Ecclesia (Part Deux)
I really am having trouble balancing my love for the body of Christ, the real church, my friends that are in this fight, this race, with me. And then this other thing, this institution of the church, to which many of them belong.
The church as an institution I don't really agree with that much. I don't like the comfort of it first of all. I feel like the institution reinforces ideas about our faith that simply aren't true. For example, that this life is all about me. Its not just that, its the lack of emphasis on what I consider to be crucial elements of our faith. Those elements being the teachings of Christ, costly discipleship, prayer, devotion, and sacrifice. Am I the only one that sees these elements missing in our churches?
Pete Creig once said in his book the Vision and the Vow, that worship today must sound muffled in the ears of God, with all this singing and little to no involvement with our society. This by far my biggest issue with church's. It seems like everything is so us-centered and not God or others-centered. If the average Christian honestly prays 3 minutes a day and the average pastor 7 minutes it is no surprise really.
If I had to give someone the blame for this, its our culture. We have slowly but surely believed the lies of the enemy about our purpose on this earth. We truly believe in our heart of hearts that life is supposed to be lived comfortably and with leisure. "We should have nice things, not the best things, but nice things." We should retire when were 50 and be set. We get things that we want, we deserve it right?
We believe the lies about how we spend our energy and time. Life is about sports, hobbies, TV, movies , and other entertainment. In between our times of leisure we should of course eat. When we eat make sure we get the best stuff though. If we eat a lot, no worries will spend time in the gym. We definitely have to work, at least 40 hours a week, and if we want that bonus 50 hours. We'll spend time with the family somewhere in the day. We can fit a bible study in the week sometime. There are way too many demands on our time.
Now I realize, that most people this day and age, have graduated highschool and read at a sixth grade level. So they've read their Bible. They KNOW they need time with Jesus. They KNOW they need to be involved in society ( with people). I, however, have found the way to do all this with the bare minimum of devotion. I have found a way to give it my least, and expect a life of intimacy like David and Paul.
Isn't that hilarious. I bet there are a lot more people like me. Expecting great things from God, expecting to hear from Him, but not casting down their nets. Not letting it cost me much. I wonder if costs everything means something different in Greek? Christianity doesn't cost anything these days, its cheap. So we can't pray in schools these days? Is that suffering? There was no-one praying anyway. Give 10%, give 3 hours a week, 3 minutes of prayer and a smile and a hug, make a decent living, and your the norm. Your average.
sidenote: I hope in my lifetime the phrase attend church today will die off. "Attend", whatever that word means. I hate that word in reference to church. "Attendance" seems to just reinforce spectator Christianity (where one watches a good sermon (if ur lucky) and singing performed for them, some cool power points, good music, and good coffee.)
I think most disturbing of all is that in all my years I have never seen in a church a real passion for the broken-hearted, the poor, the hungry, and the homeless. It would take warriors to embark on an adventure like that. I feel like I'm in a room of strangers. Strangers who look and behave more like they'd rather be in the kitchen than on the battlefield.
The church as an institution I don't really agree with that much. I don't like the comfort of it first of all. I feel like the institution reinforces ideas about our faith that simply aren't true. For example, that this life is all about me. Its not just that, its the lack of emphasis on what I consider to be crucial elements of our faith. Those elements being the teachings of Christ, costly discipleship, prayer, devotion, and sacrifice. Am I the only one that sees these elements missing in our churches?
Pete Creig once said in his book the Vision and the Vow, that worship today must sound muffled in the ears of God, with all this singing and little to no involvement with our society. This by far my biggest issue with church's. It seems like everything is so us-centered and not God or others-centered. If the average Christian honestly prays 3 minutes a day and the average pastor 7 minutes it is no surprise really.
If I had to give someone the blame for this, its our culture. We have slowly but surely believed the lies of the enemy about our purpose on this earth. We truly believe in our heart of hearts that life is supposed to be lived comfortably and with leisure. "We should have nice things, not the best things, but nice things." We should retire when were 50 and be set. We get things that we want, we deserve it right?
We believe the lies about how we spend our energy and time. Life is about sports, hobbies, TV, movies , and other entertainment. In between our times of leisure we should of course eat. When we eat make sure we get the best stuff though. If we eat a lot, no worries will spend time in the gym. We definitely have to work, at least 40 hours a week, and if we want that bonus 50 hours. We'll spend time with the family somewhere in the day. We can fit a bible study in the week sometime. There are way too many demands on our time.
Now I realize, that most people this day and age, have graduated highschool and read at a sixth grade level. So they've read their Bible. They KNOW they need time with Jesus. They KNOW they need to be involved in society ( with people). I, however, have found the way to do all this with the bare minimum of devotion. I have found a way to give it my least, and expect a life of intimacy like David and Paul.
Isn't that hilarious. I bet there are a lot more people like me. Expecting great things from God, expecting to hear from Him, but not casting down their nets. Not letting it cost me much. I wonder if costs everything means something different in Greek? Christianity doesn't cost anything these days, its cheap. So we can't pray in schools these days? Is that suffering? There was no-one praying anyway. Give 10%, give 3 hours a week, 3 minutes of prayer and a smile and a hug, make a decent living, and your the norm. Your average.
sidenote: I hope in my lifetime the phrase attend church today will die off. "Attend", whatever that word means. I hate that word in reference to church. "Attendance" seems to just reinforce spectator Christianity (where one watches a good sermon (if ur lucky) and singing performed for them, some cool power points, good music, and good coffee.)
I think most disturbing of all is that in all my years I have never seen in a church a real passion for the broken-hearted, the poor, the hungry, and the homeless. It would take warriors to embark on an adventure like that. I feel like I'm in a room of strangers. Strangers who look and behave more like they'd rather be in the kitchen than on the battlefield.
posted by K at 8:25 PM
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