Showing posts with label iMonk. Show all posts

                                          Image via WikipediaI've been engaged in some discussions with folks about church shopping.  In a simpler, more pleasant sense, this is what one does when you move to a new town and look for a church.  You try them all on for size and look at how fabulous the preacher is, what the youth group is like, if they have a nursery, etc.  You "shop" for a church to find the one that's right for you...for whatever reason.

Now, not all shopping in a consumer culture is merely about going out to get what you need.  In a consumer culture such as ours sometimes shopping is all about getting the latest and the greatest gadget or item.  It's about trading in your car every two years for a newer model.  It's about buying one more outfit for a closet that's already overflowing.

The same holds for church shopping in a consumer culture.  People are looking for the latest and greatest church.  People trade churches in for newer models.  Denominational allegiance is low and churches try to outdo one another in attracting the seekers, the unchurched, the dischurched people.

This can be a problem, in particular, for our smaller churches.  I noticed this much more in the first church I served in Indiana.  There were three United Methodist Churches in our town of 15,000 people.  Add to that an untold number of Presbyterian, Baptist (of all kinds), Catholic, Independent, Disciple of Christ, Pentecostal, etc. churches.  We were a small and we knew it.  We kept looking at some of the bigger churches and wishing that we could have the youth group or the choir or the facility that they had.  And we could tell from the faces of some of our visitors that they would never be back.  Perhaps it was the lack of a suitable nursery.  Perhaps it was the lack of air conditioning.  Perhaps it was a bad sermon from me.

I think this springs from the fact that many persons look at churches asking "What can the church do for me?" rather than "What can I do for the church?"  And when a church isn't meeting a perceived need, church shopping begins.

So, it was nice to see that this religious phenomenon isn't just an American issue.  I saw this cartoon yesterday over at Internet Monk.  The cartoon is from Great Britain.

The Bible is not an “owners manual for life,” a handbook that instructs us how to be healthy, wealthy, and wise, with well-behaved children and without financial debt. It does not give therapeutic counseling for emotional problems nor does it hold the key to being healthy and fit. You won’t find “15 Steps for Overcoming Discouragement” or how to build a “successful” church or ministry.

In fact, the longer we meditate on Scripture, the more we see it is not really about us at all; that is, it was not given to meet our “felt needs.” Rather it was given to tell the story of what God did to restore his blessing to creation through his Son, Jesus Christ. And it calls us to let him integrate the stories of our lives into that bigger story by his saving grace and mercy.

Image by rachelandrew via FlickrCame across this today.  Thought it was beautiful.  If you don't frequent The Internet Monk, you should.  This is just one of the many great things I've seen there.  I'm an avid reader (not commenter) and have loved their Stations of the Cross meditations.

color, color everywhere
greets the king on donkey’s foal
crowds are gath’ring! now, come quickly!
bless the lord with heart and soul!

pathway lined by royal sage
zion’s skies are dazzling blue
hail messiah! sing hosanna!
bless the lord who visits you!

bring green branches from the palms
shed bright cloaks and cast them down
run beside him! raise your voices!
bless the lord, sing his renown!

gleaming marble temple walls
magnify the glad refrain
onward, to the altar, singing!
bless the lord who comes to reign!