seeking a more spiritual existence
My friends and I sit down for coffee at Sips Cafe, or gather around the lunch table, or in our everyday conversation as we eat hot dogs and chili, and sometimes the conversation turns towards the spiritual side of life. The cry is the same. I don't think it's changed. I've never heard, "I don't want to know God more... I don't want to experience God... I don't want to grow deeper in my faith." No, what I hear from teenage kids is, "I want to experience God like the apostles experienced Him... I want to know God to the point where I feel His presence everywhere I go and in everything I do... I want to just grow so close to God that I can hear His voice..." These are the passionate cries of a generation craving for something the 'natural' and 'enlightened' world fails to offer.
It is in times like these that we tend to blame society for problems - even spiritual problems. As we sit around Sips Cafe, we talk about how 412 should do some more spiritual stuff, how it's all fun and games. I think we were steaming. Because when we look back, we see that 412 is so insanely spiritual: even more so spiritual than most church youth groups around Springboro. It is postmodern hardcore. Intense worship, engaging messages, times of scripture reading, desert prayer, and contemplative meditation are easy to find. I think those 'parental units' who say that we teenagers have no substance of ownership might be swinging something good on the ballfield. It is times like these, looking back and slapping myself in the face, that I see my own 'cleverness' tumbled, and am convicted.
Why do we turn against those societies, those communities that lead us like a horse to water in the spiritual oasis? I think it is because we start to believe that it is the church's job to provide us with the spiritual stamina to discover this radical faith, this conversational relationship with God, this experience. So when we're engaged in the spiritual community, things are going great; but when things - dare they? - slow down, we find ourselves parched and stumbling on bony beaches. If it weren't four our own blindness, we'd see the oasis at our feet.
When we make the brutal mistake of turning the church into the sole provider of spiritual chow, we end up dying of starvation if we ever get cut off. When things bunker down, we start saying, "What's going on?" It's because we don't realize that the church doesn't exist for ALL of our spiritual formation. Sure, it plays a very important role, but it's not the all and end all. Spirituality is a very personal and individual thing, just as it is social. So how can we pretend to spiritually exist well when all we have is the social side?
As a friend pointed out, "What are all those complaining people doing to help grow deeper into God on their own time?" The sad truth, and I know this from my own experience, is that we teenagers most often do (gulp: are you ready?) - nothing. We spend our time griping about how the church doesn't fill all our own needs and yet refuse to take a step forward on our own time to even raise an eyebrow towards fulfilling those needs. I have been convicted tonight: and I hope that all of those who make the cry, "My church/youth group/small group/house church needs to be more spiritual," maybe should look at their own lives and say: "So what am I doing to further my faith outside the church?"
The church doesn't exist as the building block of our faith. It is not the rock of the foundation. The rock is Jesus (how corny does that sound? very, I know). I say this because so often we make it the foundation of our spiritual existence when it really isn't. Church is one aspect of our spiritual lives, just as hydrogen is one aspect of water. It's important, but without oxygen, you're just breathing - not drinking. Without practicing spiritual disciplines, without pursuing God on our own time and in our own energies, we can only breathe the spirituality - and miss out on the "living water" Jesus offers.
My friends and I sit down for coffee at Sips Cafe, or gather around the lunch table, or in our everyday conversation as we eat hot dogs and chili, and sometimes the conversation turns towards the spiritual side of life. The cry is the same. I don't think it's changed. I've never heard, "I don't want to know God more... I don't want to experience God... I don't want to grow deeper in my faith." No, what I hear from teenage kids is, "I want to experience God like the apostles experienced Him... I want to know God to the point where I feel His presence everywhere I go and in everything I do... I want to just grow so close to God that I can hear His voice..." These are the passionate cries of a generation craving for something the 'natural' and 'enlightened' world fails to offer.
It is in times like these that we tend to blame society for problems - even spiritual problems. As we sit around Sips Cafe, we talk about how 412 should do some more spiritual stuff, how it's all fun and games. I think we were steaming. Because when we look back, we see that 412 is so insanely spiritual: even more so spiritual than most church youth groups around Springboro. It is postmodern hardcore. Intense worship, engaging messages, times of scripture reading, desert prayer, and contemplative meditation are easy to find. I think those 'parental units' who say that we teenagers have no substance of ownership might be swinging something good on the ballfield. It is times like these, looking back and slapping myself in the face, that I see my own 'cleverness' tumbled, and am convicted.
Why do we turn against those societies, those communities that lead us like a horse to water in the spiritual oasis? I think it is because we start to believe that it is the church's job to provide us with the spiritual stamina to discover this radical faith, this conversational relationship with God, this experience. So when we're engaged in the spiritual community, things are going great; but when things - dare they? - slow down, we find ourselves parched and stumbling on bony beaches. If it weren't four our own blindness, we'd see the oasis at our feet.
When we make the brutal mistake of turning the church into the sole provider of spiritual chow, we end up dying of starvation if we ever get cut off. When things bunker down, we start saying, "What's going on?" It's because we don't realize that the church doesn't exist for ALL of our spiritual formation. Sure, it plays a very important role, but it's not the all and end all. Spirituality is a very personal and individual thing, just as it is social. So how can we pretend to spiritually exist well when all we have is the social side?
As a friend pointed out, "What are all those complaining people doing to help grow deeper into God on their own time?" The sad truth, and I know this from my own experience, is that we teenagers most often do (gulp: are you ready?) - nothing. We spend our time griping about how the church doesn't fill all our own needs and yet refuse to take a step forward on our own time to even raise an eyebrow towards fulfilling those needs. I have been convicted tonight: and I hope that all of those who make the cry, "My church/youth group/small group/house church needs to be more spiritual," maybe should look at their own lives and say: "So what am I doing to further my faith outside the church?"
The church doesn't exist as the building block of our faith. It is not the rock of the foundation. The rock is Jesus (how corny does that sound? very, I know). I say this because so often we make it the foundation of our spiritual existence when it really isn't. Church is one aspect of our spiritual lives, just as hydrogen is one aspect of water. It's important, but without oxygen, you're just breathing - not drinking. Without practicing spiritual disciplines, without pursuing God on our own time and in our own energies, we can only breathe the spirituality - and miss out on the "living water" Jesus offers.
6 comments:
dude, great post. i would criticize about the length, but you've seen my postings lately. great points. a lot of followers of Christ assume that it is the church's role to feed us. but the church is more than a feed trough. we need to take responsibility for our spiritual welfare. assuming that someone will provide the meal is only producing consumer Christians. and consumerism is only concerned about what "i can get outta this" or "what i feel" or "what i like"
Christianity is so much more about serving than being served. unfortunately our western mindset clouds the truth sometimes.
Anthony
You are not alone in your feelings I've felt the same way and it's easy to "blame" the church or anyone besides ourselves It's easy to criticize when we really need to be helping to look for the answer
412 will be making a huge change hopefully for the better..I think so at least If you haven't talked to Jeff about your feelings you need to ..he needs to know what will help you in your spiritual growth what you feel you're missing
Keep seeking those answers Anthony Sometimes the answer is somewhere you least expect.. in life experiences
Anth,
I don't think it is unusual to be "complaining" about the church or a church - no church is perfect, and everyone at your church probably came from another church that they were complaining about at one time. It is much easier to focus on the negatives than the positives - similiar to how Christians tend to debate endlessly about their doctrinal differences rather than celebrating what they have in common - Chrit!
I think we have to be careful about complaining. A couple of months ago your mom and I met with the Bruces and Prestons for supper at a restaurant. We were there probably for 2 hours and for about 30 minutes of the time we were discussig (complaining) about churches. After your mom and I left, we felt bad because we thought if someone overheard the conversation at our table, what kind of witness would we be. I could imagine a gentlemen at another table telling his wife "you hear that - that is why I don't go to church".
Try to be part of the solution, rather than the problem. If you don't like something, try to fix it instead of pointing fingers. Also, it is often easier to beg for forgiveness than to beg for permission: In other words, after suggesting an idea, etc, and getting no response/action, just do it. If they gripe about what you did, beg for forgivenss.
Also, why do you go to your church? I would be willing to bet most people go because of something they get out of it (selfish reasons): The Pastor is nice to me, the Pastor is an interesting speaker, I can sing or play in the band, I like the music, my friends go there, this is the church I have always gone to. All of these are what "I" get out of it.
Does going to your church motivate you to reach-out to the lost, encourage other believers, to read God's Word daily, spend time in prayer daily? Does your church make you uncomfortable sometimes because it asks you to go out of your comfort zone and live a little more on faith? Does your life reflect a growing love for God and others, or is church just a Sunday routine?
Dad
why does someone criticise the length of a post on a blog. are there rules i dont know about?
i agree that we should focus on serving and not being served. the key is identifying your spiritual gifts and putting them to work for Gods glory. is the church your at supporting you in using your gifts?
i agree with rochele that you are probably not alone in feeling the way you do. all churches have their problems or we wouldnt have so many
It is shameful that people hide in the shadows of anonymity when their comments might draw attetion otherwise. my reason for joking with my friend anthony about the length of his post is in regards to an earlier conversation that he and i had had about the short attention span of most blog readers. i usually don't respond to cowerdice, but in this case i make exception.
I think one reason for a lot of let's call it in-fighting amongst the people of a church regarding their church (in layman words, people complaining about churches) is that they don't understand that church is just ONE spiritual aspect, and is meant as encouragement to tackle the most important aspect of it: the individual's faith in daily life, nourished and expanded on his or her time.
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