What Do You Think of Your Church?

From Joshua Harris, Stop Dating the Church, 58-59.

I’ve come to believe that our generation’s biggest obstacles aren’t problems in the church, but problems in us. We have absorbed attitudes and assumptions from the world around us that have negatively affected what we expect from church and how we approach our role in it.

For example:

·        We’ve adopted self-centered attitudes. We’ve believed the lie that we’ll be happier the less we sacrifice or give of ourselves and our time. But the more we clutch our time, money, and comfort and selfishly refuse to give to our church, the less we receive back.

•   We’ve let proud independence keep us uninvolved. This can be pride that says, “I don’t need other people in my life.” Or it may be pride that says, “I don’t want other people to see me for who I really am.” Both forms cut us off from the blessings and benefits of community in the local church.

 •  We’ve adopted a critical eye toward the church. We’ve believed that by complaining or logging our church’s faults, we are accomplishing something. But God calls us to repent of our critical spirit and pick up one of concern instead. Genuine concern is what happens when we see a problem and we care. That kind of concern leads to positive changes for us and our church.

Recently my friend David from New York told me how he’d been going to church as a “consumer,” focused on comparing and critiquing. He realized he needed to become a “communer” who goes to meet God and express His love to others. God has helped him change from a person who left church each week with a list of complaints to an active servant. “The beautiful part of all this,” David said, “is that I’m a lot happier as a communer than I was as a consumer.”