Where’s The Beef? 1-3-2011

Anderson, South Carolina

In an age of uncertainty and unbounded fear it’s natural to seek refuge in certainty, in dogmatism. Throughout the world we see millions embracing fundamentalism in its diverse forms, with its promises of a predictable world and everlasting life in paradise, if we think and do right in the present moment. For thousands the right thing is killing Western Infidels. For many, militant evangelism, converting others to our way of thinking, is the way to the Emerald City. For some living a life of oppressive religiosity holds the key to getting back to Kansas.

All forms of fundamentalism share a common characteristic, belief that one way to enlightenment is superior. Even within Christianity, divergent ideas about sanctified living and belief have led to the death of millions. Uncounted wars have been waged between Catholics and Protestants, both claiming superior enlightenment. Countless thousands were put to death for embracing natural healing, branded as witches, sorcerers, or heretics.

Recently in Sunday school class an example of ‘papered’ religious thinking astounded me with its potential for creating animosity. The very thing that is supposed to be the strength of our denomination showed itself to be its greatest weakness. There was little room for possibilities. Prestigious doctoral level education does not protect one from the weakness of religious thinking, it might even promote added risk; risk of declaring something of great value to be nearly worthless. In so many words, someone used mightily to transform thousands of lives was declared to be spiritually unfit for his work, because he doesn’t have a theological power wall.

Four miles down the road is one of the fastest growing churches in North America. Starting with eight people in a dorm room, it’s grown into a mega church with as many as 25,000 in attendance. The largest auditorium in the county was outgrown in eleven months. At baptismal services, four to five hundred seekers are baptized at outdoor events attended by thousands. Its founder has an undergraduate college degree but no graduate level training in theology.

Those of us sitting in our little church, part of a denomination facing rapid demographic death, were told the preacher of this mega church could not be a true minister of God without graduate theological training. Mainline churches, mostly in demographic decline, we were told, would eventually thrive because those flowing into mega churches would one day wake up and ask “Where’s the beef?” It was suggested one could not lead seekers into the deeper things of faith without seminary education. Eventually intellectual refugees from mega churches would flow into our hallowed halls to sit under our erudite pontifications. We would be spared demographic death after all. No one is asking out loud why some of our most senior and well-educated members now go four miles further to church.

We can barely pay the utilities as it is. Some of our churches are already shuttered and overgrown, because of limited religious thinking – our way or the highway. Many have hit the road. Church attendance in America is in steep decline, even when adjusting for explosive growth in mega churches. Church attendance in Europe has become in many regions a rare aberration of behavior held by a few senior citizens. More than once I’ve found myself alone in vast churches, no longer of even architectural interest to many.

To the best of my knowledge Jesus and most of his inner circle were somewhat deficient in their paperwork. It’s not likely fishermen and tent makers with dirty fingernails and bad breath from ancient Palestine had power walls filled with diplomas, certificates, and framed newspaper articles of their grand exploits. Only the Apostle Paul had paperwork and his religious thinking had him running around killing off people who did things differently that he though de rigueur. It took a major episode of ‘seeing the light’ on the Damascus Road for his thinking to be reset from the zeroes and ones of the Sanhedrin. At one time most erudite theologians believed the world to be flat with the sun going round the earth. Ask Copernicus or Galileo how their right thinking played out for them professionally. Observational astronomy was a high-risk profession when the ‘papered’ bishops were in charge.

I was visiting a church of my denomination three weeks ago. The sermon proved to be a homily of about five minutes, given by a seminary-trained preacher. I wonder what it was that I did not get from this doctoral-level address that I should have gotten, what transcended the well-organized hour of expository preaching at the place four miles down the road. Even in a society awash in attention deficit disorder, the five-minute tepid homily was heard by a mere twenty seven congregants, down by half in two years. The demanding and challenging hour of expository teaching was probably heard by twenty-five thousand, from someone sans a power wall.

In these harrowing times with rapidly shifting values, declining loyalties, shrinking portfolios, rising debt and violence of all kinds, and disruption of our careers, marriages, and friendships, those experiencing life as precarious and uncertain are in need of something of substance to chew on, something to show them a way of living and faith enabling them to meet often inconceivable challenges; something besides vegetarian religious thinking.

Thus says the Lord, Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riche; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises loving kindness’, justice, and righteousness on earth, for I delight in these things,” declares the Lord.

Where’s the beef? It might be down the road.