I'm done with church. That sounds so weird coming from a pastor and it feels weird to write it. What I mean by it is I am done with the organized church that I see today.
Today, I saw a news story about a bull and horse-riding preacher in Ohio. In the story, the reporter asked him if this was some kind of gimmick to bring new people into the church. The preacher's answer was that Jesus said "compel them to come. He didn't say how to compel them." You can watch the entire story here: http://news.yahoo.com/video/ohio-pastor-rides-bulls-church-084852600.html
This is just one example of the many that are out there of churches attempting to attract new people to their congregations. I have even tried to use attractions to bring people into the church. But, I am tired of doing it and people are tired of our methods too. According to the latest Pew Survey, 23% of the United States are unaffiliated with any kind of religion. They are tired of our gimmicks.
Last week, I attended my denominational meetings in Maryland. Usually the week is spent sitting through business meetings with some spiritual challenges intermixed. But, this week was different. This week, other churches from around the world joined us and we joined together to come up with a new vision for our denomination which states: "The World Federation of Primitive Methodists exists to make disciples
who make disciples. We also have a new Vision Statement: By 2020 we
will be recognized as a global planting movement." This is an exciting time because no longer are we focused on attracting new people; rather, we are focused on a missional movement intended to further God's kingdom on this earth. We are focused on engaging those around us in hopes to bring them close to Christ by the way we live our lives.
Jesus said in Luke 10:2, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest." Jesus did not want us to sit in our institutions and do our religious activities in hopes that it would attract other people. Jesus did not tell us to use gimmicks; he told us to get to work. He told us to look at the harvest field and ask God for workers.
Jesus lived, died, and rose again so that we could work not be marketing gurus. Jesus was missional and he called his followers to be missional as well. He did not want his followers to sit back and attract people to the kingdom. The way he wanted his followers to compel people was by living out and preaching the Gospel, and these things take work.
I love the church and I want to see the Church be everything God called us to be. I don't want to see the Church rely on gimmicks and events; I want to see us be missional like our Master was and still is. Last week I was challenged to get my hands dirty not by my denomination, but by Jesus. Let's get our hands dirty together.
