Worship: The Anti-Selfie

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So it turns out so far in 2015, there have been 12 deaths resulting from selfie mishaps while there have only been 8 deaths resulting in shark attacks. 

We can roll our eyes at the selfie and think that those who take them are a narcissistic bunch. Maybe that is true, but the way I see it, the selfie is less an expression of narcissism and more an expression of how we in the Western part of the world value the individual.

In the U.S.A., the emphasis on the individual has entered into the mainstream debate almost every time you encounter the news.

• Does an individual have the right to take a gun anywhere they want to, even in places where guns had historically been banned?

• Does an individual have a right to privacy?

• Does an individual have the right to refuse a public office if part of the public office violates the individual’s beliefs?

We see the rights of the individual taken to extreme examples when people walk up to celebrities and take selfies with them, without the permission of the celebrity.

In 2006 TIME Magazine declared that the person of the year was “You”.

The rise of the individual has also brought with it a great number of goods. Women’s suffrage, Voting Rights Act of 1965, freedom to choose where and how to worship, social integration, and personal responsibility are just a few ways we are indebted to individualism.

I am not saying that individualism is good or bad, but rather that if we think that the youngest generations are selfish, entitled or freeloaders because they are somehow inferior as a people we may be missing a critical point here. These expressions of the individual may not reflect a narcissistic generation but a generation that has only expanded on the values of individualism they inherited.

And perhaps because individualism is a dominant value of our time is why we worship.

At the core, worship is the anti-selfie. Corporate worship is one of the last places in the world that is designed to de-center us from our own lives

Everything in worship is a de-centering practice. For instance:

• you follow a script that you did not write

• you are invited to sing - in public - when you might not normally do so

• you do not get to choose the words in the creeds

• you do not get to choose who preaches

• you do not get to choose where every dollar we give goes to

• you don’t get to choose how God will speak to us or what God will say

And perhaps because worship is the “anti-selfie” we see a number of people of all ages who do not like worship. Even the very idea of liking worship still places the the emphasis on personal preferences and not on de-centering oneself.

The very act of corporate worship is counter-cultural in the days of individualism because corporate worship forces us to step down off our individual throne from an hour and de-center ourselves.

Drive Thru Baptism = Selfish

Clergy are asked to perform the ritual of baptism. These are high holy moments that most, if not all clergy, embrace and love. I do not pass up the opportunity to participate in a baptism of any kind except one. The Drive Thru Baptism.

The Drive Thru Baptism usually beings as a phone call to the church asking if the clergy will "baptize my child sometime. Having never met this person calling and this person having never entered into the community of the church we engage in a conversation about what baptism means. Frankly I am not one that believes baptism is "fire insurance" or that you have to be baptized to be "saved". (Because I think we are saved by Grace not by baptism, but that is another post.) What I do affirm is that in baptism the person being baptized is making promises/vows to be in relationship with God and with God's people. To serve God through the mission and ministry of a local church and that to make these vows without any intention to live them out in a faith community (to join a church) cheapens the ritual and promotes that baptism is less a religious act and more of a social rite of passage (like the wedding ceremony has become).

Ultimately, I see the Drive Thru Baptism - having a person baptized but never seeing that person again - is selfish. It is selfish to ask a community of faith for guidance, courage, support, help and grace but at the same time not provide any of those same things for any other in the community. It is like getting married and promising to love your spouse but as time goes by you don't show acts of love but expect your spouse to do so. 

So, no I will no baptize you or your child unless you are serious in living out your vows that you are making to live in community: to die to self, to live for others and to follow Christ. If you are more interested in getting your family together to have a party for a rite of passage, then might I suggest this is why we have birthdays, graduations, girl/boy scouts, and other social markers. 

Apparently I am not alone in my thoughts...

Acting like Batman is why we need the Church

In his amazing book, Insurrection, Peter Rollins writes:

The problem, however, lies in the fact that Bruce Wayne is too invested in his crime-fighting antics. For he often seems to get his meaning from actually engaging in a direct way with crime, doing what he does not because he is interested in transforming Gotham City, but because he wants to feel the pleasure of taking revenge. If this is indeed the case, then Bruce Wayne needs the criminals in order to experience the cathartic release of directly attacking them. 

And so, Batman is accused of doing 'good' not for the betterment of the whole, but for primarily for personal need. 

We do a number of things in our lives that are framed as good for the whole but in fact are

primarily for fulfilling personal need. For instance: Giving a can good to the food bank or paying for the order behind you in the drive-thru.

These are not "bad" actions but they do not lead to the transformation of our Gotham Cities.

Which is why we need the institution of the Church. 

Yes, the Church is not perfect in her efforts (but neither are individuals) to transform the world. But it is the only way that I know of which a critical mass of people gather together and pray, act and give for reasons that are beyond personal need.

If I were to just give to that which I find to be 'worthy of my money and time' then am I not just acting like Batman who defeats criminals but never eradicates crime?

The United Methodist Church is set up in a way that when we give we do support a personal need, namely the upkeep of the building which is the 'home-base' for the relationships that I need. Additionally the offering also supports those things which I may not have ever given money to because it does not directly fulfill a personal need. 

I am just taking financial contributions as one example in which the Church moves us to consider the needs beyond the personal.And when we get beyond seeking personal needs then we will discover that we will no longer need Batman