Fortunately, I am part of some interesting groups. Although much of life these days is online, nevertheless I do have some other folks in my life. Granted I would prefer to be with them in person, but seeing them on a computer screen is a great second best. It offers some engaging conversations, new ideas and challenges that come my way. I figure this is a good thing in my life and does, indeed, make my life better. I am grateful.
Recently, I was involved in one such group conversation. It was by nature a spiritually focused group, so I was particularly interested in the details of the group talk. And it has some age range in the group, so it was not a gang of people all my age. Sometimes that is pretty boring! The focus of the conversation was about current events. Clearly, we all know that there is so much going on in the news these days. There is almost a crisis of the week. For example, I heard one guy say we are dealing with about five pandemics at once.
There is the virus, for sure. But there is also the racial unrest, the economic inequalities that unrest surfaces and, looming ever larger in our picture, the climate change issue. I would suggest there is a spiritual dimension to every one of these crises. Who is God? Where is God? Why is this happening? There are endless questions. And for those of us who are still affiliated with traditional churches, the question is also posed: what is the church doing in all this mess? Or should be doing in all this mess?
In the middle of the group conversation a young woman dropped a sentence on us, which stunned me. She simply stated, “For me, church is in the streets right now.” Wow! The power and insight of this comment cut me to the bone. It was an intriguing affirmation of the church, but the church affirmed in a very different way. It was an insightful, creative way to answer the question, where is the church today?
That opened my mind to ponder again the age-old question, what is the church, and its corollary question, where is the church today? I think this young woman and I would readily agree that the church is the people---always has been. Even as a kid, I remember that little game we played with our hands. “Open the door and here’s the people.” Of course, the people were our fingers. This was a cute teaching tool to say the church is not the building, but the people. When we have buildings, it is easy to forget. We call the building “the church,” and so it becomes. People become secondary.
Another thing the young woman provoked in my thinking was what is the church supposed to be doing? Christians take their cue from Jesus. The church or the people are supposed to be doing the kinds of things Jesus would be doing. We domesticate the whole notion of church when we reduce it to the worship time. It is unfortunate to be content to do the liturgy and say we have “been to church.” But what if the church is in the streets now?
I think I can guess what the young woman would say the church needs to be doing in the streets. I think she does believe the church needs to be witnessing. That might mean marching in the protests. Of course, that gets tricky for people who are in greater danger from the pandemic. But there are ways for them to protest, too. What are we protesting? I would say that answer is easy. We protest the same things Jesus protested. The economic injustices should be a big target. But there is more.
No, I am not going to suggest more things to protest, although that would be easy. We need to do more than protest. The protest must lead to change. It is easy to talk about systemic prejudice and injustice. That means I can protest injustice, but as part of the systems of our current life, nothing changes. As a white guy, I have it made (recognizing that too many white guys and gals also are paying a price in these economic times). When asked about the last time a police stopped me in my car with gun pulled, I say “never.” Ask a young black guy!
The church is in the streets. That is where the action is and the action there, hopefully, is going to lead to change. The change will be in me and in the system. We probably will find a vaccine for the virus and, likely, return to life as normal. The church in the street is protesting “life as normal.” For too many people, normal is not good. It can also kill you!
I don’t really expect to see my young friend in church on Sunday morning. And I am not sure we should expect Jesus to be there either. Instead, we probably will find both of them in the streets. They are also not likely have church services. Rather they would be witnessing to the church serving. This service will consist of basic things like listening and sharing. But there will be so much more.
Appropriately, I feel challenged. I remember the old question, “do you want to be part of the problem or the solution?” I really hope to be a part of the solution. As a guy who believes in church, I suspect my young friend is correct. The church is in the streets now.
Recently, I was involved in one such group conversation. It was by nature a spiritually focused group, so I was particularly interested in the details of the group talk. And it has some age range in the group, so it was not a gang of people all my age. Sometimes that is pretty boring! The focus of the conversation was about current events. Clearly, we all know that there is so much going on in the news these days. There is almost a crisis of the week. For example, I heard one guy say we are dealing with about five pandemics at once.
There is the virus, for sure. But there is also the racial unrest, the economic inequalities that unrest surfaces and, looming ever larger in our picture, the climate change issue. I would suggest there is a spiritual dimension to every one of these crises. Who is God? Where is God? Why is this happening? There are endless questions. And for those of us who are still affiliated with traditional churches, the question is also posed: what is the church doing in all this mess? Or should be doing in all this mess?
In the middle of the group conversation a young woman dropped a sentence on us, which stunned me. She simply stated, “For me, church is in the streets right now.” Wow! The power and insight of this comment cut me to the bone. It was an intriguing affirmation of the church, but the church affirmed in a very different way. It was an insightful, creative way to answer the question, where is the church today?
That opened my mind to ponder again the age-old question, what is the church, and its corollary question, where is the church today? I think this young woman and I would readily agree that the church is the people---always has been. Even as a kid, I remember that little game we played with our hands. “Open the door and here’s the people.” Of course, the people were our fingers. This was a cute teaching tool to say the church is not the building, but the people. When we have buildings, it is easy to forget. We call the building “the church,” and so it becomes. People become secondary.
Another thing the young woman provoked in my thinking was what is the church supposed to be doing? Christians take their cue from Jesus. The church or the people are supposed to be doing the kinds of things Jesus would be doing. We domesticate the whole notion of church when we reduce it to the worship time. It is unfortunate to be content to do the liturgy and say we have “been to church.” But what if the church is in the streets now?
I think I can guess what the young woman would say the church needs to be doing in the streets. I think she does believe the church needs to be witnessing. That might mean marching in the protests. Of course, that gets tricky for people who are in greater danger from the pandemic. But there are ways for them to protest, too. What are we protesting? I would say that answer is easy. We protest the same things Jesus protested. The economic injustices should be a big target. But there is more.
No, I am not going to suggest more things to protest, although that would be easy. We need to do more than protest. The protest must lead to change. It is easy to talk about systemic prejudice and injustice. That means I can protest injustice, but as part of the systems of our current life, nothing changes. As a white guy, I have it made (recognizing that too many white guys and gals also are paying a price in these economic times). When asked about the last time a police stopped me in my car with gun pulled, I say “never.” Ask a young black guy!
The church is in the streets. That is where the action is and the action there, hopefully, is going to lead to change. The change will be in me and in the system. We probably will find a vaccine for the virus and, likely, return to life as normal. The church in the street is protesting “life as normal.” For too many people, normal is not good. It can also kill you!
I don’t really expect to see my young friend in church on Sunday morning. And I am not sure we should expect Jesus to be there either. Instead, we probably will find both of them in the streets. They are also not likely have church services. Rather they would be witnessing to the church serving. This service will consist of basic things like listening and sharing. But there will be so much more.
Appropriately, I feel challenged. I remember the old question, “do you want to be part of the problem or the solution?” I really hope to be a part of the solution. As a guy who believes in church, I suspect my young friend is correct. The church is in the streets now.
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