Or, Another Year, Another Pastor…
Today Sarah and I received proof of the much-rumored resignation of one of our pastors, the details of which–as is the policy of our church–are obscured from the common attendee.
I’m reminded of a poem which Graeme, a friend of mine, wrote while we were in high school. It was round about the time that I myself became a “Christian”–whatever that means to a highschooler–and reveals a sort of bittersweet opinion that Graeme had of the institution. In subtle detail, he paints out the picture of a young child quietly sitting with his mother and trying to understand the sermon being given. As he continues to listen, his senses are disturbed by the fumes of smoke, drifting through the floorboards of the building from the meeting room below. There, men in suits with cigars meet in secret, deciding the fate of their naive congregation.
Admittedly, these thoughts aren’t profound nor original (Pearl Jam took their own stab at this theme in their Do the Evolution video). But there is something to be said for the tragedy of the American Church’s aspirations to be a cross between representative democracy and a corporate multi-national conglomerate. We are not a people that rally around the needs of people (Acts 2:42-47)–we’re a people that rally around politics, issues, and morality. I mean, what purpose is there in creating an organization of several hundreds of people?
Thankfully, I’m not alone in these thoughts. The latest article at Antithesis would seem to express the same dissatisfaction with the current motivations of protestant evangelicals, as opposed to other rags whose recycled complacency has been a rather embarassing effort to get in touch with Gen X.
What do you think?
In the name of love
What more in the name of love?
-U2, Pride
