good vs. good

Sometimes I feel like people in the church make it their primary mission in life to pit one good thing against another good thing.

It's better to go deep in your church services.  No, it's better to make your services attractive to guests and non-Christians.

It's better to do loud, fast, emotional, high-energy rock songs.  No, it's better to do time-tested, theological, reverent hymns.

The church should be all about discipleship.  No, the church should be all about serving the poor.

The megachurch is really missing the boat.  The organic church really lacks a direction.

And I haven't even broached the subjects of what well-meaning, passionate, biblically-minded Christians are bickering about when it comes to science vs. religion, women in ministry, and politics.

Why am I even writing about this?  I don't know.  I think partly because I'm frustrated by it, and I need an outlet to process through it.  Partly because I can't open up facebook or twitter these days without seeing 1 out of every 4 posts about some video or quote from some famous Christian (Piper, Chan, Driscoll, Warren, Moore, Meyer, Chandler, Platt, Furtick, Hybels, Stanley, or a favorite quote from your favorite theologian).

But I think the real reason that I'm writing is this:

I'm finding out that none of it matters nearly as much as everyone thinks it all matters.

Don't take that as an attack on critical thinking, or on the value of holding to and articulating personal convictions.  And don't take it as an attack on the character or the views of any of those above, named or unnamed.  In fact, many of those named are incredible people of God, serving with wisdom and pure hearts.  I've been personally blessed by them as I've listened to them speak or have read what they've written.

I'm just finding more and more that I don't live in that world.

I've had a handful of experiences in this last week that have made that world - the world of the "which model/which conviction/which theological tradition/which worship style/which devotional practice" - more and more irrelevant.

First: I started teaching a Junior Achievement at East High.  It's me, a teacher, and 30 freshmen of mixed ethnicities and varying backgrounds and abilities all crammed into a tiny room where the thermostat doesn't work really well.  It took about 10 minutes for the teacher to get them corralled into the seats.  Seriously.  (And it was a fantastic experience, by the way.)  I don't see how that world is relevant to this world.

Second: I met with an East High teacher and a representative from Waterloo Community Schools about our church becoming a Partner in Education.  The teacher first asked for prayer.  (Yep.)  Then, we talked mainly about how it's challenging to get families to participate in anything.  Doesn't matter the program, the initiative, or the model.  Now, they have some great kids.  But it's a struggle to feel like you're getting anywhere at times.  It's hard to see how that world is relevant to this world.

Third: Earlier this week I had lunch with a husband and wife pastoral team who have been pastoring a church that started as a ministry to the poor and addicts in a city park.  I bet few of their congregants are asking a lot of the same questions that some of my peers are so fervently debating.

Finally: I had lunch today with my wife and son at a Mexican restaurant close to my neighborhood.  Food was amazing.  We were the only white folks there.  It was about 1:30 in the afternoon.  A few of the tables were packed with young adults - some maybe teenagers - each of them downing beer after beer.  I began to wonder: "What is any church doing to reach them?  Would I even attend a church that made it their mission to reach them?"

It just seems like there is a disconnect.

Have you felt this?  Maybe you have.  Maybe sometime this past year you've wondered:

Why don't I feel more compelled to serve the marginalized?

Why don't I feel more compassion in my heart for the plight of many in my community?

Why don't I share my faith more?

Why don't I put my faith into action more?

Those are hard questions.  And there aren't easy answers.  And I'm becoming sure that the answers aren't found in another book, study, song, or sermon.

I think you have to begin to obey to find those answers.

I think you have to go to these places.

I think you have to talk to these people.

I think you have to wrestle with these questions.

I think you have to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.

I think you have to love your neighbor as yourself.

Then maybe we'll start influencing the world that we live in - connecting where right now there is a disconnect.

Those last three things sound familiar, don't they?

Comments

[Ken Bauer]

Jesse,

Very well said. I really like it when complexities are reduced to the essentials which you did so nicely. The older I get the more I feel compelled to think in terms of relationships. I already seem to do a reasonably good job of relating to my family, fellow believers and fellow workers but NOT people outside those environments. I think all of the problems we see with a "missional" approach to ministry would be solved in relating to other ethnic groups by actually treating them in a way that reflects God's view of them. How can anyone resist someone who treats them with love, respect and dignity based on the value that God has given them because of the fact that He has created them in His image? That is the basis we should use to present Jesus so they will meet and know Him thus fulfilling the potential which God has already given them by virtue of their creation.

[Jesse Tink]

Well said, Ken. And like you said and I'm finding out: much easier said than done. But, I wouldn't want to be doing anything else.

[Matt Rittgers]

This is good stuff and I think that you managed to communicate many ideas that I've been wrestling with--especially in Seminary. Talk about a place that loves debates in absolutes, methodology, and ministry systems.

[Matt Rittgers]

*continued

Yet, there's a lot of good stuff there. I just better not spend too much time in my books that I can't be accused of being a "glutton" and a "drunkard"

[Jesse Tink]

Thanks Matt. Yep, definitely have to weed out inherent myopia that inevitably occurs in an academic setting. But, I wouldn't have the capacity to write a post like this without the deconstruction and reforming that seminary did for me.

I thought your second comment there was right on.