doing church

I recently read an article, written in the form of an open letter, to "the church."  Here's the link if you're interested in reading it:

http://www.churchleaders.com/outreach-missions/outreach-missions-articles/244545-dear-church-heres-people-really-leaving.html

While I don't wholeheartedly agree with everything Mr. Povlovitz describes, there are some things that really resonate with me.

My dad's a minister.  When he was involved in ministry, he was called a minister, not a pastor.  What's the difference?  I'm not sure.  It may be regional, it may be generational.  Doesn't really matter.  I grew up in church.  I would say my character and moral compass have been set by biblical standards.

It wasn't until my early thirties, though, that I realized that it wasn't enough to be brought up in the church.  I needed to DO church.  It was more than just showing up on Sundays, singing hymns and hearing a sermon and going out to breakfast afterwards at Village Inn (only the best breakfast in town).

I needed to live it.

We got really involved in a church that was growing spiritually and eventually was hired to be on staff.  I attended Bible Study Fellowship for several years and felt like I was really growing spiritually.  I consider those years absolutely responsible for a deepening understanding of God and His teachings.

Our worship was a rich blend of traditional and contemporary - not an easy task, but once you've experienced it done well, it's hard to beat.

I could sing the hymns of my childhood and feel comforted.

I could sing praise songs with joyous abandon and feel set free.

I developed strong, real friendships with wonderful women, who taught, shared, loved, prayed for me.

I learned how to become vulnerable and felt stronger once the veneer was stripped away and my soul laid bare.

Ron and I led classes in our home for strengthening marriage, and as a result, grew even closer and committed to one another.

But.

The more involved we became, the more readily we saw the fractures in our church.  It wasn't perfect, which is fine, because the presence of perfection doesn't leave a lot of room for God's plan to unfold.  But, the not-so-nice politics of church (which I've always maintained are equal to, or greater, in snarkiness than actual politics) eventually took its toll on us and we left the church.

Then came the task of searching for a new church home.  It is not for the faint of heart.  The bar had been set incredibly high.  In my naivety I thought we'd be able to replicate that experience wherever we landed.

I was wrong.

I've come to realize that to every time there is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven...That period of time of rebirth was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.  It's not meant to be replicated.  One's spiritual journey would be very dull, indeed, if it was like "Groundhog Day".  There are new journeys to take, new people to meet, new truths to be learned.

So, knowing this, why is it that Ron and I have yet to find a new church home?  Mind you, this was over ten years ago that we left.  We've attended a variety of churches for significant periods of time (one church we attended for a couple of years, left and then went back).

Without naming names or pointing fingers, here's a thumbnail of the churches we've attended:

*Fabulous teaching, exciting worship, "members only" kind of vibe.  If you weren't born and bred there, sorry.

*Small church, nice people, not much direction.

*Larger church, HUGE emphasis on kids and teens, very little in the way of adult education.  Worship time not so much a time of worship but a time of guitars, amps and PowerPoint presentations.

Each one had its good points (some of them were great points), but I realized that it takes A LOT of effort to get to the point we'd reached at our first church home.  And I'm not a young thing anymore.

It's a completely selfish attitude and I'm certainly not proud of it

And, as the article I referenced earlier alludes to, church seems to have become a watered down version of what I grew to love.  The theater of church, oftentimes, has replaced the authenticity of Word and living out that Word.  It seems that bigger is better.

I think deeper is better.

That's what I'm looking for.  Deep, real, honest, transparent.  We're all sinners, folks.  No use trying to cover it up with big screens and and videos and donuts and coffee in the worship center.

The church needs help.  And there are a lot of people outside the church that need help.

Perhaps a bit of "reaching across the aisle" is in order.