THE CHURCH, society's newest attraction?

Has the church confused the mission of the church with themed attractions?  Let me present form parallels between a roller coaster and church.  A person pays their admissions to get onto the roller coaster, raise their hands from the thrills, yell and scream from the emotional excitement, get off the ride, and decide whether or not to get back on ride.  The person may say, “That was a great ride” but may never return due to a lack of commitment.  Analogous to the roller coasters, churches have thrilled

The Church in the Wild

Have we been guilty of Christian passivity?  Are we guilty of preaching Jesus but failed to follow through in what He preached?  Some would argue that there is a great gulf that separates our teaching and our living.  Many in our society that have been marginalized have gone ignored and neglected by those who have been charged with the care of such individuals.  Has the church lost the transformative message of Christ in place of the performative?  Has passivity trumped passion?  To borrow a line from Kanye West and Jay-Z’s song, No Church in the Wild, has the church “…formed a new religion” that excludes the care of the marginalized?  No longer can we operate as if our lack of concern in inconsequential.  We must look within and use whatever strength to accomplish something for Christ’s charge is for us to do and care for the least of his people.  This is Church in the Wild.

Is Anybody Out There?

During the height of the Trayvon Martin case, there were Christians who were offended that this had received so much publicity.  Making comments such as, “this has become a game...” or “If Jesus got this sort of attention, the world would be a different place.”  The question at hand is, “Is anybody out there?”  K’Naan’s song asks, “Am I alone in this fight?”  Have we, the church, left too many people to fight in this world alone?  Is that what Jesus would do?

All you need is love, RIGHT?

Sherri Langton wrote an article, “Breaking out of the Christian Ghetto,” in an effort to relieve that guilt of being stuck in an environment that was solely Christian.  She makes comparisons of the “ghetto” and the subculture known as Christianity.  For those unfamiliar with the term, the Christian Ghetto is a slang term used by many Christians to describe much of popular, mainstream Christianity.  As the word ghetto would imply, Christians have isolated themselves from the world, and have created a distinct Christian culture, with its own language (Christianese), its own music, its own clothing, literature, films, TV, etc.  The Christian Ghetto results from a mentality that sees any exposure to the non-Christian world as defiling. But perhaps most of the Christians stuck in the Christian Ghetto are there unintentionally - they simply spend too much time with Christians, and take in only Christian music, television and media.

Although it may feel comfortable to stay within our Christian "shelter", this mentality has devastating effects on the Church and evangelism particularly in the arena of love.