There is a new set of commercials just hitting the TV screens about the use, or over use, of our cell phones. I especially like the commercials because they come from a company seeking to sell us, of all things, cell phones. In these commercials the common tendency to keep our faces buried in our cell phones when we are in very social settings is exposed and ridiculed. In each situation, the person being ignored responds by saying, "Really?" Watch the first commercial here on YouTube.
The commercial speaks to me because I have often watched people around me do silly things, rude things, thoughtless things, dangerous things, unhealthy things and yes, stupid things. And my response has often been, "Really?" "Really" is shorthand for, "Are you kidding? What, if anything, are you thinking?" No doubt there have been many times in my life that those around me have wanted to say to me, "Really?" None of us are above an occasional "Really?"
Being a lifelong church person and a 40 year veteran of the ministry, let me share with you some of the things I have watched people do and heard people say that has given me an overwhelming desire to respond with "Really?" Allow me to share some of those with you.
"I am leaving the church because I don't like the music." Really? "I can't go to that Life Group because someone in the group hurt my feelings." Really? "I am going to start going to another church because your sermons make me uncomfortable." Really? "I am angry because they changed the order of service." Really? "I am not being spiritually fed by the sermons." Really?
Since many of my readers are a part of the church scene for many years, they may wonder why I would say, Really? I believe that if all you have ever known in your life is dysfunction, you come to believe that your dysfunction is normal, it is the way things are and the way things should be. It is my opinion that we have done church so poorly, so dysfunctionally, so unbiblically for so long, most of us wouldn't understand healthy church if I kicked us in the shins. With that in mind, allow me to share the source of my "Really's?"
"I am leaving the church because I don't like the music." Really? The music is what motivates your commitment to the church; is foundational to your spirituality? The depth of your spiritual longing is hung up in your taste in music? Because, though we do our best to couch our dissatisfaction with the worship music in spiritual terms, it is about personal preference and taste.
"I can't go to that Life Group any longer because someone in the group hurt my feelings." Really? You are telling me that you are going to let your emotions control your life? That your first and only response to conflict is to run and you think you will end up in this life with any relationship with any person? You believe any spiritual growth in your life is going to be easy? You claim to love the world but you can't manage to get along with someone in your small group?
"I am going to start going to another church because your sermons make me uncomfortable." Really? Your consumer mentality, which you have brought to church with you, is telling you that the basic purpose of the church and the purpose of the sermons you hear are to make you comfortable? Jesus clearly called the church to go into the world and make disciples but you don't care – the church exists to meet your needs and the needs of your family?
"I am angry because they changed the order of service." Really? Your view of the purpose and mission of the church is so limited and self-centered that you would waste time and energy being upset about something as trivial as the order of worship? You observe the world around you in chaos, people living in misery, families being torn apart by a lack of love, commitment and civility, people running around in circles wasting time, energy and resources seeking fulfillment by doing more things, spending more money and buying more stuff and you choose to expend your emotional energy on how Sunday morning worship should go?
"I am not being spiritually fed by the sermons." Really? Does that mean that you are willing to say to me that you have been a Christian for years but, because of arrested development, you are still in the need of someone to feed you? You are saying that you are incapable of feeding yourself? You believe that you can subsist and possibly even grow on one spiritual meal a week (The Sermon.)?
Really? What an amazing commitment you must have to Jesus as your Lord and Savior and to the mission and vision of the church that it can be derailed by things like this. Really?
Copyright © 2010, William T. McConnell, All Rights Reserved
1 comment:
I can remember not to long ago when many of my fellow church members kept saying "I'm going to go to another church becouse I dont want to go to a different church" actually upon reflection I think they were not being honest as they thought they sounded. I still pray they all found God!
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