About a week or so ago I had the privilege to take one of several to come, walking tour of Madrid. My guide, (April Crull) took us to the Royal Palace and Cathedral. We were hoping to look inside the cathedral, but it was quite congested around the site. After looking around for some time, April comes to us and blurted out something that I found quite metaphorical. She declared, “The problem with churches in Europe is you can’t find the door to get in.” I thought to myself that may actually be the problem with churches everywhere. I’m not talking about how attractive they are or how engaging they are. What I am talking about is how the church can actually end up becoming the opposite of what it is here for.
In a recent talk, Alan Hirsch referred to a survey that he and some associates did in Australia getting soundings on peoples attitude toward faith. They asked people about their attitude toward God, Spirituality, Jesus and the Church. Without reading too much into the study (it loses a bit of umph because it was done in Australia), but I think it is indicative of the attitude of many I meet. You can probably guess the outcome: God? Ok. Spirituality? Still no problem. Jesus? Not surprisingly positive (although most are making up a Jesus in their own likeness). When asked about the church, however, it was overwhelmingly negative. I don’t think it is an overstatement to say that the church in the west has a bit of a reputation problem.
In other words, it’s really hard to find how to get in (read – accessibility) because we have put some many weird things in the way. Here is a list off the top of my head: Hypocrisy, Churches only want people money, Christians are “haters,” Christian are anti__________________ (fill in the blank), church people are the religious right or the religious left…you get the picture. It is somewhat like the picture here of the massive cathedral in Segovia, Spain. There is a literal and a metaphorical gate that keeps people from the altar. I'm being serious, there is a 20 foot steel gate separating folks from the Eucharist. You say that it is gated to protect it from thievery and vandalism. Fine, but even when it is open only a small portal exists. Not what I would call inviting. I would suggest that by our posture (defensive) and our actions (“against”) WE (including me) look like the gate. We say, “Come on, the gate is open!” But the reality is, it renders a community that says one thing and portrays another.
It seems like churches go in cycles…being unwittingly tight and unwelcoming to open and embracing and back again. I won’t mention any groups, but I can think of plenty.
The bigger issue for me is how we relate outside of the gate. It seems that that is where Jesus resided in utter holiness, yet seemingly never pissed off the non-religious. Maybe we need to re-cast what it means to be holy, no?
I’ve seen that gate a hundred times but never as powerful as it was looking at the picture you posted and your thoughts on the ‘looking for the door’.
We call out to the masses (in theory), come to Jesus (church) and He (our ‘hip’ program) will give you rest (as long as you can fit into our community mold then you can stay… otherwise, it’s your fault and you should move on).
How can we pull down that gate and be OK with the people who want to possibly thieve our goods, those who just want to look from afar, those who might ‘soil’ the digs and not make it look so ‘holy’, those who want to stand and mock, smirk, and criticize the opportunity, and (more easily) be there for those that are at the alter seeking Jesus?
Digging the post… thanks brutha!
I’m glad Jesus said “I am the door…whoever enters by Me, shall be saved.”
That cathedral gate is also a picture of religion…in the sense that only those in the club can stand at the altar.
Do we need to come up with a new word for those of us who want to be Biblical Christ followers–grounded in His word, compelled by His love to serve, give and go without being draped in the robes of religion or politics?
Is it even possible to avoid those traps and have a voice for the kingdom of God?
Good drum — thanks.