In the church world there is an ongoing debate about how to “do church right.” Is it loud music or quiet music? Is it bright lights or no lights? Is it suits and ties or jeans and t-shirts?

This debate rages among denominations, pastors, churched, and unchurched! No one is excluded from this grand free-for-all!

Think about it… everyone, and I mean everyone, has an opinion about how church should “be done.” Even people that don’t go to church have opinions about how it should be done.

Books are written about how church should be done. New denominations are started with an idea of how church should be done. Strategies, structures, methods, etc… all of these nip at the heels of the church that is committed to its mission of life-change!

Sometimes it’s so crazy that the other day I looked at Sherri and said, “When did church become so complicated?”

Well, I think I have a response to that… church became complicated when culture became complicated! Let me just list a few “complications”:

– technology (e.g. sound systems; financial software; powerpoint; etc.)

– sexuality (e.g. sexuality didn’t used to be such common theme – for instance compare
   Leave it to Beaver with Desperate Housewives)

– ethics (e.g. abortion; stem cell research; internet addictions; etc.)

– liberal theology (e.g. ordination of homosexual clergy; the position that the Bible is 
   not the authoritative word of God)

– Secular “competition” for the weekend (e.g. work; sports; etc.)

– People’s busy lives (e.g. the very common 60+ hour work week is a chief competitor 
   for the church… people want their weekends off!)

The reality is that church is not as simple as it used to be! In my opinion, the church can respond in one of two ways…

1) It can rub its hands in dismay and lament the current shape of things, or

2) It can pray like missional effectiveness depends on God and work like missional
     effectiveness depends on us!

Perry Noble, a blogger that I read frequently, has a post in which he discusses this topic further (click here).

As for me… I’m ready to fight! I believe that God has given us a great group of people in a great location and I’m ready to wage war against our enemy… Satan, and push back His boundaries! I want to be a part of an army that does exactly what Jesus said we would do… push back the gates of Hell (Matthew 16:18)!

OK… vent’s over… 🙂