Doomed!

By our usual objectives for this blog, doomed would not be considered a good word. Generally we try to tell positive, encouraging, good news stories that will inspire people to want their lives or congregations to achieve their purpose. And yet, perhaps that is exactly what this "good word" may do for some.

The inspiration for using doomed as a good word comes from Jan Edmiston in her blog A Church for Starving Artists. I encourage you to click on the link and read what she has to say. It would also be worth your while to subscribe and follow her blog. For those who will not or cannot follow the link, the following is how Pastor Jan used the word "Doomed."

Churches that love their (fill in the blank) more than they love Jesus are doomed. Some of them know they are doomed and don’t care. Some of them pretend like it’s okay to love their windows, organs, communion tables, strawberry festival more than God.

I must admit that I was a little shocked by Pastor Jan's candor, not only in this statement but in several of those that follow. I would not argue with anything she said, but it is unusual to have anyone speak with such frankness and honesty. Most of us try to be diplomatic in our observations. Still, that approach seldom results in the dramatic changes that are needed, does it?

Churches that love their ____________ (fill in: routines, history, practices, beliefs, traditions, preferences, peace and quite, etc.) more than they love Jesus ARE doomed. Jesus did not sit around the synagogue in his day gently teaching and hoping the congregation would one day "get it." Instead, he left there and went out into the cities, towns and villages where the common people were, and sought to bring the hope of the Kingdom of God to them.

Similarly today, God's Spirit is not idly sitting around the churches hoping the congregations will "get it." God's Spirit is out in the homes and streets of the neighbourhoods in response to people's needs and prayers. Churches that will not understand that, or are not prepared to follow the Spirit there, are doomed to be left behind. As Alan Roxburgh would say, we need to get outside the walls of the church and see what God is up to in the towns and cities where we live, then ask how we can help.

Not everyone is ready to learn about Jesus, but some people certainly are. Many people do not know what it is they long for, and they would be very unlikely to go into a church to look for it. Such people are what Jesus refers to as his lost sheep. As we are taught in the parables, people that love Jesus need to be willing to go out and find them.

Posted by Carman