Eliminate a team from play-off contention and attendance wanes.
Sell off all your stocks and following the markets becomes blasé.
It isn’t easy to stay engaged in things that have no real importance to them.
Once the team is eliminated it doesn’t really matter how slick the advertising promo is - they’re done - see ya next year!
When it comes to finance - I don’t care if Poppy stands on her desk and sings the latest acquisition news, I have nothing invested, I’m not tuning in.
Here’s my point. There is a lot of talk these days about church being boring, especially to men. We need to find ways – we are told - to be more relevant, more engaging. Eerie warnings abound that the masses are beginning to find the “courage” to “leave church”, to exchange commitment to a local body of believers for chats about God over coffee or on the golf course. There’s a coming revolution don’t you know?
I think our quest for relevance is the problem – not the solution.
We have neutered the church by cutting out everything that might be found offensive.
There are no sinners anymore, only the horrible spectre of global injustice. There is no coming wrath, no judgement, no accounting for individual iniquity, only a call to “look for what God is doing” so we can join Him in His dream for humanity. It’s all so beautiful... one could even say Christianity is the search for beauty... but...here’s the thing though...
We don’t need a crucified savior for that – in fact what was Jesus doing up there on that cross anyway – didn’t he realize that the cure for the human condition is to switch to fair trade coffee and to drive hybrids? (yawn)
So then ... Let there be lights, motion backs, dance, drama and the arts. Bring on the professional singers, comedians, and occasional athlete testimonies, don’t forget the video announcements, secular music, and clowns in a Volkswagen - but, at the end of the day; if we are just another concerned citizens group trying to hold the attention of the crowd we are already irrelevant.
The only thing we have to offer is the message of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Christ died in my place on that hill – and that never gets old - or boring!
I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing! (Gal. 2:21)
4 comments:
As Elisha the prophet said: "Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?" And yet today, there is hardly any evidence of a victorious church and fewer prayer meetings with people weeping for lost souls. Our modern society has rejected the gospel as a nice story that our grandparents once shared and replaced it with the school of modern thought. So once again, where today is the compassion for lost souls ... on the Hell bound train that parties into the night.
ok but you don't address the theme of the Blog... It sounds like you are saying that if only the fluff and emergent wasn't preached then men would be connected and not bored at church and would be satisfied... it sounds like your saying that the solution of the boredom lies in that the church (as a whole) needs to start preaching the real stuff like Jesus,wrath,redemption, forgiveness etc... and then men in the church will leave the fluff behind and not be bored but take on a John Alderidge-esque" approach to their faith.... hmmmm if that is the case then that seems a little shallow; i would suggest that the issue is much more complex than that.... and i would also like to suggest that there are plenty a men who are feeding every sunday on a reformed message and yet are still very bored indeed.
I too would be bored by listening to sermons that contain the testimony of Jesus within the 4 walls of a congregation. We the people are the church in the unity of faith and as we walk in the Spirit of the Lord - Jesus will shine upon our hearts. I don't know the teachings of John Alderidge or the many authors that divide our thoughts or emotions with questions that hinder the move of the Holy Spirit. It's time to let go and let God warm our heart in the way of the gospel. And may the God of Elijah be with you today.
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