The God of Willow Creek
Believe it or not, I’m not actually fundamentally opposed to mega-churches. Indeed, one of the most powerful weekends of my life was an arts conference at Willow Creek, but this is amazing. Mr. Levy, a French athiest (I believe of Jewish descent) puts his finger on the American approach to church in a way that’s frighteningly true. Pick up American Vertigo - I’m not finished with it yet, but it’s a good read. Here’s a (lengthy) quote to convince you….
The Banks in America look like churches. But here is a church that loos like a bank. It has the coldness of a bank. Its futuristic, somber architecture. No cross, no stained-glass windows, no religious symbols at all. It is ten o’clock in the morning. The faithful are beginning to pour in. Or perhaps one should say “the public.” Video screens light up pretty much everywhere. A curtain rises to the side of the stage, revealing a picture window that opens onto a landscape of lakes and greenery. And now the bank begins to resemble a congress.
On the stage a man and a child in shorts, under a tent, discuss the orgin of the world, eating popcorn.
A female rock singer is thunderously applauded, her shouts repeated in chorus by the five thosand people present: “I’m here to meet with you . . . . Come and meet with me. . . . Drive me into your arms. . . .”
Another man in jeans and sneakers, jumps onto the stage: “Let’s speak to our Creator.” Then, to heaven, his hands cupping his mouth: “Yes, Creator, talk to us!” This, too, is repeated by the audience.
…
[good stuff deleted for space…you’ll have to buy (or beg, or borrow) the book for it]
…
Inspired by a former member of the Baptist church on the Avenue du Maine in Paris, deliberately “nondenominational” and, because of this, using every marketing technique to target a maximum number of customers-sorry-potential faithful, the Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois, Draws 17,500 worshippers every weekend and has 10,000 affiliated church dotting the country. Power? Political influence and aim? That remains to be seen. What is obvious is the power of a religion whose secret is, perhaps, simply to get rid of the distance, the transcendence, and the remoteness of the divine that are at the heart of European theologies. A present God this time; a God who is there, behind the door or curtain, and asks only to show himself; a God without mystery; a good-guy God, almost a human being, a good American, someone who loves you one by one, listens to you if you talk to him, answer if you ask him to — God, the friend who has your best interests at heart.
Bernard-Henri Levy, American Vertigo: Traveling America in the Footsteps of Tocqueville, (New York: Random House, 2006), 43-45. (ISBN: 1-4000-6434-1)
Interesting observations, huh?
Grace and Peace,
`tim
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