Vacation books

I've been working through Organic Church for a few weeks, but on vacation I really got into it -- and it got more into me. Neil Cole successfully got my attention with other writing. Organic Church resonated profoundly as it analyzes the American Church setting.

Following a sober discussion of Jesus' parable of the soils, he writes in chapter 5, "I am convinced we have made a serious mistake by accommodating bad soil in our churches...We try to woo people to come and keep coming. What we end up with is an audience of consumers shopping for the best 'services'."

Chapter 7 begins by stating the result of that accommodation. "American Christianity is dying...We are deathly ill and don't even know it..."

Then if that's not enough, he unloads with stuff that most pastors never utter in public (because we're engaged with a business model of "church"). It's time we said what Cole says, and what we've whispered to each other. He writes under a heading of "Church Shopping" --

"Imagine...people come to us because they are impressed by our music, children's programs, clean toilets, and parking spaces. What if suddenly being a Christian is cool and the newest fad is to attend church. What have we done? Are we better off? I don't think so. Now we have churches full of consumers looking for the one that offers the best "service" for them or their family. Whatever the next great show is, that is where the multitudes will flock. Does it sound familiar at all? What we draw them with is what we draw them to. If they come expecting to be entertained, we had better entertain them if we want to keep them coming back every week..."

I'm going to start praying for God to move some desperate seekers and new believers into our part of the Kingdom -- the sort of folks willing to dump the carnal urge to "have it their way" and just be serious about a Lord Who'd say things like, "unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains by itself alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. He who loves his life loses it; and he who hates his life in this world shall keep it to life eternal." (John 12:24)

Can you imagine what Christ might do with that band of followers like that?

Cole ends chapter 7 like this: "Christianity is always just one generation away from extinction. If we fail to reproduce ourselves and pass the torch of life into the hands of the next generation, Christianity will be over in just one generation. Yet because of the power of multiplication, we are also one generation away from worldwide fulfillment of the Great Commission. The choice is ours."