American Dream, Church Edition
We all know the institutional Christian church in America, in every major form, denomination, faction, etc. is statistically plateaued or declining in raw number of attenders. This a national statistic with certain regional / stylistic expceptions, but is most directly felt in places like the greater Seattle area (wherest I bloggeth from). If you need the stats to know this for sure or disagree with that basic assertion, this blog will frustrate and anger you. Stop reading now – for your own sake. We just don’t have time to prove to you that the fleet is sinking. It is. If your particular boat is doing a little better – or a lot better – be happy and enjoy it.
It’s not terribly difficult to figure out what is going on, but it takes some cultural immersion. you have to go be a part of the culture and keep quiet about your wonderful ideas and listen for awhile. Then you start to hear a common refrain among the ex-church, anti-church, and agnosto-church folk out there. Christianity is regarded less for its ideals, principles, or theology and more for its institutions, organizations, and manifestations. Simple version – most people know little about Jesus or His message and a lot about the Church. Most everyone has specific experience with Christian church in some way or another – directly or indirectly. And to put it mildly, we have an image problem.
You don’t have to look farther than my short lifetime to know why. It’s a shocker that I saw Jesus at all, growing up surrounded by dysfunctional churches and church people; watching my parents send money to the televangelists that ended up on the news for hookers or embezzeling while we struggled to have food sometimes. So we have had a PR black eye as long as I can remember, and with a study of history you can argue the Christian church began to be marginalized as early as the 1950s (or earlier). No longer the defacto source of spiritual truth, we became another product in an increasignly consumer-driven culture.
And that’s where the American Dream comes in. The basics of that sociological lore is the dream of owning a house, a car or two, 2.5 kids, a safe neighborhood, and, most importantly, financial security. The details differ, but that’s the carrot we’ve been chasing for decades. The church as an institution has its own version. Again, there are variations, but it usually includes a building to do our ministry in, a large number of people attending weekly serivces, and adequate finances to meet the needs of the congregation while continuing to expand the ministry.
Odd ambitions for the disciples of a homeless guy.
Okay – put the rocks down – let me expand on that a bit. I don’t think that buildings or budgets or butts in the seats (sorry – needed another “B” word) are moral evils in themselves (just like I don’t believe ice cream, the color pink, or rock and roll music in 4/4 time are inherently wrong), but they have to be kept in proper perspective and used correctly. I thought a lot about this as I was going through church planting exercises like setting goals. No matter where you find yourself in the spectrum of Christendom, if you judge your local gathering of Christians as a success because you have managed to build a building or start programs or have a lot of people coming (and those people like coming), you may have missed the point.
What IS the goal? I ask myself this a lot. By all ministry standards I am a washout, a failure, a statistic. At the height of my “career” as a pastor, I walked away. Not from Jesus, but from the daily grind of institutional Christianity. And out here in “pastors who can’t hack it desert school”, I am hearing for the first time the heart of a generation of Americans who know nothing about Jesus, but are deeply opinionated about the organization that bears His last name.
They’re not coming to your church. And if they do, they will most likely be profoundly confused by watching what used to be a viral movement operate as an organizational machine. We’re like Apple – we used to be the underdog, grass roots, people-powered movement. Now we’re a greedy, resource-hungry monopoly that controls people with long term iPhone contracts and squashes third party innovation. Wait – what were we talking about? Oh – the church. Yes. Scratch that Apple paragraph. I think I wrote that ’cause I really want an iPhone. But I don’t want a 24 month contract with AT&T. I am trapped.
There is too much to say in one post, so you will have to be patient and read them all. Here are some teaser titles – “The Market-Driven Church”, “Why Pastors Make Bad CEOs”, “The Customer is the Product”, “Who Needs Teachers Anymore (We Do)” and “Basic Budgeting for Churches.”
So this doesn’t become an incoherent rant, let’s get back to the point – the American Dream has been liberally applied to all our church planning, budgeting, etc. etc. We comfort ourselves with the fact that everything has to be measured somehow (I agree) and those three b’s are as good a yardstick as any – after all, if the money is good and the people are coming and the building gets built and expanded we must be doing something right (not necessarily). So how should we measure? I am constantly terrified (in a healthy way) by the fact that Jesus said “22Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ 23Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'”
That just tweaks my melon, because any idiot knows that if you are performing MIRACLES in Jesus name, God is happy with you and your ministry. But it isn’t true. God judges by His own standards. So what is His measure of the success of the church? First, a few scandalous statements, then some Bible stuff:
Scandalous Statements
- Most church budgets are heavy on infrastructure, overhead, and administration, leaving little money left for the mission they were invented to fulfill.
- The fact that your parking lot is full does not mean God is calling you to move to the suburbs where there is more land and relaxed zoning and whiter people.
- Jesus attends every church where people believe He is God and say so, no matter where they meet or how many there are (tangent – sending out a prayer for the persecuted church, whatever den, cave, hole, or home you met in to celebrate the Resurrection today).
- If our definition of success morphs to match the values of our culture, we will forever be slaves to the same empty pursuit strip-mining American families of every bit of hope and health in pursuit of a happiness that comes too late to be meaningful (what good is a billion dollars if you lose your kids – apply tht to the church somehow – you’re smart people :-).
Bible Stuff
This sucker has been sounding a bit negative, so let’s pick up to some happy thoughts. Jesus had high hopes for the church that would bear His name. He believes we will live out His dream – He insists on it – and He will allow our institutions to self-destruct to make it happen. Remember that Christianity functions best on the fringes of society, embraced by those immersed deep in the culture of their day. The message of Jesus finds its most fertile soil in the midst of darkeness, death, and persecution. We live in a most excellent time (thank you Bill and Ted).
So what is Jesus dream for the church? First, a few things He prayed for, then a few things He commended churches for, then a few things He corrected them for:
Matthew 16:17-19 (New International Version)
17Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. 18And I tell you that you are Peter,[a] and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades[b] will not overcome it.[c] 19I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be[d] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be[e] loosed in heaven.”
John 17:13-19 (New International Version)
13″I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. 14I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17Sanctify[a] them by the truth; your word is truth. 18As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.
Matthew 24:10-14 (New International Version)
10At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
Ephesians 2:8-10 (New International Version)
8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast. 10For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
THOUGHTS
Jesus is VERY interested in our unity, good works, and proclamation of Him as God (as Peter had just prclaimed). He also is very clear on our mission – we are sent into the “world” – a Bible translator’s work for “the culture outside the church ghetto”).
For info on what Jesus commended and cirrected churches directly for, read the first few chapters of Revelation (won’t take the time here to enumerate).
THE POINT
A common diagnostic question for any organization is “if you had to do it all over again, what would you do differently?” For churches, there are certain things we don’t even THINK about when we answer that question – we think of things like sermon series and direct mailers and “outreach” events and staff hiring decisions and having a more balanced life as a clergyman. But God’s priorities migth cut into the American Dream, Church Edition. If we incorporate the values of Jesus and the early discples, we might not build a building. We might spend the money on a ministry for the poor and just rent. We might rent a smaller space and have more meetings. Or we might train up more teachers and preachers rather than relying on a few fallible human superstars and a big enough building. We might worry less about attendance and more about the ripple effect our faith has on our immediate community (more about that later). We might measure with entirely different sticks. Then again, we might do all those things (build buildings and such) – but for the right reasons (not just because it fits a definition of “success” or “growth”).
After all, it’s hard to tell people to give up the American Dream and follow Jesus when we are not doing the same.
Alright – cut it up – I can take it – and a little secret – I don’t always agree with myself, so if you disagree we may be on the same page :-).
