One of the blogs I read—Wayne Jacobsen’s Lifestream—recently noted a newly uploaded web presence: The Church You Know. A project of a couple of Jacobsen’s friends “with a playful sense of humor,” the site is mostly a collection of (and forums for discussion of) some zany videos (styled after NBC’s “The More You Know” PSAs) that poke fun at the institutional church.Now, before you galavant over there, let me reissue Jacobsen’s word of caution: “If you don’t find sarcasm funny, or you’re just not in a place yet to laugh at some of the absurdities of religious institutional conformity, you might not want to click on that link.”
So, why are these guys doing this? In their own credo words:
We intend to stimulate, to question, and to provoke – hopefully in love – the Church, because we love the Church. This love compels us to question some of the characteristics and practices we see in much of the institutional church. At the end of the day, we are trying our best to be faithful to what God has put in our hearts, and respond to the journey that he has us on as it relates to the Church, His body. We’re quite sure that even with the best of our intentions, we’ll probably mess that up somewhere along the way. We do not claim to have a monopoly on what is best/right/perfect for the Church, and we have no illusions about starting some website that will change the entire body of Christ through its unique insight and divine revelation. If anything, we reserve the right to be wrong about things, overly zealous about issues that may not matter all that much in the long run, and foolhardy in the way that we communicate. It should not surprise anyone that we, and the Church that we are all a part of – always have been and will be in need of God’s mercy, wisdom, and redemption. We don’t say this to water-down what we are trying to communicate, or to provide us with a convenient cover for backing out from a controversial issues; we say this to provide the appropriate perspective for the website. With that said, we are genuinely frustrated and concerned by the issues we address and pray that each of them will become less a part of the Church you know.Okay, now you’ve been duly informed and warned. If you still dare, take a look. If you go, take time to read their commentary text below each video, which gives a bit more exposition to the reasoning behind the individual takes. (Confession: I must admit, I found the worship video one of the funniest. Sorry, Rob.)
(Image: The Church You Know)