Trouble For The church
Letters in the mail
Yesterday I received a letter from a local church here in Meridian, ID. Naomi and I had visited them once a few months ago in their new building. The place was nice, comfortable, the people were friendly enough. But it wasn't the right fit for us as far as what we look for in a local church.
This church is currently experiencing a budget shortfall. The letter talked about how much money they needed to keep operating the way they have been.
The trouble I see is not their budget shortfall. The trouble is that if I received this letter, then surely they sent it out to all of the other visitors that have been there lately. If I can think of the fastest way to shoo away newcomers and potential members, it would be to openly ask for money specifically from them. Many churches have this same issue with money and have done the same thing or similar.
The real deficit in America's churches
When was the last time your church sent you a letter telling you of a deficit of incomparable magnitude? And when was the last time they told you the deficit was that of souls not just being lost, but specifically not being won by that local church?
The fact is, most local churches in America are more concerned with meeting their own needs than they are the needs of others. Focus is placed on infrastructure and building A church and not THE Church. They take their money and build a fancy place to please themselves and make their tithe payers comfortable.
If we were wise, we would find ways to do with less comfort and more to help the poor and broken-hearted. We would find ways to creatively tell the story and live the message we believe in. We would take a grassroots approach to reaching the lost.
That's my experience. What's yours?
Please leave a comment, I would love to hear your thoughts on the subject.
Please Note: for all intents and purposes "church" with a lowercase "c" represents unique, local gatherings of Christians that typically make up what most American's consider to be "church". i.e. the local Christian, Presbyterian, Baptist church.
Friends in Battle
There are times when we look back at our lives and wonder where our friends have gone, be it from school or a place we lived a long time ago. Sometimes we reminisce and think about the good days and times we had. Other times we might look back with sadness or regret over words spoken in haste or actions beyond reason.
There are several people I think of when I ponder what seems like the "days of old" to me. There seems to be periods of time that are characterized by those I called my friends, or my "inner circle". Sometimes those friends were well chosen. Other times, not so well chosen. Sometimes I look back in heartbreak for those friends who have fallen in the Battlefield of The Faith. Other times I look to find hope in others that have continued to fight.
I think, for me, at times I look back (usually a bad thing to do anyways) and see the times when I realize that I was wounded in battle myself and nearly turned into a casualty of the war. Even worse is when I look back to realize that I was used by the enemy to inflict damage to my own side, my own friends and brothers.
This war of The Faith is unlike any other war ever fought between mankind. The enemy is very well (7,000 years roughly) embedded and dug in. Often times we are deceived or distracted from the battle, pretending that the enemy doesn't really want to kill us or destroy our Faith. We've become even more foolish by forgetting what we are fighting for. We begin to think that we are fighting for monuments and not the lives of those around us.
If we gain anything from our memories of friends, good times and bad, let it be remembered that people are what matter in this life and everything else will burn like gasoline. Hold your friends and family close.