image or imagery?

by: John O'Keefe

we were excited!  we had just arrived in a new city and were excited about all the adventures that would face us.  the possibilities seemed endless and the promise seemed God sent.  we had actively searched for a church on the web for about a month before we arrived.  it took a while, but over time we did narrow it down to one we felt good about.  it had it all; a killer site, great music and best of all the only blue hair in the place was on the tips of the worship leaders spikes.  yes, this was going to be cool.

Our Visit:

we were pumped.  it was saturday night and we went to bed early.  i know, not many people get stoked about "church" but for us this was very cool.  you see, we were not raised in a church and when we came to know christ as our savior we gave our lives to him - the change that took place in our hearts was wonderful.  this place seemed to have promise that other places did not have - it was new, young, dynamic, independent and it wanted to try new things.  it wanted to experience a relationship with God on a deeper level and it was a "postmodern christian community."  besides, it had a killer website - filled with java script and links to starbucks and puravida coffee; it was cool.

sunday came, we got up and drove across town happy and laughing all the way.  when we arrived, it was all we imagined.  coffee style seating, with coffee tables and couches.  it was in a warehouse, with concrete floors - not carpet and no stained glass.  pictures of elvis and monroe on the walls; people said hi and welcomed us.  people were friendly, and the ambience was right on the money.  but then it happened - the service started and we knew it was no different then any other contemporary church filling the cities of america.  yea, the music was great, very hip, very "creedy."  but everything else was contemporary with electric guitars.  it was a typical and predictable order of worship - 3 songs, prayer, 3 songs, sermon, closing and offering - standard stuff.  but, we gave them the benefit of the doubt and figured we come back again next week to see if this was just a one time thing.  we did, and it was the exact same thing.

when we arrived home after our second visit we were disappointed to say the least.  we placed a great deal on this place being what it claimed to be - cutting edge postmodern - and we were very sad that it was not.  we decided that we would not talk about our individual experiences for one week - we would pray over what happened then talk about it to see what God was saying to us - and it was amazing, we both came to the same conclusion - this was not the place God was leading us.  unfortunately, what we found many people find while looking for a place to worship, places that claim one thing but are actually another.  

the ivory factor

many plants today use the words "community church" or "fellowship" in their names, and they mention no affiliation with a denomination - this place did just that.  in fact, when i asked about denominational connection i was told that the church had no denominational ties, but my wife was told they did have denominational ties.  that's par for the course.  99.88% of all church plants today lie about being connected with a denomination; it's the ivory factor.  the leaders of the plants feel, if they tell people they are connected with a particular denomination people would not come to the church.  they justify lying to the people because, as they say, "let's get them in the door and let them see we are not bad guys and then we can tell them we are connected with a denomination."  one southern baptist church planting friend of mine said it this way, "if people knew we were southern baptist they would never walk in the door."  that disturbed me greatly.  the idea of hiding a denominational affiliation until someone wants to join the church, to me is wrong - and is lying.  there is no way anyone can justify the lie - it is wrong.  sure, in a modern age and with modern people, this may have worked, but for a postmodern people trust is a primary adventure.  we simply look at it as }another church another set of lies."

if a church lies concerning its denominational connection, can it be lying about other things as well?  could the sermon we just heard be a lie?  how about the concept of salvation, could that be a lie?  remember, postmodern people are not exactly working with a large trust factor, so this kind of action is not good at all.  if you are afraid of saying who you are connected with don't connect with them.  your lying about it says more about you and the denomination then it does about the people who won't visit.

another twist to this is that most church leaders will tell you that they are not lying, they simply are not telling people that they are connected with a denomination - it is not a lie, it is an omission.  a lie by omission is still a lie.  after all, what else did you leave out of the conversation?

false signs

another claim that this church did, and a great many do, is the claim of being postmodern - when they were not.  while this is also dealing with the underlining factor of honesty, this one is less a lie them a mistake.  it is so, because i believe many churches simply do not understand what it means to be "postmodern."  i'm a firm believer that if you have to advertise you are postmodern, you are not.  this church experience proved that point in massive ways.

many churches still see "postmodern" as a generational thing, and that they don't get right anyway.  for example, ask any pastor to define "generation x" and listen to what they say.  chances are it would go like this, "generation x are young adults in college."  WRONG.  older end "generation x" (and i must say i hate the term) are in their 40's right now.  "generation x" is the generation between 1960-1980 with a current age range of 22-42.  "gen y" is college age, 1981-2001, making them 1-21.  now, each generation can be divided into "sub-generations" that define them a little better, but most church still are lost in this little word battle.  one pastor told me once, "there is no need to start a postmodern outreach, we have a youth group."  most churches do not understand that "postmodern" transcends generational lines.

i have found, when a church does have a postmodern ministry, or is sponsoring a postmodern church, they do so to impress the chicks.  they have no idea of what they are doing, but they think it makes them look good; it's a testosterone thing.  because they have no idea what it means to be postmodern, they simply clone themselves and add an electric guitars.  they do not see that being postmodern is outreaching to the lost and the hurt; they do not see that being postmodern goes beyond generations; they do not see that old theologies and old teachings can not fit into new skins; they do not see the need for accountability and honest for all people, all people.  for them, it is image over imagery.  

image over imagery

most churches today claiming to be postmodern, are not - sorry to say.  they make big claims, and they look good.  they got caught in this idea that a postmodern generation is driven my image.  so, they take out the pain and put a mural on the wall and call it a good job' they get young guys with "friends" haircuts and cloths to lead the worship; they add an electric guitar and a reverb machine and call it a good job' they look the part and project the part - but they are not the part.  you see, we are not driven by image, it is imagery that speaks to us.  we don't care what someone looks like, we are interested in what they project.  it all goes to being honest and being transparent.

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