Postmodern Wells: Creating A Third Place

by Mark Batterson

The cross must be raised again at the center of the marketplace as well as on the steeple of the church. I am claiming that Jesus was not crucified in a cathedral between two candles, but on a cross between two thieves; on the town garbage heap, at a crossroads so cosmopolitan they had to write His title in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. At the kind of place where cynics talk smut, and thieves curse, and soldiers gamble, because that is where He died and that is what he died about and that is where churchmen ought to be and what churchmen should be about.

- George McLeod

A few years ago I had a Starbucks moment. I was studying for a sermon at a Starbucks on Capitol Hill, and I usually tune out the mood music, but one line of lyrics slipped through my reticular activating system. I’d never heard the song before and I didn’t know who the artist was. And maybe I just had too much caffeine in my system, but the juxtaposition of words struck me:

There’s a church on the periphery, Lady of our Epiphany.

And I had a thought as I sipped my vanilla latte: as long as the church stays on the periphery, our culture will never experience an epiphany.

Over the last few decades, the church has been pushed further and further onto the periphery of culture. Or in many instances, the church has retreated to the comfortable confines of its Christian subculture. So we are inside our churches looking out, but we really find ourselves on the outside looking in. God is calling the church out of the church and back into the middle of the marketplace.

I realize that I pastor one church in one small corner of the kingdom. And I don’t want to project my passions onto others. But if we are going to influence the spiritual tide in America, the church needs to stop retreating and start redeeming. The church needs to stop criticizing and start creating. The church needs to stop seeking shelter and start competing for the truth.

Paul didn’t boycott the Aeropagus.¹ He didn’t stand outside in a picket line arguing against idolatry. Paul marched into the marketplace of ideas and went toe-to-toe with the most brilliant minds in ancient Athens competing for the truth. Staying on the periphery is one thing the Apostle Paul could never be accused of.

CHURCH STEEPLES

There was a time, just a few centuries ago, when nautical maps of Europe had legends that included the location of churches on land. Church steeples doubled as navigational tools for ship captains. Churches were typically built on choice real estate in the center of town or atop the highest hill. And in some places, there were ordinances against building anything taller than the church steeple so it would occupy the place closest to heaven.² Nothing was more visible on the pre-modern skyline than church steeples. And in a sense, church steeples symbolized the place of the church in culture. There was a day, in the not too distant past, when church was the center of culture. Church was the place to go. Church was the thing to do. Nothing was more visible than the church steeple. Nothing was more audible than the church bells. And it might be a slight exaggeration, but all the pre-modern church had to do was raise a steeple and ring a bell.

Is it safe to say that things have changed?

The church no longer enjoys a cultural monopoly! We are the minority in post-Christian America. And the significance of that is this: we can’t afford to do church the way it’s always been done. Our incarnational tactics must change.

Don’t get me wrong: the message is sacred. But methods are not. And the moment we anoint our methods as sacred, we stop creating the future and start repeating the past. We stop doing ministry out of imagination and start doing ministry out of memory. And if we think that raising the steeple or ringing the bells will get the job done; the church in America will end up right where the Israelites found themselves in Judges 2:10:

After that generation died, another generation grew up who did not acknowledge the Lord or remember the mighty things he had done for Israel.

According to George Barna, 61% of twenty-somethings who grew up going to church stop going to church at some point during their twenties. They become dechurched. They still feel connected to God in some form or fashion, but there is a disconnect with organized religion and the institutional church. And for one reason or another, they are checking out of the church at an alarming rate.

I love the church. I believe in the church. And I’ve poured ten years of blood, sweat, and tears into the church I have the privilege of pastoring — National Community Church in Washington, DC. But the church needs to change! And change always starts with some honest self-reflection.

Some people hear statistics like the one just cited — 61% of twentysomethings that grew up in church leave the church — and they wonder what’s wrong with this generation. I think that’s the wrong reaction. I can’t help but wonder what’s wrong with the church.

In the words of Pogo: we have seen the enemy and he is us.

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Comments

Christina

I left my church for a while because on one very important occasion in my life my church failed me. I cultured my relationship with God on my own and I have not been sorry because I think I built a wonderful and powerful relationship with Him based on that intimacy which stemmed from worshiping him in solitude.

During the past couple of years I have felt more and more ready, however, to start going back to church for the supplemental worship and messages. I have found a new place where I really enjoy the sermons and get a lot out of them, so I will continue to go since the talks are structured to be relevant in my life and not just a bunch of judgement and empty preaching. As I get more involved, I hope I do not find myself disappointed again by man getting in the way of the Message.

Every church is different, even if they are supposed to be sending the same messages. I think that looking at what is wrong with the church is exactly the place to start. People don't want to be judged by other people...and should not be judged by other people (that is for God and God alone to do), and people will naturally avoid any place that is supposed to be a safe haven but yet that attacks them like the enemy.

Big Norm

Emily and I loved visiting your entire operation in January when we stayed with HZ. We were deeply inspired. Keeping an eye on what you guys are thinking next...

Looking forward to receiving another "ireland team" in the future.

Blessings to all in DC.

Norm&Emily

Dublin

Ireland

Mark Cook

There is definitely something wrong with the church. Unfortunately, one of the things that is wrong is in your article-we seem to think that the church is a place, bricks and mortar where our Christian brothers and sisters meet together to worship. That is not the case; instead the church is the belevers. As Jesus said, "Where two or three are gathered in My name, there I am in the middle of them." (My paraphrase).

We need to let the truth of "sinners saved by grace" shine through our lives. We aren't perfect, God is. We need to become the conduit of His grace.

I am not talking about a social gospel where the Kingdom of God is ushered in by wronging all the rights in society. I am talking about going about doing good, as Jesus was described, but in order to get the opportunity to share the message of Christ's love.

I also think we need to rethink how we do church. We "worship" the same way it has been done in our churches for over 100 years. Business, society, government, education, etc., all change their methods with the times. Should the church not do the same?

I am not sure I know what the answers are to all this, but I am sure of one thing: we can't keep doing the same thing we have always done and expect different results. That is the definition of insanity!

Mark Cook

Lynchburg, VA

Marcus

I am all for being willing to change to reach people for the Gospel. I have seen society change in my short 45 years on this earth. In church we keep looking for new ways to share the Gospel. In our attempt to find new ways there is one way that is proven to work and that is one life surrender to God telling another the Gospel. We must tell with love and actions that match that love. Not everyone is going to embrace the Gospel message.

Yes we should listen to changes in the culture and respond to them. However, we must engage the culture boldly. Too much energy is given to talking about change in the culture and the lack of change in churches. What is needed is for believe to stop using the lack of interest in their message as an excuse for not witnessing. Paul went to prison because people rejected his message.

I am preaching to myself when I say this.

Erik Lokkesmoe

DC is a city always in the middle of change. Mark doesn't. His vision for seeing the city flourish has been the same since i first heard him describe it. His redemption of third places is a model for the wider Church.

Stop building megachurch parking lots and start restoring great buildings and spaces for the purposes of the upside down kingdom.

Great feature Q.

Jason

I really enjoyed this article. We've been striving to create space for new people to engage The Good News here in Port Kembla, Australia. This article seems to articulate some true ideas we are trying to put into practise in our own unique ways. If the church is on the periphery in D.C., I believe it is even more in the periphery here. We're trying to let God's Word go, but I'm often guilty of half doing it instead of wholly.

Thanks, Q and Mark.

Howard Lawrence

I think the stats show that the US and Canada are post Christendom, that is Clergy, Sunday worship and church building. It is important to be clear that this is not post Christian. Faith in Christ is growing even if in many cases it is not guided by a community of faith.

I think it is important to remember McLuhans phrase that " the medium is the message" when we speak about communication of the gospel. At the heart of the current situation is the fact that our medium, the current church structure, has not communicated the gospel even as we have verbalized the content.

I think that a move to give our buildings to our neighbourhoods for kingdom

of God purposes is a goods start toward getting the gospel message right.

Jeff Nelson

I think in many cases we tend to complicate Gods message. The great commission is a good example of what we should be focused on. Fellowship, discipleship and then "GO" into all the earth. We seem to twist this simple plan and we get focused on careers and raising families and our 401 k becomes our Top priority and so church becomes just another support group to accomplish our own goals. God told us to seek first the Kingdom of God and all these things will be added to you.

Churches also complicate this simple message by keeping people from "GOing" IF growing a church is the priority then how can you send out your discipled congregants into the world. We need to take our eyes off the "Church" and get our eyes on Jesus Christ the vine.

Ecclecia is the "called out ones" that is the body of Christ and the body of Christ is growing. Find out where the body of Christ is and become apart of it, no matter where it is! Don't be so encumbered with buildings and board meetings that you miss Christ when he's right in your midst. Glorify his name and follow him at any cost!

Ian McKerracher

It is my contention that there could be a redressing of the issues found in the Church in North America by asking some basic questions. It is easy to see that many (even some who have posted in here) are concerned with what's in it for them. Too often we gather together with people of like-mind to worship and "do church" (whatever that means) and we come with the attitude of getting something. A missing element of our gathering is coming to give. We call them services but many do not know who is serving and who is being served. If we continue to come to receive, ultimately we are full and have no need to come anymore.

What would happen if we asked the question "What does God get out of my salvation?"

There would be the usual answers related to him getting an object of His love or a new soldier for the expansion of His control. But what if there is a deeper reason for the enormous sacrifices that this Deity has suffered. What about the restoration of "rightness" to cultures worldwide? We are to be a part of the setting of thing aright. We are to be agents of change in our assorted cultures for the redemption of said cultures and the reestablishment to the image-bearers of the deeming of their value to an eternal purpose that they have thrown away into the bottomless pit of worldliness. That is the proper sense of "redeeming". That is what God gets out of my salvation.

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