Beyond Respectability

Nicodemus came to Jesus at night (John 3:2).  King David's wife, Michal, despised him when he danced exuberantly before the Lord (2 Samuel 6:12-23).  Respectable people fear exposure and vulnerability.  Respectable people are concerned about what other people think about them.  Respectable people are more concerned about their reputation than about their relationships.

Have many of our churches become respectable?  Do our precise forms and functions, our concerns over neat orders of service and our structures and protocols allow us to mask our real persons and hide our deepest needs?  Does our veneer of respectability cover the battles that rage within us?  Do we long to be authentic and vulnerable but fear rejection?  Does pride cause us to forfeit intimacy?  Does shame triumph over grace?

Sadly, I suspect that the answer to the above questions is often "Yes".

Respectable churches, with their forms and services, subtley reinforce the values of safety and security - and often don't recognise that they hinder people from embarking on the exhilarating journey of faith.  What will it take for us to risk moving beyond respectability?

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Comments

[beth]

Respectable?
I guess that has something to do with respect. What is it that is given respect, what is honoured in our gatherings and in our life together? If we are concerned that the church is 'respectable', it may be because we understand it to be the body of Christ, and we are wanting to honour Jesus...no worries there.
But then again it may be that we are concerned with maintaining our own honour. We want the church to be respectable, because we want to be respectable or respected. Surely this is not the way of Jesus.
So how can we discern? What measure or criteria or question might we ask to discover whether we seek the honour of Christ or are simply trying to sure up our own respectability?

[Paul]

Like Beth, how one answers the questions raised by this post depends on what is defined as "respectability".

My initial reaction is, "Of course God wants order, peace and calm in the lives of His followers". And doing church in a respectful way honors Him.

But I suspect that David's challenging questions go far beyond this.

He might be challenging us to consider whether we are boxing God in, sort of speak. A simple example of this is the reluctance of some to raise their hands in worship. The convention of a church might be that this is simply not done, so regardless how the Holy Spirit prompts one to respond in adoration, the arms remain locked at the side and the opportunity to respond to God in an unrestrained manner is thwarted.

However, these questions go even deeper than this.

A more serious issue is whether we resist being honest with God because we are more concerned about our own apparent respectability than we are about getting things right with God. There have been times when I was convicted about a behaviour, or an attitude, but failed to respond to the prompting of the Spirit out of fear about how it would look to others.

God looks at my heart, but it's so easy to ignore this and be more concerned about others who only see my mask. And the sad thing is, my mask may well discourage others from getting real with God.

God, please help me move beyond "respectability".