Blessed are the disillusioned

I was pleased with yesterday’s discussion on church attendance. It stayed pretty civil, which is amazing. I want to respond to two reactions I saw. One is, “This may be true of many churches, but mine is good. You should try it out.” I actually deleted someone’s plug for their church, complete with an invitation. I’m honestly filled with hope, because there are really good churches out there who are trying to live Kingdom values rather than just enlarging their territory (sorry, Jabez). However, I heard Ron Martoia challenge this thought at Velocity Culture. So what if your church is going great? You’re part of a larger body, and as a whole, that body is not too healthy in North America. We can’t afford to think the problem’s solved just because it’s solved for us. The second reaction I saw was something like this: “If you’re disillusioned, it’s your fault.” I know this is true of some people, but I don’t think that’s entirely fair in this discussion. The issue under discussion is not style or popularity or something minor. Some are concerned that the church today is preaching a different Gospel. That’s a serious charge, and it can’t be made or dismissed lightly. I hope we can wrestle with this issue instead of urging people to just file back into the pews and be happy. There’s a lot at stake. By the way, if you haven’t read LT’s paper Words or Power: What Fuels the Church?, you may want to check it out. It’s a long read (about 50 pages) but it’s a good one.