AUTHOR: Robin Dugall DATE: 7:45:00 AM ----- BODY:

Yeah - these might be long posts but I hope they are worth the read! The Next section I entitled, "Relevnat and Significant Obstacles"...in other words, what gets in the way of our being the church that Jesus wants us to be. Besides the various cultural issues that we face, we also do battle with our own misguided assumptions all of which need to be called into question. Happy reading and reflecting! In Jesus, Robin 3. RELEVANT AND SIGNIFICANT OBSTACLES a. Ourselves The soul of American Christians has been infected not with the “good infection” alluded to by CS Lewis in his seminal work, Mere Christianity, but by a willing and addictive injection of modernistic, secularistic culture.15 Without being overly simplistic, it does not take a degree in rocket science to see that American culture is a narcissistic existing, gated community living, BMW driving, Macaroni Grill eating, neighbor ignoring, “what’s in it for me” thinking, fast-paced and multi-tasked daily scheduling society that is more consumed with our temporal existence than with the actualization of the Kingdom of God. Some people would claim that we have been duped or that maybe we have had these cultural realities forced on us. But that is not the case. For a majority of sincere Christ-followers, we have seen the trough of contemporary culture and we have taken a gluttonous bite. We have engorged ourselves in syncretism, individualism, hedonism, materialism, and compartementalism. The following are lists of some of the relevant issues that face the contemporary church. Each of these “isms” and obstacles has permeated much of what has been defined as “church” within contemporary America. b. Significant “isms” in our culture: o Pluralism – a belief that there are many gods and many meanings in life. Pluralism has morphed into a syncretism where truth is relative, where multiple ways to God exist, and to a passion for political correctedness and pervasive tolerance of any and all worldviews. o Individualism – a belief that life and the world “is all about me”. It is a “give me what I want”, consumeristic mentality that eventually turns any church more into a dispenser of goods and services (via programs) than a faith-center for the development of “difference makers” for the Kingdom of God. o Isolationism – a belief that what is happening in “my world” is the only relevant reality. This belief takes shape in an obsession with all things that revolve around me at the exclusion of the rest of the world. It is narcissism at its “finest”. Frequently it shines its brightest through a teaching of “us versus them” theology…a theology that paints the world as not our home, as the epitome of evil and worthy to be escaped and protected from instead of a place to pray for the realization and incarnation of the hope and life of the Kingdom. At its most insidious, it turns well-meaning churches into ghettos of self-focus. o Hedonism – Solomon once wrote “there is nothing new under the sun”. This belief is the modern equivalent of ancient Epicureanism. Whatever makes me happy, anything that will make me self-fulfilled, I will do. It is a “just do it” mentality that has not only been popularized by images in the media but also lived out in any and all facets of life. Many believers do not see a thing wrong with a “just do it” mindset. o Materialism – a belief that ultimate meaning and value is in the “stuff” of the universe. It is a specialized focus on the temporal as that which brings humanity the most meaning in life. Materialism evolves into many of American Christianity’s obsessions with buildings, budgets, staffs, marketing, and the trappings of what many regard as a Christian sub-culture of “Jesus music, Christian radio, and Christian publishing”. o Compartementalism – this is a belief that everything in life can be put into slots. Faith is separated from real life. Originating from a theological misunderstanding regarding the realms of the “sacred and secular”, this belief is lived out in many adherents of Christianity as church becomes more of a country club than a faith based center for creative and faithful action. o Faster-ism – a belief that there is more importance and meaning in life with an ever increasing speed of living. The more appointments, more trips, more activities that can be fitted into life, the more productive and substantial. As the speed of living increases at exponential rates, more and more people are attempting to find ways to “balance” life’s demands instead of slowing life down. As James Gleick writes is his provocative book, Faster, once life gets going faster and faster, it will not slow down without heroic effort.16 Many local churches believe that the more is offered to congregants via programs and spiritual opportunities, the more spiritual growth will occur. o Intellectualism – a belief that a cognitive understanding of faith/life in Jesus is the only relevant manner of experiencing religion. It is highly suspicious, if not actually overtly condemning, of experiential elements of the faith. o Observational-ism – this is a belief that has been built on what some regard as the highjacking of ministry by the clergy over the centuries. The mentality exists in many average churches that people simply have to watch church professionals do church and do ministry. It is a mentality that gives reason for opting out of aggressive spiritual formation and ministry involvement. o Image-ism – a contemporary belief that image is everything. It demonstrates itself in “flash” versus substance…with an obsession with “look” versus “impact”. Many churches “soul winning evangelism strategies” are presentation based instead of relationally based. c. Our Assumptions in Ministry The Assumptions: o If you build the perfect church they (the non-churched, non-believer) will come. o If your church is growing, it is making a difference in the community and in people’s lives. o Developing better church members will result in church growth. o The church just needs more volunteers and more money in order to be faithful in our generation. o If you are involved in a church’s ministry programs, you are a growing disciple. o Better management will get the church where it needs to be in the culture. o Congregational ministry is the only valid and acceptable model of ministry. o Paid clergy are necessary for ministry. o Denominations must survive for the Church to endure. o The Church should offer more and more programs to be effective. o Buildings need to be built to house ministry. o Christendom has been good for 1700 years; it should be good for the future. o Acts 2 is an ironclad paradigm for effective church ministry.

-------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: Anonymous COMMENT-DATE:10:35 PM COMMENT-BODY:I don't know whether to stand up and applaud, or fall on my knees crying. Good stuff Robin. Its really tough and really needed. Well thought out.

Benjy
paradox.typepad.com --------