One of our Australian alumni posted a link to a great Q&A article on culture on the Compass Facebook page.
In it, among other things, author Ken Myer suggests that it isn’t “the culture” that is the problem – rather what we are doing (or not doing) in church, or as members thereof. Or for want of a better phrase, our “church culture.”
In reply to the question “Practically speaking, how has the church been too influenced by the broader culture?” he offers the following short-list to get the conversation started:
- The way in which the dominant role of technology in our lives promotes the deep assumption that we can fix anything;
- The way in which proliferating mechanisms of convenience erodes the virtues of patience and longsuffering;
- The way in which the elimination of standards of public propriety and manners undermines assumptions about the legitimacy of authority and deference to the communal needs; and
- The way in which the high prestige accorded to entertainers creates the conviction that every valuable experience should be entertaining.
Those four short lines are deeply challenging. Go back and consider them again and – instead of thinking “Yea, I know churches/people who do that…” - have a think about how those assumptions have influenced you.
Have you found ways to push back on those tendencies? Feel free to leave a comment…
I feel a particular sting with the last point. Following on from the point he makes, I feel that, sadly, the consumer mindset is a big one that has crept into our church culture. I’d say when we look at the time and resources we put into our service, it is disproportional to the time that should be spent discipling people and investing into the church body (not to mention the community) in other ways.
A focus on the service isn’t bad, but in my experience the more we focus on the service as the main attraction, the easier it is to slip into a consumer mindset, where we inadvertently end up trying to put on a good service for people to come and consume.
I guess one of the ways to combat this is by giving stronger emphasis to things like small groups, and encouraging relationships to be developed during the week between Sundays.
One of the ways we’ve combatted this in our young adults ministry is to have regular nights where we “go out” and do something in the community. This is an opportunity for our church people to serve in a meaningful way, and to remember that church isn’t simply a product for them to consume, but also a time for them to give out. I feel that this regular event is a step in the right direction.