For the last several weeks, I’ve been reflecting on the recent studies showing that many folks in the US do not consider themselves a part of any particular faith community. Some have left because they find the church to be too judgmental, too hypocritical, too liberal, too conservative, too boring, or too much of an imposition on their busy week, etc. What I suggested last week is the possibility that some folks feel as if they have “graduated” from church. That is to say, they may primarily see the church as a place where one goes to “become a better person.” And, since they more or less agree with the church’s ethical teaching, they are happy to go about living the kind of life without all of the trappings of religion.
I think there is something to be said for that way of thinking. For example, if someone eschews a lucrative law career in order to be a public defender because they are convinced that everyone deserves equal representation in matters of justice, is that commitment not what the prophet calls us to do when he says, “Do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly”? Do they need to believe in God to do “what God commands”? I have met persons who began attending progressive churches like St. Mark because they were part of the LGBTQIA community and needed to find a safe refuge from the church in which they grew up. Once they learned to accept themselves as beloved children of God, they left church because they felt like they had what they needed to move on. In truth, I think a non-religious person committed to justice is more christian (as an adjective) than someone whose religion is all about living their best life now and going to heaven when they die. Nonetheless, at the expense of sounding like a “company shill,” I want to push back against the idea that living a good or justice-oriented life makes the church irrelevant.
I believe the church is greater than the sum of its part. Being the church is more than learning the Bible, believing doctrines, formation as a “better person,” worshiping with others, doing one’s part, and participating in a community. Much like a body is fingers, toes, eyeballs, brains, organs, blood, etc., but the experience of living as an embodied person is far more than what those parts do, being the church involves all kinds of things, but is more than all of them put together. Here’s my favorite example, but I’m sure you can think of more.
A three-year-old often categorizes adults in a church as either parenty or grandparenty and not much more besides. That child does not know the joy or pain of anyone’s life story and often not even their names. They just know that when they offer an answer to a question during Young Church or sing a song on Christmas Eve, everyone loves it. What they may not know is that those “old” people know their names, remember their birth, and hold them up in prayer often. Speaking as a former three-year-old, that experience of being welcomed, of people having real joy over the mere fact that one exists, shapes us far more deeply than we can ever know. This experience of being welcomed and loved by the church is how we first experience being welcomed and loved by God. The life-shaping of being loved – in a way that is eternal and not just contingent on our latest action – is as close to a miracle as anything we can name. This life-giving miracle is not the Bible Study, the programs, or any of the disparate parts of church life – it is the power that animates all of those parts of the church life. In this time of Pentecost, we call this power the Holy Spirit. If we only see the church as an institution, we might reach a place where we’re ready to “graduate” from it. But, if we see the church as a body that is empowered by the Holy Spirit, being the church is far than “what we get out of it” or even “what we contribute to it.”
I invite you to join us in worship this weekend and let the Holy Spirit of Pentecost fill you with new life, new breath, new fire, and new ways of expressing the good news of the gospel.
Mark of St. Mark
No comments:
Post a Comment