I’ve been a member of this one, too - a church so submerged in tradition, the “way it has been,” that it can’t hear God calling us to be the church of today, that it can’t see God’s vision for tomorrow. Here are a random sampling of emotions that I would feel while sitting on a Submergent Church pew: boredom, frustration, anger. Let me take each one of those in turn.

Boredom because the Submergent Church squelches out innovation and creativity like they’re going out of style (which is sort of ironic). Modern day witch hunts are conducted to ferret out any ideas with the slightest bit of risk of edge of newness to them. So yes, as a creative person who gets bored easily, I am bored by the Submergent Church’s insistence on doing things the same old tired way. And while the Submergent Church sits by and cracks open 50-year-old hymnals, the rest of the world out there switches on their Iphone to play a game or catches up on the day’s news by opening their Twitter account. Yep, bored.

Frustration because the Submergent Church treasures (worships!) two kinds of Christians: singers and speakers. I’m not a singer (not even close). I do okay with speaking, but in Submergent Churches, only one 60-year-old guy does the speaking. So, yes, frustrated . . . because there are artists and teachers and leaders and inventors in Submergent Churches with ideas on the next big thing to hit the Kingdom. But they’re ignored. God-inspiration is abandoned so that man’s infatuation with seeing himself on a stage, behind a podium, holding a big black book can be fed. Meanwhile, an industrious teenager in High Point, North Carolina has an idea to hold a small group with his friend in Topeka, Kansas through his Play Station. Straight up frustrating.

Anger because people (who live in this century, not the last) are dying and going to hell. And what have we done to stop that: Roll out uber-cheezy marquees in front of your buildings that do little more than crush our already damaged image? “Hell only has a smoking section, you know.” Give me a break! Submergent Church, get your act in gear! Move past your need to maintain denominational traditions. Get past the idea that some businessman who tries to call the shots in your church (”he pays the most tithes, we can’t upset him”) may leave your church if you step out. (That’s manipulation, by the way.) And just hear God in the now. What is he saying now?

*Next week, I will talk about the Re-Emergent Church.

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I have been a member. And I’m sorry to say that. I’ve followed and laughed with the Twitter users whose sole existence, it seems, is to poke fun at what other Christians are stepping out and trying. (What does the Bible say about a kingdom divided against itself again?) I’ve sat in church pews, church floors, and church chairs with nothing but criticism in my heart. I’ve even called people’s honest attempts to preach God “churchy” (you know, Bible tracts left in bathrooms, cheezy marquees, bad music).

I have been a member of the Divergent Church. It is a church, actually no, I wouldn’t call it that. It is a movement more concerned with “new” than with Spirit, more concerned with “cultural relevance” than a God-move, more concerned with production than life change. It is the mission statement of the Divergent Church to diverge from what has been - period. That’s it. Just change something, please. Now, don’t get me wrong, members of the Divergent Church don’t start out focused on change. They start out asking God for a fresh move. They start out seeking God’s voice in the here and now. And these are noble aims. I’m all for fresh. I’m all for God in the here and now. But eventually, all of that nobility gives way to negativity.

Because I’ve been there, I can say it. There is an arrogance in the Divergent Church. That quiet voice in the background you may hear when you attend is one that whispers, “Hey, look at what we can do. Look at how much cooler we are.” But if you listen closely enough, you will hear God’s even quieter voice deeper into the background saying, “What about me? What about my presence? What about my blessing?” Tragically, in the Divergent Church that quieter voice has become passe.

*Next week, I will talk about the Submergent Church.

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