Our Culture Speaks for Itself

Each of my last two posts have started with a confession, so I might as well let us keep up the pattern.

After all, “it’s the way we’ve always done it.”

Here you go.

Here’s my confession.

Don’t judge me.

I watch entirely too much TV.

Please excuse me while I go hide from your condescending stares.

I know that I’m one of millions in the US who can make this claim. Maybe you’re one of them.

Because I watch so much TV I’ve developed an extra hobby; I like working on my laptop while watching my favorite shows. Truth be told, I have SportsCenter on while I type this post. To me, working while watching is like dumping M&Ms into your popcorn at the movies. Or eating Cheerios with sliced bananas. Or … no, I’ll stop there. Nothing beats eating Cheerios with sliced bananas. Except eating Honey Nut Cheerios with sliced bananas. God smiles on that combination.

These combinations are the delicate balance of crunchy and smooth, salty and sweet, ministry and secular. Now, do I think that watching TV without working is a sin? No. That’s silly. Can one get carried away with it and disconnect from the world or forget about God’s call in our lives? Yes. That can be said for lots for things (if not everything). So if you’ve already started sharpening your sticks, lower your weapons. I’m not not here to lecture. I’m here to pick your brain. If it will help you relax and yet prepare to work with me, please, go get some popcorn. And M&Ms. … I already ate all the Cheerios.

Let’s get to business.

This understanding of combinations is a powerful tool, and it’s powerful not only because the qualities of each part complement the other but also because each part helps us to understand the other. Combinations are a powerful tool, indeed, and it’s a tool the Church doesn’t utilize as we should. Borrowing a concept from Dr. Joerg Rieger, when the Church is called to be “the point of intersection between the Kingdom of God and society” our very existence and mission straddles multiple realities. We are a “city on a hill,” yet we are called to be “among the people.” We are corporately and individually outwardly focused (“love one another,” serve “the least of these”), yet we are inwardly growing (“As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another,” and being members of the body of Christ). We even understand Jesus to be fully divine and fully human, and finally, our God is a Triune God–Father, Son, Holy Spirit.

To our core, we are a combination of combinations. This makes us stronger. This makes us vibrant. This makes us different from others yet allows us to connect and find shared values. This makes us who God wants us to be.

So, fellow Church, why are we so slow to appreciate the strengths of our culture? Why do we build walls while the rest of the world evolves? Why do we cling to “it’s the way we’ve always done it” and deny new methods of communication and growth?

… Please put down those pointy sticks. Besides, I have my own pointy stick. It’s a pencil, and it’s time for me to take notes from you.

In my athletic training of channel surfing I have found a show called “Hotel Impossible.” In this show, this really cool, bald pastor, I mean hotelier, helps turn dying churches, I mean hotels, with no guests, I mean … guests, into thriving communities. He goes to the places where people have the worst experiences and helps them to become magnetic places where people want to be. He helps those charged with offering great service understand that it’s not about hours clocked or old patterns of operations, it’s about relationships and mutual experiences and caring and listening and communicating and being present. He’s not Jesus. He doesn’t talk about religion at all. He speaks for our culture and for us–the secular side of us. He explains why we communicate the way we do, and why some hotels are being left in the dust. When I watch Hotel Impossible, I know he’s speaking to the Church from the other side of that wall we’ve built. He’s giving us a window into our culture, and he’s nice enough to clean it with Windex. And he’s smiling.

If we just listen and turn this combination of holy vs. secular into holy and secular, we’ll learn how to adopt new ways to do our old and sacred mission. New wineskins for new wine, right? If we listen, Anthony Melchiorri, that hotel shepherd, I mean consultant, will show us the proven, new ways to take the proven, old Gospel into the world. He will help those charged with offering great service understand that it’s not about hours clocked or old patterns, it’s about relationships and mutual experiences and caring and listening and communicating and being present. He’ll help us to go to the places where people have the worst experiences and help us to be magnetic people. We are watched as a city on a hill; now let’s be among the people and speak their language. After all, we’re already sharing the same experiences. We’re already enjoying the same TV shows. We’re already sharing the same struggles and sins. And we already have the same Savior.

Let’s learn from the world so that it can learn from us.

“It’s the way we’ve always done it.”

Any of this remind you of your church?

Where else can we learn? Where else can we cross-train to gain insight about our culture? What fields show us who is hurting, who needs to feel grace and peace the most, and what systems in our society prevent others from enjoying and fully experiencing their God-given life? What is our world shouting from the other side of the wall? Who is standing with Anthony Melchiorri on the other side of the window, smiling? What TV shows should I DVR?

Leave your suggestions in the comments, please.