The forest and the trees

A lot of church people don't understand why outsiders or non-church people don't want to be part of church.

A lot of outsiders or non-church people don't understand why church people seem to be so interested in church things, getting rid of certain sins, and other things that seem so disconnected from their life.

There is a cultural and communication difference that doesn't seem like a lot of people try to cross over or build a bridge over in order to communicate better.

Outsiders aren't too motivated to be the ones who have to cross over and translate for the church people.

Church people often seem like they assume the outsiders "already know better" and are just holding out and not wanting to commit to what they know they should commit to.

Outsiders aren't completely unaware of the ideas of right and wrong, know generally who God and Jesus are in a pop culture sense, but get hung up on some of the details that seem really genuinely arbitrary to them.

_______________

It's kind of like the forest and the trees - church people seem to know some particular trees in the forest really, really well. 

Outsiders know some of those trees too, but focus more on other trees and wonder why all the other trees are being ignored or overlooked by the church people.

Outsiders also are perplexed by how church people seem to argue among themselves about the trees and which are the most important.

Church people are equally perplexed by how outsiders seem to not see why some trees are more important or more valuable than others.

Both groups are products of their past, each having grown in different directions, maybe even from the same soil. 

Each are often genuinely unsure of why the other doesn't see their point of view as naturally as they do.

_______________

Interestingly, the maker of the forest has had something to say about it all.

Still does.

Will continue to.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

When you get to heaven...

Image
  Some thoughts on what's after this life. First , when you die, you do not become an angel. From scripture, we will be like Jesus. Our bodies will be like his after he was raised from the dead. 1 Cor. 15 describes it pretty well. Paul, one of the Bible writers, says we'll actually judge angels! So, while I understand the sentiment, becoming an angel might actually be a demotion from what he says we're gonna be like. Second , you'll know people and they'll know you. A lot of people fear "getting there" and finding out that someone they love didn't make it and so they say, "Well the Bible says there'll be no tears in heaven" so we probably will be in some kind of trance state so we can't know who is or isn't there so as to prevent tears and sadness. Actually Revelation says that God will wipe away all tears.  An old song we sang in church said, "No tears in heaven", not scripture.  These are different things.  Does that ...
Read more

Two years since the big shift

Image
I created the logo above after a staff member that preceded me in leaving had been “released”.  He was the third person before me to be “released” in those few years before I chose to leave. Those last few years among the almost 35 that I “was there” were among the most challenging. Challenging for those among the leaders who remained to make some strong decisions about where things were going.  Challenging for me as I was wondering less about the direction of that particular congregation and more about what was real and worth investing into. If you’re not drinking the Kool-aid of a particular part of a church group or if you don’t match up to the favored persons or personality slants of certain collections of individuals, you’re usually set up with a “performance improvement plan” and/or slated to be given the option to “step down” in exchange for some kind of sweet deal/severance package. Knowing that was where I was headed, I decided to snuff out my own torch after 34 years...
Read more

How much grace you get

Image
We used to get tiny glasses of orange juice, IF we got any at all.  Remember the frozen can of juice you'd add to water in a larger pitcher?   And that was for the whole family.  It seemed as if we tried to dole it out to as to make it last for a few days, so you would get what seemed to be a shot glass full of juice and that was it.   It was like a scurvy prevention level serving of OJ. That is how I grew up thinking about God's patience, grace, and forgiveness with us.  You get a little and that's it!  And you better not waste it or not be really appreciative of it!   It's limited in supply and so very costly that you can only have a little so you better make it last. Much later, as an adult, I ordered a glass of orange juice at a restaurant, thinking I'd get the familiar shot glass of juice and, to my surprise, they brought a full sized glass full of OJ - and for a moment, I was like, "Is this for the whole table to share...?" __________ In Ephesian...
Read more