No stress? No way!
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Ever heard of a No-Stress Sunday?
Those are the events where people are invited to join the church after the worship service has ended.
They can take place in a couple of different ways. Sometimes the people wanting to join walk down to the chancel and meet with the pastor right after the service. Other times, they might go with him back to his office and have a chat there. But the point is the same: It provides people who get nervous or bashful about standing up in front of the congregation the option of professing their faith and answering the "prayers, presence, gifts, and service" question in private.
I think this is one of the worst things the church has come up with ever, and I write about it in my current column in the UM Reporter.
The church has always held that public witness is an essential part of Christian identity. We get that from Jesus himself: "Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven; but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven" (Matthew 10:33).
So how in the world did No-Stress Sunday ever come about? I suspect this has to do with the privatization of religion in our culture (or heck, the privatization of just about everything). When we start to assume that one's faith is just about a me-n-Jesus relationship, then joining the church the way you might sign up for the gym or subscribe to a magazine becomes okay.
Well, it ain't okay. And we should put a stop to it in our churches. If someone isn't willing to stand up in front of the body and openly declare his faith in Jesus Christ and a desire to join the congregation, then he probably isn't ready for the kind of discipleship the church will ask of him anyway.
Those are the events where people are invited to join the church after the worship service has ended.
They can take place in a couple of different ways. Sometimes the people wanting to join walk down to the chancel and meet with the pastor right after the service. Other times, they might go with him back to his office and have a chat there. But the point is the same: It provides people who get nervous or bashful about standing up in front of the congregation the option of professing their faith and answering the "prayers, presence, gifts, and service" question in private.
I think this is one of the worst things the church has come up with ever, and I write about it in my current column in the UM Reporter.
The church has always held that public witness is an essential part of Christian identity. We get that from Jesus himself: "Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven; but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven" (Matthew 10:33).
So how in the world did No-Stress Sunday ever come about? I suspect this has to do with the privatization of religion in our culture (or heck, the privatization of just about everything). When we start to assume that one's faith is just about a me-n-Jesus relationship, then joining the church the way you might sign up for the gym or subscribe to a magazine becomes okay.
Well, it ain't okay. And we should put a stop to it in our churches. If someone isn't willing to stand up in front of the body and openly declare his faith in Jesus Christ and a desire to join the congregation, then he probably isn't ready for the kind of discipleship the church will ask of him anyway.
Labels: Church Membership, Discipleship
posted by Andrew C. Thompson at 8:29 AM
4 Comments:
I don't want to judge the individual's commitment to Christ...not everyone is comfortable in front of people, and there is a place for less-public dedication to Christ. What I am going to comment on is the church's misconception of church membership.
Recently, I had a couple ask me to privately baptize their child after church in their home. Because there were no health concerns, I refused. At the very least, Baptism is the act of incorporation into a community of Christ. When we read the baptismal vows, we see that the community is pledging themselves to the growth and edification of the baptized.
If we understand baptism as a corporate act, then how can church membership be anything but a corporate act? Where is the congregation pledging to support the newly pledged? Where is the congregation renewing their OWN vows of membership?
Church membership is a time to not only affirm an individual's walk, but the entire community's dedication to Christ. It would be a shame to privatize or lose that.
Okay,
Andrew I usually agree with most things you say, but I am going to agree to disagree a little with you. I don't think that joining the church should be private, but I also don't think that someone choosing to do so in a smaller venue say after the worship service with a smaller group of members from the church represented is horrible. I can completely see the arguments against it, but I do know that people are really afraid of getting in front of large groups of people. Would we require someone who is afraid of water to be emersed no, we would offer another acceptable and faithful means of practicing baptism through sprinkling or pouring. Just some thoughts
In Christendom we often misquote and use out of context the words of St. Thomas Aquinas when we say, "preach the gospel always, when necessary use words." We like this quote because it gives us permission to not engage the world in such a way in the ways that inconvenience us or make us feel uncomfortable. If one is not willing to proclaim Christ among their brothers and sisters in Christ, then how can a pastor take seriously their vow to support the church with their witness?
To borrow something I learned from Billy Abraham, this practice will leave the Church with no theological grandchildren and signals the end of Christianity within a generation.
Hmm...sounds like Methodists should should have a Sunday devoted to martyrdom.
I've not encountered this delightfully tacky yet refined entrance into the Christian life. Can people agree to follow Jesus anytime/anywhere? Absolutely. Can people make public vows in private? Is there such a thing as a married bachelor?
People should be thankful we don't strip em down and rub their naked bodies with oil anymore.
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