The Center of Our Church

I recently read an article in Christianity Today in which the author reminded us that Protestants moved the pulpit to the center of the church displacing the altar.  If that is really true, it is a reflection on the priorities of American evangelicalism.  I say that because the altar in the scriptures was always a place where the people of God came to allow God to act on their behalf.  Altars were always memorials to the deliverance or promise of God now made real and present.  And to me that seems much more than what the pulpit could ever be.  It reflects this tendency in our churches to replace the presence of God with the word of God.  There is a danger in substituting the Bible, the written word of God, for the living Word of God, Jesus.

But back to the altar.  I recently used this as an illustration in a call to worship.  I reminded the congregation that we did have an altar at the very center of our front dais, and although Protestants tried to downplay it or call it a table or put a choir loft in front of it, it still pretty much looked like an altar in a church to me.  And it contained everything about the story of God's work on our behalf.  It was white reminding us of the holiness of God and His high calling upon us.  We ascended up multiple steps to reach its level to remind us that God's dwelling place is exalted above all the earth.  I pointed out that it was a constant reminder of God's love, because in its very center, lifted above all else, was the cross of Jesus.  By that cross we gained access to God in the first place.  In front of it was an open Bible, reminding us that the word of God is good news given to all people and that it lies open before us, not hidden away or incomprehensible.  And on either side was a lit candle, reminding us that light has come into our world in Jesus, and that the darkness has been overcome.  We need never fear it again.

We stare at the altar in our church for nearly two hours each Sunday and hardly give it a second's notice because our eyes are always drawn to either side by the worship leaders or the pulpit.  But in its image we see reflected the whole counsel of God and the whole work of God on our behalf, renewing covenant, renewing each of us on every Sunday gathering.

Stained Glass Theology

We have this great stained glass window at the front of our church with a glittering bible ensconced at the very center point and the words "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path" arrayed around it.  And while is is beautiful to look at and makes the best use of the prevailing sunlight, I wondered how the Bible became the central focal point of our Protestant worship?  Why has the written word of God displaced the living word of God, Jesus?

I think that if we were Jesus centered rather than word centered (and I know that there are some who would accuse me of splitting hairs), our churches would look different in practice.  Our prayers might have a real power to them as we prayed to and with Jesus, rather than praying theologically correct "in the name of Jesus."  I don't think we would spend much pulpit time expounding deep theological mysteries, or the relationship of law to grace, or correct doctrine.  I think we would spend most of our time in the gospels, telling again the marvelous story of Jesus and His love. And I think we would spend much more time contemplatively, listening at His feet as Mary did, rather than making much ado about nothing as Martha did.

I get the sense that this is the right thing to do.  It says in Hebrews that God spoke to us in many times and ways, but in these last days spoke by His Son.  Jesus said that if we have seen Him, we have seen the Father, and warned that we search the scriptures because we think that in them we have life, but it is the scriptures that bear witness to Him.  I already have significant heartburn about how evangelicals have taken the word of God and put it in the place of God Himself.  If that printed bible was so vital to the life of the church, I wonder how Christianity survived that first 1500 years when people did not have access to a printed bible, when even if they did many might not be able to read and understand the archaic languages.  I would tend to think that their faith was placed in a person, not a page, that right relationship was more important than right doctrine, and that made all the difference in their lives.

Prayer before the Sermon II, A Word versus God's Word

I find myself become very aware of all of the evangelical sort of things that we do in a Sunday worship service and how the congregation is supposed to react, and what would happen if we just went about doing business with God without all of the fluff and trapping. This week there was a variation on the prayer before the sermon and it went sort of like this, 'May I decrease and you increase as I bring Your word to Your people." Now all of that sounds really good in an evangelical setting, we expect to hear something more or less like it each Sunday, but what the heck does it mean? Does it mean that sermon preparation really does not matter, or that the way a sermon is presented has nothing to do with the way it is received, or that sermon length is not relevant and one hour sermons are just like sitting on the mountain listening to Jesus preaching? Would we be disappointed if our pastor presented some keen insight into the scripture, howbeit his own insight, not the direct inspiration of the Holy Spirit. What if he delivered a practical message with four steps that we could implement that he has spent years working out in his own life, would we consider that divine instruction in how to live? Why do we demand that every sermon be from the very mouth of God? It seems to me that Jesus was a much better example to us of who God is and what He wants for His creation then reading the bible front to back every year and searching out principles that we can write on index cards and magnet to our refrigerator. And it seems to me that seeing the message and example of Jesus lived out day in and day out in the people around us, pastor included, has much more power to move our own lives in the right direction than all of the evangelical practices. Things like this are nothing more than the Christianized version of political correctness. Let's stop making things out to be more than they really are. Go to work, do your homework, expound the scripture simply and persuasively, tell us about Jesus and the good news of God's love, admit that you may not know everything, give us something practical to do or think about and we will go home with something to draw on. But don't pretend that the sermon is an audience with God and that a prayer makes everything better. It hardly ever does.

My Coming to Grips with the Word of God

First let me say that I hold the written word of God in pretty high regard, but lately I have been struggling with all of the evangelical baggage that is currently associated with the Bible...concepts such as inerrant, verbally inspired, or complete (no further revelation necessary and containing all we need to live now and eternally). There is a plethora (I love that word) of radio personalities that make a living bringing us a word of encouragement, or teaching us great insights, or putting our lives back together all from this amazing book. But every time I hear someone say "God has promised..." and then they read a verse from the Bible I have to wonder, especially when it is Paul or Peter saying something under very particular circumstances to a very specific individual. And suddenly what was a record of God's miraculous work on behalf of the world throughout history becomes a promise that we can stand on. But was it ever meant to be that? Did Paul know he was being used as a scribe of the Holy Spirit to comment on church behavior or organization? To see what I mean, read Paul's letter to Philemon, or John's letter to Gaius (3rd John) and try to see these books as God-breathed encyclicals given for your edification, salvation, and growth in the circumstances you face today. These are obvious examples, but you can see the dilemma I am in.

I have always felt that the current evangelical church confuses the word of God with God Himself and makes no distinction between the two (because that is one of those written or unwritten premises upon which evangelical faith rests in this century). They worship the book rather than the Author. I don't feel like a heretic to say that they are not one and the same but that is the box that I am sometimes pushed towards in what I read and what I hear. I still read and reread the word of God, but I confess that I am less prone to hear "Thus sayeth the Lord God to you Russell..." and more apt to read because some things were written that I might believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and believing find life in His name. And because some things were written for my example that I could avoid the pitfalls that others have fallen into. I don't have all the answers but do know that I have no other good place to turn in my journey towards answers. That is good enough for me today.

Preaching and the Power of the Word

So it has been awhile since I wrote last. When you have nothing significant to say it does not seem prudent to waste words just trying to remain current on your blog site. When you add to that the fact that no one reads what you write anyway then there really is no impetus to blog. But I find myself returning to the reason why I started this site and that was to express my own rambling thought process as I painfully make my way from the center of the evangelical camp to some as yet undefined location on my spiritual journey.

So here is today's thought. For the last three weeks I have had the opportunity to preach in the South Royalton church and the experience served to confirm two things....first, I do have the spiritual gifting of preacher/teacher, and second, God puts power in the message I bring. When I look back at the last three weeks I sense that there is even more power to change hearts present than when I was first ordained. I have changed significantly since that time and it is evident in my preparation and message. For one thing, although I preach from the word of God, usually the Gospel lectionary reading for the particular Sunday, I preach about the living Word of God, Jesus. Kathy always tells me, "Just tell me about Jesus". And I find that when I remain true to that simple principle, that there is power in the message, it is contemporary for all of the cross section of the congregation present, and it is heartfelt. One of the reasons I no longer count myself in the evangelical camp (at least the way it is usually defined) is that they tend to make a god out of the written scripture and do all sorts of contortions to defend it (more on that later) when they should be concentrating on the true revelation of God found in Jesus. It almost seems as if Jesus' condemnation of the Pharisees in John 5:39 has come to pass in these ultra evangelicals, "You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life, and it is these that bear witness to Me."