Jack’s Buzz

2009 should be the year of things not to do. Everywhere I look, people are giving me stuff to do. Lose weight, go to bed early, eat more veg, watch less TV, file your paperwork, blah, blah, blah. Honestly, I’m sick of it. 

Still, if I do nothing, well, nothing gets done. I can’t do nothing. Then I feel worse than I did doing too many things–even if they were the wrong things. Maybe I need to do different things? Maybe Jesus has ideas. 

John 13

1. Stop taking yourself so seriously. Let go of your independence, and let him fill you to the point that you can wash someone’s stinky feet. This will be hard to do.

2. Wash your enemy’s feet too. This will be really hard to do. I’ll have to completely abandon myself; let Christ work through me literally. I cannot be nice to a jerk without… well, I cannot be nice to a jerk, period. Christ will have to do that for me.

3. Start loving people NOT as I want to be loved (I’m so subjective), but as Christ loved me. He raised the bar. I can’t do it. See #1-2.

4. If you’re a preacher, let people ask questions. Jesus did. Most of us who listen to you week in, week out, are really getting tired of you doing all the talking. See #1.

John 14

5. Remember that JESUS is the way, the truth, the life. Not our sermons, programs, teaching, seminaries, or clean bathrooms. Jesus. That’s it. See #1.

6. Pray in Jesus’ name not as a magic incantation, but as his representative. Know what he wants to do before asking ANYTHING in his name. Most of our prayers are terribly presumptuous. See #1 again.

7. Remember that the Holy Spirit talks to all the believers–we’re all priests of God. We seem to be losing that idea. Recapture it. See #1 (OK, all of these start and end with #1, don’t they?).

8. Stop being afraid. Stop being afraid of anything. 

John 15

9. Get into this abiding thing. This may just be a restatement of #1. Whatever. He is trying to live through you and me. All of us at the same time. Let him. The results will change the world and amaze the Executive Committee (who seem to be able to do…nothing). 

10.  Be happy. The world hates you; so what? Be a happy witness. See #1.

Ten is enough. Read the Bible and you might find some more, but they all come back to being happy and filled with Jesus Christ. 

Happy, happy 2009.

Frank Viola (not the pitcher) wrote a book attempting to trace the roots of Western Christian practices. No one noticed until George Barna co-authored a revised version. Bang! This book hits like body blows from a middle-weight contender. Oof! Another and another.

When I first told my parents I was reading this book they looked at me with mild curiosity. It reminded me of the time at 15 when I told them I’d wrecked the car. I explained Viola’s idea and their eyes widened. It was one of those moments when one tells his parents something for which they have absolutely no categories. They can neither confirm nor deny. They cannot react other than, “Uh, that’s interesting, son?” Kids live for those moments.

Reading Pagan, I found myself reacting as the parent. “Uh, what Frank? Where did you get that?” Fortunately, Frank (and George) have done some homework and given us a footnoted text. Their research is not PhD level (it does not include opposing views), but it’s not chopped liver either. I’d like the book better if Frank lowered his voice (odd how some books give you the feeling that the author is yelling angrily), and included thoughts from the other side of the aisle. 

I’m going to skim over the book. For the sake of space, you only get a few of the topics that ran up and sniffed me like a dog at junkyard. 

Thesis

Viola and Barna tell us that most church traditions cannot be found in the Bible, but have Pagan Greek or Roman origins, and are, therefore contributing to the death of Western Christianity. They are right about Western Christianity’s need for life, and they make a good case for their cause. Still, I am not completely convinced that the problems they site cause the cancers they find. Like House, we know this pathology has an origin, but we need some more work to make an accurate diagnosis.

My conclusion

Read the book. Buy it, read it, mark it up. Read it before Christmas if you can. You will be the hit of every party that you attend. Check the authors’ sources and write a review. Give the book to your friends (or enemies) for Christmas–lovely gift, yes? Ask your small group to go through it when things turn grey in late January and February. You will have lively, toasty discussions, I guarantee! 

A few nibbles 

The big deal, according to the authors, is that non-Christian philosophy currently rules the Christian church. As evidence, the authors repeatedly site the passivity that marks most church members’ lives. They strike at the roots of passivity, naming those roots abandonment of Scripture, hierarchical structure, and anonymity among others. 

Of course, anyone might shoot a hole or two in their argument by testifying that his or her church gatherings are not anonymous, man-centered, or extra-biblical, but the authors stand on their experience and research. George Barna is, after all, synonymous with first-rate Christian research. He and Frank Viola paint with broad strokes, but how could they do otherwise? In the end, the book reveals much in the Western churches that needs to change. 

As for Scripture, Viola and Barna point out many instances where Christian practices link to the Old Testament law, cultural convenience, or pagan practices. They are right to caution believers to look carefully at their church’s practices and decide for themselves if they align with the Lord’s will. In that sense, one must appreciate their slight humility that encourages the brothers and sisters to decide matters for themselves. Despite the allegations of a few of their critics, Viola and Barna make a point not to demand conformity. 

Still, the book is so forceful and direct in its language and conclusions that Viola and Barna cannot hep but sound a bit angry. Of course, if they’re right, we should all be angry! Their tone cannot help but suggest that their way is the right way, which is exactly the criticism they level at legacy churches. This has, no doubt, turned many readers off. It might be wise for the authors to adjust their tone even lower in a third edition, and I hope a third is in the works.

Clerical hierarchy

Viola and Barna direct their harshest voice at the clergy/laity distinction and clerical hierarchy. They believe that the Christian clergy base their supremacist acts on pagan philosophical grounds. Where Jesus and Paul specifically told Christians not to lord over one another, most Pastors do precisely that. The authors’ reasoning is sound. No less a theologian than Karl Barth wanted to banish the word “laity” from the Christian vocabulary. 

Passivity among disciples results from the hierarchical structure that stretches even to the architecture of Christian buildings. People sit back to front instead of facing one another as in one’s living room, so real interaction rarely occurs. Moreover, the Pastor usually acts as chief (only?) spokesman, and often seems to be de facto mediator between the Christian and God. To have one speaker (preacher) week in and week out is a pagan practice. In fact, the sermon, as we know it, is based more on Greek rhetoric than any biblical model. (My professor of preaching colleagues will enjoy dismembering that argument, or its messengers.)

New Testament churches allowed, encouraged, even commanded, all Christians to bring a psalm, hymn, or word from the Lord to the ecclesia (gathering). The Christian practice in the early church included far more activity and responsibility from individuals. By elevating preaching (or the Eucharist) above Jesus as the central point of Protestant, Baptist, or liturgical worship, the churches created believers that are void of personal responsibility with God’s word. (I told you Barna and Viola were rough.)

Tithing

The authors find the standard practice of tithing to be biblical but not Christian. They believe the tithe is more attached to a pragmatic need to pay for buildings and staff salaries than Christian practices of caring for the poor and widows, and giving out of a joyful heart. 

Costumes

Sunday morning costumes–suits, dresses, and clerical robes–also have their roots in paganism. The criticism is not so much that dark magic happens when one wears his or her “Sunday best,” but that it creates a sense of pridefulness where one Christian tries to outdo another. The authors give a wink to contemporary churches’ casual styles, but barely.

Education

Christian education does not escape their gaze. Nothing in the New Testament or early church history (before Constantine, 330 AD) can be found to advocate seminaries or Bible colleges. Moreover, the Sunday Schools that started out simply to get impoverished children off the streets have now become programs that teach in way more akin to Plato and the Enlightenment than Jesus or Paul. 

The New Testament teaches believers to educate one another as we walk through life: character is education’s goal. Character leads to good decisions and a life abiding in Christ. The Bible was taught as a whole–a holistic collection of narratives, history, experiences, poetry, visions, and reflections on how God works and how people tick. The fully formed, first century disciple seems better equipped than today’s version to know how to pray, how to be a witness, and to make a disciple. 

Contemporary Christian education seems to believe that knowledge is the goal that leads to right decisions. The Bible is taught in broken pieces rather than holistically. Proof-texting and eisegesis (reading meaning into the text) are common. Few disciples are fully formed. Many, perhaps the majority, of Western church members spend 40 or 50 years in “Bible studies,” but have no clue how to make spiritually mature decisions or other disciples. 

New Testament education focuses on steady, long-term growth toward Christlikeness. It aims to present people to Christ as fully formed disciples. Contemporary education interests itself in efficiency. It aims to fit as many people as possible in a room to teach them the some material. The former offers no prize but Christ and maybe some suffering along the way. The latter offers prizes for completing tasks (certificates and diplomas). The former builds character, the latter builds pride. Ouch!

The authors’ goal

In the end, Barna and Viola want Christians to restructure their churches. They see the churches’ waning influence and losing ground to a godless culture day by day. They believe the problem is not that God has grown silent or that he no longer works through his people. Christians have wandered off Christ’s path, steadily going astray for the last 1800 years. The church can find its way by returning to simple New Testament practices. 

It seems that Barna and Viola want us all to dress down, read our Bibles, and meet in house churches prepared to say something that indicates we’ve been with God that week. All the Pastors and church staff should find secular jobs, and we should sell all the buildings. The extra money should be used to send apostolic church planters out into the harvest fields, and to care for the poor, the sick, the widows, and prisoners. It’s an intriguing proposal, I admit.

Wow, but they are going to make a lot of enemies with that message, aren’t they? What do you think? Please do not make ad hominem arguments (look it up). Tell me why church practices are OK, or not OK. Back up your claims with your stories, or (better) Scripture. What are your experiences? What will you do the same or differently and why? 

I told you this book would make you think–unless, of course, you don’t want to think. Last week, I contacted Frank Viola. I wanted to make sure he wasn’t the guy who pitched for the Twins in the 80s. He’s not, but he is a man who deeply wants to follow Christ. In many ways, his work puts mine to shame. I hope he will weigh in on my review, but more than that, I hope we can all work to make our lives pleasing to Jesus. He is Lord of every church and we Western Christians might want to act like it.