I'm feeling nostalgic. I've been reading old posts of mine on theooze. It's really pretty funny. Do you ever get the feeling that you used to be smarter, or at least knew how to put your feelings into words better? Anyway...here's an old post of mine. I've changed a few things, but its basically the same:

The Church™ Is Dead
Like the great Cathedrals of Europe, we've become a nice place to visit but nothing alive is happening here…it’s simply a picture of the past. Our Christian music, candy bars, books…the whole thing is one big festering carcass plugged into the consumer life support system and no one is willing to pull the plug. Each year Christians (especially in America) chunk billions into the Christian Culture machine, buying various Christian Brands, and what do we have to show for it? Have we made an impact for Christ?

Every week millions sit in meetings called worship services next to people they do not know, hearing messages from those that do not know them...calling it fellowship. The tithe has become a modern indulgence, paying for someone else to do the works of Christ in the world. Worship itself has become nothing more than a smorgasbord, a spiritual buffet, based more upon the current musical style and emotion than the real awe of God. In our American Band Stand mentality we rate our worship as if it were something that could or should be measured ("its got a good beat, but I can't dance to it"). We even talk about our musicians, teachers, and pastors as if they were the latest American Idol to be worshipped.

Discipleship has little or nothing to do with life…because we view most of our lives as being in the way of discipleship. I mean, what does my job and the people there have to do with Jesus? I'd have more time to be with Jesus if I didn't have all these other things going on. We view discipleship as pockets of time where we can be discipled by escaping the world into classrooms in facilities that cost too much. Nevermind that Jesus discipled his followers in the midst of life...the world was his classroom. The words of Jesus have no meaning for us in reality. He has saved us for Heaven only, and His words need to be spiritualized or made into self-improvement mantra to be grasped. He surely didn’t mean those things he said! He surely didn’t mean for us to give up our possessions…not really. He surely didn’t mean for us to invite homeless people into our homes…surely not! He could not have told us to give more to those who steal from us….How could he? How could anyone accept that?

We talk about evangelism: How to do it. Why to do it. What words to say. The words not to say. We practice it with diagrams and charts. We have the steps all laid out. But do our lives overflow with the grace and love of Christ? And once we do win them, are we like the Pharisees who make them twice as much children of hell as ourselves? We take them so quickly from awareness and honesty to the façades of self-righteousness and civility. “Happy slaves, [we who] owe…that delicate and refined taste on which [we] pride ourselves; that sweetness of character and that urbanity in mores which make relationships among [us] so cordial and easy; in a word, the appearances of all the virtues with having any.” –Rousseau

We’ve created this nice little world for ourselves. Safe in a foreign land, but yet much more like the natives than we admit. Our differences are shallow. They are in taste and style, but not in meaning or life. The Church™ is dead and someone should pull the plug. Maybe then, when we quit trying to resucitate this dead rotting corpse, maybe then we can experience the resurrection of Christ's body.
posted by Jimmy at 8:24 PM | |