Changing the way we change

Sometime this weekend, Melinda and are planning on watching Right America Feeling Wronged, an HBO documentary by Alexandra Pelosi (and, yes, it's Nancy Pelosi's daughter). I really liked her other film Friends of God. She basically traveled the country and talked with Christians, trying to understand them. Some were doing normal things like going to church; others were wearing tights and wrestling in the name of Jesus. You get the idea.

In Right America Feeling Wronged, Pelosi followed the McCain campaign and interviewed McCain supporters. Like I said, Melinda and I haven't actually gotten to watch it yet, but we did preview a couple of scenes, in which Pelosi interviewed conservatives after Obama won and McCain lost. If you only heard the audio and they bleeped out the candidates names, someone who didn't know what the movie was about would probably deduce it was a movie about the aftermath of 9/11. There was mourning and weeping. People said things like, "This country will never be the same," and "The terrorists have won." Sadly, the people who were interviewed talked as if there is little difference between Barack Obama and Osama Bin Laden.

But why do I bring this up? It seems to me that what's happening in the political sphere is also happening in the Church. Change is coming, and people are scared. They want to hold on to what's familiar and they want to rely on the answers they've relied on for so many years. Now, before I write another word, let me tell you what this change is NOT. First of all, this change does not mean that the Bible is or should be disregarded. Second, this change is not a complete divorce from our history or our heritage. Finally, this change is not change for the sake of change; it's not a superficial change in style or lingo.

This change is all about owning up to what's broken. Evangelicalism as practiced in the 1980's and '90's did not have all the answers. I'm proud to have grown up an evangelical, but there were some important things we missed out on. Many social justice issues and the engaging of culture are at the top of the list, but I would also include creating beauty and poetry in every sphere of life. I think of the priorities that we forgot about - how we relied on money and the military for security, but told others to trust in Jesus alone. I think about how we oversimplified the gospel and sometimes rendered it as nothing more than a cliché. But most of all, I think about how we often focused on being right more than on being loving.

I see God working. I see the Church slowly changing. I see a new generation of leaders emerging and breathing fresh life into God's people. But this change, like so many, comes with pain. Not everyone is happy about it.

Melinda and I just left a bad church situation. We didn't want to, but felt like we had exhausted every option. There were lots of different things that could be cited as reasons for our decision to leave, but they all boil down to one thing: the church (or, at least, most of the people in it) did not want to change.

I know that sounds like we're spoiled children who want things our way, but it's not like that at all. We came to this church knowing that it had problems and that it needed some new life. We were ready and willing to pull up our sleeves and get to work. We were excited to get plugged in and really get to know people. And we desperately wanted to be part of the solution. But unfortunately, it was like trying to paddle a canoe on dry cement. The stream just wasn't moving. And, to be fair, it wasn't moving in either direction. All around us was apathy. People weren't fighting us (or anyone) really.

So, now we're starting over again in a new church community. I'm still optimistic that God is up to something, and I'm hoping that we'll get to be a part of it, but it makes me sad that people hold on to things so tightly - especially when what they're hold on to is mere tradition, and not the Spirit of God.

This video is for Derek Webb's "A New Law." The lyrics perfectly capture the vibe I've been getting this past year in church.