CHURCH
I think that so-called "organized religion" is an important part of society. (Although, like scripture, it can be misused, very destructively.) A church or congregation is a collective, bringing together all manner of people and "right" or "wrong" perspectives on God and life, and brings them together for sharing and comparing. There, we can be challenged and shaped by others' views and thoughts. We might be offended or supported by each other's words and actions. In all cases, whether a person is into spiritualism, deism, organized, or disorganized religion, anyone can be tempted to imagine that they have God figured out. NONE of us do! None of us should act or speak as if we do, whether or not we belong to a worshiping body.
That we find hypocrites in the church, even among its leaders, does not prove its uselessness. We have hypocrites in every school, and yet we attend various kinds of schools. Their are many hypocrites in government, and yet most people think it's better to have some governance than none at all. There are hypocrites in our families, and yet many of us remain in families. Partly, we are--or should be--willing to do this because we find at least one hypocrite looking at us in the mirror. Everyone of us acts counter to our own set of morals and beliefs from time to time, and we're usually able to rationalize and forgive it.
The church is a human institution, holds fallible people, and some pretty nasty ones, too. That's not a reason to to disband it, nor an excuse to let the hypocrisy go unanswered. It may allow us enough humility and forgiveness to work within it, and to learn from each other.
My wife has high expectations of me as a husband. I don't always measure up. Luckily, most of my faults and mistakes are livable, and forgivable. Both spouses and pastors can step across lines so that the damage is too great. That doesn't mean that marriage itself is corrupt and should be disbanded, or that church itself is completely worthless for anyone. Overall, many (not everyone) find that the positive relationships and experiences of church-life outweigh the worst. For some, that means applying a lot of forgiveness and self-humility. But I understand: for others the pain, false teachings, and faults of church people can outweigh the benefits. And yet, I'm glad that church and faith is there for those that need it or benefit from it.
As a Christian, I believe that distancing oneself from the church because of its brokenness is distancing yourself from one of the key places he promised to be, and through which his Spirit is at work. He is in the midst of all brokenness, including the sinful hypocrisy of his own "body."
Individually, it is possible to live a Christian life without a home congregation. I think to be effective, though, it's important to be aware and compensate for the gains and losses on both sides, and also to accept that hypocrisy resides within all people, whether or not they have distanced themselves from corporate worship. Meanwhile, it's Christ that continues to connect you to the larger Body, through your personal devotions, reading, reflections, disciplines and actions.
But collectively, we also need the "organized" groups of worshiping believers for the sake of continuity, so that there will be beliefs and a faith that inspires those beliefs; so that there will be a body of people, interpretations, and ideas. Without worshiping groups (whether large congregations, small house-gatherings, or family devotions) I suspect that within a couple generations any distinctive faith-life will dissolve into various forms of private spiritualism (which is actually worshiping your own created image, or self-worship) or perhaps into nothing at all.
There have been plenty who claim that such a dissolution would be a good thing. Some look at the horrors that human beings have done to each other in the name of, or rationalized by, their religions and gods that they claim inspired it. It's arguably true that most of the worst crimes we've committed have been justified by religions and gods. But we forget that the strength of religion and God has also inspired and sustained most of the best humanitarian, social, even heroic efforts of various groups. Even most of the secular humanitarian efforts got their start, and are still funded and supported by religious people who are doing it from their sense of faith.
Religions and religious bodies are organized around the gods they worship, but it's true: they are still human constructions and organizations. They contain both the worst and also the best of who we are as people. Ultimately, God is somehow able to work through churches or in spite of them, even using their brokenness and their committees to do some pretty amazing things, but he also uses them to create and nurture individual relationships... even (ironically) with those who choose to separate themselves from church.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
On Halloween
Considering the source, you are completely free to take my thoughts on Halloween with a grain of salt. I'd put Halloween symbols and characters--not exactly--but on a similar plane as Christmas elves, magic, evergreen boughs, trees, and yule logs, stockings, 'exchange' of gifts, etc....which are all historically connected to non-Christian and pre-Christian myths, traditions, and human anxieties.
Although I don't see Halloween as a strict dichotomy of the powers of darkness against the Light, I agree that many aspects of Halloween seem to flirt with darkness. To me, however, with its costumes and traditions, Halloween mostly dominates, diminishes, satirizes, and thumbs a nose at the darkness, especially when you open the door and see a mini-ghoul standing next to a fuzzy little panda bear both saying "Twick-o-tweat."
It is a self-indulgent and consumerist tradition, yes. At the same time, as I walked with my boys trick-or-treating, or stood at our door with them, there were opportunities for teaching and showing "how we conduct ourselves" as decent people, via greetings, compliments, sharing, and being fair. I got to meet some of the neighbors, and neighbors' kids that I've only seen in passing.
I'm not going to suggest that there is any specific Christian value, moral or otherwise, to attach to the way we do Halloween ...except perhaps to suggest that the dark elements represented within Halloween (i.e. witches, pitch-forked demons, monsters, etc.) have no authority or power over the Christian, even when I am in the midst of them. Against the faith established by God, they are plastic masks and hollow pumpkins. In fact, underneath the costumes are still human children or adults. Their costumes don't dictate who they are, how they act, or who they will become. We Christians, strengthened by the Spirit, have authority over how we conduct ourselves within--or apart--from all the elements of Halloween.
We hold a Halloween party at our church with a potluck dinner, carnival games with candy prizes, finishing with a "trunk-or-treat" in the parking lot. Kids go from decorated car trunk to trunk where they receive still more candy. I know that for some of our current members, as superficial an introduction as that Halloween party may seem, it was one of their first cautious steps into a deeper relationship with a church family, and then with Christ.
I can see how the slippery slope of ambiguity might be ugly or distasteful for some. I like fantasy novels, including magic, elves, dwarfs, demons, angels, etc. I especially enjoy some of the real spiritual warfare that some fantasy authors like to explore with those fictitious characters. Some can't stand it, and can't get past the fiction and general weirdness to hear any "truths" the story might want to describe. It's not for them.
Likewise, many Halloween costumes are ridiculous representations of evil, the occult, or violence; for many people, making light of this isn't funny or entertaining. For them, or for those who like it too much, abstaining from Halloween (or any of the more historically pagan or self-indulgent observations) may be a fine choice. That's especially true if the abstinence is used as a spiritual discipline or internal retreat, following Jesus' guidance re: quiet prayer and fasting (Matthew 6).
Perhaps a person of conscience could use Paul's various suggestions about what to do in the presence of meat sacrificed to idols (1 Corinthians 10). While he acknowledged that the meat itself is not tainted, he warned them to avoid knowingly participating or supporting idol-worship. It shouldn't be cause for rudeness, nor should our freedoms be carelessly flaunted.
However, I don't feel that shared Halloween candy is what Paul had in mind. I respect some of our neighbors who, for religious reasons, didn't carve pumpkins, decorate, or send their kids out to trick-or-treat, but still kindly opened their own door to greet and give treats to the kids who knocked. That's a generous thing to do. Or those who chose to turn off their lights and go somewhere else for the evening.
Now, if Halloween (and/or participation in it) is inherently evil, then none of these arguments--that it builds relationships or thumbs our collective nose at darkness--bear any weight. If it really is engaging in pagan worship, it would be wrong for a church to hold a costume party or trunk-or-treat event. We wouldn't use prostitution as a means to build relationships, spread the word, or to "thumb our nose" at anything. So, my obvious bias is that Halloween and its masks are not evil in themselves. I grew up with it, still observe it, and I preach the gospel. I don't worship Satan; never did, not even if I once wore a vampire costume.
More than battling fictitious and obvious representations of old myths and superstitions, I think God is still more interested in spending our time and energy on the things that seem to take precedence in scripture like love, mercy and justice: are the hungry ones being fed, the widows and orphans being cared for? Are the sinful, lost, lonely, and afraid ones hearing the gospel of grace, and finding companionship and assurance?
For me, condemnation of all Halloween activities sounds a bit like ritual-purity and the ascetic rigor that re-imposes Pharisaism and its worship of separation and code. Jesus stood against that message when he preached about Sabbath and ritual purity versus compassion. Granted, there is little in Halloween to do with grace or compassion, and yet both the central belief that we are "saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ" and also the central commands for love and loving action toward God and our neighbor both get hidden, lost, and forgotten in wave after wave of modern mid-rashes on the thou shalt not's. I wonder if there isn't a way to warn against specific vices of Halloween (i.e. greed, self-indulgence, and consumerism) to help Christians navigate the day, without making a hard-line polemic against it.
To sum up, Halloween might be one of those things that we are "free" to do as Christians... but is it beneficial for the weak in faith or the non-believer? Again, it may depend on who we are with, how we conduct ourselves within it, and how we choose to separate ourselves from it.
Although I don't see Halloween as a strict dichotomy of the powers of darkness against the Light, I agree that many aspects of Halloween seem to flirt with darkness. To me, however, with its costumes and traditions, Halloween mostly dominates, diminishes, satirizes, and thumbs a nose at the darkness, especially when you open the door and see a mini-ghoul standing next to a fuzzy little panda bear both saying "Twick-o-tweat."
It is a self-indulgent and consumerist tradition, yes. At the same time, as I walked with my boys trick-or-treating, or stood at our door with them, there were opportunities for teaching and showing "how we conduct ourselves" as decent people, via greetings, compliments, sharing, and being fair. I got to meet some of the neighbors, and neighbors' kids that I've only seen in passing.
I'm not going to suggest that there is any specific Christian value, moral or otherwise, to attach to the way we do Halloween ...except perhaps to suggest that the dark elements represented within Halloween (i.e. witches, pitch-forked demons, monsters, etc.) have no authority or power over the Christian, even when I am in the midst of them. Against the faith established by God, they are plastic masks and hollow pumpkins. In fact, underneath the costumes are still human children or adults. Their costumes don't dictate who they are, how they act, or who they will become. We Christians, strengthened by the Spirit, have authority over how we conduct ourselves within--or apart--from all the elements of Halloween.
We hold a Halloween party at our church with a potluck dinner, carnival games with candy prizes, finishing with a "trunk-or-treat" in the parking lot. Kids go from decorated car trunk to trunk where they receive still more candy. I know that for some of our current members, as superficial an introduction as that Halloween party may seem, it was one of their first cautious steps into a deeper relationship with a church family, and then with Christ.
I can see how the slippery slope of ambiguity might be ugly or distasteful for some. I like fantasy novels, including magic, elves, dwarfs, demons, angels, etc. I especially enjoy some of the real spiritual warfare that some fantasy authors like to explore with those fictitious characters. Some can't stand it, and can't get past the fiction and general weirdness to hear any "truths" the story might want to describe. It's not for them.
Likewise, many Halloween costumes are ridiculous representations of evil, the occult, or violence; for many people, making light of this isn't funny or entertaining. For them, or for those who like it too much, abstaining from Halloween (or any of the more historically pagan or self-indulgent observations) may be a fine choice. That's especially true if the abstinence is used as a spiritual discipline or internal retreat, following Jesus' guidance re: quiet prayer and fasting (Matthew 6).
Perhaps a person of conscience could use Paul's various suggestions about what to do in the presence of meat sacrificed to idols (1 Corinthians 10). While he acknowledged that the meat itself is not tainted, he warned them to avoid knowingly participating or supporting idol-worship. It shouldn't be cause for rudeness, nor should our freedoms be carelessly flaunted.
However, I don't feel that shared Halloween candy is what Paul had in mind. I respect some of our neighbors who, for religious reasons, didn't carve pumpkins, decorate, or send their kids out to trick-or-treat, but still kindly opened their own door to greet and give treats to the kids who knocked. That's a generous thing to do. Or those who chose to turn off their lights and go somewhere else for the evening.
Now, if Halloween (and/or participation in it) is inherently evil, then none of these arguments--that it builds relationships or thumbs our collective nose at darkness--bear any weight. If it really is engaging in pagan worship, it would be wrong for a church to hold a costume party or trunk-or-treat event. We wouldn't use prostitution as a means to build relationships, spread the word, or to "thumb our nose" at anything. So, my obvious bias is that Halloween and its masks are not evil in themselves. I grew up with it, still observe it, and I preach the gospel. I don't worship Satan; never did, not even if I once wore a vampire costume.
More than battling fictitious and obvious representations of old myths and superstitions, I think God is still more interested in spending our time and energy on the things that seem to take precedence in scripture like love, mercy and justice: are the hungry ones being fed, the widows and orphans being cared for? Are the sinful, lost, lonely, and afraid ones hearing the gospel of grace, and finding companionship and assurance?
For me, condemnation of all Halloween activities sounds a bit like ritual-purity and the ascetic rigor that re-imposes Pharisaism and its worship of separation and code. Jesus stood against that message when he preached about Sabbath and ritual purity versus compassion. Granted, there is little in Halloween to do with grace or compassion, and yet both the central belief that we are "saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ" and also the central commands for love and loving action toward God and our neighbor both get hidden, lost, and forgotten in wave after wave of modern mid-rashes on the thou shalt not's. I wonder if there isn't a way to warn against specific vices of Halloween (i.e. greed, self-indulgence, and consumerism) to help Christians navigate the day, without making a hard-line polemic against it.
To sum up, Halloween might be one of those things that we are "free" to do as Christians... but is it beneficial for the weak in faith or the non-believer? Again, it may depend on who we are with, how we conduct ourselves within it, and how we choose to separate ourselves from it.
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