Perhaps it’s inevitable in this country, sick as it is with the consumer mentality, that we happily extend that to our spiritual lives, as well. Too often, people equate church with a product…and then treat it like they do other products, expecting the most return for the least investment.
What would it be like if, instead, we allowed church to be the one place where we experimented with an anti-consumerism…with the free giving of our selves and resources…where we could really begin to learn what it might mean to live from a place of abundance, rather than scarcity?
I believe it’s possible. It’s counter-cultural, but it’s definitely possible. Money is pretty absurd, after all….
I’d like to see church not be the “one place,” but rather the training ground, for bringing those values forward in the entirety of our lives.
Just as we don’t “family-hop” (or most of us don’t, anyway), there’s an amazing value to sticking it out with a church through changes in clergy and membership, through growth and through trouble, seeing church pledging and volunteer time not as “donations,” but rather as our share of paying the bills toward a bigger vision, just as we do within our families.
And yes, the commodification of church, evaluating its entertainment value and asking “what’cha done for ME lately?” can lead to an unsatisfying experience of religious community. Just like other relationships, the more you put into it, the more valuable it is likely to be, but it does take time.
Cheers,
~~ (The Other) Ellen: a California UU