Question: What do you
For me...it's mainly:
- a loss of focus -many churches have become clubs and inward in focus and aren't missional any more.
- a lack of leadership - leading a church in the 21st century as a pastor is very multi-dimensional...a lot of pastors think it is only about praying and studying the word
18 comments:
What is hate is the 21st century church's rejection of all things "old" and uncritical embrace of all things "new".
Balance.
For instance our worship has an "Ancient Future" feel to it.
Willing to embrace contemporary elements and style as well as elements from the church's rich past (such as creeds, liturgy etc.).
I hate how organized its become. And the self help sermons.
I don't like how it has become focused on "keeping" those who we alread have instead of reaching out to those who are far from Christ.
Great comments so far...
Bill - there is a big push for new and contemporary...and a forsakeing of the old.
Anonymous - I would love to hear you expand on the organized part.
Adam - 100% agreement
Organized in a sense that it consumed alot of family time. Like busy work to keep us out of the world. I think you said it well with the comment about it becoming a club.
ANd to elaborate on the sermon comment, selfhelp as in series on improving my marriage or other relationships, or financial investments. Those are all good and i do enjoy them but for a season. I witness a lack of balance. Where did the teachings about Jesus go? But this is just what i have witnessed visiting a few churches in my area looking for a place.
Anonymous...thanks for the elaboration it is very useful. I was speaking with a pastor last year and asked him what their week was like for their youth leaders.
All of this was required for their week:
Sunday Morning Service, Sunday Evening Service, Wednesday Evening Leadership Service, Friday Night Youth Meeting, And then they were required to meet as a team once per week. Four out of seven evenings devoted to the church.
WAY, WAY, WAY to much...no balance...you are right it keeps people out of the "world" and he also was creating a family killer.
On the self help...I have a future post coming on it down the road.
Any more thoughts out there????
This is highly useful to me as we are creating the DNA of our church.
I agree with your leadership point. Our world is becoming more and more diverse. We need to be more intentional about reaching every ethnic group we can.
@intelblkmn - David great point on being more diverse in our approach...
Would you like to dig in with me on some dialog of multi-sites geared to ethnic groups?
Jason I don't get what you mean by multidimensional, can you explain alittle? thank you.
Fine with me
By a pastor needing to be multi-dimensional, I mean several things:
Understand Human Resources, Managing, Communicating, Marketing, Budgeting, Time Management, Recruiting, Vision Casting, along with Praying and Spiritual Maturity.
I hate to put it in business terms because the Church is "more" than a business. But there are some same elements in both.
I know there is a huge segment that says all you need to do is pray, read and open up the Word and God will take care of the rest.
In your opinion how can churches become more missional?
Hey Anonymous....of course I'll dig into what missional means to me.
Missional to "me" means a church that is active in reaching the lost and making disciples as well as being engaged in changing the culture of the community in which they are planted.
Don't get me wrong...those aren't the only things. I'm mainly saying that we no longer have an outward focus.
How I could see a church become more missional?
Being intentional in your messages and mission. There should be a hint if not a focus of reminding our people about the mission God has given the church.
The pastor should be engaged in this as well. I know many pastors that are on the platform encouraging this but then are not really in their community. Do you really want to know what the teens of your community are like? Sign up to sub at your local school...and I'm not talking about the youth pastor. Go to where the sinners are and engage.
If you have small groups require them to creatively do something in the community quarterly. Give breakfast to a local schools teachers, volunteer for the salvation army, etc...
Get involved in a local community charity by serving and giving financially.
Create ways for your church to do ministry in the marketplace.
There is so much to this that it is also given me an idea for a post. Thanks for the push.
Thankyou, your opinions are appreciated.
Actually I want to say thank you...it is all of your opinions that are appreciated by me.
I know there are more thoughts out there readers...feel free to keep adding to the conversation.
What do you dislike about the 21st century church?
too many churches keep it shallow. come on, even seekers want truth and can handle the deeper stuff. let's press people to greatness, and not avoid challenging people b/c we might be scared of the repercussions!
Steve...thanks for the comment and yes I believe we can speak the truth without running people off.
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