During a recent conversation about the future of Christianity, the question of "what is at stake" was raised. It seems to me that what is at stake is our attachment, whatever it is that we are holding on to and afraid of losing, or failing to grab that could be beneficial. This got me thinking about the proverbial "sacred cows;" do I have the right ones? Do I need any?
In my current role at a church, it seems to be the prevailing wisdom that when the funding dries up, and the people go away, when the church sells the building or closes its doors, that is somehow a failure. But if we are so attached to the wrong things, perhaps we need to be stripped of them; what if this is God's way of telling us to get out of "our" building and into "his" world? For my part this demands a commitment, no matter how brutalized and demoralized the church becomes. It is because we are not sufficiently "the body of Christ" that we must be refined - and so I find myself redefining AnteChurch yet again.
In my current role at a church, it seems to be the prevailing wisdom that when the funding dries up, and the people go away, when the church sells the building or closes its doors, that is somehow a failure. But if we are so attached to the wrong things, perhaps we need to be stripped of them; what if this is God's way of telling us to get out of "our" building and into "his" world? For my part this demands a commitment, no matter how brutalized and demoralized the church becomes. It is because we are not sufficiently "the body of Christ" that we must be refined - and so I find myself redefining AnteChurch yet again.
