We have rolled into over 15 different cities thus far this year for ministry. Six kids, who don’t know cultural norms and I’m sure unknowingly offend people everywhere we go. Not one of us is over the age of 25 and besides this trip we have little to no world experience outside of our little bubbles at home. We are very rarely at 100% physically. We are exhausted. Our clothes at this point would be considered rags by our mom’s standards. Only one person in our group has any sort of Biblical training and even that is limited. The rest of us are trained no more than our college degrees.
(one of the churches where we served)
Yet, with very few exceptions, when we meet our pastor contacts in each city we call home, it is always expected that we will preach and any and every event they have during our brief stays there. They never question our training or our denominational background. They never look down on us because of our age. They don’t give us topics to preach on or rules or time limits. They treat us like we are world renowned preachers coming specifically to address their congregations, villages, and town.
They are hungry to hear from us, their brothers and sisters. They want to know what God has done in our lives. They want to know what God is telling them through us.
Why is it not like this in America? Even if you show up to your home church after a long absence you won’t be greeted like we are, much less a church you are visiting. You won’t be asked to preach. You most likely won’t even be acknowledged. You most definitely won’t be handed the entire service and told to ‘be free’ and lead it as you choose.
I’m not saying this as a criticism, more as an observation. I don’t understand the disconnect.
Why is the American church so different than churches across the world? Anyone got an answer?
Something doesn’t seem to add up.
