Restraining the Gospel?

It seems to me that every church places restraints upon how they communicate the Gospel–some good, some bad.  For example, most churches won’t engage in blatantly unethical practices to get people to listen to a presentation of the Gospel. We intuitively know it is wrong to engage in the practice of the cult known as the "flirty little fishers"–exchanging sexual intercourse with the promise of conversion.   

Some churches have placed excessive restraints upon how they communicate the Gospel.  Many Churches throughout American history haven’t allowe "people of color" to come hear the Gospel in their churches.  In addition, there have been preachers who have tagged on alot of extra moral retraints onto their presentation of the Gospel–"don’t smoke, drink, or chew, or date girls that do…"

One of the driving impulses of the seeker-sensitive approach is to remove as many restraints as possible, so that people will find it as easy as possible to hear the Gospel.  Out of this impulse, the seeker-sensitive approach advocates the following:

• People don’t like crossing ethnic or class lines, and are much more likely to respond to the Gospel if they don’t have to cross such lines…therefore, let’s have church that is focused on a specific demographic.
• People don’t like having the Gospel "pushed" on them.  Let’s make it as easy as possible for them to come to us if they want to, where they can hear a simple, clear, uncluttered presentation of the Gospel (or what we think is the Gospel), and then allow them to make their own choices.
• People trust things that look professional. Let’s have our meetings be as professional as possible, so that people can have trust in what we say. Let’s remove the barrier of mediocrity.  We know that God can work through humble means, but why use humble means if excellence is at our disposal?

Are these valid examples of removing restraints?  I don’t think so.  If we read the Gospels, we see that Christ challenges all three of these notions. Paul also challenges all three. I think that we have so refined our definition of the Gospel (it is a set of relatively simple propositions, that once agreed upon, open up a doorway to a relationship with God the father), that we’ve felt the liberty to peel away things that we consider to be secondary–ethnic reconcilliation, the centrality of discipleship, how we spend our money, the manner in which the Gospel is presented, etc.  I think it is time that we re-examine the retraints that the Gospel demands.  I know that we should avoid putting extras on the Gospel, but I’m unconvinced that most Evangelicals really know what the Gospel is.  Sure, there are snazzy statements in Scripture that seem to indicate that the Gospel can be boiled down to one key idea.  But, oddly enough, not all of those statements speak of the same idea.  Its as though those guys were talking about a mult-faceted Gospel or something.

Conference Changes

The conference is no longer called "missionthink 2006." We are going to have a number of sponsors, and now Mission:Think will be the main sponsor.  You can monitor our progress by visiting our conference planning blog here.

Clarifying My Position

I just want to take this time to clarify.  I’ve noticed that the word "consumerism" confuses people.  We all assume its meaning, and therefore, misunderstand when someone uses it in a way which differs from our preconceived definition.

When I knock consumerism, someone will often point out how utterly inconsistent I am.  They’ll point out the logical inconsistency between challenging consumerism and, say, throwing a conference which struggles with the problems of consumerism for our faith…or they’ll point out that one cannot knock consumerism and have a blog at the same time.  The assumption for the former being that anything that involves a fee is pro-consumerist.  And the assumption for the latter being that challenging consumerism requires that one is a Luddite or that one has to detach completely from the systems of consumerism in order to challenge consumerism.

The problem with consumerism isn’t that I find buying and selling things distasteful.  I don’t define "consumerism" as the "buying and selling of things." From this definition, we’re all consumerists and the only issue is to severely limit our buying and selling so that we have lots of money left over to give to the poor (or some other cause).  While I agree that this is a facet of consumerism, the more troublesome problem with consumerism is that consumerism offers us (to quote Vincen J. Miller): "a set of habits of interpretation and use." In other words, the problem isn’t that we buy and sell things, it is the way in which we understand and engage in the buying and selling of things. Consumerism is the Spirit of our Age.  We look at all things through its lens.  Everything from goods–to relationships–to our God, falls victim to the consumerist impulse, and is thus commodified. 

So, for me the trick isn’t merely to spend less money and give more to good causes (though that is a significant part of what I’m advocating); the challenge is for us to change the way we understand our ownership of resources, to change the way we understand our relationship to the larger world.  We must stop viewing ourselves as autonomous and sovereign consumers, and begin to authentically understand ourselves as stewards or trustees. This understanding plays out in the following ways:

• Our possessions are not our own.  If we desire a new good, the determining factor shouldn’t be our ability to afford it.
• Our relationships are not commodities.  We are called to submit to one another, instead of entering into some sort of relational transaction, in which our needs and wants are met.
• Our virtues reflect Scripture…which is often at odds with our societal values of "success" "productivity" "efficiency" and "affluence."
• Our churches are not dispensers of religious goods and services.  We don’t shop for churches.  We don’t go to the church that most aligns itself with our tastes and wants.  The discernment process is much deeper than that.
• Our faith isn’t a set of commodities.  We don’t create our own personal creed and our own personal faith.  It is developed in community, as we submit to the presence of the Spirit and the reading of the Scriptures in community.
• Our God isn’t the ultimate commodity.  We don’t sell Jesus.  We don’t buy-in to belief. Our response to God is one of worship.  He consumes us.

The Incarnation, Eucharist, and Community

I have an article up on the-next-wave.org read it here.

A Plug for the Pub Gathering

If you are in the Twin Cities, and have some seeking friends who might like to engage in thoughtful discourse about issues involving the intersection of faith and culture, then you are hereby invited to the next Pub Gathering.  This month we’ll be discussing the
relationship between Christianity and American Politics. This is a hot
topic among pundits and pollsters. Some love the alliance between
Republicans and the so-called "Christian Right," others abhor it. Did
conservative Christians hand Bush the election? What role should people
of faith have in the political process? Questions abound. Come share
your questions…as well as your answers. Join us on April 6th at
8:00PM at the Town Hall Brewery in Minneapolis (just east of downtown
on Washington Ave).

The Pub Gathering is a once-a-month guided discussion for anyone
interested in dialoging about issues of faith and culture. It is open
to people of all backgrounds. Join us on the first Wednesday of every
month at the Town Hall Brewery in Minneapolis. The Pub Gathering is
designed to be a guided discussion. After some "mingling" time, our
guest presenter gives a short (10 minute) talk to raise the issues
surrounding our discussion topic. The rest of the evening is devoted to
pure, unadulterated discussion.

Help get the word out! 

Stan Grenz

I’ve heard news that evangelical theologian Stan Grenz has had a brain hemmorhage and is not expected to live.  Please pray for him and his family.

The Death of Productivity, the Birth of Peace

Yesterday, I had lunch with my friend Brandon in downtown Minneapolis, where he works.  Instead of driving downtown (which I hate to do because of parking), I took the light rail in.  It takes about 15 minutes of walking, and another 15 minutes of riding to get from my house to downtown via the light-rail.  That’s a total of one hour "wasted"–a total of 1/2 hour walking, and another 1/2 hour sitting.  I didn’t bring anything to read, I just sat and looked out the window. 

I noticed things I’d never have noticed otherwise…like the garbage tent made by a homeless person somewhere between the Lake Street/Midtown station and the Downtown East/Metrodome station.  Like the women sitting in front of me talking about politics.  Like the businessman talking on his cell with a hands-free device (or is he a crazy man who talks to himself, but wears a hands-free device as a cover?).

I’ve thought about the issue of productivity before…I’ve even blogged about it.  Productivity has become a virtue–a moral imperative in our society.  We look down upon the unproductive.  We all have friends who find a great deal of time just to hang out and be with friends.  They get precious little real work done, and get a whole bunch of time to recreate and relate.  We think productivity is a virtue because we all measure our worth by
how much we can do in the sliver of time we’ve been allotted.  And when
we see someone enjoying themselves without putting in the time being
productive, we resent them. Damn them. 

I don’t think we can find rest and peace in our lives unless we are willing to sacrifice the virtue of productivity.  I’m not saying we should be lazy.  But we shouldn’t fall into the trap of thinking that we are measured by our ability to get things done.  Nor should we feel guilty if we "waste" time regularly–daily. 

Now, I think there are some "wasteful" activities that don’t really give peace–like too much TV watching or video-game playing or internet surfing.  I think the best way to waste time is with friends, talking…or alone, walking.  I want to spend much more of my time doing those sorts of things.

And in order to make this more than just talk…I’ve just about made up my mind to sell one of our cars.  Amy and I got by for most of our marriage with one car.  We got two cars so that we could be more productive.  Screw productive.  I get more than enough done to justify my existence.  I’m going to ride the light rail more, walk more, take the bus more, etc.  These things will force me to spend time listening…thinking…and I’ll probably lose weight while I’m at it too.

A More Perfect Consumer Church, pt 2

I got alot of good feedback from friends (and some negative feedback too) about my "A More Perfect Consumer Church" post.  FYI, I obviously dislike consumerism’s effect on the Church, so if you are visiting here for the first time, don’t take me seriously.  Here are a few more ways that I think we can embrace consumerism more completely:

Some churches are now allowing credit-card donations on their websites.  I say we go one step further.  Why not church credit cards?  That way, if people have the money to give, great! If not, just as good! The church can get revenue from late fees and minimum monthly payments.  Of course, the APR should be 10%, just to keep things biblical.

Creeds are good things to have.  The Apostle’s Creed has been a standard of Orthodoxy for hundreds of years.  But isn’t the term "orthodoxy" a bit too oppresive?  I don’t know about you, but I think I should have theology like I have burgers: "my way."  So, here is a template for your own personal orthodoxy.  Fill in the blanks for your own personal creed (everything troublesome has been taken out):

I believe in ___________
          the _______ of heaven and earth,
          and in _____________:

Who was conceived of __________,
          ________________,
          ___________________,
          _______________________.

____________________.

The third day ____________________.

______ ascended into ____________
          and sits at __________________________,
          ____________________________________.

I believe in the ________________,
          the communion of _________,
          the _____________________,
          the _____________________,
          and life _____________.

__________.
                                                                                                                                                

Last time, I suggested cup holders for coffee drinkers in church services.  How about going futher and offer a punch-card for free coffee, as many coffee shops offer?  But instead of a

"buy 10 get one free" sort of deal, you get a free coffee for church attendance?

More from Eugene Peterson

More from the interview on CT.  I’d love to hear your thoughts about it, since he pushes a lot of great buttons:

What if we were to frame
this not in terms of needs but relevance? Many Christians hope to speak
to generation X or Y or postmoderns, or some subgroup, like cowboys or
bikers-people for whom the typical church seems irrelevant.

When you start tailoring the gospel to the culture, whether it’s a
youth culture, a generation culture or any other kind of culture, you
have taken the guts out of the gospel. The gospel of Jesus Christ is
not the kingdom of this world. It’s a different kingdom.

My son Eric organized a new church six years ago.
The Presbyterians have kind of a boot camp for new church pastors where
you learn what you’re supposed to do. So Eric went. One of the teachers
there said he shouldn’t put on a robe and a stole: "You get out there
and you meet this generation where they are."

So Eric, being a good student and wanting to please
his peers, didn’t wear a robe. His church started meeting in a
high-school auditorium. He started out by wearing a business suit every
Sunday. But when the first Sunday of Advent rolled around, and they
were going to have Communion, he told me, "Dad, I just couldn’t do it.
So I put my robe on."

Their neighbors, Joel and his wife, attended his
church. Joel was the stereotype of the person the new church
development was designed for-suburban, middle management, never been to
church, totally secular. Eric figured he was coming because they were
neighbors, or because he liked him. After that Advent service, he asked
Joel what he thought of his wearing a robe.

He said, "It made an impression. My wife and I
talked about it. I think what we’re really looking for is sacred space.
We both think we found it."

I think relevance is a crock. I don’t think people
care a whole lot about what kind of music you have or how you shape the
service. They want a place where God is taken seriously, where they’re
taken seriously, where there is no manipulation of their emotions or
their consumer needs.

Why did we get captured by this advertising, publicity mindset? I think it’s destroying our church.

But someone else might
walk into Eric’s church, see him with his robe, and walk out, thinking
the whole place was too religious, too churchy.

So why are they going if it’s not going to be religious? What do they go to church for?

Of course, there’s another aspect to this. If you’re
going to a church where everybody’s playing a religious role, that’s
going to be off putting. But that performance mentality, role mentality
can be seen in the cowboy church or whatever-everybody is performing a
role there, too.

But we’re involved with something that has a huge
mystery to it. Are we going to wipe out all the mystery so we can be in
control of it? Isn’t reverence at the very heart of the worship of God?

And if we present a rendition of the faith in which
all the mystery is removed, and there’s no reverence, how are people
ever going to know there’s something more than just their own emotions,
their own needs? There’s something a lot bigger than my needs that’s
going on. How do I ever get to that if the church service and worship
program is all centered on my needs?

Some people would argue
that it’s important to have a worship service in which people feel
comfortable so they can hear the gospel.

I think they’re wrong. Take the story I told you about this family in
front of us on Sunday. Nobody was comfortable. The whole church was
miserable.

And yet, they might have experienced more gospel in
going up and putting their arms around that poor mother, who was
embarrassed to death.

How do we know when they have moved from merely adapting ministry to the culture to sacrificing the gospel?
One test I think is this: Am I working out of the Jesus story, the
Jesus methods, the Jesus way? Am I sacrificing relationship, personal
attention, personal relationship for a shortcut, a program so I can get
stuff done? You can’t do Jesus’ work in a non-Jesus way and get by with
it-although you can be very "successful."

One thing that I think is characteristic of me is I
stay local. I’m rooted in a pastoral life, which is an ordinary life.
So while all this glitter and image of spirituality is going around, I
feel quite indifferent to it, to tell you the truth. And I’m somewhat
suspicious of it because it seems to be uprooted, not grounded in local
conditions, which are the only conditions in which you can live a
Christian life.

In Defense of Norwegians

I am often critical of the Scandinavian heritage of Minnesota, because it has created a repressed atmosphere of passive agression.  And so, I often poke fun of my Minnesota, since this odd repression can get in the way of the messiness of authentic Christianity.  However, today I was rebuked (a bit) by an interview I read in Christianity Today with Eugene Peterson.  In his interview, he relays the following:

In church last Sunday, there was a couple in front of us with two
bratty kids. Two pews behind us there was another couple with their two
bratty kids making a lot of noise. This is mostly an older
congregation. So these people are set in their ways. Their kids have
been gone a long time. And so it wasn’t a very nice service; it was
just not very good worship. But afterwards I saw half a dozen of these
elderly people come up and put their arms around the mother, touch the
kids, sympathize with her. They could have been irritated.

Now why do people go to a church like that when they
can go to a church that has a nursery, is air conditioned, and all the
rest? Well, because they’re Lutherans. They don’t mind being miserable!
Norwegian Lutherans!

And this same church recently welcomed a young woman
with a baby and a three-year-old boy. The children were baptized a few
weeks ago. But there was no man with her. She’s never married; each of
the kids has a different father. She shows up at church and wants her
children baptized. She’s a Christian and wants to follow in the
Christian way. So a couple from the church acted as godparents. Now
there are three or four couples in the church who every Sunday try to
get together with her.

Now, where is the "joy" in that church? These are
dour Norwegians! But there’s a lot of joy. There’s an abundant life
going, but it’s not abundant in the way a non-Christian would think. I
think there’s a lot more going on in churches like this; they’re just
totally anticultural. They’re full of joy and faithfulness and
obedience and care. But you sure wouldn’t know it by reading the
literature of church growth, would you?

Touche.

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