William Stafford’s poem on community life, “A Ritual to Read
to Each Other”, among other things, warns us about following the wrong guru. If we hold on to the tail of an elephant that has gone off the path, then, “the circus won’t find the park” and “we may miss our star”, because we, “followed the wrong god home”, and “allowed a pattern that others made prevail”.
This can easily happen in church communities where we tend
to prop guru’s up in high places. This can also easily happen as a community if
we don’t really know and value each other and the individual members do not
have a voice. Instead we give all authority to one voice.
“If you don’t know the
kind of person that I am and you don’t know the kind of person you are a
pattern that others made may prevail and following the wrong god home we may
miss out star”.
“Following the wrong
god home”, can mean many things. Churches can follow mainstream cultural
themes such as the god of money, numbers, size, or celebrity worship instead of
listening to the voice and life with in its community members. Romans Chapter 12 clearly states we are all
needed and we all have our own voice. We all have our gift to offer up and that
we should not conform to patterns of the world. We should be counter cultural
because our roots are in God, not the culture.
Sadly, many churches are structured in a way that there is
the idolization of one man. This is the head preacher or minister. People come to hear him speak. People come to hold his
tail.
This is not an issue of this head elephant not being gifted
or not speaking the word of God. But rather it is the issue that there are lots
of other members in the community who are largely passive and should have a
voice.
Maybe we would be better off to hold on to each others tails
instead of the one that is all dolled up for the circus.
I know the same thing happens in fly fishing communities. We
prop people up. We listen only to him. Yet, I have found the most useful information
coming from “ordinary” fly fishers of my community, who are just out there
fishing and catching fish. And they
really know something.
I just completed the book "The Underground Church" by Robin Meyers. The book is full of thought-provoking material. Meyers feels the church is in need of a radical change, a "spring cleaning" to re-direct it back toward love and acceptance. He says "it no longer has a clear, strong, self-possessed message shaped by the gospel” and "we talk the talk but don’t walk the walk". He feels people would rather be right than loving. “We appear to have traded original thinking for the comfort of belonging to a community of creeds and doctrines meant to protect us both from our true selves and the real world”.
ReplyDeleteCommon themes are Love your Fellow Man; Everyone is invited to the table; the importance of hospitality; finding ways to be open-minded, gracious, and generous...
Meyers talks a lot about the difference between faith and belief. “As long as people outside the church confuse faith with beliefs, we will continue to be perceived as having nothing to offer intelligent and idealistic people who are looking for an authentic spiritual experience and a community of people who care.” He states that faith is a form of radical trust. And trust is essential - Without trust the whole human enterprise collapses.
Meyers unabashedly weaves in his political beliefs - making compelling arguments.
In the second half of the book he describes the Underground Church. I won't describe it in detail here but some of the premises are:
one’s service to the neighbor as a repose to one’s love of God will always be held in higher esteem than one’s position on theological doctrines...and... the word “trust” should largely replace the word “faith” in both worship and practice; trust will be the defining characteristic… not institutional doctrine.
There is much more, but enough for now. To your point in this post: Meyers does not condone the idolatry of Jesus (one man) but rather to be a Jesus follower (take action). People learn from each other - we must emphasize the acceptance of our fellow man and work together.
-L
Thank you for your summary of the book. It sounds as though it was perhaps helpful for you??? Perhaps? I do not assume to know material that might help you. One point I would like to clarify is in regard to the "idolization of one man"; What I meant was that often congregations will come to hear the main minister teach/speak/preach, every Sunday and that is about it. To me this is a form of "personality worship", propping up a personality rather than being engaged in and with the individual members. Perhaps, in a slightly different way, I was trying to say what Myers was saying when he thought we should focus on actually caring for each other in the church rather than worrying so much about being "right" and learning all the "right" doctrines. I think it is in First John, where it is written that it does no good to try to love God (who we cannot see) if we are not going to love the person ("our brother") who is sitting right next to us and we can see (that was a loose paraphrase, but you get the idea). Jesus said the same thing on different occasions. One that comes to mind is when he said, "If you are offering your gift to God and you remember you brother who is angry with you, Drop the gift and go make mends with your brother". In some ways, Jesus taught some simple, practical things about caring for others over "lofty" worship. As I said in another post, "Service toward others IS worship" (Romans 12:1-2). I feel a bit convicted just listening to your summary of the book in that I tend to enjoy "dialogue" and "pondering" and yet I can be somewhat lazy about being actively kind and helpful toward others or being a great citizen.
ReplyDeleteYes the book was helpful in some ways and I thank you for recommending it. I like thought provoking reading (and dialogue). I like being exposed to new concepts and the notion of what Meyers suggests even if I don't align precisely with his political beliefs.
DeleteI agree with your comments above and like the tying in of John and Romans.
As far as being convicted, well yes, I can say the same for myself as I don't practice all the ideals that Meyers posits. But this is a journey and dialoguing and reading and practicing is all part of it. Wouldn't you agree?
I wanted to provide a little more on the book. Here is a summary of the tenets of the Underground Church.
The Underground Church is a movement of the spirit, not an organization that seeks to perpetuate itself, convert disciples to a certain belief system, or make cosmic promises based on human calculations.
It is a covenant. It is entered into freely by a diverse group of Christians, former Christians, and spiritual seekers who understand that the winds of change are blowing down the church as we have known it and raising up something new in its place.
It is not for those who wish to focus entirely on personal piety, individual morality, or the salvation of the soul - but is offered as a second chance on faith as a way of life, not as a set of creeds and doctrines demanding total agreement.
The Underground Church is not a building, but meets as a joyful collection of grateful souls, knowing how much we do not know - but knowing enough about the redemptive power of love to invite everyone into the conversation.
Those who wish to accept the invitation to join the Underground Church movement can figure out ways to build the Beloved Community in their own time and place, but in particular they will be urged to consider making some or all of the following seven changes in what it means to be truly radical...
1. Celebrate communion by serving an actual meal, before or after the service.
2. Membership is not by "profession of faith" but by profession of trust in the redemptive power of unconditional love
3. Worship styles and music are to be intentionally diverse, joyful, and meant to bring worshipers into an experience of the divine
4. Members will be committed to mission projects… committed to nonviolence, radical hospitality, collective generosity, and the ministry of encouragement
5. Special attention will be given to the stranger, the forgotten, the weak, and the dispossessed
6. It will create its own economic system in the community by requiring a pledge of financial support from all members … we will loan money at no interest and bear one-another's burdens
7. The Underground Church will seek to work together with all others who share the conviction that it is more important to be loving than to be right
-L