Well, it’s almost been a year since I started this series. I hope that it has been insightful for you. I may have one or two more articles on this topic still before I fully put it to bed, but this is the bridge article. After this, we’re going to collectively start doing some soul searching in the forums that will feed directly into the last articles in this series. For now though, let’s do a quick review of what has been discussed already.

In the first article, we learned that God’s picture for Christians was one of unity. Not agreement on every issue or belief, but in the spirit of cooperation as different parts of the body assist each other to do a specific task that the brain (Christ) gives us to do.

The second article retraced the events that got us to where we are today. We learned from experience that placing our leadership primarily on the shoulders of one figurehead rather than completely on Christ showed us how easily we can become scattered, broken, and disorganized when that figurehead is removed. We looked at how many of our divisions are rooted in political and theological differences, but we also learned that there is hope in finding unity again if we can step toward each other and leave some of our more extreme right and left viewpoints outside of Tastyfresh. In other words, we saw that we needed to figure out what our most important common theological beliefs were and to use those (and especially our relationship with Jesus) as a foundation to build unity between us.

The third article tackled the issues of power and control. Who gets to have it when we are united? What has to be given up to obtain it? What will happen if we don’t?  The base belief expressed in the article was that God will use Tastyfresh.com if we are united, and the only way we will be united is if we give “power and control”, not to the leadership of Tastyfresh, but to the community of Tastyfresh. The only reason why Tastyfresh has been able to survive the 10 years it has is because, collectively, we have been willing to lay aside our differences and cooperate when it really counted. We also talked about how the international Christian dance scene should be as noninvasive as possible on the local scene, but still able to guide and support when and where needed.

And so now we begin part four in this series.

A Tale of Two Laodiceas

Laodicea was a town in the southwest of what today is Turkey. It is also the site of one of the earliest Christian churches. Laodicea is mentioned in two places within the Bible. The first is in Paul’s letter to the Colossians and then again in the book of Revelation. The contrast between these two mentions is astounding. In fact, it is so astounding that it is something we really need to think about as we are discussing not only what it means for our scene to be united, but as we decide what direction this scene will take and what the cornerstone theology of this movement will be. The irony is that this is the prelude to the article I thought we didn’t need to have. I’m grateful today that DJ Dual Core pushed me on this a few months back.

So, what does the Bible have to say about Laodicea? Well, Colossians chapter 2 offers some pretty huge insights into both the dangers that face us philosophically and the freedoms that we have in Christ.

In the beginning of the chapter Paul writes:

I want you to know how much I am struggling for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally. My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments. For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how orderly you are and how firm your faith in Christ is. – Colossians 2:1-5

So Paul starts off as usual by trying to encourage his audience and reassure them that what he is saying is out of love and concern for them. The interesting part is in verse 4 – “I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments.” One of Paul’s main concerns was that we as Christians might get swept up by theological and secular reasoning that really has no scriptural basis and can be/is harmful to our walk with Christ. Considering the temptations that some of us can face in secular clubs while we perform our ministry (be that helping a kandy kid on a bad trip, handing out water bottles, or directly sharing the Gospel), this can be a real concern. However, it would be foolish to assume that we could only be led astray by our activities outside of our churches. Regardless, Paul’s warning was just the preface for the next part.

Paul continues on with his warnings about falling into flawed human philosophies, which were defeated on the cross, but rather strengthening our relationship with Christ. But things take an odd twist starting in verse 16:

Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions. He has lost connection with the Head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.

 Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: "Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!"? These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence. – Colossians 2:16-23

What seems to have been a chapter about falling into all the temptations of the world has seemed to turn into a chapter more about falling into theological philosophies that bind the body of Christ into a mold that it wasn’t supposed to fit into. In essence, Paul warns the Church about specifying what a Christian should look like or how a Christian should act beyond what is clearly defined in the Bible. It is in effect a warning against the various things that many of us complain about in our own Churches where our leadership may be more concerned with the style of our music than with the condition of our hearts. It is as though Paul looks into the future and sees that the Church that he is helping to build through the Holy Spirit can slip back into the very pharisaic ways that Christ had come to free us from.

The freedom we have in Christ is the very thing that allows us to do God’s will. The number of steps we can take on the Sabbath does not bind us. We are not to be judged harshly for healing the lame on the Sabbath either. In fact, it would be fine for us to talk to a prostitute on the street for the purpose of showing her what real love is. And for you naysayers, yes, hiring her to perform her “arts” would still be sin. That would fall back under a fine-sounding human argument and host of other commands in the Bible. Isn’t it funny how sin always seems to be the logical choice when we do it, but later on we realize that it clearly wasn’t logical at all and we always regret it?

The Gospel was meant to be told to whoever was willing to listen. Sharing it is also one of the things we are commanded directly by Jesus to do. How can we share it if we do not allow ourselves to go into the dark and be a light? If we only stay with other lights, we glow brightly, but we end up hording that light in a cultural closet rather than spreading it through the universe like the stars in the heavens do.

That about covers it for the first reference of Laodicea. Now let’s look at the second.

In Revelation, John is presented with a vision of seven existing churches. These churches have in many ways become archetypes for all of the churches that have existed since then and those that will when Jesus finally returns. So, while this Laodicea may not be the specific one talked about in Colossians, it is the archetype of the church discussed in Revelation. With the exception of the Church in Philadelphia and maybe the Church in Smyrna, all of the other churches failed miserably in the eyes of God. So, what was said specifically to Laodicea?

To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:

These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. – Revelation 3:14-22

What brought this on? Back in Colossians, Paul laid down some instructions that should have freed this group of people up so that they had absolutely no barriers between them and what God planned for them to accomplish. They had been freed from human-made philosophies both based on secularism and religion, yet they still failed. They had become lukewarm. They neither chased after the “sins” of the world nor the things of God. Instead, it seems like they simply did nothing despite their freedoms except apparently collect paychecks and focus on materialism.

In many ways, this is the picture of many churches in America today. They come together on Sundays to worship. They come in their finest clothes, in their finest cars, and listening to their finest Christian music, yet… they can’t even defend their faith from the weakest of arguments or have a clue of what God wants them to do with their lives. They feel everything is going just fine, despite signs that say otherwise.

This is the danger the Christian dance scene faces. After 14 or more years since the first MYX Records release, we still don’t have a basic statement of belief or a clearly defined mission for the scene, and we certainly don’t have a fully developed plan of action. We even argue about the need for such a thing. What we do have are many small groups that are focused on rebuilding the wheel over and over again. How many lists of Christian DJs do we need to have floating on the Internet (most of them being out of date) before lives begin to change en masse?  How many times must we debate if God can use secular music? How often must we look back at our history and cry because it didn’t go as we expected it to? We constantly are retreading old ground because we don’t have a path and vision for where we need to go next.

We have to do better than this if we want to succeed. We'd better define our basic beliefs and our mission and develop a plan that takes advantage of our freedoms in Christ, but yet pulls people into a growing relationship with him. And this is exactly what we will start doing in the next installment of this series – starting with a basic collection of beliefs and scripture to back them up. Want to contribute to this first pass and the next article? Sign-up and jump in on the discussion of this article in the Tastyfresh.com forums. Keep in mind though that I am not necessarily talking about what defines us as Christians, but what justifies and defines our actions in this scene. Let’s back up what we do with scripture, and then we’ll set some goals.