to leave the church?

And when should one return?

This continues the discussion of Mere Churchianity. More of the conversation can be found at Bend the Page and Faith, Fiction and Friends.

Spiritual

Frank

I’m willing to bet you’ve had this conversation, or something like it:

“Hi, I’d like to invite you out to my church…”

“No thank you, I’m not very religious.”

“That’s ok, neither am I. I’m spiritual.”

That was a cute and clever response when I was in campus ministry, but now that I’m older my response leaves me scratching my head. “Spiritual”? What does that even mean? And that is the point of Michael Spencer’s fifth chapter of Mere Churchianity. Glynn Young does a good job summarizing the “flavors” of spirituality offered by the Evangelical Church, and Michael correctly points out that Jesus is often absent. Glynn (and many others in the comments) don’t like the use of the word because it is too vague and can be applied to everything from Christianity to Wicca. But I think that’s the point Michael is trying to make. Spiritual can mean anything. But Jesus-shaped spirituality is specific. I’m hoping he goes into more detail defining what this is, rather than what it is not.

I’m coming to this discussion late and I don’t have much to add specific to this chapter than what I wrote above. I could’ve blown off posting and just left this as a comment over at Glynn’s or Nancy’s blog. But I couldn’t stop thinking about who this discussion relates to as I was reading this chapter.

  • I know of a woman who stopped going to church because she couldn’t accept that a man, still reeking of alcohol and obviously hung over, could pass out the little communion cups, but she, being a woman, could not.
  • I know of a woman who suffered all kinds of abuse from her husband. Her church blamed her for the abuse, that she brought it on herself by not being a “good wife”. And they explained away his addiction by saying her faith wasn’t strong enough and she wasn’t praying hard enough.
  • I know a couple of women who left their church because their choices for the men they wanted to marry weren’t accepted. And when one of the future husbands left one of these girls, she was then shunned for being a single mom.
  • I know a whole family who left their church because they were blamed for being the problem when their church wasn’t growing fast enough.
  • I know someone who looks at his church and sees nothing but a corporation, built and operated like a business. And is constantly searching for a way out.
  • I know someone who stopped going to church, as many do, upon becoming a young adult. And won’t return because she is turned off by the political agenda she sees in most churches.
  • I know a family who left their church once they saw for real exactly how much their minister was being paid.
  • I know someone who is bipolar but won’t tell anyone at his church that he takes medication because he’s been told it’s a “spiritual” problem. I also know a young girl who died because she stopped taking her medicine for the same condition.
  • I know countless others who have left, or who are frequently tempted to, because of abuse from leadership, legalism, and just an overall lack of sympathy or concern for their spiritual growth.

I could go on and on. And I’m sure you could add to this list. Like I said, I could have blown off this post, but these people’s stories need to be told. They personally need to be heard. And someday, somewhere that values Jesus-shaped spirituality above all the other fluff, they need to be accepted and embraced.

Jesus Shaped

Frank

I wanted to figure out a way to shoe-horn chapter 4 of Michael Spencer’s Mere Churchianity into Bridget Chumbley’s blog carnival on Hope. But that’s been our problem hasn’t it, trying to pound a square peg into a round hole, making the message of Jesus into something it’s not? Don’t get me wrong, second to love I would say that hope best describes Jesus’ ministry. But you couldn’t tell that today. And that is Michael’s point. What if Jesus showed up at your church for an “inspection”? Would he find it hopeful, in-line with his teachings? Or would he find it hopeful, filled with pop-psychology and an over-emphasis on feeling good?Would he even recognize it?

Michael argues that we’ve become so comfortable in our Jesus-culture, that we forget Jesus. In fact, to suggest following Jesus can be so radical that you may find yourself rejected, or worse, labeled a cult. To even have the nerve to advertise your church as “making Jesus popular” is so not-Jesus shaped it isn’t funny. I was recently in a toy store and I saw a Jesus action figure. I wanted it for no other reason than to remind myself that Jesus is real, not plastic. On and on I could go with examples, casting stones, with no suggestions of what to do about it. So let me share a recent personal journey in hopes it will lead us all to be more Jesus shaped.

A couple of years ago I was at a large event and an Elder was preaching on one of the miracles of Jesus. He made an anecdotal point using this miracle that didn’t hold up against the rest of Jesus’ miracles. As soon as he said it (I won’t say what) I immediately thought to myself, “that can’t be right” and I spent the rest of the sermon thumbing through my Bible to make sure I wasn’t crazy. He shoe-horned a good point into one of Jesus’ miracles that had nothing to do with that point, and he misrepresented the Word of God doing so. Mind you, this was an Elder, whose Biblical role is to ensure that the Church is teaching the Truth.

Hard, cold reality set in at that moment. I couldn’t rely on leaders, preachers, pastors or evangelists to chart my course spiritually. I needed to be led by Christ and his Word. But did I know it? So I made a vow to the Lord that I would study out the life and teachings of Jesus. I set out to read through the four Gospels in chronological order using several Bibles mixing up translations and commentaries and planned to read Jesus-specific books following (titles like Jesus the Same, the Jesus I Never Knew, etc) to close out the year. What was meant to last a few months in the Gospels and finish the year with a book a month, took over a year. I still haven’t technically finished (there are a couple more books to read).

I’m not saying this to boast. In fact it was so overwhelming I really need to take the time and go back over it. But it was an example of being proactive to be Jesus shaped. How can we claim to follow Him if we don’t know what He said, or how He lived? I want to approach this book positively rather than a blanket condemnation against the Church today. I can’t think of a better way to combat that cultural and spiritual malaise in the Church than to challenge ourselves to be Jesus shaped and there’s no better way to do that than to spend time immersed in his life through the Gospels.

This post adds to the discussion on Michael Spencer’s book, Mere Churchianity being hosted by Nancy at Bend the Page. Visit there for links to others in the discussion. And don’t forget to stop by Bridget’s for the Carnival too!

The Uncomfortable Jesus

Frank

The premise behind Philip Yancey’s The Jesus I Never Knew is that the Jesus we know is so familiar he’s become routine. We know the stories. We know how it all ends. Nothing surprises us or makes us uncomfortable.

Michael Spencer approaches the third chapter of Mere Churchianity the same way. Imagine being a disciple of Jesus and having your world rocked with his unconventional take on the Jewish religion. Been praying all your life? Jesus will teach you how to really pray. Judgemental of that Samaritan woman? Jesus will go to her and strike up a conversation. It’s no wonder some of Jesus’ disciples responded to him saying, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?” and later turned away and left him (John 6:60-66).

I admit I’m young and naive and maybe too idealistic for my own good. Regrettably, I’ve taken the destruction I’ve seen in my fellowship of churches and combined that with the media stereotype of the Evangelical Megachurch to paint a broad brush over all of American Christianity (TM). But I look at the Christian blogosphere and twitterverse and I see brothers and sisters doing it; making things happen in the name of Jesus to God’s glory. And I realize I’m wrong. I need to “tear up my notes” as Michael puts it.

I’m wrong about my church, too. Last week I may have been overly harsh sharing a single anecdote in a sea of experiences. Not to say the criticism isn’t fair, but there’s more to the story. You see, there are some things my church gets right. Recognizing Jesus’ teachings as uncomfortable is one of them. Growing up religious, when I opened up the Bible with brothers who cared about teaching me what it really says, not just what I’ve always heard, it blew my mind. It resonated in my heart because I knew this is what I was missing in my relationship with God. Jesus was uncomfortable and that made following him challenging and exciting.

Yesterday I wrote about the Transformational Loop. Each of the seven properties listed are uncomfortable.

  • Missionary mentality, where you see your community as a mission field and serve it that way? Uncomfortable!
  • Vibrant Leadership where it’s not a cult of personality but of inspiring example? Uncomfortable!
  • Relational Intensity where you genuinely care about your brothers and sisters’ spiritual and physical well-being and “make every effort” to deliberately be involved in one another’s lives? Uncomfortable!
  • Prayerful dependence where going to God in prayer is natural and asking for help via prayer is common? Uncomfortable!
  • Worship that continues beyond Sunday mornings (Romans 12)? Raising your hands in praise? Uncomfortable!
  • Community that is intentionally built around the purpose and mission of the Church? Uncomfortable!
  • Mission, seeking and saving the lost, being a central part of your life, the focus of your conversations and relationships? Uncomfortable!

Of course, that’s just one of many similar books. You could add tithing, serving inside and outside your church’s walls, forgiving (ooh, that’s a toughie), fasting, eschewing the world, calling out sin, confessing sin, and I could go on and on.

Squirming in your chair yet? Well there’s nothing comfortable about being a disciple of Jesus. And you know what, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

(I also encourage you to visit Bend the Page, Faith Fiction and Friends, and A Simple Country Girl for more discussion of this challenging book)