Stop Complaining about the Church

We live in a time where it is easy to criticize the church. There have been books written that attack the church and the Christian faith. To a fault, a lot of Christians, including myself, have attacked the church too and haven't done much to promote the family. Since then, I've repented and have had a better attitude about things.

In his book "Crazy Love", Francis Chan wrote, "I think it's far too easy to blame the American church w/out acknowledging that we are part of the church and therefore responsible" (p. 19-20). A few pages later Chan wrote, "We need to stop giving people excuses not to believe in God."
There is no doubt enough reasons for people not to believe in God w/out Christians giving people more reasons not to believe.

In the books "UnChristian" by David Kinnaman (Barna Group) and "They Like Jesus but not the Church" by Dan Kimball (pastor) there were six negative perceptions that each other author gave for why people aren't choosing church.
From "UnChristian" people said the church is "hypocritical, too focused on getting converts, anti homosexual, sheltered, too political, and judgmental." From "They Like Jesus but not the Church" people said, the church is an "organized religion w/a political agenda, judgmental and negative, dominated by males and oppresses females, homophobic, arrogantly proclaims all other religions are wrong and full of fundamentalists who take the whole Bible literally."

Perhaps you would agree w/ some of these perceptions and maybe there are some you would disagree with. But either way, we can't ignore what is being said about the church, especially from those who are not followers of Jesus. Therefore, as people who do go to church, we ought to do our best to live in such a way that promotes the "bride of Christ" and cast positive perceptions about the her. After all, this is still God's church and it is still God's way of bringing people to Him. If we complain about the church, we are complaining about ourselves and should take responsibility. And if we are the kind of people that "church hop" b/c we are unhappy w/ the congregation we attend, what do you think that says to non-Christians? Why would anyone want to go to church w/ so many unhappy people? They wouldn't and they won't.
I believe this world needs to see a church, who claims to be a "family", that sticks together through all of the disagreements and frustration we deal with. But too often, we have complained, hopped from church to church, and have cast a negative image of what it means to be a church....to be a family.

In closing, I share this. Everyday I get what's called a "Play of the Day" from the website "All Pro Dad" (http://www.allprodad.com/). The "plays" are interesting bits of information and/or just serve as good reminders for us who want to be better fathers, mothers, spouses, parents, friends, and overall, followers of Jesus. The "play" below is what came today....check it out and watch the video.

Where will your kids be this Sunday?

"Former British Prime Minister William Gladstone commented: "Tell me what your young men are doing on Sundays and I will tell you what the future of England will be." Over 100 years later, the same holds true for America. Making church a priority for your family instills in your children the central importance and benefit of faith and its superior moral teachings. Research shows that children who attend church regularly are less likely to get involved in drugs and alcohol and more likely to go to college. Couples who go to church regularly are less likely to get divorced. And, if drawing closer to God is what the purpose of life truly is, there's no better place to do it than church."

This video is what we should be saying about the church.
http://vimeo.com/7104441

May we be people who take some responsibility, promote church, and start changing the negative perceptions that are out there. We need the church. The world needs the church.

BW