What’s at Stake? How congregations can resist the “crisis of seriousness.”

Over the past year, I’ve somewhat frequently returned to Ted Gioia’s “The Crisis of Seriousness.” Gioia laments, “Lifestyles are increasingly about pretending. Your real self stays in hiding, while your fake self gets presented in the most spectacular way on social media and other digital platforms. Fake is our leading candidate for word of the century. It captures almost everything relevant now in a single syllable. Never before in history has authenticity been in such short supply.”

Written as a reflection on art, culture, and technology, the crisis of seriousness bears significant implications for ministry. With the noblest of intentions, our pursuit of stability and sustainability during volatile times can quietly become a pursuit of shallowness, spectacle, and sterility. The temptation is to polish what can be seen and hesitate to risk going deeper.

But there is at least one method of internal evaluation that pushes back on this crisis of seriousness, and it’s a question:

What’s at stake?

It’s easy to forget that beneath every budget and attendance report, every new mission statement, and every update about “how we do things around here,” are the deeper layers of meaning-making, individual and communal identity formation, and the life-changing journey of discipleship. Asking ourselves, “What’s at stake?” reminds us that we are not merely managing a system but attending to the movements of God’s Holy Spirit in the lives of individuals and communities.

Counterintuitively, it’s when “things are going well’ that we are at greatest risk of neglecting what’s at stake, what’s happening under the surface at those deeper levels.

You have a strong worship leadership team.
You plan creative services.
You draw a good crowd on Sundays.
But what’s at stake?

 

You host community events.
You support local schools.
You keep your building open for neighbors.
But what’s at stake?

You have a clear mission statement.
You’ve done the strategic plan.
You’ve got the congregation on board with a vision.
But what’s at stake?

You’ve taken the “right positions.”
You’ve written careful statements.
You’ve clarified where you stand theologically, politically, culturally.
But what’s at stake?

You preach sermons that are well received.
You lead thoughtful bible studies.
You keep the church busy with ministry “stuff.”
But what’s at stake?

The question is woven throughout the biblical narrative, calling us to remember what’s at stake in God’s faithful providence and love for the world:

• God to Moses at the burning bush:
  Will you go, or will my people remain enslaved?
   (Exodus 3:7–12)

 

• The Exodus:
  Will we risk freedom or return to the familiarity of Egypt?
   (Exodus 14:10–12; Numbers 14:1–4)

 

• Esther in the court:
  If I remain silent, will deliverance come from elsewhere?
   (Esther 4:13–14)

 

• The prophets to God’s people:
  If we chase after idols that promise us affluence, security, and stability, what becomes of our covenant with God?
   (Jeremiah 2:11–13; Hosea 2:5–8; Amos 6:1–7)

 

• Jesus in Gethsemane:
  If this cup passes, what becomes of redemption?
   (Matthew 26:39; Luke 22:42)

 

• Paul to the church at Corinth:
  If Christ has not been raised, what does that say about our faith, and if love fails, of what value is anything we proclaim or possess?
   (1 Corinthians 15:12–19; 1 Corinthians 13:1–3)

Ultimately, congregations are not measured by busyness and efficiency but by awareness and capacity to see the sacred in God’s world and image bearers, to sense that lives and hopes and futures are intertwined with gospel witness.  What’s at stake is not our reputation, survival, or how well we keep the “machine” running.

It’s whether sin, darkness, and death has been ultimately defeated (and indeed has!)

It’s whether Christ has been raised for our justification.
It’s whether our neighbors encounter God’s love and God’s peace, a peace that the world cannot give.

It’s whether God’s righteousness and justice are good news for the oppressed, poor, marginalized, and forgotten.

By all means, plan, build, organize, gather, engage, evaluate. But in everything, pay attention to God’s movements and ask, What’s at stake?

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Prompts for Discussion:

1. When “things are going well,” what might we be in danger of overlooking? Where in our ministry do we sense something deeper stirring that doesn’t show up on a report and how might we pay better attention to it?
2. Which biblical moment resonates most with our current season of ministry? Where might God be inviting us to risk freedom or step into the storm again?
3. In our context, what does it look like for our neighbors to encounter God’s peace? Where do we see glimpses of resurrection life taking root? How can we attend to this even if it’s not obvious how it could be measured?