A SATIRICAL LOOK AT HOW WE DO THIS THING CALLED "CHURCH"
On his Web site, BeyondRelevance.com, Richard Reising, a church marketing consultant, has posted a great video. It's had over 220,000 views on YouTube since November of 2008. The video is called "What If Starbucks Marketed Like A Church? A Parable." While it's satire at its best, it's also hard for Christians to watch because of its dead-on, albeit unappealing, representation of the church. Before you continue to read, take just a few minutes and watch.
DISSECTING THE VIDEO
For me, watching this video was like looking at myself in the mirror and hating how my hair looks. I know I can fix it, but it's going to take a lot of gel. One YouTube viewer even commented, "heres the reason why i HATE church lol." Hard words. Yet the church needs to hear them. The point of this video was to highlight the disconnect between how churches do things and the people they're trying to reach. I don't think this video is trying to purport that churches should be like a coffeehouse. It takes viewing the church in a different scenario to realize how unique our challenges are.
I have enjoyed breaking down this video and analyzing its purpose. In doing so, I have to admit that while many will watch it and agree that the church sometimes tries too hard in its efforts, many more will watch the video and call it foolish drivel. Therein lies the problem. Once again, we aren't all going to agree on the best ways to reach those outside the church. Though we're called not to conform to the patterns of this world*, we should attempt to "be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity*." (Rom. 12:4; Col. 4:5) Even this verse from Colossians could be interpreted several ways. Being "wise in the way you act toward outsiders" could mean that you Bible-thump them into a fearful acceptance of God's Word or it could also mean that you attempt to relate on their level, being aware of their church background (or lack of one). I'm gonna pick the latter.
Babies need milk, not food. This metaphor applies to young Christians and those outside the church, too. We cannot expect those without a thorough religious background to understand words and concepts like salvation, redemption, consecration, sanctification, and all the other "tions" that we like to use. My hope and prayer is that we all can keep this in mind as we move forward. Churches have much to offer the world. We have the love of God. We just need to move out of the way and let God show himself through us. Many times we think we have it all figured out. Well, the breaking news of the day is that we don't. Let's meet people where they are and just try to accept them there.
QUOTES TO CONSIDER
"No one ever converted to Christianity because they lost the argument." Phillip Yancey
"You can tell you've created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do." Anne Lamott
"If we're delivering a message that the people of America don't want to hear, so be it. As long as we're not delivering it in a way that they won't listen in the first place." Sen. Rick Santorum, Pennsylvania 1994-2006
"Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it with religious conviction." Blaise Pascal
"As editor of the largest newspaper in West Virginia, I scan hundreds of reports daily and I am amazed by the frequency with which religion causes people to kill each other. It is a nearly universal pattern, undercutting the common assumption that religion makes people kind and tolerant." James Haught
"Beware you be not swallowed up in books! An ounce of love is worth a pound of knowledge." John Wesley
"If it weren't for Christians, I'd be a Christian." Mahatma Ghandi
"There's no greater role model in my view than Jesus Christ. It's just a shame that most of the people who follow him and call themselves Christians act nothing like him." Bill Maher
"Attack me, I do this myself, but attack me rather than the path I follow and which I point out to anyone who asks me where I think it lies. If I know the way home and am walking along it drunkenly, is it any less the right way because I am staggering from side to side!" Leo Tolstoy
"Stop judging others, and you will not be judged. For others will treat you as you treat them. Whatever measure you use in judging others, it will be used to measure how you are judged." Jesus
FINAL THOUGHTS
We've been tossed by the waves and are (almost) hopelessly stuck at sea. It's time to turn our boat around. I tend to believe that most people accept God because of his promises of forgiveness and grace, and that's the message we most need to convey. But again, that's just my opinion.
"...love your enemies...If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that." Jesus, Matt. 5:44,47
2 comments:
I do agree with a lot that you are saying in this blog, but at the same time, some of the quotes don't ring as true as we'd hope. The quote about religion is one of them. Sadly, the world lumps Christianity into the pool of religions of the world. But if we'd stand back and really ask ourselves what religion is, some would realize that relgion and Christianity are at odds. Religion is works based plain and simple. It's about what "I" can do to get favor and earn heaven "my" way. It's totally targeted on me and my desires. While when we flip it and look at Christianity, the picture changes, or at least it is supposed to. Christianity is about the Son of God, Jesus, Himself. If we want Christianity to be credible, then we got to stop treating it like a religion and start living it as a working towards being like Christ in all manners of living, and the two best ways of doing this is through love and by serving one another. Two other attributes really define Christianity which is grace and peace. Without grace, there'd be no hope of salvation because Jesus extends grace to those who believe and put their trust in Him. Apart from Christ I can do nothing. Christianity is soley and ultimately based upon Jesus and the work He accomplished on the cross. Religion is an end in itself, but Christ is the beginning and the end because He offers us life everlasting.
Tim,
I agree. Religion is one of the words that carries a lot of negative connotations with it. Religion has been used to hurt too many people. Christianity in its truest sense, is supposed to embody love, forgiveness and grace. It can get more complicated than that, but I don't think believers need to convey the complicated parts to everybody. That's the "food" stuff and babies need the "milk" stuff.
Post a Comment