I'm still reading The Present Fture by Reggie McNeal. So much of what he addresses in this book is to get away from the club mentality regarding church and more importantly, regarding Christianity.
"The scorecard is all about church membership, church participation, and church support. We are training people to be good club members, all the while wondering why our influence in the world is waning." (72)
I just want to preface my next few statements with this: I love our church. I do. The support that we have been given since we started going to our church has been unreal. We have witnessed a first-hand outpouring of God's divine love through people at our church. This is not meant to be a slam against our church or against church in general.
BUT...
Many of us certainly have a club member mentality. We take every opportunity we have to dote on our church and the great things it has to offer to the people who grace it's doors. We are proud to call ourselves "members." We spend more time talking about being a member of ________ than talking about being a follower of Christ Himself.
We had our annual ladies' retreat last weekend. It was great. There were many very good things about the retreat. The evening we spent in our cottages was a time to get to know one another. We had approximately 25 women in our cabin. After we played a couple of "get-to-know-you" games, we went around the room and introduced ourselves. The cabin host simply asked us to introduce ourselves to the other people that were there. That's all. Introduce yourselves.
Almost every single person in that room began with who they are, who makes up their family and how long they have been going to our church. How they started coming to our church. What they love about out church. No joke. The only people there who didn't give us their our church story were the two or three people who are not members of our church. And they felt the need to almost apologize for not being members of our church. It was weird. I hadn't even started reading this Reggie McNeal book and I thought, "This isn't right." Not one story about becoming a Christ follower. Not one story of a changed life. Not that I would expect someone to go into life-changing stories in an introduction, but I also wouldn't expect them to go into church affiliation either. It really was a strange phenomenon.
And even though I knew this didn't seem right, when it came to be my turn, I didn't really stop the trend. I didn't say how long we had been going or how long we had been members. But I did say that I work at the church office. What I said without actually saying it is, "It's cool. I'm a club member too."
Why do we do this? Why is it that when someone asks us something about our relationship with God we almost immediately go to church affiliation? Why is our thinking so screwed up that we cannot talk about faith or what God has brought to our day without throwing our membership into the mix? We think that for someone to experience a new life, they must "belong" to us. To US! To OUR CHURCH! It's wrong. I do not want to think like this anymore.
I hate that I was a part of making some beautiful people feel like they didn't fit. Like they weren't "in." I hate that I flaunted my "membership" because everyone else was. I hate that this is going to be a difficult mental shift for me to stop thinking like that.
This book is kicking my butt.
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8 comments:
Hi Jenny, This is my first response ever to a blog, so here goes! I have about 20 more pages to read in the "Present Future" and have been enjoying every page of it! I totally agree with you, but the first step in changing something is recognizing that it needs to be changed. So, I guess we have both stepped on the path of becoming followers of Christ and not just club members! Pam
A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. And all the believers met together constantly and shared everything they had. They sold their possessions and shared the proceeds with those in need. They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord's Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity— all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their group those who were being saved.
Acts 2:43-47
These people were not members of a club BUT they were members of a community of faith. And even though they probably had no roll for people to be on I'm sure they gained some of their identity from being a member of this community of faith.
There is a difference between an "us and them mentality" and finding a place to belong and being so excited about it you have to tell others. Especially when the community you belong to is so much a part of your relationship with Jesus.
I think there is a balance.
I definitely agree that there has to be a balance. I don't want to give the impression that being a part of a church and feeling a sense of belonging is a bad thing at all. And being eager to share that with others isn't bad either. But more importantly, we should share our faith and be willing to share our lives and not just be concerned about getting them in our "pews."
As I begin to see the error of my ways through this book, I think it's making me hyper sensitive to these issues. The pendulum is beginning to swing and I'm sure it will swing back in the other direction a little as some time goes by. I certainly do not want to give the impression that I am anti-church.
There's comfort in groups, too, as well as a sense of belonging we all need to feel.
With what Tommy said, it's important to remember that we are part of a Body, a Body of Believers, so if one wants to use the "club" mentality, one must also attribute that "clique" to the entire Faith.
Personally, I like being identified with a church. I have friends that go to "other churches," and I know that if they went to "my church" they'd hear a clearer message of who God is, who Jesus is, and what They can do for a life. "My preacher" and "our church staff" are great, God-fearing people, and I think everyone would benefit from knowing them. This is not a bad thing, as long as I recognize that there are other churches out there whose ministries to their people are just as effective as I feel "my church's" are to "our people."
I just so happen to prefer BPF to the others. And that's okay, as long as I don't turn into a punk about it.
It would be cool if both of you read this book so we can talk about it. There's a lot of stuff in it that I'm wrestling with. It's a very convicting book.
I'll have to check it out (I'm about to order some book, so I'll snag this one, too).
I don't know how many books I've read about "Church" and organized religion and all that "organizational stuff" — too many to count — but no matter what the books say about our Faith, there's a common-denominator that must never be ignored: it's all about personal relationships.
Again, the Church is an extension of Christ. Christ Followers are members of His Body as it resides on earth. We are a group, we are a "club" — in the same way that you're now a "Hintze" or I'm a "McCown."
Until I read the book, it's hard to say what, exactly, his point is — but thinking negatively about labeling oneself as a member of a church, or being quick to identify oneself with a specific body of believers (outside of the generic term "Christian" or "Christ Follower") is kind of odd to me. But that may not bee the point, so I won't make further assumptions.
Of course, it goes back to any kind of "club" analogy: some people use their memberships as a means to flaunt status, others don't. I pay dues to Riverside because of the golf and food — and that's it. Other people pay dues so they can say they belong.
I'm a member of Riverside, and saying I'm not — or choosing not to say I am when it comes up — doesn't change that fact that I am part fo that "group." It's all about motivation.
I have it (the book) sitting in my office. I'll have to open it up.
haven't read the book, but we can fall in the trap of wearing our church like an Old Navy Shirt. We do things that make us look good on the outside, in the name of Jesus without knowing Jesus. It is the phenomenon of consumeristic religion... come, see, do. If you go to any church, one cannot get away from a little of it, but when it becomes so program oriented that the relationship is forgotten, then it gets bad. Religion helps us dress up the outside. Spirituality works from the inside out and that is what Jesus wants from us is to let him work from the inside out and not to wear a badge or feel like a part of something because we listen to the right music or vote for the right wing. Hmm. I may have to read that book too. When Maury gets done with his, he can send it to me.
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