After reading The Forgotten Ways, I have been reflecting on the way many churches approach service. If Hirsh is right, and the attractional-institutional mode of church "deactivates" people for mission, what would we expect to see relative to service in such churches, especially in smaller churches? I imagine it as a kind of co-dependent cycle that looks something like this...
Once you buy into the notion that "Church" is about providing religious programs you enter into this cycle. The "church" focuses her time and attention on providing programs. Congregants see themselves primarily as consumers of "church" programs. However, in order for the "church" to provide programs, it needs the congregants to be more than consumers, they also have to be providers. This is where the tension, often characterized by "recruitment wars", comes from. Those who tend to the church program need people to step up and serve in order to make it happen. Unfortunately the whole mode tells people they are consumers not providers. Eventually, the appeal goes something like this, "You have experienced the benefits of being on the receiving end of the church program, now you can help make those same programs available for others by serving." Not such a bad thing, until people stop responding to it. When this cycle begins to break down, the "church" eventually goes into crises mode because they fear the program will stop. "Service" in the church becomes a should/ought. What you hear is "Since you have received the benefit of the "church" program you should help make those programs available for others. It's your turn. You ought to serve if you love and care for the church." It can sound strangely like a manipulative high school boyfriend, "If you really loved me you would..." The problem is, this is nothing at all like what Jesus did or called the church to do. It is a pattern that ultimately rests on guilt and shame to function instead of putting Christ-centered mission in action.
Lets face it, we came to Jesus because we were burdened and heavy laden. We need a rest from the world of guilt and shame. We need to step off of the cycle of being valued by "what we do, how much of it we do, and how well we do it". We need to be loved without condition. We need to be a part of something bigger then us. In the end, participating in a church that is oriented by the cycle I've described and the guilt/shame, should/ought, atmosphere it creates around service is not life-giving. People check out.
The challenge is seeing and doing things differently. Once you are in this cycle, it is difficult to stop. It becomes a "church" lifestyle habit or an addiction. To this end, I think Alan Hirsh identifies a healthy process. I've adapted a simple process diagram from his book...
You have to set aside current ecclesiology (the way we do church) and go back to Christology - who is Jesus? From there, you define mission - what does it mean to be Jesus' people in the world? THEN you define what it means to be the body of Jesus and how that informs how you do mission as a community.
On some levels, it seems easier to start a church that way then to ween a church from the attractional-institutional model. But to follow that path, at least to me, would mean failing to give existing congregation a chance at life. I have hope that God's people can adapt to the changing world in ways that bring the life of Christ to bear on the lives of people and communities.
The challenge is having the courage to start fresh. The reality of constant anxiety in churches that are in crises mode makes this tremendously difficult. It requires faith that if we simple stop the cycle, Jesus will be with us and can remake us into His body on mission in the world. It's a radical journey...
I have to stop...Let me know what you think! Do you work with these issues in your church?
Comments