The Church in America

I have a feeling we are going to hear more stories like this one. The pastor was just trying to make some changes and and someone threatens his families life. Now that sounds like good Christian ethics. Orlando has already had interesting events of pastors getting raked over the coals because of changes they are trying to make in their churches. They just don’t always end up on the news. I’m guessing some of the same things may be happening where you are. Frankly it’s sickening. Church goers bunkered down in their churches acting this way need to get a life. O’ I want to say more but (red faced with indignation).  For pete’s sakes, my non believing neighbors behave better than this. If someone had done that to me, my whole family would have stood our ground and called them out.

Here an excerpt from the story.

- A Central Florida pastor has taken a leave of absence from his church after he received threatening notes and letters, including one placed in his hymn book, following the removal of the U.S. flag from the sanctuary… Read the rest of the story here.

The Provocative Church blog wrote about thoughts on Discipleship. Since it was so well written I am gleaning, simplifying and adding some of my own thoughts. Check out his site for other insights as well.

• Disciples aren’t made effectively in classes. Jesus didn’t disciple in a classroom. Disciples are made within the messiness of real life. There is no substitute for it. People want to see how faith intersects real issues, struggles and challenges in life. You can’t teach that in a classroom.

• Never equate longevity with maturity. It is possible to be in the church a long time but not have increasing evidence of Jesus’ indwelling. Any congregation can become a spiritual club, where graytops are merely infants in diapers.

• Charisma doesn’t guarantee transformation. Having spiritual manners — even some spiritual sensitivity — doesn’t make you mature. Nice people are adept at fooling others.

• Effective Discipleship is measured not by church attendance, but by the spiritual and physical transformation that happens around us in the environment we live in. Isn’t this want we want to duplicate?

• Spiritual Transformation. Dramatic changes in purpose, attitudes, behavior and lifestyle, characterized by actions of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control that reflect a commitment and obedience to Jesus Christ.

• Disciples create spiritual movements, the results of ordinary everyday followers of Jesus taking adventurous steps of faith in a grass roots environment to help facilitate spiritual and physical transformation. Changing lives is why most of us got into ministry. Running a Church has trapped us under its own load of responsibility making it difficult for most of us to thrive in a grass roots environment.

Lets look at some more basics.

Spiritual Movements usually burst forth at the grass roots level and usually stop within the limitations of the corporate or institutional level.

Here are some of the obstacles that limit the average Church from succeeding at the grass roots level.

• Structural and staff maintenance costs and debt
• Institutional corporate and legal limitations
• Higher Fuel and food prices and lower wages
• Hierarchal Control
• Loss of Integrity
• More focus on assimilation (inside the walls) vs discipleship (outside the walls)
• Competition – Did I mention Control?

Quote of the Day

“I would like to buy $3 worth of God, please – not enough to explode my soul or disturb my sleep, but just enough to equal a cup of warm milk or a snooze in the sunshine. I don’t want enough of him to make me love a foreigner or pick beets with a migrant worker. I want ecstasy, not transformation; I want the warmth of a womb, not a new birth. I want a pound of the Eternal in a paper sack. I’d like to buy $3 worth of God, please.”

- Wilbur Rees

Sound familiar?