What is God teaching the Church through Atheists (un-churched)?

             About a month ago I stumbled upon an article entitled, “Atheist 'mega-churches' take root across US, world.”  Initially, I was confused because the word atheist and the word church usually do not play nice together in the same sentence.  I later found out that coining these atheist gatherings as church was simply media hype—these groups don’t actually use the word ‘church’ in their language.

 Hype or not, these gatherings do resemble to church.  They sing together.  They listen to motivational speakers.  They meet in small groups.  They plan Outreach projects.  They meet on Sunday mornings.  For many, these assemblies, or whatever you want to call them, are meeting a need that the church is not.  But I am getting ahead of myself… 

Before I read the article, I remarked, “Oh great, another ignorant attack on Christianity.”  I guess it comes with the collar but I am especially sensitive to those who make misinformed attacks on Christianity.  A part of me felt the need to educate these misguided souls.  But that didn’t feel right either.

That same week I came across the passage of the Syrophoenician woman (Mark 7:24-30).  For matters of interpretation, a woman of Syrophoenician origin basically means a woman that exists outside of the covenant community of Israel.  She is a Gentile and not a Jew. 

The passage portrays Jesus as being almost rude with this non-Jew.  Jesus is trying to take Sabbath time when this woman asks that he heal her demon-possessed daughter.  Jesus snaps back and basically says, “I must tend to the Jews before the Gentiles.”  The woman calls his bluff and says, “Even the Gentiles get to experience the grace of God through you!” 

If I didn’t know better, I would say that this woman just took Jesus to school.  This woman seems to be giving Jesus a dose of his own medicine.  Just chapters before this one Jesus healed a Gentile because he wanted to prove to his disciples that the covenant of God extends outside the borders of Israel.  Could it be that Jesus is the one who is the student and the Syrophoenician woman is the teacher?

I know Jesus too well; this can’t be the end of the story.  You’ve heard it said that the best teachers are our students.  Maybe Jesus is on to something.  Wasn’t it Jesus who said those who humble themselves will be exalted?  Those who want to be first must be last?  Jesus was willing to let himself be taught by a woman outside of the Jewish tradition for the sake of the gospel.

All this prompted a question that I asked my young adults at our monthly theology discussion group called WORD with Friends.  We pondered, “What is God teaching the church through atheists?  If I wasn’t confronted with this passage from scripture, the topic for the day might have been, “Why atheists are just wrong.”  I’m sure that conversation would have gone nowhere good fast.  Instead, three remarkable insights were gained about the church from this conversation.  I don’t think we said anything that hasn’t already been said but it was remarkable that we came to these conclusions free from any outside sources.

(Picture Caption:Young Adult group pondering question at WORD with Friends)

Three Conclusions from our discussion:  
 

·         The Bible has been reduced to a book that has all the answers-The Bible is not meant to be an answer book or rule book.  Don’t get me wrong—there are plenty of rules in the Bible.  Primarily, the Bible tells the story of how God is rescuing His people from sin, death, and destruction.  The Bible is the story of how God refuses to abandon the world to sin and death.  I am afraid we miss this overall trajectory when we simply look for answers and rules.   

·         Jesus has been reduced to the guy who can fix any problem-N.T. Wright said that we use Jesus like we use a computer.  We only use the parts that we need.  We take what we need and go on with our lives.  What happens to a human relationship when you only use the other person for your own needs and wants?  Eventually that relationship dissolves—the one who is being used will only put up with you for so long.  I’ll admit that Jesus is different.  I believe Jesus will let us use him as long as it takes.  But I also believe that we will never really get to know Jesus unless we treat our relationship with him like our closest human relationships.  Jesus wants to share in your joy.  Jesus wants to share in your sorrow.  Jesus wants to hear everything about you.  God the Father also wants you to know everything about Jesus.  That is why we are given scripture and the power of the Holy Spirit.  That is why God gave us the Church.  So we can meet the risen Lord Jesus even today.  Jesus does much more than fix problems.  Jesus is giving us a world that is complete, a world where “fix” is not a part of the vocabulary.        

·         Christianity has been reduced to a moral code-Timothy Keller said, “[God] cannot be manipulated by religious and moral performance—He can only be reached through repentance, through the giving up of power.  If we are saved by sheer grace we can only become grateful, wiling servants of God and everyone around us.”  In other words, Christianity is not about trying harder to be a good person so that God will love us.  It is about realizing that we are made perfect by the love of God through Christ.  I am afraid we will never know love if we try to earn love.  I guarantee we will know love if we admit to our failures and realize that “there is nothing we can do that will make God love us any more, there is nothing we can do that will make God love us any less.”      

For many, the Bible, Jesus, and Christianity have been watered down and this is the reason people stop going to church—not because Jesus is offensive or his teachings are misguided.  In other words, a lot of people are turned off from the Bible, Jesus, and Christianity because the mystery of it all has been reduced to human standards. 

As Jesus tells the authorities, his kingdom is not from this world.  We can’t understand the nature of God by human standards.  We need Jesus (fully human, fully divine) to be able to understand the nature of God and God’s kingdom.  We also need Jesus to understand what it means to be fully human.  And this can’t happen by simply finding answers in a book or through enlightenment.  This can’t happen by simply using Jesus like a vending machine.  This can’t happen by trying to build our way to heaven through good deeds. 

In the end, it is about a relationship with God.  And our relationship with God through our worship of the risen Lord gives us the grace to seek and serving Christ in all persons.  Our relationship with God gives us the grace to respect the dignity of all human beings.  Yes, we will struggle to find answers.  Yes, we will ask where God is in the midst of all this suffering.  Yes, we will stumble along the way.  But God will call us back into relationship again and again.  God will not abandon us or the world to the power of sin and death—no matter what.

Instead of pointing the finger, the young adult group was willing to learn from a group outside the church like Jesus did with the Syrophoenician woman.  The result was a sober reminder of how the church has been wrong in many cases.  In a real way, we were called to a process of repentance and amendment of life as the body of Christ.  I believe we can learn a lot about the church by looking at those who are not church goers.  In the end, I believe we can be more faithful by listening and learning from those who are not a part of the covenant community of Christ. 

Who are we willing to listen to for the sake of the gospel?  Who are we willing to learn form so that all people will know the healing power of Christ?