The Discipleship Deficit of a Rhythmless Church

The liturgical calendar, the lectionary, and advent 101 for the low church

Recently I spent some time in Washington DC advocating with other faith leaders. And while many of us identify as one flavor of evangelical or another, I was pleasantly surprised by the number of catholic and mainline Christians, as well as leaders from other faiths who joined with us to advocate for the dignity of vulnerable image bearers.

One of my favorite conversations was with a fiery catholic woman. Y’all would love her. Residing in DC for much of her adult life, she shared about her faith and her love for scripture and liturgy. We talked about the beauty of the liturgical calendar, its scriptural ties, and historical connections. We talked about the beauty of having access to a lectionary that keeps us rooted in the whole testimony of scripture. And as our feet crunched leaves in lockstep, they created a steady drumbeat pulsing in the background of our conversation. As we walked and talked, this idea of rhythm and community took shape in my mind. We talked about how to find compassion for people with different theological priorities and how to be patient with people that don’t care about the harm that so many vulnerable people anticipate as a result of the election.

And while we talked, this thought formed: “Imagine having a faith that is completely severed from the rhythms of the global church. Imagine that the sum total of your discipleship is 3-point feel good sermons about the pastor’s favorite topic with the same antidotes repackaged. Imagine that your sole purpose as a congregant is to say a prayer, sit in a pew, nod & smile. Oh, and tithe. And maybe volunteer if your schedule permits. And then maybe as time passes, your job involves getting the church a discount on their insurance rates or legal fees, voting on budgets, and then showing up next week to do it all again?”

Imagine that’s it. Imagine that describes the shape of your church life. Your discipleship. What an anemic faith that is.

It’s no wonder so many American evangelicals, particularly denominations that are heavily influenced by Christian Nationalism, suffer from malformed faith. They’ve forgotten that we all belong to something so much bigger—That we all belong to one another as sibling saints.

And being aware of this discipleship deficit and the state of disconnectedness that so many believers swim in helps us to find compassion for our starved siblings who would rather weaponize scripture than root themselves in it.

Imagine a church where the only sermons you ever hear about Malachi are about tithing. Imagine a church with no Pentecost Sunday, no recitation of Peter’s words in Acts 2. Imagine a church that’s never heard the Magnificat read aloud by a woman. Imagine a congregation that doesn’t know the Lord’s prayer or the Apostles creed because they prefer the pledge of allegiance. Imagine a church with no epiphanies, just a bunch of information about Revelation. Imagine a church where scripture isn’t the guide, but rather the pastor’s mood, the political season, or hot topics in American culture. The reality is that for many low church evangelicals including Southern Baptists and nondenominational churches (which are basically southern Baptists), many of the faith traditions that love to say they love the bible the most, are actually starved of these scriptural rhythms.

In my work, I argue that rhythm is a perichoretic relationship, a penetrating kind of connection. And I think there’s a correlation between the malformed discipleship that we see in Christian nationalist spaces and their lack of connection to the global church, particularly in their attitudes regarding the church calendar.

You see, rejecting the calendar is one way that we reject a sense of connection to this ecumenical thing we belong to.

Is the church calendar perfect? no. Can it become ritualistic? yes.

But I think that when we talk about our creatureliness, our relationship to the divine and creation as a whole, it matters that we make space for that conversation to include our relationship to time.

James KA Smith argues that how we inhabit time matters just as much as the way we inhabit the rest of creation. And Begbiw reminds us that whether we are affected in primary or secondary ways, we cannot escape the clock time that structures our daily lives.

We all experience time at the same time, but we get to choose how. We choose whether we’ll set an alarm or wake up with the sun. We choose whether we will arrive somewhere at a specifically predetermined time, or if the time is flexible in relationship to the other things that need to be done. In the west, much of our world revolves around the numbers on the clock. Because of capitalism, we prioritize efficiency and punctuality over the pace. Too often, it doesn’t matter how we arrive at a specific place as long as we do so on time. Rushing replaces rhythm. Time becomes the idol that traps us.

The liturgical calendar at its core is a reminder that God created time, and we worship the God over all.

The liturgical church calendar reminds believers that for us, the how matters more than the when, because the how always points to who.

Think about the way you steward time.

Do you take time to remember? Do you take time to rest? D0 you take time to mourn? Do you take time to worship? Do you make time for the ordinary?

The thing about liturgies is we all participate in liturgy whether we realize it or not. Liturgies are the faith practices that form us day in and day out. Liturgies let others know what we’re worshipping. Liturgies reflect how we embody our faith in our flesh.

This includes the liturgical practices of Facebook and fox news. This includes chauffeuring kids to sports and paying the water bill the second that the direct deposit hits. When our lives revolve around ourselves and our own families, it’s easy to disconnect from the global church. But keeping the relationship between time and scripture connected can help us keep our priorities in order and guard against heresies that want us divided, disconnected, and disoriented.

Maybe you don’t need another feel-good sermon that lets you imagine that you’re just like your favorite main character in your favorite bible story. Maybe you need to remember your relationship to the world around you, your creator, and this thing we all belong to.

I define discipleship as “encouraging one another as siblings towards the heart and things of God, with God.” And I believe that discipleship is a pilgrimage of sorts. It’s a journey, a caravan. Surrounded by creation, situated in time. And when our feet become weary, and we forget why we’re walking, the calendar reminds us of our why. And while many of us are dragging our feet and barely hanging on, maybe remembering the Hope of the incarnation is just what the doctor ordered.

This Sunday is like New Year’s Day for most of the church. And whether you're a low church Baptist or a purple candle collector, it’s a great time to reset into what it means to be connected to the ecumenical body of believers.

The beginning of advent marks the anticipation of YHWH’s incarnation.

Each week, believers all over the world focus on a particular theme. And the lectionary keeps those themes rooted in scripture.

Week one centers around the concept of Hope.

• First Reading: Jeremiah 33:14-16

• Psalm: Psalm 25:1-10

• Second Reading: 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13

• Gospel: Luke 21:25-36

Week two hones in on peace.

• First Reading: Baruch 5:1-9 or Malachi 3:1-4

• Psalm: Luke 1:68-79

• Second Reading: Philippians 1:3-11

• Gospel: Luke 3:1-6

Week three encapsulates joy.

• First Reading: Zephaniah 3:14-20

• Psalm: Isaiah 12:2-6

• Second Reading: Philippians 4:4-7

• Gospel: Luke 3:7-18

And the theme of the final week of advent is love.

• First Reading: Micah 5:2-5a

• Psalm: Luke 1:46b-55 or Psalm 80:1-7

• Second Reading: Hebrews 10:5-10

• Gospel: Luke 1:39-45, (46-55)

Do you see it yet? The rhythms and liturgies that the global church share unite us, connect us, and enliven us?

Together we anticipate the birth of the savior of the world.

Together we linger as we long for His promised return, toeing the line between now and not yet.

Together we meditate on what it means for time to be full in the womb of a woman and what it means for a girl to birth God.

Together wonder about the plight of Mary the migrant, the relationship between holy hospitality and the divine, and the experience of Jesus the refugee, who fled the violent tyranny of Herod with his family to Egypt.

Together we commit ourselves to connection with the God who came to earth to be with us, and connection to the whole church, the church that spans centuries and continents, that’s supposed to represent what God is like to world that God made, and God loves.

In the historic creeds, our faith is described as One Holy Catholic and Apostolic.

The word catholic here means belonging to the universal Christian faith, all the different denominations. And I think step one for most evangelicals that are unfamiliar with the church calendar is to recognize that you belong to something so much bigger than you realize. The church is bigger than your church. Your faith isn’t supposed to be private and individual-sized.

All scripture is God-breathed, and still breathing.

This tradition is alive, our trajectory has a particular pace, and the rhythms of that pace testify about the God we represent, together.

Participating in the life of God, the divine Dance, requires rhythm.

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As always, thanks for hanging here. Wanna join us as we daydream about Hope in Jesus together? If you’re feeling disconnected, isolated, or just plain lonely, as you read these scriptures for week one, remember that you’re joining the communion of the saints while you do so. This is just another way to do theology in community, with our whole bodies.

And if you’re struggling to find compassion for stubborn siblings in the faith, how can you come alongside them with the Hope they need in the truth of who Jesus is?

I know the world is complicated and messy and heartbreaking. How are you showing up? A thrill of Hope, perhaps?

-Liz