Good book--CHURCH:WHY BOTHER? by Philip Yancey

I just finished reading an excellent book, written on street level, by Philip Yancey, called CHURCH, WHY BOTHER? I have been in church my whole life. I've been an active part of the church for more than my adult life. I've read lots of books that have something to say about the church. This book is the most read-able and succinct that I've seen.

Mr. Yancey first investigates the Christian's need for community. He uses lots of wisdom from the struggle of others to give depth to the task. One quote by C.S. Lewis that he used that I partaicularly liked said this, "I disliked very much their hymns, which I considered to be fifth-rate poems set to sixth-rate music. But as I went on I saw the great merit of it...I realized that the hymns (which were just sixth-rate music) were, nevertheless, being sung with devotion and benefit by an old saint in elastic-sided boots in the opposite pew, and then you realize that you aren't fit to clean those boots. It gets you out of your solitary conceit."

He pointed out that the trappings of worship (including the lead people) are only promptings to support the "ultimate goal" of getting worshippers in touch with God. I plan and lead the music part of the worship at a small church in Colorado, so this touched a chord in me...(-: My mental image of what I do is that I open the gate to a garden path and each Sunday morning, that path takes different turns and has different views, due to the songs chosen and the way the songs interact with one another. The goal, though, each week, is that the path leads the worshippers to a deep personal communion with God. The less I bring attention to myself, the more chance I have of accomplishing this goal.

I know that some people get frustrated with the imperfect-ness of the church on earth. One quote that spoke to me in the book was by Eugene Peterson--"The church is composed of equal parts mystery and mess". Anyone who has been involved in a church for more than five minutes can understand the truth of that statement. Another good quote about this defines community as a place where the person you least want to live with always lives. (Henri Nouwen) Just as in a family, you don't get to pick who you land with, thus is the church!

A comparison was made in the book of the church to Alcoholics Anonymous. AA is based in
Christian principles and oftentimes accomplishes its purposes much more successfully than the church. "From my friend's midnight church (AA) I learned the need for humility, total honesty and radical dependence--on God and on a community of compassionate friends." In my life experience of the church, the inter-dependence is something we fall short on big time!

The book has a positive tone. It doesn't concentrate so much on what the church does not accomplish, but on the hope of what we can accomplish. Martin Luther calls us "God Masks" because the world cannot withstand the direct force of God's glory. God uses human beings as the prime expression of Himself. Every church offers a whisper of hope. Imperfectly, to be sure, we reveal some aspect of the shape of God's body.

The third (and final) chapter of the book...yes, the book is short!...deals more with reaching beyond the walls of the church. It looks at the perspective of the suffering people and at the perspective of the one ministering to those who are suffering. He says that sometimes the only meaning those of us in ministry can offer suffering people is the assurance that their suffering, which has no apparent meaning for them, has meaning for us. Their suffering changes the lives of the caregivers. I had never thought of ministry from this perspective, along with this quote from Mr. Yancey, "What happens inside the disciple is as important to Jesus as anything accomplished on the outside". I had considered that thought in other contexts, but not in this one.

He also deals with burn-out in ministry and points out Jesus' example as the one to follow. "Jesus healed everyone who asked Him, but not everyone He met. He had the amazing and rare capacity to let people choose their own pain...In short, Jesus showed an incredible respect for human freedom."

He speaks with a man who has suffered terrible tragedy in his life and asked him to describe his disappointment with God. The man replied, "I learned a long time ago, and especially through these tragedies, not to confuse God with life. I'm not stoic. I am as upset about what happened to me as anyone could be. I feel free to curse the unfairness of life and to vent all my grief and anger. But I believe God feels the same way I do about the accident--grieved and angry. I don't blame him for what happened. I have learned to see beyond the physical reality in this world to the spiritual reality. We tend to think, life should be fair because God is fair. But God is not life. If we develop a relationship with God apart from our life circumstances, then we may be able to hang on when the physical reality breaks down. We can learn to trust God despite al the unfairness of life."

Mr. Yancey concludes the book with this bit of wisdom. "The composer Igor Stravinsky once worte a new piece that contained a difficult violin passage. After several weeks of rehearsal, the solo violinist came to Stravinski and said that he could not play it. He had given it his best effort but found the passage too difficult, even unplayable. Stravinsky replied, "I understand that. What I am after is the sound of someone trying to play it." Perhaps something similiar is what God had in mind with the church...Although we may never achieve what the Composer had in mind, there is no other way for those sounds to be heard on earth."

Good book, well worth the read!! I have a small library of good books and this one makes my list!