The Invisible Church Split - Part II

I previously introduced the idea that the church has a large division between the young and the old. Today I want to explore some of the issues this causes on both a small and large scale. Check out Part I for more background info!

 imagecred: richardwintle via AventuresInWonderland

Locally

This is extremely difficult to nail down simply because it begins so subtly. I have a hard time deciding what I think is healthy and what is unhealthy. However, when the young don't honor the old and the old don't teach the young, both groups suffer. 

Untaught young Christians grow into weak old Christians. This causes the local church to flounder in areas of Biblical literacy, evangelism and seeking righteousness. "Old Christians" (wherever the divide may fall in any particular body) who don't experience the process of bringing others along in their walk, begin to lack understanding for those in a less mature stage of their walk. This can lead to criticism of those with struggles inside the church (and possible denial of their own) as well as eventually causing an apathy for the unsaved.

I think this also circles back around. When the elders in the church don't have compassion for the lost in sin, young people begin to polarize. You either have to be a "church person" and separate themselves from the world completely or choose to be in it. I see so many teens and young adults fall into sinful lifestyles partly because they've been told they can't be around "those kinds of people" or "those kinds of activities". They feel shame around Christians because they've been told they're guilty of sin if they break their fathers extra-Biblical commandments. 

Regionallly

Regional areas and countries fall into their own bad habits. Though we most likely all struggle with very similar things, certain cultural aspects have an effect on a divided church. One of the major ones in the US is the death of old congregations and the emergence of churches heavily weighted in numbers of young people. Many of these churches are planted and then dwindle withing a few years because of the lack of elderly wisdom. Because of the importance of social classes, in the UK there are large churches in prominent areas struggling with being superficial and lukewarm. No one wants to man up and cross lines that would make them uncomfortable. 

Globally

Internationally, I think there is actually some benefit to this sad problem. While worldwide evangelism and disciple-making see their fair share of neglect, they also get the unhealthy church's "rejects".

For example, my pastor's wife was telling me a tragic story of a missionary she knows losing his wife. As she described him she noted that he's someone people describe as "over the top" (for instance taking his wife and children to spread the gospel in the islamic middle east) but that she felt like he embodied what Jesus described for all believers to look like. 

Similarly, we had a leader who tried to explain to us that since we were so bent on making disciples, we might want to go overseas. He wasn't sure we really fit around here.

While churches all over sit in their abundance and barely acknowledge people and places who need their prayers, efforts and resources, at least they send them the best disciple makers they have (unfortunately, to it's own detriment).

What kind of issues to you find affecting your local/regional church? What other consequences do you see that I didn't hit here?

Comment/Email your answer!

Shooting the Wolves

As I prepare to move away from my Spiritual children there has been a very clear picture sitting in my brain. I am going to speak very frankly about occurances in ministry because the only person I feel like I might offend is the wolf himself. As I'll point out I think we've been too kind for too long to this sneaky pack.

In ministry, lots of people want to tell you what you should be doing to do ministry "right". Many of the ideas that people brought to us had very little to do with reaching the lost and much to do with creating an appearance of success. One particular person made our lives miserable for a short time. So as we prepared to "go home" to my little country church to minister, I began to worry about who would take care of our sheep.

This person repeatedly came up to Nic and told him exactly how to reach people as if we could have never done ministry without him. He started treating his suggestions as nonnegotiables. He began using speech such as, "I'm part of the church so that means you work for me." He would frequently exert power and authority that he didn't actually have. Wolf Red Flag #1: Assigning himself/herself power.

We responded saying that we'd pray over his suggestions and seek the Lord as to whether or not he would have us to start any of those things. In the meanwhile, we asked he and his wife (who had a lot to say as well) to pray about whether they should volunteer their time to be a part of making a difference in the lives of teenagers and see first hand what the ministry might need. After praying we added a few more game/hang out nights since we tend to focus on the more serious side of things. We definitely did fun things but adding more would only build relationships as long as we didn't sacrifice Gospel-centeredness to do so. We tried to follow up with this couple to no avail.

Soon after, we heard from our head Pastor that they had met with him to bring their complaints. (Keep in mind that this couple has no children old enough to be in the youth group.) After hearing their issues with our "performance" our Pastor just told us to make sure we were meeting the congregants needs and assumed they'd go away. Wolf Red Flag #2: A wolf will not stop until he/she has caused distruction.

We noticed this person still acting suspiciously but we weren't sure what he was up to. We would soon find out that he had contacted several board members to complain about the same performance inadequacies he felt we had and tacked on some issues he had with our appearance and (are you ready for this) that he didn't like one of my facebook posts! We would have never known, except that several board members in he hit one that had the courage to come to us. He boldly (and clearly, YAYYY!) listed all of the things the wolf was unhappy with. We explained our process of praying over things, that we'd tried to follow up and of course easily dismissed his other nitpicky issues. That conversation took place on a friday. When we showed up for church on Sunday he shook Nic's hand and simply said, "You're good to go, thank you for serving." Wolf Red Flag #3: Kill or be killed.

Since this couple would no longer be a problem for us, I had kind of forgotten about them. But as we prepared to leave God game me the MOST CLEAR IMAGE, it's amazing. I'm not really an artist but I finally told my husband I was going to have to draw it just to get it out of my head. All I could see was that same guy with the hide of a sheep draped over his body like a Native hunter would wear a wolf hide to scare buffalo. God was reminding me that although someone was strong of to subdue the wolf, no one had the leadership skills and strength it took to shoot him.

Often in today's church culture, we can't even shoot the wolves without a disguise. So when they are clever enough to come in sheep's clothing, maybe even with lambs in tow, we feed, water and strengthen them to our own injury. The longer they hang around, the more people trust and accept them and the more damage is does to the flock with they eventually do either get shot or destroy it all together.

Why am I sharing this with all of you? This is why:

Have you ever had someone surprise you as deceptive after you'd known them for a long time? What might you do now to remain aware that the enemy wants to use people you know to seek, kill and destroy?

And will you join me in praying for our Spiritual leaders to have discernment and strength to see and shoot the wolves that would try and trap their sheep?

The Shepherd and the Sheep; Who's Failing Who?

Have you ever moved? As an adult, has your career or other circumstance ever required you to pack up and start over somewhere else? My husband and I bought another house (in the same city as our old house) last year. Being a military brat, it was my first household move without a (paid-for) truck full of guys who come and stuff your junk into boxes, load it on a truck and reverse the process at the other end. I look back and chuckle, but it was mildly traumatic for me when my well-meaning father-in-law unexpectedly backed his truck up to my house and announced that he and his employees were there to help.

Well, here we ago again.

My husband and I are in the middle of an interesting transition (which you can read about here) to another church. I have to mention that this isn't just any church, it's the church I grew up in (or the closest thing to it for a moving military kid). One of the many (many, many) things on my mind through this whole process is the "career" of pastor. I've written about the responsibilities of the pastor before, but the way the job plays out in the life of todays clergymen (and women) and in our culture gives rise to concerns in my insides.

Several years ago, when my husband was offered the job as youth pastor at our current church, one of his mentors told him (who knows where he got this stat) that the average youth pastor stays at a church for only three years. That's not even long enough to see the freshmen graduate much less mentor junior high students successfully into adulthood. Nic and I have always been appalled by the frequent church-hopping that happens in our city, but pastors only staying for three years?

Nic and I have always considered ourselves "lifers" - we assume that we will be at the church God has brought us to for life unless God very clearly tells us otherwise. Attendance in any given body of believers should be considered carefully and faithfully. If conflict arises, resolve it. If sin arises, deal with it in grace and repentance. If you're "not happy with" some of the goings on, you remind yourself that church isn't about you and do what you think you need to to ensure that Jesus' body is honoring Him. I don't say this from a position of a perfect track-record, but I do say it from experience.

While the average Western Christian's view on commitment to a particular church is saddening, the cultural effect on the Western Pastor is even more disheartening. With the development of denominational networks and church job websites, a seminary graduate can climb the ladder in no time. Wait. What?

Therein lies our problem. Let's play a little fill in the blanks game here... Most young people graduate from Bible School and make their ___ (5, 10, 20) year career plan. [problem #1: needing a plan. As Francis Chan puts it, God didn't give Abraham a 5 year, much less a 20 year plan when he told him to pack up and move to a new land and that he'd become the father of nations.] Said student might think to themselves, I'll put applications in to be a/an ________ (children's, worship, youth, associate, small groups, interim, other?) pastor at a _________ (smaller, rural, less known, average, springboard) type church. [problems #2 & #3: The position and body one serves in cannot be seen as mere stepping stones on the path to career success] After I get some experience under my belt, I'll start looking at ______ (bigger, cooler, more trendy, more relevant, more Biblical, well-known, higher-paying) churches or a/an ______ (preaching pastor, head pastor, evangelist, traveling speaker) job that I really want. [problem #4: a pastor seriously wrongs their sheep when he even subconsciously considers them a bullet point on his resumé.]

First of all, pastoring is a calling. And no body of believers is a mere springboard for one person's career success. If a pastor doesn't think he is called to minister to young people, why would he think he has the right to take a job doing just that "in the meantime"? Doing a job God didn't design you for seems like a really quick way to get burnt out fast to me! Similarly, I find it interesting that exponentially more pastors are apparently "called" to wealthier and urban churches. If we measure by the number of clergy and their calling, it would appear that God cares very little about the communities and churches in less-hip or poorer areas. Thankfully, the Bible shows us that God's heart is for the marginalized. In fact, most of Jesus' ministry on this earth was focused on the blue-collar, poor and marginalized. It looks to me as if we need to reevaluate the term calling.

Secondly, I think we have shorted both pastors and congregations in the way we have defined their roles. Burn out often happens when a pastor doesn't pastor his family. This is his first ministry. Every pastor's wife and child knows their are time when we have to wait. But ensuring that he has time to spiritually attend to his family is the duty of the pastor. So where does the congregation fit it? Expectations. A church should expect their pastor to take time for his family in order for him to qualify to be their minister (see 1 Tim 2). Their expectations of him should be his best in home and ministry and the give-and-take (aka hard work and grace) that this entails. Also, the congregation should be expected to do their part. A great many pastors and youth pastors tucker out because they run like mad trying to fulfill all of the duties of the church. Instead, each believer should serve and grow in the unique gifts that God has given them. When we all pitch in, a pastor can help us grow (his job as shepherd) and ensure that we (the church as a whole) function to glorify God and further His Kingdom. (Eph 4 & 5, Rom 12, 1 Cor 12)

So now I ask you...how do you view commitment to a church? Why do you think Pastors move to new jobs (in or out of ministry) so quickly?

Dear Reader (to continue with my blog, i suggest you read...otherwise you may soon be offended)

Please skip the first little block if you have no interest in parenting, as you will be bored to death before you hit my epiphany:

Today my son and I are trying a new schedule. I'm a fairly undisciplined person, though I usually refer to myself as simply flexible and spontaneous. I do agree with those who say children thrive under structure. While I don't think that rigidity is answer, a parent who accomplishes what they need to and helps their children do the same is off to a good start. My version of structure has always been to get ensure that I (or my child) do what were supposed when we should, as opposed to when it is scheduled.

For example, babies need food and babies need sleep. So (unless I should wind up with multiples), I decided to let my children eat when they're hungry and sleep when they're tired. With my son, this meant letting him nurse longer than some would suggest. (Which turned out be be a wise choice because of various milk issues) After the two week mark (and I solved nursing issue #1- milk supply), I also let him sleep longer than health professionals suggest instead of waking him up for feedings. Between us and him, we naturally morphed as a family into a (very loose and flexible) daily schedule. It worked quite well!

So reader, why am I telling you all of this? It really does have something to do with you! I desire to honor my Redeemer (Happy Birthday Jesus BTW) with my time! I have a responsibility to glorify my God and further His Kingdom. In order to do that, I must work hard to maintain a healthy marriage, as much as is up to me, and raise God-serving children. After that I must diligently work to make disciples through hospitality and relationships. But lately, I've been going in circles trying to finish all of the things I'm supposed to get done. So I decided that I should just write out my day so I see when I have time available to check things off my list.

As I wrote out our busy week on paper, I found myself desperately searching for time to read and write. But between book, blog and the occasional freelance article, the little time I saw didn't look like it would add up to much. As I stared blankly at nap-times and church obligations I simply laid my pen down, prayed and then tried to "sleep on it" (right after I got my tumultuous analytical brain to calm down). Somewhere in my dreams God impressed this message upon my heart:

If (by the Grace of God) I wrote a spiritually challenging best-seller, how many people's lives would I truly help facilitate change in? On the other hand, if I lead my children in the Way that they should go through love AND discipline and help form them into Approved Workmen who will share the Gospel and make disciples who will make disciples who will...If I do this, will my efforts not touch more lives to the glory of God through the generations than anything I put on paper?

It is this conviction my friend, that has lead me to set aside time for teaching and praying, reading and playing. It is this same conviction that leads me to believe it is not my time to be writing a book. Neither is it a time to completely lay down the pen that the Lord has blessed me with.

This is where you come in. As I have said before, I must write. I have to trust that through social networking, blogging and you passing things on to your friends, God will bring the readers whose lives I need to touch. This means that after being a wife, parent and disciple-maker, you get my best efforts. You get my best pen and ink, my best inspirations and my deepest internal battles. I'm guessing with no book and no freelancing, you will see more of the deep theological debates that my brain has with my heart and more of the "great ideas" that I usually wake up and giggle at (or loathe) the next day.

Will you come? I hope you'll join the discussion by praying things out between you and God AND by leaving comments! Follow with blogger, Google+, Facebook or Twitter (@eliciajohnson) and let's grow each other!

The church is a whore, but she is my mother.

I should start out by explainging that the title is a quote from St Augustine. Now that you're not completely ready to eat me alive, I'll get to my own narrative.

All of you who either follow my blog or read it through Facebook (or encounter me on the street for that matter) will have some idea of my frustrations with the church. This is not specifically with the congregation in which I worship corporately, but with the global Christian church. Without specifically going into my "beefs" with the Body (of which I am a part, just know that I don't think we are honoring God with our functions, resources, worship or envageliistic efforts by doing them in manner He has asked us to. I also believe that this is all very much our own doing. This statement also warrants more explanation than I intend to give right now, but maybe I can give it another post on a another day.

In all my passion and offense at the adultery and no forth of the church, I've wavered back forth on one very tough issue: where do I direct my frustrations. This is not merely an issue of who to talk to; I often wonder who to be mad at. An older (than us) youth pastor told me to be mad at the enemy. As I pondered this, I felt like it was giving Satan and demons to much credit and not holding Christians accountable for their actions and attitudes. But after reading one author's expounding on the title quote, the Spirit led me to understand why I should direct my frustration at the enemy.

To paraphrase Augustine, while the church has been a whore, she is still my mother. I can't leave her any more than I could my own mother. - Adam McLane from his article Open-Source Theology for Immerse Journal

If you were to spend any amount of time ministering to prostitutes, sex slaves or rape victims (or the many who have been all three) you would soon find yourself quite angry at the men responsible for making those women (and men) believe lies that led them to, forced them into or kept them in their appalling situation. You would see that, while their situation is horrid, the prostitute or victim has the kind of soul that Jesus died to save. Your disgust for the evil and deception that got her(him) there would ingite a compassion and passion to remove them from the burdens of their situation.

Likewise, who should we get angry at when we see the Body (and individual members of it) hurting itself? The father of lies. In a losing battle with the everlasting Father, Satan's best offensive is to seduce His Bride and mislead His children.

While I know all to well how difficult it is to keep this big picture in mind when confronted with the frequent "missing the mark" of the local church and conflicts with individual members of the Body, it is all very important to remember. Even when we witness the body injuring itself, we are to act as we would to the promisicuous sex-slave as we fight to free her. Our passion for the the church should never pit us against her. It should always spur us to humble obedience of the simple (and yet obviously very difficult) demands for the church in the Word. I would like to reiterate that we must (pick up our crosses and) follow Jesus, not the ideas of what the church should look like that men have conjured.

I repent of unhealthy attitudes I have portrayed before you all and my Saviour. It's hard for me to know any other way than to tell everyone to stop everything they're doing and start over (something I've had to do myself over and over btw). I'll finish with this, Bonhoeffer's words from his biography by Eric Mataxas:

Here I meet people as they are, far from the masquerade of "the Christian world", people with passions, criminal types, small people with small aims, small wages and small sins—all in all they are people who feel homeless in both senses, and who begin to thaw when one speaks to them with kindness—real people; I can only say that I have gained the impression that it is just these people who are much more under grace than under wrath, and that it is the Christian world that is more under wrath than grace.

I Am A Whore I Do Confess (Games Optional)

Yesterday I was thinking about situations within the congregation in which I serve. I was thinking about how many people have betrayed or degraded me when all I'm trying to do is tell people about Jesus and glorify God. They don't understand how much I care for the Church. They don't understand that all I want is Jesus and all I want for their kids is Jesus. That's why I do what I do...The thought popped into my head something like this:

"I'm tired of fighting for people who just keep taking from me." And right at that moment, Jesus reminded me (once again) that that is exactly what He did for me, through torture and to death. I, given the choice, am a traitor, a denier and a failure, and knowing that, He died for me. It brings a whole new meaning to "while we were yet sinners Christ died for us" and the second half of "forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors."

So, every week I spend hours praying, studying and teaching for students, most of whose parents and fellow church-goers would trade us in (if they haven't tried already) for a less-pierced middle-aged couple who will play lots of games and acquire a budget from the board to bring in huge bands and conferences. I'm sure I don't need to tell you, of course, how all of this would have minimal, if any, eternal value and that God's Word and His redemption require no make-over.

He is glorious. (on His own)
He is good. (and sovereign)
And He is willing, that none should perish; even us adulterous people whom he constantly has to remind that He has bought with His life.

Go into all the world and preach the good news, making disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit.
(games, pretty logos, etc optional)

Dear Daughters of Eve,

My spirit is grieved and my heart is heavy.

Where do I start?

The place that I fellowship has plenty of good things going on. My favorite is the mens group. I obviously haven't attended it, but by it's fruit I know great things are happening! It started as a small group and began to grow almost uncontrollably. Somehow it has maintained the same atmosphere and accountability as it did when it was a fraction of the size. They have seen multiple marriages restored, souls saved and best of all their leaders teach the Word with boldness.

The "womens ministry" on the other hand, consists of a few separate groups meeting through out the week. Three out of four have had an issue of doctrinal inconsistencies within their leaders' teaching. Invitation to one of those groups is almost like being recruited for a pyramid scheme. It's as if the women afraid that if they don't get you another group will. Two out of four choose to go through book studies and have hit a very low plateau regarding the depth of their Biblical knowledge. To summarize, scripture is not being studied the way it should and healthy relationships are DEFINITELY not growing.

So why such a vast difference? Honestly, I'm still churning it all around in my brain. So far, this is what I've come up with,

1. Insecurities.
2. Insecurities.
3. Pride
4. Insecurities.
5. Selfish Ambition

When women don't embrace the person God has made them to be and the role He's asked them to fill, they get uncomfortable. And rightly so! Unfortunately they don't use that itch to spur them on to better things. Instead they begin to compare themselves to other women. This can lead to tearing each other down through gossip and so many other malicious female activities this world often glamorizes. Pride somehow stops us from serving in the areas God has gifted us to serve in, the places we would succeed. I want to know how the female brain (my own included) rationalizes this; "I'd benefit the kingdom greatly by doing this, but it's just not really what I had pictured. I'm sure God won't mind if I slip into this leadership role instead." Does it really require more faith to do what He made us to do rather then attempt something He didn't? It shouldn't, but what it does generally require is humility and submission. Ick, nasty little words.

When we stop consulting God for our next step, we can no longer assume we're on board with His vision. And that point, we have to take it upon ourselves to ensure that the program is a hit Que the feeling of competition, its her turn. Making a plan (asking God to bless it as a side note) and then relying on our own efforts to make it work forces us to compete with others for attendance, coolness and even spiritual growth. After all, failure is not an option, because that would be humiliating.

One of these days, I pray that women all over, but specifically the women in my congregation will stop attempting to fill roles they aren't supposed to (those of men, people with other gifts and those occupied just for the sake of doing good stuff) I pray that they will serve and attend to strengthen and purify the body. They will not seek validation from their situation within the Body because they will feel confident in the love of their Father and Maker. If the women of God in my community (and everywhere) would begin to humbly approach the Throne for their assignments and band together as a big beautiful army of graceful, unique, individual soldiers...I'm emotional as words fail to adequately describe the devastation the enemy would experience.

The Word IS Beautiful

In our attempts to draw on the u saved, today's Western Church has spent a large percentage of their resources on presentation. I don't mean presentation in an evangelistic sense. I'm talking about aesthetics, promotion and other additional elements to preaching the Word.

As the years go by, the amount of money spent on such things has grown and continues to grow like crazy. I'm very alarmed by the results of these efforts. The number of Bible-believing Christians in American is plummeting. I took broadly accepted statistics on the success rate of youth ministry and applied it to the city I live in. In our town of 60,000 people, based on the number of students in youth groups at evangelical churches: we will statistically only make a lifelong change in the lives of fifty of them, at most.

What happens when this generation of young people are the parents, community leaders and the ones responsible for the religious beliefs of the following generation? Even if there are one hundred people in that generation that believe and try to pass the Gogspel on to their kids, what will this city look like in several decades. Frightening.

My point is, obiously dressing up the the Word of God doesn't work; neither does dulling it down or fluffing it up.

I will not settle for spreading less than the True Word which is as sharp as any two edged sword. I feel uncomfortable at the thought of being responsible for trying to reach a generation with lights, a rock-band worship team that sings poetic but unmeaningful words and trendy graphics. I dread the thought of telling Him at His throne, "but I attracted hundreds of kids to the church building." Only to hear His answer, "but how many of them received My grace?" When I stand before my Judge, I long to see a row of my purple-haired peeps there with me and hear, "Well done."

In the scope of eternity, I cannot help but challenge people, including myself, to drop the act. In the book of Acts, the Lord added to their numbers. Can we please, I beg you, begin to truly rely on the Spirit to guide our steps in furthering the Kingdom?

Mondays With Margaret

Among the blogs I read, I see a lot of Day of the Week themed blogs...so being that it's Monday and I was perusing Margaret Feinberg's site, I decided to join the trend. Here goes!

I recently stumbled upon the word, Nonversation, meaning “the communication between two men”. I chuckled when read the definition, but realized that nonversations aren’t limited by gender. I have a lot of nonversations in my own life.
Nonversations happen when we talk about everything except the real issue we need to discuss.
Nonversations happen when we allow the weather, daily headlines, and the topics we discuss to circle around us and never really touch who or where we really are.
Nonversations happen when we don’t take time to develop insightful questions that pull, tug, and play.
Nonversations can easily become part of lives as we learn to talk about many things without really talking about anything at all. While not every conversation needs to be deep, meaningful, or challenging, I know that I can be more intentional about my words and what I communicate–discussing things that are both meaningful and delightful.

-From Margaret Feinberg's blog

I just returned from Haiti yesterday. Reading this I immediately felt like I had an outside perspective on nonversations. I know a week and a half away doesn't exactly make me an outsider, but I noticed nonversations as soon as I got home. Immediately after claiming our baggage, somebody asked about our t-shirts. As Nic explained what we'd been doing in Haiti, it became obvious that they were also Christians. Instead of talking seriously about God's magnificent doings though, we proceeded through a question and answer version of small talk. Instead of interjecting the things they probably needed to hear to take the mission field at home and abroad seriously, I spewed fluff. I stood there, anxious to get home, and wondered "what is the point of this conversation?"

I have never been a fan of nonversations. I have always said I "break" personality quizes because they don't knowhow to describe someone who loves visiting with people but hates small talk. It actually makes me extremely uncomfortable. Nic has to nearly tie me down for me to make it through "greeting time" at church without running away to the bathroom or to get coffee.I would set down with anyone for a cup of coffee so I can see how they truly are and have a real conversation.

In Haiti, it was not unusual for someone to introduce themselves and then outright ask, "Do you love Jesus?" People also frequently told us exactly what they were thinking. They weren't being rude, but any small talk would have been a waste of time. They did talk about less serious things quite frequently. But the point of such things has always been personal relationships. The pastor of the church I attended there has brought 8 Voodoo priests and witch doctors to know the Living God in the last 6 months. Do you think these transformations happened through a serious of nonversations?

I don't think so. And while I don't have an abundance of Voodoo priests in my community, I would venture to say that if we probed deeper into potentially meaningful conversations, we would see those kinds of transformations in our friends and family. If you don't have unsaved friends and family, then stop having nonversations amd get some new friends!

Dear disciples: please leave America.

My husband and I have recently been approached by some influential people (in our lives) about our approach to reaching the lost. The overtone of all of these conversations ended up being that maybe we're cut out for missionary work overseas somewhere. So for the past couple weeks I've tried to figure out why they think this is true and what that thought process implies for the local church and global church.

So here are as many of the attitudes and opinions (for lack of a better term) that I could think of that might have led those people to their conclusions.

-Western Christians have chosen to forget what our resources (money, time, energy, skills etc) should be spent on.

-The overtone regarding outreach has become very event based and internal (w/in church walls) and has removed a feeling of personal responsibility to share the gospel from believers.

-There is a very specific use for short term mission trips. If you are not going to establish a long term relationship in that context, you had better be edifying of assisting someone who is committed to discipleship there.

-God's Word, Grace, plan of redemption and other Truths do not need to be made attractive.

-One of the more controversial opinions I hold: church (in the Sunday Service sense) is almost completely for believers. Yes, people get saved in church services, but I think they come in knowing their void needs filled. The purpose of such a gathering is to worship God corporately and edify the Body so that believers rare equipped to GO OUT AND REACH THE LOST IN THEIR COMMUNITIES. Therefore, we shouldn't worry about pretty buildings, pretty people, offending people (as long as Truth is being spoken on Love & grace), and useless inefficient hype.

-One two-hour service a week is not enough spiritual food. On top of personal studies, some sort of group/one-on-one study and accountability is necessary for growth.

-the theology and doctrine within many sermons and musical worship is weak, if present at all.

-Everone is called to missions and everyone can do something for the global church outside in a global context. Anyone who uses the "I'm called to fill in their city" had better be doing some mega-hardcore local ministry.

-Salvation and discipleship is a personal process that is unique to each situation. It is not just a raised hand or a program or a class that people do and then they're a part of the club.

I think I've gotten most of the things that they recounted as evidence of our missional attitude. So apparently, the fact that I hold these opinions means I am a prime candidate for overseas missions. If I felt that God was asking me to do that, I would be gone ASAP. I've actually asked God if He wouldn't mind sending me somewhere else, couldn't I be of better use where people would just let me disciple people?!

Anyways, what alarms me is that the information they based their conclusions on seems to be necessary for the church wherever it's located. I feel like if this qualifies me for ministry outside of America, what does ministry look like in America? Why can't a person be passionate about discipleship and building the Body from the person up and not from the congregational meeting down? My husband sat in tears telling one person that the young people in our city are what he's passionate about. Almost like he didn't believe my husband, that person responded by saying AGAIN that we need to pray about what God really wants to do with us and where he would best use our passions. It's really hard for me to be comfortable doing what God's word demands of me when people tell me that I should do it somewhere else. Why do so many Christians feel like big church is for America and Jesus-style discipleship is for Indonesia?

On Capital Campaigns

Today I read a number. A big number: 232 billion. To me adding a dollar sign makes it even bigger. Two hundred and thirty-two billion dollars. This is the amount of money tied up in real estate owned by churches.

So, why is this necessary? Did the apostles need a mega-church to see 3,000 people added to their numbers on one day? I do feel it's important to relate to culture, but at what cost? Do we think this is a good use of Gods resources?

I attend a church that has remodeled half of a large building. It's nice looking and not very extravagant. Our multiple-purpose room is set up to function as a sanctuary. It has the "necessities," A few lights on a dimmer pack, a large (but not enormous) sound board, sound system, small stage, you know - everything Americans need to worship. Supposedly you have to have a certain percentage of empty chairs for new people to feel comfortable enough to come in, and apparently we don't have enough. Over the last year, and annoyingly more over the last few months, leadership and attendees have been pushing to begin "phase 2" aka the sanctuary.

Many people have been praying for the completion of the building for a couple years. One year ago we ran into a hiccup with our city officials and had to resubmit our plans to a new architect. A few months into it, he had a massive heart attack that put him out of commission for several more months. Just as he was near finishing, his computer crashed. He apparently had no back up because he has had to start from square one. In all of these obstacles, people are praying for God to pull through and do amazing things...I truly believe He is. It's not a coincidence that all of these road blocks fell in our way. While they would attribute it to the enemy, I credit the all-knowing God of the universe.

Let's put this in perspective, if the American church sold our buildings and started meeting in tax-payer funded buildings such as schools and civic halls, we could feed, evangelize and equip 90 million kids until adulthood through an organization such as World Vision or Compassion Intl. That doesn't take into account how much money each church spends on utilities and supplies. If our church alone stopped our building project, we could minister to hundreds of people through organizations like the afore mentioned or by sponsoring several more missionaries. I'm guessing that more people would come to know the Lord through those avenues than through another big pretty room.

I know these last couple posts may seem very cynical. Please give me grace recognizing that I am a very passionate person. I've never really "kind of" felt something, I feel what I feel with all that I am. I'm also a problem solver by nature. As a part of the body of Christ, I find that it is my problem as well as yours that we're not functioning properly (Rom 12, 1 Cor 12) and the only thing I know how to do is write and tell the people w/in my scope of influence.

Grace and peace.