Advertisers know something about attraction. Whether it is the Flake add of the 1970s or the Wonderbra adds of the 1990s those who work in the advertising industry know how to attract. Some adverts have become iconic. The Marlborough Man cowboy has become an icon in the gay male culture of the 1970s and has been resurrected in the hit film Brokeback mountain.
Sex sells - the fashion houses do not put overweight people with bad skin on the glossy magazines to sell their clothes. Sex sells. So does scent. If you have ever seen a buddleia bush you can see how attractive it is to butterflies, bees and other instincts. They cannot resist the delicate smell of the flowers and literally flock there to taste the pollen. Insects do not pass buddleia trees with indifference. We don't pass adverts with indifference, yet people pass the church every day with little else but indifference. We are not attracting people naturally in the way that advertisers attract shoppers nor nature attracts insects.
Being There
I find this puzzling. All the evidence suggests that people are pleased that the church is there. One of the interesting things about working in this building is that as soon as the church doors are open people want to come in and have a look around. Many students who live locally, commuters who park here and others wandering past want to come in and look around. Fr Ian has worked on this and now the church is open two afternoons a week so that people can come in, look round, pray, light a candle or simply be still. When we can't open the church up to visitors, we can open the outside doors, and lock the inside doors, so people can come in to the porch, see the church, pick up a leaflet, and leave a prayer request. These mid-week visitors may never make it here to a service at the weekend, yet they are pleased and comforted that the church is there.
There is a great interest in spirituality. We see this by the huge viewing figures of TV programmes on religion. Songs of Praise keeps going not because the BBC is going the churches' work for them, but because it is popular. Programmes like A Seaside Parish, A Passion for Churches, Monastery and the forthcoming Convent have had, or will have, huge viewing figures. Even the anti-religious programme put out by Channel 4 with Richard Dawkins attracted large viewing figures. People are interested in spirituality, comforted by the presence of churches around the place and always fascinated by the work of clergy. Yet, despite all this interest, the church itself is seen with little more than indifference.
Why Indifference?
A few years ago there was more interest in and hostility to the Church. Now the hostility has more or less gone - after all it's difficult to be hostile to an institution you know next to nothing about. But there is this huge indifference. This is partly due to cultural relevance. Some churches expect you to live in a whole new culture with a whole new language when you come to church - either speaking abstract or archaic vocabulary or singing similar songs! We looked at this in more detail last week.
Sometimes the indifference is about the way in which many churches treat newcomers. There is a fine line between allowing people their own space when they come to worship and ignoring them. Some people like to be left well alone, others want lots of attention. Churches who welcome well manage to find a balance. As a teenager I went regularly to my local Roman Catholic church. Now that particular congregation was not that great at welcoming folk. It assumed that you went to mass to be with God - which is true - but forgot that one also went to mass to worship as part of a community.
But the indifference people feel, however, is not really about a lack of welcome or the style of worship and hymnody when people arrive. It's about deeper issues of hypocrisy and credibility.
As Christians we preach love. We preach that God's love extends to all people, and that our response is to love others too. We preach and hold up the supreme example of self-sacrificial love of Jesus and say that He is our model. The one who turned the other cheek and submitted himself to the indignity of an unfair illegal trial and execution is our model for dealing with others. We say this and the outsider may start to feel warm about us but only has to turn to Northern Ireland and see two communities of Christians seething with hatred at each other. Of course the dispute in the North of Ireland is about land and politics and power; but at its very heart are two Christian communities who don't want to talk to each other. If you ever visit the North of Ireland you will be struck at the beauty of the place, the warmth of welcome and the decrease in sectarianism over the years. You will also know whether the village you are in is Protestant or Catholic - as the kerb stones are painted in either the Irish Tricolour or the Union Flag colours. The differences between Protestant and Catholic are incomprehensible to those who are not Christian - yet our message of love is lost somewhat when people see how we treat each other in the North of Ireland.
We preach tolerance (and may be unusual as a church here) yet people see the cultural wars in the US, and increasingly in the UK, where Christians seem to be complaining about all that is wrong with modern society. Christians in the US are at the forefront of campaigns to ban all abortion in America, at attempts to amend the constitution to ban gay marriage, and to ignore all the findings of science and stop the teaching of evolution in schools. Now all these things are issues which Christians may debate - but to have recourse the law to ban positions that we disagree with is extreme and intolerant. We live in a society which prides itself on its tolerance; whilst there are things Christians cannot be tolerant of, we need to be careful how we present our stance on moral issues if we are not to alienate people.
We preach forgiveness yet people assume that you will be judged in church. We, of all people, should know what it is to be forgiven. Christians should be more conscious of their faults and failings than others - after all we know of what we have been forgiven. Yet often we are the ones who are most judgemental. In Season 2 of Desperate Housewives Susan's daughter is preparing to sing a song at a social event in her church. Edie is helping her. Susan tries to encourage her daughter - who is dreadful - by saying she should just do her best and people will love her for it. Edie, who knows a thing or to about being judged - disagrees saying "remember, this is church - you KNOW you will be judged there."
Let Your Light Shine
Jesus calls us to let our light shine before others. His words remind us that talk is not enough, indeed talk can be cheap. Faith needs to be translated into action. The secret of his own ministry is that his deeds were consistent with his words.
It seems to be that when Christians move from simply talking to acting they get wildly different reactions. As you know the Roman Catholic church is very much against abortion - as are many evangelical groups. Cardinal Winning, before he died was the leading Catholic bishop in Scotland. He decided to put his money where his mouth was and announced that his church would help any woman who was considering an abortion and would give practical help to them. His idea was that some women were having terminations because they were too poor to bring up a child. He raised money to give maternity equipment, childrens' clothes, prams, housing and counselling to such women. For many women this help was a lifeline and helped them make a more fully informed choice. He was slated in the media who felt his attitude was medieval. I couldn't understand the reaction - one may disagree with the Catholic Church's position on abortion but he was putting his money where his mouth was and instead of condemning women who made that choice, he offered practical alternatives to that choice.
Desmond Tutu, on the other hand, gets a much easier ride with the press. His work with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa has been held up as an example of how Christian ideas can help a society heal of the deep evil wounds caused by apartheid. Catholics and Protestants at the Corymeela centre in the North of Ireland work together for reconciliation and achieve marvellous results.
One of the first observers of the Early Church said "see how these Christians love one another". In examples like these we can see what the writer meant.
Our goal should be to live in a similar way. The quality of our life will ultimately speak more powerfully than anything we may say. We will be judged by others, and by God, on how we live not on what we say we believe.
Do our lives back up our words? Would people know we are Christians without us having to tell them? Could anyone charge us with hypocrisy? If we fail to attract people the church will cease to exist - the buddleia tree exists for a purpose - to propagate itself. It attracts people for a purpose. Are we going to attract and grow, or repel and die?
Prayer:
Lord Jesus Christ,
Forgive us that so often our lives today betray our calling,
And deny your love.
Forgive us when people look at us
And instead of seeing something of you, see only ourselves.
Forgive us when the things we say and do obscure the gospel,
Rather than proclaim its message to all.
Help us truly to reflect your love,
Show your compassion,
And shed your light to others.
Renew and restore us by your grace.
So that we may shine like stars in the world,
Bringing glory to your and your Father in heaven,
For your name's sake.
Amen.
This sermon was first preached in the Metropolitan Community Church of Manchester. Click here for further information.