Frankenstein Theology

I work for a major international corporation.  I’ve worked for them for years and I’ve learned that major companies love systems.  They love to organize work management and reporting and roll it all up in a spreadsheet with Key Performance Indicators and graphs and charts.  They use these “KPI’s” to measure performance and indicate lagging or leading trends in their business.  I like to call these systems “Frankenstein systems.”  Primarily because companies create a system and then so much energy must be expended to support the system that often the system becomes a monster.  Energy expended to support the system takes so much effort that the reason the system was created gets lost in the effort to make the system work.  It’s a classic case of the tail wagging the dog.

In the last 25 years churches have embraced the culture of the business world.  They have emulated the corporate structure and built systems for everything.  In Rick Warren’s book, The Purpose Driven Church, which I have read twice and very much enjoyed, Warren makes the case for a systemized approach to worship, evangelism, well, most everything.  In fact, Warren’s church, Saddleback Valley Community Church is likely the leader in systematizing modern organized religion.  Thousands of “little Saddlebacks” have sprung up all over the US and the world.  The terms, “the Saddleback model” or “a Saddleback church” have become the buzzword for churches based on systems.  These churches define their target audience and structure their services to attract the kind of people they want.  Everything is well structured and organized and motivated by a reason or a purpose.  This works.  Saddleback Valley Community Church (located in Mission Viejo, CA) and Willow Creek Church (located in suburban Chicago) both routinely have weekend attendances of over 25,000 persons.  Some would call this success.

The wise man said, “You can’t argue with success.”  I care to differ with the wise man, because success is relative.  It isn’t absolute.  Lots of people or lots of money or a lot of property doesn’t necessarily mean a church, or a person for that matter, has attained success.  What you might consider success, others may call an utter failure.  The Pharisees of Jesus’ day certainly considered themselves and their system theology a success, but it wasn’t.

Now before I start throwing stones and become the proverbial “one among us without sin”, let me make a few statements.

First, different kinds of churches are okay.  No need to get caught up in cookie-cutter stuff when it comes to your faith or religion.  However, I understand and accept the “herd mentality” that we humans bring to all walks of life.  We’re inclined to gravitate to those most like us and our choices of religions are not immune to this tendency.  That’s okay.  It’s a limitation we’re just going to have to try to live with.

Secondly, I’m not a proponent of “doing it the way Peter and Paul did it.”  Some churches today have this mentality.  They don’t like all the “new ideas” and so they claim they’re “doing church” like the New Testament church “did church.”  Once you stop laughing you can continue to read.  This is so ludicrous an idea I feel foolish even giving it any space here.  I wonder what “new testament” those folks are reading.

Third, systems within themselves aren’t bad.  They’re just a tool, that’s it.  Like a knife is a tool.  But both systems and knifes can be misused and when this happens people get hurt.

So back to the point…do “systems” really have a place in religion?  Or better question: can anyone really boil their relationship with God down to a system?  I say, no to former question and yes to the latter. 

I don’t think anyone can write a book or formulate a plan or study guide or campaign that can truly bring us closer to God.  Now many will disagree.  These are the folks who have been to a seminar or a weekend spiritual gathering or some type of organization based on someone’s’ idea of how to know God better.  I know… I’ve been to church camps and Promise Keepers and the Walk to Emmaus gatherings and men’s retreats and weekend gatherings, etc, etc.  I grew up in church and did it all.  And the “high” is really high…but the low is farther down than you realize.  Systems like that are drugs.  They have very addictive qualities.  And you have to keep looking for a better high and many people just give up.

I do think some Christians boil their relationships with God down to systems.  They might now realize they’re doing it, but they are.  They develop a routine or a system for relating to God.  Ask most Christians what being a “good” Christian means and I’ll bet you a paycheck they will give you a list of do’s and don’ts.  This list is nothing but a system; ways to mentally check off what you’re doing for God and ensure that you stay on track.  It’s a hook on which to hang their faith.  And faith, if it’s hung on anything tangible isn’t faith at all.

So I encourage you to cast off the system.  Try to seek God without the list.  It’s not easy, especially if you’ve been doing it that way for years.  It will take you way outside your comfort zone.  You’ll feel like a ship cut loose from its anchor, but what a wonderful metaphor.  Cast your net on the other side of the ship… take a chance and step out of the boat.  You don’t grow strong staying anchored in the harbor.  You can’t expand your relationship with God as long as you stay hobbled by someone else’s idea of what you should be. 

Systems are just tools, just ideas.  They aren’t the answer to spiritual growth.  True spiritual growth is unique to you.  It can’t be compartmentalized and catalogued and dictated by others.  Rather, it’s got to be what you need to find God not what someone else tells you that you need.  If we can ever get past this bottle-neck in the road to our spiritual maturity, we will be one step closer to true discipleship.  If we can’t then what we have is as good as it’s ever going to get.

Don’t be lulled by the monster.  Dr. Frankenstein created something that ultimately led to his demise and unfortunately, to the demise of others.  He never intended his creation to be destructive.  His intentions were pure and good, but the results were disastrous.  And good intentions can’t atone for poor results.  As a person seeking spiritual growth, understand that creating a system, whether intentionally or not will lead to mediocre results at best.  And the ultimate outcome can cause more damage to you or others that you might realize.

When Jesus Enters our Lives

Well, it's Christmas, and we've endured the fury.  Shopping, running errands, hanging lights, and wrapping presents.  Nothing wrong with any of this, but as always it seems to distract us from what Christmas is about.  I'm not going to go on and on for paragraph after paragraph about the true meaning of Christmas...we all know that stuff.  I want to briefly mention a side note about Jesus' birth, and try to learn a lesson from it.  Hopefully something a little different.  Hopefully a slant to challenge us in a different way.

When Jesus arrived in Bethlehem, just a short time before his birth, his parents, Mary and Joseph, found refuge in a cave or a stall for keeping cattle, or some type of structure used to house animals.  We know this because after his birth, they laid him in a manger (a feeding trough, for animals).  This is interesting to me, because God could have arranged for a nice clean, quiet place.  He could have ordained this before the beginning of time.  After all, he ordained many things before the earth was even formed, certainly he could have reserved a room at a Hotel or even a Motel 6.  But he didn't.  Jesus started his earthly life in a dirty, stinking, dimly lit place that most people would be remiss to even enter, much less have their child born there.  I think there's an interesting point here, because this is precisely the way Jesus wants to enter our lives. 

You see, we all have a place or "room" out back of our public lives that we really don't want anyone to see.  It's the dirtiest and filthiest part of ourselves.  It's the place we hide the worst habits and things about ourselves.  We are ashamed of this place for it represents all that we wish we could be rid of. 

When we allow Jesus entry to our lives for the first time or allow his access in a new way, we often tend to allow him entry to those areas we have cleaned and swept.  We want to do some clean up first, just like when company visits your home; clean up and straighten to make a good impression, but stack all the crap in some hidden room or closet.  And so we do with parts of our lives.  And all those things we don't or can't deal with, get stored or hidden in that place out back. 

Trouble is, that's exactly where Jesus wants to enter.  Just like he did as an infant into this world, he wants to enter your life in the same way.  In your place out back.  In the worst you have to offer.  In that space that maybe even your closest family and friends know nothing about.  It's the hidden sin or failing that you can't even bear to say aloud.  This is where he wants to enter.  It's where he does his best work.  He offered salvation to the world by arriving in the worst place possible in Bethlehem, and he offers us salvation from ourselves by entering the worst part of ourselves.

So as we celebrate his arrival in the mess of Bethlehem, consider allowing him to enter the mess of your life.  Don't worry, he knows all about it anyway, and he won't be offended, but he can never offer you the freedom from yourself, the freedom from your own personal issues until you let him in that place.

It's tough, I know.  It hurts.  But true healing and freedom isn't cheap or easy.  It takes courage and patience.  Lord, give us the strength, the foresight, and the courage to crack the door of that place we all hide and allow you to enter it and begin the healing...the cleaning. May our celebration of your birth, be punctuated with surrender and openness to the work that only you can do in us.

Merry Christmas and may your celebration of Christ's birth be more meaningful than ever.

Wars and Rumors of Wars

I've never been one for conspiracy theories and doomsday predictions.  Neither was I ever too interested in biblical prophesy or end of the world discussions.  I always figured the end of the world was coming (that's sort of a given) and there really wasn't a thing I could do about it.  I figured I'd just live my life and if I was unfortunate enough to be around when the world ended, then that was just my tough luck.  Realistically, someone has to be around when the world ends.

But something seems different these days.  There seems to be an atmosphere of horrid anticipation.  There's a rumbling.  Is it just me, or is there a growing sense of doom in the world today?  Between countries with openly stated malicious intentions, terrorism, political corruption, and military colonization the world seems more unstable than I've ever remembered.  Maybe it's just age.  Maybe the older you get the more you worry about the state of the world.  Maybe September 11th simply woke a few of us up.  It caused a lot of anger and an equal amount of dread.  It reminded some and taught others that there are people in the world that care nothing for the sanctity of life and truly hate, with passion, those not like them.

But back to the point:  I sense this growing storm.  Maybe this is what the Bible means when it speaks of "wars and rumors of wars."  Of course, I'm sure those who lived through other wars thought the same thing, but this seems a different type of trouble.  I'm not a political analyst so I can't speak to the workings of countries and treaties and stuff like that, but I know a train wreck when I see one.  I just don't see how we as a world can get out of the mess we're in.  As I said, I'm not one for doomsday talk, but where do we go from here?

All this instability, it seems, is based in religion.  Truly I think it is.  The rash of warring going on across the globe, as well as the lion's share of the terrorism, is based in deeply seated religious beliefs.  I've written here before that I'm suspicious of all true believers; not because of what they believe but because of how they believe it.  I have an intense mistrust of those who are so sure they are right and that their religion is wholly correct, that they would never consider, much less listen, to an alternative viewpoint.  I'm not talking about listening to wild, senseless rabid preaching or closed minded, one sided arguments.  I'm referring those who would kill in the name of God or Allah or any religion yet never pause to wonder if maybe they are wrong.  Not wrong by my standards, just wrong.

Simply put, if your "god" or his book says to kill people who don't believe in him and he'll reward you for it, then you can keep him.  I don't want a god or a religion like that.  I just don't get it.  If you want to kill the guy who molested your kid, I understand that.  That doesn't make it right, but I get it.  If you want to kill the guy who raped your sister, I get that as well.  (I'm not disregarding the value or usefulness of vendetta here...that's another subject for another time.)  But to actually believe that killing people who pray to a different invisible man in the sky than you do (or who don't pray at all) will make the world better?  That's just tragically misguided.  In fact, if it weren't so tragic it would be funny.  It's not just insane, it's the epitome of the problem now facing this world.  We want to blame the crazy fundamentalist Muslims for this, and they deserve some of it, but the problem is deeper and older than that.  From days of the Catholic Inquisitions to the rise of Al Qaeda, people have been killing others because of religion.  European Protestants did it in the Crusades and Turkish Muslims did it right back.  Early American settlers burned "witches" and then went to church carrying a Bible that said "thou shalt not kill."  You know why abortion doctors have been murdered in America?  Religion.   Know why so many countries experience mass killings called "ethnic cleansing?"  Religion.  I could go on and on, but you get the point.

Don't think I'm posting this to knock faith; I respect your right to practice your faith or your decision to not have faith.  But the growing sense of dread I feel is based in the concern that the world is like a car barreling toward a cliff.  The throttle of religious fervor is stuck and the brakes of reason have given out.  I don't think we can go back to the world we once had.  That world has morphed, and changed and been forced to think and act differently.  Whatever shred of innocence might have lingered is just a memory now.  Sad.

"Religion is the drug of the people", Lenin said (my translation).  Maybe he was right.  Maybe the idea of "religion" has caused us to not think clearly.  Maybe "religion" is a crutch or a drug for those who can't think on their own.  Maybe it's just the homosapiens' version of the herd mentality.  You know, it's easy to get lost in the herd, get a "herd consciousness" and go along with everybody else.  It's easier to hide your insecurities or lack of character or lack of individualism in a religious group, or a herd.  The herd mentality will lull you into a false sense of correctness.  Beware of large groups of people who do stupid things. 

Please, don't misunderstand; I'm not actually speaking of faith.  Religion and faith are two different concepts.  Religion is to faith what paint is to the wall.  Religion is window dressing.  Religion is outer stuff.  Religion is a mile wide and an inch deep.  Rather faith is personal; it's "inner", deep in the subterranean part of you.  Faith is the pillar that holds a person up.  In whatever that faith may be based, it is the bedrock of whoever you are.  So maybe that socialist/communist Lenin dude was on to something.  I don't know.  I need to think on that.

At the end of the day, I don't think religion will save the world, though it surely seems to be tearing it apart.  I wonder often these days if the world is beyond saving.  I worry for those who are young, for those who have yet to grow up, for the unborn.  I don't sense a bright and shining future for them.  I hate the fact that they will arrive in a world of terror and turmoil and strife and struggle. It just doesn't seem right.  So what can we do?  How do we "save" the whole world?  What an overwhelming thought.  You can't save the whole world, but you might be able to save your little corner of it.  Love and trust, believe in, and encourage, and support those who sleep under your roof.  Share with them your values.  Encourage them not to follow a pack or a herd, but to think and reason and respect and love.  Saving the world starts in the living room, not in Congress or on the battlefield or in a mosque or a church or a synagogue.  Religion won't save the world, but maybe, passionate, balanced faith, hope and love can do a little good.

Since it's a political election year, I have thought a lot about our country, our government, and our lifestyles from what I consider a Christian perspective. And I have a few observations to make.

Our Patriotism is often misplaced.

Now I love living in this country. I'm not a liberal or a conservative or a counter-culturist or a patriot. I refuse to wear those shallow labels. And I see nothing wrong with patriotism...in fact I admire it...to a point. But pledging allegiance to this country raises some rather pointed issues for the Christian? Where does my allegiance lie? Can I really be wholly Christian and wholly American at the same time? You can't serve to masters. If push came to shove, where would your loyalty be? If this government insisted you deny Christ, what would you do? That's ridiculous, you say. Tell that to 10,000 murdered Christians in Sudan. Ten thousand. Slaughtered like cattle because they claimed Christ as savior. See that's hard for us to fathom, because we are so free, but martyrdom still exists. I have always thought it strange that many churches display both the American flag and the Christian flag. Side by side. When total allegiance to both won't work. Joshua said it best, "Choose who you will serve, but my family and I will serve the Lord."

Somehow we have gotten the idea that being a good Christian means being supportive of all that this country does. If you don't support some military action you are considered an extreme-leftist, liberal, card-carrying, ACLU type. If you dislike the president and what he stands for then something is wrong with you. Your commitment to Christ somehow hinges on how patriotic toward America you are. We have created this weird mixture of Christianity and American Patriotism and I'm not sure they are completely compatible. If you watch guys like Pat Robertson or Jerry Faldwell, or plenty of other big personalities in the Christian world, you get the idea that supporting a government controlled by the republicans is your duty as a follower of Christ. Your pastor may stand in the pulpit and tell you it's your duty to vote, or be active in civic culture, you know, engage in the political process. But I'm not sure that is true. Jesus said to render unto Caesar what is Caesar's and unto God what is God's. In other words, yield or give back to your government what is theirs and give to God what is his. Well my heart and mind and soul belong to God, not the United States. So I will pay my taxes and obey the speed limit, but when it comes to matters of deep personal conviction, I will defer to the Bible, not the Constitution.

Democracy ain't all it's cracked up to be.

No where in the Bible do I find a model for democracy. Certainly not like the mess we have in this country. God always...always...chose to govern his people through a monarchy. There was always a King or a Queen or even a Judge. He did this, I believe, to depict his relationship with us. He is the King and we are his subjects. He rules with compassion and conviction. This position of leadership was ordained by him, the people didn't get to choose their leaders. They submitted to that leader and followed their direction. It didn't always work out well. There were bad leaders, evil kings, weak kings, and kings who lead the people away from God. But there were also the Davids and the Solomons and the Josiahs. In the end, God used those leaders to accomplish his purposes. That is why he tells us in Proverbs, that the heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord and he turns it however he sees fit.

Our country's system of choosing our own leaders is a joke. Many people have no idea who their governmental representative is. And most of us don't care. You know why? Because Washington is corrupt and steeped in chaos and peopled with crooks whose main objective in getting elected is to get elected again...and again...and again. People want to elect their own leaders, but most Americans are drowning in debt, can't balance a checkbook, or keep a marriage together...so how the hell do they know who is best for leadership? Candidates spend millions slamming each other every election year and in the end we get the same governmental gridlock. Millions spent investigating the Clintons or the Iran Contra scandal or the 9/11 commission. And quite frankly, it seems not to matter who lives in the White House...nothing changes. God never ordained democracy. That doesn't mean it's evil, but contrary to some "Christian" thinking, it's not necessarily moral either.

Capitalism misses the mark

You will not find the capitalistic model in the scriptures, either. Mostly because it is immoral. Capitalism is about survival of the fittest. It's financial Darwinism. The uneducated or the poor or the minority or the openly religious don't stand a chance in a system built on nepotism, cutthroat corporations, dishonesty, and compromise. It is so blatantly unbiblical; I don't know how Christians defend it with a straight face or an intact conscience. The fact is, America is ruled by the rich. The richest 1% of our population owns half the wealth. But take a stroll through the early chapters of the book of Acts and you'll be amazed at the contrast. It looks more like socialism than anything. It was communal. Everyone sharing and no classes of people. Now before you roll your eyes and think I'm some neo-hippie with his head in the clouds, understand that I know it will never happen. You can't change the world with marches, picketing, or a music festival. Love and peace was long ago sacrificed on the altar of expedience and affluence. And we all love our lifestyles too much to give them up. But that doesn't change the truth about how we live. One of the themes that run through the scriptures is that we care for those who can't care for themselves. We see it illustrated in the gospel. We were helpless and lost, unable to do anything for ourselves, but Jesus, cared for us enough to give us everything. We see this theme continually. In Matthew 25 Jesus tells his disciples that someday he would say thank you for feeding him when he was hungry, visiting him in prison and clothing him when he was naked. The disciples respond: when were you hungry or in prison or naked? And Jesus responds, "...In as much as you have done it to the least of my brethren, you have done it to me!" Wow. You see capitalism doesn't work that way. It says, pick yourself up, feed yourself, and clothe yourself. From a Biblical context, capitalism just won't work; it flies in the face of compassion. So, take that and put it in your 401k!

A few parting comments:

As I read back over this I realize that I am guilty of some of those things that I have so adequately maligned. I have to admit; that I believe what I have written is true. Like the rich young ruler, I can keep lots of rules, but when it comes to selling all I have and giving it to the poor (whether literally or figuratively) I struggle. I guess the lordship of Christ has not fully taken root in some areas of my heart. In the garden of my soul there still exist weeds of indifference and thorns of disobedience that seek to choke out the flowering of my discipleship. So to you fellow strugglers trying to make sense of all this madness, I say, keep struggling and don't give up. To those of you who disagree or are offended by what I've written, I can't sincerely offer my apologies, so I won't.

The Rut of Church

I haven't been to and organized church service in years. There are those who would criticize me for this and quote me some scriptures about "not forsaking the assembling of ourselves" and such.  I understand that; I used to be bent that way as well and quoted that same scripture to many.  But I didn't simply drift away or get too busy or get my feelings hurt and quit in anger.  My decision to stop attending organized services was just that: a decision.  After years of going to church, I began to wonder if "church" wasn't really church at all. 

When you are raised doing something your whole life you think of it as normal.  That activity or your way of doing it gets ingrained and rutted into your mind until you can only see it one way.  Even if it's boring or nonproductive, it doesn't matter, it's just the way it is.  Church, for me, became this.  We did the same things every week over and over for years.  Said the same things, sang the same songs, heard the same sermons and got into a rut.  I heard a guy say one time that a "rut" was just a grave with both ends kicked out.

It's not my intention to criticize those who attend a weekly service or gathering or whatever.  Everyone must seek after God in a way that meets their needs and draws them to a more close relationship with him.  I do intend to criticize those who can't get out of the rut and those who guilt others into staying in the rut.  Those who proclaim the rut as the only way or worse: God's way.

The word "church" that we take from the Bible is a secular word, not a spiritual one.  In the Greek, that word is "ecclesia," meaning a public gathering.  In fact, when the elders of a township or a city counsel gathered to discuss business, it was an ecclesia or public gathering.  Actually, now that I think about it that word is rather fitting because most churches are pretty structured and organized and move people through a service with the efficiency of an assembly line.  For me, it became routine, week after week.  And what little benefit I got was far outweighed by my inability to see the point of what we were doing.  I began to wonder if this was what God really intended.  I don't claim to know what he intended, but I have my observations and since it's my weblog, I'll share them here.

We've lost the sense of why the church was formed

Maybe formed is the wrong word.  Birthed is maybe a better word.  The church was birthed at Pentecost (Acts 2).  The intention was to use the idea of an ecclesia or a gathering to reach out to others and let our light shine before them.  It was an arena to share with and love and support each other.  Not a place to get all the answers or a place to parade our own ideas or a place to be made to feel that we are good Christians because we follow the mandates of those who have found a place of authority.  The church was birthed as an idea, not an institution.  We made it an institution, but I don't believe that was ever the intention.  The idea was a living, growing, organic connection between people.  Maybe they are continents apart, or even lived in different times, yet they all belong to something: the church, the body of Christ.  It's a concept, not something you can measure and count.  Our modern congregations are so far removed from this idea that discussing it seems foreign at best and blasphemous at worst.  We've lost the sense of what "the church" is, if we ever had the sense in the first place.

We've organized and systematized the life out of the church

It seems to me, at least from my reading of the New Testament, that these meetings of people we now call "church" have changed.  Originally, people met in houses or each other's homes and shared meals and shared burdens and reveled in their connectedness based on their newfound faith in this man called Jesus of Nazareth.  This happens still, but it's organized by the corporate church.  We call it "small groups" now.  It's a somewhat new ploy to get more people involved, yet the house meetings where food is shared is only a part of the larger church experience; the "church experience" meaning the weekly gathering in a dedicated house of worship.  This church experience involves a lot of structure and a lot of buildings and a lot of planning and budgets and circus-like media stuff.  We have organized and structured the life right out of the church.  We have tried to stuff "the church" into some building and it's quite simply impossible.  What we get is a bunch of people who grow comfortable and never understand the true intention of the church.  Just like the ideas this country was founded upon, organization and structure have soiled the original idea.  The constitution of this country has been ripped apart and over analyzed and reinterpreted to the point that it is only a shadow of what the writers intended.  We have done the same thing with the idea of the church.  We have structured the life out of it; it is mostly a dead, pale, ghost of what it was at Pentecost.  What should be a living growing, moving, organic thing has been relegated to a structured "service" and a planned program.

We've lost any sense of "being" the church

The church has become a place we attend.  It has become an entity separate from us...a corporation, a business.  And the product produced is giving, serving, robotic people who don't ask too many questions , say the right things, act the right way, and follow the lead and desires of those in authority.  Very Orwellian.  But we ARE the church.  All of us professing Christ from history past to now are indeed the church.  You can't get "the church" into a building.  You can't count the members of "the church."  You can't measure it.  It's a flowing moving spirit of its founder.  It isn't confined to a building or a tent or a structure.  Jesus said whenever two or three are gathered together, I am there.   It was meant to be an idea, an experience, not a place.

So where does this leave the true seeker?  If you're in the rut, how do you get out?  How can ecclesia work today?  I can't tell you that.  If I could I'd write a best seller and retire.  But I can encourage you to seek "church" for yourself.  I truly believe that some groups of people have it right.  They understand what the church is and they live their lives in awe of the idea and in concert with each other.  If you've found a gathering of people like this, then love it, and live out your faith with passion and honesty.  It doesn't have to happen in a cathedral, or a synagogue or a building.  You don't need parking spaces and ushers to experience the wonder of ecclesia.  The connectedness is what it's about.  And if you find it, and you'll know when and if you do, going back to a rut just won't ever be an option.