Just a Thought

So I was thinking about this church that I heard about here locally that is starting to become much more progressive in reaching the unchurched. They have started to go through some of the same transitions that we have gone through here at C3. They are becoming more creative and innovative. Instead of running away from the culture they are using it to tell people about Christ. Well evidently, just like what we experienced here at C3, some of the current membership is all up in arms and very upset about this transition. They’ve started blogs calling the pastor names and saying how ungodly their church is now. Ya know, I just don’t understand that. It seems the folks that do this stuff only care about being heard and being “right” and in the process they tear down and destroy what God is doing at that church. Why? Because they believe church should be done a certain way? It almost seems like they think that because they disagree with the church style then God has somehow appointed them to absolutely make life miserable for anyone who sees things differently. I’m sick of it and these people need to grow up. I think the real problem is they don’t fully understand God’s heart. They don’t seem to understand that God wants us to engage and be relevant in society; why do you think the Bible says over and over again that Jesus ate with sinners and tax collectors. It’s why Paul said, “I become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.” God never said to go out and create little convents where traditions rule and people like you can go. Instead, He said to head out into the highways and hedges; in other words, get out to where the people are. They seem to miss that absolute desire to do whatever it takes to “save some.” Or maybe it’s just that these folks feel jealous. Maybe they feel like, “my pastor and my church no longer revolve around me so I no longer feel like a big fish in the sea.” You remember the story in Luke 15 when Jesus tells the parable of the sheep? In this story Jesus shows us how serious He is about going out and finding the lost. He tells the parable of leaving 99 safe sheep to find one that was lost. Now some of the 99 might get excited when they see their shepherd heading out to find the 1, but I wonder how many others probably felt like they got left in the dust. So instead of heading out to become part of the search party, I think sometimes the 99 can feel jealous or left out. Then, because they have nothing better to do, they set out to make the pastors’ lives miserable. I wish these folks would be honest and say that the 1 doesn’t really matter all that much to them. What truly matters to them is what environment the 99 are meeting in. Well anyway, just a thought. If by some chance you are reading this and you are a pastor who is starting to make this transition, man I know things are probably getting rough right now. However, let me just encourage you and say, “Stay true to the vision that God gave you.” I can honestly say I am more excited about ministry today more than I have ever been.