I know that while
we pass the plates to fill our church coffers while sipping our skinny soy
mocha lattes from the Holy Grounds coffee shops in our church lobbies, just
across the street there’s a homeless man hoping to scrape together enough
change to get a cheeseburger from the dollar menu.
Coffee shops in
churches aren't in and of themselves evil. However, I tend to think these,
along with our church bookstores, t-shirts, etc. might be the very things which
would bring Jesus to once again say, "You're turning my Father's house
into a den of thieves!"
We have turned our
temples into places of profit as those who are sometimes inside the doors of
church buildings—but more often than not are outside of them—are literally
starving to death.
How can they hear
the Gospel over the growling of their stomachs?
And while I agree
good things can happen over coffee in churches...our over-glorification of
comfort and convenience for sale in our churches would result in tables being
overturned by Jesus.
A pissed-off Jesus
is something I’d like to avoid.
What we have more
and more are for-profit churches. The
only "profit" of a church should be those whose eyes have been opened
to a loving God by those who've fed them, clothed them, and loved on them SO
much they're able to clearly hear the Gospel.
St. Francis of
Assisi said: "Preach the Gospel at all times...if necessary, use
words."
We’re using a lot
more than words these days, Francis. Our
churches are branding themselves with slick logos designed to appeal to the
affluent. Marketing campaigns aren’t
just for Coca-Cola any more! And God
forgive me for my solicitation of such ideas in the past.
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I know the church is
a struggling small business which at best is well-intentioned but poorly
managed, and at worst is a well-managed, for-profit business which seeks to
expand itself, its staff, and its holdings.
The church should
not care about expanding itself to meet a budget. Its one and only concern ought to be
expanding love in this world: love of
God…and love of one another. And one
does not need a multi-million dollar facility to do this. One only needs the perfect love of God.
Anything else is
blasphemous.
Posts
6 comments:
Nicely said Pastor!
Here are the thoughts of a friend of mine who wishes to remain anonymous:
Hey - thanks for asking me what I think. I value these conversations a lot. You are singing the song of my heart in your post. There are many days I think I feel God calling me to stop monkeying around in run-of-the-mill church world and live far more out on the edge. And then there are other days when I think God is calling me to keep being an outlier from precisely where I'm at. At the church I serve/lead, we really have transformed a lot -- from an inward-focused, inbred, worship-the-pastor-not-Jesus country club to an outward-focused, grace/healing/put-it-on-the-line-for-Christ church. Lots of pain and cost on that journey, but it's been pretty significant, all in all. The struggle over which way God is calling me - especially at age 50 when the # of energetic years seem more fixed - is a pretty gut-wrenching struggle for me these days.
I share all that as a way to tee up the question: is there legitimacy to a vocation of leading the transformation of an apostate "church" (inward focused, lukewarm) to a true expression of the body/presence of Christ? If there is such a vocation, I think it's kind of a Robin Hood thing - rescuing resources from the corrupt and re-appropriating them for a legitimate purpose.
So - here I sit (or stand?). I accepted a call as successor to a founder who planted a church almost entirely out of megalomania, self-preservation, and PTSD-management. I jumped into a 7-year-old (at the time) church plant with a 3-year-old-at-the-time building and - today – close to $2 million debt. Some of the questions I struggle with: Do we throw the keys at the bank and get out from under the debt? Or do we keep growing in #s and keep leveraging resources to use what we've got as a basecamp for mission and possibly as a center for community in the midst of suburban sprawl that has no community center and is enveloped by a spiritual fog? And if the second, then it will probably take great intention, great execution, great outward focus, and great internal management all at the same time. I've been choosing that option - with the ready acknowledgment that I don't have the brains, discipline, energy, consistent desire to lead "great" like that.
The UMC pastor who aims for 300 to be self-sustaining. In one sense, that pushes all my buttons. I like a grass roots, organic approach so much more. But being a thorough going contrarian within myself, I remind myself that there is local church and then there is church universal and the one should, ideally, not attempt to exist without the other. I'd challenge that pastor to reframe: don't worry about being "self-sustaining" and don't try to get there by attempting to reach a magic #. Instead, be God-sustaining and get there by simply doing the next right thing, ad infinitum, and believe God for the result.
Thanks for writing the post and thanks, too, for inviting me into the conversation. I think it's helping me gain clarity on my own place in God's creation. Interested in your thoughts...
well said good sir. I knew a megalomaniac once.......reminds me of a blood hound gang song.....burn
Teresa,
Thanks for the feedback. And please...not titles are necessary. It's part of what I am frustrated about. The ego/pastor-centric focus of so many churches.
And to my anonymous friend with the long post, THANK YOU! You know who you are and your feedback is appreciated. It is nice to know this voice is not alone in the wilderness.
And TheExN, your language seems so familiar to me. Message me directly please to reveal your identity! :-) Thank you for your words as well. Megalomaniacs have no place in church leadership...that is, until the egos have been deflated.
Untamed,
Shane
Cry of my heart! Thank you!!!!
You are so very welcome, Mary!
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