Churchy Stuff

"But wait," you are no doubt thinking.  "Don't you ALWAYS talk about churchy stuff?  Isn't that kind of what your life revolves around."  Fair enough.  But, right now...I want to talk about what it means to be CHURCH.


We've been having some really quality discussions lately, here in Dayton, about what things like evangelism mean.  What's the point of evangelism and community outreach?  Is it to grow our numbers?  Is it to share our gifts with the community without being concerned about numbers?  And...what does it even mean to share the Good News?  Does that mean we have to start going out, two by two, on bikes while wearing shirts and ties...or is it something different?


I'm not sure that I have answers, let alone good ones, but what I do feel like I can say is that if we continue, as a Church universal, not to wrestle with some of these questions, then you might as well stick a fork in us.  We could spin our tires in the mud right now, throwing out the doom-n-gloom statistics about decline in mainline Protestant churches.  We could spend hour upon hour trying to reduce the supposed success of "evangelical" churches down to a magic formula for growth and prosperity - some sort of ecclesial alchemy by which we turn doctrinal apathy, liturgical confusion, and institutional staleness into gold as shiny as Joel Osteen's slicked back hair.


One of my professors joked in my Intro to Theology class that "don't tell anyone!" is the only commandment of Jesus that Lutherans really take seriously.  What would things look like if we invited friends to church more often than twice a lifetime for a baptism or confirmation?  What would it look like if we learned how to articulate our faith rather than just know that we have it, but not really know or care how to put it into words?  What would it look like if our primary goal every day wasn't just to survive work and not burn supper when we get home, but to serve other people with the same love that Jesus showed in his earthly ministry?


Of course, equipping people to do those sorts of things is a little difficult at congregations that, too often, become more about hotdish than the Holy Spirit.  What would a congregation geared toward forming people's faith into a dynamic, active force in their lives look like?  What would it look like if we stopped arguing about "traditional" versus "contemporary" and focused on worshipping in the timeless rhythm of Gather-Word-Meal-Send regardless of whether the music was played on an organ or a guitar?  What would it look like if we had fewer debates about the appearance of the lawn and more community gardens growing on our grounds?  What would it be like if, instead of Bible studies that talk down to people or impose a set, rigid understanding of what the "right" interpretation of a passage is, we found ways to read the Bible together and celebrate how God speaks to us through the words of scripture?  How would we feel when we come out of worship if we heard sermons brimming over with Gospel, and were fed by sacraments that are treated as being physical proclamations of the same Gospel?


Now wouldn't that be something?