Living faith where it counts

This post is from the defunct blog "Dying Church"

Ending a phase of professional ministry, Postmodern Pilgrim says this:

Here we are, 3 decades later and I am preaching my last sermon as a paid staff person in the church for at least a few years. And the world is no longer seen as Christian. The society is no longer seen as Christian. We are in the midst of second and third generations of non-church goers...The church is struggling with what that means and how to break out of the Sunday morning rut of thinking that this is what being a Christian and a disciple is all about. We are moving beyond the idea that sitting in the pew is discipleship. We are learning that people are looking- and discovering- spiritual things in many places without even looking at the church. We are seeing that Jesus has always been about being with people in their sin and suffering and need, not in their self-satisfaction and religiousness. Jesus' greatest criticisms were for people like me- the religious ones. Which is why I am excited about what lies ahead of me. How do I live as a Christian in the world when I am not identified anymore as a Christian professional? How do I express my discipleship when it is no longer a paid position? How do I live my faith where it counts- and is the most difficult- out there. It is easy to be a Christian in here. We say the right words, sing the right songs, pray the right prayers. But it isn't about me and what I do here. It isn't about you and what you do here. It is about following Jesus. Out there. Where he is. It is about living a life that God wants us to live in order to bring more people to an understanding of God and God's ways. Not to bring them to church - worship- but to bring them to Jesus. To bring each other to Jesus even before we know we need him.

Thanks to Bene for linking to this.

Comments

[Jimmy]

This sermon cuts to the heart of my deepest struggle as a professional minister. Tired of the "Sunday morning rut"...ready to "move beyond"...thinking I'd like to stop being a pastor and start being a disciple. But how? Powerful words. Thanks to you, Darryl for posting them. Thanks to Postmodern Pilgrim for saying them.

[George]

Where do the people go after we bring them to Jesus? Where do they go to get taught? Where do they go to get nurtured and comforted and loved? There has to be some kind of structure. There has to be teachers that can educate them in the ways of God. What's going to happen if everyone abandons church?

[Darryl]

Once again: people aren't leaving church. They're leaving one model of church, and not a great one at that. I would think they're going the same place that people went before Constantine began to institutionalize churches: to someone's house.