In my last post, I mentioned Jon Trott’s analysis of the recent controversy about remarks made by Barack Obama’s pastor. This situation interests me because it aptly demonstrates the tendency to identify a church with its preaching, rather than the other aspects of its ministry (which includes significant social action).
In fact, the amount of time spent preaching or listening to preaching is (or ought to be) but a fraction of any church’s activity. The fellowship of all believers and the forming of disciples (who are charged with social action), not the preaching of a few, is what makes a church. Yet it is the preaching that receives the most attention.
Perhaps it is just easier to focus on one personality (i.e. the pastor/preacher) than the “faceless” mission of a church. But I can’t help but wonder if churches just aren’t being as effective as they might be in demonstrating social action. If a church’s “rep” is based on its preaching, not its practice of living out the gospel, something is wrong.
Other Synchrobloggers below:
- Phil Wyman at Square No More – Salem: No Place for Hating Witches
- Mike Bursell at Mike’s Musings
- Bryan Riley at at Charis Shalom
- Steve Hayes writes about Khanya: Christianity and social justice
- Reba Baskett at In Reba’s World
- Prof Carlos Z. with Ramblings from a Sociologist
- Cobus van Wyngaard at My Contemplations: David Bosch, Public Theology, Social Justice
- Cindy Harvey at Tracking the Edge
- Alan Knox at The Assembling of the Church
- Matthew Stone at Matt Stone Journeys in Between
- John Smulo at JohnSmulo.com
- Sonja Andrews at Calacirian
- Lainie Petersen at Headspace
- KW Leslie: Shine: not let it shine
- Stephanie Moulton at Faith and the Environment Collide
- Julie Clawson at One Hand Clapping
- Steve Hollinghurst at On Earth as in Heaven
- Sam Norton at Elizaphanian: Tesco is a Big Red Herring
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
In my original denomination it seemed that preaching was Christianity. Moreover, if you were to do something for God it would be to go to seminary and become a preacher. If you were a woman, well, then i suppose you could work the nursery or children’s ministry, likely because a man wouldn’t go there.
Now, as I read that it sounds a bit harsh, but there definitely was a focus on preaching and not doing. Teaching Jesus’ commands and teaching God’s written revelation clearly is important, but one can’t know it and teach it and not see that it tells us to do it as well.
You’ve got me thinking now. On the one hand I think you’ve got a point there with the preaching, but on the other I’m thinking, what about all the social justice churches? Maybe we could say, well they’re the ones that emphasize sacraments over preaching, but then, there are some right wing Catholic churches around the traps too. Hmmm.
mmmm interesting…
i wonder how much the preaching informs the action and the action informs the preaching – and even then could be that even the best social activists are making limited choices based on teaching that is skewed to reflect a a certain class, theology, understanding, perspective etc…
How is the teaching/teacher challenged?
How do we rediscover to learn/learners?
How do we break the artificial distinction i like to make between being and doing, reflection and action?