I had a great conversation with the guys over at caffeinated faith. The interview will be podcast later this week. I’ll let you know so you can listen to it if you want.
One of the issues that came out in the conversation was, of course, the church. I’m not “going” to one right now, and if my memory serves me, I think most of them aren’t regulars anywhere, for one reason or another. Many of my family and friends aren’t either. Our attachment and commitment to the organized church is suffering.
This is a generalization, but I’m seeing a progression (or digression)… a movement from within to without the church. I am speaking of the organized church. The institution. I see different groups and our movement among them:
- Those committed to a church and regular attenders.
- Those who have a church but aren’t regular.
- Those who consider a church their own but don’t go.
- Those who’ve left the church but not their faith. They might go to an alternative, like a house church.
- Those who have a Christian heritage and have no connection to the church nor the need for it.
- Those who have a Christian heritage and have left the faith.
- Those with no Christian heritage and have no connection.
Like I said, this is just a generalization. And it applies to what I’ve seen among my family and friends.
I have compassion for all these people. The organized church has had a historic monopoly on who is in and who is out. Many of these people still play by the church’s rules and understand themselves according to the church’s agenda, and therefore either find that they are excluded from the church and therefore alienated from the faith. They are either endorsed or disqualified by the church’s standards. It is good to doubt, question, explore and discover one’s own understanding. It is even necessary. But for many of the people I know this has been an illicit affair that cost them their membership within the church and even the faith official. Why? Often it’s because they still define themselves by the power’s definition of them.
Each one of us needs to come to terms with our own discoveries and understanding and live with confidence accordingly. We mustn’t allow any power or authority to define or determine our spiritual status. This doesn’t mean we reject the church. But we can, and indeed must, reject its poor opinion of us.
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Here’s a repeat of a post I did back last summer called 
out: The Five Things We Cannot Change: And The Happiness We Find By Embracing Them (Shambala, 2005). He claims that there are certain facts of life that we cannot change, unavoidable “givensâ€. They are:
I believe that the church as an organization is a part of creation and is just as susceptible to the principalities and powers as any other human institution. When we elevate the church to an ideal that is to be achieved, a goal to be reached, an image to attain, then it is immediately in danger of becoming possessed with a spirit, especially its own. And when it becomes so self-possessed, then the abuse of humanity, though sometimes subtle, can become demonic in proportions.
One of the most difficult things for anybody to be is themselves. Just themselves. It takes a lifetime of hard work and courage to discover who we are and to settle down to be that person. And that’s if we are willing. As Carl Jung once wrote: “Live your life or be dragged!”
I went to a conference this weekend. It was on ministry to the poor. It was okay. I always dread going to these things and my conclusions about such events are usually critical. But I really enjoy the chats I have with other people. The public demeanor is usually up, positive, triumphal, success-oriented, purposeful, driven, chock-full of advice and hope-filled dreams of future possibilities. Because this is what conferences are supposed to be like I suppose. But when I meet with people one on one, I am overwhelmed by the level of struggle, suffering and sadness they live under. We all come with our separate baggage, agendas and expectations, but seldom do we meet face to face to admit our own poverty and hopelessness. I am convinced that just as an individual must be brutally honest with him- or herself, and from there grows love and right action, so must a community. Surely we must’ve learned by now that the way we’ve gone about it in the past hasn’t worked. We are worse off than ever before. And I am sure that tweaking the system and our efforts will change nothing. There is a better way, the only way, and that is the radical transformation of me. Of you. And this will only begin if we stop and take an honest look at ourselves.The fine art photograph is taken by my friend, 
With my tongue in my cheek, I put together this list of how to be more you. Hope they help!
artist. cartoonist. teacher.
