The Gates of... Shall not Prevail!

[This post is an assigned response to Dr. Paul Metzger’s article, Gated Communities and the Visible/Invisible Church. It may, or may not be, helpful to read his post first.]

Brickell Key from north.
Photo by Marc Averette

Dr. Metzger uses the metaphor of “gated communities” two ways. First he uses it for the divisions and “Keep out” signs we put up in our lives and especially in our churches. There was a church growth principle popular in the 1980s-90s call the Homogeneous Unit Principle. This taught that the fastest way to grow a church was with people of the same race, class, education, interests, etc. The problem with this principle is that it works because it makes use of our natural worldly responses and has led many to keep using it. It is comfortable. It is safe. It keeps those without the gate code out. Who knows what might happen if we let everybody in… it might lead to the zombie apocalypse! OK so that last part was hyperbole.

The real problem with this gated community approach is that it is not Jesus’ way. His approach in the incarnation—God coming to the world in the flesh—was what we would call “downwardly mobile”. He came to minister to, spend time with, and suffered a brutal death to save everyone who would come. How willing are our churches to follow his example?

The second way he uses gated community metaphor for the invisible church that doesn’t engage the world around it. This happens two ways. Some people think that they can be Christians without functioning in community as the church. And some churches think they can be Christian inside their safe little spiritual compound without being a part of the larger culture and community. This may seem safe considering the things that go on “out there” but it is also an act of disobedience to Jesus’ command to go, preach, and disciple the whole world.

Don't Back Up!

We are not called to back up, circle the wagons, and hold the fort just because we are no longer in charge of the cultural forces around us. Instead of going all Elijah (1 Kings 19:14,18) and thinking we are the last true Jesus-followers on earth. If we take time to look and listen we will see God at work in some pretty amazing ways. This is not a call to compromise for as Dr. Metzger repeatedly states, “When engaging our culture, we must always go through our convictions, never around them, and never stopping short at them.” It seems to me that by not engaging we are stopping short of being truly biblical, fully orthodox, and faithful followers of Jesus.

So what gates have we placed in the way of those who God is calling to himself? What prevents us from gathering in unity as the visible Church?  Metzger suggests that,

"Perhaps some churches exclude people of other ethnicities, economic brackets, those with “disabilities,” the elderly or young or singles, the vibrant or dying, or those with different worship styles,  personality types, hobbies, IQ’s, and political perspectives."

But Jesus came to make us one, where all our gifts serve the unity of the congregation and all the “giftedness’s” of the local expressions of the Church contribute to the one Church, the visible body of Christ on earth. And I hate to break it to the gate-keepers and the spiritual HOA people, but the Church can’t be contained within your walls. Come out and join it in the great mission of God. It is risky and sometimes messy, but it smells like heaven.

Not only do we need to come out and collaborate with the wider church to engage the world but we also need to open the gates to welcome others inside to share life with us. It is wonderful to hear that many churches today are working towards a more multi-ethnic ministry model that better represents the church as it will be when Christ returns.

And they sang a new song, saying,

“Worthy are you to take the scroll
    and to open its seals,
for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God
    from every tribe and language and people and nation,
and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God,
    and they shall reign on the earth.” (Rev. 5:9-10)

But there is a barrier that is still up in many areas and it is primarily socio-economic, as I wrote in my last post Poor Praise Indeed. Honestly, how welcome do the poor of our community feel to come not just to get help but to fully participate in our gatherings? I am disturbed afresh by Jesus' parable in Luke 16:19-31 of the rich man who let a poor sick man named Lazarus die un-served and un-welcomed at his gate. I don’t want to minimize the efforts we make to go to minister to the poor—both foreign and domestic—but do we let the poor minister to us… and worship with us in our churches? Or have we settled for something less in a gated community?

In next week’s post, entitled Moving Day, I will bring this section on unity to a conclusion before taking up the next topic—Diplomacy.

"Poor Praise" Indeed

When we hear the rather old-fashioned term “poor praise” what does it bring to mind?

I don’t think it speaks of a less-than-polished and professional worship team, or a congregation that has members that tend to sing a bit off-key. When I think of the rather rustic term “poor praise” I think of “worship” that may or may not sound pleasing to the ear but is sung without the sincerity of a humble heart and a lifestyle of obedience. “Poor praise” in that sense is the person who can sing songs to God while in church, but then lives a life that treats others poorly. It is the hypocrisy of pride and a lack of the love of God that makes for poor praise.

But, to turn the phase a little, have we ever stopped to consider the relationship between our attitude towards the poor and the quality of our worship? I was considering this recently as I was reading through Proverbs 14 and a couple of verses captured my attention.

Proverbs 14:20-21, 31 

The poor is disliked even by his neighbor,
    but the rich has many friends.

Whoever despises his neighbor is a sinner,
    but blessed is he who is generous to the poor…

Verse 20 declares the normal inequity of our selfish disposition to favor those who have something of value for us while we tend to despise the poor because not only is there nothing in it for us, but acknowledging them can actually cost us something. The rich have many so-called friends who seek to benefit from their wealth—wine, cheese, oil, etc. This phrase has always reminded me of famous boxers and their entourage or posse—the group of “friends” and financial parasites that often drain the athlete/celebrity’s resources. Such friends are of the kind who helped devour the prodigal son’s inheritance, but when he had nothing left all despised him…except his father (Luke 15).

Verse 21 goes beyond stating the status quo in our attraction to the well-resourced and our avoidance of the poor to call out the moral and spiritual implications of such behavior. In this parallel construction our neighbor is the poor. When we despise our poor neighbor the text labels us as “sinners.” So perhaps we don’t fall prey to what would be considered great moral failure, our very pride in that fact can cause us to look down on the poor around us and in so doing we fall into sin. I don’t know about you but I would rather err on the side of generosity shown and grace given…for in so emptying ourselves in love there is found the blessing of God.

A few verses further along this idea is further articulated as we read in verse 31,

Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker,
    but he who is generous to the needy honors him.

It is from this verse that I draw the idea of “poor praise.” If I am oppressing a poor man by my actions or attitudes then I am insulting “his Maker” the Lord himself! If my praise of God is to be truly honoring and representative of his character, then I should make sure that I operate generously with the needy.

Photo by Colin Michel on Unsplash

This same error was addressed by the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Corinthians when he confronted their selfish attitude at the celebration of the Eucharist. The wealthy had been arriving early and stuffing their face without any concern for the working poor who would arrive late and hungry only to find there was not enough left for them. Such behavior disqualified their corporate praise.

What? Don't you have your own homes for eating and drinking? Or do you really want to disgrace God's church and shame the poor? What am I supposed to say? Do you want me to praise you? Well, I certainly will not praise you for this! (1 Cor. 11:22—NLT)

So how do we, as the church, either oppress or show generosity to the poor? Do the poor feel welcomed into our table fellowship as our true brothers and sisters in the grace of God? Is there room at our table for them? I think that such questions are more accurate in evaluating our community worship than how well the band played or how inspiring the sermon was. 

If we despise the poor, then our praise is meager at best.