A year ago yesterday I wrote my most viewed blog. It did not go viral, but it was passed around in various circles and it continues to be looked at. The readership went far beyond my normal viewers. It made me feel like blogging was of value for my service of the Lord. While it probably needs a bit of editing, in the end what it says is still true.
The error of "contemporanity" is that change is too quick. By the time you are "today" it has become "tomorrow." In the year since I wrote it, the latest change has been the continued decrease in church members and attendance in our "with it" episcopal church. You can see it here:
http://jeffmarx.blogspot.com/2011/04/biggest-problem-with-contemprorary.html
It is Holy Week. Tomorrow we begin the 3day celebration of the mystery of Jesus' Passion, Death and Resurrection. I know that fewer people will be in my church, because the last few years we have had fewer people. I know that, in general, this is true for most churches (including the traditional ones). What seems to be happening is a loss of faith in the church, contemporary or not.
As much as Jesus is the center of Holy Week, there is not a doubt in my mind that the church is, too. Jesus came as King to claim a People. We, with all our faults, are that people. The constant failure in this mission is not new. I am preaching Sunday on Mark's view of the church. Suffice to say he was not overly impressed. Yet that failure is not cause to toss away the enterprise. Jesus demands mission and community from His followers. We are in the world, but for witness. Singing Lady Gaga songs in church will not make us appealing to the young. And if it did, it would only be because of Lady Gaga, not Jesus.
To toss out the historic faith eventually requires that one toss Jesus under the bus as well. It is unavoidable. He called God Father (paternalstic), He called twelve men as apostles (sexist), He spoke of marriage as man and woman (homophobic), He challenged us to a stricter morality (law based oppression). He said we should worship (insitutional religion) and use our resources to serve others (anti-capitalist). He told us to embrace non-violence (anti-gun rights). The list goes on and on. Trying to make Jesus fit into the "next new thing" is just an invitation to trouble.
On the other hand, if we follow Jesus as Lord and acknowledge Him as Judge, then all our contemporary issues can be put into perspective. I wish I were better at it. I remind myself that Jesus will deliever me from myself and the urge to be "relevant" and "new and improved." Come Lord Jesus! Set us free!
It's been a year? I can hardly believe that!
ReplyDeleteI was at the Tenebrae service tonight at St. John's, saturated with scripture and moved deeply, and had a conversation afterward with a friend who is Orthodox about what a gift traditional, sacramental, historically rooted worship is. I only want the "next new thing" if it connects me to the Great Original.
Amen. Come Lord Jesus!