Killing Traditions

Spiritual Formation: The Greatest Tool for “New Church.” Or, Even Old Church.

12/30/2020

As I am working on content for his blog and researching new church expression, I find that people still have a deep desire for spiritual connection. That desire to search for the “Higher Power” we cannot see is built into our DNA (or maybe our soul). It’s sort of like that homing device we find in those sci-fi movies. It’s created to kick on by itself and guide us back to when we came. It’s like the driving program most birds have that says every winter, “Head south!”

As we all know, people are not participating in church or even Christianity like they did fifty years ago. The reasons are many. When it comes to public perception, Christians have repeatedly shot themselves in both feet. We have told people “who we are” in general, and that image is pushing them to find spiritual connections elsewhere. And, there is ample evidence that people are actively searching for spiritual connection, inner peace, and tools to help navigate life's stress.

In one of my favorite books, They like Jesus but Not the Church: Insights from Emerging Generations, Dan Kimball includes one of the best-known quotes from Mahatma Gandhi, “I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”[1]

In my research, I am finding that people are actively looking for that spiritual connection. Just type in “mindfulness” or “spirituality” into your search engine. You’ll find multitudes of websites loaded with content. Everyone from the Mayo Clinic to Psychology Today, to well-known universities, to Mindfulness for Dummies, or, What is Spirituality: Take Charge of Your Health and Wellbeing.

The number of meditation and mindfulness apps has boomed in just this last year! 2020 and the stress that’s come with it have sent people searching for download-able solutions to life. The meditation and mindfulness app industry has become a multi-million-dollar business.[2]

New Age book and gift stores are just as busy or even busier than many Christian shops. I do love the incense and meditation tools they provide. And I also find real, tangible elements helpful in my spiritual walk with God.

Traditionally, in the last couple hundred years, those terms “meditation,” “inner-peace,” or “spiritual energy” have been shunned by the church. Those labels sound like they come from outside religions or hippie communes. In fact, our Christian history is full of meditation (and, of course, prayer). Jesus was “spiritual energy.” And, the stories of his love, forgiveness, and compassion are filled with people finding inner-peace.

I say that the key to success in any church, no matter the size, no matter its stage of life, is spiritual formation. It is the active pursuit of finding a deeper connection to the Holy Spirit. Even a small church struggling to survive can have a lasting impact on its people's lives; if the leadership and congregation seriously engage in spiritual formation training, exercises, and endeavors. If the leadership and the people of the congregation are not willing to intentionally engage with the Holy Spirit…the church is dead. It’s time to stop. Close the doors and walk away.

When we talk about spiritual formation, we are talking about actively working to let the Spirit of God form us closer to the image of Christ. It's giving fully into your faith; living into your faith. And, if we live in a faith that is formed by the Spirit, then our lives will look more Christ -like. We read in Scriptures that Christ’s ministry was not internal. It was utterly external, outside, with the people, both poor and wealthy, healthy and sick. He was in their midst. If our spirit is to be formed, it has to be “in community” with believers and non-believers. James Bryant Smith wrote in his book The Good and Beautiful Community: Following the Spirit, Extending Grace, Demonstrating Love,

There are two kinds of faith: dead faith and living faith. Dead faith is personal piety of doctrinal orthodoxy. There is faith, to be sure, faith in one's own practices or dogma. But it is dead faith…Living faith is trust and confidence in God expressed in acts of love in our human relations and encounters with one another.[3]

When we live in faith and give our spirit over to be conformed in the likeness of Christ, “in community,” we find a balm for many ailments:

We find family amid a loneliness epidemic.

We find empathy and understanding in a world filled with systemic racism.

We find love for those whom “conservative” society would reject.

We find new expressions of love and a broad view of the relationships in front of us.

We find forgiveness and redemptions.

We find healing for our soul-sickness.

We find the ability to let go of traditions that are spiritual traps.

We find vitality for ailing congregations or exciting direction for new ventures!

[1] Dan Kimball, They Like Jesus but Not the Church: Insights from Emerging Generations (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2007), Pg. 20.

[2] Kristin Schwab, “Meditation Apps Have Been Booming During the Pandemic,” Marketplace, November 6, 2020, https://www.marketplace.org/2020/11/06/meditation-apps-have-been-booming-during-pandemic/.

[3] James B. Smith, The Good and Beautiful Community: Following the Spirit, Extending Grace, Demonstrating Love (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2010), Pg. 12.

Is that Church? Really?

12/27/2020

Over the years, I have had multiple conversations with my mother about tithing, giving to God, and the church using automatic withdrawal. In the church of her youth, back in the 1930s and 40s, there was no such thing as automatic withdrawal. (Actually, some banks may have offered something similar through some form of agreement.) She would say that a good Christian should take the time to remember, reflect, and write out the check. Or remember to bring money. The automatic withdrawal thing was just a “set-it-and-forget-it” way of giving. She thought it took the sacrificial, conscious effort out of the act of giving to God.

Today, automatic withdrawal is how most people pay bills. It’s a part of everyday life. You can bet that most people don’t “forget” that money is being pulled from their bank account every month or week. (The bank will remind them if they do!) I’ve always wondered about the debate when checks started to catch on. I can hear the older folks saying, “Those youngsters are just writing God I.O.U.’s! They need to be responsible enough to bring cash to God’s house!”

So, that tithing discussion is just one small avenue of cultural change in the Church. And, there have been many battles over just that one issue. As a financial accountant for multiple churches, I have been in the heart of those discussions.

Just as we have transformed how we give to God to meet contemporary society's needs and methods, we need to completely re-think what it means to be Church. We need to transform our worship of God and what the church actually does, to fit the flow of culture today. Sounds heretical and superficial, I know. But isn’t that what Christians have done for the last 2,000+ years? The church of three centuries ago isn’t the same as the church today, I would imagine.

Sadly, much of the church worship format today is exactly the same as it was one-hundred and fifty years ago. I have seen a Sunday worship bulletin printed in the late 1800s that looks just like a service from last week. Even our “contemporary worship” styles follow the same, music, offering, followed by “the sage on the stage” speaking at us, feeding the flock what they need to know.

Is that “Church?” Really? Is that the only way worship can be? Do we have to go to this place to worship God? Do we have to go, sit in the seats, sing songs and listen to someone talk at us?

I realize there is a wide variety of faith traditions. This post is not a discussion about how any of them are wrong. This is a discussion about how these old traditions and worship practices do not connect with people of today's culture.

God’s Word tells us to “keep the Sabbath holy.” And I love that instruction for multiple reasons. However, when we worship God, it is a two-way street. We give to Him, and we receive in the giving. We follow Christ, and there are rewards on that path. And no, I’m not saying that we follow Christ merely to get something from it.

The Church needs to worship God and serve in an understandable and applicable way in this century. People don’t join clubs or become a part of something “just because that’s what we do” anymore. There has to be a compelling reason for people to move or activate. We have to communicate the message of “why” we follow Christ, worship God in a way that registers with today’s culture; in a way that compels them to move.

What if, maybe, we don’t have that sage on the stage, telling us “how things ought to be.” Perhaps, that person is more of the “guide on the side” who is learning, growing, and failing just like we are. I’m sure most pastors would say, “That’s exactly what I’m trying to do!” Okay, so what if we completely forget about the “sermon time?” What if that time is more intentional? We put worship into motion. In that instead of talking about Jesus every Sunday, we do Jesus. We leave that room and go be Jesus in the community.

Like I discussed in the last post, Burning Down the Church, what if we forget about the building? The pandemic has shown us how many things may be possible in the virtual realm! Maybe, the church house becomes a virtual building. Perhaps we build an environment where people can worship together in their own time. Maybe we provide a space where an individual’s church-relationships come through affinity groups. We take our focus completely off making worship time only Sunday morning.

People inside the church have their notions about what the church is and what it isn’t. If they continue to come, sit in the seats, and participate, that experience must fulfill those notions. People don’t tend to stick around when those notions are not met.

Like those on the inside, people outside the church also have notions of what church is and isn’t. I would say that sometimes those on the outside of the church might have a better perspective. We have got to stop talking amongst ourselves if we are ever going to connect with emerging generations.

The culture to reach and understand is outside the walls. So get out there. Have conversations. Have many, many, many open, and bare-nakedly honest discussions with the secular world. Get ready for them to tell you how and what the church is in their eyes. Be willing to see what they see. Be willing to hear what they say. Be ready to absorb the raw truth in what you learn.

Burning Down the Church

12/15/2020

Okay. Okay. First of all, I want to say that I am, in no way, condoning actually burning down churches. In April of 2019, we all watched the terrible and sad videos of the Cathedral of Notre Dame burning. My heart hurt for the people of Paris, the cathedral builders, and the history enshrined there.
Terrible as that accident was, the structure is salvageable; the people of France and supporters worldwide are determined to bring the cathedral back to its grandeur once again. There is money, skill, time, commitment, and the desire to make it happen.
I love all those old cathedrals, with all the grand architecture and history and traditions. They are fabulous! And they eat money like giant machines! Fortunately for structures like the Cathedral of Notre Dame, they have the tourist appeal, community identity, and broad interest that keeps cash flowing. But even this magnificent French landmark was crumbling for decades before the fire.
In the 1950s, 60s, and 70s, the great “builder generation” of the United States erected many impressive churches. In cities everywhere, we can find these landmarks with their beautiful sanctuaries and completely vacant educational wings. The Builders created these structures hoping that the Baby Boomers would build on their parents' accomplishments and fill them with their children and grandchildren…But, the Boomers did not. Their culture had no place for their parent's church. They left the buildings vacant, destine to suck billions of dollars out of those who remained.
Years ago, there was a popular Southern Gospel song called Singing for the Bus. The song's main idea was that these musicians who traveled all over the country, singing for God and spreading the message…were going broke. Why? Because nearly every spare dollar they had went to fueling and maintaining an old, once-impressive, broken-down bus. Southern Gospel tradition said that the groups absolutely had to have a bus! If they were going to “sing for God,” they needed to do it in style! At an old-fashioned Gospel “singing,” you could find at least five buses parked outside the church.
The same thing holds for churches all over this country. If you’re an active member of your church, think how much money your congregation has poured into that facility. How many fundraisers have there been over the decades to raise funds to fix a roof, clean out a flooded basement, replace windows, air conditioning systems, etc.?
Of course, we always come back to “This is the ‘House of God,’ and we need to take care of it!” No, it’s not! If a church building is empty, unsustainable, and sucking money out of the Body of Christ's real ministry - tear it down, burn it down, get rid of it! Why in the world do we value a building, a clubhouse, over the ministry Christ calls us to do!
I look at all the mega-churches, and it makes me shudder to think about how much of “God’s offering” gets used up just to maintain the buildings. In the future, the culture will shift again, and those monstrosities will continue to stand until no cash left to give.
The church is not the building. When nostalgia and tradition tie us to a structure that absorbs every resource we have, it’s time to kill that tradition.
Let it go for what can be gotten.
Get out of there and use those scarce resources more responsibly, more productively.
Imagine a church that has no need for a permanent building. That image, for me, is one of a church doing great things for Christ. That’s a body of believers using their resources to worship God by serving in the community, not by sitting in the pews.
God does everything He needs to do with or without your church building. What do you think matters to Him most? Did Jesus command us to “maintain God’s house at all costs” or “make disciples?”
Jesus never had a church building, and he moved the world!

So, What do I Mean by "Killing Traditions?"

12/5/2020

Think about those things that you may include in your concept of “traditions” of the church. The list is longer than one might think. The easy images come from our notions of worship traditions, organizational tradition, how we govern our churches, when we do and don’t include the Eucharist, how we take up an offering, who serves in leadership, and who doesn’t. Most of these things, be it protestant or Catholic, comes out of our denominational or orthodox/reformed church history.
But as we move deeper into the forest of traditions, we find those routinely practiced customs of our individual churches. Think about just the schedule of events as to when your congregation does just about anything. Think about how long you’ve been doing those things; for how many years? Why are you still doing them? Think about “who” traditionally does what in your church.
Think about what it would mean to stop doing your traditional activities, no matter what they are.
Think about that person who has been in charge of a given position for years. What might happen if the pastor removes the person from that position?
Now consider the money poured into those events, people, positions, structures over the years. How many (or few) new disciples have been made with those resources. Think about how those resources could have been, should have been used more productively. (How much money has been poured into a copier lease instead of a program to serve the community?) How many non-productive paths has your church gone down, over and over, just because “that’s what we’ve always done.”
We’re talking about all your church traditions, from the time church starts on Sunday morning to who’s in charge of making copies, to the style of your service, to the general perception of what “worship” should be in your church.
Think about what your “notion of church” is. What is it supposed to be? What is “church” supposed to do? Who does it serve? For many, it does not serve God, has no interest in personal growth, and has become the traditional spot to gather. For many, the church has gotten so deep into a routine that it’s not a church. It caters to the few and neglects the many.
When we talk about killing traditions, we’re talking about revolutionizing the fundamental view of what Church is and discovering what it could be. Maybe, the church might not be a place to gather with family, sing, eat, take communion. Perhaps it’s a place where we come together on Sunday morning, in our work clothes, ready to go out into the community and “worship God” by doing something for others! Maybe “worship” should look like a church body putting their love for God into action, cleaning up a neighborhood, serving meals, or calling on the elderly.
Is it just tradition that keeps us tied to a building?
Could it possible to try to do something different each week?
How about the people don’t even meet on Sunday morning and still find community?
Perhaps a dying church stops pouring money into a facility it can’t support, gives it away to a new upstart, and moves into someone’s living room!
Maybe that same church now finds new ways to use the resources it has to really do ministry for the first time, instead of feeding the money pit!
For many churches, the building, the style of service, the schedule of events, the governmental structure, the understanding of “church” was created fifty, sixty, or one-hundred years ago. The people of that distant society built the thing to fit the needs of that time. Those people are gone. That society is gone. The world’s notion of what church is entirely different today. One might say, “Today, the world really doesn’t have a notion of what church is.”
We are in a new time, a new day. We are in a massive social shift away from the Church. We also have a tremendous opportunity to connect with those emerging generations engaged in society and social causes. They also have a much bigger view of who is accepted and deserves dignity.
We need to kick in that entrepreneurial spirit of the early Church, be willing to kill traditions, and revolutionize how we “do” church. Let’s get out of the past and plug into a new idea of what “active worship” means!

The Killing Traditions Blog

Spiritual Formation: The Greatest Tool for “New Church.” Or, Even Old Church.

Is that Church? Really?

Burning Down the Church

So, What do I Mean by "Killing Traditions?"

Andy
Newbrey

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The Killing Traditions Project is Supported by Readers and Listeners Like You - Thank You.

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The Killing Traditions Blog

Spiritual Formation: The Greatest Tool for “New Church.” Or, Even Old Church.

Is that Church? Really?

Burning Down the Church

So, What do I Mean by "Killing Traditions?"

AndyNewbrey

Archives

Categories

Contact Us

​The Killing Traditions Project is Supported by Readers and Listeners Like You - Thank You.

Soon to be available everywhere. If you don't find us in your favorite places, keep checking.

Andy
Newbrey

The Killing Traditions Project is Supported by Readers and Listeners Like You - Thank You.