Old ladies & Habitual Voyeurism

I am using the term Voyeurism to describe something we do in the local church. There are several forms of voyeurism yet the type I am attempting to describe is nothing in sexual nature. The definition that I'm working from is this:

Voyeurism is the act of someone who habitually observes others without their knowledge. Voyeurism (from the French voyeur, "one who looks") can take several forms, but its principal characteristic is that the voyeur does not normally relate directly with the subject of their interest, who is often unaware of being observed.

I got into a conversation with a member of our church the other day regarding our church's tithing habits. Now, I'm not talking about the individuals who make up our church and their spiritual discipline and obedient tithe to our local church but the amount of money that our church turns around and gives out to other mission organizations, missionaries, and other evangelistic efforts that are more or less disconnected from our local efforts. We are indirectly related to these missions. And the notion shared with me by this member was that we were breaking some biblical mandated law if we as a church organization did not give to SOME other mission. "We've gotta give to something or someone. We can't just not give to someone and keep all the money for our church." AND hidden beneath this comment lies an issue within the local church. Buried beneath its innocent, good willed, and moral notions, lies a mentality that has been affecting the local church like cancer.

There has been a mentality that has creeped into the local church that if you aren't giving to another mission that you aren't doing what's right. Now don't misunderstand what I'm getting at here. I do support the local church allocating money's out of the budget to support other missions but I'm afraid that out of a social obligation to give, many churches are doing what many Americans have done over the past few decades and that is tithe off of their credit cards. I wonder how many struggling churches continue to tithe to "other" missions while they continually struggle financially and slowly die; only to meet a social obligation. I'm perplexed why these churches do not cut their giving down and focus on their own mission. Its as if we REALLY AREN'T A "REAL" MISSION. But that's the issue. Have we forgotten that we too are a mission?

I do believe that the local church abroad has forgotten that we ARE A MISSION. That we don't need to send out money to others to do what we're supposed to be doing. I wonder if people will feel guilty that NOTHING is being done to spread the gospel message through their church's efforts if we don't pay someone else to do it. I think this is a fair question given the statistics of growth in the North American churches. This idea of hired mercenaries has been around for quite some time but not necessarily in the church.

What I'm beginning to notice is that we depend on their stories of faith in hard times, conversions happening weekly, the holy spirit moving, and the mission growing. We are like individuals who depend on reading the latest hot gossip in People Magazine. I watch people feed off of others' lives and live through their drama, stories, and excitement; simply put, they have no lives of there own to get excited about.

SO we commit CHRISTIAN VOYEURISM, peering into others' lives to feed our appetite to be a part of something important. The people we associate ourselves with really don't know who we are, what we're about; we never meet any of the people who are affected by our money donations but it's enough to keep our pseudo evangelistic efforts going and let us sleep at night. It's a trade off of sorts. They send us neat stories so that we can feel good and they get money to live another day and do the real evangelistic work. What is sad is that this TRUE. Not many people would look at it this way, however, as a pastor, I can see the big picture and the long-term spiritual consequences of people feeding their Christian Voyeurism. And really, I absolutely cannot say with certainty which individuals struggle with this, however, I can say with certainty that it does happen. I see the spiritual consequences of this everyday in the American church.

Churches connect to other missions so that we can at least guarantee that SOMETHING good is happening. And if we aren't living out our mission, the fact that the mission around the world that we're financially supporting is doing positive things will take the pressure off my conscience knowing that my money is at least converting some people.

Now I am not advocating that we do away with supporting other missions. I'm all for supporting those who quite frankly do what I CANNOT do. I'm called to a particular people group and society to minister to and so are the individuals who are ministering around the globe. I understand that there are times in the Kingdom where every church is in need of other church's support. BUT what I am against is the church giving when it cannot financially afford it as if they are not a mission in need; giving out of a heart that abdicates their personal responsibility and calling as a Christ follower to evangelize the lost; and individuals not realizing that the local church is indeed a MISSION.

I believe God is calling the local church to a new understanding of Christianity and their views of the church's relationship to it's community. We are to become missional people who belong to a mission. We each are partners in that mission (not members of a societal club with benefits of inclusion) and have a shared investment in the outcome (hardships and victories) because we are all brothers and sisters in Christ who live for for His glory.

I will continue to wonder what would happen if today's people in the local church realized that WE ARE A MISSION. My prayer is that we might experience that in our church. I AM heartened to know there are people who are beginning to see the big Kingdom picture of what God is doing. My hope is that we will take a hard look at what God has called us to do specifically where we are. I hope that we will not overlook what God is doing right now and attempting to involve us in.

Legalism & Antinomianism

"The Bible is a sword, and the soldier who fails to understand grace will wield it to his own destruction and the death of their hearers, as is sadly done by so many false teachers and cult leaders. They are prone to either legalism or libertinism (also called antinomianism)." - Mark Driscoll from Religion Saves and 9 Other Misconceptions page 114.

I've been accused of being a libertine and it won't be the last time I'm certain. It is sad to see so many men & women led astray by their personal agendas and emotions into a life of legalism. All the way to a point where anyone who opposes them, they will call them liberals. It's as if THEY ARE THE TRUTH. It is so sad. And the TRUTH that they carry is lost in their anger and temper tantrums. They can argue about grace and the theological impact of it while treating you like trash. HMMM. I wonder why people hate the church?

I've asked myself for the longest time, "Why do these men/women get soooo bent out of shape over issues that aren't easily navigated like Math or Science?" They can be so ugly and unloving which has nothing to do with the gospel. Things just aren't as black and white as some would LOVE them to be. I've come to realize that at the end of the day, it's not really the Truth that they are angry about, its about them being rejected from their grade school sweetheart and made fun of in high school. It's about status, inclusion, and exclusion. It's about I'm right and you're wrong. It's about I'm going to heaven and you're going to hell. They begin to retreat into logical battles where they can control the outcome of who is in and who is out. They promote themselves as the gate keeper. This way they can secure THEIR own acceptance. Being Right has more at stake than what meets the eye. It's not because they hurt for those who are far off or those who are burdened by life. They're more interested in being Right and beating people down with Truth. Given the option, if they were given the opportunity to lend a hand to a drowning Nazi or throw a Bible at them, I think 9 times out of 10 they'd throw a Bible at them. And the other one wouldn't throw the Bible at him because it would ruin the Bible. And I say this because event the most obvious wrong doers aren't to be judged by us. We are not their judges and we all most hope for those who are far off that they might be able to receive the amazing Grace that we have also. I don't think these legalists ever could see themselves as the Nazi but in reality, we all, left to ourselves are in the same boat; sinners deserving death and eternal separation from a holy God.

It's perplexing why they are so upset when your opinions differ, but looking a little deeper; If they were to let their walls down of who is in and who is out then they would lose control. They would lose the position of gate keeper. AND THEY MIGHT FEEL THAT SAME FEELING OF BEING A LOSER or AN OUTCAST WHEN THEY WERE IN GRADE SCHOOL. And more importantly, they might have to depend on being nice and friendly to people in order for them to choose them in a relationship rather than congregating around BEING RIGHT. There is way more at stake than meets the eye for these Judaizers. My suggestion, avoid them at all costs and NEVER align yourself with them. It's not worth it. Because the moment you have a different opinion and you begin to think for yourself, they'll stab you in the back with the "sword of Truth" and put you on the "prayer chain of choking out all those sinners".

Friendly Fire From Not So Friendly People

Those who are up to speed with the latest books and talks on church movement, post modernity, the emerging/emergent church, being missional, etc. know that the church abroad is not fairing so well. I've read several statistics that I'm not certain I know the validity to but I can vouch for most of them saying that in my experience, the churches I've witnessed are as bad if not worse than what these statistics express.

I've read recently that only 10% of all evangelical churches are growing at ANY rate numerically and that only 1% of the 10% is growing because of new conversions. The other 9% is growing because the 90% of the original 100% is failing/dying/or becoming increasingly irrelevant therefore losing its members to the up and coming relevant church who has a sleeker service. Not seeker but sleeker. So they are growing by transfers. Christian nomads which will be another post for another day. And I'd be scared to know the statistics of how many churches are REALLY growing where it counts, Spiritually; of which we will NEVER really know. God is the only one who will be able to certainly know that.

I've also just heard that it takes 85 Christians, 1 year to evangelize 1 person to Christ. You know the joke, "how many blonds does it take to change a light bulb?" Well, there's a new running joke, "How many Christians does it take to equal one real Christian?" The answer: 85. It's no joke though. I watched this leadership seminar DVD on evangelism where I heard this statistic and the individuals who were on this panel addressed this issue. Some notable individuals were; Lee Strobel, Ewin McManus, Dan Kimball, to name a few. These are highly successful pastors and the tone I got from them was that the church was in trouble. It seemed as though they carried the attitude of Nehemiah when he saw the the wall of Israel lay in ruin and was smoldering for all to see and mock God. The panel had some different views on why the church was experiencing such a downward turn however, most of them agreed to one thing. They took the statistic of 85 Christians converting 1 person in 1 year and calculated that it would take 850 Christians to convert 10 people to Christ in one year. Which then one of them commented, "And really it doesn't take 850 people, it's really 10 people out of the 850 which means 840 of the people aren't doing anything. And all of them paused for a moment acknowledging what had just been said and wondering if it was okay to expose the truth at this time. But without a doubt, everyone on that panel agreed and had a look of disappointment and angst. And immediately when that was said I agreed too.

And breaking this down into reality, it doesn't literally take 85 people to evangelize one person. That's just a statistic. It really only takes 1 person to evangelize another. What the statistic communicates is that there is only 1 person per 85 people who is WILLING to evangelize another. Let that sink in for a second.

Now, we'll address the obvious question that comes after acknowledging such a depressing truth. WHY? And this was asked on the panel. One guy said, "Well the church needs to train their people better." And at that I got angry. I absolutely hated that response. Are you kidding me? Training?!?! You think we're at a place in life, culture, and history where we have a lack of training or access of knowledge. We live in a time that is like no other. If you want to know how to do something, basically like the Matrix when Neo wanted to know how to do Karate, all it took was for Tank to click a few buttons on the keyboard, move the mouse around and upload the program into NEO and whhhaaalaa, Neo knew Karate. We can access videos, sermons, outlines, training seminars, college level classes on every topic at the click of a button. And we aren't limited to where we can access those things. I'm typing this article up in the food court of our local mall while connected to the WIFI of Panera Bread.

SO the question then gravitates to, what keeps us from that information? Well, I believe, (along with those who quickly disagreed with that individual on that panel), that there is another issue that is standing in the way of the 84 who don't evangelize there neighbor, friend, family member. Drum Roll. It is profound. Here it is. CARING OR EMPATHY.

I've always said, I'd rather have 10 people who are jacked up for Jesus who care about others than 800 cultured Christians who have gone to Bible College and know all the answers. I know that for many, AND I WILL STRESS NOT ALL, of those who have been exposed to "Training" in the knowledge of God and His Ways, some of them have a difficult time caring about people. This is why God warns in His word in 1 Corinthians 8:1, "Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up." They tend to approach others as if they were the enemy and the enemy has one option; be assimilated or die. And I say that somewhat sarcastically but for many of these thoroughly Bible trained assassins, converting someone is rather impersonal. And most of them wield their swords, sharpened by years of training, reading, and arguing with like minded people ready to rip up those who have a different outlook on things. They tend to get into "I'm right rally's" and they don't listen. I'd much rather take 10 humble individuals who care. People who care about Jesus, care about others, and care about growing as Christ followers and serving Him. People who have not forgotten the gravity of their sin, people who have no pride in their works for Jesus, people who are sacrificial and want for others.

John Piper says that he can quickly smell the theology of hell in a church by the immediacy in which they carry the gospel message. I love that quote. I'd also say you can smell the level at which people CARE for others in a church by the WAY & immediacy in which they carry the gospel message. You can have a greatly developed theology on hell and still not care about others. It is sad to see people who come into church for 30 years never leading another to the faith that they have proclaimed for so long. It makes you wonder if they really know the Jesus of the Bible. Because if they did, you'd know that they would have different fruit coming from their lives. The Bible does reconcile this issue of church goers who might attend every single week, may even teach bible lessons to children, yet they will go to hell.

Matthew 7:21-23 21"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' 23Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'

And its usually these people that we build our churches around and cater to. Why? Well, I've witnessed leaderships make decisions, (based on these obese, gluttonous, couch potato Christians who over-indulge on the Bible yet do nothing to give it away), to keep their tithe checks coming in.

I do not believe the church will reverse these trends that we see until the church gets to a very deep dark place. A place that is difficult, a place where it has nothing to offer people in terms of ease and comfort to the flesh. Of course we are offering ease, comfort, peace in the spirit through Jesus Christ, but those who have followed Christ for long know that the true Christian life is not easy and is not without its burdens. I'd argue that if you become a Christ follower, your flesh life, your temporary life here on earth will be attacked more than ever. You will sacrifice much more than ever before. It is not easy. BUT in the greatest paradox ever, it is the most gratifying, fulfilling, satisfying, purposeful, exciting, life you could ever have. When you are created for something and you finally begin to do what you were created to do, your life just feels right. BUT getting back to my original point, I believe that the church will have to go through a period of persecution, hardship, therefore purging in order to weed out those who are there for selfish reasons; any other reason than to glorify the creator will not suffice.

I've been a part of a church replant over the past few months, almost a year, and I've been heartened and disheartened by several things. I would say that I've been encouraged more than discouraged. BUT the discouragement that I've had to face has come from areas I did not expect; but I guess that's the nature of discouragement anyway.

I've been surprised over and over again by the lack of faith in those who call themselves Christians. When arriving, I've had individuals come to me and talk bad about others and then smile and bless them in public. What's interesting is that all the "holy, righteous people" (I say this because that is the attitude they gave off) who were leading the church before I got there warned me about certain individuals; to stay away from them; they're trouble and a waste of time. They'd even say things like this about family members. Well, come to find out, Judas was warning me of Peter being a hot head. I was so discouraged by what I was seeing. The so-called leaders were not and those who were pushed down, out of influence were the ones that God wanted to use. I cannot imagine how many churches this is the case in. It was the case in the last church I was at before here.

The church I currently lead, All the pastors and leaders of ministry have come primarily from the previous church I was at, however, most of these individuals were kept from leading there because the physically older individuals who were in formal leadership positions felt threatened by the young informal leaders. The pain that I've experienced in my life has most often come from so-Christians. When will we get to a point where we can make that a marginal experience rather than the norm? I'm sick and tired of the Christians who lead out of an imperialistic attitude, an "I'm right, you're wrong and going to hell and I'm happy about it" attitude, an "I was here first" attitude, an "I'm saved and that's all that matters" attitude? I'm ready to find people who have the heart that CARES. I don't give a rip if they don't have scriptures memorized like some or that they haven't received a college degree in Bible seminary. I don't care if they "aren't the smoothest speakers" or haven't been in the church long enough. When will the gospel message and the indwelling of the promised Holy Spirit be enough to qualify someone to lead others to Jesus? What is sad is church leaders have read & heard things like this and they usually smile piously knowing they are the ones in control and disregard it as, "well that's not how the real world works." That is sad to me.

It is my calling for the rest of my life to make sure that those who God is calling has an opportunity to join Him in His mission. It is my mission to throw blocks for them all the way to my grave. I holistically feel that my primary roll right now is to protect those who can't protect themselves from the religious community. There are people sitting out there that have no idea that they are going to be a leader in a church in 5 years. Right now they are the furthest thing from a Christian but God has a plan for them. I want to make sure they have a place in our church.

I feel like our church mission is like John the Baptist in a way, paving the way for those who God will use. I know that there is a large group of people who will only be equipped with the love of Christ in their hearts and the Holy Spirit and it will be by His power that others will come to know Jesus through them. And it will be through their weakness God will glorify Himself and shame the wise. I pray that I will see the day that God lifts up His church through the simple gospel message and love and through those who are not "professionals." My prayer right now for my church is that God would give us CARING people.

Talent on Tivo, Calling in Church

I've seen so many churches mortgage their future for the benefit of the present. When saying this, people might think I'm thinking in terms of cash money but I'm not. I'm talking mortgaging their relational culture influence in the future for high impact ministry gimmicks. For whatever reason, time and time again, ministry leaders are wowed by talent when we live in a day and time where I believe talent is in large supply. Talent isn't as wowing to me any more. I'm more impressed with character, integrity, and a sense of having an authority. As far as talent is concerned, you show me a good singer, a good guitar player, I'll show you someone who is equally good or better down the road. It isn't like people don't have mass access to personal coaches, books on "how to" and instructionals on everything from picking your nose to flicking boogers, on youtube. If you want to be talented at something and have any bit of natural aptitude, we live in a society that can get you there, promote you, record you, track you, highlight you, get you a great portfolio, develop your resume', etc. You live in a day when talent & skill is all around us. And for whatever reason, churches who have been hanging in the 60's, are still attracted to the next "show" when they can TIVO some great entertainment. Please, don't go to church to be entertained. And those who are eager to grow their churches, will employ talent to attract others. Sure, talent within music ministry is nice. I hate non-quality as far as execution goes within church worship. It can be very distracting to have someone who keeps missing the key or note every verse. But I've seen time and time again, church leaders putting ultra talented people on the stage, to either speak or sing, or play an instrument without any consideration to who or where these people are spiritually. These people can show up hung over to a worship set and go ahead and "lead worship." Really. Yeah. It happened. Some how, the individuals overseeing the worship within a church, was so focused on the "quality control" of things that a man who was very competent at his instrument was able to show up to worship one Sunday and lead until he passed out on stage. And you know what one leader had the gall to say. "Well, at least he's at church." Are you kidding me. WOW. WOW. I love the lost. I love the hurting. I love messy Christianity. I love reaching those who are hurting. Those who can't help themselves. Those who are broken and have no where else to turn. WHy? Because I see myself in them. I've been broken. I've been depressed. I've had no where to turn. I've had seasons in my past of sinful lifestyle. But, I'll tell ya what. If someone were to put me on a stage and say, "you're part of a worship team" while I was going through those periods of my life with open sin, I would've learned something that God is not trying to tell anyone. If you put someone on stage primarily because of their talent without any regard to where they are spiritually, you know what you are communicating to those people? "What you do, is more important than who you are." And you better believe that, YOU as a leader, if this describes you, You believe this deep down in your subconscious. Because, if you didn't, you WOULD NOT ALLOW THIS. You are also communicating that God does not have any ideals. Yeah, God chose the down and contrite. He chose those the world said were "sinners." He chose to hang out with them, but didn't make them leaders in his church. And if He did EVENTUALLY, they repented. I think what is more attractive these days, and harder to come by is character and integrity; NOT TALENT. I think the world is looking for a church willing to stand up for what's right and give them an ideal. I think they're looking for a standard. I think they'd be attracted to that. Talent is all over. Having standards isn't. I think many churches are mortgaging their future by putting leaders up front who have moral failings. And it's us leaders who are doing it, not them. We're the ones putting them up there, allowing them to take the stage. You know what we're doing every time we allow someone to stand up front and represent our church? We're putting a huge target on them, right at the center of their chest for Satan to pick them off. And if Satan is smart, he'll give that church some success and the church will call it a "blessing." "OH, what a blessing. Look at what God is doing. We're growing so fast. Wow, we must be doing everything right." We'll grow from 100 to 400 within 6 months and we'll get an article written about us about being cutting edge and on the leading front of ministry. And then right when are heads swell just enough and we buy into the whole talent over character deal, he exposes it for what it is. Someone has an affair, get's caught dealing drugs, doing drugs, molesting a child, whatever and then everyone in that church is a victim. YEAH, the good ol' days were there when we had the numbers and everything was filled with charisma. But was it worth it. NO. You mortgaged your future for the present. You went for short term talent and gain verses long term integrity and reward. We must return to faith. Being faithful. What is being faithful within this topic?

It is faithful to value integrity. It is faithful to not allow the ultra talented guitar player up on stage when you know he or she is dealing with sin and you also know that if you do, a lot of people will be attracted to it. I know it's tempting. It's faithful when you don't allow that guy to speak when you know that his charisma is so contagious. And it's faithful not to regret these actions. To know that you have chosen what is better. To truly see that promoting a pure spirit is more important than promoting talent and skill.


What you have to believe in, is this: That God's gospel is attractive enough, without the help of talent, to attract the multitudes of those who need Him. The difficulty in this is that in order for the gospel message to be the entity that attracts the multitudes, people have to be able to perceive it lived out in your leadership and your congregation. And for many churches, that's just too difficult. They know that that is REAL, and REAL HARD. Just like everything else though; Nothing good comes easy.

The church I'm at has been tempted to take the easy road so many times. Hire a guitarist. Hire a lead singer. Hire a speaker. Hire talent. Hire talent. Hire talent. And all along, God has been screaming out, I'm enough. I'm enough. I'm enough. I'm enough. Trust me. I will provide. I will call someone to lead you. I will CALL them. And trust me when I say this, "calling has a much greater impact than a hired mercenary." Someone who is hired to fight YOUR battles for you will only fight so hard. BUT, someone who is fighting his own battle through a calling, because God has linked this persons heart to your battle as his own, will give everything. Churches; take faith, and trust. Trust that if you are following HIM, and preaching HIS gospel message, HE will provide everything and everyone you need. HE will also remove those who oppose you and get in the way of the mission. TAKE FAITH. BE HEARTENED. Don't sell out. Don't mortgage your churches future for temporary talent. And if you see people in your church doing so, gently correct them, but in the end, make sure that they do not make these fatal errors for your church. Pray for them. And if God is moving in you enough, maybe He is stirring you to "BE the Change," and lead.

WHEN DOES THE CHURCH STOP BEING ABOUT YOU?

It was real interesting to run into a well educated missionary from San Diego in the middle of the food court in Des Moines, IA of all places when we're getting hit by a large winter storm. Really, there's not many reasons anyone from San Diego should be in Des Moines, IA this time of year. I of course asked this gentleman why he was here and told me he was speaking at a local conference. I then asked him what he does for a living. He went on to tell me he was a missionary. INTERESTING. "I'm a pastor", I said. And we ended up talking for a couple of hours. I asked him what was the greatest obstacle to today's missionaries and what was it that kept us from spreading to gospel more rapidly. He began to tell me his views and I was at the same time confirming them with my experiences and all the stories I've read about and seen. It seems as though we like to fit every Christian into our worldview. For us to more effectively spread the gospel message of Jesus Christ and see the gospel actualize into another culture we must first put off any preconception that "we've got it right." We have to desire above all else, understand that the gospel message is seeking to be lived out and expressed in multiple languages, values, art forms, traditions, etc. And the way we do church isn't "THE WAY." The only "WAY" is Jesus Christ and He is transcendent to all cultures. The largest obstacle the gets in the way of the American church today and it's efforts in achieving it's imperative of "GO," is the worldview that life is about having fun. Through David's (the missionary I met in the mall) experiences and times of living in multiple cultures, he's been able to gain a great deal of objectivity to the American culture and way of life. He glaringly noticed upon returning to the states the value of people describing their experiences in life as either "fun" or "okay." Anything that was worth while to an American was "so fun. You ought to try it." And he realized the there was a hidden core value within our society that if something does not serve us or fit within our agenda then it was not fruitful or worth our time. The one thing David expressed to me when he teaches at seminars is the idea that if we are Christ followers, then we must first get the idea out of ourselves that the chief end in life is our entertainment. I pointed out Piper's theology of Christian Hedonism and he echoed that but even went further to say that that outlook of Hedonism isn't always achieved. There are times in the Christ followers life that the chief end isn't pleasure or fun but another Piper theological idea of "GOD'S GLORY." Our heart must be to glorify God. To work to achieve His work in our lives through this world. Our work is to love Him while loving others, serving the world and baptizing all peoples in the trinity for forgiveness of sin and the gifts of heaven and the Holy Spirit. And as we do this, and mature as Christ followers, our "Preferences" become less and less important. As we mature as Christ followers, we understand more and more that why we gather is to go. Who we gather for is Christ and the purpose is His mission to reach those who aren't here yet. And if that is true then the things that we do and the ways we present ourselves to the culture must have relevancy to them, sometimes at the expense of our Preferences. Our favorite genre of music, our favorite songs, our style of service, the frequency at which we have pot lucks, the way we take communion, etc. As we mature, we must become more and more vocal to represent those on the outside than those on the inside. BUT what I see all too frequently is just the opposite. As people "get older" as opposed to "maturing," they utilize this pseudo maturing which is really called "aging," to posture themselves in getting a firmer vote on what happens on the weekends and with our budget. And at times will threaten their allegiance to the church if they don't get their way. I find this sad but all too familiar. And until we have a generation of people willing to model this to our children and those we hand the baton off to, we will continue to perpetuate this idea of "ME CHURCH." My hope is that we will not be that type of church and at the end of the day, have no sacred cows or produce any type of ministry that becomes more important than the chief end. I just have a feeling that it's going to take quite a bit of conflict to guard the church from "ME CHURCH." The problem is that you can look down the road and see someone else doing it and that's how you do church. The church is based around it's people that are already there. That's just how you do church. Monkey see, monkey do. No challenging the process. Heaven forbid you do something different. My prayer is that we would have a group of people that get lit up with the gospel message realizing that the majority of churches aren't what we are, and we are different. The scary and dangerous thing about all of this is that these churches with the mentality of "my preferences" are sprouting up in the name of being culturally relevant but still maintain the heart of "what I prefer." The type of church Jesus calls us to be is way deeper than what we can program or sing through our worship. It's deeper than the sermon development and the government of church. It's in the heart of why you even exist. David and I came to a mutual conclusion on this also; that he nor I or any other leader can control this. It is only by the shear mercy of God that he would humble/break/melt the hearts of His people to the point that they no longer care if their preferences came through in the weekend service. That their sole hearts passion is to see God move and more people saved. That they yearn to be a part of something bigger themselves and be men and women after God's heart. God will have to initiate this. I am seeking the Lord in seeing this happen. As far as it is up to me, WE WILL BE A CHURCH THAT JESUS CALLS US TO BE.

I've got a question for those who chose to read all the way down here. At what point does the church cease to be about you? When do you stop being the target? OR does that ever happen?