"American churchgoers love programs. The more the better, especially for children. Smaller churches can offer a deeper sense of community, but that is not valued as much in our culture. Many good and well-meaning churches simply cannot compete with large churches that have numerous professional ministers and a vast array of programs and activities. Some become dysfunctional and focused on themselves as their numbers shrink and anxieties rise. For many it is simply their time to die. There may have been a day when they met real needs in the world, but that day has passed. They disappear, leaving behind empty buildings that are taken by younger churches or are converted into retail space.." So wrote Pastor Gordon Atkinson. I follow his blog at Real Live Preacher. Gordon is a truth-teller and a story-teller and I enjoy both of those people. He is writing stories about Covenant, the baptist congregation he serves. He is writing about a time when things were especially difficult at the church---when people were leaving. Even as new people joined, long-time members and friends were moving on. "They stayed as long as they could, but one-by-one they came to me and told me the bad news. As much as they hated to, they just weren’t getting what they needed. They felt that they must leave for the good of their families. It seemed like every time a new family found our church, one of the old families would leave. And every time it happened the grief was tremendous for me. I loved these people. Now I wouldn’t be seeing them on Sundays. We would no longer celebrate Advent together or Easter. These were very painful years for Jeanene and I. Painful and frightening. If the church fell apart I would feel like a failure. And I would be out of a job."
He wrote about the time when his little girl was the only one in her Sunday school class anymore. And what a gift that was! Just as so many families had burned out and moved on to bigger churches wih programs to plug into, Gordon saw Ben, an elder and teacher in the churh, sit on a bench with his little girl and read/discuss the bible together. It was a gaceful moment in a stressful time when it seemed like fewer and fewer people were supporitng the church. ben loved his daughter by sharing his faith and his time with her one-on-one. Sunday School was not a class, it was a relationship of spiritual formation. Gordon said, "I’ve never since let myself be seduced by numbers or money or power or any other measuring stick of our culture. I saw then that Covenant was not easy, but it was good. Even if our church was unable to continue, I knew that we had experienced real love and community. And whatever else happened, my daughter was loved and known by Ben." If every small relationship-nurturing church (ZION,AKRON), struggling to make it in a culture that supports bigger, better, easier, and faster programs would receive the same grace and the same peace, then maybe we could cut the anxiety and be the church God's Spirit is calling us to be. We are trapped in the need to succeed by worldly standards of success. What if Jesus offers an alternative measurement---mustard seeds, leaven in dough, servant greatness, last and the least are the first and the best? Its a scandal to follow that man who died on the cross and was raised from the dead, because he sees the world upside-down and sets it right-side-up. But right-side-up looks upside-down to us. Poor is rich. Enemy is friend. Outsider is welcome. Crazy stuff. Maybe we should be so crazy too. So I'm with Gordon. No more anxiety about who isn't coming anymore. It is sad that people leave our churches. But we can't help it. We can only be faithful to Jesus, which involves putting to death our need to keep up with the Joneses. And suffer a little for it. And also live. I prefer to be upside-down, or right-side-up. Even if it means losing, shrinking, becoming less significant. The mission is to die with Christ in order to be raised with him. Dying may mean giving all of what we have away. I'd love to see a church so willing...
No comments:
Post a Comment