Doesn't Work Like it Used to...
Well, it's been too long since the last time I blogged. I need to probably do it daily because it is a good release for the soul. I have to be honest I am really struggling right now. I wonder why we refuse to change our lives and then blame everyone else when things don't go well. In our lives we keep repeating the same behaviors and expecting different results. In our churches we keep doing the same things and expecting different results. Is it just me or is there something really wrong with this picture? The values and methodology in the world today is vastly different than it was fifteen years ago. The majority of us find ourselves in a constant state of change. Even we value different things today then we did in the past. We are hungry for true authentic relationships where we can be who we are and accepted at face value. The greatest unchurched group in America is the group from ages 25-45 of which I am part. Many of this age group went to church growing up and got conditioned to church being a certain way and now find that it doesn't do anything for them today. So they avoid what they conceive as organized religion. Guess what?? Jesus' concept of the church was vastly different than what many Christians believe. It was vastly different than the way many churches do church. Jesus was all about open and authentic relationships. If the church is going to survive, it must become a place where we can be ourselves. We need to be able to come together as wounded and struggling followers trying to make sense out of this thing called life. We are going to make mistakes, we are going to sin and we are going to disappoint. Unfortunately we act more like the Pharisees than Jesus. I wonder how many times Jesus would have told me, "If you are perfect go ahead and throw that stone." We need to realize that we are trying to reach a group of people that do not want anything to do with their grandma's church. As long as that is what we continue to give them we will continue to drive them away. It's a double edge sword, if we change we are going to alienate those who like the traditional church. I struggle with the fact that the more I have studied, the more I realize that the traditional church is not Jesus' Church. If nothing else this is food for thought. Glad I could get that off my chest.
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