A Fire in the Fire Station

I had a dream two nights ago that I felt so strongly depicted some of the issues the Church struggles with these days. So I'll go through the dream and explain how I think it relates.

The Dream:
In my dream I was at a fire station. At some point, I slid down the firepole and on the lower level of the fire station there was, ironically, a fire. I panicked. As I looked around, I realized no one who was a part of the fire station was around. I sounded the fire alarm and no one came. Assuming they hadn't heard it, I sounded the alarm another couple of times. Nothing.

I ran out from the station and noticed that people were outside the fire station. These were people that have been associated with the church in my life, and they were having spiritual conversations. The alarm sounded, but they were all outside talking. When I confronted them about it, they responded that they weren't worried about it because it seemed to be a contained fire.


That's all I remember about my dream. I have a few points to make about this.

1. The station was threatened by the very thing it was established to challenge.
The fire station was built and established to create a safe presence in the community/world, not just for its own self. Just like the fire station, the Church doesn't exist for itself. The fire station wasn't created to protect the fire station from fire. For the fire station to function at all, according to its purpose, it cannot itself have a fire. Its purpose is to protect the surrounding community from fire and to combat the effects of fire in the world.
Likewise, the Church exists for the benefit of the world. A Church existing to protect the Church is limited in scope and purpose. And if the Church houses the very thing it claims to combat or protect others from, it condemns its own self, rendering itself completely useless.

 2. The fire station was equipped to put out the fire.
It would be one thing if the firehouse did not have hoses and running water, but by definition and by name, it claims that it does. If it is not equipped to put out fires, it cannot be a fire station. It may claim to be one, but the actually details would show that it is a liar.
The Church cannot claim to be the Church and not do what the Church was made to do, or more importantly, to BE what it was made to BE. If a Church is not fulfilling its purpose in the world, it is not what it claims to be. If the Church is the Church, there is no excuse for it not filling its purpose, because by definition, it is equipped.

3. No one responded to the distress signal.
It is important to know what the distress signal is. Fire stations have very distinct alarms that firefighters are trained to recognize.
Certainly some churches hear and don't respond. But I think the bigger issue is that the Church often is unaware of what the distress signals are. These vary greatly at the local church level. Every church has a distinctive way of communicating problems. In fact, every person does. The trick is to learn those signals. Paul knew those signals and his letters respond to them. We need to be conscious to learn the distress signals of the individuals around us and the church we are specifically a part of, and to respond as a result.

4. The fact that the people preferred to talk rather than to respond to needs.
In every facet of life, people have their ideas about how to handle situations. We can do a lot of talking about solutions, and ironically, sometimes it's the very discussion of the problems that keeps them from being solved. And talking can also prevent us from learning our church's distress signals. If we are singularly focused on the importance of our own words and ideas, we become deaf to the ideas, words, and cries of others.

5. The way their complacency was excused.
It's not simply worth noting that the people's complacency was excused, but how it was excused. The biggest excuse was that it was a grease fire on a non-flammable surface. It seemed like a contained fire. So long as it didn't spread and get worse, people decided to live with the flames.
As followers of Jesus, we cannot excuse the darkness within/among us and claim to be light. Rather than actively entering into a way that is more loving and truthful and good, the Church often tries to contain its fires and "suck up" (if you'll excuse the phrase) their existence.
"Well, we'll just try to avoid going there with ________"
"It's not great, but I think as long as it doesn't __________, I think we're okay."
So often we don't believe that the power of Christ really can and does transform us and/or our Church communities. So we attempt to contain our fires, or simply attempt not to spread them. And so we accept defeat and limit our participation in the mission of the Church. Or of the fire station.

That's all. No wrap-up. Just food for thought.