My wife and I were on vacation, having lunch in a lovely little restaurant in a lovely little town – yes, it was lovely. As we were considering what to order, the man next to us gave us some advice. He was probably in his mid-80’s and was a regular there. His lovely dog sat quietly under his chair, and we began to talk. Since he was next to me, but a little behind me, most of his conversation was with Chris. He told us that he and his wife retired to this very wealthy community four years earlier, but he never mentioned her again. We figured that she had probably died. After a long time of talking to Chris, he asked me what I did for a living. When I told him, he said that my quiet, gentle demeanor was a good thing to have in my line of work – to which both Chris and I burst out laughing. Assumptions are usually wrong.
Then, he asked me one of those questions that people of his era often do. I say that because he grew up at a time when it seemed that everyone went to church (it was only about 50%), so the present situation is of concern to them. He asked, “Don’t you think that people today don’t respect God as much as they used to?” It is a fair question, and it seems, in many ways, to be true. I don’t think it is, so I said, “No – I think that lots of people – maybe the vast majority – respect and believe in God. It’s the church they have problem with.” He found this idea to be troubling and, possibly, wrong, so I went on. “Consider our present political situation. You can vote for whoever you want, but saying that God chose such an immoral person to be president is completely wrong. God doesn’t choose leaders – people do.” I have no idea who he supported for president, nor did I ask. The conversation moved on, with one last sentence. I said, “I think the church is to blame for most of our present situation, and only the church can heal itself.”
The church has always been imperfect, but the last 50 years have been especially bad. The epidemic of turning a blind eye to clergy misconduct – the rise of organizations like the Moral Majority – the support of immoral leaders for political gain – the popularity of false doctrines like Prosperity religion – these are just a few of the ways churches have perverted the message of Jesus. The bad behavior is across the board; we are judgmental and divisive and exclusive. Most churches practice misogyny and exclude people who Jesus would have embraced. The church – all churches – need to have a revival of the Spirit and admit to our brokenness. The only way to find healing is to admit to the problems and work towards fixing them. God doesn’t need the church to be God, but we need God to be the church. Thankfully, many churches are doing this challenging work, and it is showing the world a different – may I say, better – way to be the church. I hope that others follow. God wants faithfulness, service, integrity and love from the church. Those things matter so much more than numbers, money, and giant buildings.
Prayer – Holy God, guide us to be Your church, not an organization of our own making. Amen.
Today’s art is “People Leaving After Church” by Amy Beatrice Atkinson. That’s when real ministry begins.