I’ve had several conversations with people in the past few months about the church. What they thought they were doing for the sake of the church was in-fact helping to propel an institution rather than creating a movement of love, grace, hope and faith. It became more about saving the institution of church, rather than sharing the saving grace of Christ with the world.
As I see it, the church has become the focus of our faith. How many times have you heard the story of someone who left their faith at the doorstep of the last church that disillusioned them? In the real world it seems like people have become conditioned to the concept that the church is where our hope should be placed. Why is that? One reason could be how we have preached that ones money and time must be given to the church in order to prove our Christianity. We must tithe to our local church and share Christ’s love through ministries and programs within our local church in order to be considered “members” of that church.
Church as we know it has become about being self-sustaining rather than life-giving. We have put the emphasis on our success as a church rather than being instruments of Christ amongst the marginalized and fringes of society where he walked, dined, and conversed during his 3 year ministry.
Yes, my commentary has taken on a somewhat cynical tone, but if you had been involved in the fifty or so conversations I have had in the past few months, you too would see this trend that people have become disillusioned by the church. As a result, many of them have abandoned their faith. Some of them, while not abandoning their faith, have left their leadership roles within the church in search of something different.
Today’s seeker sensitive movement may not be about seeking God and his Son Jesus–instead it may actually be about people believing in God and wanting to find a place where he resides and seeks our hearts rather than our time and money.
While I may sound cynical about the church, it is not my intention to be critical of the church. However, I do believe that we as the church are losing people to secularism because we no longer have something to offer them. We have unintentionally directed our intentions to the masses of people already in eternal relationship with the Savior at the expense of those that aren’t drawn to our church–or the way we portray our God.
I am burdened by this missed opportunity, yet do not have an answer about how to address it. Let the conversation begin!
