You are welcome, but not too welcome

Since Ruth and I have moved around a quite a bit over the years we have spent some time looking for churches in which to fellowship.

Now, when you look at what Christianity is supposed to be all about it would seem that churches would bend over backwards to welcome new people into their fellowship. We have not found this to be the case, however. Older, established churches have a core group of people who assume ownership of the congregation, or church, if you will. It is natural for clics to develope among those who are like minded and it happens in churches as well. When outsiders come into the church or I should say, try to come into the church, the clics resist those who try to get in. A benchmark for behavior is found in Galatians chapter five. Does our behavior in regards to welcoming outsiders come under the heading of the "fruit of the Spirit," or the "lust of the flesh." I know that human behavior says that two is company and three is a crowd, but does human bahavior stand as a "Holy excuse?"

I have talked to pastors who have told me the same thing in regards to new pastors trying to fit into the congregation.

It seems that in some churches that we have been associated with have an invisible sign over the door, it is not so invisible after you have been there awhile, which reads, "?Welcome to all who enter these doors. Please come in and worship with us, leave you offerings, but then quietly leave. We only want your numbers on the roll and your offerings in the bag, but don't try to get too chummy with us as we have our inner circles of the brethren and we don't want anyone else mess'n things up.?

Is it no wonder that people are leaving the organized churches and seeking more user-friendly mediums?

For decades the primary way that Americans have experienced and expressed their faith has been through a local church. That reality is rapidly changing, according to researcher George Barna, whose new book on the transitioning nature of America's spirituality, entitled 'Revolution', describes what he believes will be the most massive reshaping of the nation's faith community in more than a century.

"These are people who are less interested in attending church than in being the church," he explained. "We found that there is a significant distinction in the minds of many people between the local church - with a small 'c' - and the universal Church - with a capital 'C'. Revolutionaries tend to be more focused on being the Church, capital C, whether they participate in a congregational church or not."

"A common misconception about revolutionaries," he continued, "is that they are disengaging from God when they leave a local church. We found that while some people leave the local church and fall away from God altogether, there is a much larger segment of Americans who are currently leaving churches precisely because they want more of God in their life but cannot get what they need from a local church. They have decided to get serious about their faith by piecing together a more robust faith experience. Instead of going to church, they have chosen to be the Church, in a way
that harkens back to the Church detailed in the Book of Acts."

One of the most eye-opening portions of the research contained in the book describes what the faith community may look like twenty years from now. Using survey data and other cultural indicators he has been measuring for more than two decades, Barna estimates that the local church is presently the primary form of faith experience and expression for about two-thirds of the nation's adults. He projects that by 2025 the local church will lose
roughly half of its current 'market share' and that alternative forms of faith experience and expression will pick up the slack. Importantly, Barna's studies do not suggest that most people will drop out of a local church to simply ignore spirituality or be freed up from the demands of church life. Although there will be millions of people who abandon the entire faith community for the usual reasons - hurtful experiences in churches, lack of interest in spiritual matters, prioritizing other dimensions of their life - a growing percentage of church dropouts will be those who leave a local church in order to intentionally increase their focus on faith and to relate to God through different means.

That growth is fueling alternative forms of organized spirituality, as well as individualized faith experience and expression. Examples of these new approaches include involvement in a house church, participation in marketplace ministries, use of the Internet to satisfy various faith-related needs or interests, and the development of unique and intense connections with other people who are deeply committed to their pursuit of God.

Man has been designed to worship and serve something or someone, if it isn't God who is their focus then it will be something else like their own agendas or their own little group.

Needless to say Ruth and I can identify with this new trend in the church, but I must admit, it is not without saddness that we do so.