The Changing Church

By Rick Chromey

“No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined” (Matthew 9:16, 17).

I love the church! I grew up in the pew. Fellowship dinners, Ping-Pong contests, perfect attendance pins, and flannelgraph memories frame my early church experience. I was weaned on fiery sermons, sword drills, two-week VBS, and hymns.

But let”s be honest””the church of my childhood is history. Like an old wineskin, it struggles to survive and succeed. But most of us know that already. We”re recognizing something bigger than a fad or trend is shifting things around. An epoch cultural change””driven by technological revolution””has created a world that is global, interactive, image-driven, experiential, digital, fluid, connected, tolerant, and spiritual.

Consequently, pioneering efforts to manufacture new wineskins have emerged. It doesn”t mean old wineskins are wrong, it”s just that fewer people are drinking from them. In a Starbucks world, it”s hard for church coffee to compete. And that”s the problem. We”ve got divine “Jesus java” (a superior blend), but we brew it weak and serve it lukewarm. Our coffee beans are fine, but our brewing and presentation need work.

From “Club” to “Community”
The modern church”s problem is that culture doesn”t understand us. We”ve created a Christian “club” (within a deeper “Christian” subculture) where membership is everything. Once inside, our rules, rites, and rituals define and distinguish. Fish symbols and crosses. Coded prayer language. Christian-ese dialects. From Communion to baptism, we learn the rules, shake hands, and go home.

In the old world, this made sense. Structure, passivity, and membership were normal. Institutions such as businesses and colleges created clones and clubs. In a cookie-cutter world, where misfits were marginalized, the “club” idea worked well (first class, coach, and steerage). Modern Christianity preached to “be in, but not of, the world” (which meant exclusivity, doctrinal purity, and rites of passage). Consequently, the church culture adopted many nonbiblical rules to funnel proselytes through proper dress, music, or other lifestyle codes (resulting in legalism). Church leaders evolved into CEOs, presidents, and judges.

But “members only” clubs are dying beasts (e.g. the Moose and Elks). The Masonic Lodge, even with its altruism and philanthropy, has flat-lined. These clubs are being replaced by communities.

The Internet alone has spawned numerous communities with minimal membership rules. Ebay advertises itself as an auction community. Yahoo! is an online mall where people gather to discuss hobbies, interests, or lifestyles. Chatrooms and instant messaging create immediate community. Fantasy sports have single-handedly reinvented professional sports.

The most popular events are community-rich: spring break getaways, motorcycle rallies, or Super Bowl parties. A popular new trend is “flash mobs” where a group gathers to hawk a product or protest an idea before a camera.

The impact to the church is we need to creatively reclaim community and perhaps rethink “membership.” Cyber community is good, but deep relationships are better. What if worship was “karaoke” with spontaneous testimonies? What if churches became 24/7/365 sanctuaries for prayer, Communion, meditation, and connection? What if we built bigger foyers and fellowship halls and smaller auditoriums? What if couches replaced pews? What if we thought multisite, multiday, multistyle?

From “Rules” to “Relationships”
The modern world loved rules. The Enlightenment (science and reason) invoked a world of sound structures. The church””seeking relevance to moderns””embraced fixed formats: service orders and three-point sermons, the sciences of biblical interpretation (hermeneutics) and apologetics. The church propagated laws and principles, from salvation to learning to church growth. Theologians (using deductive reasoning) boxed up God for future dissection and discussion, literally stripping divinity of his mystery and majesty. Dissenters were labeled, disfellowshipped, or isolated, creating divisions and denominations.

Megatrend author John Naisbitt rightly predicted a high-tech world unleashes high-touch opportunities. Technology fuels relational hunger. Cell phones, e-mail, and pagers create immediate emotional need (just watch how everyone scrambles to answer their cell phone!). Reality television provides a window into relationships that are messy, goofy, carnal, and spiritual. When Survivor “all-stars” Rob and Amber fell in love, was anyone surprised? Reality shows reveal relational dysfunctions and unmask authentic motives and meaning, values and vices.

Quantum physics has uncovered a world of relationships, not rules. The subatomic world is chaotic and unpredictable. Similarly, relationships are messy and disorderly, ripe with false motives, bad decisions, and poor values. This chaotic truth is tempered in the church by a Spirit-breathed, grace-full fellowship that forgives, risks, and serves. Relationships can”t be manufactured or programmed (which explains why “small groups ministries” often struggle to succeed.).

What does this mean to the church? First, the church needs to resist counting “nickels and noses” as signs of success and rethink Sunday-only programming. Tomorrow”s churches (and seminaries) will undoubtedly resemble 24/7 spiritual health centers, featuring support/activity groups, crisis counseling, online biblical teaching, service learning, and experiential worship.¹

From “Words” to “Images”

Image is everything and metaphor is in.

If September 11 is mentioned, what do you see? If I say Challenger shuttle what comes to mind? If you hear the name Michael Jordan, what happens? You probably see images: towers on fire, a spaceship explosion, and a last-minute basketball heroic.

The modern world was constructed on Gutenberg technology. It was driven by words: books and libraries, newspapers and journals, debates and argument. For hundreds of years, the modern world mass-produced words. The church, seeking cultural relevance, followed suit. The Bible was divided into chapters and verses (then studied and paraphrased). Hymns are ordered prose. Martin Luther sparked a reformation with 95 Theses. Alexander Campbell mobilized restoration through writing and debate. In a word world, such strategies spoke volumes.

The advent of moving pictures, television, and virtual technology created new ways to process information. Since the first televised debate in 1960, presidential elections have hinged on image. Advertising is image. Communicators like Steven Spielberg, Michael Moore, Mel Gibson, and the Wachowski brothers invoke images.

The emergent church craves scriptural, image-soaked metaphors. Fire symbolizes God”s presence. Water denotes cleansing and purity. Wind represents movement and life. Jesus is a rock, gate, shepherd, and pearl. The church/kingdom resembles a net, field, body, and bride. Postmodern communicators use stories, metaphors, and video clips to cast “eye-deas.”

Media ministers are the hot new staff hire. Will “image consultants” be next? What if PowerPoint sermons were naturally picturesque (with few, if any, words)? What if worship lyrics used moving “live” images? What if the Word really became flesh again through video clips and object lessons?

From “Destination” to “Journey”
Today”s most common cultural metaphor for life is “journey,” such as television”s Amazing Race. Life is a road trip filled with pit stops and potholes, accidents and incidents.

The modern world that preceded us was about conquest and destination. Questions needed answers. Everything had a bottom line (reduce/deduce). In contrast, our emergent culture prefers confusion and doubt, investigation and inquiry. It prefers to depart, disappear, and be “abducted.”² Homes have evolved from castles into cathedrals””sacred retreats. Trendy weddings take place at beaches, underwater, or in the air. People are moving south and west, toward mountains and ocean.

The modern church was manufactured like a “field of dreams.” If you build it, they will come. We framed facilities as a focus. Many preachers brag on their buildings, budgets, and “body counts,” but overlook body life. Church growth outweighs church health. Have you seen these rules? “No coffee in the sanctuary” and “no refreshments on the new carpet.” Essentially, we want buildings free of spills, messes, goofs, and gaffes. But people are all those things. The body stinks and stutters, burps and bites, tumbles and trembles. You can”t regulate life. It”s messy. Stuff happens.

Life often resembles the troubled and disillusioned Emmaus disciples who trudged home with heavy hearts. Their faith was tested. Their messianic theology was questioned. Perhaps they debated whether to stay connected to the Jerusalem believers (maybe they were packing it in).

And then Jesus showed up, but they didn”t recognize him. The stranger walked and talked, listened and learned. He let them unload their emotional baggage. He embraced their doubt. He explained Scripture. Finally, in a moment of deep communion, the Lord revealed his identity, then disappeared.

I don”t get it. The disciples walked miles with Jesus and didn”t know him. They conversed with him and didn”t recognize him. In the past, they witnessed his miracles and still doubted. Jesus even hid himself and let them sulk. It”s messy and murky””and I love it. Life is lived out of darkness and doubt, trials and tests.

Picture This . . .
What if we communicated faith as a dusty (even dangerous) journey? Or operated like Southwest Airlines (“You”re now free to spiritually move about the kingdom”) or turned television”s Amazing Race into Amazing Grace? What if “church” seemed more like postcards than subscription notices? Could pastors become travel agents and tour guides instead of police officers and lawyers?

Can we put the wheels back on church (“The Great Go-Mission”)? When was the last time your church immersed a true “new” believer? Not a child. Not a sprinkled, formerly-churched adult. Not a baptism-resistant disciple. Tragically, even in the largest churches, the answer can be months, even years.

New wine (with new wineskins for portability) draws thirsty people.

If I”ve created questions, that”s good. My mind pulses with them and I”m allergic to prescriptive answers. Every part of the body looks different. Authentic emergent ministry will be creatively contextualized to geography, social need, and cultural bridges. No single wineskin fits all.

That”s why I love the church!

It”s big enough for everyone, including you and me.

Especially you and me.

__________

¹In November 2004, I attended Andy Stanley”s North Point church (Alpharetta, Georgia) and was amazed at how well it creates relevant community (and attracts Gen-Xers). The Sunday topic was pornography and Stanley chose a “couch set” to interview a couple who divorced due to infidelity rooted in pornography. The service included “video testimonies” to introduce those being baptized and a techno rock band to open worship. The building looks more like a community center than a church and is open seven days a week.

²Leonard Sweet and Brian McLaren coined this term for their excellent dictionary of postmodern language, A Is for Abductive (Zondervan, 2003).

Rick Chromey teaches in the Sack School of Bible and Ministries at Kentucky Christian University, Grayson, Kentucky.