I have taken a break from my blog not because I have nothing to say, but because I did not know how to put it into words. I have put together a list of things that I think are wrong with Christians and the church. The thing that bothers me is that I do some of these things from time to time.
I want to publicly tell God that I am sorry about those times I have lived in the ways described below.
Here is my list of things wrong with Christians and the church:
1) Very few are on mission. Over the last several decades the mission of the church has been to see how big it can become. The mission has been about people, but not with the same mindset of Jesus. People became the product, the way to measure success. The bigger the church the more successful the church. This can be true, however in many cases the size of the church made little impact on the individual who comes occasionally to Sunday morning worship. The mission moved from disciple-making to attracting a crowd.
2) Most have lost their focus. Bigger crowds meant that the focus began to shift. Bigger crowds meant that churches needed to build bigger buildings, have bigger budgets and have bigger debt. I read the novel "The Pillars of the Earth" by Ken Follett and discovered that churches today are no different than churches in the middle ages. The focus was on building big cathedrals with an institutionalized structure that supported the need for a big cathedral. The focus moved from disciple-making to building buildings and maintaining those buildings.
3) A lot are self-absorbed. Both churches and the people who fill churches have become selfish. They live within their own little kingdoms (they call church) and never talk about the kingdom as a whole. Their service is less about kingdom building and more about what they will get out of the service they provide. Self-promotion has become prominent within the church world. You don't believe me, ask someone how their church is going whether it is a minister or someone who goes and listen to the answer. Many times how well the church is going will be based on how many people are going, a new building project or how the church is not meeting their specific need. Very seldom is there a mention of how God is changing the lives of people in the church, those the church may be ministering to throughout the world or how many lost people came to know Jesus. We have become so self-absorbed we think less about disciple-making and more about what keeps us going to a specific church. If our wants aren't met we will find a place we are served better.
4) Most don't grasp the concept of costly grace. “Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession.... Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.” ― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost Of Discipleship
Not much more to say here accept when a church or Christian teaches costly grace--a grace with accountability. The self-absorbed can always find a place to worship that costs them nothing. Instead of disciple-making we have moved toward an attitude that being a part of a church is good enough.
5) Most don't care about lost people. We don't have the time or energy. We are trying to manage all the other things we want the church and Christianity be we can't possibly focus on the mission Jesus has given his followers to proclaim to the world the grace God wants to give them--a costly grace that cost Him the gift of His son. He did this because He loves us and wants us to know Him. While people wander aimlessly without God, we have a responsibility to reflect His image to a world that needs Him.
This all boils down to one thing--Making Disciples--People who strive to live a little more like Jesus everyday. (Matthew 28:18-20)
