Playgrounds, Landfills, Ferret Breeding, and Gospel Substitutes

"What were they thinking?"

To someone outside of the playground, the question would have made no sense. It looked like your normal, everyday child paradise filled with slides, swings, and other things that kids enjoy. The playground equipment was in perfect condition and was the picturesque site for a fun-filled family play day. This playground served as the site of a mission project for myself and a group of high school students.

The only given objective was to pick up trash from around the perimeter of the playground, particularly concentrating on the broken glass that we might find strewn about. The wry smile on the project coordinator's face should have given us a clue as to what was to come.

What were they thinking?

However, to those inside the playground the question could not have been more appropriate. The problem was not with the playground equipment, but with the playground's foundation. You see, this lovely, picturesque playground was built over a landfill.

It seems that some ingenious worker decided that the best way to utilize the land previously taken up by a large landfill was to build a place for kids to play over top of it. So, as time went by, rain came and washed the top layers of the ground away, exposing the top remnants of this old, abandoned landfill. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the playground was covered with shards of glass, broken bottles, old shoes, shot glasses, etc. It was only a matter of time before these discarded remnants of days gone by bubbled up and revealed the playground's true foundation. With each layer of glass we removed, more was exposed. There was an endless depth to the brokenness and in spite of the seemingly serenity of the playground, nothing could disguise the depravity of the foundation.

What were they thinking?

While I am unsure of the answer to this question as it relates to the playground, I am certain that this playground provides a perfect picture of many of our lives and even the state of the modern, American, evangelical church.

I launch this blog as one who sees life from within the playground, and is painfully aware that the foundation may be faulty. However, it may appear that the playground equipment is doing well:

• People are happier
• Churches are bigger
• Music is kickin' (forgive me, I am trying to be cool)
• Hair is dyed, bleached, spiked, premed, or whatever else dudes do to their hair (forgive me, I am just jealous because I am bald)
• We are hipper, edgier, and cooler (everyone except me)
• We can blog, use a Mac, twitter (again, it just sounds cool)
• Words like "original" and "relevant" have replaced words like "sin" and "sanctification"

It seems that in many places around the world, the playground looks great. However, the question we must ask is whether or not the appearance of the playground diverts us from the pressing questions about the stability of the foundation.

Jesus tells a story in Matthew that makes this same point:

"Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it."

Matthew 7:24-27

 

 

So, what's the point: Without the proper foundation the building does not matter. Notice that, in the parable, Jesus does not comment about the house the men build. Nothing is said about the ascetics: pretty paint, nice wood, three stories...nothing. All He talks about is the foundation. Clearly, he understands that a life or a church built on an improper foundation is destined for failure. I can imagine someone looking at the man's house built on the sand, after the rains have come and asking the same question:

What were they thinking?

It seems that it would be entirely possible to build a life, a ministry, a career, or even a church that looks really solid, but, because it is built on an improper foundation, is destined for failure. Carl Trueman makes this point using vivid imagery when he says:

"None of this should be read as an attack on Christian experience. It is simply to point out that such experience is the result of the gospel, not the content of the gospel. To claim otherwise is to open the door to relativism. Once the gospel starts being presented primarily as that which brings such-and-such benefits, be they freedom from alcohol [etc.]...the distinctive particularity of Christianity is lost. Islam too gives people self-respect, cleans up neighborhoods, gives a sense of purpose; self-help programs have brought many back from the brink of self-destruction to decent lives; and, while Christianity gives me a sense of meaning and worth, so I believe, does ferret-breeding for some people. So what have I to say to the perfectly content ferret breeder? Not a lot, if Christianity is primarily about feelings, whether of satisfaction, happiness, or otherwise. I have Jesus; they breed ferrets. Result in both cases: happiness. So what's the difference? The difference, of course, lies not in the experienced effect but in the cosmic bottom-line: Christ is God acting to save for all eternity; ferrets are good only as temporary distractions from the deeper realities and concerns of life."

Carl Trueman, The Wages of Spin, p. 73

However, before you dismiss the entire concept of ferret breeding outright, let me suggest to you that many of us may be guilty of unknown, excessive, promiscuous ferret breeding. The weight of Trueman's picture is clear. Anything...and I do mean anything...that substitutes for the gospel of God revealed through the person and work of Jesus Christ, as the foundation of an individual life or the Christian church is as ultimately futile as breeding ferrets. Most of our gospel substitutes may not be as obviously foolish as breeding ferrets, but they are no less pervasive.

Gospel substitutes may be good things and may result in authentic gospel gifts such as meaning, purpose, happiness, security, etc. Modern day ferrets are seemingly endless in their pervasiveness and overwhelming in their ability to detract one from the true foundation. At this point one example will suffice:

"Our mission is what gives us purpose, which is what attracts others to us. If we are not bringing justice and transformation to the world, we should ask if we have a right to exist. Our mission defines us more than our worship."

- Andrew Jones, quoted in Gibbs and Bolger, Emerging Churches, p. 58

Need we now repeat the question?

What were they thinking?

Really? Our mission defines us more than our worship. Right? Wrong. Certainly the mission is important. Certainly it is an implication of the gospel. But is it the foundation? The mission isn't the point, God is. If we miss the foundation, we miss the whole point.

We now come to the main crux of the matter. What then, is the foundation, point, goal, summa bonum of life, both corporately and individually? Scripture gives us little room to question the answer.

"For from Him and Through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever." Romans 11:36
"to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be the glory forever." Romans 16:27
"Yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him." 1 Corinthians 8:6
"to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever." Eph. 3:21
"Now to our God and Father be the glory forever and ever." Philippians 4:20
"For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities - all things have been created through Him and for Him." Colossians 1:16
"Whoever speaks is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen." 1 Peter 4:11
"To Him be dominion forever and ever. Amen." 1 Peter 5:11
"But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity." Amen. 2 Peter 3:18
"to the only God our savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen." Jude 1:25
"And every created thing which is in heaven and no the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, "To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever." Revelations 5:13

Is there any doubt the answer to the proper foundation of the church: The glory of God revealed through the person and work of Jesus Christ. That is the foundation. Nothing else should substitute.

And that is why I enter the world of blogging after much consideration and prayer - not because I believe that the world needs another novice blogger, or because I believe that I have anything necessarily original to say. However, I do want to add my voice to what appears to be the minority chorus of voices in the blogging universe. Over the last several years of diverse reading, studying, and perusal of the thoughts of many within the world of evangelical Christianity, I have felt that much that it discussed amounts to little more, than glorified, Christianized, ferret-breeding. And while, many may excuse themselves out of the practice of ferret breeding, there can be no doubt that a simply search of the latest Christian blogs will tell you everything you need to know about cool technology, hip marketing ploys, cool bands and songs, catchy strategies to attract a crowd, and embarrassingly little about Jesus.

Here I find Trueman's thoughts a prophetic warning to the church:

"Indeed, there are mornings when I wake up and think that it's already over, and that the church in the West survives more by sheer force of personality, by hype and by marketing ploys than by any higher power. We need to grasp once again who God is in his fullness...we need teaching and worship which gives full-orbed expression to these things - and this will only come when we in the west grow up, ditch the designer gods we build from our pick ‘n mix Bible where consumer, not Creator, is king, and give the Bible its proper place in our lives, thinking and worship. Think truncated thoughts about God and you'll get a truncated God."

 

Carl Trueman, The Wages of Spin, p. 168

Could it be that the next generation of Christian churches will be asking the same question?

What were they thinking?

Why are all these people who claim to be Christians building their lives around personal happiness, self-esteem, emotionalism, and man's approval? Why is this beautiful church built on the foundation of compelling personalities, hip marketing schemes, emotional interchanges, cool music, and big business?

In this endeavor I am greatly indebted to the number of voices God has used to implore the church and me to return to its historical, Protestant, confessional roots. In the coming days, weeks, and years, I will do my best to remind the church of the gospel, and maybe even point out a few pregnant ferrets along the way.

May we be reminded that "He made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." 2 Corinthians 5:21