Is the American Church a Joke?

I am currently reading The Forgotten God by Francis Chan, ouch! So much is lining up with what God has already been doing in my heart and connecting with what was shared on Sunday. So here I go!

In the intro of the book Francis proposes this question: "If he was born and raised on a deserted island with nothing but a Bible, had only read about the New Testament church yet had never seen a church, would he recognize his own institution he was leading as being remotely similar to what he read about in the New Testament?" He came to the conclusion that he would not recognize his own church system as being even remotely similar to what he read about in the scriptures.

I recently read in another article that he had the chance to spend some time in Asia with underground church communities and shared with them what the American church system is like and how many join or leave that church based on the worship band, liking or not liking the pastor, the variety of programs offered to them, etc.

They laughed at him.

In fact, the more he shared with them on our church system, the more they laughed because they thought he was telling them jokes!?

I find it heartbreaking that the underground church, who has suffered so much, would see us as joke. Not because they have been misled in that view, but because in many ways they are right. They must think we take our freedom for granted...? From their point of view some of the things we do must seem ridiculous and overdone. It got me thinking that somewhere along the line I have lost the desire to let the Holy Spirit move in and through my life and I can't be the only one. Have we strayed so far from the church of the new testament that we are now just viewed as an institution, a business, a community center of sorts, aimed to give a fast fix to the get it now generation? Please understand I am not mocking or saying it's wrong to have programs to draw people in or to use them to reach out because I have seen them be used mightily here in our culture and it's part of the way we connect, but I am saying we (the church body as a whole) are More and should desire to be More than those things, not just merely defined by them. No amount of activities or bands or dynamic speakers will bring the Holy Spirit to us if we are not willing to allow the Holy Spirit to be an active, permanent part of our life, I think that's where we differ from those in the underground church. They thrive on the Holy Spirit to make changes in their lives, they cry our desperate for him to hear their prayers, the cling to the knowledge that he is alive and working in them and through them! They know He alone will protect the church they are not allowed to have.

Are we missing the Holy Spirit as the main attraction and feature of the church? I don't mean just the church I personally attend, I mean as a worldwide body of believers...

Acts 4 - Peter and John do something extremely courageous, they go before the all the big wigs (Sanhedrin) and proclaim Christ when asked to defend what they have done. v.8 - "Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people! 9 If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame and are being asked how he was healed, 10 then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed.

Did you catch that? "Filled with the Holy Spirit", there was no band, no lights, no glitter, just the Holy Spirit and a man willing to listen and allow the Spirit to work through him.

The bible goes on to say in v. 13 - "When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus."

That's my heart and my point in all this, do people see us and recognize that they have been with Jesus? Or do they just say, "gee that was a nice service." and go on their merry way? It is the prayer of my heart for my church and in my own life that others would sit with me and know that they have seen Jesus, not merely because I told them I am a Christian, but because they experienced him in my life.

Would the persecuted of this world see our church system differently if we operated on the Holy Spirit and not just on programs alone? Would we "turn this world upside down?" would we change the hearts of those who don't believe or see?

I think we would. In fact, I know we would.

This is all said out of love and what God is doing in my own heart so please know when I say all these things I say it to myself first and if you leave taking something from it then praise the Lord! ;) For the record, I don't think we desire to be a joke, we just need a kick in the booty to get back in line.

Ask yourself, if you were living on a deserted island and had nothing but the Bible, what would church look like to you? In my mind, I don't see a church that needs to host the next big thing or a body that desires to be poured into, but I do see a church willing to to be brave and pray for one another, to step out in faith and use the gifts they have been given, I see believers willing to lose their life for the sake of the one who gave His. I see the persecuted church.