I guess I should qualify some things I have posted previously. My brother-in-law, Rob, brought up the point that God can work through any church to reach people. If I alluded to the fact that I think all churches are ineffective all the time, that was a mistake. I am a firm believer that any type of church can allow God to move. I am just afraid that we as humans get too caught up in the politics and the appearances we want to make to others that we edge God out a lot of times.
My Dad is one of the people I look up to in the sense that no matter what was happening in my church growing up, he made sure his youth group (he was a youth pastor) was getting solid teaching and preparation for the world outside. There are always individuals that can see through the mire and uphold what is truly important in the life of the church. I want to be one of these people but I really don't want to put up with the politics. That's why I am looking for a new way to worship and serve God in a fellowship of believers. I hesitate to say "church" because I feel western civilization has misconstrued the biblical meaning of the word. The church is Christ's bride, not a building where a group of people from a certain denomination get together and worship God how they see fit. We are all the church. Every person who believes that Christ is God's son given up for our sins and has accepted that gift constitutes the church.
On occasion I have heard of people meeting in a local bar or restaurant or in a park and just loving each other and worshipping and serving God. I love that idea. This kind of unstructured meeting of people to praise God is what I believe may reach more people of my generation than traditional westernized church. Church has gotten such a bad name that even some believers refuse to step over the threshold of a church building. Think about unbelievers who are searching for something more. If "Chrsitians" aren't even willing to attend church, why would they want to. We have to show God's love to others in ways we aren't thinking of outside of a church building. They have to see something different in us and especially something genuine. If we do this, I believe more people can be reached than ever before.
My Dad is one of the people I look up to in the sense that no matter what was happening in my church growing up, he made sure his youth group (he was a youth pastor) was getting solid teaching and preparation for the world outside. There are always individuals that can see through the mire and uphold what is truly important in the life of the church. I want to be one of these people but I really don't want to put up with the politics. That's why I am looking for a new way to worship and serve God in a fellowship of believers. I hesitate to say "church" because I feel western civilization has misconstrued the biblical meaning of the word. The church is Christ's bride, not a building where a group of people from a certain denomination get together and worship God how they see fit. We are all the church. Every person who believes that Christ is God's son given up for our sins and has accepted that gift constitutes the church.
On occasion I have heard of people meeting in a local bar or restaurant or in a park and just loving each other and worshipping and serving God. I love that idea. This kind of unstructured meeting of people to praise God is what I believe may reach more people of my generation than traditional westernized church. Church has gotten such a bad name that even some believers refuse to step over the threshold of a church building. Think about unbelievers who are searching for something more. If "Chrsitians" aren't even willing to attend church, why would they want to. We have to show God's love to others in ways we aren't thinking of outside of a church building. They have to see something different in us and especially something genuine. If we do this, I believe more people can be reached than ever before.
posted by JN | 2:03 PM
2 Comments:
One of my closest friends from college, Jeremy U., sent me an e-mail giving his thoughts about this whole church discussion. I respect his thoughts and am pasting the e-mail received below. Enjoy!
Interesting stuff. I would post a comment on your blog, but for some reason my firewall at work prohibits me from doing so. . .so there you go. I didn't want you to think I hadn't been reading.
I have to say up front that I am in agreement with most of your ideas and many of your thoughts, especially about megachurches. Living in DFW has given me plenty of access to see the megachurch mentality up close, and I believe there is a strange gluttony that goes on there. I remember talking to my dad once about how bothered I was by these churches, and he replied that he tended to think that any church that had grown so big was probably not telling its congregation the whole truth about the Gospel . . . and sure enough, most of these places are selling "Christianity Lite" to those who attend. All the benefits, none of the bad stuff. Sounds appealing, doesn't it? Here in DFW we see Hummers with Jesus fishes and women wearing sequined t-shirts with their church name on them - and it's depressing.
That said, I see your point about denominations, and agree to an extent. Denominations do serve as a way of dividing God's flock. Yet they also provide a way for people to worship God in a manner that is comfortable to them, so it's not all bad, right? I think the problems start when your denomination is wrong, or my denomination is better than yours. . . and I think that's changing in a lot of places. All I can say is that while I may not be comfortable with dancing or speaking in tongues during my worship service, I don't begrudge someone else the right to do so. It's positive to see so much non-denominationalism going around, too.
I also understand your thoughts about churches and mortgages, fees, etc. I understand it totally because I serve on the board of our church, and see where the money goes. We're a small church of about 140, and we're pastored by my father-in-law. Being in this church body has pretty much revived my faith in the power of a group of believers, to be honest. We are small, and we're oftentimes too close to not being able to pay the mortgage on our gym/education complex, but we are a tightly-connected group of believers that also manages to be friendly and open to whomever visits. We don't squabble, either. It's nice. And while it would be nice to be able to devote more funds to outreach, we also believe that our facility has opened so many doors for us to reach out to the community in ways we couldn't before, like a food bank, day care, etc. We're currently meeting in the gym for church, too. We don't have a sanctuary proper.
So is there a way to fix everything? I'm not sure. We had a guest on the show recently who noted that in the 21st century, the standard way of doing church was not going to be an outreach to people - people had to see the church working in the community, and see faith lived out through what the church and its believers do. While I am pleased to say I really believe that my church does that, I'd have to say that I don't think the faith community as a whole is doing enough. It's funny, as many big churches as we have around here, you'd think that for all of their multi-million dollar budgets, you'd see more action in the community. Yet you don't. I don't think the megachurch has done Christianity any favors. Nor do I think the current mindset that Christianity=Hardcore Conservative Republican is helping either. I recently heard a teacher note that in several places in the Bible, current hot topic Homosexuality is mentioned synonymously with none other than the sin of greed. Yet one receives a lot more press in the community, while the other only gets displayed in the lifestyles of the flock. Isn't that ironic?
Anyway, keep it up and don't stop searching. . .
Jeremy
Jarrod!!!!
Dude, it's been so long. So long. Dang, I was looking at your MySpace profile and some other peoples, just catching up on old times, and realizing that you're 27, I'm 23, and I'm going to school with a bunch of 18 year olds. Geez! I'm dating a girl almost 10 years younger than you! Geez!
Hope all is well at the old GreenPoint Mortgage. At least, I'm assuming you're still working there. Wonder if Nick.Sands ever moved to Utard and if Dan Eason still runs the place (or pretends to, anyways). I'm not sure I have your email anymore, but you should totally email me sometime (swiley@hillsdale.edu).
I'd shamelessly plug my blog (http://addingnoise.blogspot.com), but b/c of homework, college life, and the many distractions of my girlfriend Kate it's hardly ever updated.
Anyways, hope Kim and the baby are doing well ... I can't believe that I've been gone so long I've never seen her and don't even know her name.... *sigh* I miss Denver and the mountains very much.... Southern Michigan is WAAAAY too flat.
I miss our conversations over our regular visits to Qdoba and Chick-Fil-A with Scotty B and Johnny Martinez. Dang! Anyways, take care....
Post a Comment
<< Home