“Everybody knows that the boat is leaking/ everybody knows that the captain lied/
everybody got this broken feeling/
like their father or their dog just died" Don Henley
I’ve spent over 60 years in the segment of Christianity known as evangelical. This cuts a wide swathe and my involvement has been in non-charismatic and charismatic, liturgical and contemporary, fundamentalist and progressive. Over the years I’ve tasted a range of leadership roles in evangelism, worship and preaching (a counsellor I am not!)
Reflecting on my experiences one sad reality stands out –
the unwillingness of so many, including the majority of leaders, to engage in
the tough questions, and face the truth.
The result is that while everybody knows what’s going on, leaders are in
denial and followers are hoping it’s not true.
Jesus said the truth will set us free but most of us don’t really
believe it.
- Everybody knows that our fixation with
buildings and equipment has resulted in an inordinate waste of money while the
poor are increasingly at our door. And
we know what Jesus thinks of this.
- Everybody knows that the Bible isn’t inerrant,
if by inerrant we mean that every word was dictated by God and is perfect and
true. There’s just too many changes in
translation and examples of cultural religious and political influence on the
translation process.
- Everybody knows that the professionalization
of youth ministry has disempowered families, neutered wise elderly people, and
produced a shallow generation of Christians.
- Everybody knows that the over 50’s are
leaving institutional church in their droves and that leadership refuse to
discuss with them the why.
- Everybody knows there is a leadership
crisis in both church and mission. Sexual predation, bullying, insecurity,
burnout, drivenness, pride, dishonesty ... are rife and taking their toll.
- Everybody knows that the claims made by
all our evangelical events, are bogus.
The numbers just don’t add up.
- Everybody knows that the decades of a
therapeutic approach to Gospel and ministry hasn’t produced a healthier, more
balanced church.
- Everybody knows that our taking the moral
high ground in society, on issues like sexuality, family life, justice... , in
fact most issues , is bankrupt. That
even if we think we have the right to speak, most everyone else wishes we would
shut up and listen for a while.
- Everybody knows that our worship has been
hijacked by the music business, lacks substance, and is largely repetitive.
However, the greatest tragedy is that however imperfectly
you love Jesus, love people, and live a life of service, if you raise any of
these issues ... everybody knows you can
expect to be blasted. Reasoned dialogue
will disappear under a barrage of labelling (liberal, rebellious, disloyal, etc)
that enables everybody to retreat back in to their factions, and the status quo
remain.
Everybody knows...
but no-one’s talking.
No comments:
Post a Comment