RETHINKING US
Scripture: Colossians 3: 1-11
FOCUS: We are called to not only accept God’s grace but also to become new creatures in response.
You may have noticed the message on the sign out front. If you did, I wonder what you thought when you saw it. “Come rethink church with us” it reads. That is the focus of our denominations current media campaign. I like it because rather than being an in your face” message which seeks to shame folks into our midst, it is an invitation to come and experience something substantially different from what they may well expect to find here.
That is not to say that I plan to abandon the order of worship to which we have become accustomed, although to change it up a bit from time to time is not a bad idea. Nor am I going to change my preaching style or my affection of the lectionary texts. We have no plans to begin a contemporary service, though that is not to say I would not do so if enough folks wanted one. But I do think it is time that we all rethink church and rethink who we who are the church are called to be. I am convinced that the change which needs to occur in this and most every other church is more about substance than about style. It is not about the instruments we use to accompany our songs, or the version of the bible from which we read, or the length or structure of the service of worship. It is not about whether we have stained glass windows and spectacular architecture in our sanctuary or a metal building and lots of coffee pots in our worships center. The issue is whether or not a church is sharing God’s grace and transforming lives. That’s the message Paul was trying to get across to the church in Colossae.
By the way I must address my dear brothers in the Wednesday Bible Study with a brief aside here. I was wrong! In looking back over my notes this week I came to realize that I was thinking about something unrelated to Colossians when I said Paul probably didn‘t write this letter. He absolutely did and no one, other than your scatterbrained preacher has ever disputed that fact!
But back to Paul. Last week we considered what he had to say about living in Christ while also allowing Christ to live in us. We noted that this adventure called the Christian faith which we share together is meant to be a full time vocation, for all of us, not just for me. Let me say quickly that just because I get to hang out at church all week doesn’t mean that I never struggle to be what I am called to be, that I am never negligent when it comes to my Christian vocation. We all are less than what we were created to be. We all are sinners. That includes me and all other clergy folk, and it includes each of you and everyone sitting in every church anywhere today. It is simply our human condition.
Yet we all know both folks, even some who claim loudly to be Christian, who are so completely human, so utterly consumed by things of this world that they reflect little if any of God’s glory in Christ. And we are all fortunate enough to know folks, many of them seated with us here this morning, whose lives do on many, even on most, occasions remind us of who Jesus was and how Jesus lived. It is those dear souls who make the church come alive for a hurting world. It is those dear souls who live out the gospel message and who understand the radical nature of the ministry to which each of us is called. It is those folks who are, in the words of Paul “serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ.” Some of them go to churches where the pastor never wears a tie, much less a robe, some attend great cathedrals and sing in auditioned choirs. Some of them go to mega churches with more facilities and more programs than some theme parks, some attend church each week with just a handful of folk.
What sets them apart, what sets some of the congregations with whom they worship apart, is a willingness to rethink what it means to be the church, what it means to be part of the body of christ and the willingness to put into practice that resurrection life with Christ to which we are called. It is the willingness to be genuine, to be real, while at the same time holding fast to the great tenets and practices of the faith. It is the willingness to deal with those dark places we all have in our lives, the willingness to put to death those earthly habits which so separate us from God and each other. It is a willingness to get rid of anger, wrath, malice slander, gossip and abusive language. It is a willingness to replace them with what Paul calls the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.
Various national polls, both those funded by religious organizations and those conducted by the secular media report that somewhere around 90% of respondents claim to believe in God and to consider spirituality important. Yet generally only 40% of those say they attend religious services regularly and detailed research by sociologists have turned up what they call a “social desirability bias” in the numbers. Research which dug a bit deeper than most and which sought to verify attendance patterns reveals that of that 40% about half are not telling the truth, rather they feel shame for not attending so claim to be active. So, it really would not be too much of a stretch to assume that while 90% of our nation claims to make religious practice a priority, only 20% or so actually do.
Why is that? Well you often hear it said that the problem is just kids today, the younger generation just has misplaced priorities, for them church just isn’t important. Such an argument is nothing new, they certainly said that in the 60’s and 70’s when the younger generation was my generation. And they were probably right. We like to blame the government, the media, poor parenting by folks we don’t like to hang around with, the schools and a whole host of other perceived scoundrels for empty pews on Sunday morning. But today I want us to consider the uncomfortable possibility that some folks stay away from church because they find nothing of value when they get there. I am not talking about the quality of the music or the intellectual fiber of the sermon. I’m not talking about the size of the recreation center or the number of craft activities which are offered.
An article in Psychology Today says “Studies show that most Americans want spirituality, but perhaps not in religious form. Researcher Wade Clark Roof, Ph.D from the University of California at Santa Barbara found that in the 1960s and 1970s baby boomers dropped out of organized religion in large numbers; 84% of Jews, 68% of mainline Protestants, 61% of conservative Protestants and 67% of Catholics.” Roof goes on to say that “many left church and synagogue not because they had lost interest in spirituality, but because organized religion was not meeting their spiritual needs.”
The article concludes that such is again true as we move through this 21st century. Folks are interested in spirituality, but not in religion. We who like to think of ourselves as religious might tend to recoil when we hear that. But we need to hear it, we need to own it and we need to rethink, not only what church ought to be, but also who we ought to be. We need to rethink “us” both corporately and individually. We need to spend less time railing against those who don’t come to church, criticizing those whose lifestyles are not ours and arguing with those who would dare question our theology. And we need to spend more time focusing on that which makes a life in Christ abundant and real, that which gives meaning to lives in danger of giving up, which offers hope to those who feel hopeless, which brings joy to those who are broken. We need to be more effectively spreading the gospel message.
I’m convinced that many folks are staying away from the church these days, not because they are unwilling to ponder the imponderable wonder of God, not because they are uninterested in living lives that really matter, not because they fear being asked to make commitments if they come. I think many folks stay away because they do not feel challenged when they do come, because they are discouraged from thinking deeply and critically by church leaders, because they are treated, not as guests that are welcomed just as they are but as outsiders who are expected to conform if they want to really be accepted.
I ran across an interesting You Tube clip the other day which was a takeoff on the popular Mac vs. PC commercials. There are actually a series of them which feature “the Christian” and “the Follower of Christ”. They really do make one stop to think about the difference between being one who proudly claims to be Christian and one who genuinely seeks to be a Follower of Christ. The Christian is dressed neatly in a very well tailored, rather nondescript suit. There is not a hair out of place and he stands there looking quite smug and self-assured. The Follower of Christ is sort of a care free college kid looking fellow wearing jeans and a loose fitting zippered sweatshirt over a long sleeved T.
The Christian is more than a bit self-righteous, and is well rehearsed in offering platitudes and simplistic, rather meaningless, affirmations of his faith. In one clip the Christian proudly displays what he calls his jpod. He talks about how many gigs of memory he has and when asked what kind of music he has on it proclaims proudly that he has just about any genre you could imagine. Then he proudly begins to list them. There is contemporary Christian lite, contemporary Christian easy listening, contemporary Christian country and western, even some contemporary Christian rap. The Follower of Christ listens politely. He talks about how he has some contemporary Christian music on his ipod, but doesn’t feel he needs to listen to nothing but that to be a follower of Christ
In another clip the Christian is carrying a massive stack of religious books topped of course by a massive King James Bible. He asks if the Follower of Christ would like to see his bumper sticker collection, then proudly opens his stylish suit coat to reveal that since he ran out of space on his car he has attached several to the inside of his jacket. “So what do you wear to display your Christianity?” asks the Christian. “Well, nothing I guess. I don’t know, I just try to follow Christ in the way I lead my life, I don’t feel like I have to wear my heart on my sleeve as it were.” The Christian smirks and mocks the Follower of Christ “I don’t feel like I have to wear my heart on my sleeve as it were.”
.In each installment the Follower of Christ looks with amusement and a bid of confusion at brother Christian. The videos end with a tag line which reads, “Christian no more.” I am sure there will be those who are offended by the messages, but I think they are very much on point. As the statistics point out, there is no shortage of folk in America who claim to be Christian, but I fear there is a dearth of real genuine Followers of Christ.
Erma Bombeck once quipped: “Know the difference between success and fame?” Success is Mother Teresa. Fame is Madonna." I am not particularly interested is ours becoming a famous church, but I do pray that we will be successful. I pray that we will succeed as we strive live, more faithfully, lives marked by love of God and of all God’s people, everywhere, of every kind. I pray that we will become a church known for its willingness to reach out to the community in which we live, a church which truly honors the mission we have chosen “To share God’s love in words and actions as we make, grow, and nurture disciples of Jesus Christ.” It is easy to print those words across the top of the bulletin, in fact I just pull up last week’s bulletin and they are already there, don’t even have to be typed. Oh that they were that permanent a fixture in our daily lives.
Let me ask the hard questions this morning. When did you share God’s love in words this past week? When did you seek to lighten the load of a co-worked, when did you seek to encourage a discouraged friend? When did you seek to set at ease, by speaking to them God’s truth, the mind of a troubled soul who was convinced that they were not worthy of God’s grace? When did you invite someone to come to worship? When did you pick up the phone and call that person who has been missing from your pew for the last few weeks?
Let me also ask, when did you actively share God’s love in deed this week? When did you go out of your way to help someone, perhaps even someone you don’t know? When did you put aside your plans, your selfish priorities to accommodate the plans of someone else? When did you pray for your enemies? When did you offer a random act of kindness to someone you know has mistreated you or gossiped about you in the past?
There are lots of famous Christians out there. Some are famous for the right reasons, far too many for the wrong reasons. It is not necessarily wrong to become famous as a Christian, but it certainly isn’t a requirement. On the other hand, I think Paul would be quick to agree with the notion that we are all called to be successful Christians. Called to be successful in the countercultural way that Mother Teresa was successful. Called to become Christians who truly set their minds on things that are of God and who put aside the things of this world which so tempt us. Called to rethink what it means to be, not just a Christian, but a Christ follower.
On Friday I got a message from Cokesbury, our United Methodist bookstore, that in early August Adam Hamilton’s latest book, When Christians Get it Wrong, will be released. In the publicity which accompanied the announcement were these words. “This very well may be the book that bridges the gap between who we are and who we're designed to be as Christians.” Whether we buy the book or not, I am convinced that we need to ponder that gap, to rethink us and who we are vs who we are called to be, who we know in our heart of hearts we ought to be. And the good news is that though doing so may at first be a bit painful and the self examination might be a bit distressing, if we make the effort we will come to know real joy, real success, real peace, and our live will be abundant as we come to share abundance with others. For your sake and for the sake of the kingdom of God let it be so. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, AMEN.
