Are We On The Right Track?

It is no secret that I love the church-all of it. I think G-d in his brilliance uses conservative, liberal, evangelical, charismatic, liturgical, emergent, missional, seeker-sensitive, house churches and mega churches (and those I left out) to reach the world.

In my little corner of the world, I have settled into a tradition that is closest to my own understanding of how I want to represent Jesus. But even here, I am always rethinking and questioning how we are doing at carrying out our mission.

Actually…I am quite the nerd.

Don’t tell anyone, but I even keep a list of things I hope the church can be...and I add to it regularly. I dream of communities where people co-exist in mission and purpose and love in such a way that the world takes notice.

The following posts contain material I wish I had written. If you are interested in thinking...really thinking...about what it is we are doing as we construct our institutions, you must check these out.

Johnathan Brink posted this video where Darryl Gardine discusses discipleship in a way that may make you very uncomfortable, but I think he is spot on. Jonathan says that, 

"It’s interesting to me that much of conversations on following Jesus have to do with right or wrong, when Jesus was primarily focused on love, and stepping into spaces where people had already gotten it wrong."

 He really presses hard on some points and I probably disagree with some things he says about the church. BUT...I really hear what this guy is saying and wholeheartedly agree that we should be seriously examining our institutions by asking the question, "What did Jesus come to establish?"


In this post, Kathy Escobar challenges the American church to begin living the truth by becoming places that help restore dignity. The post is long, but well worth the read. Check this out:

"i really believe the world doesn’t need another sandwich board church sign on the corner announcing really good coffee & fun for families. the world needs people willing to restore dignity where it’s been lost."

Can I get an amen?