A Quick Christian Physical
So on the church retreat last weekend I realized how the church has a lot of problems connecting with our hermitish suburban lifestyle and it got me thinking. When did we disconnect with society? Did we disconnect with society or are we so connected that we are the same as them only caring about ourselves and being fine with not knowing the names of the people next door.
If we are so disconnected, how have we gotten so behind the curb as far as learning to relate to society.
I don’t think we have disconnected. I think we are totally connected which is why fellowship and community are so hard to find in churches. We either don’t want to be part of the church family reaching out to our culture or we don’t know how. What are your thoughts?
I think that sometimes we attempt to connect to the world using the ways of the world. We are trying to connect two incompatible ideas. If we view our church community and our actual community in the same way, then it becomes a choice of two equals. Our church life becomes more of a social life than a way of behaving.
Do you think that’s what has happened? The church doesn’t seem to be connecting well with itself or anyone else.
I agree that it isn’t connecting. I think a large part of the reason is that we are trying to connect to the world instead of change the world. I think that we should actually stand apart form the world a little more. When we try to connect to the World using the means of the world, then we just become another choice to make. We are trying to reach the world through our own power.
I also agree that we are not living up to the idea of a Christian community. I think part of that is not holding each other accountable. I think we are afraid to offend. Afraid we might chase someone away. We are not a family. If we were a family instead of just a social group I think we would be much stronger. We are meant to be brothers and sisters in Christ and I think that too often we are just a bunch of friends. I think that the connection within Christian circles is what we need to work on.
How do we fix it? I think it is something that needs to happen church by church. I don’t think that our new tools are useless. I love having conversations that aren’t necessarily local (this one for instance!) I hope though that we don’t confuse virtual contact and connection with actual contact and connection.
I don’t like what I wrote earlier today. It sounds as if I either want to disengage from culture or that I buy in to the idea that there is our church life and then our life in the world.
I didn’t take it that way. I think you made since. I think you are right, we are not supposed to be of the world, which I take as not buying into all the world and the cultures put in front of us. I think rapping your head around being in the world and not of it, and remaining enough in the culture as to still be able to connect with none Christian culture is really difficult. I would have to say that I normally fall on the site of buying into the culture too much.