What I miss about the Roman Catholic Church

Having been raised as a Roman Catholic, I was 16 years old the first time I stepped foot into a Protestant church.  I thoroughly enjoyed the preaching and the sense of community I quickly felt inside the church.  Fast forward 13 years and I am a Protestant minister who graduated from two Protestant schools.  I am married to a woman who comes from a thoroughly Protestant family and it looks like I will be getting my 'Prostestant' ordination this summer.

However, there are aspects of Catholicism that I miss.

The Protestant liturgy believes that the preaching of God's Word is the pinnacle of the worship service.  Just like a good book that is steadily working towards the climax of the story, so too, Protestants view the liturgy as reaching it's height when God's Word is preached and exclaimed.  It makes sense why so many Protestant churches have large elevated pulpits to illustrate the scripture's authority over our lives.  In the Roman Catholic Church it is the Eucharist that is the pinnacle of the liturgy.  Catholics believe that our Lord and Savior is truly present in the bread and the wine.  Hence, it is 'receiving Christ' in the sacred Eucharist that is central. 

While the preaching and teaching of God's Word is important to the liturgy and to us as believers, is it not somewhat scary how much human element is involved in this process?  I have known and know pastors who decide what they are going to preach on 30 minutes before the service begins.  They throw together a good story and three 'easy to understand' points and their sermon is complete.  Or how about this, Joel Osteen/Rob Bell/Mark Driscoll would all tell you that it is the preaching/teaching of God's Word that is central to the liturgy.  However, take away Osteen, Bell, and Driscoll as the people who DO the preaching and I guarantee attendance will change.  If the main reason we gather together is to exalt the risen Christ then why does it matter who preaches?  Or, perhaps it is my week to preach and I mistakenly use some resources that cause me to poorly exegete the text, and perhaps I stuttered more than normal this week...Was the climax of the service weakened by my poor judgment and/or my stuttering?
Some may respond, "Even if the sermon is not great, we still worship and experience God through song..."  But what if I am the music leader and the three songs I picked just happen to be ones that you don't like, or, you haven't heard of?  What if I hurt my finger earlier in the week and I don't play the guitar as well as I usually do?  Do the people who do the preaching and the people that play the music drastically effect the worship experience?  Based on patterns we see, I believe the answer is yes!  How else can we explain megachurches?  Church goers flock to churches with preachers they enjoy hearing from, bands they enjoy listening to, church buildings they enjoy being at, etc.  The Protestant liturgy, in many cases, must cater to a consumeristic/'entertain me' mentality.  Since when did worship become so anthropomorphic?

However,

when we gather to receive Christ through the Eucharist, how could we ever leave wanting more?  When we gather, do we hunger and thirst for how the preacher interprets Romans 8, or, do we hunger and thirst for the very presence of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ?  More thoughts to come.

having regrets

A few weeks back a friend of mine was asking me what it was like growing up in Nashua, NH.  As I was sharing, I mentioned to her, "If I could go back, there are many things in my life I wish I could change..."  She was shocked that those words came out of my mouth.  When I asked her why she was so suprised, she stated, "I don't believe in having regrets... We learn from our past and it shapes us into who we are now."  Just this morning I heard a similar statement in an interview on tv; this idea that to live with regrets is to live life carrying around needless weights.

While I agree that our past has the opportunity to teach and shape us, there are still things I wish I did and did not do from my past.  For example, I knew fully well that how I treated this kid Matt was horribly wrong in the 5th grade.  I believed that by embarassing Matt I would be viewed as the 'funny guy.'  I did not need to have a revelation later on in life and realize, "Oh my goodness!  So it IS wrong to humiliate others for my own benefit!"  I knew what I was doing and I surely was not acting in ignorance. Or, how I shamelessly wasted all my money in high school and college on Applebee's and Chinese food when I knew full well I had student loans waiting for me but I chose to eat out multiple times a week and throw my money away.  Or how I still cringe when I think of the awful things that I have said and done to my parents...  And unfortunately, I could go on.

Perhaps living life with the mantra, "I have no regrets... My past and my mistakes made me into who I am today," helps us sleep a little better at night.  In some ways it lets us off the hook.  It is a statement that helps us to justify the past... Instead of trying to do that, may we realize that we do have legitimate regrets, but in the same breath, may we give glory and thanks to God that we are a people who have been extended the greatest mercy and grace that creation has ever known through Jesus Christ.  And I would have to disagree with Mr. tv interview guy... regretting the things we have and have not done in life is not like carrying around needless weights, holding on to the guilt and shame is what weighs us down.  It is ok to acknowledge our sin because our savior is greater.

Technology and Church

As a Red Sox fan I remember the first time I saw Johnny Damon in a Yankees uniform... something was just 'off' about it.  Seriously?  Pin stripes?

Mark Driscoll implies in his book 'Vintage Church' that many churches are dying today because they do not have the proper technology.  Yes, technology.  I just got an image in my head of Christ coming down to earth and saying, "My people, if only you ponied up the $2400 for the Sony Bravia SXRD projector as oppose to settling for Dell's M109 base model, THEN you would have really communicated the gospel..."

The sad part is... there is an element of truth to this.  There are churches that will never get a visitor under the age of 50 because of the size, style, name, and archetecture of their building.  On the other hand, a few miles down the rode is a new church that bought out a warehouse with a stylish new sign 'Epic Church.'  Its obvious they have renovated the building and dropped a good deal of coin on that sign... and I can guarantee that they have had several new folks stroll on through the doors, mostly because "that sign is wicked nice."

And while I am not saying I believe this is right, I really think many people will stay at a church if it has a nice coffee shop, the pastor is attractive and well dressed (bonus points if he/she sits on a stool while preaching), there's a nice projector (see projector joke above), good lighting, and so on. 

Allow me to predict some responses: "Jay, as the Church, we need to become relevant.  We need to reach the culture where they are at.  We need to be up to date on our technology if we are ultimatley going to be effective."  And while I would agree with some of those statements to an extent, what are churches who don't have money (LOUD COUGH) supposed to do?  The last time I read the book of Acts, Jesus did not give the disciples gift cards to Best Buy so that they could have effective ministries.  Instead, it was the Holy Spirit that lead and guided the Early Church and it is the Holy Spirit that leads and guides us today.  So, what do you think?  Does God ever call a struggling low income church to drop $5000+ on a new (fill in the blank) so that we can become more contemporary?

I would love to hear some people's thoughts.

leave room for the Spirit

The central theme of the Buddhist faith revolves around the idea of disconnecting.  A disconnection from the creation. A simple living.  Emptying oneself of any sort of dependence.  Finding freedom from earthly emotions and feelings that bind us to this world like love, hate, envy, lust, greed, and so on.  When a Buddhist passes on from the earthly life, the hope is that they will enter into a state of existence called 'Nirvana', which is believed to be a disembodied state of eternal bliss and peace.  If one dies and has not reached this point of disconnection from the world, they will be reincarnated back into the creation.

In the last several years of my life, I have come to embrace the fact that one can find many truthful teachings and beliefs in almost all of the world religions and faiths.  While I am in no means advocating a universalist pluralism (that all faiths are 'true' and lead to God), I can easily see why this theme of 'disconnecting' is central in the Buddhist faith.  As I look my own life, I would make a terrible Buddhist.  My mind is constantly connected to my email, social network, nintendo, youtube, instant messaging, internet radio, and the list goes on... And if scripture tells us that God's Holy Spirit often speaks to us in the stillness and quietness of our heart, how in the world can I hear this calling, let alone respond to it?  I need to experience a true work of God's Spirit in my life, but how can I connect with God if I refuse to stop... and disconnect from all that consumes my mind, ears, and eyes?

So how does one actually disconnect from the endless distractions? I would suggest that a fresh look at the spiritual disciplines are a good response to our culture of 'connectedness.'  The disciplines are the complete antithesis of our culture... Refrain rather than consume, be quiet and still rather than be entertained.  It is through the disciplines that we also see the major difference between the Christian and the Buddhist.  The disciplines not only challenge us to disconnect from all that distracts us but it also challenges us to be filled and sanctified through the work of the Holy Spirit.  Disconnecting is only a part of the journey.  We are to REconnect with our creator who desires to fill us with His Spirit and be in relationship with us.

responsibility

As I skimmed through the news, I learned that several cities throughout the country are trying to make it illegal for fast food chains to include toys inside of their kid's meals because "it promotes poor nutritional health in our children."  Just one more way that we as Americans can deflect our responsibility as parents and people of moderation and responsibility.  I see this trend a lot.  It is so much easier to focus on what is wrong with politics, the church, the school system, the media, etc, as oppose to taking responsibility for who we are and what we do.  When we can find a problem with 'the system' (and we will always be able to find something), we can now sleep much better at night because it no longer becomes our fault... we can pass the blame.

I know several people who have become obsessed with the 'decline of morality in America,' the 'liberal agenda of school systems/government,' etc.  And while I am not advocating that we become idle regarding our convictions, what I am saying is that at the end of the day we are free (and responsible) creatures.  No one forces you and your children to have MTV, a computer with internet capabilities in three different rooms of your house, to allow your children to be out of the house with friends three nights a week, and so on.  And while this may sound ironic coming from a man who does not have children, somewhere along the line we adopted this mentality that parenting should be relatively easy... I would dare to say that good parenting is one of the most difficult and exhaustive responsibilities we could ever have.  What this country lacks is not a reform in our school systems, governments, and kid's meals, we need reform in regards to our responsibility as people, as parents, and as families.