Is there an underground subversive Christian church waiting to be reclaimed?
In yet another attempt to save mainline Christianity from itself, minister and professor Robin Meyers offers the latest recipe for success with The Underground Church, Reclaiming The Subversive Way Of Jesus. Even if the provocative title suggests more than what is actually delivered for a new Christian way forward, Meyers offers some salient observations and suggestions to the modern Christian gazing upon a landscape of irrelevant Protestant denominations.
Blame it on Rome
Meyers gives a good historical overview of the failings of modern Christianity that have led so many Americans to become part of the Nones. He lays the blame for most of the historical and current churches stray from an underground church at the feet of emperor Constantine who brought Christianity in as the official religion of the Roman Empire. At this point, Christianity and churches were co-opted not for the glory of God, but for the salvation of a government.
Unapologetically slanted toward the liberal viewpoint of religion, there is little that the conservative Christian would find offensive in The Underground Church. Meyers skewers the liberal and conservative positions equally, showing that they are more for constructing the church to the current secular world and less about supporting the person on their spiritual journey.
Unleash the inner subversive
A central theme of the book is that the early followers of the risen Christ gathered secretively to learn and follow the ways that Jesus espoused in his ministry. Hence, to avoid persecution from either the Jewish or Roman state, the churches were underground and labeled as subversive. It is the spirit of these early Jesus people that Meyers believes we need to recapture and unleash in our present day church settings.
“Like a virus that can’t be quarantined”
Meyers borrows the analogy of the parable about leaven in the dough infecting the hearts of the followers like yeast in flour. The early church had no Bible and only oral traditions. At those early functions of the underground church there was no doubt numerous discussions over the meaning of Jesus’ teachings and how to apply them to the here and now while waiting for his return.
It is possible that those early church members, poor and illiterate, had memorized most, if not all, of the oral teachings of Jesus and through long discussions had a pretty good grasp of their meaning. They were probably far more knowledgeable than your average Christian today being told to leave the heavy lifting and thinking to the church elders.
A real communal meal
It is Meyer’s contention that Christians should work to replicate the early meetings of the subversive church without the ceremonial and symbolic Eucharist. Instead the church should host an actual meal open to the whole community. Meyer goes on to list a whole range of ventures and activities the new underground church could undertake in the spirit of being subversive to combat greed which he feels is the new whore of Babylon in our society today.
- Embrace economic justice for the poor and disenfranchised
- Create an underground economy for the church members
- Offer no interest loans to parishioners in good standing
- Always extend the benefit-of-the-doubt concerning new suggestions and ideas
- A mission budget as large as the operating budget
- Conscientious objectors are considered as heroic as soldiers
- Everybody is welcome from Protestants to orthodox, gay to straight
This is just a partial list of reforms and initiative Meyers suggests for the new underground church.
Sounding a little cranky at times
For all the positive rhetoric, Meyers sometimes writes as if he is describing the church he wishes he worked for as opposed to offering a church model he would like to see replicated. I understand that he is blowing off some understandable “liberal steam” built up inside the pressure cooker of conservative thought that permeates our society and entrenched church orthodoxy. Whether intentional or intentional, Meyers slips into a lectorial tone borne perhaps of sitting through one too many stewardship campaigns or late night contentious church council meetings.
Pay to play, or sit in the pew
On the topic of money Meyers writes, “First, everyone who belongs to the church must make a pledge if he or she wishes to be considered a member of the church.” While it takes money to run a modern church, I was surprised that Meyers was not a little more imaginative in his thinking. In the spirit of an underground economy a pledge to maintain the church grounds, organize bible study groups, act as the secretary or other such job might be in lieu of cold hard cash. Sometimes the underground economy doesn’t run on the coins with Cesar’s image.
Father knows best
At one point Meyers writes about how theological mistrust has been created in some churches. He states, “The obstacles to serious Bible study are so formidable that either everyone should go to seminary before attempting it, or every minister who does go should make a solemn promise to go on studying for a lifetime-and then not to leave the congregation sitting out in the hall.”
I will take a cue from the book and give Meyers the benefit-of-the-doubt that he doesn’t actually mean that the common parishioner can’t study the Bible and gain real insight without the guiding hand of a Pastor. From my estimation, it has been the condescending attitude of church elders that only they, because of their anointed status as clergy, can properly interpret the messages in the Bible and how it relates to daily life that has caused a general disillusionment with all things Christian.
Christian subversion for dummies
But aside from some of his weary ministerial commentary, Meyers brings some fresh concepts for the construction of a new Christian church. The Underground Church is not meant to be an all inclusive guidebook for establishing a new subversive church. While Meyers gives a nod to the communal and socialistic nature of the early church and includes big picture ideals like embracing environmentalism, he seems to miss other practices that might also be considered subversive.
Shared sacrifice
It is always nice to walk into a climate controlled sanctuary but in support of environmental principles the new underground church might leave the thermostat a little higher in the summer and a little lower in the winter. Would it be so radical to tear out the grass on the church grounds and put in a garden? If no open space is available, perhaps the church rents a plot of land to grow vegetables for the communal meal and distribute to the needy? If the goal is to put faith and trust into action like the early Christians, there are many tangible and symbolic subversive gestures that could be implemented.
When do we go underground?
I like that Meyers has at least put together a thought provoking book on what a new Christian church might look like. He understands how churches work and how they fail. If anyone, like me, has thrown up their hands and stopped going to church because of the many issues of modern churches being run to maximize pledges instead of attempting to fulfill the teachings of Jesus, then reading this book might provide you a glimmer of hope for the future. And please…give me a call when you find that special underground meeting place to worship so I can join you.
The Underground Church, Reclaiming the Subversive Way of Jesus by Robin Meyers, 2012. Published by Jossey-Bass