Church of the Future (John 1: 1-14)

The Word of God. Present, in the beginning. The Word of Life. The Word that is Life and Light for all people.

It all sounds very mystical, which it is. It’s about the connection between people and the unseen God.

It also sounds very gnostic, which it is not. Gnosticism means that the only real world is the unseen world, that this world which we think is real is actually an illusion.

It sounds gnostic until you get to this line: “The Word became flesh.” That which is unseen became flesh and blood, like you and me… “and made his home among us.” Established his dwelling place in our midst. God makes his home here, in this world. We see that in Jesus Christ.

Today we are gathered in the fellowship hall. It’s different to worship here, but not unprecedented. We worshiped here last summer after Vacation Bible School.

Still, my first thought was, we can’t worship here; we have a beautiful sanctuary designed for worship! We have beautiful stained glass windows. We have a pulpit and a lectern and a chancel and an organ, and pews lined up in rows.

But the topic for today is the future of the church

And one of the things I see in the future – and in the present – is new generations that don’t care about things like pulpits and lecterns and chancels and organs and pews lined up in rows. In fact, for some, the setup of a traditional sanctuary symbolizes what is wrong with the church today.

Here’s some historical context:  In the fourth century, Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire. Up until that time, Christians mainly worshiped in homes, coming together to break bread in Jesus’s name. This meal took place in the triclinium, a dining room, which the youth learned all about during their field trip on New Year’s Eve, and it was the primary form of worship.

But then Constantine made Christianity the official religion of Rome, and ever since, the church has structured itself and its worship according to Roman ideals and practices. Rulers and leaders up front, elevated, with the people sitting far below, in pews, quiet, obedient, subservient. To further emphasize their importance, those leaders up front dressed in fancy, ornate clothes. They performed the rituals that the common people could not. At times they even spoke a language that the common people could not understand.

This form of worship was very different from that of Christianity’s first few centuries. It reflected the separation of people into classes that was so important to the Romans; the same separation of people into classes that we see in the division of Herod’s temple into various courtyards for various classes of people.

For emerging generations, this kind of setup is out of date and out of touch. Churches that will survive into the coming decades are more grassroots, more egalitarian. This is symbolized by a circular seating arrangement, and in fact, some churches today sit in a circle every Sunday, or as close to a circle as they can manage. In a circle, everyone can still see, but no one is elevated to a level of higher importance.

When Pope Francis was presented for the first time as pope, he was invited to take his place on the raised platform, but he surprised everyone by choosing to remain on the floor at the same level as the other bishops. He is an extremely humble man, but he also recognizes that, in this day and age, newer generations want a leader who is one of them, who speaks to them at their level, who is not elevated above them.

For many in emerging generations, they find more spirituality in grassroots movements, movements like the Occupy movement of recent years, in which the group as a whole makes decisions. “Crowdsourcing” is a commonly heard word, and it refers to seeking information from a community of people, often online, instead of from some authoritative source. You want answers? Don’t go to some “authority;” go to the people.

The church of the future is connected to its community. When I was in the Chapman University choir, we performed in churches throughout the western United States. I noticed that most sanctuaries had stained glass windows that allowed light in, but did not allow one to see out or others to see in.

But then we went to a church where the sanctuary had clear windows. It confused me. It wasn’t what I was used to. I was used to a sanctuary that was isolated from the outside world, a sacred, set-apart space for worship. I was even a little bit annoyed.  The outside world did not belong in the sanctuary!

It’s the same feeling I had during worship a few weeks ago, when two fighter jets took off and rattled our sanctuary just as the handbells were playing “Silent Night.” The barrier between worship and the real world was shattered, and I didn’t like it.

But then I remembered something I learned long ago, that worship should not be separate from the real world. If anything, worship should help people engage in the world around them. We don’t come to worship the Word; we come to worship the Word-made-flesh; the Word who made his home among us. The Word does not pull us out of the world. The Word comes into the world, to save the world, to restore the world to wholeness. There is no separation from the world. The world is good. The world is what Christ comes to save and to redeem.

The church of the future will be a church that is connected to the world around it. For emerging generations, a church that is separated from its community is hypocritical and irrelevant. Just like the Word that made his home among us, the church of the future needs to make its home among the people, among its neighbors. It needs to be “present” to those around it in every sense of the word.

For this reason, every church will be different. There is no cookie-cutter formula for a successful church. I learned long ago, when I attended workshops and seminars presented by people who led successful churches, that the one thing they all had in common is that they all said “we did what worked for us. I can’t tell you what will work for you.”

Too many churches look at successful, thriving churches, and see that as a model for their own ministry. “The mega-church across town is doing it, and look how successful they are! We should do the same thing they are doing.”

But what they are doing in their neighborhood might not work in our neighborhood.

Bixby Knolls Christian Church has beautiful stained glass windows. I’ve probably become more attached to those windows than I should be. I don’t think any of us want to replace them with clear glass, and that’s not really my point. We don’t have to get rid of them, as long as we find ways to connect with our community.

Fortunately, we have been in the same location for 69 years – our 69^th anniversary is January 27 – and a good percentage of our members do live in the immediate neighborhood, and we do have good relationships with many in our community. That’s something positive that we can continue to build upon.

The church of the future is committed to service. Now, to many of us, it may seem that emerging generations don’t like to get involved. Actually, they do, but in different ways. Ask a young person if they’d like to join a committee, and the response will probably be “no.” But ask them if they’d like to help out at an upcoming service project, picking up litter, feeding the homeless, collecting shoes and blankets for those in need, and they are more likely to say yes. They don’t want to sit around in meetings. They don’t to join a women’s group or a men’s group. But they do want to be active in other ways.

We see this, right?

Emerging generations want a church that is actively involved in real-life social issues, issues which the church of the past has either ignored or fought against. They want a church that will advocate for LGBT equality, a fairer economic system, and issues surrounding climate change, just to name a few.

The church of the future is going to be less concerned with numbers, and more concerned about being faithful. The church of the future needs to be less concerned with making a sale, and more concerned with establishing relationships. Getting someone to say a certain prayer, sign on the dotted line, and agree to be baptized is not what it’s about for emerging generations. It’s about walking with one another on the journey of faith, learning how to help one another grow, and help bring wholeness to a fragmented world.

The church of the future is one in which people put their faith into action. Theological or denominational differences don’t matter as much as doing good works, like serving the poor. Pope Francis recognizes this; he has called for an approach that is “intelligent, courageous and full of love,” instead of being fixated on some kind of abstract or dated theology. That same call is being heard throughout Christianity.

The church of the future that is faithful is a church that challenges its people to stability. This is a counter-cultural call.

We live in a society where, if you don’t like something, find something else. Just move on to the next thing. If you don’t like your church, find another one. If you don’t like your spouse, find another one. It’s easy. People do it all the time.

Some people go from spouse to spouse, and some people go from church to church. Each time they move on, they are eager to list everything wrong with their previous spouse or previous church. Just like Taylor Swift and all her ex-boyfriends that she’s written songs about.

Hey, Taylor: maybe the problem is you. Hey, friends who move from church to church to church: maybe the problem is you.

Committed to staying, people learn to love one another. It’s like the characters in the movie Cars: they are all very different from one another. At times, they get on each other’s nerves. But they’re not going anywhere. And over the years, because they’ve stayed in one place, they’ve formed a community where friendships are strong.

The church of the future is one in which friendships and relationships are strong, where people are committed to staying in fellowship with one another even when disagreements arise. The future holds many challenges for us, and we won’t all agree on how to meet those challenges. The future is one of great change, and we won’t always agree on how we should change. But if we remain committed to one another in love, I have no doubt that we will meet those challenges and be a part of Bixby Knolls and Long Beach for at least another 69 years.

We are Bixby Knolls Christian Church. We may be small in numbers, and we may feel like we are stumbling along as we find our way, but we have each other, and we have God; and we stand for something bigger than anything else the world has to offer: hope. peace. joy. And a love that is the greatest, most powerful force on earth... and together, one step at a time, we will bring wholeness to a fragmented world.