The Church is always local. That's not original to me, by the way. People have been saying "politics is always local" for a long time, and that concept applies to the global Church as well, I think. Regardless of what the Church is doing in our culture, it all stems from what local congregations are doing in their neighborhoods.
That said, it's still useful to talk trends, so long as we keep in mind that our conclusions are meaningless until we apply them to our church. And that may lead us in different directions from the larger Church trends.
I guess this is just a short note, but I think it's a key one in terms of what I’m processing theologically right now.
When we consider revision vs. rebooting vs. recreating, I disagree with some of the authors I'm reading. I think they overstate the scale of the change needed. I get it: they have to sell books. Books are easier to sell when there is a colossal sweeping change we simple must get ahead of in order to save the _[insert threatened ministry here]_.
But the church is local. Some need revision, some re-creation. As a systems thinker the focus is on discovering what kind of change will bring us to the kind of operation we're called to. How do we fulfill our local DNA as a church?
So, next time: what ministry should consider revision?
3 comments:
My comments are a culmination of reading the first part, second part and your cybernetic church post. I see them possibly related or at least the ideas work together in my head :)
I have also thought about the idea of the local church verses the larger idea of the global church. The idea of politics being always local however fails for certain definitions of the term local. If I view local as my town then I will be disappointed to find out there is a state tax I also have to pay; as with politics and government so I am coming to understand with the church. We do have a local body that we engage and grow with however there is also a larger group that we engage as we travel, work, or communicate online with. It is this more global communication that leads me to think there is room to have large internet based churches.
I don't want to tangent too hard but the idea has crossed my mind of getting involved in some online church or starting a page on my own, however the organization is outside the scope of what time I have so it will have to fall on some other adventurous soul.
I purport that while humanity has not changed at a core fundamental level only the technology has; so our interactions with that technology also need to conform to our understandings of morality and religion. So perhaps this is just a long winded way of saying a revision is necessary but on a base level I could argue that since being human we are flawed and revision should be a daily affair. The saying hindsight is 20/20 was not told to me on accident, it was my mother’s way of telling me to revise my future based upon what I have learned. The question is have I learned anything from my past, or have we learned anything in our churches to make them better.
I have left what I called the corporate model of church and am part of a home church and now an online bible study (so to speak). So what was the issue with the churches of my past, at least as I saw it? For me the issues fall somewhere between the teaching being so soft and bland that baby’s seek stronger milk, or the focus of local ministries and spending. I can understand some of the sermon issues being preaching to the lowest common denominator or understanding, I take issue with being treated like a child in the sermon. The issues with spending are that our church has a budget for youth ministries to spruce up a room with a plasma screen and new couches but has to ask what ministry in another country gets funded this month. Actually the fact the church has a budget bothers me! The local ministry is the real kicker for me; the “outreach” is nothing more than trying to get more kids into the church all the while the parents are left to their own devices. It is as if mothers and fathers are thrown to the wind because they are too old to learn, this is not some Jedi academy with an age limit, it’s the church!
I will get off my soapbox now and leave my thoughts to the vapors.
Um...wow! That's about seven different topics all at once!
I think, though, that you've ended up close to where you began: the idea that the church (and politics!) are always essentially local.
That means that your experiences with the local church are defining your vision of the global church.
It also sounds like you've been burned a bit. I'm glad to hear that you're moving forward without discarding the idea of church altogether!
I'm interested in the ideas about technology and community as well. I'm almost certain I'm not as comfortable as you are interlinking virtual community with physical community...but I think it's a great discussion!
I do come back to the idea that the church is local but there is an aspect I can’t ignore and that is the global aspect. Perhaps global is too large a word or impractical to associate with the church, what if we just thought about it as, outside the local scope? So as I try to avoid serving two masters, local vs. global, I am forced to focus on one more than the other. The fantastic part of the internet is that in seconds I can engaging a global community through any social network.
Sadly my experiences with the local church are impacting my view of the global church. I don’t want to fall on the crutch of “I can only know what I know” excuse or limit my view when trying to find alternative solutions. As a child I could rest comfortably in being disenfranchised with church but as a man/husband/leader/adult we are not afforded such things and solutions have to be found. I try to think I can be better than the average fool and not just learn from my mistakes but find ways to capitalize on them; this includes the church. Keeping the status quo is unacceptable and social trends are fickle at best; what am I left with? Now either my assumptions are incorrect or there is another solution. I believe that humans are simple, predictable, and tend to repeat their actions on a historic and societal level. I was not a big fan of history but have grown to thirst now as I see similar predictions, trends, and outcomes from years ago to now. I am not making an appeal to tradition or blind rejection of anything modern but to consider our history and make informed decisions being open to new ideas based upon their individual value and worth.
Like with all things, we can do evil or use them for the further glory of the Lord. Part of the problem with new technology is how to we implement it? I think there is a general correlation between generations and their use/acceptance of technological advancements. Generally the older someone is the more reluctance there is for technological change. There are exceptions but the general rule works enough for people to know what I am getting at. We can use this to benefit each generation better or we can lets each generation fall into its own technological isolation from each other never gaining the benefit of the other. I believe the isolation of our generations forces the issues of the past to be refought unnecessarily. If we wanted to be enlightened about our future or find insight we only needed to talk to a 90 year old. We are not generationally better than those that came before us, quite the contrary. I see the technology and advances only retard my ability to think on my own and when stripped away I am weaker and more useless than I should have been. My good friend Matt has said it better then I; “To me, it's kind of like driving. In theory, you want less friction in order to make driving easier, but you have to have enough friction to make driving possible in the first place. Too little and you car slides all over with no control.” I believe it possible to add a net church to our existence without taking away from the critically important local community. The service, sacrifice, and love for one another that bear the hallmark of the believer cannot be attained on the internet alone; that requires our interaction with humans. Until there is some way to upload my brain into a computer and never live in real life again interaction with community will be a necessity. Alternatively to ignore the use of virtual spaces for church can have an isolating effect on a new generation that spends more hours online then they do most all other activities combined.
What this new virtual church will look like or its actual creation process is unknown to me. If I were to guess it would be just as messy and filled with disasters as our current church.
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