G. K. Chesterton once remarked that it is a sure sign of sickness to be obsessed with matters of health. When a bunch of teens get together you never hear them talking about the value of a colonoscopy, the favorability of one doctor over another, or the best diet to ward off diverticulitis. That's the kind of fare you might hear around the folding tables at the church potluck dinner. No - the healthy discuss what they're doing - not what they only wish they were. It seems like so much of the conversation in the church today has to do with what it means to be healthy. If you were to walk the aisles of your local christian bookstore you'd find among the stuffed animals, tee-shirts, and pen sets a myriad of books having to do with renewing and finding our purpose. What some interpret as a revival of purpose - I see as a death rattle. A church that busies itself with arriving at a mission statement has despaired of actually accomplishing anything. As Alfred Adler once said: "It's far easier to fight for one's principles than to live them."
Well said! Is it any wonder that people are leaving the church in droves? We have gotten away from the RELATIONAL ministry we were called to live in our daily lives and instead gather for weekly "strategy sessions."
ReplyDeleteAnd sure enough... we have done the very thing God warned us about through his servant, the apostle Paul; who defended his refusal to spend his time in Corinth baptizing people (man's agenda) by writing, "For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power." 1 Cor. 1:17
I'd say it's about time we put our agendas aside and get back to the relational ministry that our Savior exemplified for us - if we don't God's powerful work will have to be done "in spite of us" rather than in and through us as He desires.