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So were in London at the moment and
it is about
Christmas time! I am so thankful to be in a location with cool weather, Christmas lights, and some big Christmas trees. This time of year always presents an opportunity to talk about Jesus, after all it truly is the reason for the season. However, I would like to share a little bit about the church in the unfortunate way that we view it. I am sure this will hit home for many of you reading this and I know for sure that it resonates well with my generation.
 
With Jesus being the reason for Christmas, most people will be heading to church next week for the annual Christmas service (for some, this may be the only trip to church during the year). I just would like to warn you to not be to troubled or upset if you go to “church” and dont find Jesus. Yes it is a tough and sad thing to say, but “church” in this day and age is not what Christ meant for it to look like and in a lot of cases he certainly isnt sought first. We claim to be Christians, but we go to church and cant even find Christ. We find fancy bulletins, comfy pews, big stages, great lighting, a programmed sermon, and many fake smiles.
 
Here are some thoughts about why the “church” isn’t working: (from The Organic Church)
 

1.    The homes and hearts of people are open to the Gospel. But it’s relationships that bring the Gospel home.

2.    The Church is at its best in two’s and three’s, not two hundreds or two thousands, “Where two or three are gathered together, there am I in the midst of them.”

3.    People are longing for a greater cause. “Church as usual” doesn’t cut it anymore. They read of the church in the New Testament and they have a piqued interest. People see the church they are caught in and it is like gazing down an old soggy street. It doesn’t compel people to venture further down the road. More vision statements, concerts, sermons, and blueprints for bigger auditoriums are not enough.

4.    Jesus didn’t die and rise from the dead so that we could have better bulletins and more comfy pews.

5.    “Christianity has been buried inside the walls of churches and secured with the shackles of dogmatism (stubbornness). Let it be liberated to come into the midst of us and teach us freedom, equality, and love.

                         –Minna Canth

6.    The movie The Passion of the Christ was a huge hit selling more tickets than anyone imagined, $600 Million in sales. However local churches saw no increase in attendance after the movie. Therefore, there are people who want to believe in and hear the message of Christ, but they are not interested in the institution of church as it is.

7.    It is not the local church that will change the world; it is Jesus. Sunday services doesn’t transform lives, but rather Jesus within peoples hearts changes lives.

8.    The church has forgotten who her first love truly is. (Rev. 2:4)

9.    How many times do you experience prophecy at church?

10.     The church is planting seed substitutes, not even the Word of God. The church gives well meaning messages ABOUT the Word of God. 

a.    Example: I received Christ by reading a tract, then I was discipled by a fill in the blank booklet that had me look at verses in the Bible, but not really read it. I was trained to use the tools with others. I went to seminary and studied many books about the bible, but rarely the bible itself. I became a pastor and developed my own curriculum and gave that to people. People would come on Sunday to hear me preach the Word, but they received a message about the seed-a seed substitute.

 
“You Christians look after a document containing enough dynamite to blow all civilization to pieces, turn the world upside down, and bring peace to a battle-torn planet. But you treat it as though it is nothing more than a piece of good literature.”
 
–Mohandas Gandhi