The Shadow-gloom and Weight of the Sacred

Recently, Dan wrote this really interesting post titled "Mercy, Judgement, and Mediocrity in the Church." I recommend you read it because Dan is a very honest in his writing, but he's also a really good writer and in a world of Twilight, it's nice to see someone who cares about the craft. (Yes, before you say anything, I recognize the irony of me critiquing anyone's writing. So, all due respect to Stephanie Myers...er...Anne Rice...or whoever she is.) I'm going to assume you've read Dan's post and not summarize it here other than to say it is very thoughtful and articulate.

Dan is right to point us to Galatians 5 and the famous "Fruits of the Spirit." The fruits there listed are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. I like that Dan points out how excellence, among other things, is not listed here. The Fruits of the Spirit build up the body of Christ--the church. These are aspects of grace that we extend to others. But, I do think there is a place for excellence in the church and that our organizational approach towards ministry tends to cultivate mediocrity rather than excellence.

The tendency of churches is to start a program and then seek participation in that program. Vacation Bible School, for example. "If you feel that your gifted in working with children, then you should consider participating in this ministry." The thing is, gifts are for the building up of the body. I may feelgifted at teaching Bible class, but if no one else sees it, my giftedness most likely is in another area. I like when theologian Randy Harris says, "Every fall I teach undergraduate preaching to young men who feel they are called to preach, and it is obvious to me that they are hearing things" (my paraphrase). Really, what we should be doing is the opposite of what we do. We should identify gifts in each other and build our ministries around those gifts rather than establish a program and ask people to find where they fit.

I don't believe a mediocre gift exists. In the body, everyone has a gift and they can excel at it. We don't need mediocre song writers because I know there are good song writers out there. Maybe their gift has yet to be tapped, but this is the responsibility of the community to identify gifts in each other. One of the challenges, especially to Southerners, is that we don't want to be mean. We'd rather encourage a bad song leader to keep leading songs rather than encourage him (and help him) to find the gift given to him by the Spirit. It's also difficult when a person really wants to be gifted in an area in which they really are not gifted. It's not that a bad song leader shouldn't be allowed to lead the congregation (occasionally), but that there is most certainly something out there he can do well by the Spirit, and the rest of won't have to lie to him in order to avoid hurting his feelings.

I think Dan is right to try and extend grace towards those things which he considers mediocre, but I also think that, in the body, everyone has a gift and that we should seek to identify gifts in others. This is a community project and no one or two people can accomplish it. Indeed, it may take the discernment of many people, but I believe it will leads towards excellence. And, excellence only matters in that, I believe, it is an indication that we are using our true giftedness to the benefit of our church community. Here's a cool quotation from Luecke & Southard's books "Pastoral Administration: Integrating Ministry and Management in the Church":

"A gift is identified by the gracious way in which a person contributes to the body of Christ. We can identify gifts both by presence adn by absence. When spiritual gifts are contributed by each member, there is harmonious growth in the membership as all are edified (1 Cor. 14). When gifts are absent, especially the greatest gift of love, the lifelessness of the congregation is apparent (1 Cor. 13:1-3)" (74).

I think that extending grace towards our church family is a vital aspect of church life. I also think that a healthy reliance upon spiritual gifts--our true spiritual gifts--and building ministry around this gifts, will cultivate a dynamic church culture in which every person plays a vital and excellent part.