The unfortunate decline of church
There are churches I have known that have completely missed what being a church is about. The infighting and politics have completely trumped any form of pastoral care and generosity. Everyone has such an agenda that it is impossible to truly grow and become vibrant as a congregation. Instead, stagnation occurs, and eventually death comes knocking on the church doors. I wish there was some way to shake a congregation and yell, "WAKE UP!" But there isn't. We can only stand by and watch and cry and pray. But how does a church get to this point? The churches I have been a part of in my life have at one time or another been thriving bodies of Christ, being in the world doing things. They were places of joy and celebration. And even though the two churches in which I grew up preach a theology that doesn't align with what I believe now, I can still appreciate how both of them grounded me in a faith that has held on for dear life through my life's struggles. It's tru...