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Reality Church?
Reality Church
Am I the only one who is sick of fake, phony, and plastic? We see it on television all the time. People parade their products with bleached hair, botoxed smiles, air-brushed bodies and plastic perfection. Excuse me while I hurl.
However, aside from the amount of debt we Americans are incurring because of it, I am not extremely concerned about the present state of television advertising.
What concerns me is how many churches look like commercials. I cannot tell you how many Christians have confessed to me that they just cannot continue the charade.
“I come to church,” they tell me, “like everyone else. I dress up. I smile. I speak politely. But that’s not really me. I have been dealing with __________ (fill in the blank: depression, resentment, lust, adultery, gambling, drinking, etc.) for years now. I know people can see through my hypocrisy and I can’t keep up the charade anymore.”
Some of these have come into my office looking for help. Some have responded to my calls to explain why I have not seen them in a while and why I probably will not see them anymore.
The truly sad aspect of this is the very people they think have figured out their hypocrisy were in my office last week saying the very same thing. “I cannot keep up the charade anymore.”
Have we become so disconnected from the real people around us that we all believe we are the weak link in the church’s chain?
Go back to television for a moment. Over the past few years the major television hits have all been…you guessed it “Reality Shows.” As revolting as some of them have been, the phenomenon does provide food for thought.
The time for keeping up appearances is over. It is time to get real. Perhaps we need to work toward being a “reality church.” But how?
James 5:16 provides the solution. “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another...” Our worship assembly should not become a “dirty laundry” session. We do not need a parade of public confessions. What we need is to find others with whom we assemble to whom we can open up.
Is there anyone to whom you can say, “Here I am, this is the real me. Who is the real you? How can we help each other grow to serve the real Savior?” Find that person or that couple, open up and challenge and push each other to real growth.
Let’s face it. God knows the real us. He sent Jesus to die for the real us. Isn’t it time we started letting each other know the real us so we can all help each other be the real Christians God wants us to be?
- April_10_2011-Reality_Church.pdf (0.00 B)
