american christianity ™

The Two Temptations

Frank

We’ve all been there. We’ve read a book that dramatically stirred our hearts, or heard a sermon that cut us right to the core. But then we close the book, or we walk out of church… and nothing changes. The first temptation of a moving lesson, book study, retreat, or in-depth Bible study is to nod your head, pat yourself on the back, give each other hugs and just walk away. It’s like taking a class- you learn the information, you take the test, and then you perform a data dump thinking you’ll never have to use that information again.

Information is taken in is knowledge. Knowledge applied is understanding. Understanding through repeated failure, learning anew each time, becomes wisdom. A simple study leaves us with knowledge, but the Bible calls us to wisdom:

 My son, if you accept my words
and store up my commands within you,
 turning your ear to wisdom
and applying your heart to understanding,
 and if you call out for insight
and cry aloud for understanding,
 and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure,
 then you will understand the fear of the LORD
and find the knowledge of God.
 For the LORD gives wisdom,
and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. (Proverbs 2:1-6)

Yet the source of knowledge from a book is just that, a book. Paper bound and reprinted. Placed on a shelf and sold. Just like a commodity, it is only worth its price if someone is willing to purchase it. How many books sit on the shelves unsold? How much knowledge is being missed out on?

Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? [Where is the best selling author?] Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? (1 Corinthians 1:20)

The second temptation is to make the study, the book, or the author more than they are. A friend recently told me, while discussing this book, “we can be tempted to worship the spirituality of someone whose spirituality we admire, rather than the object of their worship.” He’s right. I didn’t want to admit it at the time, but he is absolutely right. As our group wraps up Crazy Love, it might be tempting to worship Francis Chan, or at least worship what he is doing. Of course, the content of the book should leave no doubt who the true object of our worship should be, but it is a temptation nonetheless.

So we have these two conflicting temptations: treat the study like it was nothing, or make the study more than it really was. Like in Greek philosophy, wisdom is found in the middle.

I have no doubt the first temptation is true. The book’s website boasts “New York Times Bestseller!” and “Over 1 Million Copies Sold!” but are we seeing the transformation in our churches that Francis talks about? Radical, by David Platt, is another in wave of books by young pastors raising the bar of personal discipleship. Also a bestseller. I could go on and on, and you’d think that with all the books, all the conferences, the availability of YouTube sermons, the number of Twitter followers and Facebook fans we’d see something of a transformation. Maybe not to the level of a new Great Awakening or another Reformation, but but I’d hope we’d see more than a few (in the grand scheme) of us bloggers callousing our fingertips writing about it.

At the same time, I know the second temptation is true because I am personally attracted to it. I’m tempted to have stars in my eyes and make Francis Chan into something he is not. I also know this second temptation is true because Francis, himself, sees it. In fact, he sees so much of it that he stepped down from leading the church he founded in-part because people were coming to see him and not to hear the Word of God preached.

So how do we avoid either temptation? First, we need to make sure we’re building our personal doctrine on the solid foundation of Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 3:10-15) As long as that is true, we can read book after book and be assured of our foundation. We can discern the words on the page using the words of Jesus. Second, we need to continue to return to the Bible as the ultimate source of our wisdom. “There is nothing new under the sun,” (Ecclesiastes 1:9) So no author can add insight that we cannot already find in Scripture. Third, and this is probably the most important, we need to do something. Both of these temptations lead to inaction. The first temptation obviously so, but the second leads to celebrity worship rather than action as you would expect.

Simple formula really. Build on Christ alone. Continue to rely on the Word. And go do something.

Obsessed

Frank

I miss the show “Monk”. There’s just something about a detective who has Obsessive Compulsive Disorder piecing together clues from a crime scene while being afraid of the germs on a doorknob. Of course, that’s just one characterization. You can flip through TV and see shows on “strange addictions” and hoarding. You can look around and see people bite their fingernails or pick at their skin. And there are many other examples of such behaviors. The fundamental basis behind these compulsive actions is a need to control one’s environment when feeling uncomfortable. That’s not to diminish the seriousness of OCD to some people. It can be a serious debilitating psychological disease.

But imagine if Christians felt the same need. Imagine feeling so uncomfortable in this sinful world that we would do anything, no matter how odd it may appear, to control our environment. What would you do if you had a spiritual version of OCD? Would you run from someone trying to seduce you, even if that meant leaving your clothes behind (like Joseph)? Would you leave a successful business to follow around a homeless guy who claimed to be the Son of God (like Peter and Andrew)? Would you allow yourself to be tortured and killed even though you are wrongly accused (like Jesus)? Would you be willing to abandon the religion of your youth, the rigorous training, and the cause you’ve felt called to (like Paul)? Chapter 8 of Francis Chan’s Crazy Love gives more examples.

Disclaimer: There is such a thing as a spiritual, religious version of OCD. It’s called scrupulosity. Usually this is manifested as a guilt that is felt so deeply it shows as a serious case of depression. Like clinical cases of OCD, this can be debilitating, preventing someone from functioning normally. But what is normal? Quitting a job because you choose to put Christ first may not be normal, and it can be financially stressful, but is that debilitating? Not giving in to the latest popular fad may not be normal, and it may cause us to be outcast from society, but should that cause concern? I know many who have chosen to follow Christ to such an extreme that their families would seek to “deprogram” them through the same psychological treatments used to treat OCD.

But I don’t hear of cases like that too often anymore. I think the “abnormal” behaviors that we should expect from Christians are even considered too weird for our own churches today. We like routine. And so we’ve created religion around a list of rules that we know and understand in advance. Don’t throw any new expectations my way and don’t raise the standards, I might feel too uncomfortable. Well maybe I have scrupulosity, because I am extrememly uncomfortable in the comfortable church.

Flashback Friday: God is Uncomfortable

Frank

***Originally posted in November, 2008 on the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. I’m reposting because the other day I posted a tweet from Paul Washer. For those unfamiliar, I thought I’d re-post a couple of his videos. The video quality isn’t that good by 2011 standards, but you’ll get the point.***

Today is the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. We should all set aside some time to pray for those brothers and sisters in Christ who don’t live in countries with the religious freedoms we enjoy here in the United States. I posted earlier about how we take our freedoms for granted and suffer a persecution complex and gave a couple of examples of real persecution. I want to add to that that the American Church (TM) is also lazy and comfortable. And our faith suffers for it.

Below is a controversial sermon brought to my attention a while back by another blog. If you don’t have the patience to watch the whole hour of it, I posted an interview of this brother (that’s right, I’m calling him ‘brother’) with Kirk Cameron that’s only ten minutes. And if YouTube isn’t your thing, check out his ministry.

And the interview that cuts right to the heart of it (check out Kirk Cameron’s reaction at the end!)

And if your faith isn’t challenged enough by all of that, check out what’s really going on overseas, where it’s not comfortable to be a Christian. Voice of the Martyrs catalogues persecution in the global church and HOPEworldwide gives inspirational stories of Christians serving where it’s least comfortable to do so.

Today is a day to challenge our comfort level, to challenge our faith. Pray not only for the Persecuted Church, but also for our own faith, and for God to provide the opportunity to be uncomfortable for the cause of Christ. That’s a hard prayer, and we might not like His answer, but that’s the only way for the American Church (TM) to grow, Christ to be preached, and God to be glorified.

“Everything is possible for him who believes.”

“I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” (Mk 9:23-24)

Worship Wins

Frank

Football and Jesus go together like America and apple pie. In Texas, football is a religion. Some high school stadiums are larger than small colleges. In the Bible Belt, who you root for is as important a question as where you go to church. Georgia Bulldog coach Mark Richt had a cameo role in the Christian movie, Facing the Giants. Further north you find Touchdown Jesus at Notre Dame. Tony Dungy has made a name for himself as the NFL’s spiritual mentor based on his outspoken beliefs and willingness to take troubled players under his wing.

It is against this backdrop that the news Tuesday out of the Ohio State University came as a shock. But if you follow college football (or make random blog posts about how the priorities of college ball are all out of whack) it really comes as no surprise. It turns out Ohio State’s head football coach, Jim Tressel, knew about the allegations I mentioned in my earlier post all the way back in April. That means he let his players, who weren’t just being investigated by the NCAA but by the FBI, participate the whole season capped by their appearance in the Sugar Bowl. His penalty for lying to his university and to the NCAA? A two game suspension and a $250,000 fine. The fine sounds like a lot until you learn that Tressel makes more than $3 million a year. His excuse of an excuse? He didn’t want to breach the confidentiality of the investigation. (Sorry, that’s not when you choose to stay quiet, it’s when you choose to call your lawyer. There’s this thing called privilege, coach.)

The irony is that to face the music, coach Tressel had to cancel a book signing tour. The book? Life Promises for Success, Promises from God on Achieving Your Best. This isn’t his first Christian book either. He is also the author of The Winners Manual (which includes a forward by John C. Maxwell). I don’t follow Big Ten football that closely, so I have no idea if Tressel wears his faith on his sleeve, but I’m not sure I want to learn about God’s promises on achieving my best from someone who is now known to cheat, or follow a manual on winning from a coach that plays a soft schedule every year just to choke in the BCS. (Sorry, had to throw that jab in there)

In America, we worship a lot of things other than God. We worship money, fame and fortune, gadgets, status, and on and on. Add sports to that mix. In the cathedral of football, we worship at the altar of wins and losses. If a coach doesn’t meet expectations, bring out the pitchforks. (A few years ago Nebraska fired a coach who had just won 10 games. And don’t get me started on how Arkansas ran off Houston Nutt.) Churches change their schedules around on Super Bowl Sunday while attendance drops during the NFL season. Christians in America are more likely to strike up a conversation with someone about sports than about Christ. We wear jerseys, hats, and other apparel signifying our allegiances, but hide our faith in the public square. I’m not casting stones. We are all guilty. The scandals that keep piling up require us to look at ourselves in the mirror and ask the honest question: in the heart of the playoff race, who do we worship?

20-80 Rule

Frank

An axiom that appears to be an organizational truth: In any organization, 20 percent of the people do 80 percent of the work. You might think of this as a skewed bell curve, with a small percentage over achieving, most doing just enough to get by, and the remainder under achieving.

Why do you suppose that is? It might be sheer laziness and a lack of desire. It’s easy to “pass the buck” and figure someone else, somewhere, somehow, will pick up your slack. And excuses are like armpits, everyone has them and they stink.

But does this principle apply to our churches? Look around. Is it the same one or two people there early every Sunday morning? When you have an event serving the community can you predict exactly who it will be that shows up to volunteer? Do you struggle finding teachers for your children’s Sunday school? (and who doesn’t!)

Ephesians 4 is one of the scriptures on which I plant my flag. I will choose to die on this hill, so to speak. The first section of the chapter, “Unity in the Body of Christ” in the 1984 NIV, concludes, “From [Christ] the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.” (v 16)

In the fourth chapter of Crazy Love, Francis Chan challenges us by defining the lukewarm christian (intentional little-c). I’ll let Jesus define it here:

“I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” (Revelation 3:15-16)

This is written to a church. A community of believers. A religious organization. And Jesus wants to spit them out of his mouth.

Look around. Are you the 20 or the 80?

One of These Kids is not Like the Others

Frank

From the latest Family Christian mailer:

Sarah Palin, present poster-child of the politicized American Christianity (TM) persecution complex. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, perhaps the 20th Century’s best example of faith under persecution who was imprisoned and later hung for his convictions. (I’m still trying to wrap my head around how Sarah Palin is an example of “faithful perseverance”)

On the surface, they are both very similar. Both are tied to movements that insist Christianity should oppose cultural and governmental moral decay. However, that’s where the similarities end, unless you liken our current administration to Nazi Germany (and those who do, really, really need to brush up on their history). Christians in America are under no threat of imprisonment or death for our beliefs. Our government is not conducting a systematic slaughter of a specific segment of our population, which would be worthy of opposition. And no, I’m not going to relate abortion to the Holocaust; a person’s choice, whether we agree with the laws allowing it or not, is still the decision of the individual, independent of the government. And no political leader is elevating themselves as a leader of the church, which would also be worthy of opposition.

Wait. That is happening, albeit subtly. This advertisement demonstrates it. Here is a potential presidential candidate being promoted by a Christian bookstore. She’s not the first. I’ve seen books by Gingrich, Bush (Sr and Jr), and Huckabee displayed right in front next to Joel Osteen (if that’s not a clue, I don’t know what is). Yet I’ve never seen any books by Jimmy Carter, President Obama, or others from the Left side of the aisle promoted in such a way. No, they’re not leading any church, but they are leading public opinion, especially those on the religious right.

I strongly believe our convictions should guide our politics, whether it’s Left-leaning Social Gospel or Right-leaning Family Values. However, our politics should not shape our convictions. While the secular world argues to keep faith out of politics, I argue we need to keep politics out of faith. And that includes bookstores.

“Jesus said, ‘My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.’“ (John 18:36)

Are you a fan of Jesus?

Frank

Playing catchup on our Mere Churchianity discussion group with Glynn Young and Nancy Rosback. I’m a week behind but am catching up on Chapter 16, “The Evangelical Sellout”. Be sure to check out Glynn and Nancy’s thoughts on the latest chapter here and here. Melissa at In Silence, Humming Softly has also joined the discussion so be sure to check out her thoughts as well.

 

I want to throw some numbers out there to set the tone. From Chip Ingram’s book, Living on the Edge referencing a Barna study he commissioned:

  • 81% of those calling themselves Christians said spiritual maturity is “following all the rules”
  • Half of churchgoers don’t know how their own church defines a “healthy spiritually mature follower of Jesus.”
  • Only 21% of Christians described their relationship with Jesus as a sign of their own personal spiritual maturity, 14% living a moral lifestyle, 13% being involved in spiritual disciplines.
  • A minority of churches have a written statement outlining the expectations of spiritual maturity and they often define this by what people do, not what they believe
  • Outside of this Barna study, Chip gives the anecdotal case where he asked 50 pastors what it means to be a disciple of Jesus and only one was able to give a coherent answer. Everyone else gave a vague version of “a follower of Jesus”. When asked further what that looks like, answers varied as described above.

From an interview I heard a couple of weeks ago with Phil Vischer, writer of Veggie Tales:
  • 50% of adult Protestants cannot define the word grace
  • 60% of high schoolers in youth ministry drop out after graduation

We know the symptoms. In Chapter 16 of Mere Churchianity, Michael Spencer defines the disease: we are fans of Jesus, not disciples of Jesus. He gives the comparison between a baseball player and a fan of baseball. I like the joke of “eating at McDonald’s every Sunday doesn’t make you a hamburger.”

When I became a disciple of Christ, the visible evidence of the numbers above drove me to the fellowship I am in now. I was converted in a campus ministry after being part of another campus ministry that prayed hard Sunday nights after partying hard Saturday night. And the fellowship was more about who was sleeping with who than how were our own personal walks with Christ. I knew there had to be something more than this, and I thank God for leading me to where he did.

I remember when one guy started coming around our campus ministry. He was active in his home church, a few hours down the road, and wanted a local fellowship. He participated in our worship, we studied the Bible, we prayed together, and when he looked at the lives we were striving to lead he told us, “this is just like my church back home. But only for those in leadership.” Michael gives a similar story of a brother who was taking a course on discipleship who dropped out because, “This is for preachers, not me.” (Mere Churchianity, pg 189)

I look around the current Christian climate and I see a malaise that is contagious. I read book after book and follow blog after blog to try and find the magic formula for what is wrong and how to fix it. But I’ve forgotten my own conversion and what brought me to the foot of the Cross. I’ve forgotten the stories of those like my friend above, to whom it never occurred that the lifestyle of a disciple is the expectation of all Christians, not just those in arbitrary positions of leadership. And so I’ve fallen into the Christian consumerism trap that Michael describes. He gives a great outline of the catalogue of endless “Christian” products that would be worth a post of its own, but instead I’ll give my own checklist:

  • I write a blog, tweet about my convictions, and follow several others who do the same as we all preach to the same choir.
  • I’ve taken classes on Christian marriages and Christ-honoring finances.
  • I’ve attended countless conferences, seminars, and workshops.
  • I’ve taken classes on Biblical survey and apologetics.
  • I listen to Christian radio and buy some of the CDs.
  • My kids watch Veggie Tales and we own several DVDs.
  • And I can’t even begin to count the number of books I’ve read, most on how to be a “better fill-in-the-blank Christian”.

And truthfully, not a single one of these has changed my walk with Christ. Sure, they motivate behavioral and attitudinal changes and feed my knowledge as well as my ego. But at the beginning and end of the day, it is only me and Jesus that matter and there’s not one silver bullet program, book, study series, conference, song, et cetera that is as important as that. I am a disciple of Jesus, not just a fan who wears some officially licensed jersey with his name on it and has his poster on my wall. I thank Michael for that reminder.

An Army Without Swords

Frank

“Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” (Ephesians 6:17)

“For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12)

Describing Jesus, “In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword… These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword” (Revelation 1:16, 2:12)

Michael Spencer was a radical. If he was a member of your church, your leadership might consider him a trouble-maker. He had unconventional thoughts and did unexpected things. Like giving a young disciple of Christ a Bible to read on her own.

This is the context Michael uses in Chapter 10 of Mere Churchianity, “Jesus, the Bible, and the Free-Range Believer” to describe the Biblical illiteracy that is present in the American Church (TM). This is a subject I am passionate about and have written on before. I’m going to try and restrain myself from going off on another rant. Instead I want to try and dig at the heart of the problem.

Why don’t we read our Bibles? I forget the survey numbers, but something like 90% of households own a Bible but only 10% (I’m guessing on that one) actually read it. You see the traditional, large, “family” Bibles on coffee tables with baptisms, confirmations, and weddings scribbled in the front. But those occasions are the only times those Bibles are ever opened.

Michael notes that Bible reading is actually discouraged in many congregations. I wouldn’t go that far, just that it’s not explicitly encouraged. But why?

“Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” (Acts 17:11)
In the Middle Ages, reading the Bible yourself, or even owning one after the printing press was invented, was considered in many places a crime that could cost you your life. Then, the church operated much like any dictatorship- control the information and keep the populace ignorant. A lay-person reading the Bible could lead to them having their own convictions. Let that spread and you lose your grip on power.

I don’t think that’s the case today. At least in terms of consolidating power. However, I do think churches do not encourage personal Bible study to protect their long-standing traditions. You’d be surprised all the things your church does that isn’t in the Bible. Transubstantiation? Not in the Bible. The Sinner’s Prayer? Not in the Bible. Infant Baptism? Not in the Bible. Of course you could take this too far. The Churches of Christ split in the early 20th Century over whether worship music should be a capella or with instruments. Why the debate? Worship with instruments isn’t explicit in the New Testament. (But then again, neither are church buildings, Sunday School, parachurch organizations, and on and on) And you’ll find things in the Bible that are missing in our churches today such as Love Feasts and evangelism that is more than just handing out tracts or knocking on doors. But there’s a danger in making the Bible your standard instead of Jesus.

We’re not going to find the perfect church that does everything right according to the Bible. But I do believe that personal Bible Study will lead you to what’s close. It did me. It did Glynn Young. This is how I approach my evangelism, in fact. I sincerely believe that if a person is truly obeying the Greatest Commandment, even if they are in another church, they will come around to seeing errors shortcomings in their church’s traditions and structure. They will then be on a quest for what Michael describes as Jesus Shaped Spirituality. I know I cannot make anyone come to my church and I know I cannot make anyone think my church isn’t just as wacky with our ways of doing things than another church down the street. But I do know that my church encourages each of us to study the Bible and come to our own convictions. We are encouraged to follow Christ, not traditions. (Though I will admit that historically we have had “leadership shaped spirituality”, cults of personality if you will. I want to believe that has changed. I know it hasn’t everywhere, but it has where I worship.) I believe we encourage Jesus Shaped Spirituality.

I’ll never forget reading in a book this take on the following scripture: we need to come to our own convictions on who Christ is; we cannot rely on anyone else’s conclusion to reach our own. That was radical to me in just the same way as Michael handing the newly converted a Bible to read. It changed my walk with Christ and still challenges me today.

“Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, ‘Are you the king of the Jews?’


‘Is that your own idea,‘ Jesus asked, ‘or did others talk to you about me?’“ (John 18:33-34, emphasis added)

Nancy Rosback, Glynn Young and I are discussing Mere Churchianity by Michael Spencer. Check out Nancy’s blog, Bend the Page, for links to other discussions.

Where has your journey taken you?

Frank

In Chapter 9 of Mere Churchianity, Michael Spencer describes the point where he became disillusioned with the church. He then went out to search for the perfect church and lists the places where he looked. These stops are likely familiar to you, they are to me:

  • Church Renewal where you try to create perfection from within via methods.
  • Church Revival where you try to create perfection through worship and prayer (worship and prayer are not  bad ideas, but note who’s trying to create perfection here).
  • Small Groups where you hope for perfection amongst a subset of relationships.
  • Charismatic Movement where you effectively do nothing and expect the Holy Spirit to do it all (is that too harsh?).
  • The true church where you are convinced yours is right (in doctrine, method, or both) and everyone else is either wrong or should be just like you.
  • The Catholic and Orthodox churches where tradition reigns.
  • The emerging church where just about everything is thrown against the wall to see what sticks.
  • The house church where the institutional church is abandoned and like-minded Christians meet together in homes hoping to recreate the First Century Church.
  • The media church (now this would be called the multi-site online church) where there is a virtual fellowship via the Internet and the church has multiple sites all streaming the Word of God from some centralized locale.

My journey took me from the Catholic church to a combination of the true church, small groups, and the multi-site church. I’m happy with the decision and wouldn’t change it despite some pretty messed up things along the way. Since becoming active online, I’ve hung out with traditional Protestants who were migrating over to Orthodoxy, traditional restorationists who were exploring small groups, house churches, and renewal and now an eclectic mix of emergents, traditionalists, Catholics and Charismatics.

So my question this week is: where has your journey taken you in search of Jesus Shaped Spirituality?

Glenn Young shares his journey over at Faith, Fiction, Friends as he, Nancy Rosback and myself discuss Michael Spencer’s book. Please come back this evening for more thoughts from me on Chapter 9: What Jesus is Doing in the World.

Weekend Reading, 25 September

Frank

I really enjoyed the discussion this week on Mere Churchianity at Bend the Page, Faith, Fiction and Friends, and In Silence, Humming Softly. So much so, I’m dedicating this weekend’s reading to that theme. Some are new posts, some are old, but all speak to the same problem: something is wrong with the church.

As much as I harp on “authentic community” and question when is it ok to leave church, the reality is people are leaving the church and for many reasons. One good example, testimony if you will, comes from Stephen Lamb writing about why he left church over at Jesus Needs New PR. Click here for parts 1, 2, and 2.5 (looking forward to 3!). This reminded me of this old post from Marshall Jones Jr. And Christian Ray Flores shares his own experience in two parts.

Of course there are lots of reasons for this, and looking over past blogs leaves us plenty to ponder.

First problem is we often leave Jesus out of our Christianity.

  • This is the theme of Michael Spencer’s book, but is also the point of Frank Viola and Leonard Sweet’s Jesus Manifesto. A great review can be found over the the internetMonk and an old guest post from Viola at Jesus Needs New PR.
  • Brett McCracken notices we are also tempted to leave Jesus out of our serving, especially now that the Social Gospel is en vogue.
  • Of course, the more we take out of the Gospel, the less we’re left with. And Jason Stasyszen writes the Gospel is soon reduced to a single note in a symphony.

Of course, maybe the problem is us?

  • Our nature just likes to complain. But Patrick Mead writes that you only have a right to complain if you’re actually doing something about it.
  • And Wade Hodges asks us to stop using the excuse that we’re not being fed and figure out how to feed ourselves.
  • We’re also very judgemental and competitive. Jezemama laments the competitiveness that “feels just like church“.
  • Other times we’re just stupid and gullible. Bradley Moore reflects on Christian spam.

We also are tempted to be “relevant” and “seeker sensitive”. That creates it’s own set of hazards.

Solutions?

  • Matt Appling and Alise write letters to the Church in America a la the letters to the Seven Churches in Asia. That’s a start.
  • Of course, there are still reasons to go to church as Katdish and Esther Meek point out. Maybe we should focus on the positives instead of all the negatives?

But we do need to own up to where we fall short. Maybe we should take a cue from Domino’s Pizza, confess our shortcomings and commit to change? An interesting thought from Tyler Mahoney writing at the Huffington Post.

Food for thought. With a new sauce. Enjoy.