Church Searching - Part 2

Last time I talked about what we learned from our experiences at our old church and how we want to find a church with a healthy government and people who show love and grace to others even in hard times.


But there is more.


I think my favorite church experience was in college.  The worship was amazing, the people were really seeking the Lord, and the teaching was real.  The pastor knew that he had a congregation with way more college students than average, and he tried to teach on topics that were especially relevant to them.  But here's what I really appreciated; he didn't avoid topics just because they were difficult or uncomfortable.  He was not afraid to go to the Bible and teach its truth on controversial issues. He challenged us to look to the Bible as our guide instead of the culture that we live in.


Of course, no church is perfect and I felt that he sometimes tried to force his own personal convictions on issues and stepped into legalism at times. But he was real.  And I learned a lot and felt challenged to learn more about God while I was going there.


In our current church search, we have been to a lot of churches that seem watered down to us.  It's not that they don't teach the Bible, but they stay away from topics that are countercultural or that convict.


I think a lot of the reason is that seeker churches are so prevalent.  The trend seems to be that churches adjust how they operate in order to bring in more people that would never want to attend a traditional church. And if I put aside my cynical glasses for a moment and assume that they are doing it to reach more people for Christ (instead of just to gain more members and raise more money), it's not a bad thing. 


I am not against challenging the traditions of the church as long as you are using the Bible as your guide to what a church should look like and not culture.


But in an attempt to be culturally relevant and appeal to more people, churches are watering down the truth and avoiding topics that might scare people away.  And I am not OK with that.


Jesus repeatedly said things like


Care for the orphans and widows
Help the poor
Love your neighbor as yourself
Sell your possessions and follow Me


Jesus was not culturally relevant.  People couldn't figure out what on earth he meant.  His teachings made people angry and upset.  He healed the sick that nobody else would touch because they were outcasts.  He hung out with prostitutes and tax collectors. The culture of His day completely rejected Him and not many followed Him.  It was not easy to follow Jesus.


That is still true today. His path is not an easy one. It is not culturally accepted. And we can't pick and choose what to follow because it's just easier not to think about certain things. 

I know I have a long way to go in this.  I have studied the Bible my whole life but I am just now learning the importance of what Jesus taught. And it is going to take some sacrifices. And I am scared because nobody enjoys laying down their desires.


But I know that it is worth it.

Fun Friday

I like to read entertaining blogs and life updates and funny stories, so lest this blog get too serious, I declare Fridays to be non-serious post days.  Maybe I'll post a life update or a funny story or a pretty picture.  I'm calling it "Fun Friday" because I am original like that.

Today, I will go with a quiz.  That I made up.  You know all those juvenile but fun quizzes that people post on facebook?  (And I'll admit that I may have posted quite a few of them back in my Xanga days.)  Well, most of the questions on there are assuming you are single and ask a lot of questions about liking boys and kissing boys and things like that. So since I am happily married and don't have to deal with that stuff anymore (praise the Lord!) I'm making up my own questions.

1. What is on your nightstand? A lamp, two journals (one for book reviews and one for personal stuff), lotion, chapstick, a little bowl full of all my hairbands that I take out right before I go to bed, and about 10 books.  Yes, I may have gotten a little too excited at the bookstore recently and bought the whole store out. But hey, most of it was Christmas money.

2. What is on your Netflix queue?  First of all, let me just say that 'queue' is one of the most fun words ever.  And the answer to the question would be Guys and Dolls.  I've never seen it and I feel like I should rectify that.

3.  What did you dream about last night?  We were at Nicci and Dan's house and I was really digging the colors they painted on the wall.  Oddly enough, that is true in real life too.

4.  What are your favorite colors?  Aqua-y shades of green and blue and eggplant purple.  (Notice that I said colors plural because I am incapable of picking one favorite of anything.  That is the fun of writing your own questions.)

5.  What are you looking forward to?  Going on a 2 week Mediterranean cruise.  Oh you meant in real life?  Well then I guess I'd have to say celebrating our second anniversary and going to watch the second to last shuttle launch ever.

 

6.  What do you miss?  College Station and Layne's Chicken.  A couple weeks ago we went through CS on our way to Ft. Worth and stopped at Layne's for dinner.  I ordered an extra special sauce and kept it with me the whole weekend, pulling it out for anything that I thought would taste  good with it.  Yumm.

7.  What is your favorite food?  I would probably have to say Italian, especially pasta with shrimp.  And Layne's sauce.  And any form of potatoes.  See?  Incapable of picking a favorite.

8.  What is your favorite musical?  Well my first answer would be Fiddler on the Roof, but then I feel like I'm cheating on the Sound of Music, so I guess it would have to be both.

9.  What book are you reading right now?  Crazy Love by Francis Chan.  I just started it so I can't really say anything about it except that I have a feeling it's going to be one of those good, make-you-think books.

10.  What is your current obsession?  Apparently ending quizzes after 10 questions. 

See, wasn't that fun?  If you having any burning questions for me, leave a comment and maybe I'll answer them next Friday. Have a great weekend!

Church searching - Part 1

**Note: this is just a pretty picture of a church, we are not and never have been affiliated with it.

As I mentioned in my last post, last year our church had a split and we felt we needed to leave. It was a small community church meeting in a school and we really loved it until some troubling information started coming out.  People started spreading rumors and there was lots of mudslinging and ugly e-mails going out to the entire church body.  Eventually about half the staff and elder board left the church as well as nearly every life group leader.

We really struggled with what to do. On one hand, we believe that a membership commitment to a church should be taken seriously and that people are much too quick to leave because of small, unimportant disagreements.  But on the other hand, we were realizing that behind the scenes, there were a lot of things going on that were disconcerting to us.  Ultimately, after much prayer and lots of advice from our spiritual elders, we decided that we needed to move on.  Whether or not the rumors were true, we saw a lot of unloving, self-centered behavior in the congregation/leadership and some unhealthy church government that we felt would only lead to more problems down the road.

All this caused us to really evaluate what it is we are searching for in a church.  I feel that we joined too hastily based on the Sunday service alone without looking past the surface.   Here are a few things that we have learned from this experience.

First, the Sunday service is not everything.  It is only really the outer layer of what church is.  Yes, you want to find a church that helps you worship God and teaches Biblically.  But aside from that, it is about community.  Are there people there that are like-minded and growing in their spiritual walks?  Are they loving and grace-filled, or critical and quick to judge? Finding these things out takes time and involvement.

Second, church government is important.  I had never really considered or cared about church government until we recognized a problem.  Our church was set up as the "Moses Model" which I had never heard of until the pastor explained it.  An article I read on the issue explains it this way:

"It’s a view of church governance that grants complete authority to a church’s pastor. ...The pastor is supposed to be like Moses. He goes into the tent to hear from God. He then comes out and proclaims what God told him. The elders say ‘Amen’ and the people follow.” 

We have several issues with this idea.  The new testament church was not instructed to be set up in that manner and Moses was never set forward as the example of how the church should be structured.  In fact, Paul refers to the elders and leaders of the church in plural, not one leader head over all the church.  And in practical terms, it gives the pastor power that nobody can challenge thus making him the sole head of the church.  We saw this happen and it was a big part of why our church unraveled.  To me, this is a dangerous place for a church to be in.  The article linked above explains the Moses Model, and the problems with it, more thoroughly.

So this time around, as we are searching for a new church home, we are looking for a church that shows Christ's love to others even in difficult times, and we are asking how the church government is structured so that we do not find ourselves in the same situation again.  And above all we are looking to God's guidance and direction through prayer and His word to lead us where He wants us to be.  Because that is the most important thing.

A New Start

In the last few months I have noticed some changes in my heart.  Some things that were not important to me before now seem critical.  Some things that I had never noticed before are now visible.  I feel like I have been asleep and now I am waking up.  And it all began with a "Why not?"

After our church split, a group of people who had left along with us, started a small group with the vision of studying God's word and reaching out to those in need.  That sounded like a nice way to get involved in the community as well as have Christian fellowship during the time where we were searching for a church, so we said "why not?" 

In this group we started watching the Radical series by pastor David Platt.  I began really studying some of the harder things that Jesus said during his ministry on Earth.

In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple. - Luke 14:33

To those who do not feed the hungry and clothe the naked, Jesus says, "Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels." - Matthew 25:41

Now before anyone gets nervous, I do not espouse a works-based Christianity.  Nothing you can do, no amount of feeding the poor, can ensure your salvation.  Salvation is by faith alone.  However, I started asking myself - how can I claim to know God and ignore what Jesus said just because it is difficult?

Before I started this study, I knew you were supposed to be generous and help those in need, but I never realized how important it is to Jesus.  I never thought of it as a sin of omission.

Through this study I feel like my eyes are being opened.  God is taking me through a journey of sanctification and it has only just started, but I want to share it.  Hopefully my journey will not end with Radical; I pray that God will strip away my blindness and give me a glimpse through His eyes.  So my purpose for this blog is to share what I am learning, sort through difficult concepts, and raise awareness for God's causes.  However, since this is my blog, I reserve the right to periodically post a recipe or a life update, or a funny story. Because I can.

To end, I will share with you a song that has spoken to me and inspired the title of this blog.

Looked down from a broken sky

Traced out by the city lights

My world from a mile high

Best seat in the house tonight

Touched down on the cold black tar

Hold on for the sudden stop

Breathe in the familiar shock

Of confusion and chaos

All those people going somewhere

Why have i never cared?

Give me your eyes for just one second

Give me your eyes so i can see

Everything that i keep missing

Give me your love for humanity

Give me your arms for the broken hearted

The ones that are far beyond my reach

Give me your heart for the one's forgotten

Give me your eyes so i can see

Give Me Your Eyes - Brandon Heath