This is my first post of the year. It's been a long time since I had time to sit down and do this. Since I couldn't sleep, I thought I'd blog. But after pre-ordering the new U2 album on iTunes and check facebook, I apparently only have 39 minutes to get out a lot of thoughts that have been plaguing me of late.
I'm struggling with what the American church has become. I'm struggling with how, now, for the most part, we are consumers first. I'm struggling with how being a consumer has change the expression of the church. I realize that the marketing machine of all the large corporations have done an incredible job of telling us that unless we buy this specific brand of soap, no one will like us, or girls will fling themselves uncontrollably at you. Why have we become consumers? When did the shift happen for being active in producing things to simply buying products that make our lives easier. Here's an example. My sister, who lives in Florida, is mesmerized the Snuggie. If you do not know what the Snuggie is, well you are missing out. The Snuggie is a blanket with arms in it. They say, "Oh blankets are so inconvenient. When you are sitting on the couch, they slip and slide off, and your can't change the channel on the TV cause you have to take your hands out to use the remote. But with the Snuggie, you are wrapped in a cocoon of warmth. Simply call this number and for $19.95, we'll send you a Snuggie in one of three colors. But wait, if you call in the next 5 minutes, we'll throw in another Snuggie free! Plus, if you use your credit card, we'll throw in two book lights so you can read books in the dark, just pay shipping and handling!" So, when I see that commercial, first I think, "Man, a Snuggie!" But then I realize, wait a minute. This blanket that I have is doing a perfectly fine job of keeping me warm. Why do I still want a Snuggie? That's marketing.
Why are we quick to change what we do when things are hard? Why do we change when something doesn't go how we thought? Well, that has to do with the messages that are sent to us in ads everyday. And I see it coming over to the church. I see people coming in to be entertained. But if the music isn't how they want it to be, or the message didn't have enough jokes, they complain. If something isn't exactly how they want it, they'll leave and find another church.
I tired to find some where in the Bible where it said things about Christian going church hopping. I couldn't find anything. I also looked through all of the letters of Paul to see where he said that church was about making myself feel good. Couldn't find that either. I looked for references to singing only upbeat songs with catchy lyrics and a smooth melody. I never found it. But what I did find was, Paul, being beaten and shipwrecked and stoned and bitten by snakes and ran out of town and hunted down, because he was a Christian. I found a man named Stephen, who was so bold in what Christ had called him to do that he let the Jews stone him to death. I saw James saying that we are to love our neighbors, no matter what, and that includes the guy who just cut you off on the interstate. I think the most important thing I found was Jesus. Not the guy with the white robe and light-blue beauty pageant sash. I saw a Jesus who went where other people wouldn't. I saw a Jesus that challenged the religious right, people that were more concerned with following every letter of the law than the heart of the law. I saw a Jesus who preached that the Kingdom of God was coming and that it was going to rock the world to it's foundation, and it was going to bring people to their knees.
Why was the Kingdom of God so much more active in the book of Acts? Why were the first century Christian so ghung ho that a martyrs' death was welcome? When did Christianity become about safety, and hanging on till I get to go to heaven. Jesus called each of us the Kingdom of God. We can bring that to the earth right now. The Kingdom of God is a giving up your Saturday to go downtown, every week, and talk to homeless people. The Kingdom of God is loving a girl who is pregnant, no questions asked. The Kingdom of God is not being satisfied with poverty, but fighting to make the world free of poverty. The Kingdom of God is something that should be advancing into enemy territory, not waiting inside their church building till it's time to go to heaven.
Our culture has started to make a difference to those who need it. Why is the church not on the forefront of these issues? Why isn't the church more concerned about AIDS? Why doesn't the church want to care for God's creation? When did the church become aligned with on specific political ideology? Change is coming. For the better. And if we don't wake up, and look at what we call important, it's going to change without us. And in the process, a whole generation of people who are making a difference in the world may miss out on the church. They don't want to sit and consume. They want to do. The want to get their hands dirty. They do it because they know all people are equal, not because they are called by the God who made us to what he is doing.
Bono said in his speech at the National Prayer Breakfast in 2006 that God is on the move. He is going to the place he has always been. He's going to the poor, the downtrodden, the broken, the enslaved, the marginalized. Are we going with Him? Are we being the Kingdom here on the earth? It's time to bring the change to the world that God is calling for. If we don't God will use others. And I don't know about you, but I'm tired of consuming the American church. I'm ready to be an active participant in the Kingdom. I'm going to make a difference.
Thanks for reading.
