I love days off. No shoes, a little T.V., maybe a book at Barnes and Noble, maybe some coffee, a brisk lunch, then when the moon rises, a good dinner and a movie. Today is kind of a day off for me. I know that I should do alot of the things mentioned above, but somehow work finds its way back into the garments of my day, and I am working, again. No one in this country ever takes a day off. Work is all we know. I find myself at times working until 2:00 a.m. Yeah I am at home and yeah I may have my shoes off, but if I am not worrying about work I am doing something related. We have forgotten what it means to rest. I think that mentality is in the fabric of our genes as Americans. Our great-great-great- grandparents did not know the meaning of rest and neither do we. They knew the meaning of collapse from exhaustion, but not rest. Sometimes, even when it seems like the world around you is going to crash in, you have to reach inside and find peace, lie down, and rest. Hey, Jesus did it.I have tried many times to imagine the scene when that nasty storm hit the disciples at sea. There they were in the middle of a white squall or huge storm, trying desperately to keep the ship from tipping. And somewhere off to the side of the boat, Jesus is resting, actually sleeping. Not out of laziness or disinterest, but because he could find peace in any circumstance. The boat is going crazy, John and Peter are screaming at each other to keep things steady, Mark and the others are shoveling water out of the boat to keep it from sinking, and there lies Jesus...sleeping. They look at Jesus and finally say something to the tune of, "how in the name of my grandpa Jehosophat's grapes and twig is he sleeping? Could someone please wake him up and ask him to help, lest we drown standing up." Jesus gets up and says "ye of little faith." He turns to the storm and says a word of command and the storm completely and totally becomes calm. Suddenly, its not raining, there is no wind, the waves stop tossing around and the disciples are left standing with drenched garments and rain dripping from their hair and beards, totally speechless and finally at peace. Every creature on this planet knows how to rest in any circumstance except for us, and ESPECIALLY Americans.
I hate to twist this story to make a point but... this brings me to a question that has been on my mind lately,- Church. Now I am all for meeting together as the Body, encouraging each other and collectively finding ways to show the Love of God to the world, but... what is this Sunday business? Really? Do we NEEED these huge mega-million dollar Churches decked out with bookstores, work out facilities, Christian Yoga classes, racket-ball courts? Do we all NEED to get all dressed up, drag our butts out of bed on our only day off, on the Day of Rest, Go to Church, then have Youth Choir, then have dance practice, then have band practice then meet for a Sunday Night service then clean everything up, go home and collapse from exhaustion ONLY to get up early the next morning so that we can go BACK to work? I am beginning to think that this mentality is a bunch of malarkey. Maybe, we could find a good time to meet with a small group during the week. Then once a month or so meet with the "“Big"” group, and on Sunday, the family rests, spends time together. Maybe dad and mom go to the park, take a walk with their daughter or son. Throw a frisbee around, have a picnic, be a family. What if the Church encouraged that? Have a day, and be a family. Would not the Sabbath be more Holy, more Spiritual?
I wonder if Jesus were in the flesh today, while we are all busy with our rehearsals, cantatas, events, fine arts series, special parties, banquets, and most importantly, the big Sunday Morning Bash...while we worry if the sound is going to work, or the light people will get their cue, i wonder if Jesus, would be lying on the back pew, fast asleep and catching some Z’s.
9 comments:
Careful, man. The megas have ears everywhere. They can make you disappear and have it look like an accident. Oh, wait... that's the mob... I get them confused sometimes.
As for a church needing a bookstore, coffee shop, and racketball courts, I would argue exactly the opposite. The church needs to not have those things. If those are things people want, don't they have a better chance of impacting the world for Christ if they leave the church every now and then?
Actually, Cach, your not too far off there. I know I have some big church readers out there so, if you happen to glance over here at the comment section, I do not think that you or the Church you work in is evil. I do question the glamour of the recent trends in Protestant Christendom. Maybe we create storms and worlds without rest and worlds that confine us to the salt shaker and do not thrust us into society because it is more safe to play racketball at **** Baptist Church then down at the Y or the college. Shoot, we might even meet a lost soul or two at one of those worldy venues, and double shoot, we might even realize that maybe we aren't too different from those people except we know that we desperately need the Grace of God to help us find Joy and Peace. Maybe it just might level out the playing field a bit.
I was, of course, just being a smart ass. Yes, I prefer median size churches and smaller churches to the megas, but I don't think the biggies are evil or anything. It's just a catch-22, isn't it? Needing to make church more comfortable and attractive in order to get us to come when that same comfort and attractiveness can often neuter the very core of who the church is?
I'll tell you where this conversation really gets muddy: children's ministry. Kids aren't sophisticated enough to make mature decisions about church and faith. All they know is that every other place is better than church. So we try to make church more like the rest of their life so they won't hate it. And let's face it, many adults choose a church based on where their kids will fit best. And the best programs are in the churches with the most money... and we're back to megas. Any thoughts?
i agree seth. I sometimes wander that when i sit in the pit and the sound system is acting up; we spend 30 min on just trying to get everything working. I sit there and wonder if this is what God intended for us to be, to worry about sound systems than to worry if our playing is even good enough to be in the presence of His mighty presence.
And my two cents about the children's church...i know my family always chose churchs based on what my dad wanted. We have never stayed at a church any longer than 5 years. Some of the best programs for children that i have seen have actually been in the smaller 200 person churches because the entire church brings it up upon themselves to raise the children within the church and the way they believe God wants children to be raised.
I hear you Cach, although the youth group at my church in high school was small and very close. I really think that it saved me from many perils during those very tumultuous and hormonal years. The church was only about 300 people. The youth group was about 15-20 kids, one friend from that group is a Medical nurse here in Houston, one graduated from MIT and is working on cancer research in the east, One of them, YOU might have known went to Truett (Rodney Weaver). Anyway, they were an awesome group of kids. Point being, kids go where there parents take them, they form friendships in those places and they will hopefully last. Bigger Churches have some very cool things about them, there is NO doubt about that, but they also can start to look no different than the local Highschool, were all the popular kids hang out, and the nerdy ones just sit in the back and pick their butts.
The Protestant Mega-Church is a unique thing in Church History, a blend of Capitalism, Corporate Structuring (the Pastor is like a mix between a King and a C.E.O.) and Christianity. Back in the Day, local churches had to depend on the Diocese or the Vatican to cough up the funds for a better building or facility and it is still that way with the Catholic church on the whole. Protetstant Churches used to be stripped of every Icon, luxurious element, and Elaborate decoration to keep itself from the idolatry of the Church of Rome. Now, Churches are doing the same thing in some ways but with more of a pop culture twist.
Various cities and towns in the Medieval period used to compete for "who has the biggest church" Now it seems the same thing is happening except Capitalism is thrown in the mix.
To wrap up my thoughts here, people come to church seeking God and truth, not basketball courts. If they are seeking a holy swimming pool then... Ouch, the Church aint doing its Job. Which was what I was sort of trying to get at in the post.
At its healthiest, the Church has always been on the move, never so self ponderous that it builds itself a city within a city.
okay, ill stop here for now, oh and BTW, i totally knew you were being a smart ass and were not serious- I wholeheartedly love sarcasm. it is a spiritual gift.
I just wrote this entirely too long comment about mega churches, and how the number of members requires them to hold a higher standard, and where do we draw the line between excellence and superfluous actions on Sundays.
But I deleted it and started over when I realized...
That's not even what you're hinting at Seth. You're really talking about why we even hold church on Sunday. (our Sabbath, I suppose) Right? Or going even further, why Protestant Church even holds service like they do. It's just a bunch of work. Which really it is. To put on a production. It's the same type of work that goes into producing a play at the Hippodrome. (Except that although I have not seen a show at the Hippodrome, I can almost positively say that I'm sure the Hippodrome is a better quality of production...Cach) It's ensembles, rehearsals, solos, lights, sound, even stage presence, enunciation, delivery. And all of that takes work. Or else it looks aweful, and why do it if it looks aweful. It's on a stage.
Why do it if it looks aweful...why do it if it looks aweful. There's something terribly wrong with that sentence. Is that really what we're attempting in the protestant church? To work all week, because it's all about Sunday?
I am presently feeling very down about my protestantism...
awwwwwe fancy, don't feel down. besides if you feel down you can just go up to your church and get a professional message and relax in the hot tub. HAAAA! jk
Hey, there is no perfect church, though i have been to some churches where the people feel like that it is, and i always have a worried-bitter-sweet feeling towards these people. On the one hand, I am happy that they love their Church so much, then on the other hand I pray that when "it" happens that God would simply help them to grow and not ditch.
Anyway, these kinks usually take a couple of hundred years to work out AT LEAST, so sleep in peace tonight my Protestant friend.
TOTALLY AGREE kat. We are obsessed with trying to find the perfect church rather than finding the perfect God. Thanks for your comments.
more to say but I am off to Yoga. I'll come back to that later.
Seth
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