American church.

I've been debating writing this blog, but ya know what, I'm tired of being silent and if this blog makes you mad then so be it. In fact, I'm tired of Christians being silent. 

I don't believe God is happy with the American church.

Bold statement?
Deal with it. 

I think God might hate the American church today. It doesn't line up with Scripture at all. We completely ignore the Great Commission. God COMMANDED us to go make disciples, he didn't give us a CHOICE. We think missions is for a select few Christians and then we stay in our comfortable luxuries. The more Scripture I read, the more I learn about who God is, the more I get steamed up. 

I can barely sit through a church service anymore without getting steamed up inside. 

It's like a raging storm inside of me just ready to crack thunder and I believe God is preparing his obedient servants to let loose and speak out. There will be a day soon when God can't take it anymore and lets the lightening bolt and the thunder crack on those who neglect the poor. He's not playing games. He's not playing church. 

What are we going to do about it?

Last Sunday, I went into service early to get a seat. I couldn't handle mingling with my broken foot, so I go sit and look around the sanctuary as people trickle in. People are dressed up, lights on the stage are shining, instruments cued up for worship and I see a lot of the same old same old. Service starts and not even half the sanctuary is full. There are people in other countries having illegal church in underground holes in the wall risking their lives to even GO to the meeting and here we are taking our sweet time. 

Why aren't we eager to GO to church like other countries? 

Worship starts, people slowly make their way in with their cup of coffee and I am already anxious to leave. The music sounds like a broken record, no one is worshipping, we have a couple to my right more concerned with cuddling than praising God and I'm just distracted.

Then the pastor gets up to talk about the weekly bulletin. Why does there have to be an order of service we have to follow? I don't care about the dumb bulletins, Jesus didn't follow an order of service. 

Church today is so far from where it was originally meant to be. 

We spend all this millions of dollars on flashy lights and pretty buildings while the poor are starving and children are dying. David Platt in the book Radical says it better than I can. "In the time we gather for worship service on a Sunday morning, almost a thousand children elsewhere die because they have no food. If it were our kids starving, they would all be gone by the time we said our closing prayer. We certainly wouldn't ignore our kids while we sang songs and entertained ourselves, but we are content with ignoring other parents' kids. Many of them are our spiritual brothers and sisters in developing nations. They are suffering from malnutrition, deformed bodies and brains, and preventable diseases. At most, we are throwing our scraps to them while we indulge in our pleasures here." 

If that truth makes you mad, well it makes me mad too. Be challenged to DO SOMETHING about it. I know I'm challenged today. 

If we neglect the poor then we are not people of God. 

Truth. 

Don't like it? Do something. 

God gives us blessings NOT so we can increase our life of luxury, but so we can GIVE more to the poor.

In Luke 16, the story of the rich man and Lazarus, the rich man lived in luxury while he ignored the poor man, Lazarus who sat outside his gate, covered with sores and surrounded by dogs, eating the scraps that fell from the rich man's table. 

God hates those who neglect the poor. 

Let's stop throwing out our scraps and let's do more.