Dazed and Confused
January 14, 2007 “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’ (Matthew 25:40, NLT)
The guy who preached the sermon at our church today is hardly "the least of these". Neither was the woman who led the worship band or the pastor who prayed the prayers. The ushers, the elders, the deacons, the Sunday school teachers, probably not a single member of the congregation this morning - myself included - constitutes "the least of these". None of us are going hungry today. Water bottles are a common sight. We all have a place to live. Nobody's walking around in rags, much less naked. None of us are in prison and, should any of us be sick, we have free access to one of the best health care systems in the world. None of us are the "least of these".
In the 25th chapter of Matthew Jesus does three things: he self-identifies with the poor and destitute and then he asks us what we're going to do about that and, in case we've missed the point, tells us just exactly how high the stakes are. There is absolutely no way I can respond to this passage of scripture in my own church. This morning we followed the chairman of the elders into church and our two cars, together, retail for about $70,000 CN. The parking lot is studded with mini-vans and SUV's and we're by no means a wealthy church, but there was well over a $1M in our parking lot alone. What do we know about "the least of these"?
We live in a Christian culture that has not only lost its way but its mind. This morning we spent ten minutes going over announcements that were already printed in the bulletin, sang worship songs that were all about our own precious feelings and then listened to a guest speaker who talked about the wonder of God providing our food for us before we went out to the restaurant and paid for our meals with a debit card, before we went to Starbuck's for latte, before we went grocery shopping in stores whose shelves were laden with food, going to three different stores so we could get the right brand of curry paste and the best price on frozen entrees, before we had the conversation about Australian cabernet. How can any of us possibly understand God's miraculous provision in this context? How can any of us ever be "the least of these?", how can any of us ever see God in this place we call church?
Para-church organizations exist because church is the single most visible expression of a Christian culture that is self-indulgent and entirely harmless to everyone except itself. Here's another radical, mind-blowing thought - at least to me. I've been wading through the early church fathers for the last couple of months. It's not easy reading. But what I've discovered is that the earliest formation of "church" didn't look like a church at all, at least not one we would recognize. I've been trying to think of what would be the closest equivalent in our society. The Resident Love Goddess and I saw "The Pursuit of Happyness" last night and I finally grasped what it was, right there in the movie theatre. When one was baptized into Christ everything was left behind - friends, family, future. Everything was sold and given to the apostles, and those who did so then, quite literally, had no where else to go. There is an almost exact representation of the earliest church in our society today - it's called a homeless shelter.
Here's the really difficult part, the part I have no idea what to do with. Amidst all of this growing dissatisfaction with church as we know it, they've asked me to be an elder. It should have been a no-brainer, I should have said "no" and been done with it. God however, has made it abundantly clear that I was to say yes, so I recanted my original answer and, here we are. I have no clue where this is going, I just hope it doesn't end badly. Frankly, I've trusted God for some pretty heavy stuff in the last few months, but he keeps asking me to trust him for more, and the things he asks me to trust him with keep getting closer to the heart. I have no idea where this is going, I just hope the lessons aren't all going to be about humility, that's all.
UPDATE:
Ragamuffin Rambler weighs in on Matthew 25 here.
Amber talks of church life here.
(e)mergent Voyageur on para church ministries here.
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Reader Comments (12)
I understand your trepidation. I think I would feel the same way. But God doesn't ask you to do anything without a great purpose behind it. I believe you will be the voice of Jesus for the poor and for the lost in your role.
God bless you and I'm praying for you.
John
Wise and honest words. I think I have pretty much completely given up on the church. As things stand right now there is basically zero chance of me being involved in one again and I don't think I even want to be.
I wish you luck on your journey though. God has a reason for you to be there as He has a reason for me to be where I am.
Be blessed,
Paul
But yeah, sometimes it makes me crazy.
Is it OK to chuckle about God making it clear that you should say yes?
Bless you RWK as you move along this journey of yours. I do concur with your thoughts concerning "The Pursuit of Happyness" -- a quite powerful film.
Peace.
Such an important voice!
May we all find our mind (not to mention heart) as we find ourselves in the shadow of one who felt the bullet side of the faith, today.
I still want to see The Pursuit of Happiness, but have already shed many a tear at the trailor.
Peace, mon frer (or however you spell that)
A friend of mine who works with homeless in another Canadian city has had a very exhausting time dealing with their church about street ministry.
The ignorance of the some leads to utter frustration, discouragement and anger with basic church bureaucracy.
They'd pack it in, except they can't, they know every street person by name, Pretty amazing. So they bang their head, call friends to vent and pray for love for their fellow churched.
We friends pray someone will come along who can handle the church's demands so my friend is free to do what they do best.
It's a tough place for them, and it's likely the church's blissful and earnest ignorance will burn them out before serving on the streets ever will, I hope your call to be an elder won't be as frustrating.
Peace,
Jamie
What I've found has been a clearer understanding that "the least of these" are not just those who are financially bankrupt but spiritually bankrupt as well. I asked God to point me in the direction of how I could be of service to Him most and instead of creating a passion to help the homeless inside me he created the passion to help the spiritually bankrupt instead.
It doesn't mean I don't still feel a sense of duty to those who have lost everything tangible in their lives but I am so much more focused on helping those who have lost GOD instead. And let's admit it - like you so eloquently said the other day - we ALL suck - even those of us who drive the SUV's and wear fancy clothes to church are just as much in need as those looking for nightly shelter.
All I'm trying to say here is that the person driving a $35,000 car to church who sees nothing wrong with that is just as much "one of the least of these" as the man with no car at all - he's just "least" in an entirely different way.
Paul - You know, I was wondering who was going to make the LedZep comment. The Rolling Stone had them on the cover last fall - called them "The Heaviest Band Ever."
Ginger - Chuckle away!
Adam P. Newton - Very interesting comments - thanks! It's interesting, isn't it - you feel you're where you are for a reason, yet feel a call to be amongst "the least of these". How do we resolve these kinds of things?
UrbanMonk - I haven't been voted in to the board yet, so it's by no means a done deal. I have no idea what to expect at the meetings - at least not yet.
Chris - Awesome to have you back blogging, dude!!! I can't wait to hear you unwind now that you've given yourself a free rein. It's going to be a lot of fun.
BeneDiction - I can appreciate how your friend must feel. Reaching out to the community isn't what churches are designed to do.
Jamie - I will email you - I think my spam filter is eating your mail.
HeyJules - I agree entirely - you're absolutely right. The difficulty is, well... that's not what Jesus said. If we take the words of Matthew 25 and "spiritualize" them we give ourselves permission to ignore the poor. Same thing with the word "poor" in Luke 4:18. Here's something else - in the passage from Luke he talks about the "oppressed" and in Matthew 25 he uses the phrase "least of these" and I wonder if Jesus is talking about inequalities of power (see James 2 - re: "oppress") Here's one final oddity - and these are not arguments just things I've been thinking about lately! In the beattitudes Jesus talks about the blessings that come to those who are "poor in spirit". If it refers to the the guy who sees nothing wrong with a $50,000 car... well, sometimes I don't know what to think...
joanee - I don't think leaving church is (necessarily) right up Satan's alley. It's just that sometimes I think church is irrelevant, that's all. And shallow. And superficial. And really, kind of odd. But then, I keep going back, don't I?
As for becoming an elder,
a.) proof of God's sense of humour?
b.) there is nothing that you can't learn from.
c.) My own experience with 'church' has fed my inborn cynicism. But my experience with God has created in me an unexpected wonder that every time he puts me somewhere, I learn something that prepares me for what's next. And with God, there's always a 'what's next.' Ever read "Harold and the Purple Crayon"? Must reading for the serious Christ follower.
r