The Church of What's Happening Now
Yesterday Bill McGurn lamented poorly-performed guitar Masses. Also worth noting is Brett McCracken's fantastic piece in the Wall Street Journal last Friday on "The Perils of 'Wannabe Cool' Christianity" -- the trend toward making church "hip" in a desperate and failing attempt to reach out to young adults:
If the evangelical Christian leadership thinks that "cool Christianity" is a sustainable path forward, they are severely mistaken. As a twentysomething, I can say with confidence that when it comes to church, we don't want cool as much as we want real.
If we are interested in Christianity in any sort of serious way, it is not because it's easy or trendy or popular. It's because Jesus himself is appealing, and what he says rings true. It's because the world we inhabit is utterly phony, ephemeral, narcissistic, image-obsessed and sex-drenched—and we want an alternative. It's not because we want more of the same.
For many years I had the privilege of serving on the board of Higher Things, which promotes Lutheran identity among youth. The high school students who enroll in HT conferences attend 3 or 4 liturgical services each day -- including matins, vespers, evening prayer. Some of them come from congregations where chanting, kneeling, crossing oneself, etc. aren't necessarily common. But by the end of the conference, everyone's genuflecting like a pro. One year, we held one of the conferences at a large Catholic school in the midwest. The Catholic priests who observed us just couldn't believe it. They'd ripped out the organ -- we brought one in. They'd tried to reach out to college students with Taize programs and jazz masses, but only a few students attended. And here they were, witnessing a sanctuary full of Lutheran youth belting out hymns written hundreds of years ago. They couldn't believe it. There's nothing hip about worshiping the same way we've worshiped for hundreds of years. But it certainly prepares the kids better for mature Christian life. And "hip" Christianity by its nature requires an age-segregated congregation -- something I've written against before.
But there will always be the latest "hip" congregation. Details magazine found one in, where else, Silver Lake, California. The pastor is a former druggie and ex-womanizer with tattoo sleeves. The congregation is all very beautiful and fashionable, we're told repeatedly. They're blessed with attendance by some young Hollywood celebrities. They don't have a sanctuary but meet in a high school auditorium. They frequent a coffee shop called, I kid you not, Intelligentsia Coffeebar. But the pastor is a pretty standard conservative evangelical.
How we worship says a lot about what we believe, as the (very) old saying goes. Perhaps it's worth pondering whether the church of all ages is being properly reflected, at times, by the church of what's happening now.
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May '10
Re: The Church of What's Happening Now
Let's face it, Mollie: we Lutherans have an almost unsurpassable advantage when it comes to organ music. J.S. Bach and all.
Jun '10
Re: The Church of What's Happening Now
Hey, if it gets you to the same place, it's probably good enough.
From the Details,com article: ....Sinning is a part of everyday life, and the best anyone can do is to turn away from temptation and toward Christ. "Jesus is the only one who's truly innocent in this matter," Chaddick says while sitting in a sandwich shop on Melrose Avenue. "Our résumé sucks and his is perfect, so he can copy and paste his into your document the same way you would on a Mac by pressing Apple and V. We're idiots, we're uncool—but we love Jesus."
Re: The Church of What's Happening Now
Um, I go to Intelligentsia for coffee. In Venice. Where I think I'm unlikely to find an evangelist, conservative or otherwise. Unless you count the most popular religion around these parts, The Church of Me.
Re: The Church of What's Happening Now
I don't know about idiots but definitely using very old Macs, right? Mine haven't had apples on the keys for a long time.
Re: The Church of What's Happening Now
So the name of the coffee shop is intentionally humorous, right?
Aug '10
Re: The Church of What's Happening Now
Amen to Bill McGurn and Brett McCracken. Being 'cool' is transient and always dies over time. Look at the Rolling Stones now.
Churches must be a rock of stability, reflecting the unchanging and timeless quality of the God who created space and time.
Popular culture is the broad and smooth highway that leads to a dead end. The path to God is rough and steep. It's not 'cool'.
Jul '10
Re: The Church of What's Happening Now
River is spot on. Imagine if the churches had been built or rebuilt to reflect each new architectural fancy. You would have Art Deco style churches, International style (Brrr), Post Modern -- all of them dated and obsolete now. One style that did catch on, churches in the round, I'm sure is regretted by the people who sit in them on Sunday. The older a church is the more sacred it seems, and the same is true of ceremony and liturgy. I think it has to do with lasting values or something. I went to a guitar service once. Never again.
May '10
Re: The Church of What's Happening Now
I am mystified to see Christian churches so afraid to display their wonderful tradition and history, especially the more "traditional denominations." In a culture of the immediate and ephemeral, community practice that reaches back centuries is a rare thing. Our liturgy and our music are a connecting thread back to those who have gone before, and keeping these practices alive places us within a long chain of history.
I'm not surprised that people coming into a church community without any prior experience are put off by the odd words and music, but have they ever had it explained to them? Are they invited to join in? Rather than abandon the practice of centuries, why not challenge the modern world to get connected to the past? Sometimes it's "hip" to be ancient and deep.
May '10
Re: The Church of What's Happening Now
It's fantastic a former board member of Higher Things is also a Ricochet contributor! I have recently become a big fan of Lutheran Public Radio's "Issues, Etc." (where I first heard of Higher Things...)
I come from a Baptist (SBC) background, and we are members of an SBC-affiliated church: I think you would say that our theology has a strong reformation orientation, a strong Gospel focus. I was first acquainted with Lutheran Christianity when I attended a Lutheran grade school from 6th to 8th grade.
I certainly hope that people's interest in "Your Best Life Now," or "Things Go Better with Jesus" kinds of religion dies out, for such is far from Jesus, far from Christianity. The notion that Jesus Christ, God-in-the-flesh, was and is much greater than a mere moral teacher is central in the kinds of Lutheran worship mentioned herein. The person and work of Jesus Christ is central to (for lack of a better term) the orthodox Christian faith. And this same Jesus did no such thing as promise "your best life now." In fact, He promises "your worse life now and your best life later."
May '10
Re: The Church of What's Happening Now
I don't see any instructions in the Bible on how to "do church". I don't see advice regarding architecture, musical instruments, song styles, sermon length, or coffee shops. Nothing on Bach or pipe organs in order to please God. I see Jesus teaching on hillside where they stay for hours and stop for a picnic, and a house meeting in Troas in Acts 20, where Paul rambled on so long into the wee hours of the morning that a kid lounging in an upstairs window fell asleep and down three floors, hitting his head so that he died from the trauma (and was then resuscitated and healed).
Is it possible that God doesn't care much how we worship, as long as it is "in spirit and in truth", whether in a rented high school or a massive edifice with stained glass windows?
I'm not a megachurch fan, or into flash and fad. I look at the substance of what is taught and the attitudes/behaviors. I see no reason for conservative Christians to speak against traditional Lutherans or Tim Chaddick/Mark Driscoll blue jeans groups. I want them all to love Jesus with a pure heart.
Jul '10
Re: The Church of What's Happening Now
Great comments! I've always felt the expression; "God works in mysterious ways" should be expanded to; "mysterious, mundane and methodical ways". God uses many different ways. Men who truly believe, will attempt to work in the same ways they perceive God to work or have worked in the past. We'll get it right sometimes and wrong other-times but if the hearts desire is to introduce another soul to the God of Creation or to a deeper understanding of Him, I think that same God smiles upon the effort. We just have to be able to admit when something does not 'work' very well, roll up out tunic and move on. We also have to extend love (and forgiveness, if necessary) to our Brothers and Sisters when they're out of sync with 'What's Working Now'.
Re: The Church of What's Happening Now
That's awesome -- I'm a huge fan of Issues, Etc., too!