Jesus declared people forgiven, free, equal, welcome.
Is your local church perhaps one of these?
1. The Trip Down Memory Lane.
A nostalgia trip for people who were brought up going to church in the 1950s and 60s. Very little about the service has changed since then – particularly the hymns – and there’s not a lot to interest anyone under the age of 70. Obviously, people from that golden era are getting harder to find, so the church is dwindling fast.
This church is Methodist, or something.
2. Saved By The Temple.
A glorious but unnecessarily large building, expensive to maintain. God lived in one in ancient times, but tore the curtain from top to bottom and moved out when Jesus died on the cross. Because Jesus was suddenly the reality of everything the Temple had symbolised, the very first Christians renounced majestic places of worship, sacred objects and special priests, and in doing so, established themselves as being very different from the pagan religions of the time, Three hundred years after that, the Roman Emperor offered Christians the chance to reestablish a temple culture alongside the pagans, and they accepted. Imposing buildings (befitting an emperor) were constructed and named after saints, in the same way that the pagan temples were named after gods. The Christian temple tradition has been preserved throughout the centuries, to the extent that even the magnificent church building down your street is probably named after a saint too.
This church could be Church of England, or something.
3. The Show Must Go On.
There’s a stage, a screen, a compere and a band. It’s like Michael McIntyre, but without the jokes. Or with the jokes. And it’s like that singer from Britain’s Got Talent. This church’s mission is simple – to upgrade its sound equipment beyond our imagination. The words of the songs sound suitably Christian, but they fly past us, verse after bewildering verse. Did we just sing something about the walls of Jericho? Was that a metaphor for Ukraine? Too late, next song.
This could be a Baptist church, or something.
4. The church that follows Jesus.
To be honest, there probably isn’t a church like this down your street – yet.
The revival that churches have been praying for is taking place right now around various parts of the world, and it looks like this:
• People are taking more responsibility for their own spiritual growth, and deciding to let empathy and kindness take the place of religious dogma. This spiritual renaissance, which values authenticity over passive membership, is sometimes called ‘faith deconstruction’.
• Communities are beginning to form in which people can support and encourage each other to live the values that Jesus held dear – non-violence, unconditional inclusion and radical compassion – without being coerced (again?) into meeting so many cumbersome and unnecessary religious demands.
• We are learning how to read the Bible in order to follow Jesus.
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