Here is the church, here is the steeple, open the door and...wait where's the people?

  O.K. so that was probably a really lame title, but don't hate, appreciate. So, what I want to discuss is the church, or for those of you who don't get the definition, the people (i.e. the church = people who are involved with said group). Casey recently wrote about him attending a mega church here in town. Where he said that 30 people were saved in a night. 30 people being saved is an amazing victory for God's kingdom. I figured I'd put that in bold in case someone misunderstands what I'm about to say, out of those 30 people how many truly become disciples of Christ and make an impact on the world around them? In a church like that, not many in my opinion. There is a great disconnect in larger churches between mentors and the young christians...or at least that's how I felt when I attended.

  As a child of 7 I was annoyed to be seperated from my mother in a strange place with unnaturally kind people. Albeit I'd attended church most of my life. When I was born my Dad was a part time music minister at a local church, then when I turned 5 we moved to Kansas so he could pursue his calling of being a youth minister. That lasted around a year and a half until my parents divorced, mostly it was communication issues between them. However, the lack of abuse or scandal involved was not enough for the church to be easy on my Dad and they fired him and pretty much kiboshed him from leading a Baptist church ever again. Needless to say it put a damper on my joy to be at church. Alright, now that the rabbit is fully chased back to 7 year old David. I'm attending the same church Casey mentioned in the previous post...I hate it....there's like 70 kids in one room and the 3 teachers are completely overwhelmed....I spend the whole class coloring Jesus green and then eating that crayon...it was tasty. I felt absolutely nothing for the church, or at that time, God. It didn't mean anything to me, the only human connotation I had was a church killing my Dad's joy (or at least that's how I saw it then).

  A few years later I started attending my current church. It began to reignite my joy at church, one of the reasons was that I had life long friends who attended the church. I began attending AWANA meetings and learned more and more about God, I had accepted Christ as a young child, but this really laid the ground work for His rule in my life. Later on I moved up to youth. All the while I'd been worked on by God at school and church with connections between people.

 All this janky background story to say, at it's most basic level, the church is all about people. In my opinion human connection and desire to work on God's mission is what makes a church. Obviously, mega-churches have their appeal, otherwise they wouldn't be mega-churches, but I never got it. Church to me is a group of people banding together to shine a light to the world and hopefully live a life filled with impact. Unfortunately, most churches are the complete opposite. Many churches have become places of comfort and normalcy, a hide away for christians to fill themselves up on sunshine and roses before they face the daunting task of living a lie at work, school, whatever. 


How is it that people have a good connotation with Jesus, but not his people? Churches have been built up into obelisks to themselves. People who know Christ in America are so, weak. We want to live the the American dream of Red, White, Blue, and Green (yes, a Switchfoot omage) which is contradictory to the gospel. We can't live both...we measure our churches success in numbers...attendance, baptisms, etc. We get so wrapped up in income, new paint, worship styles, pulpit .v. no pulpit...we forget the reason we meet together, for the glory and worship of Christ Jesus. 


  How do we fix a mentality? It's something I think about quite a bit actually, our churches have lost all impact on their communities. First of all we have to start making disciples and not just sheep, people who don't have any interest on changing someones life....they're just are there because going to church is what good people are supposed to do.. Here are my thoughts, they probably suck, but let's give it a shot...


Numero uno: Keep yourself in check, live with impact- If you're going to convince other people that our Christian culture is getting it twisted you have to live it. Be a disciple of Christ and share your love with other people, through words and actions.


Numero dos: Get comfortable being uncomfortable - If church is your refuge, check yo-self. Ask questions, don't be afraid to look dumb. If you don't know someone, introduce yourself. Talk to people of different generations and ask them actual questions.


Numero tres: Be real - If we all continue to say "I'm fine" when we're dying on the inside, it's a recipe for fakeness and disaster...and if we're really all that apathetic we're in for a world of hurt, but that's another post.


Numero cuatro: Get involved in your community and your world - Look for opportunities to help local families, schools, businesses, etc. And then try to get other people involved in your endeavors. Obviously, you need to check yourself for cockiness here. Also, there are tons of ways to get involved with your world...the simplest being prayer. Pretty soon I'll put together a list of ways to get involved in the world.


Numero cinco: Lovingly correct people, or at least start the conversation - If someone draws an extra-biblical standard for you or someone other than themselves ask them about it. If someone complains about not enough hymns or too many hymns...ask them where in the bible it gives a hymn to CCM ratio. Obviously not like that. To be honest I'm really bad at this one, I have a tendency to include sarcasm or just jump straight to rudeness. Just start the conversation, "why do you think we need more hymns?" , "O.K. well is that in the Bible?", "If not, why do you think it's right?"


Numero seis: "Do work son" - Like the three teachers I mentioned at the mega church, most church workers are completely overwhelmed. Be willing to work, whether that be at church, school, or along the road as someone gets stuck in a snow storm. Actually, don't just be willing to work...be looking for opportunities. Crazy? I know right.


So, that's what I've got for now, it's 1:30 a.m. and I should be asleep. If this is completely wrong, let me know. I think this should be a running list of how to change our church and the perception of christians nation wide. Or not...your call.

I need to shave, the beard is beginning to curl....
     -David