Stop Going to Church

No, that is not a typo. I mean every word of it. And, yes, I am still a preacher.

There are some mind-sets that we have simply because they are repeated over and over and are never questioned. I like chili, and I love chocolate, but I am not about to mix the two. I have never tried them together before, but I have a long-standing, unchallenged belief that it would be disgusting.

Going to church is a lot like chili and chocolate

Motivated to Serve

Let’s talk. Let’s discuss what it will take to get our churches into servant mode. I would like to hear from preachers and elders and other church leaders, but I would especially like to hear from the rest of you. What would or does motivate you personally to serve as God wants you to serve? How do we get our congregations serving as God wants them to serve?

Hospitality

Jesus was set up. This time it was in the house of a Pharisee named Simon. This religious leader invited Jesus to dine in his home, but he was only looking for a mistake, or an inconsistency, or anything that would allow him to rationalize his fear of Jesus and His teachings.

A “woman of the city” let herself in. Everyone knew she was a sinner. Perhaps her reputation preceded her. Maybe she just dressed the part. But, there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that she was a sinner.

The Lives We Live

I just want to take some time to make something very clear. One reason that men steer clear of the kitchen when the family is gathered for the holidays is because for every woman in the kitchen there are exactly that many ways of doing a simple task like opening a stubborn jar of pickles. Tap the edge of the lid on the counter. Run the lid under cold water. No, hot water. No, not just the lid but the whole jar. Try this rubber gripper thing. All a man wants to do is show his strength by wrestling with the jar until either the lid comes off or his hand comes off. What’s so wrong with doing it that way?

There are also about as many ways to live a life as there are people. Some are clean, some are messy. Some are punctual, some cannot be on time. Some are formal, some are informal. Some are rude, some are almost too nice. And with all of this variety we have developed two extreme views: either we view every one else as wrong if they do not live exactly like us, or we claim that the way you live does not matter as long as it works for you (whatever that means).

Expectations

I’ve been listening to the newest cd of one of my favorite bands, Caedmon’s Call.  There is a song on the album called Expectations that has really struck me.  The song describes a young man’s struggle after “church” turns out to be different than what he thought.  With lines like, “And he heard that Jesus would fill him up.  Maybe something got lost in the language.  If this is full then why bother,” the young man’s thoughts are brought out as he recalls what attracted him to “Christianity” in the first place, and where all that has left him now.

The chorus is especially meaningful: “This was not the way it looked on the billboard: Smiling family beaming down on the interstate.”  Apparently the young man wanted to be part of a family, to belong somewhere, to be filled up by Christ, but “the reaching of the steeple felt like one more expensive ad for something cheap.”  The song ends in suspense, telling us that the young man “dressed up nice for the congregation scared somebody’s gonna find him out through the din and the clatter of the Hallelujahs, and stained-glass Jesus scenes.”

I suppose the point of the song is that we need to be careful to live up to the image we portray.  Or maybe it is that we need to make sure no one slips through the cracks, going unnoticed and untaught while we go about our “churchy” business.  But, I think the problem, generally speaking, is much deeper, and much worse.

Does the church you attend have this problem?