Revolution…or Not?
So, I just finished this book by George Barna called Revolution. The whole book is built around the premise that there is a growing group of people who are reducing their affiliation with a local church and growing their faith elsewhere – through house churches, service groups, parachurch organizations, or accountability groups. Some of them have left their churches entirely – others still attend with some degree of regularity. Barna calls these people “revolutionaries” and asserts that they will radically change the landscape of religion in America over the next 30 years. Knowing Barna, he’s probably right. To make things perfectly clear, these are people committed to Christ, just not to a local church. To call them disgruntled with the church is probably not accurate – a more apt description might be dissatisfied.
I identify with their dissatisfaction – I “get it.” I am so there. 100%. But I finished the book feeling even more dissatisfied. And I’m not sure why.
Maybe it’s that I’m not sure these people can truly be called “revolutionaries.” For someone following Christ, is it “revolutionary” to want to know him more deeply? To feel great compassion? To work to right injustice and inequality? To be concerned with the disenfranchised? To live in community? To worship with other believers? To not want a status quo life? Aren’t those things what Christ called us to in the first place?
Granted, these folks are waging a revolt against the local church in America, NOT against living out Christ’s example. So many churches are marketed, sanitized, politically correct (as long as you vote Republican), and well…comfortable. That’s what Barna’s “revolutionaries” are fleeing. Comfort. Safety. Security. The “known.”
It still leaves me a little cold. Maybe it’s that Barna, once the champion of the church growth movement, is now on the other side of the fence – not just tracking a trend, but joining the “revolution” himself and trying to convince others to do the same. Seems like a little self-promotion here. Or rationalization. Maybe it’s my overexposure to marketing – do we really need a book about this? What’s the point? To sell more books? To “warn” church leaders of the exodus from their congregations? Maybe what’s bugging me is deeper than that. Maybe it’s that people are “fleeing” rather than “fixing” – running instead of rolling up their sleeves and doing the hard work of reformation.
Anyway, I guess you could call this a bit of a rant with a dash of cynicism thrown in. I’m not as angry as I sound. Really. But I am frustrated. And I’m not quite sure why.
peace,
j
Slackers, Discipline, and Keeping Regular Redux
See. Two times in one day. It doesn’t get better than this, does it?
Gotta watch American Idol – I have my priorities straight. Go, David Cook!
Slackers, Discipline, and Keeping Regular
Ok, so this blogging thing is really cool but as my daughter-in-law commented, it appears that I have a fake-out blog. Meaning I haven’t posted in awhile. It’s not that I don’t want to; it’s just that I sort of freak myself out about what I’m going to write.
I don’t guess entries need to be about anything profound and they don’t need to be perfectly crafted – they just need to be honest. So here’s your dose of honesty for today: I don’t have anything to write about! Really.
But at least I made an entry. So is this a fake-out blog? You decide! 
Seriously, I’m discovering that this blogging thing is sort of a discipline. I’ve never been very good at writing things down, even though I like to write. Journal-keeping hasn’t ever been my thing, but I thought, “Hey, I’m online all day long so surely I’ll be able to blog regularly about all sorts of things: ideas, thoughts, rants, whatever!” Right. Maybe it’s just that I’m old – my kids find things to write about all the time. Or maybe I’m just a slacker.
So, to the 5 people who actually read this thing – hang in there… I’ll try to eat more fiber (ok, that was a lame attempt at humor about keeping regular… sorry!)
And don’t be afraid to post comments. They may actually force me into writing.
Who knows, maybe I’ll post more than once today. That would be something, wouldn’t it.
