Over the last couple of years I have found myself helping various congregations clear out their old dusty store rooms. These store rooms need clearing for all sorts of reasons but commonly it's because the church closes, the church is down sizing or the church has a new minister hoping to bring new life into an ageing congregation. Store rooms can be the epicentre of changing congregations, in our consumer culture the church is what it hoards in its store rooms, I say. In the midst of digging around in these moth ball smelling time capsules. I have come across many relics that tell the tales of our 'Australian church history'; Australian Hymn books, Australian microphones, Australian mouse droppings and of course universal pictures of white Jesus. It is interesting to see what a church chooses to hold on to and what it is willing to let go of. The storeroom may be the hidden subconscious of what a church really values. I liken the Church storeroom to the humble colon, indispensable from the body as it hoards treasures that are not quite ready to be fully excreted from church life.
For those of you who know me you will be familiar with the fact that I love collecting and hoarding things. Even in the midst of my minimalist journey (as all culturally aware millennial's are) I find myself finding value in things of the past that tell a story. So as churches clear out their store rooms I also see an opportunity to discover stories that were largely absent to me (An Australian Chinese pastor). The original title for this blog entry was, white church throws out white Jesus. I liked the provocative nature of that statement and in many ways it was a sweet gentle caress of my ego, past wounds and racism I see in a changing church context. The irony of this title is that pictures of white Jesus would often find itself in my car as I returned home. They would make their way alongside my collection of old hymn books. I would tell myself that I was keeping these to use as sermon illustrations of how our church is moving on, 'Gone are the days of these outdated paper items, let us welcome the age of the internet and global connections'. However as I ponder more, I find myself wondering if I should do more reflection within these old time relics OR if i just need to discard the last piece of my inner colonial longings dangerously inflicted by my insidious western education. Finding pictures of white Jesus makes me want to throw it out, but I would be lying to myself if I didn't admit that I am also dangerously intrigued by this character. What am I learning from finding pictures of white Jesus? It is that I have two desires and they seem to be an embodiment of growing up in between cultures. This contrast is a clear indication for what I feel internally. It's interesting what we discover about ourselves when cleaning out a storeroom, what an odd spiritual experience.
Now with these store rooms cleared out…
I have two more questions to ponder….
What are we going to do with the store room?
And
What am I going to do with the stuff I brought home with me?
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