Making Noises

We received the following in an email from our church’s vision team.  Our answers are below each question.

The Vision Team would welcome your perspectives on the following questions.

1.  What is most important to me about my congregation?

 

The close friendships we have made where we feel totally accepted and can be truly authentic.

2.  What do I worry most about when I think of my congregation?

 

In general:

 

We’d say that sometimes in faith communities there exists a reluctance for authenticity and honest discussion.  Such an atmosphere is not fostered, welcomed, or encouraged.  There also exists, in some faith communities, a shame based culture, as well as pressure to conform, “go with the flow,” don’t rock the boat, etc.

 

For example:  Christians, because of who we are in Christ, may labor under the mis-conception that we *should* never experience any form of mental illness etc. and if we do we berate ourselves for the same.

3.  If I could change one thing about my congregation at the drop of a hat, what would it be?

 

Legalism and the focus on sin, daily confession, keeping short accounts, etc.

 

From:  http://www.gracewalkministries.blogspot.com/:

 

“Under the covenant of law, one was not totally forgiven but must receive ongoing forgiveness in order to remain in a guilt free state. Yet at the cross, God poured out all His forgiveness toward those who are His. We don’t need to ask anymore! Paul described total forgiveness in Colossians 2:13-14.

The cross of Jesus was God’s final word about our sins. So let’s stop acting like it wasn’t by continuing to ask Him to do something He’s already done – forgive us.”

4.  What are opportunities and threats that face my congregation?

 

There exists an opportunity to become different than other churches.  A church that is inclusive, grace-based, and fostering an atmosphere of total authenticity.  Faith communities embracing total authenticity involve some measure of risk, uncomfortableness, etc. One would think that in a faith community more so than any other community (i.e. a “work” community) one could be free to be totally themselves, but this is not always the case [in our experience].

 

Threats include:  ignoring the opportunities for change, contentment with the “status quo”, making things more complicated than necessary such as outreach, missions, etc.

 

It will be interesting to see what may come out of this.  There was also a discussion group held last Saturday that we weren’t able to attend.  I believe the focus of the Vision Team is to find (negotiate, navigate)  a way forward for our church.

I can do more than complain and rant about legalism.  I can provide alternatives.  So, without further ado, here’s  a collection of grace filled resources  for your reading and listening pleasure.  May these help us all in our “grace walk.”

• http://www.ransomedheart.com/default.aspx – podcasts and blogs

• http://www.gracewalkministries.blogspot.com/ – Steve McVey’s blog, founder of Grace Walk Ministries – home page here:  http://www.gracewalk.org/ for podcasts of his sermons, books and more.

• http://www.henze-associates.com/blog/ – variety of messages about who we are in Christ, and what true grace and freedom really means to  all of us struggling in our walk of faith.  In particular:  http://www.henze-associates.com/blog/2009/08/02/cal/the-power-of-the-gospel/

• http://theshovel.net/:

Dig with me and uncover the joy of life and freedom that’s been buried under piles of religious dirt. … Check out the real Jesus Christ, not the religious icon … and you just might discover the real you.

• http://www.realanswers.net/ :

People to People Ministries — proclaiming Jesus Christ and the reality of His life in you.

Subscribe to a weekly newsletter, listen to podcasts, and more. By the way, Bob George (the founder of People to People Ministries) was and is instrumental in my and my husband’s “grace walk” journey.

• Richard Rohr’s “Radical Grace”  http://www.cacradicalgrace.org/ – where you can sign up for his daily email meditations – very thought provoking.

• http://www.thegraceproject.com/ — This seems to be the website of a church in London, UK, and has a lot of resources – audio casts, blogs, articles, sermons, etc.
• http://www.themeetinghouse.ca/
  

• Drew Marshall http://www.drewmarshall.ca/listen2009.html – out of Toronto, Ontario, and podcasts of every program are available online.  With interesting guests and conversation, it’s

Canada’s most listened to talk back radio show.

Inspired by Geez Magazine’s articles “30 Sermons You’ll Never Hear in Church”, I present to you “30 Sentences You’ll Never Hear in Church”: [with contributions by Randy Dueck and Cal H. Henze]

1. You are totally under grace.
2. Daily confession and keeping short accounts are not necessary to keep you in right relationship with Jesus Christ.
3. Alcoholism, and other addictions, are NOT as a result of sin in your life.
4. You are totally, completely, forgiven and a child of the King, perfectly and wonderfully made.
5. We don’t need your money.
6. If God leads you to volunteer with ___ ministry, great, but there’s no pressure here.
7. We accept you completely for who you are and won’t try and change you – that’s God’s job.
8. Your heart needs are the most important to us and we want to know what we can do to help you in your time of need.
9. There’s no judgment or criticism here.
10. If you are ever in a time of emotional, physical, or spiritual crisis, you can count on the friends you make here, and the people of this church, any time day or night.
11. We want to give our fatherless/motherless young children a mature believer to help them.
12. Demands for performance are never treatment for a broken heart.
13. There’s no dress code – or hair length – necessary to Worship the King.
14. Your abuse and pain are real.
15. We like drums.
16. Music is amoral.
17. It is finished – Christ’s death on the cross took your sin away – past, present and future, forever.
18. Everything is permissible but not everything is profitable.
19. Church membership is optional to serve.
20. Women in leadership are welcome.
21. God’s really quite mature — He doesn’t sulk like your housecat if you do something stupid. [with apologies to cat-lovers everywhere!]
22. God can’t even imagine being angry at you.
23. Our sermons aren’t a “guilt trip” to “control” our congregation – they are designed to provide spiritual nourishment in a non-judgmental, grace-filled way.
24. We won’t attempt to provoke an extreme emotional response in our worship service with repetitious, 7-11 songs [*7 songs, each sung 11 times].
25. We don’t put God in a box.
26. God hears all your prayers, not just those that follow some formulaic ritualistic religion-approved format.
27. Talk is cheap and actions speak louder than words.
28. When we say we’ll pray for you, we’ll really do it!
29. You’ll know we are Christians by our love.
30. We’re not here to moralize the world.

This fellow seems to believe God expects perfection for us to approach Him, apparently.  Hmmm.  News to me.

Seems pointless to attempt to discuss this, but try I did: *sigh*

It was like swimming upstream against a very strong current.

Our “conversation” is reproduced below:

Him: 

Striving for mere excellence in approaching God is inadequate, our only hope is obedience.

Me:

“Obedience? What about just resting in His finished work in us?  Why do we need excellence to approach God–He is our Daddy!  I am confused.”

Him: In Response: 

“Excellence is like striving for 95%, allowing ourselves still to fail. But we need to strive for perfection, for 100%. Only obedience to God can take us to that level. Mere excellence isn’t good enough.”

[Emphasis added by me.]

Me in response to above: 

“Yeah but aren’t we just setting ourselves up for failure, disappointment, guilt feelings, etc. by this ‘striving?’ Not to mention doing it in our own strength which is impossible?”

  Me, a few minutes later:

“I suppose this isn’t really the place for this type of discussion.”

His last reply:

“It’s much better to strive for God’s standard and fail, than to not strive for God’s standard at all.”

(In other words, I guess,

“it’s much better to beat myself up on a daily basis for falling short of God’s standard, try to do it all on my own without the Holy Spirit,  and feel constantly guilty and ashamed for messing up.  That’s better, yep, than to rest in His finished work, embrace His love and mercy, and accept our brokenness and that it REALLY IS FINISHED.”)

Yep, grace seems to have left the building there….well if it even lived there in the first place.  These belief systems seem to be so inter-generational, so ingrained, passed down, and re-inforced by some pastors in some churches, it is almost impossible to “break” them.  Like a great big “to-do” list of rules and regulations- if I do this, if I do that, maybe then Jesus will really, really love me and accept me if I become perfect.  Almost like earning our salvation.  Pharisees, anyone?

Contrast that with the words of Jesus in Matthew 11:28-30 (the Message):

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me-watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

Yes I am tired.  I am worn out.  I am burned out by “religion” and I so want to learn the “unforced rhythms of grace.”  Teach me Jesus.  And teach me how not to be legalistic in my grace.  Such legalism makes me no better than the original legalists.

Is church merely a gathering of believers doing life together?

What is worship?  Praising God together? Or is it, as our friend Cal puts it,  “to come with open hands as a needy child looking for sustenance from his/her father. It is not praise. ”

Has “grace” become synonymous with “tolerance”? Or “a synonym for letting the miraculousness of the Gospel be trivialized into the bondage of the old Covenant?”–Cal Henze

If you are a bricks-and-mortar-building/organized religion church attender, are you expected to conform to a “code” and are subjected to a “penalty” if you don’t do so? See

I Want to Be A Clone–Steve Taylor

watch?v=il7w7wXbsyI