Order it today – you won’t be sorry!

Stephanie

         Love is such an abstract term.  We use it to ascribe delight, enjoyment, passion, suffering, romance, … and talk about loving everything from pizza and parties to country, friends, our mothers and music.  While there are so many aspects of this subject the basic building blocks of love and largely overlooked.  Certainly, the caring, listening, giving, serving, and putting others first, are but a few of love's attributes, but it seems that there is more than our human selfish nature that keeps these elements from flourishing in the church.  In fact, I believe there are several looming factors that prohibit love from having first place in the church, all of which have been little addressed, if the church is to grow and if the individual Christians within it to come to maturity.

Where is the Joy in the Church?

There is joy in being part of the church that is often missed because the atmosphere has become primarily a learning environment.  By making the pulpit central we inadvertently move to the focus from community of faith to . . .a sermon.  Many people wonder why the desire to be a closer-knit Christian community is not attained, and in some cases not even desired by so many congregants.  Perhaps it is the pulpit-central structure that prevails in so many local churches that prohibits the basic building blocks of community to advance.  As unconventional as it may sound, I adjure you to think about it:  How many of us associate "going to church" with listening to a good sermon?

 This is so much the case that even in an age of efficiency and attenuated focus on programs for church growth there must be those who continue to raise important questions such as, “what exactly what is a church outside of its steeple and pulpit?”  Is it a community or an institution?  If it is a community, how does it grow; how does it flourish?  If an institution, how is it maintained?  And, what are the indicators that the time spent within its walls is time well spent? 

In many ways these questions have long since ceased being asked in the sanctioned circles of ecclesiological influence, but it is time that they be revisited.  Let us then ask them:  Are pastors more than disseminators of information about Christ?  Are church members more than people who fill pews, give money to maintain the church building and grounds?  Is the church something more than a place to “get religion” and then happily proceed to the remainder of our week, unfettered and disconnected from each other?   I could leave those questions dangling in cyberspace, but in good conscience I cannot leave such ugly questions floating out here without sharing something a bit less discouraging. 

With all that is within me I believe that the church is a community of faith, but since the idea of community has been so rapidly transformed from “a group of people gathered together that share everyday life” to people who agree on a subject and gather around the subject (e.g. the animal rights community, the gay community, the medical community), the concept of community might do well to be discussed. 

How does Community conflate with the Church?

In terms of culture, community accomplishes many things.  In fact, it has long been part of the very fabric of society.   The warm circle of community that once defined America’s populace is now being sent to never-neverland.  It is the stuff of literature and children's animated films.  The ever-growing elusiveness of a felt sense of community is becoming so commonplace that many don't even realize this is what they are lacking! The sense of existential homelessness or lack of belonging so necessary for human development and flourishing is simply being edited out of society, and the church isn't doing much to change that. 

 Some even are seeing this idea of community as a “fantasy” ---  depicting a “kind of naive immersion in human togetherness – once perhaps a common human condition, but nowadays available, increasingly, only in dreams. (Bauman, p.10)”   Bringing these ideas into a discussion of church environment has great relevance for 21st century Christians, for without it the church becomes no more than a semi-stabilizing institution or learning center. 

Images of a perfect church may evoke visions of fiery sermons filled with inspiring preaching;  a homespun and warm atmosphere, culminating, perhaps, in that evanescent “good vibe” between parishioners and brothers and sisters in Christ, but still, I ask -- where is the love?  Where is the everyday togetherness of shared life and shared concerns?  It is this mostly intangible quality of community that fosters the all-important sense of mutuality, which in turn makes the vibrancy and efficacy of the church a more feasible, reachable goal. 

The very public "fall" of mega-church pastors in recent past along with repeated soundbites and fragmented flashes of video gaffs and gross misuse of power from pulpits across America exaccerbate the problem of detachment in the contemporary church.   But, in spite of the failings, if an atmosphere of mistrust and uncertainty has begun to prevail in America’s churches, the opportunity for community grows.  First, it creates greater awareness of the need.  Second, it subdues the hubris so often associated with the church and creates a space for ministry.  Hopefully, these two elements also create a mindset of change.  Thus, we must work toward laying a supportive foundation from on the outset.  Regular encouragements, support, productive criticism, careful attention to their work, are all ways to build trust in the church and lay the groundwork for community.

What is significant about the social availability of community is not new.  Community strengthens us.  Community shields us from the harshness of the cold, relentless world.  Community fosters the much-needed sense of belonging that is essential for human beings to grow.   It is a prime element in the healthy socialization of individuals and to the achievement of many values, -- learning what it means to be a follower of Christ, not being the least.[1]  The benefits of cultivating a sense of community in the church may appear reasonable and helpful, but they are also elusive.  Let us then remember to whom we are called and why we are called.  We can not be a light to the world unless we are living IN the light and letting it shine forth from our midst.

Let us savor this joy of community;  recall it, instill it, and  --- yes – even rescue it from a pulpit-centered idea and all the seemingly endless technological means, methods, and quick fixes that seek to cannibalize the church.  May we be the ones who do not cease to inquire about the unforeseen outcomes of pulpit-centered churches, people-centered visions, and virtual experiences that substitute for lively and invigorating times of shared worship and life together.  Let us take back the church, get out of the pews and into the aisles, metaphorically speaking, at least.

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Bauman, Z. (2001). Community:  Seeking Safety in an insecure world.  Polity

Press.  USA.

Brook, J. & Boal, I. A. (1995). Resisting the Virtual Life:  The Culture of Politics and

Information.  City Lights Publishing, San Francisco.

By Stephanie Bennett

When things are bad we want to get through them as soon as possible. When things are so bad that we feel imprisoned by our circumstances, we will often be inclined to accept change at almost any cost.

So it was in Hitler’s Germany, when so many of the upstanding German people swallowed the despot’s vile rhetoric and “solution to the Jewish question” without thinking. Rather than coming up with a real solution to Germany’s economic woes, the people accepted the vision of a purer, better life from a chancellor they cheered.  As a result, there was change, but it was horrific.

Thankfully, everyday life does not typically present us with solutions as hideous or as cataclysmic as the attempted obliteration of the Jews.  But sweeping changes do occur, both in our lives and in society-at-large, and very often they occur slowly, over time, and are the result of spiritual unrest as much as material problems. But, have you ever considered how great shifts in culture take place? Most often, a shift begins with barely a ripple.  Then, there is acquiescence to small changes that seem much more practical and obvious.  It is often in the small steps, the daily decisions that the inching toward cataclysmic change takes place, and whether it begins in mass or in part, society’s values are always shaken before a seismic shift in social life takes place.

Today, the need for change is hard to refute.  With fuel prices and mortgage fiascos nipping the financial heels of just about every individual in society and random violence seeming to increase at exponential rates, “change” is something much needed here in the States. Change is needed in our nation, our neighborhoods, and our families.  Change, invigorating the People of God, is needed in the Church.

The rhetoric of change can be intoxicating.  Change can, in fact, bring about blessing, and a better life for many.  But when “change” is sought for its own sake, or because the pollsters and marketers say “try something new,” the outcome can be devastating to life as we know it.  Allow me give you an example:  Between the years of 1876 and 1939 technologies such as electricity, the telegraph, and the transportation system changed American life in ways that can hardly be calculated. In a speech presented last month at the Foreign Policy Research Institute in Philadelphia, History Professor Emeritus Maury Klein argues that this period represents

[. . . ] the most profound single change in American and world history.    It introduced industrialization, which separates one chapter in human history from another.  With industrialization came large cities, the mass migration of people out of rural areas and into cities, as well as changes in the pace of American life. Technology speeded up and quantified American life. It promised a better tomorrow, a better life defined by material advances.  More things and more goods for more people. Of  course, it  came at  a huge  price tag, but most Americans saw it as the march of progress to the point where they came  to expect  that whatever they had today, tomorrow would bring  something  newer  and  even  better.  The most significant thing that technology introduced into American life is change--the notion that tomorrow will be different.
Not necessarily better, but different.[1]

Industrialization paved the way for many “good” things in America, but what the shift to manufacturing and industry did not account for was the ways it would contribute to the breakdown of the community.  Today, many of our communities are just shells.  Houses standing side-by-side, neighborhoods that carry the name “community,” but are far from the close-knit groups of people sharing life together.  We can deny the loss altogether or bemoan it with a defeated shrug. Or, we can pretend that the bonds of community life are not something we really need, or (in spite of the rage and deep sense of longing for something more), tell ourselves that we have not truly lost them.  None of these positions help us regain the sense of belonging and well-being that are part of the “pursuit of happiness” Americans have long held dear.

The revolution that Industrialization spurred made life much easier in so many ways, but it also greatly contributed to a decided shift in thinking toward the way we perceive speed, efficiency, productivity, and progress.  Machines, methods, and all manner of devices were invented that gave people more freedom from work.  But whether technology is used to enhance human function or replace it, its ultimate worth depends upon the way we use it and how it affects the greater good of humanity.  And so we come to my point.   What may be deemed progress in the Church is often the exact opposite.  We think that bigger buildings, better sound systems, extravagant websites and more people attracted to the local assembly will mean progress for the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and yet both the stats pointing to religious life and the lack of reality of the Gospel in our lives defy the logic of this mindset.  Because things need improvement we accept anything offered to us on the table of progress and we don’t question the far-reaching results. 

An example of this occurred in the fourth century when Constantine made a profession of faith and decided that all the pagan temples should be turned into buildings for Christian worship.  Sounds great, doesn’t it?  But, what did it produce in the long run?  Instead of the vibrancy and passion for which early believers were known, faith flagged and the church became a part of the political system.  Suddenly, it was politically incorrect not to be a Christian. People began going to church as a ritual and duty instead of gathering as the church to love and worship God in simplicity and faith. 

Today, the preaching of the Gospel (or a portion of it) spreads far and wide through an expansive media landscape.  But, instead of more people finding faith and becoming involved in church life, there seems to be a rearranging – a scrambling – of believers moving from one denomination or church building to the next.  Rather than finding a sense of community and roots in a local body, statistics point to people switching from place to place trying to find better programs, music, support, and preaching.[2]  So we must ask ourselves, is heavy saturation of mediated Gospel-sharing really producing life in the church?  What does the “progress” of mediated versions of the Gospel produce in the body of Christ, in the long run?

So we must ask ourselves, do we really desire “different?” Do we want the convenience of “going to church” via our computer screens?  Will a point-and-click experience of church help us feel a part of the Body of Christ or is it a genuine sense of belonging that we long for?  Think of it:  Do we really want more convenience in accessing sermons via pod casts and truncated text messages?  Is something “different” inherently better than walking through the struggles to find real answers?   Will “different” ultimately bring satisfaction and healing to our lives, to our families, to our nation?  Or, will “different” bring about changes that are much worse in the long run? 

What, you may ask, could possibly be the answer to these quandaries? First, and perhaps foremost, a change in thinking is necessary.   Instead of simply “getting back to the basics,” we must lay all our preconceived ideas of the abundant life at the feet of our Lord.  We must come to Him with hands empty and out-reaching, with an attitude of heart that says, “Father, YOU are God, and YOU are the head of Your church. What shall I do?”  Rather than continuing to look for change in our lives by simply switching church families, getting a bigger, better building, or a new pastor, perhaps it is time to consider who we “do” church altogether.  No longer do most Christians think of the church as a people or a Body.  Instead, ask the average believer the question, “what is the church?” and the answer will likely come back, “A place Christians go on Sunday morning.” But IS this the church?  Is the church primarily a place or is it a people gathered?

When we think of the church as a place or a building we no longer function within it in ways that build relationship or community.  Yes, form does proceed function.  Instead of perceiving the Body of Christ as a people who are gathered to fellowship with God and each other, we think of it as a thing.  This is a far cry from the way the church is depicted in the New Testament. 

It's all connected, isn't it?  Nothing exists in a vacuum.  The context of history encapsulates all of our trends, in terms of both behavior and values.

We are living in a point and click world, one that upholds mobility and efficiency as virtue.  - All the more reason to hang on tightly the core values and wisdom gleaned from an historical, Christ-centered view of life.  All the more reason to take the time to seek God on our knees, spend time with friends in face-to-face conversation, and invest our time into the nurturing of community, family, friendship, and love.  In other words, do the simple things, let go of our convoluted, tangled web of over-organized, technology-dependent lives.  These, my friend, seem to be eroding even more quickly than our generation's propensity to scroll instead of read. 

How easy it is to reduce our faith to a bunch of principles and rules, living by rote in what is protocol or expected. To say we are trusting God  -- really trusting God -- is so much of what makes the Christian life a life that is abundant and real instead of just abstract or theology. This is true of our church life, our families, our work, our health, our vote –every aspect of this thing called life.

So before we opt for change, let’s make sure it is not just for change sake. In the mid-20^th century the rhetoric of “change” proved disastrous for the entire world.  Let us then determine that our choices will be made with prayer and care, making decisions that reflect those things we value in the church and in wider society.

The rhetoric of change swirls about the pundits and politicians in hurricane force this year.  Perhaps that is to be expected in a campaign season such as the one America is presently undergoing, but is it strong rhetoric and speakers equipped with eloquence and charisma what we need to transform our churches?  Is the rhetoric of change what it will take to transform passive pew potatoes into people passionate about living in the reality the life of the Body of Christ daily?  Whether it is the upcoming vote in this election year, the way we use our natural resources, or our own participation in -- and apprehension of -- the church, let us look carefully – prayerfully – and determine to walk in ways that glorify God and take seriously His first and ongoing mandate to be stewards of all that He has so graciously given.

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Stephanie Bennett

I have heard many definitions of what it means to be a Christian, but Thomas Kelly, a Quaker and scholar living in the mid-20^th century, spent much time living and writing about what it means to be a believer.  His description resonates more than most. He wrote:

“It is a joyful and quiet displacement of life from its old center in the self and a glad and irrevocable replacement of the whole of life in the new and divine Center.  It is a life lived out from an all-embracing center of motivation, which in glad readiness wills to do the will of the Father, so far as that will can be discerned.”[1]

Kelly differentiates between all those who call themselves Christians and what he terms, “a decided Christian.”  He speaks of an Inner Light or Guide, who is Jesus Christ, directing the believer, daily. This is not to be confused with the vague, amorphous force of faith or any such new age constructions of reality.  No. This inner Guide is the Lord Jesus, Himself, who lives and reigns and dwells within each one who has repented and by faith received the free gift of salvation from God.  Here is the larger context of Kelly’s statement:

”This decidedness in a Christian is not to be confused with the decidedness of the bigot, or the man with a one-string gospel.  It is not a decidedness about a particular doctrine.  Such “decided” Christians are plentiful, but they are not the answer to the worlds’ need.  True decidedness is not of doctrine, but of life orientation.  It is a commitment of life, thoroughly, wholly, in every department and without reserve, to the Inner Guide. It is not a tense and reluctant decidedness, an hysterical assertiveness.  It is a joyful and quiet displacement of life from its old center in the self and a glad and irrevocable replacement of the whole of life in the new and divine Center.  It is a life lived out from an all-embracing center of motivation, which in glad readiness wills to do the will of the Father, so far as that will can be discerned.  It is a life of integration of peace, of final coordination of all one’s powers within a singleness of commitment” (4).

Much as I was blessed – and I was -- in the reading of this passage, it got me thinking about the many ways Christians can be exclusive and judgmental.  A Christian is this, or that.  A Christian doesn’t drink or smoke or swear.  A Christian dresses . . . just so.  A Christian prays in a deep voice.  A Christian woman wears a head covering.  A Christian tithes.  A Christian gives to the poor.  A Christian “does” this thing or that, but let me ask you this --  does the doing define what a Christian is?

It seems to me, this type of defining of a Christian creates an acute diversion from the actuality of the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Certainly, as we grow in our union with God through Christ, our lives are transformed and the outward begins to reflect the inward.  For some, this takes longer than others.  How sad then, when what the world sees of the Church is a truncation of the Gospel through the splintering of behavioral beliefs and an insistence on following a set of rules instead of following Christ.  (This is the reason for the denominations and the sects, is it not?).  What is the solution?  I am not sure.  Is it a re-education?  A revelation? A Divine encounter with the Living God?  All I do know is that we are recipients of a Love that is so splendid and pure – so extravagantly poured out upon us daily – and it is cause enough to let God be God in the lives of others and focus on the ways we each may bring a more surrendered self to the table of fellowship.

These thoughts were spurred on yesterday as I was thinking about how misconstrued and (mostly) awful are the portrayals of what it means to be a Christian these days.  I remembered the mid-1970’s when I first believed in Jesus – how Father has used all the circumstances in my life to bring me to this point of being middle-aged and . . . seasoned.  Here I am, I thought, working in a field where the spiritual formation of young people is a primary aim and He is still shaping and forming me, every single day.  I was at the shore, fellowshipping with the Lord, and as I pondered my current calling, I winced.

I don’t love you enough, Lord.  Will I ever be as passionate about You as I should? Why haven’t I  grown more in all these years of walking in Christ? So many years!  I feel like a baby sometimes!

At that moment, just when the creeping crud of self-recrimination was beginning to seep through the edges of my heart and mind, I sensed the Lord Jesus Christ wooing me back to center.  HE is Lord.  HE reigns.  HE is the Author and the Finisher of my faith.  HE is at work to will and to do all that Father has purposed.  Ah, the delight to be invited into communion with a God who so lavishly and lovingly pours out His Spirit on us. And the thought that we ---  immersed in a dark and devilish world of shadows, tainted by the stench of sin, skewed in our perceptions by the very fact of being born into a fallen world, yes – WE – are the vessels He chooses to indwell, enliven and redeem.  Well, what a thought!  We, the broken ones, the dirty ones, the self-focused, cyclical sinners – are invited to the banqueting table of daily fellowship with a Creator is perfect and pure.  Tell me, how mind-boggling is that?

Perhaps we can only describe what it means to be in Christ and a definition is not even in order.  The transformation process is always working on and in us.  With the Lord’s face ever before us, we press on toward the goal of the upward call.  Whatever is the definition of a Christian, may it include the reality of fellowship with Him – enjoying the daily indwelling of the Lord our Christ, communing with God at the table of forgiveness, experiencing the abundant life that He has promised, the life that begins in this very moment, the moment that is eternal, the moment we are here with Him; the moment that is now.

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Earl

By Stephanie Bennett, Ph.D.

It used to be that people were known for being heroes. Doing something noble or worthy of praise would be reason for someone's popular acclaim, but with the advance of mass media, a new phenomenon arose within American culture.  People began to be known --just for being known.[1] In media studies we’ve come to talk about this phenomenon as the rise of the celebrity.

Today, people famous for being famous are not simply celebrated; they are part of an entertainment culture that increasingly sets the tone for the values we espouse as well as those we project out into the wider world.  Unfortunately, whether or not we personally adhere to the values of celebrity culture we are influenced by them in many ways. Whether through temptations, distractions, obsession with our “looks,” the frittering away of our time, or the slow and seemingly innocuous stream of a carnal images and ideas, our lives are increasingly shaped by the entertainment culture in which we live.  It is an environment.  We are in its bubble. What is just as disconcerting is that our collective footstep is deeply entrenched in the mire of media exploitation.  As Americans, we are seen and perceived through media portrayals.  But that is a subject for another day.

Celebrity culture came to a high pitch with the introduction of the television to our society, but it started long before that. Silent pictures, radio -- and mass media in general—became a catalyst to provide the populace with a false sense of "knowing" others. There are many theories on the subject of celebrity culture, but one of the most compelling is known as parasocial theory and involves the entrance of mass media into the cultural milieu. Along with the recreational joys of film and TV and creative new ways of telling stories and creating art, mass media have been linked to several unforeseen consequences of cultural malaise, one of which is strongly tied to what has come to be known as the cult of celebrity.

With that, the concept and experience of "intimacy" completely changed. Largely through the vehicle of television, people became privy to the details of the private lives of strangers.  Now, with our own eyes we could now take in a vision of what it looked like to be close--something quite different from the story-telling trend of novel reading in which the imagination is front and center. 

Celebrity has become the new sacred.  The evening news is no longer peppered with gossip, it is saturated with it.  Television executives tell us they wouldn’t broadcast these trivial bits of celebrity’s personal lives except that the public calls for it; the public tunes in.  If this is true, why is it so?  Why are we so willing to watch the shallow bits and bytes of lives of people who populate the screens of our mass media?  These are people who are famous for being famous.  Do we truly hunger for the parasocial relationships television has to offer?

I don’t think so.

Parker Palmer, a contemporary educator/author and brother in Christ, captures part of the answer in his thoughts about community, saying:

“The modern divorce of the knower and the known has led to the collapse of community and accountability between the knowing self and the known world” (1993).

This is key to the renewal and restoration of the Church as the Body of Christ.  We are divorced from one another, living separate lives, waving or sharing the sign of peace on Sundays while living our lives in relative isolation! Along with the underlying dissatifaction in contemporary church life (if you doubt this, check out the Pew and the American Life study on religious attendance and church hopping) Palmer’s assessment of the problem reveals much about the increased violence, misery and growing angst in society at large. (e.g. Virginia Tech; Columbine; etc.)

With the emergence and ensuing immersion of this entertainment culture onto the American landscape, the Church finds itself in the unique position of offering people something entirely different from the celebrity-soaked emphasis on the material world:  The Gospel.

Yes, the Gospel.  No new version, just pure, simple, free, and without bells and whistles – The Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.  What the Creator of the Universe has made available to the world through Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.  The Love that God has poured out needs no marketing plan or celebrities to keep it relevant.  His love does not require a fresh-new-American-twist to make sure the media picks it up and turns it into another venture in entertainment.  Yet, instead of setting the pace for the purity of expression and advancing the Gospel by allowing the church to be the church, American Christianity has -- by and large --  bought the ticket of celebrity culture.  And like so much else in the past century, Christianity has  found itself imitating the world instead of leading the way out of the confusion.

Confronting the cult of celebrity in America will take more than choosing whether or not we use rock bands for our worship time on Sundays.  It will take a strong dose of medicine that comes in the way of tough questions.  Are we treating church-members like the audiences of pop-culture? Are we so interested in getting bigger numbers through the door that we plan our yearly events according to the latest “big name” draw? What about the simple joy of taking time to get to know one another?  Do we remember what it means to function in the gift of hospitality, spending time caring for each other, visiting the elderly, or helping a neighbor?  Doing the small, unnoticeable deeds that help build the community of faith are much more important to advancing the call of discipleship than getting people out to the pews for another big night of celebrity preaching.

If American Christianity would refuse to embrace the cult of celebrity and begin to value everyday brothers and sisters instead of big name bands and star preachers, we would see refreshment and reality return to our altars.  Surely, then our everyday lives would begin to take on the fragrance of Christ in the marketplace instead of the stench of the idolatry.

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