I am wholly dedicated to the Gospel of Jesus the Christ. My wife and I have dedicated our lives to the cause of the Christ. But, as I have mentioned, I have the "gift" of prophecy, so the Church's foibles are especially noteworthy to me.
I have recently asked three different groups of US Christians to describe the average person who would identify as a Christian. They all gave some variation of "Lukewarm", and all agreed that word to be an accurate description.
"Why is that?", you might ask, as I do.
I am unsure, but as a prophet, I am surely unhappy with my/our status quo. I am unsure, but I do know the logic of that old quote, "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results." (Anonymous, NOT Albert Einstein).
So, what do we do differently? I DON'T know. Maybe it's our fixation on assembling on Sunday for some songs, take a collection, say a prayer, give a sermon, go home and ignore all that. I am SURE we need to assemble, I am just not so sure about what to do then. I am a firm believer in Sunday School, because, if done properly, engages people in thinking about Scripture and naturally gives opportunity to ask questions and challenge views. I am not sure how often it does this, versus merely being another sermon with a smaller audience.
So, what to do? Any suggestions on how 21st Century Christianity ought to handle the weekly meeting or discipleship in general? Thanks.
I wish I could find a group of people who did like the new testament church. Someone is led to preach, but engages the congregation with real questions, asks for comments, asks for a word from someone else who might be inspired to offer a testimony of some kind....instead of a lecture,where, as you say, you sing you listen you pray (or not) take up $ and go home. It just isn't as satisfying as it could be. I think that's where a good Bible Study or Sunday School class can come in, but oh! I wish we could have "church" that way.
ReplyDeleteYES! It is SOOO sad that so many Christian congregations have ABANDONED Sunday School! How else can we learn! Thanks for thinking about this. Blessings,
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