Buying In or Being Real?

I have not always been one who needed to have the newest, latest, and greatest thing going. I mean, don't get me wrong, there are times - like in my younger years when I fell head-over-whatever for the New Kids on the Block (I didn't intend for this to be a confessional piece) or even when I jumped into the blogging world because, well, "everybody's doing it." But even with that, I have rarely gone hog-wild for anything new, just because it was new. And as I reflect on the church, and some recent and not-so-recent experiences in the church, I must confess that sometimes I don't know if we know who we are...we, as the church, get caught up in the "new and improved" or "latest, greatest" fads. These newest and best are surrounding and bombarding the church...they come across every church office/pastor's desk or email daily. Our society is embedded with these state-of-the-art things that are "guaranteed" to make it all work, to make it all easier, to make it all good, and this has not missed the church.

Further to the point, I have done some recent study into the largest missing demographic within the mainline denominations - young adults, and others are doing the same. Many national and regional church bodies have just begun to take note of this missing group and have begun to try to bring them back to, or simply into the flock. And here's where the question - "buying in or being real?" comes to life.

In an attempt to "attract" this population churches and church bodies are spending time and money acquiring the latest and greatest of technology, licences for so-called contemporary worship lyrics, renting space in coffee houses, creating ENTIRE worship services geared toward the seeker and or 20 something crowd, and anything else that is 'guaranteed' to interest this group. But sadly, in this process many (NOT ALL) are leaving behind their identity to fit into something that they think these missing folks are looking for.

And yeah, while it may indeed work for a time, the underlying element for many (if not most) young adults is authenticity and truth. They have left (or never entered) our mainline worshipping communities because these churches have appeared to them to just be "going through the motions" and that's, well, a waste of time. Yet when these same young adults come to the new "GenX" or "Electronic" or "Contemporary" whatever services/gatherings, they soon come to learn that these are just masks or faces that are being put up to mass market to this group to draw them in, and the authenticity has been a fraud.

So why do I ponder this? Well, I recently have been in conversations with a close friend who's congregation has a 'contemporary' service once a month because the pastor says, "We need something to attract the young audience." Yet behind this there is no other change that is real, and the change doesn't reflect the community from which is has come. As a result, many of the 'older' members are turned off by this worship service and that they seek to not be present those Sundays each month, plus there has not been a single new person appear since this all began.

My point? Be real. We need to be who we have been created, and not put on a show or the latest glitter and sparks. We are disciples of Christ called to be authentic, and being authentic is about honoring and growing from our past, seeking to live faithfully in the present, and looking forward to the future. This means holding on to liturgy (for those of us who use liturgy) and incorporating our communities within that today. This doesn't mean organ all the time, or no 'contemporary' lyrics (whatever that means), etc...but it means that we are called to live and worship in our fullness in Christ. Our fullness grows out of and celebrates our past, is honest and open about our now, and seeks to follow Christ in all we do into tomorrow.

Some have heard me say "authentic worship is worship that is both traditional and contemporary" and that's being real. We don't need to pretend to be something we are not. We are called disciples of Christ, gathered together to nurture and equip each other, to go out and live and share Christ's living, breathing word of life in all that we do. That means in our worship too. So let's get rid of labels, let's get rid of 'demographic pointing,' and let's be who we are called to be - disciples of Christ who live in the already/not yet reality of Christ in the world.