What follows is a letter from Adam Hunt, a former youth leader at Cottonwood who now lives in Tulsa. I couldn't have said it better myself, so I won't. Adam writes:
I'm still working at the coffee shop and church. I love making coffee, even if doesn't pay much. I'm not really sure how I feel about church. They just announced a plan to renovate the building and I can't help but thinking there is a better way to spend 300 thousand dollars... When you work for a church, you get a different perspective on things. I believe that there are the best of intentions, but it's ridiculous how they do so many things that are designed to get people to tithe more. The ministries that receive the most money and focus are the ministries that bring in the most money... I don't know that it's wrong, but I feel like often people get so caught up in making the church as an organization work that they forget what we are really trying to accomplish. The church is not supposed to be a shelter from the world, but a radical force within it that impacts everything and everyone it touches. Does the world even know we care?
So much of what is taught in church today pertains to how a person can better live his life, or how to have a closer relationship with God, or better yet, how to stay married to your wife. These are not really bad things, but the problem is that we have become an inward focused church. It's about building the size of the congregation, taking care of the congregation, etc.... I guarantee that if the church focused on loving the world, those things would fall to the wayside as petty issues. On top of that, if the church was focused outward, the people in the church would be more mature as Christians. The best way to change someone's life is not to preach a good sermon to them, it is to send them out to do something. People would have a much stronger faith if they actually used it. Anyhow, these are some of the thoughts running through my head lately. The frustrating thing is seeing a need, but not really being sure how to fill it. I want to change the world, but I'm not sure where to start...
Amen
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2 comments:
AMEN INDEED. I ALWAYS FEEL WE NEED TO REACH OUT AND BE BUSTING OUT RIGHT WERE WE LIVE...MY NEIGHBORHOOD, MY WORK, MY SCHOOL. I DON'T CARE ABOUT A SERMON OR A CHURCH BUILDING. I WANT TO GO WHERE NO ONE ELSE WANTS TO GO. THE STREET. THANKS ADAM!
AMEN INDEED. I ALWAYS FEEL WE NEED TO REACH OUT AND BE BUSTING OUT RIGHT WERE WE LIVE...MY NEIGHBORHOOD, MY WORK, MY SCHOOL. I DON'T CARE ABOUT A SERMON OR A CHURCH BUILDING. I WANT TO GO WHERE NO ONE ELSE WANTS TO GO. THE STREET. THANKS ADAM!
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