In so called Christian countries, like Jamaica where I live, the Church is constantly under the microscope, especially as our society continues the downward spiral into lawlessness. Recent apparent increased abductions, rapes and murders of children and the elderly have caused a firestorm of debate nationwide. As I write the country's parliament is taking a conscience vote as to whether or not capital punishment is to be retained on our law books, with most parliamentarians seemingly ready to back the desires of their constituents - namely, not only to retain the death penalty, but to speedily resume the execution of murderers as a means of stemming the rot that has set into our society. In all of this many are pointing an accusing finger at the Church, as they believe that for too long there has been a greater concern with "self-preservation" on the part of Pastors and denominational captains, than on the social and moral upbringing of our people and communities.
What we cannot deny is that in spite of the rumblings in society, and the malaise that have set in in many churches, there are many others that are enjoying record attendances. And there are not only a few such churches in our land. Yet many of the communities in which these churches exist are themselves examples of the worse poverty imaginable, where people are asked each day to sacrifice families, friends, neighbours and themselves for less than a basic survival. How can these churches continue to exist in such circumstances, happily praising God without a thought for addressing the reality in which many of their own people live?
One of the first problems is that the churches seem to believe that their greater responsibility lies elsewhere. I have arrived at this conclusion from a mini-survey done by some of my students at the Jamaica Theological Seminary (JTS) where I lecture. Ten of my students, representing eight different denominations, each did a recorded report of sermons in their churches over a twelve week period, to evaluate the community conscience and care that came forth as a challenge to believers. In the approximately 100 surveys collected from the ten churches, only two had anything to do with the community, a mere 2%. Instead the vast majority was concerned with issues such as "overcoming spiritual struggles", "standing on God's promises", "leading others to the Lord", "avoiding sexual immorality", and such the like.
Does anyone else see with me that our churches are in crisis precisely because they have painted themselves into irrelevancy? They have adopted an all too personal and private understanding of a relationship with God and in so doing have neglected the community. When we do this we become guilty of the very thing Jesus chided the religious leaders of his day for: "...you tithe dill, mint and cummin, but have neglected the weightier matters of the Law: love, justice and mercy" (Matt 23:23). The weightier matters do require a personal commitment on the part of all Christians, but they can only be enacted in community. When these become our focus then indeed we will see a more relevant Church, involved as a part of the solution to our society's disintegration, instead of our standing on the periphery shouting irrelevant platitudes.
What do you think?
3 comments:
For the most part, I agree with David that the church has become meaningless to many Jamaicans. This irrelevance is partly seen in light of the proliferation of other religions and people seeking after them. In addition, except for a few churches, men and young people are absent from most of these institutions.
My main argument with David's comments has to do with the church leaders and their seeming ineffectiveness in caring for community's needs. I attempt now to explain the response of some leaders, though not excusable, but it may clarify their response somewhat. However, I believe that some pastors do care for the community's needs and that this lack of interest may be generalized.
First, some leaders do not live in their church community, so they do not feel any connection with the churches thay serve. Second, some leaders may feel erroneusly that the social aspects of existence is the responsibility of the state and other parachurch organizations. Third, and maybe the most important point is that some church leaders genuinely want to help their communities but lack the necessary skills and knowledge to do so.
Let us talk more about equipping our leaders in more practical ways, because we are well aware according to scripture the consequences to our people because of a lack of knowledge.
I appreciate David's blog entry and Cynthia's comments. I am, however, bothered by one question: what exactly is the role of the Church? Does the Church (and do local churches) exist specifically to correct social ills? What exactly do you mean by "caring for community's needs"?
I do agree that it is curious that there are large churches in some of the areas in Kingston that are most known for violence. One wonders what impact are those churches having on those communities in which they are located. Cynthia pointed out that so many members are not from the communities in which the churches are located, others are but are not equipped to respond to the communities' needs. Again I ask: equipped with what?
I am sorry if my simply raising questions rather than providing answers is bothersome. As I have told you frequently: when I was younger I had all the answers; the older I get, the more I learn, the less I feel I know.
Help me!
On a point of clarification to Sharon's comment- I did not say that many members are not from the communities but that many church leaders are not. There is a difference, I believe, between the two statements.
I will not attempt to use this medium to discuss the role of the church in its fullest and broadest sense. Suffice to say that I will leave this discussion to more learned theologians.
However,caring for community's needs is based on the churchs' understanding of its role as developing the whole man, not just his spiritual needs. When the family's moral structure is eroded, the church should remain a stanchion of Biblical principles, fleshed out in daily living. When the schools fail to teach moral principles the church continues in its mission to morally equip its members.
Teaching and modelling Biblical values is a community need that must take into consideration the context of each community. Church leaders must understand that needs vary from community to community. The approach in dealing with societal ills in each community must be effective and relevant, therefore pastors need to understand how to do so.
If the need of a community is to deal with conflicts in the home, then part of the solution rests with the training of pastors in conflict resolution. This is part of the equipping to which I refer. It is not a mere matter of pastors telling the community to come to church and read the Bible. Telling people to do things has been a strategy often used by leaders because it is only what they know and which has amounted to little or no change.Life skills must be modelled by leaders. People need to be taught these skills for the community's development and empowerment. These are community's needs and Pastors and church leaders need these too to better serve their community.
I hope that I have managed to deal with Sharon's questions in all this muddle.
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