churches.

What is the Church.
What is it that a person gets from church?
I ask this as I am spending a Saturday afternoon at Family Camp. Our family spends one weekend each year at the camp that our church sponsors. It is a time, at least for me, of focus. When you remove the outside world from your family; access to television, radio, the internet, even cellphone coverage, it creates a situation that is not common enough in our day to day world.
There is an odd dynamic at work here. It is almost as though being in this environment brings out the best in us as parents. Our patience level is heightened. Our vices are sworn away. And our children and spouses become a primary topic.
To me, Church, and its environments, are social institutions. We hold these institutions in such high regard, and with such high respect, that allowing ourselves an extended stay in them changes our normal day to day behaviors. Because those around us are also in the same frame of mind, we find ourselves in a culture which promotes behaving in the ways that we really should be doing anyway.
In our normal lives, it is admissible to not be focused on these things. There are plenty of excuses. We have to make a living, maintain the yard and house, and so on… As I have said before, “the things you own…” So we do not act in the manner all of the time that the environment of church encourages.
So what is the church? How does it have this effect? I’m not asking whether you believe in God. I’m not getting into the idea of faith at all. I’m asking what the dynamic is in a church that creates this sort of a culture. I don’t feel as though I am under any kind of social pressure to behave in some way when I’m here. I also don’t feel as though there is anyone judging my behavior. But yet my behavior changes.
It almost seems as if the removal of the outside world and the forces of it brings a person back to self. In the case of most people that I know, this is a good thing. We find ourselves behaving to a higher standard than we do when surrounded by the normal stresses of life.
I believe that this is the essence of Church. Given the fact that the ideals of the Church center around basic good, and not so good, human behavior, it is only natural that we would find ourselves apiring to that standard. When you are in some of the other environments of life, you work to their standards. Salespeople behave a certain way. Guys act a certain way at the bar. Any social institution that you will find in your life has its own set of social rules.
The fact that the church has survived for so long is to me an example of the strength of those feelings that adhering to its social rules creates. Any social entity that maintains its own existence for a long time seems to be similar in that it creates strong feelings amongst its participants. That is what determines the power of a social institution.
The church is a powerful force. Bear in mind that most of the worlds wars have been fought over differences in the beliefs of the church. A person needs to be severely affected by a belief system in order to go out with their friends and neighbors and fight, willing to accept death, to protect that belief system. I cant think of a stronger social institution than that.
And why does it have such strength? I think it has a level of intoxication about it.
Yes. Intoxication. Like alchohol. Or nicotine. Or sex. Or cocaine. Or marijuana. Intoxication.
Think about this. I am sitting on the roof of a boathouse. Shooting the breeze with my best friend as we stare out at a beautiful view of the lake. I have spent the last 24 hours almost entirely with those people who are most important to me. We have spent a great deal of time with our focus on God. WE are relaxed, well fed, thankful, and spiritually satisfied. I feel great.
Just as if I were intoxicated.
What does this have to do with the power of the church? Back to the wars concept. Think prohibition. Think about the “war on drugs” There are endless examples of our willingness to fight for that which intoxicates us. And it certainly is evident that the church can have the effect.
Why don’t we get this feeling through our normal Sunday morning sessions more often? I know that in my own case it seems that the filling of my soul tends to take a back seat to the fulfilling of our service’s routines and chants. When the members of your congregation can recite the prayers and what-not without having to think about what happens next; how intoxicating can your service really be?
I have never opened a beer because I wanted the same effect as a glass of water.
This explains to me the reasons that most Americans do not understand the idea of a holy war. We do not as a people find our spirituality, or our religion, to be very intoxicating. In other words, we don’t get enough joy or hope from either one to understand the people of the world who do get that level of joy and hope. It just isn’t very powerful for us.
I hear a lot lately about the “new churches” or the “mega churches” in the circles that I socialize. Most of the comments are not very complimentary. I hear about attendees who are “ not REAL Christians “
Most of the banter seems to come from the same folks who attend churches like mine. “go in peace and serve the lord” “thanks be to god” And I don’t think that they really understand what the missing dynamic in the growing churches is. I hear them talking about the institutions with words like permissive, and casual, and oddly enough the word open.
I don’t think that I can find any reference anywhere in the bible that indicates that Jesus decided someone wasn’t worth his time for any of those reasons.
Further. Perhaps, and just maybe, Could it be that these churches are growing because people actually get something out of going to their services? Do you think? Maybe these are growing because people feel an intoxication to the level that they are willing to (heaven forbid) put something into the offering plate?
Needless to say, Im really tired of people slamming each others church, but oddly enough; that’s how wars start.
Isnt it interesting to be institutionalized?