I've been reading John Taylor Gatto's book "Dumbing us Down - The hidden curriculum of compulsory schooling". He has a lot of interesting things to say about the education system but what I found particularly interesting was his discussion on how school are only networks pretending to serve as communities. What I thought was interesting was that his comments on this could just have easily been used to describe and critique churches.
What I dream for in church is what Gatto describes as a true community. He says, "A community is a place in which people face each other over time in all their human variety, good parts, bad parts, and all the rest. Such places promote the highest quality of life possible, lives of engagement and participation."
Networks, however, don't require the whole person, but only a narrow piece. If you function in a network it ask you to suppress all the parts of yourself except the network-interest part—a highly unnatural act although one you can get used to. In exchange, the network will deliver efficiency in the pursuit of some limited aim. This is in fact a devil's bargain, since on the promise of some future gain one must surrender the wholeness of one's present humanity. If you enter into too many of these bargains you will split yourself into many specialized pieces, none of them completely human. And no time is available to reintegrate them.
Unfortunately, this what churches usually become. There is usually the goals of getting the service prepared, the bulletin ready and Sunday school coordinated. There is usually the underlying goal for spiritual growth of some group of people. Fellowship is one component of church. Usually as part of a list of other things to get done. This creates a problem in that love is given a backseat to business. Gatto describes this problem as follows:
It is a puzzling development, as yet poorly understood, that the 'caring' in networks is in some important way feigned. Not maliciously, but in spite of any genuine emotional attractions that might be there, human behavior in network situations often resembles a dramatic act—matching a script produced to meet the demands of a story. And, as such, the intimate moments in networks lack the sustaining value of their counterparts in community. Those of you who remember the wonderful closeness possible in army camp life or sports teams, and who have now forgotten those you were once close with will understand what I mean. In contrast, have you ever forgotten an uncle or an aunt?If the loss of true community entailed by masquerading in networks is not noticed in time, a condition arises in the victim's spirit very much like the "trout starvation" that used to strike wilderness explorers whose diet was made up exclusively of stream fish. While trout quell the pangs of hunger—and even taste good—the eater gradually suffers for want of sufficient nutrients.
Churches that become spiritual networks are dangerous and can leaves it's members as victims of trout starvation. They suck so much time and energy out of people without feeding them what they really need. Gatto says that the only networks he considers completely safe are "the ones that reject their communal facade, acknowledge their limits, and concentrate solely on helping (him) do a specific and necessary task. But a vampire network like a school, which tears off huge chunks of time and energy needed for building community and family—and always asks for more—needs to have a stake driven through its heart and be nailed into its coffin." The problem that we currently face is that "given our unquenchable need for community and the unlikelihood of obtaining that community in a network, we are in such desperation of any solution that we are driven to deceive ourselves about the nature of these liaisons." People are unwilling to admit that what they have in church is not really community. Gatto adds that "whatever 'caring' really means, it means something more than simple companionship or even comradeship of shared interests."
I think that answer lies in a complete gutting of all things to do with church besides loving God and loving others. Who says we need "services"? Who says that we need bible studies? Who says that we need budgets? Why do we use communion cups? Church should solely be about loving God and loving others. Absolutely everything else is dispensable. We will never see true community in our churches unless we stop running after other silly goals and make our first priority to love. By love I don't mean fondness or occasional small acts of service but messy, involved sort of love that leaves one incredibly vulnerable and exposed. If you think that this is hard then try carrying a cross.
Posted by rose at April 24, 2006 01:29 PM