Monday, July 28, 2008

Break the Habit


Len Hjalmarson suggests that churches are fixated on the wrong things. (HT: Brad Brisco). Actually, his point is much stronger than that. He's saying the things we spend all our time and energy on are of no importance.

Here are the things we must let go of:
  1. The number of people who come to our church.
  2. How "relevant" our style of worship is.
  3. How many new people walk through the doors of our church.
  4. The size of our building, staff or budget.
  5. What any other church in the world is doing.
Instead, here are some suggestions for things that really do matter:

  1. Actively looking for evidence of God's kingdom wherever that might show up.
  2. Simple, honest worship.
  3. Making friends with people who have no interest in our church.
  4. Giving away money to people who need it.
  5. "Go[ing] on a unique, unreproducible journey with a group of people and rejoice with other groups of people who do the same."
Of course, this would require enormous courage, and a fair amount of faith. We would actually have to start trusting God and seeking his kingdom above all else. We would have to live as if we really believed Matthew 6:33.

That'll never work. Let's just stick to business as usual.

Pastor Rod
"Helping You Become the Person God Created You to Be"

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