Ruminations and Ramifications

An interesting idea

My friend Jeff and I were marvelling over the new sensation that is the Flea Market Furniture store on YouTube and Jeff says

"the most powerful informational tool man has yet created, and this is what we use it for."

And I could only reply

"you know what, I feel the same way about the church right now."

Although the church is not a man-created institution, and Christ is still building HIS church in the midst of everything, I still can't get past the circus I'm seeing in front of me. The seeker-sensitive. The "relevance" (idolatry)? The cutting off at the knees of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

After listening to the sermon last week from church, I'm just, well, sad.

My biggest beef was this: the church is expecting people who are unregenerate to want to join a community group. To want to fellowship with other believers. Unregenerate people don't want to fellowship with other believers. So we have to get them to join small groups on other pretenses. Talking about Jesus Christ would not be something they would be interested in, but they WOULD be interested in getting their felt needs met. So that is what the church is now leaning on in order to convince unregenerate (possibly unchurched) people they need to be in a community group. And for those who are truly unchurched (although the comment was made that this wasn't for them) they don't know anything other than that these community groups are for support and community. Community. I can't tell you how many times that word was used. But community outside of the actual body of Christ, ministering to the body of Christ (prophesying, teaching, exhorting, encouraging, administering mercy) is impossible, it seems to me. Because the church doesn't need a scrapbooking club when its spiritual moorings are worn to their threads. Community within the body of Christ is doing more than just meeting physical needs. We are to encourage and challenge, using the Scripture to reprove, rebuke and exhort!!

We've blurred the lines between what it means to be in Christ, and what it means to be of the world, unfortunately, and using biblical means of creating such an appropriate distinction would be too "divisive" and using man-made means would be easier. Of course we're going to use man's wisdom here.

*sigh*

posted by Marcian @ 9:33 PM