Thursday, January 31, 2013

A Collection of Relevant Irrelevance

For years I have collected an assortment of strange and unlikely Christian artifacts from our contemporary culture.  I have kept chocolate crosses in my office until they molded because I just couldn't bring myself to eat them.  Scripture mints in the ashtray of my car to provide needed inspiration for that sermon at the nursing home.  A framed VHS tape (for the younger crowd, a magnetic cartridge used to record and play video and audio on VCR's used up until the new millennium-except in churches) on the wall of my office with instructions on what to do "when the owner of this video suddenly disappears."  Thoughtfully, the video tape has enough room after the pre-recorded message for me to leave a message to my friends who search for me in my office following the Rapture.  I own a fake "Wal*Mart gift card" reminding all of us that "Wal*Mart is not the only saving place . . . John 3:16."  An ornamental insurance policy from "The Eternal Life Insurance Co." which details the perils my coverage protects me against hangs on my bulletin board.  On my bookshelf are "The Gospel according to Superman," "The Gospel according to Charlie Brown," "The Gospel according to the Lord of the Rings,"  "The Gospel according to Harry Potter," etc.

While these items connect in one way or another with our contemporary society, they have (in my opinion) little relevance to the Christ of Christianity.  I feel like these items are part of the reason the world looks at us and thinks we don't get the joke that we have become.  Trite, silly, unserious, irrelevant, trivial, ridiculous, profane, ______________ (add your own adjective).

I just want to say, "Jesus died for this?" 



Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Un-faithful

As I was thinking about my unfaithfulness to God, I was struck by the meaning of the term.  Unfaithful means "to not be faithful."  I realize you should never define a word by itself, but it is not the faithful part that I was contemplating, but the un part.

Unfaithful conjures thoughts of infidelity and bad behavior, but that is not the only connotation of the word.  Certainly, a prohibition of inappropriate behavior is contained within the concept.  My fascination is with the other obvious truth found within in the core of unfaithfulness.  Faithfulness demands not only a keeping from forbidden actions but the practice of faithful actions.  Un-faithful is not being faithful.

For many of us in the church, we stand upon our lack of infidelity as testimony to our faithfulness.  However, in the context of marriage, it is very possible to not commit adultery and still not remain faithful.  Where there are prohibitions within the context of relationships, there are also requirements.  Faithfulness is not measured strictly on the negative side of the scale.  Faithfulness demands restraint from the improper and the fulfillment of the proper. 

How faithful am I to the God I call Lord?  My scorecard may be free of punishable violations, but do I have any commendable service on the other side?  We should never commit acts of unfaithfulness, but we should never omit acts of faithfulness either.

"The man who has knowledge of how to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin."  James 4:17 (Basic English Translation)

Draw me nearer, nearer blessed Lord, to the cross where thou hast died,
Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer blessed Lord, to thy precious bleeding side.

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

I Prefer Anachronism over Anti-Christ

I was watching a video of a worship service that utilized a humorous drama in a modern, relevant context along with a catchy popular top 40 song and felt like I was watching a sanctified version of SNL.  Perhaps it was "Sunday Night Live."  I love gimmicky.  I use props and gadgets in my sermons to create interest and catch an audience's attention.  I have always wanted to plan worship in an SNL mode of weekly prep with writing and re-writes to bring together truly unique and contemporary themes.  For the first time in my 24 years of ministry I think I would like to go back instead of forward.

The church as it stands in many conservative congregations suffers from chronic anachronitis.  We are so out of date that our expiration stamp can no longer be read.  We do things in ways that people no longer appreciate, no longer want, and no longer need.  But our out-of-date style communicates one thing very clearly . . . we are very different here.

Now I know that none of us strives for a prehistoric perspective or tries to come up with over-used ideas from the annals of history, but I might prefer that to a contemporarity that moves worship from sacred act to commonplace dramedy. 

While we work to discern the mystery of the incarnation, I don't believe the point was that Jesus was common.  He was as unique as they come.  His humanity must never subsume his divinity or he becomes nothing more than a mythological demi-god.

I don't really have a problem with clever strategies to reach out with the gospel to people who speak a contemporary language foreign to the church of our history.  I get concerned when we trade radical, unrelevant worship for common comedy or expertly performed dramatics.  At what point, do we stand up and say, "This show is for Him, not you.  Enjoy if you will, but worship because you must."

I will still have my gimmicks and props for this Sunday.  I will continue to be amazed by the talent and creativity of people who do remarkable things in the name of worshipping the King.  I just hope I can understand the difference between anachronism and anti-Christ.  Maybe there is virtue in being out of touch?