The simple answer is, “Duh, yeah!” After all, isn’t the Church pretty much founded on what is read in the Scriptures?
However, in my experience nothing is ever simple. Especially when it comes to what people hold on to as “deep and personal belief.”
Back when I was a part of the Evangelical community, we considered things like Bible study, prayer, and worship the most sacred and necessary things that anyone could do. Actually, it wasn’t a matter of what ‘could’ be done. These things MUST be practiced daily. There is a little ditty that we used to sing about
“Read your Bible, pray everyday and you’ll grow, grow, grow.
Neglect your Bible, forget to pray and you’ll shrink, shrink, shrink.”
Catchy, right?
We got together at least once a week, (sometimes we had one night per week Off!), to study the “Word” and pray. On Sunday morning there would be adult Sunday school. Nearly every member attended these.
Beside these pretty much mandatory meetings we were expected to spend substantial time in private study and prayer during the week.
We were told that if we weren’t spending at least a half-hour in prayer and that much in Bible reading or devotions we were failing in our commitment to God.
For many, (most?), this resulted in shame and guilt that could become emotionally overwhelming.
And, I think that the leaders knew this and encouraged it. Shame and guilt are incredibly strong motivators. They rank right up there with fear.
We all know that the Church has historically operated with a large dose of fear to keep the masses in line.
I say all this because since I ran from the Evangelical fold a decade ago I think that I’ve learned a couple things that those folks could never understand.
I lead a Bible study at my church. I joined the good folks at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church about four years ago and I’ve been the Bible guy for a bit over three of those years. During this time the church has grown a lot. We have more than tripled in size. The outreach of the church has grown equally. It’s a lot of fun watching so many people joining in the work of running a church.
Great!
Awesome!
Huzzah!
With all of these cool things happening you’d think that folks would be flocking to learn about what’s in the Bible. They would be knocking down the doors of their prayer closets to meet God in prayer and meditation.
Right?
Well, not so much, really.
Let’s say, out of a hundred and twenty or so people less than 10 attend Bible study.
I’d guestimate that maybe another dozen or so consistently follow any kind of Spiritual formation practices.
So, for the sake of discussion, about 80% of the church are involved in things that are considered shame-worthy in most Evangelical communities.
Ok. So what?
I mentioned above that I have learned a few things since my escape from Evangelicalism. One of those things is that people are gonna ‘people.’
And that’s OK.
I see the zeal and joy of those people as they serve one another and the church and it makes my heart glad.
I listen to the stories that they have to tell about their kids and grandkids and I have to smile.
These are people who love.
They love their families.
They love their friends.
They love their church family.
And, they love God!
We are not all made the same. We all have different personalities, talents, and gifts that we bring to the table. Not all are going to be so-called “Spiritual Giants” or biblical scholars.
It’s enough that we all agree that love is the greatest common practice that we all share.
I am more than content with the way things are at St. B’s.
We are a family that is growing in faith and love.
When we love, we grow, grow, grow……
Be First to Comment