How much fat is in your diet?

This post is from the defunct blog "Dying Church"

Tom Bandy uses a diet metaphor for what's wrong with the church. The church, according to Bandy, is on a high-fat diet. He gave some examples of fat:

Property and buildings
Old technology
Endowments
"Churchy" music
Curriculum
Paid staff members

The solution isn't to eliminate all fat from a diet. It's to maintain a healthy diet that includes worship, spiritual growth, missions, leadership and relevant organization that follows its mission. I wonder if the problem with our churches today isn't that we have buildings and programs and staff members. I wonder if the problem is that we've allowed these things to take over the essence of what it means to be a church. Maybe they're okay if kept in their place as part of a healthy, balanced diet. But, as anyone can tell you, fatty food has a way of taking over.

Comments

[Pen]

Yes. But what would be the spiritual ruffage?

[phil]

Yes! It is so easy to demonise the issues. When in pain (or death throes!) we say - look there is the problem. Oh, if it was only that easy! I posted some rants on buildings a while back and said similiarly to you. There is nothing inherrently wrong in owning buildings - it is what we do with them that is the issue and indeed the responsibility.