Recently, I had a rather long and intriguing discussion about churches today- their influence, their effectiveness, lack thereof and certainly what it means to be a church, as an institution or as just people. (NOTE: Man of Depravity has an interesting note on church in the future)
One of people in the group stated that she is hoping her church, in Indiana, will try to focus on a major area of outreach rather than dabbling in numerous projects, "visions," or "community efforts." She's on the board and hopes they will seek to reach college students (it's a college town) who of course, grow into young families. She asked me what were some things I thought might stand in the way of that- what is it that the current generation is looking for in a "church community?"
Looking at my generation and seeing what I see, I notice a few things, I told her. Ultimately we wrestled over three main ideas concerning the institution of church today.
1- The Church needs to go out more, instead of recklessly trying to bring people in all the time, hype them up with glitz and glam in the sanctuaries, big screens and cool equipment. Go out. Jesus went out, he was among the poor, the needy, the broken and so on. Even in the book "In His Steps," the local congregation took to befriending the public rather than allure them into the church for conversions. This is not to say big churches with big presentation are wrong. They're not. But I wonder, on the whole, has it become a gimmick to collect people and numbers rather than reaching for their hearts?
2-The second idea was not quite as easy because while I don't have a solid solution for this (other than just do it, but easier said than done for some people), I noted that pastors needed to be human- not only in their own delivery, but also in the eyes of their church members and even the community around them. Throughout the years priests and pastors have gotten caught in a series of scandals- money, sex, and so on- I think that two things go on there: first off, the leader himself tastes power and rather than taking responsibility, attempts to hide behind an image that he or she is not following. Secondly, people in the church put so much pressure on the pastor or leader to be perfect in every way and forget that leaders are human and are just as fallible. This again, is not to say, that leaders should not be aware of the position they carry. James clearly stated a warning...that not many should assume the role of pastor, b/c of the example they should set and how they will be judged. BUT- at the same time, why do we elevate them to "God's level?" And, why do they refuse to admit their struggles, be connectible to their church bodies?
3-Finally I mentioned that alienating people on a hierarchy of sins is wrong. When Churches do not make people feel welcome based on one issue, for example, homosexuality, but do not see the guy cheating on his taxes every year, or cheating on his wife, there is a problem. The Church needs to be open about the issues that plague the human race, talk about them, not bull-horn their way through the laws of the Old Testament. Let people ask questions. God has a lot more grace than we give him credit for and opening a discussion and offering love to people is what the Cross is all about. This is not to say churches should compromise to make everyone happy...but it IS about, again, realizing that we all have issues, we are fallible, we are all forgiven and addressing ideas from a practical standpoint is not un-biblical nor is the bible unpractical. So, my question is, what are the issues? How is the church not dealing with them? How can they do so better? Let's discover it together and become the people God created us to be.
Ultimately I stated that I think the church is about the people and not a 4-walled building we ritually attend every week. Nevertheless; these only skim the surface of our discussion. They only are a small taste of the differences that could be made and what ails the generation today about "church,"- both w/ and w/o faith in Christ.
What do you think?
well said, ash
ReplyDeleteYesterday I went to church in a friend's home, without make up on and a baseball cap on to cover my unkept hair.
ReplyDeleteWe ate and prayed together. We then discussed the topic of "twisting the truth" to meet our desires.
I attend what is traditionally known as a very conservative assembly of believers, The Church of Christ. But, I have to tell you, it's not what it use to be.
We have homosexuals in our body of believers. We have at least one that leads in prayer and the Lord's Supper.
Our minister has preached many sermons about "sin being sin." There's no difference in the sin, if it's sin then it's sin and nothing more or less.
There are many churches out there that are as you wrote about, but there are also many that are seeking the desires of God.
Jessica and Jared, along with Jared's "small group" from church spent Valentine's night with homeless women and children at Jesse's Place. Jesse's Place is a "home" for women and their children to go to when they have been in a abusive relationship and need a safe place to live. Jessica and Jared along with their church friends had church Saturday night, but they weren't "at church."
Our church along with many other churches in the community take turns feeding the homeless "Under the Bridge." Every night in down-town Birmingham the homeless have dinner served to them without any thing asked of them in return. They are furnished with blankets and coats during the winter months.
Our church furnishes school supplies for the needy children in the inner city schools. We have been doing this for years.
Our church owns an apartment building near UAB Hospital, and we let families live there free while they have family members in the hospital. We feed them, and try to meet their needs. Nothing is ask of them in return.
Then we have our Africa missionaries that we support. At least twice a year our members are given an opportunity to go to Africa to assist our missionaries. I hope to do this in the near future.
By the way, our minister isn't perfect. He would be the first to admit that he has his issues too. But he is trying hard to live out the call of Christ. He and his wife have adopted seven children, some are white, one is bi-racial, and two are black. (Jared and Jessica's church has a huge population of adopted children from poor parts of the world. It's almost expected of its church members to do this. It has become as natural as having your own biological children.)
Ash, I'm so sorry you have been hurt by church leaders behaving foolishly. It especially hurts when the news media focuses on it. I have been hurt by this too in the past. But giving up church because of poorly behaved leaders, is like giving up our country because of poorly behaved presidents.
The Church today is trying, but the devil is out there doing his deceptive work among us. He wants more than anything for former church members to give up on church, and to tell the world how corrupt it is.
I do believe there is evil in the world. I do believe that there is an invisable "being" out there doing his twisting of the truth to discredit the Body of Christ. And remember that the twisting of the truth is usualy so small that it seems right by people striving to live out the call of Christ.
I love you, Ash. I want the best for you. I think you have a good heart.
"Go out and do well, but more importantly, go out and do good."
right on ash.
ReplyDelete@ anonymous
ReplyDeletei think you completely misinterpret my stance here. it has much less to do w/ experience than observation. i am not the only one of my generation that sees this...there are many.
i told jared that i think there are definitely pockets in the body of Christ doing it right and i think it's amazing. however, it is not under any circumstance the mainstream and it should be!
i also told him that i separate the "institution" from the "people." the people are the bride of Christ, not the 4 walled business of church, aka the institution and he told me that he has a hard time separating the two. christ started a people, triggered a community a believers, not a ritual of weekly ceremonies. i don't discount jared and jessica's small groups or the incredible things your church is doing, i commend them...but the church body as whole, in america may need a perspective change.
there is a rumbling in my generation of people who are not satisfied which is how erica and i got into this part of the discussion.and there is that same rumbling shaking the surface of these ideas b/c we want to change it, whether it be w/in existing churches OR starting our own communities and i think that too, is amazing.
there is a pastor from michigan, rob bell, who stated basically that every generation must decide what it means to be the hands and feet of jesus in their time...and generation to generation it's going to look a little different than the previous. he's right.
that is what i am pointing out here. that is what we hope to see.
i have no anger toward church, i am not put off by it...i am stating what i think should be the next thing coming so to speak.
@ amos and tyler...thanks for poppin' in guys!
ReplyDeleteAshley- I love your open-ness. Being a non-believer (30+yrs) and a believer (18 yrs) in several church denominations has given me a little insight & perspective on a personal level to the post subject (but certainly not as an expert but only as related to my experience). And you're right that this discussion can only skim over what would take much deeper discussions at every level. I've seen the "lost" and "saved" sides sitting in a church service and dynamically different outreach "approaches" to the community from different denominations. On the "saved" side I've spent the last 12 years as a band leader in a 2000+ member church and worship leader in a smaller member church. Church services in each denomination all have cultural permeations to them. Every one of them. Drums? Organ? songs before preaching...exit song..communion every week or every quarter.. But I believe what transcends culture is what God really wants. Authenticity. In everything. The worship on Sundays, the outreach of the church. Did I know as a non believer that a church was interested in me because they wanted to get me in the doors to "save" me and become a member? Absolutely. And I resisted it. Let me be clear. God draws. Not a well thought through rehearsed music set or a vision incorporating steps for outreach. Straight compassion for people demonstrated daily with the understanding that God may or may not give you the opportunity to verbally witness Christ to them. Not the other way around. And this authenticity MUST start from the pulpit- or the church as a whole is in trouble as they are the leaders of the body. And not all pastors are called by God. I believe that a HIGH percentage of Pastors aren't called which adds to infiltration in the church for crooks, sex offenders, etc... to be directors from the pulpit. With God and the church taking the hits. Not so shocking then if you think about it. Appalling yes, big black mark on the church yes, shocking no.....And you are correct that people in the church put pressure on a pastor to be what they want the pastor to be and "perfect" is normally on their top of the list. Called pastors who are authentic in their shortcomings and understanding of their position and their walk with God have the greatest success as God's leader. Pastors interested in numbers & money? That's exactly what the church will get and they'll be deemed a success by today's success standards-even from church-kins themselves-but are dead. And lastly on your 3rd point... Whoever won over a person with bricks & clubs? And who would want to be part of a congregation that did that? There are absolute truths that can't be side stepped as to not hurt that person as it will ultimately hurt that person if they DON'T know. The major point I disagree is that all people CAN be forgiven..but not all are.
ReplyDeleteI really think we're in the age of apathy and for the most part the church is being rightfully questioned on many problems that are now surfacing for the world to see. The believing church must continue to be a sanctuary for worship & fellowship. I heard once that if you're looking for the perfect church and find it- don't go in. A joke with connotations’. JC
JC- Thanks for joining the conversation. Obviously these things are just a small picture. Certainly the generation of today is looking for the ways inside and outside the church environments to be the hands and feet of Jesus. And in order to come up w/ solutions we have to identify the issues. Authenticity is a must, and therefore I think that is what sums up a lot of what I said...being open and real as He would have us.
ReplyDeleteAnd I don't know that I disagree w/ you when you say that all CAN but not all ARE forgiven. However, are we as a people of God making it available to those who need it and want it? Something to think about...
Thanks again, JC