“The coffee was bad, the chairs uncomfortable, and the music
wasn’t really my taste. Plus it didn’t really have a cool vibe. I don’t think
I’ll go back.” Initially, one would have thought that my friend was talking
about the new coffee shop that had just opened down the street. Unfortunately
she wasn’t though, this was her response to me when I asked if she liked the
new church she had attended the previous Sunday. “I mean the message was good,
it just wasn’t my thing.”
I think few of us would like to actually admit it, but it often feels
that looking for a church frighteningly correlates with the way we would look
for a new favorite coffee shop. I think this is especially true for the arising
younger generation of today. The marks of a “true church” seem to resemble a coffee
bar, worship pastor in skinny jeans and toms shoes, abstract art on the wall,
cool typography in the bulletin, and a well-dressed congregation. Where is the
power of the gospel in that? The importance of doctrine, community, ministries,
and service can come second to that of the “vibe” of the church. This focus on
being relevant, cool, and hip is not inherently bad or evil, I think, but unfortunately
it can dangerously skew the priorities of a church, it’s members, and those
seeking to find a place in it. It can turn the church into a chill environment
where Christians go to hang out, meet cool people, and sit for a few hours.
This selfish, consumerist institution has little resemblance to the Church
Christ spoke of. The church he recounted was one of hope, kingdom priorities,
selfless love, power, and incarnational living. “Church is God’s people
intentionally committing to die together so that other’s can find the kingdom”
(Halter, Smay). The church is not a Coffee Shop.
Melissa
That is such an amazing point you made, Haley. Attendance to the right church has become like an accessory; something we like to flaunt, talk about and add to our list of activities. What an accurate, yet painful, analogy.
The simplicity of your question “Where is the power of the Gospel in that?” is poignantly profound. We have ordered our churches, and our attendance of these churches after our culture, rather than allowing the truth of the Gospel to order our lives, and the communities of Christ we gather in. Particularly for our generation this is a critical issue. For many attendance to a particular church becomes an accessory; just as ‘the right shoes’ or ‘the right bag’ accent an outfit, going to ‘the right church’ conveys ‘the right faith.’
I couldn’t agree more, Melissa. It is frightening how the Church in the West has allowed the Gospel, the real, true, heavy, beautiful Gospel to slip through the cracks. The real Jesus seems to have been replaced by what we want to hear and see; churches can easily slip into the pitfall of selling a “vibe” instead of what people really need: Jesus Himself.
I think a huge part of the reason we go to church to consume is because this is the model we have grown up with, so we don’t know to expect anything else. We have stopped reading the scriptures, have stopped letting church consume our every second, and have created it to be a monster we attend on Sunday mornings. The issue is with getting back to the way in which we let God into every part of our lives.
You are cutting at the heart of what is happening in my churches in the west.