That's quite a compelling quote.

But what is the solution?

Should churches go back to being the boring, bland, irrelevant institutions that they once where?

Is there a balance between what the quote describes and the traditional disconnected image that turns people off before they get a chance to meet Jesus?

I once heard a quote that I'll never forget...and I find it applies to me every single day: "If it's not balanced, it's not biblical." We humans have a tendency to go to extremes when it comes to just about everything, whether it's politics or economics or theology.

The problem with the church today is simple. It has failed to recognize that there is a problem with how its operating and it has lost sight of its ultimate purpose. This makes for a slowly lethal combination.

Remember in Mark 7 when the Pharisees questioned Jesus why his disciples were eating without washing their hands? Yeah, here was Jesus' reply: "You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men."

The church is operating in man's ways according to the principles of thousands of years of church tradition mixed with a little bit of the world's ways and have let go of Jesus' teachings and the Kingdom principles.

I'll throw in my support for tradition and say that if it weren't for tradition, we wouldn't even have a Bible - it wasn't canonized until after several centuries of tradition. Tradition is important. We cannot access the commands of God unmediated or disaffectionately. Tradition gives us a belt for our interpretation.

Failure to realize that we in america embody theology from particular perspectives and traditions leads to our thinking that our way is normative - that our experiences are universal. If the leadership in churches like FBC took more cues from our Black and Latina/o sisters and brothers, who by and large come to theology from a position of marginality, they wouldn't make as many of these egregious mistakes.

Basically, we need more rojos.

Oh, I'm not against traditions. I agree with you heartily Stephen. Some are very effective. However, what we have to watch for is when we are doing things a certain way just because it's the way it has always been done without regarding whether or not it's a means to a certain ends...specifically the ends that Jesus gave to the Church to reach.

Jesus Himself instituted the tradition of the Lord's supper...so tradition is not the problem. What Jesus criticized the Pharisees for and would likely criticize the current North American church today (and I hope I'm not sounding arrogant by assuming what God would think of churches today) is for 'trading' or 'exchanging' the ordinances of God for the traditions of men.

Why do we build bigger, more expensive church buildings? Why do we institute more 'programs'? Why do we spend more money on technology than on doing good deeds? Our traditions are more important to us than doing what Jesus commanded us to do.

Good point on the egocentric view of America. Are you saying that churches need more ethnic and cultural diversity? If so, I would have to say this is another...oh, how did you say, "egregious" error that the church has made in our society.

Marcus,
Off the top of my head here are some thoughts. I think the first thing churches can do is educate their members on the social impact of technology (good and bad), how it affects them psychologically and the social impact on the church. It's my belief that consumerism is a mere symptom of living in a technology obsessed culture.

The problem is that most church leaders don't know that technology is most of the problem and affects us in ways that are antithetical to loving God and neighbor.

To your questions, it is not necessary to go back to boring, bland, irrelevant institutions, but to become institutions that ask better questions when we attempt to leverage technology to reach a technology obsessed culture.

I'm sure technology has accelerated a lot of the problems, but to say it is the MAIN problem is to circumvent the real issue: The Human Heart.

The reason church leaders don't know what the issues are or how to deal with them is because the darkness of the human heart and how blinding pride and comfort are. We are carrying on the traditions and playing the 'church game' just like all those leaders before us.

We have confused the means as the ends. The means must never be the end. The end is the end and ALL means should point to the ends. If we are doing something that doesn't contribute to the end, then we need to stop doing that thing.

Based on my limited experience, I would define the Church is a static, business-oriented, self-focused, self-helping, need-making institution.

The Church I see in the ole' Bible is need-meeting, others-helping, others-focused, Kingdom-oriented, movement of believers that trancends borders, boundaries, and budgets.

I think the technology angle reveals the "heart issue" which is why I brought up the whole problem of "loving God and neighbor"

I'm sorry, but this is what I replied to in your previous statement: "The problem is that most church leaders don't know that technology is most of the problem and affects us in ways that are antithetical to loving God and neighbor."

So if educate or do away with technology all together in church, the human heart will turn back to loving God and neighbor? I'm trying to understand your point better. I think you have a great point, but I just don't understand how it is 'most of the problem'? Could you elaborate?

This is all part of the radical disconnect between personal piety and corporate practice. It is a system that allows us to sit in a comfy chair rather than put faith into action; that allows us to face a stage lit by $1k lights and take "communion" rather than tear some bread and hand it your neighbor while you look them in the eyes; that allows us to externalize the costs of our lives by applauding when people are killed thousands of miles away from us (including fellow christians) so that we can be "free" rather than taking up the cross of Christ and becoming identified with the marginalized peoples of our world.

That article nails a core issue that is resonating within churches everywhere...leadership that can't "see" the realities that are right in front of them. Leveraging consumerism to curb consumerism is a symptom of a church culture born and reared in a technological society (Technopoly).