Burning Man Festival & the Church

Longing to Belong

From Lollapalooza to Burning Man, secular culture has created some powerful symbols of community in recent years. Regardless of the pagan elements that deify art, hedonism and the individual, there is apparently something powerfully primal & spiritual that takes place at these gatherings. They serve as profane signposts of God hunger.

How can the Church be such a gathering place? How can we foster such a degree of acceptance, welcome, and solace that people feel safe, honored, and a part of something bigger than themselves? There just might be some principles evident in these concerts and gatherings that might give us a clue as to what we are missing in our current configurations and communities.

A cursive look at much of the art currently making the rounds in film, music, and literature, reveals that the fear of death and survival in this complex world is on the minds and hearts of humankind. Sociologists and psychologists have observed that the fight or flight adrenaline engagement of many throughout the world is exacerbated by a deep sense of dislocation. How can I survive in a world that is hostile and ultimately not for me?

Events like Burning Man offer a respite , brief as it may be that says we can survive this currently hostile globe and that there just might be ways of living that could heal and assuage some of these over powering fears. As I age, I am tempted to look at the rage and aloofness of many in their teens and twenties with a degree of disgust and disdain. Get over it I often say but how can those younger than myself get over what in truth is still resident in my soul? I too carry within me a deep sense of dislocation and personal isolation. Who are my people? Where is my tribe?

Extreme fundamentalism in the Muslim world has brought violence onto the world’s stage as one of the primary ways humans solve their problems. If I am threatened, the goal is to destroy those who I deem as threatening me. Now my sense of belonging is built around enemies and fear. Ironically, much of modern day Christian fundamentalism has fostered a degree of this kind of paranoia as well. Even though it is clear than many pundits in the news media see fundamentalism through the lens of disdain for religion of any kind, much of their fodder comes from behavior that fosters little sense of community and belonging.

We (Christians) long for a sense of connection and yet much of our rhetoric to those on the outside is much the opposite. Can we display such a posture to others on the outside and not in fact live out that same posture to one another on the inside? Out of the heart the mouth speaks. We are within how we act without. Events like Burning Man and Lollapalooza seem to welcome everyone. It may appear as if I am over idealizing these events for the sake of a point and I am sure there is some truth here. But anyone researching the Burning Man event will quickly see that a message of belonging is deeply embedded in the core values of the festival’s creators.

The fact that this event takes place in the desert should not be overlooked. Just to attend such an event takes degree of risk and survival skills. Some Christians and others offer food and shelter to those fainthearted who attend the event for the first time and are unaware of just how hot the desert sun can become and how much a few days of celebration can deplete the body and soul. Now that is evangelism!

I am a part of a community that honors but does not worship art. To a few it is evident that something transformational is taking place in the act of creation at Burning Man. Liberation, empowerment, even atonement are concepts that emerge in the living art pieces that are offered up at the event. Creativity brings empowerment. Our community holds artistic expression with a high degree of respect and sees over and over again the healing that art and creativity can bring to those making art as well as those experiencing the expression. Cultural studies have informed of us how important symbols are to any community’s sense of belonging. That is why the indigenous non-commercial nature of Burning Man’s display is vital to the attendee’s sense of empowerment. They are sharing themselves. They are not buying someone else's sense of self or offering up someone else's reflections on life. These are gifts from the tribe. These are the aromas of real soul food. Limits of expression are surely stretched and hedonism may indeed be manifest but deeper into the matrix of this creative orgy one finds delight, abandonment and an unabashed sense of the sacredness of the self. I use the word sacred lightly here but indeed when people offer themselves without desire for fame, power, reimbursement, something can begin to happen. Those receiving the gifts now see them as divine offerings of the glory of the human.

For people to feel a sense of belonging, a hidden deeper part of themselves must be allowed voice. For people to feel welcomed in our community and empowered, we must quickly offer them a place where who and what they perceive themselves to be has a place of expression. To belong is to feel the release of one’s voice without shame. Could it be that some of what some may consider hedonism and paganism is really a yearning for a sacred place where one can break open into something beautiful? Do we in the Church truly see humankind as beautiful or do we first see them as sinners flawed and broken. I suggest that gatherings like Burning Man appeal to the part in many of us who wonder if people would accept us if they knew our real feelings on sexuality, on politics, on family, on money, on power even on one another. Real dialogue will only come when our love of God’s creation in others transcends are need or desire to share some message of truth. Living the truth leads with love and an open door particularly on weirdness, brokenness, and oddities of all kinds. Just how beautiful might the world appear when we give a place for these "wild" expressions of God's creation?