so what is the point?

in a post a couple of weeks ago, i referenced a quote from an interview with reggie mcneal and i have been ruminating on it ever since.  it seems to me like there is something significant here, perhaps just beneath the surface, and i thought it might be beneficial (and maybe even entertaining) to bring it to you, my blogosphere buddies, for dialogue.  here is the quote (from an article entitled “engaging the church in god’s redemptive mission”; enrichment journal volume fifteen, number one):

I am not saying the gathered church is irrelevant or should not happen. But we have made the gathering the point. The gathering was not supposed to be the point. The gathering was supposed to celebrate how God was showing up in our lives away from church.

Instead, we have shrink-wrapped our notion of what God is doing in the world by assessing the health of the gathering. Did the worship go well? How many showed up? Did the choir get their stuff done? Did the band do well? Was the PowerPoint good? Was the sermon good? We act as if these things have an impact on the health of the Kingdom and God’s activity in the world.

We have done this for so long it feels normal.

i have two questions (and then we’ll let the conversation go wherever it wants to go)…

1.  what is mcneal trying to communicate?

2.  if “the gathering” is not the point, what is?

on your mark, get set, go!

the upright and the uprights

great super bowl game last night.  i really thought that peyton manning would carve up the new orleans secondary, but the saints obviously wanted it more.  during the broadcast, though, i learned something that encouraged me. 

before i go into that, i gotta’ tell you that i am sick to death of athletes (and actors and musicians, for that matter) that “give all the glory to god.”  i’m (reasonably) sure they are sincere, but we (christians) present a distorted image of the kingdom when we communicate that god has helped us score or win or succeed.  what about the guys on the other team who were praying that they would win?  how did god choose which prayer to answer?

i’m pretty sure god doesn’t care who wins the super bowl.

 but during last night’s game, much was made of colts kicker, matt stover, who is the oldest player to ever play in super bowl at age 42.  about half way through the first quarter, stover kicked a 38-yard field goal to post the first points of the game and give indianapolis the lead.  after he nailed that kick, i noticed stover pointing toward the sky with both index fingers and i thought, “must be honoring his dead father (or some such).”  early in the fourth quarter, the game had gotten much more exciting and indy held a slim 17-16 lead.  the colts drive stalled and stover trotted onto the field to attempt a 51-yard field goal.  it barely missed left.  the replay showed stover in slow motion as he once again pointed toward heaven (pictured at right).  i thought to myself, “he thought he made it!”  but announcer jim nantz commented that stover is a “very spiritual man” and makes that gesture whether he makes or misses.

what?

this morning i googled matt stover and learned a little more about his story.  he grew up in dallas in a greek orthodox home.  stover says he knew about jesus…

However, He wasn’t in control of my life – I was. God was someone who I would go to at my own convenience – whenever I needed something. I was an “open/closed door policy”. I would open the door when I needed God for something, (like making a field goal or scoring high on a test) and close the door when I didn’t need Him or didn’t want Him to see what I was doing (especially if I was doing something bad).

of his previous life, stover says…

My dream of being able to play professional football came true, but it did not bring the inner fulfillment and peace of mind I was seeking.  The world told me that I would find satisfaction and fulfillment though my success on the field, and that money, fame and material possessions would fill the sense of incompleteness and lack of peace I felt.  But I found that neither a Super Bowl ring, nor a championship, nor being part of a team could satisfy me and fill the void in my life.

in 1992, stover’s wife signed them up for a family life conference where the speaker confronted stover with mark 8:35-36 and he had a life-changing encounter with god.

My life began to take on many new changes when I placed Christ in control.   What I had sought through athletic accomplishments, I now found in a growing relationship with Christ.  Having acheived the peace of mind I was looking for, I no longer had to please everybody else or be what everybody else wanted me to be. (from www.mattstoverfoundation.org)

the following is from an 2007 interview with matt stover in the baltimore examiner:

“There’s a very high pressure atmosphere [in the NFL],” Stover said. “Miss a few field goals and you can be cut tomorrow.” For many players, such anxiety is part of football. Coping with these realities is where Stover said his faith becomes a critical component of his individual identity.

“When I do it on my own, I’m not very successful. I haven’t played for Matt Stover in years. If you’re doing it for your own glorification, it ends up being empty. When you do it for Christ he puts you in a position to allow your testimony to reign for years to come.”

Challenges also come on a personal level. In the NFL locker room, tempers flare and tensions run high.

“The NFL will tear you apart,” Stover said. “I’m the first one to go to a person and say I’m sorry. I’ve asked guys to forgive me. I tell them not to validate Jesus and the reality of who he is on my life. But I strive to be like Jesus on a daily basis.”

And what of his legacy? For Baltimore fans who believe his hall of fame status is certain Stover thinks perspective is key.

“I want all those grown men who come up to me years later to say ‘I remember when you gave your testimony to the church’ or ‘I remember when you pointed up. Whether good or bad, you still pointed up.’ How I affect people eternally is what’s important.”

forgive me for being impressed.  its just refreshing to see a professional athlete who glorifies god with his whole life, win or lose…succeed or fail.  it’s like what paul wrote to the church at philippi, “i know what it is to be in need, and i know what it is to have plenty. i have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.”

i thnk matt stover learned the secret, too.

they say they’re getting it

another amazing meeting today with “my guys.”  if you’re new to this space, let fill you in.

for several years now, i have been meeting weekly with several guys that mean the world to me.  we are all in ministry, but in different locations and with very different expressions.  we meet for the purpose of challenging each spiritually, and to hold one another accountable.  and in the course of being all spiritual we find time to laugh a lot. and sometimes we cry.

this morning we were bemoaning the fact that people keep coming to church, and yet fail to display any real signs of transformation.  it’s a struggle for us, because people seem to be listening, and they tell us they enjoyed what we had to say, but complacency and materialism and self-righteousness persist.  naturally, we are asking each other where we (the church) have failed, and what we might do to incite passion in the hearts of our people.  rob reminded us that ezekiel faced the same problem in his day:

As for you, son of man, your countrymen are talking together about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses, saying to each other, “Come and hear the message that has come from the LORD.”  My people come to you, as they usually do, and sit before you to listen to your words, but they do not put them into practice. With their mouths they express devotion, but their hearts are greedy for unjust gain. Indeed, to them you are nothing more than one who sings love songs with a beautiful voice and plays an instrument well, for they hear your words but do not put them into practice. When all this comes true—and it surely will—then they will know that a prophet has been among them. (ezekiel 33:30-33)

i left our meeting reminded that i am not called to be successful (whatever that means), i am called to be faithful.  while i want to be compassionate and gentle, i must be diligent to warn people when i see the subtle sin of idolatry.  i am certainly no prophet and i still hate how much i need people to like me, but i am resolved to tell the truth even when it is uncomfortable.

and “my guys” are gonna’ help me keep that promise.

i’m ditching my cynical nature

i have a long and friendly relationship with cynicism.  in the past, i’ve used cynicism as an emotional  shield to hide behind and i’ve wielded cynicism as a sword with which to cut up those with whom i disagree.  however, i am seriously beginning to rethink that relationship.

i suppose i had gradually begun to see my cynicism as cool.  and i certainly felt justified, especially considering the current state of the american church (have you ever seen christian television?).  dictionary.com defines cynicism as, “an attitude of scornful or jaded negativity” and  ”a general distrust of the integrity or professed motives of others.”  that sounds to me like the description of a miserable individual and, in my humble opinion, certainly not how jesus would want his followers to be known.

“cynicism” is synonymous with “smug” and both of those words are ugly.  i guess you could say i’ve been ”smugly.”

not long ago i read a book i really enjoyed called “that old cape magic” by richard russo.  russo is a pulitzer prize winner (for “empire falls”) and he casually sprinkles little profundities throughout his novels.  for example, on page 85 of “that old cape magic” russo writes:

 “The attraction of cynicism was that it so often put you in the right, as if being in the right led directly to happiness.”

when i read that, i had one of those “stop…reread…process” moments.  does my cynicism add to my hapiness?  is it possible that my cynicism is a symptom of my old recurring problem?  does my smugness mean that i really think i am better or smarter than someone else (again, not a proper attitude for a christ-follower)?  that is just smugly.

look, sarcasm is fun, but that doesn’t make it right.  so i have determined to become more aware of creeping attitudes of negativity and distrust.  these negative attitudes undermine relationships and they demonstrate to me that i remain in a constant and enduring war with self.  i mean, if anyone ever had the right to think himself better than others, it was jesus.  but he “made himself nothing” (philppians 2:6).

i don’t know…does anyone else feel like i do?  perhaps we should form a support group; something like “cynics anonymous” or “ugly smuglies.” 

i’ll be the charter member.

tiger and me

i heard an”expert” on one of the morning shows say that tiger woods is not a sex addict, he is a love addict.

heretofore, i was unaware that there was such a thing as “love addiction” but, lo, i found it to be a common emotional malady (praise google).  not only is love addiction a recognized psychological disorder, but there is a bona fide twelve-step program for love addicts.  on their website (loveaddicts.org) i found a description of love addiction…

Love addiction comes in many forms. Some love addicts carry a torch for unavailable people. Some love addicts obsess when they fall in love. Some love addicts get addicted to the euphoric effects of romance. Others cannot let go of a toxic relationship even if they are unhappy, depressed, lonely, neglected or in danger. Some love addicts are codependent and others are narcissistic. Some love addicts use sex to manage feelings; others are sexually anorexic. What we all have in common is that we are powerless over our distorted thoughts, feelings and behavior when it comes to love, fantasies and relationships.

wow.  i guess robert palmer wasn’t kidding.

when it comes to tiger woods, brit hume was right. when asked to predict what would be the biggest sports story of 2010, hume said:

Tiger Woods will recover as a golfer. Whether he can recover as a person I think is a very open question, and it’s a tragic situation for him. I think he’s lost his family, it’s not clear to me if he’ll be able to have a relationship with his children, but the Tiger Woods that emerges once the news value dies out of this scandal — the extent to which he can recover — seems to me to depend on his faith. He’s said to be a Buddhist; I don’t think that faith offers the kind of forgiveness and redemption that is offered by the Christian faith. So my message to Tiger would be, ‘Tiger, turn to the Christian faith and you can make a total recovery and be a

great example to the world.’

in my humble opinion, hume’s advice applies to tiger’s sin problem as well as his love addiction problem.  and i ought to know: i have a sin problem, too.  and while i’m at it, let me go ahead and confess that i, too, am a love addict (and i have a pretty good idea that you are, too).  a long time ago, though, i received some really good news. the bible says it this way…

Love comes from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and experiences a relationship with God. The person who refuses to love doesn’t know the first thing about God, because God is love—so you can’t know him if you don’t love. This is how God showed his love for us: God sent his only Son into the world so we might live through him. This is the kind of love we are talking about—not that we once upon a time loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to clear away our sins and the damage they’ve done to our relationship with God. My dear, dear friends, if God loved us like this, we certainly ought to love each other. (1 John 4:7b-12)

i never imagined that i would have something in common with tiger woods, but there it is.  i needed love.  i was sick of the hopeless feeling, and addicted to the idea of finding real, everlasting love.  jesus provided that for me by coming into the world, living a sinless life, and taking my sin upon himself and nailing it to the cross.

god is love.  i am addicted to love.

do the ends justify the means: conclusion

one final word, if you will permit me, on our conversation concerning “style” and “types of music” and “attracting the unchurched” and “genuine worship” and why we do what we do.

i have a vivid fantasy.  it revolves around a group of people that meet together every weekend and, when i observe them, it always seems like they’re having a great time together.  the one thing each of the individual members of this group have in common is a vibrant relationship with jesus, and a burning passion to be more like him.  their meetings are exciting, their fellowship is warm, and their enthusiasm is infectious.  the prevailing impression i get from watching this group is their devotion to god and to each other: this devotion is beyond priority, it is their all-consuming commitment.

i want to lead a church like that…you don’t have to “attract” people to a church like that.

i’m certainly no expert on church history, but it seems to me that when paul planted a fellowship in a new community he preached the gospel.  that’s all. handful of people in that community had passed from death to life and, as might be expected, they were pretty stoked (even though many of them suffered persecution and deprivation).  their meetings were about the gospel, period.  they brought their friends and neighbors and family members to hear paul talk about jesus–not to see the media or to hear the band or to put their children in “king’s kids” children’s ministry.  and the funny thing (to me, anyway) was that paul’s message was not seeker-friendly.  in fact, it wasn’t saint-friendly, either.  paul preached the same message jesus preached: “come and die.” for example…

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. (Romans 12:1)

We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. (2 Corinthians 4:10-11)

I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. (Philippians 3:10-11)

no matter how you cut it, that message is not “attractional”…but it is attractive.  i don’t want my church meetings to be boring.  i want my people to have a great time when we get together, and i want unchurched people to feel welcome.  but when it comes down to it, the gospel is enough.  the story of jesus is the most compelling story man has ever heard.  the gospel is about people and it’s about god’s love for people and it’s about how people can respond to god’s love.  and when people really get the message of the gospel, the gospel is enough.

and that’s what i think church should be about.  the end.

do the ends justify the means? (again)

i’m telling you, mine are the most brilliant readers on the blogoshpere.

we’ve been discussing the debate over external experiences as a function of church ministry.

one side says:

In church world in the 90s, you may have heard leaders use the phrase, “It’s all about the weekend, stupid!” The philosophy was if the weekend services aren’t great, it impacts the growth of every area of the ministry…We celebrate the people who show up for services on Sunday because we know it leads to thousands of people taking next steps and experiencing life change.

the other side says:

But the moment we believe transformation occurs via external experiences, the emphasis of ministry must adjust accordingly. Manufacturing experiences and meticulously controlling staged environments become the means for advancing Christ’s mission. And the role of the pastor, once imagined as a shepherd tending a flock, now conjures images of a circus ringmaster shouting, “Come one, come all, to the greatest show on earth!” In Consumer Christianity, the shepherd becomes a showman.

please indulge me while i edit and present some of the comments i’ve received on this subject.

Web:  A critical flaw in (his) argument lies in his presumed primary recipient of the music and/or worship. It seems that he is operating under the impression that the primary recipient (or audience) is people–the consumers (believers and unbelievers) that will “experience” it. If that is the case, by all means, make it lively and attractive. Rock the guitars and strobe the lights. But if the primary recipient is God, then we are compelled to use all of our creative energies and physical giftings, along with our earnest practice and effort to make it glorious to Him, without regard to the approval of man. This does not relegate worship to the “dull and boring”, far from it. It compels worship to be thoughtful, meaningful, expressive and excellent.

Daniel H:  On the area of music, I read the other day that if you consider old hymns and old time gospel music, it was considered new and contemporary at one time. We can’t expect to reach a new generation with means that aren’t relevant to them. I think it is perfectly fine to use modern techniques to attract people into church, as long as the Gospel is the main attraction, and not just a side show.

WBMoore:  I dont think our focus should be on the people, but neither do I think they should be ignored. Our goal is to lead people into worshipping God. It has to be about God, but it has to lead people TO God. What does that will be different for different cultures and subcultures.

Grateful:  The Heart of Worship, is all about GOD. It’s not a show, it’s not to please the consumer, it’s not about us…Our worship, preaching, programs, advertising or anything else, shouldn’t be mediocre, because God’s awesome. It should be our best, but NOT because anybody else is looking, or attracted or glorified.

bbylsma:  If you draw people in because of the experience you offer them then at some point if another church or organization offers them a better experience they will most likely switch to them. Connecting with people on a consumer level is anti evangelistic because it’s anti discipleship. If we are trying to make disciples enticing them with experiential worship makes them followers after what exactly, certainly not Jesus. How many people turned away from Jesus because of the hard things he had to say, those drawn in because of the miracles quickly dispersed when he drew hard lines for them to follow. Maybe instead of being hypocritical to the world around us offering them something experiential that won’t last we should just lay it out there and show them that worship exists beyond all the lights and guitars and drums.

spiritualway:  I have no idea of where church is going to end up on its present course, but maybe my fifteen year old granddaughter says it better than I: “Good things fall apart, so better things can fall together. Better things fall apart so the best of things can stay together.”

ed elliott:  The failure i perceive in the Church in my generation is the failure to equip the everyday, non-professional saints for ministry. When denominations subtly and relentlessly professionalized Christian ministry, the equipping function of the Pastor, which is primary per Ephesians, got lost in the gathering…Let’s give our members (especially all of the retiring members with time on their hands) the money, tools, leadership and organization to engage a hurting, chaotic, unbelieving world.

i really believe that this conversation is critical.  it’s not simply about determining direction for the future, it’s about our (the church’s) ability to reach the next generation. do we have any hope of being viable?  or will we continue to slide slowly and painfully into obscurity?

which side are you on?  tomorrow i will conclude with my thoughts on the issue.

do the ends justify the means: continued

when i am blogging (as i currently am) about church leadership and the problems church leaders face, i am acutely aware that many of my most loyal readers might be asking, “so what’s the point?”  i have a couple of motivations for writing about the church…

1.  there may be some young ministers visiting this space that could potentially benefit from my wisdom (if they will avoid making the same stupid mistakes to which i regularly confess).

2.  the american church is in flux and the form we choose (and, believe me, we are choosing) will impact our effectiveness for generations to come.

so if this subject matter is boring to you, please bear with me…we’ll get back to the comedy in the days to come.

yesterday, i wrote about the heated blog debate among church leaders who love jesus, but have divergent perspectives when it comes to church methodology and worship styles.  if you missed it, read it here (and, by all means, read the comments!). today i want to share another perspective.

reggie mcneal, missional leadership specialist for the leadership network, was interviewed in the most recent issue of enrichment journal. the article was entitled, “engaging the church in god’s redemptive mission.”  please allow me to share a couple of quotes from the article:

EJ: You state that church leaders are asking the wrong questions to solve today’s church problems. What should they be asking?

McNeal: Church leaders are asking: How can we get our church to grow? How can we get people to come to church? How can we create better church members? To me the most important questions are: What is God up to in the world? How can we join God’s work in our community? How can we turn members into missionaries so we can deploy them rather than simply assimilate them? How can we create better followers of Jesus rather than thinking about simply creating better churches? How can we have better communities rather than simply creating better churches?

EJ: In the past 25 years, what has been the No. 1 failure of the church?

McNeal: To create genuine followers of Jesus. We have been good at creating church members. We have been good at creating conversions into church culture and church lifestyle templates. But Jesus invites people to be His followers. This means we need to find out where He is going. To clamor after Him does not mean I must set aside my beliefs. Following Jesus is more than teaching people what to believe and how to participate in and support the church. I measure following Jesus by how closely I am following Him. This takes me into the streets.

EJ: In The Present Future, you state, “A growing number of people are leaving the institutional church for a reason. They are not leaving because they have lost faith. They are leaving the church to preserve their faith.” Explain.

McNeal: I need to follow this statement with something even more provocative to make sure we do not miss the point. It seems we created a pattern of pulling people back to places of spiritual birth instead of releasing them — as the ongoing incarnation of Jesus — to live in spiritual adulthood by impacting the world around them. I am not saying the gathered church is irrelevant or should not happen. But we have made the gathering the point. The gathering was not supposed to be the point. The gathering was supposed to celebrate how God was showing up in our lives away from church.

Instead, we have shrink-wrapped our notion of what God is doing in the world by assessing the health of the gathering. Did the worship go well? How many showed up? Did the choir get their stuff done? Did the band do well? Was the PowerPoint good? Was the sermon good? We act as if these things have an impact on the health of the Kingdom and God’s activity in the world.

We have done this for so long it feels normal.

the comment that most resonates with me is where mcneal says, “we have made the gathering the point.”  it seems to me that is the crux of the problem (and i am speaking as a church leader).  my peers judge my effectiveness based on my answer to the question, “how many is your church runnin’?”  consequently (because i do not want to appear ineffective), i do whatever i have to do to get more people in my building on sundays.  sadly, they are not being transformed and many of them fall through the cracks in our community, but at least i can answer my colleagues proudly.

i contend that the vast majority of the church’s mission takes place (or is supposed to take place) outside the weekend service and away from our campus.  there is no way we can meet the people’s need for fellowship or discipleship in a couple of hours on sunday.  and i hope most of my people’s worship takes place during the week.  and when did it become standard for most conversions to happen in the church meeting, rather than in the marketplace?

the weekend meeting is important, but it is not the main thing.  do you agree?  and if so, how do we change it?  more on this topic next time.

do the ends justify the means?

i’ve been following an interesting debate on the blogosphere.

skye jethani (who seems to be a really bright guy who loves jesus) wrote a book called “the divine commodity” in which he cites a quote from “simply strategic growth” by tim stevens and tony morgan (two guys who seem to be really bright and who love jesus). here’s what skye wrote:

These pastors, representative of so many contemporary Christians, believe that God changes lives through the commodification and consumption of experiences. If our worship gatherings are energetic, stimulating, and exciting enough then people will attend, receive what’s being communicated, and be spiritually transformed. The justification for this approach is simple: people won’t come to a church that’s boring. And what qualifies as boring is defined by our consumer/experience economy. But the moment we believe transformation occurs via external experiences, the emphasis of ministry must adjust accordingly. Manufacturing experiences and meticulously controlling staged environments become the means for advancing Christ’s mission. And the role of the pastor, once imagined as a shepherd tending a flock, now conjures images of a circus ringmaster shouting, “Come one, come all, to the greatest show on earth!” In Consumer Christianity, the shepherd becomes a showman.

naturally, stevens and morgan took offense.  tim stevens wrote:

What possible expression of corporate worship is not constructed and characterized by external experience? None that I can think of.

tony morgan wrote:

Should we intentionally offer worship gatherings that are dull and boring so no one wants to participate? Should we just show up for worship without preparation? Do we start offering teaching and music and other elements of worship that reflect less than our best effort so that people aren’t attracted to the experience?

tony morgan must have been pretty riled up, because he also addressed the matter in a subsequent post:

Since we do ministry in America in the middle of a very consumer-driven culture, I still believe our weekend services are critical to sharing the Gospel. People who don’t know Christ are consumers before they are convicted and committed Christ-followers. If the weekend service experience isn’t intentional, people who are still consumers will not stay engaged. We can present the Gospel, but they won’t be there to hear it. We can challenge people to become fully-devoted followers of Christ, but they won’t be there to hear that challenge.

here’s my question:  isn’t consumerism a bad thing?  if you think it is (like i do), then are we serving the kingdom by trying to attract people by using it?  wouldn’t that be like using sex to attract people?

merriam-webster defines consumerism as “the promotion of the consumer’s interests.” on next-wave.com, mark riddle echoes this definition when he writes, “The Consumer church might look something like this.  The absence of authority–the final authority in the consumer church is the individual attendee…The desire to please the congregation supersedes the desire to please God.”

to what ends should we go to “attract” people to our churches, or do the ends always justify the means?  in other words, will we do anything–use any gimmick–as long as it gets butts in the seats?  and what kind of advertising would be considered off-limits? i’ve got more on this tomorrow.  in the meantime…

what say you?

phoenix pholks: lessons i learned

a couple of weeks ago i took my wife to a convention in phoenix and used the time to get acquainted with the lifestyle of the locals.  i had as many casual conversations i could just to kind of find out how these people lived and what they believed (call it an anthropological experiment).  ultimately, i wanted to try to gauge the overall level of spirituality in that culture.  here are the main lessons i learned:

1.  i live in a unique extraordinary weird place

just a couple days ago i noticed a news article in our local newspaper entitled, “oklahoma ranks seventh in religion.”   under that somewhat ambiguous title, the article said that only six states in the union are “more religious” than oklahoma (based on the fact that 69% of my neighbors say that religion is very important in their lives).  in case you’re interested, the six states that “beat” oklahoma are all in the south (gasp!).  i live in the bible belt, my friends, and therefore it is virtually impossible for me to be objective about the spiritual views of other regions.  i am warped.

2.  most of these people do not see a need for church in their lives

this discovery was not surprising to me because i have read the data.  still, it is slightly distressing to introduce oneself as a church leader to people who are overwhelmingly secular.  i think i’d get pretty much the same response if i introduced myself as the guy who writes the fortunes that go in fortune cookies…it’s an honest living, but it really has no impact on real life.  still, i felt this strange urge like i’d really like to have a fellowship in this community and get to know these people (feel like moving, honey?).

3.  most of these people are intensely spiritual

just because they’re dubious about the existence of god, and just because they have no interest in church, that does not mean they are not spiritual.  the people that i talked to seemed to be very tuned in to the idea of something “out there” greater than themselves.  most of them seemed to have a sense of sanctity toward life and were very respectful of others and their environment.  none of them seemed offended by my suggestion that the object of their search was the god that i worship, but neither were they inclined to agree just to pacify me.  they were very willing to talk about it.

4.  the church is ill-equipped to engage the culture

again, i’ve read the data so i pretty much expected to end up here, but i am much less despondent about it than i thought i’d be.  frankly, i am energized by my experience and i am eager to find people in my city like the people i met in phoenix (i have certainly not found them inside the church).  i am determined to establish a few significant relationships with unchurched people; not to “convert” them, but just to learn to appreciate their perspective.  i will have a follow-up post on this topic next week.

anyway, i had a great time and i’m looking to my next trip to phoenix.  too, i can’t wait to travel to another new city and “discover” the culture there.