Confronting Commercialism

Today, I was standing in line at a Bronx post office. Music from the radio filled the room serving to fill awkward silence and to cover over common complaints. Then, a commercial caught my attention. A church in Brooklyn was advertizing its Christmas Eve & New Year services.

One woman asked the other what her plans were for the holidays and proceeded to invite the other woman to a church service. Sounds good, right? But it goes on. The first woman mentioned the pastor and both agreed that the choir was "hot." They determined that they could fit the church service in and still make an anticipated party. The second one agreed to attend followed by the declaration from her friend, "You need all the prayers you can get!"

Does it bother me that she invited her friend to a church gathering? Of course not! I would celebrate that. What struck me was how this church ad was unlikely to be distinguishable from advertizements for Macy's, Disneyland, or Lite Beer. It was distinctly and unmistakably commercial. What broke my heart was the absence of Jesus, loving one another, the mission of God, social justice, life transformation, or the hope of resurrection. Okay, you might say Is this really so bad? I mean, you have to get 'em in the do, right? Yes, I might get 'em in the door (Of course I'm really interested in a much more missional -- less attractional -- perspective); however, but we have to ask: what sort of spirituality will this reproduce?

Merging Christianity with commercialism becomes something unrecognizable in light of the Gospel. We begin to ask, What does this do for me? Do I feel less guilty? Entertained? Am I inspired? (If the Jesus narrative doesn't inspire, then I don't know what to say!) Again, I think we are asking the wrong questions altogether. At the very heart of the Christian message is a call to something -- or rather Someone -- greater than ourselves. Some years ago Henry Blackaby helped us to rethink the question. And so did Roland Allen before him and Thomas a Kempis before him and so many others over the last two thousand years.

What is God up to, and how can I join Him? This is entirely different from our current worldview draped in commercialism. This sort of journey may call me to places that are new, uncomfortable, exciting, joyous, sometimes dangerous, or even... (this one's hard) unsuccessful. The catch is, it re-orientes our entire worldview. It moves us away from self-centered to a God-centered spirituality and away from self-satisfaction to God-glorification.

Heavenly Father,
Holy be Your name.
May your Kingdom come,
May your will be done,
On earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins as we forgive others' sins.
And don't lead us into temptation, but protect us from the evil one.
The Kingdom, the glory, the honor is Yours alone, oh God.

-Jared

Wrong Question

In our society we are very focused on outcomes. As a results-driven culture, our churches often ask, "Does it work?" about any number of new ministry initiatives. It has struck me recently that it is the wrong question -- at least to start out with -- and may lead down a dangerous road. I still care about results and want things to "work" because I care about people being transformed, our city being impacted with the Gospel, and God being glorified. I will work until my last breath for these kinds of results. However, asking "Does it work?" as the first and/or primary question focuses us towards OUR efforts and therefore OUR results. Asking "Is it faithful?" focuses on relationship with Jesus and where He desires to lead us.

Evaluating Structure

The current landscape of theological reflection in the west hosts an increasing amount of hopeful analysis on the missional church. That is, the church reclaiming its identity as a people on mission. A common trend is to embrace organic formations of church, and I'm a participant in this move. There are a number of conversations that have demonstrated tension to some degree. On the one hand, a reclaimation of mission in the church has led to radical re-engineering of organizational structures. On the other hand, there are conversations that attempt to leave structure largely out of the analysis as a noble attempt to avoid being prescriptive about issues not central to the Gospel. I've also participated in this conversation insisting that the real need for the American church is "heart surgery." Structure is a an elusive subject. It doesn't feel as though it should be at the center of conversations about the Gospel, and I agree that it shouldn't. Yet, structures make an impact all their own.

In The Social Construction of Reality, Peter Berger describes institutionalism at the most primitive level as multiple persons committed to a repeating social pattern. For example, three guys meeting at a diner every Monday morning at 7AM for breakfast and prayer for the last two years could be considered an institution, at its most primitive level. Institutionalism is a human endeavor and to some degree unavoidable. Yes, structure is unavoidable and is actually welcome. Committing to repeating patterns and establishing social structures helps define purpse and influences behaviors. As a result, structure -- though not central to the Gospel -- will have an influence.

Stuctures that encourage participation will likely have an impact through practing new behaviors. It is likely that an environment where listening to the stories of peers will nurture compassion to a different degree than oration. Structures that are fluid are probably more likely to invite contextualization, and structures that are organic and participatory should create opportunity to put the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers into actual practice.

No, structure is not central; however, structure will have a profound impact on spirituality. We have more recently begun to recognize the need for structure to be contextualized based on the host culture. Furthermore, it is equally important to recognize the ways that structure influences spirituality, worldview, and behavior.

Evaluating structure raises a number of issues. How does a particular structure relate to the teachings of Jesus? For example, do we take Jesus seriously when He instructs his followers that they are not to rule over one another but to become servants, and how do rigid, hierarchical models relate to this? Does a particular structure represent cultural contextualizaton? What human behaviors are produced or encouraged by a particular structure? While church structures don't hold as central positions as incarnation, cross, resurrection, repentance of sin, and justice, they continue to be issues unwise to ignore.

May the Lord of creation give us wisdom.