"Isn't She Beautiful"

I truly believe that there is a wake up call taking place in the Christian community. I just returned from a conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan put on by Mars Hill and Rob Bell. All I can say is WOW! The conference focused on the church and was titled “Isn’t She Beautiful”. Forget that I was in the presence of a great man of God, forget that I was with thousands of other Christians worshiping God, forget that the worship was AWESOME, and forget that I got a lot of real cool “free” stuff. I had a life changing experience and I will never be the same.

“Isn’t She Beautiful”, Just think about that for a moment…

Can you say that about your church and can I say that about my church? It is an easy question with a not so simple answer and I hope it causes you to think about it. We get so wrapped up in trying to become an "attractive church", trying to reach that "target audience", attempting to be "relevant" and in all of this, forgetting the big picture. What is the big picture you ask? I think we know what it is, but if not, I hope that the rest of my rant can shed some light on it. I am not some great theologian or biblical scholar. I am a follower of Jesus Christ and I am attempting to take on His yoke. I need to be Jesus and deny myself; I need to give Him my first fruits, not the second, third, or what might be left over.

First of all, what is it about becoming an "attractive church" to someone? I have been in this trap before and it is a viscous circle to be in. Isn’t the Gospel of Jesus Christ enough? Think about this, if we are trying to please people, how will it pan out. I have seen it happen, someone does not like that we start church at a certain time so we change the time. A person thinks that the message was to hard and fast so we change the message. Another person may not like the “new” songs we sing so we go back to the “old” ones. I could go on and on about the things I have heard being a part of church leadership. I need to ask you this question: where does it end? The answer is: it doesn’t. Does this allow for the Holy Spirit to move? The answer is: no is doesn’t. Now the most important question: how does this please God? The answer is: it doesn’t. I do not see any where in Jesus’ teaching when he changed because someone was unhappy about what was going on. In fact, He always held firm and the message never changed. I think the Gospel is pretty attractive my self, Eternal life, no sorrow or tears, everlasting joy, living in paradise, and the list goes on. So when you hear of a church attempting to become an "attractive church", please turn and run away because God does not need us to make Him attractive.

Now I laugh when I think that at one time I to wanted to reach a target audience. We can get so focused on what we “think” God wants and forget what the bible says. I see some churches reaching out to the homeless, some to drug users, others to prostitutes, and many other people who need God in their lives. I am not saying that this is wrong because we need to reach out to them as well but we also need to reach out to other people also. John 3:16 says "For God so loved the WORLD that he gave his one and only Son, that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life”. Have we forgotten this? God loves the whole world not just some of the world. So I suspect that God would want us as a church to focus on everyone not just a single group. There are some great ministries out there doing great works of God. So I am not trying to look down on any of those ministries. It is when the church as a whole says we need to focus on these people over here and let someone else take care of the people over there. Correct me if I am wrong but isn't God for everyone? Of course he is so we should focus on everyone.

It is also really funny that I am saying, "Attempting to be relevant is wrong". At the church I attend now we have been saying, “We are not relevant in our community”. I have also gone to many different seminars and conferences that say, “You must be relevant in your community”. I know why we buy into it now. We think if we are relevant to our community then they will break down the doors of our churches in search of what we have. Boy was I wrong. Being relevant is not the answer. Going out to the community and serving them like Jesus would do is the true answer. There is a difference between attempting to be relevant to our community and going out and serving our community. Being relevant will just lead you back to the viscous circle of attempting to be "attractive". Where then will it end? If we are called to be Jesus to a lost world then that is what needs to happen.

Now, as I said before, I am not some great theologian or biblical scholar. I do however read the bible, study it, and ask God in my prayers to open my eye’s to see what He would have me to see in His word. When I go to a conference and see what God is doing in other people’s lives it hits me. They get it. They really get it and now I do also. Matt 11:29-30 says, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." We need to take on the yoke of Jesus. We need to become Jesus to our community and to the world. Lets stop talking about what the bible says and let’s start doing something with it. It is now time to become doers of Gods word and look at the example that Jesus gave us… Himself.