religion: the watered down effect
I've heard most of you in my faith circles complain about how many churches now-a-days have seemed to forgotten the content. And you know I agree. The messages just don't seem to illuminate the word, engage us to with the Spirit, or challenge us to act. There seems to be almost a pep talk, lets not step on anyone's toes attitude infiltrating the evangelical churches today. I think this is what Daniel means when he whines about "Jesus is a cool dude theology."
Today, I think I may have caught a glimpse of why we are in such a predicament. As I was taking my monthly shift helping out in Sunday school with the toddlers, I realized that their lessons were not far off from many of the lessons I had heard in adult services. And I thought to myself, "We have forgotten to grow up. This is why so many church services don't work, because as we have grown, many of the services have not grown with us."
Now where it is appropriate to water down the stories and lessons from the Bible for the 2-4 year olds, it is also appropriate for us to be excited when they "go potty all by themselves." My point is that it would be ridiculous if we were still cheering one another on for our restroom habits so why are we settling for that level of engagement when it comes to spiritual growth.
I think much of this may be due to the fact that there are constantly new faces in churches and a wide variety of backgrounds and places that people are at as they sit in the services. But why not shoot high for a change, expect more, demand more, and help each other achieve more. Just a thought, tell me what you think.
I've heard most of you in my faith circles complain about how many churches now-a-days have seemed to forgotten the content. And you know I agree. The messages just don't seem to illuminate the word, engage us to with the Spirit, or challenge us to act. There seems to be almost a pep talk, lets not step on anyone's toes attitude infiltrating the evangelical churches today. I think this is what Daniel means when he whines about "Jesus is a cool dude theology."
Today, I think I may have caught a glimpse of why we are in such a predicament. As I was taking my monthly shift helping out in Sunday school with the toddlers, I realized that their lessons were not far off from many of the lessons I had heard in adult services. And I thought to myself, "We have forgotten to grow up. This is why so many church services don't work, because as we have grown, many of the services have not grown with us."
Now where it is appropriate to water down the stories and lessons from the Bible for the 2-4 year olds, it is also appropriate for us to be excited when they "go potty all by themselves." My point is that it would be ridiculous if we were still cheering one another on for our restroom habits so why are we settling for that level of engagement when it comes to spiritual growth.
I think much of this may be due to the fact that there are constantly new faces in churches and a wide variety of backgrounds and places that people are at as they sit in the services. But why not shoot high for a change, expect more, demand more, and help each other achieve more. Just a thought, tell me what you think.
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