Asked differently, should we put a smile on our faces for a hour and a half on Sunday mornings when things are truly chaotic in the home? No sooner than we depart the church building, we are met by disobedient children and dueling spouses. Our pornography addiction resurfaces; our anger meets us again; we are back in reality.
I wonder if in some of our churches there is no place for grieving, mourning, lamenting, suffering, and acknowledging sin in more places than the corporate confession? While I have not conducted an analysis of every Reformed and Presbyterian Church in the US, I know this to be true from my personal experience and in my conversations with other pastors. Sunday mornings are the time to be on your best behavior. You cannot show weakness; you cannot fail. Lest the corporate confession of sin, there is no place for brokenness. There is an imaginary sign above the entrance of the church that says, “This is the place for those in perfect health.”
Could the reason be a piety in which earnestness only counts as genuine faith?
Old Life 
Whoa. I think Greg Trib from Detroit needs to pay a visit to the churches Leon Brown is talking about in that article. Whip them into shape.
Joking aside, that was a great article.
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But “acknowledging sin in more places than the corporate confession” and showy, down front and/or organized expressions of lament, mourning or whatever could similarly become the marks of earnest piety which some of us distrust. Decently, in order, and biblical must be more important than meeting the panoply of felt emotional needs.
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Therefore my faithful request and admonition is that you join our company and associate with us, who are real, great, and hard-boiled sinners. You must by no means make Christ to seem paltry and trifling to us, as though He could be our Helper only when we want to be rid from imaginary, nominal, and childish sins. No, no! That would not be good for us. He must rather be a Savior and Redeemer from real, great, grievous, and damnable transgressions and iniquities, yea, from the very greatest and most shocking sins; to be brief, from all sins added together in a grand total.
-from Martin Luther’s letter to Spalatin.
*Jesus died for sinners who really sin* Enough with clean-club associations, otherwise known as churches…
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BTW, my previous comment is not an endorsement of emotional confessions of sin in the worship service with testimonies and alter calls (ugh…). The reality of our sin and remorse for it need not be displayed for all to see. Hearing with faith Christ crucified proclaimed and receiving of his body and blood in the sacrament of the Supper each Lord’s day are sufficient to the task of softening stony, cold hearts and converting sinners. He who is forgiven much love much…
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Indeed, great article. The author asks for solutions. I say, while I have my soapbox handy,midweek bible studies, or somehow providing opportunities for smaller group settings (monthy men’s breakfast?) is key. Oh, and those families with small children, keep your eyes on those ones, and try to make these suggestions available to such as these. They (we) need all the help we can get.
You see, I got all vulnerable and stuff at the end, there. That’s far enough for me, yo.
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Also, I’ve liked the hospital analogy too. It’s also worth noting, in hosptials, the patient just wants to get out of there, above all else.
Maybe we should be trying to avoid “staying too long” in the hospital? Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for morning and evening worship, 4th commandment and all. But in the town, there are more than just hospitals. There are golf courses too……….
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Could be. On the other hand, who wants people bearing their dirty laundry? After all, if ordinary piety is about dignity and restraint, should we really expect it to all hang out come Sunday? Sometimes good behavior is for the sake of others.
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Here’s a part I liked: “Is there a solution? I am a rookie pastor. I do not have all the answers.” Seriously, that’s good stuff.
One thing I didn’t see mentioned: American culture likes smiley & vacuous vibrancy. “We” do. The bigger churches have a disproportionate share of sparkling eyes, just-right handshakes, and uber-pleasantry. Please the consumer > fill the pew > fill the offering plate. There’s a strong pull to do likewise.
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I just feel at home amongst real sinners. I can comfort themā¦and they can comfort me (in my screwed up life).
Phoniness, or despair, or self-righteousnessā¦so prevalent in churches todayā¦is a result of lousy preaching. Law preaching to make us “better”. It’s not supposed to work that way..and it doesn’t work.
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Propriety is always welcome in any public gathering, but hopefully there are people in our churches we can be candid with in private when the need arises.
I had enough of the guy with the drinking problem and the bad marriage going forward for the altar call every Sunday in the Baptist church growing up.
One of the more memorable cases was when the pastor had a couple come forward who was having marital problems. He announced that he had been meeting with them and they were on the road to recovery. The wife spoke up and said that the husband still had a lot of work to do. Later they divorced.
Did I mention propriety is always welcome?
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Erik, I’ve always wondered: what do those who don’t respond to the altar-call-of-rededication mean by staying back, that they’re free of sin? I’m not sure how it can be otherwise. But in a properly fenced table, open and unrepentant sin is warned to stay away while repentant sinfulness is welcomed, which is to say nobody can imply being free of sin. More differences between altars and tables.
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We love it when the guy with the drinking problem and the bad marriage go up for the altar call (Holy Communion – the REAL altar call).
As well as the rest of us who pinch out our money and our time (tip o’ the hat to God).
“He sets a table before His enemies.”
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What the altar call ends up doing is furthering the socioeconomic and class distinctions in the church. It’s usually the poorer people who are willing to go forward while the wealthier people are not. After all, they have businesses and reputations to protect. These people all got along fine, but that wealthier guy is less likely to hire that poor guy when he is putting his “issues” on display for everyone to see.
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The ongoing struggle with sin that Brown mentions is exactly why we sinners need the ordinary word and sacrament ministry Christ has appointed in His church. It’s not about offering our earnestness to God in revivalistic zeal, but about God coming to us in word and sacrament. In the word He kills us (by the law) and graciously raises us (by the gospel). We confess our sins and hear His gracious word of absolution through His ordained servant. In the supper He confirms our faith and nourishes us, preparing us to go back into the world to do battle with the world, the flesh and the devil. In fact, while we seek to serve God in our worship, worship is primarily God graciously coming to us in word and sacrament to nourish us with the feast of salvation and to renew His covenant of grace with us in Christ.
None of this is to deny that we ought to strive to be genuinely “earnest” in our worship, nor is it to encourage or excuse an approach to worship which honors God with the lips (merely externally) while the heart is far from Him (an approach to worship which our Lord clearly condemned in no uncertain terms). But even our best, most sincere, most “earnest” efforts at worship still fall far short of the Divine standard. The gospel word and sacraments remind us that it is by God’s grace – and His grace alone – that we are welcomed (through Christ our great High Priest) to come before His throne; it is not by our earnestness or zeal that we have an audience with the heavenlh King.
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“…it is not by our earnestness or zeal that we have an audience with the heavenlh King.”
That’s “heavenly King.”
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Steve Martin wrote: “We love it when the guy with the drinking problem and the bad marriage go up for the altar call (Holy Communion ā the REAL altar call).
As well as the rest of us who pinch out our money and our time (tip oā the hat to God).”
GW: I love how you confessional Lutheran guys state things. (I’m being serious – really.) “Holy Communion – the REAL altar call.” To which this Calvinist adds his earnest, heartfelt “Amen!” (Oops, sorry Daryl, my inner evangelical came to the surface on that one.) We obviously have our differences on the sacrament (very substantive ones). But I agree that the Lord’s Supper is the “real altar call” where God calls us to feast upon Christ and His saving benefits. (Though, as you know, we confessional Reformed guys believe this feasting on our Lord’s Body and Blood is Spiritual – meaning through the Holy Spirit – not corporal or carnal.)
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Thanks, Geoff. I do appreciate the kind words.
And, not to worry about the differences in how we view just what the meal really is. There’s a good chance that you, too, will jettison the rational, reasonable view “spiritual”ā¦in favor of what Jesus actually said, “This IS my bodyā¦this IS my blood.” (and) “Whoever does not eat my body and drink my blood, has no life in them.”
We don’t claim to know ‘how’ (as the Catholics do)ā¦we trust trust in what He said (says) š
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zrim, good.
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Isn’t it our job to bear one another’s burdens?
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At least the altar callers get frequency right.
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Rube, it is. But isn’t there a difference between bearing each other’s burdens and burdening each other carelessly? My point was simply that the gospel doesn’t negate human boundaries, i.e. there may no longer be Jew nor Greek (male nor female, slave nor free), but that doesn’t mean the natural order has passed altogether.
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True, there is balance; I shouldn’t be searching for a wart I can show off at church if anybody asks me how I’m doing. But I think Leon Brown is right, Christians going through trials shouldn’t have to hide them from the Church.
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But it’s easy to spot the fellow who has almost completed his lay training for biblical counseling and just has to target a live subject to help to get that certificate: “Good coffee. You seem burdened and downcast. Is there something I can do to make your yoke easy?” “Um, I always look like this. I’m good, thanks.” And so the point about avoiding greasy familiarity cuts both ways.
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If he’s easy to spot, then hopefully you can avoid him.
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Maybe next time. HashtagBroadsidedLiveandLearn.
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Another thing that’s tricky about “burden bearing” is that people often want your sympathy & prayers more than your suggestions. The guy who is chronically underemployed or the lady who is unhealthy and fifty pounds overweight might need some concrete suggestions for improving their lives, but if you offer them you’re overstepping boundaries.
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