THE ROOM WHERE IT HAPPENS
/STAY WITH ME FOR A MINUTE. This is one of those ideas that's clear in my mind, but I have difficulty in the explaining. Let's start with this:
Is it Art, or is it Craft? Maybe it depends on where its done. If it's done in a Studio; is it art? If it's done in a Shop; is it craft? Is that an oversimplification?
How about this: let's say a group of folks who share a kindred spirit meet in a coffeehouse to talk and read and sing about faith, life and beauty. Is that Church, or a gaggle of mis-guided liberals?
[Time for a shameless moment of grandfatherly bragging. This is, after all, About POPS. I can pretty much say what I want.]
Our oldest GrandGirl, Karlee, is a gifted dancer. One of this season's dances for her is in an ensemble. Their number is based on the musical "Hamilton", specifically the song, "The Room Where It Happens". It's a song about being where the important decisions are hashed and made. I've watched "Hamilton" on Disney+ and I have to say, without prejudice, that Karlee and her dance mates do a stirring rendition of the number.
that’s Karlee. there in the middle. the one being whispered to.
Here's a sample from the lyrics:
No one else was in
The room where it happened
The room where it happened
The room where it happened
No one really knows how the game is played
The art of the trade
How the sausage gets made
We just assume that it happens
But no one else is in
The room where it happens.
I don't know that I've ever been in that metaphorical, political "room where it happens". I do have assumptions that there would a lot of posturing and power playing, compromise of opinions and ideas, along with compromise of values, morals and justice. But I'm just guessing [based on the insincere smiles on the participants faces and the knives in their backs as they exit the room.]
So, let's recount: we have studios, shops, coffeehouses, churches and those dark rooms in the bowels of politics [and by politics I mean all institutional politics, not just the governmental variety]. Let's add schools, bars, courtrooms, banks, libraries and retail. Picture the room and you have a pretty good idea of what happens there.
We have expectations about what happens in these places. We know not to take our dry cleaning to an ice cream shop. We also know that we might need to take our dry cleaning to the dry cleaners after visiting the ice cream shop.
Lets come back to Church--those buildings sitting on a corner somewhere in most every town, and in front of a graveyard along country roads. There was a time when most everyone claimed some affiliation with a church. As a matter of fact, applications for schools, clubs and some jobs had a line that asked: "Church preference?" [I remember once answering that question "Red brick", thinking I would be appreciated for my sense of humor.]
Now many of the old red brick churches are nearly empty these days. Should we be alarmed? Is "church", can "church", happen in other kinds of rooms?
We like to get off the Interstates when we travel. We've noticed that around these parts on the less-traveled roads a growing number of "cowboy churches". These are metal buildings that look like at one time they could have been a boot-scootin bar or a place where backyard storage buildings were manufactured. I guess you could say, with the exception of the very recognizable logo, the ubiquitous "life church.tv" is sort an architecturally non-distinguishable structure that could be a skating rink or antique mall.
Maybe this drift from steeples, stained glass windows and pipe organs is appropriate for worshipping a "God, who made the world and everything in it, is Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples made by human hands." --Acts 17:24
Can we assume that what happens in a room called a church is really church? All of my life, for the most part, the answer is yes (if I get to define church). My childhood is full of memories of community; community gathered for potluck suppers, Christmas pageants, Easter celebrations, singing and people serving. Some of those people volunteered to teach us about God and his only begotten Son. Was their theology "right"? Frankly my dear, I don't give a darn. What they did for us came from a caring, genuine love. And that's where the real lessons and the real gospel were.
Today, I fear that "church" has become something else, a political wedge and hammer distorting building blocks of goodness, truth and beauty into stones of dogma and twisted doctrine. I'm sad that politicians have taken to touting their faith in their campaign ads. It rings hollow like an empty church to me. All the politicizing, posturing and posing belongs elsewhere. Sometimes I wonder if we could still look at a church and know what happens in those rooms.
It's all morphing for sure. The pandemic and its quarantine showed us that church might be our living room, watching a sermon on YouTube. Church as we've known it is changing. I just hope we don't keep twisting the pursuit of faith to serve lower purposes.
I am optimistic. I am hopeful. When it comes to community and fellowship and the honest, kind pursuit of truth and understanding; lately, I've been in a few "rooms" where it happens.