The church and the dentist

As I was driving home from my class in Washington, DC the other night, I heard an advertisement on the radio for a dentist’s office. The plug was that this dentist could offer “no fear, no lecture.” Because those are the worst parts of going to the dentist, right? There’s fear of the drill and the pain and the Novocain needle (and the cost!). There’s the inevitable lecture about how you really shouldn’t chomp on ice or hard candy, about how you really do need to wear your retainer, about how you clearly never floss and OUGHT TO.* And you just sigh and think about how much you’re paying to have someone lecture you about all these things you’re already ashamed about not doing (do other people feel ashamed? Or is that just me?).

And as I listened to that commercial, the first thing that came to mind was, “I think the church should get on board with this!” Come join our Christian community – no fear, no lecture. No fear about how you’re going to hell, no fear that your serious illness is because God is punishing you for your sin, no fear that you’ll have to work really hard to hide the icky parts of yourself because we only love you when we think you’re a “good Christian” like us. No lecture about your sinful past, no lecture about how much money you need to give to the church, no lecture about the LAW with no grace.

It would be interesting to talk to some folks who identify as “nones” and ask if the promise by the church of no fear and no lecture would mean anything to them. Did they used to attend church, only to get worn down by the perhaps well-intentioned voices (8^th commandment here…) that constantly spoke FEAR and LECTURE?

I’m not saying that the church should brush aside serious issues with the placating words of grace, grace, grace. There is an important place for the law, to help us live in right relationship with God and with one another. And I’m not saying that we shouldn’t go to the dentist. Receiving encouragement for good oral hygiene habits is important! But there’s something to be said about speaking the truth in love with no fear, and no lecture. Let it be so.

*I kind of don’t buy the whole “I can tell you never floss” bit, because here’s how it inevitably goes down: I’m sitting in the chair, stretching my jaws beyond what should be humanly possible while the masked hygienist jabs at my gums with a metal spike. After the jabbing, my gums start bleeding (surprise!) and she says, “hmm, your gums are bleeding because you really need to floss more.” Uh, my gums are bleeding because you just jabbed them with that metal hook! Hmph.