Having an Affair

Dianna shares a review of Life After Church by Brian Sanders. I don’t really know much about the book or the conclusions it reaches, but this bit of the review was familiar:

God: You’ve been having an affair.
Me: What do you mean? I’m not. I’ve never been unfaithful to my husband. What an earth (or heaven) are you talking about?
God: You’ve been unfaithful to me.
Me: How? (knowing it to be true, but unsure of what act of unfaithfulness he’s calling me on)
God: You have loved the church more than you’ve loved me. You are so busy serving the church; you don’t realize when you’ve stopped serving me. You are so keen to do what you perceive the leaders want that you have no idea what I want.

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Wisdom from C.J. Mahaney:

Busyness does not mean I am diligent.
Busyness does not mean I am faithful.
Busyness does not mean I am fruitful.

Money doesn’t just talk, money lies.

“I’m the best way to know your real value.”
“If you had enough of me, you’d never worry again.”
“If you were a better Christian, it’d never be hard to give me away.”
“In order to build a better ‘later,’ you have to sacrifice family time ‘now,’ but it will all work out.”
“Once you earn enough, you’ll be able to really start giving.”

Chatter, chatter, chatter. Squawk, squawk, squawk.

So, are you listening?

More specifically, it’s an Advent Conspiracy.

The concept is fourfold:

• Worship Fully
• Spend Less
• Give More
• Love All

This has been a big issue of ours for years. I’ve spoken at churches about this on three or four pre-Christmas Sundays. We as Christians are too much part of the mob at the mall.

Take a look at the site, then take a look at your Christmas and talk about it with your families. See if they feel as uncomfortable as we did.

John MacArthur writes a great piece about the politicizing of religion.

God is not calling us to wage a culture war that would seek to transform our countries into “Christian nations.” To devote all, or even most, of our time, energy, money, and strategy to putting a façade of morality on the world or over our governmental and political institutions is to badly misunderstand our roles as Christians in a spiritually lost world.

The point stands for many other things that distract the church too, not just politics.

Here’s another link from my “folder of stuff to read later” that I just got to.

It’s an article about the increase in “mystery worshippers” that show up to a church and evaluate it without anyone knowing.

The scary part here is what they note in the article as “problems”. A stain on the ceiling, a stale smell in the children’s area, a bucket under the sink in the bathroom. These may be good criteria to use in choosing a spa or a hotel room (other services the company evaluates) but a body of brethren?

I know it’s a symptom, not the cause, but it still drives me nuts.

The article summary discusses the cause:

Some theologians warn that mystery-worshipper services will drive “spiritual consumerism.” Evaluating churches as if they were hotels might encourage people to choose their church not according to its theology but based on which has the best lattes or day care, says Paul Metzger, professor of theology at Multnomah Biblical Seminary in Portland, Ore.
“We tend to look for religion or spirituality that will give us what we want, when we want it,” Metzger says. “There’s a pressure for the church to be something that the church is not.”

That final sentence is the crucial one, and it all hinges on people’s answer to the question “What is church?“.

What’s your answer?

Sometimes change, even change that needs to happen, doesn’t happen until there’s a big enough push.

Talk about change doesn’t happen until the change is looming large. The environmental issue is one example of that, and the financial crisis is another.

Toby at faith4tomorrow thinks that the recent budget crisis could be the push that causes change in North American churches.

I’m not sure I agree with him on this. I’m not entirely sure that the “crash” will be deep enough to result in widespread loss of property by churches and the severity of impact that he talks about, but I do like the questions that he is asking.

“Are we even a church anymore when nearly 90% of our budget goes to serving ourselves? Are we really serving God and “the least of these, his children” outside these four walls anymore?”

Be bold enough as your congregation’s leaders to ask what your community might look like without its property. Where might we meet for corporate worship? How might we utilize existing facilities in our community - both indoor and outdoor - for our corporate gatherings? How many of our other gatherings really require a building the size of our church building? What would it look like if our pastor(s) found another job and served us in a much more limited capacity? How might we develop lay leadership for some of our most vital ministries? What possibilities would those huge changes (no building expenses and no full-time pastor(s) with benefits) open up for what we could do in Christ’s name with our budget dollars?

Good questions to ask, no matter what the answer is that you come up with.

Years ago I used to have a blog where I’d just post links to silly/fun/interesting sites that I come across in my online-all-day job. It was called “Small Shiny Objects”. I have quite a collection of small shiny bits of stuff, and I thought, rather than generating any actual real content of my own, I’m going to post some reading that I have in my “bookmark this because I need to read it again and digest it a little because it seemed interesting” file.

I subscribe to The Accidental Blog, and he she (with much apologies to Sarah!) regularly comes up with some interesting posts. The one on my “read this again” list is right here.

Read it and think. Comment if you like.

My memory is nearly gone; but I remember two things: that I am a great sinner and that Christ is a great Savior. -John Newton

For almost three and half months, my words have not found any outlet in this place.

Over the last few years I have come to the realization that the computer has become a sinful tool for me. I was reading in Timothy sometime last year and was convicted when I read 1 Timothy 5:13:

And besides that, going around from house to house the young women learn to be lazy, and they are not only lazy, but also gossips and busybodies, talking about things they should not. (emphasis added by me)

I certainly don’t spend much time going from home to home, but I was spending a few hours a day reading blogs, emails and forums. I have gleaned much good from several of the places I frequent on the web, but I also came to realize that I was making an idol out of the information I could get from the internet.

If I had a problem with sleeping children or home school or potty training, I visited my Delicious bookmarks, or I Googled my problem. When one suggestion didn’t work, I would move onto another. My bookshelves offer much evidence of a long string of unsuccessful attempts and ideas.

Like Ezekiel’s charge to the elders of Israel in Chapter 18 that the unrighteous look to idols for help, the internet had become my idol. And it was to time to cast it aside.

In May I pulled out my journal and my bible and a few notes that MrPages and I had made about our “goals” for our children. Then I got down on my hands and knees and asked God to forgive me for going everywhere else for ideas and solutions. Then I asked Him to show me what He wanted our home school to look like.

For four months I prayed and planned. I used the internet sparingly to confirm information. I followed Holy Spirit leadings. I asked my husband for ideas and then followed them.

We just started our fourth “official” week of school. The days are long (for me at least) but my children seem to be flourishing. They love this new approach. Not that it’s all roses and butterflies, for roses have thorns and butterflies start out as worm-like creatures, but everyone seems content.

Last week I pulled out my journal and started praying over the lack of housework in my home. I don’t like housework, am not good at it, and generally just don’t do it. But none of us is happy about the state of the house. So I’m going to the wisest person I know and asking Him what He thinks I should do. I’m frightened and excited about the possibilities.

But because I’m spending more time reading the Word, and more time praying, and more time with my children, and more time with MrPages, and more time building others up in real life, I’m spending much less time here. Much less time going from blog to blog being idle. And it is gloriously wonderful and yet difficult, and sad, and frightening and hard and frustrating. But I prayed about that too. Prayed about how I want to write and want to help, but don’t wish to sin or lead others to sin.

And tonight God gave me a few moments to put these scattered thoughts down.

He is good. All the time.