"I hate it," I respond and then enter into an hour long rant explaining why I've grown disgruntled and disappointed in what is supposed to be God's church but reflects more the face of Man than the image of Christ.
That discussion took place two years ago and between then and now, these same men have agreed to enter into a partnership with me to plant a church. The intention of this blog is to record my experience and this first post, hopefully the first of many, is intended to remind me of the insanity I am agreeing to allow into my life.
Here are some rough statistics about what I'm about to do. Each year in America:
- 4,000 churches open while 7,000 close.
- 1,500 pastors leave the ministry permanently each month.
- 50% of pastors experience divorce, 80% of pastors' wives feel their husband is overworked, and 80% of children raised by pastors eventually seek out professional counseling for depression.
- 70% of all pastors are grossly underpaid.
- More than 50% of pastors' wives feel that their husbands entering ministry was the most destructive thing to ever happen to their family.
- 70% of pastors battle with depression.
So why would I apply?
Because I was invited.
Not by some guy who sits around all year collecting numerical data to file a report filled with terrifying percentages. Nor by a group of men who, recognizing the decline of their denomination and hoping to instill in it new life, are suddenly motivated to plant new churches with "fresh blood." These weren't the guys who invited me; it was God.
More than 10 years ago He pressed upon me His desire for me to be a pastor and I promptly told Him no. I didn't want the job. Over the years God has continued to shape and mold me, and I don't know if I'm ready for the job but I've hit a point where at least I'm willing to take the job. I keep going back to that conversation I had two years ago and the words that I spoke:
"I... Hate... Church."
I can't help but wonder how many others feel the way I do; of how many people are open to discussing Christ but can't stand Christians. Those are the people I want to be in fellowship with and if even one person can come to understand Christ in the way Christ intended and not in the way Man misrepresents Him, opening myself up to all those "percentages" will have been worth it.
So with that said, I'm in the process of re-arranging my living room with the help of my two children who are excitingly yelling out our windows, "We're building a church! We're building a church!" And I keep whispering harshly, "Stop that!" When I should probably be yelling out the window as well...
Pray for us.
Wow. Powerful stuff Greg.
ReplyDeleteGood luck and keep us posted. <3 I know Matt and I fall in that category of disappointed believers.
Praying for ya.
Aline & Matt
Then it's a shame you two don't live closer. I don't know that I've ever really had a place where I felt where I "belonged." It seems I've always had to work hard at acceptance in church life & that's not easy when you're already the outsider. I'm hoping to make a place where no one has that feeling. I also want it to be a place where various views can be openly discussed without fear of being "black balled." I like a good heated discussion way more than is probably healthy.
ReplyDeleteI think this is so incredible what you're doing. I would say just like Aline & Matt that we fall into the "disappointed believers" category. I feel like as "youths" of the church we were relied on so much for volunteer work. We were more than happy to step up when we didn't have responsibilities, but once having a child interfered we were met with some hostility about being unwilling to leave our newborn in the nursery so we could still teach Sunday school. We found a great church in WA, but again our child interfered. I mean how are we supposed to even attend service when we can't leave our autistic child with anyone? After months of attending sunday service sitting in the "cry room" getting dirty looks from the parents feeding their newborns while our rambunctious child ran around room, we just gave up. And don't even get me started on the intolerance. Our church in CA put a sign on their front lawn supporting whichever prop. it was that denied gay marriage, it was just sickening to me. It's really exciting to see someone try to do some real good. I'm excited to watch (read?) this all unfold.
ReplyDelete--Carrie vanRosmalen
Yeah - the "Christian" politcal movement has always been a bit sickening to me. It's like they intentionally want to send the message: "Jesus loves you but we don't!" I don't get it... Whenever I hear politics spoken of from a pulpit, I change churches. I've been to A LOT of churches. That's a shame no one noticed your obvious need and stepped into help but it seems like most people are like that - they get all focused inward rather than outward and are sitting in a church no less. It also disgusts me when someone who is more concerned with raising their own child than helping raise someone elses' kid is treated with anything other than admiration. Good for you! A lot of folks would cave into that kind of pressure. You know how many germs are in a church nursery? YUCK!
ReplyDelete