Place in This World
No, not the Smitty song, although I do enjoy singing along to it. That is, when I can be alone with my cd player. I don't want to subject anyone else to that horror...
Warning - I'm just in a rambling mood today.
What is the church's place in this world? I have asked myself that question many times over the last few months. When I was in Edinburgh, I went one morning to an Episcopalian church to pray alone. I also got a chance to pray in ancient Catholic cathedrals, and walk through the ruins of other, more ancient places of worship. Since these places were made the world has moved on - no longer is the church the source of the art, the culture, and the philosophy of the areas it inhabits. Some of these churches, old as they were, were left empty, grey skeletons of lifeless bodies. Other had been converted for different uses; pubs, community halls, and in one case the best East Indian restaurant in town.
In North America, our churches are more commercial, more democratic. Is that a good thing? It sometimes feels like churches exist to steal members of other churches, plug them in, and forget about them. This is one of the reasons the emerging church is of such interest to folks like me.
But at the same time, it all feels so useless. Christian bookstores depress the shit out of me. Mountains of literature, all of it claiming to be the next big thing, the book you need to get to know God, the book that every good/real christian needs, whatever, it offends me. I sometimes think it offends God - we spend more money on crap like that then we do on the things Jesus told us to do - feed the poor, help the sick, visit the imprisoned. I spend more money on books in a year than I do almost anything else. The EC now has a host of books - some of them very good, I won't deny that - and now established itself as an "official" movement, complete with conferences (how's it going over there cindy?), book clubs and membership fees. Soon we'll have emerging christian music, workshops, music videos, artwork, and everything else to match the rest of Evangelicalism. Why does most expressions of Christianity in the West seem like sensationalized garbage? I get the feeling that in the West, Christians are by and large (and I include myself in this) too rich to be faithful.
Sometimes I think that if this (North American Christianity) is true Christianity, then God is either incompetant, unreal, or insane.
So.
What brings me out of this mood? What keeps me from quitting my job and going to join a Buddhist temple in the mountains? Obviously I'm still here, and I usually don't just complain and then log off - what am I still doing here?
A few weeks ago, I was listening to an Irish missionary talk about churches in Africa and Asia. I was doing my best to pay attention because the speaker was actually quite interesting (as the Irish tend to be, even when sober), but I was going on about 4 hours of sleep and trying to unkink my back after an 11 hour van ride across the country. I was zoning in and out, but managed to jerk awake at a phrase the speaker used-
"...in the Majority World..."
I blinked and sat up straighter. What did that mean? Fortunately, he was just explaining what it was.
"We have a tendancy in 'developed countries' to refer to this area as the 'Third World,' or the "10/40 Window,' or 'Underdeveloped Countries,' or something that minimizes them. What we don't realize is that the 'average Christian' lives in this area. The 'average Christian' is not wealthy, he is poor. The 'average Christian' is not a business owner, he is a labourer. The 'average Christian' lives right where the 'average human being' lives," and he thrust his hand at the map behind him, "here, in the so-called Third World."
I was thunderstruck. On an intellectual level I had already known the facts he was stating, but some deeper truth was making itself glaringly obvious to me.
He continued. "Don't you see? We are the minority in the world. We aren't the ones on top, we're the ones on the bottom. The so-called 'Third World' is the majority, which is why some people have begun to call it the Majority World. And with it, the Majority Church exists apart from us. We are the Minority Church - not unimportant, just not the center of it all." He stuck his hands in his pockets and bounced up and down on the spot, poorly containing his glee. "And we've got alot to learn from them."
I re-learned something valuble from this - the Western Church is not the only church. We are a portion, a small minority, of what makes up the greater Body of Christ in the world. And you know what? That actually gives me alot of peace about the mistakes that we continually make - mistakes of greed, of pride and arrogance. They are still wrong, and I hate them, but I am reminded that we are not alone. We are Corinth - a messed up, dysfuntional family. But there's many more believers out there, and despite our differences of culture and skin they pray for us and are a reminder that Jesus came for everyone - not just the religious.
We aren't the beginning and ending of the Church. Thank God for that.
I want to share a video clip with you, and hopefully it works (first time embedding something like this), but the lyrics follow. I find this inspiring, and perhaps you will too. Thanks for reading. It's good to be back.
Newsboys - He Reigns
It’s the song of the redeemed
Rising from the African plain
It’s the song of the forgiven
Drowning out the Amazon rain
The song of Asian believers
Filled with God’s holy fire
It’s every tribe, every tongue, every nation
A love song born of a grateful choir
It’s all God’s children singing
Glory, glory, hallelujah
He reigns, He reigns
It’s all God’s children singing
Glory, glory, hallelujah
He reigns, He reigns
Let it rise about the four winds
Caught up in the heavenly sound
Let praises echo from the towers of cathedrals
To the faithful gathered underground
Of all the songs sung from the dawn of creation
Some were meant to persist
Of all the bells rung from a thousand steeples
None rings truer than this
And all the powers of darkness
Tremble at what they’ve just heard
‘Cause all the powers of darkness
Can’t drown out a single word
When all God’s children sing out
Glory, glory, hallelujah
He reigns, He reigns
All God’s people singing
Glory, glory, hallelujah
He reigns, He reigns
Warning - I'm just in a rambling mood today.
What is the church's place in this world? I have asked myself that question many times over the last few months. When I was in Edinburgh, I went one morning to an Episcopalian church to pray alone. I also got a chance to pray in ancient Catholic cathedrals, and walk through the ruins of other, more ancient places of worship. Since these places were made the world has moved on - no longer is the church the source of the art, the culture, and the philosophy of the areas it inhabits. Some of these churches, old as they were, were left empty, grey skeletons of lifeless bodies. Other had been converted for different uses; pubs, community halls, and in one case the best East Indian restaurant in town.
In North America, our churches are more commercial, more democratic. Is that a good thing? It sometimes feels like churches exist to steal members of other churches, plug them in, and forget about them. This is one of the reasons the emerging church is of such interest to folks like me.
But at the same time, it all feels so useless. Christian bookstores depress the shit out of me. Mountains of literature, all of it claiming to be the next big thing, the book you need to get to know God, the book that every good/real christian needs, whatever, it offends me. I sometimes think it offends God - we spend more money on crap like that then we do on the things Jesus told us to do - feed the poor, help the sick, visit the imprisoned. I spend more money on books in a year than I do almost anything else. The EC now has a host of books - some of them very good, I won't deny that - and now established itself as an "official" movement, complete with conferences (how's it going over there cindy?), book clubs and membership fees. Soon we'll have emerging christian music, workshops, music videos, artwork, and everything else to match the rest of Evangelicalism. Why does most expressions of Christianity in the West seem like sensationalized garbage? I get the feeling that in the West, Christians are by and large (and I include myself in this) too rich to be faithful.
Sometimes I think that if this (North American Christianity) is true Christianity, then God is either incompetant, unreal, or insane.
So.
What brings me out of this mood? What keeps me from quitting my job and going to join a Buddhist temple in the mountains? Obviously I'm still here, and I usually don't just complain and then log off - what am I still doing here?
A few weeks ago, I was listening to an Irish missionary talk about churches in Africa and Asia. I was doing my best to pay attention because the speaker was actually quite interesting (as the Irish tend to be, even when sober), but I was going on about 4 hours of sleep and trying to unkink my back after an 11 hour van ride across the country. I was zoning in and out, but managed to jerk awake at a phrase the speaker used-
"...in the Majority World..."
I blinked and sat up straighter. What did that mean? Fortunately, he was just explaining what it was.
"We have a tendancy in 'developed countries' to refer to this area as the 'Third World,' or the "10/40 Window,' or 'Underdeveloped Countries,' or something that minimizes them. What we don't realize is that the 'average Christian' lives in this area. The 'average Christian' is not wealthy, he is poor. The 'average Christian' is not a business owner, he is a labourer. The 'average Christian' lives right where the 'average human being' lives," and he thrust his hand at the map behind him, "here, in the so-called Third World."
I was thunderstruck. On an intellectual level I had already known the facts he was stating, but some deeper truth was making itself glaringly obvious to me.
He continued. "Don't you see? We are the minority in the world. We aren't the ones on top, we're the ones on the bottom. The so-called 'Third World' is the majority, which is why some people have begun to call it the Majority World. And with it, the Majority Church exists apart from us. We are the Minority Church - not unimportant, just not the center of it all." He stuck his hands in his pockets and bounced up and down on the spot, poorly containing his glee. "And we've got alot to learn from them."
I re-learned something valuble from this - the Western Church is not the only church. We are a portion, a small minority, of what makes up the greater Body of Christ in the world. And you know what? That actually gives me alot of peace about the mistakes that we continually make - mistakes of greed, of pride and arrogance. They are still wrong, and I hate them, but I am reminded that we are not alone. We are Corinth - a messed up, dysfuntional family. But there's many more believers out there, and despite our differences of culture and skin they pray for us and are a reminder that Jesus came for everyone - not just the religious.
We aren't the beginning and ending of the Church. Thank God for that.
I want to share a video clip with you, and hopefully it works (first time embedding something like this), but the lyrics follow. I find this inspiring, and perhaps you will too. Thanks for reading. It's good to be back.
Newsboys - He Reigns
It’s the song of the redeemed
Rising from the African plain
It’s the song of the forgiven
Drowning out the Amazon rain
The song of Asian believers
Filled with God’s holy fire
It’s every tribe, every tongue, every nation
A love song born of a grateful choir
It’s all God’s children singing
Glory, glory, hallelujah
He reigns, He reigns
It’s all God’s children singing
Glory, glory, hallelujah
He reigns, He reigns
Let it rise about the four winds
Caught up in the heavenly sound
Let praises echo from the towers of cathedrals
To the faithful gathered underground
Of all the songs sung from the dawn of creation
Some were meant to persist
Of all the bells rung from a thousand steeples
None rings truer than this
And all the powers of darkness
Tremble at what they’ve just heard
‘Cause all the powers of darkness
Can’t drown out a single word
When all God’s children sing out
Glory, glory, hallelujah
He reigns, He reigns
All God’s people singing
Glory, glory, hallelujah
He reigns, He reigns
posted by Grey Owl at 11:11 a.m.
6 Comments:
Thank you for offering the Gospel in a way that I could hear today. Nothing funny or clever to add. Just *really* grateful.
swandive - Thanks for saying so. I appreciate your comment more than you probably know.
Great post, Grey Owl! And I've always loved the "He Reigns" song -- I think I first heard it in a pub in Hamilton ON, where Church on the Rock meets.
And it's good to have you back!
Welcome back.
Robby - thanks dude! Did you get my email?
MC - Hey man! I was wondering if you were still around. It's good to be back, and I hope you'll be around to drop your particular brand of wisdom every now and then.
Just surfing by and figured I'd add two cents to see what (if anything) comes from it.
Churches are places to reinforce shared social values.
The best churches base all their values on the truth. It is why politics should not influence them anymore than it should influence the truth.
Christ said that our counsellor in his absence (going on two thousand years) appointed by God is the "spirit of truth". Not the Bible or any other religious text nor a Christian ghost.
The spirit of truth is a team spirit for all humanity.
What do you think of that?
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