Dear American Christian Church,
- Putting a fish on the back of your SUV does not justify your excess.
- Caring for the poor, the sick, the widows and orphans, will always be more important than your new building project.
- Stop making watered-down versions of the things that the secular market is really good at. Trust in who you were meant to be and do what only you can do. If you don't know what that is, then stop everything and figure it out.
- You can be edgy, but your edge is a totally different edge than theirs.
- No number of NOTW stickers will make Christianity cool.
- I should know that you're a Christian by your love, not by your (choose one:) bumpersticker, t-shirt, CD collection, favorite books list, etc.
- Jesus didn't come so that one day all his disciples could live in really quiet, comfortable suburbs. Jesus didn't even have a house.
- Jesus didn't teach us how to be good CEOs. That's what business schools are for. Jesus taught us how to be good people.
- Spiritual growth comes from doing things, not from reading them.
- Jesus never said to his disciples: "Cultivate in yourselves a mindset such that if God were ever to call you to do something, you would be willing to do it." No, he said, "Follow me." Now.
- "Because Jesus is the only way," is not an appropriate answer when asked why you think that every other religion is wrong. Think about it.
- This whole Sunday morning thing has to stop.
- Or at least get an extreme restructuring.
- The word "communion" comes from the same root as "community" because it was meant to be a social affair, not a "be quiet, look at the floor, and eat this wafer" affair.
- Caring for the poor, the sick, the widows and orphans, will always be more important than your new building project.
- Stop making watered-down versions of the things that the secular market is really good at. Trust in who you were meant to be and do what only you can do. If you don't know what that is, then stop everything and figure it out.
- You can be edgy, but your edge is a totally different edge than theirs.
- No number of NOTW stickers will make Christianity cool.
- I should know that you're a Christian by your love, not by your (choose one:) bumpersticker, t-shirt, CD collection, favorite books list, etc.
- Jesus didn't come so that one day all his disciples could live in really quiet, comfortable suburbs. Jesus didn't even have a house.
- Jesus didn't teach us how to be good CEOs. That's what business schools are for. Jesus taught us how to be good people.
- Spiritual growth comes from doing things, not from reading them.
- Jesus never said to his disciples: "Cultivate in yourselves a mindset such that if God were ever to call you to do something, you would be willing to do it." No, he said, "Follow me." Now.
- "Because Jesus is the only way," is not an appropriate answer when asked why you think that every other religion is wrong. Think about it.
- This whole Sunday morning thing has to stop.
- Or at least get an extreme restructuring.
- The word "communion" comes from the same root as "community" because it was meant to be a social affair, not a "be quiet, look at the floor, and eat this wafer" affair.
posted by James at 16:34
13 Comments:
So freakin' good :)
So where DO you go to church? Or have you thrown the baby out with the, uh, olympic-sized pool?
Wow! Thanks for this one.
I'm sure James will come along soon and verify this ::mandy:: but as far as I know, he goes to Jamul Community Church
I'm pretty sure (and again, hopefully he'll answer, I'm just giving my take) that he's not against meeting for church, or even doing it on Sunday if we so choose. The problem is that it's become a replacement for our Christian life, rather than an addition to it. You can't replace 168 hours of Christian life with a couple hours on Sunday. You can't even replace it with a few hours on Sunday and a few on Wednesday. Nothing but a full 168 hours per week should be acceptable, but we've made it that way.
That's why books like In His Steps by Charles Sheldon shock us so much. The character in his book challenged members of his church to make a commitment to ask themselves "What Would Jesus Do?" before doing anything. Not just on Sundays, not even 6 days a week, but always, because God isn't God just on Sundays, and His people aren't at risk of eternal separation from Him only on Sundays. Here is a quote from In His Steps (emphasis added):
What I am going to propose now is something which ought not appear unusual or at all impossible of execution. Yet I am aware that it will be so regarded by a large number, perhaps, of the members of this church. but in order that we may have a thorough understanding of what we are considering, I will put my proposition very plainly, perhaps bluntly. I want volunteers from the First Church who will pledge themselves, earnestly and honestly for an entire year, not to do anything without first asking the question, 'What would Jesus do?' And after asking that question, each one will follow Jesus as exactly as he knows how, no matter what the result may be.
Some things that we often ignore, are the most obvious things that need to be done as Christians. Seeking to do as Jesus would do is one of those things, as is being a Christian 24x7.
Wow, so this is like a conversation in the comments... but I like conversations however they happen, so:
Thanks for your thoughts, Aaron. My first conversation with James, ever, involved assenting critiques of the American Christian church. I very much agree with his thoughts and criticisms and general inspiring self, although I am quieter about change perhaps. I actually work at Jamul Community Church and have spent the last two years having my ideas turned on their head. I know everything is not as it should be, indeed that I am not everything I should be. I guess I just want to know: what DOES faith & love, in America, look like? Does it ever drive an SUV and live in the suburbs?
In that case, I answered a question that wasn't asked, and stated the obvious to someone that attends church with his family.
First, I'd like to say that if you spend any amount of time around James and don't have at least a few of your ideas turned on their head, you are probably not listening. He's been thought provoking for as long as I've known him, and his time overseas (not just Uganda) have giving him a unique and refreshing perspective on the American church (of which I am a part, although I hope I'm a part that is more aware of it's weaknesses).
As to your question on what true Faith and Love look like in America, I'd say that they can look like many things. Are there SUV driving, suburb living, sold out Christians who are actively taking up their cross and following Christ? Absolutely, but I'd venture that they are the exception not the rule.
Please allow me to deviate a little to best convey my point. I'm just finishing up teaching a marriage series in my small group based on the Love and Respect conferences. Something you can't avoid dealing with in a marriage series is "what is the purpose of marriage?" Mark 25:19-25 shows that we aren't married in heaven, so it's not eternal, Paul said in 1 Corinthians 7:26-40 that being married would bring "many troubles in life" and would force you to concentrate on two things (spouse and Christ) rather than one. So, if it's not eternal, and it's not to make life better for us, what is it for? God did create it (Genesis 2:24, Matthew 19:4-6) after all. Well, there are a few purposes, but the one I wanted to point out what that it's a tool. In God's grand plan, we each have a part to play, but we don't all play the same part. Each of us is shaped and trained to reach the people and accomplish the tasks that God has planned for us. He uses different tools (childhood experiences, mission trips, friends, marriages) to shape people for different roles, much the same way a potter uses different tools to create differently shaped vessels.
Having said that, you can't use that as an excuse to NOT learn from someone else's experience. I believe that God has used James's experiences to help shape me, much the same way He shapes me using my wife's or son's experiences.
I also think that God chooses to build on a base. The base includes the basics that He has called ALL Christians to. He calls us to care for those around us, to love our enemies, to take action (read James...Faith without action is dead!), etc.
All that to say this, God has different people in different places, because we all have different jobs. Some live in the suburbs, some live in Uganda or Pakistan. Some have lots of money, some don't. I don't think a Christian is defined by their location or position, but rather what they are doing with it. It doesn't matter WHERE you are, as long as you're where God asked you to be and you're doing what God has asked you to do.
//Note to self, I'm rambling today
wilsonian, thanks! This one has been biscotti baked :)
sandi, check your blog's comments!
Aaron and Mandy, rad conversation. So glad you decided to have it on my blog!
Mandy, to answer your first question, I'm not going to any church right now, but that hasn't stopped me from having amazing community with people of incredible faith. In fact, I've recently had better community experiences than at any church I've ever been to. Right now I'm learning how community forms, and how it becomes committed. I'm so excited to continue developing it!
Aaron, you're right, I'm not against a church meeting together, or doing it on Sundays. And I love the way you put it, "The problem is that it's become a replacement for our Christian life, rather than an addition to it." An expression of a thing replaces the thing itself, like love poem not backed by actual love. Sunday meetings ought to be the outpouring of a brimming community - instead they are the whole of the affair. And the truth is, the more that I learn about what community takes, the more I realize that its lack in my life is at least half my fault. Community is hard work. The more we sit back and wait for it to embrace us, the more we'll be disappointed.
Mandy, I'm not against suburbs and SUVs (I live in one and drive the other, after all, though I am looking to downsize), but against the type of church that allows suburbs and SUVs to dictate the way they live. One thing that struck me as I came back from Uganda was the weight of American life - it's so expensive to pay for all you need and all you're supposed to have (suburbs and SUVs) that there's little time or energy to focus on little things like God, Love, Truth. And churches today cater to that. Sunday services are what they are because churches are afraid that if they ask for any more, they'll lose people. Because people have suburbs and SUVs that they need to tend to.
I agree, church is supposed to be about community, not the culmination of the Christian experience. And I also agree that we are so far removed and enslaved to our stuff that we don't even know what true community looks like. So I look around and see a generation of people like us that are sick of doing church the same way...sick of having their ideas turned on their head. My question is what do we do about it? I know the answer lies in being proactive instead of a sideline critic...but I am still searching for what that looks like for me. Because if there is one thing I understand about Jesus, its that he was radical and unpredictable and the answer is not as simple as "homechurch or mega-church...or no church".
"- This whole Sunday morning thing has to stop."
Even before I read the comments and realized this had touched a chord I was struck with a feeling of agreement. Not along the lines of "Don't go to church because church is... (insert preconception here)" but more we must stop whatever this thing is that we have created. We have created a culture of commercialized Christianity where people feel more of a conviction to fill out a complaint cards than to fill out a check or actually do something. So yeah the whole church thing has to stop, not The Church, just the thing we have created.
So I say heck yes, do away with whatever this thing is we have created. If it takes leaving the "church" to be the church then more power to you. (I do like seeing you around so don't be too much of a stranger :)
By the way the rest of em rocked my socks as well, I hear you brother!
Just one question... If I put a fish on the back of my Astro Van will that justify my excess?
(I'm pretty sure Jesus drove an Astro)
Jess, I hear you. I think the answer is probably a lot like figuring anything else out. Do your best to follow what Jesus said. Really DO it. Then figure out where you've gone wrong and do it better. Repeat. Sadly we don't have many examples to look at these days so it's all trial and error. But that's much of the fun in life anyway, right?
Daniel, great to hear from you! First of all, the Astro is totally acceptable. It's no Aerostar (Derek where are you on this one), but it's a close second.
On the Sunday morning thing, I think we're speaking the same language. There's an 'easy Christianity' culture that has completely taken over the gospel, a gospel that holds both great , blessings and great woes, a gospel that is abundant life and is still like a cross. This gospel has been replaced by an hour or two on Sunday morning so that we don't jeopardize our ability to keep up with the Jonses. If this whole thing is true at all, then it's not that easy. But it is abundant.
Wow, I blinked and now I'm several comments behind! Whatever else is said for this post, James, I'll give you this: it certainly has caused some good discussion!
But I think that's the point we're each making in our own vernacular -- we don't want to just be part of another discussion, we want to be the change. And then are maybe stuck a bit wondering what that change is supposed to be. Jessie and Daniel both mentioned that, and I'm in that camp of not being ready to just do away with church because so many get it wrong. Jesus flipped the tables over, but he didn't burn the building. How can we follow suit?
(By the way, I second Daniel -- don't be a stranger.)
I spent yesterday at a conference, and come back to find that the comments here nearly doubled!
I have to say that I'm in much the same boat as Jess. I know we're not doing it right, but I'm trying to find my place in it. I feel like I'm challenged everywhere I look. Not that long ago I read The Irresistible Revolution (good recommendation James) which was eye opening, I taught an in depth study on the book of James which is like a clear and concise call to action (not what we see in the American Church in general), I talked here about some things I learned about the real purpose of marriage and how it's a tool to help form you for the actions God has planned for you to do, and now I'm in the middle of reading Three Cups of Tea which is amazing. It seems like everywhere I turn I'm being inundated with the fact that we're not doing it right, but I'm struggling to figure out what IS right, and how that looks for me.
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