More Than Behavior

Back in the dark ages when I was a young teen, the group of guys I ran with would often recite the diddly "We don't smoke and we don't chew and we don't go with the girls that do. We ain't got no girlfriends!"

Other than reflecting our immaturity at that stage of life, this saying reflects the focus on behavior that was a part of our religious training. Right behavior was the third leg of our three-legged-stool understanding of being a Christian:

• what we believe, particularly accepting Jesus as our Savior (as opposed to what other churches believed - of course, what we believed was right), 
• church membership evidenced in regular participation in church activities (Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night), and 
• right behavior.  

A "good Christian" was defined by these three things. (For those who are counting, this blog is the fourth in my series on Doing Church in a Post-Christian World.)

The right behavior that was expected of a "good Christian" included active participation in all church events, reading the Bible daily, conforming to the accepted morals of the church and community, and avoiding immoral behavior (particularly, being sexually active and drinking - in spite of the diddly we sang).

Focusing on behavior is a common characteristic of religious groups of all stripes. Behavior - what we do and don't do - is an easy way to distinguish ourselves from others. It is also a subtle way of congratulating ourselves on being "right" or orthodox or pure or holy. But the focus on behavior has its downsides.

• The focus on behavior plays to the ego, fostering spiritual arrogance rather than humility. See Luke 18:9-14. 
• The focus on behavior allows us to hide behind an artificial sense of being OK. 
• The focus on behavior creates spiritual blindness rather than honest self-awareness. It blinds us to the sins of attitude and spirit. 
• The focus on behavior creates a culture of rules and laws - thou shalt, thou shalt not. 
• The focus on behavior encourages black-and-white, either-or, right-and-wrong thinking. 
• The focus on behavior leads to a critical, judgmental, condemning spirit that focuses on the failure of others while being blind to "the log in your own eye." See Luke 6:41-42. 
• The focus on behavior blocks compassion and mercy. See Luke 6:6-11; 13:10-17; 14:1-6; 11:42 & 46.
• The focus on behavior leaves the heart and mind unchanged. 
• The focus on behavior keeps us from embracing God's grace with joyful abandonment. 

Jesus challenged the focus on behavior, pointing to the condition of the heart as the proper focus. The heart, he said, was the source of behavior. See his little known parable in Luke 11:24-26, his comment about the inside of the cup in Luke 11:39-41, his teaching about "out of the heart," Mark 7:1-23.

One of the attractions of the focus on behavior is that it leaves us in power. We can change our behavior. We can do what is expected and avoid what is unacceptable. But we cannot change - we are powerless to change - the condition of our hearts or the attitudes that are so deeply ingrained. Only God can change those things. So our focus on behavior allows us to hide from facing the painful realities of our lives. It allows us to tip our hat towards God without really giving ourselves to God without reservation. It leaves us in control, rather than God.

 The current controversy in The UMC today is over behavior - the sexual behavior of those who have a same-sex orientation (in many parts of Africa, homosexuality is a crime punishable by death), UM clergy performing marriage ceremonies for same sex couples, UM Conferences ordaining openly gay individuals, the failure of UM bishops to adequately discipline clergy who violate The Discipline. In my opinion, this controversy exposes all the downsides of the focus on behavior.

By the grace of God, the Spirit has moved me beyond my three-legged-stool understanding of what it means to be a Christian. The Spirit has led me to think of being a Christian in terms of discipleship - being a follower of Jesus, learning and living the ways of God that Jesus taught so that I love as Jesus loved.

I can't help but wonder: how would a focus on loving as Jesus loved - rather than our focus on behavior and rules - impact today's controversy in The UMC?

More than Church Membership

Being a follower of Jesus involves being a member of a church. To identify oneself as a follower of Jesus is to align with others who are Christ-followers. Church membership is nonnegotiable.

Or is it?

Church membership was the center of one's Christen life during the era of Christendom. Church involvement included regular worship attendance along with participation in a Sunday School class. Service was in the church organization: singing in the choir, teaching Sunday School, serving on a committee, being an usher at worship, participating in a women's or men's group. Membership included financial support of the church. Mission was doing things for "the less fortunate," supporting charitable organizations and causes, and/or supporting missionary work in other countries.

This way of "doing church" was the norm for many generations. Long time church members often cannot think of doing church any other way. I believe this membership-driven way of doing church contributes to the division in The UMC today.

The current decline in church membership in mainline denominations exposes the weaknesses of this emphasis on membership and its way of doing church. This emphasis on membership and its way of doing church ...

• led to thinking of church in terms of an organization one joined. It produced an institutional church with structure, policies, and procedures. Conformity to a set of "norms" of belief and behavior (sometimes expressly stated, sometimes not) was expected. Violation of those norms generally led to some kind of rebuke or criticism. 
• focused on religious education: knowledge of the Bible, of what "we believe," and of what is expected of a "good Christian." 
• emphasized behavior - morals, a good Christian does/doesn't. 
• fostered a competitive, us-them spirit (we're better than the Baptists/Methodists/Catholics/etc.) and a not-so-subtle spiritual arrogance. 
• led to an inward focus - on us, on what we believe and how we do things, on what we expect and like. 
• focused on attracting others who are like us and getting others to agree with our beliefs and way of doing church.
• made us building-centered (dependent?) with a focus on Sunday (and sometimes Wednesday) activities. 

Church involvement often became the social life of its members.

Dealing with the end of the Christendom era and the rise of a post-Christian society has helped us rediscover a different way of being/doing church, a way found in the churches of the first and second centuries.

• Discipleship, not membership, is the focus. To be a Christian is to be a follower of Jesus, learning and living his servant ways of grace. One can be an active member of an institutional church, including believing what that particular church teaches, and yet not be a follower of Jesus. 
• Spiritual formation and transformation displaces religious education. Learning facts can leave the heart and head untouched and unchanged. What is needed is not more content to learn but the application of the content we know. How does the truth Jesus taught call us to change and grow? How does it call us to live? How is my life different today because I am a follower of Jesus? 
• Church is about Christian community, not an organization or institution or a religious-based social group. Christian community exists when spiritual friends walk together in Christ-centered fellowship, supporting one another on the discipleship journey. Spiritual transformation takes place in the midst of Christian community. 
• Living as a follower of Jesus involves loving others in Jesus' name. Ministry and mission are more than financially supporting some charitable group/cause or doing isolated mission projects to help those in need. Ministry is living in relationship with another, sharing what I have in order to make a positive difference in their life. Every Christ-follower is a minister. Each has been gifted by the Spirit with tools to use in loving others in Jesus' name. 
• Living the ways of God that Jesus taught keeps the focus outward, on those we are called to love, rather than on us and what we like/want. Living as a follower of Jesus is about loving and serving "as you are going" through life's normal routines and responsibilities. 
• Prayer is a vital part of the disciple's personal life and of the fellowship of spiritual friends. Prayer is more than a way to open and close a meeting. It is more than asking God's blessing on what we do. Prayer is walking in active, personal relationship with God. Prayer is vital because being a follower of Jesus is being God's partner in God's work of creating a God-shaped world.

So is church membership nonnegotiable to being a follower of Jesus? "Yes" and "No." Yes - active participation in a spiritual community is vital to being a follower of Jesus. We need each other. And "no" - that spiritual community may or may not be a part of an institutional church ... as many below the age of 60 are telling us.

As I see it, being a follower of Jesus is more than church membership.

More Than Belief

Belief was a central emphasis in the life of the Church during the era of Christendom (see my 1/7/19 blog - Doing Church in a Post-Christian World). "What we believe" was a primary way denominations distinguished themselves from other Christians groups during that era of history.

This focus on belief is nothing new. It dates back to the Reformation in the 1500's. Lutherans, Presbyterians, Baptist, and Mennonites all trace their origins to that period of history. Methodists originated much later - in the 1700's. Other religious groups arose in the 1800's and 1900's - Reformed, Nazarenes, Church of Christ, Seventh Day Adventists, Bible churches and non-denominational churches. But I digress, as I am known to do.

Belief plays a central role in the controversy facing The UMC today. Methodists around the world are polarized around beliefs regarding sexual orientation. Is homosexuality a sin? Can someone who identifies as a homosexual be ordained? These questions lead to polarization around the belief about marriage. Is marriage reserved only for one man and one woman? Ultimately, these controversies involve one's belief about the nature of the Bible.

The controversy in The UMC exposes the downside of focusing on belief.

Beliefs, by nature, are divisive. For the past 500 years, Christians have used beliefs to unify. The result is a plethora of denominations. And that belief-focused pattern is being duplicated in The UMC today. Methodists are gathering with those who "think like us" regarding LGBTQ+ issues. Some have gone so far as to advocate creating a new Wesleyan denomination of those who "think like us." This emphasis on belief does not unify; it divides. Beliefs call us to take a side - to agree or disagree.

Beliefs are an attempt to create certainty. The fear of change, of chaos, of the unknown (mystery) drives our desire for certainty. We seek to create certainty (stability) in the midst of life's uncertainties by defining what is right and wrong, acceptable and unacceptable, holy and sinful. The familiarity we create reassures us in the face of our fear, helping us feel secure.

Beliefs appeal to the human ego. We like to be right. Being right helps us (perhaps unconsciously) feel better-than those who don't think like we do. We are the orthodox ones, the pure ones, the Biblical ones, the righteous, the moral, etc. Being right is a not-so-subtle form of spiritual arrogance. It gives us a sense of power and superiority.

Beliefs appeal to the head but often leave the heart untouched and unchanged. In advocating and defending our belief, we are prone to live out of our self-serving human nature rather than the nature of Christ. In his letter to the church at Philippi, Paul urged the Philippians to put on the mind of Christ (Philippians 2:5). Paul described the mind of Christ as the servant spirit of Christ, not as a set of beliefs. The servant spirit was/is to characterize the followers of Jesus (Philippians 2:1-11).

Beliefs inevitably misuse scripture. People on both sides of the LGBTQ+ issue (of any issue, for that matter) appeal to scripture to support their position. They quote book, chapter, and verse to validate their position as the right position. Such use of scripture, in my opinion, is a misuse of scripture. The role of scripture is to help us know God and the ways of God, particularly as revealed in Jesus the Christ. Scripture was not intended to be used as a book of rules/laws to be followed. The only "law" Jesus quoted was to love God and love neighbor as oneself. That "law" was his guideline for living. Love was the fulfillment of the Law. Paul's book of Galatians challenged this rule-based approach to the Christian life, declaring "For freedom Christ has set us free" (Galatians 5:1). (There I go, quoting book, chapter and verse to validate my position!!!).

Beliefs set up the next, yet-to-be-identified battlefield. We gather with those who agree with us on this issue. Our togetherness helps us feel better (right) in the midst of the controversy. But once we have moved beyond this issue that has unified us, another issue will always arise. That issue/belief will demand that we take sides, creating the next division.

I can sense the push back: are you telling us to surrender our beliefs? Are you saying anything goes? Do we not stand for anything? What about the Apostles Creed, "I believe ..."?

Of course I am not arguing against beliefs. I have a core of beliefs that are nonnegotiable: the character of God, the ways of God (the Kingdom), Jesus as the revelation of God and the ways of God, grace and forgiveness, etc. I use these core beliefs to guide the positions I take on other issues/beliefs. (See my 10/22/18 blog, Unity, Not Uniformity, in which I advocated for Wesley's approach in regards to beliefs.) In this blog, I am pointing out the downside of our emphasis on beliefs. This  long-term emphasis has not prepared us to deal with this current challenge. It may even be a hindrance in dealing with this current challenge.

Which leads me to ask: what ever happened to faith? Faith is a good, biblical word. As I read the scripture, faith is an essential part of being a follower of Jesus. And, faith is more than belief!

Belief is about facts. Thanks to the influence of the Enlightenment on our Western thinking, we think of belief as the intellectual acceptance of a fact as true. The New Testament word translated as believe is more than an intellectual embracing of facts. It is a synonym of faith. Faith goes a step beyond belief (as we define it). Faith is about the heart and mind. Faith allows the truth we embrace to transform our hearts and minds. Faith allows the truth we believe to shape how we think and what we do. Faith as found in the Christian scriptures is a way of life, not a set of beliefs. That way of life is a life shaped by the mind of Christ. It is a way of life that reflects the self-giving, servant spirit of Christ. It is a life of love. Faith leads us to God who leads us to love as Jesus loved.

If what we believe does not lead us to love as Jesus loved, then perhaps we would be wise to reexamine what we believe!

Doing Church in a Post-Christian World

As we move into the New Year, the steady march into a post-Christian culture continues ... and with it, the angst and anxiety of church people who long for "the way things were" when society and culture reflected respect for and support of "Christian" values and practices. The days of Christendom are gone, never to return (in spite of the power-politics of the Christian right). The clearest evidence of this reality is the nation-wide decline among historic denominations, including The UMC. And there are many other facts that could be cited.

I grew up in the era of Christendom. It was my native land, my "home." My training to serve the local church was from the perspective of Christendom. My career has been lived out in the end of the Christendom era and rise of the post-Christian culture. That journey has led me to the following thinking.

A religious culture shaped by Christendom centered around key elements:

• an emphasis on belief supported by scripture (proper belief, including proper belief about the Bible and Jesus),
• an emphasis on church membership,
• an emphasis on morals (proper behavior),
• functioning out of an attraction model, i.e., offer a better version of what others are offering (worship, preaching, youth program, children's program, music program) as a way of attracting new members (consumer-oriented churches), 
• functioning out of "come join us" thinking,
• appealing to people "like us." 

While this way of doing church was common, it did not prepare us to live in a post-Christian world. Most of us still don't have a clue how to do so. We live with anxiety over the membership/attendance decline in our churches. We live in fear of the future we anticipate if the decline is not reversed. Our focus is on survival. Our way of functioning is to continue to do things the way we have always done them, expecting a different outcome (the definition of insanity in the recovery world). We lament "the way the world has changed," criticizing the younger generations and sports on Sunday and ... We are envious of the megachurches and their success in reaching younger generations while discounting their worship as "religious entertainment" or "Christian rock concerts." We point the finger of blame at everyone but ourselves and our antiquated way of doing church.

Living in a post-Christendom world calls us to recognize how the world has changed. It calls us to recognize that our old way of doing things no longer works (even though it once "worked" for us and probably still does for some of us as individuals). It calls us to think differently. (Albert Einstein is credited with saying "we cannot solve our problems with the same thinking that created them.") It calls us to learn. It calls us to adapt and (gasp!) change. It calls us to risk and experiment. (See Tod Bolsinger's Canoeing the Mountains: Christian Leadership in Uncharted Territory, 2015.) In short, it calls us to change the culture of our churches.

Living in a post-Christendom world is an unprecedented opportunity. It is an opportunity to refocus on who we are as the followers of Jesus and on what we are called to be/do. It is an opportunity to break free from the restraints of institutional, building-centered Christianity. It is an opportunity to experience the vitality and joy of loving as Jesus loved as we walk in relationship with God.

I pray we won't miss this opportunity.