The church is in the Wild

Human beings in a mob

What’s a mob to a king?

What’s a king to a god?

What’s a god to a non-believer?

Who don’t believe in anything?

We make it out alive

All right, all right

No church in the wild

Lyrics from the song “No Church in the Wild” Kayne West with Jay-Z featuring Frank Ocean

A couple months ago the tune to this song got stuck in my head.  Rap music has never been my genre of choice when it comes to music, but I heard this song played a lot and wanted to know the name of it and discovered that this song had some theology in it. 

I will warn you, this song is very colorful and there is a reason I am not going into all the words of this song.  However, as colorful as it may be it does lament the wild that seems to be our world at times or for some a constant reality.  Perhaps, “no church in the wild” could be lifted up as a lament psalm of sorts as it asks the question, “I’m wondering if a thug’s prayers reach.” There seems to be a genuine thirst for God when questioning the existence of God while at the same time wondering if one’s prayers are heard.

In a song that is played in pop culture, questioning the existence of God and critiquing (to put it nicely) organized religion; Christians should take this lament seriously and ask how we could minister to some of the pain described in this song. 

Saying there is “no church in the wild” is flat out unchristian.  There is no place the church will not go!  If our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ descended into hell (or the dead) then what we proclaim each week is that there is NO place in this universe our God will not go to save us. And guess what?  There is no place on earth our God won’t send His church. 

In Scripture we discover how God was with the Israelites in the wilderness and we know that God is with us when we find ourselves in the wilderness.  As a missionary church and congregation we must prayerfully ask where God will send us next so those who find themselves in the wilderness may know the God who is revealed to us in Christ.  What’s a god to a non-believer?  Who don’t believe in anything?  A question we ask ourselves more and more in a post-modern age.  How do we share the Good News of Christ and talk about the love of God to someone who doesn’t believe in anything?  We share the Good News by serving the needs of those who find life to be in the wilderness, we be the Church in the wilderness! 

Maundy Thursday

Jesus commands us to love one another. He gives us the gift of the community of believers we call the church. What does this command mean in a society that values individualism? What does this command mean when popular versions of Christianity seek to emphasize a personal relationship with Jesus, as opposed to a communal relationship with Jesus Christ?

The world knows Jesus through the love that exists in and through the community of believers known as the body of Christ, the church.

How do we faithfully live out this command of Christ in our society today? Particularly in a context that seeks to preserve and survive rather than give and be vulnerable enough to receive.

Our Lenten Journey can be an Ecumenical one

For Christians, the season of Lent is underway, a time that calls for more intentional prayer, fasting, almsgiving and study.  Can churches around the nation and globe be more intentional on making this season an opportunity for deepening ecumenical relationships?  A time in which Christian communities can give and share the gifts their traditions have to offer by coming together throughout the season of Lent for prayer, service and study.

Ecumenical endeavors are being done in various parts of our nation and world during Lent and beyond.  Christians, however, may still be missing an opportunity in which an intentional ecumenical journey through Lent can serve as a common witness to Jesus Christ and also be a time of repentance for the visible disunity in the Church.

"You are dust and to dust you shall return."  Whether we engage in it or not, our Lenten journey is one that we share.  We also have a common baptism, claimed and marked by the same Lord and Savior, our call to discipleship is also a shared journey.

A week of prayer for Christian unity in January is admirable but a season such as Lent intentionally celebrated ecumenically calling Christians to repent, fast, pray and serve may lead to tremendous transformations in the lives of individuals, congregations and denominations (not to mention the church and the world).

By the Spirit's work, there may be joyful receptions of unity and diversity God has given God's one holy church.  Walking this Lenten journey together, we will at times be serving one another and at other times standing shoulder to shoulder in our service to the poor, beginning and ending our time together with worship.  If Christians across denominations engaged in such a journey together it may continue past Lent.  It may seem ridiculous to put the brakes on and return to isolation as we celebrate Easter and proclaim the resurrection.

Christians engaging in a common mission and Lenten journey may discover that by Easter, what some are calling a dying ecumenical movement may be raised to new life pointing to Jesus Christ, the one who makes all things new.