tension

I tend to think that the best theology is that which is held in tension. That God is grace and justice. That God gives people freewill but somehow predestination works into the equation. How do we deal with the issue of making church “entertaining” and a “safe place” for those who don’t know God where they won’t be “weirded out”, but also allow those who know God to freely express their love for God? That Sunday morning will be a place where people can come to experience a real God who really can show up in ones life?

I love people who go to Charismatic churches for a few reasons, but the main one is this: they worship a real God that really can show up in people’s lives. They also tend to be passionate about prayer and it seems that passion for prayer can be linked to their strong belief that God can speak to them. I love that. It seems the only issue with this is that people who hate going to church can be weirded out by this.
It seems to me that churches like Momentum lean in the other direction, whether intentionally or unintentionally, where logic and purposeful thought reign supreme. Decisions are made by management teams and by “the bottom line,” more than being “led by the Spirit.” It can be more of a “business model,” where decisions are logical and one believes that the Spirit moves by logic and that God primarily gives the minister the gift and freedom to make decisions.
Dan Kimball, in his book Emerging Churches notes how an Asian guy was coming to America to take a tour of American churches to see how they were doing. His comment was that the American pastor was more like a businessman than a holy man. I found that very interesting and challenging. I have been trying to think how to react to that? Maybe he needed to change his definition of holy. Maybe he’s on to something and many newer churches don’t make enough room for the role of “pastor” to maintain meaning as a “holy man.” In the end I feel it is an unfair assessment that is not taking into consideration of our culture. But, I do feel he is touching on something that should challenge us.
I want to be sensitive to those who don’t know or understand Jesus and I do believe that God has given us the faculty of reason to make decisions. But, I also want to be reminded to listen to God, believe that a real God can really show up in a real way in life, and believe that God wants to speak to me and show me where He’s working around me so I can join Him.
I don’t want to be a business, I want the church to always be a spiritual entity. We may look the same on the outside as all Mo-looking churches, but I do want to always remember that we are being led by the Spirit of God. I never want to forget the spiritual aspect of being a pastor that differentiate me from Bob CEO down the street.