church is messed up, y'all...
Written on 12/28/2008 08:51:00 AM by Miles
So, I've posted earlier entries on this blog regarding living life as Jesus would and called them "Gut Check." These were posts that dealt with things that I personally struggle with doing as a Christian. But, I don't know if I've ever really posted any opinion(s) that I have on the church, partially because I have some guilt with it and more so because I know several of you that read here are directly involved in church leadership. But, blog communities are supposed to be the most authentic, right? Well, here goes...
I came across an article yesterday morning that really confirmed a lot of things that I've been thinking about church since I moved to Arizona just over two years ago. The article was titled, "How Many Christians Does it Take to Unscrew the Church?" (you can read it by clicking on the title)
Let me say that my church history (if you will) would be that I came from a church with 100 attendees on Easter that had a very inward-focused congregation to a much larger church of ~1200 attendees that seemed totally outward/community-focused. It was definitely a big culture shock for me. What I found with this experience, along with many others since, is that I feel that what we're making "church" in our culture is a far cry from what Jesus designed it to be. Keith Giles gives his take on this in the article, and says that we have changed the model of church to an organizational one versus the organism model that God designed it to be. Here's a quote from Giles:I know that Jesus had something amazing in mind when He designed His Church. It wasn't meant to be a burden to His people. He modelled and inspired a family of faith where everyone was gifted to serve and empowered to encourage and heal and edify and inspire the rest. Of course, the problem is that we have chosen to try it our own way and this is what we get - tired and empty and run down.
Read the rest of the article and let me know your thoughts. Do you agree or disagree? I'd love to hear what you all think.
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i know i came to this post a little late... we had an interesting discussion at home church last night about "what is the church/what do you think the church is/gut reaction to the word 'church.'" something i came away with is an understanding that i personally have transitioned from applying the word 'church' to anything local. i don't go to church, i don't talk about 'my church.' i word church for me has come to represent only that which is global - the people across the planet who believe in a mission left to us by Jesus, who we call savior. when i talk about what i experience locally, it's simply my community. my spiritual family. i want to try to have a perspective of the church that isn't bound by one particular congregation's way of doing things, or belief systems & creeds. everyone has a loyalty to their own "church local," and that's fine & good because our personalities resonate with different expressions of faith, which is why local communities are important. but a global perspective of church is really important, in my opinion, insomuch as the word 'church' should refer to what ties us together instead of what separates us. not 'my' church, but THE church.
i just now got to this comment (I should be blogging more, but oh well...no promises)- good comments, Matt-choo. I'm still processing all of this stuff, myself. The more I think about it, the more I realize that I've spent a lot of time thinking about it and not living life with others or loving my enemies. I feel that, for me, a transferral of energy needs to happen.