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Church Shopping and consumerism

Further, in the modern story, reality is that which is observable, measureable and repeatable - the kinds of phenomena available, accessible, and verifiable to the five senses. Thus, reality comes to equal the scientific method. It should come as no surprise that in such a world the life of the spirit is ignored or marginalized (as a great many nonmaterial things). This view of life subsequently birthed in human beings a ravenous materialism as matters of the soul with the only nourishment available: in our context, the consumptive aquisition of material goods. If spirituality is engaged, it is often reduced and turned into one more commodity to be packaged, sold and consumed like so many other aspects of modern life: in a radically individualistic way. As a result, to be human in a world of modernity means to understand oneself as a consumer who progresses by working to aquire the signs and symbols of a material world that are chosen on the basis of personal preference.
Churches existing within this framework for reality are often no different. "Church shopping" has become the defining metaphor for deciding which community of faith satisfies one's needs - it is the new mantra. Churches rarely possess a corporate understanding of themselves as a people rather than as one more collection of individuals choosing to be together based on similar preferences (music, preaching, programs, etc) While leaders complain of the challenges inherent to such a paradigm, any honest assessment forces a humbling recognition that leaders are often shoppers too, though of a more professional sort. Seeking to advance a career, they move from one church to the next in an upward spiral that associates the numerical size of a church with success. In such as scenario, pastoral ministry is less a vocation than a profession. Because the rampant materialism of our consumer culture has so significantly shaped our self-understanding, the satisfaction of perceived needs based on desire and personal preference is now the determining factor for where a person or family worships and where pastors decide to serve."

Tim Keel - Intuitive Leadership pg 107-108

Wow.

Parker Palmer on Interior Life

"Today I understand vocation quite differently - not as a goal to be achieved but as a gift to be received. discovering vocation does not mean scrambling toward some prize just beyond my reach but accepting the treasure of true self I already possess. Vocation does not come from a voice "out there" calling me to become something I am not. It comes from a voice "in here" calling me to be the person I was born to be, to fulfill the original selfhood given to me at birth by God."
-
Parker Palmer , Let our Life Speak pg. 10-11

Alanis on Interior Life

I don't know what Alanis believes about the world, or God etc. But I think this video helps clarify what it means to becoming human, and become who we were created to be.

While some listening may interpret her thoughts as being to self centered, I would suggest that in order to become a a whole eikon of God we must focus on ourselves, our brokenness, our self hatred our issues, and our motivations as these often tweek, or lead to misunderstandings of others, of God and of how we fit into the world.

What do you think?

Eikon: Our Name

I wrote these words this morning to the 130+ folks who are praying for me and our community.

Here it is:

Hello my friends,
I am so grateful for your prayers and involvement in the new community here in the Tulsa area. I apologize for the gap in communication to you over the past few weeks. Lots of things have happened. I want to share with you something important to me, the name of our new community.

Eikon (pronounced icon)

Here's where it came from.

In the first chapter of Genesis God is creating the world, cosmos and humans. It says that God creates man in his own image. The world for image here in the Hebrew is tselem. Later in the New Testament, the word used is the greek, eikon. We are all eikon’s of God, made in God’s image. You my friend, are an eikon of God.

There are four parts of being an eikon of God that we understand from the story of scripture. First in Genesis we see that as eikon’s of God we are cracked and broken. Sin has broken us in four ways and we are in need of redemption for each of them to become whole. It’s important to note that each of these is relational in nature.

If you grew up in an evangelical church like I did, then the first is no surprise. Sin has broken our relationship with God and it needs to be healed. In Genesis we see Adam and Eve hiding from God.

Second, is our relationship to ourselves. To be a whole eikon, healed from our brokenness is to be ok in our own skin. That is to say, that part of salvation is to heal our understanding of ourselves. We see this in Genesis when people feel shame. As Kierkegard said, “With God’s help I will be come myself.” Part of what it means to be saved is to become who God has in mind from the beginning. It is the healing of ourselves as individuals.

Third, is our relationship to other people. Relationships with other people were fractured in Genesis. (They noticed that they were naked.) Part of our life salvation is to take into consideration the healing of our relationships with others. As cracked eikon’s of God we need to be healed in our relationships with others. In this sense, life with God can never be solely a private matter, it must include others. Community is both the means by which we are healed and object in need of transformation.

Fourth, we were created as eikons with a healthy relationship to the earth which was fractured. Part of what it means to be made in the image of God is to heal our relationship to the earth we live in. This isn’t a militant environmentalism, but a serious stewardship of the earth and humanity’s appropriate care for the world we live in.

We are all eikons of God. We are created to be in whole relationship with ourselves, God, others, and the world. We are cracked eikons and need to be made whole.

The major theme of the New Testament is the healing of these four aspects of being an eikon of God. Jesus as the example, provider, and savior who directs and heals us in each of these four areas.

This is why our new community exists. To join God in the restoration of people as eikons of God.

Our name reflects our mission.
This is who we hope to be as a community.

thanks again for partnering with me and our community in prayer.

more soon...

mark

Prayer Update: Permission to be Yourself

Hello friends!
I hope you enjoyed a great weekend. Here's an update on how things are going.

1. June 6th - Sending Out - Some local pastors will be present to send me, and a few of our community off to start this new church. I see this as the start of the start. It is where local pastors commission us to be a church. This is very important to me as I've said before. This gathering will be ultra simplistic and casual time together. If you are around you are welcome to come. Pray that it goes smoothly.

2. I've been encouraged recently by several of you who have written me notes of encouragement. They are appreciated and welcome. I want to briefly tell you about a couple interesting conversations I've had in the past few weeks.

First conversation:
I want to share a snapshot of a situation where someone was considering no longer being a part of our group. His comment was, "I'm not sure you know what you are doing." To which I affirmed with a smile, "I don't know what I'm doing! I've said this all a long. I've never started a church like this before." I'm not sure that was helpful to him, but it was honest.

I can see right away the pressure many people put on pastors to have it all together. this kind of behavior or need from the pastor or the person with the expectation is not healthy. It either leads the pastor to fake it, or try to please everyone.

Second conversation:
Over dinner my friend said, "The hole in the ceiling of your living room gives me hope." (Our shower in the upstairs master bath developed a leak several months ago and I gutted the bathroom, and there is a hole in our ceiling below the shower in our living room) But how can a hole in a ceiling give hope? It doesn't feel hopeful to me, and Pam is more embarrassed by it than I am. Our friend went on to talk about how it showed her we weren't perfect, and that we don't have to be. Her comment brought me hope too. That my deficiencies and inadequacies as a leader are ok to show. What my friend was giving me, was a gift most pastor's don't often receive. The gift: Permission to be myself. This is what I hope for our community as well.

Third Conversation:
My buddy and I were having lunch with Mikayla last week. I told him of this quote from the first conversation, "I don't think you know what you are doing." and he stopped. He stopped joking and got real serious and looked me in the eye and he said. "If you knew what you were doing, I'd want out. " He knows we have a plan, he knows we have very specific hopes about what the church will become, but he went on to explain to me that he was not looking for a "polished" church where everything, and everyone has it all together. He was in this to be the church, not play church. He also tells me that God gives us our weaknesses, not so we can irradicate them, but so that we need God, community and so that we can use our strengths. It is in community that we can be who we really are and the community can love and accept other who are different from us, who don't have it together, and who are learning to be committed to following Christ in this kind of messiness.

I tell you these stories because I want you to know that God is working in our group. More and more folks are getting what it means for us to be a church and are "all in" so to speak. Your prayers are a part of how God is building this church. People are being affirmed, transformed and we are greatful to God for his work in our community.

There are so many other things that I want to pass on, but don't have time...

more soon.

don't go to church... be the church: Part 2

Most of the people I run into who ask, "Where will your church be?" would agree with me that the church is the people, at least in some kind of belief. Most churches believe this too. However functionally, I'd argue that most churches do not really believe this, or at least live this in their day to day lives. At best, the way many of these institutions function interferes or misleads people in that the institution is sustainable outside of the people. When this happens, the tail often wags the dog. People are still involved, but their involvement shifts.
People in these organizations may see themselves as missional, because they write checks for a few others to go on their behalf, or for a staff person to live out the church calling. It is not uncommon for marketing to take the place of personal responsibility to invite new people, missions because a yearly event rather than a lifestyle, etc.


In this culture, you can complain about your church without indicting yourself. If a church doesn't meet your needs, then leave and find one that does. Church shopping is not a biblical idea. It's a western consumer idea.

When an institution is responsible for the behavior of being the church, then it lets people off the hook.

Put another way. When the church is an institution:
- I can complain about anything I want, because none of it is my responsibility.
- I can functionally separate how I live my life and what the church does.
- Spiritual growth becomes "private" which unintentionally reinforces a separation between the community members.
- My needs become paramount often simply because I don't know other peoples needs.
- Power is taken from the people to live the fullness of following Christ. This is unintentional and often clashes with stated goals, but whenever the hub of new activity comes from the institution, power has been removed.

But there is another way to live and be. Most churches would agree with what comes next theologically, but functionally their system keep it from happening.

Being the church means that:
- in-as-much as you feed the hungry, the church feeds the hungry.
- in-as-much as you comfort the grieving, the church comforts.
- in-as-much as you welcome, restore, honor, engage, love others, the church does.
- In as much as you minister to children, youth, single moms, and other, the church does.
- In as much as you go, or give, or believe, the church believes.

the church is not simply somewhere out there, it is us, now and how we live.

The church is the people committed to arranging the world the way Jesus would have it.

eikon seeks to be organized into ways that empower people to be the church functionally.

more soon.