Monday, December 29, 2008

passive christianity

"The way we've done church for the last fifty years, the attractional model, is going to reach a certain population, but we're getting close to tapping out that market. We have to think in terms of mobilising the kingdom to go where people are. Too many Christians are passive and unengaged. They may listen to Christian radio and read Christian books, but they're not communing with God directly. Therefore, they are not dynamic witnesses, and they rely on the church to do all the missional work. We need to help people hear from God directly and obey him."
Neil Cole
via churchless christian

Is it too harsh to ask, if the type of people described are really followers of church? They may be church goers... but that is NOT what Jesus came to build.

3 comments:

Walking Church said...

Pharisees understood doctrine very well - so what has changed in the last 2000 some years.

Easy to have a relationship with theology and books rather than to encounter a living God who might shake up your paradigm.

In Christ Alone said...

And so much easier to stay within the confines of the ivory towers and preach from the small window to the masses than to interact and live out the Gospel...the Good News...Jesus living in and through us to others. Jesus was always among those who needed Him wherever that took Him.

Have you read the Word?...have you received the Word?....leave the other books alone...until you can speak with some degree of His life speaking to you and through you. Too many speaking through their bottoms...and missionally and otherwise falling right on those same bottoms.

Just my lingering thoughts of 2008.

In Him,

In Christ Alone said...

By the by .... I include myself in that group as well.

In Him,