The Arrogant Bastard Church
Ever since I wrote The Mega-Freeloader Church I’ve been thinking about a blog series that examines different cultural phenomena in the West as a way of re-imagining certain aspects of church ecclesiology. When I saw David Fitch’s post today – A Warning List For Those Who Would Join the Missional Church – I knew I needed to start my series with this:
Introducing “The Arrogant Bastard Church.”
No, I’m not talking about Mars Hill (either of them). For those of you who love beer you may know that I’m talking about some of the best beer known to man – and, happily, it’s practically made in my own backyard at fabulous place called Stone Brewery. Have a gander at the prose on the back label of a bottle of Arrogant Bastard Ale:
This is an aggressive beer. You probably won’t like it. It is quite doubtful that you have the taste or sophistication to be able to appreciate an ale of this quality and depth. We would suggest you stick so safer and more familiar territory – maybe something with a multi-million dollar ad campaign aimed at convincing you it’s made in a little brewery, or one that implies that their tasteless fizzy yellow beer will give you more sex appeal. Perhaps you think multi-million dollar ad campaigns make a beer taste better. Perhaps you’re mouthing your words as you read this.
This, of course, is brilliant marketing; everybody wants to be part of something caché. Normally I’m on here railing against the inherent dangers of marketing, but in this case Stone Brewery is using marketing in an entirely commendable way, because unlike most television commercials, liquor ads, cigarette billboards, and churches, Stone Brewery is doing something audacious: they’re telling the truth.
The fact is, most people don’t like Arrogant Bastard Ale. The average person’s tastes are more suited for less confrontational flavors, preferring their palettes be tickled by the sugary effervescence of wine coolers, hard lemonades, or piss-colored mass-produced bottled waters from Colorado or Wisconsin. But here’s the real kicker: Stone Brewery doesn’t care. They make the best beer because they love the best beer and they really don’t care how many people buy it. They know some will love it and others won’t, and their labels reflect that truth.
The fact is, most people don’t like Jesus either.
Jesus attracted a ton of attention for a variety of reasons, but in the midst of all this attention Jesus did the unthinkable: he frequently pushed people away. He said hard things that challenged people’s assumptions about God and goodness (Matt 5-7). He made friends with frightening and shameful people (Mk 2:13-17). He said the Kingdom of God was available to everyone (Matt 11:28-29), which was bad enough, but then he also said that to enter it one would have to radically repent and surrender to him as King (Matt 7:13, Jn 14:6). When people said they wanted to join him he often tested their resolve until they abandoned him (Matt 8:18-22, Lk 18:18-23). And in a scene that is perhaps most shocking to our church-growth sensibilities, when Jesus had attracted a multitude of people who were seeking to have their needs met he intentionally drove them away by giving an impossibly offensive teaching – and even refused (twice!) to make it easier for them by explaining it clearly (Jn 5:25-71). So much for creating “gradual onramps” for people learning to follow Christ!
In other words Jesus was an arrogant bastard. He makes claims about himself based on nothing more than himself and calls us to accept him without compromise.
The word “missional” is now used by every church in America with an outreach program. It’s currently the vogue term for establishing legitimacy. That’s too bad because Jesus is anything but legitimate by the standards most of us adhere to. Genuinely missional churches (among other things) are churches that tell the whole truth about life with Christ and in his Kingdom. It is a life of personal sublimation to Jesus and his way. It is a life that involves the sacrifice of personal consumer desires (including the consumption of desirable church products) in favor of a life given over for the good of the Church, the city, and the world. It is a life of deep personal inconvenience in favor of Kingdom fulfillment.
Of course, this is no bitter message for followers of Jesus. On the contrary, the point of many of Christ’s teachings is that the people of God are those who prefer such strong flavors (Matt 6:19-24). Paul picks up this same theme in his famous image of Christ’s triumphal procession, where for some the gospel is the fragrance of Christ’s victory, but for others it is the smell of death (2 Cor 2:14-16). Just as with Arrogant Bastard Ale, some people taste Christ and his kingdom and spit it out, shaking their heads in disgust. It’s too strong for them. They just don’t get it and they’ll never buy it.
Just like Stone Brewery and Jesus, missional churches are fine with that.
I knew I was going to like this when I read the title. Awesome beer, awesome thoughts:)