July 30, 2008
Can't Take My Eyes Off of You...
One day a few months ago there was a striking grey haired gentleman working out at the fitness center, I’d never seen before, or since. His stature was similar to that of a six foot-plus tall Marine drill sergeant, perfectly overlaid with sculptured muscles. Most of us in the club were respectful enough not to gawk, however you couldn’t miss the stolen glances mixed with admiration and covetousness that were flying around the room. I can remember past years in the church where I could watch a few fellow believers with admiration and a little bit of covetousness. One person might have rock hard faith, another strong moral character and others possessed unwavering dedication to the Word. I know there are still people in the church with those same characteristics, but I don’t see them very often any more. Most of them have been relegated to the pew or the small group where they no longer have an opportunity to flex their spiritual muscles. I suppose it does keep the rest of us from gawking in admiration.
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Gail;
The social system of the church has been changed so much that the visibility of those having rock hard faith, strong moral character, and dedication to the Word has been moved from one venue to more restricted ones, the small groups and the leader’s pet programs. If one of these more mature Christians desires to maintain relevance within the contemporary church, he must go to the place of outlet the leaders have made for the visibility of his particular talent. Allow me to illustrate. When I was a child, at Christmas time we would go looking at homes around town decorated for the Lord’s Season. Most homes, not all, but certainly most, placed the Christmas tree before the front window as the center of the display, clearly visible from the street. But as social change was pressed upon us, having been shamed and cajoled into viewing the Season more as a Winter celebration, many homes began displaying the tree in less prominent windows, or moving it to an interior wall away from any window altogether. If one still wanted a view of that Christmas tree, the venue chosen by the family for its display would need to be found. And in the case of some venues, getting that desired glimpse of the tree might well run the risk of arrest as a peeping Tom, so hidden from public sight was it.
The mindset of these contemporary churches pays much attention to an often shared statistical tidbit: most visitors will make the decision to return to a church within their first eight to ten minutes of presence. To this mindset that places numbers before all else, that is a stat for sober recognition. Like a babe dressing for a hot date, every hair must be in proper position to make the greatest attraction within the first impression. Those brethren of rock hard faith might foul the air with formality if left exposed in the front room. Those with strong moral character might make the front room feel too small if left out in sight. And those having dedication to the Word might look like chains and shackles if left within view of the front window.
Friday evening I attended a three hour seminar that will register in the whole annals of my life as one of its few most significant eureka moments. In this seminar, the speaker, Dean Gotcher, made a simple observation about the contemporary movement that was striking. The word “contemporary” is derived from the Latin prefix “con” meaning “with”, and “temporary” meaning “momentary”. Whether by the spiritual maturing of those who had subverted the impressions of a sizable mass of humanity to have lapped up this new church paradigm, or whether by the actual intervention of Christ’s return, this intellectually vacant philosophy will indeed be confined to a mere moment of history. The sooner that moment ends, the sooner the wisdom, the knowledge, and the foundation of the church can be placed back in view of the front window.
Love,
Steve Corey
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