Where does true faith and spirituality begin?
I left a traditional church several months ago. I tried something completely new for me. I left denominations altogether and stepped outside the box. Now, I can’t believe I let myself be in that box for so long, because for the first time in my life, I fit in at my church. No traditions here. Something completely different every Sunday. And, as a result, I encounter God on a regular basis. Really encounter Him. There’s no talk about new buidlings, or numbers. No high-pressure sales pitches for Christianity. Nothing normal. Really artsy and edgy. In a word: relevant.
I had lunch with my someone yesterday that still attends the same church I came from. She said she had always been “comfortable” there. Isn’t that the problem? Aren’t we too comfortable as Believers? We’ve forgotten so easily that our church was founded by people who were horribly martyred just for proclaiming the name of Christ. We shrink back if we’re accused of being too open with our faith at work, but Christians during Nero’s reign in Rome were mounted on the walls of the city and lit on fire to provide light for the city at night. We’re scared we may lose our jobs. We’re scared people will think less of us if we talk openly about Christ.
Well, something could be said for the way we do it. So often Christians get stupid and preachy, and decide to spend more time yelling at, and coming down on, those who are searching because they do stuff that we consider “un-Christian.” We get so caught up in our rituals and traditions that we become practically useless. We do things in church when we can’t even remember what they symbolize any more. We’re safe. We’re boring. We’re stagnate. We barely have a pulse.
And we wonder why people don’t want this?
Jesus was none of those things. He was a revolutionary. He offended people on a regular basis. He broke the norm. He stood outside of the status quo. He pushed the envelope. He spoke the truth pointedly, but He did it with love. Perhaps that’s what we’re lacking here…love. Perhaps our traditions have replaced it.
I saw some footage on a local Christian TV station from a really traditional church tonight. I was sick at my stomach. There are so many people there who went in with the right motives, and got lulled into a stupor with the same thing, over and over and over again.
They’re comfortable there.
I love my new church. But I’m not always comfortable there. Things happen every week that make me a bit uneasy. And I still encounter God. Every week. I think it’s great that I’m not always comfortable. Because that means I’m real. I’m embarassed by Christians who are constantly plastic and fake and judgmental, because they turn so many seekers from the most wonderful Truth anyone could ever imagine.
Where does spirituality begin? Where does true faith begin?
I think it’s where religion ends.
While I agree with most of your post, I think we have to becareful if we discount “traditional” churches. If we do then we discount the work of the Holy Spirit to convict and teach there as well as in “relevant” churches. Yes, Jesus was relevant and edgy but he also established traditions (The Lord’s Prayer and communion).
I have seen many people who go to emergent churches (for example) that are just as complacent and hypocritcal as a Southern Baptist.I think it does come down to what you have–a list of rules or a vibrant relationship.
I totally understand what you’re saying, and I certainly know that a traditional approach bears merit, as I accepted Christ through at traditional approach. My rule of thumb in life has generally been, if people are coming to Christ, then don’t question the methodology…funny, because I suppose that’s what I’ve done here. I guess what I see so much that scares me are Believers who throw stones from inside the house of their “nice” religion.
And you’re totally right, every tree has bad appples. Maybe I’ve just been burned too much by tradition.
Yes, I understand that one. I think any Christian can name his or her scars. Knowing that Christ came to save the Church was a HARD pill for me to swallow, but a nice one after all. That is what family is about, loving each other in spite of the mean things they may do.