Snippet: The Shadow Mission of the Church

Snip·pet | ˈsnipit | noun a small piece or brief extract.

Here’s one by host Skye Jethani on the Holy Post Podcast (Episode 499) in an interview with David Brooks:

“I certainly feels to me like a lot of churches have given up on this vision of formation, and they really have a shadow mission of just winning customers and growing their ranks. And you set the bar so low you wonder why no one sticks around. So do we have to reap the bitter harvest of what we’ve done over the last couple of generations in the American church before there’s maybe a critical mass of church leaders that step up and [say]…we need to raise the bar here and do a much better job?”

I resonate and agree with Jethani’s basic intent and many of his solutions, I don’t completely agree with this characterization or with his analysis.

I don’t think churches or church leaders who have lowered the bar and failed to pursue the kind of in-depth spiritual formation he and Brooks are talking about in their conversation have given up and just focused on winning customers and growing their ranks. They are often true-believers in their methods and their goals. They think they are making an eternal impact on people’s lives, and they defend where they have placed the bar as true discipleship.

But is there constant pressure to lower the bar and focus on getting more people to come to your church or to churches? Absolutely.

Does that pressure result in lowering the bar and on superficial formation? Yes.

Is this new or a mega church phenomenon? No.

In my past church experience, before the emergence of church growth strategies in the churches I attended, the pressures to lower the bar were simply different. The pressures are still different for churches that don’t buy into church growth strategies.

The pressure to lower the bar often comes from immature power brokers in the church, or from huge blind spots (coupled with an unwillingness to see them when they’re pointed out), or from an underdeveloped understanding of spiritual formation/spiritual maturity, or from cultural forces that make in-depth spiritual formation almost practically impossible (e.g., the amount of time even the most devoted people can or are willing to actually devote to it), or from Jethani’s favorite foe (the “evangelical industrial complex”) or any combination of the above (or other forces I’m not even aware of).

It’s not as nefarious or simple as Jethani suggests. I’d love to have a conversation with him about this, but it seems to me that his analysis is significantly reductionistic. Maybe a conversation would enlighten me, though.

Here’s my bottom line: We all need to be aware that there are forces within our ranks and in our culture and within our hearts that will always war with the pursuit of in-depth spiritual formation. We need to repent when necessary, and we can’t counter those forces and pursue solutions until we face the complexities of the problem.

Another bottom line: This is the world we have and the tensions we live in. So attacking people’s motives or giving up because it’s seemingly impossible are not good or biblical options.

Listen to the interview with Brooks if you get a chance. His insights are, in my opinion, brilliant and Jethani’s questions and insights are penetrating.

Photo by Jonathan Borba on Unsplash