**Disclaimer: this entry isn’t really about Scientology, its
theology, or its members. Please don’t sue me.**
The latest book “exposing” Scientology is Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the
Prison of Belief by Lawrence Wright.[1]
The author mixes journalistic methods with something of a sociology of religion
study to demonstrate just how powerful the hold Scientology has on its
adherents can be.
I have no
interest in parsing the tenets of Scientology, nor have I any interest in
exposing the secrets of that or any other organization. What interests me about
the work Wright did was his conclusion that what keeps even nominal “believers”
in Scientology is their investment in the Scientology community.[2]
Wright claims that when a prominent member of the Scientology community was
presented with the deeper, secret teachings of his religion, he considered it
madness; yet he stayed in the religious context of Scientology. Wright says, "He
was glued into the community. His family was all deeply involved in it; it had
helped him in his career. He felt that some of what they call 'technology' in
Scientology, which is its approach to human behavior, had been helpful to him.
And there was not a triggering event [to make him leave]."[3]
This
strange attachment that the subject in Wright’s book seems to have with a
religion that even that subject calls “madness” is what piqued my interest.[4]
Does theology even matter in our religious expression? Is a congregation of
like-believing individuals no more than that – a gathering of people to which
we feel a sense of belonging?
A recent
article by Robert Dilday connected with this same idea of the powerful
attractive force of belonging to a particular religion.[5] In
this article, Dilday explores the three-word mission statement of Gayton
Baptist Church in Richmond, Virginia: Belong, Believe, Become. His point is
that churches today need to foster a sense of belonging among those being
brought into the congregation to hear the Gospel. Rather than an older, modern
version of ministry (Believe, Belong, Become), which places the emphasis on
orthodoxy, this re-arranging of the motivations of a church’s ministries
reflects the postmodern impulse in evangelism.[6]
Does the
church necessarily need to make “belonging” a priority over demonstrating
correct belief to those who seek to know God more fully in or congregations?
Certainly we need to develop an atmosphere of discipleship that encourages
faithful and correct belief in the person and work of Jesus Christ,[7]
but the order of words in a slogan should not be interpreted as a priority of
ministry. It is an unnecessary dichotomy to say that we must develop a sense of
belonging before (both temporally and
ontologically) we develop a sense of believing. The church makes disciples by
living out its theological convictions in real time rather than by simply
talking, preaching, or singing about them. The theology of a church is its welcoming, affirming, embracing atmosphere
into which it brings those seeking God. We cannot separate the theology that we
believe from the sense of belonging that should be present in the community of
faith.
Back to
Scientology. The man interviewed by Mr. Wright stayed in a religion for years,
even after he stopped “believing” the tenets of that faith. What kept him? He
had a sense of familial belonging that overcame his intellectual and spiritual
hesitation of belief. It was more valuable to him to stay in a religion and
belief structure that he could not fully embrace because of the close community
of the Scientology church. Although there have been reports of cult-like
behaviors concerning people who attempt to leave the church of Scientology,[8]
there is apparently a strong sense of belonging developed among the adherents
of that religion. Entire families, social circles, and work relationships are
bound up in the church, thereby reinforcing the sense of belonging the members
feel.
What can we
learn about community and the generation of a sense of belonging from Scientology?
We cannot, and should not, adopt the cultish practices of that religion, but
certainly we can see that belonging is at least as important as believing.
Our
churches do indeed need to encourage visitors, hangers-on, ChrisEaster members,
and the wider community of the church to develop a sense of belonging. In our
Christian context, we must encourage one another to see ourselves as members of
Christ’s body, as members of God’s people, as belonging to the great Story of
Christianity that has been told for thousands of years. In our preaching,
welcoming, and embracing of the world in the name of Christian belonging,
though, we cannot bifurcate theology and the welcoming, disciple-making
atmosphere of the congregation.
The
atmosphere of Christ’s love and welcome IS
the foundation of our theology. In His embrace of humanity in the Incarnation,
and especially in his Cross for the sake of humanity we see the combination of
theological truth and spiritual embrace. We must not be like Scientology in our
evangelism or our treatment of those who leave. But we would do well to see
that there is eternal value in the theological/social presence of Christ that
must be exemplified in every Church’s ministry.
[1] Wright, Lawrence. Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and
the Prison of Belief. New York, N.Y.: Random House, 2013.
[2] http://www.npr.org/2013/02/06/171096563/hollywood-hot-shots-scientology-and-a-story-worth-the-risk-in-going-clear
[3]
Ibid.
[4]
Ibid.
[5] http://www.abpnews.com/ministry/congregations/item/8171-belong-believe-become
[6] Olson,
Roger E. Reformed and Always Reforming: The Postconservative Approach to
Evangelical Theology. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Academic, 2007.
[7] Tyra,
Gary. Defeating Pharisaism: Recovering Jesus' Disciple-Making Method. Downers
Grove, Ill.: IVP Academic, 2012.
[8] http://rockcenter.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/17/16563308-paul-haggis-says-leaving-church-of-scientology-was-a-treasonous-act
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