Never has the need for Christ in our society been so dire. Since the plan from the very beginning was for Christ through his birth, death, and resurrection to actualize the new testament church in order to bring a message of hope to a dieing world, it would be fair to say that the world is hurting for the church to fundamentally realize it’s role in society. I believe that problems that are plaguing the church in modern day America are due in part if not completely to confining, ritualized and comfortable ways church is now done. In order to truly reach a dieing community I believe that the way we see the church and the way we do church services must be fundamentally changed.

What do I mean when I say that the way we see and do church must be fundamentally changed? Well the sad fact is that you can open a phone book and find 7 or more full pages of churches here in Grand Junction alone. While many churches profess not to look down on or really even disagree with what many other churches teach there is still a major lack of unity. We can walk into a plethora of different churches, know basically what to expect, and walk out leaving behind a church that preaches the same Gospel we’ve heard all our lives, sings the same songs we’ve sang since childhood and teaches from the same Bible we ourselves do our own devotions in. If we are to change the world the way Christ wants us to not only do we as the church need to present a unified front, but we need to present an atmosphere in which non-believers feel comfortable while at the same time not compromising our position on evil.

Think about some of the stereotypes by which the church has been branded. We’ve been called hypocritical, cliquey, smug, greedy, boring along with many other not so flattering things. I believe the problem is that the church has become too “churchy”. From my own point of view as Christian who desires to be fed the word of God and desires to grow in my relationship with my precious savior even I can admit to being bored often times during church services, if I as a growing Christ follower can get bored during a service then what possible reason would a non-believer have for coming to a service. I know that church services are a great place for Christians to be fed and grow and I know that on occasion the lost come to church and find Jesus but I believe that by in large the congregation of the vineyard and other congregations of similar and larger sizes are made up of people that would rather hear the teaching there than at a smaller church. While this isn’t necessarily a bad thing I think it means that we are attracting the wrong crowd, we aren’t looking to bring in more of the population that has already been saved and is looking for a church were they feel more comfortable, we are looking to bring in more of the population that is lost and dieing and I don’t think that is possible with the current mold the church has put itself into.

I don’t believe that a walk with Christ is meant to be comfortable. I know from my own personal walk with Christ that when I step out in faith and trust him to catch me it has often been scary, intimidating, downright terrifying at times, but I don’t think that I could ever call it comfortable. Christ constantly calls us out of our comfort zones and into a place where we have to completely rely on him for everything. It is only when we step out in faith without a plan B and rely solely on God to lead us through that we really understand what it is to be a true Christ follower. Can we give up everything? Can we give up all of the material things that hold us back, all the business plans, all the comforts of our cozy lives we’ve wrapped ourselves up in and truly dedicate ourselves to saving mankind? We as one church under one God are the instrument through which Christ wants to bring to life those that are dead.

We need to start with shaking up the way we do church. We can no longer afford to have a church building that only sees major use perhaps 15% of the time. Church needs to be a venue through which people can express themselves and the gifts God has given them. The church doors need to be swung wide open and welcoming to all who desire to just hang out and those that are coming in to hear the word of God. When I talk about the church doors I’m not talking about just the building that we’ve come to call the church, I’m talking about everyone who is saved and has the ability to offer a place for homeless people to sleep and eat, for teens to come play video games, for intellectuals to sit down and have discussions and so on throwing wide their doors and letting the world know that they are loved!

I think that as a church we rely too much on one pastor for our teaching. I think the emphasis not only needs to be on us getting fed by the teachers words but also learning how to teach the gospel ourselves. We need to think of new and creative ways to make services an interactive experience and we need to rely on the supernatural gifts of God in order to do this. I believe the spiritual gifts need to be an integral and central part of gathering together, people are crying out for a miraculous God to heal their sick and provide in supernatural ways. We can no longer profess that Christianity isn’t a spectator sport and that we have a God that does miracles and then not allow people to see and be a part of it in a church service. I realize that the church has many programs for reaching out and drawing people in but once people are drawn in by love they need a service that captures their attention and makes them feel like they are a part of something bigger. People need to know that their presence is needed, that they are every bit as integral to the wholeness of the church body as the pastor or the worship leaders and that without them there something very important is missing.