Kethuvim

Waiting...

Waiting...

Waiting...

Alright.  I agree with his sentiment.  In fact, I was just telling someone the other day that I think in the next 20 years, you'll see mega-churches collapsing in on themselves.  I don't wish that to happen because it means a lot of people out of work, but I will say that it might be for the best when it actually comes to the health of the American Church. You see, the American Church is nothing more than a vaguely Jesus-y copy of American culture.  American culture is based on consumerism, so is American Christianity.  The vast majority of Americans who attend church want the same thing that they want out of a restaurant or one of their favorite stores.  They want an experience, and they want services that are catered to their unique needs. The church is all-too-happy to oblige them by offering sports programs, coffee shops in their foyer, classes, music that fits their desires, etc., then attaching a Jesus stamp on it, thus making it "Christian."  To be fair, I don't think the American Church's motives are bad, I think (at least I hope) they generally want to help people and meet them where they are.  But what if they weren't actually helping people by doing all of this?  What if they were actually crippling them spiritually by catering to their every need?  

When Jesus, the one we are supposed to follow, lived a life of total selflessness, I'm not sure how catering to everyone's needs leads anyone down Jesus' path.  Sure, you may get people to intellectually commit to who Jesus said he was, but as far as actually teaching them to live in his way, forget about it.  You can't teach selflessness by stroking people's naturally selfish tendencies.  I heard someone say once that, "What you convert people with is what you convert them to."  In other words, if you convert someone to Jesus by means of consumerism, you've done nothing but put a Jesus stamp on their consumerism.  

I think Jesus had a lot to say along these lines that can give us some clarity on this topic, but I've written too much already.  More coming tomorrow, and it has to do with wine.