Well, friends, I’ve put it off too long. I never got the chance to extensively detail the rest of my experiences in Chicago this May, but after spending the weekend there in two vastly different churches, I think now is as good of time as any. I’d like to tackle the question, “What is the role of the Church?” So I’m splitting it up into two parts. The first will discuss the events of last weekend, and the second will tie-in what I learned from Chicago in May.
As part of a summer-long quest, a group of young adults from my church in Elkhart has been venturing around the area in attempt to explore a few churches that are different than our own. The goal of this experiment is two-fold: to witness the variety of ways that congregations worship, and to observe what different churches are doing well that could be incorporated into our own church. After exploring a few local churches, we stepped it up a notch this week and made the trip to Chicago, visiting the megachurch of Willow Creek and Lawndale Community Church, which is, you know, maybe slightly smaller… First, let me tackle Willow.
After reading a few things about Willow before the weekend, I got the impression that I was going to hate it, or perhaps even despise it. It is easily one of the largest churches in the country, with an auditorium holding 7,500 people, and a supposed weekly attendance of 23,400 (not sure how that math works with only 3 services, but maybe it includes its other campuses). It also holds a food court, large bookstore, and several other buildings on its 155 acre property. So, this is not exactly my idea of how Jesus intended his Church to function, but as we headed towards the church, I tried to keep an open mind. Surprisingly enough, it vastly exceeded my expectations! …But I still kind of hated it. The music was awesome; it’s hard to beat a thousand people singing in one voice, worshiping God. The sermon was awesome also, and very scripturally based. But I couldn’t help but be aggravated by the hypocrisy of it all. Something immediately seemed a little off when we drove in, as the long winding driveway included a pull off “scenic outlook” place. But I digress. The sermon was on John 6, and the message is summarized in verse 27, which reads, “Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.” As I said, the sermon was great. It was incredibly moving, because it was the Truth of Christ. But, to me, the Truth of Christ doesn’t mesh with those surroundings. How can you receive a sermon on gaining sustenance from God instead of the material world while millions of dollars, massive projector screens, unrealistically perfect people, and two artificial waterfalls stare you in the face? I am truly at a loss for words, I can’t comprehend it at all. Do these people read the words of Christ? Of course they do! They preach about them every week! And as far as I can tell, their sermons are right on! But somehow they read the Bible, speak the same words, and take an entirely different message away. I have never been so confused and conflicted by a church service in my life. During the time of prayer, I couldn’t focus; I just kept asking God what was going on, and I wondered how he was even in that place at all. I don’t want to condemn Willow Creek without understanding more about it, so I won’t say that this necessarily applies to it, but I would say that any time the Church is allowed to be the least bit comfortable with its selfish pursuit of the American dream, then it turns from Satan’s greatest threat to his greatest asset. I am afraid that in our attempts to be seeker friendly, we lose the heart of the Gospel. We lose its sting and its potency. While in Willow Creek, I heard the teachings of Christ, but all I saw was money.
So, I guess you could say that I needed a little boost and clarity after that conflicting experience. Luckily, I was in Chicago. Chicago is a lot like the Christian Church in that it encompasses all ends of the spectrum economically and racially (and also spiritually, if I may ironically add). In a drive of just 30 minutes, we were able to go from one of the richest areas I’ve ever been to one of the poorest. The contrasts were amazing. It is really stunning to see that such great differences can exist in the span of just a few miles.
Anyway, we arrived at Lawndale for their second Sunday morning service. And when I say that we “arrived,” I mean that we fought our way there. We struggled with complicated streets, lack of parking, and a church building that 1. Didn’t look like a church and 2. Was vaguely marked from the street but unmarked from the sidewalk and indistinguishable from the other neighborhood buildings. But we did make it there eventually, partially thanks to a congregation member who saw us while driving and talked to us for a bit. So we finally walked in, explored the lobby for a bit, and then decided to head into the gym, er, sanctuary. See, the sanctuary was actually a gym, a gym with a portable stage in the middle and folding chairs set up all around it. Did I mention that this church was slightly different from Willow Creek? Yeah, it was slightly different from Willow Creek.
Before we had a chance to even digest our surroundings, we were greeted by a congregant who saw that we looked lost and confused (It is a 95% African American church and we were all white, for one) and invited us to join her for Sunday school. We eagerly accepted, and followed her to… an exercise room. I should probably inform you at this point that the church started when 15 high school students got some weightlifting equipment and decided to start a ministry about 30 years ago. They remain true to their beginnings, and still use athletics and training as a major part of their ministries. The point is, it didn’t matter where we were. We were in Sunday school for the sake of Bible study, and when that finished, we were in a church service for the sake of the service. God doesn’t care about the surroundings. Lawndale chooses to invest their money in things that help out the community: a health clinic, a recovery home, and a sit-down restaurant that reintegrates formerly incarcerated people into the working world.
I will be honest, there were things I definitely disliked about Lawndale. I love that they have the Lawndale Hope House, a program for recovering drug addicts and alcoholics, but when they came in for the service they all had to sit together, and they were wearing matching blue shirts. What kind of message of acceptance does that send? And as for the sermon itself, I actually liked the Willow Creek sermon better. Willow Creek’s seemed more about scripture, where Lawndale’s used a fair amount of scripture, but also felt at times like a political rally.
That’s not to say that the preacher wasn’t speaking truth though, and I think that their deficiencies were clearly overshadowed by their positives. Even ignoring all their ministries and the setting for the church, I took many positives away. First, Lawndale is a family. The pastor had people come up and share prayer requests, and then he prayed for all of them, about twenty, listing them off name by name. I don’t know about you, but I have a hard time remembering even 4 or 5 people’s prayer requests, and this guy new every person and every story. Second, their people are genuine. We were approached by several people during our time there who had no need to talk to us but did anyway because they simply cared. When we ate lunch at their pizza restaurant, one of their pastors walked in, got into a conversation with us, and ended up sitting down and having lunch with us. This is their community, and despite its many flaws, they love it. And they love God. Lawndale is the definition of a community church; its founders are from the community, and they aren’t waiting around for it to improve, they’re making it happen. God has used them to do so much, and He continues to do so.
In Willow Creek, I wasn’t sure where God was; at Lawndale, I couldn’t find a place or a person He hadn’t filled.
Back when I was interested in finding a religious purpose in life I went through many different churches and religions. This story reminded me of it, how distinctly different each situation was. Places of different religions could sometimes seem to have more in common than those of the same. That would be my one suggestion, if you are looking to improve a church then look at more than just other ones of your religion. I’m not trying to say look into those other religions, but in the end almost every religion views the church in one of two ways.
A place for people to seek out spiritual enlightenment like Lawndale, or a place to spread their teachings to others. Money is necessary in both places, but while Lawndale probably has the audience they desire Willow Creek never will. That is the purpose of a church like that, to spread the word on their beliefs to those not already there. I know this sounds as though I am turning a blind eye to the likely capitalistic pursuits, but my true belief is that the amount of those people is miniscule to those simply there to try and help others.
I mean, I think you’re right, that the majority of people at Willow Creek probably do have good intentions. But, as an outsider looking in, I just can’t fathom how Jesus’s teachings are reflected in that church. I don’t think we have the option of sacrificing the heart of the Gospel in exchange for bringing people in to the Church. And, as far as Lawndale is concerned, yes it is a place to learn more about God, and maybe spiritual enlightenment, whatever that exactly means, but it is also just as much about being in a community of believers. It is about being around those who reflect Christ through their loving relationships. I don’t know much about your journey, but if you have come to believe that the Church is only about seeking personal fulfillment or getting as many people as possible to follow your doctrine, I think you’ve been given the wrong impression. I would encourage you to read Acts 2:42-47 and 4:32-35, as I think these passages more accurately reflect God’s vision for a community of believers. (This was, in fact, the way the early Church functioned immediately after Jesus)