What if I'm Wrong?

What if there isn't a problem with Modern Christianity?

What if pre-packaged, purpose-driven propaganda is the way to effectively help people with their spiritual walk?

What if three-point sermons, praise bands, colored lights, and Power-point are the only way to reach today's "seekers?"

What if removing symbols and rituals from our gatherings because it might invoke thoughts of Christ is helping to alleviate the sense of uncomfortability that "seekers" might have?

What if diluting the Gospel with coffee and then serving it to the masses like a product or sales item is effective?

What if leadership in the form of a hierarchy is the only Biblical model?

What if unrealistic expectations of intimacy through small groups actually builds authentic relationships?

What if there really is supposed to be a "ministry team" for every person?
What if I'm wrong?

What if there isn't another way to do things?

What if Christianity has been building up for 2000 years just to reach this day and age when it is at its pinnacle of effectiveness?

What if "post-modernism" is just a fad, a new trend in Christianity?

What if there really isn't a need to reach "post-modern" seekers, because they'll come around eventually?

What if 10% of my salary is just scraping the surface of my giving potential?

What if fasting, meditation, giving to the needy, and living a life of only necessity are not needed anymore in this society?

What if I'm wrong?

What if Christ isn't disappointed with what has become of His Bride?

What if the apostles saw the same zeal and love in the Church of today as in the first century?

What if we are doing the best that we can?

But then again, what if I'm wrong?

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Something more?

I've been reading a lot lately about reaching two types of people for Christ. One is the generation of people of which I belong.

Call us Gen X or whatever, but this generation (and those following us) are growing up with less knowledge of Christianity than ever. This is surprisingly ironic when one considers the methodology of those that have been trying to reach us for the past 20+ years. The modern mindset leans heavily on knowledge, reason, logic, and proof. And somehow these methods have left an entire generation longing for more. I think the main issue is that in the age of chat rooms, blogs, mass media, and text messaging, we have grown up with an incredible amount of knowledge at our fingertips. We are searching for more that just information when it comes to Christianity. We want something mystical, supernatural, and intimate. We want to experience God in a way that memorizing cliches and sermon points will never provide.
What strikes me as odd is that though my first group is a chronological categorization, the second group is not.

The other group is segregated from mainstream modernity because deep down in their bones they have always felt out of place in a "normal" church setting. These are people from all different backgrounds. For some reason the typical "church service" has not resonated with them.

I find it odd that in 200 years of Americanized Christianity little has changed within our churches. Sure we use bands, and powerpoint, and wireless mics, and lighting effects. But honestly, what has changed? The problem is that all we keep doing is changing the band-aid, but the wound is still there. In fact, the wound has grown significantly. I propose that we rethink church in general. There must be a way to holistically reach all people and still stay true to the goal of the church?

Wait! What is the goal of the church?
"To win people to Christ."
I say yes....and no.
Helping people come into a relationship with our Savior is part of our goal. I think that the goal is also to teach people to live a life of Kingdom-hood. To live a life of servant-hood in order to serve Christ and our neighbors.

At the beginning of the Gospel of Mark, the author quotes Jesus at the start of his public ministry saying,
"The time has come," he said. "The Kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the Good News!" (Mark 1:15)

When I recently "noticed" this passage, it became destabilizing for me. I had always understood the "Good News" as summed up in the life, death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and promised return of Jesus. After reading this almost innocuously short passage, however, I started wondering. What was the "Good News" Jesus was referring to all those years before his death, burial, and resurrection? Could it be that the "Good News" Jesus talked about was less a call to believe in the things that happened to him or would happen to and through him than an invitation into Kingdom Life?" Credited to Doug Pagitt in the book "Reimagining Spiritual Formation"

I'm not saying, nor do I think is Mr. Pagitt, that we should not believe in the wonderful things in Jesus' life and the promises he makes to us. I do think that the author might be on to something though. What is the Good News, if not that we can become Children of God AND live within the Kingdom of God.

I think that this is the point to why so many of us often feel disenchanted by modern Christianity. In all of our fancy processing and packaging, we have turned Christianity and ultimately Christ into a consumer good. We don't go to church to enter into a spirit of fellowship and worship. We go to church to get our week's worth of McChurch, complete with a Supersized concert, and a Biggie pep talk. What I and many like me want is for church to be the church throughout the week. For us to gather together on the weekend to share in the Spirit and worship as a family. But throughout the week we need to be the church to each other, our community, our environment, our workplace, etc...........

Church is NOT something we go to, but rather something we are. There is more to Christianity than showing up on Sundays. And that something more is what many of us are searching for.

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God is listening

Today I received an email and a voice mail from my friend Rochelle (the previously anonymous friend who was suspected of having breast cancer).

On Monday, 15 friends and believers joined hands at Rochelle's home to ask for God's intercession regarding the cancer. Yesterday, Rochelle went for another biopsy. She had to wait for the results until this morning.

The results came back non-cancerous. Benign!!! God was listening to our prayers. Thank God!

I previously listed 4 reasons why God allows some bad things to happen in our lives. I would like to add a fifth:

God sometimes allows bad things so that He might be magnified and glorified through our faithfulness!

Hebrews 11:1-3

mike

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Passion of the Christ

I am speechless after viewing this film. I have found an article that clearly explains the thoughts I have. I will post that article because the words just aren't coming right now.

The Door Magazine

I had the privilege of seeing Mel Gibson's The Passion Of The Christ prior to its actual release, and there is nothing that could have prepared me for what I saw on the screen.

This is not a movie that anyone will "like." I don't think it's a movie anyone will "love." It certainly doesn't "entertain." There isn't even the sense that one has just watched a movie. What it is, is an experience, on a level of primary emotion that is scarcely comprehensible. Every shred of human preconception or predisposition is utterly stripped away. No one will eat popcorn during this film. Some may not eat for days after they've seen it. Quite honestly, I wanted to vomit. It hits that hard.

I can see why some people are worried about how the film portrays the Jews. They should be worried. No, it's not anti-Semitic. What it is, is entirely shattering. There are no "winners." No one comes off looking "good", except Jesus. Even His own mother hesitates.

As depicted, the Jewish leaders of Jesus' day merely do what any of us would have done, and still do. They protected their perceived "place", their sense of safety and security, and the satisfaction of their own "rightness." But everyone falters. Caiphus judges. Peter denies. Judas betrays. Simon the Cyrene balks. Mark runs away. Pilate equivocates. The crowd mocks. The soldiers laugh. Longinus still stabs with his pilus. The centurion still carries out his orders. And as Jesus fixes them all with a glance, they still turn away. The Jews, the Romans, Jesus' friends, they all fall. Everyone, except the Principal Figure. Heaven sheds a single, mighty tear, and as blood and water spew from His side, the complacency of all creation is eternally shattered.

The film grabs you in the first five seconds, and never lets go. The brutality, humiliation, and gore is almost inconceivable, and still probably doesn't go far enough. The scourging alone seems to never end, and you cringe at the sound and splatter of every blow, no matter how steely your nerves. Even those who have known combat or prison will have trouble, no matter their experience, because this Man was not conscripted. He went willingly, laying down His entirety for all. It is one thing for a soldier to die for his countrymen. It's something else entirely to think of even a common man dying for those who hate and wish to kill him. But this is no common man. This is the King of the Universe.

The idea that anyone could or would have gone through such punishment is unthinkable, but this Man was completely innocent, completely holy, and paying the price for others. He screams as He is laid upon the cross, "Father, they don't know. They don't know...

What Gibson has done is to use all of his considerable skill to portray the most dramatic moment of the most dramatic events since the dawn of time. There is no escape. It's a punch to the gut that puts you on the canvas, and you don't get up. You are simply confronted by the horror of what was done, what had to be done, and why. Throughout the entire film, I found myself apologizing

What you've heard about how audiences have reacted is true. There was no sound after the film's conclusion. No noise at all. No one got up. No one moved. The only sound one could hear was sobbing. In all my years of public life, I have never heard anything like that

I told many of you that Gibson had reportedly re-shot the ending to include more "hope" through the resurrection. That's not true. The resurrection scene is perhaps the shortest in the entire movie, and yet it packs a punch that can't be quantified. It is perfect. There is no way to negotiate the meaning out of it. It simply asks, "Now, what will you do?

I'll leave the details to you, in the hope that you will see the film, but one thing above all stands out, and I have to tell you about it. It comes from the end of Jesus' temptations in the wilderness, where the Bible says Satan left him "until a more opportune time." I imagine Satan never quit tempting Christ, but this film captures beyond words the most opportune time.

At every step of the way, Satan is there at Jesus' side, imploring Him to quit, reasoning with Him to give up, and seducing Him to surrender. For the first time, one gets a heart-stopping idea of the sense of madness that must have enveloped Jesus, a sense of the evil that was at His very elbow. The physical punishment is relentless, but it's the sense of psychological torture that is most overwhelming. He should have quit. He should have opened His mouth. He should have called 10,000 angels. No one would have blamed Him. What we deserve is obvious. But He couldn't do that. He wouldn't do that. He didn't do that. He doesn't do that. It was not and is not His character. He was obedient, all the way to the cross, and you feel the real meaning of that phrase in a place the human heart usually doesn't dare to go. You understand that we are all called to that same level of obedience.

With Jesus' humanity so irresistibly on display, you understand that we have no excuse. There is no place to hide.

The truth is this: Is it just a "movie"? In a way, yes. But it goes far beyond that, in a fashion I've never felt, in any forum. We may think we "know." We know nothing.
We've gone 2,000 years, used to the idea of a pleasant story and a sanitized Christ.

We expect the ending, because we've heard it so many times. God forgive us. This film tears that all away. It is as close as any of us will ever get to knowing, until we fully know. Paul understood: "Be urgent, in and out of season."

Luke wrote that Jesus reveals Himself in the breaking of the bread. Exactly. The Passion Of The Christ shows that Bread being broken.

love,

mike

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