Information Versus Transformation

A good friend was relating to me recently his frustration with some people in his circle who claimed to be Christians on the one hand but had an incongruous lifestyle on the other. They would rave to my friend about the latest teaching they listened to at the building and how much they were learning, and in the same breath talk about how much fun they had “hooking up” with their boyfriend or girlfriend the night before. The frustration my friend was feeling is identical to the frustration felt by most building leaders these days, a frustration born out of a disconnect between what congregants supposedly know in their head versus their day-to-day actions to the contrary.

What "Service" Is Not, Part 854,379

My wife recently related a conversation to me that she had with an old friend of ours who had eventually found a new church home after leaving the building we had all attended together previously. Robin was visiting a new building in an attempt to satisfy her desire to experience a Christmas Eve service, which over the years of regular attendance at our former assembly had developed into a Christmas tradition. Unfortunately for her, the experience was something of a disappointment, as the music was mostly performance oriented, the sing-along carols were done in a non-sing-along manner (which further added to the performance flavor), and the pastor’s message bordered on strange (at least for Christmas and possibly the rest of the year as well). After the hour-long misery of failed expectations ended, she was able to connect socially with a few members of our former building’s diaspora, and then subsequently informed me of her conversation with one of our old friends.