Six sleeps.
I said yesterday that I’d let you in on why I haven’t blogged in a while.
Well, to be blunt and honest – I didn’t feel the ‘dialogical’ love that I was looking for. I’ve come to realize that this is a common reality for bloggers. Follow some blogs and you’ll notice that there are not very many comments offered by those who read a blogger’s thoughts, hopes and dreams.
I was beginning to feel that people were continuing to encourage me to ‘be vulnerable’, show more, say more, talk more… but I wasn’t receiving that from my audience. And I’m the same way. I scan through several blogs over the week and I can’t remember the last time I made a ‘contribution’. I valued reading it. Found it thought-provoking. Disagreed a little. Laughed or was touched by its content. But I didn’t say a word. I passed it by.
I’ve begun to wonder if this isn’t one of the challenges that we have in the Christian Church today. We have a few who say a lot and a whole lot of people who don’t say much at all. Sometimes, those who say a lot are egged on… and feel encouraged to say more. And they are happy to oblige. And maybe we in the Church do agree with their loud, well articulated, Scriptural edged positions. Or maybe we don’t. Many people love watching a tennis match… and those who shout from the mountain tops play a mean game. But is it right to assume that those in the valley agree with one or the other mountain? I don’t hear enough to know either way.
We are spectators. The Church loves spectators. Church buildings are designed for spectators. And the Church trains ‘entertainers’ – those skilled in forming and presenting a ‘position’. A hermeneutic is the word that they like better. It sounds less vulgar. And this has gone pretty well for the Church over the centuries.
But how is it working for us today? I’d suggest not too well. Our spectators desire more interaction… more stimulation. Less of one talking but valuing the contribution of many others. Facebook, Wikipedia, blogs, Justin Bieber, YouTube, Twitter, etc… speaks to this kind of phenomena. But what is interesting to me is that instead of deciding to wrestle with this shift in culture within the Church. Most have decided to check out. To walk away. To leave without saying a word. To pass by this “Church thing”… but every so often to check in on the ‘loudest’ of us to see if we have changed much at all. And the media is so helpful in creating that stage for our ‘entertainers’ to perform.
Somehow, I think we need to create more opportunities for spectators to become participants. It will require a radical transformation of our structures, traditions, perhaps even our worship spaces and bulletins (heaven forbid!). And we may need to shift our focus from training entertainers to facilitators – stewards of some knowledge and wisdom but whose curiosity to engage others in plumbing the depths of their spiritual wells outweighs everything else in their toolkit.
But these are just my thoughts… I’ve had the privilege of spectating from ‘court side seats’ for some time now. The bigger question for me – and maybe for you – is do I have the courage to let those seats go and work on changing the game?
A blog formally known as borthwick4moderator (2011-12) 