Spiritual Underground

The easiest way to imagine the spiritual underground is to first visualize the spiritual overground, the highly visible, well-intentioned and well-established network of churches, ministries and institutions that are the face of Christianity to our world.

In contrast, the spiritual underground is that less visible space, on the outskirts of Christendom, where unknown, unconventional and unlikely candidates do life and mission together in less-formal structures.

Historically, these misfits have been pioneers, who have contended for authenticity, honesty and original thought. In their passion to make a difference in the world, they have embraced praise and protest as being joined at the hip. For them, worship is not escapist: it has a social conscience. Spiritual colonization is taboo. Although their efforts can appear to be a little scrappy, history has shown them to be surprisingly impactful. Their forward-thinking has triggered new ideas and given birth to new initiatives. History tells us that innovation in the underground has been one of the main catalyzing agents for reformation in the overground. It is almost impossible to change old structures. Hence Jesus’ advice to not try pouring new wine into old wineskins.

Many bible stories show God instigating new stuff on the fringes of the established religious order. Case in point: Jesus.

Sociology

Historically, churches have formed around theological beliefs. In the 2000’s, the trend changed in favor of personalities and production values. 

The spiritual underground is more sociological in construct. Friendship circles are maturing into active ministry communities as participants start helping each other accomplish their personal missions by trading skills, then finding ways to work together to make a difference in society. Essentially, building God's people into a kingdom of priests, a collaborative community in which everyone has a part to play.

Anomaly

As with everything in this life, there is very little that is straightforwardly ‘black and white.’ Nuance, contradiction and compromise abound. Therefore, it is worth noting that there are many who live and function in the overground, yet identify as ‘underground.’ These are welcome participants in this venture.