Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Abolish Church...

I am not always a good christian at the best of times but I did promise myself and God that I would be at least an honest one, about myself and the things around me and what my thoughts are on them. This blog perhaps is a product of that.

That being said let me also warn you that what I do suggest at times and share may be borderline…to what I am not sure. So just come with your seat belts buckled and your neck well exercised cause you shall be shaking in agreement or disagreement or puzzlement or all the above.

So here goes. I think we need to abolish church. There I said it. I am of the opinion that church has done more harm to Christianity than any coven of witches has or can. Perhaps I shall dive into the many ways I think this has been done, or not, but here are a few reasons why I think church should be banned…or perhaps highly regulated.

Church(s) are too busy running themselves to actually pay attention to the business of feeding the flock. There is a reason why Christianity moved away from the synagogue setting to the house church or away from centralized worship to community based services.

Over the years, as a church gets a lot right its gets popular and this means that more people start attending. So what was at first a small house church of 20 max is not twice that number which means pay attention to all the finer details and as they do this the cycle continues an before you know its you are 1000 people needing a building, full time staff and some sort of over sight committee. This in turn means that the flock has to pay more attention to the running of the church. This then means that the great commission is slowly but surely pushed aside until its forgotten.

The other knock on effect of this is that the flock is no longer built up to survive in all terrain and environments but to depend on the church and So go from independence to dependence. I must point out that the institution on which they are now dependent cannot meet their needs 100 percent.

Having worked in a fairly big church setting for four years I have seen how the voice of God is sometimes over looked because of the “more” pressing issues of salaries, the staff does need to be paid, which in turn drives policy away from doing ministry but to making money or at least saving money.

Now any good leader knows that for every effort there must be some show of output or productivity. But in the things of God one cannot easily quantify or qualify monies spent towards a certain end after all he who tills the ground does not always get to reap in this system of God’s. so money goes away from these “obscure” goals to more real and “needed” things like maintaining church property etc.

Don’t get me wrong, this is all well and good and since we do have the mega churchs,some of these policies are m much needed. However we must constantly remind ourselves of the main existence of the church both a witnesses and a community for growth and community change.

So if this is not being  done or with all the resources poured into the mega church with a limited and or minor out put or rather lasting output we must, must rethink how or what we are doing after all insanity is same  methods expecting different results each time.

Why is this critical? Well lets be plain, the church is failing to make and impact and where it used to make a difference is losing ground.

Imagine for a moment If all the major church in this city went community centric. They found out where all their members lived and encouraged them to meet in that area. They then trained lay pastors or lay people to constantly visit these weekly meets but also the individuals through out the year.
So borrowing from the old testament:

Ex 18:20-21
Teach them the decrees and laws, and show them the way to live and the duties they are to perform. 21 But select capable men from all the people — men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain — and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens.NIV

Imagine the impact this would have as we steadily split and grow and split and as more and more people are taught to be their brother and sisters keeper. Imagine also the load that shall be lifted off pastors and the paradigm shift most of us will have when faced with difficult questions of faith.

The benefits of such small community centers of fellowship cannot even begin to be listed. The cell based system that has been adopted by many urban churches is a small picture of this but even that comes screeching to a halt a few sticks shy of a bundle.

Imagine all those massive church building turned to services that actually meet needs in the community from schools, community centers, kindergatens, roving clinics, soup kitchens, thrift shops and even convert those parking lots into sports and play centers. I promise it shall be more appreciated than those loud prayer over nights we carry out most Fridays.

Imagine pastors whose main job description went beyond the church pulpit to actual consistent constant home visits where he knew his community members my name or at least could pick them out of a crowd and walked their journey of life and faith with them.

Imagine a church that put people first and was the center and heart of a community meeting needs all round. Just imagine a church that was people centered before it looked at popularity.

Let’s move away from people coming to church for service to the church going to people to serve. Centralised offices might be needed but definitely not service.

Like the late Mac Elvis I have been a church boy all my life but I can promise you that I am continually looking elsewhere for my needs to be met.

Church as it stands now is in critical health. Even now I hear the scythe of the grim reaper as he draws ever closer. The church must adapt or die. Perhaps i am just being too dramatic hehehe.