winsome

  

In his book on spiritual discipline, John Ortberg tells the story of "Hank," a cranky fellow who had been attending church for years, with little to no visible growth or maturity. One observation made from this revealed the importance of expectation: "We didn't expect that he would progressively become the way Jesus would be if he were in Hank's place." There was no real prospect of sanctification, even though this fellow was part of the church community for so long. And this story is compelling, not simply because we all can think of a man or woman like Hank in our own experiences of church. Rather, this one example serves as a picture of the larger church. 

We are experiencing the fruits of an entire generation that has been brought up in a church with every conceivable cultural advantage imaginable. The American church culture is "doing church" at a more polished and professional level, on a more widespread scale, than ever before in world history. But what about the fruit that is being produced from this present culture of faith?

Biblical literacy rates continue to be quite low; processing Christian worldview is largely nonexistent; the consumerist culture has overtaken much of congregational dynamics; and socio-political activism has, in many ways, pushed out the unit of the Spirit.

These trends have not made for a more acceptable Christianity, as is constantly promised by those who advocate for such accommodation. In some cases, there has been a joining together of church and culture, although never without a loss of the distinctiveness of the gospel as a result. (The gospel with adjectives is always a distortion of the gospel itself, which is a natural human tendency to be guarded against, not celebrated.) What is the point of the church community? Why would the church want to be like everyone else?

The latter question is simple: the people of God have had a continual problem of wanting to be like everyone else. Just ask Samuel, who walked away frustrated at Israel's desire for a king even though he had just outlined all of the negative effects of having an instituted monarchy; or the author of Revelation, who pushed his seven congregations to stand firm against the shifting tides of cultural accommodation.

The point of a church community is to be, in Hauerwas and Willimon's words, a colony of heaven in a culture of hell. That means we are to be different: set apart: holy. Our present internal struggle as the people of God is revealing some disturbing truths about where we stand. This is not a political statement, except to say that our national politics have been granted too much power to influence the American church. 

And thus, the church is presently being drawn into the ugly rhetoric of politics, even going so far as to force-fit the message of the gospel into the language of political argument. The melody of love, however, cannot be communicated in chords of dissonance. The church is not called to wage war with the weapons of this world, and so must work to stand apart, driven by the Spirit, to be winsome.

What would happen if the church spoke of the gospel with the genuine expectation that it would change those who encountered it? What would happen if we thought that the message of the gospel had this power on its own, without our dressing it up or dumbing it down? (As though we could genuinely improve on the work that has been accomplished in Christ.)

In a world filled with anger and rage and hate and riots and conquest and bitterness and greed (and that is just the first five weeks of 2021), would it not be a radical statement indeed to have a community of faith that embodied an overwhelming love for one another, so genuine that it spilled out into the world around us? I am convinced that this would wreak more havoc on the world than a thousand protests, and would cause more disruption to the status quo than a million executive orders. A community that could speak truth in chords of love would upend the power structures so much that they would almost certainly be declared an enemy of the state, for there would be an undoubted allegiance being given to another kingdom and another king.

While so many Christians today are worried about national and international affairs, or the condition of the economy, or the wars and rumors of wars that swirl around us, it is good for us to remember that our greatest work is right in front of us: the Spirit has called and equipped us to love each other and to do our best to put others before ourselves, and to meet the needs of men and women right next door. This happens, not by winning online arguments or scoring political points. Rather, this comes from loving our neighbors as we love ourselves. Being winsome.

Lord, may we have tenacious winsome courage to live the gospel and see your kingdom coming no matter what the stuff of earth may be.