The church is hemorrhaging humanity from open wounds. Studies show that over half of the folks under 30 who were raised in the church have left it. Not to mention the same age-group which has been completely unaffected by the church at any point in time in their lives (in a positive sense, anyway). At best, many in the church are attempting to stop the bleeding. While credit should be given for recognizing a problem, points are deducted for applying a band-aid to a sucking chest wound. At its worst, others have “circled the wagons,” fortunate enough to have entered before the doors shut, they simply peer out of stained-glass windows at an alien world around them.
Contrary to the faith movement founded by Jesus Christ and carried into humanity for nearly three hundred years: The religion termed “Christianity” (as a rule) is utterly disconnected from the world in which people actually live. Love, by design, has an inherent risk. Yet the church has a tradition of fear, while irrationally claiming to love (which drives out all fear, by definition). Likewise, when Jesus came he brought abundant life with Him. Why, then, is the experience of many within the church empty, hollow, shallow, and ineffectual to their daily lives? In another bit of irony the church has taken upon itself the role of “Doctor,” all-the-while suffering from internal bleeding itself. The church has no answers to certain questions, so it decided to answer questions that are not even being asked. Again, it claims moral/ethical supremacy while its own adherence to the claim is selective and situational. And another thing, the leadership within the church is hereby called into question. “If you can’t or don’t lead me, I will not follow.” Incidentally, “leading” is not synonymous with being a busy-body. “Leading” does not imply that you are anyone’s conscience but your own. Nor does “leading” imply that you are the final authoritative word on any given subject. By “leading” you are an example to imitate as you seek out Christ in your life and living, daily. A leader casts the Vision of the mind of Christ. People follow the leader only as far as said leader is casting said vision.
Restructuring, reorganizing, and revitalizing are simple attempts to rebuild, in the hopes of reproducing that which is shattered and broken beyond repair. In this paradigmatic shift in which we find ourselves today, the old is being crushed to dust by the new. While this crushing can be painful, it is not pointless and unproductive. As He did when He broke-in to time and space nearly 2,000 years ago, God is moving the massive plates of change on which we have been standing. As economies, countries, and polities (and the religion called “Christianity”) sway and collapse under their own weight, the faith movement termed “the church” – the Body of Christ – by design, shifts and rolls with the every quake and aftershock. And as He did after the cold, cruel death of His flesh, God resurrected the body making something new and extraordinary. It’s terminal… Let the carcass of the old lie… And watch the Body of the new live.
