What Makes American Christianity Tick?

Book review by Paul Sue

A Church Building Every 1/2 Mile: What Makes American Christianity Tick? by Jon Zens. Ekklesia Press, 2008

Having read every issue of "Searching Together" magazine (edited by Jon Zens) since I first discovered it 15 years ago, I have come to appreciate the clarity, the graciousness and the wisdom and practical insights that Jon brings to the discussion around church life. While there have been a plethora of recent books on the subject of church, in this brief little gem consisting of 4 "essays", Jon distills his many years of study, observations and experience with helping many assemblies throughout the world.

In just over 100 pages, Jon brilliantly exposes the heart of what passes for "church life" in today's North American landscape. The titles of the 4 essays are:

• A Church Building Every 1/2 Mile
• A Letter to a Politician About Real Church
• Four Tragic Shifts on the Visible Church
• A "Churchless Faith"

In the first essay, Jon explores the question: "Why are there so many church buildings?" I'm amazed at how so few Christians pause to consider the billions of dollars tied up in church buildings. As Zens notes, an "enormous and inordinate amount of revenue is required to build, maintain and expand ecclesiastical structures." (29) and rightly asks, "Are expensive buildings in line with the Kingdom of the One who had no place to lay his head? Shouldn't our financial resources be poured into helping people in need, rather than into erecting and maintaining institutions ... ?" (30).

After questioning and challenging this central tenet ("the intense identification of Christianity with multitudes of buildings"), Jon goes on to examine the "one man" clerical system: "A great deal of Christianity in America is personality-based. People will drive for miles to hear what certain preachers have to say." (39). The problems inherent in such an unbiblical approach to leadership and ministry is firmly but lovingly challenged by Jon's incisive analysis. In the course of this analysis, Jon critiques other fixtures of modern Christianity: denominationalism, the pulpit and preaching, seminaries, and tithing (to finance the whole religious machinery).

But this is no cold and detached analysis, for interspersed in his logical arguments are his burden for the pain and hurt that the system inflicts on "clergy" and "laity" alike.

His closing thoughts on how the average person chooses a church to attend rings all too true and sadly reflects the muddled thinking that is so pervasive. I love the extended quotation from Frederick Buechner that nicely captures the essence of what Jon has to say, particularly this line: "... the best thing that could happen to many a church might ... to have its building burn down and to lose all its money. Then all that the people would have left would be God and each other."

In the second essay, Jon responds to Jesse Ventura, former governor of Minnesota, who asserted that "organized religion is a sham". Unlike the shrill and predictable knee-jerk reaction of many evangelical leaders, Jon's response is calm, reasoned and gracious. He begins by agreeing with Ventura: "You are absolutely right on this point. What passes as the visible institution belonging to Jesus Christ is, in fact, far removed in key matters from anything the Head of the church revealed to be his will. Organized religion is a sham for the simple reason that it has - for various historical and cultural reasons - abandoned the clear teaching of Christ in the New Testament regarding the very nature of the body of Christ." (79) Jon then goes on to succinctly explicate what went wrong. Hopefully Mr. Ventura took the time to read Jon's letter and came away with a more accurate picture of what Christianity is, rather than the caricature that he condemns.

The third essay provides a historical perspective on "Four Tragic Shifts" in church life, namely:

• from a "dynamic organism" to "an increasingly hardened institution with a "fixed and complex hierarchy
• from "polyform ministry" to a "uniform" structure of clergy-led ministry
• from a "suffering" body to a state religion, an "institution at ease"
• from a "vulnerable" body dependent on the Holy Spirit to a powerful institution that "trusted in itself"

Despite clear evidence and biblical support for these claims, I fear many Christians will simply carry on with their in-grained habits. As Jon notes, "We claim to take Christ's revelation about the church in the New Testament seriously, yet the reality is that too often we are more attached to the inherited way of doing things - which is based on human traditions."

The book closes with a final essay critiquing a book review of Alan Jamieson's A Churchless Faith: Faith Journeys Beyond the Churches.

This is NOT an angry missive, but a loving call to the Church to fulfill her true calling and to live out that calling in a commensurate manner worthy of the Lord, and to grow into full maturity as the Bride of Christ. It is concise, irenic and motivated by Jon's deep desire for the Church to free itself from the legacy of man-made traditions to express itself as the Body of Christ in all its simplicity and glory. Highly recommended.