Phyllis Tickle claims that every 500 years Christianity has a rummage sale.  In the 1500′s this was called the Reformation.  Today I helped my brother in law with a garage sale.  We did pretty good while the wives took the kids to a birthday party.  They were clearing out their garage to make room for a ping pong table.  This sound like a nice idea.  I hope I get a chance to play ping pong on it soon.  My wife usually destroys me at ping pong, but perhaps some regular playing will improve my game.  Over the course of a day one has the opportunity to cover a wide range of topics: religion, politics, family, movies, and even Comic-Con!  It was good to be able to chat about such things.

Business was decent, but could have been much greater.  The neighbors across the street said it was the strangest garage sale they have ever had.  They would offer things for $.50 but people would put it back!  We also cut our prices as the day wore one, unless we did, people were not interested.  These are tough economic times.  A deal is prized, and if you aren’t willing to bargain, you won’t survive very well.

What does this mean for the church?  In the current economy, it is a buyers market.  Do these kinds of business ideas help the church?  Some people claim that religion is a business.  But churches, strictly speaking, or not for profit.  Yet economic factors affect everybody, including the non-profits.  This summer our church has had to be pro-active at giving scholarships and incentives for families to sign up their young people for summer outings.  While youth and families still participate regularly in weekly services it is more of a challenge to get people to sign up for week long trips, trips with a higher cost.

So what if the church is having a rummage sale, as Phyllis Tickle would have us believe?  What are the things we would sell and get rid of to make room for something new?  Would it be the style of music we use at worship?  Would it be the creeds?  Would it be the cultural assumptions we make?  What is it that the church is willing to unload to move into the future?

Perhaps the content of a rummage/garage sale is not so important as the exchange that takes place.  In a marketplace there is a co-dependence.  The buyer needs something and the seller needs to get rid of something.  It certainly can be the case that one parts has power over the other.  But a fair market is one where all parties get what they need and give out of their excess.  Could this be called a market of generosity or an exchange of humility?  I think it could!

A Christianity that seeks to be active and alive in the 21st century would do well to seriously consider what are the things we could put on sale.  What can we give at bargain basement prices to bring people in the door?  God’s love might be a good place to start.

I once had a discussion with a good friend about “cheap grace.”  I thought cheap grace meant giving away salvation to anyone without the cost of giving one’s life in return.  My friend thought that cheap grace meant thinking that we could somehow earn God’s grace on our own without the perfect atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ.  We both needed each other for a fuller understanding of the Cost of Discipleship, just as a seller needs a buyer in the marketplace.