I Stay Near the Bar

(Adapted for the emerging church from Sam Shoemaker’s original verse[1])

I stay near the bar

I neither go too far away, nor stay too long

The bar is the most important place in the world

It is the place where men and women walk and talk,

There's no use my going to church, and staying there,

When so many are still down at the bar, who

crave to know where God is.

And all that so many ever find

is only a wall where a door ought to be,

They creep along the wall like blind folk

With outstretched, groping hands,

Feeling for a door, knowing there must be a door,

Yet they never find it . . .

So I stay near the bar.

The most tremendous thing in the world

Is for people at the bar to find the door to God.

The most important thing anyone can do

Is to take hold of one of those blind, groping hands,

And put it on the latch . . . the latch that only clicks

And opens to the person's own touch.

People die down at the bar, as starving beggars die

On cold nights in cruel cities in the dead of winter . . .

Dies for want of what is within their grasp.

They live, on the other side of it . . . live because they have found it.

Nothing else matters compared to helping them find it,

And open it, and walk in, and find Him . . .

So I stay near the bar.

Go to church, great saints, go in deep . . .

Go way down into the cavernous cellars,

And way up into the spacious attics . . .

It is a vast and roomy house, this house where God is.

Go into the deepest of hidden casements,

Of withdrawal, of silence, of sainthood

Some must inhabit those inner rooms,

And know the depths and heights of God.

And call outside to the rest of us how wonderful it is.

Sometimes I take a deeper look inside church,

Sometimes venture in a little farther;

But my place seems down the street. . .

So I stay near the bar.

-----------------------------------------------------

So what do you think? [2]

During the first few weeks, click here to comment or read comments

Keith Drury   January 25, 2009

www.TuesdayColumn.com

---

[1] Original verses of “I Stay Near the Door” by Sam Shoemaker

I stay near the door

I neither go too far in, nor stay too far out

The door is the most important door in the world

It is the door through which men and women walk when they find God.

There's no use my going way inside, and staying there,

When so many are still outside and they, as much as I,

Crave to know where the door is.

And all that so many ever find

Is only the wall where a door ought to be,

They creep along the wall like blind folk

With outstretched, groping hands,

Feeling for a door, knowing there must be a door,

Yet they never find it . . .

So I stay near the door

The most tremendous thing in the world

Is for people to find that door . . . the door to God.

The most important thing anyone can do

Is to take hold of one of those blind, groping hands,

And put it on the latch . . . the latch that only clicks

And opens to the person's own touch.

People die outside that door, as starving beggars die

On cold nights in cruel cities in the dead of winter . . .

Dies for want of what is within their grasp.

They live, on the other side of it . . . live because they have found it.

Nothing else matters compared to helping them find it,

And open it, and walk in, and find Him . . .

So I stay near the door

Go in, great saints, go all the way in . . .

Go way down into the cavernous cellars,

And way up into the spacious attics . . .

It is a vast and roomy house, this house where God is.

Go into the deepest of hidden casements,

Of withdrawal, of silence, of sainthood

Some must inhabit those inner rooms,

And know the depths and heights of God.

And call outside to the rest of the us how wonderful it is.

Sometimes I take a deeper look in,

Sometimes venture in a little farther;

But my place seems closer to the opening . . .

So I stay near the door.

[2] Your comments are invited but I’m not so interested in focusing on visiting bars or drinking alcohol. I’m especially interested in discussing the relationship of Christians and the world. In my lifetime I’ve seen three general postures relative to the world. The first posture was my childhood’s “holiness posture” where we focused on “going deeper” or “climbing higher” into the things of God. In this posture the church was a “lighthouse” and separation from the world was the emphasis. The church was almost like a monastery. The second posture rose to prominence when the boomers took over. This posture was focused mostly on “bringing others in” so Sam Shoemaker’s poem was widely used to deride the monastery model and to urge people against being, “so heavenly minded they were no earthly good.” Evangelism was the goal more than holiness. Christians who “stayed near the door” were the greatest heroes. I new see a third model emerging, perhaps a “yeast model.” In this emerging model the stage of God’s work is not so much the “door” or even the porch of the church but somewhere else—down the street, in the office, and even at the bar. This is what prompted me to rewrite the Shoemaker poem. So what do you think about these models? What do we gain with the third model? Lose? Which model do you lean toward?