Ossified means to turn into bone, harden, make or become rigid or callous.
Petrified means to make or become callous or rigid by routine.
Fossilised means to be antiquated and hopelessly out of date.
The best way to stop a church growing I am told is to insist that we have always done it this way. It is known as “maintaining the status quo.”
Did you know that the routine for the Sunday morning meeting that takes place in most churches has been done that way for about 500 years? If you are a Pentecostal church your variation on a theme has been going for over 100 years.
The world of a 100 years or 500 years ago is quite different to today. In those days children obeyed their parents. Today they don’t. In those days poverty was the norm. Today it isn’t. In those days the king was supreme (not Elvis). Today he isn’t. In those days we didn’t abuse children. Today we do. In those days, pornography wasn’t touted as normal. Today it is.
Whilst all this change is happening, the church is in its enclave fighting off change for as long as it can. After all, God has blessed us for the way we have been doing things so if it ain’t broke, why fix it?
In case you hadn’t noticed, it is broke. In days gone by, the word “sin” was heard regularly from the pulpit. In days gone by, the concept of “holiness” was regularly preached. In days gone by people would pray for long periods of time to ask God to come in power and glory and he did. In days gone by people were regularly brought into the Kingdom of God through the local church through holiness of living.
What do we have today? Primarily a feel good gospel where God wants to fill your coffers if you give regularly to the church. The word “sin” is rarely heard as we try not to offend people. The concept of “holiness” is a thing of the past as a personal gospel that is supposed to take care of me has taken over from a collective experience of God. Now it is a case of “what’s in it for me.”
Rather than developing an alternative kingdom, much of what we do is taken straight from the text books of society meaning that instead of being different we are carbon copies of worldly thinking.
When you realise all this, you could be forgiven for thinking that the words ossified, petrified and fossilised apply to the church today. We have become callous and rigid by routine and are antiquated and out of date. God forgive us for our hard hearts and self defeating focus.
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4 comments:
The word "ALTERNATIVE" is what it means to go against societies norms. I have been in a church that WAS alternative and it was alive, vital, fresh every Sunday and exciting. You never knew from one sunday to the next what God would do. It RESONATED with the Holy Spirit. The church I attend today is boring, stuffy - predictable!! How do you turn a ship around??? Could you share more about the word ALTERNATIVE because that's what I call myself and that's where I want to be!!
How many others couls say the same thing. THe word that stands ut to me is "predictable". Guaranteed to stifle anything and everything. I will give some thought to this.
Thankyou for your reply and look forward to any further thoughts you may have. In addition to the word "predictable", my further experience in my church has often been one of a feeling of "restraint." It is an impression that comes upon me (not always, but sometimes) when I am in this particular church setting. When I leave, it's gone. Is thisjust me or something that the Holy Spirit is trying to tell me, or what???? And if so, what is your opinion of what should i be doing about it???
One thing I push all the time is the priesthood off ALL beleviers as this is the ONLY priesthood the NT church recognises. This is where everyone, not just a chosen few are required and expected to minister according to their gifting and their annointing by the Holy Spirit. The modern day church actively discourages this believing that the ministry is the responsibility of a "credentialed" few who have total control over everything that happens. The end result is that most believers are stifled, nothing happens without the priests/pastors permission and most believers are nothing more than spectators to the chosen few. This means that Jesus is not the head of the church or the chief cornerstone as the scriptures say. If you choose to think otherwise, you are usually branded a rebel and not allowed to do anything. What you might say, well and truly stifled. Your choices are limited. Go with the flow and die spiritually; try and find somewhere where this is not the case but it will be difficult; find a home church where there is no heirarchical leadership or meet with a few friends in your own home and allow everyone to contribute according to their gifting. If you do that, don't replicate a Sunday morning, focus on relationships and the word of God, pray together and care for one another.
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