Go out into the world...

The nature of the church is being challenged by the culture of consumerism in which it exists. The consumer mentality with which many people approach the church has caused a seismic shift in the focus of the church. Now, instead of seking to proclaim to the people a truth from God, the church is seeking to sell itsself to those who may want to purchase their srvices. The average person in our culture does not come to the church assuming that s/he needs what the church offers for truth and salvation. Rather, if they come at all, they come to inquire whether the church offers services that meet their needs as they have defined them. The locus of decision making rests with the individuals. The burden of proof rests with the church.

While this might seem to be an appropriate step away from the triumphal arrogance of the historic church, it raises a very fundamental problem. The history of individuals having clear insight as to the nature of truth is no better than, and perhaps even worse than, that of the church. If God is the source of our truth and salvatiion, how do we have access to that truth in a manner that is not distorted by either the dogmatism of the church as an institution or the insight of individuals limited by their own fears, desires, and capacity for rationalization?

Beginning with Augustine but continuing with Luther, Calvin, The Scots Confession, and the Second Helvietic Confession, the church, both Protestant and Catholic, has declared that there is “no salvation outside the church.” The Westminster Confession is a little more cautious by saying that outside the church “there is no ordinary possibioity of salvation.” Does such an assertion sound arrogant and triumphalistic in our time.

If the polls are correct, there are millions of people who claim identity as Christians but do not see any necessity to belong to a church. Even the majority of members of churches, while finding the church helpful to their own personal faith, do not agree that the church is necessary for salvation. The church is being challenged by people to answer some very serious theological questions. Can we support the historic claim that God established the church as the instrument of our salvation? Even if God once chose the church as an instrument of our salvation, do we now have to conclude that this divine experiment was a failure?

Some streams of thought in historic Christian faith concluded that Israel had failed to be obedient to God’s gracious choice and so God replaced them with the Christian community. This is known as supersessionism. While I do not agree with this understanding of how God works, the logic of such thinking would suggest that if God made one such mistake, it may be only one of series of such mistakes. This is the path of thinking that led Joseph Smith to found The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints or Mormons. The logic of such thinking not only places the church in question but also challenges the omniscience of God. Yet if that is not true, how does one understand the means by which God intends to effect the salvation of the world through the church?

As denominations attempt to change to meet the changing conditions of our society, a clear trend is to decentralize. In the Presbyterian Church that means the action moves further down the hierarchy. Our national offices are seriously downsizing in response to the reduced amount of funds available. At the same time, they are trying to send a message that they are focused on servicing the presbyteries and churches below. In some areas the work of synods has continued to play a role but in others areas their functions have become almost non-existent.

That brings us down to the presbyteries. Like many presbyteries, Salem Presbytey, where I am, has recently gone through a significant decentralization. As mentioned in earlier blogs, we have identified three neighborhoods of churches in three distinct areas of the presbytery. An important distinction in our effort is that we are also redirecting some of our funds towards those neighborhoods. In this first year we have set aside about $50,000 to be used in what is called “neighborhood initiatives.” Then, to increase the investment in this work, we have invited every clergy and DCE to make their own contribution of $100 to be used for neighborhood initiatives. This should add an additional 10 to 15 thousand to the fund. It also makes it a more personal project.

The idea is to encourage our connectionalism at the local level. If four or more churches come up with an idea for linked ministry, they can apply to their neighborhood for some of these funds. Those who were the commissioners to the last presbytery meeting, both lay and clergy, are asked for their approval of this project. Sixty percent of them must approve and then the funds are released. The projects can range from providing joint officer training within their churches to responding to the needs of the homeless in their area. Not only does this encourage the several local churches to work together but, because the other elders and clergy have to vote to approve the project, it keeps all of the churches in the neighborhood aware of what is going on. It will also be possible for the three neighborhoods to come up with a presbytery wide project that brings it all together.

Jesus used power but used it for the sake of others rather than to build himself up. In our society, money is power. The intention of this new direction is to empower the churches to work together for the sake of their common ministry. While decentralization is the trend, we want to do it in a way that does not sacrifice the value of our connectionalism.

Philip Jenkins in his book, The Next Christendom describes how the population center of Christianity is moving to the Southern Hemisphere. In the January 29, 2008 issue of Christian Century, there is a brief article about the condition of Christian groups in India.

“The Roman Catholic Church, the ecumenical All India Christian Council and other church groups issued the joint appeal. They said more than 60 churches have been torched, some 600 Christians’ houses burned down and more than 5,000 Chrstians dispalced due to the orchestrated anti-chrsitan violence in and around Kandhamal.”

This is just one example of places in this world where to be a Christian places you in danger. My question is how does viewing the Gospel from such a context shape what you hear. What type of Good News do you hear when you hear the Gospel in such a setting? Further, if the numerical majority of Chrstians are living in conditions of poverty, violence, and at times persecution, what is going to be their message to the churches who have lived for generations in a more comfortable setting. Are we going to have our traditional understandings of Scripture challenged in a way that raises questions about who we are as Christians.

We are already beginning to experience some of that challenge as we experience the issues raised within the Anglican community with respect to Episcopal Church’s stand regarding sexuality. I confess to not being comfortable with some of the ways in which some African bishops are declaring their perspective on the Gospel. As the power shifts within the world Christian community, we may discover what it means to be in a minority as we seek to understand the Gospel.

Bill Hybel, the senior pastor of Willow Creek, has done a remarkable thing. Willow Creek is known as the megachurch that has created the model for how megachurches are to grow. In many ways they have fine tuned the art of appealing to the consumer mentality of our culture. For almost 25 years they have asked the question: Why don’t people go to church? Then using the best techniques available, they have tried to tailor the church and its programs to overcome such resistance and attract people back to church. The result is that almost 17,000 people come to worship at Willow Creek on any given weekend. Not only that but 12,000 other churches have joined the Willow Creek Association and tried to learn from Willow Creek what they also must do to attract new worshippers. The remarkable thing that Hybel has done is to do an indepth study looking beneath the appearance of great success and admit that their numerical success has overshadowed a significant problem of superficiality to the faith of those who were coming to them. The study is available in a 110 page book titled Reveal.

Now, instead of gloating about the weakness identified in Willow Creek’s ministry, it would be good if other churches could take as honest a look as Willow Creek has and examine their own ministry for what it is failing to do. It is in an honest confession of our sins that our faith declares we are offered the gift of forgiveness. Perhaps, instead of bragging about our successes, often modeled after the world’s criteria, we should confess and seek God’s renewal of our spirit.