Are we connecting?

Is the church connecting with our culture? Are we making a difference in the communities we exist in? What can we do to increase our effectiveness and have maximum impact for Christ? These are questions that are constantly rolling around in my head. These are the things that I think about.

Over the past couple of weeks, I have read some things that have helped me to think more deeply about this subject. For instance, a couple of weeks ago a religious magazine published an article where they conducted an interview in which most pastors considered themselves to be uninformed about popular culture. This is sad to me because I wonder how you can reach a culture that you cannot connect with. How can I reach my neighbor when we have absolutely nothing in common?

On the flipside of things, churches continue to do things that decrease their ability to connect with the people outside of the walls of the church. For example:

1. The Florida Baptist Convention actually had a vote a few weeks ago to decide whether or not Christians should withdraw from the public schools. This is insane to me. Imagine what those schools would be like with no Christian students, teachers, administration, etc. Instead of withdrawing, why don't we be strategic about impacting those campuses for Christ?

2. It has been amazing to me how the church is responding to Walmart's decision to provide rights for same sex couples. Can we really fault the world for acting like the world? So often, we expect those who do not know Christ to live by the church's rules. This only creates more distance between Christian people and those who do not know Christ. What good will it do for us to boycott Walmart? They will not feel the pressure financially and it just makes us look like idiots. Why? Because you and I both know that the same people calling for the boycott will be shopping there next week.

I can remember when the Southern Baptist Convention was going to boycott Disney because they had a week set aside for homosexual couples. Personally, it made me sick to think that we would take such a stand. I firmly believe in standing up for what is right but in a right way. Our Christian families still planned their trips to Disney. Disney was not impacted. The church got a black eye!

3. Does it make sense for us to criticize and condemn those that have holiday traditions. I don't know about you, but Santa, the Easter bunny, and Halloween were all a part of my childhood. I think I turned out ok. There is nothing wrong with Christian people celebrating these "secular" holidays. My kids will know about Santa. My kids will know about the Easter Bunny. The tooth fairy will bring them dollars for their teeth. And they will go trick-or-treating. Again, the church makes a bigger deal of these things than they really are. You can have Santa and Jesus both. You don't have to sacrifice a little fun to be holy!

It seems to me that the church today tries to be AGAINST as many things as possible. I am saying that we should be FOR more things than we are AGAINST. If we spent as much time focusing on the things we are FOR, then we would do a much better job of connecting and reaching a lost and dying world!!