I am afraid.
It is a frightening thing to realize that the world in which you were raised is actually ending. Over. It is like walking out the door of your house and suddenly halting (with a firm grip on the door jamb) because the street that you would normally step onto has been replaced with the edge of a cliff. Staggering, open-mouthed, you stare at the head-spinning distance before you. And you scream silently, “Oh God! What does this mean?”
God is moving. The world is changing. And this is happening Now.
Traditional Church, which is the only form of church that I have been familiar with until recent exposures, is a dying breed. It is inappropriate and out-of-place if being a church means being on mission to a lost world that wants nothing to do with Christianity. Church is no longer doing what it was meant to do simply because people and society have changed in extraordinary ways—and most shockingly so in only the past ten years. The way that church has been run since it became a politically acceptable faith is no longer relevant to a world that has “gotten over” institutionalized religion. All of this, and I had no idea…
How can I not be frightened? God is placing a call on me, you, and everyone who is part of the Church of the Mission God to be uncomfortable, to leave familiarity, prosperity, and ease. He is asking us to let go of that door jamb and take the step that will send us hurtling into the unknown where fear will bite at us, comfort seduce us, and uncertainty torment us.
But here’s a secret: That unknown is, in truth, the loving, strong and sure embrace of God. And He will never leave us. He will help us along the way, which will be painful, but He will also take us where we can know Him in the deepest and richest way, which is in total surrender to His Mission.
~Lauren
I greatly appreciate your honesty and vivid imagery, they allowed me, and dare I say other readers, to capture your message in our imaginations. Oftentimes we get too involved in intellectualizing faith and let our minds overwhelm our hearts. We are blessed with both of these for a reason and you managed to appeal to our hearts and our imaginations in one.
Lauren, I love the way you write! The imagery is wonderful and the content is real (scary as it is to face it). It is hard to step out of our comfort zone. The harder part is finding out how to take that first step and what direction to go. But I really appreciate that you affirmed the strong, loving hand of guide that’s guiding and holding us along the way.
Hi Lauren, I can understand the fear you are expressing in this post. I also grew up in a traditional church, over the last couple of years I have worked with the staff and joined in conversations about how the average age of our congregation is 75 and how there is no interest in changing that. What has scared me the most is the idea of breaking away from the traditional church entirely, I do not feel that is the answer either. There is a great quote I heard in Christian Theology once, “Traditionalism is the dead faith of the living, but Tradition is the living faith of the dead”. There is nothing wrong with the tradition of the church, with the hymns, liturgy, and history. What needs to change is the motivation of our traditional churches and I think that is exactly what you’re pushing for. We do need that courage to step out and embrace our world as it currently is, and I think Traditional churches CAN and SHOULD do that. Maybe traditional churches won’t be as popular in the future, but if they are willing to set up of their buildings and greet those around them, then I think they will do incredible work for God.
Thanks again for your post :]
Ashley S.
Thanks for writing. The traditional church may or may not be dying, My guess is it will continue on, but simply press forward. The answer may be found in diversity of models, not the extinction of one. For example: Mega-churches are still happening in the US. Do they just go away…not sure.
Just wondering.
I really like the courage part to go step out!!!