Above All, Christ

Distractions.
They come in all forms. BIG ONES. little ones. Personal ones. Corporate ones.

Certainly the modern church has experienced its share of distractions – those activities, programs, agendas, strategies, and styles of “doing church” which subtly – and often oh so subtly – steer our passions away from the One for whom those passions should burn the hottest and brightest – Christ himself.

And although it has become quite chic for those of us in the emerging church to tout our commitment to “being church” instead of “doing church,” I find myself wondering if we are pursuing above all, Christ himself.

Emerging churches seem just as vulnerable to distraction as their modern counterparts. In part, I think it’s our own arrogance at work, convincing us that Christ is best experienced in our way of "being church” – through our candles and crosses and nifty video clips and edgy music and hyper-casualness and philosophy of tolerance and…rejection of bibliocentricity. Now each of these “components,” in their own right, can be useful tools in the crafting of an emerging worship experience. But are we committed to experiencing, above all, Christ himself?

We are definitely learning how to value the “journey” (e.g. life) rather than obsessing over the “destination” (e.g. heaven), but is our commitment to the “journey” sometimes becoming a subtle, postmodern distraction, keeping us from what is ultimately important?

Does our commitment to tolerance, for example, lead us to “dial-down” our use of religious terminology and the honest sharing of Christ’s teachings – including those which seem harsh, inflexible, or convicting? If so, then we are guilty of the same “seeker-sensitive” errors of previous generations. Probably without realizing it, we too have begun catering to that same damnable consumerism that has so contaminated the modern institutionalized Church.

Our solution? Our safeguard? Our commitment?

Above All, Christ.

Philip. 3:10 (MsgB) I gave up all that inferior stuff so I could know Christ personally, experience his resurrection power, be a partner in his suffering, and go all the way with him to death itself.

We must love Christ above all else -- including our methods and our styles. 10-20 years ago, we began realizing that many people were falling in love with worship, rather than falling in love with the One whom we worship.

We must pursue Christ above all else -- including our handicapped notions of community. Yes, Christ is to be found and celebrated in the community of other believers and in the poor, but we must not use this powerful reality to otherwise insulate ourselves from him (in our humaness, we emerging church types can be just as "cleaver" in our mind-games as our modern counterparts).

We must trust Christ above all else -- including the writings and teachings of postmodern, emerging church guru's. God often uses others to point us in the right direction (that's certainly been my own experience), yet none of these thought-leaders (or all of them) can ever be a substitute for Christ himself. He alone must be the source and substance of our trust.

The Emerging Church holds such promise for the future. Breaking free from the bonds of modernity is exactly what the Church has needed. Yet we are just as prone to error as those who have gone before, regardless of what century or millenium they lived in.

In the midst of this new reality, this freshness, this renewal, may we therefore pursue...

Above all, Christ.

Comments

[Chris(tine)]

Good Stuff, DP.

This may not be good theology - but for years, I have had a picture in my head that kinda illustrates this for me. It's of walking along a narrow mountaintop edge, where the mountain falls away on either side. The path if very do-able, but without intention and deliberation to stay on that path - gravity takes over. I kinda think there's a gravity-type force in our lives that just naturally draws us away from seeking Christ, unless we are intentional and deliberate to continue to do so - whatever our theology, or philosophy, or practices...

[tammy]

i like what you wrote.

the simplicity of the gospel can seem boring in our fast paced multi-tasking world. we have to detox from our culture in order make jesus central. cause it seems boring at first. it isn't, but it seems like it until we're detoxed.

[Chris]

Chris(tine) -- I wouldn't worry about your theology there. ;) It sounds an aweful lot to me like Romans 7:7-25!

Tammy -- I like your notion of "detoxing" from our culture, but it has me thinking that some Emerging Church folk may balk at the idea. They would view the institutionalized church as what is "toxic" and the culture-at-large as a breath of fresh air in which to pursue their faith differently. Some of this is a sort of knee-jerk reaction. Time has an amazing way of tempering us....and in this case, showing us just how toxic the culture HAS become. IMHO, all of this is behind the "Generation O" phenomenon ("O" = Orthodox). We need something far more secure than the shifting sands of culture.

Hey Tammy -- speaking of "detoxing"... do you think there is such a thing as "culture addiction"?

[jens mankel]

thank you for your thoughts... sometimes when i pray, i get cought up in thoughts like: should i kneel or stand or lift my hands... i find myself wanting do do it right. and then i sense God saying to me relax - just love on me. it's all about relationship and not about the wineskin. all the different forms of doing church is a sign of a multifacetted (i don't even know how to spell that word... i'm a foreigner ;-)) humanity. our challenge is to keep the unity and to love one another. ...so thank you for helping us to stay open for oneanother.

[tammy]

'but it has me thinking that some Emerging Church folk may balk at the idea'

sometimes the coolest new thing will cause one to balk at something that god is trying to tell us.

'do you think there is such a thing as "culture addiction"?'

yes. especially when the culture is easy and enticing like ours. not too many people want to detox from americanism. i would guess that lots of them would gladly give up poverty and the other overwhelming cultural issues in the third world.
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