(From The Wisdom of the Desert, by Thomas Merton, saying XXXIV).
A few times a month I have had the opportunity to work at the local food bank. Normally, this time is followed by a short Bible study at the facility. This week there was much to do and we spent the entire two hours working and skipped the Bible study entirely. It seemed appropriate
This reminded me of one winter Sunday several years ago at a church where I served as Assistant Pastor. A blizzard had fallen over the town the evening before and continued into the morning hours. Driving to work in my four-wheel-drive, I remember stopping to help a young woman dig her car out of a few feet of snow so she could get to work.
Arriving at the church for the early service, I found six people in attendance. Three of us were pastoral staff. The pastor of worship and I suggested that we cancel the first service in order to assist people in the neighborhood struggling with the after-effects of the blizzard. The Senior Pastor protested that we needed to be faithful to the preaching of scripture. So we put on the full show for six people and let our neighbors - including the senior citizens in the local trailer park - figure out how to deal with the snow for themselves. Why? Because there was such a concern about scripture and preaching.
Now, I love the scriptures. I love corporate worship... most of the time. But is it possible that we might be more faithful in remembering the work of God and worshiping together by emulating the love of Christ than by huddling together in buildings to read books, sing songs and listen to ourselves talk? Of course, corporate worship is important too, but it seems like many people have prioritized the attendance of local church to the point that it is tempting to believe that is the only real place to worship. That such is pure worship. Yet the book of James says,
Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. (Jam 1:27 NAU)
During our time at the food bank, I was speaking with the local Lutheran pastor. He told me how some of the students at his seminary pledged to go "Bible-less" for a year while serving people in the community. Apparently, the point was to step away from the wrong ways in which the Bible is used. For some, this will seem absolutely ridiculous - if not offensive and blasphemous. Still, it is interesting to consider the idea in concert with the attitude of the monk Serapion in this saying. Right or wrong, he was thoroughly consistent.
It makes one question our own consistency in American Evangelical Christianity. Many of us can fill a bookshelf with just the Bibles we own, a small library with the theological and devotional books we possess. Pastors and leaders spend tens of thousands of dollars on education. A good number of churches spend that much or more yearly on resource materials, media and worship supplies. The Christian book and music industries generate obscene profits. I'm not saying all this is bad, but I can't help but wonder if we are missing something.
