The Pretenders

A few years ago there was a TV show on the was called "The Pretender".  It centered around a character by the name of Jared, who was kidnapped as a child and his kidnappers used and developed his skills so that he could become whoever or whatever he wanted in any situation.  One week he was a race car driver, another a doctor, another a member of the Coast Guard.

What I wonder, and fear, is that in most churches on Sunday mornings, we have congregations filled with pretenders, or,  as Brendan Manning refers to them in the title one of his books,  "Posers, Fakers, and Wannabes".

I believe that our churches are filled with posers, fakers, wannabes and pretenders every Sunday.  Our churches are not safe to be real and share our hurts, our fears, our sin, our pain,  our sorrow, our trials and our temptations without being condemned, ostracized, and cast out, so we hide behind a smile and our supposed goodness because we fear what people might do to us or say about us to our face or behind our backs.

It reminds me of the song by Casting Crowns, "Stained Glass Masquerade"

Is there anyone that fails
Is there anyone that falls
Am I the only one in church today feelin' so small
Cause when I take a look around
Everybody seems so strong
I know they'll soon discover
That I don't belong
So I tuck it all away, like everything's okay
If I make them all believe it, maybe I'll believe it too
So with a painted grin, I play the part again
So everyone will see me the way that I see them

Are we happy plastic people
Under shiny plastic steeples
With walls around our weakness
And smiles to hide our pain
But if the invitation's open
To every heart that has been broken
Maybe then we close the curtain
On our stained glass masquerade

Is there anyone who's been there
Are there any hands to raise
Am I the only one who's traded
In the altar for a stage
The performance is convincing
And we know every line by heart
Only when no one is watching
Can we really fall apart
But would it set me free
If I dared to let you see
The truth behind the person
That you imagine me to be
Would your arms be open
Or would you walk away
Would the love of Jesus
Be enough to make you stay

Are we happy plastic people
Under shiny plastic steeples
With walls around our weakness
And smiles to hide our pain
But if the invitation's open
To every heart that has been broken
Maybe then we close the curtain
On our stained glass masquerade

I come to wonder whether our order of worship, our events, our ministries, our routines are there in part because it is much easier and more comfortable to go through the routine than to be genuine with one another.  More than anything else, I long to see the church be able to be so real with one another that we rally around one another when we struggle rather run away from each other.

Paul wrote that we are to "Carry one another's burdens; in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ" (Gal  6:2, HCSV).  We aren't too good at burden bearing...stone casting..yes, tongue lashing...yes, soul smashing...yes, but not burden bearing.  Maybe we'll get this down some day.  We can only hope.

Comments

[Tammy]

I hadn't been on your blog for awhile Kurt and was enjoying reading your entries. This one especially caught my eye, and I agree with what you said. My two daughters, who were raised going to church, don't like to set foot in one now. They believe in God and consider themselves Christians, but were disillusioned by the hypocrisy they saw. They have a father who professes his faith yet can't be bothered to keep in contact with his own children. They feel unable to be themselves around him for fear of being "judged". Additionally, Brittany saw the same people set up as "church leaders" at our former church come into the Starbucks she worked at on Wed. nights and trash the place, move furniture, and behave rudely towards the employees. So do I blame them for staying away? No, because my church attendance is rare for the same reasons. If we ARE to be Christ's body, we need to start believing and acting it. People see through the facade and are sometimes discouraged from having a relationship with the Lord by what they see in "us Christians"....and it ain't pretty!