The devil is a master of deflecting attention from himself and getting us to do his dirty work.
We live in a world that is reeling from psychic pain, a pain so systemic that it invades every area of our existence. You can see the emptiness in people’s eyes, you can hear the anger in their voices, and you can feel the frustration radiating from their bodies. You may even have been on the receiving end of physical, emotional or verbal violence. It may even have happened to you in church.
You see, the devil comes to church every time we in the church, war and fight with each other. That word said in anger, that critical attitude, that unforgiving spirit, gossip and slander, an accusation with out investigation; every time we fail to simply be kind or demonstrate compassion, give someone the benefit of the doubt we are doing the devils work on his behalf.
The bible is clear about the personification of evil as represented by the devil. It is his job to scheme against all that is good (Ephesians 6:10), to try and turn every good thing into pain. It is also his life’s mission to “go about like a roaring lion seeking whom he might destroy”. His work is to create a counterfeit to all that is God’s, including counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders (2Thessalonians 2:9).
It is time for the church to stop doing the devils work for him.
The church must become a place of safety, emotionally, spiritually and physically.
The church must become a place where forgiveness flows like a mighty river, where love pours down upon those who fail and restores them to new beginnings.
The church must become a place where words of compassion and understanding rise up against judgmental attitudes and where the redeemed people of God seek to understand rather than be understood.
The church must become a place where people can discover truth, uncompromised, but swimming in an attitude love, birthed out of the depth of understanding of who we are and what God himself in Christ Jesus has rescued us from.
The church must become a place where we cut people some slack, but not leave them to rot in their own messes.
The church truly must become a bride, a glorious church, with out stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, holy and blameless. (Ephessians 5:27)
The church can only become a safe place, as you and I allow Christ to transform out attitudes and behaviours into attitudes and behaviours that reflect his character and his nature.
We can accept the wounded and broken and remind ourselves that we too are wounded and broken and if it were not for Jesus, we would not be here.
We can simply refuse to be offended, we can maintain an attitude of instant forgiveness, by not allowing any judgmental word to stick to us or come from us.
We can start by refusing to let our mouths say anything that is not helpful and constructive, whether that is in the form of the spoken word, the written word, or a thought word.
An old spiritual song says “Shut de door, keep out de devil”.
Maybe “de shut door” begins with “de shut mouth!”
Showing posts with label church. Show all posts
Showing posts with label church. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
GET REAL, GET RELEVANT OR GO HOME
The Church in North America is almost an embarrassment to the cause of Jesus Christ. Believers bicker amongst each other. Denominations fight over doctrinal issues. Christians change churches like they change their T shirts. They fight about worship styles, music choices, which translation of the bible is the only Authorized Version. The church is lame and lifeless and it is so because we let it be so.
No wonder know body cares to show up on Sunday. So many churches are out of date, out of touch and hell bent on preserving rituals and forms which long have outlasted their uselessness.
Power hungry leaders and power hungry parishioners fight to gain control. Submission is absent, humility dead, personal sacrifice non existent and personal preference is king. To the out side word we can be seen as nothing more than a poorly run Rotary club that reads bible verses and spends a lot of time bickering.
When will we have the courage to really get it together as the Church the Body of Christ? When will we see that a lost and dying world doesn’t give a darn about our doctrinal differences, our cute pageants, our dead formalism and never ending power struggles and war over worship styles?
We live in a lost and dying world that doesn’t even know it’s lost and dying.
Some people may have tweaked to the fact, that we as a word have a problem. With greed and financial corruption plaguing our monetary system, with divorce and adultery at an all time high, with children being exploited, with women being oppressed, with environmental pollution causing more and more cancer, with large Pharmaceutical companies driving the health care agenda, the increase in child poverty, pedophilia, pornography, prostitution and the ever changing price of gas, you would have to be so ego- centric, self absorbed and down right blind not to know there is a problem.
It is time for the church of Jesus Christ to come to the God of heaven and ask for forgiveness. It is time for the people of God to open their eyes to the death and decay that surrounds their neighborhood. It is time for the church to stand up and RISK engaging a dying world regardless of the personal cost, to risk being relevant, to pay the price to be light and salt, to risk time, creativity, money, reputation, to pick up the cross daily and follow our leader into uncertainty, darkness and the evil places of this world.
After all it cost Jesus Christ His life to give birth to The Church, perhaps it’s time we gave our very lives to save that same church from self seeking believers who have hi-jacked the church for years for their own agenda. It’s time to get real, get relevant or go home!
Jesus said “I will build my church and the gates of hell will not stand up against it”. Any body interested in “RAZING” a little hell?
No wonder know body cares to show up on Sunday. So many churches are out of date, out of touch and hell bent on preserving rituals and forms which long have outlasted their uselessness.
Power hungry leaders and power hungry parishioners fight to gain control. Submission is absent, humility dead, personal sacrifice non existent and personal preference is king. To the out side word we can be seen as nothing more than a poorly run Rotary club that reads bible verses and spends a lot of time bickering.
When will we have the courage to really get it together as the Church the Body of Christ? When will we see that a lost and dying world doesn’t give a darn about our doctrinal differences, our cute pageants, our dead formalism and never ending power struggles and war over worship styles?
We live in a lost and dying world that doesn’t even know it’s lost and dying.
Some people may have tweaked to the fact, that we as a word have a problem. With greed and financial corruption plaguing our monetary system, with divorce and adultery at an all time high, with children being exploited, with women being oppressed, with environmental pollution causing more and more cancer, with large Pharmaceutical companies driving the health care agenda, the increase in child poverty, pedophilia, pornography, prostitution and the ever changing price of gas, you would have to be so ego- centric, self absorbed and down right blind not to know there is a problem.
It is time for the church of Jesus Christ to come to the God of heaven and ask for forgiveness. It is time for the people of God to open their eyes to the death and decay that surrounds their neighborhood. It is time for the church to stand up and RISK engaging a dying world regardless of the personal cost, to risk being relevant, to pay the price to be light and salt, to risk time, creativity, money, reputation, to pick up the cross daily and follow our leader into uncertainty, darkness and the evil places of this world.
After all it cost Jesus Christ His life to give birth to The Church, perhaps it’s time we gave our very lives to save that same church from self seeking believers who have hi-jacked the church for years for their own agenda. It’s time to get real, get relevant or go home!
Jesus said “I will build my church and the gates of hell will not stand up against it”. Any body interested in “RAZING” a little hell?
Thursday, December 4, 2008
The Advent of Christmas
Found this in my Christmas file...no author listed...but worth a read!
For most churches, Advent will began this year on November 30th, the first of the four Sundays before Christmas.
But, like it or not, for most of us, Advent began on or just before Halloween. The Big Box stores began to display an aisle or two of Christmas decorations next to the Halloween masks and the bags of candy. Smaller stores followed suit shortly thereafter. This is the first year I've noticed that Christmas lights are twinkling on the houses in many subdivisions in late November.
Of course, the rest of this article could be given to a rant about how the church needs to take a stand against the commercialization of Christmas and it's time for the church to go on the offensive to put Christ back in Christmas.
But what's the point? As the end of the year looms just ahead, there are no indications that the church has done any better this year over than the last several years. We're likely to have lost yet another million members from our churches by the end of the year. Fighting the Christmas rush isn't going to change that.
As you get your church ready for the holiday season, here are some things to keep in mind that could make a real difference in your community.
Die on the Right Battlefield
I think it's on page 1 of the Momma's Manual: "Child, make sure you choose your battles wisely." The church has been good at picking fights, but it hasn't been very effective at choosing its battles. We keep picking fights we can't win instead of choosing battles that really, really matter. Christmas commercialization is demoralizing, but the church doesn't exist to fight Wal-Mart. The church doesn't exist to end poverty, feed the hungry, house the homeless, end the war, or even to lobby for equal rights for anybody. All these are good causes, but Jesus wasn't born in a manger and didn't die on a cross for a good cause.
The only battle the church has been called to fight is the battle for the souls of the MIAs. Charles Wesley, a great evangelist, changed the culture of England by doing just that. He didn't lobby against anything. He didn't institute soup kitchens for the poor or advocate for the rights of the exploited workers. Instead, he took the gospel to the down-and-outs. The battle he fought was for souls. Period. The results were amazing, but he didn't shift his focus when the tides began to turn. For the church, there's only one battlefield worth dying on.
Be Relevant
In many churches I've worked with, relevancy means projecting worship choruses on a big screen while the worship band thumps the newest beat and the pastor wears a sport's jacket over a t-shirt to preach.
But the fact is, relevancy does not equal adopting culture. Relevancy means responding in ways that are meaningful to those in the culture. Remember the first paragraphs and the launch of Christmas at Halloween? Well, relevancy doesn't mean ignoring the trends. It doesn't mean adopting the trends. And it doesn't mean ranting against the trends.
Being relevant means you first have to note the trends and then respond in a way that is meaningful to those living the trends. The fact that some people are already decorating their homes may mean that the trend of a longer Christmas season is being widely accepted. In some ways this shouldn't be surprising. It was only a couple of weeks ago that the World Series was conflicting with the basketball season and the opening of football season all at the same time. These "extended seasons" are simply a reality that we ignore at our peril. Finding out how they're impacting your community and responding in ways they can hear (and see and feel), is what makes a church relevant.
Offer Respite
"Life is difficult." Scott Peck's famous words state the obvious, but sometimes it seems that the church hasn't quite "got it." Promises of health and wealth seem far removed from reality, and yet it seems you can't find a televised or radio-ized evangelist with a different message. And though you may not advocate such doctrines, never forget that this is one of the prevailing images of Christianity…a people out-of-touch with reality.
The church can't cure all the ills of society. It can't even cure all the ills of its own members. But the church can offer real respite from the travails that cloud people's lives by advocating, teaching, and modeling real spiritual disciplines. Virtually everyone in North America claims to be a spiritual being, and yet there is a great hunger for spiritual practices that make a difference in life. The church is poised as the potential leader in satisfying this hunger by getting serious and offering a respite of the spirit.
During this holiday season, consider offering classes out in the public eye that connect spiritual practices with real people. Consider teaching beginning and advanced meditation practices, labyrinth prayer walking, prayer-bead making (and related prayer practices), journaling, and so on. Market these classes as opportunities to change the holiday season into a holy-day season.
But don't stop with offering these classes to the masses. Until the church gets serious about its own practices, she will continue to flounder. Take the time this season to coach your people beyond the typical Advent Devotional from the Bible Book Store (or your computer). Coach them into fasting, prayer walking, journaling, and into accountability groups. Mentor them until these have become spiritual habits.
The world might notice,if the Church got serious about being the Church.
For most churches, Advent will began this year on November 30th, the first of the four Sundays before Christmas.
But, like it or not, for most of us, Advent began on or just before Halloween. The Big Box stores began to display an aisle or two of Christmas decorations next to the Halloween masks and the bags of candy. Smaller stores followed suit shortly thereafter. This is the first year I've noticed that Christmas lights are twinkling on the houses in many subdivisions in late November.
Of course, the rest of this article could be given to a rant about how the church needs to take a stand against the commercialization of Christmas and it's time for the church to go on the offensive to put Christ back in Christmas.
But what's the point? As the end of the year looms just ahead, there are no indications that the church has done any better this year over than the last several years. We're likely to have lost yet another million members from our churches by the end of the year. Fighting the Christmas rush isn't going to change that.
As you get your church ready for the holiday season, here are some things to keep in mind that could make a real difference in your community.
Die on the Right Battlefield
I think it's on page 1 of the Momma's Manual: "Child, make sure you choose your battles wisely." The church has been good at picking fights, but it hasn't been very effective at choosing its battles. We keep picking fights we can't win instead of choosing battles that really, really matter. Christmas commercialization is demoralizing, but the church doesn't exist to fight Wal-Mart. The church doesn't exist to end poverty, feed the hungry, house the homeless, end the war, or even to lobby for equal rights for anybody. All these are good causes, but Jesus wasn't born in a manger and didn't die on a cross for a good cause.
The only battle the church has been called to fight is the battle for the souls of the MIAs. Charles Wesley, a great evangelist, changed the culture of England by doing just that. He didn't lobby against anything. He didn't institute soup kitchens for the poor or advocate for the rights of the exploited workers. Instead, he took the gospel to the down-and-outs. The battle he fought was for souls. Period. The results were amazing, but he didn't shift his focus when the tides began to turn. For the church, there's only one battlefield worth dying on.
Be Relevant
In many churches I've worked with, relevancy means projecting worship choruses on a big screen while the worship band thumps the newest beat and the pastor wears a sport's jacket over a t-shirt to preach.
But the fact is, relevancy does not equal adopting culture. Relevancy means responding in ways that are meaningful to those in the culture. Remember the first paragraphs and the launch of Christmas at Halloween? Well, relevancy doesn't mean ignoring the trends. It doesn't mean adopting the trends. And it doesn't mean ranting against the trends.
Being relevant means you first have to note the trends and then respond in a way that is meaningful to those living the trends. The fact that some people are already decorating their homes may mean that the trend of a longer Christmas season is being widely accepted. In some ways this shouldn't be surprising. It was only a couple of weeks ago that the World Series was conflicting with the basketball season and the opening of football season all at the same time. These "extended seasons" are simply a reality that we ignore at our peril. Finding out how they're impacting your community and responding in ways they can hear (and see and feel), is what makes a church relevant.
Offer Respite
"Life is difficult." Scott Peck's famous words state the obvious, but sometimes it seems that the church hasn't quite "got it." Promises of health and wealth seem far removed from reality, and yet it seems you can't find a televised or radio-ized evangelist with a different message. And though you may not advocate such doctrines, never forget that this is one of the prevailing images of Christianity…a people out-of-touch with reality.
The church can't cure all the ills of society. It can't even cure all the ills of its own members. But the church can offer real respite from the travails that cloud people's lives by advocating, teaching, and modeling real spiritual disciplines. Virtually everyone in North America claims to be a spiritual being, and yet there is a great hunger for spiritual practices that make a difference in life. The church is poised as the potential leader in satisfying this hunger by getting serious and offering a respite of the spirit.
During this holiday season, consider offering classes out in the public eye that connect spiritual practices with real people. Consider teaching beginning and advanced meditation practices, labyrinth prayer walking, prayer-bead making (and related prayer practices), journaling, and so on. Market these classes as opportunities to change the holiday season into a holy-day season.
But don't stop with offering these classes to the masses. Until the church gets serious about its own practices, she will continue to flounder. Take the time this season to coach your people beyond the typical Advent Devotional from the Bible Book Store (or your computer). Coach them into fasting, prayer walking, journaling, and into accountability groups. Mentor them until these have become spiritual habits.
The world might notice,if the Church got serious about being the Church.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
NOW THAT'S AGRESSIVE,what do you think?
7 Ways We Keep Church Hoppers from Staying
Reposted from Brian Jones.com
I think two of the most dangerous influences any church faces are: (1) Spiritual leaders who have lost their first love and (2) the onslaught of church hoppers. Having wavered before in my faith and flirted with losing my first love with God, I know firsthand how dangerous the first one can be. But that's something we spiritual leaders have control over. The second one...not so much.
I call church hoppers “connoisseurs of fine churches” because they’re continually on a quest to find the church that is spiritual enough for them, will endlessly engorge themselves on the “services” of the churches they attend, and always have a critical word to say afterwards whenever “church” doesn’t meet their standards.
Here are seven things we try to do to keep church hoppers from wearing out their welcome.
#1 Ask church hoppers to commit to tithing and serving in your 101-201-301 classes
That usually takes care of it right there. Because church hoppers are consumers by nature, anything that strikes them as sacrificial will surely turn them off. As a ministry friend of mine used to tell me, “At the first sign of trouble, raise the bar.”
#2 Tell your people to stop inviting their Christian friends to church
This past Sunday I may have been one of the few pastors out there that stood up and said, “Please DO NOT invite your Christians friends to our Easter services. We want other churches in the area to know we have their back. Also, we want to grow this church through conversion growth, not transfer growth. Let’s pack this place out with people who are keeping God up at night because they are living far from him.” I strategically do that 3-4 times a year.
#3 Preach short sermons
Howard Hendricks used to say, “Keep them longing, not loathing.” I buy into that philosophy. I try to speak anywhere between 21 and 26 minutes max. That drives church hoppers nuts because they want to “be fed.” I’m not interested in “feeding people” unless they are in the early stages of their spiritual journey. Church hoppers as well as Christians further along their spiritual journey need to be feeding themselves. Anything I provide on Sunday morning should be in addition to their own self-directed spiritual nourishment. One point, one scripture, 21-26 minutes, that’s enough.
#4 Don’t sing 9,345 worship songs
Church hoppers, 9 times out of 10, came from a church background where they were taught they needed 5-6 worship songs to really connect with God. That needs to be re-taught. Where did we get the idea that worship = singing anyway? That’s part of it, but only a small part of it. Every part of the service is worship. Every part of my life is worship. Limiting your worship songs except for occasions when you are led by God to expand the repertoire forces people to recognize this or leave.
#5 Keep your services short
We keep our services to 55 minutes, period. That’s it. That’s because we believe “church” is more than the official service that happens on a Sunday morning. It’s what happens before, during and afterwards. It’s what happens during the week when 2-3 gather. Experiencing a well-conceived 55 minute service to the church hopper is like spending your whole life overeating and then sitting down for a healthy, well-proportioned meal that someone else serves you. “Hey, I’m used to eating 16 pieces of fried chicken for dinner and 8 servings of bread! Why do I only get two? Waah.”
#6 Eliminate Christian “insider” language from the way you talk on the stage
The fact that I say “Leader” and “forgiver” from the stage drives church hoppers nuts. “You meant to say ‘Savior and Lord,' didn’t you?” At issue is an old mission’s word called “contextualization,” which basically means we need to speak in the language and culture of the hearer, not the speaker. The Greek word “kurios” doesn’t mean “Lord” in 21st century American idiom. Your old Bible translation from 50 years ago may read that way, but people aren’t talking that way today. Challenge your “insider” language and watch how church hoppers and their friends file right out of your services.
#7 Sing Non-Christian songs in your services on occasion
This past weekend we opened our service with Jet’s “Are you Gonna be My Girl?”
On Monday I promptly received an email about it…
This past weekend, I could not believe my ears. When worship opened up, I heard the opening chords for Jet’s- "Are you going to be my girl?" I was expecting the Apologetix parody version, “Are you gonna be Ike's girl?”
But in listening to the lyrics it sounded like they were covering the actual Jet Song – a song about figuring out how to get a one night stand, for a girl who came to some club or party with another guy.
I am hoping that I was mistaken and they were playing the Christian Parody version because I am having a real issue with wrapping my head around why it would be remotely ‘OK’ to play this content in a worship service.
There is a line between having a light fun service to reach the new/non-believer and cheapening the value and truth that the gospel can stand alone to reach out to someone. This may have crossed it.
Frustrated…
Name Withheld
Here was my response…
Frustrated,
I got your email and appreciate you taking the time to shoot me your thoughts.
I must say that while I appreciate your concern, this is certainly not the first nor will it be the last time we sing non-Christian music in our worship services.
We do this because we are trying to reach both non-Christians as well as Christians in the same service, and playing a non-Christian song up front in the service, we have learned, puts people far from God at ease.
Our philosophy has always been that Christians should be the ones that should be made the most uncomfortable in church, not the non-Christians. The way I put it is this -- we will always choose to offend the Christians before the non-Christians.
Seeing that you are frustrated, and given the fact that I talked with a bunch of people far from God on Sunday who loved the energy of the song and felt connected to the service because of it, it appears that we have achieved our goal.
My suggestion is this -- weigh carefully whether or not you want to be a part of a church that sings music like this, and plays difficult to watch video clips, and a host of other things to reach people far from God. If not, then now would be the time to look for another church before you put down roots too deep.
If on the other hand this is the kind of church you want to be a part of, I would welcome you to join in with everything you have and start reaching out to people far from God.
I hope this helps.
Thanks!
Brian
Church hoppers can be a lethal bunch, so don’t make them too cozy. However, and I’ll blog about this at another time – please remember that God can also be leading some of those people to your church too. But that’s a post for another day.
Reposted from Brian Jones.com
I think two of the most dangerous influences any church faces are: (1) Spiritual leaders who have lost their first love and (2) the onslaught of church hoppers. Having wavered before in my faith and flirted with losing my first love with God, I know firsthand how dangerous the first one can be. But that's something we spiritual leaders have control over. The second one...not so much.
I call church hoppers “connoisseurs of fine churches” because they’re continually on a quest to find the church that is spiritual enough for them, will endlessly engorge themselves on the “services” of the churches they attend, and always have a critical word to say afterwards whenever “church” doesn’t meet their standards.
Here are seven things we try to do to keep church hoppers from wearing out their welcome.
#1 Ask church hoppers to commit to tithing and serving in your 101-201-301 classes
That usually takes care of it right there. Because church hoppers are consumers by nature, anything that strikes them as sacrificial will surely turn them off. As a ministry friend of mine used to tell me, “At the first sign of trouble, raise the bar.”
#2 Tell your people to stop inviting their Christian friends to church
This past Sunday I may have been one of the few pastors out there that stood up and said, “Please DO NOT invite your Christians friends to our Easter services. We want other churches in the area to know we have their back. Also, we want to grow this church through conversion growth, not transfer growth. Let’s pack this place out with people who are keeping God up at night because they are living far from him.” I strategically do that 3-4 times a year.
#3 Preach short sermons
Howard Hendricks used to say, “Keep them longing, not loathing.” I buy into that philosophy. I try to speak anywhere between 21 and 26 minutes max. That drives church hoppers nuts because they want to “be fed.” I’m not interested in “feeding people” unless they are in the early stages of their spiritual journey. Church hoppers as well as Christians further along their spiritual journey need to be feeding themselves. Anything I provide on Sunday morning should be in addition to their own self-directed spiritual nourishment. One point, one scripture, 21-26 minutes, that’s enough.
#4 Don’t sing 9,345 worship songs
Church hoppers, 9 times out of 10, came from a church background where they were taught they needed 5-6 worship songs to really connect with God. That needs to be re-taught. Where did we get the idea that worship = singing anyway? That’s part of it, but only a small part of it. Every part of the service is worship. Every part of my life is worship. Limiting your worship songs except for occasions when you are led by God to expand the repertoire forces people to recognize this or leave.
#5 Keep your services short
We keep our services to 55 minutes, period. That’s it. That’s because we believe “church” is more than the official service that happens on a Sunday morning. It’s what happens before, during and afterwards. It’s what happens during the week when 2-3 gather. Experiencing a well-conceived 55 minute service to the church hopper is like spending your whole life overeating and then sitting down for a healthy, well-proportioned meal that someone else serves you. “Hey, I’m used to eating 16 pieces of fried chicken for dinner and 8 servings of bread! Why do I only get two? Waah.”
#6 Eliminate Christian “insider” language from the way you talk on the stage
The fact that I say “Leader” and “forgiver” from the stage drives church hoppers nuts. “You meant to say ‘Savior and Lord,' didn’t you?” At issue is an old mission’s word called “contextualization,” which basically means we need to speak in the language and culture of the hearer, not the speaker. The Greek word “kurios” doesn’t mean “Lord” in 21st century American idiom. Your old Bible translation from 50 years ago may read that way, but people aren’t talking that way today. Challenge your “insider” language and watch how church hoppers and their friends file right out of your services.
#7 Sing Non-Christian songs in your services on occasion
This past weekend we opened our service with Jet’s “Are you Gonna be My Girl?”
On Monday I promptly received an email about it…
This past weekend, I could not believe my ears. When worship opened up, I heard the opening chords for Jet’s- "Are you going to be my girl?" I was expecting the Apologetix parody version, “Are you gonna be Ike's girl?”
But in listening to the lyrics it sounded like they were covering the actual Jet Song – a song about figuring out how to get a one night stand, for a girl who came to some club or party with another guy.
I am hoping that I was mistaken and they were playing the Christian Parody version because I am having a real issue with wrapping my head around why it would be remotely ‘OK’ to play this content in a worship service.
There is a line between having a light fun service to reach the new/non-believer and cheapening the value and truth that the gospel can stand alone to reach out to someone. This may have crossed it.
Frustrated…
Name Withheld
Here was my response…
Frustrated,
I got your email and appreciate you taking the time to shoot me your thoughts.
I must say that while I appreciate your concern, this is certainly not the first nor will it be the last time we sing non-Christian music in our worship services.
We do this because we are trying to reach both non-Christians as well as Christians in the same service, and playing a non-Christian song up front in the service, we have learned, puts people far from God at ease.
Our philosophy has always been that Christians should be the ones that should be made the most uncomfortable in church, not the non-Christians. The way I put it is this -- we will always choose to offend the Christians before the non-Christians.
Seeing that you are frustrated, and given the fact that I talked with a bunch of people far from God on Sunday who loved the energy of the song and felt connected to the service because of it, it appears that we have achieved our goal.
My suggestion is this -- weigh carefully whether or not you want to be a part of a church that sings music like this, and plays difficult to watch video clips, and a host of other things to reach people far from God. If not, then now would be the time to look for another church before you put down roots too deep.
If on the other hand this is the kind of church you want to be a part of, I would welcome you to join in with everything you have and start reaching out to people far from God.
I hope this helps.
Thanks!
Brian
Church hoppers can be a lethal bunch, so don’t make them too cozy. However, and I’ll blog about this at another time – please remember that God can also be leading some of those people to your church too. But that’s a post for another day.
Friday, April 11, 2008
POP GOES THE CHURCH
"Would your community be any different if your church disappeared tomorrow? Have you ever asked yourself this question? Have you ever considered it with others at your church? If your church suddenly disappeared, could the community even recover? Or would they go on as though nothing at all had changed?
What is happening at your church that is worth talking about? When people leave your service, are they thinking about the e-mails they need to send and the football game they want to watch—or are they thinking deeply about their own choices and thinking how they might make a difference in some one's life this week?
Sadly, for most of us, the answer is a resounding “no.” We didn't even have to think that long about the answer. Our church is great for our friends, our family, and us, but there is little measurable impact on the community. There is little happening that is making a difference outside of the few dozen or couple hundred who regularly attend.
Wouldn't it be great if a local church had a vision big enough to capture people's hearts and motivate them to action, so it had an impact on the community? Wouldn't it be awesome if a church was so effective people began following Jesus, growing in their faith, and as a result, the community was being loved and served?
I love the way John 1:14 is written in The Message. It says Christ “became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood.” He came to us—met us where we were. In Jesus' case, the neighborhood was a rural, agricultural society in first century Palestine. He immersed himself in that culture. He wore the clothes, used the language, and illustrated his stories with the signs and symbols of the day to communicate the Gospel of an upside down kingdom here on earth.
If Jesus physically entered twenty-first century America, I believe he would do much as he did in the first century. He would hang out with normal people in the real world, and he would reserve his strongest words for the entrenched religious leaders who love their traditions more than they love their people. I believe he expects no less from us.
The goal of Pop Goes the Church is to stretch your thinking. If you have bought into the belief that church is exclusively for building up the believers, I want you to reconsider. If you think a church service cannot help believers grow AND be attractive to non-believers, I want to convince you that it can. If you have never experienced a church service that stays true to the Bible AND is comfortable for your non-religious friends and you don't think it is even possible, I want you to explore the possibility. The community around you is dying without Jesus, and it is your God-ordained duty to wrestle until you find the best way to reach them. And once you do, don't apologize. "
Check Out the book POP GOES THE CHURCH by Tim Stevens, I dare you!
My Comments:
It is time we valued our neighbours relationship to God more than our own needs for religious comfort. It is time for the church to learn to colour outside the lines of our narrow mindedness about what is or is not worship. It is time to get real and be relevant about our relationship to Jesus Christ and His relevancy to the "pop culture" of today.
It is pretty scary when the American Idol contestants can sing a worship song as their opening number and the church is still debating about the relevance of POP CULTURE in our services. Even the great Idol marketing machine understands the significance of relating to various cultural groups to get their message out!
Get relevant, get real or go home...actually it is DIE!
The church has a God given obligation to reach this generation,with out compromising the truth that she has inherited. Methods change,the message remains the same. Methods change, the mission must never change.
What is happening at your church that is worth talking about? When people leave your service, are they thinking about the e-mails they need to send and the football game they want to watch—or are they thinking deeply about their own choices and thinking how they might make a difference in some one's life this week?
Sadly, for most of us, the answer is a resounding “no.” We didn't even have to think that long about the answer. Our church is great for our friends, our family, and us, but there is little measurable impact on the community. There is little happening that is making a difference outside of the few dozen or couple hundred who regularly attend.
Wouldn't it be great if a local church had a vision big enough to capture people's hearts and motivate them to action, so it had an impact on the community? Wouldn't it be awesome if a church was so effective people began following Jesus, growing in their faith, and as a result, the community was being loved and served?
I love the way John 1:14 is written in The Message. It says Christ “became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood.” He came to us—met us where we were. In Jesus' case, the neighborhood was a rural, agricultural society in first century Palestine. He immersed himself in that culture. He wore the clothes, used the language, and illustrated his stories with the signs and symbols of the day to communicate the Gospel of an upside down kingdom here on earth.
If Jesus physically entered twenty-first century America, I believe he would do much as he did in the first century. He would hang out with normal people in the real world, and he would reserve his strongest words for the entrenched religious leaders who love their traditions more than they love their people. I believe he expects no less from us.
The goal of Pop Goes the Church is to stretch your thinking. If you have bought into the belief that church is exclusively for building up the believers, I want you to reconsider. If you think a church service cannot help believers grow AND be attractive to non-believers, I want to convince you that it can. If you have never experienced a church service that stays true to the Bible AND is comfortable for your non-religious friends and you don't think it is even possible, I want you to explore the possibility. The community around you is dying without Jesus, and it is your God-ordained duty to wrestle until you find the best way to reach them. And once you do, don't apologize. "
Check Out the book POP GOES THE CHURCH by Tim Stevens, I dare you!
My Comments:
It is time we valued our neighbours relationship to God more than our own needs for religious comfort. It is time for the church to learn to colour outside the lines of our narrow mindedness about what is or is not worship. It is time to get real and be relevant about our relationship to Jesus Christ and His relevancy to the "pop culture" of today.
It is pretty scary when the American Idol contestants can sing a worship song as their opening number and the church is still debating about the relevance of POP CULTURE in our services. Even the great Idol marketing machine understands the significance of relating to various cultural groups to get their message out!
Get relevant, get real or go home...actually it is DIE!
The church has a God given obligation to reach this generation,with out compromising the truth that she has inherited. Methods change,the message remains the same. Methods change, the mission must never change.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)