I posted this on Facebook earlier:
Been reading a lot about religious rituals. I’ve changed my view. They’re not meaningless as many Christians like to say they are. But more importantly, a ‘pagan’ ritual that means something, even if it’s pointless, is better than us saying that it is wrong, and not praying/worshipping ourselves. That’s more meaningless. I fall short too.
To expound on it just a little… I’ve been reading several good books that influenced this thought. One is “The Limits of Meaning” by Matt Engelke and Matt Tomlinson; another is “Material Religion” by E. Frances King (There are others, but these two are the notables). And I’ve come to realize that church power structures can potentially be as pointless as a non-church environment (I’m speaking from a Christian perspective here). I know it sounds like a really ‘duh’ thing, but it’s much more interesting than that.
Let me pop some question:
1. We often talk about how the love of the world will lead to an empty life. That’s fine. But have we thought about whether we can live an empty life within the context of church? Must it be a “here or there” scenario?
2. As a follow-up question, I look at standards that are commonly mentioned in Christian environments. I’ll try to lay them out here, then link it together. We often hear that if we over-expose ourselves to certain stuff that is “of the world”, we would eventually be influenced and bla bla bla, not so good stuff happens. We also frequently hear internal chastisement of church members who are pew-warmers, often times regarded as people who have been coming to church forever, yet the faith is meaningless to them.
So here’s the question: If we so readily accept that people can be in church and live their whole lives being unimpacted by God and Christian-ish stuff, is it possible to accept that there is a possibility that Christians can be “out there in the world” and be unimpacted by worldly stuff? Food for thought.
I’m not looking for ways to problematize the church. To be honest, I find that I’m finding my faith more exciting than ever as I uncover layers of meaning that I’ve never considered before.
Back to the earlier quote. Reading Material Religion, I realize that some faiths, as much as I disagree with the premise of their worship, or the stuff I do, have so much built-in faith and discipline that I actually admire them. It does spur me to consider my own personal and church rituals; and I find that I am truly lacking in my daily expression of Christ in me. I suppose it was timely that Pastor Ray Castro, who spoke at my church last Sunday said that being a worshipper “is not what you do… but what you are.”
Striving on, then.
