Whether news headlines or social media or city traffic, there seems to be a competition going on somewhere. Just yesterday driving up one of our longtime congested thoroughfares, Macleod Trail, I was passed by a noisy smoke-rolling diesel pickup truck. Only a moment later at the next light we sat side by side, light turned green and immediately in intersection he changed lanes at full acceleration to get around the car in front of him, about 100 meters later back into my lane, and then one lane over. At next red light I sat quietly smiling in the lane beside him again! The young man in this truck, in a hurry to get somewhere was making about same progress as all the rest of us. This morning’s newspaper has an article, “Step up reckless Driving Crackdown.” Our city (and province) is providing increased funding for digital speed signs, intersection upgrades, etc. but a concern is raised that “vehicular violence” needs more personalized attention, like good old fashioned police officers with speeding tickets.
Another example, Christian gatherings - large worship assemblies - are somewhat akin to media melees. Services begin not with organ preludes and silent prayer, but with a band or piped in stingray music as people come in sipping their coffees. Seemingly the anonymity of crowd and caffeine is the draw. Another example, this one at larger scale. Crowd dependency. In the last several days everybody has seen news clips of the public appearances of one Charlie Kirk, a right-wing Christian activist whose funeral was aired from a football stadium in Glendale, AZ a few days ago. Killed by an assassin’s bullet while performing one of his evangelical God and Country right wing crusades, Kirk was cut down in same dramatic style as the noisy confrontive services he had starred in. Included in this funeral crowd and participant in the service was one of his bigtime supporters, U.S. President Donald Trump!
Crowds, a place of security? Politicians and religious egomaniacs need
the crowd. I too confess my preference for a full house rather than a few people gathered.
But crowds can also be demonic. Jesus, the infamous teacher, healer, the Son of
God (Matthew 3:17), encountered the about-face of the many who had followed
him. At the end of each gospel account is this grizzly narrative, They shouted
back, ‘Crucify him!’ (Mark 15:13). Indeed there is another take. Recently I heard story of a huge crowd of ‘fellow churchmen’ who showed up on
the farmyard of a Mexican Mennonite who was choosing to send his children to a
school other than the village designate. It was an occasion which led him to
leave that version of church.
So what purpose is served by crowds? I am a member in a low-church denomination. Our origins and
our theology is a very basic belief that the presence and the blessing of God is
available whenever, wherever “two
or three are gathered in my name" (Matthew
18:20). No need for officially sanctioned liturgies and no need for
standardized preacher qualifications. Our Calls to Worship claim the presence
of almighty God every time we meet! This theological stance nonetheless falters
especially among today's urban Mennonites who also get nervous when a gathering does
not provide the numbers security. Many in their spiritual search (comfort search)
will opt for the crowd. This is no different than political rallies
where the goal is to incite momentum, always in opposition to viewpoints
espoused by other candidates or political parties. The occasion and the words
seem to need the assurance of many likeminded.
These days it is a common malady. The comfort of full churches or political rallies with lots of ‘rah rah’ has a similarity to restless traffic. Something exciting is needed but we know not what. Especially ironic is the complicity of us peace churches in that very same societal trend. Today’s morning devotional provided considerable food for thought for my wife and I.[i] We read about crowd following which was also evident in pre-WW2, a sad reminder of European German Christians, including some Mennonites no longer the radical pacifists of the 16th Century, joining the Nazi regime under dictatorship of Adolph Hitler. Some members of the Confessing Churches, like Dietrich Bonhoeffer, were executed for their troubles. Denominational affiliation; is it becoming meaningless as time moves on? Another question; how important is it?
"Times, they are a' changing", so crooned Bob Dylan back there in the 1960s, critiquing his country's involvement in the Vietnam war. Have the times changed?
Yes, earthly seasons come and go, not the least of which is current U.S. self-discovery (self-denial?, e.g. government shutdown) of its new place in a multicultural multilingual world. Americans are divided on whether they need to be great again.
In another sense, No, nothing has changed. Our eternal citizenship still available, "God so loved the world" (John 3:16), is best acknowledged (and experienced) by all who will humble themselves and worship that One wherever however possible, and then go home gratefully, graciously, quietly peacefully in their pickups or hybrids or minivans or public transit or bicycles. It's an eternity thing.
[i]
Byron Rempel-Burkholder, “Trust Your Word”, Rejoice! , Mennomedia, Vol
61, no 1, 2025, p. 38.
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