Rechurching Church

So, Pastor spoke on putting new wine into old skins. He put it in a way that I never thought of before. He was saying that we mustn't hold on to our own preferences and "burst" when things are moved around or new things are introduced. This has combined with other things I have been mulling over in my head the past few weeks. I WANT TO CHANGE cHURCH!!!!

I don't know what this means, or how it would happen, but I honestly believe it HAS to. I want to keep the change true to Scripture, but I think church as we do it is in desperate need of revival and renovation. How to do that without adopting a social gospel and going emergent or turning into a bunch of legalistic pharisees I'm not sure. It's going to be a fine line to walk but it'll be worth it.

I just think we (as a universal Church) have so gotten stuck in our ways, that we have begun deciding what church to go to not because they are preaching the truth and how they are trying to reach the lost, while building up the flock, but the kind of building, style of music, and if the Youth Group does enough stuff to keep our teens busy and out of parents hair.

Am I saying that we should drop all denominational lines and become one huge super church? No. Definitely not. I am against inter or non-denominalationalsim. Although I would love for all Christians to be able to worship together under one banner, this is not Heaven. There are serious, deep rooted reasons as to why I am a Baptist and not Lutheran, Pentecostal, Methodist, Nazarene, Free Will Baptist, or any of the other variations and denominations. I go to a Baptist church because I believe the Baptists (as a whole, I don't agree with every Baptist on every situation) have it the most correct to what Scripture says.

All I'm saying is we as believers have become either way to disconnected with the world or too connected with the world to make a stand and preach CHRIST! We need something to shake us up. People are too unwilling to change because "that always been how we've done it." I got news for those people, take a run and see what Jesus said to those who said This is how we have always done it.

I'm not calling for a change of teaching, although we should probably look at that as long as we aren't trying leave or change the essential doctrines. I know people are going to have preferences, I hate organs, and ritualistic services so I wouldn't be into that, but some like that. I'm saying we need to get out of our "need" for circumstances to be in a certain place and order for us to be able to worship.

Some may call this heretical thinking, and if not careful it could end up being just that. I have some ideas as to how to shake things up a little bit as we go on this journey of "rechurching church." Like I said at the beginning, I don't quite know what it means or how to go about it, but we need a change. We have to get out of this rut believers are in and get back to the Message of Christ because HE is all that really matters. Thought's would be appreciated. This is something that is just beginning to be incubated in my mind.

In His Grip.