My Ecclesiology or in other words, my view of the church - Part 4

Battle #3 - Information vs. Insight...
So I spend time on an amazing website called TED.com. TED.com is dedicated to taking people who are teh global trendsetters and putting them on a stage and letting them talk.

Today I happened across a lecture that Seth Godin gave in 2003 that speaks exactly to what is happening in the church. At the time, he was in the process of releasing his book called "The Purple Cow." And the whole idea is that in defining what you bring to the table, you need to be remarkable. The idea is that if you are driving down the road, and you see a cow, you will not notice it at all. Cows are boring and normal. But if the cow was purple, you would stop and take note, because cows aren't purple as a rule. Now, if every cow was purple, you would no longer notice a purple cow. But the fact is that they aren't and so we notice.

What Godin says is that ideas that stick are remarkable - regardless of the topic that idea is about. This is also true of the church. IT is funny how there are very few trend setters in the church world. Everyone seems to be chasing the latest "church growth fad" that someone started. For what it is worth, I also believe this is true outside of the church as well, but the interesting part about the church specifically is that God makes people unique and perfectly designed to accomplish His purpose for each person's life. The Bible says that God marks our steps. But to take that a step further... Not only does He mark our steps, He also designs us to be the perfect person to walk the path He has laid out for each of us.

So why isn't the church remarkable? it would seem that the diversity inherent in people should be celebrated and we should see phenomenal ideas cropping up everywhere. What is going on that makes the church chase its own tail and in the process become less and less relevant in our culture?

Church is built around information transfer. Sunday the sermon is the point. Bible study is the group time during the week. And we study our Bible to learn something new. There is nothing wrong with learning and we should. But honestly, we have to admit that our attempts at education aren't working. People are moving further and further away from Biblical knowledge, not closer to it. Culturally, this happens as a result of several factors but the over riding principle is pretty simple - information with insight is boring, lifeless, and useless. And because we live in an era where we are constantly barraged with information, stuff that seems useless or like it can be put off is forgotten.

John 5:39-40 (New Living Translation)
“You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me! Yet you refuse to come to me to receive this life.

Where are the remarkable life transformation stories? Where are the people who have been so deeply changed by putting God's Word into practice that they cannot keep it in? Where are those who are like Jeremiah and cry out, "Your Word is like a fire in my bones and I have to let it out!"

When I was in Bible college, I was told that it is the preaching of the Word of God that has held the church together over the centuries. Now, after nearly 20 years in the ministry, what I have observed is that the preaching of the Bible has continued to fracture and splinter the church all while robbing people of their appetite.

My theory today... It is the testimony of God working among His people that holds the church together. That is what the Old Testament is. And that is what we should be most concerned about celebrating. Because expression give insight. And it is remarkable how much we gain simply by seeing and experiencing the lessons of the Word of God played out in our lives and the lives of those we are peers with.

I am not down on education. I have an advanced degree and am working on another. But my dad used to say all the time that impression without expression leads to depression. Stated another way, there is nothing remarkable that will happen when all I am getting is more information. Until I learn through expression of that truth and gain deep insight about those truths, I have gained nothing. And if we don't make this shift, the church becomes more and more unremarkable.

So, may you have a life of insight. And may your expression of God's truth lead to tremendous and life transforming relationships. May it be said of you that your relationship with God is remarkable!