Who wants to be popular?
Well, I confess that I do! Like most people, I suppose, I want to be liked – and I want our church to be well-thought-of as well. But as soon as I say it, I realise that great danger lies that way. What lengths will we go to in order to be liked? What compromises will we make? For compromises there must be. If we make it our goal to be popular, other things must take second place. Something has to give.
Eugene Peterson sums up the choice before us when he says that, “when the church has been alive, she has never been popular. Never.” It is a stark choice: life or popularity. Which shall it be? Jesus warned us to be careful when all people speak well of us. He told us to expect the same world that was busy rejecting him – and let’s not forget where that led to for him – soon to get to work rejecting those who follow him. And it has.
Why, then, do we think that doing what the world around us wants will be a recipe for any kind of real life? That’s what saddens me so much about the trajectory the Church of England seems to be on, as if becoming more like our culture will bring life to that culture, when in reality it will mean the death of the church. But then I realise that I want the same things myself. I, too, am afraid of what people think of me, both within and outside the church. I, too, want to be popular. Will I risk what feels like the ‘death’ of unpopularity in order to enjoy real life? Will we? Lord, have mercy.
Chris Hobbs, Senior Minister (Vicar)