The Church and our Resocialization

This post is another in a series of postings on Marcus Borg's newest book on Jesus, which I have reviewed earlier here.

In laying out his vision of Emerging Christianity, which focuses on the call to engage in the work of transformation, Borg speaks to the place of the church. As a pastor of a church that is in transition, seeking to find its ministry in the world, this is a word worth hearing.

To preface the quote, I note that when Borg speaks of the church he means local congregations/communities of Christians and the church Catholic/Universal.

Churches are to be communities of transformation. This means being communities of resocialization. Most of the readers of this book have been socialized into modern Western culture, and most of us into American culture in particular. To be Christian is to be socialized into a different understanding of reality and way of life-- to live in relationship to another Lord and vision, to be shaped by the Bible and Jesus. Being Christian doesn't mean being anti-American, but it does mean that Christian identity and loyalty matter more than national identity and loyalty. When there is a conflict, Jesus is Lord. The church is the community that proclaim, incubates, and nourishes the lordship of Christ. (Borg, Jesus, pp. 308-309).

As we face the continued temptation to let the church become inculturated into the broader American/ capitalist culture, it is good to be reminded where our loyalties lie. Such a task is made difficult when we consider that for most of us the church has our attention at most about an hour per week. Considering how much time we spend in front of the TV, listening to radio, or facing the computer screen, the church's is voice is easily overwhelmed.

The church also faces the task of welcoming the spiritual nomad, the one who wanders, seeking for a company of the faithful pilgrims -- a theme that is detailed by Diana Butler Bass and Joseph Stewart-Sicking's From Nomads to Pilgrims.