I read this quote this week:
“help me to receive again my baptism, to live wet every day of my life, as a child of your covenant, set apart, scrubbed clean, & forgiven.”
I’ve been thinking a lot about the journey of faith and this thing we call “Christianity”. According to the source of all knowledge, Wikipedia, there are approximately 2.2 billion adherents to Christianity worldwide. Of course that means there are approximately 2.2 billion different readings, understandings and theologies that make up the church. This isn’t completely a weakness, difference is good, it flavors and adds to the beauty of God’s mosaic. Each follower will have a different opportunity to reach different folks with the message of Jesus’ love and grace! However, this bigness can also become a really big problem for unity.
Over the last several years, the church has been having what author, and overall-generally awesome person, Phyllis Tickle calls a giant rummage sale of ideas and thoughts. A lot of the rummage sale has been really good, some of it has some real problems that will have to be addressed eventually. As we’re now in the middle of this “rummage sale”, I’ve found a couple things that make me think.
For instance, I’ve noticed that the divide between the “conservative” and “liberal” wings of the church has not been bridged but rather seems to be growing even more contentious. Initially, I thought that many of the younger generation of Jesus followers would become this bridge, or at the very least swing it all the way left. Ironically, this has not happened. What I see instead is a re-packaged conservative movement that is attracting followers who desire something stable. It’s a slow burn as opposed to the right in your face ultra-conservative viewpoints that I grew up knowing in the church. At the same time, the liberal side also continues it’s “social gospel first” kind of message – its not so much repackaged as engaging a generation of curios and openly inclusive folks. It’s a really interesting dynamic.
I’ve also noticed that while there is a general desire in this church rummage sale to be different, the language is very similar to their parents and grandparents during the days of Woodstock. “Change the world” is still the cry. While there is a difference in how that’s passed onto further generations, the desire for a better, freer world is still the same. I think there are a lot of folks out there who not only want this, but get up and do things – hands on! Just look at companies like Toms, or Edge Outreach right here in Louisville that are making huge hands on differences. That being said, I also know a lot in this experimental church that really just seem to talk real big. They want to change, they want to see the difference their faith makes, but something is keeping them from doing it. Many are paralyzed with options or stuck in a kind of awe of overwhelming frustration. But there are some, who just talk really big and have no real intention of being a part of the fix. Then of course there are those who still think being “right” in and of itself will lead to a revival of the culture.
I understand – especially the decision paralysis. I also understand the feeling of mentally wanting it, but not necessarily enough to move me off my butt. My senior pastor this week talked about parents who need to remember Jesus’ call to “hinder not the children”. He said that many of us parents get home from work and are so exhausted that we can’t engage with our kids. Those are the most important hours of the day and we’d rather watch TV instead of going for a walk or playing a board game. His words smacked me in the face.
And so I don’t isolate those who don’t have or no longer have children at home, this exhaustion isn’t solely related to parents and their kids. I think this same exhaustion gets in the way of other parts of our lives too – like living an effective, spirit-empowered life. In many ways, it’s the perfect excuse. We’re too tired to go to Church for worship, let alone engage in mission – to go to the local school and volunteer or to help out in a neighborhood or with the habitat build. I told a small group of Young Adults last week, that what I was really tired of was Lazy Christians. The folks who say they want all the fullness of a life lived in Christ, but not willing to put in any real effort – after all that would give us a works related faith.
But, I don’t think it’s just lazy christians that I’m frustrated with (something that I resemble all to often by the way). What I think is missing in the emergence or the church as I get to see it is far more destructive and far more dangerous. What I think is missing is the belief that this God who moved heaven and earth so that we might know him and know how loved we are, is unable to bring about transformation in people, churches, cities, counties and beyond. I don’t know if many of us truly believe that Transformation is really possible – that freedom is a real opportunity. We remember words like “the poor, you’ll always have with you” and we say “well Jesus said it, so it must not be a possibility.” We then say “your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven” and completely gloss over the unlimited power in those words.
This takes me back to the opening quote, what would happen if we, those who claimed Jesus as our King, as ones, though from different backgrounds, races, ethnicities, theological orientations, etc. chose to live as “wet followers?” What if the power of our baptism truly impacted us and transformation became more than an idea on a wish list but a real part of our identity? You and I may not know how to get there right now, but I guarantee if we’ll even start with the belief that the Holy Spirit has and will gift us to do it, it WILL happen.
What about you? Do you believe in Transformation – that the Holy Spirit can change us? It takes belief, it takes actually choosing to move toward it and ultimately it takes confidence that the Holy Spirit will show up and use us to do the stuff necessary. Do you believe that the Spirit could live in you like that? Could you live a “wet life”? Could we be the kind of empowered set apart followers who see change? Could it begin with you?