What's the Church's problem? pt. 3

The comments on this topic so far have been thoughtful, heartfelt and from an interesting array of people.  Thank you for providing respectful and clear dialogue.  It has been both helpful and refreshing to me.

Now let me re-frame things a bit.  Originally the email I shared from my friend was not commenting on church services per se.  It was commenting more specifically on his impressions of Christians in their interactions with non-Christians.  His frustration was with in his experience that, "too many active Christians feel that it is of the utmost importance to have this ‘bright shiny face’ and this ‘I drank the Kool-Aid’ demeanor."

In other words, the problem is not that people are turned off by church services they don't like--they're turned off by Christians they don't like.

In my friends terminology, the marketing that is expressed via the lives of Christians is not very attractive.  Now certainly that is a church problem.  But not one primarily focused on whether a non-Christian likes the church's worship services.  The bulk of the problem is a pastoral one--what are people being taught and led to value in the church community and then subsequently exhibit through their lives. 

Also, as my friend suggests, it is partly a "programming" issue.  In other words, when the church does make an invitation to the community to attend something, is that 'something' a something that speaks humbly, authentically and addresses a real need with a compassionate voice.

The reason this is important is because, as my friend has quietly pointed out in his several emails (some that I haven't shared), the biggest issue at stake here is not the Church--it's Jesus.  And Jesus encounters people not primarily through corporate church gatherings but through the lives of Christians who embody Jesus' grace and truth in their daily lives by expressing care and friendship to their neighbors be they Christian or not.

Comments

[Greg Brown]

I guess I would put it this way: Does a Christian ambassador only want to shake hands with another Christian ("We're both praising the Lord today, isn't it wonderful") or does that Christian want to also extend a hand to an unhappy non-believer. OK, if the answer is the latter, when was the last time that Christian ambassador actively tried to lead a non-believer to Jesus.

Really, I think the truth is: A Christian ambassador likes to believe he/she is circulating amongst the non-believers and helping them toward Jesus, but 98 percent of the time the ambassador is 'working for Jesus' the ambassador is circulating amongst other active Christians.

In the evening, Dr. Martin Luther King would be at home with his family and the phone would ring. The person on the other line was making death threats at Dr. King. Did Dr. King hang up the phone? No! Dr. King engaged the caller in a long conversation, and by the end of their talk, the caller was at least being civil -- Dr. King had made some progress on that day.

Do you want to be an ambassador like Dr. Martin Luther King?

[Coleen]

I meant that I don't write on normally. Just wanted to clarify.

[Coleen]

You know, these blogs you have written have been bugging me a little, and I think I finally figured out why. It seems to be a dancing around of what is the real issue. It is something we as Christians struggle with. But what we need to focus on more is the foundation of the real problem.

Today I listened to a broadcast of Michael Spencer (The Internet Monk) being interviewed on the God Whisperers radio show (from Pirate Christian Radio) I think I need to quote him since he said it better than I can.

"The loss of the Reformation Gospel is a loss of the strong message of justification by faith and most of all a strong message of salvation by grace, not works. . .Evangelicalism has become a moralistic movement. We're starved for the gospel. It is the gospels message of incredible grace that is the sustaining backbone through life's tragedies."

You may think that has nothing to do with what you have written about. You are wrong. It actually has everything to do with this issue. You may just not see it.

Point the non-Christian to Christ. Point the Christian to Christ.

The real issue is Christ. The right answer to everything you have written is Christ.

Coleen Sharp
http://caffeinatedthoughts.com/
Brighton, CO

[Kevin]

In 1998 at Crowns of Beauty, Don Davis spoke a word I'll never forget. He said (my loose paraphrase), "watch how you talk about the Bride." When we look at Her faults (and there will always be some) lets remember Her beauty and who She belongs to.