Hey Beloveds,
In the spirit of Chris’ word for us this past Sunday, I have no plans on lying to you all today. So, here are some things I think The Church Universal needs to be honest about:
The function of a church is not growing its numbers on its rosters nor in its pews. Growth in numbers/membership is not necessarily the marker of a healthy congregation and, as Chris mentioned, growth in numbers is not categorically “good.”
We as The Church waste a lot of time trying to decide who is Christian and who isn’t. (I have caveats to this, but that’s for another day).
Somewhere along the line, the Church made the mistake of prioritizing worship over following, and thus made a big swing and an even bigger miss when it comes to the ministry of Jesus. We distance ourselves from Christ when we put Christ on a pedestal, even though we (hopefully) know Christ came to meet us exactly where we are at and through the Holy Spirit we are connected directly to Divinity.
So– in a time when corporations run by distinctly gluttonous and greedy men are ravaging this Earth, what are we to do? Are we going to continue to play a game of linguistic gymnastics, or bend backwards pulling stunts to put butts in seats without truly engaging those butts in the work and the struggle and joy, let alone loving those butts, or are we going to continue to assert that God’s love is not for us, and that Christ is to be set aside in a trophy box on display on our mantle as a representation of someone we could never embody, and that the Holy Spirit moves not at all?
I hope not.
Blessings on the remainder of your week,
Taylor
PS – In light of the most recent mass shooting, I want to share this article about getting kids through “unspeakable horror.” While I am not a caretaker of children and I guess I’m not a child either (though that’s arguable), I have to say reading this helped me manage my own feelings. So, even if you are not a caretaker of children, I offer this article for you.