I've been thinking quite a lot lately about the word "unique." This is due primarily to the fact I keep running into senior pastors, church staff pastors, and other people in ministry leadership roles who are convinced of how unique their church, vision, ministry, tradition, denomination is. While I don't know if any of them have actually used the word "unique" to describe just how special they are, they are definitely impressed with themselves and their very "unique" place in the kingdom of God.
So what does it mean to be unique in the first place? The word is defined as, "existing as the only one or the sole example; single; solitary in type or characteristics; having no like or equal; unparalleled, incomparable; limited in occurrence to a given class, situation or area." You and I both know plenty of pastors and churches that have deluded themselves into thinking their church/ministry fits these descriptions. This thinking stems from a level of arrogance that seems to be pandemic in the American church today. When you add to that arrogance the willful ignorance that causes a person or church to convince themselves they should pay no attention to what others in the Body of Christ are doing, you end up with a fractured spiritual landscape, full of competitive, narcissistic, and un-Christlike churches and ministries who are actually part of the larger cultural problem rather part of the cultural solution.
Some of the common statements of these types of churches include, "We don't care what the church down the street is doing, we're going to preach the gospel here (which is typically code for "the gospel according to us")," or "We are (fill in the name of the church/ministry/denomination) and we have no need to know what other churches/ministries/denominations are doing because they should be copying us, not the other way around." One of my favorites is, "We're not going to compromise the truth," which means those ministries who are doing things differently are automatically compromising the message of Jesus. This would all be funny if it weren't so blatantly full of self-worship. But, there's nothing funny about it.
When arrogance and ignorance collide, you end up with the statements and scenarios I've just described. The larger issue, of course, is why so many of us claim allegiance to the mystical, universal Body of Christ, but at the same time do everything within our power to separate ourselves from the rest of those who make up that Body. So, with that in mind, here is a brief open letter to all of the "leaders" of "unique" ministries out there:
Dear senior pastor/staff pastor/ministry leader,
I know you think you're unique. You're not. Stop it. I invite you to join with your brothers and sisters throughout the rest of Christ's Church so that together we can all be part of the solution.
Sincerely,
Your brother Jerry
Hmmm...unity. What a unique idea.
8 comments:
I think the need to have a "unique" ministry goes along with the current push to be "relevant" in today's society. Although being authentically like Jesus relationally would be more relevant than anything the ministry-of-the-month might produce, IMO.
Of course, living, relating, and even talking like Jesus requires such an ongoing investment of time, energy, and denial of self, that most of us don't do it very well, if at all. At least not consistently.
Thank God for grace and mercy...
Cathy, good thoughts. As you've pointed out, emulating Jesus is just too time-consuming and inconvenient. It's a heck of a lot easier to be a christian than a disciple of Jesus.
I think it is funny when a church or ministry strives to become "relevant." We spend so much time trying to be spiritually "relevant" we forget what Christ did was to be available, compassionate, and full of grace and mercy. If we were that, a reflection of Christ, relevance would be the least of our worries.
Instead, we spend unholy amounts of time reinventing the wheel and working in areas we have no strengths or talents, all in the name of "uniqueness." I don't know what I am but I know I am no longer comfortable with what is and was and I am "stirred" for lack of a better word, to something more than currently exists.
Andy, there is something more for sure. I believe it already exists, we've just been settling for less by settling for the familiar.
Question: by being a follower of Jesus shouldn`t we be some form of unique anyway? Aren`t we supposed to stand out and be different? Just wondering.
Jen, where I'm coming from in this post is concerning many of those within the Body of Christ who are convinced that they are unique from other members of that same Body. Yes, I do believe followers of Jesus will exhibit certain unique attitudes and behaviors compared to those who do not follow Him, but when we set ourselves up as having a unique place or understanding compared to our brothers and sisters in the faith, then we have a problem.
Ah-ha! See now I understand what you meant. The sad thing that alot of these special in their own mind people don`t understand is that instead of helping, all they do is destroy.Of course I guess that was the whole point of what you said.
I see that your focus is the current church context from which you come. But, how about other traditions? I wonder about such groups that seem oblivious, nay, use open disdain of relevance of their existence to the "outside world." I think of such groups like the Amish, Mennonites, and other cloistered groups who choose to live "outside" and so become relevant. Is this an assumption? If I never go to popular churches, never hear their messages, I never see any evidence of their work, I never buy their books, never put money in their offering plate, etc. Then, they are truly irrelevant! I don't care about them, don't listen to them, and so to me, they will ultimately atrophy.
"Unique" would seem to me to be trying to play the world's game. And, what I have always noticed is that they do it better. They have the best tv programs, the best music, etc. It seems that "Christianized" stuff is always an also-ran, half-assed attempt to keep up with what the world does best. What is the newest fad? The newest look? The newest outlandish thing that can be said or done? From shocking new dresses at the Emmy's, to shock jocks, to outlandish excesses of Wall street. That's what E!, and other Hollywood tabloid programs exist for. To spew the "newest" which is really little more than the same old thing re-packaged. How is it that communities like the Amish and Mennonites- a people who have basically been frozen in time for the last several centuries, get more play. I see them in their clothing in the Wal-Mart, hear about their spectacular baking from their farmers market in Polk Co., to the grace which they handled the shootings in OH several years ago. I realize I tune in and out of this conversation with you about relevance. I am interested in tangible protest though.
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