Sincerity of Heart

John has a great article that you can read in full here.

The following is a section from that article:

One of my favourite heroes of the faith is Oscar Romero. Whenever I get too preoccupied with church activities or the politics that come with working for a Christian organization, I take some time to read his words. Romero never fails to strip away all of the unnecessary church nonsense and remind me of the essentials of serving Jesus Christ. In The Violence of Love, Romero says:

Let us not measure the Church by the number of its members

or by its material buildings.

The Church has built many houses of worship,

many seminaries,

many buildings that have been taken from her.

They have been stolen

and turned into libraries

and barracks

and markets

and other things.

That doesn’t matter.

The material walls here will be left behind in history.

What matters is you, the people,

your hearts.

God’s grace giving you God’s truth and life.

Don’t measure yourselves by your numbers.

Measure yourselves by the sincerity of heart

with which you follow the truth and light

of our divine Redeemer.

We need to look beyond our walls and reach out to our communities. If we become too caught up in the activities we plan inside our churches, we will lose sight of the needs outside. And that leads to irrelevance and eventually empty buildings. We exist for the people outside our material walls, not for the personal satisfaction of those inside. What happens inside should prepare us for what could happen outside. When we lose sight of that, our church suffers. And then our community suffers, our nation suffers, and the world suffers.

Who Cares

Mike made a post about hearing Stephen Lewis & David Suzuki speak in Vancouver this past weekend.

In another post he says:

I'm tired of Stephen Lewis caring more about God's Children than do the People of God.

I'm tired of David Suzuki caring more about God's Creation than do the People of God.

Here was my comment:

I don't think it really matters where the caring comes from as long as there is care. Now ask me is it a shame that those who claim to be believers aren't modeling this care - definitely. I believe that's what God's judgment is reserved for - those who know better & have the means but don't care enough to act.

Here's a little more on my comment:

Instead of getting down on the lack of motivation by Christians to act Christian, why not celebrate the good no matter where or by whom it is expressed or what their beliefs are.

If 11 years of full time ministry have taught me anything it is run where God is moving, even if it means moving away from so called believers who should know better & act better but don't get it. Too much energy & emotion (supposedly all in the name of Jesus) has been expended trying to convince the crowd and they just will not (and likely may never) get it. If God is moving your spirit to some kind of action, I suggest you get on board with what He's doing - no matter its origin.

Missional Journey

My buddy Pernell resurfaced today after a blog break - welcome back Pernell!

From his blog I picked up a link I'll be checking often: Missional Journey.

Watch my sidebar for an upcoming list of "Missional Thinkers & Practitioners" who influence my life & thinking.

Beyond Doing Church Better

The church stands at a booth in front of a river. At the booth they attempt to sell bottled water to people who pass them by and jump in the river. The church scratches it's head and wonders, "How can we get this bottled water into the hands of the people? Should we change the label? What catchy phrase can we place on the label to make it more appealing? We need a gripping brand..." Meanwhile, it matters not how they change & dress up the product. The bottom line remains, people aren't interested in what they are packaging. Word to the church: LEAVE THE BLOODY BOOTH & JUMP IN THE RIVER WHERE THE PEOPLE ARE!!!!!!!

See "The Present Future" by Reggie McNeal.

McNeal says there is a wrong question the church is stuck on trying to answer and a tough question the church isn't attempting to answer but must.

WRONG QUESTION: How do we do church better?
TOUGH QUESTION: How do we deconvert from Churchianity to Christianity?

An easy, practical read worth looking into.

Move to Missional

I was listening to a McLaren talk the other day & he said something to the effect of:

Missionary = converting people to join our church

Missional = converting our church to bring God's blessing to the community

Gotta love McLaren!

Gone should be the days of the church inside a building, tons of programs and scratching heads wondering why people are disinterested in coming inside.

I agree, in need of conversion is the church itself!

God's blessing is for the world, let's go outside and share it!