I believe the church needs to be for the unchurched. That means we are about reaching the unconvinced. Why do we do all these programs for people who already are convinced. It's time to break out of the "church" and get into the lives of those who so desperately need to hear the message of hope that we carry around. For so long, it seems to me, everything the church does is focused on itself. Since when is following Christ supposed to be about ones self. The music geared towards believers with words and phrases like "the blood of the Lamb", "halleluah" and "Lamb of God" which seem to be confusing to those who are not part of the church culture. Even evangelism, sharing ones faith, seems to have become consumer driven. We take classes, set aside a day and time to go "evangelize" and place another notch in our discipleship belt. Our preaching seems to have become irrelevant and boring. We exegete and alliterate people into the grave. God forbid what we preach is boring and irrelevant to our culture today. The bible says that "David served his generation." What generation are we trying to reach with preaching methods of the past? It's time to update our style. We must change the method not the message. Our vision needs to be in concrete and our method in sand. It's been a one sided issue for so long.
But then the seek sensitive movement showed up and swung the pendulum the other way. Everything they did as a church was all about those who don't know Christ to the detriment of believers, who still needed growth. I don't fault their motives but I believe there needs to be balance in ministry. It's not just about us. It has been said that Christianity is one generation away from extinction. We must teach our kids our faith but we must also reach the world and bring in new blood to infuse God's church with health and growth. It cannot be all about us or all about them.
I believe church needs to be about both. That the culture of the church and the world should coincide in such a way as to attract and enhance the cause of Christ in this world. Jesus said that we are in the world but not of it. We need to have the nature of Christ to reach the culture of this world by redeeming those very things of the culture that distracts people from the reality of Christ. Which means we cannot be irrelevant to this world by ignoring the culture. When we do that we are basically saying do it our way or you can go to hell. Talk our talk, do our stuff, the way we set it up and you are in the "in" club. I say do away with that and start being real. Stop being Barbie doll Christians with perpetual smiles while the whole time our lives are in a state of hurt. It's time we have a church that is authentic, real, and relevant. A church not afraid to reach into the muck of the world and get our hands dirty and our hearts alive with love for the lost. A church that is not afraid to have "sinners" show up on Sunday and ask the hard questions.
But then the seek sensitive movement showed up and swung the pendulum the other way. Everything they did as a church was all about those who don't know Christ to the detriment of believers, who still needed growth. I don't fault their motives but I believe there needs to be balance in ministry. It's not just about us. It has been said that Christianity is one generation away from extinction. We must teach our kids our faith but we must also reach the world and bring in new blood to infuse God's church with health and growth. It cannot be all about us or all about them.
I believe church needs to be about both. That the culture of the church and the world should coincide in such a way as to attract and enhance the cause of Christ in this world. Jesus said that we are in the world but not of it. We need to have the nature of Christ to reach the culture of this world by redeeming those very things of the culture that distracts people from the reality of Christ. Which means we cannot be irrelevant to this world by ignoring the culture. When we do that we are basically saying do it our way or you can go to hell. Talk our talk, do our stuff, the way we set it up and you are in the "in" club. I say do away with that and start being real. Stop being Barbie doll Christians with perpetual smiles while the whole time our lives are in a state of hurt. It's time we have a church that is authentic, real, and relevant. A church not afraid to reach into the muck of the world and get our hands dirty and our hearts alive with love for the lost. A church that is not afraid to have "sinners" show up on Sunday and ask the hard questions.
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