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THE PARABLE OF THE "BAD" CHRISTIAN
As Elise told it, there was a church in a downtown area that was losing parishioners and needed restoring. Some people say it was a megachurch in the suburbs that had lost its charismatic pastor and was now suffering budget shortfalls. Others say it was in the middle of a city from which all the wealthy people had fled. In any case it was a church that people pitied or criticized more than they respected. And the more energetic members felt it needed a lot of work.
There was a "bad" Christian who belonged to this church. Well, no doubt there was more than one, but in this parable there only needs to be one. The trouble with this "bad" Christian was that people didn't find her interesting or useful. She wasn't good looking or young. She wasn't eloquent. For some reason, she did not socialize well with other members -- when she tried she was always a bit awkward. Her jokes were too hectic. Whenever she was asked to a house she wasn't asked back. There was no deep fault anyone could identify, just a sense of someone whose clumsiness seemed out of step with the grace and beauty that was still a cherished part of the worship service. She simply didn't fit in.
The "bad" Christian could easily have volunteered to perform some chore that others appreciated. She could have picked up the loose bulletins after the service. She could have tried to greet newcomers. She might have brought some cookies to hospitality. Nothing stopped her from giving a ride to a senior citizen. Something, anything. She could have tried to be "good".
But all she did was to come week after week. And though her spiritual aura was drab and uninspiring, you couldn't deny that she came. She apparently found something in the church that nourished her. So she was a "bad" Christian but a Christian all the same. You couldn't really say otherwise
The better Christians grew more and more frustrated and dissatisfied with their church, and some of them even stopped going. They took a sabbatical or began shopping around. Others just moved away. What do we do about this sorry place? the leaders asked. They would quote the old Ladies Home Journal cover: Can this marriage be saved? Then they would laugh self-consciously, uneasily. Because a church really was like a marriage -- changing a church was like undergoing a divorce. So you tried to stay as long as you could.
And the better Christians -- the ones that didn't move away -- prayed over their uneasiness, sought discernment, hesitated to make a move. But finally some of them decided to secede and form a house church. We will not compromise, we will not spend all our time on asking for money, we won't focus on building a building instead of serving our sisters and brothers, we will be a true church. We will be new. We will be available to the community as this sorrowful place no longer is.
What in the world is a house church? asked the "bad" Christian. She had never heard about this.
And being the person she was she didn't understand what it was when they told her. She didn't get the point.
So she was left behind. And the house church went on to have some experiences that were as filled with the very spirit they had worried was lost. There was movement in the hearts of members and movement in the community surrounding them. What they'd done was in general a good thing.
Yes it was, but there was the "bad" Christian sitting in the church they'd left. Soon that church sank even further and further without their inspiration and finally began experiencing perpetual budget crises, the scary kind that lead people to wonder whether it isn't just time to close down. Perhaps everyone should move on to a house church. But there was always the "bad" Christian who didn't understand house churches, didn't get the emerging stuff that was happening, always seemed a step or two behind whatever was new and interesting. There was the Christian left behind.
If people had decided to take her church away from her, it was because the church wasn't interesting and neither was she. But if that meant removing the wafer from her mouth -- removing the presence that kept her "badness" from imploding -- then someone was going to have to answer for this change. And they would have to answer to the same person they were trying so hard to draw nearer to!
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