With risk of sounding like a broken record, there's something I feel the church desperately needs to embody. I've written about 50% of my blogs on here about the big picture of the gospel. But I find it so frustrating and I think that now
more than ever it is important to realise this.
Jesus speaks to his people right at the beginning of his ministry and tells them: "you're the light of the world! A city can't be hidden if it's on top of a hill....you must shine your light in front of people! Then they will see the wonderful things you do, and they'll give glory to your father in heaven."
Throughout history this has been the case with the most famous growth in the church- they offer something bright, something distinctive. The church today however, is seen as behind the times, struggling to keep up with post modern, relative culture. I sincerely believe we have a message which is the light of the world.
My knowledge of politics and economics is pretty bad. But it's pretty clear to me that capitalism is in a bit of a mess.
The crash of western economy, mass unemployment, the awful riots that have emerged up and down the UK. Something isn't working.
Capitalist culture is all about me. It's all about the consumer; what I can get. I want an out of season vegetable grown in north africa; I've got tesco. I earn my money, I work hard, I'm entitled to spend it on what I want. I can get pretty much anything I want and get it now. We are very independent but not very self sufficient. If every supermarket shut tomorrow- the UK would be in crisis. We have no community; I cannot pop down the road to my mate bob who grows carrots and my uncle gregg who can get me some milk from his cows. We depend largely on the global market.
And to some extent the church has followed suit. Whilst we might have reformed away from dependence on priests and rituals, we've pretty much replaced them with preachers who know their theology. I wonder what would happen if every church leader dropped down dead tomorrow. What would our churches look like? Who would do the preach? Who would lead the meeting? We've made church into part of our consumer culture. The number of times we say things like "that's not the kind of worship I enjoy" or the number of churches that are filled with pew fillers who come in, hear the talk and then go their merry way. We are consumers of Christianity, not participants.
To me this is sad. It's not the way I think the church was intended and it reflects a deeper truth we need to hear: You are not the light of the world, I am not the light of the world.
The gospel doesn't revolve around my salvation and my relationship at all. It revolves around Gods plan for humanity of which I'm a part, of which you're a part.
Tom Wright claims: " 'you mean I don't have to do anything ? God loves me and accepts me as I am, just because Jesus died for me' ought to give once to a deeper realisation down exactly the same line 'you mean it isn't about ME after all? I'm not the centre of the universe? It's all about God and his purposes?' "
Thats it- he totally hits the nail
on the head I think. It's not about me- it never has been. The church needs to learn this lesson- because if it does, I really think it has the potential to be light in an awfully dark world. Society doesn't need something 'relevant' right now, it needs something different. We are longing for it, society is longing for it- the truth that actually, it's not about me at all.
The world teaches the very opposite- it's all about me. Why do you think it's called the iPhone? Marketing is tailored around making the individual happy, fulfilling the individual needs. But we know it's a lie. Its not about me, it's about us. We are part of something much bigger.
The church needs to find a way to embody this- to become true communities, that stray away from consumerism and to focus on the big picture. We need to start figuring out how.
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