You aren't the mission of the church

Alice: “Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?” 
The Cheshire Cat: “That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.” 
Alice: "I don't much care where." 

The Cheshire Cat: “Then it doesn't much matter which way you go.”

The honest quote from Alice in Wonderland reminds me why it's important to have an idea of where you're going or where you want to go. 

We often join in on journeys that others have begun without asking what our destination is.  Or maybe we ask later in the journey and find out, perhaps for the first time, where we are headed.

I don't hear it as much as I used to, but there were definitely times in the past when I'd speak to a young person in college, majoring in something they didn't want, and find out they were doing that because that's what their parents had raised them to be.  And when they got to college, they discovered other things were available to study, other occupations to consider - and they wanted to get off the journey there were put on to and to get on a different train.

I've seen the same dynamic unfold over marriage and family. Someone marries relatively young and then, as they get older and more experienced in life, realize all they "missed out on" or, potentially worse, had no idea the nature of the family they married into and what life with them would be like. Or their spouse "turned into someone different" after they married - you know, cause love is blind.  Or they just "grew up" when they realized marriage and family isn't like dating anymore.

There are other dynamics like that in life as well, but the one I see way more often than not these days is over religion and church.  And I wish I could say that's only because I've begun seeing things differently and I'm "aimed at" seeing differently and so my radar is looking for such.  But, if you pay attention to some of the smaller stories in the news, you do occasionally see info about studies or polls showing a shift in people's views about life, God, church, etc - and the shift is away.

The reaction I've seen from most church people over the last couple of decades has been to circle the wagons and elicit more fear of what's "out there".  Get people to tighten up their beliefs, send their kids off to private, Christian colleges, watch more Christian media, listen to more K-Love, vote for the right candidates, get more involved in church and church related activities, give more to the church, etc.  

And it's been like pouring gasoline on a fire in an attempt to put out the fire.

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When people come to a crossroads of belief or life direction, it can be tough.  They've built up a life around certain premises and assumptions. To realize something is a little off and to begin to investigate it can be massive because people realize it's not just a little off, it's on a wrong foundation and pointed in a wrong direction. And when that happens, they have to make a choice about what's next. 

For some, they're too invested and too far into life to make a change and they decide to double down and fight to the death against anyone who appears to threaten their story, their journey. You know they're smarter than that and you can see in the look in their eye, the conundrum they're in - the cognitive dissonance they're experiencing - but they can't back down now.

For others, they're also too invested and too far along the journey, but they don't have any fight left. They just go dead inside. They find other pursuits to distract them. They'll support the status quo and be a mild cheerleader for the passionate, but that's all they got left. The only fight you'll find in them is when you start messing with the other pursuits they've engaged to distract them.

And still there are others - people who believe in God, are attracted to the idea of being associated with others who believe in God, but yet aren't sure about what to do with "things".  

When they ask questions or look for wisdom, it's almost always asked and answered in the context of the very assumptions they're now questioning.  

"Got a problem with church? Well you probably need more church."

"Struggling with faith in what you believe in?  You probably just need to have more faith."

"Not sure you can trust the pastor/preacher/church leaders?  You should talk to them about it so they can set your mind at ease and then you can trust them."

"Got big questions about religion and the world events going on around you?  Oh, that's a tough one.  Maybe the preacher or church leaders can help you with that.  Bet there's a good church conference you could go to on that."

It's like the modus operandi is to avoid anyone's questions and redirect them to focus on the very thing they are questioning - almost every time. 

I do understand that in some tribes, that IS the answer. For some, they've already got the answer and it's to keep on believing what you've been taught, keep going to church and giving money, and don't distract yourself or others with things that aren't on the approved list of things to do or think.

But for other groups/tribes, it's like they're really not sure of what to do with you and your questions.  

I know from being "inside" for so long that the proposition of genuinely stopping to study alongside someone with questions means you're taking away time and other resources that are needed to keep the machine moving - if you're not feeding the beast, you're starving it.  Focus on the church, not the people.

And to step it up from an individual or two who have questions to a larger group of questioning people, "Well, that's just off task." 

"We can't afford that kind of time or attention on things that take us off mission."

And right there is the rub - "the mission".

What is the mission?  And whose mission is it?

For a lot of people, this is when a circular discussion or circular reasoning begins and never stops.

If you're not familiar with the idea, it's basically that the proof for what you want to prove is the proof itself.

Wikipedia's example - "Alkaline water is healthy because it results in health benefits, and it has health benefits because it is healthy."

And one I heard growing up a lot was, "Of course the Bible is God's Word. It says so right there in the Bible."

The number of people who didn't see the intellectual loophole with that one basic idea about the Bible is astonishing to me, even among the people who I know were aware of the history of the formation of the Bible and that isn't "a book" but a collection of letters and writings assembled over time.

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So what IS the mission of the church?  

And perhaps another important question to ask is - why is that my question?  

What about, "What's the point of life?"  Or maybe, "Who is this God we're talking about and giving money to?  And why does HE want our money?"

When you let someone else frame the situation or formulate your questions, you already have an answer and it's the one that's built in to how they formulated the questions or framed the situation.

And that's why, for many churches, the question is the church and the answer is the church.

Sure, God fits in there somewhere. Probably. And other spiritual things too. But keep your eye on church.

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And yes, I'm using a little hyperbole to make a point that probably doesn't need hyperbole.

For those who do "wake up" on a train headed somewhere and they realize they have questions about where it's going, how they got put on the train, and why they're there, a satisfying and helpful answer is not, "Just enjoy the ride".

So, when Alice asks the cat about where to go next, his answer is spot on.  If you don't know where you're going, you can choose any direction you want to go.  No answer is wrong.

What Alice was wanting to find out was essentially, "How do I get out of here?"  But while she was in the middle of where she was, she didn't even know how to ask that or what that even meant.

And that's where a lot of people are finding themselves in relationship to church, God, and faith.  And it's where more people will find themselves.  And it's where our kids and grandkids will START their journeys. 

And if our response is "Don't ask those kinds of questions", a point will come when they don't ask us those kinds of questions - instead they will ask other people those questions and will hear their answers - probably answers "we" don't want them to hear or buy into.

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So, no, you are not the mission of the church.  Even if you one time were, now you're not.  You'll hear different churches couch their own vision or mission in Biblical language or their own tag lines...

* To seek and save the lost

* Being Jesus' hands and feet

* Growing God's kingdom

* To bring glory and praise to Jesus

* To be a New Testament church

Etc.  Etc.  You've seen and heard things like this.

And most all of the mission or vision ideas assume "growing the church".  Nothing at all wrong with that. Nothing wrong with having a large crowd of people who agree to move in a certain direction together and share resources to make it happen.

It's the first generation of people who agree to "grow a church" that truly "get it".  By comparison, they are more on the same page than ever at that moment - much more than they will be in the future and way more that the second or third generation of people they convert or have born into "their church".

It's those who "grow up in" a church who are assumed to be in on the game - you're an insider, so you know what you're supposed to do.  "Sure, you're a third or fifth or tenth generation insider, but we can trust you to keep it going, can't we?"

And it's precisely at that point that many churches don't realize that the people in their church need to be their mission *at least for a generous season* way more than any other "outside mission" or bringing in any new people.

It's at that point where people who are insiders in terms of presence are really outsiders at heart and mind and yet the people driving the train can't afford to stop and address any of it.

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That used to worry me a lot more.

And now, I realize it doesn't need to.

Just because "we" can't afford to stop the train and address the issues, doesn't mean the train will keep going anyway.

I remember that God has a hand in all of it and he can do with the train what he will.

And that's way more comforting than you can imagine!  

Why?  Because he cares for us and his own people way more than we do.  And we can trust and depend on him.

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More on all that at some point.  Maybe.

Grace and peace to you all!