A paradigm shift

So much has been going on in my brain. It's been nice to be back to work and have my structure. A balance of structure and spontaneity help open doors for healthy thought and creativity.

I've been thinking about the church - Christ's bride. I spent several years griping and recently became convicted that unless I am working toward a solution then I am a part of the problem.

I've been a part of the problem.

Fundamentally there is a problem with the way "church" is done. I have a friend who is a part of the ministry staff of a church and the staff was discussing their expectations of the congregants. The said that they expect people to attend Sunday service and tithe. What!?! I realize that this is probably the expectation that most ministers have and that this is where they set the bar in an effort to be realists and also to prevent them from being disappointed.

I think of the way educators are always saying that the lower we make the standards, the lower the performance. When you raise your standards then people do more to meet them.

Jesus expected the church to be a world changing force. He expected his followers to be one. He expected us to follow his example, to love, to sacrifice, to heal, to drive out demons, to help build the Kingdom of God - NOW. He didn't expect us to go to church, pray before meals, give some of our money, and sit around waiting for him to come back. We are his body. We are his hands. We are the hands and body of a carpenter fix-it man who began building the ultimate house.

If I don't think that people are going to do much then I don't invest much into them. If I looked at my congregation and saw a sea of world changers, a crew of capable carpenters who are ready to build a mansion, then I would have to focus my energy on empowering them to become what they were made to become. If I knew that I was in the middle of a great war and that the western church in a sleeping giant who could take out some of the enemy's strongholds, then I would be a fool to not try everything within my power to wake up the giant.

What if we didn't feel guilty about all we have been blessed with, but saw it as our superpower that we are to use to help the world? What if all my talents, time, money, resources, friendships, etc were actually entrusted to me so that I might be a world changer? What if it is only through using these resources that we are fulfilled and that by using them we are connected with the only ones who have the power to heal our wounds? What if the healing of the west can only be found in connecting, giving, and receiving from our brothers and sisters throughout the world?

Throughout church history, major paradigm shifts occurred when the masses were empowered to be ministers and priests. Jesus empowered the people. The protestant reformation empowered the people. Maybe it is time for all of us who sit on pews to stand up, put on the mantle of a priest, and push into God with reckless abandon so that he might use us to change the world. As we put on Christ and call others to do the same, the paradigm may shift and the world will never be the same.

A time is coming and has now come.... For such a time as this