Would you have church in a drug den?
I was listening to David Sedaris this week. If you are an NPR listener, you know that means I was trying to drive while laughing like a hyena and gasping for air at stop lights. If you don’t know him…well…trust me.
He was talking about the performance art scene, describing artists strung out on speed, art “pieces” consisting of melting plastic toys in a skillet (that’s one of the few I can describe here) and viewers spouting uninformed opinions of his “masterpieces.” I wondered, “Why would anyone want to be even remotely connected to any of that? Why would you choose to be a part of such a depressing and tawdry society?”
I envisioned a whole conversation with one of the artists.
I ask, “I don’t understand this whole “performance art” thing…but it seems like it could be cool. Why do you call melting plastic toys in a skillet “art”?”
He replies, “Well, there’s more to my art than skillets. Come to my next show and I’ll show you what my art is about. It’s on Saturday night in a cramped smoke-filled, drug-laden warehouse on the scary side of town. We’ll start at 10:00PM, but things don’t really get rolling until about midnight. You’ll be participating in a piece. The audience will be singing the national anthem from Kazakhstan; we’ll have the words up on a screen.”
“I’m not really comfortable going there, especially at night. And, I have no idea what the national anthem of Kazakhstan sounds like. I don’t even know what language they speak. Can’t you guys bring your art someplace normal like the library or mall?”
“That’s not how we do things. If you want to learn about performance art, you will have to come where we are, meet when we meet, and do what we do.”
“Never mind. It’s a little too weird for me.”
Then I wondered, “Is his world so different from mine? What would one of David’s artist friends say about my world? Our world? The “world” of the Church?” I can hear him ask, “You know, this Jesus guy said some cool stuff, but do I really have to get up early on a Sunday to hear more about Him? Why do you people all meet in packs and sing weird songs and cry and stuff. Can’t you bring Jesus to a more normal place, like a bar or an art studio?”
Now, the conversation would take an uncomfortable turn. I would talk with him about the God I am learning to know and the positive impact that relationship has had on my life. But, at some point early in his seeking, he would be expected to come to where we are, meet when we meet, and do what we do. As uncomfortable as I would be in a drug den, I feel pretty sure the denizens of that place would be as uncomfortable in any church, no matter how hip or seeker-friendly it is. Singing church songs, even Christian rock, would be as foreign to the unchurched as singing the national anthem of Kazakhstan.
Is that the best we have to offer? Sunday morning services are great. But, doesn’t it seem like we’re asking those who are seeking God to take a big step in coming to us? A drug den isn’t “normal” to me. A church isn’t “normal” to the David Sedarises. How can we come to them?
Why would this be a good idea? A bad idea? If you were the Pope of your own church, what would you do to “bring your art someplace normal?”
- Written by Alicia Hemphill
April 16th, 2007 at 1:00 pm
I like your point about the weirdness of church to seekers. It’s also true for Christians - contemporary or traditional churches can seem weird to those from the opposite tradition.
But just to play devil’s advocate: there is value in corporate worship and in what we do. Performance art isn’t going to play very well in a sunny park on a Saturday afternoon with kids around, just like eating the Lord’s Supper doesn’t flow as well in a smoky bar surrounded by people who don’t know what on earth you’re doing.
I think how the early church handled this issue is interesting: They separated the seekers from the baptized. All would worship together, and then seekers got to go off into their own room for instruction, questions, etc, while the baptized got to celebrate communion, share prayer time, etc.
Obviously in a postmodern, journey-oriented world, that wouldn’t work very well. But what if we were holding outreach events all over the place, and that was the way we eased people into the “weirdness” of our service? Why not have separate seeker services (this would work better in a large church)? There is no way to have Sunday corporate worship be all things to all people.
And the other answer is of course relational. If a seeker has a strong friendship with me, they will trust me enough to come to church and I can guide them through the experience. Just like some random friend of David Sedaris would trust him to guide him through the experience of watching performance art. Do our non-Christian friends trust us enough to come to church with us?
April 17th, 2007 at 9:33 am
The first time I attended Evergreen, I was there for the dedication of Maya Bollinger. I saw a young woman being baptized in a kiddie pool at the front of the theater, because she wanted to be baptized at Evergreen before her family moved away from Raleigh.
I guess you never know where God will lead you… whether it’s a drug-laden warehouse, a park, a lake… or perhaps a movie theater.
April 17th, 2007 at 10:29 pm
A young woman getting water poured over her head in a movie theater…sounds like performance art to me! I think Alicia and Elaine both have really good points. It was interesting to me to have the analogy of the performance art because I had heard about that idea but hadn’t really thought about it like that. I think doing both things would be a good idea. I’m up for some living outside of the box, and I bet a lot of other people are too.
April 22nd, 2007 at 4:59 am
what box?
Okay,now seriously…I have questions….
Aren’t believers instructed to gather together to worship on one specific day of the week and exit their day-to-day routine…whichever designated Sabbath that be for them?
Didn’t Christ seek the seeker where their own day-to-day routine intersected with his? I know he did say you can worship in different places…..but he didn’t seem to take it to the “brothel”….I think that in my darker days I would have taken issue with a tactic that focused on our differences before I could identify our similarities.
But did I miss the point? Forgive me….my first blogging! This could be addictive!
April 22nd, 2007 at 8:11 pm
Suse, I like your questions.
I think we’re starting to get to the heart of the matter now. Is it possible that communities form unique rituals to identify themselves and to celebrate their community? And Christian churches are just communities like that?
In other words, while there should be accessible ways to learn about the communities, you will never be able to just jump right into a community and be comfortable from the first moment. That’s why the relationships are so important. Those people already in the community who guide you through learning the rituals.
April 26th, 2007 at 12:11 pm
Aren’t we still missing the point? Why are all these questions either/or ones? Jesus did not stay in the streets all the time. He actually worshiped as well. The church should be a place of worship AND seeking. It should be open to all. And the Church (those people who make up the church) should be out in “normal” places bringing Jesus to all those who are not ready for the Sunday morning thing. Why have Christians found this so difficult? Why is it either/or? We live out Jesus in the normal places and we worship him as a community in the “church” places. An imbalance to either side seems dangerous at best to me.
April 29th, 2007 at 7:03 pm
I agree that Sunday corporate worship is important. But, my point is, every single person who doesn’t come to church is somewhere else on Sunday mornings. I wouldn’t suggest canning the Sunday service. But, what if a small group help discussion meetings on spiritual topics in a bar or coffee shop on Sundays? Jesus might not have done to the brothel-evangelism-field-trip-thing, but he did hang out where the unchurched of his day hung out. My question is, why can’t we do both? Hold “church” for those interested in doing “church” in one localized place with others who look and mostly think the same way AND hold “church” with those who aren’t ready to do a mass worship thing in a place and with a format that is accessible to them.
The idea of living out Jesus in the normal places is a good first step. I’m just wondering if we need to have a smaller second step before submersing people into a Journey Group or corporate worship service.