I found a great article by Bill Kinnon about the trend of people leaving the institutional church because they have become jaded by the corporate success model that so many churches are driven by. There are some great comments and links that follow the article that are also worth reading. The iMonk also has his own insightful comments on the article as well.
I'm not sure why it is that so many people are becoming jaded by institutional churches. I suspect that partly it has to do with the fact that our society has shifted to be less specialist focused. As more people have access to more knowledge our need to depend on specialists has decreased substantially. I think that this has led us to be less trusting of people that claim to be specialists. We're more sceptical of our doctors, researchers, counsellors, teachers, politicians and pastors. The guise of expert is crumbling. Now like never before are people starting to question everything that is around them and ask why we are doing things the way that we are. This is a good thing even if it is scary for the "experts". There really are no expert Christians. Yes, some are called to be pastors, teachers, preachers, apostles and prophets but that should be five people and not one. If we can do away with the idea that one man is the head of a congregation, realize that our job is to love one another, and not to put on Sunday services, then maybe we can see a church where everyone puts in as much as they can and see themselves as responsible for their church as they really are.
Oh how I long to see a more beautiful bride...
Posted by rose at April 3, 2007 09:31 AM