When I first saw this cartoon I thought, “Wow, this ought to stir up a hornet’s nest!”
At first I didn’t know whether to laugh or be offended. In my case, laughter
won out. Perhaps you’re also wrestling with the same sentiment. If offence wins
out in your case, I ask your forgiveness. But the more I thought about it, the
more I saw something else in it besides the “Liturgical Dance.” Maybe the
artist wanted us to see more in it too.
Consider for a moment the caption beneath the cartoon. For
some reason, it really speaks volumes to me. It says, “We’re finding that a lot of men are coming back to church, now that
we’ve introduced liturgical dance.”
Now read between the lines.
The message being presented (or at least the one I’m
receiving) is that ultimately, what matters most, is getting people (and in
this case, the dirty-minded old men?) back into the institutional church pews. The
method by which it’s done doesn’t really matter, for as everyone knows, the
ends justify the means. But do they really?
Now let’s take this one step further.
How many other things has institutional Christianity done
over the years in an effort to lure outsiders into her midst? Well, I guess the
answer depends in large part on whom you talk to.
For some it might have to do with music and worship styles.
Who hasn’t heard some of the former arguments against modern worship styles of
bands and loud music versus the more traditional organ and piano accompaniment
to the (now archaic?) hymnbook? For some in previous generations, this was a
big deal. One of the responses they often got when questioning the change was,
“… are coming back to church, now that
we’ve introduced …”
I remember the flack I took at the last institutional church
I was a part of when I decided to move the heavy wooden pulpit from center
stage off to the far side. What was my reason for doing so? I did so simply to
open up the stage for liturgical dance. No, just kidding. But I confess
that I did do so as a part of a larger plan by which I hoped to be able to one
day say, “… are coming back to church,
now that we’ve introduced …”
For others, it might have to do with their perception of
acceptable dress. While for many today the focus is off the legalism of what to
wear versus what not to wear in church (unless you're scantly clad as in the cartoon), for some traditions this continues to
be an issue. Who doesn’t remember a time when people spoke of “wearing your Sunday best” when you went
to church? Why were many of those dress regulations relaxed? Perhaps it is so
that the church could say, “… are coming back to church, now that we’ve
introduced …”
I remember another time when I was still serving as an
institutional church pastor. I was also a member of a local Christian
motorcycle fellowship at that time. One Sunday the quiet church neighborhood
was awakened to the roar of several motorbikes, as their riders came to church
dressed in full leathers and filling two entire pews. Needless to say, they
turned a lot of heads, not to mention breaking a few dearly held traditions. I,
for one, was happy with the extra “numbers.” By turning aside some of the
age-old traditions, we were also able to say, “… are coming back to church, now that we’ve introduced …”.
At the risk of sounding too critical, the point is that the
goal of much of what is done on any given Sunday by any given institutional church
system, has to do with numbers. I know there are some who will take exception
to that. However, survey the participants of most pastoral conferences, and
they will tell you, if they’re honest, that sooner or later the discussion often
turns to numbers. “How many people in
your church?” asks one pastor of the next. “Oh, we average *** on any given
Sunday,” comes the reply. I have not only witnessed that first hand, but
have been guilty of it myself as well. The numbers game says, “… are coming back to church, now that we’ve
introduced …”.
The fact is, many people do “shop” for just the right
church. This became evident again as I read some of the testimonies in the book,
“Finding Church” (Civitas Press, 2012). In and of itself, this is not wrong. After
all, who doesn’t want to worship and fellowship in comfortable surroundings
with like-minded Christians? Church leadership knows this, and so a lot of
thought goes into programming and style in an effort to be as palatable as
possible to as many as possible, to lure as many as possible, and to retain as
many as possible.
I am certainly NOT suggesting that pole dancing (or as the cartoon
facetiously calls it, “Liturgical Dance”) by loosely clad women is even
remotely justified in Christian ministry. Yet it is interesting that the Bible
too has a story in which at least one person, the king’s wife, thought her
husband’s dancing before the Lord was a little too revealing and risqué.
“As the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, Michal the daughter of Saul looked out the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, and she despised him in her heart … And David returned to bless his household. But Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David and said, ‘How the king of Israel honored himself today, uncovering himself today before the eyes of his servants’ female servants, as one of the vulgar fellows shamelessly uncovers himself!’” (2 Samuel 6: 16, 20; ESV).
I guess what it really all comes down to is that maybe it
would be wise for each of us to check our motivation for doing the things that
we do in the name of our version of Christianity. If the bottom line isn’t
truly caring for one another with the love of Jesus, without any ulterior motives, hidden agendas and number games, well then maybe we do have a problem. Maybe then
“liturgical dance” is all we’ll get. But on the bright side, at least
we’ll be able to say, “… are coming back
to church, now that we’ve introduced …”
_______________
So here are a few questions to promote discussion:
- Where do we draw the line between the pragmatic (if it works to bringing the masses in, it must be OK view), versus recapturing God’s true plan for the church?
- What is God’s true plan for the church?
- Do ends justify the means when it comes to church growth?
- What do you make of the so-called “numbers” game?
- Have you ever witnessed “liturgical dance?” Just kidding. Don’t answer that.
Photo Credit: David Hayward (nakedpastor.com) Used by Permission.
It's the old story again, isn't it? Should we engage in 'attractional church', or should we focus on 'missional church'.
ReplyDeleteDavid Hayward's cartoon captures the attractional argument very well indeed. By taking it to a ridiculous extreme he gets the message across. I love the way you've spelled it out here in your post too.
Gathering together is important, but it will always be focussed on those who are already following Jesus. It's a club for the converted. The value of that is for encouragement and hearing from the Spirit and building one another up in love and teaching and so on. That's good and it's necessary.
But the other aspect is going out to bless and share. That's important too, maybe even more important, and often overlooked.
Here's one man's plan for achieving it. What do you think?
Chris,
DeleteThat is what attracted me to the cartoon as well; the "ridiculous extreme" most certainly does get the message across. Thank you too for sharing the link. I will check it out more fully .
Peace & Blessings