This post is for those out there that;
Know there should be more to Church.
People that are not happy with the current condition of the Church.
People that know that there needs to be a change.
People that are not happy with the status quo.
People that have still not found what they are looking for.
People that have been hurt and ostracized by the Church.
People that love the Church, but know that the Church is not just 4 walled institutions.
People that know the Church is actually you and me.
We are different. We are not of this world. We are called to do things differently. We need to do things better.
Many of our Churches are unable to do much, if anything, to reach the unsaved in our community because they are bogged down by debt, by dwindling tithes, by uncaring, by complacency, by doubt, by few to no workers, by leadership issues, being untrained. and more.
People come to our Churches. They sing a few songs, they listen to a sermon and then they go home. They go home in the same condition they were in when they walked in the door. I have heard and seen this all to often. People in the parking lots of our Churches cursing up a storm. They go inside the Church and pretend that everything is fine. After Church, they come out cursing again and all but run over the cars in front on them trying to get out of the parking lot as fast as they can.
I see married couples that argue and fight right up until they enter the doors of the Church. Then they put on their masks and pretended that the fighting never happened. They do their best to put on a good show for the duration of the service. After the service, they remove their masks and go right back to hating each others guts.
I see people that have dire needs. Needs of jobs, needs of food, needs of money to pay the bills. Needs of money to pay their mortgage or rent before they get kicked out and lose their home. People desperate for healing, prayer, and to meet the real Jesus.
I see people with hope in their hearts that know that God can meet their needs. They go into our Churches with this hope that God will show up. But to them, he never does. They leave the Church with their hope and faith squashed. They still hate their spouse, they still need a job, they still need healed, they still need money to pay bills, they still need to meet Jesus, they still need food, they still need clothing, and on and on.
I see Churches and Ministries that put endless criteria, rules and regulations on the little help that they do offer. The hoops are often so many to get this help that the people in need run away from both the Church and God convinced that both are just big bullies that offer help, but never really intend to give it.
I see Church services where people are invited to go up to the alter and pray. They do this, as they should. But it ends there. Most leave the alter with little more hope, if any, than they had when they went to the alter.
The Church is not meeting needs. Its not doing its job. Oh sure, I know there are exceptions out there. But they are few and far in-between. I personally know Churches that have flat out refused to help in the community.
They fear that they wont have enough people to do the tasks. They fear that they wont have enough resources to meet all the need. They fear that they wont have the staff to manage needs. This fear is not of God!
Most of the people in the US have heard about the Bible until they are blue in the face. They have been told over and over that Jesus loves them. They have been told that he cares. But what is the Church doing to prove it? God loves to meet needs. This is what he is all about.
Its not that God is not showing up. Its that the Church is not utilizing Him. God is not into doing everything himself. Sure, God can do this if he chooses, and does when he has to. But that's not how he prefers to work. God wants to use us. Just like in that song. "We are His hands and feet". If we don't get out there and do it, chances are that is not going to get done. God keeps waiting for the Church to get out there and start helping. But he is just left waiting at the alter.
Does Church need to be re-invented? Is it that we have just forgotten how Church should be run?
Church needs to be a place where;
There is life
There is laughter
There is joy
There is healing
There are needs met. Needs like Food, Clothes, Jobs, etc...
Marriages and relationships are healed
We reach out to those both inside and outside our 4 walls and show them Jesus
We put action to our prayers
I want to hit more on that last point. The people in the pews and chairs of our Churches are literally dying right where they sit. We feed them faith by the spoonful and bucketful. Our people want to get out there and do something with all this faith that they are fed. But very few Churches provide any outlet for this faith.
Prayer is faith. We are going to God with our requests, our belief, and our very lives. We are believing that he is going to help us and others. But there is another step to this process. Yes, prayer is supposed to be a process. If we just pray and do nothing else, we might as well have not prayed at all. Prayer must be active and acted upon.
According to James 2:14-26, and in several other places in His Word, faith without works is a dead faith. You have probably heard this before, but had no clue what is really meant. Well, Im here to tell you what it means.
It means;
If you pray for someone that needs food, and you have food, you feed them.
If you pray for someone that needs clothes, and you have clothes, you clothe them
If you pray for someone that needs healing, you heal them
If you pray for someone to receive Christ, you lead them to the Lord
If you pray for food, you listen to the Lord tell you where to find it and go get it
If you pray for a job, get off your butt and go get one
In a nutshell, it means that prayer should not end at the alter with some well meaning Christian, Pastor, or other Church Leader. If that Christian, Pastor, or other Church Leader is not actively trying to figure out ways to meet your need, and following up with you to find out how God and met you need, they have not completed the process and have not done their job correctly.
To be fair, its not entirely their fault. They were probably never trained how to pray correctly. They were probably never trained that there is more to the process. Many of our Church staff are also overwhelmed and over worked.
So my idea is simple. I am willing to start a Church. I have ran away from this idea for a long long time. But I need ideas. What sort of Church would you want to see? I know how needs should be met and how prayer should be done. But there needs to be more. Church should be a place where we want to go. Church should be a place where everyone works. Church should be a place where everyone uses their faith and their actions to help those inside and outside in the community.
Church should be a place of joy and life.
Church must be an active part of the community. In earlier times, it was the community. The Community revolved around the Church. We can be that again. But we need to get started before its too late. If you have ideas on how to do this, and you want to be involved, I want to hear from you. I have developed a short survey.
If you really want to reach the world for Christ, by becoming the Church, I need to hear from you right now. I want to hear what you think a Church service and the Church should be and how it should run. Phillip@NeedsMet.us
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