Figuring Out People
One of my pet peeves is when people take me for granted. Whether it's on the national political scale, where I'm supposed to vote Republican because I'm a white southern Christian minister, or if it's something small at church, where I'll get an announcement to post on the PowerPoint loop five minutes before service starts. I think it's an overall thing: "taking something for granted" needs to be rethought and overhauled. And one of the things that is definitely taken for granted and probably in need of something more meaningful is the way we do church.

As I've posted in the past week, what might be missing from the general direction of the church is the ability to authentically engage the will. I was reading Doug Pagitt's blog, and he's noting that there's a whole dynamic between feelings and information that we might also need to re-imagine.

sidebar: i really picked the right night to stop flipping channels on the TV and start listening to the radio while i work/read. i'm laying here on the bed, laptop in front of me, listening to foreigner, "i wanna know what love is" - after hearing journey, rod stewart, billy joel and a few other really familiar tunes. oldies - and i'm not that old yet. if they play air supply, i might have to sing... karaoke night?

We take for granted that we know how to do church, but how much have we really studied people, or gotten to know what makes people do what they do, or what keeps them from being committed the way we think they should? I don't mean to say that ministers know better, but a pastor has a vision for where the church is being called, and there's often a lack of commitment on the part of the congregation. That. How do we kickstart that in a way that's meaningful, transformational and regenerative?
- posted by Rick @ 23:00