Meahl Memories

A Church Called Tov - Chapter 1: "Every Church Is a Culture"

We are all immersed in a culture, probably more than one culture. If you're active in a church, your church has a culture. McKnight and Barrington see the culture as a circle that begins with the leaders of a church who "exercise a preliminary voice in telling the church's narrative, acting out the Christian life for others to see, teaching the Christian faith and how it is lived, and articulating policies." (p. 15) Then the congregation "embraces the culture but also begins to reshape the narrative, act out the Christian life to others to see, reteach the Christian faith, and rearticulate the policies." (p. 15) This circular interaction forms the culture of that church. "In a sense, everyone in the church is "complicit" in whatever culture is formed, good or bad." (p. 15)

A church's "habits form their personality." (p. 16) The authors list the types of feelings you get when visiting churches: 1) a rigorous military organization, 2) an art gallery, concert venue, stage production, or grand show, 3) a gathering to hear/adore the preacher with everything else being filling, or 4) a gathering centered around the Eucharist. (p. 18)

Laura told of a church she visited "whose culture might best be described as Celebrity Central... As the service progressed, I was struck by the number of times the congregation applauded the people on the stage... at least ten times." This is what was happening at the church we left last fall. In the six years we'd be there, no applause turned into applause after an upbeat song, then applause after every song, then applause after the sermon.  

Important: "We for church cultures, but we are simultaneously formed by the cultures we've helped to form." (p. 18)

The chapter ends with a section entitled "Jesus, Character and Culture", a summary of some of Jesus's teaching about character.  "Both flesh and spirit express the core of one's character." (p. 23)  

"Toxic, flesh-driven cultures breed a lust for power, success, celebrity, control through fear, an emphasis on authority, and demands for loyalty. These values may not be explicitly stated, or even outwardly recognized, but as they fester in the heart of a leader, they can't help but bear bitter fruit, damaging the culture of the church and seeking to destroy anyone who gets in the way." (p. 23)

"A Spirit-formed, Christlike culture, on the other hand, nurtures truth, offers healing for the wounded, seeks opportunities to show redemptive grade and love, focuses on serving others (rather than on being served), and looks for ways to establish justice in the daily paths of life. A Christlike church culture always has its eyes on people because the mission of the church is all about God's redemptive love for people." (p. 23)

I have seen way too many toxic cultures and way too few Christlike cultures in churches over the past 23 years. Stay tuned for the coming chapters on the dangers of church cultures that have become toxic as well as the habits of churches that form a culture of goodness/tov.