A respected member of my congregation approached me a week or so ago. "Pastor," he said, "You need to say something or do a sermon about cliques."
I waited for further explanation.
"I've spoke to two people recently about coming to church. Both of them said the same thing. They both said they won't come to church because of the cliques in the church. Something needs to be done about that."
Perhaps so, but I am now a veteran when it comes to handling church dynamics. I've seen how more often than not, when you try to address something, the exact opposite happens. Harp on people for not coming to church, and church attendance drops. Harp on people for not giving enough or telling them to tithe 10% of their income, and offerings drop. Tell them they need to come to Sunday School, and they don't. Reverse psychology should be the order of the day, but if you go with the intent of trying to change things by doing the opposite, might you get figured out by doing that too? Isn't that a bit manipulative? Probably.
And that rightly leads to stagnation and a fear of even trying to address the issue. That's not good either.
So, the question is: how does one address the issue of cliques without trying to offer a mandate or tell everyone how they should act knowing they are liable to do the exact opposite?
Perhaps what follows is a feeble attempt:
I believe cliques are a part of the way the world and nature works. I think they are inescapable. I mean it. Kids form cliques in pre-school and school without any sort of guidance or compulsion. They just do it. In the animal kingdom, cliques are formed in most species. Fish swim in schools. Cattle gather in herds. Lions in prides, etc. etc. Each has its own hierarchy and social structure. Most become closed and only open up on special occasions.
These groups form for various reasons: protection, cooperation, feeding, and even socialization. In my estimation, this means cliques are neither good or bad, they just are.
Even in the church, we have our cliques. I think we'd like to pretend they don't exist, but they are there regardless. You have the women's group. The quilters. Men in mission. Youth group. Choir. Adult Bible study, and so on. These groups are organized based upon some commonality shared by all group members--gender, age, interest, ability. It's how we organize ourselves. Again, neither good or bad; cliques just are.
As I see it, the problem is not with cliques in and of themselves. It is when cliques become self-important, refuse to cooperate with others, and become closed that they become a problem.
St. Paul's analogy in 1 Corinthians 12 is instrumental in my opinion:
12 For just as the
body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body,
though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.
13For in the one Spirit
we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we
were all made to drink of one Spirit. 14 Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many.
15If the foot were to
say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body’, that would
not make it any less a part of the body.
16And if the ear were to
say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body’, that would
not make it any less a part of the body.
17If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be?
18But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose.
19If all were a single member, where would the body be?
20As it is, there are many members, yet one body.
21The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I have no need of you’, nor again the head to the feet, ‘I have no need of you.’
22On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable,
23and those members of
the body that we think less honorable we clothe with greater honor,
and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect;
24whereas our more
respectable members do not need this. But God has so arranged the body,
giving the greater honor to the inferior member,
25that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another.
26If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.
Paul does not encourage everyone to be alike. Far from it. In fact, Paul encourages the Church to honor it's differences, but with a very important caveat:
We are all one body.
Let that sink in for a moment. We are all one body. If various body parts begin warring against one another, really bad things happen. We actually know what that is called: cancer. With cancer, a group of cells thinks they are more important than the rest. They quit doing their job. They go rogue. They begin monopolizing resources. They begin feeding off the rest of the body. Eventually, if left unchecked, they kill the body.
In the Church, there is an antidote for such things--remembering who the head of the Church is and what He has called us to do. Remember, Paul is explicit in who he says the head of the Church is:
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation;
16for in
him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and
invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things
have been created through him and for him.
17He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
18He is the head of the body, the church; he is
the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to
have first place in everything. --Colossians 1:15-18
To give this a very, local spin: St. John Lutheran Church of Cat Spring is actually ruled and governed by our head: Jesus Christ. We believe He has given us a vision and a mission: To Live God's Word Daily specifically by Actively reaching out as a strong Christian influence in our community by showing God's love through kindness, caring, and involvement with others inside and outside our community of faith.
All of our various parts theoretically should revolve around the Head and His instructions to us. Theoretically, everything we do should keep these things in mind. All of our various ministries and parts revolved around this vision and mission. If we should lose sight of this, then we face a war between the cliques. We face cliques vying for power and influence. Each clique's ministry becomes more important than the overall mission.
If you need evidence of this, look at our current political situation. Most representatives of our nation are there not to work for the good of their country, but for the good of their constituents. They are trying to get a piece of the pie for their district, their state, their area of representation instead of looking out for the good of the entire country. This leads to division and strife, something we are all too familiar with by reading our news papers and news feeds.
Should the Church reflect society or Christ? Should the Church represent what is going on in society, or should it represent what is going on in heaven where all are focused on God and His reign? The answer to me seems pretty obvious.
I personally do not believe cliques are necessarily a problem in any congregation, church, or community. It's how we organize, but it is my sincere hope that any clique that is within the congregation of St. John or any other congregation or denomination recognizes its vision and mission and works for the betterment of our congregation, denomination, and its fulfillment of the Christian mission in society.
Showing posts with label Body of Christ. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Body of Christ. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Monday, October 21, 2013
Do You Have Itchy Ears? (Like Me?)
There is a story I have told in a sermon before, but I believe it bears repeating in light of our lessons this morning:
A retired preacher went back to visit a town in which he once served. Sitting down in the local café, he recognized on of his former parishioners. The preacher called out, “Hi, Bob, how are things at the church?”
Bob recognizing the preacher from years ago replied, “Hello Reverend. Actually, I don’t know how things are at the church anymore. I don’t go there.”
This surprised the pastor. Bob had been a pillar of the congregation when he left. Bob had served as congregation president; he taught Bible study; he was a mentor to several youth; he attended almost every single Sunday; and he was a steady and generous contributor. The fact that Bob no longer went to church there rocked the pastor to the core. “May I ask what happened?” the pastor said.
Bob didn’t hesitate, “Well, Reverend, I hate to say it, but Satan raised dissension in our midst. Some folks just stopped believing the appropriate things, so half of us got up and started our own church.”
The pastor replied, “I am truly sorry to hear that. How are things going at that church?”
Bob replied, “I don’t know. You would think that we would be able to agree on everything, but it didn’t happen. Satan’s reach is long, and before you know it, a group of us had to leave again. About six couples started gathering in our homes to listen to God’s Word.”
The pastor then said, “And did you find peace in that small group?”
“No,” Bob said. “Before long my wife and I had to leave that group as they were not true to the Word or to doctrine. We began worshiping together on Sunday’s alone.”
The pastor replied, “I take it then, that this has brought you spiritual peace?”
And Bob said, “Nope, before long, things went south again. I worship on the east side of the house, and my wife worships on the west side.”
Yes, it is funny, and it probably is funny because it has a bit of truth within it. For in many ways, this story illustrates the religious backdrop that is the United States of America–particularly the church. We literally have thousands of denominations in the U.S. and hundreds of thousands of churches, and many of them have come about in exactly the fashion this story presents to us. They have split over disagreements and doctrines, and more often than not, our second lesson which we heard this morning is used as justification for those splits.
In case you missed it, I’d like to refresh it in our minds. Please take a listen to what St. Paul tells Timothy: 16All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work. In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I solemnly urge you: 2proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching. 3For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires, 4and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths.
Usually, folks use this text as a weapon to basically say, “All scripture is inspired by God, and you are not taking scripture seriously. You have itchy ears and are leaving sound doctrine. We have no choice but to break away and hold onto the right, pure doctrine.” It’s always the other person who has the problem. It’s always those people out there who are wrong. It’s always the other guy who has itchy years, and it’s definitely not me.
Of course, that’s the attitude; however I think it’s mistaken. In fact, I’d submit to you this morning, my brothers and sisters, that each and every one of us have itchy ears. I’d submit that each and every one of us have our own particular understandings and core convictions, and we like those things affirmed and stroked. I’d submit that each and every one of us do not like having those convictions challenged, and we are often content to surround ourselves with people who believe exactly as we believe and do the things we like to do.
That’s an extremely easy thing to do in our technological age. I mean, how many of you have ever deleted someone off your Facebook list because they embrace a particular ideology and keep harping on it? Guilty as charged here. In this day folks are more than happy to announce their particular philosophy and theology, and many of them put this stuff on Youtube. It’s easy to search around on there until you find folks who agree with your point of view and keep listening to them and have them reinforce your beliefs instead of being challenged by others. It’s easy to frequent certain websites who give a particular slant to the news and avoid others which give you a different perspective on an event.
Before you know it, you can end up completely isolated–never challenged. And if you are challenged, say for instance, you don’t like what I say in the sermon this morning, you can head out of here turn on the television or get on the internet. In a matter of moments you can find another preacher like Joel Osteen who will tell you the things you want to hear. It’s that simple.
And of course, such isolation leads to division. We have only to look at what happened the past few weeks in Washington D.C. to see evidence of this. Two sides which are completely entrenched decide to play games with the American people. They are completely isolated and refuse to consider a different point of view. Not only does it divide the capital-it divides the nation; and, instead of a place that seeks to be different from society, the Church oftentimes reflects society. We become embroiled in division as well.
And what do we fight about? Interestingly enough, when you sit down and think about it, we don’t often fight about sound doctrine. Instead, we fight about what we are supposed to DO; how we are supposed to live out the Christian faith. How does this look? Well, it can be a battle over what color to paint the building. Some churches fight over whether or not it is okay to put artificial flowers on the altar or if real ones need to be used. Churches fight about who can serve as a pastor–if a certain gender is allowed or not or if a person of a particular sexual orientation can serve. Some fight about how a church cares for the poor–should they help without question or should someone work before they eat. Others fight about how the church engages politics–should they lobby government and force government to promote Christian values, should the church remain separate and apart from government completely, or somewhere in between.
All of these battles are focused on the law. They are not focused on doctrine. Now, the law is very important. There is no doubt about that. It helps us tremendously in teaching us how we ought to live. It serves as a guide as to what is right and what is wrong. It also teaches us and confronts us with our sinfulness. Most of you know the Big Ten, and I’m not talking about the football conference. You know the 10 Commandments: I am the Lord your God, you shall have no other gods before me; you shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, honor your father and mother, remember the Sabbath and keep it holy, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not bear false witness, thou shalt not covet your neighbor’s property or his wife and so on. You know Jesus’ commands, “If you look at a woman with lust in your heart, you have committed adultery. If you have anger toward your brother, you are committing murder. When you fed the least of these my brothers, you fed me.” We need the law, but we cannot follow it completely.
And that is important. Very important. None of us can completely measure up to what the law demands. None of us can follow every detail. It’s an impossibility. If we were able to follow it, we wouldn’t need a Savior. Jesus would not have had to die. As that most famous quote from the Gospel of John says, “For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son so that everyone who believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world not to condemn the world but that the world may be saved through Him.”
We call this grace. And in my estimation, this is the sound doctrine from which we turn away from. When we focus on the law, we divide ourselves to exclusion; however, if we focus on grace, a very different dynamic occurs. When I realize that I am totally dependent upon God for my salvation, I am humbled. I no longer see myself as the be all and end all when it comes to knowing and practicing the faith of Jesus. And when I look at another person, I come to understand that other person needs Jesus just as much as I do. Therefore, I cannot see that other person as an enemy, as an opponent, or someone doomed to hell because he or she does not believe as I believe. Instead, I see that person as a brother, a sister, a member of my family–whether I like that person or not.
And when a group of people gather together inspired by grace, they can come together regardless of differences and work and worship together. In this manner, they change society instead of mirror it. And that, my brothers and sisters, is Living God’s Word Daily. Amen.
A retired preacher went back to visit a town in which he once served. Sitting down in the local café, he recognized on of his former parishioners. The preacher called out, “Hi, Bob, how are things at the church?”
Bob recognizing the preacher from years ago replied, “Hello Reverend. Actually, I don’t know how things are at the church anymore. I don’t go there.”
This surprised the pastor. Bob had been a pillar of the congregation when he left. Bob had served as congregation president; he taught Bible study; he was a mentor to several youth; he attended almost every single Sunday; and he was a steady and generous contributor. The fact that Bob no longer went to church there rocked the pastor to the core. “May I ask what happened?” the pastor said.
Bob didn’t hesitate, “Well, Reverend, I hate to say it, but Satan raised dissension in our midst. Some folks just stopped believing the appropriate things, so half of us got up and started our own church.”
The pastor replied, “I am truly sorry to hear that. How are things going at that church?”
Bob replied, “I don’t know. You would think that we would be able to agree on everything, but it didn’t happen. Satan’s reach is long, and before you know it, a group of us had to leave again. About six couples started gathering in our homes to listen to God’s Word.”
The pastor then said, “And did you find peace in that small group?”
“No,” Bob said. “Before long my wife and I had to leave that group as they were not true to the Word or to doctrine. We began worshiping together on Sunday’s alone.”
The pastor replied, “I take it then, that this has brought you spiritual peace?”
And Bob said, “Nope, before long, things went south again. I worship on the east side of the house, and my wife worships on the west side.”
Yes, it is funny, and it probably is funny because it has a bit of truth within it. For in many ways, this story illustrates the religious backdrop that is the United States of America–particularly the church. We literally have thousands of denominations in the U.S. and hundreds of thousands of churches, and many of them have come about in exactly the fashion this story presents to us. They have split over disagreements and doctrines, and more often than not, our second lesson which we heard this morning is used as justification for those splits.
In case you missed it, I’d like to refresh it in our minds. Please take a listen to what St. Paul tells Timothy: 16All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work. In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I solemnly urge you: 2proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching. 3For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires, 4and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths.
Usually, folks use this text as a weapon to basically say, “All scripture is inspired by God, and you are not taking scripture seriously. You have itchy ears and are leaving sound doctrine. We have no choice but to break away and hold onto the right, pure doctrine.” It’s always the other person who has the problem. It’s always those people out there who are wrong. It’s always the other guy who has itchy years, and it’s definitely not me.
Of course, that’s the attitude; however I think it’s mistaken. In fact, I’d submit to you this morning, my brothers and sisters, that each and every one of us have itchy ears. I’d submit that each and every one of us have our own particular understandings and core convictions, and we like those things affirmed and stroked. I’d submit that each and every one of us do not like having those convictions challenged, and we are often content to surround ourselves with people who believe exactly as we believe and do the things we like to do.
That’s an extremely easy thing to do in our technological age. I mean, how many of you have ever deleted someone off your Facebook list because they embrace a particular ideology and keep harping on it? Guilty as charged here. In this day folks are more than happy to announce their particular philosophy and theology, and many of them put this stuff on Youtube. It’s easy to search around on there until you find folks who agree with your point of view and keep listening to them and have them reinforce your beliefs instead of being challenged by others. It’s easy to frequent certain websites who give a particular slant to the news and avoid others which give you a different perspective on an event.
Before you know it, you can end up completely isolated–never challenged. And if you are challenged, say for instance, you don’t like what I say in the sermon this morning, you can head out of here turn on the television or get on the internet. In a matter of moments you can find another preacher like Joel Osteen who will tell you the things you want to hear. It’s that simple.
And of course, such isolation leads to division. We have only to look at what happened the past few weeks in Washington D.C. to see evidence of this. Two sides which are completely entrenched decide to play games with the American people. They are completely isolated and refuse to consider a different point of view. Not only does it divide the capital-it divides the nation; and, instead of a place that seeks to be different from society, the Church oftentimes reflects society. We become embroiled in division as well.
And what do we fight about? Interestingly enough, when you sit down and think about it, we don’t often fight about sound doctrine. Instead, we fight about what we are supposed to DO; how we are supposed to live out the Christian faith. How does this look? Well, it can be a battle over what color to paint the building. Some churches fight over whether or not it is okay to put artificial flowers on the altar or if real ones need to be used. Churches fight about who can serve as a pastor–if a certain gender is allowed or not or if a person of a particular sexual orientation can serve. Some fight about how a church cares for the poor–should they help without question or should someone work before they eat. Others fight about how the church engages politics–should they lobby government and force government to promote Christian values, should the church remain separate and apart from government completely, or somewhere in between.
All of these battles are focused on the law. They are not focused on doctrine. Now, the law is very important. There is no doubt about that. It helps us tremendously in teaching us how we ought to live. It serves as a guide as to what is right and what is wrong. It also teaches us and confronts us with our sinfulness. Most of you know the Big Ten, and I’m not talking about the football conference. You know the 10 Commandments: I am the Lord your God, you shall have no other gods before me; you shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, honor your father and mother, remember the Sabbath and keep it holy, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not bear false witness, thou shalt not covet your neighbor’s property or his wife and so on. You know Jesus’ commands, “If you look at a woman with lust in your heart, you have committed adultery. If you have anger toward your brother, you are committing murder. When you fed the least of these my brothers, you fed me.” We need the law, but we cannot follow it completely.
And that is important. Very important. None of us can completely measure up to what the law demands. None of us can follow every detail. It’s an impossibility. If we were able to follow it, we wouldn’t need a Savior. Jesus would not have had to die. As that most famous quote from the Gospel of John says, “For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son so that everyone who believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world not to condemn the world but that the world may be saved through Him.”
We call this grace. And in my estimation, this is the sound doctrine from which we turn away from. When we focus on the law, we divide ourselves to exclusion; however, if we focus on grace, a very different dynamic occurs. When I realize that I am totally dependent upon God for my salvation, I am humbled. I no longer see myself as the be all and end all when it comes to knowing and practicing the faith of Jesus. And when I look at another person, I come to understand that other person needs Jesus just as much as I do. Therefore, I cannot see that other person as an enemy, as an opponent, or someone doomed to hell because he or she does not believe as I believe. Instead, I see that person as a brother, a sister, a member of my family–whether I like that person or not.
And when a group of people gather together inspired by grace, they can come together regardless of differences and work and worship together. In this manner, they change society instead of mirror it. And that, my brothers and sisters, is Living God’s Word Daily. Amen.
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