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LOVE JESUS, HATE CHURCH |
SEPTEMBER 2007
Love
Jesus, Hate Church: The Reason
Why
People Do the Things They Do
Jesus said, "We
must work the works of Him who sent Me as long as it is day; night is
coming when no one can work." John 9:4
This past
week my family and I had the opportunity to spend a few
days together at Myrtle Beach on the South Carolina coast.
As is my custom when I've got some free time, I try to glean
some insight or wisdom from a popular book or so... mainly
trying to answer some of the nagging
Love Jesus, Hate Church questions that always seem to occupy most of my
mental RAM. You know, the questions of, "Why? Why Not?"
or "What's the point?"
Well,
this vacation was no different. But the book the Lord
used to speak to me was somewhat of a surprise. I was
reading Lifestories by Mark Hall, probably known
best as the lead singer of Casting Crowns. In his book,
Mark simply tells some of the stories behind the songs of
Casting Crowns and urges the reader to try to find the voice
of God in everyday life. Pretty simple stuff.
Pretty basic stuff.
But,
pretty good stuff.
In a
chapter titled God Imitators, Mark hit one of the
reasons many of us carry around our
Love Jesus, Hate Church
battle scars. He touched on one of the reasons there is
so much hurt in the church today.
Tell you
what, I'll let Mark take it from here...
Broad is the Gate...
The
average church is filled with people who live on Broad Street.
I know the lay of the land, so let me give you directions out
of it.
When I'm not living for Jesus daily and show up at
church after squeezing out life on my own terms all week, I'm
needy when I walk through the doors.
●
I need the greeter to
make me feel welcome.
●
I need my friend to
sit by me.
●
I need the soloist to
sing my favorite song.
●
I need the pastor to
be engaging.
●
I need the small group
leader to love me and to do cartwheels when I enter.
●
I need the small group
leader to call me when I'm sick.
I am so needy because
I'm not complete when I get there, and when I'm not being
completed in my walk with Jesus, I unwittingly demand
completeness from people. I raise the bar of
expectations, and people don't meet my needs because it's
impossible for people to do so.
Then I also face a Catch-22. When I'm not walking
with Jesus during the week and then come to church I'm
reminded of just how wide the chasm has grown. Why sing
when I'm so far away from God that He couldn't possibly hear
me? Why worship when nothing comes out of a heart full
of... nothing?
This scenario usually produces one of two results: I
experience godly sorrow that leads to repentance (2
Corinthians 7:10), or I callus over and turn my attention
elsewhere. I find items to read in the weekly bulletin.
I notice what others are wearing. I think about the
afternoon's football matchups. I arrange lunch
preparations in my head. Sound familiar? Have you
ever done that?
Have you ever pursued those little escape moments to
remove yourself, as much as possible, from the thought that
something is not right in your life? Sometimes our
little escapes even include dwelling upon what's wrong in
somebody else's life—
what's wrong with the guy three rows back who everybody knows
is an alcoholic, or what's wrong with the pastor's
presentation, or what's wrong with the day's music selection.
It takes half of the Sunday service to get our minds and
spirits engaged, and by then worship is over. We
pantomimed another week.
Bravo and Amen!
As a reminder, let me encourage you to also download some of the
Love Jesus, Hate ChurchPodcasts and forward them to anyone you know who might be
encouraged or strengthened by the
Love Jesus, Hate Churchmessage (in addition to the free
book
download we are also offering). These podcasts, like the
book, are free of charge
and can be copied and freely distributed as often as you like. Keep checking back
weekly for new content or, better yet, why not just go ahead and
subscribe to the
Love Jesus, Hate ChurchPodcasts.
It's free and painless. All you have to
do is click -
HERE
Until next time,
Steve McCranie
"You know, this ain't the way church is suppose to be.
Something
must be wrong, bad wrong."
If
you are a pastor, church leader, or simply a concerned church member and
would like some information on how to have us come to your church and
share the Love Jesus, Hate Church Reformation,
we would love to hear from you.
Oh,
and what does the
Love Jesus, Hate Church Reformation try to
accomplish?
Pretty much the same thing
Love Jesus, Hate
Church— the book, tries to accomplish. Only we do this in one or
a series of sermons, much like a revival, that's designed to present the
Church in the light Christ intended, and not in the apathy most currently
live in.
It's amazing how close we think we can get to the edge
of sin and still wonder why we struggle with our flesh.
Like, duh! Like, how stupid is that! And, sadly,
the church reflects that struggle — compounded by the
millions.
Come on, do we really think we can stand close to the
fire of sin and not have our clothes smell like smoke?
Do we really believe the world doesn't see?
To play the Podcast...
Do we really think we can
"claim to have fellowship with the light and yet walk in
darkness" — and believe that Jesus is OK with that?
Ugh.
Stay tuned and find out...
Oh yeah,
Church in the Two Kingdoms!
Or, should I say, "How we do church in the Two
Kingdoms.
Do we
follow the rules of this kingdom? You know, the
"all we want you to do is feel good about yourself," and
"Jesus suffered and died to give you more stuff... just like
your own Santa Clause in the sky!" — Ugh.
Classic, late night, TBN sort of junk.
To play the Podcast...
Or, do we do church
by the rules of His Kingdom — the Kingdom of God?
"And what are those rules?" you ask.
Stay tuned and find out...
Note: This podcast
consists of a Love Jesus, Hate Church Reformation Seriessermon on
the subject of Life in the Two Kingdoms
titled, "Church: American Style" To
download the .pdf
of the related Scriptures, click - HERE
As a point
of reference, a study on our life in the "two kingdoms"
seemed appropriate at this time in our Love Jesus,
Hate Church journey.
"What are the two kingdoms?" you ask.
Good question.
In a nutshell (Cliff Notes style), the two kingdoms are
the two realms of existence all Believers own real
estate in. You know, the kingdom of this
world with all its rules and definitions of success and
the Kingdom of God Jesus continually spoke about.
To play the Podcast...
Let's see how we are to live in these two divergent
kingdoms, shall we?
Note: This podcast
consists of a Love Jesus, Hate Church Reformation Series
sermon on
the subject of Life in the Two Kingdoms
titled, "If it Looks Like a Duck...Uh, Maybe it's a Duck!"
To
download the .pdf
of the related Scriptures, click - HERE
THANK YOU
for your support and comments on Love Jesus, Hate Church.
It appears this book has hit a nerve with many hurt, discouraged
and disillusioned church members.
Please feel free
to forward this email to as many as you believe would benefit
from the Love Jesus, Hate Church message.
For the 
Thank You!