Church or Churchy?

Premise:

The church should unabashedly be The Church.

But what does this mean? Certainly that we should not be ashamed of the gospel. Certainly that there must be no compromise in who we are and what we stand for. Certainly that people shouldn't have to wonder what it is that we're all about, for it should be plain as...well...you know...a light of the world, a city on a hill (Matthew 5:14).

Problem:

The church IS unabashedly churchy.

I've watched my own particular church become churchier and churchier over time. I suspect that this is an entirely regular occurence as churches grow and people become more and more settled in the community of faith. But this settledness often means a turning inward and a holding on to traditions and jargon and attitudes and a whole churchy subculture that actually has little to do with being The Church.

I'm sure that I have inadvertantly contributed to this increased churchiness, in particular through my own unreflected use of church jargon and theological language that might alienate rather than embrace (I'm talking here about choice of words and NOT the concepts!).

All of this makes me sad. We are saddling the life changing Christ with the baggage of churchiness so that He becomes nearly unrecognizable. Under the banner of "the church is SUPPPOSED to be different" (and it is supposed to be), we simply are different in the directions and styles and activities that we like and that let us live in a place of Christian nostalgia. And we wonder why the world doesn't flock to our doors?

And you know? A call to be go out there and extend the gospel is not enough. We need to be out there extending THE GOSPEL, not our brand of experience. And maybe even this language of "being out there" itself is inward looking churchiness. We need to be truly incarnational where our experience is embedded in Christ AND in the real world. That means stripping away the baggage to allow Jesus Christ to be clearly seen.

So what can we do? I like Paul's words in I Corinthians 2:2 (NIV):

For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

This seems a good place to start.

I'm feeling particularly inarticulate with this post. I suspect that it's rather churchy in tone and language. But I'll probably continue to messily stumble around this theme, for the reality I see and experience is breaking my heart.

Comments

[Nate]

Perhaps we all could use some time with people who don't regard Jesus very much and figure out why... sort of related to the Kathy Griffin post. Thanks, man.

[john]

I want to understand church vs. churchy, but I don't. At a BP Safety meeting we talk about BP safety. At a company business meeting we talk about company business. At a Chtistian worship service we talk about Christ worship. Can you give me examples (perhaps from last Sunday's service) where you "have inadvertantly contributed to this increased churchiness, in particular through (your) own unreflected use of church jargon and theological language that might alienate rather than embrace"?

As I began, I want to understand, but I don't.