Critical Masses
***EDITED ON JULY 17TH***
(Dramatization)
Friend: So, what did you think of Pastor’s sermon on Sunday?
Me: I loved it. He totally hit the nail on the head. It’s exactly what I’m dealing with right now. What about you?
Friend: Eh, it was ok. I zoned out after a while. I did catch where he was quoting the wrong scripture. He kept saying John 2:16 instead of John 3:16. I couldn’t believe that. Worship drove me nuts too. I’m so sick of singing “Breathe”. I’m breathing—can we move on? And the drums…sheesh! They are way too loud. Somebody should tell the sound guy to turn his hearing aids on. He’s killing all of us with his decibels!
Me: Yeah…well, maybe they…*interrupted*
Friend: And what’s up with the nursery? I got stopped in the hall last week and was asked to volunteer once a month. Like I want to do that. I’m so offended. The parking spaces are always full…there’s nothing for my age group…the toilet paper in the bathroom is too rough…Pastor’s tie was ugly…Jenny got dunked longer than I did during the baptismal service…blah…blah…blah…”
Me: Oooookkkkkay…
I’m not totally sure how it all started. But it’s been going on for centuries. I’ve been part of the problem, part of the solution and even just an observer at times. I’m talking about bashing the church. It’s something that exists in every church and every demographic. Being on staff at my church for the past four years, I’ve seen all sides of it. And I’ve seen it especially present in my age group, the “emerging” twenty-somethings. Chris Troutman, a writer for Relevant Magazine writes this:
“Picture a young, blushing bride minutes from walking down the aisle and plunging into the biggest day of her life. Months have been spent preparing for this moment, but they do not begin to shadow the years she has been playing it out in her head. Every piece, every detail has been meticulously attended to and shown the uttermost care. Not one thing about this day has been overlooked.
As the bride turns in the mirror for that final look, you notice that in her motion she has upset a flower in her hair. And stepping closer you see that part of the stitching in the seam of her dress has come undone, only slightly, but still undone. Upon further inspection you notice that the ribbons on her shoulders are not symmetrical at all. In fact she naturally leans just slightly to the left, a fluke that can be attributed to a broken leg when she was 8.
At this point you become faced with a difficult situation. Some of these problems can be mended easily, some will take longer, and some are out of your hands. You realize that something must be done. You have to intervene.
So you pause, assess and naturally begin to verbally and acutely critique the bride from head to toe, taking pains not to miss the smallest flaw. After a complete critical review, you give her a look over to ensure your accuracy, and then briskly leave the room with the satisfaction of a job well done.”
It’s pretty obvious that the analogy Chris is trying to give is about our relationship to the Bride of Christ--the Church. We’ve done a pretty good job at “deconstructing” the church. We know every fault (and who’s it is). We know every attempt that failed. We know because we keep record and we regularly discuss it. But none of us are ever really willing (or ready) to help be a catalyst for positive change.
“These days there are lots of people telling us what is wrong with Christianity, but it's rare that those same people offer any kind of proactive solution for all their criticism.” says Noah Cremisino.
It’s one thing to have issues with unsound doctrine like arguing the deity of Jesus. It’s another thing to nit-pick the church to death. You don’t like the carpet. The communion waffers are too small. They didn’t sing your favorite hymn this week. The bulletin doesn’t fit inside your Bible case like it use to. Where are the solutions? The answers to our many “concerns”? Obviously, they don’t bother us too much or we’d be passionately seeking God for guidance. Many of us just opt to “passionately” belittle the church to whomever passes by. Don’t get me wrong. Questions are good. Questions with positive, God-honoring solutions are great. But a question combined only with a critical attitude is not--it's destructive. You only end up getting ticked off every time the word “church” is mentioned or you spread your poisoness attitudes to whoever will listen. It serves no purpose except to be counter productive to the work that God is trying to accomplish through His local body.
“A constantly critical attitude serves to do no greater good, but only to destroy what we have to work with. It leaves us in a cold state of aporia, with nothing but opinions and desires to guide us.” Matt McDonald
So what do we do? It’s only natural that we will have opinions on things—we’re human. And it’s true that we all have freedom of speech. We can legally say whatever we please. But does that make it right? How can we use our “right” properly—to ignite positive change?
This is where prayer comes in. James 1:5 says “If you need wisdom--if you want to know what God wants you to do--ask him, and he will gladly tell you. He will not resent your asking.” (NLT) Asking God for wisdom--there’s a concept. Is what bothers us a misinterpretation of scripture? Are the foundations taught in our church Biblically wrong? If you think this may be the case, meet with your pastor. Get clarification. Search out what the basic mission of the church is. Melanie Pearl once wrote that “…no church is perfect and it can get pretty sticky. It does help, though, if you can connect with a church's basic mission. It is a lot easier to forgive…small imperfections if the overall connection is there. Sometimes it's hard to connect and find a church's basic mission---sometimes a mission is so unified, so clearly defined, the entire body exudes it.” If it’s not Biblically wrong, it then becomes an issue of “style”--personal opinion, per say. You like kazoos on the worship team. I like guitars. If our doctrine is sound, what does it matter? Style isn’t something to argue over. It’s just preference-- the right or chance to so choose.
But what happens if the doctrine that is preached isn’t sound? Then what? I’d still recommend prayer and a meeting with the pastor. If the issues aren’t resolved, then I’d begin searching for a different church. Here’s the kicker though: Each of these things must be done WITHOUT complaining. The Bible makes it pretty clear that complaining isn’t to be tolerated.
Phillippians 2:14-15 says: “In everything you do, stay away from complaining and arguing, so that no one can speak a word of blame against you. You are to live clean, innocent lives as children of God in a dark world full of crooked and perverse people. Let your lives shine brightly before them.”(NLT) (See also Proverbs 10:19, Proverbs 12:18, Proverbs 15:4, Proverbs 18:21, Proverbs 21:23, Proverbs 11:9 and Proverbs 19:11)
And what about these verses:
“There are six things the LORD hates--no, seven things he detests: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that kill the innocent, a heart that plots evil, feet that race to do wrong, a false witness who pours out lies, a person who sows discord among brothers.” Proverbs 6:16-19 (NLT)
“A person who sows discord among brothers”… Sounds like a complainer to me.
“It is important to ask questions, to criticize if you feel it is necessary, to reject if you feel that something is wrong, but always, always seek an answer in return. For everything you reject, embrace something else, otherwise you will be left with nothing. When you hear a message, study its scriptural reference for yourself. When you are struggling with a style of worship, find one that works for you. When you do not feel that the church is doing enough to reach out to people, find ways to do it for yourself.”-Matt McDonald
Action! That’s what is missing. Doing something instead of just complaining about it! My husband and I have several married friends that we get together with from time to time. We have all attended the same church at some point. The evening usually starts with dinner, the kids run around and play and then we spend the next 2 to 3 hours “discussing” the latest annoyance with the church. By the end of the night, everyone ends up leaving disgruntled and discouraged. We managed to talk out our issues but that’s all we did--talk. We didn’t come up with ways to make the situation better. It was just “godless chatter”. 2 Timothy 2:16 says “Repeat these basic essentials over and over to God's people. Warn them before God against pious nitpicking, which chips away at the faith. It just wears everyone out. Concentrate on doing your best for God, work you won't be ashamed of, laying out the truth plain and simple. Stay clear of pious talk that is only talk. Words are not mere words, you know. If they're not backed by a godly life, they accumulate as poison in the soul…” (MSG)
I don’t think Paul is telling us to stay away from all theological debates. Discussing the scriptures and church is good combined with living them out. But merely discussing, arguing, debating, complaining—whatever you want to call it--is not.
“Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.” Proverbs 12:18
Healing and unity in our local churches are good goals to shoot for. It’s what we need to pray for.
“Jesus criticized the religious leaders of His day, but in turn went out and did what He claimed others should do. He had a clear vision and was not lazy or angry about it, but pursued it fully. We should do the same.”-Matt McDonald
Let's resolve to be solutions to the problem not just make the problem bigger. Let us live "clean, innocent lives" according to Phillipians 2. The world has enough crooked and perverse people in it. We don't need church people adding to the numbers. Let’s leave the criticising to Ebert & Roeper. They actually get paid to do it.
3 Comments:
I linked to this on a message board I hang out on a lot. Uer, so if you get some interesting responses... that's probably where they're from. ;)
No problem! :o) Link away!
I feel what you are saying in this post. So many times in the past I have gone to churches and felt drained, not uplifted, when leaving the service. My purpose in attending church is not to hear good music or a dynamic service. Sure, I enjoy those aspects of church, don't get me wrong. However, my purpose is to worship, praise, and learn. My goal is to become closer to the Lord and His people. When the congregation begins down the path of "why is this like this?" or "why did he say that?" or "did that sound good to you?" it divides, and division is the last thing the body of Christ needs.
I don't know what the answer is, but I know your post has reminded me to be mindful of what I say and question.
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