A call for a Post-Protestant and Post-Evangelical Christian community

Before making my point, let me begin with the dream I had on Wednesday, November 12, 2014.

The dream

1. A PhD colleague and I were in what appeared to be St. Catherine, Jamaica (one of my home parishes), driving to Western Jamaica.
2. It was late evening, and we encountered traffic.  My friend decided to pull over into a church yard, to wait for the traffic diminish.
3. We happened to pull over into a Baptist church yard (could have been any church denomination however) and it was having a late evening service.
4. I pointed out to my colleague that this church was the denomination of my wife as a child, though not in this parish (she's from Western Jamaica).
5. I suggested that we could go inside and sit and take in some of the service.
6. So we went inside and sat in the pews at the back.
7. The people were in worship with a lead singer and a live band leading them in song.
8. After listening to the praise song for a few minutes, my colleague got up, and to my surprise (and everybody else to that matter), grabbed the cordless microphone from the female lead singer and said "Thank you, sister". (My colleague was not a Christian based on my knowledge).
9. He then brought and handed the microphone to me.
10. So I began to speak "Bless the Lord..."
11. Before I could finish my sentence, the lead, grabbed the microphone back and said "you have no right to speak!"
12. My colleague departed and I followed him.
13. For the rest of our journey in the car, I embarrassingly sought to explain to him the actions of the lead and about how different denominations regulate who can speak during worship services. 

End of dream.

I will not render an analysis of the dream, but on the other hand, I find it useful to  make a point. The point that I think it can make is that we need a new Christian community and way of being to meet the needs of a new generation of skeptics and Bible doubters.

The Christianity that I was raised in has served its time. While Christianity rightly assumes that God exists and that the Bible is his revelation to humanity, the way that we go about our worship services and our mission needs to be more oriented around the teaching aspect of the great commission, and less around music and songs. Our church experience can not just be oriented around sermonizing and acknowledging God through music and liturgical ceremony. The needs of my generation no longer fit with the model in which we conduct our services or ministry. No longer are people certain that God exists and that God is good. Further, they are not so sure about the Bible.

My generation wants a community that provides answers and respond to concerns that they have about the goodness of God and the difficult passages in the Bible. My generation wants to believe in a benevolent God and want to believe in the Bible, but there is no guide or shepherd to help them process doubts and questions. Our church services do not help. Structuring it around music and praise do not meet the needs of this new generation, who need teaching and a forum for questions and answers. We need more church services structured around teaching with live Q & A.


This model is not alien to Christianity. Jesus, our chief example, did "sermons" where unbelievers could ask questions and where he gave candid answers, questions or parables in response. The church in Acts, also provide evidence that the apostles spent more time teaching and expounding upon Scriptures and the life events of Jesus than in any scripted music, song and liturgical ceremony. The early dynamic community of Christians had lots of teaching and doctrine, and seemingly had less good singing and music.

Further, if we are going to speak to each other in song, as Apostle Paul admonishes us, shouldn't we sing songs that speak to the needs and themes that we have to deal with today? The hymns of yesteryear cannot be sufficient. And contemporary songs must address the skepticism and the spirit of the age.

This is why I argue that the Billy Graham generation is over. "Crusade" style worship and evangelism will not win the souls of my generation. Today we need new anointed teachers and singers that do things differently. Teachers and singers that shake up our deeply held traditions and formats for Christian service or ministry. Teachers and singers that will centre our services, ministry and worship around Bible reading, teaching and questioning. To centre our worship around discussing the Bible and God's goodness in a world where many have questions and doubt.

The case for child-centred church services

Being a father of young children causes me to look at "church" differently. Before my marriage, as a single man I was able to serve in offices and participate in pretty much any of the church's ministries. This changed even more so when I became a father. Just imagine getting ready for church and having to be late because you have to wait on the baby to awake on time. Then having to get up during the "service" to take your child outside, because the child cannot sit still and keep quiet during the sermon. Not to mention the mommies who have to breast feed or even bottle feed the child (which is informally and unofficially forbidden in the "sanctuary"). As such, being a parent, for the first time forces you to contend with how unfriendly "church" is to young parents and their children. [ Disclaimer: this does not apply to the home church where I raised in with my mother and father. Home churches always treat their grandchildren who they've not seen for a while with a grand homecoming welcome and spoil them of course.]

But that's not all. Your eyes begin to open up to the fact that the church in the 21st century is quintessentially structured for adult believers as the major constituency. [Maybe it is because this group is the major contributors of voluntary services (free labour) and tithes and offerings]. However, even with a church offering children services and programmes, you realise that these are the non-essential or fringe services of the church. Children services and programmes are merely outreach, and not the core of what the church is about. [Perhaps a way of reaching out to parents more than the children].

But when I look at the scriptures, I get a different image. Several verses and memory texts tell me of the importance of raising children in the faith from the womb or birth, teaching them while in their youth or infancy. Psalm 22:9-10 for example says:

Yet you brought me out of the womb; you made me trust in you, even at my mother's breast. From birth I was cast on you; from my mother's womb you have been my God. (NKJV)

From the child is sucking teats, the child is to be learning about God.

Another verse, 2 Timothy 3:15 says [breaking into the thought]:

from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

Hence, children should be learning God's ways from infancy, not as teens or young adults.

A final example of scripture that tells me that the emphasis of teaching children about God is Psalm 71:17, which says:

Since my youth, God, you have taught me, and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds.

This is in addition to that proverb that says "train up a child in the way that they should go and when they are old, they will not depart from it".

But my point is that churches cannot be teaching children doctrines when they are teens or young adults. Doctrines must be taught when they are children. Further, church services cannot afford to cater to adult members and be centred around adult member programming. On the contrary, church has got to be vested in teaching, equipping and educating children for the work of Christian ministry. By this, I don't mean just investing in church schools, Sunday/Sabbath schools and one-off children programmes like Vacation Bible Schools. These are important, but even "traditional" worship services should be ceremonies for initiating children into the faith.

I personally find that church traditions like "communion service" in Protestant, Pentecostal and Evangelical churches fail to incorporate children unless they are baptized. Further, these churches generally baptize a child only when they are confident that the child has reached the age of "understanding" or consent. While church "worship services' are supposedly design to get me focused on God, there is no way that I can focus on God if my children are not engaged in what's going on. The structure of "church" has to be such that children can either participate or observe what is going on so that they can grow in either their understanding of the faith. This means providing opportunities for answer their questions about what is taking place as opposed to shushing them.

For me, an advanced believer with over 20 years of indoctrination (from both school and church), I don't really need the "worship services" as much. My spiritual needs lie in the discussion fora and the Bible studies. Those spaces and opportunities where I get to ask questions and share information. No need to be preached at (though I appreciate the storytelling, interpretations and retelling of familiar Bible stories). However, my concerns are now how to live out my faith in contemporary times. How to answer the questions of contemporary skeptics? Have we misunderstood anything that we now believe? Is there any more truth out of the scriptures that I need to comprehend? Did church founders miss knowledge that we now have access to?

Mark you, I am not saying that we need to do away with regular church worship service structure. Far from it, as this regular structure is still good for the newbies to the faith. It is new believers and children who need to hear sermons and instructions on morality and the purpose or meaning of life. The same group needs to be familiar with Bible stories and the themes of the Christian faith. The regular worship services should tell the grand narratives of Christianity's theme of salvation and redemption. However, we must ensure that children can meaningfully participate in such collective storytelling. (Didn't apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 14 admonish that we must make our services such that unbelievers can understand it and provide interpreters for those who have difficulties?) Hence regular church services should facilitate children participate in the telling and in meeting the introductory/orientation needs of newbies, while Bible classes/studies serve as the "extra-lessons" for the advanced believers.

After all, there is nowhere in Matthew's commission (Matthew 28:19) where I see a prescription for our current order of services. There is no prescription that we must collect offerings and listen to a sermon from one speaker. Jesus did not command those things and even in his sermons, there was space for interaction and the asking of questions. Rather, Matthew's great commission is for us to baptize, teach and make disciples. Hence, believers should be in the business of converting others to their viewpoint and worldview, instructing these new converts and mentoring them to take over the conversion business. And what better way to convert people to a particular worldview than when they are children with minds open for teaching and learning.

Making the church or "sanctuary" family-friendly Part 2

In my previous post, I have highlighted a problematic situation that I see in some churches. So now, let me not just stop there, but offer a creative solution. To do this, I tell an alternative story:

Jane approaches church with her 3 children. The usher asks: "do you need help? We have a program where our teens and young adults assist parents with their children during services".

Jane declines the offer, and the usher replies "Let us know if you change your mind, and I will alert someone to come to your aid."

Jane enters the main hall (or pews) and members smile at her and the children, even waving. As she sits a teenage girl comes up to her and whispers: "Can I sit with you in case you need someone to watch the baby or take one of your children to the restroom?"

Jane smiles and says "Thanks. That's very thoughtful of you."

The 2 year old after half an hour, begins to protest that she is hungry. The teen asks "Is it okay for me to take her to our snack bar?" Jane hesitates, then replies: "Okay, what do you have there?"

The teen replies "we don't give sweets, only healthy snacks like fruit, nuts, yogurt, vegetables. If your child has a nut allergy, we can just stick to fruits and veggies. We have things there like baby carrots, grapes, sliced apples and raisins."

"Sure, go ahead" says Jane. The 2 year old however does not want to leave without her mom. The teenage girl in assessing the situation says "That's okay. I will get the snack and take it back to you. Do you want a baby carrot?"  The 2 year old nods, and the teen goes off and returns with 2 carrots.

Within 2 minutes, the 5 year old requests to use the rest room. The teen offers to watch the months old baby, while Jane goes off to the rest room with both her children. When Jane returns, the sermon is about to begin. The pastor's booming voice startles the baby who begins to cry. The pastor recognises this and pauses his sermon to say: "I am sorry little baby. Did I scare you?" He then addresses the congregation "we pastors sometime forget that when we are preaching, our voices terribly disrupts the silence and startles babies".

Pastor continues the sermon, while Jane hushes the baby and eventually breastfeeds the baby with a shawl covering baby and mom's bosom. People around smile and no one stares or even dares to say: "You can't breastfeed in here. Go use the mother's room!"

Cracked Cisterns

After a long spell of not writing down my reflections, partially because I had little time to reflect and have been swept into a life of bustle and activity, I now pause to write and tackle some issues that I am thinking about as it relates to the state of Christianity today.

I begin by recalling my early experience when I was persuaded about the 'Sabbath truth' and sharing with friends who were otherwise minded. At that time I was on job at a public library, and pulled for encyclopedias to convince my audience that what I was telling them was not being made up by me or even the denomination that I was apart of at that time. I was delighted at that time that the encyclopedia did not disappoint and was able to show them 'who changed the Sabbath'. One of my friends begged me to stop, and so I did.

Years later, the landscape of my entire worldview of Christianity has shifted. It is not just the Sabbath that has been changed, but a whole lot of 'traditions of men' have been inserted and a whole lot of  the practices of the early apostles have been abandoned. I have even recognised that seventh-day Sabbath-keeping churches have also been guilty of the same issues as Sunday Christians.

Think for a moment with me. If the logic for observing the seventh-day Sabbath is because it was a custom of Jesus, then why just observe one such custom and ignore the others? Why do we attend 'church services' instead of 'synagogue services'? Why not keep Sabbath services on the mountain, by the beach, by a lake or by a river, in people's homes or school? Why create a specific building to formally minister to the needs of people?

On the matter of the feasts of the LORD beside the Seventh-day the Sabbath, there are also problems. Most denominations I know observe Communion and justify the practice by arguing that Jesus commanded its observance. Unfortunately, as practiced by denominations, it reflects nothing like what Jesus actually practiced and instituted to the early church or Christians. First, most denominations celebrate the custom as often as seeming suitable to them. In addition, the communion no longer becomes a supper, as it is usually celebrated in the day. Further, it is celebrated without a meal, so that Christians only eat the bread and wine. No bitter herbs, no dip. Further, some Christians celebrate the supper with leavened bread, biscuits or cakes. Jesus and his disciples ate unleavened bread (bread without yeast). So whether or not Christians say they are following Jesus command to celebrate the Lord's supper, it is yet to be established that they are in fact doing so, as the time has been changed both in terms of time of day and even the season. Also the emblems have been changed. These have been done without biblical authority, but man's theological extraction and development. It is therefore correct when they do not use the term - the LORD's supper, but instead use the term communion. For it is indeed a communion meal in honour of the LORD, but not the LORD's. As Jesus says ""Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?" (Luke 6:46 NIV).

Were Christians today doing what the LORD command, the operation of the church today would be different. However the corruption or influence of the world has creeped in, and traditions of men have usurped the commandments of God. I don't have all the answers and have just raised the questions. My intention is not though to raise doubt about the Church or Christianity, but more so to cause reflection about the state of Christianity today. We celebrate pagan festivals while claiming that the festivals of the Bible have been nailed to the cross. Even those festivals of the Bible that we celebrate, we choose how we feel that they should be celebrated and command others to do the same. Without authority we have established broken cisterns.

"For my people have done two evil things: They have abandoned me--the fountain of living water. And they have dug for themselves cracked cisterns that can hold no water at all! (Jeremiah 2:13, New Living Translation, 2007)

So cracked we are, that the Holy Spirit (the living water) which should be poured in us, is flowing through our cracked vessels and cannot be fully entertained in our formal church services. He flows through our cracks and we end up with little power and little results in our ministries (that is if he flows or is poured in any at all). In fact, Jesus tells us that cracked vessels cannot be used, as they would be ruined (See the parable in Matthew 9:17). We cannot receive the outpouring of the Spirit, if our vessels are cracked, because we are unable to keep him in us. So that's why we feel alive at some times, and dead at other times. That's also why we can do God's work this minute, and the Devil's work the next. Cause we ain't full. Vessels that are cracked are never full.

I therefore sit on the fence, for after 2 decades of church involvement, I find that the work that I do is not all about serving the LORD, but carrying out denominational duties and the traditions of men. But the one who I really want to serve is the LORD. May we all have that wish and desire, and examine ourselves to see if we are indeed in the faith (2 Corinthians 13: 5).

God bless you.

The Ministry of Biblical Illustration

I have been thinking about how to give service at the fellowship that I regularly attend and to the L-RD at this time. After reading some passages in Ezekiel, I saw where G-d asked Ezekiel to put forth information to various target audiences. In these, I felt that I could merge my desire to serve G-d with my interest or hobby in drawing, as information does not have to be textual only, but also visual. But more so to do this with a community of other young persons who may share my passion/hobby for learning to draw and illustrate.

I believe the culture of the world is now skewed towards visual communication  and even in church, I see the use of this relative modern way of communication in the form of PowerPoint slides, multimedia or videos. I also see where even in the church quarterly or periodicals, graphics are designed and there are illustrations.

I am pretty sure that you may know young people or other persons within your fellowship that draw or want to learn. I myself, cannot draw well, but am an amateur. Nevertheless, I believe that if I use the little that I know for G-d, especially with others, then eventually, G-d will improve my talent over time.

The church should have a mission focus or emphasis, and a goal to make every believer a minister. One area of ministry that often is neglected is the use of visual arts or visual communication. There is an adage that says that a picture is worth a thousand words. Surely, in times gone by in the past, the LORD caused persons to write down his communications to human beings. However, he does not limit his communication to the written word only. Psalm 19 states that his creative works also communicates.

As such, I see a new area of ministry and opportunity for members to give service to the LORD at this time that is in keeping with the modern culture of visual information consumption. Our modern culture in today's world is skewed towards visual communication and even in church, the is reliance on this relative modern way of communication in the form of PowerPoint slides, not to mention the countless brochures, fliers and other visual communication that are create each year to convey ephemeral information.

Such a proposed ministry can have a mandate or the aim of merging the desires of members to serve G-d with an interest or hobby in drawing or illustration to get an opportunity to do so while also fellowshipping with a community of other persons who may share that same passion/hobby for learning to draw and illustrate.

As in Moses' record of the construction of the tabernacle, God gave and used talents of two men to design the tabernacle's art work and interior decorations, so it is that God can use the talents for visual arts that he gave to members in the congregation for the purpose of contributing to the growth of the church as well as these individual members who serve. 

(Published November 22, 2011; but revised November 26, 2011)