A Dream for Lent
Feb 11th, 2008 by John
What if the USAmerican evangelical establishment church gave up being church for Lent? What if she just said, “I’m tired of being a prissy, judgmental entity that gets joy out of making people mad at me.”
What if the church had a moratorium on its “we can be as cool as the culture” ways and just got real for a day or two? Nobody was ever “saved” by a musical note (rock ‘n roll or otherwise) or a pixil image or a flakey “you can have the American Dream and Jesus, too” sales pitch. What if American Christians spoke their fears rather than masking them with fantasies like “Jesus is coming back to take us out of this hell hole of a world”? What if American straight Christians admitted that our divorce rate as Christians has done more to damage marriage in this country than anything the gay community will ever do? What if we American Christians admitted that it is a sorry anomaly of massive proportions to worship “the Prince of Peace” with our mouths and fund the world’s largest war machine with our money? What if we believed Malcolm Muggeridge when he said, “Jesus would have viewed being on TV as the fourth temptation of the Devil”? What if we quit treating the Bible like a “rabbit’s foot” which we have for “good luck” but never read? What if we stopped marvelling over how the Chinese church grew more after the missionaries were kicked out and had to go underground as we continue to insanely invest billions of dollars into having the most stunning buildings in the city? What if we quit gathering at our own little church coffee shops in the foyer and went out into the city and made friends and had coffee with unchurched people on Sunday morning? What if we punctured our finger tips and showed unchurched people that we bleed blood like them and not ooze out canned Bible verses?
“John? John! Wake up!”
“Oooooh, I was dreaming. I…I had this amazing vision.”
“What? What was it?”
“What if the church gave up being church for Lent.”
“It’ll never happen.”
“Never say ‘never’.”
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John,
Your prophetic voice rings clear once again. Thanks for writing this. I’ve linked to it in my humble corner of the interwebs.
Bill,
Thanks for stopping by and commenting and thanks, too, for linking these musings.
Now that would be nice! It’s a dream more of us need to have.
Fred,
I agree with you.
John,
I don’t know that I completely agree with what you are saying here, but there is definitely a lot to think about. I do see a trend toward “bashing church” among more progressive evangelicals (for lack of a better term). I’m not so sure that is useful, as it alienates a lot of churchgoers that need to be spiritually fed in favor of the “unchurched.” I don’t have the answers, but I think there needs to be a balance between working with the churched people (who have some very real spiritual and physical needs) and unchurched folks who have the same needs.
I could give up going to church for lent…
So what is our call to action? Other than seeing the comparison, seeing the need? What is your specific answer for these questions?
Bill,
There is a difference between “bashing” the church and holding a mirror up to the church. I am part of the very church that I’m deeply concerned for. Unless the church OWNS that it is here for others and not for itself, we’ll keep seeing these sorry distortions.
Post Song Blackbird,
I think you speak for more people than we’d like to know
Ronni,
I’d suggest three calls to action: As a community, let’s…
1. Pray earnestly “Your kingdom come, Your will be done…on earth!”
2. Immerse ourselves in the gospels,
3. Radically follow Jesus.
Excellent post.
Thank you for making us reflect and think about the importance of lent.
Preacherman,
Thanks, bro’! I hope you are doing better. Keep us all informed.
John,
I will do.
The doctor cut back meds and still haven’t heard back on tests yet. I guess no news is good news, so far. I will keep you informated and thanks for keeping me in your prayers. It means a lot brother.
Kinney (Preacherman),
Thanks for this update. You are prayed for!
I have so missed your wise words John, this is the first post I have read on your blog.I will be visiting your site more often! This is an issue and a burden I have had on my heart since the day I turned towards Christ. I , in my search for God had been repelled by what I saw in the church, knowing enough about the bible that I knew she wasn’t the church he had intended her to be. It is through your wisdom and guidance and the love of my family that He reached me, not through a “culturally relevant” church.
Stephanie,
All I can say is a whispered ‘thank you.’ Perhaps because you long for the ‘real thing’ in what a church should be, your faith is so vibrant and joyful. May God preserve us all from the depressing judgmentalism that marks so many Christians’ lives. My best to you and your family—that little CJ is a heart-breaker
God bless you!
What if…it would mean the Kingdom is very very near. May we be humble enough to repent and truly seek His Kingdom. Let’s all dream John…thanks, for your inspiring words. Pax…Ron+
Ron,
Blessings to you, brother. Let’s all dream on!
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Uh, John, Does your church know about this? What if “they get angry”? Keep up the good work!