Contrary to what some may think, this is not about to be a diatribe about how the church needs to be hip and cool in order to reach out and connect with the masses. The church does not need to cater, but it does need to be real, and relevant.
How is that not catering? Because Christian theology, when its doing what it's supposed to, is real and relevant.
A common refrain from this primary season with politics is that the common man, the Republican, or the Tea Party Activist, is "mad as hell." We heard this sentiment last night when Carl Paladino, a billionaire from Buffalo, upset Rick Lazio in New York's Gubernatorial Primary. Paladino re-iterated , "We're mad as hell!"
The other night I was flipping through the channels and stumbled upon that late night show with Jay Leno, you know, the one he gave up but took back from the guy who was actually funny? (Yes I am Team Coco)...
...Anyway, Jay had everyone's favorite funny man atheist Bill Maher on. Leno, ever the provocative interviewer, asked Maher to way in on the Islamic Community Center/Mosque at Ground Zero. Maher began by saying he doesn't support it. That drew a rather nice applause from the studio audience. But he continued on saying, "Let me finish..." He went on to say how he doesn't support any houses of worship being built because (insert his arguments against organized religion). He then went to the favorite line of guys like himself, Richard Dawkins, and Christopher Hitchens and began referring to religion as a fairy tale. He wound up saying because our Constitution allows people to believe in fairy tales we have to allow this mosque to be built at Ground Zero. The crowd roared its approval at the profoundness of Maher's answer.
So I realized sitting there the other night, that I am indeed "mad as hell." Not so much at Maher, I don't really find him worth my time, but unfortunately people in our culture are enamored with him. This is something that extends way beyond Bill Maher, my being mad as hell, and granted this is more of an exaggeration to make a point, is more at Christianity for allowing caricatures of it to prevail. Most Christians walk around with a "get outta jail free" card attitude. "I've got my ticket punched to go to heaven, let this world go to hell." Again, an exaggeration, but point still stands. Christians, by and large, don't really care about the real and the relevant. All throughout the Old Testament, and yes into the New Testament, we see a consistent message in the salvation history narrative that restoration of everything is what we're marching toward (Again, Matt? We know, this is all you talk about).
But the implications for this are massive. Maher and folks like him constantly argue against a caricature of Christianity and Christians fall hook line and sinker for it! The Maher's, Dawkins', and Hitchens' of the world constantly refer to God as some old angry bearded white guy in the sky who tells us what to do. And they constantly bash the disregard for the real and relevant for this spiritual sense of who we are. And guess what, on those points, they are right!
People think church sucks because Christians give off this concept of God being an angry old white guy in the sky and that all Christians want to do is divide the world up as people going to heaven and people going to hell. Heaven is temporary. Heaven is not my home. EARTH is my home. The Nicene Creed shows us that the Son of God, Jesus the Christ, took on humanity to bear our sin and be our savior. But the implications for that run much further. Because humans are the source of the great cosmic mess up into sin, decay, destruction, and death, God incarnated meets creation at that source to renew and restore everything.
No doubt Maher would find this absolutely ridiculous as well. But my point is let Christian theology be real and relevant instead of this goofy caricature of itself. Christians ought to be involved in civil society. Jesus' words that the Law is summed up in "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind, and with all your soul" AND "the second is just like it, love your neighbor as yourself" has unbelievable ramifications for how we live out our faith and life. This does not mean faith+works=salvation, or that being a good person= salvation. But it does mean Christians are called to be real and relevant. Being just against abortion is not good enough. Be for adoption, be for making adoption more practical. Be for education, especially in areas where education lacks at an embarrassing level. Our governments neglect inner cities. And if you're against abortion, you better be against racism. Most people have no interest in adopting minority babies. It's an absolute disgrace. And being just against gay marriage isn't good enough either. Show the world what a Christian marriage is about, show the world what it means to raise a loving family that is productive and cares about its society just as much as caring about its faith because the two really shouldn't be separated. If God created everything, everything is God's. You can't check into church Sunday a Christian and Monday be a different person. Because Christianity is not about private "me and God" spirituality. Its communal, and as a community it is real and relevant that the God-Man Jesus Christ came into this world to forgive sins, yes, but to restore creation to its created intent: No decay, no destruction, no death.
People think church sucks because it comes off as something goodie two shoes do on Sunday for their ticket to heaven. It comes off as weird, and not because the Gospel is foolishness to those who are perishing, but because it is plain weird. This doesn't mean a Christian should be free of a conscious and not be a good person, quite the opposite. But it does mean being real and relevant. How? By giving a witness for the joy that is within you. Not because God prospers Christians if they jump up and down waving their arms and talking about their personal relationship with their Cosmic Lover Christ. But because, as that Jeremiah 29 passage really states, God's plans are to Shalom us, to restore us, to make us whole, and renew creation entirely. For a people and society constantly reeling with bad news, hurt, and death, there is no greater message. Heaven is not a place where good people go. It's where sinners go, for a time, as they await their restoration in the body on earth.
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