I'm in deep.
Figuratively, and literally, as I am actually sitting inside James River right now. Turns out that the JRA atrium is much more conducive to my concentration than is Starbucks, my kitchen, or the girltalk-infested grad student lounge at the top of Hill Hall. So I study at the church.
But I'm in deep.
The friend who came with me to James River yesterday posted a comment on her Facebook about the hypocrisy of the megachurch. I don't care what she actually posted. I have thought the same thing a million times. And written about it. I still don't know how to square a theology of extreme and radical Love with the capitalist empire that is the Christian movement in this country. James River is a part of that. And I don't really know what to say about it.
Two defenses jump to mind. One has to do with the fact that most other churches, even as they complain about the mega-church, want to be the James River of their area. Churches, like people, spend what they have. They live to their means. Thus, it might not be entirely fair to judge James River by a standard to which I wouldn't hold other churches, just because the transgression is more obvious here. The second defense has to do with ratios. If James River can, for a moment, be considered an entity similar to a person or a family unit, then there is a ratio of what is spent on needs/wants to what is given charitably in the name of Christ. I'd be willing to bet my Hillsong collection (which is surprisingly sizable and oft-used) that my ratio is not as good as James River's.
But... these defenses don't wipe the argument. There's still a valid concern there. How can we preach about steering clear of the world's wisdom and ways, and yet, spend such a massive amount of money on gorgeous facilities and services? It's a question that deserves an answer. And a good one. None of that ooey-gooey, I don't read books, Christian-ese crap.
I shouldn't say stuff like that. The reason I started writing about this is because I'm in deep, and I'm in deep because after my friend posted her critque on Facebook, several anti-church-ers posted this series of shallow and dismissive comment in agreement with her. And it hurt my feelings. I know. I know. What's happening to me?
So I shouldn't say stuff like that because no matter how well-founded the argument, the pettiness and mindlessness of peoples' comments hurts. What do any of them know of what goes on here? Have they been? More than one Sunday? More than just to make fun of it?
James River has flaws. It does. But we all have flaws. And if James River can be considered an entity or a person for another moment, I dare say that I've got a lot to learn from him. And that's why I'm here, despite my inability to answer the above-posed questions about the more material aspects of Christianity.
I don't have all of the answers. But I do know that these people have a chunk of the Truth.
As for my friend, she later followed up her original post with a comment on how, in all fairness, the message was good, and the people seemed spirit-filled. I think she knows, too. I could be wrong. Sometimes cynicism wins; it's always easier to be a cynic. But I think she knows.
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Ashley, I agree with you. She knows...but fear causes people to retreat to what is comfortable. Don't give up on your friend, though. Sometimes those walls have to come down one brick at a time.
ReplyDeleteK,
ReplyDeleteThanks. I think that sometimes, being an "outsider" christian, as I think my friend and I can be labeled as people who fall outside of mainstream Christianity, there's a tendency to "feed" the outsider crowds by giving them these sort of cynical sound bites, so that we can remain hep and valid to those "outside the fold." Though those soundbites might represent a valid argument, they're not always the whole story. I think that's what happened here, and I think my friend knew it, and I think she later added another comment, because she didn't want to be unfair.
Stephen Colbert spoke at Knox's graduation the year before mine, and he said something really great. He said that we should say yes to ideas, and thoughts, and life for as long as possible. And that most young people who claim to be wise to the ways of the world are mostly just cynics. And in cynicism is a willing turning away from truth, and a rejection of the possibilities, out of fear. Cynics say no. So say yes. :-)
It is easy to fall prey to giving those sound bites rather than engaging for so many reasons. I'm realizing right now that I have done that in a number of ways. I wanted to stay relevant, idea-wise, and so I made some things too easy, gave the wrong idea (both to myself and others), etc. So I get the issue.
I'm adding an addendum to my reply to your reply. :-)
ReplyDeleteI realize that my comments could be taken as very arrogant. That is, it could be perceived that I'm saying that James River is the only place that has the truth, and that she should definitely come there with me, and believe everything that I believe. And that I am some all-knowing master of wisdom, and thus can comment in such a way on her experience.
That's not what I'm intending. WHen I say, "I think she knows," I mean that I think she knows that the experience was bigger than just a question of materialism, and hypocrisy in the mega-church. I think she knows that there are good, and vital, and life-giving things going on in that church. I think she also realizes that there are issues that, at the VERY least, need explanation. So it wasn't invalid for her to make those comments on her FB, but again, sometimes, even a valid point can become somewhat smudged by its effects, regardless of what we intended that point to be/do. That is, if we know that we're giving people a truth, but that it will be perceived in a way that could alter the reception of its truthfulness...we've got a problem, and we need to figure out what we want to do. We might decide to stay the course, but still, the ramifications need to be thought out.
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