In Search of Reverence
In the midst of mass Christian marketing filled with an incessant demand for more “trinkets” and an overwhelming amount of loved Christian bands which at times can feel reminiscent of Beatle-mania, the soft voice of the cynical critic gains momentum.
A few years back I worked as a college intern at a church. Sitting directly behind me in our office was the junior high intern named Eddie. Often I would sit in the office, working on flyers and slide shows, my back to Eddie, when I would hear an excitement behind me. Eddie thoroughly enjoyed calling our local Christian bookstore. His conversations typically went as follows.
“Fighting Lamb bookstore, this is Bartholomew, how can I help you?
“Hi, yes, I’m looking for a new book that just came out last week.”
“Ok, can you give me the name of the book and author please?
“Sure. It’s called The Only Gift Of Tongues I Ever Got Was From My Ex-Girlfriend by John MacArthur.”
“I’m sorry?”
“The Only Gift Of Tongues I Ever Got Was From My Ex-Girlfriend. It’s by John MacArthur. It just came out a few days ago.”
The sound of typing on a keyboard.
“Umm…I’m not seeing it here.”
“Really? Are you sure?
“Yes. There is nothing here on my screen that shows up by that name.”
“Nothing that shows up for The Only Gift Of Tongues I Ever Got Was From My Ex-Girl-friend?”
“Correct.”
“Maybe your shipment is late.”
“Possibly.”
This happened quite frequently in the office. Eddie would call asking for anything from Midnight Massacre by Max Lucado, Bible Battle Buddies and a Christian massage oil called “Revo-lotion”. Eddie remains convinced to this day, that if it weren’t for a certain Christian rap trio, he might have become a Christian a few years earlier than he did. His neighbors were trying to witness to him so they invited him to a Christian concert. After Eddie heard a cassette tape of the group he promptly decided that it was the worst thing that he ever heard in his entire life. “So if anyone tells you,” he says, “that that band brought them to Christ, then I can say that Satan used that band to keep me from Him.”
The more that I speak with other twenty-something’s, the more that I am seeing that this untrustworthy view of American Christianity is becoming prominent, sometimes occurring more within those who attend church than those who don’t. At first, it was a breath of relief. This was something we could rally around. This was something that we could poke fun at. I laughed just as hard as the next person when I read Robert Stratham’s hilarious book, The Sinners Guide to the Religious Right. There is something profoundly disturbing at times with what we see produced in our subculture and churches. And as a result, it has given birth to a generation of cynics.
And yet, as I have seen this trend grow more and more with each person I talk to, I am now becoming more uncomfortable. I’m staring to see the negative effects. As we seek to deconstruct everything, as I have seen and have been a part of for so long, I have sensed a steady decline in reverence. Where has the sacred gone? Where is the holy? If everything is questioned and torn apart, then we aren’t allowed to appreciate God’s beauty in a myriad of different ways that He chooses to reveal Himself. We are in danger of missing Him, blinded by our own accusations.
A perfect example of this came a few weeks ago when I left my church service completely fed up with the songs that we were singing. I sat with a friend outside and vented about how much I hated the songs, that they were mindless and cheesy. A few days later I was talking with a few friends and I found out that the service that I walked out on had had a significant positive impact on several individuals. Life changes occurred and someone decided to follow Jesus that night.
My resolution for all of this madness is not to stop complaining This is because I feel, for the most part, that my complaints have been directed towards achieving a positive outcome. Where would the church be today if people did not question systems and structures, seeking to provide a more holistic approach to God? So my resolution is not to stop questioning. My resolution is to become more sensitive to those around while I seek change, to tear down but constantly seek to build up, that I would be aware that what I am tearing down is a beautiful thing for some people, so I need to be careful. I also propose this: that we find a place where we can be refreshed.
A few weeks back I had the opportunity to attend a Taize service. For those of you not familiar with Taize (as I wasn’t) it is an Christian monastic community centered out of France. It was founded by Brother Roger in 1940, who spent much of his life attempting to reconcile Christian churches. It is primarily Protestant but people from all denominations and even other religions come and worship at these services which focus primarily on meditation, worship and prayer. They have Taize services all over the world.
Posted on July 23, 2007 12:00 AM
Comments
Hey Jon, I'm looking for Stratham's book you mention, but I'm only coming up with, "The Sinner's Guide to the Evangelical Right" by Robert Lanham. I hope that's the same book because I just put it on hold at my local library.
Posted by: Bryan Catherman | July 23, 2007 1:45 PM
I appreciated your article Jon. I often balance on that line between questioning and judging. I'm glad you're still asking questions and I hope your search brings you into new ways to interact with God.
I found the book "Sacred Pathways" by Gary Thomas to be helpful in understanding how important it is for each of us to find our own ways to worship. It has given me a new appreciation for styles of worship that I used to think were kind of lame. So good luck on your journey and keep going to Taize, it only gets better with time.
Posted by: Melody | July 23, 2007 4:49 PM
"Love is holy because it is like grace-
the worthiness of its object is never really what matters..."
-Marilynne Robinson in Gilead
I also find it hard to build and break at the right times with the proper respect.
Keep in mind that I hate most kinds of "Christian" merchandise. I'm not convinced that moneychanging should have a place in the church at all. That said, grace shows up in the oddest of places and gives herself to the oddest of things. And if love is behind an endeavor, commercial or otherwise, that endeavor has a good chance of glorifying Christ.
Posted by: grace | July 23, 2007 7:26 PM
God bless you in your journey. If I can make a recommendation: Church History and the lives of the saints each have a lot to offer in the way of discovering wholeness in the Christian life. Christians have experienced God holistically for 2000 years, so we don't need to reinvent the wheel. There is a wealth of wisdom and practical advice that is time-tested and true. Sure, there are blotches of bad in Church History--there's corruption, and some very wrong things--but Western Christianity (after the schism of 1054 AD) isn't the whole story. The Church wasn't all bad before Martin Luther.
Posted by: Cameron | July 24, 2007 12:34 PM
I see and feel what you are saying, but I believe WE are the only ones to bring change in our respective body. If we only question and complain with no agenda of improving our membership, it is all in vain. That is why young & old alike need to be involved with the church function, volunteering, making suggestions, unless God leads us to a different body to be utilized fully. I say this because I feel the same way about my fellowship on occasion, and have complained for years to only feel more "frustrated" than before. BUT God is good and now change is on the horizon...patience is a virtue
Posted by: dj | July 24, 2007 4:06 PM
bryan,
that is the correct. that would be my bad.
Posted by: jon | July 26, 2007 10:28 AM
Thanks Jon. "American Christianity" is a religion within itself whether we would like to admit it or not. I appreciate your attempt at taking a stab at some of our flaws as a culture, family, and as a way of life. Before we start taking things apart I hope that we as a collective have the ability to take a good look at ourselves and ask the ever so emergent question of "why".
Posted by: Eddie | July 26, 2007 1:13 PM
Jon, i know what its like to be cynical and for me it was (is)easy to go too far and end up wanting to quite. It is hard to see the good in all the bad; also, we need to remember, like in the early church, not all who are in our communities are our brothers. Good thoughts Jon
Posted by: adam | July 27, 2007 8:36 AM
Jon, great comments. I agree. We need to stop being cynical and critical of others because God has each of us in different places. What I love, someone else may cringe at...and vice cersa. God is teaching you so much. The Taize service sounds cool. Would love to experience that. Mom
Posted by: Anonymous | July 28, 2007 10:17 AM
Jon,
I enjoy your wit and humor. I have some questions, however. These are meant in the best possible Spirit. In the beginning you were critical of the church you attended. Then you felt guilty because some people were saved. But I'm not sure you needed to feel guilty. It's good that people were saved, but why should that mean you were wrong in your original criticism? There's no need to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Let demonstrate what I mean. At the end you say that we all need to find our Taize. But are all Taizes equal? Is one Taize better than another? I agree with you that cynicism is bad. But so is relativism. By the end, you seem to have argued against evaluation. You go from being critical to having no criticism at all for anything, as long as it is sincere. Please feel free to correct me.
Posted by: Devin | July 31, 2007 12:34 PM
devin, i see what your saying and i'm trying to process through it. my point in that we all need to find out taize has its flaws because i'm saying that as long as are being refreshed then everything is ok. but what if being refreshed is going to a cult where we drink the blood of virgins (an extreme example)? in that way, it's all in the eye of the beholder which borders on relativism. so i can see why there is flaws in my "everyone needs to find their taize" point.
i suppose my aim was more towards those who are in my spot (burnt out, critical, on the verge of throwing it all away). my encouragement then was for people to not continue being criticial (at the expense of our well-being and spiritual health) and to be pro-active in finding something that will give us a breath of fresh air. it was an encouragment to not give up (as i have seen far to many people do). it is an excouragment to pull ourselves out of this rut so we may come alive again. but then again, that wasn't stated in the article.
does that make sense and am i understanding your point correctly?
Posted by: jon | August 1, 2007 2:56 PM
I found a Taize service in Massachusetts for next Sunday night. I'm excited to go. Thanks for the article, this is giving me an opportunity to grow.
I'll make sure to write my thoughts on it in my blog.
Peace!
Posted by: Chris A. | August 3, 2007 1:08 PM
Thank you, Jon, that makes you a little clearer. And no, do not give up. Let us listen to our fathers: He who wants God as his Father, must have the Church as his Mother.
God Bless,
Posted by: Devin | August 3, 2007 9:18 PM
Thank you, Jon, that makes you a little clearer. And no, do not give up. Let us listen to our fathers: He who wants God as his Father, must have the Church as his Mother.
God Bless,
Posted by: Devin | August 4, 2007 8:49 PM
devin, jon IS the Church. we are the Church, with all the bad and good that come with that. i don't buy your quote.
Posted by: Jordan Green | August 5, 2007 12:15 AM
Jordan,
That's too bad. Then you don't buy Augustine. Let me try to defend him.
To say we "are" the church sounds as if only those of us who are breathing now are what make up the church. In doing so you cut yourself off from history. We are not the Church; we are PART of the Church. But it does not begin and end with us. Surely this is Augustine's point. We did not create the Church. Jon did not create the Church. Christ did, that is, he paid for it and then the Apostles and so forth. We inherit the Church, like we inherit the English language. We are only a part of the Church because someone else was part of it before us. We are standing on their shoulders.
It should not be surprising that this is the only way we know who we are, to look back and see what has preceded us. To say that we are the church disregards the cause of our effect. It is like saying I am who am because it's who I am. But in reality we exist because people before us existed. We look (and sometimes act) the way we do because of our biological parents before us. We think and communicate because we listened to other people speaking. Everything that we have has been given to us, including the Church.
My intent was to encourage those who were worried about "throwing it all away," as Jon put it. To Modern ears, Augustine's words are harsh, but in the end he is right. The Christian experience is not whatever you want it to be. The Church is not wherever you happen to be at the given moment--the park, the beach--because we ARE it. That's silly. In fact, that's what has contributed to Jon's cynicism, the idea that we are the Church and that all of life is "worship." In searching for reverence, he asks, "Where is the sacred?" Well, it doesn't exist if you really believe that we ARE the church and whatever we do is worship. There is a huge difference between walking into Costco and walking into a cathedral. Jon does not need to be told he is the Church. Jon, like many of us who have been cut off from the past, is lost. He knows he's not the church because he's not sure he knows what the church is. And he doesn't know what church is because he can't see where it began. He sought for reverence but did not go back far enough. He finds himself 2000 years down the road of Church History and cannot seem to make sense of it. He looks around at the Wasteland of Modernity and says, I guess this is all there is. What he needs to do is follow the road back to find some ancient landmarks, to find some beautiful things that he did not create, things that he can revere, and in doing so, he will be relieved, terribly elated at the thought that God's Church does exist and that he does not have to build it on his own. And if he goes back far enough, he will be like Chesterton: in finishing the last touches to his heresy he may find out it was orthodoxy. For Chesterton says, I know it is THE Church because I disagree with it. I know it did not create it and that I must submit to it.
If we ARE the church then there is no real reverence, for we seldom revere anything we've made ourselves. We revere the things of old, things that have lasted and are standing and were built before we born, pyramids, castles, cathedrals. This is reverence. Surely, this is what Jon was searching for.
Posted by: Devin | August 5, 2007 10:38 PM
devin,
great points! i want to do some thinking about this...
i guess my concern at this point is putting the Church on the same level as Christ, which I struggle with because we can't look to the Church as something to follow in the same way. The Church, after all, has done many good things, but has also been evil at times, just like every one of us. The shoulders we're standing on, as you say, were flawed like us.
I also agree that cynicism is not a positive thing, but I still see the value in criticizing an entity that is not and has never been perfect.
Even a gorgeous church, with towering spires and stained glass reflecting the light from outside...I can certainly see the beauty and reverence in such a thing, but when that building was built with bricks purchased by peasants to absolve sins, it's hard to ignore the discrepancy there.
The old believers who built these things, they may have been amazing people, but they were still human.
I do understand reverence, but I still think this pertains more to God than it does to the history of the Church establishment.
Lastly, while the Church isn't just us, it is still us. I don't mean this in a "wherever we are, that's spatially where the Church is" way. I mean this in a very literal sense: we are each the bride of Christ, and the people we are around see us as Christians.
Anyway, I look forward to pondering your thoughts...
Posted by: Jordan Green | August 5, 2007 10:57 PM