Open & Honest
Milton Stanley of Transforming Sermons with his post OUCH combines with Jeff at Anti Itch Medication’s post Feel It to discuss a long time issue that Team Swap has had with many churches - crushing believers.
Jeff’s quote from C. S. Lewis describing the church and how we handle other believers “We castrate the gelding and then bid him be fruitful.” is very true. For too long churches have taken broken people and crushed them, instead of taking broken people and building them into complete people.
Over the last year of so we have tackled that issue several times with this blog, do a search in the blog search box - for church attendance, encouragement, supporting believers, helping the poor, lone ranger Christians, etc - if you are interested, but our most direct attract on the nature of churches breaking people was when we talked about why men don’t come to church (here). -
In summary, church does not need to support or encourage the bad habits of a man, but it does need to support the positive steps of a man as he struggles with being a man of God. Church needs to be a place that encourages and supports a man, not just one more place he hears about his failures. The same is true of women, and children, as well.
Churches have reached the point where they are more about building co-dependent believers then building strong Christians. We see more and more group activities, team building, etc and less work to disciple individuals and build internal strength within the body. The body of Christ quiver’s in the basement of the church instead of stepping onto the sidewalk and meeting the world. As we have said in the past, this nature comes from leaders, and fellow believers, that do not want to take the time to develop deeper personal relationships that lead to personal discipleship due to personal time conflicts and issues. A additional force that causes such things, is leaders that fear building stronger Christians will lead to a decrease or challenge of their personal power.
To draw a different analogy, God’s church is a V24, 6000 Hp motor that runs most of the time on 2 - 3 knocking cylinders with a stripped out tranny due to lack of proper maintenance (both on the corporate and personal levels). The lack of maintenance results from believers that are discourage and crushed not feeling they are needed, wanted, vital, or important within the body. We give them no new hope, just a new set of rules to live by. We shower them will words, but show them no actions. We tell them to follow a plan, even if the plan does not fit them. We want them to serve, but only where we want them to serve.
I know this is tough stuff, but it is real. We discourage believers far more then we encourage them. Encouraged, excited, motivated people are infectious and that is a infection that many churches run to kill ASAP fearing that it will spread and require more commitment or devotion then they are willing to give.
Find a fellow Christian that you can personally invest in and encourage. You do not need to have a degree in anything from anywhere to be a encourager. Use the phone, use a letter / card, use email, use what ever, but find someone, regardless of their age and current stage - shattered, broken, piecing it together, chipped, etc, and help them reach fullness.
No one can weaken God, God is not changed by our failures, our flubs, and our faults, He merely invest more and is more devoted the more we need. He is the good Father and He loves His children. God is about fully empowered, fully rebuilt, fully charged followers. He can and will use all that come to Him.
