Chapel

Chapel yesterday morning was. . .interesting.

I was lured there by the promise of little kids being the presenters, and I was delighted to enter the auditorium to find many elementary school kiddos littering the stage, looking excited and waving at anyone. Unfortunately, the only costume was on a teacher, and the kids mainly just sat there while they announced academic awards and clapped.

Before that, though, several sixth-grade males presented the "devotional" period. Four or five kids led a song each, and then a guy got up and began to speak.

He knocked it out of the ballpark. People laughed while he told cute, semi-self-effacing stories, and he even barely mentioned Scripture. Just like regular chapel! It was a Grade-A; some would say it was better than many led by college students.

And that got me thinking: what does this say when chapel can be recreated, almost replicated down to each component and molecule, by "outsiders"?

First, let me say that I am NOT attacking the little kids from today. They did a great job of following an example they haven't even seen that much, to the letter.

What I am saying is that I am troubled by a chapel that is reduced to a formula. That is boiled down to a language and a protocol. That is exclusive, but in a way separate from the exclusivity of Jesus.

A related bother is the fact of several Christian Rock hits having been written by non-believers, who simply tap into this exclusive language with no actual conviction or faith or love. They merely put the right words in the right order, and Jesus-ians eat it all up.

When chapel is about putting the right words in the right order, about filling all the blanks following the formula, people eat it up. And it is terribly easy to swallow. It helps that there is nothing to digest.

When we are trapped by the form instead of exploring the function, we limit ourselves and deny a wonderful opportunity for genuine transformation. When we live by formula and not by faith, the truth is not served.

So let's dream of what chapel could be! Let's dream of something that we look forward to, as our family strives - honestly strives! - to give God a sacrifice he deserves. And let's dream of love.