Ok, Ok, I get it….
All of the articles, the church planters, and the Christian leaders keep telling me how to do church. Millennials, Millennials, Millenials – News Flash; the others are not dead yet!
What about the over 60 crowd? What about the 40ish group who could care less about the music and lights, and just want to be taught some biblical truth? What about the poor and addicted who are unconcerned about fads and trends and just need someone to tell them that God’s loves them?
They may not be the picture of the typical emerging church, but they are the Body of Christ. How about some relevant advice for them. How about some encouragement for those who minister on a personal level, and not through some connect or life group because we are afraid to use the term “Bible Study”.
How about we quit trying to mold church based on culture, age groups, or trendy ideas. I just seen an article that told me what church planting ideas was trending. Trending? Really? Paul, Silas, Barnabas, Peter, etc, knew the only trend to worry about; and that was Christ and Him crucified!
Are we making God’s house to become some kind of formula found on a spreadsheet; or are we seeking to walk by faith and let it be a house of prayer. Yes, I believe it is right to be thoughtful and organized; and to know who I am ministering to; but nothing in the Bible shows us that it was tidy, timed, and sanitized; Everything neatly rolled up into someone’s idea of church. Is there any time for the broken hearted to pray; or do we rush them along because the second service must be on time?
We constantly preach and teach from Matthew 5-7 where Jesus spoke to thousands of all ages at once; and Yes, there were babies crying in that service – deal with it. He made time for whatever the situation called for, because He was sensitive to the Spirit. We have to be willing to hear before we can lead; but if all we are hearing are the theories of others instead of God, we want even know what church is to look like.
We have created a Christian culture of celebrity preachers, and where the Christian reads supposedly Christian books, but not the Bible itself. We have replaced Godly sorrow that leads to true repentance, with an emotionally hyped performance that leads to carnality. We tell countless people they can trust those 2000 year old words to be helpful for their life, but yet we are scared to think that church life 2000 years ago could possibly work today.
Because good intentions can easily cloud Spirit filled judgment, I pray that Jesus would come and flip the tables over at our church, and at your church too; and show us what is useless and what is needful.
May God bless us as we seek to reveal His true glory to the world,
Pastor Mike