A lot.
Grossly understated.
Those terms evoke different feelings for different people. I grew up in a church that was always looking for ways to improve. Of course, improvement is intrinsically positive. I think that when improvement is the central desire of the church however, it can lead to all sorts of problems. This particular church to which I belonged even had a motto, which I will paraphrase: We want to change our community and world in Jesus' name. It wasn't long before I realized that this motto had nothing to do with addressing the actual, physical needs of our community. It really had very little to do with addressing the spiritual needs of our community also. The motto should have read: "We want to put a big building in our community, and then convince as many people as possible to come to it." All of this particular church's efforts and resources were put into making this building the most up-to-date, technologically and culturally advanced place possible.
Thank God I don't have my own church. I think my ideas about God are too jumbled and indecisive to lead anyone to any sort of truth. This may be slightly overstated, but I don't think I could stand in front of people, families, children, Christians, week after week without saying something that would offend someone. Don't get me wrong; I don't fear that my tongue is too slippery and that I might drop an inappropriate four letter word. There are plenty of other things one could say in the context of church that would be completely offensive to the average church go-er, but not to most of the world, and more importantly, I think, not to Jesus. I could say that I believe doubt is one of the fundamentals of Christian living, or that homosexuals should have the right to marry, or that evolution probably happened, or that it's more than possible that certain translations in our Bible got things wrong, or that I don't believe that Christians are required to vote or love America (Furthermore, I may or may not agree with any of these statements, depending on the month). Man, most people wouldn't come to my church. I probably wouldn't either. I could even quote some not-particularly-Christian philosopher, musician, or movie such as Ghandi, or Zach de la Rocha, or Tarantino. That sort of thing really grinds the gears of some Christians I know (even though the current church I attend does this from time to time). There is a fine line to walk when you are a pastor that I think is just too thin for my balance, and I would fall one way or the other: either faking or offending. I think that if we are honest with ourselves, a lot of us Christians are like me. I don't think any of this is a bad thing, but I feel that I need to provide some background before I get into the real issue for which I am writing: If I had a church.
If I had a church, I would gather my staff for a meeting. The meeting would be entitled: How to Grow the Church. There would be a big white board that had those words on it, and I would probably choose green and blue dry erase markers, as they are good colors for brainstorming. My staff and I would discuss all of the ways in which we could make our church the best place possible. Of course, our sanctuary would have to have comfortable seats, large screens, special software to project fancy pictures and images on those large screens, at LEAST two rows of lighting, a sufficient sound system (the more sub-woofers, the more worshipful), and enough wireless lapel mics to go around, since handing off a wired mic is too distracting for worshippers, and will probably cause half to not return. The lobby area will need two 32" flat screen televisions, so that mothers who have to step out to nurse can watch the pastor in action. The hallway leading to the parking lot will need a built in sound system so that those late for church will be able to hear the music (is there any way to get some subs in that drop-ceiling, by the way?). This is really only the beginning of a VERY long list that we would write up.
After making the list, I would face the congregation, and give them the speech. "Our church could be so much better if we had more stuff. I think that a lot of people in our community don't want anything to do with Christians because of how technologically un-advanced their churches are."
No, no, no.
That's not the real point of this experiment. The real point is to see how much we COULD raise for all these material things. The even realer (?) issue is the large number of churches that DO raise this much for these material things. The REAL issue (or one of them, at least) that non-Christians have against Christians is how oddly materialistic they can be. (and hypocritical...but that topic is for another time)
So my church would raise money for 6 months for a fund entitled "Church Improvement Fund." The members would even have a detailed list of all the fancy things we will buy to make the church better. (Don't let me forget fake potted plants for the stage) At the end of 6 months we will have raised $60,000, which we will then distribute. Some of that money will help the local food bank feed the hungry in Delaware. Some will help homeless shelters in Wilmington to provide a roof and warmth for those living on the street (an issue very heavy on my heart, as I sit in my warm house, separated from the 14 degree Delaware air). Some will help provide clean drinking water to Africa. Some will help medical workers who are fighting hard to control the Cholera epidemic in Haiti.
THIS is how we can improve our church. THIS is where our resources should be focused. My church will be very content with our metal folding chairs and modest sound system. My church will make Jesus known in this way.
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